Con faldas y a lo loco en la CIA

Message from General David H. Petraeus (US Army Retired)

Statement to Employees from General David H. Petraeus (US Army Retired)
November 9, 2012 (Texto tomado del sitio oficial de la CIA)

Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the President to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position as D/CIA. After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours. This afternoon, the President graciously accepted my resignation.
As I depart Langley, I want you to know that it has been the greatest of privileges to have served with you, the officers of our Nation’s Silent Service, a work force that is truly exceptional in every regard. Indeed, you did extraordinary work on a host of critical missions during my time as director, and I am deeply grateful to you for that.
Teddy Roosevelt once observed that life’s greatest gift is the opportunity to work hard at work worth doing. I will always treasure my opportunity to have done that with you and I will always regret the circumstances that brought that work with you to an end.
Thank you for your extraordinary service to our country, and best wishes for continued success in the important endeavors that lie ahead for our country and our Agency.
With admiration and appreciation,
David H. Petraeus

El asunto Petraeus tiene miga y enjundia. A un super ex oficial, director de la famosa (la tristemente Agency a la que tantos goles le han colado) CIA (tremenda porquería) lo pillan por unos e-mails indiscretos, que, como no podía ser de otra manera, intercepta el FBI. Tachan, primer gran mal rollito: los federales y su envidia verdosa de la Agencia de Langley. Al parecer hay dos féminas que compiten por los favores del super soldado. Una de ellas archivera mayor y empingorotada biógrafa del supersoldado (Paula Broadwell, presunta amante). La otra, no se sabe, no figura. Buen comienzo del culebrón.
Resulta que a un tipo tan duro, que según se dice salvó la papeleta a su país en Irak (hay que ver de qué puñetera manera) y metió mano en Afganistán (donde el número de difuntos es ya muy elevado), ese paradigma de patriota aguerrido, sucumbió en cambio a los bajos ardores de la carne. Y eso después de haber jurado su cargo sobre la Biblia que sostenía su rolliza esposa. Manda eggs, vamos.
Lo peor del  asunto es que algo tan privado y como que de cintura para abajo, cobre tamaña categoría política. ¿Lo han chantajeado?. Tal vez.
El episodio es digno de la serie de comics con el "American Dad" que es un espía destacado en Langley y su muy disfuncional family. Pues eso: vengan muchas guerras de rapiña, niños muertos, mujeres sometidas a los talibanes (que se reproducen como hongos los muy asesinos) y lo que importa es el honor dudoso de un soldado. Mucha hipocresía y cara dura.
Más inteligencia y menos mojigatería en la CIA.

El misterioso reino de Morfeo en Nature

Insight: Sleep

Vol. 437, No. 7063 pp1207-1396

In this supplement

• Introduction
• Articles

  Aquí he escogido algunos de los fascinantes artículos dedicados al sueño que publica el vol 437 de Nature. Noten las veces que los investigadores reconocen lo poco que se sabe, o todo lo que queda por averiguar, en torno a una función vital como es el sueño. La vida es, biológicamente sueño.
  
  

Sleep is of the brain, by the brain and for the brain

J. Allan Hobson¹

Topof page

Abstract

Sleep is a widespread biological phenomenon, and its scientific study is proceeding at multiple levels at the same time. Marked progress is being made in answering three fundamental questions: what is sleep, what are its mechanisms and what are its functions? The most salient answers to these questions have resulted from applying new techniques from basic and applied neuroscience research. The study of sleep is also shedding light on our understanding of consciousness, which undergoes alteration in parallel with sleep-induced changes in the brain.

What are the memory sources of dreaming?

Tore A. Nielsen^1,2 & Philippe Stenstrom^1,3

Topof page

Abstract

Investigators since Freud have appreciated that memories of the people, places, activities and emotions of daily life are reflected in dreams but are typically so fragmented that their predictability is nil. The mechanisms that translate such memories into dream images remain largely unknown. New research targeting relationships between dreaming, memory and the hippocampus is producing a new theory to explain how, why and when we dream of waking life events.

