MARCH 2010
Today in History Wednesday March
31, 2010
1831 - Quebec and Montreal were incorporated as cities.
1854 - The U.S. government signed the Treaty of Kanagawa with Japan. The
act opened the ports of Shimoda and Hakotade to American trade.
1862 - Skirmishing between Rebels and Union forces took place at Island
10 on the Mississippi River.
1870 - In Perth Amboy, NJ, Thomas P. Munday became the first black to
vote in the U.S.
1880 - Wabash, IN, became the first town to be completely illuminated
with electric light.
1889 - In Paris, the Eiffel Tower officially opened.
1900 - In France, the National Assembly passed a law reducing the
workday for women and children to 11 hours.
1906 - The Conference on Moroccan Reforms in Algerciras ended after two
months with France and Germany in agreement.
1908 - 250,000 coal miners in Indianapolis, IN, went on strike to await
a wage adjustment.
1917 - The U.S. purchased and took possession of the Virgin Islands from
Denmark for $25 million.
1918 - For the first time in the U.S., Daylight Saving Time went into
effect.
1932 - The Ford Motor Co. debuted its V-8 engine.
1939 - Britain and France agreed to support Poland if Germany threatened
invasion.
1940 - La Guardia airport in New York officially opened to the public.
1941 - Germany began a counter offensive in North Africa.
1947 - John L. Lewis called a strike in sympathy for the miners killed
in an explosion in Centralia, IL, on March 25, 1947.
1948 - The Soviets in Germany began controlling the Western trains
headed toward Berlin.
1949 - Winston Churchill declared that the A-bomb was the only thing
that kept the U.S.S.R. from taking over Europe.
1949 - Newfoundland entered the Canadian confederation as its 10th
province.
1958 - The U.S. Navy formed the atomic submarine division.
1959 - The Dalai Lama (Lhama Dhondrub, Tenzin Gyatso) began exile by
crossing the border into India where he was granted political asylum.
1960 - The South African government declared a state of emergency after
demonstrations lead to the death of more than 50 Africans.
1966 - An estimated 200,000 anti-war demonstrators march in New York
City.
1966 - The Soviet Union launched Luna 10, which became the first
spacecraft to enter a lunar orbit.
1967 - U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Consular Treaty, the
first bi-lateral pact with the Soviet Union since the Bolshevik
Revolution.
1970 - The U.S. forces in Vietnam down a MIG-21, it was the first since
September 1968.
1980 - U.S. President Carter deregulated the banking industry.
1991 - Iraqi forces recaptured the northern city of Kirkuk from Kurdish
guerillas.
1998 - U.N. Security Council imposed arms embargo on Yugoslavia.
1998 - For the first time in U.S. history the federal government's
detailed financial statement was released. This occurred under the
Clinton administration.
1999 - Three U.S. soldiers were captured by Yugoslav soldiers three
miles from the Yugoslav border in Macedonia.
2004 - Air America Radio launched five stations around the U.S.
2004 - Google Inc. announced that it would be introducing a free e-mail
service called Gmail.
VIDEO: 9/11 Commissioner slips up, says missile hit Pentagon?
159 Ways the Senate Bill Is a Government Takeover of Health Care--Here
is a list of new boards, bureaucracies, and programs created in the
2,733 page Senate health care bill, which serves as the framework for
President Obama's health proposal
VIDEO: Obama's Civilian Army is now LAW and is Funded
Militia Chief's Mistrust Festered, Friends Say -- The leader of a
Michigan militia group charged this week with conspiring to kill
law-enforcement officers was described Tuesday as a private,
family-oriented man who nurtured a festering mistrust of governmental
authority, according to people close to the family.
FBI Agent Discovered at Center of Alleged Hutaree Conspiracy -- The
FBI had an informant inside the Hutaree group and he participated in the
alleged conspiracy to kill law enforcement officers, according to The
Wall Street Journal today.
UK: Fingerprint system 'stigmatises pupils' -- Schools are denying
pupils their civil liberties by fingerprinting them without seeking the
consent of their parents, teachers warned yesterday.
Family Defends Christian Militia Group, Says Hutaree Did Nothing Wrong
-- The fiancee of one of the members of a Christian extremist group
arrested this week in a federal raid defended the Hutaree, saying that
if group members had had plans for violence, "they would have done it
already."
Legislature gets raw milk bill -- Twenty-five states allow some form
of unpasteurized milk sales. Advocates say milk straight from the cow's
udder is a bacteria-rich food that can help fend off illnesses and has
kept farm families healthy for generations. Critics dismiss claims that
raw milk is healthier than pasteurized milk, and they say the raw
version is dangerous because of harmful bacteria it may carry. By an 8-1
vote, the Assembly Committee on Rural Economic Development recommended
approval of Assembly Bill 628 that would allow unpasteurized milk sales
direct from farms licensed by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and
Consumer Protection.
* Related Article:
Doyle may sign bill allowing raw milk sales -- Madison - Gov. Jim
Doyle said Tuesday he may favor legalizing raw milk sales to the general
public, under the right circumstances."I think we all understand what
the issues here are," Doyle said when asked about the raw milk bill at a
news conference in Verona. "There are some people who prefer to drink
raw milk, and I think under certain circumstances that's fine. But I
think we also need to know that the mass-milk market is one that is
healthy and in control."
Judge OKs Police Tasing Woman Who Was 7 Months Pregnant -- Being
pregnant doesn't mean you're special, and if you're in Seattle, it
doesn't mean police won't tase you if you fail to comply with even the
most minor of instructions.
U.K. Climate Science 'Damaged' by Leaked E-Mails -- Britain's global
warming scientists damaged their reputation with the "unacceptable"
withholding of data in response to freedom of information requests, said
a panel of lawmakers probing the so-called climategate scandal.
New Homeland Security Report Claims 'Right Wing Extremism' is on the
Rise Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization -- Several months ago,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a simliar report
targeting conservatives and ideals as "Right-wing Extremism". After
intense public scrutiny and a strong back-lash from Congressional
conservatives, the report was retracted.
The Growing Threat of Female Suicide Bombers -- Two women believed
to be Chechen rebels blew themselves up in Moscow's metro during morning
rush hour Monday, killing at least 35 people and injuring 100 more.
More Guatanamo Detainees Are Returning to Terror Upon Release --
Prior to his release in December, Abdul Hafiz was Prisoner Number 1030
at Guantanamo Bay. Now, less than four months later, he's back home in
Afghanistan and working for the Taliban -- just the latest of more than
100 released detainees who have returned to terrorism, according to the
Pentagon.
US Transit Security Gets Boost After Blasts -- Millions of U.S.
subway riders Monday morning saw extra police, some of them heavily
armed, as transit agencies stepped up security following suicide
bombings in Moscow's subway.
'Obamacare' Cops: $1 Billion to Force New Tax Compliance --
Collecting taxes under the Democrats' newly passed health-care plan will
cost the federal government more than $1 billion a year in salaries
alone, Republicans in Congress estimate.
Obama Set to Sign Health Care 'Fixes' Bill -- President Obama is set
to claim final victory on his top domestic priority Tuesday by signing
into law a package of changes to the newly enacted health care reform
bill.
Saturday Mail Cut Loophole: Post Office Boxes -- Under the
cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service's plan to cut Saturday delivery and
trim its delivery schedule from six days a week to five, mail would
continue to be delivered on Saturdays to the more than 13 million P.O.
boxes across the country.
Iowa Town Renames Good Friday -- One week before the most solemn day
in the Christian year, the city of Davenport, Iowa removed Good Friday
from its municipal calendar, setting off a storm of complaints from
Christians and union members whose contracts give them that day off.
Israel Fears Obama Heading for Imposed Mideast Settlement -- U.S.
President Barack Obama's demands during his meeting with Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu last Tuesday point to an intention to impose a
permanent settlement on Israel and the Palestinians in less than two
years, political sources in Jerusalem say.
Clinton's Push for Iran Sanctions Meets Cool Response from G8 -- The
United States on Tuesday failed to win overwhelming support from world
economic powers for sanctions to block Tehran's nuclear ambitions as G8
foreign ministers issued an insipid statement on Iran.
Cern LHC Sees High-Energy Success -- Scientists working on the
European machine have smashed beams of protons together at energies that
are 3.5 times higher than previously achieved.
Scientists Stumped as Bee Population Declines Further -- The decline
in the US bee population, first observed in 2006, is continuing, a
phenomenon that still baffles researchers and beekeepers.
Obama Medicare Pick Urges 'Radical Transfer of Power' -- President
Obama's reported pick to run Medicare and Medicaid, Donald Berwick, has
argued for a "radical transfer of power" in the health industry and
claimed patients' quality of care in the U.S. medical system is
currently measured by the "color of their skin," WND has learned.
Obama Signing Student Loan Reform In Virginia -- Finalizing two
major pieces of his agenda, President Barack Obama on Tuesday sealed his
health care overhaul and made the government the primary lender to
students by cutting banks out of the process.
Oath Keepers: Hutaree 'Set Up' -- These guys make the Oath Keepers
look like model citizens. The FBI raided a Michigan-based Christian
militia group this weekend for allegedly plotting a campaign of violence
against police officers, and to use WMD against Americans. The Feds
claim the Hutaree "conspired to oppose by force the authority of the
U.S. government."
States' Debt Woes Grow Too Big to Camouflage -- California, New York
and other states are showing many of the same signs of debt overload
that recently took Greece to the brink — budgets that will not balance,
accounting that masks debt, the use of derivatives to plug holes, and
armies of retired public workers who are counting on benefits that are
proving harder and harder to pay.
Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture -- Civil
forfeiture laws represent one of the most serious assaults on private
property rights in the nation today. Under civil forfeiture, police and
prosecutors can seize your car or other property, sell it and use the
proceeds to fund agency budgets—all without so much as charging you with
a crime.
Feds Thinking Outside the Box to Plug in Intelligence Gap -- Three
recent events — the foiled Christmas Day bombing of a Detroit-bound
airliner, the Dec. 30 assassination of seven CIA officers and
contractors by a Jordanian double agent in Afghanistan and the
difficulties that U.S. Marines in Marjah, Afghanistan, have encountered
— all have something in common: inadequate intelligence.
Rigged US Elections Exposed -- This testimony is not news to the
readers of this site, but it is admitted into court records that
elections are fixed. Vote fraud is nothing new, but this is just another
chink in the armor that is destroying this country.
US Military Doing 'Limited" Drug War Work in Mexico -- "Our
military, in certain limited ways, has been working with the Mexican
military in their efforts against the drug cartels" inside Mexico,
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told NPR's Robert Siegel
this morning. Her comments were among the most extensive to date from a
U.S. official about the U.S. military's role in the drug war raging
across the border.
States Seeking Cash Hope to Expand Taxes to Services -- In the
scramble to find something, anything, to generate more revenue, states
are considering new taxes on virtually everything: garbage pickup,
dating services, bowling night, haircuts, even clowns.
A Bomber Jacket Doesn't Cover the Blood -- On Sunday, during his
first presidential trip to Afghanistan, Obama stood before thousands of
American troops to proclaim the sanctity of the war effort. He played
the role deftly – a commander in chief, rallying the troops – while
wearing a bomber jacket.
North Korea on Verge of Collapse? -- The recent sinking of a South
Korean vessel in suspicious circumstances makes this report quite
timely. The situation in North Korea is presently sliding downward and
will likely halt with a contraction of the population. A people who are
dying of starvation do not do rebellion very well so that part will
simply be awful.
Humans are too Stupid to Prevent Climate Change -- Humans are too
stupid to prevent climate change from radically impacting on our lives
over the coming decades. This is the stark conclusion of James Lovelock,
the globally respected environmental thinker and independent scientist
who developed the Gaia theory.
VIDEO: Anderson cooper Talks of the New World Order
Obama Says Wants Sanctions on Iran in Weeks -- President Barack
Obama said on Tuesday he would like to see new U.N. sanctions placed on
Iran in a matter of weeks as he and French President Nicolas Sarkozy
presented a united front on Tehran.
Supreme Court Hands Victory to Mutual Fund Industry -- The Supreme
Court handed a victory to the $11 trillion mutual fund industry by
endorsing a 1982 legal standard to decide the fairness of fund fees, a
ruling that gives companies considerable freedom to set investment
adviser charges.
Health Overhaul to Hit Corporate Profits -- U.S. companies have
started to tally up the financial hit they say they will take as a
result of the U.S. healthcare overhaul signed into law last week by
President Barack Obama.
Vit B3 Beats Big Pharma's Zetia Cholesterol Drug -- The utter
worthlessness of Big Pharma's cholesterol drugs was demonstrated
recently by a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine
which showed that niacin (a low-cost B vitamin) out-performs Merck's
drug Zetia for preventing the build-up of arterial plaque, a symptom of
cardiovascular disease.
Researchers Discover Papaya is Effective Against Breast, Pancreas and
Other Cancers -- Originally native to southern Mexico and now
cultivated in many tropical countries (including Brazil, India,
Indonesia, South Africa, Vietnam and Sri Lanka), the papaya plant has
been touted by traditional healers for centuries as a source of powerful
medicine.
Breastfeeding Significantly Lowers Breast Cancer Risk -- Women who
breastfeed their infants have a significantly lower risk of breast
cancer, according to a study conducted by researchers from the
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and published in the Archives
of Internal Medicine.
Today in History Tuesday March
30, 2010
1855 - About 5,000 "Border Ruffians" from western Missouri invaded the
territory of Kansas and forced the election of a pro-slavery
legislature. It was the first election in Kansas.
1858 - Hyman L. Lipman of Philadelphia patented the pencil.
1867 - The U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million dollars.
1870 - The 15th amendment, guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of
race, was passed by the U.S. Congress.
1870 - Texas was readmitted to the Union.
1903 - Revolutionary activity in the Dominican Republic brought U.S.
troops to Santo Domingo to protect American interests.
1905 - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt was chosen to mediate in the
Russo-Japanese peace talks.
1909 - The Queensboro bridge in New York opened linking Manhattan and
Queens. It was the first double decker bridge.
1916 - Pancho Villa killed 172 at the Guerrero garrison in Mexico.
1936 - Britain announced a naval construction program of 38 warships.
1944 - The U.S. fleet attacked Palau, near the Philippines.
1945 - The U.S.S.R. invaded Austria during World War II.
1946 - The Allies seized 1,000 Nazis attempting to revive the Nazi party
in Frankfurt.
1950 - The invention of the phototransistor was announced.
1950 - U.S. President Truman denounced Senator Joe McCarthy as a
saboteur of U.S. foreign policy.
1964 - John Glenn withdrew from the Ohio race for U.S. Senate because of
injuries suffered in a fall.
1970 - "Applause" opened on Broadway.
1970 - "Another World - Somerset" debuted on NBC-TV.
1972 - The British government assumed direct rule over Northern Ireland.
1972 - The Eastertide Offensive began when North Vietnamese troops
crossed into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the northern portion of
South Vietnam.
1975 - As the North Vietnamese forces moved toward Saigon South
Vietnamese soldiers mob rescue jets in desperation.
1981 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded in Washington,
DC, by John W. Hinckley Jr. Two police officers and Press Secretary
James Brady were also wounded.
1982 - The space shuttle Columbia completed its third and its longest
test flight after 8 days in space.
1984 - The U.S. ended its participation in the multinational peace force
in Lebanon.
1994 - Serbs and Croats signed a cease-fire to end their war in Croatia
while Bosnian Muslims and Serbs continued to fight each other.
1998 - Rolls-Royce was purchased by BMW in a $570 million deal.
2002 - An unmanned U.S. spy plan crashed at sea in the Southern
Philippines.
2002 - Suspected Islamic militants set off several grenades at a temple
in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Four civilians, four policemen and two
attackers were killed and 20 people were injured.
Thought For The Day from our friend Mike Tawse in the UK -- Read
many "thoughts of the Day' by
clicking here.
Magnesium: The Superpower Mineral? by Mike Tawse -- Magnesium is
known to be extremely important in more than 300 processes throughout
the body, needed to maintain good health, but doctors are often unaware
that their patients are deficient in magnesium having, largely,
overlooked this vital mineral. It may seem shocking that laboratory
blood tests are not the most effective way to measure magnesium, even
when a specific test is ordered.
Heal yourself in 15 days with the people around you -- Three steps
to uplifting the health of those around you - Did you know that living
among healthy-minded, high-energy individuals who remain engaged in the
pursuits of health and happiness has an extremely powerful rubbing off
effect on you. These people can lift your spirits, inspire you to
embrace positive changes and serve as shining examples of the health
results you wish to achieve.
Michigan Christian Militia Hutaree Targeted Law Enforcement -- A
family of four was behind an anti-government militia plot to kill law
enforcement officers with improvised explosive devices and projectiles
before being foiled by an FBI raid Sunday that netted nine members of a
Christian extremist group, federal authorities said today.
Sarah Palin Still Endorses McCain -- Her perspective, in fact, is
one the Republican party in America has stood for, for decades. It
combines militarism with free-market rhetoric but ends up putting
free-markets and freedom below national security and global adventurism.
She is therefore putting empire over peaceable trade, a perspective that
continually degrades what is left of American civil society. We had
hoped that Sarah Palin, who is an attractive an energetic personality,
would not adopt such conflicting stances. They have characterized the
mainstream approach to free-markets throughout the 20th century, but in
the 21st century, they are giving way, gradually, to the principled
positions of such free-market thinking individuals as Republican
Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex).
Stocks Soar, but
Many Analysts are Asking Why -- Judging from stock prices alone, one
would think the economy was poised for a roaring comeback. But the
federal government plans to unplug the economic life-support programs
that stimulated production, kept interest rates low and placed a thick
cushion under the real estate market.
Hayworth Slams
McCain on Immigration at Tea Party Rally -- Former Congressman J.D.
Hayworth, who has emerged as a formidable primary challenger to McCain,
seized on amnesty for illegal immigrants and border control, which have
become defining issues in the state's GOP Senate primary race. "It is
unconscionable that nearly a decade after 9/11 the backdoor of the
United States remains open," Hayworth told hundreds of Tea Party members
gathered at the Radisson Hotel in Flagstaff. "Our senior senator is
looking at this entirely the wrong way."
Another Poll Reveals Most Americans Oppose Obamacare -- Yet another
poll reveals the obvious — large numbers of Americans oppose Obamacare.
“A Mason-Dixon poll of Florida voters released over the weekend offers
the dose of cold water Democrats may need to temper their expectations
on health care’s electoral impact,” writes Politico.
Gold
Report - China Buys Gold! -- Rising 85% by weight since 2004,
China's private gold demand has more than quadrupled in Dollars. It
pretty much doubled by value in terms of both Dollars and the Renminbi
in the last two years alone, rising to $13.6 billion in 2009.
Specter pushes for stronger federal privacy laws -- Broadening
wiretap laws to include videotaped surveillance could either safeguard
privacy or thwart efforts to recover stolen property, a U.S. senator was
told Monday at a hearing not far from a school that's being sued for
trying to find missing laptops by activating their webcams.
Grasshopper Plague threatens US Farms -- Farmers and ranchers across
the West are bracing for a grasshopper infestation that could devastate
millions of acres of crops and land used for grazing.
Nuclear Waste Costing Taxpayers Billions -- A 30-year failure to
develop a permanent site for storing nuclear waste has cost the federal
government billions of dollars in fines paid to power companies. After
putting all of its hopes in the Yucca Mountain repository, Washington
now is starting over with finding a location following the Obama
administration’s rejection of the Nevada underground site.
H1N1 Flu May Be On Rebound in Southeast -- But the H1N1 flu virus
isn't gone. In fact, the southeastern United States, including
Tennessee, has seen a slight increase in H1N1 cases. Clusters of cases
have been reported in Nashville and Knoxville, according to Tennessee
health officials.
Biblical Plagues Really Happened Say Scientists -- Researchers
believe they have found evidence of real natural disasters on which the
ten plagues of Egypt, which led to Moses freeing the Israelites from
slavery in the Book of Exodus in the Bible, were based.
Ka-Ching! Shoppers Keep Registers Humming -- The Commerce Department
reported Monday that consumers boosted their spending by 0.3 percent in
February, marking the fifth straight monthly gain.
Israel to Focus on Key Nuclear Targets in Any Strike -- Should
Israel attack Iranian nuclear facilities, it would probably carry out
precision strikes while making every effort not to hit the oil sector or
other civilian sites.
Chipped Pets Develop Fast-Growing, Lethal Tumors -- Highly
aggressive tumors developed around the microchip implants of two
American dogs, killing one of the pets and leaving the other terminally
ill.
ACTA Would Make Internet Service Providers Copyright Police -- After
nearly two years of excuses for the secrecy of negotiations over ACTA,
the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a full draft of the proposed
treaty has been leaked online and it looks just as bad as critics have
suggested.
A US Biometrics Agency -- As of last week, there is now a U.S.
Government national security agency called the Biometrics Identity
Management Agency (BIMA). It supersedes a Biometrics Task Force that was
established in 2000.
Sky Spy to Stop People Traffickers -- Unmanned drone planes are to
be used to stop illegal immigrants heading for Britain.
UAE: Head of Largest Sovereign Wealth Fund Missing -- RABAT, Morocco
-- Rescue workers were scouring an artificial Moroccan lake Saturday in
search of the head of Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund -- the world's
largest -- who went missing after his glider crashed.
Beijing To Sweeten Stench of Rubbish Crisis with Deodorant Guns --
Beijing is to install 100 deodorant guns at a stinking landfill site on
the edge of the city in a bid to dampen complaints about the capital's
rubbish crisis.
It's Official - America Now Enforces Capital Controls -- It couldn't
have happened to a nicer country. On March 18, with very little pomp and
circumstance, president Obama passed the most recent stimulus act, the
$17.5 billion Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (H.R. 2487),
brilliantly goalseeked by the administration's millionaire cronies to
abbreviate as HIRE.
Economic Power Grab by EU: Plan to Control Britain's Economy As Europe
Bails Out Greece -- Britain could be forced to have its Budget
signed off by European leaders under plans to impose an 'economic
government of the EU', it emerged
yesterday.
ATA Truck Tonnage Index Declines in February -- The American
Trucking Associations’ advance seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck
Tonnage Index decreased 0.5 percent in February, following a revised 1.9
percent increase in January [revised down from 3.1%]. The latest drop
put the SA index at 108.5 (2000=100), down from 109.1 in January.
M2 Money Growth Collapses -- The information that it imparts
explains why the dollar has been so strong against the euro and most
other currencies. It explains the weakness in gold. And, I believe it
signals an eminent crash in the U.S. stock market--which will lead to
the second leg of the double dip recession.
VIDEO: Double Suicide Bombings on Rush Hour Moscow Subway Kill at Least
38, Wound More Than 60
Europe Has Left Greece Hanging in the Wind -- However you dress it,
the Greek package agreed by EU leaders is a capitulation to German-Dutch
demands. There will be no European debt union as long as Angela Merkel
remains Iron Chancellor of Germany.
Washington Considers a Decline of World Oil Production as of 2011 --
The U.S. Department of Energy admits that “a chance exists that we may
experience a decline” of world liquid fuels production between 2011 and
2015 “if the investment is not there”, according to an exclusive
interview with Glen Sweetnam, main official expert on oil market in the
Obama administration.
Lawyer Who Found Documents Has Long Pursued the Church -- Jeff
Anderson has filed thousands of lawsuits alleging sex abuse by priests
and won tens of millions of dollars for his clients, but he has had a
bigger goal in mind for nearly two decades. He wants to bring his
career-long legal crusade against misconduct in the Roman Catholic
Church right to the top.
Exorbitant Fees Offered to Human Egg Donors -- Fertility companies
are paying egg donors high fees that often exceed guidelines, especially
for donors from top colleges and with certain appearances and
ethnicities, a new study finds. The upshot: Parents with infertility
problems are willing to pay up to $50,000 for a human egg they hope will
produce a smart, attractive child.
Obama Eyeing Your Retirement Account -- The Obama administration is
quietly exploring strategies that would require hundreds of billions of
dollars in programs such as 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts
to be invested in U.S. Treasury bonds, Jerome Corsi's Red Alert reports.
Take Two: Gov't Tries New Fix for Mortgage Crisis -- The
government's bold new plan to stem the foreclosure crisis aims to
succeed where previous efforts have fallen flat. Yet just as before, the
odds are long, and many struggling borrowers won't qualify.
Commercial real estate to see 'storm' of foreclosures -- And though
the most recent numbers are low, Roddy said the number of sales made
during the 2007 peak of the market are the most concerning. "Lots of
sales means lots of loans and many of these were five-year balloons," he
said, adding that the high number of sales in 2005 to 2007 will have
loans maturing from 2010 to 2012 and with the current state of the
financial system - and several banks' unwillingness to extend loans -
that means higher levels of foreclosures." "Loans will come due and
because of the tightness of the financial market, they won't be
refinanced," he said. "...We feel 2010 is basically going to be the peak
of commercial real estate foreclosures because of the numbers of sales
five years ago ... and until we see a change in monetary policy, a
freeing up in the financing, we're going to continue to see the same
thing at least for the next two years."
Obama Announces 15 Recess Appointments, Scolds GOP -- Fed up with
waiting, President Obama announced Saturday he would bypass a
vacationing Senate and name 15 people to key administration jobs,
wielding for the first time the blunt political tool known as the recess
appointment.
VIDEO: Cops Shock Man and Watch Him Fall
Leading heart Surgeon Calls for Ban on Butter -- A British heart
surgeon has issued a call for a ban on butter, citing excessive
consumption of saturated fats which he believes has rapidly increased
the number of heart disease cases in the Great Britain. Dr. Shyam
Kolvekar expressed concern that people as young as 30 years old are now
getting heart bypass surgery, an issue that he believes could be
remedied by switching from butter to margarine or other "healthy"
spreads.
Elderly Patients Being Executed with Medicine in UK Hospitals --
Concern is growing that the United Kingdom's Liverpool Care Pathway,
intended to ease the comfort of patients whose death is inevitable, is
being misused to railroad elderly patients onto a path toward early
death.
New Field of Nutrigenomics Reveals How What You Eat Now Can Prevent
Future Disease -- Kansas State University (K-State) researchers have
joined a growing number of scientists who say a relatively new medical
field known as nutrigenomics could change the future of public health
forever. How? By tailoring strategies to prevent diseases before they
can happen -- diseases that might otherwise be in a person's future
because of his or her genetic makeup.
Stunning Research Shows High Potential for DNA Damage from Nanoparticles
-- Nanoparticles may be able to damage the DNA of cells without ever
coming into contact with it, according to a study conducted by
researchers from the Bristol Implant Research Center and published in
the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
Sell-Off in US Treasuries Raises Sovereign Debt Fears -- Investors
are braced for a further sell-off in US Treasuries after dramatic moves
last week raised fears that the surfeit of US government debt is
starting to saturate bond markets.
Today in History Monday March
29, 2010
1882 - The Knights of Columbus organization was granted a charter by the
State of Connecticut.
1903 - A regular news service began between New York and London on
Marconi's wireless.
1906 - In the U.S., 500,000 coal miners walked off the job seeking
higher wages.
1913 - The Reichstag announced a raise in taxes in order to finance the
new military budget.
1941 - The British sank five Italian warships off the Peloponnesus coast
in the Mediterranean.
1943 - In the U.S. rationing of meat, butter and cheese began during
World War II.
1946 - Gold Coast became the first British colony to hold an African
parliamentary majority.
1961 - The 23rd amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The
amendment allowed residents of Washington, DC, to vote for president.
1962 - Cuba opened the trial of the Bay of Pigs invaders.
1966 - Leonid Brezhnev became the First Secretary of the Soviet
Communist Party. He denounced the American policy in Vietnam and called
it one of
aggression.
1967 - France launched its first nuclear submarine.
1971 - Lt. William Calley Jr., of the U.S. Army, was found guilty of the
premeditated murder of at least 22 Vietnamese civilians. He was
sentenced to life
imprisonment. The trial
was the result of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam on March 16, 1968.
1971 - A jury in Los Angeles recommended the death penalty for Charles
Manson and three female followers for the 1969 Tate-La Bianca murders.
The
death sentences were
later commuted to live in prison.
1973 - "Hommy," the Puerto Rican version of the rock opera "Tommy,"
opened in New York City.
1973 - The last U.S. troops left South Vietnam.
1974 - Mariner 10, the U.S. space probe became the first spacecraft to
reach the planet Mercury. It had been launched on November 3, 1973.
1974 - Eight Ohio National Guardsmen were indicted on charges stemming
from the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University on
May 4, 1970. All the guardsmen were later acquitted.
1975 - Egyptian president Anwar Sadat declared that he would reopen the
Suez Canal on June 5, 1975.
1979 - The Committee on Assassinations Report issued by U.S. House of
Representatives stated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
was the
result of a conspiracy.
1986 - A court in Rome acquitted six men in a plot to kill the Pope.
1992 - Democratic presidential front-runner Bill Clinton said "I didn't
inhale and I didn't try it again" in reference to when he had
experimented with marijuana.
1993 - The South Korean government agreed to pay financial support to
women who had been forced to have sex with Japanese troops during World
War II.
1995 - The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a constitutional
amendment that would have limited terms to 12 years in the U.S. House
and Senate.
1999 - At least 87 people died in an earthquake in India's Himalayan
foothills.
1999 - The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 10,000 mark for
the first time.
2004 - Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and
Slovenia became members of NATO.
Christian
Militia Group Targeted in FBI Raids--The FBI conducted weekend raids
in three states and arrested at least three people, and a militia leader
in Michigan said the target of at least one raid was a Christian militia
group.
South
Korean navy ship was 'split in two' by mystery explosion -- The
mysterious explosion which sank a South Korean naval ship split the
vessel's hull in two, officials say.
* Related Article:
S. Korea Naval Ship Sinks Near N. Korea -- Word that a South Korean
naval ship sank in the tense waters around the disputed maritime border
with communist North Korea set off panic: The president convened an
emergency meeting and the military dispatched a fleet of ships.
Obama announces 15 recess appointments, scolds GOP -- Fed up with
waiting, President Barack Obama announced Saturday he would bypass a
vacationing Senate and name 15 people to key administration jobs,
wielding for the first time the blunt political tool known as the recess
appointment.
Bank Closures
STUPID
News: CIA Baked Suicide Bomber Birthday Cake -- CIA officers in
Afghanistan were so eager to meet the spy they believed would help them
crack al Qaeda's leadership they planned a birthday celebration for his
visit in December, current and former U.S. officials said.
Summary Timeline for Major Items in Senate Healthcare Bill
Companies say health care costs hard to swallow -- With more than
3,500 companies now getting the tax break as an incentive to keep
providing coverage, others are almost certain to announce similar cost
increases in the weeks ahead as they sort out the impact of the change.
Figuring out what it will mean for retirees will take longer, but
analysts said as many as 2 million could lose the prescription drug
coverage provided by their former employers, leaving them to enroll in
Medicare's program.
Paying Workers to Live Healthier Lives -- While just under way, the
drive to align financial incentives with healthy behavior seems
promising, experts say. "If this were the Olympics, it would be a
demonstration sport - not there yet, but clearly coming," said Dr. David
J. Brailer, chairman of Health Evolution Partners, a private equity
fund, which has not invested in a health-incentive management company to
date.
Bank of America, Wells Fargo probably won't pay income tax for 2009
-- Bank of America probably won't pay federal taxes because it lost
money in the U.S. for the year. Wells Fargo was profitable, but can
write down its tax bill because of losses at Wachovia, which it rescued
from a near collapse.
Suicide
bombers kill 37 in Moscow’s subway -- Two female suicide bombers
blew themselves up on Moscow's subway system as it was jam-packed with
rush-hour passengers Monday, killing at least 37 people, officials said.
FBI Raids Michigan Militia -- Seven people have been arrested for
allegedly selling pipe bombs in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, Fox News has
learned. The arrests and raids in Michigan and Indianapolis are related
to alleged militia activity in the region, but are not related to
international terrorism. There is not a current threat to the public,
according to a law enforcement source. (Righttttttt...)
Obama headed back to U.S. after surprise visit to Afghanistan --
President Obama is expected to return to the United States on today
after a surprise visit to Afghanistan, where he met with his Afghan
counterpart and reiterated the need to wipe out terror networks.
Obama Sets Sights on Merging Mexico and US? -- The pressure to
extend health care privileges to Mexicans and others in America
illegally will grow inexorably. And it will be used as a lever to pry
apart the opposition to a de-facto merger between the two countries.
Again, this is no surprise. The Bush administration gave this sort of
effort a push toward the end of the George Bush's last term. The
administration wanted a kind of amnesty and other legal affirmations
that would essentially have provided guest worker status to Mexicans -
and begun the process as well (in earnest) of harmonizing American and
Mexican laws.
Modified rice that once seemed good pits farmers against chemical
company in court after court -- Two key things happened since the
early 1990s. Concerns grew about foods marketed directly to consumers
that were raised using genetically altered seeds. And the experimental,
Liberty-resistant strain of rice - called Liberty Link - got loose and
made its way into the stream of commercially marketed rice. The
announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in August 2006 that
traces of Liberty Link rice had been found in the nation's rice supply
was not welcome news to rice farmers. No nation has approved genetically
modified rice for the marketplace. Rice futures plummeted by $150
million immediately afterward. European nations quit accepting shipments
of rice from the U.S. that hadn't been extensively tested to show they
weren't contaminated. Japan banned all American rice.
Bank of America and Wells Fargo May Pay No Taxes for 2009 -- The tax
news has been all good lately for some of the nation’s leading banks.
First, JPMorgan Chase found out it will receive a fat refund from the
federal government, and now Bank of America and Wells Fargo won’t have
to pay federal income taxes for 2009.
Scientist: Directed Energy Weapons Turned World Trade Centers Into
Nano-Particles -- n his article “False Flag Operations, 9-11 and the
Exopolitical Perspective” Dr. Michael E. Salla states, “The fourth
exopolitical factor [of false flag operations] concerns the use of
weather modification technologies that former Secretary of State William
Cohen confirmed as existing in 1997.” (Dr. Judy Wood is in this article)
VIDEO: New Paycheck Deduction
Rate the President -- With President Obama completing his first year
in office this week, we are giving you the chance to weigh in on how you
think he has done on the job.
Hoyer Decries Talk of Reprisals Against Lawmakers -- House Majority
Leader Steny Hoyer voiced concern Thursday over warnings of violent
reprisals against members of Congress who voted for landmark health care
legislation, saying the threats are being taken "very seriously."
Health
Bill: A Transfer of Power, Kills the Constitution -- I studied it
with particular emphasis from my area of expertise, constitutional law.
I was frankly concerned that parts of the proposed law that were being
discussed might be unconstitutional. What I found was far worse than
what I had heard or expected.
Hutaree Christian Militia Among Targets of FBI Raids -- The FBI said
Sunday that agents conducted weekend raids in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio
and arrested at least three people, and a militia leader in Michigan
said the target of at least one raid was a Christian militia group.
Anti-Hate Group Finds Another Group It Hates -- The Southern Poverty
Law Center (or as I like to call it, ADL South), has published a post on
yet another group of people it hates (because it doesn’t fit into the
SPLC’s socialist view of the world): FEMA conspiracy theorists.
CFTC
Whistleblower Injured in London Hit-and-run -- London metals trader
Andrew Maguire, who warned an investigator for the U.S. Commodity
Futures Trading Commission in advance about a gold and silver market
manipulation to be undertaken by traders for JPMorgan Chase in February
and whose whistleblowing was publicized by GATA at Thursday’s CFTC
hearing on metals futures trading-– was injured along with his wife the
next day when their car was struck by a hit-and-run driver in the London
area.
CBO: Debt Will Rise to 90% of GDP -- President Obama's fiscal 2011
budget will generate nearly $10 trillion in cumulative budget deficits
over the next 10 years, $1.2 trillion more than the administration
projected, and raise the federal debt to 90 percent of the nation's
economic output by 2020, the Congressional Budget Office reported
Thursday.
Pfizer to Pay $142 Million for Drug Fraud -- Pharmaceutical giant
Pfizer has been ordered to pay $142 million US in damages for
fraudulently marketing gabapentin, an anti-seizure drug marketed under
the name Neurontin.
Supply Fears
Start to Hit Treasuries -- The bond vigilantes are finally flexing
their muscles. A long period of stability for the US government bond
market showed signs of cracking this week as a lack of investor appetite
for new debt sent the benchmark 10-year yield to its highest level since
last June.
CIA Paper Reveals Plans to Manipulate European Opinion on Afghanistan
-- 'Out-of-the-box' CIA think tank proposes concerns over women's
rights, fear of terrorism as ways to boost support for Afghan war.
American Terror Suspect Worked for DEA -- An American charged with
helping plan the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, moved
effortlessly between the United States, Pakistan and India for nearly
seven years, training at a militant camp in Pakistan on five occasions,
according to a plea agreement released by the Justice Department last
week.
Iran-Contra Operative Linked to Questionable Spy Program -- A former
high-ranking CIA official who was involved in the Iran-Contra scandal
has worked on an alleged ad hoc spy program that the Pentagon is
investigating, CNN has learned.
S. Korea Navy Ship Sinking In Waters Near N. Korea -- A South Korean
navy ship carrying 104 people sunk near the North Korea border on Friday
after an explosion onboard, Yonhap news agency reported.
N. Korea Vows 'Nuclear Strikes' in Latest Threat -- North Korea's
military warned South Korea and the United States on Friday of
"unprecedented nuclear strikes" over a report the two countries plan to
prepare for possible instability in the totalitarian country.
EU Draws Up Plans for Single 'Economic Government' to Prevent Crisis
-- Germany and France have tabled controversial plans to create an
"economic government of the European Union" to police financial policy
across the continent.
Engdahl: Wall Street Pulled Greek Plug to Distract from Dollar Disaster
-- In the following RT video author William Engdahl talks about how
large Wall Street firms are using the Greek economic crisis to deflect
attention from the dollar’s weakness onto the Euro.
Eurozone Bags Greek Rescue Deal to Involve IMF -- Euro nations late
on Thursday agreed a deal to involve the IMF in a rescue package for
Greece's ailing economy, as European leaders sought to re-boot the euro
currency.
DARPA Radar System Will Track Cars Anywhere -- This is something
they will love over at “24” and its fictitious and nearly omnipotent
Counter Terrorist Unit. The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency is developing a radar system that can track suspects or
vehicles around corners and “down into urban canyons”— essentially
anywhere in a city.
East Asia Launches $US 120 Bn Currency Swap -- East Asian nations
Wednesday officially launched a $US120 billion ($A130.58 billion)
regional currency swap agreement, giving them a safety net against
future liquidity shortages.
