Climate Cops To Fine “Wasteful” Homeowners & Businesses:
"Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Climate cops in Scotland have been handed new powers to fine “wasteful” homeowners and businesses who use too much energy or too many plastic bags under new legislation that represents the first wave of invasive tyranny under the pretext of fighting the manufactured threat of global warming.
Energy police will have free reign to impose penalties on householders and companies who do not comply with “energy efficiency” demands following home inspections. This is the template for similar measures set to be imposed in the U.S. should Democrats manage to force through their own climate legislation this week.
“Measures voted through by Parliament included the power to fine householders and companies if they do not take action to improve the energy efficiency of their houses and buildings,” reports the Scotsman. “Charges could be brought in for plastic bags, and businesses may be forced to reduce packaging under the powers granted to ministers in the Climate Change Bill.”
We have been warning for years that the real agenda behind the climate change con has nothing to do with saving the environment and everything to do with the government controlling and regulating every aspect of our private lives.
How long before you get a knock on your door from the “green brigades” demanding that you comply with the latest government energy regulations?"
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Toxic Skies
Toxic Skies:
"Toxic Skies
Youtube
Thursday, June 25, 2009
For years the government has been involved in a secret operation involving contrails - the visible lines of condensed water vapor that jets leave in the sky. If you asked them, they would suggest that this is done in the name of environmental protection as a safeguard that will alleviate global warming by reflecting sunlight back into the atmosphere. The real truth: these contrails are actually a toxic substance, or virus, deliberately sprayed upon an unsuspecting populace in order to “weed out the old and the sick”.
Synopsis -
As Seattle’s hospitals begin filling up with patients suffering from a deadly sickness, Dr. Tess Martin, a specialist from the Global Health Association, embarks on a mission to find the truth. Before long, the virus spreads like wildfire and becomes a full-on epidemic, with Tess own 10 year old son now among the infected. With over 70 percent of Seattle dying from the virus, Tess and her son’s only chance of survival is to get out of the city and find a cure, but the President has declared a national emergency and quarantined all of Seattle — nobody is allowed out, and nobody is allowed in. When the President passes a bill allowing the use of military force to keep Seattle from spreading the virus, it’s up to Tess to find a way to break free of the city in order to find a cure and expose the government’s deadly conspiracy"
"Toxic Skies
Youtube
Thursday, June 25, 2009
For years the government has been involved in a secret operation involving contrails - the visible lines of condensed water vapor that jets leave in the sky. If you asked them, they would suggest that this is done in the name of environmental protection as a safeguard that will alleviate global warming by reflecting sunlight back into the atmosphere. The real truth: these contrails are actually a toxic substance, or virus, deliberately sprayed upon an unsuspecting populace in order to “weed out the old and the sick”.
Synopsis -
As Seattle’s hospitals begin filling up with patients suffering from a deadly sickness, Dr. Tess Martin, a specialist from the Global Health Association, embarks on a mission to find the truth. Before long, the virus spreads like wildfire and becomes a full-on epidemic, with Tess own 10 year old son now among the infected. With over 70 percent of Seattle dying from the virus, Tess and her son’s only chance of survival is to get out of the city and find a cure, but the President has declared a national emergency and quarantined all of Seattle — nobody is allowed out, and nobody is allowed in. When the President passes a bill allowing the use of military force to keep Seattle from spreading the virus, it’s up to Tess to find a way to break free of the city in order to find a cure and expose the government’s deadly conspiracy"
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Sign the Universal Declaration of Resistance to Mandatory Vaccination
Sign the Universal Declaration of Resistance to Mandatory Vaccination
Barbara Minton
NaturalNews
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Vaccine against the “swine flu” will be ready in July. It has been developed in half the time it used to take to develop flu vaccines due to Baxter International’s patented technology. This means about 13 weeks from drawing board to injection instead of the usual 26. Never mind time for testing to see if it is safe. You remember Baxter, don’t you? It is the company that in February delivered seasonal flu vaccine to 18 countries that was laced with live “bird flu” virus.
With the declaration earlier this month by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the “swine flu” has reached pandemic Level 6 (they had to change the definition of level 6 to make this determination work), a whole series of bureaucratic prerogatives have been triggered, and local, state, national, and international agencies have been further empowered. In the U.S., all laws and conditions are now in place to see to it that you are forced to be injected with the new “swine flu” vaccine, whether you want to be or not. In the U.S., the government is now able to mandate universal mass vaccinations at gunpoint.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, there will be no exemptions. “A certain amount of human wastage” is expected.
The new vaccine is made with squalene oil as an adjuvant. According to Dr. Viera Scheibner, micropaleontologist and world renowned researcher in the field of vaccine effectiveness and danger, squalene “contributed to the cascade reactions known as Gulf War Syndrome. GIs developed arthritis, fibromyalgia, lymphadenopathy, photosensitive rashes, malar rashes, chronic fatigue, chronic headaches, abnormal body hair loss, non-healing skin lesions, aphthous ulcers, dizziness, weakness, memory loss, seizures, mood changes, neuropsychiatric problems, anti-thyroid effects, anemia, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, systemic lupus arythmatosus, multiple sclerosis, deadly Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Raynaud’s Syndrome with paroxysms of lack of blood in fingers and toes, Sjogren’s Syndrome with blurred vision, chronic diarrhea, night sweats, and low grade fever.”
In 2002, a U.S. federal judge ruled that there was good cause to believe squalene to be harmful. He ordered the Pentagon to stop endorsing its use.
In 1976, during another flu scare and government insistence on flu shots, only one person died from the actual flu, while hundreds of Americans died for the vaccine, according to information chronicled by Paul Mickle of the Trentonian.
So far, the deaths of 87 people in the U.S. have been attributed to “swine flu”. However, most or all of these deaths are likely the result of pre-existing conditions or compromised immune systems, according to journalist Jane Burgermeister in her charges against the WHO, United Nations, and Baxter International. Yet in the face of this almost non-existent risk, the WHO has just declared the first full fledged flu pandemic of the century, urging countries to shore up defenses against the virus they characterize as “not stoppable”. Each year, the usual seasonal flu kills up to 500,000 people and infects up to five million people worldwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Is all this hype for the purpose of making Baxter shareholders rich by turning the population of the U.S. into lab rats? Or is it something more sinister? Could the vaccine mandated for the U.S. population also contain live flu virus? Whatever the answer to these questions is, there is a way to avoid being herded into nearby schools that are standing by to be turned into shot clinics.
Here is the link to the Universal Declaration of Resistance to Mandatory Vaccination website:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/a-…
There you can sign a petition targeted for the World Health Organization stating you do not recognize the authority of the WHO to mandate general forced vaccinations. With this petition you are able to stake a claim to the sovereignty of your body and stand up for exclusive self-determination. The petition holds elected governments accountable in this defense by issuing a notice of preemptive Class Action Lawsuit to be served in the event the inalienable rights of the people are forsaken. The petition is sponsored by the Vaccine Resistance Movement.
Barbara Minton
NaturalNews
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Vaccine against the “swine flu” will be ready in July. It has been developed in half the time it used to take to develop flu vaccines due to Baxter International’s patented technology. This means about 13 weeks from drawing board to injection instead of the usual 26. Never mind time for testing to see if it is safe. You remember Baxter, don’t you? It is the company that in February delivered seasonal flu vaccine to 18 countries that was laced with live “bird flu” virus.
With the declaration earlier this month by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the “swine flu” has reached pandemic Level 6 (they had to change the definition of level 6 to make this determination work), a whole series of bureaucratic prerogatives have been triggered, and local, state, national, and international agencies have been further empowered. In the U.S., all laws and conditions are now in place to see to it that you are forced to be injected with the new “swine flu” vaccine, whether you want to be or not. In the U.S., the government is now able to mandate universal mass vaccinations at gunpoint.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, there will be no exemptions. “A certain amount of human wastage” is expected.
The new vaccine is made with squalene oil as an adjuvant. According to Dr. Viera Scheibner, micropaleontologist and world renowned researcher in the field of vaccine effectiveness and danger, squalene “contributed to the cascade reactions known as Gulf War Syndrome. GIs developed arthritis, fibromyalgia, lymphadenopathy, photosensitive rashes, malar rashes, chronic fatigue, chronic headaches, abnormal body hair loss, non-healing skin lesions, aphthous ulcers, dizziness, weakness, memory loss, seizures, mood changes, neuropsychiatric problems, anti-thyroid effects, anemia, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, systemic lupus arythmatosus, multiple sclerosis, deadly Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Raynaud’s Syndrome with paroxysms of lack of blood in fingers and toes, Sjogren’s Syndrome with blurred vision, chronic diarrhea, night sweats, and low grade fever.”
In 2002, a U.S. federal judge ruled that there was good cause to believe squalene to be harmful. He ordered the Pentagon to stop endorsing its use.
In 1976, during another flu scare and government insistence on flu shots, only one person died from the actual flu, while hundreds of Americans died for the vaccine, according to information chronicled by Paul Mickle of the Trentonian.
So far, the deaths of 87 people in the U.S. have been attributed to “swine flu”. However, most or all of these deaths are likely the result of pre-existing conditions or compromised immune systems, according to journalist Jane Burgermeister in her charges against the WHO, United Nations, and Baxter International. Yet in the face of this almost non-existent risk, the WHO has just declared the first full fledged flu pandemic of the century, urging countries to shore up defenses against the virus they characterize as “not stoppable”. Each year, the usual seasonal flu kills up to 500,000 people and infects up to five million people worldwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Is all this hype for the purpose of making Baxter shareholders rich by turning the population of the U.S. into lab rats? Or is it something more sinister? Could the vaccine mandated for the U.S. population also contain live flu virus? Whatever the answer to these questions is, there is a way to avoid being herded into nearby schools that are standing by to be turned into shot clinics.
Here is the link to the Universal Declaration of Resistance to Mandatory Vaccination website:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/a-…
There you can sign a petition targeted for the World Health Organization stating you do not recognize the authority of the WHO to mandate general forced vaccinations. With this petition you are able to stake a claim to the sovereignty of your body and stand up for exclusive self-determination. The petition holds elected governments accountable in this defense by issuing a notice of preemptive Class Action Lawsuit to be served in the event the inalienable rights of the people are forsaken. The petition is sponsored by the Vaccine Resistance Movement.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Bankster “Holiday” Planned for September?
Bankster “Holiday” Planned for September?
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars
June 22, 2009
Bob Chapman’s influential International Forecaster is reporting on the possibility of a so-called “bank holiday” planned for late August or early September. According to Chapman’s sources, U.S. embassies around the world are selling dollars and stockpiling money from respective countries where they operate.
FDR imposed a "bank holiday" soon after taking office. It resulted in the government stealing gold from the American people and giving them useless fiat paper money in return.
“Some US embassies worldwide are being advised to purchase massive amounts of local currencies,” writes Harry Schultz, “enough to last them a year.” Schultz publishes the Harry Schultz Letter, an international investment, financial, economic, and geopolitical newsletter named as “Newsletter of the Year” by Peter Brimelow of Market Watch in 2005 and 2008.
Schultz believes the global elite are in the process of engineering an FDR-style “bank holiday” of undetermined length in order to “sort-out the bank mess” and impose new bank rules.
On March 5, 1933, in the depths of the banker engineered “Great Depression,” newly elected Franklin Roosevelt declared a “bank holiday” that forced banks closed for four days. Roosevelt then rammed the Emergency Banking Act through the legislature. Passed by Congress on March 9, the act granted FDR near dictatorial control over the dealings of banks. It also allowed the Secretary of the Treasury the power to compel every person and business in the country to relinquish their gold and accept paper currency in exchange.
On March 10, Roosevelt issued Executive Order No. 6073, forbidding people from sending gold overseas and forbidding banks from paying out gold. A few weeks later, on April 5, Roosevelt issued Executive Order No. 6102 ordering Americans to deliver their gold and gold certificates to the Federal Reserve bank in exchange for paper fiat money.
In other words, FDR engaged in one of history’s greatest rip-offs — that is until now.
FDR not only ripped-off the American people, but foreigners holding dollars as well, thus ensuring the “Great Depression” would spread around the world like a bankster engineered contagion.
As Schultz notes, another forced “bank holiday” will likely lead to a formal devaluation of the already broadsided U.S. dollar. “But devalue against what? The euro? Doubtful. Gold? Maybe. Or vs. the IMF basket of currencies,” which he feels is more likely.
In fact, this is precisely what the globalist have in mind. In March, the media reported the IMF was poised print billions of “global quantitative easing” dollars to be dubbed global “super-currency” to address the (bankster engineered) economic crisis. “The principle behind it is that everyone would get bonus dollars and instead of the Federal Reserve having to print them, everyone gets them,” declared Simon Johnson, former chief economist at the IMF.
Can you say inflation?
It is no secret the elite have envisioned a global currency for some time now. In 2007, the director of international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations stated that the dollar and the euro are but temporary currencies. “It is the market that made the dollar into global money – and what the market giveth, the market can taketh away. If the tailors balk and the dollar falls, the market may privatize money on its own,” Benn Steil pontificated.
More like the banksters taketh away — and not only money but national sovereignty as well because a global currency will demand an end to “monetary nationalism.”
Or as Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, has said, “states must be prepared to cede some sovereignty to world bodies if the international system is to function.”
Mr. Schultz believes a “bank holiday” would suit the burning desires of the international bankster elite. It will lead to “nationalization,” which is a polite word for brazen thievery. It will allow the government — owned lock, stock and barrel by the global elite and run by their corrupt whores and cronies — to rape secured creditors and bondholders. Nationalization is the unfettered process of grabbing up of insurance companies, mortgage companies, banks, medical care, and car companies and handing them over to the monopoly men.
During the FDR “bank holiday,” Schulz notes, “thousands of banks never reopened; it was a face-saving way of shutting them down. I would guess the same would occur today; thousands have little or no net value, loaded with debt, bad mortgages.”
In order soften the nation up for the coming pillage, the Obama administration has proposed a plan to give the privately-owned and unaccountable Federal Reserve complete regulatory oversight across the entire U.S. economy. The new rules would see the Fed given the authority to “regulate” any company whose activity it believes could threaten the economy and the markets — that is to say if it “threatens” the monopolistic interests of the bankers.
“Obama’s regulatory ‘reform’ plan is nothing less than a green light for the complete and total takeover of the United States by a private banking cartel that will usurp the power of existing regulatory bodies, who are now being blamed for the financial crisis in order that their status can be abolished and their roles handed over to the all-powerful Fed,” write Paul Joseph and Steve Watson. “The government is ready to hand over everything to a monolithic private corporation and a gaggle of bastard banker offspring, that have gobbled up an amount close to the entire GDP of the country in taxpayers’ money and figuratively stuck the middle finger up regarding questions over where that money has gone.”
A “bank holiday” would work wonders for any “regulation” the Fed and the bankers have in mind. It would compliment the criminal consolidation now underway. It would allow them to finally and formally devalue the dollar and usher in a global “super currency” of control and enslavement.
A Bob Chapman subscriber added a little dinger to the prospect of the banks going dark. The subscriber claims to have overheard two men in FEMA jackets talking with a police chief in California, all who agreed that the federalization of police around the country — a process largely complete — will be required if the banks are shuttered in late August or early September because it will get “ugly” out there.
No doubt. Because the sort of enduring and polite American who weathered the “Great Depression” is now in seriously short supply.
If Mr. Schultz’s prediction is correct, we can expect riots in bank foyers and ultimately martial law to be imposed.
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars
June 22, 2009
Bob Chapman’s influential International Forecaster is reporting on the possibility of a so-called “bank holiday” planned for late August or early September. According to Chapman’s sources, U.S. embassies around the world are selling dollars and stockpiling money from respective countries where they operate.
FDR imposed a "bank holiday" soon after taking office. It resulted in the government stealing gold from the American people and giving them useless fiat paper money in return.
“Some US embassies worldwide are being advised to purchase massive amounts of local currencies,” writes Harry Schultz, “enough to last them a year.” Schultz publishes the Harry Schultz Letter, an international investment, financial, economic, and geopolitical newsletter named as “Newsletter of the Year” by Peter Brimelow of Market Watch in 2005 and 2008.
Schultz believes the global elite are in the process of engineering an FDR-style “bank holiday” of undetermined length in order to “sort-out the bank mess” and impose new bank rules.
On March 5, 1933, in the depths of the banker engineered “Great Depression,” newly elected Franklin Roosevelt declared a “bank holiday” that forced banks closed for four days. Roosevelt then rammed the Emergency Banking Act through the legislature. Passed by Congress on March 9, the act granted FDR near dictatorial control over the dealings of banks. It also allowed the Secretary of the Treasury the power to compel every person and business in the country to relinquish their gold and accept paper currency in exchange.
