Ρόμπερτ Γκέιτς κατά του ΝΑΤΟ: Οι ΗΠΑ σηκώνουν το βάρος μαζί με λίγες χώρες όπως η Ελλάδα

Του ΘΟΔΩΡΗ Γ. ΚΑΝΕΛΛΟΥ

«Θολό, αν όχι ζοφερό» βλέπει ο Αμερικανός υπουργός Αμυνας το μέλλον του ΝΑΤΟ, το οποίο επισημαίνει ότι δεν έχει επιτύχει σε πολλούς από τους στόχους του, κυρίως επειδή οι Ευρωπαίοι σύμμαχοι λόγω έλλειψης κονδυλίων και πολιτικής βούλησης αφήνουν την Αμερική να βγάζει τα κάστανα από τη φωτιά, επιβαρύνοντάς τη και οικονομικά και στρατιωτικά, με εξαίρεση λίγες χώρες, όπως η Ελλάδα, που αφιερώνουν το συμπεφωνημένο 2% του ΑΕΠ σε αμυντικές δαπάνες.

Απαλλαγμένος από όποιες δεσμεύσεις και κυρίως από το να μην προκαλεί δυσαρέσκειες, καθώς στο τέλος του μήνα εγκαταλείπει το αμερικανικό υπουργείο Αμυνας, ο Ρόμπερτ Γκέιτς δεν μάσησε τα λόγια του στην τελική του ομιλία ως αρχηγός του αμερικανικού Πενταγώνου σε δεξαμενή σκέψης στις Βρυξέλλες. Δήλωσε ότι οι επιχειρήσεις του ΝΑΤΟ σε Αφγανιστάν και Λιβύη έχουν αποκαλύψει σημαντικότατα μειονεκτήματα στις στρατιωτικές δυνατότητες και την πολιτική βούληση των συμμάχων. Παρά το ότι η Συμμαχία διαθέτει θεωρητικώς 2.000.000 άνδρες στις ένοπλες δυνάμεις, πάλεψε σκληρά για να συγκεντρώσει 25.000-45.000 στο Αφγανιστάν, όχι μόνο σε μάχιμες δυνάμεις, αλλά σε αεροπλάνα, ελικόπτερα, πληροφορίες, μεταγωγικά αεροσκάφη, ακόμα και στη συντήρηση του εξοπλισμού, δήλωσε ο Αμερικανός. Τόνισε ιδιαίτερα ότι η τάση των Ευρωπαίων να κόβουν χρήματα και η έλλειψη πολιτικής βούλησης που επιδεικνύουν μπορεί να φέρει πολύ κοντά το τέλος της αμερικανικής υποστήριξης.

«Η ωμή πραγματικότητα είναι ότι θα μειωθούν η όρεξη και η υπομονή στο...

Θεραπεία νικοτίνης για την ...παχυσαρκία

Μετά τον εντοπισμό ομάδας νευρώνων που «κόβουν» την όρεξη στους καπνιστές

Ο εντοπισμός μιας ομάδας νευρώνων που κάνουν τους καπνιστές να μην πεινούν αναμένεται να οδηγήσει σε θεραπείες με βάση τη νικοτίνη για την παχυσαρκία.

Ουάσινγκτον

Θεραπείες βασισμένες στη …

Φεστιβάλ Αθηνών: Κοσμοσυρροή για την Αριάν Μνουσκίν

Η μακρινή απόσταση του Αthens Metropolitan Expo που φιλοξενεί τους «Ναυαγούς της μεγάλης ελπίδας» δεν πτόησε το κοινό

Κοσμοσυρροή για τους «Ναυαγούς της τρελής ελπίδας» της Αριάν Μνουσκίν

Αθήνα 

Παρασκευή 10 Ιουνίου, ώρα 18.30. Ενθουσιασμένη με τον χώρο που θα φιλοξενούσε το έργο της, η Αριάν Μνουσκίν πηγαινοερχόταν ανάμεσα στο κοινό όπως το συνηθίζει μέχρι να αρχίσει η παράσταση. Το Athens Metropolitan Expo, δυο χιλιόμετρα μετά το διεθνές αεροδρόμιο Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος, αποδείχθηκε ιδανικός τόπος για τους «Ναυαγούς της τρελής ελπίδας».