Airport Security Guard John Laker Ogled Woman Colleague In Body Scanner
-- Jo Margetson, 29, reported John Laker, 25, after he took her picture
with the X-ray gadget and made a lewd comment.
Mock Shooting of Teacher at British School Left Young Students Terrified
-- A frightening school shooting in England turned out to be fake, and
was designed as a lesson to students about studying a crime scene.
Nano-Foods Coming to a Store Near You -- In one corner of the
convention center, a chemist, a flavorist and two food-marketing
specialists clustered around a large chart of the Periodic Table of
Elements (think back to high school science class). The food chemist,
from China, ran her hands over the chart, pausing at different chemicals
just long enough to say how a nano-ized version of each would improve
existing flavors or create new ones.
China Seeks Russia Alliance to Counter US Dominance -- Looking to
form a counterbalance to the power of the US, Beijing called on Moscow,
as one of the emerging market economies, to enter into an alliance with
China seeking to increase their leverage in global affairs.
Woman Who Invented Credit Default Swaps is One of Key Architects of
Carbon Derivatives -- As I have previously shown, speculative
derivatives (especially credit default swaps or "CDS") are a primary
cause of the economic crisis. They were largely responsible for bringing
down Bear Stearns, AIG (and see this), WaMu and other mammoth
corporations.
VIDEO: Arizona Activists Invade Nevada
Gun Rights Supporters Tote Weapons at Rally Outside Kentucky's Capitol
-- March 27: People listen to speakers near the Kentucky State Capitol
in Frankfort, Ky., during a second amendment rally.
Obama Gets His Civilian Army in the Healthcare Bill....!!!!!
White House Visitors List Show Unsavory Characters Obama Denied Knowing
-- Major news is breaking concerning the White House visitors list. The
log shows that several unsavory characters, at least 2 of whom Obama
denied knowing personally, have been regular visitors at the White
House.
L.A. budget office offers sharply reduced estimate of red-light camera
revenue -- The traffic cameras, which a new study say help reduce
accidents, generate about $3.8 million a year in ticket revenue, just
breaking even after operating costs, the office says.
The Coming of an American Reichstag?? -- A federal intelligence
source reported in an interview last evening that the FBI and the
Department of Homeland Security have been called in to “actively
investigate incidents of violence and threats” made to at least ten
Democrats and one Republican lawmaker since Sunday.
Resistance -- "Time to end this! Enough is enough!" With those
words, Officer Troy Meade of the Everett, Washington Police Department
fired seven rounds into the body of Niles Meservey, killing him
instantly.
The Great 911 Insurance Bonanza -- “An Insurance Policy that had
been set up for the WTC Complex only weeks before the Twin Towers went
down” says Investigative Journalist Laurence De Mello.
Bill Murphy of GATA Reveals Whistle-Blower in Gold Suppression --
Bill Murphy, Chairman of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee delivers
his testimony about a whistle-blower in the gold price suppression
scheme to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on 3/25/10.
Today in History Friday March
26, 2010
1790 Congress passes Naturalization Act, requires 2-year residency
1804 Louisiana becomes a US territory.
1863 Voters in West Virginia approve gradual emancipation of slaves
1872 Thomas J Martin patents fire extinguisher
1886 1st cremation in England
1930 Congress appropriates $50,000 for Inter-American highway
1942 20 tons of gelignite kills 21 in a stone quarry in Easton PA
1943 1st woman to receive air medal (US army nurse Elsie S Ott)
1951 USAF flag approved
1953 Dr Jonas Salk announces new vaccine to prevent polio [myelitis]
1970 500th nuclear explosion announced by the US since 1945
1999 Dr. Jack Kevorkian is found guilty of second degree murder for
euthanizing a patient suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease.
2000 The Russian people elect Vladimir Putin as their president
House Judiciary Chairman Says Constitution's Non-Existent --
'Good and Welfare Clause' Authorizes Congress To Force Americans to Buy
Health Insurance -- House Judiciary Committee
Chairman Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.)
said the “good and welfare clause” gives Congress the authority to
require individuals to buy health insurance as mandated in the health
care bill. However, there is no “good and welfare clause” in the U.S.
Constitution.
Scorecard.org
-- Get an in-depth pollution report for your county, covering air
chemicals, and more.
ID card officials back away from scandal-hit database -- The CIS
database holds information on 85 million citizens, and is the
government’s main citizen database. It is available to 140,000 users
from eight government departments, and to 445 local authorities.But it
is proving difficult for the Department of Work of Pensions to allow
thousands of public workers and local authorities to access the CIS
Oracle-based database, yet keep it demonstrably secure.
Bank seizes money from school districts embroiled in risky investments
-- A European bank that lent money to five Wisconsin school districts
that made risky investments has seized $5.6 million from
district-controlled trusts to try to compel district officials to repay
the debt. DEPFA Bank took the action earlier this week after a year of
fruitless efforts to work out a restructuring of $165 million worth of
loans to the districts' trusts that have been in technical default for
more than two years.
Police in Wales have taken DNA samples from more than 55,000 innocent
people -- Human rights campaigners Liberty called for the database
to simply hold details of sexual and violent offenders, which would save
millions of pounds of public money. Liberty’s legal officer, Anna
Fairclough, told Wales on Sunday: “The Government is fond of justifying
its retention of innocents’ DNA with the trite phrase: ‘nothing to hide,
nothing to fear’. Those affected do not agree. They have done no wrong
and they deeply resent their DNA profiles being held alongside those of
murderers and rapists.”
C. H. Guenther & Son, Inc. Announces Voluntary Nationwide Recall of
Chili Man Seasoning Mix due to Possible Health Risk -- This is one
of many black pepper recalls in the last week or so.
* Related Article:
Red & Black Pepper Spice Recalls Linked to the Salmonella
Montevideo Outbreak Investigation
Russia Claims Breakthrough in Historic Nuclear Reduction Agreement with
US -- Barack Obama's ambitious goal of freeing the world of nuclear
weapons won a significant boost tonight when Russia indicated that it
had reached agreement with the United States on a historic nuclear arms
reduction treaty.
Bin Laden: Americans Will Die if Alleged 911 Mastermind is Executed
-- Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden threatened in a new audio recording
released Thursday to kill any captured Americans if the U.S. executes
the accused mastermind of the Sept.11 attacks or any other Al Qaeda
suspects.
Biden: Without Health Care Obama Would Be Absolutely Done --
Although President Obama repeatedly said he had no idea how health care
politics would play out, Vice President Joe Biden told a fundraising
audience Wednesday the White House would have been doomed without it.
Radical's Deadly 'Booby Trap' -- The shocking new al-Qaeda tactic
involves radical doctors inserting the explosives in women's breasts
during plastic surgery — making them "virtually impossible to detect by
the usual airport scanning machines".
Violations: Health Bill to Face Fresh House Vote -- "After hours of
trying to find a way to block this, they (Republicans) found two
relatively minor provisions that are violations of Senate procedure
which means we're going to have to send it back to the House," Jim
Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, told AFP.
Prisoners Forced to Submit to Radiation Experiments for Private Foreign
Companies -- In Illinois, federal judges have allowed at least two
lawsuits to proceed against correctional officials for using full body
scanners to reveal the anatomy of both prisoners and visitors without
removing their clothing. This is the very same device that airports are
seeking to implement on some inbound flights to the United States.
Navy Laser Weapon Goes Through Early Tests -- A new laser weapon
designed for naval deployment has gone through initial design tests as
one of the first steps before it is adopted for active service, most
likely by the U.S. Navy before any other force.
91% of Americans Use Cell Phones -- The survey of wireless carriers
revealed that over 285 million Americans are mobile subscribers, about
91 percent of the total population.
The SPLC, 3 Percenters & Broken Windows -- The article centers
around a man named Mike Vanderboegh, who the SPLC claims is an extremist
and a radical militia member. Here is a snippet from their article
regarding his blog post, (Mike was on the Power Hour on Friday Dec 4,
2009 if you want to hear a Patriot!)
COP Program Has Cab Drivers Helping Local Police -- "Just like our
squad cars they have 2-way radios, they have cell phones and they have
mobile data terminals," says Colorado Springs Police Chief Richard
Myers. He feels this is a win-win situation for our community. "So by
just increasing their awareness a little bit on how to watch the
unusual, how to identify things that could be criminal activity in
progress, it's just a short stretch to get them to take the extra time
to pick up the mic and call dispatch," says Chief Myers.
What in the World Are They Spraying? -- What would you do if you
were told that toxic substances being sprayed into the sky are falling
to the ground and decimating eco-systems around the world?
VIDEO: Sugar: The Bitter Truth -- Lecture by Dr. Lustig - one hour
29 mins.
After One Year, Obama Plan to Help Modify Second Mortgages Modifies NONE
-- Well, woohoo! It’s been just a few weeks shy of one year since the
Obama Administration announced its plan to help 1.5 million homeowners
modify their second mortgages, and the program has actually done
something I did not think was possible. It’s actually managed to help…
no one!
Rights Groups Fear Graham Bill will Sanction Indefinite Detention --
News that Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is negotiating with the White
House on legislation to create a framework for handling terrorism
detainees has some civil rights groups alarmed at the prospect of
indefinite detention without trial being encoded into US law.
ObamaCare: Civil Disobedience Not Just a Leftist Tool Anymore --
Liberals have traditionally cornered the market on civil disobedience.
Protests, anti-war rallies and refusal to comply have all been familiar
staples of evening newscasts over the last 50 years. With the passage of
the liberty-gobbling intrusiveness that is ObamaCare, the Right might
utilize the Left’s tactics and decide that Alinsky had it right:
Personalize, demonize, resist.
Bad News for America: US CDS Now Wider Than Europe, Treasury Auctions
Bomb -- Three stories from the Wall Street Journal hint at bad news
for the U.S.
Bills to OK Carrying Concealed Guns Without Permits Advance --
Lawmakers have amended Senate Bill 1108 and House Bill 2347 so they
consist of identical language that would, among other things, eliminate
the requirement for concealed-carry weapon permits for U.S. citizens 21
and older.
Fructose Battle Warms Up -- This is early days, but all the
ingredients are in place for a national public relations battle aimed at
ending the general use of common sugar and high fructose products in the
North American diet. The first shots have been fired and it is a good
bet that school kids will shortly be forced to either bring soda pop to
school or to buy it outside the school.
U.N. health organization praises U.S. health reforms -- The head of
the U.N. World Health Organization on Wednesday praised U.S. healthcare
reforms signed by President Barack Obama this week as a breakthrough,
stepping into a sharp domestic political debate.
GOP Lawmaker Darrell Issa Poised to Call for Special Prosecutor to
Investigate White House -- Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on
the House Oversight committee, told CBS News Wednesday that he will call
for a special prosecutor to investigate the White House if it does not
address Rep. Joe Sestak's claim that he was offered a federal job in
exchange for dropping out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary.
No Deaths From Vitamins, Minerals, Amino Acids or Herbs -- The new
174-page annual report of the American Association of Poison Control
Centers, published in the journal Clinical Toxicology, shows zero deaths
from multiple vitamins; zero deaths from any of the B vitamins; zero
deaths from vitamins A, C, D, or E; and zero deaths from any other
vitamin.
Coffin Placed on Carnahan's Lawn -- A coffin was placed on a
Missouri Democrat’s lawn, another in a string of incidents against
lawmakers after their vote Sunday on a health care overhaul.
Today in History Thursday March
25, 2010
1609 - Henry Hudson left on an exploration for Dutch East India Co.
1776 - The Continental Congress authorized a medal for General George
Washington.
1807 - The first railway passenger service began in England.
1807 - British Parliament abolished the slave trade.
1813 - The frigate USS Essex flew the first U.S. flag in battle in the
Pacific.
1821 - Greece gained independence from Turkey.
1865 - During the American Civil War, Confederate forces captured Fort
Stedman in Virginia.
1900 - The U.S. Socialist Party was formed in Indianapolis.
1901 - 55 people died when a Rock Island train derailed near
Marshalltown, IA.
1901 - The Mercedes was introduced by Daimler at the five-day "Week of
Nice" in Nice, France.
1905 - Rebel battle flags that were captured during the American Civil
War were returned to the South.
1905 - Russia received Japan's terms for peace.
1913 - The Palace Theatre opened in New York City.
1940 - The U.S. agreed to give Britain and France access to all American
warplanes.
1941 - The first paprika mill was incorporated in Dollon, SC.
1947 - John D. Rockefeller III presented a check for $8.5 million to the
United Nations for the purchase of land for the site of the U.N. center.
1953 - The USS Missouri fired on targets at Kojo, North Korea.
1954 - RCA manufactured its first color TV set and began mass
production.
1957 - The European Economic Community was established with the signing
of the Treaty of Rome.
1960 - A guided missile was launched from a nuclear powered submarine
for the first time.
1965 - Martin Luther King Jr. led a group of 25,000 to the state capital
in Montgomery, AL.
1970 - The Concorde made its first supersonic flight.
1975 - King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot to death by a nephew. The
nephew, with a history of mental illness, was beheaded the following
June.
1981 - The Down Jones industrial average of selected stocks on the New
York Stock Exchanged closed at its highest level in more than eight
years.
1983 - The U.S. Congress passed legislation to rescue the U.S. social
security system from bankruptcy.
1986 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan ordered emergency aid for the
Honduran army. U.S. helicopters took Honduran troops to the Nicaraguan
border.
1991 - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein launched a major counter-offensive
to recapture key towns from Kurds in northern Iraq.
1992 - Soviet cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev returned to Earth after spending
10 months aboard the orbiting Mir space station.
1993 - President de Klerk admitted that South Africa had built six
nuclear bombs, but said that they had since been dismantled.
1994 - United States troops completed their withdrawal from Somalia.
1996 - The U.S. issued a newly redesigned $100 bill for circulation.
1998 - A cancer patient was the first known to die under Oregon's
doctor-assisted suicide law.
FDIC Bank Watch List -- There are now 957 E-Rated Banks! According
to BankRate.com's third quarter data just released on October 6, there
are now 872 banks that rate only one star.
Shocking
Audio: Rep. Dingell Says ObamaCare Will Eventually ‘Control the People’
* Related Article:
Rep. Dingell states government, 'to control the people'
Health Law Surprise Is Page 1,617 Demanding Which Drugs Work -- the
43-page measure tucked inside the bill may have a far greater effect on
medical care. The overhaul creates an institute, funded with $500
million or more annually, to spur studies of which drugs, devices and
medical procedures work best. Read More...
Abel Danger: Field McConnell & David Hawkins: March 2010
Curcumin
'could slow liver disease' -- A study has shown The Indian spice
curcumin may slow down the progress of liver disease.
Health
Bill A TRANSFER OF POWER, Kills The Constitution -- A retired
Constitutional lawyer has read the entire proposed 'healthcare bill.'
Read his staggering conclusions.The Truth About The Health Care Bills.
Indian military to weaponize world's hottest chili -- The Indian
military has a new weapon against terrorism: the world's hottest chili.
After conducting tests, the military has decided to use the thumb-sized
"bhut jolokia," or "ghost chili," to make tear gas-like hand grenades to
immobilize suspects, defense officials said Tuesday.
VA
tests system for electronic disability claims -- Without a system
overhaul, the VA estimates that by 2015, that backlog of disability
claims will increase tenfold to about 2.6 million. Those with
service-connected injuries already wait an average of about five months
to have a claim processed, and there are frequent complaints about lost
paperwork and inaccuracy.
Soldiers Take Psychiatric Medications for Stress -- After years on
the battlefield or in the trenches, many American soldiers are showing
signs of psychological distress. An increasing number of soldiers are
turning to medication to alleviate their symptoms.
Houston Police To Begin Training Officers To Staff Checkpoints--The
Houston Police Department is poised to do what no other civilian police
department in the United States has yet to publicly do. On the desk of
the Chief of Police is the authorization to begin training officers to
staff checkpoints at key infrastructure points throughout the city.
Water plant visitor says he's been there before -- Solvay fluoride’s
own data safety sheets admits chronic toxic effects of the skeleton,
thyroid, testes, kidney, liver was observed. In addition, ambiguous
carcinogenic & mutagenic effects observed, along with fetotoxic (
meaning toxic to fetuses) and fertility effects.
Cops in N.J. Town Given Keys To Homes -- It's a novel program
designed to improve the safety of senior citizens in New Jersey. The
program would allow police quick access into a home to help anyone
having a medical emergency – without having the break down the door.
Related Article:
Houston police chief wants cameras on homes, streets (Chief Harold
Hurtt)
The
40 Deadliest Fast-Food Meals -- The new health-care law requires
fast-food chains to post calorie counts next year. So what
“sticker-shock” can you anticipate in 2011? Just follow the links to
see!!
Pope: World Needs New Financial System -- At a meeting with members
of the Union of Industrialists and Businesses of Rome last Thursday,
Pope Benedict xvi reinforced his call for a new global financial order.
Jim Rogers Says a Eurozone of 10 Members is a 'Wonderful Thing' --
However, you can’t keep hiding financial problems forever. When these
countries start to collapse, voters will be furious—and justifiably so.
People are already very unhappy in California, Virginia, New Jersey and
elsewhere. If things keep getting worse, social unrest will escalate.
History shows that when standards of living dramatically fall, social
unrest results.
Understanding the EMP Threat Could Save Your Life -- EMP –
electromagnetic pulse – is a phenomenon first discovered by scientists
doing nuclear testing in the 1940s. They observed that this high
frequency pulse, produced by the explosion of a nuclear weapon in the
earth’s atmosphere, could create a pulse that destroys electronics and
electrical systems. Under certain conditions, an EMP could bring down
America’s digital infrastructure.
Cyber-Attack on US Firms, Google Traced to Chinese -- The
cyber-attack on Google and other U.S. companies was part of a suspected
Chinese government operation launched last year that used human
intelligence techniques and high-technology to steal corporate secrets,
according to U.S. government and private-sector cybersecurity
specialists.
Barack Obama Has Awakened A Sleeping Nation -- Average Americans who
have quietly gone about their lives, earning a paycheck, contributing to
their favorite charities, going to high school football games on Friday
night, spending their weekends at the beach or on hunting trips —
they've gotten off the fence. They've woken up. There is a level of
political activism in this country that we haven't seen since the
American Revolution, and Barack Obama has been the catalyst that has
sparked a restructuring of the American political and social
consciousness.
TSA Nominee Wants More 'Behavior Detection' -- President Barack
Obama's nominee to oversee security at U.S. airports said on Tuesday he
wants to shift screening closer to the Israeli model to include more
behavior detection in a bid to thwart terrorism plots.
Injection Could Cure Phobias -- A team of researchers have found
that the brain may be able to be 're-programmed' to overcome some of our
most basic fears. Scientists claim that because fear is a learned habit,
they could be able to switch off the part of the brain that generates
those emotions with a simple jab.
Health-Care Changes to Start Taking Effect This Year -- Indoor
tanning salons will charge customers a 10 percent tax beginning in July
in one of the changes Americans will see as a result of the U.S.
health-care overhaul signed into law by President Barack Obama.
Judge Rules No Prom But Lesbians Rights Violated -- The prom's still
off at a Itawamba County high school that canceled it instead of letting
a lesbian student bring her girlfriend, but a federal judge ruled
Tuesday that the district's actions did violate the teen's
constitutional rights.
VIDEO: Border Patrol Violation of 4th Amendment
Census Blamed for Roundup and Internment of Japanese Americans -- So
you think that the Census Bureau is merely collecting data such as GPS
coordinates and race for purely innocent reasons. Think again. Those
that are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.
Lawmakers Eyeing National ID Card -- Lawmakers are proposing a
national identification card — what they’re calling “high-tech,
fraud-proof Social Security cards” — that would be required for all
employees in the United States.
States Sue Over Overhaul That Will Bust States Budgets -- President
Barack Obama faces a fight over the health-care overhaul from states
that sued today because the legislation’s expansion of Medicaid imposes
a fiscal strain on their cash-strapped budgets.
Tax-Refund Law Could Benefit JP Morgan -- J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is
nearing a deal that would allow it to benefit from a tax refund of as
much as $1.4 billion, becoming the latest company to tap a
little-noticed plank in an economic stimulus bill.
France Ditches Carbon Tax as Strikes, Mass Protests Threatens to Shut
Down Country -- President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday scrapped the
country’s proposed carbon tax and reshuffled his cabinet in populist
tilt after suffering a crushing electoral defeat over the weekend, when
his Gaulliste UMP party lost every region other than in its bastion of
Alsace and the Indian Ocean island of Reunion.
Wall Street Despised in Poll Showing Most Want Regulation --
Americans are leery about creating a new federal agency to make
consumer-protection rules for mortgages and credit cards and would
prefer to enhance the existing powers of banking regulators.
German Pensioners Jailed for Kidnapping and Torturing Financial Adviser
Over Investment Losses -- A gang of old age pensioners who kidnapped
and tortured their financial adviser because he had 'taken us for a
ride' were jailed in Germany today.
Experts to Say Health Care Lawsuits Don't Stand a Chance -- The top
prosecutors in 13 states — 12 of them Republicans — filed a lawsuit
Tuesday challenging the health-care bill minutes after President Barack
Obama signed the landmark legislation into law.
Today in History Wednesday March
24, 2010
1664 - A charter to colonize Rhode Island was granted to Roger Williams
in London.
1720 - In Paris, banking houses closed due to financial crisis.
1828 - The Philadelphia & Columbia Railway was authorized as the first
state owned railway.
1832 - Mormon Joseph Smith was beaten, tarred and feathered in Ohio.
1837 - Canada gave blacks the right to vote.
1868 - Metropolitan Life Insurance Company was formed.
1882 - In Berlin, German scientist Robert Koch announced the discovery
of the tuberculosis germ (bacillus).
1883 - The first telephone call between New York and Chicago took place.
1898 - The first automobile was sold.
1900 - Mayor Van Wyck of New York broke the ground for the New York
subway tunnel that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.
1900 - In New Jersey, the Carnegie Steel Corporation was formed.
1906 - The "Census of the British Empire" revealed that England ruled
1/5 of the world.
1920 - The first U.S. coast guard air station was established at
Morehead City, NC.
1924 - Greece became a republic.
1934 - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt signed a bill granting future
independence to the Philippines.
1938 - The U.S. asked that all powers help refugees fleeing from the
Nazis.
1944 - In Rome, The Gestapo rounded up over 300 innocent Italians and
shot them to death in response to a bomb attack that killed 32 German
policemen.
1946 - The Soviet Union announced that it was withdrawing its troops
from Iran.
1947 - The U.S. Congress proposed the limitation of the presidency to
two terms.
1976 - The president of Argentina, Isabel Peron, was deposed by her
country's military.
1980 - In San Salvador, Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero was shot to
death by gunmen as he celebrated Mass.
1981 - "Nightline" with Ted Koppel premiered.
1989 - The Exxon Valdez spilled 240,000 barrels (11 million gallons) of
oil in Alaska's Prince William Sound after it ran aground.
1995 - The U.S. House of Representatives passed a welfare reform package
that made the most changes in social programs since the New Deal.
1998 - A former FBI agent said papers found in James Earl Ray's car
supports a conspiracy theory in the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther
King Jr.
1999 - In Kenya, at least 31 people were killed when a passenger train
derailed. Hundreds were injured.
1999 - NATO launched air strikes against Yugoslavia (Serbia, Montenegro,
Kosovo and Vojvodina). The attacks marked the first time in its 50-year
history that NATO attacked a sovereign country. The bombings were in
response to Serbia's refusal to sign a peace treaty with ethnic
Albanians who were seeking independence for the province of Kosovo.
1999 - The 7-mile tunnel under Mont Blanc in France was an inferno after
a truck carrying flour and margarine caught on fire. At least 30 people
were killed.
2006 - In Spain, the Basque separatist group ETA announced a permanent
cease-fire.
Health issues are at heart of raw milk debate -- The claims are
appealing: Milk straight from the cow's udder is a "living food" that
can help fend off illnesses, such as asthma, and has kept farm families
healthy for generations. Anecdotally, the claims are supported by people
who drink raw, unpasteurized milk. Some have said it has reduced
behavioral problems in children and has cured autism.
It won't be just the states suing to nullify unconstitutional health
care "law" By: Devvy Kidd -- "As I write this, Virginia is set to
file a lawsuit as soon as the usurper in the White House signs these
junk bills into "law." The criminal syndicate in Comrade Obama's
Politburo and Department of Justice will scoff at the notion that this
"law" violates many Amendments: Fifth, Ninth, Tenth."
Cindy
Sheehan arrested at DC war protest -- Seven protesters, including
activist Cindy Sheehan, have been arrested at an anti-war rally and
march in Washington. Sheehan began shouting "arrest that war criminal"
through a bullhorn and pointing to the White House from an area of
sidewalk park police had closed off Saturday afternoon. The other six
protesters were among a group of more than a dozen who had lain down on
the sidewalk next to a row of flag-draped cardboard coffins outside the
White House fence. The rally and march drew thousands to the park near
the White House on the seventh anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
* Related Article:
US May Try Sheehan for Anti- War Campaign -- US authorities have
arrested a number of anti-war protesters, including high-profile
activist Cindy Sheehan, during a demonstration in Washington DC.
(Oh So Stupid News)
British Officials Chop Down 6,000 Trees to Stop Sex in the Woods --
Six thousand trees were chopped down at a British beauty spot, partly to
discourage strangers who were regularly having sex in the woods, it
emerged Tuesday.
Are cosmic rays really causing Toyota's woes? -- It may sound
far-fetched, but federal regulators are studying whether sudden
acceleration in Toyotas is linked to cosmic rays. Read More...
Exploring the
World's Secret Power Structure -- Criminal Politics Magazine!
Massive Job Cuts Projected For New York City -- Mayor Says If Albany
Slices City Aid, As Many As 19,000 Will Be Laid Off; 3,100 Less Cops,
1,000 Less Firefighters.
VIDEO: Gerald Celente on Russia Today - 'Crash of 2010'
Flowers Losing Scent Due to Climate Change -- This is the concern of
environmentalists as flowers are losing their scent due to climate
change and air pollution. And their fragrance may be lost forever.
(Chemtrail exposure more likely.)
It Won't Be Just States Suing to Nullify Unconstitutional Health Care
-- I watched Comrade Pelosi on the boob tube before the vote for the
obscene health care "reform" bill in the House. Another giant step
towards the Sovietization of these united States of America. A few days
earlier, Pelosi had commanded her brassiere brigade to a ho down. The
stage was set for political theater.
Israel's New Enemy: America? -- Despite Vice President Joe Biden's
recent pledge of unswerving fidelity to Israel during his recent visit
there, the rhetoric and pressure directed by the Obama administration
against the only fully functioning democracy in the Middle East more
accurately resembles the behavior of an enemy.
Health Care Mandate to Be Enforced by IRS Bounty Hunters -- The
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will see its largest expansion since
withholding taxes were first enacted during WWII to enforce the glut of
new tax mandates and penalties included in the Democrats’ latest health
care plan, according to Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) (Now, why would they
need IRS goon squads to enforce something good????)
30 Million Kids Got Rotarix Vaccine Tainted with Pig Virus --
Federal health authorities recommended Monday that doctors suspend using
Rotarix, one of two vaccines licensed in the United States against
rotavirus, saying the vaccine is contaminated with material from a pig
virus.
Graham Proposes Framework for Handling Terrorism Suspects -- Sen.
Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) has submitted draft legislation to the White
House in an effort to create a broad framework for handling terrorism
suspects, mapping out proposals that appeal to the administration and
others that do not, officials said.
PUKE: China Recycles Cooking Oil ... From Raw Sewage -- Chinese
cooking oil siphoned from restaurants' waste tanks and stripped out of
raw sewage is being resold on the cheap and has for years tainted
approximately one out of every ten meals cooked in the eastern nation,
according to a recent study.
Nano-Based RFID Tag, You're It -- Rice researchers, in collaboration
with a team led by Gyou-jin Cho at Sunchon National University in Korea,
have come up with an inexpensive, printable transmitter that can be
invisibly embedded in packaging. It would allow a customer to walk a
cart full of groceries or other goods past a scanner on the way to the
car; the scanner would read all items in the cart at once, total them up
and charge the customer's account while adjusting the store's inventory.
New Taxes In the Health Care Bill -- A 40% tax on health insurance
plans exceeding determined levels. Those levels are projected for 2013
to be $8,500 for self only and $23,000 for any other level.
Airport Device Follows Flier's Phones -- The Transportation Security
Administration is looking at installing devices in airports that home in
and detect personal electronic equipment. The aim is to track how long
people are stuck in security lines.
Battle for Budget -- Recently the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
published its scoring of President Obama's budget for the next 10 years.
It shows a budget deficit of $9.8 trillion. That is just shy of $4
trillion worse than the CBO’s baseline budget, a budget that includes
only the laws as currently enacted, with no estimates of any new
programs lawmakers may add that worsen future projections.
Judge Orders Detainee Abused at Guantanamo to be Freed -- A federal
judge on Monday ordered the Pentagon to release a long-held Mauritanian
captive held at Guantanamo Bay who was once considered such a high-value
detainee that former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld designated him
for "special interrogation techniques."
Health Law Will Make Calorie Counts Hard to Ignore -- A requirement
tucked into the nation's massive health care bill will make calorie
counts impossible for thousands of restaurants to hide and difficult for
consumers to ignore. More than 200,000 fast food and other chain
restaurants will have to include calorie counts on menus, menu boards
and even drive-throughs.
Bernake Wants to End Federal Reserve Requirements Completely: Does It
Matter? -- "The Federal Reserve believes it is possible that,
ultimately, its operating framework will allow the elimination of
minimum reserve requirements, which impose costs and distortions on the
banking system."
Hilary Clinton Threatens Iran with "Painful Consequences' -- Stating
that a nuclear-armed Iran would touch off an arms race in the Middle
East and embolden Iran’s “terrorist clientele” to take new actions,
Clinton said, “This … is unacceptable to the United States. It is
unacceptable to Israel. It is unacceptable to the region and the
international community.”
Existing Home Sales Double Dip Deteriorates With Biggest Increase In
Months Supply Inventory In 20 Years -- The double dip in housing is
getting worse by the month. After hitting a nearly 6.6 million in
existing home sales in late 2009, the number has now plunged to 5.02
million, a decline of 0.9% sequentially, and a major drop from the
artificially induced peak.
Obama to Sign Health Bill, Celebrate with Allies -- President Barack
Obama's yearlong health care overhaul drama featured dozens of speeches,
contentious debate and a televised summit with lawmakers before a
divided Congress passed the bill. An elaborate White House signing
ceremony kicks off the next act: selling the sweeping changes to a
skeptical public.
Rent-a-Rambos -- A fascinating scandal has erupted in Washington
that is exposing the sordid underbelly of the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq
and Pakistan.
DoD: The Biggest Corporation of All -- President Obama called his
$3.8-trillion budget a big step in restoring America’s economic health.
Last year he promoted TARP, the Troubled Assets Relief Program to bail
out the financial sector at a mere $700 billion. Anyone – even
billionaire bankers — can make mistakes that wreak ruin on the rest of
us!
Study: Daylight Saving Time a Waste of Energy -- The result of the
study showed that electricity use went up in the counties adopting
daylight saving time in 2006, costing $8.6 million more in household
electricity bills.
Inside the Pelosi Sausage Factory -- Never before has the average
American been treated to such a live-action view of the sordid politics
necessary to push a deeply flawed bill to completion. It was dirty
deals, open threats, broken promises and disregard for democracy that
pulled ObamaCare to this point, and yesterday the same machinations
pushed it across the finish line.
Rep. Giffords' Tucson Office Vandalized After Health Care Vote --
The front door was smashed out at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’
congressional office last night.
ACORN Folds -- The national group ACORN is folding, an official
there, Kevin Whelan, said in an emailed statement.
GOOGLE Shuts Up Shop in China in Row Over State Censorship -- China
hit back at Google last night after the internet search giant closed its
flagship Chinese site, carrying out a threat issued two months ago in a
dispute over censorship.
Joe Biden Says Health Care is a 'Big F---ing Deal' -- After Biden
introduced Obama, he whispered, "This is a big bleepin' deal" (only he
didn't say "bleepin'").
Where Were You When the Republic Died? -- In November 2008,
Americans elected a socialist as their president. In March 2010, they
woke up stunned to find themselves living in a socialist country.
Health Care Bill Spurs Assassination Calls on Twitter --
"ASSASSINATION! America, we survived the Assassinations and Lincoln &
Kennedy. We'll surely get over a bullet to Barrack Obama's head," wrote
one Twitter user.
Obama Awarded Hundreds of Thousands in Airport Grants to Stupak's
District Two Days Before Vote -- Three airports in the district of
infamous fence-sitting and ultimately kowtowing Democrat Bart Stupak
were awarded $726,409 in grants by the Obama Administration just two
days before a vote on Obama and Pelosi’s government takeover of
healthcare.
Houston Police To Begin Training Office to Staff Checkpoints -- The
Houston Police Department is poised to do what no other civilian police
department in the United States has yet to publicly do. On the desk of
the Chief of Police is the authorization to begin training officers to
staff checkpoints at key infrastructure points throughout the city.
The Cost of Denying Obamacare: $2,250 a Month and IRS Goons Pointing
Guns at You -- The cost of defying Obamacare by withholding
compliance on your income tax return will not be for the faint hearted –
families will be forced to cough up $2,250 a month while being closely
scrutinized by an army of new IRS agents with fresh “combat training,”
armed to the teeth with 12 gauge pump action shotguns.
Judge Napolitano video: Is Healthcare Reform Unconstitutional?
Today in History Tuesday March
23, 2010
1775 - American revolutionary Patrick Henry declared, "give me liberty,
or give me death!"
1806 - Explorers Lewis and Clark, reached the Pacific coast, and began
their return journey to the east.
1835 - Charles Darwin reached Los Arenales, in the Andes.
1836 - The coin press was invented by Franklin Beale.
1839 - The first recorded use of "OK" [oll korrect] was used in Boston's
Morning Post.
1840 - The first successful photo of the Moon was taken.
1857 - Elisha Otis installed the first modern passenger elevator in a
public building. It was at the corner of Broome Street and Broadway in
New York City.
1858 - Eleazer A. Gardner patented the cable streetcar.
1868 - The University of California was founded in Oakland, CA.
1880 - John Stevens patented the grain crushing mill. The mill increased
flour production by 70 percent.
1889 - U.S. President Harrison opened Oklahoma for white colonization.
1901 - Shots were fired at Privy Councilor Pobyedonostzev, who was
considered to be Russia's most hated man.
1902 - In Italy, the minimum legal working age was raised from 9 to 12
for boys and from 11 to 15 for girls.
1903 - The Wright brothers obtained an airplane patent.
1903 - U.S. troops were sent to Honduras to protect the American
consulate during revolutionary activity.
1909 - British Lt. Shackleton found the magnetic South Pole.
1912 - The Dixie Cup was invented.
1922 - The first airplane landed at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.
1925 - The state of Tennessee enacted a law that made it a crime for a
teacher in any state-supported public school to teach any theory that
was in contradiction to the Bible's account of man's creation.
1937 - The L.A. Railway Co. started using PCC streetcars.
1942 - During World War II, the U.S. government began evacuating
Japanese-Americans from West Coast homes to detention centers.
1951 - U.S. paratroopers descended from flying boxcars in a surprise
attack in Korea.
1957 - The U.S. Army sold the last of its homing pigeons.
1965 - America's first two-person space flight took off from Cape
Kennedy with astronauts Virgil I. Grissom and John W. Young aboard.
1965 - The Moroccan Army shot at demonstrators. About 100 people were
killed.
1967 - Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. called the Vietnam War the
biggest obstacle to the civil rights movement.
1972 - The U.S. called a halt to the peace talks on Vietnam being held
in Paris.
1983 - U.S. President Reagan first proposed development of technology to
intercept enemy missiles. The proposal became known as the Strategic
Defense Initiative and "Star Wars."
1990 - Former Exxon Valdez Captain Joseph Hazelwood was ordered to help
clean up Prince William Sound and pay $50,000 in restitution for the
1989 oil spill.
1996 - Taiwan held its first democratic presidential elections.
1998 - Germany's largest bank pledged $3.1 million to Jewish foundations
as restitution for Nazi looting.
1998 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that term limits for state lawmakers
were constitutional.
1998 - The movie "Titanic" won 11 Oscars at the Academy Awards.
1998 - The German company Bertelsmann AG agreed to purchase the American
publisher Random House for $1.4 billion. The merger created the largest
English-language book-publishing company in the world.
1999 - NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana gave formal approval for air
strikes against Serbian targets.
Rotarix rotavirus vaccine contaminated, officials say -- Federal
health authorities recommended Monday that doctors suspend using Rotarix,
one of two vaccines licensed in the United States against rotavirus,
saying the vaccine is contaminated with material from a pig virus.
Judge
orders release of Guantanamo detainee -- A federal judge ordered on
Monday that a man accused of having ties to some of the hijackers in the
September 11, 2001, attacks, be released from the U.S. military prison
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Bank For International Settlements (BIS): How The Rothschilds Control
And Dictate To The World -- For decades, people have urged me,
pushed me, prodded me, practically peeled off my skin, pulled out my
eyes, and yanked out my brain to prove it, i.e. show them the data, the
results, the books, manuals, pamphlets, journals, monographs, voice and
video recordings, all the resources I have used to make the statements I
do about the Brzezinski Cartel and the Rothschilds.
U.S. Iran Sneak Attack? -- It has been revealed that hundreds of
powerful U.S. “bunker-buster” bombs are being shipped from California in
the U.S. to the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in
preparation for a possible attack on Iran. Although Diego Garcia is part
of British Indian Ocean Territory, it is used by the US as a military
base under an agreement made in 1971. The agreement led to 2,000 native
islanders being forcibly evicted to the Seychelles and Mauritius.
Randy Neugebauer Revealed As 'Baby Killer' Shouter: Texas Republican
Apologizes -- Andy Neugebauer (R-Tex.) identified himself as the
member of congress who shouted "baby killer" during Rep. Bart Stupak's
(D-Mich.) speech on the floor of the House of Representatives Sunday
night.
The
Communist Takeover Of America - 45 Declared Goals -- You are about
to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our
great Capitol back in 1963. As you read this, 39 years later, you should
be shocked by the events that have played themselves out. I first ran
across this list 3 years ago but was unable to attain a copy and it has
bothered me ever since.
Florida says several states to file heatlhcare lawsuit -- Florida's
attorney general will file a lawsuit with nine other state attorneys
general opposing the healthcare legislation passed by Congress, a
spokeswoman said on Monday.
VIDEO:
Viva Reform: Nearly 200,000 pack into Washington, DC saying the time for
change is now -- Nearly 200,000 people packed the Mall on
Washington. While inside the U.S. Capitol, President Obama and lawmakers
were focused on passing health care reform, immigrant activists asked
that they are next in line.