On March 10, Roosevelt issued Executive Order No. 6073, forbidding people from sending gold overseas and forbidding banks from paying out gold. A few weeks later, on April 5, Roosevelt issued Executive Order No. 6102 ordering Americans to deliver their gold and gold certificates to the Federal Reserve bank in exchange for paper fiat money.
In other words, FDR engaged in one of history’s greatest rip-offs — that is until now.
FDR not only ripped-off the American people, but foreigners holding dollars as well, thus ensuring the “Great Depression” would spread around the world like a bankster engineered contagion.
As Schultz notes, another forced “bank holiday” will likely lead to a formal devaluation of the already broadsided U.S. dollar. “But devalue against what? The euro? Doubtful. Gold? Maybe. Or vs. the IMF basket of currencies,” which he feels is more likely.
In fact, this is precisely what the globalist have in mind. In March, the media reported the IMF was poised print billions of “global quantitative easing” dollars to be dubbed global “super-currency” to address the (bankster engineered) economic crisis. “The principle behind it is that everyone would get bonus dollars and instead of the Federal Reserve having to print them, everyone gets them,” declared Simon Johnson, former chief economist at the IMF.
Can you say inflation?
It is no secret the elite have envisioned a global currency for some time now. In 2007, the director of international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations stated that the dollar and the euro are but temporary currencies. “It is the market that made the dollar into global money – and what the market giveth, the market can taketh away. If the tailors balk and the dollar falls, the market may privatize money on its own,” Benn Steil pontificated.
More like the banksters taketh away — and not only money but national sovereignty as well because a global currency will demand an end to “monetary nationalism.”
Or as Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, has said, “states must be prepared to cede some sovereignty to world bodies if the international system is to function.”
Mr. Schultz believes a “bank holiday” would suit the burning desires of the international bankster elite. It will lead to “nationalization,” which is a polite word for brazen thievery. It will allow the government — owned lock, stock and barrel by the global elite and run by their corrupt whores and cronies — to rape secured creditors and bondholders. Nationalization is the unfettered process of grabbing up of insurance companies, mortgage companies, banks, medical care, and car companies and handing them over to the monopoly men.
During the FDR “bank holiday,” Schulz notes, “thousands of banks never reopened; it was a face-saving way of shutting them down. I would guess the same would occur today; thousands have little or no net value, loaded with debt, bad mortgages.”
In order soften the nation up for the coming pillage, the Obama administration has proposed a plan to give the privately-owned and unaccountable Federal Reserve complete regulatory oversight across the entire U.S. economy. The new rules would see the Fed given the authority to “regulate” any company whose activity it believes could threaten the economy and the markets — that is to say if it “threatens” the monopolistic interests of the bankers.
“Obama’s regulatory ‘reform’ plan is nothing less than a green light for the complete and total takeover of the United States by a private banking cartel that will usurp the power of existing regulatory bodies, who are now being blamed for the financial crisis in order that their status can be abolished and their roles handed over to the all-powerful Fed,” write Paul Joseph and Steve Watson. “The government is ready to hand over everything to a monolithic private corporation and a gaggle of bastard banker offspring, that have gobbled up an amount close to the entire GDP of the country in taxpayers’ money and figuratively stuck the middle finger up regarding questions over where that money has gone.”
A “bank holiday” would work wonders for any “regulation” the Fed and the bankers have in mind. It would compliment the criminal consolidation now underway. It would allow them to finally and formally devalue the dollar and usher in a global “super currency” of control and enslavement.
A Bob Chapman subscriber added a little dinger to the prospect of the banks going dark. The subscriber claims to have overheard two men in FEMA jackets talking with a police chief in California, all who agreed that the federalization of police around the country — a process largely complete — will be required if the banks are shuttered in late August or early September because it will get “ugly” out there.
No doubt. Because the sort of enduring and polite American who weathered the “Great Depression” is now in seriously short supply.
If Mr. Schultz’s prediction is correct, we can expect riots in bank foyers and ultimately martial law to be imposed.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
New forecast: 'Mass starvation'
New forecast: 'Mass starvation'
Commodity analyst says crop failure would shock more than $150 oil
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: June 19, 2009
8:39 pm Eastern
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
A commodities expert has launched a warning that the next major crop failure around the world could be a bigger shock than $150 oil and result in "mass starvation."
The forecast comes from Chicago-based Don Coxe, a leading agricultural industry expert, in a report in the Commodity Online publication.
"When we have the first serious crop failure, which will happen, we will then have a full-blown food crisis, which we will not be able to get out of because we will still be struggling to catch up (as a result of diminished crop yields)," he told the publication.
He suggested that even could happen this year.
Coxe explained climate change will make growing seasons shorter, generating lower crop production, which would squeeze supplies.
Coxe, whose credentials include analysis of agriculture interests for more than three decades in the U.S. and Canada, including management of Harris Investment Management, said the result would be a domino effect.
A crop collapse in North America would hit hard among international markets that depend heavily on U.S. exports.
The lower food production also is being aggravated, he noted, by governments in North America.
"We've got a situation where there has been no incentive to allocate significant new capital to agriculture or to develop new technologies to dramatically expand crop output," he said in a statement to BNW News Wire. "We've got complacency. So for those reasons I believe the next food crisis – when it comes – will be a bigger shock than $150 oil."
Coxe, a leader of the Coxe Commodity Strategy Fund, said farms operations around the world also have cut back on expansion plans because of the worldwide economic crisis, calling into question whether production could meet demand.
Already, he suggested, demand for staples is moving beyond supply.
"During this decade, the annual increase in hectares of global cultivated farmland has been roughly 1.5 percent, at a time global demand for grains and soybeans has been growing at double that rate," he told Commodities Online. "We will be dealing with mass starvation with the first serious crop failure. It could happen as early as this fall if for instance we have a killing freeze in Iowa in August."
He said a reduction of just four weeks in the growing season would "dramatically reduce yields."
Coxe said one only has to reach back 35 years to review an era when there were shortages because of poor crops. The surpluses that had existed suddenly were gone, he noted.
"In fact, the major inflation of the 1970s was driven more by food than by oil,” he said.
He suggested the next global food shortage could destabilize the world's political order, according to the Commodities Online report.
In a related development, the Associated Press reported a U.N. agency is confirming that already more than a billion people around the globe now are hungry as fallout from the worldwide economic turmoil and high food prices.
The report said the Food and Agriculture Organization said that figure is up 100 million from a year ago.
"The silent hunger crisis, affecting one-sixth of all of humanity, poses a serious risk for world peace and security," said Jacques Diouf, the agency's director.
The biggest problem is in sub-Saharan Africa, with some 265 million people who do not get enough food
Commodity analyst says crop failure would shock more than $150 oil
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: June 19, 2009
8:39 pm Eastern
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
A commodities expert has launched a warning that the next major crop failure around the world could be a bigger shock than $150 oil and result in "mass starvation."
The forecast comes from Chicago-based Don Coxe, a leading agricultural industry expert, in a report in the Commodity Online publication.
"When we have the first serious crop failure, which will happen, we will then have a full-blown food crisis, which we will not be able to get out of because we will still be struggling to catch up (as a result of diminished crop yields)," he told the publication.
He suggested that even could happen this year.
Coxe explained climate change will make growing seasons shorter, generating lower crop production, which would squeeze supplies.
Coxe, whose credentials include analysis of agriculture interests for more than three decades in the U.S. and Canada, including management of Harris Investment Management, said the result would be a domino effect.
A crop collapse in North America would hit hard among international markets that depend heavily on U.S. exports.
The lower food production also is being aggravated, he noted, by governments in North America.
"We've got a situation where there has been no incentive to allocate significant new capital to agriculture or to develop new technologies to dramatically expand crop output," he said in a statement to BNW News Wire. "We've got complacency. So for those reasons I believe the next food crisis – when it comes – will be a bigger shock than $150 oil."
Coxe, a leader of the Coxe Commodity Strategy Fund, said farms operations around the world also have cut back on expansion plans because of the worldwide economic crisis, calling into question whether production could meet demand.
Already, he suggested, demand for staples is moving beyond supply.
"During this decade, the annual increase in hectares of global cultivated farmland has been roughly 1.5 percent, at a time global demand for grains and soybeans has been growing at double that rate," he told Commodities Online. "We will be dealing with mass starvation with the first serious crop failure. It could happen as early as this fall if for instance we have a killing freeze in Iowa in August."
He said a reduction of just four weeks in the growing season would "dramatically reduce yields."
Coxe said one only has to reach back 35 years to review an era when there were shortages because of poor crops. The surpluses that had existed suddenly were gone, he noted.
"In fact, the major inflation of the 1970s was driven more by food than by oil,” he said.
He suggested the next global food shortage could destabilize the world's political order, according to the Commodities Online report.
In a related development, the Associated Press reported a U.N. agency is confirming that already more than a billion people around the globe now are hungry as fallout from the worldwide economic turmoil and high food prices.
The report said the Food and Agriculture Organization said that figure is up 100 million from a year ago.
"The silent hunger crisis, affecting one-sixth of all of humanity, poses a serious risk for world peace and security," said Jacques Diouf, the agency's director.
The biggest problem is in sub-Saharan Africa, with some 265 million people who do not get enough food
Friday, June 19, 2009
Parents banned from taking pictures of their own children at sports day
Parents banned from taking pictures of their own children at sports day:
"London Telegraph
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Parents of children at a primary school have been banned from taking pictures of their own children at the annual sports day.
Mrs Ethelston’s Church of England Primary School, in Uplyme, Devon, prohibited photos and video filming, claiming it was due to changes in child protection and images legislation.
It is the first time the school has taken such measures.
Parents criticised the move and said they felt there was no legal reason why they cannot take photos for personal use."
"London Telegraph
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Parents of children at a primary school have been banned from taking pictures of their own children at the annual sports day.
Mrs Ethelston’s Church of England Primary School, in Uplyme, Devon, prohibited photos and video filming, claiming it was due to changes in child protection and images legislation.
It is the first time the school has taken such measures.
Parents criticised the move and said they felt there was no legal reason why they cannot take photos for personal use."
EC calls for one world internet governance
EC calls for one world internet governance:
"Austin Modine
The Register
Friday, June 19, 2009
The European Commission is once again calling for the United States to let go of ICANN and place it under international supervision.
Echoing an earlier appeal from EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding, the Commission said in a statement today that future internet governance “should reflect the key role that global network has come to play for all countries.”
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is a California-based non-profit group that oversees the internet’s address system. It currently operates under a Joint Project Agreement with the US government, which expires at the end of September 2009.
“It is an appropriate time therefore for the EU to review the progress of ICANN to date, and to identify what changes if any may be desirable,” the Commission said.
In a communication entitled “Internet governance: the next steps,” the EC proposed that ICANN operate under private-sector authority for day-to-day internet management, “but ultimately be properly accountable to the international community as a whole.”"
"Austin Modine
The Register
Friday, June 19, 2009
The European Commission is once again calling for the United States to let go of ICANN and place it under international supervision.
Echoing an earlier appeal from EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding, the Commission said in a statement today that future internet governance “should reflect the key role that global network has come to play for all countries.”
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is a California-based non-profit group that oversees the internet’s address system. It currently operates under a Joint Project Agreement with the US government, which expires at the end of September 2009.
“It is an appropriate time therefore for the EU to review the progress of ICANN to date, and to identify what changes if any may be desirable,” the Commission said.
In a communication entitled “Internet governance: the next steps,” the EC proposed that ICANN operate under private-sector authority for day-to-day internet management, “but ultimately be properly accountable to the international community as a whole.”"
FDA Threatens to Seize All Natural Products that Dare to Mention H1N1 Swine Flu
FDA Threatens to Seize All Natural Products that Dare to Mention H1N1 Swine Flu: "Mike Adams
NaturalNews
Friday, June 19, 2009
In an effort to censor any online text that might inform consumers of the ability of natural products to protect consumers from H1N1 influenza A, the FDA is now sending out a round of warning letters, threatening to “take enforcement action… such as seizure or injunction for violations of the FFDC Act without further notice.”
“Firms that fail to take correction action,” the FDA warns, “may also be referred to the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations for possible criminal prosecution for violations of the FFDC Act and other federal laws.”
The message is crystal clear: No product may be described as protecting against or preventing H1N1 infections unless it is approved by the FDA. And which products has the FDA approved? Tamiflu (the anti-viral drug that most people will never have access to), and soon the new H1N1 vaccine that’s being manufactured at a cost of one billion dollars (paid to Big Pharma by the taxpayers). This vaccine, of course, will be utterly useless because H1N1 will undoubtedly mutate between now and the time the vaccine is ready, rendering the vaccine useless".
NaturalNews
Friday, June 19, 2009
In an effort to censor any online text that might inform consumers of the ability of natural products to protect consumers from H1N1 influenza A, the FDA is now sending out a round of warning letters, threatening to “take enforcement action… such as seizure or injunction for violations of the FFDC Act without further notice.”
“Firms that fail to take correction action,” the FDA warns, “may also be referred to the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations for possible criminal prosecution for violations of the FFDC Act and other federal laws.”
The message is crystal clear: No product may be described as protecting against or preventing H1N1 infections unless it is approved by the FDA. And which products has the FDA approved? Tamiflu (the anti-viral drug that most people will never have access to), and soon the new H1N1 vaccine that’s being manufactured at a cost of one billion dollars (paid to Big Pharma by the taxpayers). This vaccine, of course, will be utterly useless because H1N1 will undoubtedly mutate between now and the time the vaccine is ready, rendering the vaccine useless".
Ron Paul Slams Federal Reserve’s New Dictatorial Powers
Ron Paul Slams Federal Reserve’s New Dictatorial Powers: "Ron Paul Slams Federal Reserve’s New Dictatorial Powers
Congressman tells MSNBC that the very entity responsible for the economic crisis is now more powerful than Congress
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Friday, June 19, 2009
Responding to the Obama administration’s new regulatory reform plan, which will officially hand the Federal Reserve complete dictatorial control over the U.S. economy, Congressman Ron Paul told MSNBC that the Fed was now more powerful than Congress.
Paul emphasized that no amount of regulation could compensate for a financial system created and controlled by the Federal Reserve that was completely unstable to begin with.
“The regulations should be on the Federal Reserve. We should have transparency of the Federal Reserve. They can create trillions of dollars to bail out their friends, and we don’t even have any transparency of this. They’re more powerful than the Congress,” said Paul.
As we reported yesterday, the new rules would see the Fed given the authority to “regulate” any company whose activity it believes could threaten the economy and the markets."
Obama’s regulatory “reform” plan is nothing less than a green light for the complete and total takeover of the United States by a private banking cartel that will usurp the power of existing regulatory bodies, who are now being blamed for the financial crisis in order that their status can be abolished and their roles handed over to the all-powerful Fed.
“They’re giving a tremendous amount of more power to the Federal Reserve - the very institution that created our problem. That’s about the way Washington works,” said the Congressman
“Too much regulations to begin with, so they give it more. The Federal Reserve creates the problem, so we give them more power. It’s fiat money that’s the problem, so we allow them to double the money supply - you can’t solve the problems that way. That’s like saying you can take care of a drug addict by just giving them more drugs,” concluded Paul, adding that the lack of understanding about how the Federal Reserve created the problem and how the free market ought to work was the root of the crisis
Congressman tells MSNBC that the very entity responsible for the economic crisis is now more powerful than Congress
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Friday, June 19, 2009
Responding to the Obama administration’s new regulatory reform plan, which will officially hand the Federal Reserve complete dictatorial control over the U.S. economy, Congressman Ron Paul told MSNBC that the Fed was now more powerful than Congress.
Paul emphasized that no amount of regulation could compensate for a financial system created and controlled by the Federal Reserve that was completely unstable to begin with.
“The regulations should be on the Federal Reserve. We should have transparency of the Federal Reserve. They can create trillions of dollars to bail out their friends, and we don’t even have any transparency of this. They’re more powerful than the Congress,” said Paul.
As we reported yesterday, the new rules would see the Fed given the authority to “regulate” any company whose activity it believes could threaten the economy and the markets."
Obama’s regulatory “reform” plan is nothing less than a green light for the complete and total takeover of the United States by a private banking cartel that will usurp the power of existing regulatory bodies, who are now being blamed for the financial crisis in order that their status can be abolished and their roles handed over to the all-powerful Fed.