Οι θεατές είτε ήρθαν με...

Εφυγε στα 96 του ο Πάτρικ Λι Φέρμορ

Ο σπουδαίος Αγγλοϊρλανδός συγγραφέας ταξιδιωτικής λογοτεχνίας, που έκανε την Ελλάδα σπίτι του, ο Σερ Πάτρικ Λι Φέρμορ, πέθανε χθες στα 96 του χρόνια.

Οι φίλοι του στην Καρδαμύλη της Μάνης, όπου έζησε τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες, τον φώναζαν Παντελή (από το Πάτρικ Λι), ενώ στην Κρήτη τα χρόνια της Αντίστασης τον ήξεραν με το ψευδώνυμο Μιχάλης.

Ο συγγραφέας της «Ρούμελης» και της «Μάνης», ο ξένος που έγινε δικός μας διαφημίζοντας την Ελλάδα όσο ελάχιστοι, ξεκίνησε το 1933 σε ηλικία 18 ετών να διασχίσει την Ευρώπη με τα πόδια, με προορισμό την Κωνσταντινούπολη. Κοιμήθηκε σε άσυλα, μοναστήρια, σπηλιές. Το μεγαλύτερο μέρος του οδοιπορικού περιέχεται στα δύο βραβευμένα βιβλία του «Η εποχή της δωρεάς» και «Ανάμεσα στα δάση και τα νερά» (εκδ. Μεταίχμιο). Υμνήθηκαν από τους κριτικούς και ο Πάτρικ Λι Φέρμορ κατέκτησε δικαίως τον τίτλο του μεγαλύτερου ταξιδιωτικού συγγραφέα των καιρών μας.

Εφτασε στην Κωνσταντινούπολη την Πρωτοχρονιά του 1935 και από κει πέρασε την Ελλάδα, περιπλανήθηκε στην...

Bruce Forsyth gets long-awaited knighthood - didn't he do well?

Queen's honours list also includes CBEs for oscar-winner Colin Firth and singer Bryan Ferry, and OBEs for Ashes heroes

• Michael White
• The Guardian, Saturday 11 June 2011
• Article history

Bruce Forsyth at his Wentworth home, as he poses for photographers after receiving a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours list. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA

A collective sigh of relief will be heard across Britain, quickly followed by a suitably awful pun: "Knight to see you, to see you knight." At 83 the evergreen entertainer Bruce Forsyth has finally got his long-predicted knighthood.

The nod comes in the Queen's 2011 birthday honours list – one of 965 people whose diverse services to society, including David Cameron's "big society", are recognised on Saturday.

But after years of speculation, gossip and tabloid outrage against the tardiness of Whitehall and Buckingham Palace, Forsyth's gong is the eye-catcher. The entertainer, who is...

The Soviet Superplane Program That Rattled Area 51

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The Lun ekranoplan weighs 380 tons, has a 148-foot wingspan and can...

How to Avoid Credit Card Problems Abroad

By MICHELLE HIGGINS

Published: June 8, 2011

LIKE many Americans who have tried to use their credit cards inEurope, Elliot E. Porter, a historian from San Francisco, has encountered his share of payment headaches. Perhaps the most aggravating occurred a few months ago at Amsterdam Centraal Station, where he learned only after waiting in line to purchase train tickets that none of his credit cards, which include a MasterCard, Visa and American Express, would be accepted. The problem? They rely on magnetic-strip technology rather than embedded microprocessor chips, which are becoming increasingly common outside the United States.“This is a big deal when traveling,” said Mr. Porter, who trekked back to his hotel to get cash, which he then had to exchange for local currency before returning to the train station to wait in a long line to pay for his tickets. He encountered similar problems at train stations in Belgium and Britain. “It just got super frustrating,” he said.

There may be some good news on the horizon for Americans like Mr. Elliot. A few banks have begun testing cards with the newer chip technology, known as E.M.V. (for Europay, MasterCard and Visa) and are beginning to offer the cards to select customers. Wells Fargo has issued cards with the embedded chips to about 15,000 United States-based clients who travel internationally, in a trial program. JPMorgan Chase is offering the cards to some of its high-net-worth customers this month. Meanwhile, Travelex, a major currency exchange company, began selling a preloaded E.M.V.-enabled debit card last year. Some credit unions have also begun offering credit or debit cards with chips, including the State Employees’ Credit Union of Raleigh, N.C., and the United Nations Federal Credit Union in New York.

