It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men. -Samuel Adams  Sunday Morning - January 3, 2010 |
 Am wishing for a little global warming ... 'light snow and 3 degrees' right now ... and not even going to check on what the wind chill index is. For a Sunday morning - there is alot of 'news' out there to digest and determine the effects upon you. Follow the money when it comes to our federal government talking about new countries they want to drop bombs upon - it's in my opinion getting a wee bit late for Americans to stop the effects of our federal government in the pocket of multinationalists. and their non-stop corporate greed. The evolution of our federal government into a government overseen by multinational corporations is now so blatant - the handing of $Trillions of taxpayers' dollars to Wall Street not main street is hard to hide. Then I read this morning that Nebraska Governor Heineman perceives "a contentious debate over states' rights as defined the U.S. Constitution's 10th amendment' on the 2010 agenda" ... this may be an interesting upcoming year.
|
"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people" - John Adams - Second President (1797 - 1801) |
MORNING PRESIDENTIAL UPDATE OUT OF HAWAII  Obama party visits Sea Life Park By B.J. Reyes POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jan 03, 2010 He's the leader of the free world, with a heavy agenda waiting for him when he leaves Hawaii tonight and returns to the White House. But as President Barack Obama sat at Sea Life Park yesterday, watching daughters Malia and Sasha interact with dolphins, all that Jesus Bravo saw was a doting father. "He was really happy—you should have seen his face," said Bravo, the park's general manager. "He watched it like any other parent." Obama, along with friends and family that included his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, and her husband, Konrad Ng, visited the park yesterday morning before the first family heads back to the nation's capital tonight. Obama began the day the same way he has every day since his arrival on Christmas Eve—with a workout at the Semper Fit gym on Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay. After a quick stop at the family's rented Kailua vacation compound, the president's motorcade made the trip along Kalanianaole Highway through Waimanalo and arrived at the park just after 9 a.m. The group spent about an hour at the park, leaving before it opened to the public at 10:30 a.m. First lady Michelle Obama did not accompany the president and their daughters. Bravo said a total of seven people—adults and children—were in the water with the dolphins. Participants also were able to stay on platforms in the water to have the dolphins come up to them, allowing them to pet the marine mammals and learn more about them. Obama did not get in the water, but watched from nearby seats. "I think that it's a very good thing for someone that has the burden that he has—leading the country—to be able to enjoy it like that," said Bravo, who met the first family at the park. "It was a very nice sight." Bravo said he knew of the possibility that Obama might visit the park, based on his visit during the family's December 2008 vacation. At that time, Obama and his daughters went while the park was open to the public, and did not get in the water, Bravo said. "The Secret Service was great with us," Bravo said of the planning this year. "They were kind enough to have the president early in the morning." The park opened at 10:30 a.m. as scheduled. Reporters were not allowed in the park while Obama and guests were there. After Sea Life Park, the president's motorcade made its way back to the Kailua compound and then to the beach on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, out of sight of the traveling press pool. Last night, the president and Michelle Obama had dinner at Lucy's Grill & Bar in Kailua with friends Bobby Titcomb and his wife; Marty Nesbitt and his wife; Valerie Jarrett; and Soetoro-Ng and her husband. The first family's vacation comes to an end today after more than a week in the islands. Obama stayed mostly out of sight during the early days of the vacation, which began Christmas Eve, but has been more visible in public the last few days. Aside from encounters on golf courses, crowds also spotted Obama as he left a movie theater on Thursday—when he and his daughters saw the 3-D blockbuster "Avatar"—and also on New Year's Day, when he took a group to what is becoming a traditional stop on his vacation, the Island Snow shave ice shop in Kailua. But Obama was never far from work on the vacation. On Monday and Tuesday, he held news briefings to discuss the government clashes with demonstrators in Iraq and talk more in detail about security lapses surrounding the thwarted terrorist attack over Detroit on Christmas Day. Aides said Obama was briefed on the situation daily. He is scheduled to hold a meeting in Washington on Tuesday with multiple agency heads to address the investigation and the next steps. President Barack Obama waved as he left Lucy's Grill & Bar in Kailua after dinner last night. He's scheduled to end his vacation tonight when the first family flies back to Washington, D.C. View Large Version >> But as President Barack Obama sat at Sea Life Park yesterday, watching daughters Malia and Sasha interact with dolphins, all that Jesus Bravo saw was a doting father. "He was really happy—you should have seen his face," said Bravo, the park's general manager. "He