Author: Truth & Hammer

Edible Insects as Haute Cuisine | A Gringo In Mexico

Edible insects were a mainstay of the Mesoamerican diet and have been consumed in Mexico for centuries. Not typically considered alongside the country’s more well-known gastronomic fare such as tacos, moles, tamales and the like, insectos are one of Mexico’s most time-honored culinary traditions. Many in the central and southern regions of the country still consume the critters as part of their daily sustenance.

It’s common to find baskets of crunchy chapulines (fried grasshoppers seasoned with lime, salt and dried chilies) in labyrinthine mercados in Oaxaca and Puebla. Or nutty escamoles (ant larvae) – often called “Mexican caviar” due to its rarity and richness – on the menu at traditional restaurants in Veracruz and Hidalgo.

Clockwise from top: escamoles, gusanos de maguey, chinicuiles, chapulines. Photo: W. Scott Koenig

Modern Preparations

In the past decade, however, chefs throughout Mexico have been reacquainting diners with the ancestral staple in dishes of modern Mexican cuisine. And doing so in a manner more befitting of the white tablecloth than the dusty floor of a Mayan hut.

Acclaimed chef Enrique Olvera of Pujol in Mexico City, one of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, delights diners with his take on elotes — ears of corn coated in mayonnaise and dashed liberally with chili powder. Olvera’s interpretation utilizes baby corn slathered in costeno chili mayonnaise and peppered with chicatanas, the midsection of flying ants. The edible insects are harvested in southern Mexico as they fall from the sky during rainy season.

Elotes with chicatanas at Pujol, Mexico City. Photo: W. Scott Koenig

At Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurant Pangea in Monterrey, chef Eduardo Morali serves escamoles two ways: in a risotto with hazelnuts and sprinkled simply over stalks of white asparagus. His preparations are subtle, allowing the nutty taste and creamy texture of the pre-Hispanic delicacy to shine through.

Edible Insects at Restaurant Cien Años

Closer to home in Baja California, a variety of the 500+ edible insects that crawl, fly and burrow throughout Mexico can be found in markets and restaurants just across the border in Tijuana. At restaurant Cien Años in the Zona Rio neighborhood, chef José Sparza serves a tasting menu of insects which he prepares vis-a-vis traditional methods.

“Like fruits and vegetables, edible insects are seasonal,” says the chef. “That means chapulines from August until December, and Gusanos de Maguey (worms from the leaves of the maguey plant) in July and August.” (see the seasonal insect chart at the end of this article)

Taco de Guasano de Maguey, Restaurant Cien Años. Photo: W. Scott Koenig

Sparza serves his insects as tacos, tucked within a variety of warm, house-made, nixtamalized tortillas of white, yellow and blue heirloom corn. They’re accompanied by salsas in heavy molcajetes, including a profoundly deep salsa rojo and a piquant salsa verde of tomatillo and Serrano chili.

Flight of the Insects

Sparza shares, “In the manner of Oaxaca, our insect taco flight is accompanied by a bottle of mezcal.” The smoky and aggressive Mexican agave spirit combines perfectly with the salty, acerbic taste of his chapulines and pairs nicely with the restaurant’s escamoles— sautéed in butter and garlic with onion and jalapeño peppers, salted, doused in mezcal and set afire to finish the dish.

“The cooking of insects should be very simple,” Sparza continues. “I learned from (traditional cooks) I met in Oaxaca, Tulancingo, Mexico City and Tierra Colorada in the state of Guerrero.” Though ingredients and methods used in his uncomplicated preparations should not be assumed. When pressed for the recipe of his tangy, crunchy and slightly spicy chapulines, the chef demurs, “That is a recipe handed down to me in secrecy.”

“The cooking of insects should be simple.”
– Jose Sparza, Executive Chef, Cien Años

Tacos of escamoles, chapulines, chicatanas and gusanos de maguey are featured during the tasting, as well as chinicuiles on tortillas of mixed blue and yellow corn. The small red worms reside in the roots of agave cultivated for tequila and mezcal, are unearthed en masse, fried on a comal until crispy, seasoned with salt and lime and frequently garnished with a dollop of creamy guacamole.