“They’re giving a tremendous amount of more power to the Federal Reserve - the very institution that created our problem. That’s about the way Washington works,” said the Congressman
“Too much regulations to begin with, so they give it more. The Federal Reserve creates the problem, so we give them more power. It’s fiat money that’s the problem, so we allow them to double the money supply - you can’t solve the problems that way. That’s like saying you can take care of a drug addict by just giving them more drugs,” concluded Paul, adding that the lack of understanding about how the Federal Reserve created the problem and how the free market ought to work was the root of the crisis
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Senior Democrat Says Obama’s Czars Unconstitutional
Ken Klukowski
Townhall
June 15, 2009
Last week President Obama appointed yet another “czar” with massive government power, answering only to him. Even before this latest appointment, the top-ranking Democrat in the Senate wrote President Obama a letter saying that these czars are unconstitutional. President Obama’s “czar strategy” is an unprecedented power grab centralizing authority in the White House, outside congressional oversight and in violation of the Constitution.
As of last week, Czar Kenneth Feinberg has the authority to set the pay scale for executives at any company receiving government money (and how many aren’t, these days?). Czar Feinberg has the power to say that someone’s pay is excessive, and to make companies cut that pay until the czar is pleased.
Congress did not give Czar Feinberg this authority. For that matter, Congress has not authorized any of the czars that President Barack Obama has created. Over the past thirty years presidents have each had one or two czars for various issues, and once the number went as high as five. But now, by some counts President Obama has created sixteen czars, and there may be more on the way. Each of these has enormous government power, and answers only to the president.
Ever since this practice of appointing czars began years ago, it has always been considered possible that they are all unconstitutional. But it never built to a critical mass to elicit a court fight. These czars were few and far between, and rarely did anything that seriously ruffled any feathers. But President Obama has taken this to an unprecedented level, to the point where these appointments are dangerous to our constitutional regime.
This has become too much for the longest-serving senator in U.S. history to stomach. Democratic Senator Robert Byrd is the president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate. Even though Senate rules vest most powers in the Senate majority leader, the president pro tempore is a constitutional officer, and third in line to the U.S. presidency (after the vice president and the Speaker of the House). This office is held by a Democrat, who has been serving in the Senate since before Barack Obama was even born.
Senator Byrd wrote a letter to President Obama in February, criticizing the president’s strategy of creating czars to manage important areas of national policy. Senator Byrd said that these appointments violate both the constitutional system of checks and balances and the constitutional separation of powers, and is a clear attempt to evade congressional oversight. (Didn’t this White House promise unprecedented transparency?)
And Senator Byrd is exactly correct. The Constitution commands that government officers with significant authority (called “principal officers”) are nominated by the president but then are subject to a confirmation vote by the U.S. Senate. And principal officers include not only cabinet-level department heads, but go five levels deep in executive appointments, to include assistant secretaries and deputy undersecretaries.
Inferior officers are appointed either by the president, cabinet-level officers, or the courts. But even then, the Constitution specifies that only Congress can authorize the making of such appointments. For these inferior officers, only Congress can create their offices, and also specify who appoints them. And such officers are still answerable to Congress. They are subject to subpoena to testify before Congress, and Congress holds the power of the purse by making annual appropriations for their division or program.
White House officials, by contrast, cannot be compelled to appear before Congress and testify. They are alter-egos of the president himself, and as an agent of the Executive Office of the President they are entirely removed from Congress, and not answerable to Congress in any way. That was why during the Bush administration White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, Senior Advisor Karl Rove, and Counsel Harriet Miers could not be compelled to testify to Congress when President Bush invoked executive privilege (a battle they may well have won if they pressed their case all the way to the Supreme Court). Senior presidential aides advise the president alone, and the separation of powers forbids congressional interference in that relationship.
But that’s the problem with these czars. The president can have any advisors he wants, people who privately advise him or meet with others on his behalf, but have little or no actual authority to exert government power on anyone. These czars, however, are directly dictating policy, impacting millions of lives in the way that few assistant secretaries or deputy undersecretaries do.
The Founding Fathers specifically wrote the Constitution in a way to deny such absolute power to emanate from one person. That was why they required that no principal officers could exercise any power unless the U.S. Senate decided to confirm them. That was also why they specified that even for inferior officers only Congress could create their positions and could still require them to answer to Congress. The Founding Fathers were specifically blocking the type of centralized power that President Obama is currently exerting.
Fortunately, there is a remedy. Any person on the receiving end of an order from any of these czars has standing to challenge their constitutionality in court. Any person whose pay is deemed excessive by Kenneth Feinberg, or affected by any other czar, could file a federal suit asserting that the order is an unconstitutional exercise of government power, and have a court both invalidate the order and hold that the position itself doesn’t legally exist. Then everyone could just ignore these czars, because they would simply be private citizens, without the authority to order any of us to tie our shoes.
Let the lawsuits begin.
Townhall
June 15, 2009
Last week President Obama appointed yet another “czar” with massive government power, answering only to him. Even before this latest appointment, the top-ranking Democrat in the Senate wrote President Obama a letter saying that these czars are unconstitutional. President Obama’s “czar strategy” is an unprecedented power grab centralizing authority in the White House, outside congressional oversight and in violation of the Constitution.
As of last week, Czar Kenneth Feinberg has the authority to set the pay scale for executives at any company receiving government money (and how many aren’t, these days?). Czar Feinberg has the power to say that someone’s pay is excessive, and to make companies cut that pay until the czar is pleased.
Congress did not give Czar Feinberg this authority. For that matter, Congress has not authorized any of the czars that President Barack Obama has created. Over the past thirty years presidents have each had one or two czars for various issues, and once the number went as high as five. But now, by some counts President Obama has created sixteen czars, and there may be more on the way. Each of these has enormous government power, and answers only to the president.
Ever since this practice of appointing czars began years ago, it has always been considered possible that they are all unconstitutional. But it never built to a critical mass to elicit a court fight. These czars were few and far between, and rarely did anything that seriously ruffled any feathers. But President Obama has taken this to an unprecedented level, to the point where these appointments are dangerous to our constitutional regime.
This has become too much for the longest-serving senator in U.S. history to stomach. Democratic Senator Robert Byrd is the president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate. Even though Senate rules vest most powers in the Senate majority leader, the president pro tempore is a constitutional officer, and third in line to the U.S. presidency (after the vice president and the Speaker of the House). This office is held by a Democrat, who has been serving in the Senate since before Barack Obama was even born.
Senator Byrd wrote a letter to President Obama in February, criticizing the president’s strategy of creating czars to manage important areas of national policy. Senator Byrd said that these appointments violate both the constitutional system of checks and balances and the constitutional separation of powers, and is a clear attempt to evade congressional oversight. (Didn’t this White House promise unprecedented transparency?)
And Senator Byrd is exactly correct. The Constitution commands that government officers with significant authority (called “principal officers”) are nominated by the president but then are subject to a confirmation vote by the U.S. Senate. And principal officers include not only cabinet-level department heads, but go five levels deep in executive appointments, to include assistant secretaries and deputy undersecretaries.
Inferior officers are appointed either by the president, cabinet-level officers, or the courts. But even then, the Constitution specifies that only Congress can authorize the making of such appointments. For these inferior officers, only Congress can create their offices, and also specify who appoints them. And such officers are still answerable to Congress. They are subject to subpoena to testify before Congress, and Congress holds the power of the purse by making annual appropriations for their division or program.
White House officials, by contrast, cannot be compelled to appear before Congress and testify. They are alter-egos of the president himself, and as an agent of the Executive Office of the President they are entirely removed from Congress, and not answerable to Congress in any way. That was why during the Bush administration White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, Senior Advisor Karl Rove, and Counsel Harriet Miers could not be compelled to testify to Congress when President Bush invoked executive privilege (a battle they may well have won if they pressed their case all the way to the Supreme Court). Senior presidential aides advise the president alone, and the separation of powers forbids congressional interference in that relationship.
But that’s the problem with these czars. The president can have any advisors he wants, people who privately advise him or meet with others on his behalf, but have little or no actual authority to exert government power on anyone. These czars, however, are directly dictating policy, impacting millions of lives in the way that few assistant secretaries or deputy undersecretaries do.
The Founding Fathers specifically wrote the Constitution in a way to deny such absolute power to emanate from one person. That was why they required that no principal officers could exercise any power unless the U.S. Senate decided to confirm them. That was also why they specified that even for inferior officers only Congress could create their positions and could still require them to answer to Congress. The Founding Fathers were specifically blocking the type of centralized power that President Obama is currently exerting.
Fortunately, there is a remedy. Any person on the receiving end of an order from any of these czars has standing to challenge their constitutionality in court. Any person whose pay is deemed excessive by Kenneth Feinberg, or affected by any other czar, could file a federal suit asserting that the order is an unconstitutional exercise of government power, and have a court both invalidate the order and hold that the position itself doesn’t legally exist. Then everyone could just ignore these czars, because they would simply be private citizens, without the authority to order any of us to tie our shoes.
Let the lawsuits begin.
Truth Action Ottawa Response to Glenn Beck
Kucinich: ‘Another $106 billion and all we get is a lousy war’
Raw Story | June 17, 2009
One week after declaring that the United States “cannot afford” the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq “financially or spiritually,” Ohio’s Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a staunch anti-war crusader, took aim at Congress for not taking a more active role in any of the war on terror fronts.
“We are destroying our nation’s moral and fiscal integrity with this war supplemental,” Kucinich argued on the House floor Tuesday. “Instead of ending wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan now by appropriating only enough money to bring our troops home, Congress abdicates its constitutional authority, defers to the president, and asks for a report. That’s right, all we are asking for is a report on when the president will end the war.”
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Kucinich continued, “There is also money for the IMF, presumably to bail out private European banks. Billions for the IMF so they can force low and middle income nations to cut jobs, wages, health care and retirement security, just like corporate America does to our constituents. And there’s money to incentivize the purchase of more cars, not necessarily from U.S. manufacturers because a ‘Buy America’ mandate was not allowed.”
“Another $106 billion dollars and all we get is a lousy war,” Kucinich said. “Pretty soon that is going to be about the only thing made in America – war.”
One week after declaring that the United States “cannot afford” the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq “financially or spiritually,” Ohio’s Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a staunch anti-war crusader, took aim at Congress for not taking a more active role in any of the war on terror fronts.
“We are destroying our nation’s moral and fiscal integrity with this war supplemental,” Kucinich argued on the House floor Tuesday. “Instead of ending wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan now by appropriating only enough money to bring our troops home, Congress abdicates its constitutional authority, defers to the president, and asks for a report. That’s right, all we are asking for is a report on when the president will end the war.”
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Kucinich continued, “There is also money for the IMF, presumably to bail out private European banks. Billions for the IMF so they can force low and middle income nations to cut jobs, wages, health care and retirement security, just like corporate America does to our constituents. And there’s money to incentivize the purchase of more cars, not necessarily from U.S. manufacturers because a ‘Buy America’ mandate was not allowed.”
“Another $106 billion dollars and all we get is a lousy war,” Kucinich said. “Pretty soon that is going to be about the only thing made in America – war.”
Cash to become extinct as chips take off
Cash to become extinct as chips take off
Anthony Keane
The Advertiser
June 17, 2009
Cash is accelerating down the path to extinction as new technologies threaten to mark the end of loose change within a decade.
Bank and credit union bosses say cash won’t be alone, with wallets and credit cards also likely to disappear too.
They told The Advertiser’s round table forum that cash and cards will be replaced by computer chips embedded in mobile phones, watches or other portable devices.
Australian Central chief executive Peter Evers believes cash will be replaced for most transactions in five-to-seven years.
“Cash will disappear as there will be other forms of carrying cash, stored value in your phone or whatever it might be. It will transfer automatically,” he said.
Read entire article
Anthony Keane
The Advertiser
June 17, 2009
Cash is accelerating down the path to extinction as new technologies threaten to mark the end of loose change within a decade.
Bank and credit union bosses say cash won’t be alone, with wallets and credit cards also likely to disappear too.
They told The Advertiser’s round table forum that cash and cards will be replaced by computer chips embedded in mobile phones, watches or other portable devices.
Australian Central chief executive Peter Evers believes cash will be replaced for most transactions in five-to-seven years.
“Cash will disappear as there will be other forms of carrying cash, stored value in your phone or whatever it might be. It will transfer automatically,” he said.
Read entire article
Keith Ellison's office hangs up on WND
Keith Ellison's office hangs up on WND:
"Keith Ellison's office hangs up on WND
Congressman's Islamic pilgrimage paid by group tied to terrorism
Posted: June 17, 2009
10:27 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.
JERUSALEM – It seems the office of Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., is not too eager to respond to questions about reports his Islamic hajj pilgrimage to Mecca this past winter was paid for by a U.S. group tied to Muslim extremists whose institutional material has promoted terrorism.
The hajj is the largest annual pilgrimage in the world. The fifth pillar of Islam requires every able-bodied Muslim to travel to Mecca at least once in their life in a demonstration of solidarity with fellow Muslims and in an act of individual submission to Allah.
Ellison attended December's hajj ceremonies, becoming the first U.S. congressman to make the pilgrimage. He was reportedly accompanied on his trip by fellow members of his Minneapolis mosque, although his wife, a Catholic, and his two sons stayed home.
Upon a routine WND phone query about the recent trip's funding, Ellison's spokesman, Rick Jauert, yesterday stated, 'It was a personal trip. I'm not going to talk about it,' before abruptly ending the call."
"Keith Ellison's office hangs up on WND
Congressman's Islamic pilgrimage paid by group tied to terrorism
Posted: June 17, 2009
10:27 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.
JERUSALEM – It seems the office of Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., is not too eager to respond to questions about reports his Islamic hajj pilgrimage to Mecca this past winter was paid for by a U.S. group tied to Muslim extremists whose institutional material has promoted terrorism.
The hajj is the largest annual pilgrimage in the world. The fifth pillar of Islam requires every able-bodied Muslim to travel to Mecca at least once in their life in a demonstration of solidarity with fellow Muslims and in an act of individual submission to Allah.
Ellison attended December's hajj ceremonies, becoming the first U.S. congressman to make the pilgrimage. He was reportedly accompanied on his trip by fellow members of his Minneapolis mosque, although his wife, a Catholic, and his two sons stayed home.
Upon a routine WND phone query about the recent trip's funding, Ellison's spokesman, Rick Jauert, yesterday stated, 'It was a personal trip. I'm not going to talk about it,' before abruptly ending the call."
FBI e-mail investigation fingers White House?
FBI e-mail investigation fingers White House?:
"Posted: June 17, 2009
10:08 pm Eastern
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun looking into a dispute that is linked to an AmeriCorps money scandal that has fingers pointing all the way up to the White House because of President Obama's dismissal of an inspector general who was on the case.
According to a report in the Sacramento Bee, acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown has confirmed the agency is looking into the 'circumstances' regarding the alleged destruction of e-mails regarding a dispute over the handling of money at Mayor Kevin Johnson's 'brainchild' St. HOPE Academy, which had been investigated after allegations that public funds were misused.
As WND reported earlier, U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley is asking for an investigation into Obama's firing of the independent inspector general, Gerald Walpin, who had been charged with rooting out corruption in the AmeriCorps program – and had sought action against Obama's friend, Johnson.
Walpin told WND in an interview he didn't think the timing of his firing was a coincidence, and indeed, he said, 'I was fired for doing my job.'
Radio host Rush Limbaugh accused the administration of breaking the law by firing Walpin, attributing it to 'political cronyism' and declaring, 'Alberto Gonzales as attorney general fired a couple of U.S. attorneys. He took hell for it. This is bigger. Inspectors general are supposed to be completely above politics.'
One of the participants in the Bee forum page said, 'This story will be bigger than Watergate IF the facts are allowed the light of day.'"
"Posted: June 17, 2009
10:08 pm Eastern
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun looking into a dispute that is linked to an AmeriCorps money scandal that has fingers pointing all the way up to the White House because of President Obama's dismissal of an inspector general who was on the case.
According to a report in the Sacramento Bee, acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown has confirmed the agency is looking into the 'circumstances' regarding the alleged destruction of e-mails regarding a dispute over the handling of money at Mayor Kevin Johnson's 'brainchild' St. HOPE Academy, which had been investigated after allegations that public funds were misused.
As WND reported earlier, U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley is asking for an investigation into Obama's firing of the independent inspector general, Gerald Walpin, who had been charged with rooting out corruption in the AmeriCorps program – and had sought action against Obama's friend, Johnson.
