Edward E. Whitacre Jr. Says He Will Step Down as G.M.’s Chief Executive
In a surprising development, GM’s chairman and chief executive, Edward Whitacre Jr. announced Thursday that he would step down as chief executive on Sept. 1 and be succeed by Daniel F. Akerson, a G.M. board member and a managing director of the Carlyle Group.
Mr. Whitacre will stay on as chairman until year end, when Mr. Akerson will assume that role as well.
“We’re going to have a smooth, seamless transition here,” Mr. Whitacre said.
The announcement came shortly after General Motors said that it earned $1.3 billion in the second quarter and cited sustained progress in rebuilding operations after emerging from its government-sponsored bankruptcy last year.
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Jobs Picture Dims as Unemployment Claims Rise
WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy is looking bleaker as new applications for jobless benefits rose last week to the highest level in almost six months.
It’s a sign that hiring remains weak and employers may be going back to cutting their staffs. Analysts say the increase suggests companies won’t be adding enough workers in August to lower the 9.5 percent unemployment rate.
First-time claims for jobless benefits edged up by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 484,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s the highest total since February. Analysts had expected claims to fall.
Initial claims have now risen in three of the last four weeks and are close to their high point for the year of 490,000, reached in late January. The four-week average, which smooths volatility, soared by 14,250 to 473,500, also the highest since late February.
The report “represents a very adverse turn in the labor market, threatening income growth and consumer spending,” Pierre Ellis, an economist at Decision Economics, wrote in a note to clients.
Even the lowest mortgage rates in decades are a gloomy sign for the economy. Average rates on 30-year fixed mortgages fell to 4.44 percent, Freddie Mac said Thursday. While that’s good for people looking to refinance or buy a home, low rates haven’t been enough to energize a struggling housing market.
And the drop suggests investors are losing confidence in the recovery. Mortgage rates track the yields on U.S. Treasurys. They are falling because investors are shifting more money away from stocks and into the safety of Treasurys, which forces those yields down.
Those yields were pushed even lower this week after the Federal Reserve downgraded its assessment of the economy on Tuesday and announced a program to buy more Treasurys to help lift the recovery.
The stock market has been falling since the Fed’s more pessimistic outlook. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 58 points on Thursday and is down more than 300 points for the week.
Economists closely watch weekly claims, which are considered a gauge of the pace of layoffs and an indication of employers’ willingness to hire.
The government’s July jobs report, released Friday, showed that the economy lost a net total of 131,000 jobs last month. Excluding the impact of the elimination of 143,000 temporary census jobs, the economy added a meager 12,000 positions, as layoffs by state and local governments almost canceled out weak hiring by businesses.
Thursday’s report on jobless claims indicates that trend may not change soon. Claims fell steadily last year from their peak of 651,000, reached in March 2009. But they have mostly leveled out this year at or above 450,000. In a healthy economy with rapid hiring, claims usually drop below 400,000.
The rise in claims is a sign that private employers may be ramping up layoffs, which declined as recently as June, according to a separate government report released Wednesday.
States with the largest increases in claims two weeks ago cited rising layoffs in the construction and manufacturing industries. The state data lags the national report by one week.
Claims could also be rising because of large job cuts by state and local governments, which are struggling with unprecedented budget gaps. State and local governments cut 48,000 jobs in July, the most in a year.
Some economists speculate that many census workers whose jobs are finished are requesting unemployment benefits.
Another possibility is that small companies, facing tight credit, are still reducing their staffs, even as larger corporations slowly resume hiring.
The report comes after the Federal Reserve said Tuesday that “employers remain reluctant to add to payrolls.” The central bank said the pace of economic recovery is likely to be more modest than anticipated.
And on Wednesday, the Commerce Department said June imports jumped while exports dropped. That pushed the trade gap to its widest point since October 2008. Many economists say that could reduce economic growth estimates in the April-to-June quarter to 1.2 percent — half the 2.4 percent annual rate the government estimated last month.
That’s a sharp slowdown from the 5 percent growth in the final quarter of 2009 and the 3.7 percent pace in the January-to-March quarter. That weakening could be prompting more employers to cut staff, or at least hold off on hiring.
The total number of people receiving benefits dropped 118,000 to 4.45 million, the department said. But that doesn’t include another 5.3 million people receiving extended benefits paid for by the federal government, as of the week ending July 24, the latest data available.
Some companies are still cutting workers. Medical products manufacturer CareFusion Corp. said Wednesday it plans to eliminate 700 jobs, saving the company up to $120 million a year.
| — Hat tip: Lurker from Tulsa | [Return to headlines] |
USA: The Stunning Decline of Barack Obama: 10 Key Reasons Why the Obama Presidency is in Meltdown
by Nile Gardiner
The last few weeks have been a nightmare for President Obama, in a summer of discontent in the United States which has deeply unsettled the ruling liberal elites, so much so that even the Left has begun to turn against the White House. While the anti-establishment Tea Party movement has gained significant ground and is now a rising and powerful political force to be reckoned with, many of the president’s own supporters as well as independents are rapidly losing faith in Barack Obama, with open warfare breaking out between the White House and the left-wing of the Democratic Party. While conservatism in America grows stronger by the day, the forces of liberalism are growing increasingly weaker and divided.
Against this backdrop, the president’s approval ratings have been sliding dramatically all summer, with the latest Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll of US voters dropping to minus 22 points, the lowest point so far for Barack Obama since taking office. While just 24 per cent of American voters strongly approve of the president’s job performance, almost twice that number, 46 per cent, strongly disapprove. According to Rasmussen, 65 per cent of voters believe the United States is going down the wrong track, including 70 per cent of independents.
The RealClearPolitics average of polls now has President Obama at over 50 per cent disapproval, a remarkably high figure for a president just 18 months into his first term. Strikingly, the latest USA Today/Gallup survey has the President on just 41 per cent approval, with 53 per cent disapproving.
There are an array of reasons behind the stunning decline and political fall of President Obama, chief among them fears over the current state of the US economy, with widespread concern over high levels of unemployment, the unstable housing market, and above all the towering budget deficit. Americans are increasingly rejecting President Obama’s big government solutions to America’s economic woes, which many fear will lead to the United States sharing the same fate as Greece.
