This opens up new implications for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric conditions, even suggesting that diet choices might influence their progression.
In spite of more than 20 years of research efforts, the enzymatic function of the CRYM protein has remained elusive. Previous research has shown that CRYM functions both as an important structural protein and a binder of thyroid hormones, but PhD student Andre Hallen suspected something more.
"CRYM was first discovered in the ocular lens of marsupials, that is, in Skippy's eye! Since then, we've seen it in lamb brains, in other tissues and learnt how it can be observed and mutated in mammals like humans. Now we can see more of its full potential in human health and nutrition," Hallen explains.
In a study published in the Journal of Neurochemistry, Hallen conclusively demonstrated an enzyme function for CRYM, and identified how this enzymatic activity reveals a new role for thyroid hormones in regulating mammalian amino acid metabolism.
It also recognises a possible reciprocal role of enzyme activity in regulating bioavailability of intracellular T3, with further research pathways for how this regulatory role might open up new treatment options for a range of neurological and psychiatric conditions.
Hallen lead a team of scientists on this study, including three months working in North America with Dr Arthur Cooper, a world authority on neurochemistry and amino acid chemistry.
His research has also sparked the interest of international scientists, including Patrick W Reed and Robert J Bloch of the University of Maryland, who profiled Hallen's work in their article ‘Crystallin-Gazing: Unveiling Enzymatic Activity'.
In 2012, Hallen will continue his research into this area, further exploring the role of diet in influencing hormone function, and the effects of these changes on the CRYM protein, its related mutations and conditions.
Do you feel differently depending on whether your co-worker is a man or a woman? According to a new study, workers who witness incivility towards colleagues feel negative emotions – especially when the incivility is aimed at workers of the same sex. The work, by Kathi Miner from Texas A&M University and Angela Eischeid from Buena Vista University, Iowa, is the first to look at the relationship between employees' observations of incivility towards same gender co-workers and negative emotions. It is published online in Springer's journal Sex Roles.
Workplace incivility is commonplace and violates conventional workplace norms for mutual respect. It also displays a lack of regard for others. Although our first thoughts are likely to be for the victim of this 'abuse', it can also affect our own feelings as observers.
Miner and Eischeid examined how observed workplace incivility towards female and male co-workers relates to four negative emotions - anger, demoralization, fear and anxiety - for both female and male observers. A total of 453 restaurant employees responded to an online survey examining the 'quality of life in the restaurant industry'.
Analyses showed that female observers reported significantly higher levels of anger, demoralization, fear and anxiety the more they observed other female employees being treated rudely and discourteously at work, in comparison to male employees. Demoralization was the strongest negative emotion experienced by observing women.
Similarly, male observers were significantly more angry, fearful and anxious the more they observed other men being treated uncivilly at work, compared to females. Interestingly, demoralization was not a negative emotion experienced by male observers in these situations.
The authors conclude: "Our results paint a complex picture about the experience of specific negative emotions in response to observed incivility toward same gender co-workers. In some cases, women are more affected (demoralized) and in others, men are more affected (angry, fearful and anxious). In both cases, witnessing incivility towards same gender co-workers can have significant affective consequences for observers."
For example, when you log in to your online bank account, signcryption prevents your username and password from being seen by unauthorized individuals. At the same time, it confirms your identity for the bank.
UNC Charlotte professor Yuliang Zheng invented the revolutionary new technology and he continues his research in the College of Computing and Informatics. After nearly a three-year process, his research efforts have been formally recognized as an international standard by the International Organization of Standardization (ISO).
News of the ISO adoption comes amidst daily reports of cyber attack and cyber crime around the world. Zheng says the application will also enhance the security and privacy of cloud computing.
“The adoption of signryption as an international standard is significant in several ways,” he said. “It will now be the standard worldwide for protecting confidentiality and authenticity during transmissions of digital information.”
