time for truth

2011-10-03T17:11:00.002+01:00

American Spring: Brooklyn Bridge shut down by protesters

2011-10-03T16:20:00.002+01:00

Thousands of protesters who have been camping out near Wall Street have spilled out onto the roadway, causing the Brooklyn Bridge to be shut down. At least 700 people have been arrested, including a New York Times reporter.
The clash and confrontation between NYPD and thousands of protesters took place on New York’s Brooklyn Bridge.
Thousands of protesters who have been camping out near Wall Street have spilled out onto the roadway, causing the Brooklyn Bridge to be shut down. At least 700 people have been arrested, including a New York Times reporter. The clash and confrontation between NYPD and thousands of protesters took place on New York’s Brooklyn Bridge. The demonstration started by Wall Street and then protesters rallied toward the Brooklyn Bridge. When they got on the bridge, the police cordoned off both sides of the Brooklyn Bridge and started to move in on the protesters to make arrests for blocking traffic and disorderly conduct. The protesters were banging drums and chanting, “The wis watching!” Police moved in, there were paddywagons brought to the scene, and things got very physical, RT’s New York correspondent Marina Portnaya reported.

The “End” of the Mayan calendar, Solar Flares and Earth Changes

2011-10-03T15:47:00.000+01:00

We have now celebrated the Cosmic Convergence and there is less than one night and one day before the fulfillment of the evolutionary plan for all of creation (or at least the attainment of the top level). As predicted the Ninth wave of this plan, which is coming to a close together with the other waves of the Mayan calendar on October 28, 2011, has brought a tremendous frequency increase to the world. This has been experienced on a personal level by many, but it has also been easily visible in the spread of political and economical chaos in large parts of the world. The current instability is evident not only in what is actually happening, but also in the constant shifts in how events or developments are perceived and reported. Greece, for instance, is one day said to be bankrupt, another fully afloat with the help of the troika, and the next day it is again said to be bankrupt. One day the Ghaddafi regime has fallen and another it is again fighting only to have fallen the next day again.

In this world of uncertain interpretation of news alternative media on the Internet have gone in to try to fill the gap sometimes speaking with total certainty about impending catastrophes. There, one day the comet Elenin is said to create earthquakes and to set an end to the world, the next it does not exist and then it is back again (or was it planet X?). Anything, no matter how crazy or farfetched, can today find an attentive audience on YouTube and be presented as if it was serious information. To the instability of the world has thus been added information chaos and it is a common feeling among many that they do not know who or what to believe anymore. The mental framework within which people have understood the world is eroding and this, as much as the actual course of events, is a sign of our times. Some reject the meaningfulness of mental understanding altogether.

This erosion prepares the ground for a new opening and radical shift in our ways of thinking and relating and attests to the fact that much of the world has been shaken off its previous balance by the Ninth wave. Underlying all of this we may find a somewhat nervous expectation of something unknown and dramatic that is to happen. It is not surprising that in the minds of many people this expectation has been largely negative. After all, the development of the Ninth wave has been essentially predictable according to Revelation 16, where it is the seven days that bring the most destruction to the old structures of the world. Thus, progress along the old routes has step by step been blocked and the experience of a dead end to our current civilization has spread widely with little to yet show in terms of alternatives. The novelties that have been generated by the Ninth wave have thus in the world at large been few and far in between. While many may have had inner awakenings of oneness the external manifestations of these have been very marginal.
As part of the erosion of the current world I had predicted at a relatively early point, quite correctly, that the fifth day of the Ninth wave would be the energy that would precipitate the economic downturn (And the economy may be the best mirror of how humans relate to one another). This was in fact also the time when the so called “markets” truly started to be affected by the global loan crisis, which has since with every new shift point of the Ninth wave continued to deepen. The drawn out nature of this crisis does not change the fact that we are going towards a collapse of the economical and political system of the world and there are no signs that this could be averted. Growth in key countries such as the US and Germany has come to a halt (not to mention Greece and Italy), which in practice blocks all attempts for the repayment of debts.

The economic downturn has displayed some surprising elements such as the expressed desire of a choir of super rich to be taxed more heavily and the possibility that China will buy debt from Italy or other Euro countries to keep them afloat. I however find it hard to believe that any of this would actually happen and the feeling one gets is that the rulers are running out of tricks. Despite the dead end, it can however probably be said that life in much of the world still appears much like business as usual. Thus, no occurrence has yet been powerful enough to precipitate the collapse that many are expecting or fearing and it now seems that this will not happen until in the seventh day of the Ninth wave, October 11-28. If so, the end of the calendar may become a very marked discontinuity.

What we are witnessing is thus not another recession, but the end of the world capitalist system and the protests in the US against “Wall Street” may be an indication as good as any of this. One however gets the impression that as long as the old system survives there is no real opening to create a new world to replace it. To do so would be too much in conflict with the legality of the current dualist power structure and only after some kind of full collapse has occurred would people in general be compelled and inspired to create a new way of living and relating in the realms of politics and economics. To prevent such a new world from being born we can also be certain that when the collapse comes this will be presented by the powers that be as nothing but a temporary downturn. Such an illusion may then come to dominate many who lack the perspective of the Mayan calendar of an evolution towards unity consciousness and this also highlights the risk of believing those that say the calendar ends on December 21, 2012, which is something that will play right into the hands of those that want to resurrect the old system.

In addition to the deepened political and economical chaos the Ninth wave has also brought a marked intensification of many types of natural disasters sometimes in places they have never been seen before. This has generated an immense interest in all such phenomena and a genre of catastrophe fascination has emerged on the Internet where some are spewing out information of natural disasters without providing any context or explanation to why they may be happening now. Such events would include solar flares, comets, earthquakes, floods, heat waves and extreme winds, many of which have increased in the Ninth wave.

Some of these natural disasters that have been intensifying (floods, heat and cold waves, fires, extreme winds) are partly caused by human effects on the climate, but the same cannot be said about the seismic phenomena that are outside of our control to cause or manipulate. This is even more the case for so called Earth Changes generating altered coastlines etc that were initially predicted by Edgar Cayce as coming, but erroneously predicted to occur in the years 1958-98. Given the great interest in such today it is relevant to ask if they to some extent could be part of the cosmic plan and thus be predictable from the Mayan calendar. In The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness (2004) I wrote: “At least some minor earth changes may thus result from the high frequency change in consciousness that the cosmos is now undergoing. But the reversal of cause and effect to generate a doomsday view where such earth changes are presented as the very purpose of this particular phase of creation is untenable. Any possible physical effects should be seen only as by products of changes in the consciousness field […]” and I still consider this statement as valid and important. Since the high frequency change in the Ninth wave is operating at several levels of the universe simultaneously, such as cosmic, galactic, solar, planetary and human, we would expect to see it manifested at all of these. While it may be hard to study its manifestation on the cosmic or galactic levels it seems possible to do so on the level of the sun, which increasingly is receiving attention for its flares. Are these flares, the largest of which within the Ninth wave have been summarized below, then related to the Mayan calendar?

Major Solar Flares	Cosmic Energy Change
X 1.5 – March 9, 2011	Beginning of First day (March 9)
M 9.3 – July 30, 2011 M 9.3 – Aug 4, 2011 X 6.9 – Aug 9, 2011	Beginning of Fifth day (July 31)
X 2.1 – Sept 6, 2011 X 1.8 – Sept 7, 2011	Beginning of Sixth day (Sept 5)
X 1.4 – Sept 22, 2011	Beginning of Sixth night (Sept 23)

This is a complex question that would require data accumulated over large periods of time to be analyzed that is essentially missing. Yet, it is noteworthy in the list above that there was a large solar flare at the beginning of the Ninth wave on March 9 as well as those at the beginnings of the fifth and sixth days. Hypothetically there might then exist a link between these flares and the Ninth wave of the Mayan calendar. Even though an intensification of solar activity is expected as part of any regular solar cycle, what is unexpected in the current one is that this activity seems to have been delayed for several years and is made evident only now in apparent synchrony with the Ninth wave. If this is true an intensification of solar flares would be expected towards the end of the Ninth wave in its the seventh day beginning October 11.

When it comes to seismic activity on our own planet, the link to the Mayan calendar is more clear as I have discussed in The Purposeful Universe. Thus, the continental drift is caused by pulses from the planetary tree of life in the Mammalian Underworld and this drift (also called Plate Tectonics) is the cause of all earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on our planet. Since the calendar is now about to come to an end we may thus also ask if the continental structure of the Earth, the global brain, will now be completed and if this will affect the stability of the Earth’s crust. If it does then maybe, the increased seismic activity in recent times derives from the fact that the inner core of the Earth, is now being fine-tuned for the transmission of the new unity consciousness from the Cosmic Tree of Life. Such a fine tuning may however from the perspective of us who live on its surface be experienced as particularly “fine” and could in fact have quite dramatic consequences. Regardless it is important to see that these are part of a purposeful plan.

This is the only reasonable explanation I have heard for why there would be an intensification of seismic activity at this particular time, an intensification which was certainly evident at the seeding of the Ninth wave through the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. If there is an increased seismic activity at the current time it would in other words be because the calendar is coming to an end. While this is speculative I will on my part chose to be at a seismically solid place as the calendar approaches its end.

As this most likely is my last communication before the Mayan calendar comes to an end on October 28, 2011, it may now also be in its place to discuss somewhat what this “end” may mean and of course is a question that has been discussed for some time. My basic answer would be that the universe attains its highest quantum state and creates a new stage for life (at the top of the nine-storied pyramid). It is thus a common misunderstanding that a “new” cycle will begin after the calendar comes to an end. This is a misunderstanding because what is coming to an end is not a cycle to begin with, but nine linear directed evolutionary waves. The only aspect of the prophetic Mayan calendar system that may be described as cyclical is the 260 day tzolkin and this is the only cycle that will come to an end. Yet, even if this cycle is important as a matrix of the energies of creation and personal resonance with day signs, it plays no role in driving the large scale evolution of the universe or its evolution of consciousness.

With this in mind I see three possible alternatives that may follow after the universe has attained its highest state: The first, and most dramatic alternative, is that all waves - as well as the tzolkin cycle - come to an end. This would likely mean an abrupt end to all future energetic regulation of our lives and actions and a sort of freedom shock. Life would be lived fully moment by moment by moment and each moment would be an eternity that would not be organically linked to other moments. The second alternative, which I am currently leaning towards, is that the waves end, after having accomplished their evolutionary purposes, but the tzolkin continues to provide some energetic background variation. This would still mean living moment by moment without any waves directing our evolution, but a daily variation of tzolkin energies could prevent us from experiencing life as completely timeless. The third alternative is that not only the tzolkin, but also the nine creation waves (Underworlds) continue indefinitely and the total of peaks and valleys not limited to thirteen. This would still mean that we would no longer be subordinated to directed processes going from seed to mature fruit, but it would not mean that life would be like an eternal now. Rather, all the waves that are currently driving our evolution would continue after the attainment of unity consciousness, but really without any end.

The latter view seems to have been held in the site of Palenque in ancient times, since calendrical dates deep into the future are mentioned there even if the dates in question cannot be considered as prophetic. I feel at this point it is not possible to tell with certainty which one of the three alternatives that will play out after the calendar comes to an end, but either one would amount to a fundamental discontinuity and a significant, if not total, transformation of our experience of life. Either one of them would mean the end to directed evolution and the freedom to just be. Maybe it is because they hear this call from the “future” that, despite the concurrent presence of some negative omens at the current time, I find a noticeable group of people who at this very time are coming home to themselves and are truly beginning to appreciate life exactly the way it is. Maybe after all there is a shift to unity consciousness going on and that the universe is now starting to allow us to just be whatever we are.

Carl Johan Calleman
Paris, September 30, 2011 (11 Eb)
8th day of the sixth night of the Ninth wave

Detroit SWAT team assaults African American mom who refused to medicate her daughter with antipsychotic drugs

2011-10-03T13:51:00.000+01:00

(NaturalNews) The medical police state is alive and well in Detroit today, where Child Protective Services (CPS) called in the police to aid in their kidnapping of a 13-year-old daughter from an African American mother who refused to medicate her with dangerous psychiatric drugs. As this case is clearly showing, refusing to medicate your children with Big Pharma's mind-altering drugs is now being treated as a felony crime.

Here are the facts of the case:

• Maryanne Godboldo is an African American mother of a teenager daughter. She lives in Detroit. (http://www.prisonplanet.com/swat-at...)