Depleted
Uranium Research - DU Affects DNA -- The research on depleted
uranium comes out of French researchers that examined the manner DNA is
affected by enriched and depleted uranium. The metal or chemical effect
it seems is the more important in depleted uranium exposure.
VOTE
-- The House Has Passed an Historic Healthcare Overhaul. Are You Excited
or Angry?
Charges possible against ex-Blackwater officials -- Federal
prosecutors are considering filing weapons charges against former top
officials of the Blackwater Worldwide private security company on
allegations that they illegally stockpiled automatic rifles at its
headquarters, The Associated Press has learned.
Thousands of over-60s are hooked on tranquillisers that have turned them
into virtual zombies -- Many of today's addicts are the elderly, a
lost generation who were prescribed the drugs decades ago. Some continue
to suffer debilitating-side effects as a result of taking the tablets,
including feelings of paranoia, lethargy, fatigue, dizziness, and memory
and balance problems. Many won't realise the drugs are the problem.
A China boost for gold -- Gold prices, which have taken a breather
in the last two days, could get help in coming months from Chinese
demand for bullion, says one analyst. Bank of America/Merrill Lynch
expects China “to provide continued support to gold prices going
forward,” and maintained a medium-term gold price target of $1,500 an
ounce for gold. China’s demand for gold has flourished thanks to a slew
of regulatory changes, analyst Michael Widmer wrote in a recent report.
The Biggest Abuse of Power and Arrogance Washington Has Ever Seen --
The change we can believe in has resulted in something that is virtually
unbelievable. We know that there is now one thing left to do: since
Speaker Pelosi couldn’t drain the swamp as she pledged to, the American
people will have to do it for her.
Abortion Bill Earns Ire of Critics On Both Sides -- "The executive
order promised by President Obama was issued for political effect. It
changes nothing," the group said. "It does not correct any of the
serious pro-abortion provisions in the bill."
Healthcare
Mandate to be Enforced by IRS Bounty Hunters -- The Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) will see its largest expansion since withholding taxes
were first enacted during WWII to enforce the glut of new tax mandates
and penalties included in the Democrats’ latest health care plan,
according to Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX).
Research shows Snacking on walnuts 'helps to prevent prostate cancer'
-- A handful of walnuts a day could help keep prostate cancer at bay.
Snacking on the nuts can cut the size of tumours and slow their growth,
research shows. Although the experiments were carried out on mice, the
researchers believe they are relevant to humans.
Pet Shelters Suffer in Economic Downturn -- It’s time for spring
cleaning! So before you throw out those old blankets and towels, that
printer/fax you’re not using, or that igloo your dog refuses to use,
consider donating them to a shelter. Your trash could be a shelter
animal’s treasure.
Health-Care Stocks Up After House OK's Obamacare -- Health-care
stocks led the stock market higher Monday after the U.S. House Sunday
approved a historic health-care overhaul designed to bring health
insurance to 32 million more Americas while subjecting U.S. industries
to a dramatically redrawn and newly regulated marketplace.
Underemployment At Record 20% -- Just in case anyone needed
confirmation that the DOL data is just a little, how should we say it,
cooked, here comes Gallup with their March 15 undermployment number,
which just hit a 2010, and series, high of 20%.
CIA Authorizes Every Drone Strike -- CIA Chief Leon Panetta has said
the US counter terrorism polices in Pakistan are legal and highly
effective and that he is acutely aware of the gravity of some of the
decisions thrust upon him.
US Turns Blind Eye to Opium in Afghan Town -- From Gen. Stanley A.
McChrystal on down, the military’s position is clear: “U.S. forces no
longer eradicate,” as one NATO official put it. Opium is the main
livelihood of 60 to 70 percent of the farmers in Marja, which was seized
from Taliban rebels in a major offensive last month. American Marines
occupying the area are under orders to leave the farmers’ fields alone.
US Information Warfare Operation Takes Down Website Used to Plan Attacks
on Americans Inside Iraq -- By early 2008, top U.S. military
officials had become convinced that extremists planning attacks on
American forces in Iraq were making use of a Web site set up by the
Saudi government and the CIA to uncover terrorist plots in the kingdom.
Chinese Media: Google Is Tied to US Intelligence -- Chinese media
organs lashed out at Google (GOOG) in an apparently coordinated assault
on Saturday — with one paper suggesting Google is linked to the U.S.
intelligence agencies — just days before the Web giant may announce
plans to close its Chinese-language search engine.
Bank
for International Settlements(BIS): How the Rothschilds Control and
Dictate to the World -- The list below shows 165 different ways how
The First Sphere of Influence (Rothschilds and Brzezinski Cartel)
controls the world. One hundred and sixty-five reasons to believe what I
say to be 100% accurate and true.
Bonds Show US Losing AAA -- The bond market is saying that it’s
safer to lend to Warren Buffett than Barack Obama.
US Police to Get Robocop's Car -- The Ford Taurus Interceptor will
replace the US police's aging Crown Victoria cop cars, which is the
first time the Taurus has been used other than in the Hollywood
blockbuster.
Israel to Ask US for Bombs in the Fight Against Iran's Nuclear Sites
-- Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, will use a visit to
Washington this week to press the US to release sophisticated
bunker-busting bombs needed for a possible strike on Iran’s nuclear
sites.
IMF Warns Wealthiest Nations About Their Debt -- The International
Monetary Fund warned the world's wealthiest nations Sunday to watch
their surging levels of government debt, saying it could drag down the
growth needed to ensure continued economic recovery.
More Homeowners are Opting for 'Strategic Defaults' -- Wynn Bloch
has always dutifully paid her bills and socked away money for
retirement. But in December she defaulted on the mortgage on her Palm
Desert home, even though she could afford the payments.
High-Fructose Corn Syrup Prompts Considerably More Weight Gain -- In
addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term
consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases
in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood
fats called triglycerides. The researchers say the work sheds light on
the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States.
Idaho Leads States Revolt Against Naked Body Scanners -- Idaho has
set the example for others states to follow in the continuing revolt
against naked body scanners, by passing a law that limits the use of the
x-ray scanning devices in airports and government buildings and also
forces Homeland Security to disprove health concerns.
Lebanese Army Fires on Israeli Jets -- The Lebanese army says it has
opened fire on two Israeli warplanes that were violating the country’s
airspace at medium altitude.
Healthcare Reform Passes - article by Ron Paul -- Of
course, the most troubling aspect of this bill is that it is so
blatantly unconstitutional and contrary to the ideals of liberty.
Nowhere in the constitution is there anything approaching authority for
the Federal government to do any of this.
Toyota Hybrid Horror Hoax -- So why did he do it? Sleuth work at the
Web sites Jalopnik.com and Gawker.com reveals that Sikes and his wife
Patty in 2008 filed for bankruptcy and are over $700,000 in debt. Among
their creditors is Toyota Financial Services for a lease on a 2008
Toyota Prius, with value at time of bankruptcy of $20,494.
How Far Down the Rabbit Hole Must We Go? -- Bernanke and Paulson,
and now Geithner, know that this attempted "reflation" won't - and can't
- work. They have put forward this path not because it is the right
thing to do, but because the alternative means a lot of people with
power and money will go bankrupt and the Government of The United States
will have to change how it finances itself, removing the corrupt
influences that have been used to "cook" the books - and outcomes - for
the last 30 years.
Cordyceps Mushroom is an Effective Cancer Treatment -- Researchers
from the University of Nottingham have found that a rare, wild mushroom
called cordyceps is an effective treatment for cancer.
Health Care Reform Dooms America to Pharma-Dominated Sickness and
Suffering -- Today the medical mafia struck another devastating blow
to the health and freedom of all Americans. With the support of an
inarguably corrupt Congress that has simply abandoned the real needs of
the American people, the sick-care industry has locked in a high-profit
scheme of disease and monopoly-priced pharmaceuticals in a nation that
can ill afford either one.
House Roll Call -- Find Out How Your Rep Voted.
Today in History Monday March
22, 2010
1733 - Joseph Priestly invented carbonated water (seltzer).
1765 - The Stamp Act was passed. It was the first direct British tax on
the American colonists. It was repealed on March 17, 1766.
1775 - Edmund Burke presented his 13 articles to the English parliament.
1790 - Thomas Jefferson became the first U.S. Secretary of State.
1871 - William Holden of North Carolina became the first governor to be
removed by impeachment.
1894 - The first playoff competition for the Stanley Cup began. Montreal
played Ottawa.
1903 - Niagara Falls ran out of water due to a drought.
1904 - The first color photograph was published in the London Daily
Illustrated Mirror.
1933 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill legalizing the
sale and possession of beer and wine containing up to 3.2% alcohol.
1934 - The first Masters golf championship began in Augusta, GA.
1935 - Persia was renamed Iran.
1946 - The first U.S. built rocket to leave the earth's atmosphere
reached a height of 50-miles.
1948 - The United States announced a land reform plan for Korea.
1948 - "The Voice of Firestone" became the first commercial radio
program to be carried simultaneously on both AM and FM radio stations.
1954 - The first shopping mall opened in Southfield, Michigan.
1965 - U.S. confirmed that its troops used chemical warfare against the
Vietcong.
1972 - The U.S. Senate passed the Equal Rights Amendment. It was not
ratified by the states.
1974 - The Viet Cong proposed a new truce with the U.S. and South
Vietnam. The truce included general elections.
1981 - U.S. Postage rates went from 15-cents to 18-cents an ounce.
1981 - A group of twelve Green Berets arrived in El Salvador. This
brought the total number of advisors to fifty-four.
1982 - The Space Shuttle Columbia was launched into orbit on mission
STS-3. It was the third orbital flight for the Columbia.
1988 - The Congress overrode U.S. President Reagan's veto of a sweeping
civil rights bill.
1989 - Oliver North began two days of testimony at his Iran-Contra trial
in Washington, DC.
1990 - A jury in Anchorage, Alaska, found Captain Hazelwood not guilty
in the Valdez oil spill.
1993 - Cleveland Indians pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews were killed
in a boating accident in Florida. Bob Ojeda was seriously injured in the
accident.
1993 - Intel introduced the Pentium-processor (80586) 64 bits-60
MHz-100+ MIPS.
1997 - Tara Lipinski, at 14 years and 10 months, became the youngest
women's world figure skating champion.
2002 - The U.S. Postal Rate Commission approved a request for a postal
rate increase of first-class stamps from 34 cents to 37 cents by June
30.
2002 - A collection of letters and cards sent by Princess Diana of Wales
sold for $33,000. The letters and cards were written to a former
housekeeper at Diana's teenage home.
Health
Care Bill Passes -- The Senate bill passed the House, 219 to
212. Delivering a hard-fought victory in President Barack Obama's
year-long pursuit of a national healthcare overhaul, a divided House
tonight narrowly approved legislation which both supporters and
opponents call historic in its sweep.
*
How They Voted...!!
Today's date is 3/22. Coincidence? -- He promised new world order,
proclaimed by George H. W. Bush, has arrived today in the form of
tyranny under Barack Hussein Obama. Bush, who is a member of Skull and
Bones, has the number 322 under the Skull and Bones insignia. Is it any
wonder that today's date is 3/22?
Navy Exercise: Solid Curtain 2010 -- Exercise Solid Curtain/Citadel
Shield 2010 will be conducted on naval bases and installations
throughout the continental United States, Hawaii and Guam from March
22-26, 2010. This will be the first year installations in Hawaii and
Guam participate in the exercise, and it is the largest
Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection exercise conducted nation-wide. This
annual exercise is designed to enhance the training and readiness of
Navy security personnel to respond to threats to installations and
units. Solid Curtain/Citadel Shield 2010 is not in response to any
specific threat, but is a regularly scheduled exercise.
* Related Article:
False Flag Imminent?
Regulators Shut 7 Banks in Five States -- Regulators on Friday shut
down seven banks in five states, bringing to 37 the number of bank
failures in the U.S. so far this year.
Money-market funds see biggest outflow since Lehman bankruptcy --
Investors pulled $60 billion out of money-market funds in the latest
week, the biggest shift since Lehman filed for bankruptcy at the height
of the credit crisis in September 2008, according to Merrill Lynch. That
was also when the Reserve Primary Fund collapsed.
Democrats Predict Win in Historic US Health Vote -- As the U.S.
House of Representatives prepares to use a rare Sunday session to vote
on President Barack Obama's health care reform bill, Democratic leaders
say their party is poised to win the historic vote.
Obamacare: It's About Enriching Bankers and Wall Street -- In an
effort to push through his totalitarian care bill, Obama promised the
sky. One such promise was that he would give federal authorities the
power to block unreasonable rate hikes. Just like the promise to put
negotiations on C-SPAN, the promise to check rate hikes evaporated.
Clinton Returns to Washington, Needling Himself, Obama and the Press
-- Elsewhere in his remarks, he noted he was speaking on the night
before the start of spring, “otherwise known to Al Gore as proof of
global warming.” Of the current vice president, he said: “Vice President
Biden, God bless his mouth.”
ACORN on Brink of Bankruptcy -- The community organizing group
Acorn, battered politically from the right and suffering from
mismanagement along with a severe loss of government and other funds, is
on the verge of filing for bankruptcy, officials of the group said
Friday.
Latvia Government Collapses Amid Economic Crisis -- But he said
remained confident that an emergency IMF bail-out worth £6.7bn would
remain unaffected by the political instability.
Newly Released FBI Documents Support Explosive Claims by Former FBI
Translator Sibel Edmonds -- These documents add further support to
many of the allegations that former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds has
claimed, in public and in Congress, since 2002. The documents were
released under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request into an
organization called the Turkish American Cultural Alliance (TACA), an
organization repeatedly named by Ms. Edmonds as being complicit in the
crimes that she became aware of when she was a translator at the FBI.
Private Army Sets Sights on Iceland -- The company in question is
known as ECA Program. They are a private company that works in military
training and support for governments around the world, and have most
recently worked with India.
Bank of England Deliberately Created 'Consumer Boom' -- The Bank of
England deliberately stoked the consumer boom that has led to record
house prices and personal debt in order to avert a recession, the former
Bank Governor Eddie George admitted yesterday.
Homeland Security Wants Clearance to Fly Drones Over Texas -- The
federal government may soon send unmanned aircraft to scour West Texas
and the state’s coastal waters in an effort to boost border security,
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a letter to
the governor sent Friday.
US Forest Service Admits Putting Surveillance Cameras on Public Lands
-- Last month, Herman Jacob took his daughter and her friend camping in
the Francis Marion National Forest. While poking around for some
firewood, Jacob noticed a wire. He pulled on it and followed it to a
video camera and antenna. The camera didn't have any markings
identifying its owner, so Jacob took it home and called law enforcement
agencies to find out if it was theirs, all the while wondering why
someone would station a video camera in an isolated clearing in the
woods. (Orwell would be pleased.)
Temple Bomb Suspects: The Feds Put Us Up to It! -- Defense attorneys
say an alleged plot to bomb New York synagogues was hatched and directed
by a federal informant.
US Kids Even Fatter Than Believed -- Extreme obesity among American
children is much worse than previously believed, putting them at greater
risk of serious health problems as they age, U.S. researchers said on
Thursday.
Markets Spooked as Greek Rescue Plan Crumbles -- The inability of
the eurozone to put together a viable package after a month of talks has
dismayed markets, which thought the terms of a deal had already been
agreed.
Army Sees Document Web Site as a Potential Threat -- To the list of
the enemies threatening the security of the United States, the Pentagon
has added WikiLeaks.org, a tiny online source of information and
documents that governments and corporations around the world would
prefer to keep secret.
European Fraudsters Steal -- Fraud within Europe's carbon credit
trading system has cost taxpayers more than $7 billion in the last 18
months, European police said Friday.
Alien Abduction Day -- March 20 is Alien Abduction Day, when "the
skies are carefully watched by those expecting / wishing to be abducted
by an alien life form," states
eHow.com.
Thousands Rally on Anniversary of Invasion of Iraq -- At least eight
people, including activist Cindy Sheehan, were arrested by U.S. Park
Police at the end of the march, after laying coffins at a fence outside
the White House. Friday marked the seventh anniversary of the U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq.
Hit the Brakes: State Governments Raise Traffic Fees --
Cash-strapped cities and states consider measures ranging from expansion
of red-light camera systems to charging drivers for cleanup after
accidents.
Netanyahu Won't Restrict Settlement Construction -- Israel's prime
minister says he would not restrict construction in east Jerusalem, a
step requested by the U.S., but would upgrade upcoming indirect talks
with the Palestinians to include the main issues dividing them.
Antibiotics Don't Cure Colds, So Why Do Patients Think They Do? --
So while prescribing antibiotics had marginal benefits at best, it
hugely enhanced belief in antibiotics, and intention to go back to the
GP. Researchers returned to the same patients one year later and found
that the patients who had been prescribed antibiotics originally were
39% more likely to go back to the GP when they had a sore throat.
Medicating the Military -- At least one in six service members is on
some form of psychiatric drug.
Happy 1st Birthday: Mother Keeps McDonalds Happy Meal for Whole Year
-- Glancing at the two McDonald's Happy Meals pictured here, you may
feel they look pretty much identical. Astonishingly, however, this is
the same meal, photographed 12 months apart.
Spokeo - personal info on net -- Yesterday an Internet friend
alerted me to Spokeo. It is a personal database on YOU. It posts your
age, gender, home value, home address, length of residence, locator map,
occupation, family info plus a slew of other stuff.
FEMA Detention Site 215 -- If, God forbid, Americans are ever
rounded up in large numbers during a natural or manmade disaster, where
could they be detained? Well, perhaps look no further than the school
building next door, the office building around the corner or the stadium
downtown. And besides existing military installations, state fair
grounds, horse stables, airports “and maybe even a hotel” also could be
used as detention centers.
There's a New Buzz in Gardening -- "The bees get the pollen for
their young, and we get the cross-pollination for the fruit. They're
wonderful. They do the job, and don't hurt the humans," Critchley says.
"We don't hurt them; they don't hurt us. We help them; they help us.
Everybody's happy."
Obama Blocks Delivery of Bunker-Busters to Israel -- Officials said
the U.S. military was ordered to divert a shipment of smart
bunker-buster bombs from Israel to a military base in Diego Garcia.
Spread of Africanized Honey Bees - Map
US-Russian Deal on Nukes Nearly Completed -- Nearly a year after
President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered
negotiators to work on a new treaty to reduce their nuclear arsenals,
the two countries say they are finally close to completing a deal.
Geneva Atom Smasher Sets Record for Beam Energy -- Operators of the
world's largest atom smasher on Friday ramped up their massive machine
to three times the energy ever previously achieved, in the run-up to
experiments probing the secrets of the universe.
The Hidden
Meaning of Lady Gaga's Telephone -- The video refers to mind control
and, more specifically, Monarch Programming, a covert technique
profusely used in the entertainment industry. We’ll look at the occult
meaning of the video “Telephone”.
Today in History Friday March
19, 2010
1628 - The Massachusetts colony was founded by Englishmen.
1687 - French explorer La Salle was murdered by his own men while
searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River, in the Gulf of Mexico.
1822 - The city of Boston, MA, was incorporated.
1831 - The first bank robbery in America was reported. The City Bank of
New York City lost $245,000 in the robbery.
1895 - The Los Angeles Railway was established to provide streetcar
service.
1903 - The U.S. Senate ratified the Cuban treaty, gaining naval bases in
Guantanamo and Bahia Honda.
1906 - Reports from Berlin estimated the cost of the German war in S.W.
Africa at $150 million.
1917 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Adamson Act that made the
eight-hour workday for railroads constitutional.
1918 - The U.S. Congress approved Daylight-Saving Time.
1918 - A German seaplane was shot down for the first time by an American
pilot.
1920 - The U.S. Senate rejected the Versailles Treaty for the second
time maintaining an isolation policy.
1931 - The state of Nevada legalized gambling.
1945 - About 800 people were killed as Japanese kamikaze planes attacked
the U.S. carrier Franklin off Japan.
1953 - The Academy Awards aired on television for the first time.
1954 - The first rocket-driven sled that ran on rails was tested in
Alamogordo, NM.
1963 - In Costa Rica, U.S. President John F. Kennedy and six Latin
American presidents pledged to fight Communism.
1977 - France performed a nuclear test at Muruora Island.
1977 - The last episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" aired.
1981 - During a test of the space shuttle Columbia two workers were
injured and one was killed.
1985 - IBM announced that it was planning to stop making the PCjr
consumer-oriented computer.
1985 - The U.S. Senate voted to authorize production of the MX missile.
1990 - The first world ice hockey tournament for women was held in
Ottawa.
1998 - The World Health Organization warned of tuberculosis epidemic
that could kill 70 million people in next two decades.
1999 - 53 people were killed and dozens were injured when a bomb
exploded in a market place in southern Russia.
2001 - California officials declared a power alert and ordered the first
of two days of rolling blackouts.
2002 - Operation Anaconda, the largest U.S.-led ground offensive since
the Gulf War, ended in eastern Afghanistan. During the operation, which
began on March 2, it was reported that at least 500 Taliban and al Qaeda
fighters were killed. Eleven allied troops were killed during the same
operation.
2003 - U.S. President George W. Bush announced that U.S. forces had
launched a strike against "targets of military opportunity" in Iraq. The
attack, using cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs, were aimed at
Iraqi leaders thought to be near Baghdad.
Idaho first to sign law aimed at health care plan -- Idaho took the
lead in a growing, nationwide fight against health care overhaul
Wednesday when its governor became the first to sign a measure requiring
the state attorney general to sue the federal government if residents
are forced to buy health insurance. Similar legislation is pending in 37
other states.
Obama Postpones Asia Trip to Focus on Health Care -- President
Barack Obama has postponed his trip to Asia until June so he can stay in
Washington for a possible Sunday vote on his health care overhaul plan.
Democrats Post Health Care Bill On-Line, Setting Up Possible Sunday Vote
-- House Democrats on Thursday unveiled their highly anticipated package
of changes to the health care reform bill, setting up a potential floor
vote for Sunday and putting pressure on Republicans to figure out a way
to stop it.
Pelosi
Tactic for Health-Care Vote Would Raise Legal Questions -- House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi may be creating new grounds for a court challenge
to the proposed U.S. health-care overhaul as she considers using a
mechanism that would avoid a vote on the full legislation.
Judicial
Watch Announces List of Washington's "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt
Politicians" -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that
investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its
2009 list of Washington's "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians." The
list, in alphabetical order, includes....Read More....
Federal Employees Owe IRS Back Taxes -- That's why Republican Rep.
Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, is irked that nearly 100,000 civilian federal
employees owe the IRS $962 million in back taxes. He thinks they should
pay up or be fired.
Newly signed jobs bill unlikely to spur hiring -- Don't look for a
burst of hiring by small businesses in Wisconsin as a result of the
federal jobs bill signed into law on Thursday. A number of
small-business owners in the state say they make hiring decisions based
on the business they generate, not whether they can save nine months'
worth of Social Security payroll taxes per newly hired worker, which is
the main feature of the law.
Judge allows genetically engineered beet harvest -- A federal judge
on Tuesday said farmers can harvest their genetically engineered sugar
beets this year, ruling the economic impact too great and that
environmental groups waited too long to request that the crop be yanked
from the ground and otherwise barred from the market. Nearly all sugar
beets planted are genetically engineered and the crop accounts for half
the nation's sugar supply.
Census 2010 Plagued by Technical Difficulties -- But certain
"delete" operations malfunctioned, causing some major glitches. And
after the successful completion of the address verification phase, the
devices were phased out for any further use. The total cost, meanwhile,
grew from an original $600 million computer contract to up to $3
billion.
Obama Surrenders Gulf Oil to Moscow -- The Obama administration is
poised to ban offshore oil drilling on the outer continental shelf until
2012 or beyond. Meanwhile, Russia is making a bold strategic leap to
begin drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. While the United States
attempts to shift gears to alternative fuels to battle the purported
evils of carbon emissions, Russia will erect oil derricks off the Cuban
coast.
Rebellion
in America Heats Up as 5th State Exempts Guns -- A fifth state –
South Dakota – has decided that guns made, sold and used within its
borders no longer are subject to the whims of the federal government
through its rule-making arm in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms, and two supporters of the growing groundswell say they hope
Washington soon will be taking note.
Health-Care 'Trickery' Called Overthrow of Constitution -- America's
system of government based on the U.S. Constitution is being overthrown
through illegal legislative "trickery" Congress is using to pass
controversial health-care reform.
Rise in Tuition Breaks for Illegal Immigrants -- Amid a budget
crisis that’s negatively impacted public education across the country,
the number of illegal immigrants benefiting from discounted tuition at
colleges and universities in Texas continues rising, costing taxpayers
tens of millions of dollars in the last few years.
Man Puts Infant in Cold Oven for 2 Hours -- Charges have been filed
against a Kentucky man accused of putting his infant in an oven.
Govt
Rewarded Bank Auditors with Big Bonuses -- As banks gambled on the
risky mortgages that helped create the worst financial crisis in
generations, the U.S. government handed out millions of dollars in
bonuses to regulators at agencies that missed or ignored warning signs
that the system was on the verge of a meltdown.
Ex-Pfizer Worker
Cites Genetically Engineered Virus in Lawsuit Over Firing -- Medical
experts will be watching closely Monday when a scientist who says she
has been intermittently paralyzed by a virus designed at the Pfizer
laboratory where she worked in Groton opens a much anticipated trial
that could raise questions about safety practices in the dynamic field
of genetic engineering.
Germany Mulls Sending Spies to Wall Street -- Germany's finance
minister says his government is considering sending spies to London and
New York to monitor the activities of currency speculators.
TSA
To Make Full Body Scans Mandatory at US Airports -- In a new attempt
to curb terrorism on airplanes and in airports, the Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) announced this week that they plan on
making full body scanners mandatory.
Hundreds of Americans File Complaints Over Naked Body Scanners --
Despite establishment media spin that naked body scanners are being
meekly accepted by a compliant public, documents released under the
Freedom of Information Act reveal that there have been more than 600
formal complaints about the devices in the last year.
Iranian Warships Set Sail for Gulf of Aden -- Iran has sent a naval
battle group to international waters, including the Gulf of Aden, to
confront threats to the country's shipping lanes.
Boeing Completes Design of Shipboard Laser -- The U.S. military is
bankrolling all kinds of projects to harness the power of directed
energy, from laser-equipped aircraft that can shoot down ballistic
missiles to smaller beam weapons mounted on Humvees that could zap
mortars or artillery shells.
Carte Blanche for the Banksters: The Next Big Bailout "Any Day Now"
-- The Fed has indicated that it's finished helping the banks for the
time being. Now it's Treasury's turn. Bernanke will keep the Fed funds
rate at zero, but he is not going to expand the Fed's balance sheet
anymore. Geithner understands this and is working frantically to put
together the next bailout that will reduce the mortgage principal for
underwater homeowners.
Families Face Fine for Using Wrong Bin in Household Waste Crackdown
-- Householders could be fined up to £1,000 if they fail to comply with
complex new rules on refuse sorting.
CBO (CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE) HR 4872 -- The Congressional
Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT)
have completed a preliminary estimate of the direct spending and revenue
effects of an amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 4872, the
Reconciliation Act of 2010; that amendment (hereafter called “the
reconciliation proposal”) was made public on March 18, 2010. The
estimate is presented in three ways: Read More....
Southern California City Says Home Bible Group Must Get Permit --
For the second time in six months, a Southern California city has
ordered a group of Christian worshippers who meet inside homes to get a
permit or shut down.
Obama Endorses Immigration Blueprint -- President Obama on Thursday
gave a thumbs-up to the framework of a plan to legalize illegal
immigrants and create a flow of low-skilled foreign workers for the
future, saying the bill being worked on by a Republican lawmaker and his
Democrat counterpart is "promising."
Putin Vexes Us Over Iran Nuclear Power -- Vladimir Putin, Russia’s
prime minister, promised on Thursday that Moscow would help Iran
complete a civil nuclear power station by this summer, drawing criticism
from Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state.
Hacker
Disables More Than 100 Cars -- More than 100 drivers in Austin,
Texas found their cars disabled or the horns honking out of control,
after an intruder ran amok in a web-based vehicle-immobilization system
normally used to get the attention of consumers delinquent in their auto
payments.
Money Out of Thin Air: Now Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake Wants to
Eliminate Reserve Requirements Completely? -- The Federal Reserve
believes it is possible that, ultimately, its operating framework will
allow the elimination of minimum reserve requirements, which impose
costs and distortions on the banking system.
Tracking Electric Use Could Allow Utilities to Track You too --
Smart electric grids are championed by the federal government,
conservation groups and industry as good for the economy and the
environment. The digital meters in homes enable measurement and two-way
communication with utilities so consumers can trim electricity use. But
some technology policy organizations worry that smart meters pose a
potential threat to privacy and could be exploited by online marketers,
government agencies, criminals and others.
VIDEO: The DHS Global Biometric Plan
Corn Madness - title misleading - this is by a Russian living in the US
-- I hope you don't mind that this is in Russian. I think that this way
I can be more completely honest. I am a relatively recent graduate of
one of the many faceless post-Soviet institutions of higher learning,
with a degree in philosophy. Last year I moved to the USA and married an
American woman. The question of when the modern capitalist system is
going to collapse has interested me since my student years, and I have
approached it from various directions: from the commonplace conspiracy
theories to the serious works of Oswald Spengler and Noam Chomsky.
To Fill Budget Gaps, 'Stealth' Taxes are Creeping Up -- As a result,
analysts say, taxpayers from California to Copenhagen should brace
themselves for more “stealth taxes” — indirect levies like sales taxes,
or microcharges on services once provided free, like registering a pet.
'Wall Street' Sequel an Omen of US Collapse -- He says he can't
predict the future. Don't believe him: Even if he's unaware of his
"source," it's stirring again, rising from deep in what Carl Jung would
call the "collective unconscious" of the "American Soul," warning us
again of a collapse, using Stone as a stock trader's "alert."
Today in History Thursday March
18, 2010
1766 - Britain repealed the Stamp Act.
1813 - David Melville patented the gas streetlight.
1818 - The U.S. Congress approved the first pensions for government
service.
1834 - The first railroad tunnel in the U.S. was completed. The work was
in Pennsylvania.
1850 - Henry Wells & William Fargo founded American Express.
1874 - Hawaii signed a treaty giving exclusive trading rights with the
islands to the U.S.
1881 - Barnum and Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth opened in Madison
Square Gardens.
1909 - Einar Dessau of Denmark used a short wave transmitter to become
the first person to broadcast as a "ham" operator.
1910 - The first opera by a U.S. composer performed at the Met in New
York City.
1911 - Theodore Roosevelt opened the Roosevelt Dam in Phoenix, AZ. It
was the largest dam in the U.S. at the time.
1931 - Schick Inc. displayed the first electric shaver.
1938 - Mexico took control of all foreign-owned oil properties on its
soil.
1942 - The third military draft began in the U.S. because of World War
II.
1944 - The Russians reached the Rumanian border in the Balkans during
World War II.
1945 - 1,250 U.S. bombers attacked Berlin.
1948 - France, Great Britain, and Benelux signed the Treaty of Brussels.
1949 - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was ratified.
1959 - U.S. President Eisenhower signed the Hawaii statehood bill.
1961 - The Poppin' Fresh Pillsbury Dough Boy was introduced.
1963 - France performed an underground nuclear test at Ecker Algeria.
1968 - The U.S. Congress repealed the requirement for a gold reserve.
1969 - U.S. President Nixon authorizes Operation Menue. It was the
‘secret’ bombing of Cambodia.
1970 - The U.S. Postal Service experienced the first postal strike.
1971 - U.S. helicopters airlifted 1,000 South Vietnamese soldiers out of
Laos. .
1975 - Saigon abandoned most of the Central Highlands of Vietnam to
Hanoi.
1977 - Vietnam turned over an MIA to a U.S. delegation.
1981 - The U.S. disclosed that there were biological weapons tested in
Texas in 1966.
1986 - Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Prince Andrew to
Sarah Ferguson.
1986 - The U.S. Treasury Department announced that a clear, polyester
thread was to be woven into bills in an effort to thwart counterfeiters.
1987 - The U.S. performed nuclear tests at a Nevada test site.
1989 - 12 paintings were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
in Boston. The value was $100 million making it the largest art robbery
in history.
1989 - A 4,400-year-old mummy was discovered at the Pyramid of Cheops in
Egypt.
1990 - The 32-day lockout of baseball players ended.
1992 - White South Africans voted for constitutional reforms that would
give legal equality to blacks.
1997 - A Russian AN-24 crashed killing 50 people.
2003 - China's new president, Hu Jintao, announced that his country must
deepen reforms and raise living standards of workers and farmers.
Copblock.org
-- Standing Your Ground Against Police.
Walgreens:
No New Medicaid Patients as of April 16 -- Effective April 16,
Walgreens drugstores across the state won't take any new Medicaid
patients, saying that filling their prescriptions is a money-losing
proposition — the latest development in an ongoing dispute over Medicaid
reimbursement.
Washington lobbyists cashing in despite recession -- While Americans
across the country tightened their belts, companies, organizations and
other entities spent an average of 5% more on Washington lobbyists last
year. The total amount spent on federal lobbying reached a record $3.5
billion in 2009, according to the watchdog group Center for Responsive
Politics.
Modified raw milk legislation moves ahead -- State legislation to
allow the sale of raw farm milk to the general public moved a step
forward Wednesday with some key changes, including the removal of an
immunity clause for farmers. By a 5-0 vote, the Senate Committee on
Agriculture and Higher Education recommended approval of the bill that
would allow raw-milk sales direct from farms.
No CBO (Congressional
Budget Office) Score Wednesday Night;
Saturday Healthcare Vote Unlikely
-- House Democratic leaders on Wednesday night said the long-awaited
Congressional Budget Office score of the reconciliation bill will not
come out until Thursday, forcing an acknowledgement that a Saturday
healthcare vote is likely off the table.
New Health Care Whip Count: 190 YES, 206 NO -- The
leadership says they have the votes, but projecting an aura of
confidence has been a key to their pressure strategy. Bart Stupak says
Democrats are 16 votes short, but pessimism has been, well, part of his
strategy. So I prefer to actually, you know, count the votes.
Obama's HealthCare Plan Picks Up Support -- Rep. Dennis Kucinich,
D-Ohio, long a supporter of Medicare-for-all, voted against the House
Democratic bill in November because it did not go far enough in creating
a robust government-run plan to compete with private insurance. But
Kucinich said Wednesday that the bill coming before the House represents
the best chance to expand coverage to the uninsured, even if it does not
include a public plan.
Healthcare Bill Not Yet Law, but Republicans Already Organizing to
Repeal It -- Can Republicans win election this fall by campaigning
to repeal the health-care legislation now nearing passage in Congress?
Detroit Family Homes Sell for Just $10 -- He said there were homes
on the market for $100 (£61), but an offer of just $10 (£6) would be
likely to be accepted.
Virtually
all kidney disease patients on dialysis have vitamin D deficiency --
Research abounds that adequate vitamin D is essential for good health.
Unfortunately, however, millions of Americans are not getting enough of
this so-called "sunshine" vitamin. Read the full story...
High-dose
vitamin C therapy proven effective -- There is a double standard in
Western medicine when it comes to assessing the efficacy of vitamins
compared to pharmaceutical drugs. While medical science recognizes that
dose levels affect how well a drug works, the same principle is not
considered valid for vitamins. As a result, 75 years of physician
reports and clinical studies about the success of high-dose vitamin C
therapy has been largely ignored.
Gov't bank auditors got big bonuses -- Banks weren't the only ones
giving big bonuses in the boom years before the worst financial crisis
in generations. The government also was handing out millions of dollars
to bank regulators, rewarding "superior" work even as an avalanche of
risky mortgages helped create the meltdown.
FEMA's Sale of Katrina Trailers Sparks Criticism -- Consumer
advocates and environmentalists are outraged that the government resold
products it deemed unsafe to live in, saying warning stickers attached
to the units will not keep people from misusing them. Besides
formaldehyde, units might be plagued by mold, mildew and propane gas
leaks, FEMA acknowledged.
Meet
the 'Chubby Boy with the Curly Hair' -- Grinning happily at the
camera, this is Barry Soetoro, the cherubic little boy who went on to
become America's first black president.
Newsweek: US in Terminal Decline -- Why would the Anglo-American
power elite want to convince Americans that their country is on the way
down? Because the elite is apparently after global consolidation and if
Americans are convinced that the US is finished, they may be more
amenable to joining forces with, say, Canada and Mexico in a
super-state. This sounds strange to some, but remember, please, that the
Bush administration, a so-called conservative administration, attempted
basically to begin a merger of America and Mexico by legislative means
only a few years ago. In Texas, Republican Governor Rick Perry spent a
good deal of time in the mid-2000s trying to push forward a
trans-continental superhighway between Mexico and Canada that would have
cut America in two.
DARPA MIND’S EYE PROGRAM -- The Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA) will conduct a briefing to Industry, on April 20, 2010,
in support of the anticipated Mind’s Eye program Broad Agency
Announcement (BAA). This announcement serves as a pre‐solicitation
notice and is issued solely for information and program planning
purposes. Read More...
Gov't orders recall of 1.2 million high chairs -- The government is
announcing a recall of some 1.2 million high chairs, saying they pose a
fall hazard to children. The Consumer Product Safety Commission
announced the voluntary recall Thursday involving the product made by
Graco Children's Products, Inc., of Atlanta.
Who Could Eat All This? -- Jesse Martin camped out overnight this
month outside a San Marcos, Texas, Chick-fil-A for a chance to win a
year's worth of chicken sandwiches. The Atlanta-based fast-food chain
gives away free meals for a year to the first 100 customers at new
stores' grand openings. So far, Mr. Martin, a 34-year-old college pastor
from Austin, Texas, has been to five Chick-fil-A grand openings and won
at four of them. (Comment: How sad that people are camping out for free
fast food.) Thanks Jimm!
Darpa Wants Self-Guiding, Storytelling Cameras -- Darpa is already
after all kinds of highly intelligent robo-critters. In the past few
months, they’ve launched projects to create a real-life C3PO and a
surveillance system to pinpoint threats in heaps of visual data. Now,
the agency wants artificial intelligence-powered cameras that can
recognize objects — and then tell a story about them. Next month, Darpa
will host a one-day conference to launch the project, which has been
given a slightly Orwellian title: “The Mind’s Eye.” (.pdf) The idea is
to create machines that are endowed with what remains an exclusively
human ability: visual intelligence.
US Shipping Arms Ahead of Strike on Iran -- Hundreds of powerful US
“bunker-buster” bombs are being shipped from California to the British
island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean ahead of a possible attack on
Iran, The Herald reported Wednesday.