Taco de chicatanas, Restaurant Cien Años. Photo: W. Scott Koenig

Taco de chinicuiles, Restaurant Cien Años. Photo: W. Scott Koenig

Sparza likes to prepare an unusual protein at the end of his insect tastings. It might be tostadas of steamed and shredded rattlesnake, which has a similar taste and texture as chicken, but slightly oilier. Or during a recent visit, a taco of dense, flavorful crocodile which has a firm texture reminiscent of pork.

Protein of the Future

Sampling gusanos de maguey. Photo: Ana Laura Holguin

In the US, many turn their noses up at the mention of edible insects, yet they’re consumed daily by over 2 billion people worldwide, primarily in Latin America, Asia and Africa. As the population of the planet continues to grow and grazing areas for livestock diminish, many speculate that Entomophagy – the eating of insects – will be key in providing the rest of the world eco-friendly protein in the not-too-distant future.

According to Eva Muller, a director at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), “Consumer disgust remains one of the largest barriers to the adoption of insects as viable sources of protein in many Western countries. Nevertheless, history has shown that dietary patterns can change quickly, particularly in the globalized world.” *

“Consumer disgust is the largest barrier.”
– Eva Muller, Director, FAO

It’s not necessary to be a survivalist or a prepper to know that bugs are indeed the food of tomorrow. One can get a head start on the other 7 billion inhabitants estimated to populate the planet by the year 2030 by sampling the elegant entomophagy on offer at restaurant Cien Años.

* www.news.un.org

Edible Insects By Season

	INSECT NAME:	IN SEASON:
	Chapulines (Grasshoppers)	Aug-Dec
	Chinicuilis (Red Maguey Worm)	Aug-Nov
	Escamoles (Ant Larvae)	Mar-Apr
	Gusano de Maguey (Maguey Worm)	Jul-Aug
	Chicatanas (Flying Ants)	Jun-Aug

The insect tasting menu at restaurant Cien Años is $30/US per person and includes six taco courses and a bottle of mezcal. Tastings are by appointment only and require a minimum group of 10.

This content was originally published here.

June 30, 2019

Fawad Chaudhry appointed as head of COMSATS advisory board | The Express Tribune

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry. PHOTO: APP/FILE

ISLAMABAD: Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday was appointed as the chairman of Comsats (Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South) advisory committee.

The federal minister was previously serving as a member of the commission’s advisory board before being made its head.

Chaudhry will replace Nasim Nawaz, the secretary Ministry of Science and Technology.

Earlier in the day, the science and technology minister paid a visit to the Comsats university’s main campus in Islamabad, where he reiterated how the commission’s work was paving the way for sustainable development in the country.

According to the ministry, Chaudhry’s appointment would further enhance the vision of Comsats.

Pakistan’s Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam conceived the idea of the Comsats. The university is collaborating with 27 countries in the field of science and technology.

Comsats aims to reduce the gap between the developed and developing world through useful applications of science and technology.

This content was originally published here.

June 30, 2019
Space miners race to an asteroid worth quintillions
- 16 Psyche is an asteroid full of metal in the asteroid belt that could be worth $700 quintillion.
- NASA plans to visit 16 Psyche by 2026.
- Commercial mining of faraway asteroids could still be decades away and some set closer targets, like the moon.
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Would you like to be a billionaire? All you have to do is figure out how to go into space and mine 16 Psyche, an asteroid made of gold and other metals like iron and nickel. Flying somewhere between Mars and Jupiter, this amazing space rock is estimated to be worth as much as $700 quintillion, thanks to all the metals it contains.

Quintillion, if you are wondering, is 1 with 18 zeroes. It’s such a large amount of money that if you divide it up between everyone alive on Earth currently, each person would get about $93 billion.

Of course, don’t pack your bags for your new palace just yet – the prospect of actually getting such a giant chunk of precious metals back to Earth is difficult and hasn’t been accomplished yet even on much smaller scales. And 16 Psyche is a truly massive space rock at over 200 km (120 mi) in diameter. It is one of the largest asteroids flying in the asteroid belt.

Experts, like Professor Zarnecki of the Royal Astronomical Society, conjecture we may be up to 50 years away from being able to carry out commercial mining operations of that size. To start things off, NASA is planning to send a Discovery Mission to the asteroid in 2022, which will arrive there by 2026.

