Category Archives: Post Human

Washington President Barack Obama on Friday accused the Republican-led U.S. Senate of holding Loretta Lynch, his nominee for U.S. attorney general, as a "hostage" as lawmakers wrangle over a human trafficking bill bogged down in an abortion dispute.

Obama nominated Lynch, the Brooklyn federal prosecutor, in November to replace the retiring Eric Holder as the nation's top law enforcement official. If confirmed by the Senate, she would become the first black woman to serve in the post.

"You don't hold attorney general nominees hostage for other issues," Obama said in an interview with the Huffington Post. "This is our top law enforcement office. Nobody denies that she's well-qualified. We need to go ahead and get her done."

The human trafficking legislation had been expected to attract broad bipartisan support, but most Democrats are blocking it to protest anti-abortion language inserted by Republicans. In turn, Republicans have linked Lynch's fate to passage of the bill.

Senator Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, this week suggested race as a factor in holding up the nomination, saying Republicans are asking Lynch to "to sit in the back of the bus," alluding to bygone segregation policies restricting black people to seats at the back of buses.

Asked if race was a factor in the Senate failing to act on Lynch's nomination, Obama said, "I don't know about that. What I do know is that she is eminently qualified. Nobody denies it."

"The fact that she has now been lingering in this limbo for longer than the five previous attorney general nominees combined makes no sense," Obama said.

Holder, appearing separately on the MSNBC cable channel, said, "My guess is that there is probably not a huge racial component to this, that this is really just D.C. politics, Washington at its worst."

Obama said Holder, who has been criticized by many Republican lawmakers, is prepared to remain on the job as long as necessary until his successor is approved.

"The irony is, of course, that the Republicans really dislike Mr. Holder. If they really want to get rid of him, the best way to do it is to go ahead and get Loretta Lynch confirmed," Obama said.

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Obama: GOP is holding Loretta Lynch 'hostage' in human trafficking dispute

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is operating under the assumption that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not support the creation of a Palestinian state, despite the Israeli leader's post-election efforts to recast himself as amenable to a two-state solution.

"We take him at his word when he said that it wouldn't happen during his prime ministership, and so that's why we've got to evaluate what other options are available to make sure that we don't see a chaotic situation in the region," the president said in an interview with The Huffington Post on Friday.

Though he pledged to keep working with the Israeli government on military and intelligence operations, Obama declined to say whether the United States would continue to block Palestinian efforts to secure statehood through the United Nations. In a phone conversation the two had on Thursday, he said he indicated to Netanyahu that "it is going to be hard to find a path where people are seriously believing that negotiations are possible."

In his first public comments on Tuesday's elections in Israel, Obama's deepest discomfort was saved for Netanyahu's Election Day warning about Arab Israeli voters going to the polls "in droves."

"We indicated that that kind of rhetoric was contrary to what is the best of Israel's traditions. That although Israel was founded based on the historic Jewish homeland and the need to have a Jewish homeland, Israeli democracy has been premised on everybody in the country being treated equally and fairly," said Obama. "And I think that that is what's best about Israeli democracy. If that is lost, then I think that not only does it give ammunition to folks who don't believe in a Jewish state, but it also I think starts to erode the name of democracy in the country."

The president's comments cap a geopolitical backlash sparked by Netanyahu's statement on Monday that a Palestinian state would not be established on his watch. The Israeli prime minister has since insisted that he remains open to a two-state solution under very specific, restrictive conditions. But the damage appears to have been done, with the White House offering only the most perfunctory of diplo-speak to obscure its frustrations.

While he expressed worry about the strain that Netanyahu had placed on Israel's democratic fabric, Obama did not see the Israeli prime minister's electoral victory as having a tangible impact on current negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. With just days to go before those talks between Iran, the U.S. and five other countries are scheduled to wrap, Obama offered a markedly sober assessment about the prospects for a deal.

"Frankly," he said, "they have not yet made the kind of concessions that are I think going to be needed for a final deal to get done. But they have moved, and so there's the possibility."

Standing in the way of that final deal, according to recent reports, are lingering disputes over limits on new types of centrifuges that Iran wants to develop and the pace of international sanctions relief to be given to the country after a deal is struck.

Negotiators took a hiatus for the observation of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year. The president on Friday encouraged everybody involved to use that time to grow more "comfortable with the current positions that are being taken."

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Obama Details His Disappointment With Netanyahu In First Post-Election Comments

Crysis 3 - POST HUMAN in 2 Minutes or Less (1080p)
Check out more Crysis 3 videos here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPuyFnM430b7QFDCp7AY_ur7ZVv797huj.

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Crysis 3 - POST HUMAN in 2 Minutes or Less (1080p) - Video

Crysis 3 - post human city run
running around at some flooded area.