Pelosi Calls All Female Democratic Members into Meeting -- Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is asking all female Democratic Members to
attend a hastily called meeting Wednesday morning but isn’t saying what
the meeting is about.
Wal-Mart worker fired over medical marijuana -- A Michigan man says
he was fired from his Wal-Mart job for using medical marijuana. The use
of medical marijuana is legal in Michigan, but Wal-Mart claims it did
nothing wrong.
Census Threat: $5,000 -- How many people live in your home? Are any
of them Hispanic? Are the people who live in your home citizens? How big
is your home? Do you have difficulty making decisions or climbing
stairs? How much do you pay for your sewage system? Are you married?
What's your rent or mortgage payment? Do you own an automobile? Are you
on food stamps? How much money do you make?
Census Law -- I pass this along letter on the census for your
information, only. I do not counsel anyone to break the law. Of course,
I’m not real sure of what the law is. A direct and literal reading of
the U.S. Constitution it seems to me, a non lawyer, is clear as to what
the law is: people are legally obligated, only, to cooperate in a head
count for political representation purposes.
Economy
Kept On Life Support While Global Governance is Organized -- While
the mainstream media puts on the recovery song and dance, the
fundamental problems of the collapse remain the same, and in some cases
are growing ever more precarious. Subsections of the public, unaware of
the real issues at hand, are holding a misguided jubilee in the tranquil
eye of a hurricane, wrongly assuming that the storm has passed.
Food Shortage 'The Next Global Challenge' -- Climate change, rising
fuel costs, water shortages: now experts are warning Australia's food
producers have a new crisis to consider: Food Insecurity.
Foreclosure Starts Up Nearly 20% in California -- After reaching the
lowest level in a year in January, Notice of Defaults, the start of the
foreclosure process, increased by 19.7 percent in February, according to
a report Monday from ForeclosureRadar Inc., a Discovery Bay-based
foreclosure information company that says it tracks every California
foreclosure.
Senate Bill Wipes Out Indian Tobacco Industry -- Handing big tobacco
corporations a huge victory, the U.S. Senate has passed the Prevent All
Cigarette Trafficking Act – an act tribal leaders say is an attack on
tribal sovereignty and economies that will devastate Indian tobacco
businesses across the country.
Did the CIA Test LSD in the New York Subway System? -- But 22 years
later, the Rockefeller Commission report was released, detailing a
litany of domestic abuses committed by the CIA. The ugly truth emerged:
Olson’s death was the result of his having been surreptitiously dosed
with LSD days earlier by his colleagues.
New RFID Tech Tracks You to the Tomb -- A new product, the
RosettaStone (www.personalrosettastone.com),
guarantees that RFID will follow you straight to your grave.
Slaughter House Rules -- We're not sure American schools teach
civics any more, but once upon a time they taught that under the U.S.
Constitution a bill had to pass both the House and Senate to become law.
Until this week, that is, when Speaker Nancy Pelosi is moving to merely
"deem" that the House has passed the Senate health-care bill and then
send it to President Obama to sign anyway.
Sony Chairman Michael Lynton Calls for Healthy Alternative to Popcorn in
Cinemas -- For many, a night out at the movies would not be complete
without the sound of popcorn and chocolate wrappers from the stalls. One
of the most powerful studio bosses in Hollywood, however, would like to
see cinemas selling healthier snacks. (Can we not have some choices left
in Amerika?)
Mass. Dentist Used Paper Clips in Root Canals -- A former
Massachusetts dentist is accused of placing paper clips instead of
stainless steel posts inside the teeth of root canal patients while
billing Medicaid for the more expensive parts.
Bernake to Wage Fresh Battle for Fed Powers -- Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke plans to wage a fresh battle against Senate
efforts to scale back the Fed's role in supervising the nation's banks.
(Let's see, give the fox even more powers over the sheeple?? NOT. I say
audit the fed and then get rid of Bernake!)
Internet Rehab Clinic for 'Screenager' Children Hooked on Modern
Technology -- Children who are hooked on computer games, the
internet and mobile phones are to be offered help at what is thought to
be the first dedicated technology addiction service for young people in
Britain.
Hawaii Considering Law to Ignore Obama Birthers -- As the state
continues to receive e-mails seeking Obama's birth certificate, the
state House Judiciary Committee heard a bill Tuesday permitting
government officials to ignore people who won't give up.
States May Hold Onto Tax Refunds for Months -- Residents eager to
get their state tax refunds may have a long wait this year: The
recession has tied up cash and caused officials in half a dozen states
to consider freezing refunds, in one case for as long as five months.
Code
Red Moves Cardoza and Costa to 'YES' Votes on Gov't Healthcare Takeover
After Water Deal -- As a vote approaches on Obama and Pelosi’s
government takeover of healthcare, Code Red is now considering two
supposedly “undecided” California Democrats, Dennis Cardoza and Jim
Costa, to now be “yes” votes.
Hand Germs Could Join Fingerprints, DNA Forensics Labs --
Researchers led by Noah Fierer of the University of Colorado at Boulder
swabbed individual keys on three personal computer keyboards, extracted
bacterial DNA from the swabs and compared the results with bacteria on
the fingertips of the keyboards' users. (And we all know how accurate
they are with DNA now eh?)
Riots Erupt Across Jerusalem as Hamas Leader Calls for Renewed 'Intifada'
-- Hundreds of Palestinians clashed with Israeli security forces across
east Jerusalem on Tuesday in the worst rioting in years, as a senior
Hamas leader called for a new "intifada" or uprising.
Revealed: Ashcroft, Tenet, Rumsfeld Warned 911 Commission About 'Line it
Should Not Cross' -- Senior Bush administration officials sternly
cautioned the 9/11 Commission against probing too deeply into the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, according to a document
recently obtained by the ACLU.
Hurt Dog
Limps Into NW ER -- The patient was only slightly injured when he
limped into a hospital in the northwest New Mexico city of Farmington.
PG&E Customer Refuses to Take a Smart Meter -- When Pacific Gas and
Electric Co. announced it was installing smart meters, they weren't
exactly giving customers the option of turning down the device. But one
Bay Area man demanding his constitutional rights told CBS5 that he
doesn't want a new meter. Period.
Obama: 'Procedural' Spat Over Health Bill Vote Doesn't Worry Me --
Instead, under a process called a "self-executing rule," the House could
simultaneously approve the Senate bill while voting on a package of
changes to it. This would "deem" the Senate bill to be passed, without
compelling members to vote for it directly.
Sheriff: Man Sold His Wife for Sex on Craigslist -- Cook County
Sheriff Tom Dart says 32-year-old Clinton Danner from Rockford, Minn.,
convinced his wife she would never see their preschooler again if she
didn't have sex with strangers for money.
Today in History Wednesday March
17, 2010 - Saint Patrick's Day!
1756 - St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in New York City for
the first time. The event took place at the Crown and Thistle Tavern.
1766 - Britain repealed the Stamp Act that had caused resentment in the
North American colonies.
1776 - British forces evacuated Boston to Nova Scotia during the
Revolutionary War.
1868 - Postage stamp canceling machine patent was issued.
1870 - Wellesley College was incorporated by the Massachusetts
legislature under its first name, Wellesley Female Seminary.
1884 - John Joseph Montgomery made the first glider flight in Otay,
California.
1891 - The British steamer Utopia sank off the coast of Gibraltar.
1909 - In France, the communications industry was paralyzed by strikes.
1910 - The Camp Fire Girls organization was founded by Luther and
Charlotte Gulick. It was formally presented to the public exactly 2
years later.
1914 - Russia increased the number of active duty military from 460,000
to 1,700,000.
1917 - America’s first bowling tournament for ladies began in St. Louis,
MO. Almost 100 women participated in the event.
1930 - Al Capone was released from jail.
1941 - The National Gallery of Art was officially opened by U.S.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washington, DC.
1942 - Douglas MacArthur became the Supreme Commander of the Allied
forces in the Southwestern Pacific.
1944 - During World War II, the U.S. bombed Vienna.
1950 - Scientists at the University of California at Berkeley announced
that they had created a new radioactive element. They named it
"californium". It is
also known as element 98.
1958 - The Vanguard 1 satellite was launched by the U.S.
1961 - The U.S. increased military aid and technicians to Laos.
1962 - Moscow asked the U.S. to pull out of South Vietnam.
1966 - A U.S. submarine found a missing H-bomb in the Mediterranean off
of Spain.
1970 - The U.S. Army charged 14 officers with suppression of facts in
the My Lai massacre case.
1972 - U.S. President Nixon asked Congress to halt busing in order to
achieve desegregation.
1973 - Twenty were killed in Cambodia when a bomb went off that was
meant for the Cambodian President Lon Nol.
1973 - The first American prisoners of war (POWs) were released from the
"Hanoi Hilton" in Hanoi, North Vietnam.
1982 - In El Salvador, four Dutch television crewmembers were killed by
government troops.
1989 - A series of solar flares caused a violent magnetic storm that
brought power outages over large regions of Canada.
1992 - White South Africans approved constitutional reforms to give
legal equality to blacks.
1999 - A panel of medical experts concluded that marijuana had medical
benefits for people suffering from cancer and AIDS.
1999 - The International Olympic Committee expelled six of its members
in the wake of a bribery scandal.
2000 - In Kanungu, Uganda, a fire at a church linked to the cult known
as the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments killed more
than 530.
2009 - The iTunes Music Store reached 800 million applications
downloaded.
Two Original Thoughts For The Day from our
friend Mike Tawse in the UK --
To Be Truly Free and
Every Day Is A gift.
Chinese Inflation - the Final Unraveling? -- But as we have pointed
out umpteen times, the Chinese miracle may be, at least to a degree,
something of a fiat-money mirage. Economies in the modern era can
certainly be fueled by the endless over-printing of paper money and the
immediate "wealth effect" that large-scale, central-bank money-printing
can, and often does, generate. But woe betide such an economy in the
ensuing decades as the distortive effects of fiat money printing take
hold. A crash is seemingly inevitable. And the higher the economy has
rocketed, the farther it has to fall.
5th state exempts guns. Is Washington noticing? -- A fifth state –
South Dakota – has decided that guns made, sold and used within its
borders no longer are subject to the whims of the federal government
through its rule-making arm in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms, and two supporters of the growing groundswell say they hope
Washington soon will be taking note.
FDA Approved Diabetes Drug Despite Hints at Cancer Risk -- The U.S.
Food and Drug Administration is defending its decision in late January
to approve a new diabetes drug, Victoza (liraglutide), even though
animal studies suggest it might increase the risk for a rare thyroid
cancer.
Break the law and your new 'friend' may be the FBI -- The Feds are
on Facebook. And MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter, too. U.S.law enforcement
agents are following the rest of the Internet world into popular
social-networking services, going undercover with false online profiles
to communicate with suspects and gather private information, according
to an internal Justice Department document that offers a tantalizing
glimpse of issues related to privacy and crime-fighting.
Many Canadian firms learning to cope with strong dollar says think tank
report -- With the loonie once again nearing parity with the U.S.
dollar, a new report on the currency is giving hope it may not be the
menace to the economy many believe it to be. The Conference Board
weighed in on the subject Monday with a surprising argument - a strong
loonie and currency volatility are a net negative for the economy, but
not a major impediment, particularly if firms take steps to adapt.
U.S. Intelligence planned to destroy WikiLeaks -- Wikileaks.org
specifically cited 2,000 pages of leaked US Army documents with
information on the Tables of Equipment (TOEs) for US and Coalition
forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. These documents provided information on
the US forces, a description of equipment and total number of equipment
that were assigned to actual military units assigned to US Central
Command in April 2007. Not a good thing!!
Pelosi Says Democrats to Have Votes for Health Bill -- House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, still shoring up support for legislation to overhaul the
U.S. health- care system, vowed that Democrats will be ready to pass the
bill when the time comes. “When we bring the bill to the floor, we will
have the votes,” Pelosi told reporters.
Pelosi: "Once we kick through this door, more reform will follow" --
"My biggest fight has been between those who wanted to do something
incremental and those who wanted to do something comprehensive," Pelosi
said, according to an account by Washington Post reform advocate Ezra
Klein. "We won that fight, and once we kick through this door, there'll
be more legislation to follow."
House May Try to Pass Senate Health-Care Bill Without Voting On It
-- After laying the groundwork for a decisive vote this week on the
Senate's health-care bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested Monday
that she might attempt to pass the measure without having members vote
on it.
Kucinich in Obama's Crosshairs -- Obama invited Kucinich and
undecided Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) to the ultimate pressure cooker as
he tries to nail down a majority for his top domestic priority.
Drug
Industry Preparing Pro-Reform Ads - COMING SOON –- The drug
industry, which has held off running ads until officials sign off on the
final reconciliation bill, is growing more comfortable with the emerging
legislation and is preparing a substantial pro-reform ad buy in 43
Democratic districts, according to a senior industry source.
Obama Runs Out of Patience with Israel -- The Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday strongly defended Jewish settlement
construction in East Jerusalem in the face of US pressure and what one
of his own top diplomats described as the worst crisis in relations with
Washington for more than three decades.
Clinton: Israel Must Prove Commitment to Peace -- Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton says Israel must prove it is committed to the
Mideast peace process with actions, but brushed aside suggestions that
U.S.-Israeli relations are in crisis.
US Israel Criticism Ignites Firestorm in Congress -- The Obama
administration's fierce denunciation of Israel last week has ignited a
firestorm in Congress and among powerful pro-Israel interest groups who
say the criticism of America's top Mideast ally was misplaced.
ACORN Branches Rename, Rebrand After Video Scandal -- Affiliates of
the once mighty liberal activist group ACORN are remaking themselves in
a desperate bid to ditch the tarnished name of their parent organization
and restore federal grants and other revenue streams that ran dry in the
wake of a video scandal.
Junk Bond Avalanche Looms for Credit Markets -- Maybe they should
have, because 2012 also is the beginning of a three-year period in which
more than $700 billion in risky, high -yield corporate debt begins to
come due, an extraordinary surge that some analysts fear could overload
the debt markets.
Monsanto Admits Their Technology Doesn't Work -- In a setback for
genetically engineered cotton, Monsanto, innovator of the strain,
confirmed what skeptics had said might well happen, that the pests it
was supposed to resist better than natural cotton would also innovate.
Climate 'Fix' Could Poison Sea Life -- Fertilizing the oceans with
iron to absorb carbon dioxide could increase concentrations of a
chemical that can kill marine mammals, a study has found.
Future Bio-Nanotechnology Will Use Computer Chips Inside Living Cells
-- Continuing miniaturization has moved the semiconductor industry well
into the nano realm with leading chip manufacturers on their way to CMOS
using 22nm process technology.
Can You Alter Your Memory? -- Is it possible to permanently change
your memories? A group of scientists thinks so. And their new techniques
for altering memories are raising possibilities of one day treating
people who suffer from phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder and other
anxiety-related conditions.
In Bizarre, Soviet Style Move, White House Threatens to Veto
Intelligence Budget Unless FBI's Anthrax Frame-Up Is Accepted -- In
a bizarre, Soviet-style move, the White House has threatened to veto the
intelligence budget unless everyone accepts the FBI frame up of Dr.
Bruce Ivins.
Nationwide Study Finds More People Growing Edibles -- There was an
increase in edibles gardening in 2009 from both experienced and new
gardeners. Among those that grew edibles in 2009, 92% were experienced
and 7% were new to edibles gardening.
Day of Rage - Jerusalem -- The day dubbed "the day of rage" by Hamas
and extremist Islamic groups opened with riots – both in the holy city
and on the way to it.
City That Banned Bible Studies Has Judgment Day -- Officials in an
Arizona city where workers recently told members of a small church they
are not allowed to hold Bible studies in a home and then backed up the
warning with an official opinion from the city planner – an issue on
which WND reported – say they now hope to make changes that will allow
such religious activity.
Construction Unemployment Rate Hits 27.1% As Another 64,000 Construction
Workers Lost Jobs in February 2010 -- The construction unemployment
rate jumped to 27.1% and construction employment dropped to a 14-year
low as another 64,000 construction workers lost jobs in February,
according to federal employment figures released recently.
Solar Flare Alert
-- A solar wind stream is heading for Earth, and so is a coronal mass
ejection (CME). Together, they add up to a geomagnetic storm alert for
March 17th and 18th. The impact of the solar wind plus CME will brighten
Arctic skies already alive with Northern Lights.
Is the US Preparing For "The Total Destruction of Iran?" -- Is war
just around the corner? While in theory it would make perfect sense to
distract Americans from the long road to US insolvency, and other more
pressing issues such as the endless criminality all around us, in
practice we have so far heard merely rumors.
US Consulate Aid, Husband Die in Mexico Border Violence -- Gunmen
believed linked to drug traffickers shot and killed an American
consulate worker and her husband in the violence-racked border town of
Ciudad Juárez over the weekend, leaving their baby wailing in the back
seat of their car, authorities said Sunday.
Dictyostelium Found in Morgellons -- The reason that dictyostelium
discoidium is important is because this cellular slime mold has unique
properties that lend itself to mutating other substances. These
eukaryotic microorganisms have a simplistic genetic makeup and produces
what are know as chemotaxis.
HR 646: US Preparing for Civil Unrest -- A bill entitled the
National Emergency Centers Establishment Act (HR 645) was introduced in
the US Congress in January. It calls for the establishment of six
national emergency centers in major regions in the US to be located on
existing military installations.
Jihad Jane: Terror by Reason of Insanity -- And so who is Jihad
Jane? Is she a real terrorist, or is she a disturbed woman who never
played the cards of life very well — and perhaps not with a full deck?
Top Ratings Agency Warns Austerity Riots Could Hit America and UK --
Top ratings agency Moody’s has predicted that the U.S. and the UK could
witness similar riots to those seen in Greece in response to emergency
austerity measures imposed by governments in an effort to retain their
AAA credit status.
FBI Uses Phony Profiles on Social Networking Sites -- The FBI and
other federal agencies are going undercover on Facebook, LinkedIn,
MySpace and other social networks with phony profiles to gather
information and communicate with suspects, according to an internal
Justice Department document. (COINTELPRO anyone?)
California's Budget Crisis Could Cost Nearly 22,000 Teachers Their Jobs
-- California's budget crisis could cost nearly 22,000 teachers their
jobs this year.
Arizona To Approve Real ID, Mandatory ID Today -- The legislature
declares that the intent of this act is to make attrition through
enforcement the public policy of all state and local government agencies
in Arizona. The provisions of this act are intended to work together to
discourage and deter the unlawful entry and presence of aliens and
economic activity by persons unlawfully present in the United States.
Humans Have Sixth Sense for Fat -- New research suggests that humans
may have a previously unidentified sixth taste sense — for fat.
Babies Are Born to Dance -- "Our research suggests that it is the
beat rather than other features of the music, such as the melody, that
produces the response in infants," said researcher Marcel Zentner, a
psychologist at the University of York in England.
Contestants Turn Tortures in French TV Experiment -- Game show
contestants turn torturers in a new psychological experiment for French
television, zapping a man with electricity until he cries for mercy --
then zapping him again until he seems to drop dead. (There is a DVD out
now called "Live" that goes along with these - only in "Live" the
contestants play Russian Roulette - sadly the people love and accept the
game show. Is there where we are going mankind?)
$17.5 Billion Jobs Bill Nears Final OK -- The first of several
Democratic job-creation efforts cleared a procedural hurdle in the
Senate on Monday and appeared to be headed toward final congressional
approval.
Detroit to City Workers: Leave Smelly Perfumes, Deodorants, and Candles
at Home -- Detroit officials are telling workers in city offices to
leave smelly perfumes, deodorants, and other strongly scented toiletries
and items at home. The signs are going up in response to a federal
lawsuit, which also awarded $100,000 to Susan McBride, who
sued the city under the Americans with Disabilities Act, claiming a
coworker's perfume made it difficult for her to breathe and do her job.
Bland CBO Memo, or Smoking Gun? -- This weekend, the Congressional
Budget Office released “a very strange memo” titled, “Budgetary
Treatment of Proposals to Regulate Medical Loss Ratios.” You wouldn’t
know it from the title, but that little memo is the smoking gun that
shows how congressional Democrats have very carefully hidden more than
half the cost of their health care bills.
Medical Pot Patient Robbed, Beaten; Cops take the Plants While He is
Dying -- A Washington medical marijuana patient has died after being
attacked by robbers who were after his pot crop. When local police were
called to the scene, rather than investigating the assault, they started
questioning mortally injured Michael Shane Howard about how many plants
he had.
Blog:
Questions for Thoughtful ObamaCare Supporters, Part III
Stifling Innovation with Subsidies
ObamaCare Cost Estimate Watch: Day #180
Today in History Tuesday March
16, 2010
1802 - The U.S. Congress established the West Point Military Academy in
New York.
1836 - The Republic of Texas approved a constitution.
1850 - The novel "The Scarlet Letter," by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was
published for the first time.
1871 - The State of Delaware enacted the first fertilizer law.
1882 - The U.S. Senate approved a treaty allowing the United States to
join the Red Cross.
1883 - Susan Hayhurst graduated from the Philadelphia College of
Pharmacy. She was the first woman pharmacy graduate.
1907 - The world's largest cruiser, the British Invincible was completed
at Glasgow.
1909 - Cuba suffered its first revolt only six weeks after the
inauguration of Gomez.
1913 - The 15,000-ton battleship Pennsylvania was launched at Newport
News, VA.
1915 - The Federal Trade Commission began operation.
1926 - Physicist Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid-fuel
rocket.
1928 - The U.S. planned to send 1,000 more Marines to Nicaragua.
1935 - Adolf Hitler ordered a German rearmament and violated the
Versailles Treaty.
1945 - Iwo Jima was declared secure by the Allies. However, small
pockets of Japanese resistance still existed.
1950 - Congress voted to remove federal taxes on oleo margarine.
1964 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson submitted a $1 billion war on
poverty program to Congress.
1968 - U.S. troops in Vietnam destroyed a village consisting mostly of
women and children. The event is known as the My-Lai massacre.
1982 - Russia announced they would halt their deployment of new nuclear
missiles in Western Europe.
1984 - William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped
by gunmen. He died while in captivity.
1985 - Terry Anderson, an Associated Press newsman, was taken hostage in
Beirut. He was released in December 4, 1991.
1988 - Indictments were issued for Lt. Colonel Oliver North, Vice
Admiral John Poindexter of the National Security Council, and two others
for their
involvement in the
Iran-Contra affair.
1993 - In France, ostrich meat was officially declared fit for human
consumption.
1994 - Tonya Harding pled guilty in Portland, OR, to conspiracy to
hinder prosecution for covering up the attack on her skating rival Nancy
Kerrigan. She
was fined $100,000. She
was also banned from amateur figure skating.
1994 - Russia agreed to phase out production of weapons-grade plutonium.
1995 - NASA astronaut Norman Thagard became the first American to visit
the Russian space station Mir.
1998 - Rwanda began mass trials for 1994 genocide with 125,000 suspects
for 500,000 murders.
1999 - The 20 members of the European Union's European Commission
announced their resignations amid allegations of corruption and
financial
mismanagement.
What You Do Not Know About Fish Oil Supplements Will Hurt You -- A
group of three plaintiffs very recently filed a suit against eight
supplement companies for violating California Proposition 65, which
mandates that consumers must be warned on product labels of dangerous
toxins beyond established "safe harbor" limits. The plaintiffs intend to
prove that the eight supplement manufacturers knowingly passed on PCB
contaminated fish oils without Prop 65's required warnings.
$5.4
million dollars for crystal stemware for American embassies!! --
Hillary Rodham Clinton's State Department is spending $5.4 million to
buy fine crystal stemware for American embassies -- but it won't give
the US economy much of a boost. The contract was given to a tiny
Washington, DC, interior designer, which in turn subcontracted the
crystal work to a Swedish firm -- snubbing such US companies as the
famous manufacturer in Clinton's own back yard, Steuben Crystal of
upstate Corning.
Guns
Used in Pentagon and Las Vegas Courtroom Shootings Originated with
Tennessee Police -- Talk about improbable odds. The guns used in the
Pentagon and Las Vegas courthouse shootings came from the police and
court system in Memphis, Tennessee. “Law enforcement officials told The
Associated Press that both guns were once seized in criminal cases in
Memphis. The officials described how the weapons made their separate
ways from an evidence vault to gun dealers and to the shooters.”
Bees Busier Than Ever as Disease Besieges Colonies -- These are not
normal times for bees, or for commercial beekeepers, so Hackenberg's
pollinators will skip the citrus gig to reduce their exposure to
pesticides and get some rest. "Everybody is seeing [bee] losses this
winter," said Hackenberg, of Lewisburg, Pa. "This was probably the worst
year ever."
7 Deaths Reported Across Northeast -- A torrential rainstorm that
brought heavy winds to the Northeast, causing damage and flooding,
created some minor headaches for commuters Monday.
VIDEO: Sugar: The Bitter Truth -- Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF
Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the
damage caused by sugary foods. He argues that fructose (too much) and
fiber (not enough) appear to be cornerstones of the obesity epidemic
through their effects on insulin. Series: UCSF Mini Medical School for
the Public [7/2009] [Health and Medicine]
Magnitude 6.6 Quake Sways Buildings in Tokyo -- A strong magnitude
6.6 earthquake hit off the eastern coast of Japan on Sunday, rattling
buildings across a broad swath of the country, including the crowded
capital.
Indonesia Earthquake -- Indonesia Earthquake 2010 a 6.4 Quake Rocks
Indonesia. Earthquakes are happening everywhere, and the country of
Indonesia experienced a 6.4 earthquake today. In addition to their
event, Japan also incurred a 6.6 quake earlier in the day.
Judge Kithil Highlights Most Atrocious Sections of Health Care Reform
-- "I have reviewed selected sections of the bill, and find it
unbelievable that our Congress, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, could come
up with a bill loaded with so many wrong-headed elements."
PDF File of the Healthcare Reform Reconciliation
House Democrats Short on Healthcare -- House Democratic leaders
still do not have enough votes to pass health care reform, the chamber's
top vote counter said Sunday, even though the administration is aiming
to have the bill passed this week. (Yet another episode of 'Healthcare
Takeover')
Hilary Rodham
Clinton's Harsh Words Stun Israel -- Beginning as a spat over a
single housing project, a dispute this week between the Obama
administration and Israel has ballooned into the biggest U.S.-Israeli
clash in 20 years, adding to months of strain between Washington and one
of its closest allies.
Israeli Envoy: US Ties in 'Crisis of Historic Proportions' --
U.S.-Israeli relations have hit a 35-year low over a contentious east
Jerusalem building project that threatens to derail peacemaking efforts
with the Palestinians, Israel's envoy to Washington was quoted as saying
Monday.
Obama Administration Monitors Jews on Temple Mount -- A member of
the U.S. government met with organizers of Tuesday's "International
Temple Mount Awareness Day" to pepper the activists about their
intentions regarding Jewish ascent to the holy site.
Asian Fruit Fly Invasion Could Ruin Oregon Crops -- Farmers,
researchers and entomologists are racing to battle a destructive new
fruit fly that first appeared in Oregon last summer and quickly wiped
out much of the late-season peach and berry crops.
US, UK Move Closer to Losing AAA Credit Rating -- The U.S. and the
U.K. have moved “substantially” closer to losing their AAA credit
ratings as the cost of servicing their debt rose, according to Moody’s
Investors Service.
Gender-Bender Chemicals are Turning Boys into Girls -- The report
centers on chemicals like PVC, flame retardants, phthalates, dioxins,
PCBs and bisphenol-A, all of which mimic the action of estrogen in the
body. The researchers concluded that due to the prevalence of these
chemicals, children could easily be exposed to high enough levels to
place them at “critical risk” of harm.
Child Rape Charge Rocks TSA -- A Transportation Security Agency
worker who pats down members of the flying public was charged with
multiple child sex crimes targeting an underage girl yesterday.
Man in 'Freedom or Die' Shirt Told to Turn Inside Out at Airport --
London's Gatwick Airport has apologized after a man wearing a T-shirt
with the slogan "Freedom or Die" was asked to turn it inside-out because
it could be threatening, a spokesman said Monday.
Corporpate Entity Becomes 'Candidate,' Kicks Off Bid -- "Until now,
corporations only influenced politics with high-paid lobbyists and
backroom deals," the company's YouTube account declares. "But today,
thanks to an enlightened supreme court, corporations now have all the
rights the founding fathers meant for us. That's why Murray Hill
Incorporated is taking democracy's next step-- running for Congress."
Secretive Catholic Order Founded by Accused Pedophile Under Fire --
As sex abuse scandals rock the Vatican, the results of an investigation
into a rich, ultra-conservative and secretive Roman Catholic order
founded by a priest accused of pedophilia and incest are due to be filed
in Rome tomorrow.
Proposal for European Monetary Fund Meets Resistance -- The German
proposal to establish a European monetary fund ran into skepticism at
home and abroad Tuesday, highlighting the political and legal hurdles
that such an undertaking would face.
Panic in Georgia (the country) After Mock News Broadcast -- Some
people placed emergency calls reporting heart attacks, others rushed in
a panic to buy bread and residents of one border village staggered from
their homes and dashed for safety — all after a television station in
Georgia broadcast a mock newscast on Saturday night that pretended to
report on a Russian invasion of the country. (WTH??)
US to Lobby for Endangered Species Listing for Polar Bear -- This
time, the tale comes with an unexpected twist. This weekend, the US will
warn that the threat from climate change to the survival of the polar
bear is so great that the world must grant it the highest possible
protection. (Pull the empathy card, uh huh.)
Cocaine Users 'Making Global Warming Worse' -- Group chairman Keith
Vaz said: "We were horrified to learn for every few lines of cocaine
snorted in a London club, four square metres of rainforest is
destroyed." (Gimme a break!)
Central Figure in CDC Vaccine Cover-Up Absconds with $2 Million -- A
central figure behind the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) claims
disputing the link between vaccines and autism and other neurological
disorders has disappeared after officials discovered massive fraud
involving the theft of millions in taxpayer dollars. Danish police are
investigating Dr. Poul Thorsen, who has vanished along with almost $2
million that he had supposedly spent on research.
New Syndrome Affecting Potentially Thousands of Hospital Patients --
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have
identified a new syndrome affecting potentially thousands of hospital
inpatients. Coined SHAKE (Supplement-associated Hyperammonemia After
C(K)achetic Episode), the condition, which results in altered mental
status and difficulty walking, can be prevented by excluding high
protein dietary supplements in a patients' diet if they have experienced
poor eating for more than a week prior to their admittance.
Hillary Rodham Clinton Contracts Purchases of $5.4 Million in Crystal
Stemware for American Embassies to Swedish Firm -- Hillary Rodham
Clinton's State Department is spending $5.4 million to buy fine crystal
stemware for American embassies -- but it won't give the US economy much
of a boost.
Google '99 Certain to Shut China Engine -- In a hardening of
positions on both sides, the Chinese government also on Friday threw
down a direct public challenge to the US search company, with a warning
that it was not prepared to compromise on internet censorship to stop
Google leaving.
China Trims Holdings of Treasury Securities -- China retained its
spot as the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury debt in January
although it trimmed its holdings for a third straight month. The string
of declines are likely to underscore worries that the U.S. government
could face much higher interest rates to finance soaring budget
deficits.
NYT: Probe Finds Widespread US Fraud in Iraq -- Investigators
looking into corruption involving reconstruction in Iraq say they have
opened more than 50 new cases in six months by scrutinizing large cash
transactions — involving banks, land deals, loan payments, casinos and
even plastic surgery — made by some of the Americans involved in the
nearly $150 billion program.
Contractors Tied to Effort to Track and Kill Militants -- Under the
cover of a benign government information-gathering program, a Defense
Department official set up a network of private contractors in
Afghanistan and Pakistan to help track and kill suspected militants,
according to military officials and businessmen in Afghanistan and the
United States.
Banished! City Forbids Bible Studies in Homes -- The city of
Gilbert, Ariz., has ordered a group of seven adults to stop gathering
for Bible studies in a private home because such meetings are forbidden
by the city's zoning codes.
NASA Finds Shrimp Dinner on Ice Beneath Antartica -- In a surprising
discovery about where higher life can thrive, scientists for the first
time found a shrimp-like creature and a jellyfish frolicking beneath a
massive Antarctic ice sheet.
Dodd Unveils Bill That Puts Consumer Agency at Fed -- Senate Banking
Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd on Monday unveiled a bill to revamp
U.S. financial rules that would place a consumer protection agency
within the Federal Reserve and give the central bank new powers over
non-bank financial firms.
International Community Seems to Be Comfortable with Afghan Drug
Trafficking -- “There is nothing surprising about that. The USA
refuses to destroy narcotic plantations in Afghanistan, and the
effectiveness of the international cooperation in the destruction of the
infrastructure of the Afghan drug production declines considerably,” the
official said.
Is China's Politiburo Spoiling for a Showdown with America? --
Within a month the US Treasury must rule whether China is a "currency
manipulator", triggering sanctions under US law. This has been finessed
before, but we are in a new world now with America's U6 unemployment at
16.8pc.
To War, To War, America's Going to War with Iran -- At least it sure
looks like it according to this news release. It seems that the United
States has shipped 387 “Blu” bombs to a U.S. military base on the island
of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. These “Blu” bombs are used
specifically for destroying hardened and underground structures (like,
uh, alleged underground nuclear bomb facilities in Iran?).
Beck, Palin Kick Off 'Taking Our Country Back Tour' -- Conservative
superstars Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck called for Americans to demand a
smaller government that adheres to the principles of its founding
fathers during a rally in downtown Tulsa on Saturday.
George Soros Conspires with United Nations to Kill Second Amendment
-- In the video below, we learn that Rebecca Peters, director of of the
International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), is working with the
United Nations and governments around the world to grab guns. Peters and
IANSA are funded by the globalist George Soros.
Today in History Monday March
15, 2010
1493 - Christopher Columbus returned to Spain after his first New World
voyage.
1820 - Maine was admitted as the 23rd state of the Union.
1864 - Red River Campaign began as the Union forces reach Alexandria,
LA.
1875 - The Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, John McCloskey, was
named the first American cardinal.
1892 - New York State unveiled the new automatic ballot voting machine.
1904 - Three hundred Russians were killed as the Japanese shelled Port
Arthur in Korea.
1907 - In Finland, woman won their first seats in the Finnish
Parliament. They took their seats on May 23.
1909 - Italy proposed a European conference on the Balkans.
1910 - Otto Kahn offered $500,000 for a family portrait by Dutch artist
Frans Hals. Kahn had outbid J.P. Morgan for the work.
1913 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson held the first open presidential
news conference.
1916 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sent 12,000 troops, under General
Pershing, over the border of Mexico to pursue bandit Pancho Villa.
Mission failed.
1917 - Russian Czar Nicholas II abdicated himself and his son. His
brother Grand Duke succeeded as czar.
1919 - The American Legion was founded in Paris.
1922 - Fuad I assumed the title of king of Egypt after the country
gained nominal independence from Britain.
1934 - Henry Ford restored the $5 a day wage.
1937 - In Chicago, IL, the first blood bank to preserve blood for
transfusion by refrigeration was established at the Cook County
Hospital.
1938 - Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia.
1939 - German forces occupied Bohemia and Moravia, and part of
Czechoslovakia.
1951 - General de Lattre demanded that Paris send him more troops for
the fight in Vietnam.
1955 - The U.S. Air Force unveiled a self-guided missile.
1968 - The U.S. mint halted the practice of buying and selling gold.
1977 - The U.S. House of Representatives began a 90-day test to
determine the feasibility of showing its sessions on television.
1985 - In Brazil, two decades of military rule came to an end with the
installation of a civilian government.
1989 - The U.S. Food and Drug administration decided to impound all
fruit imported from Chili after two cyanide-tainted grapes were found in
Philadelphia.
1989 - The U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs became the 14th
Department in the President's Cabinet.
1990 - Mikhail Gorbachev was elected the first executive president of
the Soviet Union.
1991 - Four Los Angeles police officers were indicted in the beating of
Rodney King on March 3, 1991.
1994 - U.S. President Clinton extended the moratorium on nuclear testing
until September of 1995.
2002 - Libyan Abdel Baset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi began his life sentence
in a Scottish jail for his role in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 on
12/ 21/1988.
2002 - In the U.S., Burger King began selling a veggie burger. The event
was billed as the first veggie burger to be sold nationally by a fast
food chain.
2002 - In Texas, Andrea Yates received a life sentence for drowning her
five children on June 20, 2001.
2002 - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told the Associated Press
that the U.S. would stand by a 24-year pledge not to use nuclear arms
against states that don't have them.
Two Thoughts of the Day from our friend Mike Tawse in the UK --
True Belief In Freedom and
Defend The Rights Of Others,
Fosamax, Actonel, Didronel & Boniva Linked To Esophageal Cancer --
According to the FDA, several osteoporosis drugs are now being linked
with esophageal cancer. Among them are Merck & Company’s Fosamax,
Proctor & Gamble’s Actonel and Didronel and Roche’s Boniva. Read More...
3 Banks failed this weekend -- Statewide Bank Covington LA - Old
Southern Bank Orlando FL - The Park Avenue Bank
* Related Website:
Comptroller of the Currency
-- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) charters,
regulates, and supervises all national banks. It also supervises the
federal branches and agencies of foreign banks. Headquartered in
Washington, D.C., the OCC has four district offices plus an office in
London to supervise the international activities of national banks.
Check
out your bank!!
FDA
targets processing of spices in bid to make supply safer -- Jeff
Farrar, the FDA's associate commissioner for food safety, said the
government wants the spice industry to do more to prevent contamination.
That would include using one of three methods to rid spices of bacteria:
irradiation, steam heating or fumigation with ethylene oxide, a
pesticide.
US
court rules again against vaccine-autism claims -- Vaccines that
contain a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal cannot cause
autism on their own, a special U.S. court ruled on Friday, dealing one
more blow to parents seeking to blame vaccines for their children's
illness. The special U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled that vaccines
could not have caused the autism of an Oregon boy, William Mead, ending
his family's quest for reimbursement. (and we're suppose to believe
this)??????
* Related Article:
3 Rulings Find No Link to Vaccines and Autism -- In a further blow
to the antivaccine movement, three judges ruled Friday in three separate
cases that thimerosal, a preservative containing mercury, does not cause
autism.
US
to Roll Out Major Broadband Policy -- U.S. regulators will announce
a major Internet policy this week to revolutionize how Americans
communicate and play, proposing a dramatic increase in broadband speeds
that could let people download a high-definition film in minutes instead
of hours.
Ron Paul Defends Oath Keepers -- Ron Paul Defends Oath Keepers March
8, 2010 Newport Music Hall near Ohio State University.