Known as the father of the signcryption technology, Zheng is internationally recognized as an authority in cryptography and network security. He has published more than 200 scholarly articles and books on security and holds several patents in cyber security. His most recent publication “Practical Signcryption” is currently on sale worldwide.
“This will also allow smaller devices, such as smartphones and PDAs, 3G and 4G mobile communications, as well as emerging technologies, such as radio frequency identifiers (RFID) and wireless sensor networks, to perform high-level security functions,” he said. “And, by performing these two functions simultaneously, we can save resources, be it an individual’s time or be it energy, as it will take less time to perform the task.”
Assessing these benefits to populations in ways that are useful to decisionmakers who guide conservation efforts has, however, proved difficult.
A global analysis published in the January 2012 issue of BioScience by Will R. Turner of Conservation International and his colleagues breaks new ground by analyzing the flow of benefits from ecosystem services under a variety of socioeconomic assumptions and in greater spatial detail than previous studies. The analysis, which divides the globe into more than 58,000 hexagons, finds that over half the global value of ecosystem services benefitting the world's poorest people originates in areas that are a high priority for conservation. Moreover, the value of ecosystem services generated by the top quarter of biodiversity sites is more than triple the effective cost of conserving them.
If there were effective and equitable mechanisms to ensure that the beneficiaries of ecosystem services paid those responsible for stewarding them, Turner and his colleagues conclude, global benefits to poor communities would robustly increase by 50 percent, and the payments would amount to more than a dollar per person per day for about a third of the 1.1 billion people in the world living in dire poverty. The authors say their findings reinforce the idea that there is an important concordance between biodiversity, provision of ecosystem services, and poverty that policymakers could use in designing equitable payment schemes to address both poverty and loss of biodiversity.
No matter how high the energy, the little negative particles won't break apart. But that doesn't mean they are indestructible.
Using several massive supercomputers, a team of physicists has split a simulated electron perfectly in half. The results, which were published in the Jan. 13 issue of Science, are another example of how tabletop experiments on ultra-cold atoms and other condensed-matter materials can provide clues about the behavior of fundamental particles.
In the simulations, Duke University physicist Matthew Hastings and his colleagues, Sergei Isakov of the University of Zurich and Roger Melko of the University of Waterloo in Canada, developed a virtual crystal. Under extremely low temperatures in the computer model, the crystal turned into a quantum fluid, an exotic state of matter where electrons begin to condense.
Many different types of materials, from superconductors to superfluids, can form as electrons condense and are chilled close to absolute zero, about -459 degrees Fahrenheit. That's approximately the temperature at which particles simply stop moving. It's also the temperature region where individual particles, such as electrons, can overcome their repulsion for each other and cooperate.
The cooperating particles' behavior eventually becomes indistinguishable from the actions of an individual. Hastings says the phenomenon is a lot like what happens with sound. A sound is made of sound waves. Each sound wave seems to be indivisible and to act a lot like a fundamental particle. But a sound wave is actually the collective motion of many atoms, he says.
Under ultra-cold conditions, electrons take on the same type of appearance. Their collective motion is just like the movement of an individual particle. But, unlike sound waves, cooperating electrons and other particles, called collective excitations or quasiparticles, can "do things that you wouldn't think possible," Hastings says.
The quasiparticles formed in this simulation show what happens if a fundamental particle were busted up, so an electron can't be physically smashed into anything smaller, but it can be broken up metaphorically, Hastings says.
He and his colleagues divided one up by placing a virtual particle with the fundamental charge of an electron into their simulated quantum fluid. Under the conditions, the particle fractured into two pieces, each of which took on one-half of the original's negative charge.
As the physicists continued to observe the new sub-particles and change the constraints of the simulated environment, they were also able to measure several universal numbers that characterize the motions of the electron fragments. The results provide scientists with information to look for signatures of electron pieces in other simulations, experiments and theoretical studies.
Successfully simulating an electron split also suggests that physicists don't necessarily have to smash matter open to see what's inside; instead, there could be other ways to coax a particle to reveal itself.
