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More than 500 Chinese municipal lawmakers have resigned in the wake of a bribery scandal in south-central Hunan Province. State media reported that authorities also dismissed 56 provincial legislators over election fraud.
The move comes as part of a growing crackdown against corruption, which President Xi Jinping has launched since taking power.
Сounty-level bodies in Hengyang City accepted the resignations of some 512 municipal officials for taking bribes from 56 lawmakers of the Hunan People's Congress. The lawmakers offered cash in return for election votes, Xinhua reported.
According to a statement issued by the Hunan provincial legislature on Saturday, the 56 sacked deputies were found to have offered bribes to 518 lawmakers in Hengyang municipal People's Congress, as well as “another 68 staff.” The total amount of the bribes was more than 110 million yuan (US$18.1 million).
The news agency claimed that Tong Mingqian, former party chief of Hengyang, had been “directly responsible” for the scandalous incident.
“The number of people involved in the Hengyang election case are many, the amount of money large, the substance serious, the effect pernicious; this is a serious challenge to our People's Congresses system,” said Xinhua.
China’s provinces, cities, counties, and other administrative districts all have their own People’s Congresses. Those bodies tend to approve party decisions rather than make policies or facilitate debates. However, municipal officials have enough power to be included in the process of appointing the representatives of provincial assemblies.
Jinping asserted that he would take down both high-ranking “tigers” and low-level “flies” amid mass allegations and anger over corruption. However, an independent body has not yet been set up to oversee the crackdown.
Called it "space junk or something"?
Thanks to Sheldon Day...
** NEWS FLASH -- URGENT ** STEAM SUDDENLY EMANATING FROM FUKUSHIMA
REACTOR # 3 - WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA SHOULD BEGIN PREPARATIONS FOR
POSSIBLE RADIATION CLOUD WITHIN 3 TO 5 DAYS
December 28, 2013 11:00 PM EST -- (TRN
http://www.TurnerRadioNetwork.com ) -- Persons residing on the west
coast of North America should begin preparing for another POSSIBLE
onslaught of atmospheric radiation because the Tokyo Electric Power
Company (TEPCO) says radioactive steam has suddenly begun emanating from
previously exploded nuclear reactor #3 at the Fukuishima nuclear power
plant disaster site in Japan. Photos, full details and suggested methods
to protect yourself appear in our story at:
http://www.turnerradionetwork.com/news/146-mjt
More of the same, I think.
The visuals are a little concerning though with a meteor hitting what looks like the southern Atlantic Ocean just east of South America - although I can't be sure - at the 2:38 mark of the the video - without any specific reference in the text.
"Sync First: Finally We Have A Solution To Building Your Very Own Free Energy System At HOME!
This Is The First One (For Now) I have Come Across For 3D Printing Your Very Own Free Energy Solution. (Video)
Brilliant!!"
Video: Mass Civil Unrest Coming In America 2014!! – Is The Media Trying To Warn Us ?
H1N1 Presence Grows In Chicago
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/12/27/h1n1-presence-grows-in-chicago/
Infant dies from H1N1, flu cases increasing
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/article/276966/2/Infant-dies-from-H1N1-flu-case-increasing
CDC Weekly US Map: Influenza Summary Update
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/usmap.htm
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/belowzero-air-to-sweep-across/21428255
http://guardianlv.com/2013/12/earth-biggest-volcano-discovered/
An Iowa State University professor has resigned after admitting that he falsified AIDS research. The academic claimed he had discovered that rabbit blood could be used as a vaccine for the virus.(something about him choosing to blame rabbits is funny..)
Dr. Dong-Pyou Han was an assistant professor in biomedical sciences at ISU when he spiked rabbit blood with human blood to make it appear as if an AIDS vaccine was working better than it truly was. Those results helped Han’s research team, and ISU, earn $19 million in research grants from the National Institutes of Health, officials told the Des Moines Register.
Dr. James Bradac, one of the heads of the AIDS vaccine grants at the National Institutes of Health, said the human blood came from donors whose bodies had produced antibodies to HIV, the virus that can cause AIDS.
“This positive result was striking, and it caught everybody’s attention,” Bradac said. “It’s difficult to pull something like this off and not be detected. This went on for several years and wasn’t detected until January 2013.”
Han’s boss, Dr. Michael Cho, a biomedical professor who serves as head of the ISU team, told investigators that the team received approximately $10 million of the $19 million prize after announcing the “exciting results,” which turned out to be falsified. Approximately $4 million of the grant money has yet to be paid out, and officials said they had not made a decision as to whether it would be.(???????)
Dr. Han, who is thought to have hid his deception from the rest of the team, was identified as the suspect in August and resigned in October.