Brain scan can read people's thoughts say researchers -- A scan of
brain activity can effectively read a person's mind, researchers said
Thursday. British scientists from University College London found they
could differentiate brain activity linked to different memories and
thereby identify thought patterns by using functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI).
Prepare
for What May Be the
Largest Food Recall
in American History -- A large
batch of the flavor enhancer known as hydrolyzed vegetable protein or
HVP, supplied by Basic Food Flavors, a North Las Vegas food ingredient
company, was found to be laced with salmonella. Thus far, over one
hundred products containing the ingredient have been recalled in both
the U.S. and Canada. The company produces about 20 million pounds of the
food additive annually. (Laced????)
*
List of items in HVP Recall
FEMA's Sale of Katrina Trailers Sparks Criticism -- Consumer
advocates and environmentalists are outraged that the government resold
products it deemed unsafe to live in, saying warning stickers attached
to the units will not keep people from misusing them. Besides
formaldehyde, units might be plagued by mold, mildew and propane gas
leaks, FEMA acknowledged.
The Video That Will Put Geithner Behind Bars -- "If this doesn’t
convince you that the Timothy Geithner knew about the securities
shenanigans that were going on at Lehman, than I don’t know what will."
Drugs in Our Drinking Water -- No, not just fluoride, which is bad
enough - much of our drinking water, in the U.S., Canada and U.K. at
least, is contaminated with Prozac and a "vast array" of other drugs.
And you wonder why everyone around is sleepwalking and/or sick?
Unemployment
rate for young veterans hits 21.1 percent -- The unemployment rate
last year for young veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars hit 21.1
percent, the Labor Department said Friday, reflecting a tough obstacle
that combat veterans face as they make the transition home from war.
US Mercenaries Hired to Track and Kill Suspected Militants -- Under
the cover of a benign government information-gathering program, a
Defense Department official set up a network of private contractors in
Afghanistan and Pakistan to help track and kill suspected militants,
according to military officials and businessmen in Afghanistan and the
United States. Read More...
Oh so stupid -
Stinky Feet Plague Florida Airport Workers -- Security Personnel at
Palm Beach International Airport Complain of Stench Left by Passengers'
Bare Feet. (What did they expect)???
IPCC Rainforest Eco-tastrophe Claim Confirmed as Bunk -- The UN body
came under attack earlier this year for suggesting that 40 per cent of
the Amazonian rainforests – dubbed the “lungs of the planet” by some for
their ability to turn CO2 into oxygen, and also seen as vital on
biodiversity grounds – might disappear imminently. This disaster would
be triggered, according to the IPCC’s assessment, by a relatively slight
drop in rainfall of the sort to be expected in a warming world.
Unfortunately it now appears that just such conditions have already
occurred, and in fact the Amazonian jungles were unaffected.
Social Security to Start Cashing Uncle Sam's IOU's -- The retirement
nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town
along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government,
payable to the Social Security Administration. It's time to start
cashing them in. (The death rattle of social security???)
Primary Schoolchildren in Tears After They are Told They Will Be Removed
From Families As Part of Holocaust Game -- A group of stunned
primary schoolchildren began crying when their teacher told them during
a bizarre Holocaust game that they were to be taken away from their
families.
IRS
Visits Sacramento Carwash in Pursuit of Four Cents -- The
really odd part of this: The letter that was hand-delivered to Zeff’s
on-site manager showed the amount of money owed to the feds was … 4
cents. Inexplicably, penalties and taxes accruing on the debt – stemming
from the 2006 tax year – were listed as $202.31, leaving Harv’s with an
obligation of $202.35. (Another "Oh so STUPID" story)
Search for Death Star That Throws Out Deadly Comets -- Nasa
scientists are searching for an invisible 'Death Star' that circles the
Sun, which catapults potentially catastrophic comets at the Earth.
Putin in Deal to Build Nuclear Reactors for India -- India and
Russia today signed a nuclear co-operation agreement, which paves the
way for the building of about a dozen nuclear reactors in India, with
Russian help, over the next few decades.
Forests are a Planetary Asset and No Longer the Concern of Individual
Countries -- The conference, with closed-door working groups, is
looking to translate measures adopted at the U.N. climate summit in
Copenhagen in December into concrete mechanisms - and funds. World Bank
representatives and lending nations were also attending the meeting.
Obama Supports DNA Sampling Upon Arrest -- Gerstein posts a
televised interview of Obama and John Walsh of America’s Most Wanted.
The nation’s chief executive extols the virtues of mandatory DNA testing
of Americans upon arrest, even absent charges or a conviction. Obama
said, “It’s the right thing to do” to “tighten the grip around folks”
who commit crime. (Can anyone say 'police state'?)
Mexican Military Copter Over US Neighborhood -- The Zapata County
sheriff Thursday was questioning why a Mexican military helicopter was
hovering over homes on the Texas side of the Rio Grande.
Pentagon Gun was from Tenn. Police -- Two guns used in high-profile
shootings this year at the Pentagon and a Las Vegas courthouse both came
from the same unlikely place: the police and court system of Memphis,
Tenn.
China Wants US Reassurance Over Dollar -- China's premier expressed
concern about the U.S. dollar and called on Washington on Sunday to take
"concrete steps" to reassure Beijing about the safety of its huge
Treasury bond holdings.
Arrogant Senator Marsh Spits in the Eye of a Virginia Giant -- The
controversy began when Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw (D-Fairfax)
and Courts of Justice Chairman Henry Marsh (D-Richmond) created a
special subcommittee to consider several gun bills passed by the
Republican-controlled House, including an attempt to repeal Virginia’s
ban on buying more than one handgun a month.
Americans Are Still 21 Percent Poorer Than Before the Recession --
Even with the gain, Americans' net worth would have to rise an
additional 21 percent to get back to its pre-recession peak of $65.9
trillion. That shows the vast loss of wealth people have suffered from
the worst downturn since the 1930s.
Detroit Family Homes Sell for Just $10 -- He said there were homes
on the market for $100 (£61), but an offer of just $10 (£6) would be
likely to be accepted.
Underwater Homeowners Leave Behind Mortgages, but Lenders Can Still Come
Calling -- People are walking away from their mortgages by the
thousands, making a financial decision that it's better to take the hit
on their credit score than try to recover $300,000 of negative equity on
a $600,000 home purchased at the peak of the housing bubble. They're
called "strategic defaults."
Massachusetts SIC Rules 2nd Amendment Does Not Apply to States --
The right to bear arms as defined in the Second Amendment does not apply
to the states, so Massachusetts can regulate who can have firearms and
how those weapons are to be stored, the state's high court ruled
Wednesday.
Girls Scouts Distribute Planned Parenthood Sex Guide at UN Meeting
-- The World Association of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides hosted a
no-adults-welcome panel at the United Nations this week where Planned
Parenthood was allowed to distribute a brochure entitled “Healthy, Happy
and Hot.” The event was part of the annual United Nations Commission on
the Status of Women (CSW) which concludes this week. (Oh my gosh -
people should be outraged at this?? Is this how we want our girls to act
and behave??)
Georgia Considers Outlawing Abortions Based on Race -- Are health
care providers using abortion to curb the growth of the U.S. black
population? That question will be at heart of a debate among Georgia
lawmakers, who are poised to take up a controversial bill that would
outlaw abortions prompted by the baby's race or gender.
Big Ax Looming at the New York City Fire Department: Threat of 1,000
Layoffs, Closing of 62 Companies -- The department will be forced to
close a staggering 62 fire companies and lay off more than 1,000
firefighters if the bad-news state budget becomes reality, Commissioner
Salvatore Cassano told the City Council Wednesday.
Weight Watchers Says Eat at McDonalds to Lose Weight -- Weight
Watchers has now officially endorsed Chicken McNuggets as a "healthy
meal" in New Zealand, where McDonald's restaurants will begin carrying
the Weight Watchers logo on several menu items.
Free Greg Caton from FDA Tyranny -- Herbalist Greg Caton remains
under arrest in the United States after having been illegally kidnapped
and extradited from Ecuador by the FDA. He faces a hearing on March 17th
in a Louisiana court, and he needs your help.
* Related Article:
FDA dupes Interpol to achieve illegal kidnapping and deportation of
herbal formulator Greg Caton
Suit grows out of florists law -- In Louisiana, you don't need a
license to peddle pets, paintings or cars — but sell no flowers. A
7-decades-old state law requires florists to pass a test and get a
license to arrange and sell flowers, making Louisiana the only state in
the USA with such a requirement. Supporters of the law say it ensures
florists know what they're doing and deliver quality products.
Today in History Friday March
12, 2010
1789 - The U.S. Post Office was established.
1809 - Britain signed a treaty with Persia forcing the French to leave
the country.
1884 - The State of Mississippi authorized the first state-supported
college for women. It was called the Mississippi Industrial Institute
and College.
1863 - President Jefferson Davis delivered his State of the Confederacy
address.
1889 - Almon B. Stowger applied for a patent for his automatic telephone
system.
1894 - Coca-Cola was sold in bottles for the first time.
1904 - After 30 years of drilling, the tunnel under the Hudson River was
completed. The link was between Jersey City, NJ, and New York, NY.
1909 - The British Parliament increased naval appropriations for
Britain.
1909 - Three U.S. warships were ordered to Nicaragua to stem the
conflict with El Salvador.
1912 - The Girl Scout organization was founded. The original name was
Girl Guides.
1923 - Dr. Lee DeForest demonstrated phonofilm. It was his technique for
putting sound on motion picture film.
1933 - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt presented his first
presidential address to the nation. It was the first of the "Fireside
Chats."
1940 - Finland surrendered to Russia ending the Russo-Finnish War.
1944 - Britain barred all travel to Ireland.
1947 - U.S. President Truman established the "Truman Doctrine" to help
Greece and Turkey resist Communism.
1959 - The U.S. House joined the U.S. Senate in approving the statehood
of Hawaii.
1966 - Bobby Hull, of the Chicago Blackhawks, became the first National
Hockey League (NHL) player to score 51 points in a single season.
1974 - "Wonder Woman" debuted on ABC-TV. The show later went to CBS-TV.
1980 - In Chicago, IL, a jury found John Wayne Gacy Jr. guilty of the
murders of 33 men and boys.
1984 - Lebanese President Gemayel opened the second meeting in five
years calling for the end to nine-years of war.
1985 - The U.S. and the U.S.S.R. began arms control talks in Geneva.
1985 - Larry Bird, of the NBA’s Boston Celtics, scored a club-record 60
points against the Atlanta Hawks.
1985 - Former U.S. President Richard M. Nixon announced that he planned
to drop Secret Service protection and hire his own bodyguards in an
effort to lower the deficit by $3 million.
1989 - About 2,500 veterans and supporters marched at the Art Institute
of Chicago to demand that officials remove an American flag placed on
the floor as part of an exhibit.
1992 - Mauritius became a republic but remained a member of the British
Commonwealth.
1993 - In the U.S., the Pentagon called for the closure of 31 major
military bases.
1993 - Several bombs were set of in Bombay, India. About 300 were killed
and hundreds more were injured.
1993 - Janet Reno was sworn in as the first female U.S. attorney
general.
1994 - A photo by Marmaduke Wetherell of the Loch Ness monster was
confirmed to be a hoax. The photo was taken of a toy submarine with a
head and neck attached.
1994 - The Church of England ordained its first women priests.
1997 - Police in Los Angeles arrested Mikail Markhasev for the shooting
of Bill Cosby's 27-year-old son, Ennis. He was later convicted and
sentenced to life in prison.
2002 - In Houston, Andrea Yates was convicted of murdering her five
children in the family bathtub.
2002 - U.S. homeland security chief Tom Ridge unveiled a color-coded
system for terror warnings.
2002 - Conoco and Phillips Petroleum stockholders approved a proposed
merger worth $15.6 billion.
2003 - In Utah, Elizabeth Smart was reunited with her family nine months
after she was abducted from her home. She had been taken on June 5,
2002, by a drifter that had previously worked at the Smart home.
2003 - The U.S. Air Force announced that it would resume reconnaissance
flights off the coast of North Korea. The flights had stopped on March 2
after an encounter with four armed North Korean jets.
2004 - In Spain, millions of people marched to protest train bombings in
Madrid that killed 191 people the day before.
2009 - It was announced that the Sear Tower in Chicago, IL, would be
renamed Willis Tower.
NYC to pay up to $657M to settle WTC health cases -- A settlement
that could pay up to $657.5 million to more than 10,000 ground zero
rescue and recovery workers sickened by dust from the destroyed World
Trade Center goes before a judge Friday, and he has said he favored a
settlement but planned to analyze it carefully to make sure it was fair.
Dept of Education buying shotguns!! -- The U.S. Department of
Education (ED) intends to purchase twenty-seven (27) REMINGTON BRAND
MODEL 870 POLICE 12/14P MOD GRWC XS4 KXCS SF. RAMAC #24587 GAUGE: 12
BARREL: 14" - PARKERIZED CHOKE: MODIFIED SIGHTS: GHOST RING REAR WILSON
COMBAT; FRONT - XS CONTOUR BEAD SIGHT STOCK: KNOXX REDUCE RECOIL
ADJUSTABLE STOCK FORE-END: SPEEDFEED SPORT-SOLID - 14" LOP are
designated as the only shotguns authorized for ED based on compatibility
with ED existing shotgun inventory, certified armor and combat training
and protocol, maintenance, and parts. The required date of delivery is
March 22, 2010.
CDC uses shopper-card data to trace salmonella -- As they scrambled
recently to trace the source of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened
hundreds around the country, investigators from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention successfully used a new tool for the first time —
the shopper cards that millions of Americans swipe every time they buy
groceries.
Fed. appeals court upholds 'under God' in pledge -- A federal
appeals court upheld the use of the words "under God" in the Pledge of
Allegiance and "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency, rejecting arguments
Thursday that the phrases violate the separation of church and state.
Defaulted Loans May Haunt Seniors -- A little–noticed law could soon
result in smaller Social Security checks for hundreds of thousands of
the elderly and disabled who owe the U.S. money from defaulted loans and
other debts more than a decade old.
New Zealand's internet filter goes live -- New Zealand's Department
of Internal Affairs' (DIA) internet filter is now operational and is
being used by ISPs Maxnet and Watchdog. "Filtering out child pornography
is also very much in line with our company values -- our customers would
be disappointed to hear if we weren't participating. So participation
for us has always been a no-brainer."
Internet helped Flight 253 suspect radicalize, attack plane 'within
weeks' -- The Internet allowed extremists to contact, recruit, train
and equip the suspect responsible for the attempted Flight 253 bombing
on Christmas Day "within weeks," a top Pentagon official told lawmakers
Wednesday.
Iran Said to Deploy For Gulf Attack -- Iran was said to have been
deploying a range of naval assets for a massive strike on its Gulf
neighbors.
IF You Are Going To "Demonstrate".... -- Then aim your
"demonstrating" at the people who are bankrupting your state - and you
personally. I speak specifically of people such as those that The Daily
Illini pointed out - all employees for the University of Illinois. Let's
see what we have here....The head of the football team - the coach -
makes $1 million. For coaching a college football team. (Seems to be the
ways things go today - mega bucks for ball players and college
professionals that teach nothing).
Gates
Clarifies US Iran Policy in Riyadh After Biden Fails in Israel -- US
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrived in Riyadh Wednesday, March 10,
flying in unexpectedly from Kabul in Afghanistan, after the Saudis
demanded urgent clarifications of the Obama administration's Iran
policy. debkafile's military sources report that the demand followed the
failure of US Vice President Joe Biden's talks with Israeli leaders to
resolve their differences on Iran.
Final 'Reform' Push: Twisting Arms -- President Obama's attempts to
ram health- care reform through an increasingly reluctant Congress are
starting to resemble a really eventful episode of "The Sopranos."
Fox News on 'Swinging' -- “Swinging saves you from cheating –
there’s no lies and deception. It’s letting people have the variety they
crave, but their partners get to have power and choice in the matter.”
DHS: Cell-All: Super Smartphones that Sniff Out Suspicious Substances
-- When a threat is sensed, a virtual ah-choo! ensues in one of two
ways. For personal safety issues such as a chlorine gas leak, a warning
is sounded; the user can choose a vibration, noise, text message, or
phone call. For catastrophes such as a sarin gas attack,
details—including time, location, and the compound—are phoned home to an
emergency operations center. (Knowing that this was spearheaded by Dept.
of Homeland Security - one has to wonder what they are up to??? Could it
be more false flags that will make everyone paranoid?)
Obama Relies on a 'Spiritual Cabinet' for Prayer, Inspiration --
President Obama, who rarely attends public church services, turns often
to a wide range of Baptists, Mainline Protestants, Catholics, Muslims
and Jews for prayer and spiritual and moral discussion, according to a
new report.
Scientists Reveal Negative Impact of Roundup Ready GM Crops -- Five
studies published in the October 2009 issue of The European Journal of
Agronomy reveal the negative impacts of using Monsanto’s Roundup
herbicide, a formula developed specifically for the company’s line of
genetically modified (GM) “Roundup Ready” crops. The papers, which were
not released in the United States, offer a solid indictment against GM
crops and the plight of using the Roundup herbicide.
Inside Norway's 'Doomsday Vault' -- In a remote mountainside on the
Norwegian tundra sits the "doomsday vault," a backup against disaster --
manmade or otherwise. Inside lives the last hope should the unthinkable
occur: a global seedbank that could be used to replant the world.
Review of UN Panel's Report on Climate Change Won't Reexamine Errors
-- An outside review of a U.N. panel -- promised after flaws were
uncovered in the panel's most recent report on climate change -- will
not recheck that report's conclusions and will instead focus on
improving procedures for the future, officials said Wednesday.
Subprime Lending Crisis: Auto Loans Thrive, Housing Down -- The
financial crisis was supposed to ring the death knell for companies that
make loans to people who have had problems with debt. But a year and a
half later, so-called subprime lending is alive and well.
World Airlines See Blues Skies Ahead -- Global airlines are
undergoing a surprisingly strong recovery with Asian and Latin American
carriers leading the way, the leading industry group said Thursday as it
halved its loss forecast for 2010 to $2.8 billion. (Maybe in their
dreams.)
Animal Suicide Sheds Light on Human Behavior -- Whether it's a
grieving dog, a depressed horse or even a whale mysteriously beaching
itself, there is a long history of animals behaving suicidally, behavior
that can help explain human suicide, says newly published research.
Mystery as Scores of Starlings Fall Out of the Sky and lay Dying --
It was like a grisly scene from a horror film. On Sunday night, over a
quiet Somerset house, scores of swooping starlings tumbled out of the
sky and fell, dead, into a single front garden. Covering an area 12ft
across, more than 100 birds carpeted the garden, each with blood oozing
from its beak and curled up claws. (Gosh, are they playing with their
scalar weapons?)
Billionaires and Mega-Corporations Behind Immense Land Grab in Africa
-- Ethiopia is one of the hungriest countries in the world with more
than 13-million people needing food aid, but paradoxically the
government is offering at least 7.5 million acres of its most fertile
land to rich countries and some of the world's most wealthy individuals
to export food for their own populations.
Taxpayers Footing the Bill for Breast Augmentation -- The U.S.
military keeps plastic surgeons on the payroll to help restore those
soldiers badly wounded during their service. But in some cases the
doctors are performing cosmetic surgeries and letting the government pay
for it.
French Bread Spiked with LSD in CIA Experiment -- For decades it was
assumed that the local bread had been unwittingly poisoned with a
psychedelic mould. Now, however, an American investigative journalist
has uncovered evidence suggesting the CIA peppered local food with the
hallucinogenic drug LSD as part of a mind control experiment at the
height of the Cold War. (Mystery solved!)
Nationwide Strike Brings Greece to Standstill -- Public and private
sector unions ground flights and halt services in a second national
strike against government plans to cut spending and raise taxes to
shrink the huge deficit and get Greece's faltering economy back on
track. (Please remember the National strike in America next month -
listen to The Power Hour for updates from Karen Tostado!)
NSA Communication System Interfering with Garage Door Openers --
Thinking he might be closing in on an answer, Lopez called the office of
Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, who was hearing complaints, too. Gonzalez called
the NSA, which acknowledged that a Land Mobile Radio antenna used by
construction and security personnel at the NSA site was operating on a
radio frequency also used by many garage door manufacturers. It turned
out the same problem had arisen near federal facilities elsewhere.
Parents Angry Over CCTV In School Toilets -- Outraged parents have
hit out at a school in Birmingham after pupils discovered CCTV cameras
in the school's toilets.
US Monthly Budget Deficit Balloons to a Record $651.60 Billion --
The U.S. government ran its largest ever monthly budget deficit in
February as the country's fiscal year-to-date deficit ballooned more
than 10% to a record of $651.60 billion. (YIKES!)
Bowles Says "We're Going to Mess with Social Security, Medicare &
Medicaid -- Erskine Bowles, co-chairman of the commission on U.S.
deficit reduction, said entitlement programs such as Social Security
will turn the nation into a “second- rate power” if their costs aren’t
reduced.
Brain Scan Can Read People's Thoughts -- A SCAN of brain activity
can effectively read a person's mind, researchers say.
Detroit Attempts to Sell $250 Million In Bonds Without Financial
Disclosure Via Goldman -- Here comes the first municipal Hail Mary:
Detroit is attempting to sell $250 million in debt, while disclosing in
the associated prospectus of the possibility of filing for Chapter 9
bankruptcy protection.
Minneapolis Schools Remain On Lockdown Thursday -- Minneapolis
Public Schools remain on lockdown after an Internet threat raised
suspicious Wednesday morning.
Gov't Plan Mandate 'Low-Flow' Xboxes and PS3's -- Even when we're
not playing, millions of us are using more electricity on our Xboxes,
PlayStations and other gaming gizmos than on appliances like
refrigerators and washing machines. And Congress and the Obama
administration may be ready to do something about it.
VIDEO: Message from Judge Napolitano
Oregon Dept. of Pre-Crime Detains Man for Mental Health Evaluation After
Buying Guns -- Concerns about an Oregon Department of Transportation
employee who purchased several guns after being placed on leave prompted
law enforcement across Southern Oregon to step in. Negotiators and a
SWAT team from Medford police safely took a man — whose name wasn’t
released — into protective custody Monday morning in the 500 block of
Effie Street, Medford police said in a news release. (SHEESH!)
Congress, Ariz. School District Sues Taxpayers to Stop Questions --
A handful of taxpayers in a small community north of Wickenburg, Arizona
are being targeted by the local school district in a lawsuit that asks a
judge to declare they have no right to request public records, sue the
district, or complain to outside agencies.
Today in History Thursday March
11, 2010
1861 - A Confederate Convention was held in Montgomery, Alabama, where a
new constitution was adopted.
1865 - Union General William Sherman and his forces occupied
Fayetteville, NC.
1888 - The "Blizzard of '88" began along the U.S. Atlantic Seaboard
shutting down communication and transportation lines. More than 400
people died.
1901 - Britain rejected an amended treaty to the canal agreement with
Nicaragua.
1901 - U.S. Steel was formed when industrialist J.P. Morgan purchased
Carnegie Steep Corp. The event made Andrew Carnegie the world's richest
man.
1905 - The Parisian subway was officially inaugurated.
1907 - U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt induced California to revoke
its anti-Japanese legislation.
1927 - Samuel Roxy Rothafel opened the famous Roxy Theatre in New York
City.
1927 - The Flatheads Gang stole $104,250 in the first armored-car
robbery near Pittsburgh, PA.
1930 - Babe Ruth signed a two-year contract with the New York Yankees
for the sum of $80,000.
1930 - U.S. President Howard Taft became the first U.S. president to be
buried in the National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.
1935 - The German Air Force became an official organ of the Reich.
1941 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the Lend-Lease
Act, which authorized the act of providing war supplies to the Allies.
1964 - U.S. Senator Carl Hayden broke the record for continuous service
in the U.S. Senate. He had worked 37 years and seven days.
1965 - The American navy began inspecting Vietnamese junks in an effort
to end arms smuggling to the South.
1965 - The Rev. James J. Reeb, a white minister from Boston, died after
being beaten by whites during a civil rights disturbances in Selma,
Alabama.
1966 - Three men were convicted of the murder of Malcolm X.
1969 - Levi-Strauss started selling bell-bottomed jeans.
1977 - More than 130 hostages held in Washington, DC, by Hanafi Muslims
were freed after ambassadors from three Islamic nations joined the
negotiations.
1978 - Palestinian guerrillas on the Tel Aviv Haifa highway killed 34
Israelis.
1985 - Mikhail Gorbachev was named the new chairman of the Soviet
Communist Party.
1986 - Popsicle announced its plan to end the traditional twin-stick
frozen treat for a one-stick model.
1988 - A cease-fire was declared in the war between Iran and Iraq.
1990 - Lithuania declared its independence from the Soviet Union. It was
the first Soviet republic to break away from Communist control.
1990 - In Chile, Patricio Aylwin was sworn in as the first
democratically elected president since 1973.
1991 - In South Africa a curfew was imposed on black townships after
fighting between political gangs had left 49 dead.
1992 - Former U.S. President Nixon said that the Bush administration was
not giving enough economic aid to Russia.
1993 - Janet Reno was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become
the first female attorney general.
1993 - North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
refusing to open sites for inspection.
1994 - In Chile, Eduardo Frei was sworn in as President. It was the
first peaceful transfer of power in Chile since 1970.
1997 - An explosion at a nuclear waste reprocessing plant caused 35
workers to be exposed to low levels of radioactivity. The incident was
the worst in Japan's history.
1998 - The International Astronomical Union issued an alert that said
that a mile-wide asteroid could come very close to, and possibly hit,
Earth on Oct. 26, 2028. The next day NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
announced that there was no chance the asteroid would hit Earth.
2002 - Two columns of light were pointed skyward from ground zero in New
York as a temporary memorial to the victims of the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001.
2003 - Fort Drum, NY, 11 troops were killed and two were injured during
a training mission when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed.
2004 - In Madrid, Spain, several coordinated bombing attacks on commuter
trains killed at least 190 people and injured more than 2,000.
Thought For The Day from our friend Mike Tawse in the UK -- It Is
Necessary To Change Your Mind
Amish farmer wins livestock registration case -- An Amish farmer in
Clark County, Wisconsin has won his fight against the state's livestock
registration law, which he argued violates his religious beliefs. Read
More...
Bank of America sued for seizing parrot -- Bank of America has
apologised to a woman in Pennsylvania after one of its contractors
entered her house, damaged furniture and confiscated her parrot. A BoA
spokesman said it had erroneously believed Ms Iannelli was defaulting on
her mortgage and the house was vacant. Forty-six-year-old Angela
Iannelli sued the bank Monday. She claims her mortgage was up-to-date
when one of the banking giant's contractors damaged furniture, took her
pet parrot, Luke, and padlocked her Allison Park door in October.
Airlines
Will Cancel Flights to Avoid Risk of Fines for Delays
-- Several airlines, including Fort Worth-based American and
Houston-based Continental, say they will cancel flights rather than risk
paying stiff penalties for delaying passengers on the runway.
Citibank exposes 600,000 customers' Social Security numbers -- In
late January, Citibank mailed year-end tax statements to 600,000 Citi
customers via the U.S. Postal Service that included the customers'
Social Security numbers ... on the outside of the envelope. Citi called
the mistake a "processing error." (WHAT!? A processing 'mistake?')
Canadian dollar likely to trump US greenback says experts -- The
Canadian dollar, or loonie as it is affectionately called here, is
likely to soar above parity with the US greenback this year, experts at
a Canadian bank said Wednesday.
Hundreds pack raw milk hearing in Eau Claire -- Hundreds of raw milk
advocates packed a legislative hearing Wednesday, demanding the right to
buy and sell unpasteurized dairy products that some claim have powerful
health benefits but that detractors call dangerous. Raw milk advocates
want the law changed, saying consumers should be able to decide whether
the health benefits of drinking unpasteurized milk outweigh the risks.
"It is not the role of the state to protect people by eliminating all
risks and intruding unnecessarily into their lives," testified Margo
Redmond, a raw milk consumer from Madison. "Please don't protect me from
myself, telling me what I can and cannot drink."
Father caught in legal morass dies of pneumonia -- Alzheimer's
disease and other forms of dementia are medical conditions. But
combative patients can find themselves placed by the courts into mental
health facilities. Even near the end of Richard Petersen's life, his
family was almost left in the dark. They had been notified earlier
Tuesday that he was going to be released from the county mental health
facility and placed at Waukesha Memorial Hospital, where a bed in a
behavioral unit had become available. It was only when one of his
daughters called the county mental health facility that the family
learned his condition had worsened.
* Related Article:
3 daughters battle health system, legal maze as father fights
Alzheimer’s
Alphabetic Index of Websites of the United Nations System of
Organizations -- Thanks to Bill Mauldin!
'Jihad Jane' : Arrest of Colleen LaRose Raises Fears About Homegrown
Terrorists -- The arrest of a suburban Pennsylvania woman known by
the alias Jihad Jane, who allegedly plotted with Islamic radicals abroad
to kill a Swedish cartoonist, has raised fears about homegrown
terrorists in the United States who may be difficult to spot.
Obama Calls 'Entrepreneurship Summit' with Muslims -- In the closely
watched address, Obama said the United States was seeking a "new
beginning" with the Islamic world to rebuild relations that had sharply
deteriorated over the past decade. (Yet they continue to call everyone
'terrorists.')
Silver Bullet from US States Kills 'Mandatory' Obamacare
--
At least 36 state legislatures are considering legislation that would
allow citizens to opt out of a key component of President Obama's
health-care "reform" – an "individual mandate" requiring that all
Americans have health insurance.
Obama Using 'Bounty Hunters' to Root Out Fraud
-- The bounty hunters in this case would be private
auditors armed with sophisticated computer programs to scan Medicare and
Medicaid billing data for patterns of bogus claims. The auditors would
get to keep part of any funds they recover for the government. The White
House said a pilot program run by Medicare in California, New York and
Texas recouped $900 million for taxpayers from 2005-2008.
Texas Textbook Wars Would Affect All of Our Nations Students
-- The Texas
State Board of Education is considering history curriculum standards
that would change the way certain events are taught to children – if
they are taught at all.
Increased Seismic Activity Near South Iceland Volvcano -- After
decreasing seismic trends in the past days, earthquakes are growing in
strength and number in the area around Eyjafjallajökull glacier, which
covers an active volcano, in south Iceland.
Israel Warns That 'Bad Options' are Nearing -- UNITED NATIONS — The
two "bad options" for Iran — letting the country develop nuclear weapons
or using force to destroy its nuclear capabilities — are closer than
they were a year ago, Israel's U.N. ambassador warned Tuesday.
Sun Begins New Solar Cycle, Flinging Radiation at the Earth
--
As a new solar cycle of activity begins this year, the Earth will once
again be bombarded with increased radiation from the sun. This effect
may damage satellites and interfere with GPS, television and
communications.
Cell-Phone Radiation Health Warning Alarm Spurs Studies
-- In March, Maine's legislature will begin debating a
bill she submitted that would require manufacturers to put a warning
label on every cell phone sold in the state declaring, "This device
emits electromagnetic radiation, exposure to which may cause brain
cancer."
Inside the Cat and Dog Meat Market in China
-- But these local restaurants may have to find a new specialty.
The
Chinese government is considering legislation that would make eating
cats and dogs illegal.
LHC to Shut Down for a Year To Address Design Faults -- The Large
Hadron Collider (LHC) must close at the end of 2011 for up to a year to
address design issues, according to an LHC director. (Oh something isn't
right, but don't shut it down for over a year, then we'll fix it?)
The Mayor of Detroit's Radical Plan To Bulldoze One Quarter of the City
-- So his plan is to bulldoze approximately 10,000 houses and empty
buildings over the next 3 years and direct new investment into stronger
neighborhoods. In the areas that the city plans to bulldoze, the
residents would be offered the opportunity to relocate to a better
area. For buildings that have already been abandoned, the city could
simply use tax foreclosure proceedings to reclaim them. Of course if
there were some residents that did not want to move, eminent domain
could be used to force them out.
US Housing Giants Are City-Sized Property Owners
-- It’s a tiny part of their operations for now. But if the
housing market doesn’t turn around soon, they could find themselves
reluctantly managing more properties. And no-one expected — or wants —
Fannie and Freddie to become giant public sector landlords.
US Cap and Trade Rebranded Pollution Reduction
-- Like a
savvy Madison Avenue advertising team, senators pushing climate-control
legislation have decided to scrap the name "cap and trade" and rebrand
their product as "pollution reduction targets."
Pacific North American Regional Integration and Control -- The
Pacific Coast Leaders signed two action plans. The first being-
Innovation, the Environment and the Economy which, “sets out a series of
co-operative initiatives to promote renewable and low-carbon energy and
energy conservation, including developing Interstate 5/Highway 99 as a
green transportation corridor. It also promotes development of
high-speed rail from San Diego to Vancouver and the move to ‘Green
Ports’ through co-operation to reduce local air pollutants and
greenhouse gas emissions.” (Oh my gosh!! This is NAU with a heaping
addition of Agenda 21!)
Four Bronx Buddies Facing Year in Jail After Hitting Off-Duty Transit
Cop - With a Snowball! -- Four Bronx buddies are facing a year in
jail for criminal possession of a weapon - a snowball that hit an
off-duty transit cop.
Chief Exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth Says Devil is in the Vatican
-- Father Gabriele Amorth, 85, who has been the Vatican's chief
exorcist for 25 years and says he has dealt with 70,000 cases of demonic
possession, said that the consequences of satanic infiltration included
power struggles at the Vatican as well as "cardinals who do not believe
in Jesus, and bishops who are linked to the Demon".
Drudge Report Malware Accusations Coincides With Cybersecurity Agenda
-- Democrats in the Senate are attempting to scare people away
from alternative news websites by falsely claiming the sites contain
dangerous software viruses.
FCC May
Set Aside Free Wireless Spectrum for Internet Broadband --
Commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn during a speech at the Digital Inclusion
Summit suggested that the FCC may look at some wireless spectrum being
set aside for at little or no cost for anyone’s use.
Billboard Watches You Shop --
Cameras in the advert hoardings identify the age and sex of passers-by
then display relevant products.
Minneapolis Schools on Lockdown Amid Internet Threat -- All schools
across the busy midwestern US city of Minneapolis were put on lockdown
early Wednesday after a vague threat was posted on two social networking
sites, a spokeswoman said. The lockdown, which affected around 50
schools in the Minneapolis public school district, meant children were
told to remain in their classrooms while access to outside visitors was
strictly limited.
VIDEO: Ron Paul on National ID Issue -- states clearly that there
may be a GPS Chip in them! Must hear!!!
VIDEO: Will Nancy Pelosi bring health care to vote by March 18?
Riots in Athens As Thousands Protest Against Cutbacks -- Masked
youths stoned police outside Greece’s parliament today in protest at
cutbacks proposed to try to end the country’s debt crisis.
Federally Funded Ticketing Blitz in Virginia
-- A federally funded ticketing blitz in the state of Virginia
landed a total of 6996 traffic tickets this weekend. The blitz, dubbed
“Operation Air, Land & Speed” coincided with frantic efforts by state
officials to close a$2.2 billion budget deficit.
Stop The Federal Reserve From Shredding Its Records
-- Should the policymaking committee of the most powerful
peacetime entity in the United States government be allowed to destroy
their source records? The Federal Open Market Committee of the nation’s
central bank, an intricate part of the United States government may be
continuing to destroy its source records, a policy it began in 1995 with
an unrecorded vote -no fingerprints – conducted by then Chairman Alan
Greenspan.
Dr. Gabriel Cousens Reveals Method for Reversing Diabetes with Raw
Living Foods -- In this audio interview, you'll hear Dr. Cousens
describe why and how consuming raw foods really works to initiate
dramatic reductions in fasting blood sugar levels, effectively reversing
diabetes in a matter of just a few weeks. (Of course The Power Hour
Listeners already know this)!!
Moviegoer Tells California Woman to Stop Talking On Cell Phone, Gets
Stabbed in the Neck -- The woman's boyfriend allegedly attacked and
stabbed the "shusher" in the neck with a meat thermometer.
Hormone replacement therapy now linked to cataracts -- For decades,
hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was pushed by the medical
establishment as a kind of youth elixir that offered all sorts of
remarkable benefits. Take the hormones Big Pharma concocts from pregnant
horses' urine and chemicals and middle-aged and older women would
supposedly have better sex lives, fewer wrinkles, protection from heart
attacks and no more hot flashes. Only, it was all a huge myth.
Today in History Wednesday March
10, 2010
1776 - "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine was published.
1785 - Thomas Jefferson was appointed minister to France. He succeeded
Benjamin Franklin.
1792 - John Stone patented the pile driver.
1804 - The formal ceremonies transferring the Louisiana Purchase from
France to the U.S. took place in St. Louis.
1814 - In France, Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by a combined Allied
Army at the battle of Laon.
1848 - The U.S. Senate ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which
ended the war with Mexico.
1849 - Abraham Lincoln applied for a patent for a device to lift vessels
over shoals by means of inflated cylinders.
1864 - Ulysses S. Grant became commander of the Union armies in the U.S.
Civil War.
1876 - Alexander Graham Bell made the first successful call with the
telephone. He spoke the words "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see
you."
1880 - The Salvation Army arrived in the U.S. from England.
1893 - New Mexico State University canceled its first graduation
ceremony because the only graduate was robbed and killed the night
before.
1903 - In New York's harbor, the disease-stricken ship Karmania was
quarantined with six dead from cholera.
1912 - China became a republic after the overthrow of the Manchu Ch'ing
Dynasty.
1924 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a New York state law forbidding
late-night work for women.
1927 - Prussia lifted its Nazi ban allowing Adolf Hitler to speak in
public.
1933 - Nevada became the first U.S. state to regulate drugs.
1945 - American B-29 bombers attacked Tokyo, Japan, 100,000 were killed.
1947 - The Big Four met in Moscow to discuss the future of Germany.
1969 - James Earl Ray pled guilty in Memphis, TN, to the assassination
of Martin Luther King Jr. Ray later repudiated the guilty plea and
maintained his innocence until his death in April of 1998.
1971 - The U.S. Senate approved an amendment to lower the voting age to
18.
1975 - The North Vietnamese Army attacked the South Vietnamese town of
Ban Me Thout.
1980 - Iran's leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, lent his support to the
militants holding American hostages in Tehran.
1987 - The Vatican condemned surrogate parenting as well as test-tube
and artificial insemination.
1991 - "Phase Echo" began. It was the operation to withdraw 540,000 U.S.
troops from the Persian Gulf region.