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Some skeptics also don’t believe the asteroid is as full of expensive things as we think, with Peter Schiff of Euro Pacific Capital tweeting that 16 Psyche may just be “made almost entirely of an iron-nickel alloy, with small amounts of other metals, likely to include gold.” He thinks the news about the asteroid are just out there to help bitcoin, which would benefit from the price of gold going down.

There are also other questions to consider – if it really is so full of gold and other riches, the asteroid could actually crash Earth’s economy, which at $75.5 trillion is a pittance against the amount of money one could get from the asteroid.

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Veteran miner Scott Moore, CEO of the mining company EuroSun Mining, explained to Oil Price that: “The ‘Titans of Gold’ now control hundreds of the best-producing properties around the world, but the 4-5 million ounces of gold they bring to the market every year pales in comparison to the conquests available in space.”

Of course, the thinking that a space gold rush that discovers a vast amount of heavy metals could bring down Earth’s affairs is based on the current state of economy and the needs of the present day. Decades from now our requirements for metal might be entirely different.

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16 Psyche was actually discovered back in 1852 by the Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis, and named after the Greek mythological character Psyche.

Besides this giant rock in the asteroid belt, there are other mining opportunities much closer to Earth. Moore points out that while Psyche “may be the Holy Grail of space exploration for gold,” near-Earth asteroids are much better first targets for mining. Even our moon might be a better place to start such operations. It also has gold as well as platinum and other rare earth metals.

In other nearer goals, Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources each plan to mine the 2011 UW158 asteroid, worth up to $5.7 trillion.

Lest you think this is all science fiction, Morgan Stanley projects the global space economy to be already worth $350 billion, which it thinks will grow to trillions by 2040. The race is on between the U.S., China, Japan and even small Luxembourg, which has 10 space-mining companies registered.

This content was originally published here.
June 30, 2019
Meghan and Harry set to make Archie’s christening in Windsor next weekend private | Daily Mail Online

ON MEGHAN’S SIDE

THE BFF: Jessica Mulroney

Widely thought of as Meghan’s BFF – and unofficial stylist – Jessica Mulroney is a clear front-runner, although her US location means she’d be a godparent from afar.

The American stylist, a mother-of-three married to Canadian TV host Ben Mulroney, is so close to the Duchess that her four-year-old daughter, Ivy, was a flower girl at the royal wedding.

Her seven-year-old brothers John and Brian had the honour of being page boys.

The 39-year-old, who divides her time between Toronto and New York, where she works for Good Morning America as a fashion contributor, even has photos of the royal wedding in her home, with the stylish black-and-white snaps revealed in a video she posted last year.

Among those closest to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex who could be named godparents of their first child, is Meghan’s best friend and unofficial stylist Jessica Mulroney (pictured)

THE STYLIST FRIEND: Misha Nonoo

Despite being predominately based in New York, fashion designer Misha has maintained a close friendship with the Duchess.

She was the creative mind behind the t-shirt the Duchess of Sussex wore for her first public outing with the Prince at the Invictus Games in Toronto in September 2017, and was at one point thought to be the matchmaker behind their royal romance.

The pair also go way back; prior to joining the royal family Meghan enjoyed regular holidays with Misha and her best male friend Markus Anderson.

Misha Nonoo (pictured on holiday with Benita Litt and Meghan) has maintained her close friendship with Meghan since she married Prince Harry, despite being predominately based in New York

THE MOTHER OF MEGHAN’S GODCHILDREN: Benita Litt

If Meghan decides a reciprocal godparenting arrangement might be best, then she may well look to the mother of her own godchildren.

Benita Litt, mother to Remi and Rylan Litt, was spotted close to Meghan’s mother Doria at the royal wedding with the pair clearly delighted to be representing the Duchess’s side of the family.

A former entertainment lawyer, high-flying Benita has previously been on holiday with the royal – and if you needed any further proof of their solid friendship, the pair also spent Christmas 2016 together.

Benita Litt (pictured left at the Royal wedding with Meghan’s mother Doria) is the mother of Meghan’s godchildren Remi and Rylan Litt

THE UNIVERSITY PAL: Lindsay Roth

Keeper of some of the Duchess’ oldest secrets, Lindsay Roth is a fellow alumni from Northwestern University in Illinois, where the pair bonded in an English literature class studying Toni Morrison’s works.

