Amphibians in U.S. Declining at `Alarming and Rapid Rate’

A new study finds that frogs, toads, salamanders and other amphibians in the U.S. are dying off so quickly that they could disappear from half of their habitats in the next 20 years. For some of the more endangered species, they could lose half of their habitats in as little as six years. The nine-year study, published on May 22 in PLoS Oneby scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), examined population trends for 48 species at 34 sites across the country.

The researchers found that on average amphibian populations were shrinking a surprising 3.7 percent per year. “Even though these declines seem small on the surface, they are not,” lead author Michael Adams, a USGS ecologist, said in a prepared release. “Small numbers build up to dramatic declines with time. We knew there was a big problem with amphibians, but these numbers are both surprising and of significant concern.”

Worse yet, the scientists found that species currently classified as “endangered,” “vulnerable” or “near threatened” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species were declining much faster, at an average of 11.6 percent. Species listed as “least concern” on the Red List were declining at a slightly slower-than-average rate of just 2.7 percent.

The researchers did not look at specific causes of death—although past experience tells us amphibians suffer from habitat loss, climate change, pollution, invasive species and the deadly chytrid fungus. But they did discover that populations dwindled throughout the country, even in national parks and wildlife refuges that are supposedly protected for conservation purposes. “The declines of amphibians in these protected areas are particularly worrisome because they suggest that some stressors—such as diseases, contaminants and drought—transcend landscapes,” Adams said. “The fact that amphibian declines are occurring in our most protected areas adds weight to the hypothesis that this is a global phenomenon with implications for managers of all kinds of landscapes, even protected ones.”

A FAQ published in conjunction with the study explains why the drop in amphibian species matters: “[Amphibians] control pests, inspire new medicines, feed other animals and help make ecosystems work. They are inherently valued by people of all ages—watching tadpoles and listening to frog calls are some of the most accessible interactions we have with the natural world.” …

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/2013/05/23/amphibians-declining-alarming/

Father: “Kermit the Frog.”

Son: “What’s a frog?”

Father: “Oh, right, well … we used to have those before the pesticide use skyrocketed when GMO crop started to fail.”

Son: “Monsanto killed Kermit?”

Father: “Yes, son, sorry, but you’re 5 now and you should know the truth.”

80-year-old becomes oldest man to climb Mount Everest

An 80-year-old Japanese man on Thursday became the oldest person to reach the top of Mt. Everest, officials said.

Yuichiro Miura reached the top of Everest Thursday morning with his physician son Gota, mountaineering official Gyanendra Shrestha said from the base of Everest.

Miura’s achievement eclipses that of a Nepali man who climbed Everest at age 76 in 2008.

The oldest woman to climb Everest is also a Japanese. She was 73 when she reached the top last year.

Miura broke his hip in an accident two years ago, and he underwent heart surgery in January.

“I am still healthy and strong. I think I have a good chance to reach the summit of Everest,” he said via phone earlier this month.

To prepare, Miura walked three times a week with loads of 25 to 30 kilograms (55 to 66 lbs) on his back.

He reached the top of the 8,848-meter (29,035-foot) peak twice before: in 2003 at age 70, and in 2008 at age 75.

“I have a dream to climb Everest at this age,” he said. “If you have a dream, never give up. Dreams come true.”

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the first expedition to reach the summit of Everest: Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay made it to the top of the mountain on May 29, 1953.

via 80-year-old becomes oldest man to climb Mount Everest – CNN.com

Congratulations Mr. Miura for this inspiring achievement! Over 200 much younger people have died trying to climb Everest.

How to Grow Your Own Organic Food in Small Spaces

Sprouts are an authentic “super” food that many overlook or have long stopped using. In addition to their superior nutritional profile, sprouts are really easy to grow if you’re an apartment dweller, as they don’t require an outdoor garden.

A powerhouse of nutrition, sprouts can contain up to 30 times the nutrition of organic vegetables grown in your own garden, and allow your body to extract more vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential fats from the foods you eat. During sprouting, minerals, such as calcium and magnesium, bind to protein, making them more bioavailable. Furthermore, both the quality of the protein and the fiber content of beans, nuts, seeds and grains improves when sprouted. The content of vitamins and essential fatty acids also increase dramatically during the sprouting process.