Walpin told WND in an interview he didn't think the timing of his firing was a coincidence, and indeed, he said, 'I was fired for doing my job.'
Radio host Rush Limbaugh accused the administration of breaking the law by firing Walpin, attributing it to 'political cronyism' and declaring, 'Alberto Gonzales as attorney general fired a couple of U.S. attorneys. He took hell for it. This is bigger. Inspectors general are supposed to be completely above politics.'
One of the participants in the Bee forum page said, 'This story will be bigger than Watergate IF the facts are allowed the light of day.'"
Baxter Expects to Deliver A/H1N1 Vaccine to WHO by July
r Expects to Deliver A/H1N1 Vaccine to WHO by July
If you trust a company that was caught red-handed shipping out vaccines containing live avian flu virus enough to take their swine flu vaccine, then good luck to you. We’ll be politely declining.
FLASHBACK: Baxter To Develop Swine Flu Vaccine Despite Bird Flu Scandal
A U.S. based pharmaceutical company that just weeks ago was involved in a scandal involving vaccines tainted with deadly avian flu virus has been chosen to head up efforts to produce a vaccine for the Mexican swine flu that has seemingly migrated into the U.S. and Europe.
FLASHBACK: ‘Accidental’ Contamination Of Vaccine With Live Avian Flu Virus Virtually Impossible
Czech newspapers are questioning if the shocking discovery of vaccines contaminated with the deadly avian flu virus which were distributed to 18 countries by the American company Baxter were part of a conspiracy to provoke a pandemic.
Pharmabiz
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Baxter International Inc. has completed testing and evaluation of the A/H1N1 influenza virus and is now in full-scale production of a commercial A/H1N1 vaccine using its Vero cell culture technology. Baxter received an A/H1N1 strain from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center] in early May and is diligently working to deliver a pandemic vaccine for use as early as July.
WHO raised the pandemic alert level to phase-6, indicating a global influenza pandemic involving the 2009 A/H1N1 strain. Baxter is in contact with WHO and other global public health authorities regarding the pandemic. A number of national public health authorities have existing pandemic agreements with Baxter that allow them to place orders for a vaccine now that a pandemic has been declared by WHO. These public health authorities will be evaluating their needs to determine their orders for vaccine supply. Despite the company’s existing obligations to supply vaccine under a pandemic phase-6 alert, Baxter is also committed to working with WHO to allocate a portion of the company’s commercial production to address global public health issues deemed most urgent.
Using its Vero cell technology, Baxter has received European Medicines Agency (EMEA) approval for a mock-up pandemic vaccine called Celvapan, the brand name for the company’s pandemic vaccine. The qualification, development and manufacturing processes used in gaining mock-up licensure for Celvapan apply as the company uses this new influenza A/H1N1 virus strain to produce a pandemic vaccine. The Celvapan EMEA licensure supports fast track approval of a pandemic vaccine containing the A/H1N1 virus strain. Baxter will submit the A/H1N1 vaccine for approval upon completion of initial manufacturing runs.
Full story here
If you trust a company that was caught red-handed shipping out vaccines containing live avian flu virus enough to take their swine flu vaccine, then good luck to you. We’ll be politely declining.
FLASHBACK: Baxter To Develop Swine Flu Vaccine Despite Bird Flu Scandal
A U.S. based pharmaceutical company that just weeks ago was involved in a scandal involving vaccines tainted with deadly avian flu virus has been chosen to head up efforts to produce a vaccine for the Mexican swine flu that has seemingly migrated into the U.S. and Europe.
FLASHBACK: ‘Accidental’ Contamination Of Vaccine With Live Avian Flu Virus Virtually Impossible
Czech newspapers are questioning if the shocking discovery of vaccines contaminated with the deadly avian flu virus which were distributed to 18 countries by the American company Baxter were part of a conspiracy to provoke a pandemic.
Pharmabiz
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Baxter International Inc. has completed testing and evaluation of the A/H1N1 influenza virus and is now in full-scale production of a commercial A/H1N1 vaccine using its Vero cell culture technology. Baxter received an A/H1N1 strain from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center] in early May and is diligently working to deliver a pandemic vaccine for use as early as July.
WHO raised the pandemic alert level to phase-6, indicating a global influenza pandemic involving the 2009 A/H1N1 strain. Baxter is in contact with WHO and other global public health authorities regarding the pandemic. A number of national public health authorities have existing pandemic agreements with Baxter that allow them to place orders for a vaccine now that a pandemic has been declared by WHO. These public health authorities will be evaluating their needs to determine their orders for vaccine supply. Despite the company’s existing obligations to supply vaccine under a pandemic phase-6 alert, Baxter is also committed to working with WHO to allocate a portion of the company’s commercial production to address global public health issues deemed most urgent.
Using its Vero cell technology, Baxter has received European Medicines Agency (EMEA) approval for a mock-up pandemic vaccine called Celvapan, the brand name for the company’s pandemic vaccine. The qualification, development and manufacturing processes used in gaining mock-up licensure for Celvapan apply as the company uses this new influenza A/H1N1 virus strain to produce a pandemic vaccine. The Celvapan EMEA licensure supports fast track approval of a pandemic vaccine containing the A/H1N1 virus strain. Baxter will submit the A/H1N1 vaccine for approval upon completion of initial manufacturing runs.
Full story here
Obama Regulatory Reform Plan Officially Establishes Banking Dictatorship In United States
Obama Regulatory Reform Plan Officially Establishes Banking Dictatorship In United States:
"Obama Regulatory Reform Plan Officially Establishes Banking Dictatorship In United States
Move to hand privately-owned Federal Reserve complete regulatory power over entire U.S. economy heralds new form of government
Paul Joseph Watson & Steve Watson
Prison Planet.com
Thursday, June 18, 2009
President Obama’s plan to give the privately-owned and unaccountable Federal Reserve complete regulatory oversight across the entire U.S. economy, which is likely to be enacted before the end of the year, will officially herald the beginning of a new form of government in the United States - an ultra-powerful banking dictatorship controlled by a small gaggle of shadowy and corrupt elitists.
The new rules would see the Fed given the authority to “regulate” any company whose activity it believes could threaten the economy and the markets.
This goes a step further than the centrally planned economies of the Soviet Union or Communist China, in that the Federal Reserve is not even accountable to the U.S. government, it is a private entity that according to former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, is accountable to nobody but the banking families that own it.
Obama’s regulatory “reform” plan is nothing less than a green light for the complete and total takeover of the United States by a private banking cartel that will usurp the power of existing regulatory bodies, who are now being blamed for the financial crisis in order that their status can be abolished and their roles handed over to the all-powerful Fed"
"Obama Regulatory Reform Plan Officially Establishes Banking Dictatorship In United States
Move to hand privately-owned Federal Reserve complete regulatory power over entire U.S. economy heralds new form of government
Paul Joseph Watson & Steve Watson
Prison Planet.com
Thursday, June 18, 2009
President Obama’s plan to give the privately-owned and unaccountable Federal Reserve complete regulatory oversight across the entire U.S. economy, which is likely to be enacted before the end of the year, will officially herald the beginning of a new form of government in the United States - an ultra-powerful banking dictatorship controlled by a small gaggle of shadowy and corrupt elitists.
The new rules would see the Fed given the authority to “regulate” any company whose activity it believes could threaten the economy and the markets.
This goes a step further than the centrally planned economies of the Soviet Union or Communist China, in that the Federal Reserve is not even accountable to the U.S. government, it is a private entity that according to former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, is accountable to nobody but the banking families that own it.
Obama’s regulatory “reform” plan is nothing less than a green light for the complete and total takeover of the United States by a private banking cartel that will usurp the power of existing regulatory bodies, who are now being blamed for the financial crisis in order that their status can be abolished and their roles handed over to the all-powerful Fed"
Strange Inconsistencies in the $134.5 Billion Bearer Bond Mystery
Strange Inconsistencies in the $134.5 Billion Bearer Bond Mystery:
"J.S. Kim
Seeking Alpha
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Here’s yet another huge financial story that has been virtually blacked out by the US financial media. Although on the surface, this story appears to be a non-event, if we consider some of the released facts about this case, you will understand why I consider it to be a huge story. On June 8th, the Asia News reported the following story:
“Italy’s financial police (Guardia italiana di Finanza) has seized US bonds worth US 134.5 billion from two Japanese nationals at Chiasso (40 km from Milan) on the border between Italy and Switzerland. They include 249 US Federal Reserve bonds worth US$ 500 million each, plus ten Kennedy bonds and other US government securities worth a billion dollars each. Italian authorities have not yet determined whether they are real or fake, but if they are real the attempt to take them into Switzerland would be the largest financial smuggling operation in history; if they are fake, the matter would be even more mind-boggling because the quality of the counterfeit work is such that the fake bonds are undistinguishable from the real ones.”
Here are just a few fascinating facts about this case (at least they are being reported as “facts” at this current time):
(1) Though the smugglers have been identified in the press as “Japanese nationals” there has yet to be any confirmation if the smugglers were indeed Japanese or of some other ethnicity. How difficult is it to confirm the ethnicity of the smugglers and why is this information being kept secret?"
"J.S. Kim
Seeking Alpha
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Here’s yet another huge financial story that has been virtually blacked out by the US financial media. Although on the surface, this story appears to be a non-event, if we consider some of the released facts about this case, you will understand why I consider it to be a huge story. On June 8th, the Asia News reported the following story:
“Italy’s financial police (Guardia italiana di Finanza) has seized US bonds worth US 134.5 billion from two Japanese nationals at Chiasso (40 km from Milan) on the border between Italy and Switzerland. They include 249 US Federal Reserve bonds worth US$ 500 million each, plus ten Kennedy bonds and other US government securities worth a billion dollars each. Italian authorities have not yet determined whether they are real or fake, but if they are real the attempt to take them into Switzerland would be the largest financial smuggling operation in history; if they are fake, the matter would be even more mind-boggling because the quality of the counterfeit work is such that the fake bonds are undistinguishable from the real ones.”
Here are just a few fascinating facts about this case (at least they are being reported as “facts” at this current time):
(1) Though the smugglers have been identified in the press as “Japanese nationals” there has yet to be any confirmation if the smugglers were indeed Japanese or of some other ethnicity. How difficult is it to confirm the ethnicity of the smugglers and why is this information being kept secret?"
Investigators Find Over 9,000 Vials Of Unaccounted Deadly Pathogens At Fort Detrick
Investigators Find Over 9,000 Vials Of Unaccounted Deadly Pathogens At Fort Detrick:
"Investigators Find Over 9,000 Vials Of Unaccounted Deadly Pathogens At Fort Detrick
Nelson Hernandez
Washington Post
Thursday, June 18, 2009
An inventory of potentially deadly pathogens at Fort Detrick’s infectious disease laboratory found more than 9,000 vials that had not been accounted for, Army officials said yesterday, raising concerns that officials wouldn’t know whether dangerous toxins were missing.
After four months of searching about 335 freezers and refrigerators at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Frederick, investigators found 9,220 samples that hadn’t been included in a database of about 66,000 items listed as of February, said Col. Mark Kortepeter, the institute’s deputy commander".
"Investigators Find Over 9,000 Vials Of Unaccounted Deadly Pathogens At Fort Detrick
Nelson Hernandez
Washington Post
Thursday, June 18, 2009
An inventory of potentially deadly pathogens at Fort Detrick’s infectious disease laboratory found more than 9,000 vials that had not been accounted for, Army officials said yesterday, raising concerns that officials wouldn’t know whether dangerous toxins were missing.
After four months of searching about 335 freezers and refrigerators at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Frederick, investigators found 9,220 samples that hadn’t been included in a database of about 66,000 items listed as of February, said Col. Mark Kortepeter, the institute’s deputy commander".
BBC Caught In Mass Public Deception With Iran Propaganda
BBC Caught In Mass Public Deception With Iran Propaganda
News corporation uses photo from pro-Ahmadinejad rally, claims it represents anti-government protest
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The BBC has again been caught engaging in mass public deception by using photographs of pro-Ahmadinejad rallies in Iran and claiming they represent anti-government protests in favor of Hossein Mousavi.
An image used by the L.A. Times on the front page of its website Tuesday showed Iranian President Ahmadinejad waving to a crowd of supporters at a public event.
In a story covering the election protests yesterday, the BBC News website used a closer shot of the same scene, but with Ahmadinejad cut out of the frame. The caption under the photograph read, ‘Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi again defied a ban on protests’.
The BBC photograph is clearly a similar shot of the same pro-Ahmadinejad rally featured in the L.A. Times image, yet the caption erroneously claims it represents anti-Ahmadinejad protesters.
“Well I guess it sure was a popular fictional rally for Mousavi, because I later noticed while browsing the news sites a familiar picture on the BBC’s lead Iran story - it shows the same crowd, zoomed in to cut out Ahmadinejad,” a reader told the WhatReallyHappened website. “It is clearly the same protest as in the background are the same tree and odd circular building. However, the BBC managed to outdo the LA times in quality reporting - their actual comment under the photo from the huge PRO-Ahmadinejad rally reads ‘Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi again defied a ban on protests’ - a blatant lie and deliberately misleading description of what is actually occurring in Iran!”
As soon as the truth about the misrepresented images surfaced on the WhatReallyHappened website yesterday, the BBC changed the photo caption on their original article. The caption now reads, ‘Tehran has seen mass demonstrations by all sides since the disputed election’.
This is not the first time the BBC has been caught red-handed using crude image and video framing techniques for the purposes of political propaganda
During the fall of Baghdad in April 2003, the BBC and other mainstream news outlets broadcast closely framed footage of the “mass uprising” during which Iraqis, aided by U.S. troops, toppled the Saddam Hussein statue in Fardus Square.
The closely framed footage was used to imply that hundreds or thousands of Iraqis were involved in a Berlin Wall-style “historic” liberation, yet when wide angle shots were later published on the Internet, footage that was never broadcast on live television, the reality of the “mass uprising” became clear. The crowd around the statue was sparse and consisted mostly of U.S. troops and journalists. The BBC later had to admit that only “dozens” of Iraqis had participated in toppling the statue. The entire scene was a manufactured farce yet the propaganda technique of blocking wide-angle shots from being broadcast convinced the world that the event represented a triumphant and historic mass popular uprising on behalf of the Iraqi people.
Whatever your views on the legitimacy of Ahmadinejad and the accuracy of the Iranian election results, the fact that the Anglo-American establishment and its media organs are exploiting and fanning the flames of chaos in Iran to provoke further instability is unquestionable.
Indeed, the U.S. State Department, which routinely demonizes the Internet as a tool of extremists and terrorists when it is used to criticize U.S. foreign policy, took the unprecedented step today of requesting that Twitter.com “delay planned maintenance work so that Iranian protesters can continue to use it to post images and reports of unrest,” according to a London Times report.
News corporation uses photo from pro-Ahmadinejad rally, claims it represents anti-government protest
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The BBC has again been caught engaging in mass public deception by using photographs of pro-Ahmadinejad rallies in Iran and claiming they represent anti-government protests in favor of Hossein Mousavi.
An image used by the L.A. Times on the front page of its website Tuesday showed Iranian President Ahmadinejad waving to a crowd of supporters at a public event.
In a story covering the election protests yesterday, the BBC News website used a closer shot of the same scene, but with Ahmadinejad cut out of the frame. The caption under the photograph read, ‘Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi again defied a ban on protests’.
The BBC photograph is clearly a similar shot of the same pro-Ahmadinejad rally featured in the L.A. Times image, yet the caption erroneously claims it represents anti-Ahmadinejad protesters.
“Well I guess it sure was a popular fictional rally for Mousavi, because I later noticed while browsing the news sites a familiar picture on the BBC’s lead Iran story - it shows the same crowd, zoomed in to cut out Ahmadinejad,” a reader told the WhatReallyHappened website. “It is clearly the same protest as in the background are the same tree and odd circular building. However, the BBC managed to outdo the LA times in quality reporting - their actual comment under the photo from the huge PRO-Ahmadinejad rally reads ‘Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi again defied a ban on protests’ - a blatant lie and deliberately misleading description of what is actually occurring in Iran!”
As soon as the truth about the misrepresented images surfaced on the WhatReallyHappened website yesterday, the BBC changed the photo caption on their original article. The caption now reads, ‘Tehran has seen mass demonstrations by all sides since the disputed election’.
This is not the first time the BBC has been caught red-handed using crude image and video framing techniques for the purposes of political propaganda
During the fall of Baghdad in April 2003, the BBC and other mainstream news outlets broadcast closely framed footage of the “mass uprising” during which Iraqis, aided by U.S. troops, toppled the Saddam Hussein statue in Fardus Square.