Now a successful TV producer and author, Lindsay has already bestowed a role on Meghan, choosing her to serve as her maid of honour at her wedding in 2016.

Lindsay Roth (pictured with Meghan) is one of her oldest friends and a fellow alumni from Meghan’s time spent studying literature at Northwestern

THE FAMOUS FRIEND: Serena Williams

Tennis icon Serena Williams has remained close friends with Meghan since the pair first met in 2010 at the Super Bowl in Miami, Florida.

Meghan previously wrote about their friendship on her lifestyle blog, The Tig, saying the pair had found an instant affection.

‘We hit it off immediately,’ she said. ‘Taking pictures, laughing through the flag football game we were both playing in, and chatting not about tennis or acting, but about all the good old fashioned girly stuff.’

The sportswoman, 37, was one of the pals involved in organising her baby shower in New York – and admitted that she’d pulled out all the stops to make it perfect for her pal.

She told Business of Fashion: ‘Planning something like that takes a lot of effort. I’m a perfectionist, so I’m like, ‘Let’s make it perfect’.’

Serena was a guest at St George’s Chapel Windsor when Meghan married Prince Harry last May, and was one of the close friends invited to their more ‘intimate’ evening do for 200 friends.

Serena (pictured with Meghan backstage at a fashion debut) was one of the Duchess’s close friends involved in the process of organising her New York baby shower

AMAL CLOONEY

Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, 41, and her husband George, 57, were in attendance at Prince Harry and Meghan’s wedding.

The mother of twins, who developed a friendship with the duchess during her transition to London, are connected through celebrity hair stylist Miguel Perez.

According to Elle, Meghan has been relying on Amal’s advice for coping with being in the public eye.

Amal and her husband are part of the well-heeled set of Berkshire-based celebrities who live close to Harry and Meghan’s new home at Frogmore Cottage.

Their sprawling home is just a 30-minute drive from Windsor and the couples are said to socialise regularly.

Harry and Meghan also spent a few days with the Clooneys at their 18th century Villa Oleandra in Lake Como in August 2018, relaxing by the pool and playing basketball.

Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, 41, seen with George in March, attended Harry and Meghan’s wedding. Amal was also in attendance of the Duchess’s New York baby shower

THE MUTUAL FRIEND: Violet von Westenholz

Violet von Westenholz, 33, is the daughter of former Olympic skier Baron Piers von Westenholz, who is a close personal friend of Harry’s father, the Prince of Wales.

She was also a childhood friend of Harry’s and met with Meghan while working as a press relations director for Ralph Lauren.

She was seen chatting with Meghan at Wimbeldon just days before her blind date with Prince Harry in July 2016, prompting speculation that she had set the couple up.

However, it’s since been revealed that the royal matchmaker was designer Misha Nonoo.

Chums: Violet met Meghan through her PR job at Ralph Lauren (pictured at The Polo Ralph Lauren VIP Suite at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships)

THE LA CONFIDANTE: Heather Dorak

Meghan’s close friend Heather Dorak was not at her baby shower – presumably because she had given birth to her own child only days earlier.

The duchess developed a close friendship with Heather during the time she spent attending her Pilates classes when she was an actress in LA.

Meghan has often gushed about being inspired by Heather who was a guest at her wedding to Harry.

Meghan’s close friend Heather Dorak (pictured) developed a close friendship with the duchess during the time she spent attending her Pilates classes as an actress in LA

On Harry’s side

THE SECOND FATHER: Mark Dyer

Mark Dyer has been noted as a ‘second father’ to Prince Harry throughout his upbringing and a mentor alongside the royal’s former nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke.

Cheltenham College educated Dyer, known as Marko to friends, became a steadying big brother figure to the princes in the mid-Nineties when he worked as an equerry to the Prince of Wales for 18 months.

Prince Charles appointed Dyer to keep an eye on his sons, and he was brought in as a male counterpart to former royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke.

During the first half term after Diana’s death, when the boys would have been with their mother, Prince Charles was committed to a five day visit to Africa.

He took Harry along and while the Prince carried out engagements, Harry went off on safari in Botswana, organised by Mark.