Neuroscience: A memory boost while you sleep

Robert Stickgold¹

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Abstract

It is generally agreed that sleep aids memory consolidation, but the reasons for this are a mystery. Part of the answer may lie in the patterns of synchronous brain activity unique to the state of slumber.

Only ten years ago, discussions about the purpose of sleep offered great hypotheses, but these were based on flimsy evidence. So scant were the data that some researchers argued that sleep might have no use at all.

Review Article Hypothalamic regulation of sleep and circadian rhythms

Clifford B. Saper¹, Thomas E. Scammell¹ & Jun Lu¹

Topof page

Abstract

A series of findings over the past decade has begun to identify the brain circuitry and neurotransmitters that regulate our daily cycles of sleep and wakefulness. The latter depends on a network of cell groups that activate the thalamus and the cerebral cortex. A key switch in the hypothalamus shuts off this arousal system during sleep. Other hypothalamic neurons stabilize the switch, and their absence results in inappropriate switching of behavioural states, such as occurs in narcolepsy. These findings explain how various drugs affect sleep and wakefulness, and provide the basis for a wide range of environmental influences to shape wake–sleep cycles into the optimal pattern for survival.

Review Article Clues to the functions of mammalian sleep

Jerome M. Siegel¹

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Abstract

The functions of mammalian sleep remain unclear. Most theories suggest a role for non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep in energy conservation and in nervous system recuperation. Theories of REM sleep have suggested a role for this state in periodic brain activation during sleep, in localized recuperative processes and in emotional regulation. Across mammals, the amount and nature of sleep are correlated with age, body size and ecological variables, such as whether the animals live in a terrestrial or an aquatic environment, their diet and the safety of their sleeping site. Sleep may be an efficient time for the completion of a number of functions, but variations in sleep expression indicate that these functions may differ across species.

Review Article Insights from studying human sleep disorders

Mark W. Mahowald¹ & Carlos H. Schenck¹

Topof page

Abstract

Problems with sleep are one of the commonest reasons for seeking medical attention. Knowledge gained from basic research into sleep in animals has led to marked advances in the understanding of human sleep, with important diagnostic and therapeutic implications. At the same time, research guided by human sleep disorders is leading to important basic sleep concepts. For example, sleep may not be a global, but rather a local, brain phenomenon. Furthermore, contrary to common assumptions, wakefulness, rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep are not mutually exclusive states. This striking realization explains a fascinating range of clinical phenomena.

La última muerte de Fidel Castro

Vaya manía tiene cierto personal agorero de enterrarlo antes de hora. Y Fidel, ese gallego tan bronco como listo, resucita. La verdad es que no me puedo desprender de su sombra histórica. Forma parte de mi infancia. Es el personaje cuya voz un poco rota acompañaba nuestra juventud. Ahora es un anciano de 86 años. Es decir está muy avanzado en la cuenta atrás que nos persigue a todos. Para sus rabiosos enemigos la mala salud de hierro de Fidel es como un grano en el ano. La historia que a él tanto le importa lo juzgará. Mientras tanto yo prefiero perdonarle todos los experimentos que hizo con mi generación. Los terribles desencuentros, las rupturas familiares, las persecuciones variopintas. Y decirle:Comandante pa´lante y pa´lante mientras el body aguante.

Las guerras (perdidas) de Obama

Obama’s War Record

by Jack A. Smith

El presidente Barack Obama no ha podido escapar a guerras heredadas pero en las que ha involucrado su administración. El número de bajas en Afganistan supera los 2000 efectivos, según fuentes serias. Las guerras y sus consecuencias no parecen interesar mucho en un año de elecciones. Lean y juzguen. Si les interesa, pueden consultar la URL correspondiente.