watched it like any other parent." Obama, along with friends and family that included his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, and her husband, Konrad Ng, visited the park yesterday morning before the first family heads back to the nation's capital tonight. Obama began the day the same way he has every day since his arrival on Christmas Eve—with a workout at the Semper Fit gym on Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay. After a quick stop at the family's rented Kailua vacation compound, the president's motorcade made the trip along Kalanianaole Highway through Waimanalo and arrived at the park just after 9 a.m. The group spent about an hour at the park, leaving before it opened to the public at 10:30 a.m. First lady Michelle Obama did not accompany the president and their daughters. Bravo said a total of seven people—adults and children—were in the water with the dolphins. Participants also were able to stay on platforms in the water to have the dolphins come up to them, allowing them to pet the marine mammals and learn more about them. Obama did not get in the water, but watched from nearby seats. "I think that it's a very good thing for someone that has the burden that he has—leading the country—to be able to enjoy it like that," said Bravo, who met the first family at the park. "It was a very nice sight." Bravo said he knew of the possibility that Obama might visit the park, based on his visit during the family's December 2008 vacation. At that time, Obama and his daughters went while the park was open to the public, and did not get in the water, Bravo said. "The Secret Service was great with us," Bravo said of the planning this year. "They were kind enough to have the president early in the morning." The park opened at 10:30 a.m. as scheduled. Reporters were not allowed in the park while Obama and guests were there. After Sea Life Park, the president's motorcade made its way back to the Kailua compound and then to the beach on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, out of sight of the traveling press pool. Last night, the president and Michelle Obama had dinner at Lucy's Grill & Bar in Kailua with friends Bobby Titcomb and his wife; Marty Nesbitt and his wife; Valerie Jarrett; and Soetoro-Ng and her husband. The first family's vacation comes to an end today after more than a week in the islands. Obama stayed mostly out of sight during the early days of the vacation, which began Christmas Eve, but has been more visible in public the last few days. Aside from encounters on golf courses, crowds also spotted Obama as he left a movie theater on Thursday—when he and his daughters saw the 3-D blockbuster "Avatar"—and also on New Year's Day, when he took a group to what is becoming a traditional stop on his vacation, the Island Snow shave ice shop in Kailua. But Obama was never far from work on the vacation. On Monday and Tuesday, he held news briefings to discuss the government clashes with demonstrators in Iraq and talk more in detail about security lapses surrounding the thwarted terrorist attack over Detroit on Christmas Day. Aides said Obama was briefed on the situation daily. He is scheduled to hold a meeting in Washington on Tuesday with multiple agency heads to address the investigation and the next steps.  Obama puts on the ninth green during a golf match at Mid-Pacific County Club in Kailua, Hawaii, on Dec. 31, 2009. Chris Carlson-AP  President Barack Obama waved as he left Lucy's Grill & Bar in Kailua after dinner last night. He's scheduled to end his vacation tonight when the first family flies back to Washington, D.C. |
Syria, Turkey Seek Strategic Alliance with Iran, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon
Syrian Information Minister Muhsin Bilal praised the excellent and strategic relations between Syria and Turkey, and said that the two countries were seeking to expand their strategic alliance to include Iran, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon.
Bilal also said that a people whose land has been occupied may use any means to liberate it, because resistance is a sacred right recognized by all international charters.
Source: Al-Thawra (Syria), January 1, 2010
Posted at: 2010-01-01
http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/23439.htm
US shuts embassy in Yemen capital citing terror threat
Sunday, 3 January 2010 The US has shut its embassy in Yemen's capital Sanaa, citing "ongoing threats" by an al-Qaeda offshoot linked to an alleged failed US plane bomb plot. In a statement on its website, the embassy urged US citizens in Yemen to be vigilant and aware of security. It comes a day after top US soldier Gen David Petraeus visited Yemen to pledge US support for its fight with al-Qaeda. Gen Petraeus said on Friday the US would more than double counter-terror aid to Yemen this year. "The US Embassy in Sana'a is closed today, January 3, 2010, in response to ongoing threats by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to attack American interests in Yemen," said a statement on the embassy website on Sunday. READ MORE ... |
NEWS RELATING KENYA
Man Accused in Attack on Danish Cartoonist Tied to Plot Against Hillary Clinton in Kenya
The Somali man accused of attempting to kill Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard was held over a foiled terrorist plot in Kenya, a Danish newspaper reported.
The 28-year-old was arrested over a planned attack on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her visit to Africa last summer.