It’s about time. Over the last decade, such...

Say goodbye to cool summers: climate study

By Marlowe Hood (AFP)

PARIS — By 2050, the coolest summers in the tropics and parts of the northern hemisphere will still be hotter than the most scorching summers since the mid-20th century if global warming continues apace, according to a new study.

Tropical regions in Africa, Asia and South America could see "the permanent emergence of unprecedented summer heat" even within the next decades, said the study, to be published later this month in the journal Climatic Change Letters.

Such dramatic changes in temperature would have a major impact on human health, food supplies and biodiversity, warn the researchers.

"Large areas of the globe are likely to warm up so...

This Weekend: Things to Do in Toronto

Events around Toronto June 10 to June 12
Layal Al-Haidari

DOC NOW - House of God

By Erica Salyi-Pannozzo Jun 08, 2011 
Let's get right into this weekend'sfestivals, shall we? Thousands of pooches and their human partners are about to descend on the city for this year's Woofstock, a festival dedicated to our four-legged friends. Expect doggie fashion shows, talent contests and lots of vendors. Luminato kicks off Friday and includes a wide-variety of art, theatre, film and music events. New to the fest for 2011 is a series of free nighttime concerts and events at the Luminato Festival Hub at David Pecaut Square (King and John).

Also, don't miss Toronto Taste, Yonge-Lawrence Village Day, DOC Now Film Fest and Festival on Bloor.

Gleeks are in for a treat, the cast of the...

Selena Gomez hospitalized after ‘Tonight Show’ appearance

Dan Steinberg/AP

Selena Gomez has been admitted to hospital after reportedly suffering from nausea and a headache

Associated Press 

Jun 10, 2011 

A spokeswoman for the Wizards of Waverly Place star says Gomez “wasn’t feeling well and was taken to the hospital” and is undergoing “routine tests.” She did not specify Gomez’s condition.LOS ANGELES, CALIF.—Selena Gomez has been admitted to a hospital following an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The 18-year-old singer-actress was promoting the upcoming filmMonte Carlo on the talk show.

Gomez’s appearance to promote the film at a Santa Monica, Calif., mall on Friday was cancelled. She is scheduled to co-host the MuchMusic Video Awards next Sunday in Toronto

The hospitalization was first reported by TMZ, which said Gomez suffered from nausea and a headache before going to a Los Angeles-area hospital.

http://www.toronto.com/article/688775--selena-gomez-hospitalized-after-tonight-show-appearance

Rafting to the Ring of Fire

First Nations teens stand on the banks of the Albany River after a wet day of rafting down the 1,000 km long body of water.

TANYA TALAGA/TORONTO STAR

By Tanya Talagahttp://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1006854--rafting-to-the-ring-of-fire Queen's Park Bureau

ALBANY RIVER, ONT.

There is a Cree legend about the insatiable appetite of big brother.

Always famished, big brother demands his little brother work harder to bring him more timber, gold and fuel so he can feed his hungry belly.

Click here to see a gallery of the mighty Albany.

Ed Metatawabin tells this story from a wooden raft as it slowly makes its way through the pummeling rain down the 1,000-kilometre-long Albany River in Ontario’s Far North.

Directly above the Albany lies the Ring of Fire — more than 5,000 square kilometres of pristine wilderness that is believed to contain a $30 billion deposit of chromite, the ore used to make stainless steel. Prospectors also say a treasure trove of platinum and diamonds lies underneath.

But the pursuit of these riches means little brother must blast, bulldoze and bigfoot through the Albany watershed, the surrounding boreal forest and the swampy peatland of the Hudson Bay lowlands.

The race to develop the ring is already furiously underway. International mining companies have staked more than 9,000 claims covering 480,000 hectares. All-weather roads, bridges and a railway line are being planned to transport the precious ore south.