• Child Protective Services (CPS) personnel attempted to kidnap Maryanne's 13-year-old daughter. They accused her of not giving her child psychiatric medication prescribed by her doctor.

• Maryanne says the medication caused side effects in her daughter and made her condition worse, which is why she refused to give her daughter the medication.

• The medication was Risperdal, a neuroleptic antipsychotic medication known for causing serious side effects such as abdominal pain, vomiting, aggression, anxiety, dizziness and lack of coordination (http://www.risperdalsideeffects.com).

Watch the true video of the shocking side effects of Risperdal here: http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=3...

See a complete list of side effects of psychiatric medications from CCHR:
http://www.cchr.org/sites/default/f...

• When Maryanne refused to let CPS take her daughter away, CPS personnel then called the police, who then smashed down her front door and attempted to raid her home to kidnap her daughter by force.

• The police did NOT have a warrant or any court documents whatsoever granting them any right to enter Maryanne's home, according to Godboldo's attorneys.

• Police say that after they smashed in the front door, Maryanne opened fire on them. (Who wouldn't open fire on a group of armed assailants trying to kidnap their daughter, by the way?)

• A SWAT team was then called in, carrying semiautomatic rifles and sniper gear. A 12-hour standoff ensued.

• Maryanne eventually surrendered to the SWAT team, and the state took her daughter to a psychiatric hospital where she is now being molested by the staff there, her mother says.

• Maryanne Godboldo now faces multiple felony charges: firing a weapon in a dwelling, felonious assault, resisting and obstructing an officer, and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

• CPS lied about the child's father's ability to take care of her as a tactic to kidnap her from her mother.

• Community groups in Detroit are now rallying on behalf of the family there, shouting "Free Arianna" (the daughter).

Why Health Freedom is more important now than ever

What you are witnessing here with Maryanne Godboldo is the tyranny of the medical police state and the wicked criminality of Child Protective Services workers who are now front-line enforcers of Big Pharma's deadly agenda to drug our children.

Make no mistake: What's happening today is that the state is now breaking down the doors, assaulting, arresting and imprisoning parents who refuse to medicate their children. This is being accomplished with the use of armed force against innocent victims.

This unholy alliance between Big Pharma, CPS and the police has gone too far. It has become the weapon of medication compliance.

When medicine has become so dangerous, so forceful and so utterly harmful to the People that the state must use bullets and guns to force people to take it, you know it's all gone way too far.

It makes you wonder: What kind of system of medicine is so bad that prescriptions have to be enforced at gunpoint?

That this is happening is not just an assault on Maryann Godboldo, but an assault on our rights and freedoms as sovereign human beings. Do we not have the right to say NO to a medication we don't want our children to take? Do we not have the right to protect our children from kidnappers? Do we not have the right to use firearms in the defense and protection of our homes from armed invaders who are conspiring to kidnap our children?

The real criminals in this case are the CPS workers. They should be brought up on attempting kidnapping charges as well as a criminal conspiracy to commit kidnapping. The gun-toting cops who broke into Maryanne's home and attempted to kidnap her daughter should be arrested and brought up on charges of armed robbery, breaking and entering and conspiracy to commit the felony crime of kidnapping.

And yet, instead, Maryanne is now facing multiple felony charges while the CPS criminals and cops who raided her home are charged with nothing.

Where is the justice in America today? How did medication become something to be enforced with bullets and SWAT teams? And more importantly, how far will this go before this tyranny ends?

Next, will they just line everybody up against a brick wall, and those who can't produce a receipt for medication get a bullet in their heads?

Resistance is necessary to achieve freedom

I hope you see where this is headed. I've been warning you about this for years, urging you to resist the rise of the medical police state... warning you about what I called "gunpoint medicine" back in 2006 (http://www.naturalnews.com/019512.html).

Read about Daniel Hauser (http://www.naturalnews.com/026305.html), the gunpoint vaccinations in Maryland (http://www.naturalnews.com/022267.html), the jailing of Francisco Santos (http://www.naturalnews.com/021997.html) and the forced poisoning of Abraham Cherrix (http://www.naturalnews.com/019617.html) with toxic chemotherapy.

Learn the truth or you will surely be crushed by it. Big Pharma will stop at nothing to force their drugs onto your children. They will use guns, SWAT teams, kidnapping, the breaking down of your front door... anything it takes!

If you really want to learn the truth about the psychiatric industry and its war on children, visit www.CCHR.org and www.CCHRint.org

You can also search the database of psychiatric drug side effects at: http://www.cchrint.org/psychdrugdan...

And please, forward this article to everyone you know. Spread the word about reading NaturalNews.com to stay informed about health freedom. We must protect ourselves from these medication tyrants who use kidnapping, armed assaults and the threat of violence to force us to drug our children.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/032089_antipsychotic_drugs_health_freedom.html#ixzz1ZioP0500

Matt Simmons Believes Oil Covers 40% Of Gulf Beneath The Surface

2010-06-19T01:21:00.002+01:00

Matt Simmons Believes Oil Covers 40% Of Gulf Beneath The Surface

Matt Simmons was on Bloomberg earlier, adding some additional perspective to his original appearance on the station, in which he initially endorsed the nuclear option as the only viable way to resolve the oil spill. Simmons refutes even the latest oil spill estimate of 45,000-60,000 barrels per day, and in quoting research by the Thomas Jefferson research vessel which was compiled late on Sunday, quantifies the leak at 120,000 bpd. What is scarier is that according to the Jefferson the oil lake underneath the surface of the water could be covering up to 40% of the entire Gulf of Mexico. Simmons also says that as the leak has no casing, a relief well will not work, and the only possible resolution is, as he said previously, to use a small nuclear explosion to convert the rock to glass. Simmons concludes that as punishment for BP’s arrogance and stupidity the government “will take all their cash.” Now if only our own administration could tell us the truth about what is really happening in the gulf…

Video on Vodpod: http://vodpod.com/watch/3846451-matt-simmons-believes-oil-covers-40-of-gulf-beneath-the-surface

and another one here : http://peakoil.com/enviroment/matt-simmons-believes-oil-covers-40-of-gulf-beneath-the-surface/

Gulf oil full of methane, adding new concerns

2010-06-19T01:17:00.001+01:00

The oil damaged shoreline in the Northern reaches of Barataria Bay is seen amidst work boats in oil polluted waters as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's t AP – The oil damaged shoreline in the Northern reaches of Barataria Bay is seen amidst work boats in oil polluted …
By MATTHEW BROWN and RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, Associated Press Writers Matthew Brown And Ramit Plushnick-masti, Associated Press Writers – 58 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS – It is an overlooked danger in oil spill crisis: The crude gushing from the well contains vast amounts of natural gas that could pose a serious threat to the Gulf of Mexico's fragile ecosystem.

The oil emanating from the seafloor contains about 40 percent methane, compared with about 5 percent found in typical oil deposits, said John Kessler, a Texas A&M University oceanographer who is studying the impact of methane from the spill.

That means huge quantities of methane have entered the Gulf, scientists say, potentially suffocating marine life and creating "dead zones" where oxygen is so depleted that nothing lives.

"This is the most vigorous methane eruption in modern human history," Kessler said.

Methane is a colorless, odorless and flammable substance that is a major component in the natural gas used to heat people's homes. Petroleum engineers typically burn off excess gas attached to crude before the oil is shipped off to the refinery. That's exactly what BP has done as it has captured more than 7.5 million gallons of crude from the breached well.

A BP spokesman said the company was burning about 30 million cubic feet of natural gas daily from the source of the leak, adding up to about 450 million cubic feet since the containment effort started 15 days ago. That's enough gas to heat about 450,000 homes for four days.

But that figure does not account for gas that eluded containment efforts and wound up in the water, leaving behind huge amounts of methane.

BP PLC said a containment cap sitting over the leaking well funneled about 619,500 gallons of oil to a drillship waiting on the ocean surface on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a specialized flare siphoning oil and gas from a stack of pipes on the seafloor burned roughly 161,700 gallons.

read more : http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gulf_oil_spill

IRELAND FILES-Shields, batons and peaceful crowd contro

2010-05-19T02:05:00.000+01:00

ANALYSIS:

The Garda must strike a delicate balance when coping with social unrest and protests that may lurch into violence, writes TOM CLONAN

GARDAÍ IN the Dublin Metropolitan Region who will police this evening’s protest at Leinster House deal with hundreds of peaceful demonstrations yearly.

On very rare occasions, however, individuals or groups within a legitimate gathering – usually those with an alternative agenda – may engage in disruptive or violent behaviour. In such extreme cases, where events can be very fast-moving and fluid, gardaí must protect the rights of citizens to protest peacefully in a safe environment.

They face the difficult challenge of striking a balance between this right and the requirement to restore public order and ensure public safety where rioting breaks out.

Last week’s Right to Work protest saw some minor scuffles at the gates of Leinster House involving gardaí and a minority group of individuals who joined the march. There is speculation as to whether or not there will be public order disturbances at the protest outside the Dáil tonight.

While this would be atypical of the majority of Dublin protests, the Garda Síochána has had salutary experiences of rioting and public disorder within the capital. The Dublin Metropolitan Region’s experience stretches back to the early 1970s.

In February 1972, at the height of the Troubles, gardaí struggled to contain a crowd of up to 20,000 who gathered at Merrion Square and went on to burn down the British embassy. Later on, rudimentary riot gear – including clear perspex riot shields and helmets with visors – was issued in the latter part of the 1970s.
In July 1981, during the hunger strikes, gardaí, with better equipment and command and control practices, successfully contained similar riots outside the British embassy.

Over a decade later, in February 1995, the Garda’s Public Order Unit was deployed to deal with the Lansdowne Road stadium riot – orchestrated by right-wing English soccer hooligans – during an Ireland-England match. Thousands of innocent Irish and English soccer fans were evacuated during this incident.
More recently, in February 2006, serious rioting broke out on O’Connell Street during the so-called Love Ulster Parade. Gardaí were equipped with a broader spectrum of riot control equipment, including full body armour, shields and helmets, and dispersed rioters after a number of baton charges.
Predictably, images of the 2006 riots were beamed around the world, creating the impression of a far more serious incident. Contrasting with such images, the vast majority of protests in Dublin are peaceful. The volume of such protests also gives the lie to any notion that Irish citizens are more passive than our European counterparts.

A cursory analysis of Garda riot control is interesting. Unlike other jurisdictions – including Northern Ireland – gardaí have never resorted to baton rounds or gas to contain rioters.

Nor have they ever called upon the Army for support in riot control. While water cannons were used in protests during Ireland’s EU presidency in 2007, gardaí have for the most part relied on minimalist approaches to crowd control involving unarmed restraint by weight of numbers and use of batons.

Gardaí at riots are subject to the same rule of law as other citizens. Their actions must be deemed to fall within the concept of “minimum force”. All actions carried out by gardaí must be justifiable, preventative and satisfy stringent legal requirements. However, the “rules of engagement” for use of force in such circumstances are reasonably liberal. Gardaí may use batons to strike protesters who threaten the safety of gardaí, other protesters or innocent bystanders.

Gardaí may also use force to prevent damage to property or to disperse crowds where safety is an issue.

IRELAND FILES-Over 1,000 attend Dublin protest

2010-05-19T01:58:00.000+01:00

Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 21:49

BY STEVEN CARROLL and PAUL CULLEN

More than 1,000 people participated in a protest against Government policy in Dublin tonight.
The demonstration, organised by the Right to Work Campaign, heard calls for the Government to reverse spending cutbacks and to focus on reducing the numbers unemployed rather that providing large sums to the State's banks.

The crowd was addressed by Sinn Féin's Senator Pearse Doherty, People Before Profit councillor Richard Boyd Barrett, UCD academic Kieran Allen and Brendan Ogle of the Unite trade union.They gathered on Molesworth Street, near Leinster House, before marching to the GPO.

The gates of Dáil remained open for the majority of the protests but the building was protected by a large number of gardaí. A small number of protestors gathered outside after the march departed.

Some objects were hurled at gardaí, who linked arms and formed a semi-circle outside the Dáil to hold back the protesters. This group, which included supporters of Republican group Éirígí and the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, then turned their backs to Leinster House in a symbolic protest.

Earlier, there were minor scuffles on St Stephen’s Green as a feeder march organised by Éirígí and the Workers Solidarity Movement made its way to the headquarters of Anglo Irish Bank.
The protestors, about 300 of which set off from the Wolfe Tone monument, clashed with gardaí who attempted to keep them off the road and on the footpath as they made the short journey to the Anglo Irish building. They later joined the Right to Work protest.

