Commenting http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/the-other-neanderthal/375916/:

1. There is genetic evidence that the Denisovan girl in the Altai had dark hair, brown skin and eyes.

The article assumes that Denisovans migrated to islands of Southeast Asia and Melanesia; it's more likely that it was the hybrid descendants of the first wave of modern humans to reach mainland East and South Asia and Denisovans. Later waves of human emigration then diluted the Denisovan heritage on the mainland of Asia.

2. No, except the last part.

The likely scenario is rather simple: About 600 000 years ago the early Homo heidelbergensis population split into African and Eurasian branches. The former gave rise to Homo sapiens by 195 000 years ago.

The latter interbred with the older Homo erectus population of Eurasia and split into Neanderthal and Denisovan branches, with the former branch evolving enough to stand apart from heidebergensis by 230 000 years ago.

Eventually modern humans migrating out of Africa interbred with neanderthals in Middle East and the hybrid descendants of this first migration wave interbred with the Denisovans, probably in the mainland East Asia.

3. There is some evidence that the admixture can still cause infertility in modern humans and might have played a major role early on in diminishing the genetic heritage from these species, which would indicate that the species were at the edge of being able to successfully produce viable fertile descendants with modern humans.

This would be a strong support of considering all three of them as independent species, but of course they were all humans like all the other genus Homo species - and perhaps we should include the later Australopithecines as humans, as the line between them and early Homo has become increasingly blurry in studies in recent years and different Australopithecine species and early Homo species can be assumed, but so far not confirmed, to have also interbred and produce hybrid descendants which might have contributed to our own genetic inheritance...

4. Oldest Homo sapiens remains are 195 000 years old, from Omo river in Ethiopia. There's plenty of over 100 000 years old Homo sapiens finds from Africa.

Beyond our own Homo sapiens sapiens, only one Homo sapiens' sub-species has currently wide support, the Homo sapiens idaltu, known from three partial skulls from Herto also in Ethiopia, dated to 160 000 - 154 000 years ago.

Commenting http://rogueclassicism.com/2014/08/26/amphipolis-tomb-possibly-looted-in-antiquity-i-am-officially-confused/

I hazard a guess that the tomb was intended as a semi-public place and a shrine and not just a tomb, so the entrance beyond the sphinxes but probably not farther was intended to be open. Then, probably for political reasons, the site’s outer parts were dismantled and it was hidden in it’s entirety at some later point. But there seem to be some amount of respect involved, this was apparently no defilement.

I have little doubt it was intended as a royal tomb – those that followed Alexander the Great on the throne in Macedon would never have allowed any of his commanders to build such a grand tomb, as has been proposed. It would have been seen as a challenge to the royal authority.

In March there were claims of finding of new Argead royal tombs in Vergina – including Perdiccas II – and possibly the tomb of Cassander. These tombs are far more modest, as is typical of the royal tombs, and as this Amphipolis tomb was build no later than the rule of Cassander, it beggars belief that he would have allowed it to be build while building a much more smaller tomb for himself.

Beyond the very small possibility that this was not intended to be actual tomb but a shrine or cenotaph or that this was actually originally commissioned by Alexander for his father Philip II, I believe that this was intended to be the tomb for Alexander the Great, somebody else was or were buried there and later, either during dynastic change or Roman takeover, it became politically inconvenient and was deliberately hidden.

28 Palestinians tortured to death in August alone

There are now at least 28 Palestinians that have been tortured to death by the Syrian regime. Both Palestinian human rights organizations in Syria (Action Group for Palestinians in Syria & Palestinian League for Human Rights-Syria) have documented these deaths.

2465 Palestinians have died during the course of the Syrian war so far. Over 250 of them have died by torture. And this month alone, 28 Palestinians have been tormented to death, almost one every day. I have listed their names below. We have the photographs of 19 of these men. For the other casualties, we have only their names. Each had a story. And each perished in an agony unimaginable to most of us.

Commenting http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/jerusalem-vivendi/.premium-1.612515

As a Jewish state Israel is above all international laws and will never be punished in any way, no matter what it does, by the international community, so why should it be troubled? Just do the usual routine of shouting "Antisemitism", "Auschwitz", "Holocaust" few times and the "West" will accept any damage to historical buildings Israel will inflict - and it's not like the "West" would care what happens to mosques, historical or not, in the first place. Whether the destroyer is ISIS or Israel.