A coalition of environmental groups is calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government to create a federal joint review panel — a body of experts that would closely monitor the mining — to ensure development adheres to environmental standards.

Metatawabin, dressed in hip waders and warm rain gear, his black and grey striped ponytail hanging down his back, stands on the bow of his 16-by-63-foot raft and surveys the river his people have lived off of for nearly 10,000 years.

“Cruel big brother,” Metatawabin says. “He eats and he eats and he eats.”

Will little brother finally stand up and say enough? Will he refuse to do big brother’s bidding?

Metatawabin is unsure. He worries little brother has lost his way.

The boreal forest stretches from the...

Geo-Engineering Can Help Save the Planet

By THOMAS E. LOVEJOY

Published: June 10, 2011

Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are pushing 400 parts per million (p.p.m.) — up from the natural pre-industrial level of 280 p.p.m. Emissions for last year were the highest ever. Rather than drift along until a calamity galvanizes the world, and especially the United States, into precipitous action, the time to act is now.

The biology of the planet indicates we are already in a danger zone. The goal of limiting temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius, as discussed at the Copenhagen and Cancun climate summits, is actually disastrous.

As we push the planet’s average temperature increase beyond 0.75°C, coral reefs (upon which 5 percent of humanity depends) are in increasing trouble. The balance of the coniferous forests of western North America has been tipped in favor of wood-boring bark beetles; in many places 70 percent of the trees are dead. The Amazon — which suffered the two greatest droughts in recorded history in 2005 and 2010 — teeters close to tipping into dieback, in which the southern and eastern parts of the forest die and turn into savannah vegetation. Estimates of sea-level rise continue to climb.

Even more disturbing, scientists have determined that, if we want to stop at a 2°C increase, global emissions have to peak in...

Can synthetic silk beat nature's own?

CameliaTWU/flickr

A silkworm (Bombyx mori).

For the first time, people can do what only spiders and silkworms can do: spin silk fibers to specific specifications.

The new technique opens the door to customizing fibers to use in medicine, engineering and – of course – clothing. It relies on a special device to build silk protein chains that are then spun together into fibers with predicted and controlled strength, rigidity and width.

The researchers will continue to refine the method that may lead to a cheaper and more directed silk product than spiders and silkworms currently provide. The innovative method to make synthetic silk is explained in the journal Biomacromolecules.

Context

Silk is a very attractive material for clothing and other textiles due its smooth, cool and comfortable qualities. Manufacturers also find silk tantalizing. Silk's mechanical properties – it is as strong as steel yet six times lighter – and ecofriendliness – it isbiocompatible and biodegradable – make it an attractive material for biomedical and engineering applications. In fact, silk is used for suture threads and in tissue grafts.

In all the world, only silkworms and spiders can make silk. A mysterious spinning process produces the strong threads that are weaved together into webs and cocoons. The animals make the unique silk protein and spin it together in just the right way to form a special structure that gives the fiber its desired properties. The invertebrates do this with apparent ease. More so, they can control its properties, depending on where and for what purpose the silk thread will be used.

Obtaining natural silk for consumer uses, then, comes with a set of problems. The properties of natural silk – its strength, width, length – is determined by the specific species of spiders and worms. Basically, people get what the animals produce. It is also expensive and laborious to keep the silk-producing creatures – normally silkworms – and harvest the product.

So, there is need for a rapid method to fabricate silk and control its mechanical properties. The first step in this process has already been solved. A variety of other organisms – ranging from bacteria to goats – have been genetically modified and can produce silk proteins. The type of silk protein can be easily varied. It can also be produced in large quantities. However, the second challenge of how to spin those proteins into fibers with the desired properties remains.

What did they do?

Researchers from Boston, Mass., and Göttingen, Germany, used a microfluidic device that mimics the silkworm glands by extruding silk proteins from an aqueous solution. The solid device is infused with two crossing channels similar to the thickness of a human hair. Liquids can flow through the channels, which come together to allow a very small point of mixing. Through one channel flows the aqueous silk protein solution. Through the two intersecting channels flows an acidic solution of polyethylene glycol. Where the two channels meet, the fluids mix. Polyethylene glycol is a benign molecule  – a polymer – that envelops the active drug ingredients and acts as a lubricant in a variety of medicines.