Unite trade union official Brendan Ogle told the demonstration that Ireland had been destroyed by a self-perpetuating elite of politicians, developers and bankers with no mandate. "This elite has stolen this nation and its wealth and left us in thrall to gombeen men," he said.

Gardaí and Oireachtas staff bolstered their security presence both inside and outside the Dáil ahead of the march. Last week a small number of officers were forced to draw their batons as a section of the crowd attempted to gain entry to Leinster House.

2010-05-19T01:54:00.000+01:00

Gardai clash with protestors marching against cutbacks outside the gates of Leinster House in Dublin last night. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire HARRY MCGEE, Political Correspondent Gardaí are investigating a violent incident last night in which a number of people involved in a protest outside Leinster House attempted to gain access to the building. At least five protesters received minor head injuries as a result of the clashes, according to organisers. One garda also sustained an injury to his face. There were no arrests. A Socialist Workers Party representative, Mary Smith said she received a blow to the head when she and others attempted to gain access to the front concourse of Leinster House through the gate. “We tried to get into the Dáil to make our point as forcefully as we could,” she said. “We all arrived at the gate at the same time. The police locked arms. There was a push. People behind me, I was kind of jammed there. The policeman in front of me looked me in the eye and reached over and deliberately hit me as hard as he could," she claimed. She said she sustained a cut to the top of her head which was quite bloody. A contingency security plan was put in place as soon as an attempt was made by a section of the crowd to storm the front gates. The gates were closed as was the front door to the Leinster House building. Access to the building was strictly controlled. Richard Boyd Barrett of People Before Profit Alliance said he wanted the march to be the first step in a campaign against Government policies which he said had caused the economic crisis. Mr Boyd Barrett said it was unjust to put billions into bailing out the people and institutions which caused the crisis while imposing cuts on those who had no responsibility. He described Government policy as as “the economics of the madhouse”. Another demonstration is scheduled to take place next Tuesday evening. A Garda spokesman declined to say if security at Leinster House would be increased in advance. "An Garda Síochána constantly monitor security arrangements at sites such as Leinster House. It would be inappropriate for us to comment any further for operational reasons," he said. http://www.irishtimes.com

1,000 protest over Government cutbacks-

2010-05-19T01:48:00.000+01:00

18 May 2010

DUBLIN, IRELAND, round 1,000 people protested outside the Dáil this evening to oppose Government cutbacks.

The demonstration has been organised by the Right to Work campaign.

Towards the end of the main rally, minor scuffles broke out between some protesters and the gardaí.

Earlier, there were minor scuffles with gardaí when Éirígí commenced a march past Anglo Irish Bank
.
Gardaí had cordoned off the bank while the garda mounted unit and plain clothed officers patrolled the area.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0518/dail.html

Dr. Rauni Kilde | Bases 5-Mind Control

2010-05-17T18:48:00.003+01:00

In the initial video above, sections from the master camera tapes and the hard drive were removed by sources invisible and unknown.

The first interview with Rauni had vital sections deleted by hostile agencies. In this re-interview Rauni discusses a major UFO Conference in Moscow, with 3 high ranking US Military. She roundly condemns the Swine Flu racket as a fraud similar to the 1976. She is under constant harassment as was proven when major sections of the 1st interview destroyed in London.

continues at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpPXf0oLKRA&feature

Dr. Rauni Kilde (1 of 2): Iceland, vulcano, military exercise, war - it's a warning signal!

2010-05-17T18:45:00.001+01:00

Update on activity Eruption in Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland

2010-05-16T14:22:00.005+01:00

Assessment - 15 May 2010 17:25
The eruption plume is gray and the height is mainly ~ 6 - 7 km / 21,000 - 24,000 ft, occasionally reaching 8 km / 27,000 ft. It is heading southwest and later south.

Ashfall has been reported south of Eyjafjallajökull and ashdrift southeast of Eyjafjallajökull.
An earthquake swarm started beneath Eyjafjallajökull just before midnight.

In the period between 23:54 and 02:45, more than thirty earthquakes were located at depth greater than 20 km and magnitude less than Ml 2.

A few more earthquakes were detected until morning.

No major changes are seen in the activity, the ash cloud is slightly higher than yesterday. Presently there are no indications that the eruption is about to end.

Details in status report issued collectively by the Icelandic Meteorological Office and the Institute of Earth Sciences at 15:00.

http://en.vedur.is/
http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/articles/nr/1884

Ash cloud brings more disruption to UK skies, as BA strike looms

2010-05-16T14:10:00.001+01:00

May 16, 2010

(Jon Gustafson/AP)The Icelandic Met Office said that there were no signs that the eruption was about to end

Thousands of passengers were facing further travel chaos today as a new ash cloud covered large parts of the UK and forced the closure of a number of airports in Scotland, Northern Ireland and England.

Northwesterly winds have pushed a high-density ash cloud over the UK, making it unsafe to fly and forcing the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to close large parts of UK airspace
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Airports in Northern Ireland have been affected since early this morning. By 11am the CAA had extended its no-fly zone to a number of airports on the west coast of the UK.
Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds Bradford, East Midlands and Glasgow Prestwick airports have all been forced to close.
Sir Richard Branson, president of Virgin Atlantic, said today that the Manchester closure was “beyond a joke” and that there was no evidence that aircraft could not continue to fly safely.

“All the test flights by airlines, aircraft and engine manufacturers have shown no evidence that airlines could not continue to fly completely safely," he said. “Over a thousand flights took off from France last week in similar conditions to that which exist in Manchester today without encountering any problems or showing any levels of ash concentration.

“We need strong leadership to intervene to avoid doing further unnecessary damage to the UK economy and lives of travellers." A CAA spokesman said Sir Richard’s remarks were “quite surprising bearing in mind we had all the airlines and manufacturers into a conference on Friday, including Virgin”.
“They all agreed the way forward including his airline,” the spokesman said, adding that it was up to the airlines and engine manufacturers to find a way to make planes fly safely in a higher concentration of ash.
“We can’t just say ’It’ll be all right, off you go’,” he said.

The CAA said that London airports would remain open until 7pm, although the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Met Office have warned that the cloud is being pushed further south.
The DfT warned yesterday that passengers, including those flying from Heathrow and Gatwick, could face travel disruption this weekend and early next week.

“Due to continuing volcanic activity in Iceland and prevailing weather conditions there is — if the volcano continues to erupt at current levels — a risk of UK airspace closures early next week. On current predictions closures could begin as early as Sunday and are likely to last until Tuesday morning,” the DfT said in a statement.

“Within this time frame, different parts of UK airspace, including airspace in the South East, are likely to be closed at different times.”

The Met Office said that there had been a particularly intense day of volcanic activity at the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland last Thursday.

The Icelandic Met Office said that there were no signs that the eruption was about to end and that the situation remained dynamic, with the ash plume reaching heights of up to 25,000 ft (7,620m).
Large parts of the UK could be affected tomorrow, as three high-density ash clouds cover the UK. The Met office warned that airports in Scotland, the North East, Northern Ireland, Wales, East Anglia and the London region could be affected.

By Tuesday, however, a change in the wind direction is expected to take most of the ash away from the British Isles.
A spokesperson for National Air Transport Services said that the situation was changing rapidly and advised passengers to keep up in touch with their airlines.

The spread of ash from an erupting volcano under the Eyjafjallajökull glacier in Iceland grounded much of European air traffic for nearly a week in mid-April. Airlines had to cancel about 100,000 flights, stranding millions of passengers.

Since then the ash has periodically forced the short-term closure of parts of airspace in countries across Europe.

The disruption came as British Airways prepared for a showdown with the Unite union over its planned 20-day walkout.

The airline will seek an injunction in the High Court tomorrow on the grounds that the union did not properly report the results of its previous strike ballots to all union members.
Despite the legal action, BA says that it is committed to meeting union negotiators to see if a last-minute deal can be struck to end the unrest.

Both sides said that they would meet with Philip Hammond, the New Transport Secretary, in his first intervention in the bitter dispute over job cuts and changes to working practices at the airline. Mr Hammond has already warned that union members must play their part in modernising the airline.

On Friday BA is expected to announce its second consecutive year of losses worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Some financial analysts expect it to report a £650 million deficit. BA has implemented a deep cost-cutting agenda, putting it on a collision-course with the union, which continues to hold enormous sway over the airline.

Cabin crew are due to walk out on Tuesday in the first of four five-day stoppages. The strikes will be separated by single rest days, effectively producing 23 days of unrest. BA is confident that most cabin crew will report for duty as normal and says that flights from Gatwick and London City airports should not be affected. The airline's short-haul operation out of Heathrow will bear the brunt of the disruption. Up to half of its European flights could be grounded this week, while 60 per cent of its long-haul flights from Heathrow will fly.

The airline has put in place the most complex contingency plan in its history to try to keep most of its services running: it has trained 1,000 volunteer crew to stand in for strikers and has chartered eight aircraft and crew from rival airlines to fly to destinations in Europe.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk

Scientists forecast decades of ash cloud

2010-05-16T14:01:00.001+01:00

Many more of Iceland’s volcanoes seem to be stirring

THE Icelandic eruption that has caused misery for air travellers could be part of a surge in volcanic activity that will affect the whole of Europe for decades, scientists have warned.

They have reconstructed a timeline of 205 eruptions in Iceland, spanning the past 1,100 years, and found that they occur in regular cycles — with the relatively quiet phase that dominated the past five decades now coming to an end.

At least three other big Icelandic volcanoes are building towards an eruption, according to Thor Thordarson, a volcanologist at Edinburgh University. “The frequency of Icelandic eruptions seems to rise and fall in a cycle lasting around 140 years,” he said. “In the latter part of the 20th century we were in a low period, but now there is evidence that we could be approaching a peak.”

His findings coincide with new warnings that the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull, which has disrupted air traffic across Europe for several weeks, could carry on for many months — and possibly years.
Some geologists have also warned of a serious threat from a fourth volcano, Katla, which lies 15 miles to the east of Eyjafjallajokull. Two of its past three eruptions seemed to be triggered by those of its smaller neighbour and a report issued just before Eyjafjallajokull blew suggested Katla was “close to failure [eruption]”.

The three other volcanoes cited by Thordarson as being potentially close to a large eruption are Grimsvotn, Hekla and Askja — all of which are bigger than Eyjafjallajokull.

In the past, they have proved devastating. Hekla alone has erupted about 20 times since AD874, pouring out a total of two cubic miles of lava from a line of fissures that stretches 3Å miles across the mountain.
There was a minor eruption in 2000 and geologists have reported that snow is once again melting on Hekla’s summit, suggesting that magma is rising.

Grimsvotn, another highly active volcano, lies under the huge Vatnajokull glacier in Iceland’s southeast. An eruption in 1996 saw much of this glacial ice melt, causing a flood that washed away the country’s main ring road. It is linked to the massive Laki fissure volcano whose 1783 eruption ejected so much ash into the atmosphere that it cooled the entire northern hemisphere for nearly three years. The resulting low temperatures caused crop failures and famines that killed 2m people and helped trigger the French Revolution.
Thordarson believes that the behaviour of the volcanoes is linked to movements in the earth’s crust which create massive subterranean stresses over wide areas.

As these stresses build up, more volcanoes erupt and as the stress disappears, the volcanoes subside again.
The theory is a controversial one. Gillian Foulger, professor of geophysics at Durham University, suggests that historic clusters of eruptions could well have occurred by chance. She said: “This needs rigorous statistical support.”

However, both she and Thordarson agree that Europe needs to take the threat of further Icelandic eruptions more seriously, including improving the monitoring of active volcanoes. Foulger is writing to David Willetts, the new science minister, suggesting Britain could support Iceland in such a project.
She said: “There are about 35 active [big] volcanoes in Iceland and if we put a high quality seismograph and some global positioning equipment on each one we would often be able to tell in advance if an eruption was coming. The cost is tiny compared with the potential economic damage from an unexpected eruption.”

The most pressing question for Britain and the rest of Europe is how long the current eruption will continue.
Professor Stephen Sparks, from the earth sciences department at Bristol University, said: “Every volcano has its own personality. This particular volcano has erupted before in 1612 and 1821. When it erupted in 1821 it continued erupting for 15 months so there is no reason why it could not last a similar period of time.”
The new rules in place for aviation mean Iceland and Europe can probably cope with Eyjafjallajokull, but an eruption by Katla could cause far bigger problems.