By: David Apelqvist

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Crysis 3 - post human city run - Video

March 19 at 7:44 PM

Crafting a novel is like building a relationship, with all of the ecstasy and flaws of a human union. Some days are all swooning and rapture while others are almost abusive, delivering a crippling dose of writers block. For me, a snowy scene has always been the best antidote. Infusions of crisp air, remote accommodations and the mighty silence of a mountainous landscape make the words flow.

I fled to the Post Hotel & Spa in Canadas Banff National Park earlier this year. Manuscript illuminated by the light from a blazing fire and glass of whiskey in hand, I thought: Now this is how to write a book. Turns out this hotel is a longtime alphabet aphrodisiac and Im about 10 years late to the party.

I keep a set of cross-country skis at the Post Hotel and a suitcase of clothes, so I just show up with my laptop and they say, Its February, Douglas is back, says Douglas Kennedy, the best-selling author of 11 novels who has been writing at the hotel every year since 2005. He worked on his upcoming novel The Blue Hour there as well as his Leaving the World, which is set partially in the Canadian Rockies.

Kennedy found the Post Hotel and what he calls the areas epic grandeur somewhat by accident. On a cross-country ski vacation in a neighboring area, rain prompted him to go searching for snowy trails that hadnt been as affected by the precipitation.

I was immediately sort of enchanted with this splendid isolation with nothing between Banff and Lake Louise, he says. I thought Id see how I got on for two weeks, and while there, I doubled my quota of words.

A veteran world traveler, Kennedy has been to 57 countries. He is attracted to places that have a huge sense of space and emptiness, and he says one of the best cross-country skiing routes is about a five-minute drive, from the front door of the Post Hotel to the Continental Divide.

Ive been skiing out there for 14 years and I never tire of it a park ranger once stopped me to say, Just saw a wolf pack, might want to turn back, and I thanked him for his warning but kept pushing forward, he said. I was thinking, Theyll probably have vanished by the time I show up on skis, which, as it turned out, was the case. The Canadian Rockies remain the true call of the wild.

Nestled into Alpine scenes

The Post Hotel sits on the banks of the picturesque Bow River. It feels miles from anywhere, but its actually just off the Trans Canada Highway in Banff National Parks Lake Louise Village, a straight shot about two hours west of Calgary in Alberta, which is fast becoming my favorite part of Canada. This is one of only a few places to stay and ski in a national park.

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Post Hotel in Banff: A creative avalanche for writerly inspiration

Two unconnected wheels along with a good sense of balance power a new take on the old skateboard.

Ride the rings with annular skates. Hammacher Schlemmer

When a product shows up on the pages of the Hammacher Schlemmer catalog, you know it's bound to be entertaining. The Post Modern Skateboard certainly fits that description. You might notice the almost complete lack of resemblance to a skateboard as we know it. This product consists of two 10-inch round wheels with foot platforms inside.

A better description would be "annular skates." "Annular" just means ring-shaped. "Skates" is self-explanatory. Forward movement is created by leaning side to side, a process that looks like it would take some practice. An extendable rod is included to connect the two skates together for easier learning.

A demonstration video shows practiced riders cruising down sidewalks, making tight spins and rolling over grass lawns.

The $99.95 (about 68, AU$131) Post Modern Skateboard seems to be more spiritually akin to a caster board than to a skateboard. A caster board is a two-wheeled, human-powered vehicle with a board that rotates in the center. The serpentine motion required to get it to move looks a lot like what's needed to propel the Post Modern Skateboard.

This may lead to some deep philosophical questions. Is it really a skateboard if it has no board? Why isn't it available in glowing "Tron" colors? Will it ever be accepted at the X-Games? The Post Modern Skateboard may never become the phenomenon rollerblades were in the late '80s, but it could become the perfect vehicle for expressing your postmodern personal-transportation angst.

An extendable bar can hook the skates together. Hammacher Schlemmer

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Post Modern Skateboard has no board, just two wheels

The United Nations has the mandates and tools it needs to prevent human rights violations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told delegations gathered in Geneva on Monday for the opening of the current session of the world body's Human Rights Council, while he warned that the biggest challenge to using these tools is lack of political consensus among Member States.

"The world faces serious violations of human rights, from discrimination and inequality to oppression and violent extremism. Our shared challenge is to do far more to keep these and other abuses from occurring in the first place," added the Secretary-General, who was joined by the Council's President, Joachim Rucker, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein.

The Council also heard statements from the President of The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Prime Minister of Fiji and dignitaries from 20 States who spoke about their concerns regarding the situation in a number of countries around the world and outlined some of the efforts their countries were undertaking in the promotion and protection of human rights.

Ban called the protection and realization of human rights "intrinsic to the entire agenda of the United Nations" and underscored the role of capacity-building, monitoring and reporting including through the work of the Human Rights Up Front Initiative.

"The conflict in Syria offers just one example where early United Nations efforts to address human rights violations might have averted a human and political catastrophe," he said, emphasizing that Member States must do their part to generate this "much-needed shift" in the way they work.

