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Archaeology shocker: Study claims humans reached the Americas 130,000 years ago
Some 130,000 years ago, scientists say, a mysterious group of ancient people visited the coastline of what is now Southern California. More than 100,000 years before they were supposed to have arrived in the Americas, these unknown people used five heavy stones to break the bones of a mastodon. They cracked open femurs to suck out the marrow and, using the rocks as hammers, scored deep notches in the bone. When finished, they abandoned the materials in the soft, fine soil; one tusk planted upright in the ground like a single flag in the archaeological record. Then the people vanished.
This is the bold claim put forward by paleontologist Thomas Deméré and his colleagues in a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature. The researchers say that the scratched-up mastodon fossils and large, chipped stones uncovered during excavation for a San Diego highway more than 20 years ago are evidence of an unknown hominin species, perhaps Homo erectus, Neanderthals, maybe even Homo sapiens.
If Deméré's analysis is accurate, it would set back the arrival date for hominins in the Americas and suggest that modern humans might not have been the first species to arrive. But the paper has raised skepticism among many researchers who study American prehistory. Several said this is a classic case of an extraordinary claim requiring extraordinary evidence — which they argue the Nature paper doesn’t provide.
“You can’t push human activity in the New World back 100,000 years based on evidence as inherently ambiguous as broken bones and nondescript stones,” said David Meltzer, an archaeologist at Southern Methodist University. “They need to do a better job showing nature could not be responsible for those bones and stones.”
more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/04/26/archaeology-shocker-study-claims-humans-reached-the-americas-130000-years-ago/
Interesting discussion and debate in the article
Wednesday Toon Roundup 2- The Rest
Investigation
Immigration
Women’s Health
Shutdown
Putin
Philippines
Afghanistan
Trump's plan to kill Energy Star could benefit his properties
(CNN)Energy Star is best known for labels that tell you how much you'll pay on your utility bill if you buy a new refrigerator or television. But it also has ratings for hotels, condominiums and office buildings.
Trump's properties tend to receive low Energy Star ratings. The most recent scores from 2015 reveal that 11 of his 15 skyscrapers in New York, Chicago and San Francisco are less energy efficient than most comparable buildings. On a scale of 1 to 100 for energy efficiency,
Manhattan's old Mayfair Hotel, which Trump converted into condos, rated a 1.
But none of this could matter if the administration has its way. It has proposed cutting all funding to the Energy Star Program, run by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Energy Star's impending fate exemplifies how the President's actions can benefit his own businesses.
more
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/25/politics/donald-trump-energy-star-epa/index.html
Evil Fucking People: ex-soldier, boyfriend arrested for fatally shooting her dog
Marinna Rollins, left, and Jarren Heng (Cumberland County Sheriff's Office)
A former soldier and her boyfriend face felony charges of animal cruelty and conspiracy after a video surfaced that appeared to show the pair tying her dog to a tree and shooting him numerous times with a rifle while laughing.
Marinna Rollins, 23, was taken into custody Tuesday. Her boyfriend, Jerren Heng, 26, was already in custody, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office.
According to a police report, Rollins and Heng took the gray-and-white male pit bull named Cumboui to an unknown wooded area on April 16 or 17. When they got there, she tied the dog to a tree and then shot her pet in the head with a rifle.
She shot him five times, according to the report. Heng was heard on the video asking Rollins to let him shoot the dog, too.
more (warning disturbing video)
http://abc11.com/news/sheriff-video-shows-ex-soldier-boyfriend-killing-her-dog/1916019/
Five lesbians brutally attacked by 15 men in shocking hate crime
Five lesbian women were severely beaten in an attack by 15 men outside of a club this weekend.
According to a report from the Portsmouth News, a group of women was leaving the Blue Anchor pub last Sunday in Portsmouth, England, when a group of men started shouting homophobic insults at them.
According to accounts from witnesses, a chaotic scene unfolded. The men started to attack the women, pushing them to the ground and beating them.
As women leaving the pub rushed to help the victims, more men joined in the attack that lasted 10 minutes according to police, but that a victim said “seemed like forever.”
more
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/04/5-women-brutally-beaten-homophobic-riot/
Alitalia goes bust: Italy's flagship airline triggers insolvency process as liquidation looms
Alitalia, Italy's flagship airline, has triggered insolvency proceedings after staff spurned a proposed turnaround plan, which included salary cuts and layoffs aimed at rescuing the stricken carrier.
On Tuesday (25 April), the company said a €2bn (£1.7bn) recapitalisation plan contingent on the turnaround strategy was effectively buried, adding it will start appropriate "legal procedures" as funds run out.
In a statement, Alitalia said "given the impossibility of recapitalisation" it had decided to "begin procedures foreseen by law," a reference to extraordinary administration , adding its board will meet on Thursday to discuss the course of action.
Results released on Monday, showed over two-thirds of Alitalia 12,500 workforce had refused the turnaround plans put forward by the carrier.
more
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/alitalia-goes-bust-italys-flagship-airline-triggers-insolvency-process-liquidation-looms-1618595
Tuesday Toon Roundup 3: The Rest
Immigration
Sessions
Science
Climate
Lies
Billo
Deficits
Stores
Texas
New Orleans
France
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