The Story Behind May 21, 2011 and The End of The World

Judgment Day is trending these days. But why ? Who started it ? It seems it was Harold Camping. According to Mr. Camping's predictions, May 21, 2011 will be the day of the Rapture, while five months later, October 21, the world will end.

What is the Rapture ?

Referred in the Christian Bible as "Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord." in the "1 Thessalonians 4:17" passage, the Rapture is the taking into heaven of believers selected by God. Jesus's return will also mark either both these two moments, Rapture or the end of the world, or only the second one. According to Harold Camping's followers, the estimated number of believers that will be taken by God in to Heaven is of about 200 millions.

Who are Harold Camping's followers ?

They are the listeners of Family Radio Network, a religious broadcasting organization funded entirely from their donations. With programmes in 48 languages and stations in countries like USA, Turkey, Russia, South Africa, Camping's Family Radio Network has thousands followers all over the world.

Who is Harold Camping ?

Born on July 19, 1921, Harold Egbert Camping is a Christian radio broadcaster and president of Family Radio, a California-based religious broadcasting network that spans more than 150 outlets in the United States as well as a website and with programmes in 48 languages and stations in countries like USA, Turkey, Russia, South Africa.

In 1942, Camping earned a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He was a  member of the Christian Reformed Church, serving as an Elder and Sunday school teacher at the Alameda Bible Fellowship.

In 1958, Camping along with Christian Reformed, Bible Baptist, and Conservative Christian Presbyterian fellows purchased an FM radio station in San Francisco, California, in order to broadcast traditional Christian Gospel for the conservative Protestant community and minister to the general public. Named Family Radio, Camping's organization acquired 13 additional stations.

In 1961 Camping begins to host the Open Forum program, a Family Radio live weeknight call-in program, Camping answering by means of interpretations to Bible related questions by dialing-in listeners. The program is still being broadcast on the more than 150 stations owned by Family Radio in the United States, and is also translated into foreign languages along with other Family Radio programmes broadcast worldwide.

Camping's rationale and calculations

In 2 Peter 3:8, the Bible says: "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."

Camping's interpretation of this quote is that one day is as 1,000 years, therefore, the seven days referred to in Genesis 7:4 can be understood as 7,000 years. 

The Bible also says that when God told Noah there were seven days to escape destruction, He was also telling the world there would be exactly 7,000 years (one day is as 1,000 years) to escape the Judgment Day. 

The Great Flood, that Noah escaped in his ark, was in the year 4990 B.C., which is exactly 7000 thousand years back from 2011 (one year must be subtracted in going from an Old Testament B.C. calendar date to a New Testament A.D. calendar date because the calendar does not have a year zero). And as the waters of the Great Flood began on the 17th day of the 2nd month, in the year 4990 B.C., Camping notes that the May 21, 2011 is the 17th day of the 2nd month of the Biblical calendar of our day.

Criticism

Camping's also critics quote Bible verses, specifically Matthew 24:36 : 

"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.", which clearly states that the date of the end will never be known by anyone but God until it actually happens. 

The author of the book Secrets of the Apocalypse - Revealed, James Kreuger, also stated: "For all his learning, Camping makes a classic beginner's mistake when he sets a date for Christ's return, Jesus himself said in Matthew 24:36, 'Of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my father only".

Mocking Camping's previous prediction about the Judgment Day ( which was supposed to happen in the year 1994) , biologist(and atheist), Richard Dawkins said "he will inevitably explain, on May 22nd, that there must have been some error in the calculation, the rapture is postponed to . . . and please send more money to pay for updated billboards". It is known that Campaign's Family Radio launched a high-profile advertising campaign, proclaiming the approaching Day of Judgment spreading  more than 2,000 billboards across the US slogans like "Blow the trumpet, warn the people!".

The Legends Behind Friday The 13th

Superstitious people in Western Europe, North America, and Australia believe Friday the 13th is a very unlucky day, therefor they doing any important things or things that could in any way put their life or career in danger, like traveling, signing contracts, going on surgery, to the dentist etc.

 Having 13 people at a table having a meal is considered a very unlucky circumstance, and this has probably has Christian roots, as there were 13 people attending the Last Supper.

There are other several legends that are believed to be the root of this myth. According to the norse mythology, the evil god Loki was the thirteenth person attending a Valhalla banquet of gods, tricking Hod, the blind brother of the god of joy and light, Balder, into throwing mistletoe at Balder's chest, while mistletoe was the only thing on Earth fatal to Balder, it killed him.