Dr Richard Waller, senior lecturer in physical geography at Keele University, believes the ash cloud could be immense, but for Iceland the biggest problem would be massive flooding.
“Katla has a crater filled with ice more than 2,000ft thick, which will all melt,” he said.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk

Friday Flotsam: Eyjafjallajökull, Chilean volcanoes and the Syfy "super eruption"

2010-05-16T13:52:00.001+01:00

Eyjafjallajökull erupting in early May. Image by and courtesy of Martin Rietze.

A brief update on our friend Eyjafjallajökull - the eruption plume from the volcano was considerably taller yesterday, reaching 6-9 km (20,000-30,000 feet), but prevailing winds meant the ash hazard was confined to areas in the middle of the North Atlantic and northern parts of the British Isles. However, even as the ash hazard for Europe wanes (for now), you shouldn't forget the amount of ash being dumped on parts of Iceland. If you want to see some stunning images of the eruption, Eruptions reader Martin Rietze sent me a link to his gallery of images and video from a recent summit climb of Eyjafjallajökull. He got some up and close shots of the volcano erupting (see above and the check out the link). You can also check out the daily timelapse of activity at the volcano or another gallery of shots from the volcano. UPDATE 11:30 AM EDT 5/14/2010: Nice article on Live Science about the ash plume interacting with a front passing through the North Atlantic.
Another Eruptions reader, Manuel, sent me some news about activity in Chile over the last week. ONEMI declared an warning around Villarrica after the SERNAGEOMIN determined that the lava lake at the summit was becoming increasingly active. Tourists are being warned to avoid the popular summit hiking trails. You can check out a bevy of webcams of Chilean volcanoes on the SERNAGEOMIN website.Argentina is also on alert for potential ash from a number of Patagonian eruptions that may be in its future.
One other volcano that is almost always in some state of unrest, Popocatepetl, also has a webcam you can watch. Over the last few years, the volcano has had an almost constant steam plume with minor ash - and remember, Mexico City sits in the shadow of this volcano.
And if you're been concerned that we haven't seen many volcano-related movies lately, your wait will be over soon ... sort of. Syfy announced they have started shooting a movie called "Super Eruption", where (you guessed it) Yellowstone erupts. It is, of course, being shot in Bulgaria and if it is run by the same types who decided "Syfy" was a good name of a TV network, we know its going to be great. (And as a sidenote, can't we have a different large caldera system erupt in a movie?)
And remember, the thirtieth anniversary of the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens is next week, so send me your memories. You can find a lot of articles commemorating the eruption already.

Posted by Erik Klemetti at 9:07 AM • 346 Comments

http://scienceblogs.com/eruptions/

Action To Arrest Wanted War Criminal Kissinger Trilateral Member May 2010

2010-05-16T13:45:00.000+01:00

Henry Kissinger has an International Arrest Warrant out for him and an attempt is made to enforce it in Four Seasons Hotel Dublin Ireland where he was staying 8th May 2010.

The annual Trilateral conference headed up and attended by David Rockefeller was held in the hotel on the 7th and 8th May. This secretive group prepare the way for the major (also secretive) Bilderberg meeting in Barcelona Spain June 2010.

It seems that Henry Kissinger as Rockefeller’s right hand man had to be at the meeting even though there existed an International arrest warrant from France and Spain who wish to charge him with war crimes from the Chile war. The Spanish and French say Henry Kissinger is implicated in the death of French and Spanish in the war in Chile.
A delegation of Irish and some other nationalities asked the Irish Police force (Garda) to arrest Henry Kissinger who was resident in the hotel on foot of the warrant.
Later the Police/Garda forces lame excuse as they processed the arrest warrant was they were blocked due to the fact the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs were required to process the arrest warrant and that office is closed on weekends.

International Criminals have free reign on weekends in Ireland.

Therefore Henry Kissinger escaped Sunday morning at 11am probably with a police escort to the airport.
The Special Branch (political police of the Irish state) followed some of this group of protesters to a pub and later that night harassed them for the cameras they had. No cameras or film was lost but it shows that the Irish government conspired to protect Henry Kissinger from arrest breaking all EU laws of extradition.

The good news is that the protest group were able to use loud speakers to project shows like Alex Jones infowars.com and Mike Riveros whatreallyhappened.com into the hotel nearby thereby letting the NWO know the world including Ireland has woken up to the NWO.
May 12, 2010 by Infowars Ireland

Sovereign Independent Confronts Rockefeller in Dublin Trilateral Venue

2010-05-16T13:22:00.001+01:00

“Mr Rockefeller. You will NEVER get your New World Order… We are not your slaves, We are NOT your slaves!”

May 9th at the Four Seasons hotel during the Trilateral Commission weekend at 12.30pm. It was during dinner time in the restaurant when two Sovereign Independent members chanced upon a situation where they were able to confront David Rockefeller and put 2 copies of the sovereign Independent on the dinner table in front of him and tell him a couple of basic home truths
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The first 45 seconds do not show much but the last 7 seconds show a very good scene.
I held the phone at waste height because I did not want to be seen holding it as a camera in case it was removed from me. The video is very shaky but there is still quite a lot there. Please see the still images also. They reveal some interesting stuff

David Rockefeller arrives in Dublin
so this is how it happened…
At approximately 12.15pm on 9th May, two representatives of the Irish newspaper, The Sovereign Independent entered The Four Seasons Hotel in Dublin, Ireland, where the latest meeting of the Trilateral Commission was taking place and confronted David Rockefeller at his dinner table.
We unassumingly entered the reception area of the hotel and proceeded through the lobby to the seating and dining area at the back of the premises where we sat down and ordered coffee. There was a table immediately behind us which was set up for lunch for 6 people.
We had a few copies of our newspaper with us and discussed posting a few at reception to Henry Kissinger and David Rockefeller when to my utter surprise I noticed David Rockefeller’s bodyguard walking in my direction. Without acting suspicious I then observed the trademark walking stick behind the bodyguard and David Rockefeller was suddenly walking past us and took the seat at the table set for lunch directly behind us.
We immediately decided that we couldn’t miss this opportunity to confront the evil sitting in our midst and to our complete surprise were given the opportunity when the bodyguard appeared to leave the room.
With a few deep breaths we both rose and confronted David Rockefeller at his dinner table in front of his guests with the words. “Mr. Rockefeller, you will never get your New World Order. We are not your slaves; we are not your slaves”
The room fell into complete silence as our words reverberated all the way through to the reception area with the stunned looks on Rockefeller’s guest’s faces evident in the footage. Rockefeller had a look of complete shock on his face as I leant over him and placed a copy of The Sovereign Independent right in front of him on his table taking care not to touch him in any way or to disturb anything on his table.

We calmly turned away as the bodyguard, clearly not knowing that we had caused the disturbance, ran past us to get to Rockefeller. We walked the approximately 40m to the front entrance, down the drive past the attending police officers and onto the street,

Unfortunately due to the risk of our phone being taken from us as we were filming the video is a bit shaky and Rockefeller can only be seen briefly at the end, almost in silohette, although, anyone who knows what he looks like should clearly recognise him. He is only in the last few frames of the video on the far left.
We’d been there the previous day with Jim Tucker, holding a peaceful protest, outside the gates with a number of other groups which had gone well. Hundreds of copies of the newspaper were handed to passersby who had wanted to know what was going on.

The Sovereign Independent, in conjunction with other individuals, is also involved in an attempt to have Henry Kissinger arrested under an arrest warrant issued by the Spanish authorities which was, as far as was known, still valid. This evidence was presented to the police officers on duty and recorded. This matter is currently ongoing with visits to the Spanish embassy in Dublin being made this morning, Monday 10th May.

WeAreChange Ireland also confronts David Rockefeller when he arrives
http://www.sovereignindependent.com

NASA spacecraft 'hijacked by aliens'

2010-05-13T12:14:00.002+01:00

NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft which, according to German UFO expert Hartwig Hausdorf, may have been hijacked by aliens. Picture: NASA

A GERMAN UFO expert has claimed that a NASA spacecraft may have been hijacked by aliens - who are now attempting to contact Earth.
Hartwig Hausdorf claims that Voyager 2 - an unmanned interplanetary probe blasted into space 33 years ago - has started transmitting strange, unintelligible signals, Bild newspaper revealed today
NASA installed a 12-inch disk containing music and greetings in 55 languages in case intelligent extraterrestrial life ever found it.

But last month the probe began sending back distorted messages from its location near the edge of the solar system that baffled NASA scientists were unable to decode, Mr Hausdorf says.
"It seems almost as if someone had reprogrammed or hijacked the probe, thus perhaps we do not yet know the whole truth," the author of UFOs - They Are Still Flying told Bild

The signal from Voyager 2 - which takes 13 hours to reach the Earth - broke off fully on April 22.
NASA said engineers were working to solve a data transmission fault.

The space agency has not commented specifically on Mr Hausdorf's comments, although it says the fault is likely to be a glitch in the probe's computer memory

Voyager 2 and its twin, Voyager 1, were launched in 1977 to explore Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Three decades on, they are the most distant human-made objects in outer space.

Voyager 1 is currently more than 8.5 billion miles from Earth. It will soon travel beyond the heliosphere - a bubble the sun creates around the solar system - into interstellar space, scientists say.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/nasa-spacecraft-hijacked-by-aliens/story-e6frfro0-1225865827901

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Polish Plane Crash DIGITALLY Enhanced:

2010-05-12T18:06:00.003+01:00

SGTbull07 — 07 May 2010 — This is the proof that the official story of the "Polish plane crash" on April 10, 2010, was merely a cover story for the Black Op which extinguished the top Polish Governmental and Military leadership, thereby removing another obstacle standing between the International Bankers and their One World Government agenda.

’Zombie’ satellite runs amok in Earth’s orbit

2010-05-12T16:26:00.003+01:00

The out-of-control communications satellite Galaxy 15 is drifting into orbits occupied by other spacecraft.#

Intelsat’s Galaxy 15 satellite launched in 2005 with an Ariane 5 rocket in Guyana. The communications satellite stopped responding last month, becoming a ’zombie’ satellite that now threatens other spacecraft. Newscom/File

An attempt to shut down the electronics payload of the out-of-control communications satellite Galaxy 15 has failed, leaving the satellite - which ceased responding to ground commands last month - still in its uncontrolled "zombiesat" drift toward orbits occupied by other spacecraft, the satellite’s fleet operator Intelsat said Tuesday.

Galaxy 15 is closing in on the geostationary orbital slot occupied by another C-band satellite, the AMC-11 spacecraft operated by SES World Skies, and with its stuck-on communications payload will be in a position to cause potentially severe interference with the SES satellite during a two-week period starting around May 23, according to Intelsat and SES estimates.

The unsuccessful attempt to shut down the so-called "zombiesat" – a satellite industry term for failed satellites in orbit - occurred on Monday.

In a Tuesday statement in response to Space News inquiries, Intelsat said it is researching other ways to shut down Galaxy 15 once the satellite has passed through the AMC-11 position and enters — for a limited period of time — a stretch of orbital terrain unoccupied by other C-band spacecraft.

"We do not have an additional specific technical attempt identified at this time," Intelsat said in the statement. "But we will not give up, and expect to have other options to pursue at that time. We are now cooperating with other operators and customers to minimize potential service disruptions caused by interference."

Galaxy 15 stopped responding to ground commands April 5 and since then has drifted out of its 133 degrees west longitude orbital slot on an eastward path along the geostationary arc at around 36,000 kilometers above the equator.

After sending between 150,000 and 200,000 commands to the satellite to coax it back into service, Intelsat was forced to scrap its satellite-recovery efforts and to resort, on Monday, to a limited-duration effort to force the satellite to shut down its transponders. This was to be accomplished by sending a stronger series of signals designed to cause Galaxy 15’s power system to malfunction and force a shutdown of the satellite’s payload.

That attempt, which Luxembourg-based, Washington-headquartered Intelsat had viewed as its last, best-understood option for Galaxy 15, was unsuccessful. With the satellite now nearing AMC-11, Intelsat is limited in what it can do besides assure itself of the satellite’s location. "There is no active testing of the payload," the company said in its Tuesday statement.

Sending radio signals strong enough to force a satellite to shut down could pose dangers to other spacecraft in the target area, which is why Intelsat had only a short window of time to "pulse" Galaxy 15 with signals intended to trigger a failure of its power system. That period lasted about 30 minutes on Monday.

"Intelsat fully coordinated with neighboring operators the timing and the effects of this testing to neighboring spacecraft. It is our current understanding that no SES AMC-11 customers were affected by the disabling attempt," Intelsat said.