Growing disillusionment with the Obama administration’s handling of the economy as well as health care and immigration has gone hand in hand with mounting unhappiness with the President’s aloof and imperial style of leadership, and a growing perception that he is out of touch with ordinary Americans, especially at a time of significant economic pain. Barack Obama’s striking absence of natural leadership ability (and blatant lack of experience) has played a big part in undermining his credibility with the US public, with his lacklustre handling of the Gulf oil spill coming under particularly intense fire.
On the national security and foreign policy front, President Obama has not fared any better. His leadership on the war in Afghanistan has been confused and at times lacking in conviction, and seemingly dictated by domestic political priorities rather than military and strategic goals. His overall foreign policy has been an appalling mess, with his flawed strategy of engagement of hostile regimes spectacularly backfiring. And as for the War on Terror, his administration has not even acknowledged it is fighting one.
Can it get any worse for President Obama? Undoubtedly yes. Here are 10 key reasons why the Obama presidency is in serious trouble, and why its prospects are unlikely to improve between now and the November mid-terms.
1. The Obama presidency is out of touch with the American people
In a previous post I noted how the Obama presidency increasingly resembles a modern-day Ancien Régime, extravagant, decaying and out of touch with ordinary Americans. The First Lady’s ill-conceived trip to Spain at a time of widespread economic hardship was symbolic of a White House that barely gives a second thought to public opinion on many issues, and frequently projects a distinctly elitist image. The “let them eat cake” approach didn’t play well over two centuries ago, and it won’t succeed today.
2. Most Americans don’t have confidence in the president’s leadership
This deficit of trust in Obama’s leadership is central to his decline. According to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, “nearly six in ten voters say they lack faith in the president to make the right decisions for the country”, and two thirds “say they are disillusioned with or angry about the way the federal government is working.” The poll showed that a staggering 58 per cent of Americans say they do not have confidence in the president’s decision-making, with just 42 per cent saying they do.
3. Obama fails to inspire
In contrast to the soaring rhetoric of his 2006 Convention speech in Chicago which succeeded in impressing millions of television viewers at the time, America is no longer inspired by Barack Obama’s flat, monotonous and often dull presidential speeches and statements delivered via teleprompter. From his extraordinarily uninspiring Afghanistan speech at West Point to his flat State of the Union address, President Obama has failed to touch the heart of America. Even Jimmy Carter was more moving.
4. The United States is drowning in debt
The Congressional Budget Office Long-Term Budget Outlook offers a frightening picture of the scale of America’s national debt. Under its alternative fiscal scenario, the CBO projects that US debt could rise to 87 percent of GDP by 2020, 109 percent by 2025, and 185 percent in 2035. While much of Europe, led by Britain and Germany, are aggressively cutting their deficits, the Obama administration is actively growing America’s debt, and has no plan in place to avert a looming Greek-style financial crisis.
5. Obama’s Big Government message is falling flat
The relentless emphasis on bailouts and stimulus spending has done little to spur economic growth or create jobs, but has greatly advanced the power of the federal government in America. This is not an approach that is proving popular with the American public, and even most European governments have long ditched this tax and spend approach to saving their own economies.
6. Obama’s support for socialised health care is a huge political mistake
In an extraordinary act of political Harakiri, President Obama leant his full support to the hugely controversial, unpopular and divisive health care reform bill, with a monstrous price tag of $940 billion, whose repeal is now supported by 55 per cent of likely US voters. As I wrote at the time of its passing, the legislation is “a great leap forward by the United States towards a European-style vision of universal health care, which will only lead to soaring costs, higher taxes, and a surge in red tape for small businesses. This reckless legislation dramatically expands the power of the state over the lives of individuals, and could not be further from the vision of America’s founding fathers.”
7. Obama’s handling of the Gulf oil spill has been weak-kneed and indecisive
While much of the spilled oil in the Gulf has now been thankfully cleared up, the political damage for the White House will be long-lasting. Instead of showing real leadership on the matter by acing decisively and drawing upon offers of international support, the Obama administration settled on a more convenient strategy of relentlessly bashing an Anglo-American company while largely sitting on its hands. Significantly, a poll of Louisiana voters gave George W. Bush higher marks for his handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with 62 percent disapproving of Obama’s performance on the Gulf oil spill.
8. US foreign policy is an embarrassing mess under the Obama administration
It is hard to think of a single foreign policy success for the Obama administration, but there have been plenty of missteps which have weakened American global power as well as the standing of the United States. The surrender to Moscow on Third Site missile defence, the failure to aggressively stand up to Iran’s nuclear programme, the decision to side with ousted Marxists in Honduras, the slap in the face for Great Britain over the Falklands, have all contributed to the image of a US administration completely out of its depth in international affairs. The Obama administration’s high risk strategy of appeasing America’s enemies while kicking traditional US allies has only succeeded in weakening the United States while strengthening her adversaries.
9. President Obama is muddled and confused on national security
From the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the War on Terror, President Obama’s leadership has often been muddled and confused.. On Afghanistan he rightly sent tens of thousands of additional troops to the battlefield. At the same time however he bizarrely announced a timetable for the withdrawal of US forces beginning in July 2011, handing the initiative to the Taliban. On Iraq he has announced an end to combat operations and the withdrawal of all but 50,000 troops despite a recent upsurge in terrorist violence and political instability, and without the Iraqi military and police ready to take over. In addition he has ditched the concept of a War on Terror, replacing it with an Overseas Contingency Operation, hardly the right message to send in the midst of a long-war against Al-Qaeda.
10. Obama doesn’t believe in American greatness
Barack Obama has made it clear that he doesn’t believe in American exceptionalism, and has made apologising for his country into an art form. In a speech to the United Nations last September he stated that “no one nation can or should try to dominate another nation. No world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will succeed. No balance of power among nations will hold.” It is difficult to see how a US president who holds these views and does not even accept America’s greatness in history can actually lead the world’s only superpower with force and conviction.