But probably the most trusted and verified by history version, is the Knights Templar's doom day. On Friday, October 13, 1307 King Philip IV of France ordered Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay and many more French Templars to be simultaneously arrested. The Templars were charged with apostasy, idolatry, heresy, obscene rituals, homosexuality, financial corruption, fraud and secrecy. Many of the accused confessed to these charges under torture. All interrogations were recorded on a thirty meter long parchment, kept at the "Archives nationales" in Paris. They were also accused of spitting on the cross, and were forced to confess. The Templars were accused of idolatry. The parchment mentions a red, monochromatic image of a man on linen or cotton, qualified as an idol by the interrogators.

King Philip also forced France-based Pope Clement V to issue, on November 22, 1307, the papal bull Pastoralis Praeeminentiae, which instructed all Christian monarchs in Europe to arrest all Templars and seize their assets. With Philip threatening military action, Pope Clement disbanded the Order.

Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay, insisted on his innocence but was declared guilty of being heretic, and was sentenced to burn alive at the stake in Paris on March 18, 1314. De Molay reportedly remained defiant to the end, asking to be tied in such a way that he could face the Notre Dame Cathedral and hold his hands together in prayer. According to legend, he called out a curse from the flames that both Pope Clement and King Philip would soon meet him before God. Pope Clement died only a month later, and King Philip died in a hunting accident before the end of the year.

No Picture of Dead Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti Either

Ok, so we understand that the U.S. government will not release picture of dead Osama because he is a symbol of the Islamic terrorists and they do not wish to present those pictures as a war trophy. However, pictures of three other men shot in bin Laden's compound are available:

But the question is, was Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti such a notorious person, was he also a symbol, like bin Laden was ? Why can't we see pictures of him after he was killed ? We know how he used to look like:

And no, he none of the dead men in the first picture, they are obviously much younger. So, we are still waiting, even though Obama said there will be no pictures.

To my readers: if you do know of any pictures of al-Kuwaiti, please feel free to comment. Thanks.

Yet Another Fake Picture of Osama's Dead Body

A few hours after another picture of Osama's dead body has been released:

 

Here is the proof that it is just another made-up fake:

Thanks LiveLeak.com for both, the fake and the original picture.

It would have been quite a serious mistake to leak such a picture where the face of one of the SEAL Team 6 member can be seen. Even though everyone is anxious to see a real picture, no one can tell when it will become available, as not even the U.S. officials have agreed on a release date. While Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon Panetta, said a picture of Osama bin Laden's body could be released in the near future, a Whitehouse official declared that no decision has been made yet.

So, until the next fake, we'll just have to wait patiently.

All About the Team That Killed Osama: Geronimo E-KIA

It all started in 1980, when the U.S. Army tried to rescue American hostages held captive in Iran. The operation was a total failure, and the need for a special trained force became obvious.

The SEAL Team 6 was started, under the command of Lt Commander Richard Marcinko, as dedicated team for counter terrorism and direct action missions anywhere in the world. The SEAL acronym stands for Sea Air And Land, but they operate mainly in a Maritime environment. The team and its missions are classified, technically they do not exist for the people, details of their missions are rarely present in the news. There are a total of three SEAL teams, but this team was labeled 6 in an attempt to confuse foreign intelligence agencies. Top operatives from other SEAL units have been recruited, trained intensly and used inside Team 6. As they are a top secret unit, do not expecty any names.

Team 6 was definitely involved in the operation that led to the assassination of the terrorist leader, Osama bin Laden, it seems this was a Joint Special Operations Command(JSOC) operation, which also involved rangers and other top flight units dedicated for this type of missions.

The operation started almost one year ago, with close surveillance and planing stages:

- after tracking down Bin Laden's personal courier, in the summer of 2010, U.S. intelligence units reported the presence of the large house in a suburb north of Islamabad at the end of a long dirt road with no phone and no internet;

- in March 2011, after a series of security meetings, President Obama and
along with his staff and heads of intelligence started setting up the
details of the strike;

- after being presented clear evidence that Bin Laden is inside that building, President Obama opted for a terrestrial strike, rather than having the entire building bombed down;

- the raid was intially planned for Saturday but, due to bad weather, it had to be rescheduled;

- Seal Team Six, The United States tier-one counter-terrorism unit, led the assault that hit the compound at 3:30 P.M. The assault lasted almost 40 minutes, and the units were gone by 4:15;

- the operation had been a total success as no American forces were injured during the assault, only one modified MH-60 helicopter has been lost(it costs about $28 million to produce one);

- it seems a bullet hit Bin Laden in the head causing a very deep wound through which his brain could be seen, according to ABC News.

The operation's code name was "Geronimo", when the SEALS broke through, after spotting Osama, they sent back, to the headquarters, the keyword - Geronimo, while after bin Laden was killed, the staff at the headquarters was pleased to hear the message: "Geronimo E-KIA", which translated to "E(nemy) K(illed) I(n) A(ction)", they all knew this meant victory.

