Is A Trip To The Bar The Best Thing For A Veteran's Mental Health?

Photo: First Lt. Travis Gilbert, 34, center, enjoys his first beer since returning from a yearlong deployment in Afghanistan. Anita Powell / S&S

For Veterans, Road to Mental Health May Begin at the Bar -- Live Science

Connecting struggling veterans to the mental health services they need is an ongoing challenge. Now, a new study finds that the process could start with a sympathetic bartender.

The exploratory study found that bartenders at Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) clubs could help identify veterans in trouble and direct them to mental health professionals. Brief and inexpensive training for these bartenders would widen the safety net for veterans in need of care, said study researcher Keith Anderson, a professor of social work at Ohio State University

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My Comment: I do not see many soldiers disagreeing with this course of treatment.

How Egypt Disconnected The Internet

How Egypt Pulled The Plug On The Internet -- CBS News

Within Six Minutes, Internet Providers for 93 Percent of Egypt Went Down - And Have Not Come Back.

(CBS) NEW YORK - The uprising in Egypt is a quintessential 21st century event - born on Facebook and other social networking sites - which led the government to cut off Internet service.

Science and Technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg reports on this desperate effort to keep a lid on dissent.

The Internet blackout was a surprising move for a nation previously known for being open - compared to other countries in the Mideast.

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More News On How Egypt Disconnected The Internet

Egypt's Internet service blockade unprecedented -- USA Today
A Look At How Egypt Shut Down The Internet -- Tech Dirt
Egypt Internet Blockade Worst in History -- Mobilemedia

Noor Group, Egypt's last Internet service provider, shuts down -- L.A. Times
Egypt's last Internet provider, The Noor Group, goes dark; 'speak-to-tweet' service launched -- Canadian Press
Egypt's Last ISP, Noor Group, Vanishes from 'Net -- PC Magazine
Egypt’s Last-Standing ISP Goes Dark -- Threat Level
As Final Internet Provider Goes Off-Line, Egyptians Seek Simpler Options -- NPR

Accessing The Internet From Egypt -- NPR (Audio)
Egypt Turns Off the Internet. Now What Happens? -- Technology Review
Egypt’s Internet gambit misfires. Surprised? -- Reuters
Making sense of the internet and Egypt -- John D. Sutter, CNN
Egypt's big internet disconnect -- Andrew McLaughlin, The Guardian

U.S. Marines Getting Ready For A Post DADT

Top Marines Pledge To 'Step Out Smartly' To Repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' -- Washington Post

Gay rights leaders are praising the nation's top Marine for setting a positive, proactive tone as the military prepares to end enforcement of "don't ask, don't tell," despite his previous warnings that openly gay troops could lead to deadly distractions.

Gen. James F. Amos, the commandant of the Marine Corps, has said that allowing gays to serve openly in the military could result in more casualties because openly gay troops on the battlefield could pose "a distraction."

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More News On The Marines Getting Ready To Repeal DADT

Top Marines Pledge to ‘Step Out Smartly’ to Comply With ‘Don’t Ask’ Repeal -- Wall Street Journal
Amos delivers message to Corps on DADT -- Stars And Stripes
Commandant and Sergeant-Major of the USMC Address the Corps on DADT Repeal -- FDL
Marine Commandant James Amos Reverses Course On DADT Repeal -- On Top
DOD gets ready for a post-DADT reality -- Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post

How Are We Going To Feed 9.2 Billion People In 2050

The UN has warned of a global hunger crisis over predicted poor crop yields. Photo by wordpress.com

2.4 Billion Extra People, No More Land: How Will We Feed The World In 2050? -- The Independent

Steve Connor reveals how scientists propose a major policy shift to tackle one of the great challenges of the 21st century.

The finite resources of the Earth will be be stretched as never before in the coming 40 years because of the unprecedented challenge of feeding the world in 2050, leading scientists have concluded in a report to be published next week.