Now, University of Missouri researchers have found that the way in which news coverage of a crisis is framed affects the public’s emotional response toward the company involved.
Glen Cameron, the Maxine Wilson Gregory Chair in Journalism Research and professor of strategic communication at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, along with Hyo Kim of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, studied the reactions of news readers when exposed to a story about a crisis. One group read an “anger-frame” story that blamed the organization for the crisis. Another group read a “sadness-frame” story that focused on the victims and how they were hurt by the crisis. Cameron and Kim found that those who read the “anger-frame” story read the news less closely and had more negative attitudes toward the company than those exposed to the “sadness-frame” story.
“The distinct emotions induced by different news frames influenced individuals’ information processing and how they evaluated the corporation,” Cameron said.
Cameron and Kim also found that a corporate response to a crisis that focuses on the relief and wellbeing of the victims tends to improve the public’s perceptions of the corporation as compared to the message focusing on the law, justice, and punishment. This was the case regardless of how the initial news was framed (i.e., anger vs. sadness). Cameron says these findings illustrate the importance of controlling the message during a crisis.
“It is important for corporations to put on a human face during crises,” Cameron said. “If a corporation can focus on the wellbeing of the victims and how the corporation will improve following the crisis, they have a better chance of influencing “sadness-frame” news coverage as opposed to “anger-frame” coverage. If the news coverage remains “sadness-framed,” public perception will stay more positive.
Cameron says this research is important, not to help corporations shirk responsibility, but rather to handle crisis situations in the best way possible.
“Crises are going to happen,” Cameron said. “Unfortunately, planes will crash and there will be oil spills. This study helps to show how the public will react to different types of news coverage of crises, and subsequently, what the best ways are for corporations to handle any crises they may encounter.
This study was published in Communications Research.
"In some wealthy countries, the difference in the quality of life between the older generation and todays youth is the greatest ever recorded," said the WHO director general, speaking at the opening of the body's board meeting.
"Last year was a time when many countries realised they were losing their middle classes, the very foundation of democracy and economic productivity," she said, urging that a commitment to public health must be sustained.
In a text version of her speech Chan cited a recent Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report showing income inequality in wealthy nations has reached the worst levels in nearly 25 years.
"That report further concluded that societies with the least inequality had the best health outcomes, regardless of the levels of spending on health," Chan said, noting, "money alone does not buy better health."
She stated: "Those who suffer or who benefit least deserve help from those who benefit most," but this is not what happened last year, particularly in well-off nations, according to numerous reports. In large parts of the developing world vast inequalities in access to health care also exist, she explained.
"But misery, for many groups, for many diseases, is actually going down. Those who benefit least are getting help from those who benefit most," said Chan.
She noted that in the first decade of the 21st century, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis epidemics peaked, beginning a slow decline along with a turn around in a deteriorating malaria situation. "Young child mortality dropped below 10 million for the first time in nearly six decades. Compared with 12 million under-five deaths in 1990, the figure for 2010 was 7.6 million, a drop of more than 40 percent."
Chan said that in sub-Saharan Africa the fall in the under-five mortality rate was accelerating at double the rate it had shown between 1990 and 2000. Maternal deaths worldwide, "the starkest statistic in public health," have also begun to fall, she said. In addition, "In 2009 alone, an estimated 800 million people received preventive chemotherapy for at least one of the neglected tropical diseases."
A month ago, the Connecticut Senate voted 21 to 13 in favor of HB 5389, the Palliative Use of Marijuana Act. The legislation, which allows for the limited use and distribution of cannabis as medicine, comes after federal officials ramped up enforcement actions against state-sanctioned medical marijuana dispensaries last fall, with scores of raids primarily in California.
Since October 2009, the Justice Department has conducted more than 170 SWAT-style raids in nine medical marijuana states, resulting in at least 61 federal indictments, according to data compiled by Americans for Safe Access. The latter group worked with local advocates to help pass the Connecticut law.
