Mythical Gate To Hell Discovered

A "gate to hell" has emerged from ruins in southwestern Turkey, Italian archaeologists have announced.

A digital illustration shows the ancient Plutonium, celebrated as the portal to the underworld in Greco-Roman mythology

Known as Pluto's Gate - Ploutonion in Greek, Plutonium in Latin - the cave was celebrated as the portal to the underworld in Greco-Roman mythology and tradition.

Historic sources located the site in the ancient Phrygian city of Hierapolis, now called Pamukkale, and described the opening as filled with lethal mephitic vapors.

"This space is full of a vapor so misty and dense that one can scarcely see the ground. Any animal that passes inside meets instant death," the Greek geographer Strabo (64/63 BC - about 24 AD) wrote.

"I threw in sparrows and they immediately breathed their last and fell," he added.

Announced this month at a conference on Italian archaeology in Istanbul, Turkey, the finding was made by a team led by Francesco D'Andria, professor of classic archaeology at the University of Salento.

D'Andria has conducted extensive archaeological research at the World Heritage Site of Hierapolis. Two years ago he claimed to discover there the tomb of Saint Philip, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ.

Founded around 190 B.C. by Eumenes II, King of Pergamum (197 B.C.-159 B.C.), Hierapolis was given over to Rome in 133 B.C.

"We found the Plutonium by reconstructing the route of a thermal spring. Indeed, Pamukkale' springs, which produce the famous white travertine terraces originate from this cave," D'Andria told Discovery News.

Featuring a vast array of abandoned broken ruins, possibly the result of earthquakes, the site revealed more ruins once it was excavated. The archaeologists found Ionic semi columns and, on top of them, an inscription with a dedication to the deities of the underworld - Pluto and Kore.

D'Andria also found the remains of a temple, a pool and a series of steps placed above the cave - all matching the descriptions of the site in ancient sources.

"People could watch the sacred rites from these steps, but they could not get to the area near the opening. Only the priests could stand in front of the portal," D'Andria said.

According to the archaeologist, there was a sort of touristic organization at the site. Small birds were given to pilgrims to test the deadly effects of the cave, while hallucinated priests sacrificed bulls to Pluto.

The ceremony included leading the animals into the cave, and dragging them out dead.

"We could see the cave's lethal properties during the excavation. Several birds died as they tried to get close to the warm opening, instantly killed by the carbon dioxide fumes," D'Andria said.

Only the eunuchs of Cybele, an ancient fertility goddess, were able to enter the hell gate without any apparent damage.

"They hold their breath as much as they can," Strabo wrote, adding that their immunity could have been due to their "menomation," "divine providence" or "certain physical powers that are antidotes against the vapor."

According to D'Andria, the site was a famous destination for rites of incubation. Pilgrims took the waters in the pool near the temple, slept not too far from the cave and received visions and prophecies, in a sort of oracle of Delphi effect. Indeed, the fumes coming from the depths of Hierapoli's phreatic groundwater produced hallucinations.

"This is an exceptional discovery as it confirms and clarifies the information we have from the ancient literary and historic sources," Alister Filippini, a researcher in Roman history at the Universities of Palermo, Italy, and Cologne, Germany, told Discovery News.

Fully functional until the 4th century AD, and occasionally visited during the following two centuries, the site represented "an important pilgrimage destination for the last pagan intellectuals of the Late Antiquity," Filippini said.

During the 6th century AD, the Plutonium was obliterated by the Christians. Earthquakes may have then completed the destruction.

D'Andria and his team are now working on the digital reconstruction of the site.

Naij.com

Pimp Forces His 13 Year-Old Prostitute To Tattoo His Name On Her Eyelids

When a 13-year-old prostitute tried to leave her pimp, the Miami man forced her to tattoo his street name on her eyelids.

The teenager now has her torturer’s nickname, Suave, on her right eyelid. On her left eyelid, she was inked with the word House, suggesting that she belonged to him.

Suave, known formally as Roman Thomas III, was arrested last Monday by Miami police. The 26-year-old and a female accomplice, Shanteria Sanders, “compelled and coerced” the young girl into becoming a prostitute, giving her drugs to keep her obedient.