From then on he was a key guiding figure as Harry and William tried to come to terms with the loss of their mother.

After his spell as an employee to the Prince ended he remained a mentor to Harry.

In 2009 Mark founded the management company MDM Bars and Pubs and runs two pubs The Sand’s End and The Brown Cow, in south-west London which both became haunts of Prince Harry.

Mark’s six-year-old son Jasper, who is Prince Harry’s godson, was chosen as a page boy for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding.

Mark Dyer (pictured with Harry) has been described as a ‘second father’ to Prince Harry following his mother Princess Diana’s death

THE FAMILY MEMBER: Mike and Zara Tindall

Harry has shared a close bond with his cousin Zara Tindall since childhood.

Back when Zara had a tongue piercing and Harry was known for his wild nights out, the pair were known as the ‘fun’ royal rebels.

However, their friendship has endured now they are both settled down and in their 30s.

Indeed, it’s Harry who is said to be responsible for Zara’s happy marriage to Mike Tindall after introducing the pair at Manly Wharf Hotel in Sydney in 2003, during the Rugby World Cup.

Zara and Mike chose Prince Harry to be godfather to their second daughter, Lena, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended her christening in March at St Nicholas Church in Cherington, Gloucestershire.

Harry is godfather to Lena Tindall, the younger daughter of his cousin Zara and Mike Tindall (pictured at the Copper Box)

THE FATHER OF HARRY’S GODCHILD: Jake Warren

Jake Warren and his wife Zoe attended the couple’s wedding, and their daughter Zalie – who is one of Prince Harry’s godchildren – was chosen to be a flower girl.

The godson of Princess Diana, Jake grew up alongside Prince Harry and has often been spotted with him at events including Ascot.

The Warren family are closely connected to the royals through horse-racing. Jake’s father John Warren is the Queen’s racing manager.

The father-and-son team run Highclere Stud in Newbury together.

Jake Warren and his wife Zoe had their daughter Zali, who is one of Prince Harry’s godchildren, attended their wedding (Harry and Jake pictured together at Royal Ascot in 2014)

THE CLOSE MATE: Nicholas Van Cutsem

Major Nicholas van Cutsem, a major with the Household Cavalry’s Life Guards, has been a friend of Harry and William’s since childhood.

He had an important role in the 2011 wedding when he escorted William and Kate along the procession route in London in a 1902 State Landau after their wedding at Westminster Abbey.

The Duke of Sussex chose three-year-old Florence, the daughter of Nicholas and his wife Alice Van Cutsem, as a flower girl for his wedding to Meghan.

Prince Harry, who has known Nicholas and Alice for several years, is Florence’s godfather.

The Duke of Sussex chose three-year-old Florence, the daughter of Nicholas and Alice Van Cutsem (pictured in 2009), as a flower girl for his wedding to Meghan

THE BELOVED FORMER NANNY: Tiggy Pettifer

Tiggy Pettifer – better known as Tiggy Legge-Bourke – was famously Harry and William’s long-term nanny in their formative years.

A constant by the princes’ side while they were growing up, Tiggy has remained close to both the royals over the years, and met Meghan before they married.

The Duke of Sussex is godfather to Tiggy’s son Tom Pettifer, who was pictured with Tiggy at the royal wedding.

The Duke of Sussex is godfather to his former nanny’s son Tom Pettifer (pictured with Tiggy). His mother Tiggy Pettifer who was a personal assistant to Prince Harry throughout his childhood

THE PREP SCHOOL FRIEND: Charlie Van Straubenzee

Charlie Van Straubenzee became a close friend to Prince Harry and Prince William during their time at Ludgrove Prep School in Berkshire, and was chosen to be an usher at Harry’s wedding.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended Charlie’s wedding in Surrey just months after their own ceremony.

The Windsors and van Straubenzees have known each other since they were at Prep school together and are close friends.

Charlie’s older brother Thomas is Princess Charlotte’s godfather.

Harry has visited the family home in Cornwall almost every summer since he was a child.