There is a distinctly Titanic-like feel to the Obama presidency and it’s not hard to see why. The most left-wing president in modern American history has tried to force a highly interventionist, government-driven agenda that runs counter to the principles of free enterprise, individual freedom, and limited government that have made the United States the greatest power in the world, and the freest nation on earth.
This, combined with weak leadership both at home and abroad against the backdrop of tremendous economic uncertainty in an increasingly dangerous world, has contributed to a spectacular political collapse for a president once thought to be invincible. America at its core remains a deeply conservative nation, which cherishes its traditions and founding principles. President Obama is increasingly out of step with the American people, by advancing policies that undermine the United States as a global power, while undercutting America’s deep-seated love for freedom..
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Amil Imani: Mosques and the Islamization of America
Disguised as religion, Islam has penetrated democracies with the aim of replacing civility and liberty with the barbarism of 7th century Islamic theocracy and Sharia law. Islamâ€(tm)s multi-pronged attack aims to destroy all that liberty offers…
| — Hat tip: Amil Imani | [Return to headlines] |
Israeli Serial Killer Arrested
Suspect in 5 murders nabbed while boarding a flight to Tel Aviv.
A suspected serial killer was captured at the Hartsfield- Jackson Atlanta International Airport Wednesday night as he was about to board a plane to Tel Aviv on an expired Israeli passport.
The suspect, Elias Abuelazam, is believed to be linked to five deaths and dozens of stabbings in Michigan, Ohio and Virginia — all people chosen apparently at random, though most were African-American.
Abuelazam, a Christian, was born in Ramle, reportedly moved to the US as a child, but made several trips back to the town of his birth where his mother and several uncles live.
His ex-wife Jessica said she was “shocked” to hear about the alleged murders, but “could not say more before I get more details about what happened.”
The attacks began in late spring, and police said they usually followed a pattern: The suspect approached black men late at night on lonely urban roads and asked for directions or help with a broken-down car. Then, without warning, he pulled out a knife and struck. He then sped away, leaving them for dead.
The brazen nature and the frequency of the attacks — the assailant struck an average of about once every four days since the first stabbing in May — has terrified some of those in cities he’s already targeted. The youngest victim was 17; the oldest was 60.
Initially, police did not refer to Abuelazam as a suspect.
“We just want to be absolutely certain that we’re not rushing to judgment on that… He’s certainly a very strong person of interest,” a Leesburg, Virginia, police spokesperson said. “We just want to make sure that the link is 100-percent solidified, to link him to the incidents.”
However, on Thursday morning, a Flint, Michigan, judge issued a warrant charging Abuelazam with assault with intent to murder in a July 27 attack on one Antwione Marshall.
US Customs and Border Protection officials — part of a division of US Homeland Security — arrested Abuelazam Wednesday night during the boarding of Tel Aviv-bound Delta Airlines Flight 152, after his name was seen on the passenger manifest and flagged by law enforcement.
Passengers on that flight said as they arrived in Tel Aviv that Abuelazam had been tense and talking on his cell phone when he was arrested at the boarding gate shortly before takeoff. They said six police officers had led him away without incident.
| — Hat tip: KGS | [Return to headlines] |
Kindergarten Whiz Kids Earn More as Adults
Students who learn more in kindergarten earn more as adults and are more successful overall, according to a new study.
Kids who progressed during their kindergarten year from earning an average score on a particular standardized test to scoring in the 60th percentile can expect to make about $1,000 more a year at age 27 than students whose scores stay average.
Add in other advantages, like smaller kindergarten class size, and the earnings boost goes up to $2,000 a year.
“Kindergarten interventions matter a great deal for long-term outcomes,” said study researcher John Friedman, a Harvard University economist. “For instance, being in a smaller class for two years increases the probability of attending college by 2 percent.”
The researchers looked at 12,000 children in about 80 schools across Tennessee who were randomly placed in classrooms of different sizes. When the cohort of students hit age 30, the researchers followed up to determine how successful the individuals have been.
The findings revealed that kindergarten matters ? a lot. Students of kindergarten teachers with above-average experience earn $900 more in annual wages than students of teachers with less experience than average. Being in a class of 15 students instead of a class of 22 increased students’ chances of attending college, especially for children who were disadvantaged, Friedman said.
Children whose test scores improved to the 60th percentile were also less likely to become single parents, more likely to own a home by age 28, and more likely to save for retirement earlier in their work lives.
“A study like this highlights how important kindergarten and other early education is for students, and for their later-life outcomes, not just in thinking about a single student, but also in thinking about inequality across students,” Friedman said in a video put out by the National Science Foundation, which funded the study. “I think our study will make policymakers focus on how the decisions that they make impact not just schools today but also the long-run futures of our children.”
The researchers presented the study at an academic conference in Cambridge, Mass.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Mysteries of the Absent Imam Feisal
For a man whom one would hope has nothing to hide, the imam behind the Ground Zero mosque project sure has dropped out of sight. Having triggered an uproar in the U.S., Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf ducked out of the country weeks ago and, apart from a potted statement last week praising his own project, has pretty much clammed up.
In New York Rauf has become a sort of phantom celebrity. His name is plastered all over the public debate, but Rauf himself has been absent and oddly unavailable, even by phone or e-mail, to answer questions. From his New York colleagues, the refrain has been that he is in Malaysia, and “unavailable.”
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New York: Paterson Aide Charged With Assault
David W. Johnson, one of Gov. David A. Paterson’s closest aides, surrendered to Bronx prosecutors Thursday morning to face misdemeanor assault charges, a person briefed on the matter said.
Mr. Johnson arrived at the office of the Bronx district attorney shortly before 9:30 a.m. and was expected to be formally charged later Thursday morning. Mr. Johnson is the man at the center of a domestic violence scandal that led to Mr. Paterson’s decision not to seek election.
A special investigation into the scandal found that though Mr. Paterson and his advisers made errors of judgment in their handling of a domestic violence case involving Mr. Johnson, their actions were not criminal.
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Offer Rejected to Move Mosque Away From Ground Zero to ‘State Property’
The developers of the so-called Ground Zero mosque rejected New York Gov. David Paterson’s offer to provide state property if the project is moved farther away from where the twin towers once stood.