The newspaper Politiken reported that he and four other suspects were held over a plot against a bus station and two hotels in Nairobi.
He was released in September due to a lack of evidence and returned to Denmark.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,581801,00.html
Kenya gets Agoa extension, 3 states delisted
Posted Saturday, January 2 2010 at 19:55
Kenyan exporters got a reprieve after US president Barack Obama extended trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).
But the country may not afford spats with the Obama administration if it wants to continue reaping from the opportunities in the American market. The US has been pressuring Kenya to implement key reforms to avoid the recurrence of political violence experienced two years ago.
Local exporters were worried that President Obama could delist the country from the Agoa initiative for 2010 due to the growing diplomatic row between the US and Kenya over the pace of reforms.
The US removed Guinea, Madagascar and Niger from the list of countries benefiting from Agoa saying the three countries’ democratic progress is threatened by political turmoil and had failed to make “continual progress” in meeting US’s requirements for the trade arrangement. ...
Pirate Cash Suspected Cause of Kenya Property Boom
New York Times - - Jan 1, 2010By AP NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Property prices in Nairobi are soaring, and Somali pirates are getting the blame. The hike in real estate prices in the Kenyan ...Ransom money goes into Kenya property market Haiti NewsKenya Property Boom as a Result of Somali Piracy Newstime AfricaYear after warships come, piracy up Mainichi Daily News
Kenya can make up to Sh10 billion per year in the international carbon trading market if water towers are conserved.
Kenya can make up to Sh10 billion per year in the international carbon trading market if water towers are conserved.
Henry Ndede, coordinator of the Kenya country programme at the United Nations Environment Programme, says the Mau Forest complex alone can earn Sh4 billion a year. “Major companies in the West and Asia would gladly pay for the forestland to compensate for the polluting effect of their activities back home,” he says.
Carbon trading is a practice where companies which exceed their emission limits buy credits from those who pollute less. The buyer is essentially charged for polluting while the seller is rewarded for reducing emissions. Mr Ndede says this is one of the many benefits restoration of the nation’s water towers can have ...
AP declared Obama “Kenyan-Born”
http://web.archive.org/web/20040627142700/eastandard.net/headlines/news26060403.htm
7 killed and others missing in Kenyan Flash Flood after torrential rains on New Years Day
RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service
Budapest, Hungary
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read.php?glide=FF-20100101-24376-KEN&cat=dis&lang=eng
Situation Update No. 1
On 02.01.2010 at 12:47 GMT+2
At least seven people have been killed and a number of others are missing after flash floods in Naivasha, Nakuru and Koibatek districts. Four people were killed by floods following heavy rain in Mogotio, Koibatek district. Witnesses said the victims drowned after strong water currents overpowered them. Dozens of people had to be moved as rivers burst their banks. John Kimutai, a resident, said it had been a "horrendous" night but the water was now receding. The government has been forced to step up efforts to evict people from dangerous areas as some have been reluctant to leave their houses, despite the danger of being swept by the floods. In Naivasha, at least two people were swept away by floods following two days of torrential rainfall. "Two Pastors drowned at Miti Mingi in Elementaita," area Deputy Police commander Paul Kisang said. The two had gone to work on their farm on the banks of River Nderit when they were swept away. About 50 families were evacuated from their homes in the area and many more were forced to move to higher grounds. Meanwhile a seven year old boy drowned at Nyondia in Nakuru when a motorbike he was riding on was swept away by flood water. The Kenya Meteorological Department has said that the suddenness and unanticipated strength of the rains was the result of the El Nino weather pattern.
PIRATE NEWS
Somali Pirates Hijack Second UK Ship
The ship was taken approximately 620 miles off of the coast of Africa, according to a report released by the Bulgarian foreign ministry. Many crewmembers of the Asian Glory are Bulgarian citizens. According to British officials, there were no UK citizens on board at the time of the hijacking.
Though the exact location and time of the hijacking is currently undetermined, it is reported that the Asian Glory, a ship of some 13000 tons, was transporting motor vehicles from Singapore to Saudi Arabia.
The ship hijacked earlier this week was the St. James Park, a chemical tanker also out of the UK that was seized under similar conditions on Monday.