Nicknamed Sparkle, the teen ran away from a turbulent home. She met Thomas on March 12 at the USA Flea Market in Miami. One day later, he saw her again and convinced her to come home with him. He was living at the Miami Shores Motel. It was there that Thomas and Sanders took “provocative” photos of the girl, uploading them to the classifieds section on Backpage.com. Sparkle was advertised as the “new girl,” according to police reports.

Thomas and Sanders then forced the 13-year-old to become a prostitute. They gave her condoms and taught her how to speak with customers. They used drugs to keep Sparkle dependent on them — alcohol, marijuana and “Molly,” a form of MDMA. When johns came to the motel asking for her services, Thomas and Sanders charged them up to $100 per hour and counted the cash after every visit.

Once, when the two realized that some money was missing, they duct-taped the young girl and “threatened to kill her.”

After Sparkle threatened to run away, Thomas and Sanders hauled her back to the Flea Market, where she was tattooed.

“It’s outrageous that this girl would be branded for life at such an early age, on of all places her eyelids,” investigator Lt. Jose Alfonso told the Miami Herald.

Sanders, 23, also bears Thomas’ mark on her body. The word “Suave” is tattooed across her chest.

Thomas was already serving five years of probation when Miami police took him into custody. He spent four years in prison for having s*x with a minor. He was released in September with a GPS monitor strapped to his ankle. On March 10, Miami police received a warning from the device that the bracelet had been removed. That was just two days before he met Sparkle.

The young girl’s mother managed to track her down, directing Miami police to her pimp.

Sparkle is now receiving therapy from Project GOLD, a branch of the non-profit Kristi House that helps sexually exploited children deal with the physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual repercussions of being abused.

Both Thomas and Sanders face charges of human trafficking, false imprisonment, lewd and lascivious exhibition and delivery of a controlled substance to a child.

InformationNigeria

Insecurity: Ex-Militant Leaders Give FG Seven-Day Ultimatum

The repentant Niger Delta warlords have faulted the amnesty process, alleging that it has been hijacked by people who did not mean well for the region. The ex-militant leaders also gave seven days ultimatum to the Federal Government to restore security in the country.

In a communique issued yesterday evening and signed by some persons including Commander Bestman Probel, the ex-militants speaking under the aegis of Niger Delta in Partnership with Social Restoration Foundation (SOREF), said they were not happy at the turn of events.

“We hereby issue this communiqué to buttress our points that the whole amnesty process has been skewed. We have been brainstorming on the way forward and came up with the following conclusion: amnesty process has been hijacked by persons who do not mean well for the youths of the Delta.

“This is because most of the people who are being trained and empowered by the present amnesty committee have nothing to do with the struggle that culminated in the blanket amnesty issued by late president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2009, at least 80 percent were not part.”

They alleged that, “the members of the committee bring in relatives and friends and people they owe favour short-changing the real fighters. We hereby condemn this action and call for an independent investigation to confirm this.

“The few genuine fighters that have been trained have not been properly re-integrated into the society as they are training and not to be able to put food on their table or secure them gainful employment.”

This portends grave consequences as the people have no other means of livelihood even as NDDC has vehemently refused to listen to the boys except some few leaders. We condemn this in totality because the Niger Delta belongs to us all and not just few persons.

“The foremost lieutenants in the struggle have not been trained or benefitted from the process so far. All attempts to secure such training have been futile in form of insensitivity on the part of the people handling the amnesty process.

“The committee only trained people to become artisans and low income earners. If you wish to go for a degree programme or masters, you wait without success even after fulfilling all requirements and passing necessary exams.”

The question now is, do these committee members really mean well for the people of the Niger Delta? Do we remain poorly informed and poorly educated for the rest of our lives even after having this opportunity?

“We therefore call on the Federal Government to take a critical look into the processes leading to such trainings to verify our claims and nip in the bud these evil practices going on in the amnesty office in Abuja.

