Dozens of bodies dumped in Syria, activists say

This is an undated photo provided late Sunday Dec. 4, 2011 by the Syrian official news agency SANA, which they claim shows Syrian soldiers kneeling next to a multiple rocket launcher as they fire missiles during a maneuver at an unknown location, in Syria. Syria's state-run media say the country's military has held war games during which the army test-fired missiles and the air force and ground troops conducted operations "similar to a real battle." The maneuvers come as Syria is under Arab and international pressure to end a crackdown on an eight-month uprising that the U.N. says has killed more than 4,000 people. State TV said Monday the exercise was meant to test "the capabilities and readiness of missile systems to respond to any possible aggression." It says the war games were held on Sunday. (AP Photo/SANA) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

This is an undated photo provided late Sunday Dec. 4, 2011 by the Syrian official news agency SANA, which they claim shows Syrian soldiers kneeling next to a multiple rocket launcher as they fire missiles during a maneuver at an unknown location, in Syria. Syria's state-run media say the country's military has held war games during which the army test-fired missiles and the air force and ground troops conducted operations "similar to a real battle." The maneuvers come as Syria is under Arab and international pressure to end a crackdown on an eight-month uprising that the U.N. says has killed more than 4,000 people. State TV said Monday the exercise was meant to test "the capabilities and readiness of missile systems to respond to any possible aggression." It says the war games were held on Sunday. (AP Photo/SANA) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

FILE - Friday, Sept. 23, 2011 file citizen journalism image made on a mobile phone and provide by Homs Quarters Union, anti-Syrian President Bashar Assad protesters shout slogans during a demonstration against the Syrian regime, in Homs province, Syria. The Arabic banner in the center background reads: "A no-fly zone opens the door for the free soldiers of the Syrian army to defect." Nearly nine months into the Syrian uprising, many protesters are pinning their hopes on an increasingly bold group of army defectors to give the revolution a fighting chance. But the Free Syrian Army could make it harder for the West to give strong diplomatic support to the opposition, while giving the regime a pretext crush every sign of dissent.(AP Photo/Homs Quarters Union,File) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO

BEIRUT (AP) ? A surge in violence in the restive Syrian city of Homs has killed up to 50 people in the past 24 hours, leaving dozens of bodies in the streets, activists said Tuesday.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights cited witnesses as saying 34 bodies were dumped in the streets of Homs on Monday night. Homs-based activist Mohammed Saleh said there was a spate of kidnappings and killings in the city earlier Monday.

The activists' reports could not be independently confirmed. Syria has banned most foreign journalists and prevents the work of independent media.

For nearly nine months, the Syrian government has been trying to crush an uprising against President Bashar Assad. But there are growing signs of an armed insurgency and mounting sectarian tensions that could push the country toward civil war.

Homs has emerged as the epicenter of the uprising, and the government has laid siege to the city for months.

On Monday, Syria said it would agree to allow Arab League observers into the country as part of a plan to end the bloodshed, but placed a number of conditions, including the cancellation of deeply embarrassing economic sanctions by the 22-member organization.

Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby swiftly rebuffed Damascus' demands, and the Syrian opposition accused Assad's regime of wasting time and trying to trick Arab leaders into reversing punitive measures against Damascus.

"Any announcements made by the Syrian regime while the military crackdown continues has for us zero credibility," said Bassma Kodmani, a spokeswoman for the Syrian National Council, an opposition umbrella group.

Syria has already failed to meet several Arab League ultimatums to end the crackdown which the U.N. says has killed more than 4,000 people since the uprising against Assad erupted in March.

Damascus' failure to meet a Nov. 25 deadline to allow in observers drew Arab League sanctions, including a ban on dealings with the country's central bank and a freeze on government assets. The bloc also imposed a travel ban on 19 Syrian officials, including Assad's younger brother Maher, who is believed to be in command of much of the crackdown, as well as Cabinet ministers, intelligence chiefs and security officers.

The sanctions dealt a big blow to a regime that sees itself as a powerhouse of Arab nationalism.