The team used light guns like M4 or M16 machine guns, and their close combat pistols, SIG Sauer P226.

 M4 is the shortened version of M16, they are gas-operated, air-cooled, magazine-fed, selective fire, shoulder-fired weapons with a telescoping stock, the selective fire options include semi-automatic and three-round burst (like the M16A2).

Osama Was Buried at Sea, DNA Test Confirms His Death

According to Islamic rules, Osama's body should have been washed twice, once with water and soap, second only with water, then it should have been wrapped in sheets of clean, white cloth. The entire world wonders what happen to his body, and most of the people want to see it, as a proof of death.



FBI recently updated the Usama bin Laden section on its fugitives page of their website, a red label that says "Deceased" has been added to bin Laden's picture.

According to Reuters news agency, a US defense official declared that Bin Laden was buried at sea because no country was available to accept his body. It is obvious that as he was a notorious figure for both, friends or foes, hosting his grave would turn the place in to a place for pilgrimage.

While U.S. intelligence official said a DNA test performed on Osama bin Laden showed a "virtually 100 percent" match against relatives, skeptics ask, why can't we see the body ? It has been buried at sea ? How convenient ...
Is he really dead ? Is Obama using this to gain more sympathy for the next presidential elections ?

It was proven that the picture, that most of the people thought it was bin Laden, was a fake. Now ABC News shows an amateur video of a compound that looks like it was the scene of a bloody fight, that is said to be the place where bin Laden was killed:





Let's watch it and wait for the proof it is real or not.

Picture of Dead Osama is a Fake

Numerous media giants from around the world already fell for it, some publishing the picture mentioning they cannot tell if it is real or not, some publishing it without any warnings.
British newspaper, The Guardian is already pointing fingers at its rivals, The Daily Mail, explicitly stating: "The Daily Mail was one of the newspaper websites to publish the fake picture of Osama bin Laden's body". The Guardians's Amelia Hill also added in her article:"The Guardian was one of the few sites to hold back from using the manipulated image on its front page, reporting the picture's existence in its live blog but questioning its legitimacy."


Here is the proof that the picture of dead Osama bin Laden is a fake:

The author overlapped the lower part of Osama's face on a picture of another dead person.

Osama bin Laden Killed by U.S. Navy Seals

Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces, along with one of his sons and his most trusted courier, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti; and al-Kuwaiti's wife and brother. Taliban leader died in Pakistan after an attack by U.S. troops. His dead body is in possession of the United States government. "This is a historic day for the American people," said President Barack Obama.

Obama said that the military operation took place in Pakistan, he also said that he knew since August that the U.S. forces have a possible trail to bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan.

U.S. forces have worked closely with the Pakistan secret services in order to locate bin Laden's hideout. The 3 floors building in Abbotabad, where Osama was hiding, is 62 miles away from Pakistan capital, Islamabad.  Osama tried to fight back but he was killed in the shootings. Four other people were killed, one of Osama's sons, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, his most trusted courier, and al-Kuwaiti's wife and brother. Two other women were injured during the operation.

Even though it was clear for the members of the commando that their victim was Osamba bin Laden, face recognition techniques have been used in order to confirm the identity of the victim. Other than the already used techniques, U.S. government will use DNA testing to provide the identity of the body. As usual, reactions of the terrorists are expected as to provide video/audio recordings to claim the bin Laden is still alive.

The facial recognition operation is usually completed by a automated machine equipped with high quality video device that is able to compare acquired pictures of video frames with a set of images already stored in a data base. The traditional method identifies faces by extracting landmarks, or features, from an image of the subject's face, an algorithm may analyze the relative position, size, and/or shape of the eyes, nose, cheekbones, and jaw. Face recognition can be also done by 3-D analysis or by matching skin textures.

 A picture, possible proof of Osama's death is already available on the internet. It is possible to be a fake, as people tend to do this often, the same thing happen when another Al Qaeda's leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, death was announced.
The picture is trending on Twitter and it is available probably on all the other social networking platforms, like Facebook, MySpace etc.

Pakistani television, GEO TV claims that the building in Abbotabad is on fire now, and shows a video that is supposedly of the burning building:

In a written statement given to the press, former U.S President, George W. Bush said President Barack Obama called on Sunday evening to announce the killing of the terrorist leader. Bush also added that: "This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001".

The United States government warned U.S. citizens abroad the risk of "anti-American violence" after the announcement of the death of Osama bin Laden, following the operation in Pakistan.