Food production will have to increase by between 70 and 100 per cent, while the area of land given over to agriculture will remain static, or even decrease as a result of land degradation and climate change. Meanwhile the global population is expected to rise from 6.8 billion at present to about 9.2 billion by mid-century.

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My Comment: If not .... what has been happening in Tunisia and Egypt in the past two weeks will be a piper when compared to what may happen in the future when the populations involved are 50% greater.

With The Arab World In Revolt, Are Saudi Arabia's Oil Fields Secure?

Mid-East Contagion Fears for Saudi Oil Fields -- The Telegraph

Risk analysts and intelligence agencies fear that Egypt's uprising may set off escalating protests in the tense Shia region of Saudi Arabia, home to the world's richest oilfields.

"Yemen, Sudan, Jordan and Syria all look vulnerable. However, the greatest risk in terms of both probability and severity is in Saudi Arabia," said a report by risk consultants Exclusive Analysis.

While markets have focused on possible disruption to the Suez Canal, conduit for 8pc of global shipping, it is unlikely that Egyptian leaders of any stripe would cut off an income stream worth $5bn (£3.1bn) a year to the Egyptian state.

"I don't think the Egyptians will ever dare to touch it," said Opec chief Abdalla El-Badri, adding that the separate Suez oil pipeline is "very well protected". The canal was blockaded after the Six Days War in 1967.

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My Comment: For the moment .... Saudi Arabia's oil fields are safe. But with many in the Arab world now galvanized with what is happening in Egypt/Tunisia/Yemen and elsewhere .... who knows if Saudi Arabia's Shiite population and disaffected Saudi youths may hit the streets and plunge Saudi Arabia into political and social anarchy.

Who Are The Muslim Brotherhood, And Why They Are Poised To Take Over Egypt

Protesters gather at Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt on Jan. 25, the first day of mass anti-government demonstrations in the country. (Submitted by Nour Ahmed)

Just What Is The Muslim Brotherhood? -- FOX News

While analysts ask who or what is behind the sustained protests in Egypt, one group is now seeking political legitimacy.

Technically banned under Egypt's constitution that forbids religious based parties, the Muslim Brotherhood is now throwing its support behind Mohammed el Baradei as an opposition leader.

But many fear that if Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak goes, the real replacement will be either the Muslim Brotherhood itself, or an Islamic fundamentalist group. El Baradei insisted on Sunday talk shows that the fear was unwarranted.

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More News On Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

The Muslim Brotherhood: The Future of Egypt? -- Yahoo News/Atlantic Wire
Egypt protesters play down Islamist party's role -- The Guardian
Muslim Brotherhood blames America for the unrest -- The Telegraph
Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas seek to increase role in Egypt : Stratfor -- International Business Times
Muslim Brotherhood Plays Key Role In Egypt Unrest -- NPR (audio)
Egypt arrests Muslim Brotherhood leaders -- Reuters
Egypt Muslim Brotherhood says 34 key members escape prison -- Reuters
With Muslim Brotherhood Set to Join Egypt Protests, Religion’s Role May Grow -- New York Times
Muslim Group Backs Secular Struggle -- Wall Street Journal
WH: No US contact with Muslim Brotherhood -- Washington Post/AP
Muslim Brotherhood: ‘Prepare Egyptians for war with Israel' -- Jerusalem Post
The Muslim Brotherhood may gain power in Egypt by default -- The Guardian

Picture Of The Day

GROWLER INSPECTION - U.S. Navy sailors assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron 141 perform an inspection on an EA-18G Growler in the hangar bay aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, which is under way in the Atlantic Ocean, Jan. 27, 2011. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Leonard Adams

It Seems That Anyone Can Build A 'Death-Ray' Weapon

Look What I Made, Mum! Teenager Builds 'Death-Ray' Which Can Burn Through Almost Anything -- The Daily Mail

While many teenagers are content to sit at home playing computer games, this one has set his sights on something a little more ambitious.