Sunflower seed and pea sprouts tend to top the list of all the seeds that you can sprout and are typically each about 30 times more nutritious than organic vegetables. While you can sprout a variety of different beans, nuts, seeds and grains, sprouts in general have the following beneficial attributes:

• Support for cell regeneration
• Powerful sources of antioxidants, minerals, vitamins and enzymes that protect against free radical damage
• Alkalinizing effect on your body, which is thought to protect against disease, including cancer (as many tumors are acidic)
• Abundantly rich in oxygen, which can also help protect against abnormal cell growth, viruses and bacteria that cannot survive in an oxygen-rich environment

Planting and Harvesting Sprouts at Home

I used to grow sprouts in Ball jars over 10 years ago but stopped doing that. I am strongly convinced that actually growing them in soil is far easier and produces far more nutritious and abundant food. It is also less time consuming. With Ball jars you need to rinse them several times a day to prevent mold growth. Trays also take up less space. I am now consuming one whole tray you see below every 2-3 days and to produce that much food with Ball jars I would need dozens of jars. I simply don’t have the time or patience for that.

I am in the process of compiling more specific detailed videos for future articles but I thought I would whet your appetite and give you a preview with the photos below. For now you can get instructions on how to grow them by viewing a step-by-step guide at rawfoods-livingfoods.com.11

About to plant wheat grass and sunflower seeds – 2 days after soaking

Wheat grass and sunflower seeds – 3 ½ days post germination

Sunflower seeds and pea sprouts – 3 days until ready for harvest

Sunflower seed sprouts and wheat grass – ready to harvest

My two favorites are sunflower sprouts and pea. They provide some of the highest quality protein you can eat. Sprouted sunflower seeds also contain plenty of iron and chlorophyll, the latter of which will help detoxify your blood and liver. Of the seeds, sunflower seeds are among the best in terms of overall nutritional value, and sprouting them will augment their nutrient content by as much as 300 to 1,200 percent! Similarly, sprouting peas will improve the bioavailability of zinc and magnesium.

I have been sprouting them now for a few months and they have radically improved the nutrition of my primary meal, which is a comprehensive salad at lunch. They are a perfect complement to the fermented vegetables. My current salad consists of about half a pound of sunflower sprouts, four ounces of fermented vegetables, half a large red pepper, several tablespoon of raw organic butter, some red onion, a whole avocado and about three ounces of salmon or chicken. It is my primary meal. In the late afternoon, I typically only have macadamia nuts and coconut candy in addition to drinking 16-32 ounces of green vegetable juice. I break it up occasionally by going to a restaurant with friends.

…

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/05/23/edible-garden.aspx?e_cid=20130523_DNL_ProdTest2_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20130523ProdTest2

If the food situation become super bad, remember spouts. They can save your life.

‘Put Your Face in the Dirt’ Woman With 357 Magnum Confronts Man Trying to Break Into Her Home

Tense moments in the early morning hours, as a woman carrying a gun confronts a man trying to get into her home.

The attempted home invasion happened on the 1900 block of Loxley near Upton, just before 5 a.m. Thursday.

It proved Betty Collins is a woman who stands her ground – with a gun in her hand.

“I said, ‘Get on the ground.’ and he got on his knees. I said, ‘no, put your face in the dirt and you’re gonna stay there.’,” recounted Collins.

The past two mornings, she says, someone has stolen items from her car.

This morning, she says someone was trying to get into her house.

It started outside of the Stop N Go at Loxley and Upton.

Collins’ boyfriend was riding his Harley to work at the Jeep plant when he spotted someone he described as ‘suspicious,’ so he called home to warn her.

Collins says wearing shoes and shorts – no shirt, and at 4:45 in the morning, he started heading toward her house, then started kicking the door, trying to get inside.

“I screamed as loud as I could, ‘get off my porch. I have a gun. I will shoot you.’ And he stayed at the door,” explained Collins. “I’m like, ‘Get off my porch. I have a gun. I will shoot you.’ He didn’t move, so I opened the door and there he was standing 5 inches from the barrel of a loaded .357.”

Toledo Police arrested Kyle Caldwell, who’s 31 and from Temperance, Michigan.

Collins says she didn’t shoot him after what happened not far away on Douglas last month.