1994 - White House officials began testifying before a federal grand
jury about the Whitewater controversy.
1995 - U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher told Yasser Arafat
that he must do more to curb Palestinian terrorists.
1998 - U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf began receiving the first
vaccinations against anthrax.
2003 - North Korea test-fired a short-range missile. The event was one
of several in a patter of unusual military maneuvers.
Limbaugh ‘leaving the country’ if health reform passes -- The
decidedly non-liberal Rush Limbaugh has made a move, telling his
audience he will move to Costa Rica if health care reform becomes law.
And now the only question that remains is whether Limbaugh will make
good on his word, or join the ranks of the empty-promisers.
Radio legend George Noory to run for president?? -- Among the
possible candidates is Coast to Coast AM radio talk-show host George
Noory, who told WND right away that there would be no questions about
his eligibility as there are about Obama's qualifications under the
Constitution's requirement that a president be a "natural born citizen."
South Korea does what the US refuses to do: Restrict junk food
advertising to children -- The health ministry of South Korea has
announced that advertisements for foods that are high in fat, sugar, and
salt, will be limited during the prime time television hours of 5 and 7
p.m. and during any children's programming. In support of national
efforts to curb childhood obesity, the limitations will include foods
such as hamburgers, instant noodles, and pizza as well as desserts like
chocolate, candy, and ice cream.
'Jihad
Jane's' Arrest Raises Concern About Homegrown Terrorists -- Experts
Say Suburban Pennsylvania Woman Was Easy to Find but There Could be More
Like Her. The arrest of a suburban Pennsylvania woman known by the alias
Jihad Jane, who allegedly plotted with Islamic radicals abroad to kill a
Swedish cartoonist, has raised concerns about homegrown terrorists in
the United States who may be difficult to spot.
Researchers
back cancer-fighting properties of papaya -- Researchers said
Tuesday that papaya leaf extract and its tea have dramatic
cancer-fighting properties against a broad range of tumors, backing a
belief held in a number of folk traditions.
Chevron shedding 2,000 jobs -- Chevron Corp. said today it will cut
2,000 jobs this year and sell some overseas operations as it revamps its
struggling refinery, marketing and transportation operations. The job
cuts represent almost 12 percent of its 17,000 workers in the so-called
downstream part of its business and just over 3 percent of its overall
work force.
UK:
Patients' medical records go online without consent -- At present
1.29 million people have had their details placed on the system. A
further 8.9 million records are due to be added by June. Doctors have
accused the Government of rushing the project through, meaning that
patients have had their details uploaded to the database before they
have had a chance to object.
SENATE
WARNS EMPLOYEES TO AVOID THE DRUDGE REPORT -- Just as the healthcare
drama in the capitol reaches a grand finale, congressional officials are
warning employees to avoid the DRUDGE REPORT! The Senate's Committee on
Environment and Public Works issued an urgent email late Monday claiming
the DRUDGE REPORT is 'responsible for the many viruses popping up
throughout the Senate.' Seems like a lot of folks in government read
visit the Drudge website - The site was seen 149,967 times since March
1st from users at senate.gov and 244,347 times at house.gov. [10,825
visits from the White House, eop.gov]
2 of the oldest people in US die: in NH 114, Mich. 113 -- Two of the
oldest people in the world have died on the same day. Mary Josephine
Ray, who was certified as the oldest person living in the United States,
died Sunday at age 114 years, 294 days. Daisey Bailey, who was 113
years, 342 days passed away the very same day. "It's very rare that two
of our supercentenarians die on the same day."
Microsoft warns of new IE bug; attacks under way -- Microsoft Corp.
warns of a critical vulnerability in Internet Explorer that is already
being exploited by hackers; it was the company's second such admission
in the past two months.Internet Explorer 6 and its 2006 successor, IE7,
contain a vulnerability that can be used by attackers to inject
malicious code into a Windows PC. The oldest and newest of Microsoft's
supported browsers, IE 5.01 and IE8, respectively, are not vulnerable to
such attacks.
Israeli Banks Urge America Clients to Close Israeli Accounts
-- Obedient to intensifying U.S. government pressure to crack
down on offshore tax evaders, in January Israeli banks began ordering
clients they identify as "Americans" or "U.S. tax residents" to close
investment accounts they hold in Israel. It is apparently an
anticipatory measure, ahead of changes in U.S. law. Local banks are
apparently responding to changes in American regulations as their legal
counsels interpret them.
Tom Delay: People Are Unemployed Because They Want to Be
-- Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay called Sen. Jim
Bunning (R-Ky.) "brave" on Sunday for launching a one-man filibuster of
unemployment benefits, arguing that they dissuaded people from going out
and finding work. (One has to wonder if he has tried
to find a job that you make enough money to pay for the gas??)
Speaker
Nancy Pelosi -- “But we have to pass the bill so that you can find
out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy. Furthermore, we
believe that health care reform, again I said at the beginning of my
remarks, that we sent the three pillars that the President’s economic
stabilization and job creation initiatives were education and
innovation—innovation begins in the classroom—clean energy and climate,
addressing the climate issues in an innovative way to keep us number one
and competitive in the world with the new technology, and the third,
first among equals I may say, is health care, health insurance reform.
(Um, what happened to transparency BEFORE anything was passed?
Guess they forget that.)
* RELATED:
VIDEO: Pelosi: we have to pass the health care bill so that you can find
out what is in it.
FDIC: Hackers took more than $120M in three months -- Ongoing
computer scams targeting small businesses cost U.S. companies $25
million in the third quarter of 2009, according to the U.S. Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation. Online banking fraud involving the
electronic transfer of funds has been on the rise since 2007 and rose to
over $120 million in the third quarter of 2009, according to estimates
presented Friday at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, by David
Nelson, an examination specialist with the FDIC.
Dire Warning: Israel Must Strike Iran Now
-- The only action that can stop Iran from building nuclear
weapons is an Israeli strike on Tehran's nuclear facilities, argued John
Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under the Bush
administration.
Proof That 911 Truthers Are Dangerous -- (Read carefully as the
title is a bit misleading) - Most Americans don't know what kind of
people 9/11 truthers really are. So they can't figure out whether or not
they are dangerous. Below is a list of people who question what our
Government has said about 9/11. The list proves - once and for all -
that people who question 9/11 are dangerous. Email this list to everyone
you know, to prove to them that 9/11 truthers are all dangerous nut
cases.
Cyberwar Declared as China Hunts for West's Intelligence Secrets
-- Urgent warnings have been circulated throughout Nato and the
European Union for secret intelligence material to be protected from a
recent surge in cyberwar attacks originating in China.
Massa: Rahm Emanuel "Would Sell His Own Mother for Votes"
-- "Rahm Emanuel is son of the devil's spawn, Rep. Eric Massa
(D-NY) said. "He is an individual who would sell his mother to get a
vote. He would strap his children to the front end of a steam
locomotive."
Vitamin D 'Triggers and Arms' the Immune System
-- The so-called sunshine vitamin, which can be obtained from
food or manufactured by human skin exposed to the sun, plays a key role
in boosting the immune system, researchers believe.
First Big Twister of Season Destroys Five Homes in Oklahoma -- Five
homes were destroyed and several others damaged Monday when a tornado
passed through Hammon in Roger Mills County, authorities reported. The
storm also destroyed a county barn and caused other debris about 6 p.m.
Chile Quake Moved the Earth 10 Feet
-- This is the preliminary solution
obtained by Project CAP (Central and Southern Andes GPS Project) for the
coseismic displacement field associated with the recent M 8.8 Maule
earthquake in south-central Chile. Peak measured displacement is 3.04 m
near the city of Concepcion, Chile. Significant displacements are
evident as far east as Buenos Aires, Argentina (2-4 cm) and as far north
as the Chilean border with Peru.
High Waves
Wound 5 on Cruise Ship --
In the Strait of
Gibraltar is a cruise ship struck again yesterday by high waves.
Dark Magnetic Filament Curling Over Sun
-- For the 4th day in a row, the
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is tracking a dark magnetic
filament curling over the sun's northeastern limb.
Poll Shows Obama, Dems Losing Ground
-- The Democracy Corps-Third Way survey released Monday finds
that by a 10-point margin -- 51 percent to 41 percent -- Americans think
the standing of the U.S. dropped during the first 13 months of Mr.
Obama's presidency.
How Long Can You Live Without Food?
-- Although not as critical as going without water, missing even
just a few meals can cause a host of undesirable complications for the
would-be survivor. Although we will not starve while going without food
for several days or even a week, being underfed for even just one day
can cause.
Water is Life, Not a Commodity --
WWC's agenda is profits through
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) wanting to privatize global water
resources, sell them to the highest bidder, promote destructive dam and
water diversion projects, extort high prices, and make an element of
life available only to those who can afford it.
New Zealand Woman Sells Souls to Highest Bidder -- She said they
were the spirits of an old man who lived in the house during the 1920s,
and a powerful, disruptive little girl who turned up after a session
with a spirit-calling Ouija board. Since an exorcism at the property
last July led to their capture, there has been no further spooky
activity in the house, she said.
US Slams Jerusalem Housing Plan --
"I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance
planning for new housing units in east Jerusalem. The substance and
timing of the announcement ... is precisely the kind of step that
undermines the trust we need right now and runs counter to the
constructive discussions that I've had here in Israel," Biden said in a
statement issued by his office Tuesday afternoon.
New Regulations Will Ban Sport Fishing -- Obama’s latest assault on
your rights – He wants to ban sport fishing.
Europe Bars Wall Street Banks From Government Bond Sales -- European
countries are blocking Wall Street banks from lucrative deals to sell
government debt worth hundreds of billions of euros in retaliation for
their role in the credit crunch.
Don't Blame Fast Food For Making You Fat -- Because there's probably
more at work here than just calories in/calories out. More and more
research is indicating that America's obesity crisis can't be blamed
entirely on too much fast food and too little exercise. (Or on these
seven habits of highly obese people.) A third factor may be in play: a
class of natural and synthetic chemicals known as endocrine-disrupting
chemicals (EDCs), or as researchers have begun to call them, obesogens.
Failed Banks May Get Pension-Fund Backing as FDIC Seeks Cash
-- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is trying to encourage
public retirement funds that control more than $2 trillion to buy all or
part of failed lenders, taking a more direct role in propping up the
banking system, said people briefed on the matter.
Vilsack
Announces New Budget for 2011 for USDA
-- Vilsack made clear in his speeches that although NAIS was said
to be dead, it would continue under its new name, “National Institute
for Animal Agriculture (NIAA)”. Going on to cite the fact that premises
ID had seen less than 35% participation (he never mentions that a large
percentage of those claimed to be participating had been enrolled either
without their knowledge or under threat) he then claimed that USDA had
little to no opposition from sheep herders, poultry & pork producers.
Tax Soda, Pizza to Cut Obesity, Researchers Say -- U.S. researchers
estimate that an 18 percent tax on pizza and soda can push down U.S.
adults' calorie intake enough to lower their average weight by 5 pounds
(2 kg) per year. (They just want to take their 'fat' in money.)
Census Spends $52 Million On Letter Alerting Americans That They'll Be
getting Another Letter -- That $52 million number is a calculation I
did based on the reported 120 million letters that were reportedly sent
out at a cost of $0.44/letter.
Utah
Senate Votes to Grade US Senators -- The Utah Senate continued its
session long pursuit of states' rights Monday by passing a bill that
would seek to rein in U.S. senators who otherwise might ignore the state
government's wishes. SB250 would allow political parties to develop
bylaws asking their caucuses within the state House and Senate to
evaluate the performance of U.S. senators and create a ratings system
for Senate candidates.
Worker ID Card at Center of Immigration Plan -- Lawmakers working to
craft a new comprehensive immigration bill have settled on a way to
prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants: a national biometric
identification card all American workers would eventually be required to
obtain. (Last time I knew anything, Obama wanted to legalize the aliens
- so why the ID?? Could it be for us??)
H1N1 'Protection' Added to Next Season's Flu Shots
-- That shouldn’t be a problem during the next flu season, as the
Food and Drug Administration has decided to include a pandemic 2009 H1N1
virus in the Northern Hemisphere’s 2010-11 seasonal influenza vaccine.
Senate Tells Employees Not to Read Drudge Report -- The Senate’s
Committee on Environment and Public Works issued an urgent email late
Monday claiming the DRUDGE REPORT is ‘responsible for the many viruses
popping up throughout the Senate.’
Today in History Tuesday March 9, 2010
1788 - Connecticut became the 5th state to join the United States.
1793 - Jean Pierre Blanchard made the first balloon flight in North
America. The event was witnessed by U.S. President George Washington.
1820 - The U.S. Congress passed the Land Act that paved the way for
westward expansion of North America.
1822 - Charles M. Graham received the first patent for artificial teeth.
1832 - Abraham Lincoln announced that he would run for a political
office for the first time. He was unsuccessful in his run for a seat in
the Illinois state legislature.
1839 - The French Academy of Science announced the Daguerreotype photo
process.
1860 - The first Japanese ambassador to the U.S. was appointed.
1863 - General Ulysses Grant was appointed commander-in-chief of the
Union forces.
1905 - In Manchuria, Japanese troops surrounded 200,000 Russian troops
that were retreating from Mudken.
1906 - In the Philippines, fifteen Americans and 600 Moros were killed
in the last two days of fighting.
1909 - The French National Assembly passed an income tax bill.
1911 - The funding for five new battleships was added to the British
military defense budget.
1916 - Mexican raiders led by Pancho Villa attacked Columbus, New
Mexico. 17 people were killed by the 1,500 horsemen.
1933 - The U.S. Congress began its 100 days of enacting New Deal
legislation.
1936 - The German press warned that all Jews who vote in the upcoming
elections would be arrested.
1945 - During World War II, U.S. B-29 bombers launched incendiary bomb
attacks against Japan.
1949 - The first all-electric dining car was placed in service on the
Illinois Central Railroad.
1954 - WNBT-TV (now WNBC-TV), in New York, broadcast the first local
color television commercials. The ad was Castro Decorators of New York
City.
1957 - Egyptian leader Nasser barred U.N. plans to share the tolls for
the use of the Suez Canal.
1964 - The first Ford Mustang rolled off of the Ford assembly line.
1965 - The first U.S. combat troops arrived in South Vietnam.
1975 - Work began on the Alaskan oil pipeline.
1975 - Iraq launched an offensive against the rebel Kurds.
1977 - About a dozen armed Hanafi Muslims invaded three buildings in
Washington, DC. They killed one person and took more than 130 hostages.
The siege ended two days later.
1986 - U.S. Navy divers found the crew compartment of the space shuttle
Challenger along with the remains of the astronauts.
1989 - The U.S. Senate rejected John Tower as a choice for a cabinet
member. It was the first rejection in 30 years.
1989 - In Maylasia, 30 Asian nations conferred on the issue of "boat
people".
1989 - In the U.S., a strike forced Eastern Airlines into bankruptcy.
1989 - In the U.S., President George H.W. Bush urged for a mandatory
death penalty in drug-related killings.
1993 - Rodney King testified at the federal trial of four Los Angeles
police officers accused of violating his civil rights.
1995 - The Canadian Navy arrested a Spanish trawler for illegally
fishing off of Newfoundland.
2000 - In Norway, the coalition government of Kjell Magne Bondevik
resigned as a result of an environmental dispute.
Auditors
find misuse of stimulus money in California -- Officials in the
heart of recession-battered central California misspent about $1 million
in federal stimulus funds that were supposed to help adults and
teenagers find jobs, state auditors said Tuesday. California's Inspector
General Laura Chick said the Tulare County Workforce Investment Board
used nearly $1 million in Recovery Act funds to pay for their own rent
and utility bills, when the bulk of the money should have gone to
finding youth summer jobs.
Utah base dealing with rash of suicides - mostly civilians!!! --
Utah’s Hill Air Force Base has hired a psychologist to deal with a rash
of suicides, mostly among civilians complaining of harsh working
conditions. Nearly 75 percent of the people at the base are civilian
employees or contractors, and they make up 21 or 22 of at least 25
confirmed suicides since 2006, according to its senior ranking officer,
Maj. Gen. Andrew Busch, commander of the Ogden Air Logistics Center.
Solar Industry Learns Lessons in Spanish Sun -- Armed with generous
incentives from the Spanish government to jump-start a national solar
energy industry, the city set out to replace its failing coal economy by
attracting solar companies, with a campaign slogan: “The Sun Moves Us.”
Increase
tax on soda, pizza to reduce obesity, US researchers suggest -- The
US researchers estimate that an 18 percent tax on pizza and soda can
push down the US adults’ calorie intake enough to lower their average
weight by 5 pounds (two kilograms) per year.
N.
Korea Says It Is Ready to 'Blow Up' US
--
North Korea's army said Monday it is
ready to "blow up" South Korea and the U.S., hours after the allies
kicked off annual military drills that Pyongyang has slammed as a
rehearsal for attack.
Growing Low-Oxygen Zones in Oceans Worry Scientists -- Lower levels
of oxygen in the Earth's oceans, particularly off the United States'
Pacific Northwest coast, could be another sign of fundamental changes
linked to global climate change, scientists say.
Vitamin D deficiency now so widespread that rickets is on the rise once
again -- A clinical review paper published in the British Medical
Journal is warning the public that widespread vitamin D deficiency is
resurrecting the once-obsolete disease called rickets. According to
Professor Simon Pearce and Dr. Time Cheetham, authors of the paper,
people are getting far too little sunlight exposure which is necessary
for the body to produce adequate levels of vitamin D. Rickets is a
disease in which a person's bones do not properly develop and harden,
results when a person is getting too little vitamin D and most likely
not enough calcium.
Celery Juice Every Day Keeps High Blood Pressure at Bay -- One of
the most common vegetables we use today - celery - with its stringy
stems and crisp texture provides a natural way to lower blood pressure.
It decreases a potentially dangerous situation without the risk of
possible side effects that might accompany prescribed medication.
University
of California Campus Erupts in Riots; Student Loan Scam Drives Up Cost
of Education: Expect More Riots -- Students at the University of
California’s flagship Berkeley campus took to the streets on Friday
night, vandalizing university buildings, burning trash cans and clashing
with police in the latest expression of frustration over cuts to the
educational budget in California.
Philippines: Food Security Warnings Over El Nino -- Warnings have
been raised over food security in the Philippines as the El Niño
phenomenon wreaks havoc across vast agricultural areas, leaving staple
crops such as rice dying in parched earth, officials say. (More great
possible food-shortage news.)
Ionia Kindergartener Suspended for Making Gun with Hand!!! -- To the
little boy's mother, it was just a 6-year-old boy playing around. But
when Mason Jammer, a kindergarten student at Jefferson Elementary in
Ionia, curled his fist into the shape of a gun Wednesday and pointed it
at another student, school officials said it was no laughing matter.
They suspended Mason until Friday, saying the behavior made other
students uncomfortable, said Erin Jammer, Mason's mother.
Climate Change: Methane Escaping from Arctic Faster Than Expected and
Could Stoke Global Warming --
The potent greenhouse gas methane, is bubbling out of the frozen Arctic
much faster than expected and could stoke global warming.
Eric
Massa Details 'Salty' Comment that Led to Resignation, Slams Dems
Leaders -- A "salty" comment made in the company of drunken staff
members at a wedding reception on New Year's Eve was all the Democratic
"forces that be" needed to push him out of the House of Representatives
and prevent him from possibly casting the vote that would kill health
care reform, says outgoing New York Rep. Eric Massa.
* Related Article:
Former congressman Massa says Democrats set him up over health care
Monsanto 'Warrior' Grant Fights Anti-Trust Accusations
-- For a man trying to feed the
world, Monsanto Co.’s Hugh Grant has no shortage of people trying to
disrupt his dinner plans, from activists fighting genetically modified
crops to the U.S. Department of Justice probing his company’s sales
practices.
Attack of the GMO's: GMO Alfalfa Will Make Organic Dairy Impossible
-- Genetically engineered alfalfa would be the first perennial GM crop,
and would result in a huge increase of toxic RoundUp in the environment.
It would widely expose livestock to both genetically-engineered genes
and pesticide residues. It would especially affect cows and horses -
their health, their reproduction, and their byproducts, particularly
milk.
US Voting Machine Makers' Merger Nears Approval
-- At a value of $5 million, the deal was
too small to trigger a federal antitrust review. It has generated
opposition from election officials and others concerned it would deprive
voting precincts of choice and leave the country's election system more
vulnerable to failures.
How Do you Plead, Guilty or Not Guilty? 'I Plead Muslim' -- The
situation here is not whether Faleh Hassan Almaleki deserves the death
penalty. It is totally irrelevant which side of the death penalty
argument you advocate. This decision should concern each and every one
of us because of the big picture. By removing the death penalty from
this case, Maricopa County is setting a precedent that will have
ramifications far reaching and far beyond the death penalty. This is
only the beginning of a slippery slope that none of us should allow.
(how about wrong is wrong and law is law no matter your religion?)
US Currency Soon to be Radically Altered -- the American Council of
the Blind (ACB) filed a lawsuit interpreting the Act as requiring the
government to design its currency in such a way as to be easily
identifiable by the blind and the visually-impaired. This change is
being forced on the American people because of creative advocacy by a
special-interest organization which was able to convince a handful of
unelected federal appeals court judges to expansively interpret a
federal statute, that arguably was not even intended to reach an issue
such as currency design. (Gosh, all those people that have stashed money
back will now have to exchange it - so now banksters will know how much
'cash' one has.)
Greek Debt Crisis: Germany 'Will Not Offer Greece a Cent' -- But
this was the scene in Athens yesterday as riot police clashed with
protesters outraged by cutbacks designed to slash the country's huge
budget deficit. The violence came as Germany ruled out offering Greece
'a cent' of financial aid, insisting it should sort out it own problems.
AIG Bankers Caught on Tape Complaining About the Bailout and Idiot
Americans -- Yet they did see that money, at least most of it. Last
month, under a deal in which employees agreed to take a cut in their
upcoming retention bonuses in return for an accelerated payment, AIG
paid out about $100 million to employees at the firm. AIG is scheduled
to pay the last of the bonuses this month. Even so, neither time nor
money has softened the employees' feelings of wrongful persecution and
their anger over becoming the subjects of scorn and ridicule. Seldom was
that sense of victimhood more clear or more visceral than in the
conference call of March 23, 2009.
And Now: US
Government Program Pays People to Sell Homes at a Loss -- Taking
effect on April 5, the program could encourage hundreds of thousands of
delinquent borrowers who have not been rescued by the loan modification
program to shed their houses through a process known as a short sale, in
which property is sold for less than the balance of the mortgage.
Lenders will be compelled to accept that arrangement, forgiving the
difference between the market price of the property and what they are
owed. (Then the FDIC pays the banks - so the banksters win all the way
around.)
Fed Announces Expansion of Reverse Repo Program; Adds Money Market Funds
to List of Eligible Counterparties -- Today, the Fed goes one step
further, after noting increasing pressure by its own members to commence
a tightening policy, and has announced the expansion of its reverse repo
program with Primary Dealers, by adding additional counterparties. And
guess who the first expansion wave focuses on - why Money Market mutual
funds of course. Let's just do all we can to drain the money market
system asap, shall we.
FDA Recalls Some Foods with Flavor Enhancer HVP
-- Federal health authorities announced Thursday the recall of a
commonly used flavor enhancer after samples of the product were found to
contain salmonella.
Video: How Goldman Sachs runs the government! -- Great Video!
IMF Suggests How to Raise Climate Change Funds -- The head of the
International Monetary Fund on Monday proposed a plan for the world's
governments to pool together to raise money needed to adapt to climate
change, a rare step for an organization that normally does not develop
environmental policies. IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn
said the Fund is concerned about the huge amount of funding needed and
the effect that will have on the global economy. He added that the
proposal may help efforts to reach a binding agreement on climate change
later this year.
Large Hadron Collider Performing Well
-- A detailed check of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) running at
a low energy has showed that it is "performing well," the European
Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) said on its website Thursday.
13 Magical Uses for Cucumbers -- The humble cucumber is actually a
little gem. And not just for its nutritional benefits...
FBI Warns Brewing Cyberwar May Have Same Impact as "Well Placed Bomb"
-- NATO and America's European allies are sounding the alarm over
what they say are increased cyber attacks originating from China that
are targeting key government and intelligence computers.
Shooting Hurts 3 at Dallas Office Tower
-- There has been a shooting at
an 18-story office tower in North Dallas housing the United Texas Bank,
among other businesses.
Another shooting in Texas - This time at a Wal-Mart -- Texas Wal-Mart
Shooting: Suspected Gunman Killed By Police -- In Commerce, Texas a
man walked into a Wal-Mart in Texas carrying at least two guns before
engaging in a shootout with police outside the store, authorities said.
The man was killed and an off-duty officer in the store who had tried to
stop him was injured. (Thanks Erin)
Today in History Monday March 8, 2010
1702 - England's Queen Anne took the throne upon the death of King
William III.
1853 - The first bronze statue of Andrew Jackson is unveiled in
Washington, DC.
1855 - A train passed over the first railway suspension bridge at
Niagara Falls, NY.
1880 - U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes declared that the United
States would have jurisdiction over any canal built across the isthmus
of Panama.
1887 - The telescopic fishing rod was patented by Everett Horton.
1894 - A dog license law was enacted in the state of New York. It was
the first animal control law in the U.S.
1907 - The British House of Commons turned down a women's suffrage bill.
1909 - Pope Pius X lifted the church ban on interfaith marriages in
Hungary.
1911 - In Europe, International Women's Day was celebrated for the first
time.
1917 - Russia's "February Revolution" began with rioting and strikes in
St. Petersburg.
1921 - French troops occupied Dusseldorf.
1933 - Self-liquidating scrip money was issued for the first time at
Franklin, IN.
1942 - During World War II, Japanese forces captured Rangoon, Burma.
1943 - Japanese forces attacked American troops on Hill 700 in
Bougainville. The battle lasted five days.
1945 - Phyllis Mae Daley received a commission in the U.S. Navy Nurse
Corps. She later became the first African-American nurse to serve duty
in WWII.
1946 - The French naval fleet arrived at Haiphong, Vietnam.
1948 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religious instruction in public
schools was unconstitutional.
1953 - A census bureau report indicated that 239,000 farmers had quit
farming over the last 2 years.
1954 - France and Vietnam opened talks in Paris on a treaty to form the
state of Indochina.
1959 - Groucho, Chico and Harpo made their final TV appearance together.
1961 - Max Conrad circled the globe in a record time of eight days, 18
hours and 49 minutes in the Piper Aztec.
1965 - The U.S. landed about 3,500 Marines in South Vietnam. They were
the first U.S. combat troops to land in Vietnam.
1966 - Australia announced that it would triple the number of troops in
Vietnam.
1973 - Two bombs exploded near Trafalgar Square in Great Britain. 234
people were injured.
1982 - The U.S. accused the Soviets of killing 3,000 Afghans with poison
gas.
1985 - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reported that 407,700
Americans were millionaires. That was more than double the from just
five years before.
1986 - Four French television crewmembers were abducted in west Beirut.
All four were eventually released.
1988 - In Fort Campbell, KY, 17 U.S. soldiers were killed when two Army
helicopters collided in midair.
1999 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Timothy McVeigh
for the bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995.
1999 - The White House, under President Bill Clinton, directed the
firing of nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee from his job at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory. The firing was a result of alleged security
violations.
2001 - The U.S. House of Representatives voted for an across-the-board
tax cut of nearly $1 trillion over the next decade.
2005 - In norther Chechnya, Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov was
killed during a raid by Russian forces.
2008 President George W. Bush vetoed a bill that would have banned the
CIA from using simulated drowning and other coercive interrogation
methods to gain information from suspected terrorists.
Mike Tawse, our friend from the UK, with his original 'Thought For The
Day' -- Inspired by our mutual friend, Jennifer Allie Friedrich of
http://www.theflopside.com -
"Neither success nor failure will ever be assured, but each becomes more
likely for anyone who believes that it is possible. To make something
possible, you must believe that it can be."
Iceland Voters Reject Repayment Plan -- Iceland’s voters expressed
their outrage on Saturday against bankers, the government and what they
saw as foreign bullying, overwhelmingly rejecting a plan to pay $5.3
billion to Britain and the Netherlands to reimburse customers of a
failed Icelandic bank, Sarah Lyall reported in The New York Times.
Vitamin
D deficiency is why you get flu and other infections -- A new study
led by researchers at the University of Copenhagen has confirmed that
vitamin D plays an important role in activating immune defenses against
infectious diseases like flu. Vitamin D deficiency has already been
linked to a wide spectrum of diseases including heart disease, cancer,
diabetes, depression, autoimmune disease and many others.
Obama
to nominate retired Army general for TSA -- President Barack Obama
plans to nominate retired Army Major Gen. Robert Harding to head the
Transportation Security Administration after his first pick withdrew
under political pressure, an administration official said Sunday.
F-16s intercept aircraft over restricted D.C. airspace -- A
slow-moving small private airplane violated the restricted airspace over
the Washington region Sunday morning, causing the U.S. military to send
Blackhawk helicopters and two F-16 fighter jets to intercept it.
MCCAIN'S
DRACONIAN DIETARY SUPPLEMENT BILL DEAD -- Hundreds of thousands of
messages poured into the Senate opposing Senator McCain's bill, the bill
that would have wiped out current legislative protections for dietary
supplements. More and more messages were arriving by the day. The entire
Congress began to take note. Senator McCain was embarrassed by our ad
whose headline pointed out that he was misrepresenting and did not seem
to understand his own bill.
6.0
earthquake hits eastern Turkey, kills 57 -- A strong, pre-dawn
earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6 struck eastern Turkey on
Monday, killing 57 people as it knocked down stone or mud-brick houses
and minarets in at least six villages, the government said.
Drill Held at D.C. Transit Station Day Before Pentagon Shooting
-- Coincidence? Several days before John Patrick Bedell attacked
two Pentagon cops and was killed, D.C. police staged a drill at the
Friendship Heights Metro station in in Northwest Washington.
Iran's Ahmadinejad Call Sept 11 "Big Fabrication" -- Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday called the September 11
attacks on the United States a "big fabrication" that was used to
justify the U.S. war on terrorism, the official IRNA news agency
reported.
5 Surprising Ways Your TV is Slowly Killing You
-- You’ve accepted the idea that TV makes you dumber. You know
there are lots of more edifying things you could be doing with your time
than cheering on the contestants on "Survivor."
McCain's Draconian Dietary Supplement Bill Dead -- Word is now
racing around Capitol Hill that Senator McCain met with Senator Orin
Hatch, a champion of natural medicine, and told him that he is
withdrawing his support for the bill he authored, the so-called Dietary
Supplement Safety Act (S 3002). This means that the bill as written is
now dead. (Expect this to come back renamed.)
Met Office Claims to Have Found AGW Fingerprint
-- In fact, there are two articles in the Guardian that “know” in
advance that the Met Office will “strengthen” the case for human-induced
climate change: the witches and prophets told them. The second article
has a title that unmasks what is the real motivation behind the Met
Office report.
Pentagon Shooting: Now Everyone's A Terrorist -- But the most
disturbing aspect surrounding yesterday’s incident is the fact that
people like Glenn Beck on the establishment right and establishment
liberal media outlets like CNN and MSNBC on the left have been
aggressively promoting for months the notion that people who express
dissent against the government are intent on killing people. It’s no
coincidence that the last two targets of low-level domestic terrorism
were the IRS and the Pentagon, and in both cases the propaganda victory
enjoyed in the aftermath by the same establishment registered a far
greater impact than the actual attacks.
Obama Czar's Shocking Communist Connections
-- John Holdren, President Obama's "science czar," served on the
board of editors of a magazine whose personnel were accused of providing
vital nuclear information that helped the Soviet Union build an atom
bomb.
Anti-Lobbyist' Obama Administration Recruited Left-Wing Lobbyists to
Sell Bogus 'Green Jobs' --
After two studies refuted President Barack Obama’s assertions regarding
the success of Spain’s and Denmark’s wind energy programs, a Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) request reveals the Department of Energy turned
to George Soros and to wind industry lobbyists to attack the studies.
Iceland Voters Reject Repayment Plan
-- Iceland’s voters expressed their outrage on Saturday against
bankers, the government and what they saw as foreign bullying,
overwhelmingly rejecting a plan to pay $5.3 billion to Britain and the
Netherlands to reimburse customers of a failed Icelandic bank, Sarah
Lyall reported in The New York Times.
Wall Street Took Your House and Your Retirement, Now They are After Your
Social Security -- The
Peterson/Walker plan would have slashed social security entitlements at
a time when Wall Street has destroyed the home equity and private
retirement accounts of potential retirees. Worse, it would have
increased the Social Security tax, disguised as a "mandatory savings
tax." This added tax would be automatically withdrawn from your paycheck
and deposited to a "Guaranteed Retirement Account" managed by the Social
Security Administration.
China Ready to End Dollar Peg --
Many economists expect China to allow the yuan to appreciate
slightly this year, but the cautious tone by Mr Zhou means that any
change may not happen for some time. He said that the central bank would
maintain the “basic stability” of the currency. So, despite the fact
that the Chinese economy grew by 10.7pc in the fourth quarter of last
year, the country’s loose monetary policy looks set to continue.
Postal Service Urged to Weigh Three-Days-a-Week Mail
-- The U.S. Postal Service, facing a $238 billion budget deficit
by 2020, should consider cutting delivery to as few as three days a week
as the agency attempts to pare costs, a consulting firm said.
YouTube: Obama Denies Flyover -- from last summer just in case you
missed it!
Birth Defects in Fallujah on the Rise Since US Operation -- A high
number of children are being born with birth defects in an Iraqi city
where U.S. forces may have used chemical weapons during a fierce battle
in 2004. Children in Fallujah are being born with limb, head, heart and
nervous system defects. There is even a claim that a baby was born with
three heads. The number of heart defects among newborn babies is said to
be 13 times higher than the rate in Europe.
Vaccines are Making Our Dogs Sick -- 'The latest scientific research
shows that after the first course of injections as a puppy most dogs are
immune against these diseases for at least seven years, if not for life.
(As an RVT, I can tell you the good vets vaccinate when necessary and do
not give vaccines if not warranted. There is such thing as toooo many
vaccines for animals as well.)
Sugary Soft Drinks Lead to Diabetes -- More people now drink soft,
sport and fruit drinks daily, and the increase has led to thousands more
diabetes and heart disease cases over the past decade, according to
research presented to the American Heart Association's annual
conference. (Duh...really?)
US Public Will Pay Obama's $90 Bn Bank Levy -- In a report on the
White House's plan to impose a 0.15pc fee on liabilities of banks with
more than $50bn in assets in order to recoup money lost through the
$700bn Troubled Assets Relief Programme, the Congressional Budget Office
(CBO) said the impact on banks would be "small".
CFTC to Shutdown Currency Trading for Individuals
-- The Commodities Futures Commission is proposing new rules that
would, for all practical purposes, shutdown the ability of individuals
to trade in foreign currencies.
The Last Straw: HB 3200 pg 429, line13 -25: Govt to Specify which
doctors can write an end-of-life order
-- So Much for Choice. Check it out
for yourself. Population control.
The Self- Sustainers Herbal Garden
-- Before you begin to cultivate your herb garden, it’s
helpful to know something about the soil conditions. As with almost any
garden plant, herbs want soil that drains well, has good organic matter
like compost and other materials, and a correct PH balance suited to
each plant.
Obama Plans 10 Million Acre Land Grab -- As I have warned in
previous posts the agenda to “fundamentally transform America” is
following the Cloward/Piven handbook of community organizing. While the
attention of the nation is focused on the health care debate, the
administration has multiple agenda items moving full speed ahead and
going relatively unnoticed. Their strategy is an elaborate shell game
designed to keep us off balance and unable to keep up with the all
changes in motion at any given time. Their plan to grab over 10 million
acres of land is an excellent example of one such item. (Can anyone say
Agenda 21 and Sustainability???)
Firearms Freedom Act Passes --
Legislation asserting that firearms made, sold and kept only in
Wyoming are exempt from all federal gun laws is set to become law after
it easily cleared the Wyoming Legislature on Wednesday.
Ariz. Senate Backs Bill to Restrict Local Local Gun Laws
-- It would prohibit local governments from enacting laws more
restrictive than state law and specifically prohibit ordinances that
limit possession of guns in parks. Also, local governments could not
regulate the discharge of firearms.
Once Again Just Perusing the Latest Updates from the St. Louis Fed
-- What is completely
related and totally relevant is DEBT to INCOME. In fact, in regards to
debt, income is the only thing that really matters. Our Nation’s Income
is crashing as shown in this chart expressed in year over year (yoy)
change in Billions of dollars.
Banks Shuttered in Fla, Ill, Md, Utah
-- Regulators on Friday shuttered banks in Florida,
Illinois, Maryland and Utah, boosting to 26 the number of bank failures
in the U.S. so far this year following the 140 brought down in 2009 by
mounting loan defaults and the recession
Obama, Politics and Nuclear Waster - Closes Yucca Mtn -- Yucca
Mountain’s death by budgetary axe defies logic. It coincides with
Obama’s stated support for expanding nuclear power. More reactors mean
more waste, now piling up above-ground at sites scattered around the
country. In February, Obama announced $8.3 billion in government loan
guarantees for two nuclear reactors in Georgia. They would be the first
new plants since the 1979 nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island in
Pennsylvania, an accident that caused no casualties but became a
rallying symbol for the anti-nuclear movement.
Indiana Faces a Wave of 'Sovereign Citizens' -- An increasing number
of Indiana residents are declaring themselves "sovereign citizens" and
personally seceding from the United States, says a report from ABC
channel 6 in Indianapolis. (Uh, I don't think that declaring your home
an embassy is really the right way to go...)
YouTube: Fake Money Circulating at an Alarming Rate.
Seeds of
Action Community Support Program --
The Heirloom Organics Seeds of Action! program provides seeds and
assistance, free of cost, to non-profit groups and organizations
throughout North America, who are using seeds for community service
projects.
Votes Uncertain as Healthcare Endgame Looms -- U.S. Health and Human
Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said a new Goldman Sachs report,
which says profits are rising and competition decreasing for private
health insurers, showed the need for reform at a time when 15,000
Americans lose their coverage each day. (Does anyone trust Sebelius or
Goldman Sachs???)
Today in History Friday March 5, 2010
1623 - The first alcohol temperance law in the colonies was enacted in
Virginia.
1624 - In the American colony of Virginia, the upper class was exempted
from whipping by legislation.
1750 - "King Richard III" was performed in New York City. It was the
first Shakespearean play to be presented in America.
1766 - The first Spanish governor of Louisiana, Antonio de Ulloa,
arrived in New Orleans.