“The process has been so mismanaged to the point that even the monthly stipend meant for the boys is being shared by most leaders and their accomplices in the amnesty office. They have their allowances being shortchanged by the same system that was meant to empower them. We have uncovered the syndicate whose specialty is to slash the monthly stipend of the ex-agitators.

“We hope that our findings be properly investigated and punitive measures meted.

“Lastly and most importantly, we wish to sternly warn all ethnic militias threatening the peace of the nation, especially the Boko Boys that ours was not an ethnic agenda and that all ethnic nationalities have the constitutional rights to rule this country.

“We hereby issue an ultimatum of seven days to the Federal Government of Nigeria to look into these issues raised to forestall the breakdown of law and order and sustain the peace, tranquility and the ambient business environment enjoyed in the Delta today.”

Naij.com

Sue Everhart, Georgia GOP Chairwoman, Warns Of 'Free Ride' Gay Marriage Fraud

Georgia Republican Party Chairman Sue Everhart is photographed at party headquarters in Atlanta on May 4, 2011. (David Goldman / AP)

Georgia GOP Chairwoman Sue Everhart warned that straight people might enter into fraudulent gay marriages to obtain benefits, the Marietta Daily Journal reported Saturday.

"You may be as straight as an arrow, and you may have a friend that is as straight as an arrow,” she told the Journal. “Say you had a great job with the government where you had this wonderful health plan. I mean, what would prohibit you from saying that you’re gay, and y’all get married and still live as separate, but you get all the benefits? I just see so much abuse in this it’s unreal. I believe a husband and a wife should be a man and a woman, the benefits should be for a man and a woman. There is no way that this is about equality. To me, it’s all about a free ride.”

It's theoretically possible that such a scenario could happen, but there isn't any evidence of widespread fraud following the adoption of gay marriage in nine states and the District of Columbia. Though fictional, the premise of the 2007 Adam Sandlermovie "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" was a pair of straight firefighters getting domestic partnership status.

Everhart does not note the possibility of marriage fraud among opposite-sex couples, though others have warned against marriage fraud committed in order to get immigration benefits. In reality, the number of proven cases of such fraud is extremely small.

Everhart also said she could not understand how two gay people could ever have sex. "If it was natural, they would have the equipment to have a sexual relationship," she told the Journal.

HuffingtonPost

Count Me Out Of Plot Against APC – Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan today denied the allegation that he is involved in a clandestine move to deny the merger of several opposition political parties.

Speaking in Abuja through the Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, Mr. Jonathan said it was not true that he had given a directive to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to register the new party.
The response follows a story in the LEADERSHIP newspaper edition of today which claimed that Mr. Jonathan directed that the planned merger of some political parties should be frustrated and that some state governors have been put on 24 hour surveillance in that regard.
The presidential spokesman described the claim as false and mischievous, and that it runs against common sense in view of the presidents credentials as a “democrat” who has refused to interfere in the activities of other political parties and INEC.
While noting that the publication attributed its story to "presidential villa insiders", Okupe asserted that the President does not give unlawful directives and has nothing to fear about the proposed merger that will necessitate him planning anything against the business interest of opposition figures as claimed by the newspaper.
Okupe also frowned at the claim that the president was planning to raise the pump price of petroleum products when the same president has provided enough funds for fuel subsidy in the 2013 budget and recently stated unequivocally that he has no plans to increase fuel price or remove fuel subsidy.
He admonished journalists to avoid playing into the hands of “mischievous politicians” whose desire is to blackmail the president and score cheap political points at the expense of stability of the country.
At a press conference in Lagos on March 19, President Goodluck Jonathan indicated his readiness to raise gas prices again, but would first “discuss” with the public the easiest way to do so.
“We cannot continue to waste resources meant for a greater number of Nigerians to subsidize the affluent middle class, who are the main beneficiaries,” he said on that occasion.
In response, “OccupyNigeria” activists said they were ready to respond whenever Jonathan made such a move.
So far, Mr. Jonathan has failed to implement several reports dealing with corruption in the oil sector, and has maintained in office Petroleum Minister Diezani Allison-Madueke and other officials who have been repeatedly accused of corruption, self-enrichment and manipulation.
Saharareporters

Nestlé Recalls Kit Kat Chunky Bars And Giant Egg In UK, Canada And Elsewhere Over Plastic Pieces

The residents of some countries may want to think twice before digging into their leftover Easter candy, because Nestlé has issued a voluntary recall of several varieties of Kit Kat Chunky bars and the Kit Kat Chunky Collection Giant Egg.