A homeowner there shot and killed a 24-year-old who was also attempting to get inside.

Instead of spending the night in the hospital, or worse, Caldwell is spending the night in jail.

Meantime, Collins says she’ll be resting easier inside of the place she’s called home the past 13 years.

“I’m not moving. This is my home,” said Collins “That’s what the second amendment’s for. I’m going to continue to protect my home.”

Caldwell is set to be arraigned tomorrow morning.

By the way, Collins says she’s working on getting her PH.D. from The University of Toledo in Criminal Justice. …

via http://www.13abc.com/story/22271669/toledo-woman-confronts-would-be-home-invader-with-handgun

Video here: http://xrepublic.tv/node/3405

I think things like this happen more often than we know due to a reluctance to report them. Of course, before going on the news like she did, you have to wait for the police to confirm that the person isn’t part of a gang and that they expect he will be in jail for a long time. Even if he gets out right away, the criminal owes her his life and if he’s smart he will spend the rest of it thanking her.

Colombia: Would-be robber struck by bus

A would-be robber had a lucky escape after he was struck by a bus, moments after he snatched a woman’s mobile phone.

The incident happened in the Colombian city of Bogota, and was captured on CCTV.

The man escaped with only minor injuries, while his victim’s mobile phone was returned to her.

via BBC News – Colombia: Would-be robber struck by bus.

You were given a 2nd chance to live an honorable life, son. Don’t blow it.

Rotavirus: India unveils cheap Rotavac diarrhoea vaccine

Scientists in India have unveiled a new low-cost vaccine against a deadly virus that kills about half a million children around the world each year.

Rotavirus causes dehydration and severe diarrhoea and spreads through contaminated hands and surfaces and is rampant in Asia and Africa.

India says clinical trials show the new vaccine, Rotavac, can save the lives of thousands of children annually.

An Indian manufacturer said the vaccine would cost 54 rupees ($1; £0.65).

International pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline and Merck produce similar vaccines but each dose costs around 1,000 rupees.

“This is an important scientific breakthrough against rotavirus infections, the most severe and lethal cause of childhood diarrhoea, responsible for approximately 100,000 deaths of small children in India each year,” India’s Department of Biotechnology official K Vijay Raghavan said.

“The clinical results indicate that the vaccine, if licensed, could save the lives of thousands of children each year in India,” he added.

Rotavac will be made by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech. The company said it could mass-produce tens of millions of doses after clearance is given, expected in eight or nine months.

via BBC News – Rotavirus: India unveils cheap Rotavac diarrhoea vaccine.

Oh no, saving foreign kid’s lives and losing money for a big corporation? We can’t have that. How will GSK stop Bharat Biotech? Stay tuned…

Berry’s Mom was told daughter was dead. Thanks, Sylvia

Image: Amanda Berry, kidnapped and held captive escapes after 10 years. 

Amanda Berry, who went missing from Cleveland’s west side in 2003, was found alive Monday night with her daughter.

“She comes out with a little girl and says ‘Call 911, my name is Amanda Berry’… When she told me, it didn’t register.” A neighbor  said he made the call and gave Berry the phone. When police arrived, officers asked him if he knew who he rescued.

There was a child who was about 4 or 5 years old with Berry, as well as other children inside the house. He said he recognized Berry, now 27 years of age, from posters.

A source close to Scripps station WEWS said it was Berry’s daughter.

Via  http://www.wcpo.com

Missing teens Amanda Berry, Gina Dejesus and Michelle Knight have been found. This is incredible news for their families who have been living a nightmare all these years. …

A woman claiming to be Amanda Berry called Cleveland Police Monday afternoon.

She also told the 911 dispatcher that Gina DeJesus is with her. A third missing woman, 32-year old Michelle Knight, was in the home with Berry and DeJesus. It’s believed Knight disappeared when she was 20. …

Berry was last seen in 2003 when she was called her sister to say she was getting a ride home from work at the Burger King on West 110th Street and Lorain Avenue. She was set to turn 17 the day after her disappearance.