1770 - "The Boston Massacre" took place when British troops fired on a
crowd in Boston killing five people. Two British troops were later
convicted of manslaughter.
1793 - Austrian troops defeated the French and recaptured Liege.
1836 - Samuel Colt manufactured the first pistol (.34-caliber).
1842 - A Mexican force of over 500 men under Rafael Vasquez invaded
Texas for the first time since the revolution. They briefly occupied San
Antonio, but soon headed back to the Rio Grande.
1845 - The U.S. Congress appropriated $30,000 to ship camels to the
western U.S.
1868 - The U.S. Senate was organized into a court of impeachment to
decide charges against President Andrew Johnson.
1900 - The American Hall of Fame was founded.
1901 - Germany and Britain began negotiations with hopes of creating an
alliance.
1902 - In France, the National Congress of Miners decided to call for a
general strike for an 8-hour day.
1905 - Russian troops began their retreat from Mukden in Manchuria,
China. Over 100,000 had been killed in 3 days of fighting.
1910 - In Philadelphia, PA, 60,000 people left their jobs to show
support for striking transit workers.
1918 - The Soviets moved the capital of Russia from Petrograd to Moscow.
1922 - Phoebe Anne Oakley Mozee broke all existing records for women's
trap shooting. She hit 98 out of 100 targets.
1933 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered a four-day bank
holiday in order to stop large amounts of money from being withdrawn
from banks.
1943 - Germany called fifteen and sixteen year olds for military service
due to war losses.
1946 - Winston Churchill delivered his "Iron Curtain Speech".
1946 - The U.S. sent protests to the U.S.S.R. on incursions into
Manchuria and Iran.
1953 - Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin died. He had been in power for 29
years.
1956 - The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the ban on segregation in public
schools.
1970 - A nuclear non-proliferation treaty went into effect after 43
nations ratified it.
1976 - The British pound fell below the equivalent of $2 for the first
time in history.
1977 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter appeared on CBS News with Walter
Cronkite for the first "Dial-a-President" radio talk show.
1982 - John Belushi died in Los Angeles of a drug overdose at the age of
33.
1984 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that cities had the right to display
the Nativity scene as part of their Christmas display.
1984 - The U.S. accused Iraq of using poison gas.
1993 - Cuban President Fidel Castro said that Hillary Clinton is "a
beautiful woman."
1997 - North Korea and South Korea met for first time in 25 years for
peace talks.
1998 - It was announced that Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins would
lead crew of Columbia on a mission to launch a large X-ray telescope.
She was the first woman to command a space shuttle mission.
2004 - Martha Stewart was found guilty of lying about the reason for
selling 3,298 shares of ImClone Systems stock, conspiracy, making false
statement and obstruction of justice.
Salmonella-based food flavoring recall is spreading -- An unfolding
recall of products containing a commonly used food-flavoring ingredient
because of potential contamination with salmonella could ripple through
the entire food industry, experts said. An FDA statement says the
affected products include soups, sauces, chilis, stews, hot dogs,
gravies, seasoned snack foods, dips and dressings. The FDA has posted a
list of recalled foods at
foodsafety.gov.
*
List of 56 recalled products from FDA.gov
*
FOOD SAFETY: USDA vet says unsafe slaughterhouse practices weren't
reported
*
Food-borne illnesses cost $152B a year
*
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein Product Recalls: FDA Website
Pentagon on high alert after shooting -- The Pentagon has been
placed on high alert after a gunman opened fire outside a Metro subway
station serving the military complex. Two police officers were grazed by
bullets before they returned fire and shot the alleged gunman, who was
critically wounded, police said. He later died from his wounds, the US
Medical examiner's office said.
*
Pentagon Shooting 'Oddities'
Twelve New England towns demand 9/11 reinvestigation -- A new
movement to reinvestigate the 9/11 attacks is gaining pace in the US.
With major public support, 12 towns are set to decide whether to ask the
federal government for a new independent probe.
THE 9/11 MASS MURDER IS EXPLODING IN THEIR DIRTY FACES -- " I was
surprised to learn on February 24 that the most popular story on the
paper's website (The Washington Times) for the past three days was the
"Inside the Beltway" report, "Explosive News", about the 31 press
conferences in cities in the US and abroad on February 19 held by
Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, an organization of
professionals which now has 1,000 members." The newspaper reports that
Richard Gage, the spokesperson for the architects and engineers said:
"Government officials will be notified that "Misprision of Treason,' US
Code 18 (Sec. 2382) is a serious Federal offense, which requires those
with evidence of treason to act. The implications are enormous and may
have profound impact on the forthcoming Khalid Sheik Mohammed trial".
Vitamins stored in bathrooms, kitchens may become less effective --
The high humidity present in bathrooms and kitchens can degrading the
vitamins and health supplements stored in those rooms, even if the lids
are on tight, a Purdue University study shows. Crystalline substances
like vitamin C, some vitamin B forms and other dietary supplements, are
prone to a process called deliquescence in which humidity causes a
water-soluble solid to dissolve. Keeping those supplements away from
warm, humid environments can help ensure their effectiveness. "In a week
you can get complete loss of vitamin C in some products," said Lisa
Mauer, an associate professor of food science.
How to determine organically grown fruit in your supermarket by PLU code
* Also check out:
http://www.plucodes.com/docs/IFPS-plu_codes_users_guide.pdf
Wag The Dog Story?? -
Ex-Gitmo detainee now a Taliban commander -- A man who was freed
from the Guantanamo Bay after he claimed he only wanted to go home and
help his family is now a senior commander running Taliban resistance to
the US-led offensive in southern Afghanistan, two senior Afghan
intelligence officials said.
The 2009 Financial Report Of The U.S. Government Is Out - America's
Economic Goose Is Cooked -- The 2009 Financial Report Of The U.S.
Government has finally been released, and the news is not good. It
basically confirms much of what we already know - that the United States
government is a complete financial mess.
Fake Weed, Real Drug: K2 Causing Hallucinations in Teens -- Teens
are getting high on an emerging drug called "fake weed," a concoction
also known as K2 and "spice" that is also causing hallucinations,
vomiting, agitation and other dangerous effects.
DoD Releases Records of Illegal Surveillance -- Defense Department
agencies improperly collected and disseminated intelligence on Planned
Parenthood and a white supremacist group called the National Alliance,
an Air Force briefing improperly included intelligence on an antiwar
group called Alaskans for Peace and Justice, and Army Signals
Intelligence in Louisiana unlawfully intercepted civilian cell phone
conversations.
More fake gold -- Largest Private Refinery Discovers Gold-Plated
Tungsten Bar.
One in Three Killed by US Drones in Pakistan is a Civilian -- One in
three "militants" killed in US Predator Drone attacks in Pakistan's
remote tribal areas is in fact a civilian, according to a report by an
American think tank.
FDA: Labels Misleading on Major Food Brands
-- The FDA today warned 17 food
makers -- including POM Nestle -- that their "misleading" product labels
violate federal law.
Area Shaken by Two Different Earthquakes Saturday - New Madrid
-- A couple of earthquakes happened Tuesday afternoon in Southern
Illinois and Southeast Missouri. The US Geological Survey reports a 3.2
magnitude earthquake happened near Cairo, IL shortly before 1:40 pm
Tuesday. Then a 3.7 magnitude quake rocked the area around Sikeston and
New Madrid, MO around that same time. No word if any damage was done
from both quakes at this time.
Gold Going Higher, Even George Soros Agrees With Marc Faber -- Last
month it was revealed that Soros more than doubled his fund's holding in
the biggest gold exchange-traded fund (GLD) in the fourth quarter of
2009, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange
Commission. Soros Fund Management LLC held nearly 6.2 million shares of
GLD valued at about US$663 million as of December 31, adding 3.728
million shares valued at US$421 million That’s up from roughly 2.5
million shares at the end September. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, on
the fringe of the World Economic Forum, Soros said: "When interest rates
are low we have conditions for asset bubbles to develop, and they are
developing at the moment". The ultimate asset bubble is gold," he added.
Will the US Devalue the Dollar? --
The three hundred year economic expansion
fueled by debt-based capital markets is coming to an end and with it,
the hegemony of the West over the East. During that period, debt-based
paper money propelled first England then the US to world dominion
because of the ability to wage war on credit and to print money ad
infinitum.
More Consumers File for Bankruptcy Protection
-- The economic recovery effort has not slowed consumer
bankruptcy filings. They surged 14% in February compared with a year
earlier, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.
Is Moving Out of the United States A Way to Escape the Coming Economic
Collapse -- First of all, it is very important to realize that
moving some to another country can cause a massive culture shock. Even a
nation that you would think would be somewhat similar such as the U.K.
can be radically different from what most Americans are accustomed to.
In addition, in some cases there can be huge taxes and fees imposed on
those moving to a new country.
100% of Fish in US Streams Found Contaminated with Mercury
-- In a new study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS),
every single fish tested from 291 freshwater streams across the United
States was found to be contaminated with mercury.
VIDEO: Rogue Waves Part 1
Freak Tsunami-Like Waves Kills Two in Spain
-- Freak tsunami-like waves measuring almost 30ft high have
ploughed into a Mediterranean cruise ship, sweeping two passengers to
their deaths and injuring many others.
Over 250 Significant Earthquakes Shook the World in Past 7 Days
-- In the past seven days there have been more than 258
recorded earthquakes of a magnitude higher than 4.5 on the Richter's
scale.
159 Ways the Senate Bill Is a Government Takeover of Health Care
-- Here is a list of new boards, bureaucracies, and programs
created in the 2,733 page Senate health care bill, which serves as the
framework for President Obama’s health proposal:
Obama Now Selling Judegeships for Health Care Votes? -- Tonight,
Barack Obama will host ten House Democrats who voted against the health
care bill in November at the White House; he's obviously trying to
persuade them to switch their votes to yes. One of the ten is Jim
Matheson of Utah. The White House just sent out a press release
announcing that today President Obama nominated Matheson's brother Scott
M. Matheson, Jr. to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth
Circuit.
Anti-Obama Sentiment Sweeps the Nation
-- Obama’s relationship with Republicans has chiefly consisted of
a few meetings in which he’s reminded them he’s president and they’re
not. He’s offered them the opportunity to endorse Democratic legislation
as written. Not much room for compromise there.
Chilean Earthquake's Tremors May Be Felt in American Consumers Stomachs
-- But due to the quake, fewer varieties of Chilean apples,
pears, and plums will be harvested this year, says Chile-based market
analyst Isabel Quiroz of IQonsulting. And although the Chilean harvest
is not over -- it's now the end of summer in the Southern Hemisphere --
the damage done to Chile's roads, irrigation systems, electric grid,
packing houses, and other infrastructure will hamper the task of getting
the fruit to market in the coming weeks.
New Wave of Adoption of GM Crops --
The countries that grow GM crops in
descending order are: US, Brazil, Argentina, India, Canada, China,
Paraguay, South Africa, Uruguay, Bolivia, Philippines, Australia,
Burkina Faso, Spain, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Czech Republic,
Portugal, Romania, Poland, Costa Rica, Egypt, and Slovakia.
Russia, India to Sign $4 Billion Military Technical Cooperation Contract
-- Russia and India are expected to sign three contracts in military
technical cooperation totaling $4 billion, including retrofitting the
Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin's visit to India, Vedomosti Russian daily reported.
Fidel Castro
Is Back in Charge of Cuba --
Fidel—who relinquished his titles as head of the Council of State and
Council of Ministers, but remains leader of the Communist Party—still
has taken no additional government post since his return fitness. But he
has made leadership changes that some analysts suspect are aimed at
preserving his vision of the revolution. Key among them is the promotion
of Ramiro Valdés, a former Interior minister regarded as a diehard Fidel
loyalist and a brutal enforcer. Despite a history of strained relations
with Raúl, Valdés is now effectively the No. 3 man in the regime after
the Castro brothers. "That was a Fidel appointment," says Gomez. Valdés
"is Fidel's eyes and ears on a daily basis within the inner circle."
Weekly Jobless Claims Fall 29,000 to 469,000 -- New claims for
jobless benefits in the United States fell last week in a sign that
layoffs may be easing as the economy slowly recovers. The Labor
Department said Thursday that initial claims for unemployment insurance
fell 29,000 to a seasonally adjusted 469,000. That nearly matches Wall
Street analysts' estimates of 470,000. Still, any improvement in the job
market is likely to be slow, as companies remain reluctant to hire. Last
week's drop only partly reverses a sharp rise in claims in the previous
two weeks
US Debt-Based Money Printing Biggest Theft in History -- Iran's
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asserts that the lingering global
financial crisis has exposed the dark side of the capitalist economic
system in the West, adding that the US will go down in history as the
biggest thief ever.
Christian Couple Touches the Koran With Dirty Hands; Gets 25 Years in
Prison -- A court in Kasur district, Punjab, convicted a Christian
couple, Munir Masih and Ruqqiya Bibi, to 25 years in prison. According
to the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), Judge
Ajmal Hussein convicted the couple for touching the Koran without
washing their hands.
Rain to be Created in Drought Provinces -- In an effort to create
rain, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said that weather
bureaus in the affected regions are ready to "bomb clouds" with 2,116
doses of silver iodide, a compound used in cloud seeding, for which 2
million yuan ($294,000) has been allocated.
Iraq Early Voting Shattered by Deadly Blasts -- A string of deadly
blasts shattered an early round of voting in Iraq Thursday, killing 17
people and highlighting the fragile nature of the country's security
gains ahead of crucial parliamentary elections this Sunday.
Man Sues to Protect His Right to Flip Off Cops - Twice in 2007,
Robert Ekas flipped off police in Oregon for no apparent reason than to
express his First Amendment right to do so. And twice he was pulled
over.
Taxpayers Hit as TARP Takes a New Turn -- Midwest Banc Holdings Inc
(MBHI.O) agreed to swap $84.8 million of preferred shares it sold to the
U.S. government in 2008 for securities that will convert into about
$15.5 million of common shares -- roughly an 80 percent loss to
taxpayers.
US Steps Up Diplomatic Pressure on China Over Iran Sanctions
-- Chinese and Russian opposition derailed attempts to impose
across-the-board financial and trade sanctions on Iran to punish Tehran
for its nuclear programme. But in recent days Moscow has signalled its
readiness to back measures targeting the Iranian regime and its central
bank.
How 12 Year Old Girl Saved Her Chilean Island -- Martina Maturana,
the daughter of the community's policeman, was at home when she felt a
tremor, according to Chile's La Tercera newspaper. Her father was on the
telephone to the mainland when Martina peered out of the window at the
pitching boats and acted decisively. She ran 400 metres from her home to
the town square to ring the emergency bell and rouse the fishing
community from their sleep.
California Man Gets Eight Years for Stealing Cheese -- A California
man has been sentenced to up to eight years in prison for stealing a
$3.99 (£2.60) bag of shredded cheese in a case critics say shows the
need for reform of the state's criminal justice system and the
overcrowded state of its prisons.
Barack Obama: I'll Steamroll Health Reforms Through Congress --
President Obama declared for the first time yesterday that he was
prepared to steamroller his troubled health reform legislation through
Congress with only Democratic support; a move Republicans denounced as
the “nuclear option”.
Today in History Thursday March 4, 2010
1634 - Samuel Cole opened the first tavern in Boston, MA.
1766 - The British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, which had caused
bitter and violent opposition in the U.S. colonies.
1778 - The Continental Congress voted to ratify the Treaty of Amity and
Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance. The two treaties were the first
entered into by the U.S. government.
1789 - The first Congress of the United States met in New York and
declared that the U.S. Constitution was in effect.
1791 - Vermont was admitted as the 14th U.S. state. It was the first
addition to the original 13 American colonies.
1794 - The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the
U.S. Congress. The Amendment limited the jurisdiction of the federal
courts to automatically hear cases brought against a state by the
citizens of another state. Later interpretations expanded this to
include citizens of the state being sued, as well.
1826 - The first railroad in the U.S. was chartered. It was the Granite
Railway in Quincy, MA.
1837 - The state of Illinois granted a city charter to Chicago.
1861 - The Confederate States of America adopted the "Stars and Bars"
flag.
1877 - Emile Berliner invented the microphone.
1904 - In Korea, Russian troops retreated toward the Manchurian border
as 100,000 Japanese troops advanced.
1908 - The New York board of education banned the act of whipping
students in school.
1914 - Doctor Fillatre successfully separated Siamese twins.
1917 - Jeanette Rankin of Montana took her seat as the first woman
elected to the House of Representatives.
1925 - Calvin Coolidge took the oath of office in Washington, DC. The
presidential inauguration was broadcast on radio for the first time.
1933 - U.S. President Roosevelt gave his inauguration speech in which he
said "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself."
1933 - Labor Secretary Frances Perkins became the first woman to serve
in a Presidential administrative cabinet.
1947 - France and Britain signed an alliance treaty.
1952 - U.S. President Harry Truman dedicated the "Courier," the first
seagoing radio broadcasting station.
1954 - In Boston, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital reported the first
successful kidney transplant.
1974 - "People" magazine was available for the first time.
1977 - More than 1,500 people were killed in an earthquake that affected
southern and eastern Europe.
1993 - Authorities announced the arrest of Mohammad Salameh. He was
later convicted for his role in the World Trade Center Bombing in New
York City.
1994 - Four extremists were convicted in the World Trade Center bombing
in which six people were killed and more than a thousand were injured.
1997 - U.S. President Clinton barred federal spending on human cloning.
1998 - Microsoft repaired software that apparently allowed hackers to
shut down computers in government and university offices nationwide.
1998 - The U.S. Supreme Court said that federal law banned on-the-job
sexual harassment even when both parties are the same sex.
1999 - Monica Lewinsky's book about her affair with U.S. President
Clinton went on sale in the U.S.
1999 - U.S. Marine Captain Richard Ashby was acquitted in a military
court of the charge of recklessly flying his jet. 20 people were killed
in Italy when his jet hit a gondola cable.
2002 - Canada banned human embryo cloning but permitted
government-funded scientists to use embryos left over from fertility
treatment or abortions.
2005 - Martha Stewart left federal prison after serving five months for
her role in a stock scandal.
2009 - The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant
for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes
against humanity in Darfur.
YouTube: US Policy To Assassinate US Citizens -- Congressman Paul
speaks on the floor about assassinations of Americans by their own
government.
Windows XP users: Don't press F1 -- If you're browsing the web today
and see a notice that you should press the F1 key (the traditional
button used to get "help" in any application), don't do it. Read More...
Illegal Immigrants Caught Sabotaging American Train Tracks --
Americans for Legal Immigration PAC is requesting that Federal
authorities charge the illegal aliens caught stealing over 500 railroad
spikes in North Carolina with terrorism charges, since they entered
America illegally and worked to sabotage train tracks in a way that
could have resulted in mass casualties.
Several
Got Yellow Fever Contaminated Blood -- The CDC has reported that, in
March 2009, several people accidentally received blood products with
yellow fever vaccine in them. The investigation documents evidence for
transmission of vaccine virus through infected blood products.
Child Cocaine Treatment Rises by More Than 65%
-- The number of under-18s receiving treatment for cocaine
addiction in England has increased by more than 65%, NHS figures reveal.
Army Awards Lucrative Iraq Support Contact to KBR
-- Defense giant KBR Inc. was awarded a contract potentially
worth $2.8 billion for support work in Iraq as U.S. forces continue to
leave the country, military authorities said Tuesday.
New Psychiatric Disorders Flag Normal Human Behaviors as Diseases --
Another new disease is "Oppositional Defiant Disorder" (ODD), which
includes anyone who disagrees with authority. All those who are
skeptical about the safety of vaccines, for example, are about to be
diagnosed with ODD.
How to Get Genetically Modified Foods Out of Your Diet -- Disbelief?
Sadness? Fear? Anger? Retribution? All of the above? Well, surely the
first thing you should do is: STOP EATING THEM! Genetically modified
crops such as corn, canola and soy are being used in over 70% of the
processed foods available in your local grocery store. So you might be
forgiven for thinking that if genetically modified ingredients are so
widespread, they must be safe to eat, right? Wrong. It’s just a shame
the FDA and the corporate-controlled North American mainstream media
persist in turning a blind eye.
Obama Takes Charge, Demands Vote -- The end game at hand, President
Barack Obama took command Wednesday of one final attempt by Democrats to
enact bitterly contested health care legislation, calling for an "up or
down vote" within weeks under rules denying Republicans the ability to
kill the bill with mere talk.
Taliban Cave Network Found in Pakistan -- The tunnels, which are
thought to have been created over five to seven years, were carved into
sheer rock within view of the snow-capped peaks of eastern Afghanistan.
The network was found during an offensive against Islamist militants in
the country's semi-autonomous tribal areas in which 75 militants were
killed.
Zero Tolerance Bill Moves to Senate Rules Committee -- A bill that
would give principals and school systems more discretion in how they
handle disciplinary cases in their schools passed a key Georgia Senate
committee Tuesday, pushing it closer to a full Senate vote.
Lots of Anger, Some Aid, in Chile Disaster
-- Facing angry survivors who had little warning of the coming
tsunami, and who still are waiting for aid three days after the
devastating earthquake, Chile's government used helicopters and boats to
step up food deliveries on Tuesday as the death toll rose to nearly 800.
Foodbourne Illness Costs US $52 Billion Annually
-- It turns out that tainted food can
not only make people sick, but it can also cost them a bundle in the
process.
Some Companies Drop Health Insurance, Don't Tell Employees
-- As if having to pay higher health insurance premiums each year
isn't bad enough, now workers have another worry: companies that drop
their health insurance coverage and don't bother to tell employees.
An 'Astonishing' Rise in Anti-Immigrant, Anti-Government Groups --
On Tuesday, the SPLC released its quarterly intelligence report, titled
"Rage on the Right," in which it charted what officials described as "an
astonishing" rise in "nativist extremist" and anti-government
"Patriotic" groups. The former, which includes institutions that "go
beyond mere advocacy of restrictive immigration policy to actually
confront or harass suspected immigrants," saw its numbers bulge from 173
groups in 2008 to 309 in 2009.
Strong Earthquake Hits Taiwan -- A powerful 6.4-magnitude earthquake
rocked southern Taiwan on Thursday morning causing buildings to sway
hundreds of miles (kilometers) to the north. Local news reports said at
least one person was injured.
Huge Wave Kills 2 on Cruise Ship in Mediterranean -- A 26-foot wave
smashed into a cruise ship carrying nearly 2,000 people in the
Mediterranean on Wednesday, smashing glass windshields and killing two
passengers, according to officials and news reports.
Stocks End Mixed as Fed Points to Slow Recovery -- Early gains in
stocks unraveled Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signaled that the
economic recovery will be slow. Stocks ended mixed after the Fed's
announcement that economic activity has improved in nine of its 12
districts but that the gains are "modest."
Scientists Catalog Zoo of Bacteria in Our Guts -- The human gut is a
virtual zoo, full of a wide variety of bacteria, a new study found. And
scientists say that's a good thing. The first results of an
international effort to catalog the millions of non-human genes inside
people found about 170 different bacteria species thriving in the
average person's digestive tract. The study also found that people with
inflammatory bowel disease had fewer distinct species inside the gut.
JFK Airport: Boy Directs Air Traffic Control Caught on Tape -- "Jet
Blue 171, clear for takeoff," the young boy said, according to audio
recordings from LiveATC.net. The boy was speaking to Sacramento bound
Airbus A320 that departed JFK airport at 7:56pm, according to
flightstats.com, a Website that tracks flight information.
* Related Article:
FAA Suspends Pair After Kids Radio Pilots at JFK -- Authorities
suspended the controller and a supervisor Wednesday after a recording of
the radio calls was posted on the Internet, then reported by a Boston
television station.
"Coffee Party" Founder is Obama Campaign Operative -- The slogan is
“Wake Up and Stand Up.” The mission statement declares that the federal
government is “not the enemy of the people, but the expression of our
collective will, and that we must participate in the democratic process
in order to address the challenges we face as Americans.”
VIDEO: Gun Control in Mojave County, Arizona
Israeli Raid Called Off After Facebook Slip -- The Israeli military
says a planned raid on a West Bank village was called off after an
Israeli soldier disclosed its details online. The military says the
combat soldier posted the time and location of the raid on his Facebook
page saying that troops were planning on "cleaning up" the village.
Pelosi Laid Groundwork for Obama's Transformation of America
-- Like Pelosi, many of her Dem cohorts including Senators
Barbara Boxer, Harry Reid, Diane Feinstein among others, are long past
their due date. In ending their careers for ObamaCare they have nothing
to lose. How many of them will live out the rest of their lives in
fabulous wealth? Are Dems being paid off with
funds
stolen from the American till during the destructive Obama
administration?
How They Distort Global Temperatures: The Urban Heat Island Effect
-- How much do calculations of global temperatures represent the real
temperature of the Earth? Every day new stories appear about temperature
records with errors or deliberate omissions.
Water and the War on Terror -- While leaders in Washington have been
war-gaming the national security risks of climate change, they’ve only
started to connect the dots to the closely related threats emanating
from the growing crisis of global freshwater scarcity.
President Obama to Say Democrats Will Use Reconciliation to Pass Senate
Health Care Reform Fix --
White House officials tell ABC News that in his remarks tomorrow
President Obama will indicate a willingness to work with Republicans on
some issue to get a health care reform bill passed but will suggest that
if it is necessary, Democrats will use the controversial
"reconciliation" rules requiring only 51 Senate votes to pass the "fix"
to the Senate bill, as opposed to the 60 votes to stop a filibuster and
proceed to a vote on a bill.
Dubai Police Chief Says to Seek Netanyahu Arrest
-- Dubai's
police chief plans to seek the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and the head of Israel's spy agency over the killing of a
Hamas leader in the emirate, Al Jazeera television reported.
Did They Know? Israel-US Startup Linked to Dubai Hit
-- Employees at the Payoneer are
still trying to understand what hit them: the Israeli startup company
has faced a wave of unwanted publicity after Dubai police claimed that
suspects in the assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh used
its credit card technology.
Muslim Woman Barred from Flight After Refusing Body Scan
-- She was warned she would not be allowed to board the Pakistan
International Airlines flight if she did not comply with the request but
she decided to forfeit her ticket.
UK Muslim Leader: Islam Is Not a Religion of Peace
-- "You can't say that Islam is a
religion of peace," Choudary told CBN News. "Because Islam does not mean
peace. Islam means submission. So the Muslim is one who submits. There
is a place for violence in Islam. There is a place for jihad in Islam."
How Chinese Hacked Google, and Why India Should Be Worried
-- The recent announcement by the United States giant
search engine Google that it might withdraw from China made the
headlines in world media. The Google decision highlighted the
aggressiveness of the Chinese hackers who had been penetrating cyber
fortresses like the Pentagon or the White House (as well as the PMO or
the MEA in India!).
IMF "Economic Medicine" Comes to America
-- In addition to mandatory private health
insurance premiums, we may soon be hit with a “mandatory savings” tax
and other belt-tightening measures urged by the President’s new budget
task force. These radical austerity measures are not only unnecessary,
however, but will actually make matters worse. The push for “fiscal
responsibility” is based on bad economics.
'Revolution' Warning Over EU Bailout -- A revolution will erupt if
billions of euro more in taxpayers' money is handed over to Anglo Irish
Bank, Enda Kenny has warned. The Fine Gael leader said people can no
longer tolerate massive public funding of the nationalised bank as it
stands. Expected record losses at the bank, to be announced later this
month, have fuelled speculation it will seek another six billion euro
from the Government, on top of the four billion it has already pumped
in.
Suspected Colorado School Gunman Participated in Strange NASA Funded
Medical Study in 2005 --
In 2005, Eastwood participated in a NASA-funded
medical study in which he spent 10 days in a hospital bed so scientists
could study muscle wasting, an affliction experienced by astronauts
during long flights, according to a story in the Rocky Mountain News at
the time.
White House Declassifies Secretive Cyber-Security Plan -- Since the
existence of the document was revealed, privacy advocates have also
raised concerns about the plan's implementation and have pressured the
government to see it. President Obama promised last year that he would
appoint someone to ensure the plan is carried out without violating
civil liberties.
Greenhouse Gas
Tax to Push Gasoline to $7 Gallon -- To meet the Obama
administration’s targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, some
researchers say, Americans may have to experience a sobering reality:
gas at $7 a gallon. To reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the
transportation sector 14 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, the cost of
driving must simply increase, according to a forthcoming report by
researchers at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International
Affairs.
US Deficit: Higher Taxes Needed to Cut Rising Debt -- Never mind
about mortgaging the future. By running up a monster deficit as it
struggles to keep the economy growing, the Obama Administration is
setting the stage for sharply higher taxes down the road. Of course,
it's not an absolute certainty. The easier option is even more
quantitative easing - a euphemism for printing money, which is a dirty
phrase economists never like to use. This would devalue the country's
currency and sovereign debt, triggering a cycle of hyperinflation of the
likes the U.S. has never seen.
Jerusalem Mayor Plans to Raze Palestinian Homes for Tourist Park --
Jerusalem's mayor yesterday unveiled details of a controversial and
long-expected plan to demolish Palestinian homes and make way for an
Israeli-sponsored tourist park in a neighborhood of the city's Arab
eastern sector.
Oz Ban
on Freedom of Speech Worsens -- Dear Henry, I am an avid reader of
your posts on www.rense.com. However, as of 3rd March 2010, the
Australian government have decided that the Rense website is not longer
suitable for access by free-thinking Aussies. It has been censored. It
is no longer accessible.
Olberman to Be Axed? -- Dwindling ratings, erratic behavior, and a
bloated salary are leaving television insiders to conclude that cable
news network MSNBC may soon fire its lead talker, the left-leaning Keith
Olbermann.
Stephen Hawking 'Considers Leaving Britain Over Cuts -- Prof
Hawking, who is almost completely paralysed by motor neurone disease,
would follow his former colleague Neil Turok, an authority on
mathematical physics, who left for the institute in 2008.
Barack Obama's Top Insults Against Britain
-- Last week’s appalling declaration by Washington that the US
would remain neutral in the conflict between Britain and Argentina over
the Falklands, has prompted this list of the ten biggest insults so far
by the Obama administration against America’s closest friend and ally.
Alleged Iranian Spies in Italian Arms Trading Arrest
-- Two more Iranians on the run as police hold seven people on
suspicion of conspiring to illegally export weapons.
FUSION CENTERS: A Locally Owned and Operated Intelligence Machine
-- The Department of Homeland Security’s network of fusion
centers operate under the auspices of state police or even large local
police forces, thus sidestepping the guidelines enacted under the
Privacy Act of 1974 that limit information sharing by federal agencies.
NY Gov Paterson Mum as Scandal Claims Top Cop
-- New York Gov. David Paterson remains defiant in the midst of a
rapidly growing domestic violence scandal that has now claimed two top
law enforcement officials and threatens to take down his administration.
Inquiry Is Told of Paterson's Bid to Quiet Sherr-una Booker -- A key
figure in the domestic abuse scandal bedeviling Gov. David A. Paterson
told investigators that the governor phoned to enlist her help in
quieting the accuser, according to a person with knowledge of her
account.
Money Supply Growth Grinds to a Halt
-- The latest
money supply numbers show that non-seasonally adjusted money supply
has gonad to a near complete halt. For the three month period ended
January 31, 2010, non-seasonally adjusted money is growing at only 1.2%
on an annualized basis. The seasonally adjusted number, which is the
number the Fed watches, actually recorded an annualized decline of 0.9%
for the three month period.
The Latest Ramlinology -- The implication, of course, is that Rahm
met with the two Republicans on his own. If so, at the very time Rahm
was letting Lindsey Graham demand the shredding of the Constitution,
Greg Craig was executing the ham-handed report that, though
transparently lame, managed to free Rahm of the taint of Rod
Blagojevich.
Dodd Proposes Putting Consumer Protection Agency at the FED -- I
felt certain when I read the Financial Times headline, “Proposal sees
consumer watchdog role for Fed,” that I must have woken up in a bizarre
parallel universe (but that is probably unfair to pretty much all
universes parallel to ours: I imagine it would be very difficult to have
one more perverse than ours). But no, sadly, this headline is for real;
the only possible good news in this account it that this dreadful idea
is far from a done deal.
Massive Pharaoh Head Unearthed in Egypt
-- The leader of the expedition that discovered the head
described it as the best preserved sculpture of Amenhotep III’s face
found to date.
Today in History Wednesday March 3, 2010
1791 - The U.S. Congress passed a resolution that created the U.S. Mint.
1803 - The first impeachment trial of a U.S. Judge, John Pickering,
began.
1812 - The U.S. Congress passed the first foreign aid bill.
1817 - The first commercial steamboat route from Louisville to New
Orleans was opened.
1845 - Florida became the 27th U.S. state.
1849 - The U.S. Congress created the territory of Minnesota.
1851 - The U.S. Congress authorized the 3-cent piece. It was the
smallest U.S. silver coin.
1857 - Britain and France declared war on China.
1863 - Free city delivery of mail was authorized by the U.S. Postal
Service.
1875 - The U.S. Congress authorized the 20-cent piece. It was only used
for 3 years.
1885 - The American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) was incorporated in
New York as a subsidiary of the American Bell Telephone Company.
1885 - The U.S. Post Office began offering special delivery for
first-class mail.
1900 - Striking miners in Germany returned to work.
1903 - In St. Louis, MO, Barney Gilmore was arrested for spitting.
1903 - The U.S. imposed a $2 head tax on immigrants.
1906 - A Frenchman tried the first flight in an airplane with tires.
1908 - The U.S. government declared open war on on U.S. anarchists.
1909 - Aviators Herring, Curtiss and Bishop announced that airplanes
would be made commercially in the U.S.
1923 - The first issue of Time magazine was published.
1931 - The "Star Spangled Banner," written by Francis Scott Key, was
adopted as the American national anthem. The song was originally a poem
known as "Defense of Fort McHenry."
1945 - During World War II, Finland declared war on the Axis.
1952 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld New York's Feinberg Law that banned
Communist teachers in the U.S.
1959 - The San Francisco Giants had their new stadium officially named
Candlestick Park.
1969 - Apollo 9 was launched by NASA to test a lunar module.
1969 - Sirhan Sirhan testified in a Los Angeles court that he killed
Robert Kennedy.
1974 - About 350 people died when a Turkish Airlines DC-10 crashed just
after takeoff from Orly Airport in Paris.
1978 - The remains of Charles Chaplin were stolen from his grave in
Cosier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland. The body was recovered 11 weeks later.
1980 - The submarine Nautilus was decommissioned. The vessels final
voyage had ended on May 26, 1979.
1991 - Rodney King was severely beaten by Los Angeles police officers.
The scene was captured on amateur video.
1994 - The Mexican government reached a peace agreement with the Chiapas
rebels.
1995 - A U.N. peacekeeping mission in Somalia ended. Several gunmen were
killed by U.S. Marines in Mogadishu while overseeing the pull out of
peacekeepers.
How to Get Rid of Head Lice Naturally -- Head lice are easily
transmitted by head-to head contact or by sharing combs, brushes or
caps. Infestations are common in school children but this is not an
indication of poor hygiene or dirty hair. Lice lay their eggs along the
base of the hair shaft, close to the scalp. Conventional cures include
the application of strong smelling insecticides or shampoos which can be
harmful to health, especially in the case of small children. Go the
natural route in preventing and treating head lice infestations.
Unemployment Map -- Just click "play" to view.
Officials Puzzle Over Millions of Dollars Leaving Afghanistan by Plane
for Dubai -- A blizzard of bank notes is flying out of Afghanistan
-- often in full view of customs officers at the Kabul airport -- as
part of a cash exodus that is confounding U.S. officials and raising
concerns about the money's origin.
Oops! Brain Cancer Patients Over-Irradiated with Miscalibrated
Radiotherapy Machine -- Numerous patients have already been killed
by miscalibrated chemotherapy pumps that drip poison in to the bodies of
patients. And now there's news from Springfield Missouri where an
actively-used brain cancer
Merck's cervical cancer vaccine ads are inaccurate and misleading --
Several doctors and women's groups in India are lambasting
advertisements puts out by drug giants GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Merck
for their human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine. Objecting to the claims
being made that the vaccine protects against cervical cancer, The Sama
Resource Centre for Women and Health, Saheli Women's Resource Centre,
and a group of doctors are sounding the alarm that the ads are
misleading and inaccurate. irradiation machine has been miscalibrated
since 2004.
California couple who removed lawn plead not guilty -- A California
man who tried to save water and money by removing his front lawn is
being taken to court. Quan Ha pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to a
misdemeanor count for violating Orange city code. He faces up to six
months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
NAIS is Not Dead, Just Renamed -- On February 10, 2010 USDA
announced that it will revise the National Animal Identification System
(NAIS) policy and offer a new approach to achieving animal disease
traceability.
*
USDA APHIS Factsheet - Questions and Answers: New Animal Disease
Traceability Framework
Apple admits child labouor was used to build iPods and Iphones in
Chinese factories -- At least eleven 15-year-old children were
discovered to be working last year in three factories which supply
Apple.
Postal Service Seeks 5-Day Delivery -- The U.S. Postal Service will
move this month toward reducing mail delivery from six days a week to
five, a change Postmaster General John Potter has said is critical to
reducing its massive debt.
Russian Oil, Gas Company's Top Manager Found Shot Dead in Moscow Office
-- The board chairman of Russian oil and gas company Trans
Nafta was found dead in his company office in the Russian capital on
Saturday, a source in Moscow police said.
Extended Jobless Benefits Start Ending -- Because the Senate did not
act, the jobless will now stop getting checks once they run out of their
state benefits or current tier of federal benefits. (Perhaps the senate
was distracted by the health care fiasco on purpose? Hasten the demise?)
Bankruptcy Looms, Greek PM Warns --
Greek Prime Minister George
Papandreou said Tuesday his country was fighting for survival against
bankruptcy and urged civil servants and pensioners to accept sacrifices
to save the debt-burdened nation.
Quake Torn Haiti Hit by Floods -- Heavy rain has caused flooding in
Haiti, killing at least 13 people as swollen rivers forced people on to
roofs and trapped people in cars and homes.
Justices signal they're ready to make gun ownership a national right
-- The Supreme Court justices, hearing a 2nd Amendment challenge to
Chicago's ban on handguns, signaled Tuesday that they were ready to
extend gun rights nationwide, clearing the way for legal attacks on
state and local gun restrictions.
New IAEA Chief Takes Hardline Towards Iranian Nuclear Program -- In
his first board meeting as the new chief of the International Atomic
Energy Agency, Mr. Yukiya Amano made clear that he does not believe Iran
has been cooperating with the agency’s efforts to assess the current
state of the Iranian nuclear program.