In an effort to appease disputing parties, Paterson had said Tuesday that he would provide state help to the group sponsoring the Cordoba House if the developers opt to move it elsewhere.
“Frankly, if the sponsors were looking for property anywhere at a distance that would be such that it would accommodate a better feeling among the people who are frustrated, I would look into trying to provide them with the state property they would need,” Paterson said.
While Paterson has “no objection” to the mosque being built a few blocks away from Ground Zero, he said he’s “very sensitive to the desire of those who are adamant against it to see something else worked out.”
But Paterson said Wednesday that the developers told his office they weren’t interested in moving.
“I think they would like to stay where they are, and I certainly respect that and I certainly respect them,” Paterson said. “Having said that, how much more foresighted would it have been if the imam who is the developer of the project had been willing to hear what we are actually talking about?”
The building of the $100 million Islamic center and mosque has led to a firestorm of criticism over its proposed location — just a few blocks away from the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by Islamic terrorists that left nearly 3,000 dead.
A handful of Republicans, like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, have blasted the project’s location, while others, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have forcefully defended it as a symbol of America’s religious tolerance.
Religious leaders from various denominations also have supported the group’s plans, arguing that critics’ attacks amount to “religious bigotry.”
“It’s simply wrong for Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin, public figures who frequently reference their Christian values, to malign all Muslims by comparing this cultural center and mosque with a radical ideology that led to the horrific attacks of 9-11,” said Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of NETWORK, a national lobbying group that advocates Catholic social justice. “We fail to honor those killed by terrorists when we betray the bedrock principle of religious freedom that has guided our democracy for centuries.”
On Wednesday, the group leading the opposition against the mosque’s planned location called the governor’s “willingness to engage this issue” a “positive development.”
“We’re pleased that he realizes the sensitive nature of this issue,” said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, adding that he supports “having other land available to the mosque” but wouldn’t want taxpayers to subsidize it.
The American Center for Law and Justice is fighting the New York City Landmarks Preservation Committee over the mosque plans — the group filed suit against the committee after it declined to grant landmark status to the proposed site. The tower could span up to 15 stories and will house a mosque, a 500-seat auditorium and a pool.
The group also is calling on the State Department to back off plans to sponsor the imam of that controversial mosque on an upcoming trip to the Middle East.
The department confirmed Tuesday that the administration is sponsoring Feisal Abdul Rauf’s trip to Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, which is described as part of a program to send Muslims abroad to educate other countries about the role of religion in the United States. Rauf made similar trips during the Bush administration. Rauf has become a controversial figure because of his refusal to acknowledge Hamas as a terrorist organization, which is how the U.S. government classifies the group.
The State Department, meanwhile, has defended Rauf and his planned visit to the Middle East.
“He is a distinguished Muslim cleric,” said State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley. “We do have a program whereby, through our Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau here at the State Department, we send people from Muslim communities here in this country around the world to help people overseas understand our society and the role of religion within our society.”
| — Hat tip: Vlad Tepes | [Return to headlines] |
President of What?
by Roger Kimball
A friend just sent me President Obama’s official statement “on the Occasion of Ramadan.” It’s short on words but long on mischief. It begins with platitudes and proceeds with mendacity.
The platitude:
“Ramadan is a time when Muslims around the world reflect upon the wisdom and guidance that comes with faith, and the responsibility that human beings have to one another, and to God.”
The mendacity:
“These rituals [fasting and so on] remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings. Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality. And here in the United States, Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been part of America and that American Muslims have made extraordinary contributions to our country.”
What role has Islam paid in advancing justice? None. What role has it played in advance progress, whether you understand the word in a technological or a political sense? None. What role has it played in advancing tolerance? Ask Daniel Pearl. “A faith known for diversity and racial equality”: absolute rubbish. And as for the the idea that “American Muslims have made extraordinary contributions to our country,” name one.
Reading this preposterous statement, mulling over the administration’s position regarding the proposed mosque at Ground Zero — a mosque a Ground Zero! — thinking about the President’s obsequiousness to a Saudi prince, his exclusion of such words as “jihad” and “Islamofascism” from the library of permissible words, I wonder exactly where his loyalty lies. Not for the first time over the last 18 months or so, I to ask myself: “So here’s President Obama: what, exactly, is he President of.”
“The United States, silly,” you say.
Well, that’s what it says at www.whitehouse.gov. But is he really the President of the Untied States? I am not, I hasten to add, suggesting that he wan’t born here or anything like that. No I am just thinking about that little word “of.” It’s a complicated semantic package, isn’t it? Look it up and ponder the page of nuanced definitions all of which suggest some for of union, contiguity, possession, adhesion, filiation.
But is Barack Hussein Obama President of the United States in any of those senses? Again, I don’t dispute his title. I just wonder what, in his case, it means…
| — Hat tip: Andy Bostom | [Return to headlines] |
Earth’s Oldest Cranny Explored
Despite billions of years of churning and melting beneath the tectonic plates, a pocket of deep mantle rock that formed just as Earth was first solidifying may have survived intact. And this old fogey still has kick: It may have spewed lavas on Canada’s Baffin Island a mere 62 million years ago.
The Baffin Island rocks had showed signs of being the product of primordial stuff. They have the highest proportion of the isotope helium-3 relative to helium-4 of any rocks known. This suggests that the rocks came from a “primitive” region of Earth, as, unlike helium-4, helium-3 can’t be replenished and thus must have come from the original building blocks of the planet. What’s more, the ratio of two isotopes of the element neodymium match what geochemists would expect for a residue from Earth’s early ocean of molten magma. That residue was proposed to have formed 4.5 billion years ago and sunk to the bottom of the mantle.
Now Matthew Jackson of Boston University and his colleagues have dated Baffin Island lavas using isotopes of lead. The age is about 4.50 billion years, they report in the 12 August issue of Nature. All three geochemical signatures are consistent with the idea that the eruption that produced the Baffin Island lavas tapped into a pocket of mantle rock undisturbed since a few tens of millions of years after Earth first came together. The consistency “doesn’t prove we’re right,” says Jackson, “but it becomes pretty difficult to argue it’s all serendipitous.”