Url of this article:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/obamas-war-record/5308209

When Sen. Barack Obama ran for the presidency in 2008 many wishful-thinking Democratic voters viewed him as a peace candidate because he opposed the Iraq war (but voted yes on the war budgets while in the Senate). Some others assumed his foreign/military policy would be along the lines of Presidents George H. W. Bush (whom Obama admires) or Bill Clinton. Some who identified as progressives actually thought his foreign/military policy might tilt to the left.
Instead, center rightist that he is, Obama’s foreign/military policy amounted to a virtual continuation of George W. Bush’s Global War on Terrorism under a different name. He extended Bush’s wars to Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya and elsewhere while greatly expanding the war in Afghanistan, hiking the military budget, encouraging the growth of militarism in U.S. society by repeatedly heaping excessive praise on the armed forces, and tightening the military encirclement of China.
Summing up some of his military accomplishments a few months ago, Obama declared: “We’ve succeeded in defending our nation, taking the fight to our enemies, reducing the number of Americans in harm’s way, and we’ve restored America’s global leadership. That makes us safer and it makes us stronger. And that’s an achievement that every American — especially those Americans who are proud to wear the uniform of the United States Armed Forces — should take great pride in.”
Obama actually has little to show for his war policy after nearly four years. Most importantly, Afghanistan — the war he supported with enthusiasm — is predictably blowing up in his face. A symbol of the Bush-Obama 11-year Afghan folly is the recent 2,000th death of an American soldier, not at the hands of the Taliban but a U.S.-trained Afghan police officer, our supposed ally. The truth is that public opinion in Afghanistan has always overwhelmingly opposed the invasion, and rightly so.
Obama hopes to avoid the embarrassment of a takeover by the Taliban or another violent Afghan civil war (as happened in the 1990s) after the bulk of U.S. troops pull out at the end of 2014. He’s made a deal with the Kabul government that allows Washington to keep thousands of American troops — Army, CIA agents with their drones, elite Special Operations forces and pilots — until 2024. There are two reasons for this. One is to keep a U.S.-controlled government in Kabul as long as possible. The other is to station American combatants near Afghanistan’s borders with Iran to the west and China to the east for another 10 years, a verdict hardly appreciated in Tehran and Beijing.
The Middle East is in turmoil. Israel’s still threatening to attack Iran, an act that would transform turmoil into catastrophe. The Syrian regime refuses to fall, much to Washington’s chagrin. Egypt’s new government has just declared partial independence from Washington’s longstanding domination

Asesinos en serie:la mente criminal al desnudo

A partir de octubre voy a recomendar uno o dos libros . Para comenzar he escogido "Asesinos en serie", una obra excelente, un tratado ameno, del experto investigador del FBI Robert K. Ressler. Es un texto ideal para  policías, jueces, abogados penalistas, psicólogos y psiquiatras. Poco apto para estómagos demasiado delicados. Pero ya que la televisión se encuentra plagada de series morbosas con autopsias, no creo que nadie vomite. Ressler describe sus técnicas de interrogatorio a criminales. Nos expone cómo se forma un asesino en serie (suelen ser exclusivamente hombres). De Ressler se puede aprender el arte de la observación psicológica minuciosa y la importancia de los detalles. Cuesta 20 euros pero de verdad que vale la pena.

La depresión: un abrazo anticipado de la muerte.

La depresión es una enfermedad mental grave. En 1992 hice una 

revisión del asunto, y al consultar con varios psiquiatras no dudé 

de encabezar el artículo de "El País" como 

"La depresión : un abrazo anticipado de la muerte". 

Aquí "Science" se ocupa del asunto. Ofrece nuevos y 

esperanzadores datos.

INTRODUCTION

Defeating the Dementors

Considering its impact on an individual's quality of life and subsequently on the economy and society in general, gaining an understanding of what causes depression and trying to develop effective therapies is of utmost importance.

REVIEW

Synaptic Dysfunction in Depression: Potential Therapeutic Targets

R. S. Duman and G. K. Aghajanian

Depression causes neuronal atrophy and decreased synaptic connections in brain areas that control emotion, mood, and cognition.