“We are encouraged that state officials are standing up to federal intimidation and moving ahead with the passage of important public health laws,” said Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access, in a statement Friday. “We hope other states follow Connecticut’s lead in passing medical marijuana laws so that patients are not left unprotected and vulnerable to law enforcement actions.”
Although advocates are celebrating the Connecticut victory, they’ve cited a number of issues with the legislation, including prohibitions against patients growing their own pot and a restrictive list of qualifying medical conditions that excludes “chronic pain,” among other commonly cited ailments.
According to the Associated Press:
Malloy said Friday that the law will allow the Department of Consumer Protection to regulate and monitor the use of marijuana in a way that will help avoid problems seen in other states.Patients will be able to obtain marijuana only from certified pharmacists. The law allows for the licensing of at least three but not more than 10 marijuana producers statewide.
Qualifying conditions for patients include cancer, glaucoma, AIDS or HIV, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.
Connecticut is the fourth state in New England to legalize medical cannabis and the 17th state since California first made it legal in 1996. Medical marijuana is now permitted in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.
The vote of the European Parliament will be decisive for the future of ACTA. It has already been rejected by the Development, Civil Liberties, Legal Affairs, and Industry committees in the European Parliament, but the big votes are still to take place in the lead Trade committee and with the final Parliament vote. With pro-ACTA lobbying efforts rising by the day, this is no time to reduce the pressure.
All aspects of the opposition to ACTA deserve to be taken into consideration. Many points have been developed inside and outside the Parliament and argued as grounds to reject it. From the preservation of due process to the freedom to conduct business, from the freedom of expression to the protection of generic competition, we made a sample list and sought and gathered more reasons on our webpage.
The following are a list of 50 Reasons to Reject ACTA, gathered with your help, that we will use to convince our fellow MEPs.
ACTA is bypassing international fora, such as WIPO and WTO, which is particularly worrying considering the magnitude of the issues it is dealing with.
ACTA was negotiated in a totally non transparent way, which is unacceptable considering the impact the agreement may have on citizens.
ACTA establishes the ACTA committee in Article 36 as its own governing body which could lead to amendments of the agreement without any democratic control.
ACTA encourages a climate of relegation of the concerns of the public and of public interests that is counterproductive.
ACTA threatens the balance of copyright legislations.
ACTA locks us into an approach, when we don't know what will be, for instance, the technological evolution in the future.
ACTA can lead to the criminalisation of not-for-profit sharing.
ACTA encourages the targeting of technical intermediaries to be forced to remove material from the Internet, something that presently requires a court order.
ACTA imposes liability rules that will reduce the flexibility of European countries regarding limitation to remedies allowed by the TRIPS agreement to the disadvantage of EU companies, and particularly SMEs.
ACTA never mentions fundamental rights, when it clearly could jeopardise some of them and constitutes an offensive against the vision set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
ACTA has no provision on freedom on expression, when it can be used by governments and authorities to harm it.
ACTA threatens the protection of personal data (art 27.4), which in the case of dissidents, journalists, etc. opens the door to possible punishment and repression.
ACTA encourages (including in art. 27.3 and 27.4) measures that in many ways involve a form of monitoring of individual's use of the Internet.
ACTA can lead to the recording of personal data of Internet users (as they are defined by Art 2 of the Data Protection Directive 95/4/EC).
ACTA is a breach by corporate action to the right of privacy, to data protection, and to the confidentiality of communications, protected by Art 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and art 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.
ACTA endangers freedom of expression.
ACTA establishes legal uncertainties on many levels (art 19) which understandably generates fears from individuals as well as from businesses.
ACTA leaves key terms undefined and open to interpretation ("commercial scale", "aiding and abetting", etc).
ACTA imposes criminal sanctions (for "aiding and abetting") that are highly problematic.
ACTA allows criminalisation to encompass trivial copyright infringement out of proportion and unreasonable in the face of most national legislation.