Ten years ago, guess who predicted Amanda Berry was dead… …

Amanda Berry’s mother traveled to New York to tell her story to Psychic Sylvia Browne on the Montel Williams Show. The show was a shot at getting her daughter’s picture before the eyes of millions of Americans. “On April 21st 2003, 16-year-old Amanda Berry left her part-time job never to be seen again,” the show began. With that, TV viewers across America now know a girl from Cleveland is missing. But Amanda Berry’s mom wanted more than her daughter’s picture on national TV. She wants answers. “Can you tell me…Is she out there?” Berry’s mother Louwana Miller asked. “I hate when they’re in the water,” Browne said. “She’s not alive honey.” It was bad news from the world-renowned psychic. It’s what Miller didn’t want to hear. “So you don’t think I’ll ever see her again,” Miller said. “Yeah in Heaven on the other side,” Browne responded. “I’m sorry.”

Yep, Amanda’s Mom thought her child was dead. She died of heart failure in 2006.

We have seen many MANY, WAY TOO MANY stories of psychics being wrong or at least distracting and unhelpful for solving cases. Sylvia is all those and more. For all that is good and decent in the world – NEVER trust a psychic. DO not waste your time, your effort and your hopes.

Here is a transcript from the show.

Up to this point, her prediction that Shawn Hornbeck was dead was her biggest blunder.

via Berry’s Mom was told daughter was dead. Thanks, Sylvia. You were so &*%#^ helpful. | Doubtful News.

The tragic consequences of listening to psychic advice were brought into sharp focus in January 2007, when yet another psychic vision from Sylvia Browne was revealed to be wrong. Several years ago during one of her many appearances on the Montel Williams show, Browne told the parents of missing child Shawn Hornbeck that their son was dead. His body, she said, would be found in a wooded area near two large boulders. Furthermore, according to Browne, Hornbeck was kidnapped by a very tall, “dark-skinned man, he wasn’t Black, more like Hispanic,” who wore dreadlocks.

According to a spokesman for the Hornbeck family, following the Montel broadcast Browne tried to get money from the family: “She called Pam and Craig about one month after the show and pretty much offered her services to continue their discussion for a fee. Pam was that desperate that if she had had $700 in her bank account she would have put it on the table. We are talking about a mother who would have sold her soul to have her boy back.”

In fact, Hornbeck and another boy were found very much alive January 16, 2007, in the home of Michael Devlin, a Missouri man accused of kidnapping them. Hornbeck had been missing for four years, but his parents had not given up hope of finding him despite Browne’s misinformation. Devlin, a Caucasian, is not Black, dark-skinned, nor Hispanic and almost certainly did not have dreadlocks at the time he allegedly abducted Hornbeck.

via csicop.org

See the Stop Sylvia Browne FAQ http://www.stopsylvia.com/faq/ 

If you are spending money on psychics, please take the time to understand Cold Reading and learn to place your trust carefully.

Most importantly…

To Amanda Berry, Gina Dejesus and Michelle Knight, welcome back! We are amazed and we admire your courage as a survivors. No one can give you the ten years back, but we might learn from your experience to prevent this from happening to other girls.  May the Press give you the space you need to go at your own pace.

 

Nano-scientists develop new kind of portable water purification system

Researchers at India’s Institute of Technology Madras have developed a new kind of portable water purification system based on nanoparticle filtration. In their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team explains how their new device does its job—it employs nanoparticles to remove not just biological hazards, but toxic heavy metals as well.

The researchers note that access to clean drinking water is still a major worldwide problem—making it available to everyone, they say, would save approximately 2 million lives a year (approximately 42.6 percent of deaths are due to diarrhea alone and impact mostly children). To help reach the UN millennium development goal of doubling the number of people with sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015, the team has been applying nanoparticle technology to the problem.

The system they have developed is a two-stage filtration process that provides 10 liters of clean water in just an hour’s time. The biggest challenge, the team says, was figuring out how to deliver silver ions into the water to be processed, without using any electricity. The process also had to use a minimal amount of silver ions to meet international safety standards. The answer, they say, was to use a new material that employs silver nanoparticles that are trapped in tiny cage-like structures made of other clay materials.

Other nanoparticles are used to create other materials that serve as filters, killing microbes and sucking heavy metals out of the water, making it safe to drink or use for cooking. The first stage of the process kills viruses, bacteria and other dangerous micro-biota. The second stage absorbs heavy metals such as lead and arsenic.