The killing of terrorist leader, Osama bin Laden, had a special impact for Oscar-winning director, Kathryn Bigelow, as she was already working on a movie, possibly called "Kill bin Laden", about the assassination of bin Laden. Their plan for the movie was that failed mission of a U.S. commando that were targeting to capture the Al Qaeda leader.  Now, their best bet is to get as much as possible information from the inside of the successful operation and rewrite the the script.

Whitehouse door keeps Obama away from Royal Wedding

It seems that President Obama was actually invited to the Royal Wedding, but he didnt't make it because of the same door that he couldn't open weeks ago.




As a few weeks ago the door refused to let the President in, looks like this time it refused to let him out.

While the presidential guards where looking for alternate ways out, Obama dialed the Queen in an attempt to delay the wedding. The Queen listened closely and acknowledged Obama's request and put the wedding ceremony on fast forward, as we all could see. We believe that President Obama eventually made it out, while the stubborn is being turned in to a wall.

Focusing back to the Royal Wedding, and judging by the speed of the events, it is possible that in the next couple of weeks, Prince Williams will meet a very ugly and perverted woman who will become his mistress, and he will divorce by the end of the month, while Princess Kate will have to avoid dating sheiks or any Arab royalties. Traveling should also be out of the question for a while.

Royal wedding - the big day for Prince William and Kate Middleton

It is for the first time in the last 350 years, a woman that is not of royal blood marries the Prince who will one day inherit the British crown. London shudders of excitement and impatience.

William Arthur Philip Louis was born on 21 June 1982 as the elder son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, and third eldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. 

Prince William is a Duke of Cambridge and he is the second in the line of succession, behind his father, to the thrones of sixteen independent sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. 

Prince William is also second in line, behind his Charles, to the position of Head of the Commonwealth (figurehead of the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations) and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

Hours before today's wedding, Prince William was created the Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus.

Catherine Elizabeth "Kate" Middleton was born 9 January 1982 and grew up in Chapel Row at Bucklebury, Berkshire, England. She met Prince William in 2001 in Scotland at the University of St Andrews where she was completing his studies.

Their engagement was announced on 16 November 2010 at Clarence House.

Watch the live coverage of the event to see it what is going on, step by step.

226 Years Since the Birth of "Birds of America" Author, John James Audubon

Today's Google logo is dedicated to the 226th anniversary of  the great American ornithologist, John James Audubon.

John James Audubon created a masterpiece of American art, a collection of paintings entitled "Birds of America" published in a series of four enormous

volumes(1827-1838).

John James (Jean-Jacques) Audubon was born on 26 April 1785 in Santo Domingo,  and died on 27 January 1851 in New York, he was an American  naturalized ornithologist, naturalist and painter. Born french, he was naturalized as  American  in 1812.

He painted, labeled, and described the birds of North America in a manner far superior to his predecessors. Besides the fact that it was a remarkable

painter, Audubon was also a great naturalist, and both these skills helped him greatly to his achievement.

He traveled down the Mississippi river along with his assistant; carrying only a gun and his paintbox, with the intention of finding and painting all the birds of North America. Since 1810 he lived a life of wandering and  hunting, observing the nature and reproducing it in his drawings and descriptions.

His "Birds of America" recently became the most expensive book in the world, as it's been sold for ten million dollars at an auction session held by  Sotheby's auction house in London on December 7, 2010.

"Birds of America" includes a thousand illustrations of nearly 500 species of birds in natural size. There are currently 119 copies of this book around the world, 108 of them are being hosted in museums.

Audubon's "Birds of America" was originally published as a series, between 1827 and 1938. Each printed copy was colored by hand. Each bird represented in the book was initially shut down by Audubon and then hanged with ropes to be painted. It took at least 60 hour for each drawing.

If you can't afford to pay over 10 mil dollars to own the original, you can get a selection of the original drawings and watercolors used in the making of "Birds of America" from Amazon for only $600.

NFL Announces 2011 Schedule

Despite the lockout imposed on the players by the NFL team owners, the league announced, on Tuesday, the 2011 schedule.

The NFL team owners declared a lockout of players following the move by the players' union to dissolve themselves and pursue court action against the league. Players like Osi Umenyiora, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees filed antitrust lawsuits against the NFL to attempt to halt a lockout. Owners accused union chief DeMaurice Smith of negotiating in bad faith and imposed a lockout.

If players are granted, in court, the request for a preliminary injunction to end the lockout and the league is unable to get a stay of the injunction pending an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the NFL would go back into operation at least temporarily. If that happens, the upcoming season potentially would be played, while the players’ antitrust litigation against the owners would continue to play out in court.

Talks between representatives of the league and of the players, mediated by Chief Magistrate Judge Arthur J. Boylan, at a federal court in Minneapolis, and are expected to be continued today.