ACTA will have a high cost of maintenance, which in itself is questionable from the point of view of government expenditure, especially in the context of the current economic crisis.
ACTA allows the search of details of internet users in breach of due process.
ACTA allows pre-emptive sanction, before due process and therefore erodes the rule of law.
ACTA does not guarantee fair trials.
ACTA favours assumption about infringement, but public action cannot be taken based on assumption and biased information given by the industry.
ACTA creates uncertainty for SMEs in ICT sectors that puts them at risk.
ACTA allows statutory damages which opens the door to litigation and the risk of large and out of proportion payments.
ACTA assumes that one copy equals one lost sale, which is an improper and misleading way to approach both copying and its impacts on business.
ACTA gives increasing power to large rights holders against smaller ones and SMEs.
ACTA does not encompass measures to avoid or sanction abuses from rights holders when it allows action irrespective of whether claims are legitimate or not.
ACTA raises serious competition problems.
ACTA weakens SMEs and their capacity to take part to innovation.
ACTA jeopardises the multi-stakeholder process in Internet governance that allowed for its success.
ACTA paves the way to a balkanisation of the Internet.
ACTA is far from being limited to counterfeiting, contrary to the impression that the name of the agreement gives.
ACTA fuels the confusion between counterfeiting and patent infringement with a clear risk of decreasing access to generic drugs.
ACTA does not tackle the real problem of sub-standard medicines while lauding ineffective and dangerous actions in the name of health protection.
ACTA is misleading for policy makers as it creates a hodgepodge, lumping together of different notions and rights that should not be treated the same way.
ACTA could affect the whole supply chain of medicines in developing countries (third party liability can include the whole generic supply chain).
ACTA targets transit goods which creates an untenable situation from the point of view of trade rules.
ACTA mandates ex officio action at a lower standard of proof than TRIPS, such as ex officio border seizure.
ACTA escalates border seizure requirements while reducing safeguards.
ACTA allows countries to rely on customs officials to perform complex adjudications on IPR issues at the border that they cannot properly exert.
ACTA can potentially greatly expand the number of cases of trademark misuse: one could meet the ACTA definition of a crime by intentionally importing a good with a counterfeit label, even if that person did not intentionally create or use the counterfeit label itself.
ACTA will have a chilling effect on generic competition, and therefore consequences for access to medicines.
ACTA can threaten anybody being in transit with medicines in his/her luggage (5d).
ACTA threatens to prevent the development of news business models.
ACTA overprotects old business models.
ACTA imposes stronger restrictions on the trade in seeds which will threaten future biodiversity and further the corporate cartelisation of the food supply.
ACTA is not legally binding in the US while it will be in the EU if ratified
It's baked in the cake. Preparations began months ago. Regime change plans are longstanding. The road to Tehran runs through Damascus.
Washington runs everything. It controls the process. At stake is regional dominance. Key also is shutting out Russia and China.
War is the strategy of choice when other methods fail. Insurgent attacks won't oust Assad. Increasingly war looks likely. Only its timing is unknown.
For months, regional states, including Israel, have been supplying insurgents with weapons. They're entering cross border. Lebanon's Khamat Airport is used. It borders Syria. It underwent reconstruction for reasons other than commercial development.
Retired Lebanese General Amin Khteit explained months earlier. He said official reasons for using the airport belie its real purpose. "(P)roven reports" say its a "transshipment base" to supply Syrian insurgents with weapons.
On June 10, Haaretz headlined "Netanyahu: Assad slaughtering Syrian civilians with the aid of Iran, Hezbollah," saying:
On Sunday, he accused Assad of carrying out recent massacres. "We see horrid pictures of children and the elderly."
"The massacre is not only carried out by the Syrian government, but is also aided by Iran and Hezbollah. The world must see this axis of evil so everyone would understand in what world we live in."