Several different flow...

Huge AZ wildfire spreads, health conditions worsen

By BRIAN SKOLOFF and SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN 
Associated Press

SPRINGERVILLE, Ariz. (AP) -- Smoke from a massive wildfire in eastern Arizona that has claimed more than 30 homes and forced nearly 10,000 people to flee has officials worried about serious health impacts to residents and firefighters as tiny particles of soot in the air reached "astronomical" levels.

"It was off the charts," Mark Shaffer of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality said Friday night.

Calmer winds helped firefighters gain some ground, but also concentrated the sooty air, keeping it stagnate and raising pollution to levels officials hadn't seen yet since the blaze began several weeks ago.

"We've got a serious potential health problem on our hands," Shaffer said. "When you get levels like this, it's off the map."

Officials planned to bring in additional air quality monitoring equipment over the weekend, but warned people to just stay away.

Meanwhile, the blaze was poised to move into New Mexico on Saturday pushed by stronger winds, threatening more towns and possibly endangering two major power lines that bring electricity from Arizona to West Texas.

The fire has burned 639 square miles of forest, an increase of....

«Πόλεμος» Άρσεναλ - Μπαρτσελόνα!

Στα χαρακώματα είναι εδώ και χρόνια Άρσεναλ και Μπαρτσελόνα με τον πρόεδρο της ισπανικής ομάδας να χαρακτηρίζει τους «κανονιέρηδες» ανήθικους και οι Άγγλοι να μην κάνουν πίσω συνεχίζοντας το παιδομάζωμα από τις ακαδημίες της «Μπάρτσα». Το νέο μέτωπο, έχει όνομα, και λέγεται Ζεράρ Ντεουλοφέου.

Το πάτημα της Άρσεναλ είναι η ισπανική νομοθεσία που απαγορεύει στους συλλόγους της χώρας να προτείνουν επαγγελματικά συμβόλαια σε ανήλικους κάτω των 18 ετών! Από το 2003 που το πληροφορήθηκε ο Αρσέν Βενγκέρ έχει κυριολεκτικά απορροφήσει ό,τι καλύτερο υπάρχει σε συγκεκριμένες ακαδημίες του συλλόγου. Χαρακτηριστικότερο παράδειγμα όλων ο Σεσκ Φάμπρεγας!
Ο αρχηγός των «κανονιέρηδων» ήταν πάντως μόνο η αρχή με την Άρσεναλ να έχει αποκτήσει επίσης τους

Τιμητική διάκριση στον Κόλιν Φερθ

Τον Βρετανό ηθοποιό Κόλιν Φερθ που ερμήνευσε το ρόλο του πατέρα της, του βασιλιά Γεωργίου ΣΤ', στην ταινία «Ο λόγος του βασιλιά», θα βραβεύσει η βασίλισσα Ελισάβετ.

Η ταινία τιμήθηκε το Φεβρουάριο με το 'Οσκαρ καλύτερης ταινίας και ο Κόλιν Φερθ, απέσπασε το 'Οσκαρ του Α΄ανδρικού ρόλου για την ερμηνεία του στη δραματική ταινία. Λίγο νωρίτερα είχε βραβευθεί ως...

Ελενα Παπαβασιλείου: Τηλεοπτικός… πειρασμός! (photos)

Όμορφη, χαμογελαστή και σέξι παρουσιάστρια που με το πλούσιο ντεκολτέ της μας βάζει σε πειρασμό από τα αξημέρωτα...Ποιά είναι; Το «SdayLadies» παρουσιάζει την ξεχωριστή Έλενα Παπαβασιλείου σε μοναδικές στιγμές…

Της Άρτεμης Σκορδίλη

Γεννήθηκε στην πόλη Άαχεν στα σύνορα της Γερμανίας με το Βέλγιο και την Ολλανδία.

Σε ηλικία δώδεκα χρόνων μετακόμισε στην Αθήνα με τη μητέρα της, μιας και οι γονείς της χώρισαν όσο βρίσκονταν στη Γερμανία, και φοίτησε στη Γερμανική Σχολή. Σπούδασε οικονομικά στην Αθήνα και πήρε το πτυχίο της με...