“A large amount of what they were focusing on was flushed down the toilet because of this one guy,” Bradac told the Des Moines Register. He added that it would be unusual for a university to refund grant money, though he refused to speculate on this particular case.
Han’s findings were first questioned when other universities discovered they were unable to replicate his results when conducting the experiment in the same way.
“At Iowa state’s request, the research samples in question were examined by researchers at another university; they confirmed samples had been spiked,” said ISU spokesman John McCarroll.
The government announced its findings in a Federal Register report on Monday. The conclusion indicates that investigators found out the results were forged based on an inquiry by the university and a “detailed admission” from Dr. Han earlier this year. Han has agreed to avoid any contracting or subcontracting work with a government agency for three years, and has promised not to serve in any type of “advisory capacity” to the US Public Health Service.(that's it?)
The Los Angeles Police Department has announced plans to ramp up use of a portable tool that checks for drug use, beginning with a New Year’s Eve crackdown on intoxicated drivers. Officials cited increased medical marijuana use as a main justification. (Do they have high numbers showing that persons arrested for suspected DUI tested positive for marijuana use?>Also>shouldn't all cops be tested for alcohol and drug use regularly?>damn right, they should..)
A state grant supplied the LAPD with a swab testing tool that will be employed at DUI (driving under the influence) checkpoints and jails, Los Angeles officials said at a Friday press conference.(a grant?>because some corporation is looking forward to a massive payday?)
The conference(what conference?) was held to highlight use of the tool alongside breathalyzers - which check for blood-alcohol content - at sobriety checkpoints during the New Year’s holiday.
LAPD officers can ask a driver to consent to a voluntary portable oral fluids test of their gum line and cheeks. The tip of the tool is then put into a portable machine for immediate testing rather than requiring a blood test. Such blood tests have previously been necessary to verify an arrest made on the suspicion of drugged driving.(this also allows them to record DNA signatures)
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer pointed to the increased use of medical marijuana and the prevalence of dispensaries in the city as reason to step up enforcement of DUI policing.
“There’s a growing recognition(among the Gestapo) that driving under the influence of drugs is something we need to be clamping down on more effectively,” Feuer said at the press conference.(oh..that conference)
The swabbing test is not completely untested, though it was only used 50 times in Los Angeles ahead of Friday’s announcement. City prosecutors said they have not used results from the test as evidence in any case thus far.
The portable oral fluids test screens for amphetamines, cocaine, benzodiazepine (Xanax), methadone, methamphetamine, narcotic analgesics, and THC – which indicates that marijuana has been used in the past several hours.
“Traditionally, our office has focused on drunken driving cases,” Feuer said. “We’re expanding drug collection and aggressively enforcing all impaired-driving laws.”
The city attorney’s office filed 598 DUI cases in the past year that involved drugs. In comparison, the city filed 577 drunken driving cases during the 2012 winter holiday alone.
Thus far in the 2013 holiday season, over 1,500 people have been arrested in Los Angeles County on suspicion of DUI, according to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.
It is yet unknown what other capabilities the testing method has, or how the LAPD will use biometric data gleaned from the swabbing results.
In June, the US Supreme Court ruled to affirm law enforcement’s right to legally take DNA samples from those who are arrested – even if they have not been convicted for a crime or gone to trial.
Los Angeles County has held the distinction of possessing one of the largest DNA-sample backlogs in the US, including an especially high number of unprocessed rape kits.(because>as long as they remain unprocessed, their results cannot serve to exculpate wrongfully incarcerated individuals)
Thanks GT big hair...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXVimdMpea8
Just had a 5.3 EQ
Canary Island doom scenario for the East coast and
tsunamis in general are scary to think about...
yep
About 150 U.S. Marines are poised to enter turbulent South Sudan to help evacuate Americans and provide security for the U.S. Embassy, two U.S. military officials said Monday.
The troops are moving from Spain to Africa, probably to the nation of Djibouti, the officials told CNN’s Barbara Starr on Monday.
An estimated 100 U.S. citizens are believed to be in the country, where steady violence is stoking fears of an all-out civil war in the world’s newest country.
Up to 40,000 civilians have taken refuge in U.N. bases in the country, the world body says. It estimates some 62,000 people have been displaced in total, with five of South Sudan’s 10 states affected by the violence.
Deployment here has escalated from the original 45 US troops on last Thursday, to an additional complement of 65 just yesterday, and now an additional 150 troops being deployed to South Sudan as of today: so from last Thursday to today, the US will have a total troop compliment of 260.
Look for these numbers to potentially escalate dramatically in the next week, between Christmas and New Year’s day, when the US government thinks no one is paying any attention.