Combined with sanctions from the United States, the European Union and Turkey, the Arab League's penalties are expected to inflict significant damage on Syria's economy and may undercut the regime's authority.

Damascus remains defiant, however, and has shown few signs of easing its crackdown.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-06-ML-Syria/id-1618a7e3e31a419d8f58fe7cc720cb6b

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The Professional Left Weekly Podcast: Ancient Rome and Your Conservative Relatives, also Zappa

enlargeCredit: The Professional Left

Time for your weekly podcast with the Professional Left, otherwise known as our own Driftglass and Blue Gal.

You can listen to the archives at The Professional Left and make a donation there if you'd like to help keep these going. You can also follow them on Facebook at The Professional Left Podcast with Driftglass and Blue Gal. Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy the podcast.

Source: http://crooksandliars.com/heather/professional-left-weekly-podcast-ancient-r

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Is Child Sexual Abuse on the Rise? (LiveScience.com)

With the stream of accusations of child sexual abuse not losing any gusto lately, from the ever-growing charges against former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky to allegations of such behaviors by assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine, it'd be easy to assume a real upsurge in such abuse.

But that may not be the case.?

First, Sandusky was accused of sexually molesting at least eight boys over the past 15 years; he has pleaded not guilty to the more than 40 charges against him.

Then last week Fine of Syracuse University was fired amid accusations of sexual abuse. So far three men, including two former Syracuse ball-boys, have come forward stating that Fine molested them as minors.

Neither Sandusky nor Fine has been found guilty of any crime, but these are only the latest in what seems to be a year filled with news reports about sexual harassment and sexual abuse. Earlier this year an ABC News investigation revealed that USA Swimming (the governing body for the sport up to and including the U.S. Olympic team) has banned for life nearly 40 swimming coaches over the last decade because of sexual misconduct. [Child Abuse: Why People Look the Other Way]

So what's going on?

According to the nation's top experts, children are actually safer from physical and sexual abuse than they have been for decades. A National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect issued by the Department of Health and Human Services found that both physical and sexual abuse of children have dropped significantly over the past 20 years: From 2005 to 2006, an estimated 553,000 children suffered physical, sexual or emotional abuse, down 26 percent from the estimated 743,200 abuse victims in 1993. And between 1993 and 2005, the number of sexually abused children dropped 38 percent, while number of children who experienced physical abuse fell by 15 percent and those who were emotionally abused declined by 27 percent.

In fact, incidence of sexual abuse of children began to drop two decades ago, according to Dr. David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.

In his book "Childhood Victimization: Violence, Crime and Abuse in the Lives of Young People" (Oxford 2008), Dr. Finkelhor notes, "The child victimization declines of the 1990s were something new, and not simply the extension of trend lines from the past. For example, available data on child abuse show strong increases in all forms of maltreatment from the mid-1970s into the 1990s. After a short plateau, the sexual abuse decline seemed to start in 1992, and the physical abuse decline gained momentum after 1996. Many analysts did not interpret the earlier rise as necessarily indicative of a real increase in child maltreatment but rather as the result of a new public and professional mobilization to identify and report cases. But some data suggested real increases in the 1980s."

Overall, Dr. Finkelhor told LiveScience.com, "There is very little evidence that child sexual abuse is on the rise in the U.S., and considerable evidence that it is declining, including data from law enforcement, child protection and surveys of victims themselves." He added that though the prevalence of child sexual abuse worldwide is hard to assess, "there are some indicators of decline in other countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom."

Many of the recent accusations of sexual abuse date back many years; just because the public is hearing more about it now doesn't mean that it's on the increase. Thus while the barrage of news reports about sexual abuse of children may make parents fearful, the reality is that kids today are safer than ever.

Causes of the drop in child sexual abuse are complex and not completely understood. Some experts point out that the overall crime rate dropped significantly during the same time, and that child abuse rates fell along with murder and assault rates. Other analyses credit the economic prosperity of the 1980s and 1990s as improving overall social conditions, while still others note that tougher penalties for sex crimes led to higher numbers of offenders being jailed. It's also likely that greater social awareness of child abuse through television news (and even Hollywood films such as "Mystic River") resulted in parents taking more precautions for their children's safety. Like most social problems, there's no simple answer.

Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and author of Media Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers Mislead Us. His Web site is www.BenjaminRadford.com.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20111203/sc_livescience/ischildsexualabuseontherise

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Moral dilemma: Would you kill one person to save five?

ScienceDaily (Dec. 1, 2011) ? Imagine a runaway boxcar heading toward five people who can't escape its path. Now imagine you had the power to reroute the boxcar onto different tracks with only one person along that route.

Would you do it?

That's the moral dilemma posed by a team of Michigan State University researchers in a first-of-its-kind study published in the research journal Emotion. Research participants were put in a three dimensional setting and given the power to kill one person (in this case, a realistic digital character) to save five.

The results? About 90 percent of the participants pulled a switch to reroute the boxcar, suggesting people are willing to violate a moral rule if it means minimizing harm.

"What we found is that the rule of 'Thou shalt not kill' can be overcome by considerations of the greater good," said Carlos David Navarrete, lead researcher on the project.

As an evolutionary psychologist, Navarrete explores big-picture topics such as morality -- in other words, how do we come to our moral judgments and does our behavior follow suit?

His latest experiment offers a new twist on the "trolley problem," a moral dilemma that philosophers have contemplated for decades. But this is the first time the dilemma has been posed as a behavioral experiment in a virtual environment, "with the sights, sounds and consequences of our actions thrown into stark relief," the study says.

The research participants were presented with a 3-D simulated version of the classic dilemma though a head-mounted device. Sensors were attached to their fingertips to monitor emotional arousal.

In the virtual world, each participant was stationed at a railroad switch where two sets of tracks veered off. Up ahead and to their right, five people hiked along the tracks in a steep ravine that prevented escape. On the opposite side, a single person hiked along in the same setting.

As the boxcar approached over the horizon, the participants could either do nothing -- letting the coal-filled boxcar go along its route and kill the five hikers -- or pull a switch (in this case a joystick) and reroute it to the tracks occupied by the single hiker.

Of the 147 participants, 133 (or 90.5 percent) pulled the switch to divert the boxcar, resulting in the death of the one hiker. Fourteen participants allowed the boxcar to kill the five hikers (11 participants did not pull the switch, while three pulled the switch but then returned it to its original position).

The findings are consistent with past research that was not virtual-based, Navarrete said.

The study also found that participants who did not pull the switch were more emotionally aroused. The reasons for this are unknown, although it may be because people freeze up during highly anxious moments -- akin to a solider failing to fire his weapon in battle, Navarrete said.

"I think humans have an aversion to harming others that needs to be overridden by something," Navarrete said. "By rational thinking we can sometimes override it -- by thinking about the people we will save, for example. But for some people, that increase in anxiety may be so overpowering that they don't make the utilitarian choice, the choice for the greater good."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Michigan State University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Navarrete, C.D., McDonald, M., Mott, M., & Asher, B. Virtual Morality: Emotion and Action in a Simulated 3-D Trolley Problem. Emotion, 2011

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111201105443.htm

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Fukushima Earthquake Moved Seafloor Half a Football Field

News | More Science

The massive shift, laterally and upward, caused the epic March 2011 tsunami

By Mark Fischetti ?| December 1, 2011?|

The March 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake that decimated Japan and its Fukushima nuclear reactors with a monster tsunami altered the seafloor off the country?s eastern coast much more than scientists had thought. Analysis released today in the journal Science indicates the ocean bed moved as much as 50 meters laterally and 16 meters vertically. The magnitude 9.0 quake occurred close to the nearby Japan Trench that runs north to south in the Pacific Ocean (dark blue line on the map below).

The trench exists because the oceanic Pacific Plate (dark blue on map below) is moving westward, hitting and bending down under the continental Okhotsk Plate (light blue) from which Japan rises (green, brown). This ?subduction? action creates tension within the tectonic plates, which is occasionally released in the form of earthquakes.