Intelsat and Luxembourg-based SES have been closely coordinating interference-avoidance options since the initial Galaxy 15 failure, knowing that at predicted drift speeds the satellite will enter AMC-11’s 131 degrees west slot to within 0.5 degrees of AMC-11 on or about May 23.

SES officials say they are devising an elaborate series of maneuvers to create a maximum distance between Galaxy 15 and AMC-11 during the period of maximum threat. While they cannot guarantee that there will be no interference to media customers using AMC-11, the SES officials believe they have the resources, including teleport facilities to reroute traffic, required to minimize the problem during this two-week period.

Continuing its eastward drift, Galaxy 15 will exit the AMC-11 orbital slot starting around June 7, when it is expected to have moved to 0.5 degrees to the east of the satellite.

At that point, a new opportunity will be open to Intelsat as there is no C-band satellite at the next orbital station of 129 degrees west.

What Intelsat might do to precipitate a shutdown remains unclear. Industry officials say the Galaxy 15 problem — a satellite operating at full payload power that is no longer under control — is unprecedented. Intelsat has said it is seeking advice from satellite operators and manufacturers — not just the Galaxy 15 builder, Orbital Sciences of Dulles, Va., but also other companies with more experience with in-orbit problems — on possible options to force a shutdown.

Current estimates are that Galaxy 15 will lose Earth orientation sometime in late July or early August. The exact date cannot be known. But when it loses Earth pointing, its solar arrays will lose their lock on the sun, draining the satellite’s batteries and causing the satellite to shut down on its own.

Once the satellite leaves the vicinity of the AMC-11 and passes through the relatively safe neighborhood of 129 degrees west, it will enter a new neighborhood where it poses an interference threat similar to what AMC-11 now faces. But this time, it is only Intelsat-owned satellites and their customers at risk.

Galaxy 15 will be moving through the operating areas of Intelsat’s Galaxy 13 in mid-July, and is expected to arrive at the Galaxy 14 neighborhood in late July. By mid-August, it will be at the orbital slot of Intelsat’s Galaxy 18.

Article from: CSMonitor.com

"Vampire Squid" Goldman Sachs confesses it is being investigated for helping Greece hide its debts

2010-05-12T16:19:00.000+01:00

Goldman Sachs has admitted that it is under investigation for helping Greece to hide its vast debts.

The controversial Wall Street bank - nicknamed the Vampire Squid because its tentacles stretch far and wide - is accused of having profiteered out of a complex currency deal that helped Greece massage its finances.

In a regulatory filing in the U.S., Goldman disclosed that is 'subject to a number of investigations and reviews by various governmental and regulatory authorities in connection with its financial transactions with Greece.

The European Commission has already been probing the bank's relationship with Athens. It is unclear from the disclosure, how many other countries might be looking into its dealings with the Mediterranean state.

The Wall Street giant is claimed to have received as much as £192m in fees by entering a complex currency transaction in 2001 that helped Athens borrow cash without putting it on the books as a loan.

The so-called 'swap' deal helped Greece meet eurozone limits on government borrowing.

The arrangement was allowed under European Union rules, but is now coming under much closer scrutiny because of the financial meltdown of the Mediterranean state.

The Greek deficit stands at nearly 13 per cent of GDP and public debt is almost twice the official ceiling at 113 per cent of GDP.

Goldman Sachs was once seen as the invincible bank that could beat other firms hands down. It has always paid vast sums of cash to its employees, so it can employ the hottest talent in the financial world.

But in recent weeks, the bank's supremacy in financial markets has been placed under threat by the revelation that it is being investigated for fraud by the U.S. authorities.

America's Securities and Exchange Commission accuses Goldman of misleading its own clients and encouraging them to invest in a product that was destined to fail.

The lawsuit centres on trades set up by its sub-prime mortgage trader Fabrice Tourre, who has since been placed on 'administrative leave'.
Goldman's dealings are also being probed by the UK regulator, the Financial Services Authority.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

ROYAL FAMILY EXPOSED! WAS RIK CLAY SACRIFICED FOR THIS 2012 END TIMES VISION? 2 OF 9

2010-05-12T16:10:00.001+01:00

.RIK CLAY was found dead 4 days after this red ice radio interview.
S RIK CLAY'S ASHES WERE SPREAD ON SEPT. 11, 2008

This is a brilliant interview, including London Olympics 2012, symbolisms of NWO/CORPORATIONS, expose on the British royal family.

REST OF THE INTERVIEW CONTINUED ht//www.youtube.com/results?search_query=+www.youtube.com%2FFelipeSparx29&aq=fhttp://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=+www.youtube.com%2FFelipeSparx29&aq=fEPT. 11, 2008

Mother of all gushers could kill Earth's oceans

2010-05-12T14:54:00.000+01:00

Mother of all gushers could kill Earth's oceans ... Perhaps its time for some intervention!!

Imagine a pipe 5 feet wide spewing crude oil like a fire hose from what could be the planets' largest, high-pressure oil and gas reserve. With the best technology available to man, the Deepwater Horizon rig popped a hole into that reserve and was overwhelmed. If this isn't contained, it could poison all the oceans of the world.

"Well if you say the fire hose has a 70,000 psi pump on the other end yes! No comparison here. The volume out rises geometrically with pressure. Its a squares function. Two times the pressure is 4 times the push. The Alaska pipeline is 4 feet in diameter and pushes with a lot less pressure. This situation in the Gulf of Mexico is stunning dangerous." -- Paul Noel (May 2, 2010)

Last night we received the following text in an email, author not identified. I passed it by Paul Noel, who is an expert in the field. His response follows thereafter. In calculating the gallons required to kill the oceans, remember that oil goes to the surface, where life is concentrated.

The Oil Mess
The original estimate was about 5,000 gallons of oil a day spilling into the ocean. Now they're saying 200,000 gallons a day. That's over a million gallons of crude oil a week!

I'm engineer with 25 years of experience. I've worked on some big projects with big machines. Maybe that's why this mess is so clear to me.

First, the BP platform was drilling for what they call deep oil. They go out where the ocean is about 5,000 feet deep and drill another 30,000 feet into the crust of the earth. This it right on the edge of what human technology can do. Well, this time they hit a pocket of oil at such high pressure that it burst all of their safety valves all the way up to the drilling rig and then caused the rig to explode and sink. Take a moment to grasp the import of that. The pressure behind this oil is so high that it destroyed the maximum effort of human science to contain it.
When the rig sank it flipped over and landed on top of the drill hole some 5,000 feet under the ocean.

Now they've got a hole in the ocean floor, 5,000 feet down with a wrecked oil drilling rig sitting on top of is spewing 200,000 barrels of oil a day into the ocean. Take a moment and consider that, will you!

First they have to get the oil rig off the hole to get at it in order to try to cap it. Do you know the level of effort it will take to move that wrecked oil rig, sitting under 5,000 feet of water? That operation alone would take years and hundreds of millions to accomplish. Then, how do you cap that hole in the muddy ocean floor? There just is no way. No way.

The only piece of human technology that might address this is a nuclear bomb. I'm not kidding. If they put a nuke down there in the right spot it might seal up the hole. Nothing short of that will work.

If we can't cap that hole that oil is going to destroy the oceans of the world. It only takes one quart of motor oil to make 250,000 gallons of ocean water toxic to wildlife. Are you starting to get the magnitude of this?

We're so used to our politicians creating false crises to forward their criminal agendas that we aren't recognizing that we're staring straight into possibly the greatest disaster mankind will ever see. Imagine what happens if that oil keeps flowing until it destroys all life in the oceans of this planet. Who knows how big of a reservoir of oil is down there.

Not to mention that the oceans are critical to maintaining the proper oxygen level in the atmosphere for human life.

We're humped. Unless God steps in and fixes this. No human can. You can be sure of that.

http://pesn.com/2010/05/02/9501643_M...Earths_oceans/

Oil Slickonomics - Part 1

2010-05-12T14:43:00.001+01:00

May 2, 2010, David Kotok, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer
“At its current leak rate of 5,000 barrels of oil per day, the spill could surpass the size of the 1969 Santa Barbara spill by next week. If the leak cannot be contained, it could exceed the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska by mid June.” Paul Harrison, Environmental Defense Fund

Three scenarios lie ahead. They rank as bad, worse, and ugliest (the latter being catastrophic and unprecedented). There is no “good” here.

http://www.cumber.com/commentary.aspx?file=050210.asp

Blame game starts over Mexican Gulf oil disaster

2010-05-12T14:39:00.000+01:00

BEIJING, May 12 -- A lot of finger pointing on Capitol Hill Tuesday, as the blame game was played out over the Mexican Gul oil disaster.

US lawmakers questioned executives from 3 companies about the cause of the massive leak.

In a testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Chairman of BP America said the disaster was caused by the failure of a safety device made by another company.

However, that company, Transocean, accused BP, saying it was in charge of the overall operation. There were also claims that a third company, Halliburton, failed to properly plug the exploratory oil well.

They responded by saying they were only following plans by BP. The spill has been contaminating water in the Gulf of Mexico for 3 weeks.

The pollution is threatening sensitive marshes and marine wildlife, from Louisiana to Florida.

(Source: CNTV.cn)

Mexico, U.S. to evaluate oil-spill impact on Gulf of Mexico

2010-05-12T14:37:00.000+01:00

Photo shows a boat cleaning the spilt oil at the Mexico Gulf. (Xinhua/ Reuters)

MEXICO CITY, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Mexico and the United States have agreed to create a work group to evaluate whether a spreading Gulf oil spill damaged the ecosystem they both share, officials said Tuesday.

"We reached a consensus with the U.S. government, with our counterpart, the (U.S.) Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar," said Environment Secretary Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada

An April 20 explosion consumed the Deepwater Horizon oil platform off the Louisiana coast and set off a catastrophic rupture and so-far unstoppable spill.

More than 4 million gallons of oil have spewed from the well since it ruptured. By June 20, that total could eclipse the 10.8 million gallons of oil dumped into Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989 when the Exxon Valdez hit a reef and cracked open eight of its 11 cargo tanks.

Mexico and the United States have agreed to create a work group to evaluate whether a spreading Gulf oil damaged the ecosystem they both share. (Photo: people's daily online)

Quesada said an agreement has been reached to determine whether the biodiversity in the shared Gulf waters was affected "by the black waves or the oil or the small bubbles at the sea bottom."

Tiny Lora turtles, for example, which lay their eggs on the Gulf coast beaches of Tamaulipas and Veracruz, spend part of their year off the coast of Louisiana, Quesada said

Quesada said that in case there were damages to the Gulf ecosystem "we would have to go to the next step and verify which kind of judicial toll" could be used against the three companies responsible for the well _ British Petroleum (BP), Transocean and Halliburton.

"It is important and necessary that such errors, commissions, accidents do not go unpunished," he said. "The biodiversity that is affected is a biodiversity that is common to all beings on the planet."

Mexican authorities, Quesada said, also will soon start their own monitoring of marine life in the Gulf to collect data for further analysis

However, information from the Marine Secretary, Quesada said, shows no evidence of the black wave having affected Mexico or its waters.

Still, environmentalists say that they have grave concerns that Mexico will suffer from the disaster.

"Although the spill has not reached the Mexican coast, environment has no borders," said Angelica Simon of Greenpeace Mexico. "Contamination of ecosystems such as wetlands, which provide environmental services for the entire population, affects us all."

Leaked Confidential Report on Disaster in the Gulf: Deepwater Oil Well Could Become Unchecked Gusher

2010-05-12T14:30:00.000+01:00

A confidential government report on the unfolding spill disaster in the Gulf makes clear the Coast Guard now fears the well could become an unchecked gusher shooting millions of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf.

"The following is not public," reads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Emergency Response document dated April 28. "Two additional release points were found today in the tangled riser. If the riser pipe deteriorates further, the flow could become unchecked resulting in a release volume an order of magnitude higher than previously thought."

Asked Friday to comment on the document, NOAA spokesman Scott Smullen said that the additional leaks described were reported to the public late Wednesday night. Regarding the possibility of the spill becoming an order of magnitude larger, Smullen said, "I'm letting the document you have speak for itself."

In scientific circles, an order of magnitude means something is 10 times larger. In this case, an order of magnitude higher would mean the volume of oil coming from the well could be 10 times higher than the 5,000 barrels a day coming out now. That would mean 50,000 barrels a day, or 2.1 million gallons a day. It appears the new leaks mentioned in the Wednesday release are the leaks reported to the public late Wednesday night.