If Jackson and colleagues are indeed correct, they have in the Baffin Island lavas a sample of earliest Earth. How it would have gotten there is not certain. The rock formed from a huge volcanic eruption 62 million years ago where the continents were splitting apart to form the North Atlantic Ocean, about where Iceland is today. Many researchers think such eruptions are fed by towering plumes of hot rock rising from the bottom of the mantle hard against the molten iron core. In a scenario favored by co-author Richard Carlson of the Carnegie Institution of Washington’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism in Washington, D.C., the bottom of the mantle is also where rock that separated from primordial crust 4.5 billion years ago would have ended up.
Geochemical theories are notoriously hard to prove, so some scientists are hedging their bets about the new result. “I’m not going to commit myself,” says geochemist Albrecht Hofmann of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany. “It’s an exciting story, a possibility that has to be explored.” Geochemist David Graham of Oregon State University, Corvallis, is willing to go further. “Taken together,” he says, “it’s reasonably strong evidence” of the oldest surviving glob of mantle rock in the planet.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Security Officials Are Afraid to Look Out for Our Safety
YouTube revelations led to more disclosures. Respected Middle East scholar, Daniel Pipes, witnessed beveiled folk—whether male or female, he couldn’t tell—swanning unchallenged through Canadian boarding controls. A former U.S. Special Forces soldier reportedly saw arrogant face-veiled women “harangue” and threaten a screener with lawsuits for daring to ask to see their faces in a private room. The screener caved, let them pass, and was humiliated with laughter from the victorious women who—in Arabic—disparaged “simpleton Canadians.”
“Simpleton Canadians?” Quite so. For this fiasco makes a farce and fraud of Canadian jurisdiction, no-fly lists, security regulations—and ministerial declarations. Indeed, increasing numbers of Canadians, such as Muslim Canadian Congress founder Tarek Fatah, find the situation “disgraceful and alarming.” Fatah is not far off when he says that no covered person has any business being within an airport’s perimeter, let alone getting a free pass onto a plane.
So now Baird’s successor, Chuck Strahl, must play catch-up with the belated promise to identify all passengers. But the real question is, how?
Fatah says that security-system failures can be ascribed to the cowardice of those involved in the system, from small fry at the gate, to big fish at the top of the government and airline bureaucratic-political food chain. Some of these people worry about the career and personal implications of enforcing the law and challenging radicals. They dread concocted “racist” or “anti-Muslim” smears, and are haunted by the spectre of overactive human rights commissions and courts.
Unfortunately, the same conflict-averse, self-serving surrenderers may well be the very people who will review past failures and approve future measures. This has troubling implications that go to the heart of Charter rights and Canadian values.
Submission to the Saudi-style sharia Islamic sensitivities
How? In submission to the Saudi-style sharia Islamic sensitivities that seem to have driven some screening supervision, expect officials to set up male-exclusion zones in airports for the purpose of identifying “niqabis.” And expect only females to be authorized for this official work, with hiring practices to mirror the gender-apartheid sensibilities involved. Our tax and travel dollars would thus fund sharia and stealth jihad by the back door.
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France: Advertising War Over Halal Food
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, AUGUST 11 — French halal food brands, who want to leave behind the niche market of ethnic food, are modernising their strategies and launching TV adverts and campaigns with billboards in large cities to publicise their foodstuffs that conform with the precepts of the Koran.
The first to launch itself into the challenge was Zakai Halal, a brand of the Panzani food group, which has for some time been running adverts on two national television networks Tf1 and M6, to accompany the distribution of its products in supermarkets and their diversification.
Their example was rapidly followed by rival Isla Delice, which has opted for billboards — 6,000 distributed in 600 cities — with the slogan which says it all: “Proudly halal”. “We want to throw off the cliche’s that are Orientalist, such as arabesques and belly dancing,” explained the head of the advertising campaign, Luc Wise, to Le Figaro. “Muslim consumers who we have talked to are unanimous: they aspire to be represented as modern consumers, who associate halal with Thai cuisine or to hamburgers.” Halal meat and cold cuts in France are increasingly produced and sold also by major food brands such as Knorr, Liebig or Maggi, which are progressively taking away market shares from specialised companies that controlled the market until now.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Lavazza Buys Stake in US Coffee Company
Italian coffee giant takes 7% stake in Green Mountain
(ANSA) — Turin, August 11 — Italian coffee giant Lavazza has agreed to acquire a 7% stake in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) of the United States for $250 million, the two companies announced in a joint press release on Wednesday.
The operation, which must be approved by US anti-trust authorities, is expected to be completed in September and is the biggest investment the family-owned Italian company has made abroad.
Over the past four years Lavazza has been intensifying its expansion abroad, acquiring companies in emerging countries like India, Brazil and Argentina.
Lavazza and GMCR have also agreed to cooperate to develop new single-serve espresso machines and single-serve espresso capsules designed for use in these machines. The new machines, which Lavazza will manufacture, would complement GMCR’s line of Keurig single-cup coffee brewers, the press release said.
The accord also allows GMCR to distribute, market and sell existing coffee espresso single-cup machines utilizing Lavazza’s espresso technology for in-home use in the US and Canada.
“We are thrilled to have entered this very important alliance with GMCR,” Lavazza CEO Gaetano Mele said in the statement.
“This agreement offers a unique opportunity to fully develop the potential of the authentic Italian espresso, and espresso-based beverages, in North America,” he added.
“We are confident that this investment is only a first step in a broader collaboration with GMCR,” Mele said.
GMCR is a recognised leader in the specialised coffee market and a pioneer in single-cup brewing.
Lavazza, founded in 1895, is one of the world’s largest coffee manufacturers and the retail market leader in Italy. It directly operates 11 international subsidiaries and its products are marketed in 90 countries.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Civil Servants Spent Taxpayers’ Money on Jazz Workshops and at Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Civil servants have been spending thousands of pounds of public money on jazz workshops, “stress angels” and trips to a nature reserve and Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
The disclosures came ahead of the Department of Communities and Local Government publishing a list of all spending on its running costs over £500 in a bid to promote greater transparency over how public money is spent. Last night the department released details of all spending over £500 by the central Government’s eight regional offices — the Government Offices of the Regions — for 2009/10.