Eric Jacqmain, from Indiana in the US, covered an ordinary fibreglass satellite dish with 5,800 tiny mirror tiles - and made his very own 'death ray'.

When aligned correctly it can generate a heat spot a couple of centimetres across, with an intensity of 5,000 shining suns, the 19-year-old claims.

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My Comment: I definitely want one of these.

Get Ready For The Water Riots

Photo via the Scurry Group

After Food Protests, Water Riots Are Next -- The Telegraph

Governments in Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Yemen have faced protests in recent weeks, part fuelled by rising food costs. Unfortunately, this is a trend that looks set to continue and probably escalate over the next two decades.

The rise of the middle classes in emerging markets, coupled with a soaring world population, underpin an increase in the price of basics such as wheat, corn and sugar.

But the situation is going to be made much worse by the scarcity of water – the most important commodity there is.

"Water remains a more problematic commodity than food and fuel: though cheap in its natural state, it is expensive to process and expensive to transport, especially in the quantities necessary for agriculture," according to a report from a Washington-based think tank released last month.

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My Comment: I am so lucky living in Canada .... fresh water is so abundant and never an issue. When I travel abroad .... wow .... in some countries (i.e. China, India, Middle East) .... this is a very big issue. And while I can do without food for a week or more .... water .... that is a completely different story.

5,000 Years Of Egyptian Antiquities Are Now Being Looted Across Egypt

Egypt's Antiquities Fall Victim To The Mob -- Wall Street Journal

When Zahi Hawass, the secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, came to work at the Egyptian Museum on Saturday, he found that looters had broken in and beheaded two mummies—possibly Tutankhamun's grandparents—and looted the ticket booth. Reports indicate that middle-class Egyptians, the tourism police and later the military secured the museum. But now it appears that many other museum's and storehouses have been looted, along with archaeological sites. A vast, impoverished underclass seems less taken with either the nationalist narrative of Egyptian greatness that stretches back to the pharaohs, or the intrinsic value of antiquities for all humanity, and more intrigued by the possibility of gold and other loot. For his part, Mr. Hawass has now been appointed state minister for antiquities by President Hosni Mubarak.

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More News On Egypt's Collection of Antiquities At Risk As The Unrest Continues To Grow

Egypt sees massive looting of antiquities -- Bikyamasr
Protesters defended Cairo's Egyptian Museum from looters; archeological warehouses raided -- New York Daily News
Egypt: Other face of unrest sees looters plunder country's past -- Scotsman
Details of looting of Cairo and other Egyptian museums -- The Art Newspaper
Haswass Anxiety for Egyptian Antiquities in Attacks on Museums -- Suite101
Egyptian artifacts in danger: antiquities chief -- CBC
Egyptologists fear for relics amid unrest -- CNN
Archaeologists Hold Their Breaths on Status of Egyptian Antiquities -- Science Magazine
Archaeologists assess Tut tragedy -- MSNBC
Egypt crisis: Looters destroy mummies in Cairo museum -- The Telegraph
Egyptian army boosts security at museums and archaeological sites -- The National
Egypt's Treasures Saved from Looters and Vandals -- FOX News
Egypt Treasures Looted, but Public Strikes Back -- National Geographic
Egypt's Human Chain: The Race to Save the Mummies -- Time Magazine
Egypt: military detains 50 at museum -- AP
The Break-In at Cairo's Prized Museum -- Time Magazine
Pictures: Ancient Egyptian Artifacts Damaged in Looting -- National Geographic
The battle for Egypt's past -- CNN
Egypt's museums must be defended -- Jonathan Jones, The Guardian

My Comment: The focus of the media is on the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and efforts to protect it. But the fact is that there are many more museums all across Egypt, and reports are now coming in that they are being looted. To say that this is a catastrophe is an understatement. Regardless of what is happening politically, years from now Egypt will be looking at what is happening today as a dark day in which a good portion of its historical past was looted and stolen.