If the lockout issue is resolved in a timely manner, the season will start with the traditional Thursday night opener at Lambeau Field where the Super Bowl champion, Green Bay Packers will face the 2009 Super Bowl winners, the New Orleans Saints.

In the first Sunday of the regular season there will be games in Washington and New York areas on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Washington Redskins will host the New York Giants at FedEx Field that afternoon, while the New York Jets will host the Dallas Cowboys at the New Meadowlands Stadium in the first Sunday night game of the season.

New England Patriots will travel to Miami to meet the Dolphins, while the Denver Broncos are to host the Oakland Raiders in the first Monday night games of the season.

On Thanksgiving in Baltimore, there will be the first matchup of brothers as opposing head coaches of Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers. 

Jim Harbaugh, head coach of the 49ers is the brother of John Harbaugh, who is Ravens' head coach. The Harbaugh brothers, are the first set of brothers to head coach two different NFL teams. The game is to be played at 8:20 p.m. on Nov. 24, while in the other Thanksgiving games, Detroit Lions will be hosting the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys will be hosting the Miami Dolphins.

In the attempt to increase NFL's global appeal, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Chicago Bears game will be played in London on October 23. However, if the sport’s labor situation is not resolved by August 1, the game will be rescheduled and will be played in Tampa. 

There will be only one game scheduled for the first day of Christmas, Packers vs Chicago Bears, while other 13 games will take place on Saturday, December 24.

You can find the entire season schedule on the official NFL site .

Is Online Poker Dead ?

Three of the biggest poker sites in the world were closed by the FBI in a move that could lead to the death of online gaming industry. Eleven people, including owners of Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and PokerStars have been accused of bank fraud and money laundering.

In 2006, the U.S. Congress passed a law banning online gaming, but most sites have found ways to circumvent that law by using foreign banks, thus breaking the law, according to prosecutors.

“They lied to banks about the true nature of their business, and some have found banks willing to break the law", said and FBI official.

According to the FBI allegations, the companies arranged to receive money from U.S. players, masking operations as payments to non-existent sites and for merchandise such as jewelry or golf balls. Poker companies have tricked the U.S. banks to process billions of dollars, but some banks have quietly agreed with these schemes to hide illegal gaming operations.

This could be the death blow for the online gaming industry, which went through the roof  in the last decade, attracting about 15 million U.S. players.

The operation was launched in New York and aims at crimes like $3 billion money laundering, and tax penalties from the defendants. 76 bank accounts used by businesses from 14 countries used by the poker companies were blocked. Five Internet domains used by gaming companies to host their games were shut down by authorities.

While Pokerstars.com look very alive and well, Fulltiltpoker.com follows a misconfigured redirect and displays an error message instead of the actual site content, the banner on absolutepoker.com tells more about the charges:

  "Conducting, financing, managing, supervising, directing or owning all or part of an illegal gambling business.

Violation of these laws carry criminal penalties up to five years' imprisonment and a fine up to $250,000.

Properties, including domain names, used in violation of the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 1955 or involved in money laundering transactions are subject to forfeiture to the United States."

Cowboys and Aliens, New Trailer

Universal Pictures has set the release date for "Cowboys and Aliens" to 29 July 2011 in USA.

The movie uses the classical theme of alien invasion on Earth, but this time the ones that will fight off the invasion are a bunch of Wild West cowboys from a small city of Arizona in 1873.

James Bond fans will be pleased to find Daniel Craig starring as Jake Lonergan. Another great actor that plays a role in this movie is Harrison Ford, starring as Col. Woodrow Dolarhyde. The movie is directed by Iron Man's Jon Favreau.


Universal released the latest trailer just yesterday, it is available via iTunes movies trailer website, or of course, on Youtube.
Or you can watch it right here:

The storyline as described by Universal Pictures:


"The Old West.. where a lone cowboy leads an uprising against a terror from beyond our world. 1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don't welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). It's a town that lives in fear. But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known. Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he's been... "

Catherine Zeta-Jones Diagnosed With Bipolar Disorder

The stress accumulated by Oscar winning actress Catherine Zeta-Jones during her husband's, actor Michael Douglas, battle for life against neck-cancer did not disappear without leaving marks. One of her representatives, quoted by "People" magazine, announced that Caterine was diagnosed with a mental illnes called bipolar disorder, in order to be treated she spent five days at Silver Hill Hospital in Connecticut.

What is bipolar disorder ?

Bipolar disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of disorders, defined by several episodes of high energy levels, cognition and affection, and one or more depressive episodes. Positive affective states are called mania or, if they are lighter, hypomania.

Individuals frequently experience depressive episodes or symptoms, or mixed episodes in which mania and depression states are present at the same time.