Charlie Van Straubenzee (pictured with his wife Daisy) became a close friend of Prince Harry and Prince William during their time at Ludgrove Prep School in Berkshire

THE SPEECH WRITER: Tom Inskip

Tom ‘Skippy’ Inskip and sister Victoria — ‘Tor’ to her friends — have known Princes William and Harry since childhood. The Inskips were regulars at Club H, the ‘nightclub’ William and Harry set up in the basement of Highgrove.

Tom attended Eton with Harry and co-owns a race horse with him called Usain Colt.

He later became known for being by Harry’s side whenever he got into scrapes, such as his infamous trip to Las Vegas in 2012, when the prince was photographed naked during a game of ‘strip billiards’.

But he’s been leading a more settled life since marrying flame-haired literary agent the Hon Lara Hughes-Young in Jamaica in 2017.

Harry and Meghan flew to Jamaica to attend Tom’s wedding, where the Prince was an usher.

Tom was a guest at the royal wedding in May 2018, and reportedly helped Prince William write a speech.

Tom Inskip (pictured with his wife Lara attending the Royal wedding) was involved in writing Prince William’s speech for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding

This content was originally published here.

June 30, 2019
How to Set Up a Smart Kitchen

Serghei Starus/Shutterstock

Your kitchen is full of appliances, but they’re dumb. Technology, like smart speakers, lights, ovens, and faucets, can make cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping easier. Creating a smart kitchen isn’t hard, and everyone in the home can benefit. Here’s how.

Why a Smart Kitchen?

Your kitchen is a room of productivity and mess. You cook your meals, clean your dishes, and maybe even eat in your kitchen. Every cabinet, utensil, and tool contributes to your kitchen experience, for better or worse. And adding intelligence to your cooking space can improve your recipes and speed up the work.

Kitchens can host some of the most useful smarthome technology in your home. You can buy smart ovens that take the guesswork out of cooking times and suggest recipes you may not have tried or a smart faucet that you can turn on and off by voice, or ask to pour a set amount of water. But it’s not all big, flashy new appliances.

A smart display like the Nest Hub or Echo Show can convert measurements for you, set timers, or show the next steps of a recipe you’re working on, and smart lights are an inexpensive way to improve the lighting in your kitchen. For example, smart light switches can save you money by turning everything off at scheduled times, and smart LED strips can light the dark spaces under a cabinet.

Every kitchen is unique, but the advantage of creating your smart kitchen is choosing just the technology that you benefit from and skipping everything else.

Start With a Smart Speaker or Display

This Echo really helped cut down the time to make a grocery list. Josh Hendrickson

Smart ovens and faucets are impressive, but the first thing we recommend for every kitchen is also the cheapest: A smart speaker like an Amazon Echo or Google Home. Or, better yet, a smart display like the Nest Hub or Echo Show.

Echo Dots and Google Home Minis can typically be found in the $30 to $50 range, depending on sales, and the functionality they provide goes well beyond the cost. Google’s Nest Hub (formerly known as the Google Home Hub)and Amazon’s Echo Show cost a bit more at $129.99 and $229.99, respectively, but add a lot over a basic smart speaker.

With a smart speaker, you can set multiple named timers to keep track of your food cook times. If your recipe calls for a measurement you don’t have, you can ask for a conversion, like “how many teaspoons in two tablespoons?” or “how many cups in a liter?” when you need to convert to another measuring system.

Smart speakers also serve as an intercom if you spread them throughout your home, so you can easily announce when dinner is ready. And to keep yourself entertained, you can listen to music while you cook.

Read the remaining 22 paragraphs

This content was originally published here.

June 30, 2019
Hell on earth: The horrors of North Korean torture camps

Beatings, rape, starvation and sick public executions are a daily reality for thousands of North Koreans, according to years of witness testimony.

US student Otto Warmbier died on Monday at age 22, just days after his release from North Korea in a vegetative state following 17 months in custody.

Now, the death of Otto Warmbier has brought fresh scrutiny to the regime’s brutal torture camps under leader Kim Jong Un.

The 22-year-old student passed away from mysterious brain damage he suffered while a prisoner in the isolated state.

He succumbed to his horrifying injuries just six days after he was released from North Korea back to his parents in a vegetative state following 17 months in custody.

Warmbier’s doctors in Cincinnati said that the student had suffered ‘extensive loss of brain tissue in all regions of his brain’ consistent with oxygen deprivation for a prolonged period.