They show that thousands of pounds was spent on wellbeing and training companies, as well as hotels, consultants, a cycle company and even a limousine company.
Some £1,673 was spent with a firm called “Stress Angels”, which offers therapies including “on-site acupressure massage, Indian Head Massage and Reflexology”. Its website adds that all the therapies are “carried out with the client fully clothed”.
A further £3,450 was spent with Improwise, which claims to use “a live jazz quartet to demonstrate a range of skills, techniques and issues in a way which is unusual, inspiring, memorable and always effective”.. More than £1,000 was given to Illumine Ltd, which “specialises in enhancing practical thinking skills to improve the performance of individuals and organisations”.
A further £539 was spent on a trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach and £626..75 on a trip to Attenborough Nature Centre, a nature reserve near Nottingham. Local Government Minister Bob Neill said: “It seems quite literally the Government Offices of the Regions were taking the taxpayer for ride. “They were living it up at the taxpayers expense whilst thousands of households were struggling to make ends meet. It’s unforgivable that a culture of excess was allowed to flourish for so long.”
Most of the money was spent on day to day running costs like water and electricity bills,and building maintenance. The figures only offer other a brief description of why the money was spent — such as “events organisation” or “accommodation services” — and where the cash was spent. Some of the money was spent on football clubs, although it is not clear if the cash was used to buy match tickets. More than £5,000 was spent at Manchester City and £1,359 at Manchester Unitedfor “learning and development”..
Another £543 was spent on a limousine company in the North East of England. Nearly £200,000 was spent on hotels including the Hilton, Royal Horseguards and at the Thistle Hotel, Marble Arch in central London. A further £3,670 was spent with cycle company Halfords. More than £10,000 was spent with consultants, and £100,000 was spent with an opinion poll company.
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
Tomb-Bot Will be the First to Enter Final Secret Chambers of the Great Pyramid
Egyptologists are hoping some 21st-century tech will help them unlock secrets from 4,500 years ago. They’re using a robot to explore the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The robot will traverse two unexplored shafts leading from the Queen’s Chamber in the pyramid. Nobody knows where the shafts, which were discovered in 1872, lead.
Known as the Djedi project, after the magician whom the Egyptian king Khufu consulted when planning his pyramid, the robot will be able to drill through a secret door in the pyramid’s innards to see what lies beyond.
A robotics team from Leeds University in the UK is working with Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities to design the tomb bot, which is a follow-up to an earlier robotic mission that found the secret door in the first place.
The Pyramid of Khufu, after the king who built it around 2,560 BC, is the last remaining wonder of the ancient world. It involves a series of passageways and two rooms at its center, called the King’s Chamber and the Queen’s Chamber. Two shafts rise from the King’s Chamber at 45-degree angles toward the sky — as the Independent reports, they’re thought to be a passageway to the heavens.
The Queen’s Chamber has two shafts too, but they don’t lead to the outside of the pyramid.
In 1992, researchers sent a camera up the shaft and found it was blocked by a limestone door with copper handles. Ten years later, researchers drilled through the door, hoping to unlock a treasure trove of artifacts — but they found yet another door about 8 inches away. The Djedi project will drill through the second door and, researchers hope, follow the shaft to its end.
The team hopes to send the robot through the door by the end of the year, the Independent reports.
Robert Richardson, of the Leeds University School of Mechanical Engineering, says the team will continue the expedition until they reach the end of the shafts, and that they have no preconceptions about what they’ll find.
One can only hope it will be something out of this world.
| — Hat tip: Wally Ballou | [Return to headlines] |
Gaza: Death Penalty Extended to Drug Dealer
(ANSAmed) — GAZA, AUGUST 10 — Hamas is about to let the axe of the death penalty fall on drug traffickers in the Gaza Strip, after its executioners have been busy over recent days with punishing alleged ‘collaborators’ with Israel. The decision has been confirmed today by the head prosecutor of the enclave which has been under control of the Palestinian radical Islamist movement since 2007.
“Just as we destroy the drugs, it is our intention to hang the traffickers,” the judge told journalists at a police station were a large quantity of hashish was incinerated today along with ecstasy pills, contraband pharmaceuticals and alcohol, all recently seized in the Strip. “The Criminal Code,” the official continued, “will be modified within the year to include crimes aimed at ruining our society among those punishable with capital punishment. These include anti-patriotic, inhuman and immoral behaviour”.
The extension is of a death penalty, which the Hamas regime has begun to implement despite protests from the Palestine National Authority under President Mahmoud Abbas. He is in theory the only person enabled to authorise it in the Territories, but his role has not been recognised for some time now in Gaza and the extension confirms the feeling that the screw of repression is being tightened on the Strip.
Some analysts see this stepping up of the regime’s repressive nature as Hamas’ way of reacting and enforcing consensus in its continuing isolation within its enclave, as well as to the recent appearance of groups of even more extreme orientation, inspired by the slogans of Al Qaeda. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
DHS Caught and Released 481 ‘Fugitive’ Illegals From State Sponsors of Terror and ‘Countries of Interest’
All from state sponsors of terror, ‘countries of interest’
In the three fiscal years from 2007-2009, the Department of Homeland Security caught and released 481 illegal aliens from nations designated as state sponsors of terrorism and “countries of interest,” and those 481 aliens are now fugitives, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement database obtained by CNSNews.com as the result of a Freedom of Information Act request.
The four state sponsors of terrorism, as determined by the State Department, are Iran, Syria, Sudan and Cuba. The “countries of interest” are those additional countries whose citizens have been subjected to enhanced screening on U.S.-bound flights by the Transportation Security Administration as a result of the attempted Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Flight 253.
On Jan. 3, 2010, TSA said in a statement that the agency was “mandating that every individual flying into the U.S. from anywhere in the world who holds a passport issued by or is traveling from or through nations that are state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest will be required to go through enhanced screening.” TSA did not specify which nations it considered “countries of interest.”
But a Jan. 4, 2010 New York Times report, citing Obama administration officials, identified them as Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen.
A report in USA Today that day, citing the TSA as the source, described the full list of nations whose citizens would be targeted for enhanced security checks as “14 countries with terrorism problems.”