The recall comes after seven consumers in the U.K. discovered small plastic pieces in some products. As a precaution, Nestlé is recalling the following items in the U.K., Germany, Switzerland, Malta, Austria, Singapore, Philippines and Canada:

• Kit Kat Chunky Peanut Butter (48g); best before September 2013 to February 2014
• Kit Kat Chunky Hazelnut (48g); best before September 2013 to October 2013
• Kit Kat Chunky Chocolate Fudge (48g); best before September 2013 to October 2013
• Kit Kat Chunky Caramel (48g); best before June 2013 to July 2013
• Kit Kat Chunky Chocolate Fudge Multipack; best before October 2013 to December 2013
• Kit Kat Chunky Hazelnut Multipack; best before September 2013 to December 2013
• Kit Kat Chunky Collection Giant Egg; best before July 2013

The manufacture dates of affected products go back to September 2012. In acompany press release, Nestlé offered full refunds and an apology:

The safety and quality of our products are non-negotiable priorities for the company. We sincerely apologise to our consumers for any inconvenience caused by this voluntary recall.

When reached by The Huffington Post, a press representative would not confirm the total quantity of chocolate products involved in the recall, but stressed that the company did "not expect the financial impact to be material."

Kit Kat is one of Nestlé's top-selling brands; consumers worldwide chow down on about 150 bars per second.

HuffingtonPost

Florida Medical Marijuana Bill Stalled While Bongs Ban Advances

Medical marijuana patient Kevin Brown is smells marijuana available at The Apothecarium Medical Cannabis Dispensary in San Francisco, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. Medical marijuana dispensaries in the states where people can use pot with a doctor's recommendation are getting in the holiday spirit, holding canned food drives, stocking up on pumpkin and peppermint-infused edibles and offering customers specials on their favorite cannabis strains. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Eighteen states and D.C. have passed medical marijuana legislation but in Florida, the "Cathy Jordan Medical Cannabis Act" can't even get a hearing in the state Senate or House.

The bill has stalled in Tallahassee despite the fact that seven out of 10 Floridians support legalizing medical marijuana. Meanwhile a bill banning bongs was unanimously approved by a Senate committee.

"Shame on us as a Legislature for not taking the opportunity to hear this bill this year," House bill sponsor Rep. Katie Edwards (D-Plantation) said at a press conference on Monday.

Edwards introduced the bill after getting sick herself last year and speaking with cancer patients about how marijuana alleviated their suffering.

"I thought, 'these are real people,'" Edwards told ABC Action News, "and I cannot turn a blind eye and stick my head in the sand and pretend like it’s not happening, because it is."

The bill is named for Cathy Jordan who has been suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease since 1986.

In February, the Manatee County Sheriff's Department staged an armed raid on the Jordans' home, seizing 23 marijuana plants, including two mature plants Cathy was using to treat her symptoms.

Opponents like Rep. Jimmy Patronis (R-Panama City) think Cathy and other Floridians needing marijuana for medical reasons should move to a state where it’s legal, reports the News Herald.

Meanwhile an Orlando-based Democratic fundraiser John Morgan is focusing on collecting the 700,000 signatures required to get a constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana on the ballot in November 2014.

"If voters mandate this upon us, we're going to be reactionary," Edwards said of the potential amendment. "I'd rather take a proactive role. We could have a regulatory framework in place."

Edwards told the News Herald that she plans to file a compromised version of the same bill next year, limiting medical cannabis use to oil, pill, or topical form to further distance it from recreational use.

And while state legislators won't even have a debate on medical marijuana, a Senate Criminal Justice commitee recently unanimously passed a bill banning the sale of drug paraphernalia like bongs and pipes in Florida.

HuffingtonPost