Like Obama and top US officials, Neyanyahu is a serial liar and war criminal multiple times over.
Earlier Sunday, Vice Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz also pointed fingers at Assad. He accused Russia of arming him. He called for direct military intervention.
Earlier, Israeli officials stayed mostly silent. Going public may prove significant. Hindsight will explain more than now known.
War winds have blown for months. Now they're reaching gale force. Direct intervention could come any time.
On June 11, Press TV headlined "Israel engages in publicity stunt to encourage military intervention in Syria," saying Likud party MK Ayood Kara claimed:
"....(R)ecent reports indicated that the armed groups fighting against the Syrian government have found access to and plan to use chemical weapons, acquired from Libya."
"According to a June 10 report by Russia Today, the armed rebels plan to use the chemical weapons against civilians and then attempt to blame Damascus for the atrocity."
Another same day Press TV report explained that Israeli planes are "smuggling weapons into Iraq's Kurdistan region...." They're transshipped to Syria with Qatari help.
President Massoud Barzani is involved. He's "facilitat(ing) the operations of illegal Israeli firms in the region."
Washington is training Al Qaeda elements in European countries. They're sent to Syria to commit violence.
On Press TV, this writer pointed fingers the right way. America bears full responsibility. At issue is replacing Assad with a pro-Western puppet regime.
US, UK, and other foreign special forces are involved. They're training, arming, funding, and directing insurgent strikes. So are CIA and MI6 operatives. Pro-Assad loyalists are targeted as well as strategic sites. Direct intervention approaches.
On May 27, London Guardian writer Patrick Seale headlined "In Syria, this is no plan for peace," saying:
"After the Houla massacre, it's clear that outside funding of the anti-Assad rebels is undermining efforts to end the conflict."
Unless stopped, Seale predicts "full-scale civil war." Western-sponsored insurgency to topple Assad is more accurate.
War will destroy Syria, he said. It "could destabilize the whole Levant." Assad's waging a battle for survival.
Separately he asked "What Is US Game Plan?" Drone attacks build "fierce anti-American sentiment...." Peace initiatives are sabotaged. Instead of engaging Iran responsibly, confrontational policies continue. Syrian violence increasingly spins more out of control.
"So what is Obama up to?" He adopted Israel's hardline view on most everything. Instead of solving problems, he escalates them. He pays lip service to one thing but does another.
He "embraced the argument of Israeli hawks and American neoconservatives that (toppling Assad) is the best way to weaken and isolate" Iran, "sever its ties to" Hezbollah and "Palestinian resistance movements, and eventually bring about a regime change in Tehran."
Obama, in fact, had these views throughout his tenure. He replicates America's most hardline elements. He's waging more direct and proxy wars than any US president in history.
He itches for more. He abhors peace, calm and stability. Syria is target one, then Iran, followed by other states to be named later. No end game whatever is in sight. Perpetual conflicts continue. So does mass killing and destruction.
It's shocking how few Americans understand what's going on and how it affects them directly.
On June 11, the Mossad DEBKAfile (DF) headlined "Obama speeds up limited air strike, no fly-zones preparations for Syria," saying:
He ordered "the US Navy and Air Force to accelerate preparations for a limited air offensive against the Assad regime and the imposition of no-fly zones over Syria..."
Strategy involves destroying "Assad's central regime and military command centers...."
So-called limited air attacks and no fly zones mean full scale war. Libyan-style mass killing and destruction will follow.
DF also said rebels will be supplied with greater amounts of arms and munitions. Enhanced professional training will be provided. At issue is ousting Assad more quickly.
How Moscow and Beijing react remains unclear. Both countries have vital regional interests. Losing them is unacceptable.
On June 10, Voice of Russia quoted Russian political analyst Georgi Mirsky, saying:
"The rebels are hoping to secure Western air support of their armed campaign against the Syrian government. Safe havens would be established, used by the Free Syrian Army as well as fleeing civilians."