The result is an extremely inexpensive portable water purification device—the system cost is comparable to other portable filtration systems, but the processing itself comes to less than $3 per year. The filters are good for approximately one year (3,600 liters) and filtration can be run more than once per day if needed. The researchers believe their device is capable of providing all the drinking water a family of four would need.

via Nano-scientists develop new kind of portable water purification system.

GM Wheat Could Permanently Damage Human Genetics by Silencing Hundreds of Genes Throughout the Body

It is one of the only major food crops left without a genetically-modified GM counterpart, but this could soon change if the Australian government gets its way in approving a GM wheat variety developed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization CSIRO, an agency of the Australian government. Despite being hailed by its creators as a breakthrough in food production technology, the GM wheat crop itself, when ingested, has the potential to permanently alter the human genome by silencing hundreds of genes throughout the body.This disturbing fact, of course, makes GM wheat a major public health threat, which is why a number of scientific experts are urging extreme caution with the human trial and commercial

approval process. During a recent press conference with Safe Food Foundation Director Scott Kinnear, two prominent authorities on the subject discussed the inherent dangers of GM wheat, and how the “Frankencrop” threatens to seriously injure and even kill untold numbers of people who could experience dramatic genetic alterations as a result of consumption.

“What we found is that the molecules created in this wheat, intended to silence wheat genes, can match human genes,” explains Professor Jack Heinemann, a Molecular Biologist at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, about the dangers of CSIRO’s untested GM wheat. “And through ingestion, these molecules can enter human beings and potentially silence our genes.”

Heinemann goes on to explain that he and his team have already identified more than 770 pages’ worth of potential matches between two specific genes in the GM wheat and genes inherent in the human genome that could be altered by them. Beyond this, more than a dozen matches were found to be identical and “sufficient to cause silencing in experimental systems,” according to Heinemann.

You can watch the complete press release here: http://youtu.be/FI7n_caiTvE

GM wheat can pass genetic flaws from generation to generationThe immediate threats of consuming GM wheat are quite substantial, in other words, and illustrate the enormous consequences that can result from tampering with nature at the genetic level. But even worse are the generational consequences that can result from consuming GMOs in general, and specifically the GM wheat in question.“If this genetic modification in the wheat is absorbed into the human body and affects humans in the same way that it affects the wheat, then it’ll mean that there will be some significant changes in the way that we store our carbohydrate, our glucose, in the body, and that could have dire consequences,” adds Prof. Judy Carman, a biochemist and Director of the Institute of Health and Environmental Research IHER at Flinders University in Australia.

“We need to make what’s called glycogen in the body in order to be able to live, in order to be able to wake up in the morning after an overnight fast and to be able to have a burst of energy to run across a road. And if this silences the same sort of gene in us as it silences in the wheat, then children who are born with this enzyme not working tend to die by the age of about five, and adults with this problem just get kind of more and more sick and more and more tired until they get very, very ill.”

Back in 2011, Greenpeace activists actually destroyed a farm growing experimental GM wheat produced by CSIRO. As reported by COSMOS magazine, the protestors entered the farm near Canberra on July 14 and proceeded to mow down fields of GM wheat intended for human trials. As of this writing, not a single meaningful safety test has been conducted on GM wheat as CSIRO appears more concerned with potential profits than with human safety.Be sure to check out the Greenpeace report on CSIRO’s GM wheat entitled The biotech takeover of our daily bread: http://www.greenpeace.org

via » GM Wheat Could Permanently Damage Human Genetics by Silencing Hundreds of Genes Throughout the Body Alex Jones’ Infowars: There’s a war on for your mind!.

The Earth has been taken over by intelligent aliens who are trying to kill us off. This idea makes more sense than any of our fellow humans destroying our future species for billions in profit. Then again… we are all descended from drug pushing cannibal pimps.

Researchers: Jamestown settlers resorted to cannibalism

The winter of 1609 to 1610 was treacherous for early American settlers. Some 240 of the 300 colonists at Jamestown, in Virginia, died during this period, called the “Starving Time,” when they were under siege and had no way to get food.

Desperate times led to desperate measures. New evidence suggests that includes eating the flesh of fellow colonists who had already died.

Archaeologists revealed Wednesday their analysis of 17th century skeletal remains suggesting that settlers practiced cannibalism to survive.