The closely framed footage was used to imply that hundreds or thousands of Iraqis were involved in a Berlin Wall-style “historic” liberation, yet when wide angle shots were later published on the Internet, footage that was never broadcast on live television, the reality of the “mass uprising” became clear. The crowd around the statue was sparse and consisted mostly of U.S. troops and journalists. The BBC later had to admit that only “dozens” of Iraqis had participated in toppling the statue. The entire scene was a manufactured farce yet the propaganda technique of blocking wide-angle shots from being broadcast convinced the world that the event represented a triumphant and historic mass popular uprising on behalf of the Iraqi people.
Whatever your views on the legitimacy of Ahmadinejad and the accuracy of the Iranian election results, the fact that the Anglo-American establishment and its media organs are exploiting and fanning the flames of chaos in Iran to provoke further instability is unquestionable.
Indeed, the U.S. State Department, which routinely demonizes the Internet as a tool of extremists and terrorists when it is used to criticize U.S. foreign policy, took the unprecedented step today of requesting that Twitter.com “delay planned maintenance work so that Iranian protesters can continue to use it to post images and reports of unrest,” according to a London Times report.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Weird Hexadecimal Code and Possible Warning in Telegraph’s Operation Blackjack Part 5
Weird Hexadecimal Code and Possible Warning in Telegraph’s Operation Blackjack Part 5:
"I was listening to the Jason Bermas “The Infowarrior” show tonight and one of his callers had an interesting comment about a code in the controversial multi-part London Telegraph “Operation Blackjack” art series. The Blackjack series is controversial, because it has no real artistic merit except for perhaps being a blueprint for the introduction of global government.
Jason’s caller mentioned a weird hexadecimal code in Part 5 of the series. The screen cap is below."
"I was listening to the Jason Bermas “The Infowarrior” show tonight and one of his callers had an interesting comment about a code in the controversial multi-part London Telegraph “Operation Blackjack” art series. The Blackjack series is controversial, because it has no real artistic merit except for perhaps being a blueprint for the introduction of global government.
Jason’s caller mentioned a weird hexadecimal code in Part 5 of the series. The screen cap is below."
Brazil finds new strain of H1N1 virus
Brazil finds new strain of H1N1 virus:
"AFP
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Brazilian scientists have identified a new strain of the H1N1 virus after examining samples from a patient in Sao Paulo, their institute said Tuesday.
The variant has been called A/Sao Paulo/1454/H1N1 by the Adolfo Lutz Bacteriological Institute, which compared it with samples of the A(H1N1) swine flu from California.
The genetic sequence of the new sub-type of the H1N1 virus was isolated by a virology team lead by one of its researchers, Terezinha Maria de Paiva, the institute said in a statement.
The mutation comprised of alterations in the Hemagglutinin protein which allows the virus to infect new hosts, it said.
It was not yet known whether the new strain was more aggressive than the current A(H1N1) virus which has been declared pandemic by the World Health Organization."
"AFP
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Brazilian scientists have identified a new strain of the H1N1 virus after examining samples from a patient in Sao Paulo, their institute said Tuesday.
The variant has been called A/Sao Paulo/1454/H1N1 by the Adolfo Lutz Bacteriological Institute, which compared it with samples of the A(H1N1) swine flu from California.
The genetic sequence of the new sub-type of the H1N1 virus was isolated by a virology team lead by one of its researchers, Terezinha Maria de Paiva, the institute said in a statement.
The mutation comprised of alterations in the Hemagglutinin protein which allows the virus to infect new hosts, it said.
It was not yet known whether the new strain was more aggressive than the current A(H1N1) virus which has been declared pandemic by the World Health Organization."
Shocker! Most Americans know of Obama eligibility questions
Shocker! Most Americans know of Obama eligibility questions:
"Shocker! Most Americans know
of Obama eligibility questions
Despite near media blackout on coverage, 49.3% 'troubled,' think he should release birth certificate
Posted: June 16, 2009
9:16 pm Eastern
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
Editor's note: This is the second of a series of monthly 'Freedom Index' polls conducted exclusively for WND by the public opinion research and media consulting company Wenzel Strategies.
WASHINGTON – It may be the issue few in the media dare address, but a new scientific public opinion survey of a cross-section of Americans shows they are not only aware of questions about Barack Obama's constitutional eligibility for office, but almost half are either 'troubled' by the questions or believe he should release all relevant documents including his long-form birth certificate."
"Shocker! Most Americans know
of Obama eligibility questions
Despite near media blackout on coverage, 49.3% 'troubled,' think he should release birth certificate
Posted: June 16, 2009
9:16 pm Eastern
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
Editor's note: This is the second of a series of monthly 'Freedom Index' polls conducted exclusively for WND by the public opinion research and media consulting company Wenzel Strategies.
WASHINGTON – It may be the issue few in the media dare address, but a new scientific public opinion survey of a cross-section of Americans shows they are not only aware of questions about Barack Obama's constitutional eligibility for office, but almost half are either 'troubled' by the questions or believe he should release all relevant documents including his long-form birth certificate."
U.N. protocol used to regulate homeschoolers
U.N. protocol used to regulate homeschoolers:
New Brit report: Authorities have 'right to access of the home'
Posted: June 16, 2009
9:53 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
A British plan to allow local authorities 'the right of access to the home' and 'the right to speak with each child alone' in order to evaluate homeschooling families and make certain they do what the government wants is a warning about what could happen in the United States, according to the world's largest homeschool advocacy organization.
'On June 11, 2009, a report on home education in England by Graham Badman, a former Managing Director of Children, Families and Education in the County of Kent, was accepted in full by the British Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families,' according to today's report from the Home School Legal Defense Association.
'The report makes the case that homeschooling should be extensively regulated in England,' the HSLDA continued. 'Aside from registering with the state and mandating reports by homeschoolers, the Badman report makes references to balancing the rights of parents with the rights of children. This idea is expressed in the UNCRC.'"
New Brit report: Authorities have 'right to access of the home'
Posted: June 16, 2009
9:53 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
A British plan to allow local authorities 'the right of access to the home' and 'the right to speak with each child alone' in order to evaluate homeschooling families and make certain they do what the government wants is a warning about what could happen in the United States, according to the world's largest homeschool advocacy organization.
'On June 11, 2009, a report on home education in England by Graham Badman, a former Managing Director of Children, Families and Education in the County of Kent, was accepted in full by the British Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families,' according to today's report from the Home School Legal Defense Association.
'The report makes the case that homeschooling should be extensively regulated in England,' the HSLDA continued. 'Aside from registering with the state and mandating reports by homeschoolers, the Badman report makes references to balancing the rights of parents with the rights of children. This idea is expressed in the UNCRC.'"
Physicists create 'black hole for sound' - space - 17 June 2009 - New Scientist
Physicists create 'black hole for sound' - space - 17 June 2009 - New Scientist:
"An artificial black hole that traps sound instead of light has been created in an attempt to detect theoretical Hawking radiation. The radiation, proposed by physicist Stephen Hawking more than 30 years ago, causes black holes to evaporate over time.
Astrophysical black holes are created when matter becomes so dense that it collapses to a point called a singularity. The black hole's gravity is so great that nothing – not even light – can escape from a boundary around it called an event horizon.
But physicists have also been developing 'black holes' for sound. They do this by coaxing a material to move faster than the speed of sound in that medium, so that sound waves travelling within it cannot keep up, like fish swimming in a fast-moving stream. The sound is effectively trapped in the stream-like event horizon."
"An artificial black hole that traps sound instead of light has been created in an attempt to detect theoretical Hawking radiation. The radiation, proposed by physicist Stephen Hawking more than 30 years ago, causes black holes to evaporate over time.
Astrophysical black holes are created when matter becomes so dense that it collapses to a point called a singularity. The black hole's gravity is so great that nothing – not even light – can escape from a boundary around it called an event horizon.
But physicists have also been developing 'black holes' for sound. They do this by coaxing a material to move faster than the speed of sound in that medium, so that sound waves travelling within it cannot keep up, like fish swimming in a fast-moving stream. The sound is effectively trapped in the stream-like event horizon."
Rutgers Professor Warns Geoengineering Could “Create Disasters,” Global Famine
Rutgers Professor Warns Geoengineering Could “Create Disasters,” Global Famine
National Academy of Sciences debates spraying aerosols into upper stratosphere to combat global warming
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Debate surrounding the possibility of geoengineering the earth’s climate by lining the atmosphere with aerosol particles has moved from idle speculation to serious consideration, and was a core topic of discussion at a recent National Academy of Sciences workshop.
However, a top Rutgers University professor warned at the meeting that tampering with the planet’s delicate ecosystem could create famines and droughts, threatening the lives of no less than a third of the world’s population.
The plan to shoot aerosols - dust particles - into the earth’s upper stratosphere in an attempt to cool the planet and offset the purported effects of global warming, should be considered as an “emergency response” to a climate crisis, according to Harvard University’s Dan Schrag, who told the workshop that such a crisis was already underway.
“I think we should consider climate engineering only as an emergency response to a climate crisis, but I question whether we’re already experiencing a climate crisis — whether we’ve already crossed that threshold,” Schrag said.
According to an NPR report on the meeting, University of Calgary’s David Keith urged the introduction of geoengineering experiments on a global scale and that they should be conducted “sooner rather than later”.
But Rutgers University professor Alan Robock warned that such experiments “could create disasters,” damaging the ozone layer and potentially altering the stratosphere by eliminating weather patterns such as the annual Asian monsoon rain season, which 2 billion people rely upon to water their crops and feed the population.
“Imagine if we triggered a drought and famine while trying to cool the planet,” Robock said.
As we have previously highlighted, discussions regarding the possibility of “geo-engineering” the earth’s climate to counter global warming by “shooting pollution particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect the sun’s rays” has stoked fresh concerns that similar programs are already underway, and that chemtrails are directly connected to such experimentation.
Chemtrails differ from ordinary contrails in that they hang in the sky for hours and are often observed to be emitted from planes that fly criss-cross routes, leading to the formation of ‘X’ and grid-like patterns in the sky. Chemtrails also directly effect localized weather by turning a clear blue sky into a hazy overcast.
Last year, a KSLA news investigation found that a substance that fell to earth from a high altitude chemtrail contained high levels of Barium (6.8 ppm) and Lead (8.2 ppm) as well as trace amounts of other chemicals including arsenic, chromium, cadmium, selenium and silver. Of these, all but one are metals, some are toxic while several are rarely or never found in nature. The newscast focuses on Barium, which its research shows is a “hallmark of chemtrails.” KSLA found Barium levels in its samples at 6.8 ppm or “more than six times the toxic level set by the EPA.”
KSLA also asked Mark Ryan, Director of the Poison Control Center, about the effects of Barium on the human body. Ryan commented that “short term exposure can lead to anything from stomach to chest pains and that long term exposure causes blood pressure problems.” The Poison Control Center further reported that long-term exposure, as with any harmful substance, would contribute to weakening the immune system, which many speculate is the purpose of such man-made chemical trails.
As we covered in a previous in-depth report, numerous universities and government agencies have been conducting studies in the field of geoengineering for years.
In addition, the Obama administration’s interest in exploring “geo-engineering” mirrors recent publications penned by the elite Council On Foreign Relations.
In a document entitled Geoengineering: Workshop on Unilateral Planetary Scale Geoengineering, the CFR proposes different methods of “reflecting sunlight back into space,” which include adding “small reflecting particles in the upper part of the atmosphere,” adding “more clouds in the lower part of the atmosphere,” and placing “various kinds of reflecting objects in space either near the earth or at a stable location between the earth and the sun.”
Suitcase With $134 Billion Puts Dollar on Edge: William Pesek
Suitcase With $134 Billion Puts Dollar on Edge: William Pesek:
"William Pesek
Bloomberg
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
It’s a plot better suited for a John Le Carre novel.
Two Japanese men are detained in Italy after allegedly attempting to take $134 billion worth of U.S. bonds over the border into Switzerland. Details are maddeningly sketchy, so naturally the global rumor mill is kicking into high gear.
Are these would-be smugglers agents of Kim Jong Il stashing North Korea’s cash in a Swiss vault? Bagmen for Nigerian Internet scammers? Was the money meant for terrorists looking to buy nuclear warheads? Is Japan dumping its dollars secretly? Are the bonds real or counterfeit?
The implications of the securities being legitimate would be bigger than investors may realize. At a minimum, it would suggest that the U.S. risks losing control over its monetary supply on a massive scale.
The trillions of dollars of debt the U.S. will issue in the next couple of years needs buyers. Attracting them will require making sure that existing ones aren’t losing faith in the U.S.’s ability to control the dollar.
The dollar is, for better or worse, the core of our world economy and it’s best to keep it stable. News that’s more fitting for international spy novels than the financial pages won’t help that effort. It is incumbent upon the U.S. Treasury to get to the bottom of this tale and keep markets informed".
"William Pesek
Bloomberg
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
It’s a plot better suited for a John Le Carre novel.
Two Japanese men are detained in Italy after allegedly attempting to take $134 billion worth of U.S. bonds over the border into Switzerland. Details are maddeningly sketchy, so naturally the global rumor mill is kicking into high gear.
Are these would-be smugglers agents of Kim Jong Il stashing North Korea’s cash in a Swiss vault? Bagmen for Nigerian Internet scammers? Was the money meant for terrorists looking to buy nuclear warheads? Is Japan dumping its dollars secretly? Are the bonds real or counterfeit?
The implications of the securities being legitimate would be bigger than investors may realize. At a minimum, it would suggest that the U.S. risks losing control over its monetary supply on a massive scale.
The trillions of dollars of debt the U.S. will issue in the next couple of years needs buyers. Attracting them will require making sure that existing ones aren’t losing faith in the U.S.’s ability to control the dollar.
The dollar is, for better or worse, the core of our world economy and it’s best to keep it stable. News that’s more fitting for international spy novels than the financial pages won’t help that effort. It is incumbent upon the U.S. Treasury to get to the bottom of this tale and keep markets informed".
Banks Can Steal Your Home Even If You Own It
Banks Can Steal Your Home Even If You Own It
Youtube
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
This is becoming more and more common place and we need to stop this now.
The banks and paid-for-governments do not care about us nor our liberties, this is all by design, please wake up people and take back your freedom. They want our very souls.
Youtube
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
This is becoming more and more common place and we need to stop this now.
The banks and paid-for-governments do not care about us nor our liberties, this is all by design, please wake up people and take back your freedom. They want our very souls.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Is there a Life On Mars Conspiracy?
Is there a Life On Mars Conspiracy?:
"Is there a Life On Mars Conspiracy?
Michael Brooks
London Times
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Some pesky scientists have just pointed out an appalling design error in NASA’s latest attempts to find life on Mars. This is beginning to look like a conspiracy. Does someone not want us to find life on Mars?
NASA has tried looking for signs of life on Mars precisely once, in the 1976 Viking mission. The result was positive. The reason nobody says there is life on Mars is that another experiment, part of the same mission, couldn’t find any carbon-based “organic” chemicals in Martian soil. This, NASA decided, overruled the other result: with no carbon present, there could be no microbes living on or under the surface of Mars.
Last year, the Phoenix lander repeated the carbon search and failed to find organic molecules. The problem is, we know that there ought to be organic molecules on Mars. Asteroid and comet impacts will have put them there. So what’s going on?"
"Is there a Life On Mars Conspiracy?
Michael Brooks
London Times
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Some pesky scientists have just pointed out an appalling design error in NASA’s latest attempts to find life on Mars. This is beginning to look like a conspiracy. Does someone not want us to find life on Mars?
NASA has tried looking for signs of life on Mars precisely once, in the 1976 Viking mission. The result was positive. The reason nobody says there is life on Mars is that another experiment, part of the same mission, couldn’t find any carbon-based “organic” chemicals in Martian soil. This, NASA decided, overruled the other result: with no carbon present, there could be no microbes living on or under the surface of Mars.
Last year, the Phoenix lander repeated the carbon search and failed to find organic molecules. The problem is, we know that there ought to be organic molecules on Mars. Asteroid and comet impacts will have put them there. So what’s going on?"
ADHD Drugs: Sudden Death Risk Higher?
ADHD Drugs: Sudden Death Risk Higher?:
"ADHD Drugs: Sudden Death Risk Higher?
Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
A new study suggests that children and teens who take stimulants like Ritalin for ADHD have an increased risk for sudden cardiac death, but the FDA says the study has major limitations and should not change the way the drugs are used.
There have long been concerns that the stimulants used to treat ADHD may increase the risk for sudden death in children with undiagnosed heart conditions.