A little Palestinian girl talks about Israeli Attack on Gaza - August 2014

About Gaza - Simone Camilli - SUB ITA

Israeli soldiers celebrate shooting a Palestinian youth

An Appeal from Gaza

Israeli Army Is Using Palestinians As ‘Human Shields’

Video: impact of Israeli bombing of Gaza power plant

When Genocide isPermissible

OPS & BLOGS  >  Yochanan Gordon

AUGUST 1, 2014, 5:36 PM 

Judging by the numbers of casualties on both sides in this almost one-month old war one would be led to the conclusion that Israel has resorted to disproportionate means in fighting a far less- capable enemy. That is as far as what meets the eye. But, it’s now obvious that the US and the UN are completely out of touch with the nature of this foe and are therefore not qualified to dictate or enforce the rules of this war – because when it comes to terror there is much more than meets the eye.
I wasn’t aware of this, but it seems that the nature of warfare has undergone a major shift over the years. Where wars were usually waged to defeat the opposing side, today it seems – and judging by the number of foul calls it would indicate – that today’s wars are fought to a draw. I mean, whoever heard of a timeout in war? An NBA Basketball game allows six timeouts for each team during the course of a game, but last I checked this is a war! We are at war with an enemy whose charter calls for the annihilation of our people. Nothing, then, can be considered disproportionate when we are fighting for our very right to live.
The sad reality is that Israel gets it, but its hands are being tied by world leaders who over the past six years have insisted they are such good friends with the Jewish state, that they know more regarding its interests than even they do. But there’s going to have to come a time where Israel feels threatened enough where it has no other choice but to defy international warnings – because this is life or death.
Most of the reports coming from Gazan officials and leaders since the start of this operation have been either largely exaggerated or patently false. The truth is, it’s not their fault, falsehood and deceit is part of the very fabric of who they are and that will never change. Still however, despite their propensity to lie, when your enemy tells you that they are bent on your destruction you believe them. Similarly, when Khaled Meshal declares that no physical damage to Gaza will dampen their morale or weaken their resolve – they have to be believed. Our sage Gedalia the son of Achikam was given intelligence that Yishmael Ben Nesanyah was plotting to kill him. However, in his piety or rather naiveté Gedalia dismissed the report as a random act of gossip and paid no attention to it. To this day, the day following Rosh Hashana is commemorated as a fast day in the memory of Gedalia who was killed in cold blood on the second day of Rosh Hashana during the meal. They say the definition of insanity is repeating the same mistakes over and over. History is there to teach us lessons and the lesson here is that when your enemy swears to destroy you – you take him seriously.
Hamas has stated forthrightly that it idealizes death as much as Israel celebrates life. What other way then is there to deal with an enemy of this nature other than obliterate them completely?
News anchors such as those from CNN, BBC and Al-Jazeera have not missed an opportunity to point out the majority of innocent civilians who have lost their lives as a result of this war. But anyone who lives with rocket launchers installed or terror tunnels burrowed in or around the vicinity of their home cannot be considered an innocent civilian. If you’ll counter, that Hamas has been seen abusing civilians who have attempted to leave their homes in response to Israeli warnings to leave – well then, your beginning to come to terms with the nature of this enemy which should automatically cause the rules of standard warfare to be suspended.
Everyone agrees that Israel has the right to defend itself as well as the right to exercise that right. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has declared it, Obama and Kerry have clearly stated that no one could be expected to sit idle as thousands of rockets rain down on the heads of its citizens, placing them in clear and present danger. It seems then that the only point of contention is regarding the measure of punishment meted out in this situation.
I will conclude with a question for all the humanitarians out there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly stated at the outset of this incursion that his objective is to restore a sustainable quiet for the citizens of Israel. We have already established that it is the responsibility of every government to ensure the safety and security of its people. If political leaders and military experts determine that the only way to achieve its goal of sustaining quiet is through genocide is it then permissible to achieve those responsible goals?

https://archive.today/RPf3M#selection-374.0-374.1