Also addressing the Council for the first time since taking his post last year, High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said the world must be "completely principled and cunning in its collective attempt to defang" violent extremists.

"For us, international humanitarian law and international human rights law cannot be trifled with or circumvented, but must be fully observed," Zeid stressed, saying how even though the UN Charter was established 70 years ago, with alarming regularity, human rights are disregarded, and violated, sometimes to a shocking degree.

States claim exceptional circumstances, he said. "They pick and choose between rights. One Government will thoroughly support women's human rights and those of the LGBT communities, but will balk at any suggestion that those rights be extended to migrants of irregular status."

He added, "Another State may observe scrupulously the right to education, but will brutally stamp out opposing political views. A third State comprehensively violates the political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights of its people, while vigorously defending the ideals of human rights before its peers."

"Some of the evidence may be hidden. But the reality, in far too many countries, of massacres and sexual violence; crushing poverty; the exclusive bestowal of health-care and other vital resources to the wealthy and well-connected; the torture of powerless detainees; the denial of human dignity - these things are known," he said, adding: "And delegates, they are what truly make up a State's reputation; together with the real steps - if any taken to prevent abuses and address social inequalities."

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Political consensus urgent to protect human rights: Ban

Crysis 3 Playthrough Remake (60FPS) - Part 1: Post Human
Welcome to the 60FPS playthrough of Crysis 3!

By: Spunky117

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Crysis 3 Playthrough Remake (60FPS) - Part 1: Post Human - Video

Myanmar authorities should stop prosecuting and threatening journalists and human rights defenders for reporting and speaking out about human rights abuses, Fortify Rights has said.

On 28 January, the Myanmar military threatened legal action against anyone alleging that the military is responsible for the killings of two ethnic-Kachin women on 20 January. The following day, the office of President Thein Sein directed the threat to members of the media.

These threats follow the ongoing prosecution of Brang Shawng, an ethnic-Kachin man who faces criminal charges for alleging that the Myanmar military is responsible for the death of his 14-year-old daughter, Ja Seng Ing.

Were seeing worrying trends. Wartime violence against civilians is continuing and the Myanmar military is increasingly using the justice system as a tool to silence critics, said Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights. The authorities should ensure swift justice for misconduct by soldiers rather than shielding them from public scrutiny and accountability.

On 20 January, the bodies of two ethnic Kachin women Maran Lu Ra, 19, and Tangbau Khawn Nan Tsin, 20, both volunteer teachers were discovered in a room they shared in Kaungkha village, northern Shan State. Pictures from the scene show multiple stab wounds on their partially-clothed bodies, which were severely battered and bloodied.

In the days that followed, villagers from Kaungkha village and various human rights organisations alleged that soldiers from the Myanmar Armys Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 503 raped and murdered the women. Military personnel reportedly sealed off access to Kaungkha village in the days following the murders and were involved in an investigation by local police into the crimes.

On 28 January, Myawady, a journal operated by the Myanmar military, published a statement citing an ongoing investigation into the crime and claiming the Myanmar Army was not involved in this murder case according to evidence analysed by criminal police and other cooperating investigation teams.

The militarys statement in Myawady went on to threaten legal action against anyone who alleges that the military known in Myanmar as the Tatmadaw was involved in the murders, stating, The Tatmadaw will take action based on the rule of law against those who accuse [soldiers] and write about it after the official report is released by the investigation team.

Zaw Htay, a spokesperson for the office of President Thein Sein, supported the militarys statement, telling the independent news agency, The Irrawaddy, that media outlets could face legal action if they allege military responsibility for the murders.

The authorities should retract their threats of legal action against those alleging military involvement in the murders and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice, Fortify Rights said. Fortify Rights is also calling for an independent international investigation, including Myanmar partners, into alleged violations of international human rights, criminal, and humanitarian law committed by all parties to Myanmars various ongoing armed conflicts.

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Myanmar: Prosecute perpetrators, not human rights defenders

A viral Facebook post claims that a half-human, half-cow baby was born recently in Cavite, in the same town where a man raped a pregnant cow. Last Sunday, March 15, one Rhina Panda attached a photo of the creature with a caption that says a cow has given birth to a human-like calf.

The image already garnered over 7,000 shares as of 8:40 p.m. today.

It turned out that the photo was grabbed from a YouTube video published in 2007.

According to a 2-year-old post on Google+, a buffalo gave birth to a human-like calf in Thailand. The upper parts of its body, particularly the head, bore a striking resemblance to a baby, but its feet and internal organs were recognized as those of a cow.

The calf died immediately, the post read, adding that residents of the unnamed Thai village gathered to pray for blessings (shown in the following screen-caps) with a strong belief that the strange phenomenon could bring luck.

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Half-human, half-cow baby born in Cavite?