7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes along the coast of Peru

7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes along the coast of Peru
Sept 25, 2013 | Extinction Protocol

 September 25, 2013 – PERU - There is no tsunami threat to Hawaiʻi after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake reported at 6:43 a.m. HST on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013 off the coast of Central Peru, officials said. The magnitude of the quake was initially reported as a 6.8.  It was then downgraded shortly after to a 6.6, and finally upgraded to a 7.0 after further analysis, according to the USGS. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a statement saying there is no tsunami threat to Hawaiʻi based on all available data. Officials with the USGS say the quake occurred at at depth of 20.5 miles. The USGS reports that the quake was located 28 miles S of Acari, Peru; 56 miles SE of Minas de Marcona, Peru; 74 miles SSE of Nazca, Peru; 83 miles SSW of Puquio, Peru; and 308 miles SSE of Lima, Peru. This is the second 7.0+ magnitude earthquake to strike the planet in 24 hours. –Maui News

New information on origins of Maya civilization unearthed

© National Geographic

New information on origins of Maya civilization unearthed
Apr 26, 2013 | Phenomenica

Finding from new excavations at Ceibal, an ancient Mayan site in Guatemala, has challenged the two prevailing theories on how early Maya civilization began, suggesting its origins are more complex than previously thought.

The Maya civilization is well-known for its elaborate temples, sophisticated writing system, and mathematical and astronomical developments, yet the civilization’s origins remain something of a mystery.

Anthropologists typically fall into one of two competing camps with regard to the origins of Maya civilization. The first camp believes that it developed almost entirely on its own in the jungles of what is now Guatemala and southern Mexico. The second believes that the Maya civilization developed as the result of direct influences from the older Olmec civilization and its center of La Venta.

It’s likely that neither of those theories tells the full story, according to findings by a team of archaeologists from University of Arizona led by UA husband-and-wife anthropologists Takeshi Inomata and Daniela Triadan.

“We really focused on the beginning of this civilization and how this remarkable civilization developed,” said Inomata, UA professor of anthropology and the study’s lead author.



In their excavations at Ceibal, researchers found that Ceibal actually predates the growth of La Venta as a major center by as much as 200 years, suggesting that La Venta could not have been the prevailing influence over early Mayan development.

That does not make the Maya civilization older than the Olmec civilization – since Olmec had another center prior to La Venta – nor does it prove that the Maya civilization developed entirely independently, researchers said.
What it does indicate, they said, is that both Ceibal and La Venta probably participated in a broader cultural shift taking place in the period between 1,150-800 B.C.

“We’re saying that the scenario of early Maya culture is really more complex than we thought,” said UA anthropology graduate student Victor Castillo, who co-authored the paper with Inomata and Triadan.

“We have this idea of the origin of Maya civilization as an indigenous development, and we have this other idea that it was an external influence that triggered the social complexity of Maya civilization. We’re now thinking it’s not actually black and white,” Castillo said.

There is no denying the striking similarities between Ceibal and La Venta, such as evidence of similar ritual practices and the presence of similar architecture – namely the pyramids that would come to be the hallmark of Mesoamerican civilization but did not exist at the earlier Olmec center of San Lorenzo.

However, researchers don’t think this is the case of simply one site mimicking the other. Rather, they suspect that both the Maya site of Ceibal and the Olmec site of La Venta were parts of a more geographically far-reaching cultural shift that occurred around 1,000 B.C., about the time when the Olmec center was transitioning from San Lorenzo to La Venta.

“Basically, there was a major social change happening from the southern Maya lowlands to possibly the coast of Chiapas and the southern Gulf Coast, and this site of Ceibal was a part of that broader social change,” Inomata said.

“The emergence of a new form of society – with new architecture, with new rituals – became really the important basis for all later Mesoamerican civilizations,” he stated.

A paper describing their finding will appear in the journal Science.

ANI

Brazilian Court Demands Nestle Label GMO Ingredients

© naturalsociety.com

Brazilian Court Demands Nestle Label GMO Ingredients
Aug 21, 2012 | Anthony Gucciardi

It appears another victory has been declared in the battle against Monsanto and GMO ingredients. According to a major Brazilian business publication and GMWatch, a Brazilian court has demanded that multi-billion dollar food giant Nestle label all of their products as genetically modified that have over 1% GMO content. The ruling reportedly coincides with Brazilian law which demands all food manufacturers alert consumers to the presence of GMOs within their products.

Perhaps even more shocking is the fact that the court exposed a deep relationship between the Brazilian government and a major food industry lobby group that was forged in an effort to stop the court from issuing the ruling. This of course is predictable when considering that not only does Monsanto have a massive amount of political power with a figurehead in multiple branches of government, but when considering the previous WikiLeaks report that detailed how those who opposed Monsanto and biotechnology would be subject to ‘military style trade wars’.

The WikiLeaks documents revealed just how closely Monsanto has been working with the United States government, and just how serious the U.S. is about ensuring that the corporation’s GMO crops are widely accepted across the globe.

Amazingly, the Brazilian court took a stand against this corruption. Instead of groveling to Brazilian officials and mega biotechnology groups, the Brazilian business wire reports that the court determined the Brazilian government to be illegally working with the food industry entity known as ABIA. Furthermore, the court stated that consumers have the basic right to know what they are putting into their mouths — especially when it comes to GMO ingredients.

The court issued a fine of $2,478 per product that was found to violate the ruling after finding the presence of GMO ingredients in Nestle’s strawberry “Bono” cookies.

Other nations have taken similar actions against Monsanto and GMOs as a whole, with Poland banning Monsanto’s GM maize and Peru passing a monumental 10 year ban on GMOs as a whole. In the United States, the government continues to ignore and deny the concerns surrounding genetically modified crops and ingredients, instead streamlining the approval process for Monsanto’s new modified creations.

Monsanto seed of discord brings Latin American Spring

Monsanto seed of discord brings Latin American Spring
July 7, 2012 | RussiaToday