The database that ICE provided to CNSNews.com includes the date that each illegal alien was taken into custody (booked in) by the federal government, the date they were released (booked out), which of the 24 regional ICE jurisdictions they were booked in, the status of the case (whether the person has been deported, the case against him has been withdrawn, or whether the case is still active, etc.), the category of the case (which includes whether the person is a fugitive), the gender of the alien and his or her country of citizenship. DHS withheld the names and birthdates of the aliens.
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‘Iran to Give Hizbullah Weapons’
Report: Turkey will also “send weapons, rockets, guns” to Lebanon.
Turkey and Iran are rumored to be helping Hizbullah obtain new weapons, Italian daily Corriere Della Sera reported on Wednesday evening.
Turkish intelligence chief Hakan Fidan reportedly met with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Taeb to discuss relations between the two countries.
Sources told Corriere Della Sera that Turkey will “send sophisticated weapons, rockets and guns to Syria, that will end up in Lebanon,” where the Iranian Army will ensure the weapons are transferred to Hizbullah.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards “will facilitate the transition, ensure safety, watch loads on the routes, and provide support to the border,” the report said.
The Iranians reportedly want to build a weapons network similar to that in the Sudan, and hope to help Hamas, as well.
The Italian newspaper reported that Western intelligence sources “view the Turkish-Iranian plot with concern, as they are obvious risks to safety.”
“The [intelligence] services in Ankara are among the best in the region,” sources told Corriere Della Sera. “They have great knowledge of the Middle East, and know how to move on the routes of illegal trafficking.”
| — Hat tip: KGS | [Return to headlines] |
‘Turks Hit PKK With Chemical Weapons’
Report: German newspaper says photos of dead Kurds confirm use.
BERLIN — German politicians called on Thursday for an international investigation into the reported use of chemical weapons by the Turkish military. The weapons were used against members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), according to the online edition of the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel.
“Turkey needs to urgently look into these accusations,” said Ruprecht Polenz, chairman of the Foreign Affairs committee in the Bundestag and a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party.
Polenz recommended an international investigation to examine the deaths of eight Kurdish activists from the PKK. Claudia Roth, co-chair of the German Green party, echoed Polenz’s criticisms, seconding his call for an investigation.
MP Andrej Hunko urged the German Foreign Ministry to file a complaint against Turkey with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague.
A forensic report from Hamburg University Hospital confirmed that the eight Kurds had been murdered by “the use of chemical substances.”
Turkish Kurdish human rights members delivered photos in March to a delegation of German politicians, Turkey specialists, and journalists. The bodies in the photos were severely deformed and torn to pieces; the photos formed the basis for the forensic report. Hans Baumann, a German expert on the authenticity of photos, confirmed that photos had not been doctored.
The eight Kurdish PKK members were killed last September. The 31 photos, according to German media, are so disturbing that news organizations have been reluctant to publish them. The murdered PKK rebels — two women and six men — range in age from 19 to 33.
The allegation of employing chemical weapons against the Kurdish minority group could further taint Turkey’s battered human rights record.
Turkey’s nearly 12 million Kurds are seeking increased rights and autonomy. Turkey’s armed forces have, according to human rights groups, brutally suppressed the Kurdish ethnic minority’s attempts to secure more independence in the southeast. In July, a series of violent clashes between the Turkish military and Kurdish rebels broke out. The PKK had previously attacked a Turkish military post, killing eight Turkish soldiers, prompting a wave of military strikes resulting in the deaths of 12 Kurds.
Turkey is a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention. The alleged use of chemical weapons would constitute a violation of the anti-chemical weapons treaty.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry denied engaging in chemical and biological warfare, according to a report in the daily Tageszeitung. The paper noted that German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle had been informed of the chemical weapons allegations before his trip to Turkey in late July, but has declined to take diplomatic action.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey to Earn Over $1 Billion From Defense Industry Exports
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, AUGUST 11 — Current projections show that Turkey’s defense industry exports would exceed well over $1 billion next year, daily Today’s Zaman reports quoting Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan as saying on Tuesday. The minister also mentioned expectations related to the sector’s turnover, saying the defense industry’s annual earnings would reach $3 billion in 2011 from the current $2.3 billion. This figure was $832 million in 2009 and only $248 million in 2002, he said.
Caglayan was speaking at a press conference in Ankara to promote the upcoming 2nd Equipment Expo of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Ankara Industry Fair, both of which are scheduled for October 2010.
Caglayan said the TSK procured 46% of its defense requirements from national producers in 2009, adding that the rate had seen levels as low as 20% in the past. He summarized the “rapid developments” attained recently in the Turkish defense industry, mentioning in particular an accord that paves the way for the production of the engines of F-35 Lightning II jets in Turkey. He also cited a deal between Pratt & Whitney — a division of United Technologies Corporation responsible for the production of F-135 jet engines for the Joint Strike Fighter Program — and Turkey’s Kale Group to jointly open a factory in Turkey. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UAE: 14-Yr-Old Brazilian Jailed and Deported for Having Sex
(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, AUGUST 11 — An adolescent of Brazilian origins was sentenced by the Abu Dhabi Criminal Court to six months in prison and deportation once she had served her term for having engaged in consensual sexual relations. The 14-year-old girl initially claimed that she had been raped by her school-bus driver, a 25-year-old Pakistani. However, during hearings it emerged that the two had engaged in consensual sexual relations and that the girl had sent the driver “intimate” photos, including ones in which she was nude. The man received a harsher sentence of a year in prison and deportation. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Why is Lebanon So Tense?
A day after the deadliest Lebanese-Israeli border skirmish in years, Lebanese analysts say the war that may be brewing is not with Israel…
Lebanese leaders referred to Israeli “aggression” — a “violation of Lebanese sovereignty” in which an Israeli patrol crossed into Lebanon to trim trees despite orders from UN peacekeepers to stop.
Israeli leaders described it as an “ambush” — a “gross violation”, “murderous attack” and “violent provocation” initiated in response to “routine maintenance duties” and “with no provocation from our territory.”