PERSPECTIVE

Depression and Hippocampal Neurogenesis: A Road to Remission?

A. J. Eisch and D. Petrik

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis as a possible target for the treatment of depression.

PERSPECTIVE

Are We Getting Closer to Valid Translational Models for Major Depression?

O. Berton et al.

Developing appropriate animal models of depression continues to be a substantial challenge.

PERSPECTIVE

The Science of Resilience: Implications for the Prevention and Treatment of Depression

S. M. Southwick and D. S. Charney

Finding the reasons why some individuals are more protected against depression than others might improve future therapies.

RELATED REVIEW IN SCIENCE

Theory and Simulation in Neuroscience

W. Gerstner et al.

A review of the interaction of theory and simulation using examples of top-down and bottom-up studies and some current developments in the fields of computational and theoretical neuroscience.

RELATED EDITORIAL IN SCIENCE

The Burden of Mood Disorders

H.-U. Wittchen

Reducing the burdens of mood disorders requires major shifts in research, clinical practice, and public health by incorporating multidisciplinary models of intervention.

Flores para Ernesto Che Guevara

Un día como hoy de 1967, fué vilmente asesinado Ernesto Che Guevara (1928 - 1967). Muerto el guerrillero soñador y valiente, su figura se convirtió en un mito planetario. Una personalidad histórica muy controvertida del siglo XX. Con furiosos detractores y rendidos adictos.

Aquí van dos poemas que creo que le hubieran gustado un poco. Aunque él prefería las flores de Baudelaire.

Tristeza en la muerte de un héroe

Poema de Pablo Neruda 

 

Los que vivimos esta historia, esta muerte y resurrección de nuestra esperanza enlutada,

los que escogimos el combate y vimos crecer las banderas, supimos que los más callados

fueron nuestros únicos héroes y que después de las victorias llegaron los vociferantes

llena la boca de jactancia y de proezas salivares.

El pueblo movió la cabeza:

y volvió el héroe a su silencio.

Pero el silencio se enlutó hasta ahogarnos en el luto cuando moría en las montañas

el fuego ilustre de Guevara.

El comandante terminó asesinado en un barranco.

Nadie dijo esta boca es mía.

Nadie lloró en los pueblos indios.

Nadie subió a los campanarios.

Nadie levantó los fusiles, y cobraron la recompensa aquellos que vino a salvar

el comandante asesinado.

¿ Qué pasó, medita el contrito, con estos acontecimientos?

Y no se dice la verdad pero se cubre con papel esta desdicha de metal.

Recién se abría el derrotero y cuando llegó la derrota fue como un hacha que cayó

en la cisterna del silencio.

Bolivia volvió a su rencor, a sus oxidados gorilas, a su miseria intransigente,

y como brujos asustados los sargentos de la deshonrra, los generalitos del crimen,

escondieron con eficiencia el cadáver del guerrillero como si el muerto los quemara.

La selva amarga se tragó los movimientos, los caminos, y donde pasaron los pies

de la milicia exterminada hoy las lianas aconsejaron una voz verde de raíces

y el ciervo salvaje volvió al follaje sin estampidos.

Medalla conmemorativa cubana.

CHE


Poema de Mario Benedetti

Lo han cubierto de afiches, de pancartas
de voces en los muros
de agravios retroactivos
de honores a destiempolo han transformado en pieza de consumo
en memoria trivial
en ayer sin retorno
en rabia embalsamadahan decidido usarlo como epílogo
como última Thule de la inocencia vana
como añejo arquetipo de santo o Satanásy quizás han resuelto que la única forma 
de desprenderse de él
o dejarlo al garete
es vaciarlo de lumbre
convertirlo en un héroe
de mármol o de yeso
y por lo tanto inmóvil
o mejor como mito
o silueta o fantasma
del pasado pisadosin embargo los ojos incerrables del Che
miran como si no pudieran no mirar
asombrados tal vez de que el mundo no entienda
que treinta años después siga bregando
dulce y tenaz por la dicha del hombre.