These episodes are usually separated by states of normality , and for some individuals, depression and mania may rapidly alternate. Extreme manic episodes can sometimes lead to psychotic symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations. This disorder has been divided into type I bipolar disorder, type II bipolar and cyclothymia, all these together being called "bipolar cycle".

This video explains the signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder (manic depression):

Disorder episodes are usually associated with stress and have a high suicidal risk, especially during the depressive states.

Special psychotherapeutic and pharmacological techniques are used to treat the bipolar disorder. Individuals can follow self-therapy procedures or can be hospitalized, especially when they suffer from type I bipolar disorder.

Psychoterapy aims to treat the basic sympthoms, to identify the episodes that trigger the manic/drepessive states, to minimize the negative emotions.

For many people with bipolar disorder a good prognosis results from good

treatment and proper diagnosis. Bipolar disorders can be severely disabling medical condition, yet many individuals can live satisfying lives.

Medication is often necessary to achieve this goal. These people may have

periods of normal functioning between episodes. The final prognosis depends on many factors, several are under individual control. These factors may include the right medication, right dose, knowledge of disease and its effects, a positive relationship between doctor and patient, good physical health, a moderate level of stress. There are other factors that lead to a good prognosis as recognition of changes in sleep, affection and patient nutrition.

Watch this video to see what other celebrities suffer(ed) from bipolar disorder:

Pathogenesis and causes:

The causes of bipolar disorder vary among individuals. Studies of monozygotic twins show a genetic contribution but also substantial environmental influence.

Childhood experiences:
Some long-term studies indicate that children who later receive a diagnosis of bipolar disorder may experience early symptoms such as cyclical affective abnormalities, major depressive episodes and possibly ADHD. Hypersensitivity and irritability may be present.

Adult life experiences:

Results suggest that environmental factors play a significant role in the development and evolution of bipolar disorder, and that individual's psychosocial variables interact with genetic predisposition. There is evidence that life events and interpersonal relationships contribute to the onset and recurrent episodes of abnormal emotionality, as the appellant depression. It was shown that half of adults diagnosed with bipolar disorder reported traumatic experiences in childhood abuse and associated with early onset, recurrent episodes of negative evolution and disease.

Neural processes:
Scientists believe that anomalies in the structure and function of brain circuits may underlie emotional disorders. Some studies have found anatomical anomalies in areas such as the amygdala, prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Yet despite 25 years of research,  neuroscientific elements are still on debate. It was suggested that a hypersensitivity activity of melatonin receptors in the eye would be a reliable indicator of bipolar disorder.

Classification of bipolar disorders:

Type I bipolar disorder: one or more manic episodes.

Type II  bipolar disorder: no manic episodes, but one or more hypomanic
episodes and one or more major depressive episodes.

Cyclothymia: a history of hypomanic episodes with episodes of depression that do not meet criteria for major depressive episodes. Diagnosis of type I bipolar disorder requires at least the presence of a manic episode with a duration of at least a week leading  to hospitalization or other significant impairment of social and professional function. Episodes of mania can be caused by medical illness or substance abuse.

Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe staring "The Woman in Black"

The teaser trailer for "The Woman in Black" has been released. The film is an adaptation of the classic ghost story, set to be released later this year(28 October 2011).

Harry Potter fans will have the pleasure to find Daniel Radcliffe playing the role of Arthur Kipps.

A young lawyer travels to a remote village to organize a recently deceased client's papers, where he discovers the ghost of a scorned woman set on vengeance.

Aftershock earthquakes rocks Japan

Almost one month later after the huge Richter 9 quake that caused many problems to Japan and not only, a strong, Richter 7.1, earthquake, hit north-eastern Japan on Monday, nearby nuclear power plant in Fukushima, causing a tsunami alert that was later cleared. The quake occurred at 17.16 local time (09.16, GMT), according to the USGS.
Video:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The epicenter is located on land, at a depth of only ten km in southern Fukushima Prefecture, already affected by quake magnitude 9, followed by a devastating tsunami on 11 March. NHK public television broadcast a map showing the coast Pacific that could be affected by a tsunami with a height of up to one meter. Fukushima nuclear power plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), immediately ordered the workers to evacuate unit.

Video:


Powers supply was interrupted for a short while at the plant's three reactors. The quake was also felt in Tokyo, located at 170 km south, where several buildings were shaken.

Hope to advert government shutdown

President Obama is expected to announce today that the shutdown had been averted.

Some progress towards the adverting of the shutdown has been made on Thursday evening, when Obama had a meeting with the Republican speaker, John Boehner, and the and the Democrat Senate leader, Harry Reid. The President was optimistic at the end of the meeting, saying he is hoping the differences have been narrowed.