Officials estimate that the ship should reach port in Somalia in approximately three days, upon which point negotiations for ransom payment are expected to begin.
http://www.tothecenter.com/news.php?readmore=12088
RELATED:
British Car Cargo Carrier hijacked by Somali Pirates
Somali Pirates hijack chemical tanker
Cameras follow Hillary Clinton for reality special Examiner.com AP photo The National Geographic Channel has been following Hillary Clinton's every move for an upcoming special that shows her day-to-day duties as the US ...  |
POLICE STATE USA NEWS COMPULSORY HEALTH INSURANCE Compulsory Health Insurance - Another Bailout?  U.S. Supreme Court: Is healthcare reform constitutional?WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Republicans fighting a losing battle to stop Democratic healthcare reform in Congress may have a couple of aces up their sleeve -- the Constitution and the conservative bent of the U.S. Supreme Court.  |
GOLD NEWS
China Becomes World's Biggest Gold Buyer in 2009
WAR ON DRUG NEWS Despite $Billions in US aid to Colombia - failure of eradicating coca crops |
PRINCE CHARLES NEWS
London: Prince Charles 'tried to stop Britain from invading Iraq'
Are planned airport scanners just a scam?
The claim severely undermines Gordon Brown's focus on hi-tech scanners for airline passengers as part of his review into airport security after the attempted attack on Flight 253 on Christmas Day.
The Independent on Sunday has also heard authoritative claims that officials at the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Home Office have already tested the scanners and were not persuaded that they would work comprehensively against terrorist threats to aviation.
The claims triggered concern that the Prime Minister is over-playing the benefits of such scanners to give the impression he is taking tough action on terrorism.
And experts in the US said airport "pat-downs" ? a method used in hundreds of airports worldwide ? were ineffective and would not have stopped the suspect boarding the plane.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, allegedly concealed in his underpants a package containing nearly 3oz of the chemical powder PETN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate). He also carried a syringe containing a liquid accelerant to detonate the explosive.
Since the attack was foiled, body-scanners, using "millimetre-wave" technology and revealing a naked image of a passenger, have been touted as a solution to the problem of detecting explosive devices that are not picked up by traditional metal detectors ? such as those containing liquids, chemicals or plastic explosive.
But Ben Wallace, the Conservative MP, who was formerly involved in a project by a leading British defence research firm to develop the scanners for airport use, said trials had shown that such low-density materials went undetected ....
Customer revolt may threaten rollout of smart grid Consumer backlash and cost concerns may cause delays in the nationwide rollout of "smart" utility meters at the center of the Obama administration's $8 billion push to update the U.S. electricity grid. Bloomberg News Consumer backlash and cost concerns may cause delays in the nationwide rollout of "smart" utility meters at the center of the Obama administration's $8 billion push to update the U.S. electricity grid. PG&E, owner of California's largest utility, halted meter installations in Bakersfield, north of Los Angeles, after hundreds of customers complained that readings weren't accurate. The meters, part of a so-called smart-grid initiative billed as clearing the way for more renewable-energy use, are designed to help consumers conserve power during periods of peak demand. Martha Johnson, pastor of a church in Bakersfield, said her utility bill almost doubled from a year earlier to $874 in July after her new meter was installed. "That caught my eye because I've never had a bill that high," said Johnson, 64. PG&E, which faces a lawsuit from a Bakersfield customer who's seeking class-action status, says its meters are accurate and hot weather and increased rates led to higher bills than consumers expected. READ MORE |
WILD PIG NEWS
And a couple Wild Pig Pictures
Wild Pigs Spreading Across the Country and more than Doubling in size and Range in the Last Twenty Years!
 NEBRASKA NEWS | ||
| Lincoln Nebraska Live Traffic Cams Gas-tax hike likely for Nebraska road funds WORLD-HERALD BUREAU Sunday January 3, 2010 LINCOLN — Higher state gasoline taxes and a bond-issuing plan are among the ideas being pushed by some lawmakers to steer Nebraska out of its crisis in financing road maintenance and construction. State Sen. Arnie Stuthman of Platte Center says the Legislature should raise the gas tax by 5 cents per gallon. That would bring in about $60 million a year in new money to jump-start completion of the state expressway system and other improvement projects, Stuthman said....