The new research finds corroborating evidence for concern, although all agree that the risk of sudden cardiac death is very small.
ADHD Stimulants and Sudden Cardiac Death
Researchers collected data on stimulant use among 564 children and teenagers who died unexpectedly of unknown causes and an equal number who died as passengers in auto accidents. Many of the unexplained deaths were later attributed to previously undiagnosed cardiac arrhythmias.
They concluded that the odds of using stimulant medication were six to seven times greater among the children who died suddenly of unexplained causes than among those who died in car crashes.
Ten children who died of unknown causes (just under 2%) took stimulants, compared to two children (0.4%) who died in auto accidents".
"ADHD Drugs: Sudden Death Risk Higher?
Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
A new study suggests that children and teens who take stimulants like Ritalin for ADHD have an increased risk for sudden cardiac death, but the FDA says the study has major limitations and should not change the way the drugs are used.
There have long been concerns that the stimulants used to treat ADHD may increase the risk for sudden death in children with undiagnosed heart conditions.
The new research finds corroborating evidence for concern, although all agree that the risk of sudden cardiac death is very small.
ADHD Stimulants and Sudden Cardiac Death
Researchers collected data on stimulant use among 564 children and teenagers who died unexpectedly of unknown causes and an equal number who died as passengers in auto accidents. Many of the unexplained deaths were later attributed to previously undiagnosed cardiac arrhythmias.
They concluded that the odds of using stimulant medication were six to seven times greater among the children who died suddenly of unexplained causes than among those who died in car crashes.
Ten children who died of unknown causes (just under 2%) took stimulants, compared to two children (0.4%) who died in auto accidents".
Federal Reserve To Be Given Sweeping New Powers
Federal Reserve To Be Given Sweeping New Powers:
"Bankers get what they lobbied for, media reports total lack of transparency as “regulation”
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The privately owned and run Federal Reserve is to be handed sweeping new powers under Obama administration proposals in a deal that will please bankers who lobbied for more Fed “oversight” of their activities.
The new rules would see the Fed given the authority to “regulate” any company whose activity it believes could threaten the economy and the markets.
“The final plan due to be released on Wednesday — which originally aimed to streamline and consolidate banking and securities regulation in one or two agencies — now is expected to sidestep most jurisdictional disputes and simply impose across the board standards to be applied by all financial regulators, according to administration and industry sources, ” reports the Washington Times.
In other words, the Fed, which is already totally unaccountable to Congress, is to be placed in complete control of the entirety of the US financial system, to do as it wishes without repercussion.
As the LA Times reports, the government, in conjunction with the private Federal Reserve, would effectively have the clout to simply seize and take over any company it desires."
"Bankers get what they lobbied for, media reports total lack of transparency as “regulation”
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The privately owned and run Federal Reserve is to be handed sweeping new powers under Obama administration proposals in a deal that will please bankers who lobbied for more Fed “oversight” of their activities.
The new rules would see the Fed given the authority to “regulate” any company whose activity it believes could threaten the economy and the markets.
“The final plan due to be released on Wednesday — which originally aimed to streamline and consolidate banking and securities regulation in one or two agencies — now is expected to sidestep most jurisdictional disputes and simply impose across the board standards to be applied by all financial regulators, according to administration and industry sources, ” reports the Washington Times.
In other words, the Fed, which is already totally unaccountable to Congress, is to be placed in complete control of the entirety of the US financial system, to do as it wishes without repercussion.
As the LA Times reports, the government, in conjunction with the private Federal Reserve, would effectively have the clout to simply seize and take over any company it desires."
Firm Pushed Drug It Knew Didn't Work
(June 15) -- Phamaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co. urged doctors to prescribe its drug Zyprexa for elderly patients with dementia, even though the company had evidence the drug didn't work in such cases, Bloomberg News reported.
The Bloomberg story is based on company documents that were unsealed in insurer lawsuits against the company over Zyprexa. Lilly began promoting the drug for use in elderly patients with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia in 1999, even though it had been approved only as a treatment for schizophrenia.
The company also tried to get doctors to prescribe Zyprexa to elderly people struggling with moodiness and insomnia.
Lilly later disclosed that seven studies showed Zyprexa actually raised the risk of death among elderly people with dementia, Bloomberg said.
When contacted by the news agency, a Lilly spokesman criticized the plaintiffs in the case for releasing "one-sided, cherry-picked documents," but declined to discuss the findings of the studies.
Lilly pleaded guilty in January to a charge of illegally marketing Zyprexa for unapproved uses, admitting illegal promotions from September 1999 through March 2001.
The documents show that Lilly also wrote medical journal studies about the drug and then asked doctors to put their names on the articles, Bloomberg reported. The practice is called "ghostwriting."
In a separate story, Bloomberg said that Lilly got help marketing Zyprexa from CVS Caremark Corp. -- even though CVS was under contract to bargain with Lilly over drug prices on behalf of health insurers.
CVS Caremark is a subsidiary of CVS, the nation's largest pharmacy chain. Beginning in 2003, CVS began marketing Zyprexa to doctors who treat the mentally ill, according to Lilly documents. CVS offered to send 120,000 letters to doctors urging them to prescribe Zyprexa, charging Lilly $5 per letter.
It's unclear whether Lilly accepted the offer, Bloomberg said. It noted that a rival pharmacy company, Express Scripts Inc., also sent out letters touting Zyprexa. CVS and Express Scripts are not defendants in the lawsuit.
Zyprexa was Lilly's best-selling drug in the U.S. in 2008, bringing in $14.6 billion. The documents were released as part of a $6.8 billion lawsuit over Lilly's marketing of Zyprexa. Twelve states are also suing Lilly over the same matter.
The Bloomberg story is based on company documents that were unsealed in insurer lawsuits against the company over Zyprexa. Lilly began promoting the drug for use in elderly patients with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia in 1999, even though it had been approved only as a treatment for schizophrenia.
The company also tried to get doctors to prescribe Zyprexa to elderly people struggling with moodiness and insomnia.
Lilly later disclosed that seven studies showed Zyprexa actually raised the risk of death among elderly people with dementia, Bloomberg said.
When contacted by the news agency, a Lilly spokesman criticized the plaintiffs in the case for releasing "one-sided, cherry-picked documents," but declined to discuss the findings of the studies.
Lilly pleaded guilty in January to a charge of illegally marketing Zyprexa for unapproved uses, admitting illegal promotions from September 1999 through March 2001.
The documents show that Lilly also wrote medical journal studies about the drug and then asked doctors to put their names on the articles, Bloomberg reported. The practice is called "ghostwriting."
In a separate story, Bloomberg said that Lilly got help marketing Zyprexa from CVS Caremark Corp. -- even though CVS was under contract to bargain with Lilly over drug prices on behalf of health insurers.
CVS Caremark is a subsidiary of CVS, the nation's largest pharmacy chain. Beginning in 2003, CVS began marketing Zyprexa to doctors who treat the mentally ill, according to Lilly documents. CVS offered to send 120,000 letters to doctors urging them to prescribe Zyprexa, charging Lilly $5 per letter.
It's unclear whether Lilly accepted the offer, Bloomberg said. It noted that a rival pharmacy company, Express Scripts Inc., also sent out letters touting Zyprexa. CVS and Express Scripts are not defendants in the lawsuit.
Zyprexa was Lilly's best-selling drug in the U.S. in 2008, bringing in $14.6 billion. The documents were released as part of a $6.8 billion lawsuit over Lilly's marketing of Zyprexa. Twelve states are also suing Lilly over the same matter.
State Run News: ABC Turns Programming Over To Government
State Run News: ABC Turns Programming Over To Government:
"State Run News: ABC Turns Programming Over To Government
Corporate news giant imitates Communist China, Soviet Union and North Korea, blocks dissenting voices to promote Obama health care agenda
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Monday, June 16, 2009
Completely dispensing with any notion of independence or impartiality, ABC News is set to mimic the likes of Communist China and North Korea by completely turning its news coverage over to the government and excluding any dissenting opinions to promote President Obama’s health care agenda.
The night of Wednesday June 24th will officially herald the open commencement of state run news, imitating similar systems in historical dictatorships such as the Soviet Union, where Pravda was the official propaganda organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party from 1912 to 1991.
In China, the vast majority of news outlets are completely owned and controlled by the Communist Party. Negative viewpoints about government policy are blocked and news developments that could reflect badly on China are ignored and censored. An almost identical system of media also exists in Stalinist North Korea.
Still, at least the Chinese and the North Koreans don’t try to hide the fact that the press is state run, unlike ABC News, owned by the corporate giant Walt Disney Company, which masquerades as an independent news outlet yet in little over a week will completely turn over its news coverage to act as enthusiastic propagandist for the government’s health care “reform” program."
"State Run News: ABC Turns Programming Over To Government
Corporate news giant imitates Communist China, Soviet Union and North Korea, blocks dissenting voices to promote Obama health care agenda
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Monday, June 16, 2009
Completely dispensing with any notion of independence or impartiality, ABC News is set to mimic the likes of Communist China and North Korea by completely turning its news coverage over to the government and excluding any dissenting opinions to promote President Obama’s health care agenda.
The night of Wednesday June 24th will officially herald the open commencement of state run news, imitating similar systems in historical dictatorships such as the Soviet Union, where Pravda was the official propaganda organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party from 1912 to 1991.
In China, the vast majority of news outlets are completely owned and controlled by the Communist Party. Negative viewpoints about government policy are blocked and news developments that could reflect badly on China are ignored and censored. An almost identical system of media also exists in Stalinist North Korea.
Still, at least the Chinese and the North Koreans don’t try to hide the fact that the press is state run, unlike ABC News, owned by the corporate giant Walt Disney Company, which masquerades as an independent news outlet yet in little over a week will completely turn over its news coverage to act as enthusiastic propagandist for the government’s health care “reform” program."
Why Obama wants to hide birth certificate
Why Obama wants to hide birth certificate:
"Why Obama wants to hide birth certificate
Posted: June 16, 2009
1:00 am Eastern
© 2009
Since I began my quixotic campaign to uncover Barack Obama's birth certificate, many have asked me about the president's possible motives for hiding it with such tenacity and diligence.
I think there are many plausible motives:
Perhaps something in that birth certificate, if it indeed exists, would contradict assertions Obama has made about his life's story. These might even involve his true parental heritage. Without a real birth certificate, no one really knows who his parents were. So it is ridiculous even to speculate about whether citizenship could be conferred upon him by his mother, when we don't know for sure who his mother is.
Perhaps it reveals a foreign birth, as Hawaii allowed for in 1961 while still issuing the 'certification of live birth' we have seen posted on his website.
Or perhaps it will show just what Obama has claimed all along – a birth in Hawaii to two officially non-citizen parents, for the purpose of establishing 'natural born citizenship' under the Constitution.
What do I mean by that last possibility?
Well, as you know, in 2008, the Senate of the United States held hearings to determine if one of the presidential candidates fulfilled the requirement of being a 'natural born citizen.' It wasn't Barack Obama. It was John McCain, who was born on a U.S. military base overseas to two U.S. citizens."
"Why Obama wants to hide birth certificate
Posted: June 16, 2009
1:00 am Eastern
© 2009
Since I began my quixotic campaign to uncover Barack Obama's birth certificate, many have asked me about the president's possible motives for hiding it with such tenacity and diligence.
I think there are many plausible motives:
Perhaps something in that birth certificate, if it indeed exists, would contradict assertions Obama has made about his life's story. These might even involve his true parental heritage. Without a real birth certificate, no one really knows who his parents were. So it is ridiculous even to speculate about whether citizenship could be conferred upon him by his mother, when we don't know for sure who his mother is.
Perhaps it reveals a foreign birth, as Hawaii allowed for in 1961 while still issuing the 'certification of live birth' we have seen posted on his website.
Or perhaps it will show just what Obama has claimed all along – a birth in Hawaii to two officially non-citizen parents, for the purpose of establishing 'natural born citizenship' under the Constitution.
What do I mean by that last possibility?
Well, as you know, in 2008, the Senate of the United States held hearings to determine if one of the presidential candidates fulfilled the requirement of being a 'natural born citizen.' It wasn't Barack Obama. It was John McCain, who was born on a U.S. military base overseas to two U.S. citizens."
CBO: Senate bill $1 trillion over 10 years
CBO: Senate bill $1 trillion over 10 years:
"WASHINGTON -A leading health care bill under consideration in Congress would cost the government an estimated $1 trillion over the next decade and reduce the ranks of the uninsured by about one-third, or 16 million individuals, congressional budget officials said Monday in a preliminary estimate.
In a letter to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas W. Elmendorf said the estimate was based on major provisions contained in an incomplete draft of the bill. He noted that 'taking all of its provisions into account could change our assessment of the proposal's effects on the budget and insurance coverage rates though probably not by substantial amounts relative to the net costs already identified.'
The CBO released its preliminary estimate as several congressional committees looked ahead to votes on legislation that President Barack Obama has placed atop his list of domestic priorities, and the chief executive appealed to the nation's doctors for support. Appearing in Chicago, Obama drew boos when he told the American Medical Association he opposes caps on damages that juries or judges may award in medical malpractice cases.
Ironically, several hours later, key House Democrats unveiled a plan to pour nearly $300 billion into increased physician payments in Medicare over the next decade. Under current law, doctors face a steep, 21 percent cut in Medicare fees in January, and further reductions in each of the next four years."
"WASHINGTON -A leading health care bill under consideration in Congress would cost the government an estimated $1 trillion over the next decade and reduce the ranks of the uninsured by about one-third, or 16 million individuals, congressional budget officials said Monday in a preliminary estimate.
In a letter to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas W. Elmendorf said the estimate was based on major provisions contained in an incomplete draft of the bill. He noted that 'taking all of its provisions into account could change our assessment of the proposal's effects on the budget and insurance coverage rates though probably not by substantial amounts relative to the net costs already identified.'
The CBO released its preliminary estimate as several congressional committees looked ahead to votes on legislation that President Barack Obama has placed atop his list of domestic priorities, and the chief executive appealed to the nation's doctors for support. Appearing in Chicago, Obama drew boos when he told the American Medical Association he opposes caps on damages that juries or judges may award in medical malpractice cases.
Ironically, several hours later, key House Democrats unveiled a plan to pour nearly $300 billion into increased physician payments in Medicare over the next decade. Under current law, doctors face a steep, 21 percent cut in Medicare fees in January, and further reductions in each of the next four years."
The Era of Loud TV Commercials May Soon Be Ending
The Era of Loud TV Commercials May Soon Be Ending:
"It's bad enough that commercials are inherently obnoxious (they interrupt your six hour marathon of 'Boy Meets World'), but do they have to be deafening on top of it? Ads can reach a level of volume that threatens the viewer's cardiovascular health -- our hearts can't take too many more used car dealership commercials -- as well as the stability of whatever beverage she might be holding.
Television commercials are currently allowed to be as loud as the loudest point of any program, which is hardly news to us. But is it really necessary for a male enhancement ad to reach the same decibel level as a screaming female victim?
Fortunately, the reign of loud commercials may be coming to an end. According to McClatchy, the FCC is considering a proposal that would keep force advertisers to keep the volume of commercials at the average volume level of a show, a move British regulators have already taken.
Broadcasters and advertisers are also working to lower the volume of ads, hoping to beat Congress to the punch. They would prefer operating by their own standards rather than limitations imposed by the government, said Dan Jeffe, the executive vice president of the New York Association of National Advertisers. No matter how it boils down, viewers, and our nerves, will be very appreciative. [From: McClatchy/Yahoo!, via WalletPop]"
"It's bad enough that commercials are inherently obnoxious (they interrupt your six hour marathon of 'Boy Meets World'), but do they have to be deafening on top of it? Ads can reach a level of volume that threatens the viewer's cardiovascular health -- our hearts can't take too many more used car dealership commercials -- as well as the stability of whatever beverage she might be holding.
Television commercials are currently allowed to be as loud as the loudest point of any program, which is hardly news to us. But is it really necessary for a male enhancement ad to reach the same decibel level as a screaming female victim?
Fortunately, the reign of loud commercials may be coming to an end. According to McClatchy, the FCC is considering a proposal that would keep force advertisers to keep the volume of commercials at the average volume level of a show, a move British regulators have already taken.