800,000 federal staff risk to be suspended without pay and a range of government services will be withdrawn as hundreds of agencies either continue with a reduced operation or close altogether, if a deal is not reached between the two sides.

The President said: "I have just completed another meeting with the speaker. We made some additional progress this evening. I am not prepared to express wild optimism, but I think we are further along today than we were yesterday."

Boehner and Reid confirmed Obama's statement, their joint position says some differences have been narrowed,  and their staff is still working to reach an agreement.



Reid said: "The numbers are basically there. But I'm not nearly as optimistic – and that's an understatement – as I was 11 hours ago. The numbers are extremely close. Our differences are no longer over how much savings we get on government spending. The only thing holding up an agreement is an ideology."

The Republican controlled House passed a bill that would keep the federal government going for at least another week, but the Democrat-controlled Senate is not going to pass, also President Obama is expected to veto it.

While the Republicans oped for a cut in the federal deficit of $40bn, the Democrats made a compromise offer of $34.5bn on Wednesday.

US Congress is sending warning letters to staff saying they will be suspended from this weekend. Hundreds of thousands of other workers will also be affected by the government shutdown. From this letters, people in the staff find out whether they are regarded as essential or not. The White House, the Pentagon and the federal agencies applied the same procedure with their staff. If the agreement is not reached, the government will begin stopping everything, including payments to troops in Afghanistan, Iraq.

Justin Bieber joins FC Barcelona ...

... for a training session.

After last night's amazing game against(5-1 against Shaktar Donetsk), FC Barcelona today's training session included international music star Justin Bieber.

 Bieber has been at the first team training session and took part in a training match with some players.

 As he is approximately the size of Leo Messi, Bieber is expected to be the new sensation of FC Barcelona.

Italian Prime Minister In Court

Silvio Berlusconi goes on trial today on charges he paid for sex with a teenager then abused his powers to cover the case.

This is just one of the legal issues of the Conservative leader, he is already a defendant in three other separate trials which relate to his business empire.

Leaked legal dossiers revealed that the Italian prosecutors will introduce pictures of half-naked young women at the "bunga bunga" orgy, hosted by Silvio Berlusconi as evidence in the upcoming trial where the Italian Prime Minister is accused of corruption and paying for prostitution.

Further details about the so called "RUBY CASE", along with the facts that the Italian Prime Minister is accused of the following facts:

- Moroccan nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug, also known as "Ruby", has been paid for attending Berlusconi's "bunga bunga" orgies, the prosecutors say;

- "Ruby" was 17 years old when Mr. Berlusconi paid her for sexual favors;

- charges against Silvio Berlusconi involve abuse of powers while trying to  hide his relationship with underage Karima and putting preassure on local police to release her after she was detained for allegationsof theft;

Silvio Berlusconi rejects the charges of paying for sex and claims he did not have sex with Ruby, though he also mentioned that she lied to him, saying her age was 24. Mr. Berlusconi admits calling police in May 2010, but he claims he was trying to avoid diplomatic relations issues with Egypt, as he had been told that Karima El Mahroug was a relative of Mr. Hosni Mubarak, the President of Egypt.

The other three cases Berlusconi is involved are, the MEDIASET case, the MEDIATRADE case and the Mills case.

In the Mediaset case, AC Milan president, Silvio Berlusconi along with executives of Mediaset holding are accused of inflating prices they paid for acquisition of television rights using offshore and skimming off part of the sum to create illegal slush funds. Italy's constitutional court lifted Berlusconi's automatic immunity from prosecution, so the trial resumed on February 28.

Prime Minister's son, Pier Silvio Berlusconi, deputy chairman of Mediaset, is also involved in the Mediatrade case, they are accused of fraud on acquisition of television rights for inflated prices.

In the Mills case, Berlusconi is accused of bribing British lawyer David Mills to give false testimony in court and withhold incriminating details of business dealings. Mr. Mills was convicted of taking the bribe, but a higher court effectively shelved the case by ruling that under Italy's statute of limitations, the offence was committed too long ago for him to be punished.

Spain at Coppa America .. ?

The 11 March earthquake and tsunami that followed it along with the ongoing nuclear crisis have stopped Japan's national soccer team from joining the other teams in the Coppa America competition.


The tournament will take place in July, and will be hosted by Argentina. Japan were drawn in group A, along with Argentina, Colombia and Bolivia.



The organizers of the tournament turned to Spain as a replacement. Spanish football federation president promised to provide an answer after discussing it with the board.

"Next week or the week after we will determine at a meeting of the board of directors whether we will accept the invitation. I don’t rule anything out when the request is made with affection and love, but at the same time taking into account the difficulties. That doesn’t mean we are going or not, but as president I have the obligation to take it to the board" said Angel Maria Villar, president of the Spanish soccer federation.