The isolated North Korean regime is believed to have as many 120,000 political prisoners in its harsh labor camps.

Grotesque stories of torture offer among the few clues to Warmbier’s fate.

This drawing depicts prisoners foraging among live wild animals. In the Korean description: ‘out of starvation and hunger, find snakes and rats and you eat them’.

In a 2014 report, the United Nations Human Rights Commission called North Korea ‘a state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world’ due to the country’s ‘systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations’.

Beatings are widespread in the camps, in which guards are given near-absolute authority to abuse and kill prisoners, according to survivors who have survived to speak out.

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June 30, 2019
Piles of poop, litter on trails, trampled wildflowers. In the social-media era, Washington’s public lands are being destroyed.

Here’s a “wow” statistic from the U.S. Forest Service: In 2018, wilderness rangers buried more than 400 piles of human waste found scattered throughout the Enchantments near Leavenworth, which, minus the poo, is one of the loveliest wilderness destinations in all of Washington.

A bonus “wow”: The Enchantments camping zone, because of its immense popularity, is equipped with nine privies, all intended to make improper plopping avoidable. Nevertheless, on more than 400 occasions last year, according to a Forest Service spokesperson, visitors decided to plop with impunity and just walk away.

What is going on?

“It’s unbelievable how much surface pooping is going on out there,” said Craig Romano, a year-round hiker and author of 20 hiking guides for The Mountaineers Books. “I’m coming across it in places I never expected, even remote areas. I find it in the middle of a trail. And toilet paper. Streams of it! What I’m seeing is incredible. It’s absolutely disgusting.”

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June 30, 2019
Woman who tripped on collapsed ‘wet floor’ sign at Jack Casino awarded $3 million by jury

A woman who fell by a collapsed “wet floor” sign at Jack Casino was awarded $3 million this past week by a Hamilton County jury.

Lynda Sadowski walked toward the sign, which lay flat on the floor, in September 2016. Customers had knocked it over, and a Jack employee walked around it but failed to pick it up moments before Sadowski tripped over it, according to her attorney Matt Nakajima.

Sadowski suffered a broken knee cap and metal hardware was placed in her knee. Her mobility has since worsened and she has arthritis at the fracture site, Nakajima said by email. A second surgery may be necessary.

“The casino had no safety policies in place for floor inspection or fall prevention and had no criticism of the employee’s failure to pick up the trip hazard even though its own internal documents found her at fault,” Nakajima wrote. “The Casino’s callous disregard for their customers’ safety was on full display throughout the trial.”

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June 30, 2019
Russia plans to tow a nuclear power station to the Arctic. Critics dub it a ‘floating Chernobyl’

Next month, a floating nuclear power plant called the Akademik Lomonosov will be towed via the Northern Sea Route to its final destination in the Far East, after almost two decades in construction.

It’s part of Russia’s ambition to bring electric power to a mineral-rich region. The 144-meter (472 feet) long platform painted in the colors of the Russian flag is going to float next to a small Arctic port town of Pevek, some 4,000 miles away from Moscow. It will supply electricity to settlements and companies extracting hydrocarbons and precious stones in the Chukotka region.

A larger agenda is at work too: aiding President Vladimir Putin’s ambitious Arctic expansion plans, which have raised geopolitical concerns in the United States.

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June 30, 2019
Black vultures are roosting in Kentucky and eating animals alive

They’ll devour slimy newborn calves, full-grown ewes and lambs alive by pecking them to death.

First the eyes, then the tongue, then every last shred of flesh.

And there isn’t much defense against black vultures and turkey vultures, both of which are federally protected and cannot be killed without a permit.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 covers all migratory birds, their nests and their eggs, which means that the birds can’t be harmed without federal permission. Their nests can only be disrupted, as a deterrent, if there are no eggs or young in them.

But as the vultures, which are native to Kentucky, have multiplied in numbers nationally over the last two decades, they have become more of a problem for farmers. Each year, Kentucky farmers lose around $300,000 to $500,000 worth of livestock to these native vultures, according to Joe Cain, commodity division director for the Kentucky Farm Bureau.

It’s not just farm animals. Small pets may be at risk too.

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June 30, 2019