The rhetoric on both sides of the ‘blue line’ separating Lebanon and Israel is alive and wild, and while the UN has confirmed that the tree in question was indeed on the Israeli side of the border, and that Israel coordinated its trimming with the UN, the exact series of events that triggered the deaths of an Israeli battalion commander, three Lebanese soldiers and a journalist on Tuesday is unlikely to be cleared up anytime soon.
What is clear, however, is that in a matter of weeks Lebanon is set to face what some local analysts are predicting will be the beginnings of another Lebanese civil war and which others are predicting will be the largest political crisis since the country’s former leader was assassinated five years ago.
Either way, they agree, something smelly is about to hit the fan.
On February 14, 2005, Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri and 22 others were killed by a massive 1000 kilogram TNT explosion on the Beirut seafront.
The assassination was followed by an extensive international outcry and led to massive political change in Lebanon, culminating in the withdrawal of Syrian troops after 29 years in the country.
The late Al-Hariri opposed the Syrian presence in Lebanon and supported the disarming of Hizbullah, a Lebanese Shia militia more powerful than the Lebanese army. The Al-Hariri murder has been widely blamed on elements from Hizbullah and/or Syrian intelligence.
The UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon, based in The Hague, has been investigating the assassination for years and has yet to issue any indictments. But Hizbullah’s leader, Sheikh Sayyid Hasan Na’srallah, announced last month that the tribunal was set to indict Hizbullah members in the assassination.
The Shia militia’s powerful political wing currently sits on a governing coalition along with the U.S.-backed, Sunni-led Future Movement headed by Sa’ad Al-Hariri, son of the slain Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri.
Lebanese analysts say the possibility of the prime minister’s governing partners being accused by an international court of assassinating his father, the country’s former leader, has created a state of a political instability and bedlam.
“I think what happened yesterday at the border is a reflection of the situation in the region,” Fadi Abi Allam, President of the Beirut-based Permanent Peace Movement told The Media Line. “We are in a state of war — both within Lebanon and outside — and everyone trying to protect themselves, so there is a real escalation of tensions.”
“The issue is not just Palestine, we are in a state of war here in Lebanon itself,” Allam continued. “The Al-Hariri assassination is a big issue. To date, there is no solution from the international community and everybody is waiting to see what will happen and how this will affect internal politics and the situation in Israel.”
“Leaders from all over the world are all coming to Lebanon because they are all afraid of what is about to happen here,” he said. “Lebanese people do not want a civil war but who knows. Nobody can say yes or no; all I can say is there is a real risk: War could come at anytime.”
Since Na’srallah announced the probability that Hizbullah members will be indicted in the assassination, Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad; Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah; and a number of other Arab leaders have all made 11th hour visits to Beirut to try calm the situation.
| — Hat tip: KGS | [Return to headlines] |
BNP Attends International Far-Right Conference in Japan
The British National Party is taking part in a week-long conference in Japan organised by Nippon Issuikai, an extreme-right group that denies Japanese wartime atrocities.
Adam Walker, the BNP’s staff manager, is in Tokyo along with 20 MEPs and members of the Alliance of European National Movements, the “europarty” that brings together far-right parties from across Europe.
Walker arrived in Tokyo today where he will spend the next week attending a congress on “The Future of Nationalist Movements” ..
According to the BNP, Walker has worked in Japan as a teacher and runs a martial arts academy.
During recent election campaigns, the BNP has used images of Winston Churchill and Spitfires in an attempt to broaden its patriotic appeal.
However, Issuikai, or the “Wednesday Society”, denies the atrocities perpetrated by Emperor Hirohito and his government, including the Rape of Nanking in 1937, in which hundreds of thousands of civilians were murdered and between 20,000 and 80,000 women raped by soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army.
John Walker, a spokesman for the BNP, said: “It is not for us to make comment on other parties’ views.”
Issuikai was founded in 1972 by acolytes of the militarist novelist Yukio Mishima, who committed Seppuku, or ritual suicide, after a failed attempt at provoking a coup d’état by the Japanese Self-Defence Forces to restore the powers of the emperor.
Mitsuhiro Kimura, Issuikai’s president since 2000, has long wanted to build an international alliance of far-right parties.
A graduate of the prestigious Keio University, Kimura speaks English and counts French rightwing leader Jean-Marie Le Pen among his associates. He was a friend of Uday Hussein, son of Saddam Hussein, and made regular visits to Iraq before the war.
“We are holding this meeting in Japan to get to know each other, to talk about how we can protect the national identity in our respective countries and cooperate to win the battle against globalisation,” Kimura told the Guardian.
On Friday, Le Pen will make a keynote speech at a hotel in Tokyo.
A day later — on the eve of the 65th anniversary of the end of the second world war — conference participants will pay their respects at Yasukuni, a Shinto shrine in the capital that honours Japan’s war dead, including 14 class-A war criminals.
The conference’s main subject will be the future of the far-right internationally, in particular, “lessons that Japan could learn from the experience and achievements of European movements, some of which have made inroads in recent polls, and ways to maintain ties worldwide”.
Philip Claeys, of Belgium’s Flemish separatist group Vlaams Belang, told the Guardian he was not bothered about meeting with sympathisers of Imperial Japan.
“The conference is focused on current politics in the 21st Century. We are confronted with Islamic terrorist threats, free trade, and globalism now. I’m not interested in going to a conference focusing on who did what to who in World War Two or which side was guilty of war crimes.”
| — Hat tip: TV | [Return to headlines] |
Lucy’s Species May Have Used Stone Tools 3.4 Million Years Ago
Was Lucy a tool user and a meat eater?
Quite possibly, argues a new study in Nature. Archaeologist Shannon McPherron turned up animal bones at an Ethiopian site that he says show markings of stone tool cutting dating back nearly 3.4 million years. That would be a big jump in the record: Right now the oldest known evidence of tool use among our ancestral species dates back about 2.6 million years.
McPherron’s date falls in the time of Australopithecus afarensis, the species to which the famous Lucy find belongs. But thus far he’s found only the markings on bones—not the tools themselves. Perhaps not surprisingly, though, at least one scientist behind the 2.6 million-year-old find says the new study is not convincing evidence that tool use dates back all the way to 3.4 million years ago.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
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