Japan Nuclear Threat: Increased radiation level in USA, Minnesota

Fukushima radiation cloud is being more and more felt inside territories far from Japan. A increased radiation level was detected in rainwater samples collected in Saint Paul, twin city of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Despite Environmental Protection Agency reassures that are below a dangerous level, citizens of the Twin Cities still fell worried about the air they breath or the water they drink daily.

According to EPA spokesperson, Phillippa Cannon: "EPA scientists routinely test precipitation samples from more than 30 sites in the U.S., that includes rain, snow, and sleet. Since the Japanese nuclear incident, EPA has accelerated that routine precipitation sampling." EPA said that increased radiation levels have been detected in the states of Idaho and California.

During its regular radiation testing, Minnesota Department of Health included testing around the power plants in Prairie Island and Monticello. Samples from the roof of St. Paul's Freeman Building have been analyzed.

Sue McClanahan, radiation specialist with the Minnesota Department of Health said: "All of the readings that we have gotten up to this date have been significantly lower than anything that we have to be concerned about. [...] One of the things about radiation no matter where it is or where it’s coming from, you can’t see it, smell it or feel it.”

Despite the low level of concern, EPA increased monitoring of rain and drinking water.

Richter 6 quake rocks India

New Delhi: An Richter 6 earthquake having its epicenter was in Nepal rocked parts of northern India, including Delhi and suburbs of Dehli on Monday night.

The first reports coming from Noida and Delhi said the quake was strong enough and made furniture in buildings tremble.

The quake was recorded by India seismic monitoring network at 5.01 PM ET and its depth was 10 km.

Obama reelection campaign launched

President's Obama's reelection campaign for the elections in November 2012 has been launched today.

Within this very well planned and calculated step, which tallies with the the second fundraising quarter of the year, president Obama said he filled the paperwork for the Federal Elections Commission to allow him begin the fund raising. After filing the paperwork, he will be allowed to start the raising money.
Obama e-mail campaigns directed his supporters to the new campaign website www.barackobama.com to see the elections campaign launch video:



Obama seems to be exploiting the global crisis issue in his campaign, as he claims that his politics creed is to be close to the people and spread the word through the mouth of people, rather than spending precious money on TV ad or fancy advertising campaign, as his email to supporters states: "We're doing this now because the politics we believe in does not start with expensive TV ads or extravaganzas, but with you -- with people organizing block-by-block, talking to neighbors, co-workers, and friends. And that kind of campaign takes time to build".

Denying Jackie Chan's Death Hoax

It seems a new hoax is taking over the internet, and as many sources to deny it there are, the sooner with will melt away.

So please, rest assured,  Jackie Chan is alive and well, he is not dead.


If you got your information from this link: http://pastehtml.com/view/1dud0mh.html - please ignore it.

If you read the url carefully, it does not mention anything about yahoo or any trusted news source.

Please visit the artist's official site at www.jackiechan.com or subscribe to his official Facebook fan page.

On the Facebook page you can see Japan Relief Concert and Press Conference Photos, posted 20 hours ago.

So there is nothing to worry about!
And for those who launched this rumor, DO NOT MAKE JOKES about death!

Alien Visits ? Three possible UFO recorded on video over Lafeyette, Colorado

People in Lafayette, Colorado think they have witnessed a unidentified flying object sighting. They even recorded it on video. The event took place last week. Spectators were spooked by the three triangles. ABC News sent a team to investigate:

Rebels took over Sirte, Gaddafi's home town

With air force support by the international coalition, Libya rebels conquered town after town from the hands of the regime in Tripoli. Monday, they managed to recover and Sirte, Muammar Gaddafi's hometown.

AFP agency reports that last night at least nine strong explosions were heard in the town of Sirte, after NATO took the command of the operations from the U.S. forces. "NATO agreed on Sunday to implement all aspects of resolution 1973 UN to protect civilians and civilian populated areas, threatened by the attacks of Gaddafi loyal forces" ,  said an NATO official.

Takeover of command by the NATO mission took places Saturday night after the attacks on Tripoli, attack labeled by Libyan television as a "colonial aggressor." Shortly after the explosions, the Libyan television confirmed that Sirte and Tripoli have been targeted by allied air strikes.

Witnesses claim that air strikes on Tirpoli were aimed against the road leading to the airport and at the east side of  the Ain Zara neighborhood.

In addition to Gaddafi's home town, rebels took control on other five cities, continuing its advance towards the west: Ajdabiyah, Brega, Uqayla, Ras Lanuf and Jawad Bin.