"There is no official change in the volume released but the USCG is no longer stating that the release rate is 1,000 barrels a day," continues the document, referred to as report No. 12. "Instead they are saying that they are preparing for a worst-case release and bringing all assets to bear."

The emergency document also states that the spill has grown in size so quickly that only 1 to 2 percent of it has been sprayed with dispersants.

The Press-Register obtained the emergency report from a government official. The White House, NOAA, the Coast Guard and BP Plc did not immediately return calls for comment made early this morning.

The worst-case scenario for the broken and leaking well pouring oil into the Gulf of Mexico would be the loss of the wellhead and kinked piping currently restricting the flow to 5,000 barrels -- or 210,000 gallons -- per day.

 LATER REPORT: Video shows federal officials knew quickly of potential for massive oil flow in Gulf spill
If the wellhead is lost, oil could leave the well at a much greater rate.

"Typically, a very good well in the Gulf can produce 30,000 barrels a day, but that's under control. I have no idea what an uncontrolled release could be," said Stephen Sears, chairman of the petroleum engineering department at Louisiana State University.

On Thursday, federal officials said they were preparing for the worst-case scenario but didn't elaborate.

Kinks in the piping created as the rig sank to the seafloor may be all that is preventing the Deepwater Horizon well from releasing its maximum flow. BP is now drilling a relief well as the ultimate fix. The company said Thursday that process would take up to 3 months.

"I'm not sure what's happening down there right now. I have heard there is a kink in what's called the riser. The riser is a long pipe that connects the wellhead to the rig. I really don't know if that kink is a big restriction. Is that really a big restriction? There could be another restriction further down," said LSU's Sears.

"An analogy would be if you have a kink in a garden hose. You suspect that kink is restricting the flow, but there could be another restriction or kink somewhere else closer to the faucet.

BP Plc executive Doug Suttles said Thursday the company was worried about "erosion" of the pipe at the wellhead.

Sand is an integral part of the formations that hold oil under the Gulf. That sand, carried in the oil as it shoots through the piping, is blamed for the ongoing erosion described by BP.

"The pipe could disintegrate. You've got sand getting into the pipe, it's eroding the pipe all the time, like a sandblaster," said Ron Gouguet, a former oil spill response coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"When the oil is removed normally, it comes out at a controlled rate. You can still have abrasive particles in that. Well, now, at this well, its coming out at fairly high velocity," Gouguet continued. "Any erosive grains are abrading the inside of the pipe and all the steel that comes in contact with the liquid. It's essentially sanding away the pipe."

Gouguet said the loss of a wellhead is totally unprecedented.

"How bad it could get from that, you will have a tremendous volume of oil that is going to be offgassing on the coast. Depending on how much wind is there, and how those gases build up, that's a significant health concern," he said.

The formation that was being drilled by Deepwater Horizon when it exploded and sank last week is reported to have tens of millions of barrels of oil. A barrel contains 42 gallons.

Smullen described the NOAA document as a regular daily briefing. "Your report makes it sound pretty dire. It's a scenario," he said, "It's a regular daily briefing sheet that considered different scenarios much like any first responder would."

Unquote

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.p...t=va&aid=19001

Kids' Tylenol, other drugs recalled/Company says more than 40 children's medicines affected

2010-05-04T02:13:00.003+01:00

updated 1:37 p.m. ET May 1, 2010

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration said Saturday it was investigating a health-care company for possible other problems following its recall of more than 40 over-the-counter infant's and children's liquid medications.

McNeil Consumer Healthcare, based in Fort Washington, Pa., issued the voluntary recall late Friday in the United States and 11 other countries after consulting with the FDA. The recall involves children's versions of Tylenol, Tylenol Plus, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl, because they don't meet quality standards.

The FDA said it was reviewing procedures at McNeil, which appears to be the sole source of the problems. "We are following through with the facility to make certain that everything has been checked," said FDA spokeswoman Elaine Gansz Bobo.

According to McNeil and the FDA, some of the products recalled may have a higher concentration of active ingredient than is specified on the bottle. Others may contain particles, while still others may contain inactive ingredients that do not meet internal testing requirements.

The FDA called the potential for serious medical problems "remote," but it advised consumers to stop using the medicine as a precaution. It said a health care professional should be consulted if a child has recently taken any of the recalled products and is exhibiting unexpected symptoms.

The FDA also says parents in the interim should consider substitute child medications, such as generic versions. It does not recommend that children be given adult-strength Tylenol or Motrin because they are not intended for younger age groups.

The medicines were made and distributed in the United States, and exported to Canada, the Dominican Republic, Dubai, Fiji, Guam, Guatemala, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago and Kuwait.

Details are available by telephone at 1-888-222-6036 or on the Web at www.mcneilproductrecall.com.

Progress toward Gulf oil well cap

2010-05-04T01:59:00.001+01:00

CRUDE PRICE RISING"In many ways, the timing of this incident could not have been worse, as President Obama recently supported the expansion of drilling activity to areas where it was previously prohibited," the brokerage said.
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, speaking on CNN, said Obama should not move hastily, despite the leak's severity.(Reuters) - Energy giant BP Plc indicated some progress on Monday toward capping the underwater well that ruptured in the Gulf of Mexico almost two weeks ago, pushing a giant oil slick toward the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The swelling slick, now estimated to be at least 130 miles by 70 miles, or about the size of the state of Delaware, threatens shipping, wildlife, beaches and one of the United States' most fertile fishing grounds.
"This spill, it can fundamentally change our way of life here," Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said.
BP, the British energy company, has been working to plug a leak nearly a mile under the surface of the ocean, under heavy pressure from the U.S. government to try to limit a looming ecological and economic disaster.
Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive, and Lamar McKay, BP America president, met on Monday with top Obama administration officials including the energy, interior and homeland security secretaries and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, to discuss coordinated response efforts.

Separately, BP said crews in Louisiana have finished building the first of three massive steel and concrete containment domes the company plans to lower in place over one of the three leaks on the ocean floor.
"We will load that on a ship tomorrow along with other associated equipment, and transport it to the site," Doug Suttles, chief operating officer of BP's exploration and production unit, told reporters on a conference call.

Drilling also started Sunday night on a relief well that could cap the oil spill on the Gulf floor, the company said. Still, this operation is expected to take two to three months to complete.

THREATENS FOUR STATES
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects that the oil slick, which continues to spread over a wider surface area in the warm Gulf waters, will move further east and west by Tuesday, although not necessarily further north toward the coast.

Efforts to prevent the slow-moving mass from washing ashore in parts of four states have been hampered for days by choppy seas and high waves in the Gulf, but forecasts suggest calmer conditions in the next few days.
"The stormy weather is clearing as we speak," Shawn O'Neil, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in New Orleans, said. "The winds will stay light and variable all the way through Friday. They will have much improved conditions to do what they need to get done."
Miles of booms are being laid along the coast of four states in an effort to contain the movement of oil onto beaches and into key wildlife sanctuaries and breeding grounds.

The Obama administration has kept the focus on BP to pay for and assume responsibility for the oil spill disaster, which started with an explosion April 20 on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 workers.
For its part, the federal government has come under fire for not responding more quickly to the spreading economic and environmental threat -- criticisms that may have prompted Obama to travel to the affected region on Sunday.

The oil spill, which continues unchecked for now, could ultimately rival the Exxon Valdez disaster from 1989.
That spill was caused when a single, massive oil tanker spewed some 10.8 million gallons or 250,000 barrels of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound.
Estimates put the daily flow from the current well leak at 5,000 barrels or more, but government and company officials have suggested they that estimate could be low.

Comments by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that the Justice Department was involved in the investigation of the incident raised the specter of criminal liability for BP over the spill.
A Justice Department official said it was not a criminal probe at this stage.

BP's Hayward on Monday acknowledged his company's responsibility in a round of appearances on American TV and radio shows, a day after U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the administration would keep "keep the boot on the neck" of BP to fulfill its legal responsibilities.
Analysts say BP's total liability could exceed $14 billion.

In New York, American Depositary Receipts of BP's shares fell 3.7 percent to close at $50.19. Shares of Transocean Ltd, operator of the sunken oil rig, rose 0.82 percent to 72.91.
Argus Research on Monday downgraded both Transocean and BP to "hold" from "buy" citing negative impact from the Deepwater Horizon spill.

"It wouldn't be very wise to stop all drilling off the Gulf of Mexico," Barbour said, noting that the Deepwater Horizon well was "one of thousands" in the area.
Oil prices moved above $86 a barrel as economic optimism lifted Wall Street and concerns the spill could cause short-term disruptions to supplying.
So far, major shipping lanes in the Gulf of Mexico have not seen delays. But the rate to charter oil and product tankers in the Caribbean and Gulf Coast region has surged by 50 percent or more over the past week on worries about potential delays from the oil spill, analysts said.

Fishing in a wide swathe of federal waters between Louisiana and Florida's Pensacola Bay was restricted for 10 days on Sunday to avoid any chance that contaminated seafood will make its way to store shelves.
Wildlife experts also fear a heavy toll on animals and birds. Near Gulfport, Mississippi, 19 sea turtles were found dead and necropsies were being done by experts at the National Marine Fisheries Services. But they had no external oil soiling and it was not clear if the deaths were linked to the slick.
Before significant amounts of oil potentially come ashore, environmental groups were mobilizing thousands of volunteers to prepare for clean-up efforts. Those that make their living from the sea were already counting their losses.

"We have an opportunity to lose our entire fishery down here. I mean, not just the customers. It's everything," said Ross Barkhurst, a boat owner in Venice.

www.reuters.com

Black Gold -- the Lifeblood of War

2010-05-04T01:45:00.001+01:00

Speculation has been running rampant among certain sectors of the web-world lately about the true origins of the massive oil spill that has engulfed the Gulf and threatens marine, plant, animal, and human health in a region already beset by natural disasters and toxic industries. Unwilling to accept the mainstream media version of the story (namely that it was the result of off-shore drilling activities) and suspicious of the timing of the calamity (namely that it occurred right on the cusp of Earth Day and during a period of political contentiousness over drilling), this faction has surmised that the "trigger event" in this instance may have been (choose your
favorite) either: an attack by the North Koreans; an act of homegrown eco-terrorism by leftwing environmentalists; or something to do with Venezuela, China, and/or other Communist (machi)nations. With little more than a hint from an online Russian source, the theory of a North Korean attack in particular has been gaining virulence among certain fox-trotters.
Here's a great overview of the argument from the self-avowedly conservative Dakota Voice:

"Rush Limbaugh pointed out that the explosion occurred on April 21st, the day before 'Earth Day.' He also reminded us that Al Gore had previously encouraged environmental nutjobs to engage in civil disobedience against the construction of coal plants that don't have carbon capture technology. 'Eco-terrorists' exist and have done millions of dollars worth of criminal damage. Fire is one of the main tools of their evil trade. I'm not claiming the Deep Horizon was bombed by eco-terrorists, although I don't believe it's out of the realm of possibility. But, it would take some serious money and ability to pull off an attack like that, so I would tend to think much bigger than college hippie eco-wackos with some money-backing -- a foreign government, perhaps. Of course, before I could finish writing my thoughts here, I just heard Michael Savage posing the same questions. He also said there is a theory on a Russian website that claims North Korea is behind this. The article claims that North Korea torpedoed the Deepwater Horizon, which was apparently built and financed by South Korea. Torpedoes would make sense for the results we see.... There are a number of international 'suspects' who might want to do something like this. They range from Muslim terrorists to the Red Chinese, Venezuela and beyond. Remember that China and Russia are drilling out there, as well, and they would benefit from America cutting back on our own drilling."

The article at the root of this savagery appears on the site WhatDoesItMean.com, and is titled "US Orders Media Blackout Over North Korean Torpedoing of Gulf of Mexico Oil Rig" -- which pretty much eliminates any suspense about the gist of it. The piece is attributed to one "Sorcha Faal," who either exists or does not depending upon whether you believe the link arguing a bit too strenuously that she in fact does. The article cites as its source, without further attribution, "a grim report circulating in the Kremlin today written by Russia's Northern Fleet," and argues that "the reason for North Korea attacking the Deepwater Horizon, these reports say, was to present US President Obama with an 'impossible dilemma' prior to the opening of the United Nations Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons set to begin May 3rd in New York. This 'impossible dilemma' facing Obama is indeed real as the decision he is faced with is either to allow the continuation of this massive oil leak catastrophe to continue for months, or immediately stop it by the only known and proven means possible, the detonation of a thermonuclear device."