Although measurements from satellites and seismic ground sensors had indicated the Okhotsk Plate moved after the 9.0 temblor on March 11, the extent of the movement was not clear. Researchers at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology compared new seafloor maps made of the region this year with maps made in 1999 and were surprised by the extent of motion. For example, data along one transect (yellow marker, below) near the quake?s epicenter (black ?x? on the map) indicated that the Okhotsk plate moved 50 meters east-southeast toward the trench.

Comparison of depth data showed that the earthquake itself lifted the Okhotsk plate 10 meters where the plate dives deep toward the trench (yellow to purple color, at center, below). The plate?s lateral shift also caused it to tip up another four to six meters there. ?We think that the additional uplift contributed to the generation of the pulsating pattern of tsunami waves,? Toshiya Fujiwara, one of the lead researchers, wrote in an email.

So if the Okhotsk plate shifted 50 meters at the trench, what happened at Japan?s eastern shore? According to Fujiwara, data from various Japanese agencies and universities shows that the seafloor at the Tohoku shore moved 5 meters seaward. Offshore, the plate shifted from 15 to 31 meters in the same east-southeast direction, and close to the trench it moved 50 meters. The gradually increasing displacement suggests that the plate was actually stretched from the shore toward the trench, changing local stress patterns along the way. The many large aftershocks that occurred (red circles, below; yellow is the quake epicenter) are evidence of the stretching, Fujiwara noted.

?

Map credits (top to bottom): Captain Blood and Wikimedia Atlas of the World (Japan and Asia); NOAA (plates); Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (trench map and horizontal displacement graphic); ZENRIN and Google Maps (aftershocks).

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Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=84d1643f6a3ba865ceb03f4f53fc9167

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China military criticizes U.S.-Australia defense (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? The Chinese Defense Ministry criticized on Wednesday the United States and Australia for upgrading their military ties, warning that such steps could undermine trust and reflected Cold War thinking.

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng offered the warning about a plan unveiled in mid-November by U.S. President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard to form a de facto base in north Australia for up to 2,500 U.S. Marines.

"Military alliances are a product of history, but we believe any strengthening and expansion of military alliances is an expression of the Cold War mentality," Geng said in answer to a question about the U.S.-Australian announcement, according to a transcript on the ministry's website (www.mod.gov.cn.).

"This is not in keeping with the tide of the era of peace, development and cooperation, and does not help to enhance mutual trust and cooperation between countries in the region, and could ultimately harm the common interests of all concerned," he said.

"We hope that the parties concerned will do more that is beneficial to the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region, and not the contrary," added Geng.

The Chinese Ministry of Defense is the public mouthpiece of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), but foreign reporters are not allowed to attend its briefings.

Earlier this month, Obama told Asia-Pacific leaders that the United States was "here to stay," announced the plans to set up a de facto military base in northern Australia, and chided China for refusing to discuss its South China Sea disputes at regional forums.

While stopping short of a full-throated condemnation of the American-Australian move, Geng's words were blunter than earlier reaction from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which responded by saying the countries should focus on cooperating with Beijing.

Geng also said that the notion raised by U.S. and Australian officials of advancing "integrated air and sea combat" amounted to "trumpeting confrontation and sacrificing others' security for the sake of one's own security."

Chinese military officers have sometimes taken a tougher stance on regional security worries than civilian officials.

Earlier this week, PLA Major General Luo Yuan, well-known for his hawkish views, warned that Obama's regional push showed that the United States wants to encircle China.

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Paul Tait)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111130/pl_nm/us_china_usa_australia

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Samsung Wins Its Appeal—Galaxy Tabs Are Back on Sale in Australia [Lawuits]

Score one for Samsung! It just registered a major victory in its cantankerous dispute with Apple over the Galaxy Tab. An Australian court has overturned its October injunction against the devices for violating Apple's touchscreen technology after a quick redesign by Samsung. Tabs will be back on store shelves Friday at 4pm, local. [BBC News] More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/SGA5gvFC8es/samsung-wins-its-appeal++galaxy-tabs-are-back-on-sale-in-oz

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