"The Syrian army would have to attack these FSA bases, triggering an opposition appeal to the United Nations. Russia and China, however, would certainly block any intervention motion."
"NATO would probably intervene on its own, launching a massive air campaign. And once started, this new NATO war would draw in Iran."
According to Moscow-based Arab Studies Centre regional expert Boris Dolgov:
"The armed rebels are the main destabilizing force in Syria. During our January visit to that country, we found out that they do not have popular support."
"The majority of the Syrian people support President Assad and his reforms, which include the adoption of a new constitution and the introduction of multiparty democracy."
"Importantly, Syria has already held multiparty elections and formed a broad-based government. The Syrian opposition, however, is after toppling the Assad regime. It continues to stubbornly decline any dialogue with it."
Iran's FARS news agency said insurgents plan using chemical weapons smuggled from Libya. At issue is blaming Assad as a pretext for war.
FARS also reported Qatar's involvement with Israel in transshipping weapons to insurgents. Syrian security forces "discovered a large cache of weapons, explosives and ammunitions piled up and used by terrorist groups."
"(M)aterial is being stockpiled in Damascus, in Idlib near the Turkish border, and in Zabadani on the Lebanese border."
On Al-Manar Satellite channel, Lebanon's Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn said weapons smuggling continues illegally across his country's borders into Syria.
Tripoli is a base. "The armed men, coming from Turkey, Iraq and other parts, running away from Syria inflame Tripoli and Lebanon in general in implementation for premeditated schemes," he added.
Lebanon's army is doing what it can against elements destabilizing the country.
Earlier, Lebanon's navy seized a cargo ship carrying heavy machine guns, artillery shells, rockets, rocket launchers, and other explosives.
Its crew was arrested. It got permission to enter Tripoli. It originated from Libya. En route, it docked at Alexandria, Egypt. Other weapons caches were also interdicted. Large supplies are sent Syrian insurgents regularly.
On June 11, Now Lebanon headlined "Israel says Syria has the world's biggest chemical arsenal," saying:
Israeli General Staff Deputy Chief, Major General Yair Naveh claims Syrian chemical weapons, missiles and rockets can strike "any part of Israeli territory."
His remarks were broadcast Monday over Israeli military radio. He claimed Assad won't be restrained from attacking Israel. He said Syria stockpiled sarin and other nerve gas weapons.
On Sunday, the Syrian National Council (SNC) appointed a new leader. Former head Burhan Ghalioun was forced out.
Kurdish academic Abdelbaset Sayda replaced him. He lived in exile in Sweden. He told reporters at a news conference:
"We will expand and extend the base of the council so it will take on its role as an umbrella under which all the opposition will seek shade."
At issue is enlisting anti-Assad support from Syria's 1.5 million Kurds. Throughout the conflict, they've been largely neutral. He has no links to Syrian Kurds. Neither do most other SNC members. Whether the scheme works remains unclear.
Prominent dissident Fawaz Tello ended his SNC affiliation last year. At issue was Ghalioun's autocratic leadership. He said Syrian Kurds don't support Sayda.
He added that SNC members who resigned consider him weak and ineffective. "They never considered him as a candidate," they said. He doesn't represent Kurds, they claimed.
Ankara-based Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM) Syrian expert Oytun Orhan agreed, saying:
Sayda "does not represent the Kurds in the SNC. He is an independent member." He has no base among Syria's Kurdish population.
He was a compromise choice. One reason he was chosen "was to gain the support of the Kurds. From the very beginning, Kurds did not seriously participate (in) the opposition movement."
Kurdish SNC members dispute openly with other group members over issues vital to them. They deeply resent Sunni Arab SNC dominance. They support interests harming Kurdish interests.
Oytun added that it's hard imagining Kurdish political parties are happy about Sayda's appointment. What he can accomplish seems doubtful.
What's ahead for Syria appears clearer. Obama wants more war intends to get it. More mass killing and destruction will follow. It's how ugly imperialism always works.
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