Broadcasters and advertisers are also working to lower the volume of ads, hoping to beat Congress to the punch. They would prefer operating by their own standards rather than limitations imposed by the government, said Dan Jeffe, the executive vice president of the New York Association of National Advertisers. No matter how it boils down, viewers, and our nerves, will be very appreciative. [From: McClatchy/Yahoo!, via WalletPop]"
e-Ariana - Todays Afghan News
e-Ariana - Todays Afghan News:
"Help us or we'll grow opium, say Afghan villagers
Reuters
06/16/2009
By Jonathon Burch
[Printer Friendly Version]
TALBOZANG - Fifty-year-old Abdul Wadud walked for two hours across Afghanistan's remote northern mountains to hear a police commander give yet more promises of aid for those who turn their backs on growing opium.
Wadud does not grow drugs. But if no money comes soon, he will.
'The government told us several times they would help us and they didn't,' he said, crouching barefoot on the ground in traditional Afghan loose shirt and trousers and explaining he feeds a family of 15 on occasional work as a day laborer.
'If the government or the aid organizations don't help us -- yes we will have to start growing opium,' he said.
'If they build us schools and roads we promise never to grow opium.'
Wadud and around 30 other village elders from the area had gathered on a hillside deep inside the Hindu Kush mountains, to attend a 'shura,' or meeting, organized by provincial authorities to dissuade the men from growing the drug.
Their Badakhshan province in remote northern Afghanistan has been a showcase for government efforts to battle the drugs trade, which accounts for nearly all the world's heroin.
Until 2006 Badakhshan was one of the main opium growing areas in Afghanistan, producing the country's second biggest crop.
But last year its output fell by 95 percent, to a mere 200 hectares under cultivation, close to being declared 'poppy free' by the United Nations, which credited government information campaigns and eradication programs for the success there."
"Help us or we'll grow opium, say Afghan villagers
Reuters
06/16/2009
By Jonathon Burch
[Printer Friendly Version]
TALBOZANG - Fifty-year-old Abdul Wadud walked for two hours across Afghanistan's remote northern mountains to hear a police commander give yet more promises of aid for those who turn their backs on growing opium.
Wadud does not grow drugs. But if no money comes soon, he will.
'The government told us several times they would help us and they didn't,' he said, crouching barefoot on the ground in traditional Afghan loose shirt and trousers and explaining he feeds a family of 15 on occasional work as a day laborer.
'If the government or the aid organizations don't help us -- yes we will have to start growing opium,' he said.
'If they build us schools and roads we promise never to grow opium.'
Wadud and around 30 other village elders from the area had gathered on a hillside deep inside the Hindu Kush mountains, to attend a 'shura,' or meeting, organized by provincial authorities to dissuade the men from growing the drug.
Their Badakhshan province in remote northern Afghanistan has been a showcase for government efforts to battle the drugs trade, which accounts for nearly all the world's heroin.
Until 2006 Badakhshan was one of the main opium growing areas in Afghanistan, producing the country's second biggest crop.
But last year its output fell by 95 percent, to a mere 200 hectares under cultivation, close to being declared 'poppy free' by the United Nations, which credited government information campaigns and eradication programs for the success there."
New GPS Shoes Join in Trend to Help Elderly
New GPS Shoes Join in Trend to Help Elderly:
"GPS-integration, it seems, is the pesto sauce of contemporary gadgetry; don't you remember several years ago when every restaurant with a glossy menu jumped on the pesto-wagon? We wound up with bizarre concoctions like pesto-glazed, blackened chicken fingers, and pesto guacamole served with cinnamon-dusted corn chips. GPS has given birth to just as many weird gadgets as pesto once did foodstuffs (GPS-enabled tennis shoes, anyone?).
According to a Friday report in the AFP, GPS engineering company GTX Corp. and shoe manufacturer Aetrex Worldwide have announced their newest joint venture: GPS-enabled shoes. That's right; there is, or is soon to be, a little bit of competition in the world of satellite-trackable footwear. And we see no problem here. Who's to say whether T.G.I. Friday's or Applebee's pesto-drizzled, ranch-style chicken breast is the better of the two? However, the new Aetrex shoes feature slight innovations here and there. Developers told the AFP that users would be able to program a 'geo-fence' around a particular geographical area (the home of a loved one suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia, for instance). Whenever the tennis shoe-wearer crossed that boundary, a Google Maps alert would be sent to a guardian's phone. Whatever the developers' plans may be, the shoes are not due for testing until later in the summer."
"GPS-integration, it seems, is the pesto sauce of contemporary gadgetry; don't you remember several years ago when every restaurant with a glossy menu jumped on the pesto-wagon? We wound up with bizarre concoctions like pesto-glazed, blackened chicken fingers, and pesto guacamole served with cinnamon-dusted corn chips. GPS has given birth to just as many weird gadgets as pesto once did foodstuffs (GPS-enabled tennis shoes, anyone?).
According to a Friday report in the AFP, GPS engineering company GTX Corp. and shoe manufacturer Aetrex Worldwide have announced their newest joint venture: GPS-enabled shoes. That's right; there is, or is soon to be, a little bit of competition in the world of satellite-trackable footwear. And we see no problem here. Who's to say whether T.G.I. Friday's or Applebee's pesto-drizzled, ranch-style chicken breast is the better of the two? However, the new Aetrex shoes feature slight innovations here and there. Developers told the AFP that users would be able to program a 'geo-fence' around a particular geographical area (the home of a loved one suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia, for instance). Whenever the tennis shoe-wearer crossed that boundary, a Google Maps alert would be sent to a guardian's phone. Whatever the developers' plans may be, the shoes are not due for testing until later in the summer."
From Gitmo to Bermuda: Not a Bad Upgrade -- Politics Daily
From Gitmo to Bermuda: Not a Bad Upgrade -- Politics Daily:
"Oh, to be a Uighur on a sunny afternoon, enjoying an ice cream treat on the beautiful island of Bermuda -- except for the part about having to endure seven years at Guantanamo.
Four Uighur Muslim men, from an ethnic minority in China, don't seem to be holding a grudge against anyone or any country. They're content to take a swim in the ocean and accept good wishes from Bermudans proud of their home's hospitality. In a New York Times article and accompanying slide show, they pose all smiles against a backdrop of cotton-candy-colored buildings.
The men's circuitous path to Guantanamo shows how tricky this business of identifying and detaining dangerous people can be. They escaped what they describe as persecution in Western China and ended up in a camp in Afghanistan. They fled bombing there, only to be turned into the Americans by Pakistani villagers. The reward the villagers received may or may not have had anything to do with it.
Despite being cleared as a threat to America, the men, part of a larger group of Uighurs, had trouble finding a country to take them in, except maybe China, which had its own motives in welcoming them home."
"Oh, to be a Uighur on a sunny afternoon, enjoying an ice cream treat on the beautiful island of Bermuda -- except for the part about having to endure seven years at Guantanamo.
Four Uighur Muslim men, from an ethnic minority in China, don't seem to be holding a grudge against anyone or any country. They're content to take a swim in the ocean and accept good wishes from Bermudans proud of their home's hospitality. In a New York Times article and accompanying slide show, they pose all smiles against a backdrop of cotton-candy-colored buildings.
The men's circuitous path to Guantanamo shows how tricky this business of identifying and detaining dangerous people can be. They escaped what they describe as persecution in Western China and ended up in a camp in Afghanistan. They fled bombing there, only to be turned into the Americans by Pakistani villagers. The reward the villagers received may or may not have had anything to do with it.
Despite being cleared as a threat to America, the men, part of a larger group of Uighurs, had trouble finding a country to take them in, except maybe China, which had its own motives in welcoming them home."
Iran bars foreign media from reporting on streets - Yahoo! News
Iran bars foreign media from reporting on streets - Yahoo! News:
"TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's Islamic leadership is prepared to conduct a limited recount of disputed presidential elections, a spokesman said Tuesday, as thousands of people took to the streets to show support for the regime and authorities cracked down on independent media.
The announcement comes after Iran's state radio reported earlier Tuesday that seven people were killed during clashes in the Iranian capital the previous day — the first official confirmation of deaths linked to the wave of protests and street battles following the disputed election in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner.
In downtown Tehran, thousands of people gathered Tuesday in a state-organized rally that Iran's state media said was designed to demand punishment for the rioters from Monday's clashes. While there had been reports earlier of another rally Tuesday of supporters of reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi, possibly setting the stage for violent clashes, Moussavi, in a message posted on his Web site, said he would not be attending any rally and asked his supporters to 'not fall in the trap of street riots' and 'exercise self-restraint.'"
"TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's Islamic leadership is prepared to conduct a limited recount of disputed presidential elections, a spokesman said Tuesday, as thousands of people took to the streets to show support for the regime and authorities cracked down on independent media.
The announcement comes after Iran's state radio reported earlier Tuesday that seven people were killed during clashes in the Iranian capital the previous day — the first official confirmation of deaths linked to the wave of protests and street battles following the disputed election in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner.
In downtown Tehran, thousands of people gathered Tuesday in a state-organized rally that Iran's state media said was designed to demand punishment for the rioters from Monday's clashes. While there had been reports earlier of another rally Tuesday of supporters of reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi, possibly setting the stage for violent clashes, Moussavi, in a message posted on his Web site, said he would not be attending any rally and asked his supporters to 'not fall in the trap of street riots' and 'exercise self-restraint.'"
Most powerful 'sound laser' to shake up acoustics - tech - 15 June 2009 - New Scientist
Most powerful 'sound laser' to shake up acoustics - tech - 15 June 2009 - New Scientist:
"Most powerful 'sound laser' to shake up acoustics
16:39 15 June 2009 by Colin Barras
Half a century since the first working laser kick-started a technological revolution in the field of optics, a new device promises to do the same for acoustics. UK and Ukrainian physicists have built the first 'saser', or sound laser, able to generate terahertz-frequency sounds.
A laser produces photons that travel in a tight beam instead of dispersing outwards like a regular beam of light. A saser achieves the same for sound waves, says Tony Kent at the University of Nottingham, UK.
Although it's not the first saser ever constructed, it is the first able to produce beams at terahertz frequencies, much higher even than those used for medical ultrasound imaging. Terahertz sound may be largely a curiosity today, says Kent, but being able to produce it in controllable beams could unleash new ideas and applications.
'Fifty years ago many eminent scientists said that light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation [lasers] was no more than a scientific curiosity,' says Kent, but lasers are now used for everything from digital storage and cancer treatment to weaponry."
"Most powerful 'sound laser' to shake up acoustics
16:39 15 June 2009 by Colin Barras
Half a century since the first working laser kick-started a technological revolution in the field of optics, a new device promises to do the same for acoustics. UK and Ukrainian physicists have built the first 'saser', or sound laser, able to generate terahertz-frequency sounds.
A laser produces photons that travel in a tight beam instead of dispersing outwards like a regular beam of light. A saser achieves the same for sound waves, says Tony Kent at the University of Nottingham, UK.
Although it's not the first saser ever constructed, it is the first able to produce beams at terahertz frequencies, much higher even than those used for medical ultrasound imaging. Terahertz sound may be largely a curiosity today, says Kent, but being able to produce it in controllable beams could unleash new ideas and applications.
'Fifty years ago many eminent scientists said that light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation [lasers] was no more than a scientific curiosity,' says Kent, but lasers are now used for everything from digital storage and cancer treatment to weaponry."
High-Altitude Wind Machines Could Power New York City | Wired Science | Wired.com
High-Altitude Wind Machines Could Power New York City Wired Science Wired.com:
"The wind blowing through the streets of Manhattan couldn’t power the city, but wind machines placed thousands of feet above the city theoretically could.
The first rigorous, worldwide study of high-altitude wind power estimates that there is enough wind energy at altitudes of about 1,600 to 40,000 feet to meet global electricity demand a hundred times over.
The very best ground-based wind sites have a wind-power density of less than 1 kilowatt per square meter of area swept. Up near the jet stream above New York, the wind power density can reach 16 kilowatts per square meter. The air up there is a vast potential reservoir of energy, if its intermittency can be overcome.
Even better, the best high-altitude wind-power resources match up with highly populated areas including North America’s Eastern Seaboard and China’s coastline.
“The resource is really, really phenomenal,” said Christine Archer of Cal State University-Chico, who co-authored a paper on the work published in the open-access journal Energies.”There is a lot of energy up there, but it’s not as steady as we thought. It’s not going to be the silver bullet that will solve all of our energy problems, but it will have a role.”
For centuries, we’ve been using high-density fossil fuels, but peaking oil supplies and climate concerns have given new life to green technologies. Unfortunately, renewable energy is generally diffuse, meaning you need to cover a lot of area to get the energy you want. So engineers look for renewable resources that are as dense as possible. On that score, high-altitude wind looks very promising."
"The wind blowing through the streets of Manhattan couldn’t power the city, but wind machines placed thousands of feet above the city theoretically could.
The first rigorous, worldwide study of high-altitude wind power estimates that there is enough wind energy at altitudes of about 1,600 to 40,000 feet to meet global electricity demand a hundred times over.
The very best ground-based wind sites have a wind-power density of less than 1 kilowatt per square meter of area swept. Up near the jet stream above New York, the wind power density can reach 16 kilowatts per square meter. The air up there is a vast potential reservoir of energy, if its intermittency can be overcome.
Even better, the best high-altitude wind-power resources match up with highly populated areas including North America’s Eastern Seaboard and China’s coastline.
“The resource is really, really phenomenal,” said Christine Archer of Cal State University-Chico, who co-authored a paper on the work published in the open-access journal Energies.”There is a lot of energy up there, but it’s not as steady as we thought. It’s not going to be the silver bullet that will solve all of our energy problems, but it will have a role.”
For centuries, we’ve been using high-density fossil fuels, but peaking oil supplies and climate concerns have given new life to green technologies. Unfortunately, renewable energy is generally diffuse, meaning you need to cover a lot of area to get the energy you want. So engineers look for renewable resources that are as dense as possible. On that score, high-altitude wind looks very promising."
Monday, June 15, 2009
Nine foreign hostages killed in Yemen - Yahoo! News
Nine foreign hostages killed in Yemen - Yahoo! News:
"SAN'A, Yemen – Nine missing foreigners in Yemen have been murdered, said a Yemeni official Monday, apparently executed by their kidnappers in the impoverished nation in the Arabian peninsula where al-Qaida has a strong presence.
The nine foreigners, including seven German nationals, a Briton and a South Korean, disappeared last week while on a picnic in the restive northern Saada region of Yemen.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, announced the discovery of the remaining six bodies Monday after three others had been found mutilated earlier in the day.
Yemen, the poorest nation in the Middle East, is home to restive tribes, a Shiite rebellion, as well as a branch of al-Qaida which operates in its remote regions and has often targeted foreigners as well as the U.S. embassy.
Shepherds roaming the area found the remains of three of the women in the mountainous northern Saada province near the town of el-Nashour, known as a hideout for al-Qaida militants, the official said.
In Berlin, the Foreign Ministry said it could not confirm the reports that the Germans had been killed."
"SAN'A, Yemen – Nine missing foreigners in Yemen have been murdered, said a Yemeni official Monday, apparently executed by their kidnappers in the impoverished nation in the Arabian peninsula where al-Qaida has a strong presence.
The nine foreigners, including seven German nationals, a Briton and a South Korean, disappeared last week while on a picnic in the restive northern Saada region of Yemen.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, announced the discovery of the remaining six bodies Monday after three others had been found mutilated earlier in the day.
Yemen, the poorest nation in the Middle East, is home to restive tribes, a Shiite rebellion, as well as a branch of al-Qaida which operates in its remote regions and has often targeted foreigners as well as the U.S. embassy.
Shepherds roaming the area found the remains of three of the women in the mountainous northern Saada province near the town of el-Nashour, known as a hideout for al-Qaida militants, the official said.
In Berlin, the Foreign Ministry said it could not confirm the reports that the Germans had been killed."
In wake of mass protests, Iran cuts off cell phones, YouTube, Facebook
In wake of mass protests, Iran cuts off cell phones, YouTube, Facebook:
"In wake of mass protests, Iran cuts off cell phones, YouTube, Facebook
AFP
Monday, June 15, 2009
The main mobile telephone network in Iran was cut in the capital Tehran Saturday evening while popular Internet websites Facebook and YouTube also appeared to be blocked, correspondents said.
The communication cuts came after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a landslide re-election victory, sparking rioting in the streets by opposition supporters who claimed the result had been rigged.
The mobile phone network stopped working at 10:00 pm (1730 GMT), just before Ahmadinejad went on television to declare the election a “great victory” and even as baton-wielding police were clashing with protestors in the streets of Tehran, according to witnesses."