Mandatory ID in Germany -- A new electronic personal identity card
will be introduced in Germany on 1 November 2010. The complex overall
system for managing the mandatory card and its contactless chip is on
display at CeBIT 2010. The card has three functions: 1. biometric
identity verification, 2. electronic identity verification, 3.
authenticated electronic signature.
Nine Congressmembers Who Voted Against Health Care Reform Could Flip
-- A small number of House Democrats who opposed health overhaul
legislation on the first go-round may be President Barack Obama's most
important constituency when he unveils a revised proposal on Wednesday.
Mossad Agents Fled to US After Killing in Dubai of Hamas Leader
-- At least two suspected Israeli agents behind the murder of a
senior Hamas official fled to the US during their escape, Dubai police
now believe.
There Was a War Council in Damascus
-- “The timing of the meeting, the way it was undertaken and the
ensuing press conference that was held at its conclusion, all point to a
strategic coalition being reinforced. This is the build-up of a new
front that will spearhead the confrontation with the US-Israeli alliance
and whichever Arab countries that may, expressly or implicitly, be
affiliated with it.”
Voodoo Priest Announces War on Christians
-- Haiti’s supreme Voodoo leader and hundreds of his followers
intend to wage “war” upon Christian Evangelicals after they attacked a
Voodoo ceremony in which chickens were beheaded to honor the Haitians
killed in last month’s massive earthquake.
Secret Service Uses Outdated Computers
-- A classified review of the United States Secret Service's
computer technology found that the agency's computers were fully
operational only 60 percent of the time because of outdated systems and
a reliance on a computer mainframe that dates to the 1980s, according to
Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.
Chile Quake May Have Tipped Earth's Axis -- The massive earthquake
that struck Chile on Saturday may have shifted the Earth's axis and
created shorter days, scientists at NASA say. (Makes one wonder what's
next)?
Whistleblower: Pursuit of Madoff Was a Death Sentence -- For almost
ten years Harry Markopolos tried, and failed, to alert regulators and
investors of Bernie Madoff's $65 billion dollar Ponzi scheme.
Bitter Melon Stops Breast Cancer Cells From Growing and Spreading
-- A vegetable commonly eaten in India and China called bitter
melon (also known by the botanical name Momordica charantia), has
been shown in previous studies to have a beneficial impact on blood
sugar and cholesterol levels. It turns out that's not all the health
benefits bitter melon offers. A new study by Saint Louis University
scientists provides evidence the vegetable triggers a chain of events on
a cellular level that stops breast cancer cells from multiplying and
also kills them.
Free Porn On 'Tube Sites' Puts a Big Dent in Industry -- "We're
dealing with the perfect storm: declining DVD sales, rampant piracy,
free content and a weak economy," says Steven Hirsch, founder of porn
heavyweight Vivid Entertainment. He says its DVD sales plunged 20% last
year. "This is the worst I've seen in this industry in 25 years."
Most Detailed Pictures of Earth Revealed by NASA -- The space agency
produced the stunning series images using thousands of “satellite-based
observations” hundreds of miles above the planet. (Looks peaceful, but
looks are deceiving.)
UK Muslim Leader to Put Fatwa on Jihad
--
A
revered mainstream Muslim scholar is set to announce in London on
Tuesday a fatwa (Muslim ruling)
against terrorism and suicide bombing in
the name of Islam.
Afghanistan Censors Coverage of Taliban Attacks
-- Afghanistan
on Monday announced a ban on news coverage showing
Taliban attacks,
saying such images embolden the Islamist militants, who have launched
strikes around the country as NATO forces seize their southern
strongholds.
15 Years Ago, the Combined Assets of the 6 Biggest Banks Totaled 17% of
GDP -- Fifteen years
ago, the combined assets of our six biggest banks totaled 17 percent of
our GDP. By 2006, that number was 55 percent. Right now, it stands at 63
percent.
Baby Girl Survives After Being Shot in the Chest by Parents in Global
Warming Suicide Pact -- A seven-month-old baby girl survived three
days alone with a bullet in her chest beside the bodies of her parents
and toddler brother. Argentines Francisco Lotero, 56, and Miriam Coletti,
23, shot their children before killing themselves after making an
apparent suicide pact over fears about global warming.
US-Canada Border Security and Military Partnership
-- Under the pretext of the war on terror and through initiatives
such as the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), as well as other
commitments, there has been an ongoing effort to further harmonize North
American security priorities. The militarization of the continent,
along with U.S.-Canada integration is taking place in areas of law
enforcement, border services and the armed forces.
German Gold Foundry Apparently Discovered a Tungsten Filled Gold Bar
that was Due for Melt --
German TV station ProSieben finds what
appears to be some evocative proof of gold counterfeiting, in the form
of tungsten gold substitutes coming to the W.C.Heraeus foundry, which is
the world’s largest privately-owned precious metals refiner and
fabricator, located in Hanau, Germany. The foundry has isolated at least
one 500-gram tungsten bar due for melting, originating from a (so far)
unnamed bank, which as the head of the foundry stated made the
unpleasant discovery that “not all the glitters is gold.”
Now You Can Wear Your Windows --
Imagine your smartphone feeding information to a 15-inch virtual
Microsoft Windows PC display that sits in front of one eye (leaving the
other free) while you speak commands using a hands-free natural speech
recognition interface to control your phone and wireless access to the
Internet.
Corporate Lobbyists and Public Relations Firms Behind Cable News Outlets
-- Since 2007, at least 75 registered lobbyists, public relations
representatives and corporate officials have appeared on cable news
broadcasts "with no disclosure of the corporate interests that paid
them," The Nation magazine (March 1) reveals.
Soros: I am Not Satisfied with Barck Obama, But He Saved the Country
from Recession -- “He is paying a very heavy price for actually
saving the country from going into a very deep recession or a
depression, because people don’t — haven’t experienced it,” Soros said.
“He wanted to be the great uniter and he wanted to carry the country,
sort of bring it together. But the other side has absolutely no
incentive to do it. So it takes two to tango. So that approach has
failed.”
Common Weedkiller Turns Male Frogs into Females -- Atrazine, one of
the most commonly used and controversial weedkillers, can turn male
frogs into females, researchers reported.
Millions of Tons of Water Ice Found at Moon's North Pole
-- A moon probe has found millions of tons of water on the moon’s
north pole, NASA reported Monday. The vast source of water could one day
be used to generate oxygen or sustain a moon base.
Farrakhan Predicts White Right Trouble for Obama
-- Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan, boasting his divine
stature, on Sunday predicted trouble ahead for President Barack Obama
and urged him to do more to improve the lives of blacks and the
downtrodden.
UK: Open Wi-fi 'Outlawed' By Digital Economy Bill
-- This would leave many organizations open to the same penalties
for copyright infringement as individual subscribers, potentially
including disconnection from the internet, leading legal experts to say
it will become impossible for small businesses and the like to offer
Wi-Fi access.
CERN Nuclear Team Restarts Large Hadron Collider -- Operators of the
world's largest atom smasher restarted their massive machine today in a
run-up to experiments probing secrets of the universe. After a cautious
trial period, Cern (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research)
plans to ramp up the energy of the proton beams travelling around the
17-mile tunnel housing the Large Hadron Collider under the Swiss-French
border at Geneva to unprecedented levels – and start record-setting
collisions of protons by late March.
Hazmat Crews, FBI Storm IRS Building in Utah, White Powder Found
-- Ogden, United States - Early news report
found that Hazmat crews and the FBI were called to the scene in Utah
to deal with a "a possible chemical situation". A powder may have been
found in the mail at the facility but that information has not yet been
confirmed.
Cyberware Hype Intended to Destroy the Open Internet
-- The biggest threat to the open internet is not Chinese
government hackers or greedy anti-net-neutrality ISPs, it’s Michael
McConnell, the former director of national intelligence.
US Special Forces in the Congo; Coup in Niger -- In February 2010 we
learned that U.S. special forces have begun training Congolese troops.
These same Congolese troops have been accused of attacking civilians and
committing extreme abuses. "The government army came to the village...
They raped and killed people and burned them in their houses."
Today In History Tuesday March 2, 2010
1836 - Texas declared its independence from Mexico and an ad interim
government was formed.
1861 - The U.S. Congress created the Territory of Nevada.
1877 - In the U.S., Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the
1876 presidential election by the U.S. Congress.
Samuel J. Tilden, however, had won the popular vote on November 7, 1876.
1897 - U.S. President Cleveland vetoed legislation that would have
required a literacy test for immigrants entering the country.
1899 - U.S. President McKinley signed a measure that created the rank of
Admiral for the U.S. Navy. The first admiral was George Dewey.
1900 - The U.S. Congress voted to give $2 million in aid to Puerto Rico.
1901 - The first telegraph company in Hawaii opened.
1901 - The U.S. Congress passed the Platt amendment, which limited Cuban
autonomy as a condition for withdrawal of U.S. troops.
1903 - The Martha Washington Hotel opened for business in New York City.
The hotel had 416 rooms and was the first hotel exclusively for women.
1906 - A tornado in Missouri killed 33 and did $5 million in damage.
1908 - In Paris, Gabriel Lippmann introduced three-dimensional color
photography at the Academy of Sciences.
1917 - The Russian Revolution began with Czar Nicholas II abdicating.
1917 - Citizens of Puerto Rico were granted U.S. citizenship with the
enactment of the Jones Act.
1925 - State and federal highway officials developed a nationwide
route-numbering system and adopted the familiar U.S. shield-shaped,
numbered marker.
1929 - The U.S. Court of Customs & Patent Appeals was created by the
U.S. Congress.
1933 - The motion picture King Kong had its world premiere in New York.
1939 - The Massachusetts legislature voted to ratify the Bill of Rights
to the U.S. Constitution.
1946 - Ho Chi Minh was elected President of Vietnam.
1949 - The B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II landed in Fort Worth, TX.
The American plane had completed the first non-stop around-the-world
flight.
1969 - In Toulouse, France, the supersonic transport Concorde made its
first test flight.
1985 - The U.S. government approved a screening test for AIDS that
detected antibodies to the virus that allowed possibly contaminated
blood to be kept out of the blood supply.
1986 - Corazon Aquino was sworn into office as president of the
Philippines.
1989 - Representatives from the 12 European Community nations all agreed
to ban all production of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) by the end of the
20th century.
1995 - Nick Leeson was arrested for his role in the collapse of
Britain's Barings Bank.
1998 - The U.N. Security Council endorses U.N. chief Kofi Annan's deal
to open Iraq's presidential palaces to arms inspectors.
1998 - Images from the American spacecraft Galileo indicated that the
Jupiter moon Europa has a liquid ocean and a source of interior heat.
2000 - In Great Britain, Chile's former President Augusto Pinochet
Ugarte was freed from house arrest and allowed to return to Chile.
Britain's Home Secretary Jack Straw had concluded that Pinochet was
mentally and physically unable to stand trial. Belgium, France, Spain
and Switzerland had sought the former Chilean leader on human-rights
violations.
2003 - Over the Sea of Japan, there was a confrontation between four
armed North Korean fighter jets and a U.S. RC-135S Cobra Ball. No shots
were fired in the encounted in international airspace about 150 miles
off North Korea's coast. The U.S. Air Force announced that it would
resume reconnaissance flights on March 12.
2004 - NASA announced that the Mars rover Opportunity had discovered
evidence that water had existed on Mars in the past.
Doritos Ads Represent Sick, Demented Nature of
Junk Food Companies -- One
Doritos ad portrays a man backing out of a
parking lot when his car strikes an innocent person who drops a bag of
Doritos and falls to the ground behind the car.
Rather than trying to help the innocent victim, this man throws his car
into reverse and drives over the victim, killing him with the vehicle
and stealing the bag of Doritos.
Doritos YouTube Videos:
*
A second Doritos ad shows two loser-looking gym bums being
attacked by an insane junk food ninja who uses Doritos chips as throwing
stars to murder the guy who stole his bag of Doritos. The message here?
Doritos are so valuable that it's okay to kill others to defend your
snack. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bRS)
* A third Doritos ad shows one elderly man attacking a young man with a
stun gun in order to buy the last bag of Doritos from a vending machine
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4YN...).
Same gratuitous violence. Same message: Committing violent acts against
others is perfectly acceptable when you're pursuing a bag of Doritos.
* Yet another Doritos ad shows two grown men smacking each other in the
face to decide which loser has to go buy more Doritos. The loser ends up
with a black eye after being punched so hard he flies through the air
and lands on a coffee table, shattering it. Gee, why not just use the
women in this role and make it a wife-beating commercial? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpRb...)
ACT
TODAY! Or Kiss Your Organics Goodbye! -- ACT TODAY: comments are due
by close of business Wednesday, March 3rd.
GMO Alfalfa Will Devastate Organic Dairy Industry -- Organic Valley
farmers are joining the Center for Food Safety in a fight against the
sale of Monsanto's genetically modified (GM) alfalfa seed. The 869 dairy
and beef farmers of Organic Valley "feed their animals an all-organic
diet that is on average 60 percent alfalfa. Each cow eats approximately
32.5 pounds of certified organic alfalfa a day." Siemon goes on to say
"contamination of organic alfalfa stands or seed stock will devastate
the organic farmers who market milk."
Brownfield Man Going to Prison for Selling Conventional Crops as Organic
-- During an investigation by the TDA in late June 2008, Coronado
furnished the TDA investigator several false documents/statements
relating to his source of organic commodities. These
documents/statements were false in that they represented that Sel-Cor
was purchasing/selling large quantities of organic grain, beans, and
peas when in fact, the products were not organic. The
documents/statements included....
US
manufacturers face skills shortages -- Manufacturing companies in
the US are struggling to find workers with technical skills even though
the sector has shed more than 2m jobs in the past two years. The
shortage of skilled staff could restrict companies’ ability to step up
production as the economic recovery gathers pace. In interviews with the
Financial Times, groups ranging from Boeing – one of the US’s biggest
manufacturers and exporters – to small companies also said they faced a
wave of skilled workers reaching retirement age in the next few years,
with a shortage of younger workers to replace them.
Concern as baby-boomers prepare for retirement -- The “skills gap”
results from the confluence of two trends. First, the “baby-boomers” who
have made up the bulk of US skilled manufacturing labor in recent
decades have started to reach retirement age – a demographic pattern
that will accelerate over the coming decade. Second, young people are
increasingly spurning both manufacturing jobs and education in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics. With signs of industrial demand
recovering, many expect this to spark a “war for talent” in the coming
years, pushing up labor costs and forcing some companies to make do with
less qualified workers. “As manufacturers recover, as they ramp up
capacity, the skills gap could get more acute,” says John Oleniczak,
Midwest leader of PwC’s audit practice.
LIBERTY DOLLAR NEWS: February 2010 Vol. 12 No. 02 -- For articles
such as: 1. Aspen Silver Dollar Shines Forth - 2. South Carolina
Questions the Currency - 3. Ron Paul - Is at it Again - 4. Tea Party
Lights Fuse for Rebellion on Right. Read More.....
Chile
Troops Impose Curfew in Quake-Stricken Towns
-- In Concepcion, angry survivors camping along
roads took out their frustration on firefighters who were distributing
drinking water in thermoses and tea kettles, damaging their vehicles.
Police arrested scores of people for looting and violating the curfew.
Fed Vice Chairman Says He Will Step Down -- Federal Reserve Vice
Chairman Donald Kohn's decision to step down at the end of June gives
President Barack Obama a chance to put a bigger imprint on the central
bank.
Why
did Sgt. Thomas die? -- His death leaves a medical mystery, one
similar to those posed by hundreds of other American military personnel
battling exotic cancers or struggling with rare respiratory problems.
Depleted
Uranium for Dummies -- The Most Toxic Battle In Western Military
History by Irving Wesley Hall. Be sure to check out the many articles
on our Depleted Uranium section at:
http://www.thepowerhour.com/du.htm
Military Suicides are Causing Civilian Casualties too -- Last month,
the Defense Department reported that there were 160 reported active-duty
Army suicides in 2009, up from 140 in 2008. Of these, 114 have been
confirmed, while the cause of death in the remaining 46 has yet to be
determined.
Bonuses
for Wall Street and Unemployment Elsewhere Continue to Grow
-- The troubles that countries are having with sovereign debt are
growing exponentially.
Unemployment Benefits Denied! Over a Million Families Destroyed
-- They did it! The government of your nation did it! They just
turned their backs on over a million people on unemployment and denied
the extensions! Congress, in the most nefarious and pernicious move seen
since “post economic collapse period,” has walked away, went home for
the weekend and did not extend unemployment benefits to over a million
America families.
Chinese Fluoride is a Homeland Security Matter
-- Recently, it has come to my attention in an engineering report
for the city of Boulder, Colo., that they did an evaluation of
fluoridation chemicals and sources and found that much of the fluoride
chemicals used for water fluoridation are now coming out of China with
arsenic and lead levels of 50 and 40 milligrams respectively per bag and
non-existent regulatory monitoring of the salt or acid compounds from
these imports.
Commercial Real Estate: More Trouble Ahead
-- “The largest commercial real estate loan losses are projected
for 2011 and beyond; losses at banks alone could range as high as
$200-$300 billion. The stress tests conducted last year for 19 major
financial institutions examined their capital reserves only through the
end of 2010. Even more significantly, small and mid-sized banks were
never subjected to any exercise comparable to the stress tests, despite
the fact that small and mid-sized banks are proportionately even more
exposed than their larger counterparts to commercial real estate loan
losses.”
American Reliance on Government At All-Time High
-- Without record levels of welfare, unemployment and other
government benefits as well as tax cuts last year, the income of U.S.
households would have plunged by an astonishing $723 billion — more than
four times the record $167 billion drop reported last month by the
Commerce Department.
Al Gore Takes Aim at Climate Change Skeptics
-- Former Vice President Al Gore took aim at skeptics who doubt
the reality of human-caused climate change, saying he wished it were an
illusion but that the problem is real and urgent.
Plastic Chemical Triggers Allergic Asthma
-- A plastic chemical commonly used in baby bottles and the
lining of food and beverage cans may at least partially responsible for
allergic asthma, a new study suggests.
Germany and France Agree to Rescue Greece, With Conditions
-- Sources close to the German finance ministry said Germany’s
state-owned KfW bank will buy Greek bonds or provide guarantees to other
banks to buy them. France’s state-owned Caisse des Depots will also be
involved in the aid package, according to Greek newspaper Ta Nea.
Now the Government Wants Competence Test Before You Can Be a Dog Owner
-- Every dog owner will have to take a costly ‘competence test’
to prove they can handle their pets, under new Government proposals
designed to curb dangerous dogs.
Euro Has Become a 'Subprime' Currency
-- The euro has become another "subprime" currency, afflicted by
debts, funny bookkeeping, regulatory failure and widespread street
protests in Greece and Spain. It's ironic that more violence-prone
Americans didn't hit the streets, and throw rocks, when their living
standards were sliced dramatically. Not yet anyway.
US
Sponsors Terrorists to Overthrow Iran's Government Again! --
Abdolmalek Rigi, leader of the assassination/terrorist group, Jundallah,
was announced as captured by Iran’s government on February 23, 2010.
Iran televised Mr. Rigi making a statement that the US government funds
Jundallah, provides weapons, and assists with logistical management.
Bush's Torture Psychologists Wanted to Use 'Mock Burials'
-- "Yet after mock burial was specifically excluded as a torture
technique, CIA torturers went on to threaten detainees with a power
drill and a gun. In other words, someone at that CIA had already been
told, specifically, that they could not use the threat of imminent death
on detainees. But on at least two occasions, they did so anyway."
China Insiders Sees Revolution Brewing
-- China's top expert on social unrest has warned that hardline
security policies are taking the country to the brink of ''revolutionary
turmoil''.
Nanotech May Tap into Your Mind --
New sensors built using nanotechnology could read and write
information directly into the brain.
Augmented Identity App Helps You Identify Strangers on the Street --
By this point, we're all familiar with augmented reality, but Swedish
mobile software firm The Astonishing Tribe is taking information
overload to the next logical step: augmented identity. Mashing up face
recognition technology, computer vision, cloud computing, and augmented
reality with the complex digital lives many of us lead on the Internet,
TAT has created an app that allows you to gather information on a person
and their social networking life simply by pointing your camera phone at
their face.
Step Aside Greece: How Gustavo Pigs Exposed Europe's Enron in 2001
-- Yet a 2001 report prepared by Gustavo Piga, in collaboration
with the Council of Foreign Relations and the International Securities
Market Association, not only fits that particular smoking gun
description, but the report itself was damning enough of another
country, a country which used precisely the same off-market swap
arrangement to end up with an interest expense of LIBOR
minus
16.77% (in essence the counteparty was paying Italy 16.77%
of notional each year as a function of the swap mechanics), in
that long ago year of 1995. The country - Italy (for confidentiality
reasons referred to in the report as
Country M), was at
the time panned as the Enron of the European Union due
to precisely this kind of off-balance sheet arrangement by the Counsil
of Foreign Relations.
Russian Politician Says Wants to be Cloned for Nation's Sake
-- Leader of the Russian Liberal Democrats Vladimir Zhirinovsky
said on Friday cloning should be permitted in Russia and proposed
cloning himself "for the nation's benefit."
Internet Overtakes Newspapers As Primary Source of News
-- National and local TV stations still dominate the news cycle
for most Americans, but the Internet now stands third in the list, ahead
of national and local newspapers. Additionally, the majority of news
consumers say they use two to five websites per day to get their fix—a
number we think sounds about right—but a surprisingly high number (21
percent) rely on that one favorite site to get everything they
need.
Supreme Court Gun Case Could Imperil State Laws on Everything
-- But the case goes much further than the typical bickering over
the Second Amendment. That's because it has more to do with the 14th
Amendment than it does with the Second.
Senate Panel Said to Scrap Obama's Consumer Agency -- The
negotiations focused on President Barack Obama’s Consumer Financial
Protection Agency, which stalled talks on the overhaul, with Dodd
proposing a bureau in the Treasury and Senator Richard Shelby, the
committee’s top Republican, suggesting such powers go to the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corp. Neither proposal advanced, a Senate aide said.
Talks between the two lawmakers on the bill collapsed last month.
Senate Panel Said to Scrap Obama’s Consumer Agency -- Senate Banking
Committee negotiators, working through the weekend, agreed to drop the
stand-alone consumer agency sought by the Obama administration and
opposed by the banking industry, removing an obstacle that has stalled
new U.S. financial rules.
The US and UK Lost Three Nuclear Weapons Each! -- UK, March 1, 2010
(Pal Telegraph) -When one reads about the pressure that the US and UK
Governments put on such countries as Iran and North Korea I find it hard
to believe that they themselves are so negligent in taking care of their
own weapons. I also find it so hard to believe that they have such high
moral standards when trying to stop Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
but are prepared to use such evil weapons themselves.
California Delays Payments, Ponders IOU's Again, Demands 80% Income Tax
Before it it Even Earned --
Tactics in California to shore up its municipal bond rating are quite
humorous. Supposedly, by delaying payments to schools, California can
boost confidence in its bonds.
Why Pharmaceuticals Might Be Called Weapons of Mass Prescription
-- Most people are familiar with traditional weapons of mass
destruction such biological weapons, nuclear weapons and chemical
weapons. The point of all such weapons of mass destruction is to
inflict a large number of casualties on civilian populations as a
way to cripple a nation into political or military submission.
Jerusalem
Teeters on the Brink of Violent Revolution
--
Israeli defense officials on Sunday warned that Jerusalem and the rest
of Judea and Samaria are teetering on the brink of a new Palestinian
explosion of violence, and charged "moderate" Palestinian leaders like
Prime Minister Salam Fayyad with fueling the unrest.
Winter-Damaged
Crops Drive up Tomato Prices --
The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, an agricultural
cooperative, reports that much of the crop has been devastated by the
freezing temperatures. And some retailers in Michigan and elsewhere are
turning to Mexican tomatoes to stock their shelves.
5,200 Australians Bare All In Sydney Photo Shoot -- About 5,200
naked people embraced each other on the steps of Sydney's iconic Opera
House on Monday for a photo shoot by Spencer Tunick. (Anyone remember
modesty?)
It's Raining
Frogs and Fish -- What's the real explanation of frogs and fish
raining from the sky? Hint: It's not waterspouts.
Legal drugs have deadly impact -- While the investigation found one
community could have done more to prevent the death of one girl, it also
suggests that misuse of prescription drugs poses a threat to young and
old across the metropolitan area. Of the 1,200 deaths, which do not
include suicides, just more than half were caused by prescription drugs.
Today In History Monday March 1, 2010
1692 - In Salem Village, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Salem
witch trials began. Four women were the first to be charged.
1781 - In America, the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of
Confederation.
1790 - The U.S. Congress authorized the first U.S. census.
1803 - Ohio became the 17th U.S. state.
1811 - Egyptian ruler Mohammed Ali massacred the leaders of the Mameluke
dynasty.
1845 - U.S. President Tyler signed the congressional resolution to annex
the Republic of Texas.
1864 - Louis Ducos de Hauron patented a machine for taking and
projecting motion pictures. The machine was never built.
1867 - Nebraska became the 37th U.S. state.
1869 - Postage stamps with scenes were issued for the first time.
1872 - The U.S. Congress authorized the creation of Yellowstone National
Park. It was the world's first national park.
1873 - E. Remington and Sons of Ilion, NY, began the manufacturing the
first practical typewriter.
1900 - In South Africa, Ladysmith was relieved by British troops after
being under siege by the Boers for more than four months.
1907 - In Odessa, Russia, there were only about 15,000 Jews left due to
evacuations.
1907 - In New York, the Salvation Army opened an anti-suicide bureau.
1912 - Captain Albert Berry made the first parachute jump from a moving
airplane.
1932 - The 22-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh was kidnapped.
The child was found dead in May.
1937 - U.S. Steel raised workers’ wages to $5 a day.
1937 - In Connecticut, the first permanent automobile license plates
were issued.
1941 - FM Radio began in Nashville, TN, when station W47NV began
operations.
1947 - The International Monetary Fund began operations.
1954 - The United States announced that it had conducted a hydrogen bomb
test on the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
1954 - Five U.S. congressmen were wounded when four Puerto Rican
nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of
Representatives.
1961 - The Peace Corps was established by U.S. President Kennedy.
1966 - The Soviet probe, Venera 3 crashed on the planet Venus. It was
the first unmanned spacecraft to land on the surface of another planet.
1966 - Ghana ordered all Soviet, East German and Chinese technicians to
leave the country.
1969 - Mickey Mantle announced his retirement from major league
baseball.
1974 - Seven people were indicted in connection with the Watergate
break-in. The charge was conspiring to obstruct justice.
1987 - S&H Green Stamps became S&H Green Seals. The stamps were
introduced 90 years earlier.
1989 - In Washington, DC, Mayor Barry and the City council imposed a
curfew on minors.
1990 - In Cairo, 16 people were killed in a fire at the Sheraton Hotel.
1992 - King Fahd of Saudi Arabia announced major political reforms that
ceded some powers after 10 years of disciplined rule.
1993 - The U.S. government announced that the number of food stamp
recipients had reached a record number of 26.6 million.
1994 - Israel released about 500 Arab prisoners in an effort to placate
Palestinians over the Hebron massacre.
1995 - The European Parliament rejected legislation that would have
allowed biotechnology companies to patent new life forms.
1995 - Yahoo! was incorporated.
2002 - Operation Anaconda began in eastern Afghanistan. Allied forces
were fighting against Taliban and Al Quaida fighters.
2003 - In the U.S., approximately 180,000 personnel from 22 different
organizations around the government became part of the Department of
Homeland Security.
FDIC Bank Closures - Two Closed Friday Feb 26 2010
Commercial Mortgage Default Rate in U.S. More Than Doubles -- The
default rate for loans on office, retail, hotel and industrial
properties surged to 3.8 percent from 1.6 percent a year earlier, the
New York-based real estate research firm said yesterday in a report. The
default rate for loans on apartment buildings climbed to 4.4 percent
from 1.8 percent.
Bernake Delivers Blunt Warning on US Debt
-- With uncharacteristic bluntness, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
S. Bernanke warned Congress on Wednesday that the United States could
soon face a debt crisis like the one in Greece, and declared that the
central bank will not help legislators by printing money to pay for the
ballooning federal debt.
Obama signs one-year extension of Patriot Act -- President Barack
Obama has signed a one-year extension of several provisions in the
nation's main counterterrorism law, the Patriot Act. Provisions in the
measure would have expired on Sunday without Obama's signature Saturday.
Chile
quake toll limited by good planning -- Chileans accelerated their
rescue, aid and security efforts in damaged regions Sunday but also took
pride in the comparatively low death toll, a result widely attributed to
the country's meticulous planning and preparation.
Chile sends 10,000 troops to quash looting -- Chile's government
scrambled on Monday to provide aid to thousands of homeless in coastal
towns devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunamis as 10,000 troops
moved into stricken areas to quell looting.
2010
Census: 10 Questions in 10 Minutes -- Look For Your Census Form In
Mid-March.
IMF Chief Suggests Look at New Reserve Currency
-- The I.M.F. leader, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, also floated the
idea of creating a global reserve currency that could serve as an
alternative to the dollar.
Toxic towns: People of Mossville, Louisiana 'are like an experiment'
-- Community suspects 14 chemical plants play a role in cancer and
diseases in area. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will investigate pollution and health
in Mossville, Louisiana, and across the country.
1 in 4 parents believes unproven vaccine-autism link, but most do what
doctor says is best -- A statement from a group practice near
Philadelphia outlines its doctors' adamant support for government
recommended vaccines and their belief that "vaccines do not cause autism
or other developmental disabilities." "Furthermore, by not vaccinating
your child you are taking selfish advantage of thousands of other who do
vaccinate their children ... We feel such an attitude to be
self-centered and unacceptable," the statement says, urging those who
"absolutely refuse" vaccines to find another physician. "We call it the
manifesto," said Dr. Bradley Dyer of All Star Pediatrics in Lionville,
Pa. (Comment: Manifesto as in "Communist Manifesto"?)
Simple home saliva test that tells your risk of going blind -- A
saliva sample is sent off for analysis to assesses a person's genetic
risk of developing Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), the most
common cause of blindness in the UK, which affects more than half-amillion
people.
College Students Urged: Trade Bible for Playboy
-- In the lobby of the University of Texas at San Antonio's
humanities building, a hand-drawn poster announces, "Free porn: Just
trade in your holy books (Bible, Koran, Vedas) for porn."
Short Selling Restrictions: A Great Indicator of Imminent Market Crashes
-- Inquiring minds are investigating Fannie Mae's stunning $72
billion loss for 2009 as well as new short selling curbs. The two are
actually related. Let's take a look.
Rescuers Search for Chile Quake Survivors; Death Toll Jumps to 708
-- The death toll nearly doubles as rescuers reach
isolated and devastated towns. About 2 million people are hurt or
without their homes in the aftermath of the 8.8 quake.
2/3 In
Poll Think US Women Should Fight in Combat
-- Every day, CNN has a feature called, "Quick
Vote." They post a question and viewers can vote by clicking one of the
buttons. Most of the time, the questions are lame, but today's question
grabbed my attention. CNN asked, "Should the Pentagon allow women to
serve in full combat roles?" I was shocked, but not really surprised.
Two-thirds responded, YES.
CNN Poll: Majority Says Government a Threat to Citizen's Rights
-- A majority of Americans think the federal government poses a
threat to rights of Americans, according to a new national poll.
Cybersecurity Bill to Give President New Emergency Powers
-- The president would have the power to safeguard essential
federal and private Web resources under draft Senate cybersecurity
legislation.
23 CIA Officials Convicted in Italy
-- An Italian court has convicted 23 Americans of abducting an
Egyptian terror suspect under the CIA's so-called "extraordinary
rendition" programme. Investigative journalist Wayne Madsen discusses
the news with RT.
Greece's Worst Fears Confirmed
-- "Our duty today is to
forget about the political cost and think only about the survival of our
country. Past policies make it necessary to proceed to brutal changes
and reduce accumulated privileges."
Man who broke the Bank of England, George Soros, 'at centre of hedge
funds plot to cash in on fall of the euro' -- A secretive group of
Wall Street hedge fund bosses are said to be behind a plot to cash in on
the decline of the euro.
City of Angels on Brink of Abyss --
"The city is facing a budget crisis unlike any it has ever
experienced … The enormity of our current fiscal crisis forces the City
to take swift action now and lay out a financial plan for the future."
Louisiana Sheriff Launches Operation Exodus
-- The Bossier Parish sheriff's office is launching a program
called "Operation Exodus," a policing plan for an end-of-the-world
scenario involving a mostly white group of ex-police volunteers and a
.50-caliber machine gun, inspired in part from the Book of Exodus in the
Bible.
Bill Gates:
Lower World Population with Vaccines
-- “Now, if we do a really great job on new vaccines, health
care, reproductive health services—we could lower that perhaps ten or
fifteen percent.”
1997 DoD Briefing: 'Others' can set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely
using electromagnetic waves
* Transcript:
DoD News Briefing: Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen
It's Raining Fish...No Really! --
WHILE the Top End and Central Australia have been battered
by torrential rains, a Territory town has had fish falling from the sky.
Obama to Seek New Assault Weapons Ban
-- The Obama administration will seek to reinstate the assault
weapons ban that expired in 2004 during the Bush administration,
Attorney General
Eric Holder said today.
Oops! Brain Cancer Patients Over-Irradiated with Miscalibrated
Radiotherapy Machine --
Numerous patients have already been killed by miscalibrated chemotherapy
pumps that drip poison in to the bodies of patients. And now there's
news from Springfield Missouri where an actively-used brain cancer
irradiation machine has been miscalibrated since 2004.
Massive Bank Failures Due --
Close to 3,000 banks are currently classified as having a risky
concentration of commercial real estate loans, according to a recent
report by the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP). All of them are small
to mid-sized banks, already weakened by the financial crisis.
Officials Puzzle Over Millions of Dollars Leaving Afghanistan By Plane
-- A blizzard of bank notes is flying out of Afghanistan -- often
in full view of customs officers at the Kabul airport -- as part of a
cash exodus that is confounding U.S. officials and raising concerns
about the money's origin.
UN Still Pushing for Global Environmental Control
--
Despite the debacle of the failed Copenhagen climate change conference
last December, the United Nations is pressing full speed ahead with a
plan for a greatly expanded system of global environmental governance
and for a multitrillion-dollar economic transfer scheme to ignite the
creation of a "global green economy."
Weaponizing Mozart -- In
recent years Britain has become the Willy Wonka of social control,
churning out increasingly creepy, bizarre, and fantastic methods for
policing the populace. But our weaponization of classical music—where
Mozart, Beethoven, and other greats have been turned into tools of state
repression—marks a new low.
US Refuses to Endorse British Sovereignty In Falkland Oil Dispute
-- Washington refused to endorse British claims to sovereignty
over the Falkland Islands yesterday as the diplomatic row over oil
drilling in the South Atlantic intensified in London, Buenos Aires and
at the UN.
Doritos Ads Represent Sick, Demented Nature of Junk Food Companies
-- One Doritos ad portrays a man backing out of a parking lot
when his car strikes an innocent person who drops a bag of Doritos and
falls to the ground behind the car. Rather than trying to help the
innocent victim, this man throws his car into reverse and drives over
the victim, killing him with the vehicle and stealing the bag of
Doritos.
Guns at Starbucks? Pushing the Right to Bear Arms in Public -- Gun
owners in California have been wearing their handguns in coffee shops
and restaurants. The guns are unloaded and legal, but some citizens and
police departments are wary.
GOP Blacks Better Off Under Slavery
-- "And yet today, half of all black children are aborted. Half
of all black children are aborted. Far more of the African American
community is being devastated by the policies of today than were being
devastated by the policies of slavery."
Bountiful Baskets Food C0-op Now in Vegas
-- Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op is a
group buy using the power of bulk purchasing to get great prices on
produce and other goods from wholesalers. This group operates in the
southwest states and was recently expanded to include Las Vegas. Produce
is delivered twice monthly and the reception was so great, you can
expect new locations next time around and the option for an organic
basket for $10 more. What a fantastic new food option for us all in
southern Nevada!
Supreme Court Scrutinizes State. Local Gun Control
-- The justices will be deciding whether the right to possess
guns guaranteed by the Second Amendment — like much of the rest of the
Bill of Rights — applies to states as well as the federal government.
It's widely believed they will say it does.
Farmers, Others Sue USDA Over Monsanto GMO Alfafa
-- Opening another front in the battle over genetically modified
crops, the lawsuit contends that the US Department of Agriculture
improperly is allowing Monsanto Co to sell an herbicide-resistant
alfalfa seed while failing to analyze the public health, environmental,
and economic consequences of that action.
Bribes Let Tomato Vendor Sell Tainted Food
-- Days later, federal agents descended on Kraft’s offices near
Chicago and confronted Mr. Watson. He admitted his role in a bribery
scheme that has laid bare a startling vein of corruption in the food
industry. And because the scheme also involved millions of pounds of
tomato products with high levels of mold or other defects, the case has
raised serious questions about how well food manufacturers safeguard the
quality of their ingredients.
ATF Seizes 30 Toy Guns -- A
local business owner is flabbergasted after a shipment of 30 toy guns
for his store was confiscated by ATF agents in Tacoma.
License Plate Software Stirs Privacy Concerns
-- “It’s a huge Pandora’s box,” Jack Gillis, a spokesman for the
Consumer Federation of America, said. “There are possibilities for
tremendous violations if it is used to find out where people are at a
given time. Until the access to this technology can be controlled, it
has scary potential.”
How Mobile Phones Let Spies See Our Every Move
-- The technology
’sees’ the shapes made when radio waves emitted by mobile phone masts
meet an obstruction. Signals bounced back by immobile objects, such as
walls or trees, are filtered out by the receiver. This allows anything
moving, such as cars or people, to be tracked. Previously, radar needed
massive fixed equipment to work and transmissions from mobile phone
masts were thought too weak to be useful.
Israeli troops storm and encircle Aqsa Mosque -- The Israeli
occupation forces (IOF) on Sunday stormed the courtyards of the Aqsa
Mosque and cordoned off its premises where dozens of Palestinian
worshipers are still maintaining a vigil and refusing to leave for fear
of attacks by Israeli extremists.
US to Spend $50 Million on Media in Pakistan
-- The Obama administration plans to spend nearly $50 million on
Pakistani media this year to reverse anti-American sentiments and raise
awareness of projects aimed at improving quality of life, confirms a
Washington insider.
Iran Unexpectedly Surfaces Hidden Nuclear Stockpile -- Iran has left
international weapons inspectors stunned over the past two weeks as it
suddenly moved virtually all of its underground nuclear fuel stockpile
to an above-ground plant, and now the international community is
struggling to determine what the country might be planning.
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