In other words, all of this was designed to force Obama to use a nuclear device to seal the leak ahead of an upcoming conference on nonproliferation. Ingenious! James Bond is alive and well, apparently. Missing from the calculus (along with good sense, credibility, and verifiability) is any explanation of why the logic of this scenario will automatically result in Obama deploying a nuke, and what exactly would be gained by him doing so except (by implication) making the U.S. look like hypocrites at the negotiating table. Those dastardly cowards! Everyone knows that we don't need any help from foreign entities to hypocritically attempt to force others to hold to international standards that we will ourselves proceed to flagrantly ignore. I mean, duh.

Hey, I'm all for a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy/gal. We certainly ought to question the "consensus reality" version of any major event communicated back to us by the corporate media. And we can logically surmise that the government keeps us on a "need to know" basis under the rubric of a closely-held "national security" ethos. So there's always reason to dig deeper, ask hard questions, check with non-U.S sources, and formulate one's opinion independent of the herd. But in this case, the impetus for the tale is so vague and thinly rendered that it strains the limits of credulity, yet it still seems to be gaining traction each day. In fact, there are even more solid reasons to suspect that this miserable episode -- which will inflict more suffering on an already-battered region -- was contributed to by the activities of a certain homegrown corporation and not any eco-nuts or commies. While the premise is thus wholly wrong, the conclusion that this was a putative act of war might actually hold water. To wit:

Oil and War: Are there any two concepts in the realm of geopolitics more closely associated than resources and warfare? Oil in particular, as the primary lubricant of the global economy, earns special status as a sine qua non of our profligate lifestyles and simultaneously as an overt security interest that triggers our military mobilizations. We know about Iraq of course, and Afghanistan to a lesser extent for its strategic pipelining location, but don't overlook places such as Venezuela, Central Africa, and the Caribbean shelf around countries like Haiti as potential sites of future conflict over Black Gold. Indeed, it might be said that wherever there's oil, there's war -- or at least the seeds of conflict over a dwindling commodity that draws the interest of governments and corporations alike. The past decade has shown, and our national security documents reflect, that the U.S. will essentially do anything in its power to control as much of the world's remaining oil supplies as it possibly can, either through direct intervention or by proxy. There's nothing light or sweet about any of this; it is almost wholly crude.

Drilling and the 'War on Terra': Without overly editorializing the point, since at least the advent of industrialization it appears that humanity has made a Faustian bargain that renders us the enemies of the earth in order to survive. Notions of complementarity and sustainability have been supplanted by consumption and separation instead. The cruel joke is that our willingness to continually flout nature's laws leaves us in a perpetual state of scarcity and requires a regular doubling-down on the very same logic that made things scarce in the first place. Thus, in order to extend the life of the petroleum economy and provide the massive energy inputs that we rely upon, we have to drill deeper and deeper to procure the substance at ever-increasing energy costs in the process. This literal sense of "diminishing returns" is compounded by the attendant toll exacted on our collective health via fossil fuels, as well as the concomitant stratification of wealth and power that subverts any pretense we still hold of democracy. Massive spills and other calamities are part and parcel of this normalization of a warlike attitude toward nature (and thus ourselves), and are blithely considered little more than business as usual by the ruling elites, as intimated in an article on care2.com: "All this is the result of dangerous and unnecessary offshore drilling, yet in a statement Friday, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the explosion was no reason to give up plans to expand offshore drilling. 'In all honesty I doubt this is the first accident that has happened and I doubt it will be the last,' Gibbs told reporters."

Halliburton IS the War Machine: Finally, we come to the most likely culprit in all of this, and a sure sign that indeed this is an act of war. Wherever Halliburton goes, so goes the war machine, and vice versa. From no-bid and no-account contracts in Iraq (and post-Katrina New Orleans, by the way) to a massive corporate presence in the Gulf region, these folks seem to have an acute capacity for making a buck on cataclysms of all sorts. Perhaps more to the point, they appear to be at the nexus of most disaster zones, including the erstwhile Bush Presidency and now the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. As a recent article in the Huffington Post notes:

"Giant oil-services provider Halliburton may be a primary suspect in the investigation into the oil rig explosion that has devastated the Gulf Coast, the Wall Street Journal reports. Though the investigation into the explosion that sank the Deepwater Horizon site is still in its early stages, drilling experts agree that blame probably lies with flaws in the 'cementing' process -- that is, plugging holes in the pipeline seal by pumping cement into it from the rig. Halliburton was in charge of cementing for Deepwater Horizon."

The Los Angeles Times subsequently reported that members of Congress have called on Halliburton "to provide all documents relating to 'the possibility or risk of an explosion or blowout at the Deepwater Horizon rig and the status, adequacy, quality, monitoring, and inspection of the cementing work' by May 7." A YouTube video (which is actually mostly audio) more bluntly asserts that "Halliburton Caused Oil Spill," and notes the fact -- confirmed by Halliburton's own press release -- that its employees had worked on the final cementing "approximately 20 hours prior to the incident." Interestingly, one commenter on the YouTube video notes how "that would conveniently explain the North Korean story; [Halliburton] may have leaked this story to the press to divert attention away from alleged negligence." Wouldn't that just be the ultimate? Halliburton spawns the calamity but pins it on North Korea, and then the nation goes to war whereby Halliburton "cleans up" through billions in war-servicing contracts. It's almost too perfect, and might be funny if it didn't seem so plausible. (The only thing funnier is picturing Dick Cheney in the role of Exxon Valdez fall guy Joseph Hazelwood.)

But hey, there's no need to get conspiratorial about all of this. And what's happening in the Gulf -- now spreading into the Atlantic -- isn't funny at all. Indeed, war hardly ever is, and that's what we've got on our collective hands here, in one form or another. As Isaac Asimov once said, "It is not only the living who are killed in war." Cherished ideals, future generations, hopefulness, the earth itself -- all are among war's many casualties. The sooner we recognize the sense of pervasive warfare in our midst, embedded in the flow of our everyday lives, the sooner we can intentionally turn that essential corner toward peace, as Martin Luther King, Jr. alluded to in his Nobel speech:

"I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality."

Waking up to war may in fact be the first genuine step toward peace, both among ourselves and with the environment.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randall-amster/was-the-gulf-oil-spill-an_b_560014.html

At Least 5 Killed From Widespread Flooding Storms Cause Deaths, Tornado Warnings

2010-05-04T01:40:00.003+01:00

At Least 5 Killed From Widespread Flooding
Storms Cause Deaths, Tornado Warnings, Closed

Powerlines and trees were down in Hickman and Perry counties Sunday at 5:30 a.m. from storms that prompted tornado warnings in various counties west of Nashville. The storms, packing strong winds and heavy rain, entered Nashville at about 6 a.m.

Emergency officials were evacuating 300 residents from some flooded apartments along Murfreesboro Road near Mill Creek in southeast Nashville. However, many of those residents were refusing to leave their apartments.

Nashville residents can call 615-862-8574 if they need assistance finding a shelter. This number should be used for non-emergencies. Please use 911 for emergencies.

A shelter is open at Lipscomb University's student activity center, which will house 200 people.

http://www.wsmv.com/news/23328754/detail.html

*****

Nashville currently "under water"

(CNN) -- Severe flooding killed at least five people in central Tennessee on Saturday, officials said, as floodwaters inundated roads, highways and homes in and around the Nashville area.

The National Weather Service also said 33 of 75 counties in Arkansas are under a tornado warning, and 25 counties in Tennessee are under a tornado watch.

Two people were killed Saturday when floodwaters swept them away as they tried to seek safety on the roof of their SUV about 80 miles northwest of Nashville, Stewart County emergency management spokesman Clint Mathis said.

Three more people were reported dead in counties near Nashville, a spokesman for Tennessee Emergency Management said.

Between 6 and 10 inches of rain has fallen in 12 hours in the area, causing "extremely dangerous" flooding, the National Weather Service said.

At least 2,000 people were displaced after two levees broke in Millington, a small city near Memphis, Millington Police said.

Video from CNN affiliate WZTV showed more than a dozen vehicles submerged in several feet of swift-moving water on I-24 in Nashville.

Rescue workers helped drivers escape as water surrounded their cars, CNN affiliate WSMV reported. The floodwaters pushed a home off of its foundation and into the middle of I-24.

Video from WZTV showed a school annex building floating down the interstate before breaking into pieces.

video here...
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-438943

Catastrophic flooding in Tennessee

M. Ressler, Lead Meteorologist, The Weather Channel | May 2, 2010 11:45 pm ET

An extremely slow-moving storm has focused heavy rain for 2 days now across the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys. Parts of western and middle Tennessee have seen well over a foot of rain, causing catastrophic
flooding. As of late Sunday evening Nashville measured 13.53 inches of rain. In the first two days of May, Nashville has already had its wettest day on record, its wettest 2-day period on record and its wettest May on record. To the southwest of Nashville, Doppler radar estimates indicate rain totals locally over 2 feet. Rivers and streams have rapidly risen into major flood with record heights expected.
Rainfall in Kentucky has surpassed 6 inches in many locations. Flood watches remain in effect for parts of 12
states from the Ohio Valley to the northern Gulf Coast. The heavy rain will slowly shift from the mid-South into the Southeast overnight and Monday. Central and eastern Tennessee could pick up several more inches
of rain overnight. Across the Southeast, rainfall will be between 1 and 5 inches with possibly up to 8 or 10 inches in the Florida Panhandle. Overnight, the threat for severe thunderstorms will extend from the Northeast southward to Mississippi and Alabama. On Monday, the severe threat will shift into the Southeast from the Carolinas to southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Damaging wind gusts, a few tornadoes and some hail are possible. On Monday, a second area of severe thunderstorms could develop later in the day across southwest Michigan, Illinois and Indiana. The main severe threats will be hail and damaging wind gusts.

*****

"Very rare" snow in 18 municipalities in Mexico

FULL IN MAY, sleet IN CHIHUAHUA
On Writing, 05/01/2010 7:53

Chihuahua City dawned with light rain, cold and snow above the 50th cold front affecting the entity and the low pressure channels that interact with Pacific moisture.

The National Weather reported to Chihuahua in the waiting area saw light rainfall and the possibility of snow, however on the edge of Chihuahua City there is presence of snow.

For the territory of Chihuahua expected sky with clouds and chance of rain from 20 to 40%, 80% chance of snowfall in Chihuahua and Durango, cold to very hot temperatures and prevailing southwesterly winds of 40-55 km / h gusts.

For this reason the authorities are urging citizens to use extreme caution because of this snow, rain and cold in the capital.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/video...-flooding-near...
http://www.weather.com/outlook/video...-flooding-near...
http://www.weather.com/outlook/video...-flooding-near...

May 3, 2010 Eyjafjallajökull update for 5/3/2010: Flights banned anew over Ireland

2010-05-04T01:30:00.000+01:00

he steam plume from a lava flow moving down the slopes of Eyjafjallajökull on May 2, 2010.

A quick note on the activity at Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland: The ash from the ongoing eruption has caused a partial closure of airspace over Ireland from 0600 to 1200 on Tuesday May 4. This is one of the first closures of European airspace since airspace reopened over 10 days ago. This closure is based on the predicted location of ash in flight corridors over Ireland tomorrow.
The Icelandic Met Office has released two interesting updates on the activity at Eyjafjallajökull. The first describes the current state of the eruption:

The eruption is mixed, with the lava-producing phase being larger than the explosive phase. During the last 2-3 days, the plume has been darker and wider than in the preceding week. Tephra fall-out in the vicinity of Eyjafjallajökull has increased. Dark grey ash clouds are observed over the eruptive site. White steam plumes are rising from Gígjökull, north of the eruption site. The elevation is 4-5.4 km (13-18,000 ft). Clouds of ash at lower elevations were observed drifting south-east of the eruption site. Moderate ash-fall was reported in the village of Vík at noon, Sunday, located 40 km south-east of Eyjafjallajökull. From the location of the steam plume over Gígjökull, lava has advanced over 3 km north of the eruption. Steam plumes over the glacier edge from 19:40 GMT suggest that lava may have advanced even further. A rough order-of-magnitude estimate of lava volume can be obtained from the dimensions of the ice canyon. This estimate gives a lava production rate of-the-order 20 m3 s-1 (i.e. 50 tonnes s-1). The explosive phase may be 10-20 tonnes s-1.