"In wake of mass protests, Iran cuts off cell phones, YouTube, Facebook
AFP
Monday, June 15, 2009
The main mobile telephone network in Iran was cut in the capital Tehran Saturday evening while popular Internet websites Facebook and YouTube also appeared to be blocked, correspondents said.
The communication cuts came after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a landslide re-election victory, sparking rioting in the streets by opposition supporters who claimed the result had been rigged.
The mobile phone network stopped working at 10:00 pm (1730 GMT), just before Ahmadinejad went on television to declare the election a “great victory” and even as baton-wielding police were clashing with protestors in the streets of Tehran, according to witnesses."
Reporters arrested, news sites shut down in Iran
Reporters arrested, news sites shut down in Iran:
"Reporters arrested, news sites shut down in Iran
Daniel Tencer
Raw Story
Monday, June 15, 2009
International press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders is calling on the international community not to recognize the results of Friday’s presidential election in Iran “because censorship and a crackdown on journalists are preventing a democratic electoral process.”
“Arrests of journalists and media censorship measures are growing as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s ‘victory’ continues to be disputed,” the organization said in a statement.
The group cited a litany of apparent censorship measures taken since protests and riots gripped Teheran and other parts of the country in the wake of a surprising — and now doubtful — landslide victory for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad".....
"Reporters arrested, news sites shut down in Iran
Daniel Tencer
Raw Story
Monday, June 15, 2009
International press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders is calling on the international community not to recognize the results of Friday’s presidential election in Iran “because censorship and a crackdown on journalists are preventing a democratic electoral process.”
“Arrests of journalists and media censorship measures are growing as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s ‘victory’ continues to be disputed,” the organization said in a statement.
The group cited a litany of apparent censorship measures taken since protests and riots gripped Teheran and other parts of the country in the wake of a surprising — and now doubtful — landslide victory for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad".....
STIMULUS WATCH: $25 check may cost you food stamps - Yahoo! News
STIMULUS WATCH: $25 check may cost you food stamps - Yahoo! News:
"WASHINGTON – When President Barack Obama increased unemployment benefits as part of his economic stimulus, he also made some Americans ineligible for hundreds of dollars a month in food stamps.
Under the economic recovery plan, laid-off workers have seen a $25 weekly bump in their unemployment checks as part of a broad expansion of benefits for the poor. But the law did not raise the income cap for food stamp eligibility, so the extra money has pushed some people over the limit.
Laid-off workers and state officials are only now realizing the quirk, a consequence of pushing a $787 billion, 400-page bill through Congress and into law in three weeks.
And for people hurt by the change, there's no way around it.
'Everybody tells you, 'Yeah, I can understand why you're frustrated. It doesn't sound right.' But nobody knows where to go,' said Mark Milota, 47, of Marietta, Ga., who was laid off in November from his job at a medical billing company.
The Georgia Department of Human Resources explained in a letter to him last month that, because of the stimulus, he was ineligible for food stamps. He now makes $1,538 a month — $21 too much for a family of two to qualify.
'We have to pay him that $25 a week,' said Brenda Brown, assistant commissioner at the Georgia Department of Labor. 'And he doesn't have the option not to accept it.'
Milota said he was told that, without the stimulus money, he would have received about $300 a month in food stamps.
'I'm doing things I've never done before: I'm going to food pantries. I've gone to places for assistance on bills,' Milota said. 'Some bills are just not being paid. I'm three months behind on my mortgage.'"
"WASHINGTON – When President Barack Obama increased unemployment benefits as part of his economic stimulus, he also made some Americans ineligible for hundreds of dollars a month in food stamps.
Under the economic recovery plan, laid-off workers have seen a $25 weekly bump in their unemployment checks as part of a broad expansion of benefits for the poor. But the law did not raise the income cap for food stamp eligibility, so the extra money has pushed some people over the limit.
Laid-off workers and state officials are only now realizing the quirk, a consequence of pushing a $787 billion, 400-page bill through Congress and into law in three weeks.
And for people hurt by the change, there's no way around it.
'Everybody tells you, 'Yeah, I can understand why you're frustrated. It doesn't sound right.' But nobody knows where to go,' said Mark Milota, 47, of Marietta, Ga., who was laid off in November from his job at a medical billing company.
The Georgia Department of Human Resources explained in a letter to him last month that, because of the stimulus, he was ineligible for food stamps. He now makes $1,538 a month — $21 too much for a family of two to qualify.
'We have to pay him that $25 a week,' said Brenda Brown, assistant commissioner at the Georgia Department of Labor. 'And he doesn't have the option not to accept it.'
Milota said he was told that, without the stimulus money, he would have received about $300 a month in food stamps.
'I'm doing things I've never done before: I'm going to food pantries. I've gone to places for assistance on bills,' Milota said. 'Some bills are just not being paid. I'm three months behind on my mortgage.'"
Iran supreme leader orders probe of election fraud - Yahoo! News
Iran supreme leader orders probe of election fraud - Yahoo! News:
"TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's supreme leader ordered Monday an investigation into allegations of election fraud, marking a stunning turnaround by the country's most powerful figure and offering hope to opposition forces who have waged street clashes to protest the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
State television quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei directing a high-level clerical panel, the Guardian Council, to look into charges by pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has said he is the rightful winner of Friday's presidential election.
The decision comes after Mousavi wrote a letter appealing to the Guardian Council and met Sunday with Khamenei, who holds almost limitless power over Iranian affairs. Such an election probe by the 12-member council is uncharted territory and it not immediately clear how it would proceed or how long it would take.
Election results must be authorized by the council, composed of clerics closely allied with the unelected supreme leader. All three of Ahmadinejad's challengers in the election — Mousavi and two others — have made public allegations of fraud after results showed the president winning by a 2-to-1 margin.
'Issues must be pursued through a legal channel,' state TV quoted Khamenei as saying. The supreme leader said he has 'insisted that the Guardian Council carefully probe this letter.'"
"TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's supreme leader ordered Monday an investigation into allegations of election fraud, marking a stunning turnaround by the country's most powerful figure and offering hope to opposition forces who have waged street clashes to protest the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
State television quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei directing a high-level clerical panel, the Guardian Council, to look into charges by pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has said he is the rightful winner of Friday's presidential election.
The decision comes after Mousavi wrote a letter appealing to the Guardian Council and met Sunday with Khamenei, who holds almost limitless power over Iranian affairs. Such an election probe by the 12-member council is uncharted territory and it not immediately clear how it would proceed or how long it would take.
Election results must be authorized by the council, composed of clerics closely allied with the unelected supreme leader. All three of Ahmadinejad's challengers in the election — Mousavi and two others — have made public allegations of fraud after results showed the president winning by a 2-to-1 margin.
'Issues must be pursued through a legal channel,' state TV quoted Khamenei as saying. The supreme leader said he has 'insisted that the Guardian Council carefully probe this letter.'"
Friday, June 12, 2009
Abuse Photos Part of Agreement on Military Spending
Abuse Photos Part of Agreement on Military Spending:
"CARL HULSE and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
NY Times
Friday, June 12, 2009
Congressional negotiators reached tentative agreement on Thursday on a $105.9 billion spending measure that would provide money for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through September but would drop a ban on the release of photographs showing abuse of foreign prisoners held by United States forces.
The deal was concluded after Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, went to the Capitol to assure Senate Democrats that President Obama would use all administrative and legal means to prevent the photos’ release. At the same time, a federal court issued a ruling effectively ensuring that the photos would not be released for months, if ever.
Mr. Obama followed up with a letter, promising to work with Congress if legislation was necessary to keep the photos from being publicized but urging lawmakers not to let the dispute interfere with freeing up the money for the armed forces."
"CARL HULSE and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
NY Times
Friday, June 12, 2009
Congressional negotiators reached tentative agreement on Thursday on a $105.9 billion spending measure that would provide money for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through September but would drop a ban on the release of photographs showing abuse of foreign prisoners held by United States forces.
The deal was concluded after Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, went to the Capitol to assure Senate Democrats that President Obama would use all administrative and legal means to prevent the photos’ release. At the same time, a federal court issued a ruling effectively ensuring that the photos would not be released for months, if ever.
Mr. Obama followed up with a letter, promising to work with Congress if legislation was necessary to keep the photos from being publicized but urging lawmakers not to let the dispute interfere with freeing up the money for the armed forces."
Call Mockingbird Operative Glenn Beck’s Producer
Call Mockingbird Operative Glenn Beck’s Producer:
"Prisonplanet.com
June 12, 2009
Author and Christian conservative political activist Mark Dice instructs all outraged by Glenn Beck’s attempt to link 9/11 truth activists to the accused racist gunman James von Brunn to call Beck’s producer:
“Please tell the audience this or post it. If you call 212-301-30000 ask for Grasham Striegel, the Fox News operator will transfer you to this scum who is Beck’s producer. I left him a nice voicemail the other day. While the operator won’t transfer you to any anchor’s voicemail….they WILL transfer you to producers, since most dumb fans don’t know who the producers are for their favorite Fox puppets,” writes Dice this morning.
“Just simply tell the operator, ‘Grasham Striegel please’ and they will transfer you. That is until he starts getting hundreds of calls and voicemails. If the operator starts screening calls because Mr. Striegel is getting hundreds of nice voicemails, then tell the operator that you are calling him back and you forgot his extension so you need to be transferred.”
Remember, that number is 212-301-30000 and the producer’s name is Grasham Striegel.
Fill up his voicemail and let Beck know we will not take his COINTELPRO treachery laying down."
"Prisonplanet.com
June 12, 2009
Author and Christian conservative political activist Mark Dice instructs all outraged by Glenn Beck’s attempt to link 9/11 truth activists to the accused racist gunman James von Brunn to call Beck’s producer:
“Please tell the audience this or post it. If you call 212-301-30000 ask for Grasham Striegel, the Fox News operator will transfer you to this scum who is Beck’s producer. I left him a nice voicemail the other day. While the operator won’t transfer you to any anchor’s voicemail….they WILL transfer you to producers, since most dumb fans don’t know who the producers are for their favorite Fox puppets,” writes Dice this morning.
“Just simply tell the operator, ‘Grasham Striegel please’ and they will transfer you. That is until he starts getting hundreds of calls and voicemails. If the operator starts screening calls because Mr. Striegel is getting hundreds of nice voicemails, then tell the operator that you are calling him back and you forgot his extension so you need to be transferred.”
Remember, that number is 212-301-30000 and the producer’s name is Grasham Striegel.
Fill up his voicemail and let Beck know we will not take his COINTELPRO treachery laying down."
The mysterious deaths of top microbiologists since 9/11
The mysterious deaths of top microbiologists since 9/11:
"The mysterious deaths of top microbiologists
It all began with Don Wiley.
On November 15th, Harvard Professor Don Wiley left a gathering of friends and colleagues some time after 10:30 PM. The next morning, Memphis police found his rental car stopped on a bridge, with a full tank of gas and keys still in the ignition. There was no financial or family trouble. Indeed Wiley was supposed to meet his family at the Memphis airport to continue on to an Icelandic vacation. Neither was there any history of depression or mental illness.
In the report printed in the New York Times on November 27th, the FBI's Memphis office distanced itself from the case saying that the available facts did not add up to a suspicion of foul play. I guess at the FBI it's a perfectly everyday occurrence for a Harvard Professor to stop his rental car on a bridge in the middle of the night before he is supposed to leave for Iceland and just walk away into the Tennessee dark.
The NYT report of November 27th also downplayed Professor Wiley's expertise in virology, quoting Gregory Verdine, a professor of chemical biology at Harvard, said, 'If bioterrorists were to abduct Don Wiley, they'd be very disappointed,' because his research was in studying the component parts of viruses, and 'that doesn't really help you make a more dangerous version of the virus.'
But this statement is not consistent with the facts of Professor Wiley's full range of knowledge. Wiley has, in conjunction with another Harvard Professor, Dr. Jack Strominger, won several academic prizes for their work in immunology, including a Lasker prize."
"The mysterious deaths of top microbiologists
It all began with Don Wiley.
On November 15th, Harvard Professor Don Wiley left a gathering of friends and colleagues some time after 10:30 PM. The next morning, Memphis police found his rental car stopped on a bridge, with a full tank of gas and keys still in the ignition. There was no financial or family trouble. Indeed Wiley was supposed to meet his family at the Memphis airport to continue on to an Icelandic vacation. Neither was there any history of depression or mental illness.
In the report printed in the New York Times on November 27th, the FBI's Memphis office distanced itself from the case saying that the available facts did not add up to a suspicion of foul play. I guess at the FBI it's a perfectly everyday occurrence for a Harvard Professor to stop his rental car on a bridge in the middle of the night before he is supposed to leave for Iceland and just walk away into the Tennessee dark.
The NYT report of November 27th also downplayed Professor Wiley's expertise in virology, quoting Gregory Verdine, a professor of chemical biology at Harvard, said, 'If bioterrorists were to abduct Don Wiley, they'd be very disappointed,' because his research was in studying the component parts of viruses, and 'that doesn't really help you make a more dangerous version of the virus.'
But this statement is not consistent with the facts of Professor Wiley's full range of knowledge. Wiley has, in conjunction with another Harvard Professor, Dr. Jack Strominger, won several academic prizes for their work in immunology, including a Lasker prize."
US House to debate Ron Paul’s ‘Audit the Fed’ bill
US House to debate Ron Paul’s ‘Audit the Fed’ bill:
"STEPHEN C. WEBSTER
Raw Story
June 11, 2009
After months of activism and lobbying by Congressman Ron Paul’s supporters, House Resolution 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, will move out of committee to be debated by the full House of Representatives.
In a show of cross-party unity, Ohio Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich became the bill’s 218th co-sponsor, pushing it over the threshold for debate in Congress.
The bill, which achieved its 222nd co-sponsorship on Thursday, has been in consideration by the House Financial Services Committee since Feb. 26.
Congressman Kucinich, along with Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), announced Tuesday that the House Financial Services Committee will subpoena the Federal Reserve to ascertain the details of the Fed’s agreements with Bank of America in the institution’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch.
“The full committee and Domestic Policy Subcommittee, under the leadership of Chairman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), have been investigating the circumstances surrounding the federal government’s bailout of the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch transaction,” Kucinich’s office noted in a Tuesday release. “Specific documents subpoenaed include emails, notes of conversations and other documents."
"STEPHEN C. WEBSTER
Raw Story
June 11, 2009
After months of activism and lobbying by Congressman Ron Paul’s supporters, House Resolution 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, will move out of committee to be debated by the full House of Representatives.
In a show of cross-party unity, Ohio Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich became the bill’s 218th co-sponsor, pushing it over the threshold for debate in Congress.
The bill, which achieved its 222nd co-sponsorship on Thursday, has been in consideration by the House Financial Services Committee since Feb. 26.
Congressman Kucinich, along with Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), announced Tuesday that the House Financial Services Committee will subpoena the Federal Reserve to ascertain the details of the Fed’s agreements with Bank of America in the institution’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch.
“The full committee and Domestic Policy Subcommittee, under the leadership of Chairman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), have been investigating the circumstances surrounding the federal government’s bailout of the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch transaction,” Kucinich’s office noted in a Tuesday release. “Specific documents subpoenaed include emails, notes of conversations and other documents."
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Feds Freezing Online Poker Payouts
Feds Freezing Online Poker Payouts:
"Feds Freezing Online Poker Payouts
by Warren Riddle — Jun 11th 2009 at 2:20PM
Although gambling is illegal throughout much of the United States, online poker has exploded in popularity and managed, for the most part, to avoid government interference. Online casinos are typically operated from overseas, safe from prosecution, and can also be considered a 'peer-to-peer' activity, not a transaction between a bettor and a casino.
Despite the gray poker area, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York has begun instructing financial institutions to freeze the accounts of payment processors who dole out online casino winnings. So far, those assets include $33 million owed to 27,000 players on four prominent Web sites, including PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker.com. (They could just tax those earnings to bolster depleted government coffers, but what do we know?)"
"Feds Freezing Online Poker Payouts
by Warren Riddle — Jun 11th 2009 at 2:20PM
Although gambling is illegal throughout much of the United States, online poker has exploded in popularity and managed, for the most part, to avoid government interference. Online casinos are typically operated from overseas, safe from prosecution, and can also be considered a 'peer-to-peer' activity, not a transaction between a bettor and a casino.
Despite the gray poker area, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York has begun instructing financial institutions to freeze the accounts of payment processors who dole out online casino winnings. So far, those assets include $33 million owed to 27,000 players on four prominent Web sites, including PokerStars.com and FullTiltPoker.com. (They could just tax those earnings to bolster depleted government coffers, but what do we know?)"
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