Researchers unearthed an incomplete human skull and tibia (shin bone) in 2012 that contain several features suggesting that this particular person had been cannibalized. The remains come from a 14-year-old girl of English origin, whom historians are calling “Jane.”

There are about half a dozen accounts that mention cannibalistic behaviors at that time, although the record is limited, said Douglas Owsley, division head of physical anthropology at the Smithsonian National Museum of National History.

The newly analyzed remains support these accounts, providing the first forensic evidence of cannibalism in the American colonies.

What we know from the bones

Jane’s remains were found in a 17th-century trash deposit at the former site of James Fort. William Kelso, chief archaeologist at the Jamestown Rediscovery Project said at a briefing Wednesday that the fort was built in 1607, but has been washed away. Kelso and colleagues began digging in 1994 and have been excavating the site on Jamestown Island ever since.

Owsley and colleagues can tell quite a bit about what happened to Jane when at least one starving settler in the fort apparently tried to feed off of her.
If it’s any consolation, it appears that she was already dead at the time. …

Six ships reached Jamestown in August 1609, with spoiled or depleted food, and many settlers in poor health. “On one of those ships was Jane,” Horn said.

At the same time, the relationship between the Jamestown colonists and the native Powhatan Indians had broken down. The existing settlers were already experiencing disease and a shortage of food, and the demands they made on the Powhatans strained their relations.

That was the environment into which 300 additional settlers arrived at the James Fort.

One of the leaders of the group, Captain John Smith — the same one who was famously friends with Pocahontas — returned to England in October 1609 because he was injured, Owsley said, leaving a leadership vacuum.

In the fall, the Powhatans waged war against these colonists, and launched a siege against the fort.

With no way to get food from the outside, the colonists resorted to eating horses, dogs, cats, rats, mice and snakes, Horn said, according to the accounts of George Percy, who was the president of Jamestown during this time. There are even accounts of people eating their shoes and any other leather that could be found. Anyone who left to try to scrounge for roots in the woods was killed by the Powhatans.

Percy wrote, according to the Smithsonian, “thatt notheinge was Spared to mainteyne Lyfe and to doe those things which seame incredible, as to digge upp deade corpes outt of graves and to eate them. And some have Licked upp the Bloode which hathe fallen from their weake fellowes.” In other words, cannibalism. …

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/01/us/jamestown-cannibalism/index.html

A bit more history for context:

Captain John Smith became the colony’s leader in September 1608 – the fourth in a succession of council presidents – and established a “no work, no food” policy. Smith had been instrumental in trading with the Powhatan Indians for food. However, in the fall of 1609 he was injured by burning gunpowder and left for England. Smith never returned to Virginia, but promoted colonization of North America until his death in 1631 and published numerous accounts of the Virginia colony, providing invaluable material for historians.

Smith’s departure was followed by the “starving time,” a period of warfare between the colonists and Indians and the deaths of many English men and women from starvation and disease. Just when the colonists decided to abandon Jamestown in Spring 1610, settlers with supplies arrived from England, eager to find wealth in Virginia. This group of new settlers arrived under the second charter issued by King James I. This charter provided for stronger leadership under a governor who served with a group of advisors, and the introduction of a period of military law that carried harsh punishments for those who did not obey.

In order to make a profit for the Virginia Company, settlers tried a number of small industries, including glassmaking, wood production, and pitch and tar and potash manufacture. However, until the introduction of tobacco as a cash crop about 1613 by colonist John Rolfe, who later married Powhatan’s daughter Pocahontas, none of the colonists’ efforts to establish profitable enterprises were successful. Tobacco cultivation required large amounts of land and labor and stimulated the rapid growth of the Virginia colony. Settlers moved onto the lands occupied by the Powhatan Indians, and increased numbers of indentured servants came to Virginia.

The first documented Africans in Virginia arrived in 1619. They were from the kingdom of Ndongo in Angola, West Central Africa, and had been captured during war with the Portuguese. While these first Africans may have been treated as indentured servants, the customary practice of owning Africans as slaves for life appeared by mid-century. The number of African slaves increased significantly in the second half of the 17th century, replacing indentured servants as the primary source of labor.

http://www.historyisfun.org/history-jamestown.htm