|
NewsWithViews.com | Headlines - January 3, 2010 Signs of the times In Politics the "C" Word Always Matters In defense of Bill Clinton, their democrat president, the liberal media campaigned to convince Americans that character does not matter. In the midst of the Clinton scandals, I was shocked to hear even a minister say Clinton's affairs were a personal matter and did not affect his presidency. The media spin worked. An extraordinary man was featured on the Glenn Beck TV program....... Two Reasons "The Biggest Losers" Can't Stay Winners To me, life was like the proverbial pusher, always tempting me with its malignant, short term pleasures. And every time I gave in, I traded one of life’s simple and forgotten long-term treasures - like keeping the same belt size, chasing my kids endlessly in the park, and making love to my wife without gasping for air at the 4-minute mark. As life’s malignancies caught up to me, I decided to..... http://www.newswithviews.com/Ellison/shane155.htm by Shane Ellison, M. Sc |
Montana's big sky views become big tax burdens
 OUR PLANET'S PROTECTIVE MAGNETOSPHERE UPDATE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| About Real-Time Magnetosphere Simulation http://www2.nict.go.jp/y/y223/simulation/realtime/index.html JANUARY 3, 2010 AT 7:02 AM CDT    | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current Moon Phase http://www.die.net/moon/  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 SUN UPDATE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/sunspots/ http://solarcycle24.com/ Classification of Solar Flares Magnetic fields trigger solar wind COMET IS NEARING IMPACT WITH THE SUN THIS MORNING:  A fourth C-Class flare took place early Sunday, this time a C2.0. Monitor the X-Ray flux for possibly more flare activity. C-Class Flare Activity - A C3.1 Flare has taken place around Sunspot 1039 at 23:13 UTC Saturday. This is the third C-Flare of the day from this region. The other two were C2.6 and C1.0. Sunspot 1039 continues to persist as it approaches the western limb of the sun. There is a chance for more B-Class and C-Class flare activity.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Tajikistan earthquake leaves 20,000 homeless on Saturday Jan 2 2010
The Associated Press Sunday, January 3, 2010; 3:56 AM
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan -- Officials in Tajikistan say 20,000 people have been left homeless by an earthquake that hit a mountainous region of the impoverished Central Asian nation. The Emergency Situations and Civil Defense Committee says no deaths have been reported. The earthquake measuring a magnitude of 5.1 occurred Saturday in the Pamir Mountains. The emergency committee said Sunday that it damaged or destroyed houses in several villages in the Gorno-Badakhshansky region. Earthquakes are fairly common in the mountains of the former Soviet republic. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/03/AR2010010300295.html RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_read.php?glide=EQ-20100103-24409-TJK&cat=dis&lang=eng Province of Gorno-Badakhshan, Vanchsky district Some 20,000 people were left homeless by an earthquake which hit Tajikistan's mountainous Gorno-Badakhshan province, a local administration spokesman has said. The earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale took place on Saturday and affected two locations in the province's Vanchsky district, in Tajikistan's Pamir Mountains, the spokesman said. "Several dozens houses inhabited by some 20,000 people have been destroyed completely or partly," he said. Rock falls and mudslides caused by the quake blocked a road linking the Vanchsky district with the province's administrative center of Khorog, he added. Update time = Sun Jan 3 13:00:03 UTC 2010
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 VOLCANISM NEWS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Galeras Volcano erupts in Colombia; no reports of injuries BOGOTA - January 2, 2010 - The Galeras volcano in southeastern Colombia erupted Saturday night, but there were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries, authorities said. Carlos Ivan Marquez, national aid director for the Red Cross, said officials might need to evacuate 8,000 people as a precaution. He said temporary shelters and aid supplies were available. The volcano erupted at 7:43 p.m., according to the Volcanology and Seismological Observatory in Pasto, the provincial capital of 500,000 people that is just over 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Galeras. National Association of Radio-Distress Signalling and Infocommunications Emergency and Disaster Information Services (EDIS) Budapest Hungary Current active volcanoes
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 CHANGING WEATHER PATTERNS - NEWS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National Severe Weather Map Surface Temperature Forecast Map www.511nebraska.org  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hackable Drones, Crumbling Empire
January 1, 2010
On the eve of the 2003 American invasion of Iraq, historian Chalmers Johnson observed in The Sorrows of Empire: "At this late date ... it is difficult to imagine how Congress, much like the Roman senate in the last days of the republic, could be brought back to life and cleansed of its endemic corruption."
Drawing striking analogies between the fall of the Roman republic and America's decline as a global capitalist power, Johnson wrote: "Failing such a reform, Nemesis, the goddess of retribution and vengeance, the punisher of pride and hubris, waits impatiently for her meeting with us."
Judging by the fragile state of American sociopolitical life, that meeting may not be as far off as most of us think.
America's Hackable Drones
In this light, it was hardly surprising to read in The Wall Street Journal last week that "Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations."
The Journal revealed that the Pentagon's "potential drone vulnerability lies in an unencrypted downlink between the unmanned craft and ground control." Investigative journalists Siobhan Gorman, Yochi Dreazen and August Cole disclosed that the "U.S. government has known about the flaw since the U.S. campaign in Bosnia in the 1990s."
But since feeding the corporatist beast, in this case General Atomics Inc., is priority number one for grifters in Congress, the problem was allowed to fester until the boil finally popped.
Considering that the Obama administration "has come to rely heavily on the unmanned drones" for imperial machinations across the entire Eurasian "Arc of Crisis" or any number of other "theaters" where the U.S. military and the corporate masters they serve, steal other people's resources (known as "Keeping America Safe" in our debased political lexicon), this news will probably come as quite a shock.
After all, we've been to led to believe that the heimat's occupying armies, like ancient Roman legionnaires, are "invincible."
But as the Journal reported "the stolen video feeds also indicate that U.S. adversaries continue to find simple ways of counteracting sophisticated American military technologies." (emphasis added) READ MORE
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=BUR20100101&articleId=16724
 |
Obama and Afghanistan: America’s Drug-Corrupted War  |
 MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL-BANKING COMPLEX NEWS |
SANA'A, Yemen, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. Gen. David Petraeus met Saturday with Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh and renewed America's commitment to fighting terrorists in that country. |
BEAR NEWS
A family that lives on the outskirts of Lincoln, NH decided to build a sturdy, colourful playground for their 3 and 4 year old sons. They lined the bottom with smooth-stone gravel all around to avoid knee scrapes and other injuries. They finished building it one Friday evening and were very pleased with the end product. The following morning, as their mom was about to wake the boys and have them go out to play in their new play center, this is what she saw from the upstairs window....   |
 UFO NEWS |
| Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) UFO Database Massive UFO Photographed On Back Of Moon By Apollo 10 |
South Pole
Device turns thoughts into speech  |
 |
Today is Sunday, Jan. 3, the third day of 2010, with 362 to follow. The moon is waning. The morning stars are Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. Those born on this date were under the sign of Capricorn. They include feminist and abolitionist Lucretia Mott in 1793; Father Damien, who was a missionary to lepers in Hawaii, in 1840; British Prime Minister Clement Attlee in 1883; J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "The Lord of the Rings," in 1892; actor Ray Milland in 1905; entertainer Victor Borge in 1909; Maxene Andrews, of the Andrews Sisters singing trio, in 1918; Beatles record producer George Martin in 1926 (age 84); Italian film director Sergio Leone in 1929; actors Robert Loggia in 1930 (age 80) and Dabney Coleman in 1932 (age 78); Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Hull in 1939 (age 71); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Stephen Stills in 1945 (age 65); German racing champion Michael Schumacher in 1969 (age 41); actress Victoria Principal in 1950 (age 60) and actor/director Mel Gibson in 1956 (age 54). On this date in history:
|
Solution to killer superbug found in Norway
OSLO, Norway – Aker University Hospital is a dingy place to heal. The floors are streaked and scratched. A light layer of dust coats the blood pressure monitors. A faint stench of urine and bleach wafts from a pile of soiled bedsheets dropped in a corner.
Look closer, however, at a microscopic level, and this place is pristine. There is no sign of a dangerous and contagious staph infection that killed tens of thousands of patients in the most sophisticated hospitals of Europe, North America and Asia this year, soaring virtually unchecked.
The reason: Norwegians stopped taking so many drugs.
Twenty-five years ago, Norwegians were also losing their lives to this bacteria. But Norway's public health system fought back with an aggressive program that made it the most infection-free country in the world. A key part of that program was cutting back severely on the use of antibiotics.
Now a spate of new studies from around the world prove that Norway's model can be replicated with extraordinary success, and public health experts are saying these deaths — 19,000 in the U.S. each year alone, more than from AIDS — are unnecessary.
"It's a very sad situation that in some places so many are dying from this, because we have shown here in Norway that Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can be controlled, and with not too much effort," said Jan Hendrik-Binder, Oslo's MRSA medical adviser. "But you have to take it seriously, you have to give it attention, and you must not give up."
The World Health Organization says antibiotic resistance is one of the leading public health threats on the planet. A six-month investigation by The Associated Press found overuse and misuse of medicines has led to mutations in once curable diseases like tuberculosis and malaria, making them harder and in some cases impossible to treat.
Now, in Norway's simple solution, there's a glimmer of hope.
My News blog: The Cave
No comments:
Post a Comment