This update suggests that there is more ash being produced and mentions the lava flows on the flanks of the volcano (see image above). The second update came later today:

Largest eruption plumes were observed at 5-5,5 km height (17-18,000 ft) estimated from the Icelandic Coast Guard (ICG) flight at 14:30. The plume rises higher after large explosions. It is heading east-south-east to south-east from the eruption site.

This indicates why the new ash closures could be predicted as the ash column appears to be taller than in the last week or so. This comes along with the increased meltwater coming from the volcano, noted by a number of Eruptions readers watching the webcams. You can also see a great collection of photos of the effects of the eruption from around Iceland.

http://scienceblogs.com/eruptions/

Volcanic ash shuts Irish airports as 'no-fly' zone reinstated

2010-05-04T01:27:00.000+01:00

FLIGHTS ARE to be grounded at all Irish airports until at least 1pm today following the return of the volcanic ash cloud which caused the cancellation of about 100,000 flights over six days last month.
The Irish Aviation Authority last night decided to impose a “no-fly zone” over Ireland from 7am this morning under advice from the Volcanic Ash Advice Centre in London that there was a risk of “ash ingestion” to aircraft engines.
The authority said the decision was based on the safety risks to crews and passengers and follows a change in the weather resulting in the ash cloud being pushed south over the country by northerly winds.
The flight ban applies to Dublin, Shannon, Galway, Sligo, Ireland West (Knock), Donegal, Cork and Kerry airports. However, a spokeswoman for Belfast International Airport last night said it had no plans to close today.
Flights from the UK and mainland Europe are also due to operate normally today. Over-flights of Ireland from the UK and Europe are unaffected because ash concentrations do not affect the airspace above 20,000 feet.
The authority said it would review the situation this morning and advised passengers to contact their airline’s website for information.
Aer Lingus has cancelled all its UK and European flights to and from Irish airports until 1pm. It plans to operate all flights to the US with the exception of EI 105 from Dublin to New York but said there may be delays to transatlantic flights. Ryanair has cancelled its flights up to 2pm. Irish Ferries said it had “plenty of space” on all of its services to Britain today.
The winds are set to stay in a northerly direction for the coming days, Met Éireann forecaster Joan Blackburn said last night. But this did not necessarily mean prolonged flight disruption, she said.
During the last flight ban there was a “zero-tolerance” for ash in the atmosphere but decisions to close airspace are now based on the particular levels of ash concentration, she explained.
“Current charts show that the concentration is at its highest between 7am and 1pm. We will have to wait for the next set of charts to see if that changes, but after 1pm it may not be as high.”
A spokesman for the aviation authority said today’s closure was not due to any further eruptions at the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, but was due solely to a change in the winds which had been keeping the cloud away for the last two weeks.
This is the first closure of Irish airspace since restrictions were lifted on April 20th following six days of suspension which resulted in the cancellation of 100,000 flights internationally, and disruption to about 10 million passengers. The crisis is estimated to have cost the airline industry up to €2.5 billion.
The Dublin Airport Authority estimated it lost €7-8 million as a result of the cancellation of 3,200 flights, affecting 400,000 passengers, during the previous shutdown.
The latest closure will be a further blow to financially decimated airlines, which were last week told by Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey that the Government would not pay out compensation to the industry for financial losses due to the shutdown of European airspace.
Mr Dempsey’s comments dashed hopes generated by the European Commission the previous day when it said governments could provide support to the airlines as long as it did not amount to “unfair assistance” undermining competition.
The Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport estimated about €50 million of normal inbound tourism revenue was lost to Ireland over the period of the closed airspace.

88888
On 02 May 2010, the Institute of Earth Sciences reported changes during the last 2 to 3 days. This included lava producing phase being larger than the explosive phase. Plume became darker, denser and wider than in the preceding week. Tephra fall-out increased in the vicinity of the volcano. Lava advanced over 3 km north of the eruption site and may have advanced further over the glacier edge side. Lava production is estimated at 20 m3/s (50 tonnes/s). Explosive activity increased in intensity during the last few days, and can be heard up to 40 km south-east of the eruption site. Glacier meltwater discharge has increased since 30 April 2010. Tremor levels have intensified, and are attributed to lava-ice interactions or conditions at the eruption site. Reported deflation of magma reservoir beneath Eyjafjallajökull and changes of deformation pattern.The eruption plume extends to altitudes between 4 to 5.4 km (13–18,000 ft) height and is visible 200 km from eruption site. ^[68]^[69] Wind direction on 03 May 2010 is pushing the ash cloud to east-south direction back towards Britain creating fears of new travel disruptions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_eruptions_of_Eyjafjallaj%C3%B6kull

2010-05-04T01:14:00.001+01:00

Professor Robert Jacobs describes the test launch of an ICBM missle which was subsequently "intercepted" by a UFO.

http://www.youtube.com/

UFO Coverup at Nuke Missile Sites

2010-05-04T01:11:00.000+01:00

joeching — 23 February 2008 — America's nuke missile sites have been disapproportionally sighting UFO's. On several critial times(Korea and Vietnam Wars) the missiles had been shutdown by strong magnetic-electric pulses when UFOs were observed above the nuke missile silos. One thing we do know for sure is that no nuke weapons were used in both Korea and Vietnam wars by America. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cvh0_v1WaI&feature

Pentagon’s Mach 20 Glider Disappear

2010-05-04T00:59:00.003+01:00

By Noah Shachtman April 27, 2010

The Pentagon’s controversial plan to hit terrorists half a planet away suffered a setback this weekend, after an experimental hypersonic glider disappeared over the Pacific Ocean.

In its first flight test. the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) was supposed to be rocket-launched from California to the edge of space. Then the HTV-2 would could screaming back into the atmosphere, maneuvering at twenty times times the speed of sound before landing north of the Kwajalein Atoll, 30 minutes later and 4100 nautical miles away. Thinly wedge-shaped for better lift, equipped with autonomous navigation for more precision, and made of carbon-carbon to withstand the assault of hypersonic flight, the hope was it could fly farther and more accurately at a lower angle of attack than other craft returning to Earth.

At least, that was the idea. Instead, nine minutes after launch, Darpa researchers lost contact with the HTV-2. They’re still trying to figure out why. The agency says the flight test wasn’t a total bust: The craft deployed from its rocket booster, performed some maneuvers in the air, and “achieved controlled flight within the atmosphere at over Mach 20,” Darpa spokesperson Johanna Jones says.

But it’s bad news for the Pentagon “prompt global strike” program — a burgeoning and hotly-debated effort to almost-instantly attack targets thousands of miles away. The Defense Department is pursuing three different families of technologies to accomplish the task. One is to re-arm nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles with conventional warheads. But that runs the risk of accidentally triggering a response from another atomic power, who might mistake it for a nuke. A second effort is to build shorter-range cruise missiles than can fly at five or six times the speed of sound; that effort hit some recent turbulence when flight tests for the X-51 Waverider, scheduled for December 2009, were pushed until May 2010. Something like an armed version of the HTV-2 is the third choice.

“There’s always a concern that a conventional warhead on an ICBM might be confused with a nuclear device - what can you do to prove otherwise?” Dr. Mark Lewis, the former chief scientist of the Air Force, tells Danger Room. ”With a high lift vehicle, your trajectory would be so different that no one would likely confuse it with something more sinister.”

Brian Weeden, a technology advisor for the Secure World Foundation, agrees. “This thing itself is not a weapon. But it’s designed to lead to a precision strike weapon,” he says.
But the first step is to figure out what went wrong over the Pacific. Darpa says its investigation is ongoing.
See Also:

Read More http://www.wired.The Pentagon’s controversial plan to hit terrorists half a planet away suffered a setback this weekend, after an experimental hypersonic glider disappeared over the Pacific Ocean. In its first flight test. the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) was supposed to be rocket-launched from California to the edge of space. Then the HTV-2 would could screaming back into the atmosphere, maneuvering at twenty times times the speed of sound before landing north of the Kwajalein Atoll, 30 minutes later and 4100 nautical miles away. Thinly wedge-shaped for better lift, equipped with autonomous navigation for more precision, and made of carbon-carbon to withstand the assault of hypersonic flight, the hope was it could fly farther and more accurately at a lower angle of attack than other craft returning to Earth.
At least, that was the idea. Instead, nine minutes after launch, Darpa researchers lost contact with the HTV-2. They’re still trying to figure out why. The agency says the flight test wasn’t a total bust: The craft deployed from its rocket booster, performed some maneuvers in the air, and “achieved controlled flight within the atmosphere at over Mach 20,” Darpa spokesperson Johanna Jones says.
But it’s bad news for the Pentagon “prompt global strike” program — a burgeoning and hotly-debated effort to almost-instantly attack targets thousands of miles away. The Defense Department is pursuing three different families of technologies to accomplish the task. One is to re-arm nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles with conventional warheads. But that runs the risk of accidentally triggering a response from another atomic power, who might mistake it for a nuke. A second effort is to build shorter-range cruise missiles than can fly at five or six times the speed of sound; that effort hit some recent turbulence when flight tests for the X-51 Waverider, scheduled for December 2009, were pushed until May 2010. Something like an armed version of the HTV-2 is the third choice.
“There’s always a concern that a conventional warhead on an ICBM might be confused with a nuclear device - what can you do to prove otherwise?” Dr. Mark Lewis, the former chief scientist of the Air Force, tells Danger Room. ”With a high lift vehicle, your trajectory would be so different that no one would likely confuse it with something more sinister.”
Brian Weeden, a technology advisor for the Secure World Foundation, agrees. “This thing itself is not a weapon. But it’s designed to lead to a precision strike weapon,” he says.
But the first step is to figure out what went wrong over the Pacific. Darpa says its investigation is ongoing.
See Also:

The Abduction of Antonio Villas Boas

2010-04-29T15:09:00.001+01:00

An interesting abduction story, imo, which happened 4 years before the Betty and Barney hill case.

very strange makings on his arms, found to have very high levels of radiation, and passed over from a "mysterious disease" shortly after visiting an American medical university -TIME FOR TRUTH

Mexico issues travel alert over new Arizona law

2010-04-29T13:58:00.000+01:00

2010 04 28/ By Martha Mendoza | YahooNews.com

The Mexican government warned its citizens Tuesday to use extreme caution if visiting Arizona because of a tough new law that requires all immigrants and visitors to carry U.S.-issued documents or risk arrest.

President Barack Obama also criticized the law, saying it could lead to harassment of Hispanics, and he called for bipartisan support to fix America’s broken immigration system. Two senior officials in his government said the Arizona law may face a legal challenge by federal authorities.

"Now suddenly if you don’t have your papers, and you took your kid out to get ice cream, you’re going to get harassed — that’s something that could potentially happen," the U.S. president said of the measure. "That’s not the right way to go."

Arizona’s law — slated to take effect in late July or early August — makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally and allows police to question anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant. Lawmakers said the legislation, which has sparked huge protests and litigation, was needed because the Obama administration is failing to enforce existing federal laws.

Mexico’s Foreign Ministry issued a travel alert for Arizona after the law was signed, warning that its passage shows "an adverse political atmosphere for migrant communities and for all Mexican visitors."

The alert said that once the law takes effect, foreigners can be questioned at any moment and detained if they fail to carry immigration documents. And it warns that the law will also make it illegal to hire or be hired from a vehicle stopped on the street.

A Mexican government-affiliated agency that supports Mexicans living and working in the United States called for boycotts of Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Phoenix Suns until those organizations rebuke the law.

"We are making a strong call to the Arizona government to retract this regressive and racist law that’s impacting not only residents of Arizona, but people in all 50 states and in Mexico as well," said Raul Murillo, who works with the Institute for Mexicans Abroad, an autonomous agency of Mexico’s Foreign Ministry.

US Airways spokesman Jim Olson said "we have had absolutely no customers who have canceled flights" as a result of the controversy. Calls to the Diamondbacks and the Suns were not immediately returned.

In Washington, Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano criticized the law, with Holder saying the federal government may challenge it.

A number of options are under consideration, including "the possibility of a court challenge," Holder said.

A citizen effort to repeal the law also is expected. Jon Garrido, who produces a Hispanic website and ran unsuccessfully last year for the Phoenix City Council, said he plans to begin gathering signatures next week to get a repeal referendum on the November ballot. If successful, the effort would block the law from taking effect until the vote.

Obama said Tuesday that "poorly conceived" measures such as Arizona’s can be halted if the federal government fixes the U.S. immigration system for good.

Obama pledged to bring his own party along, pleading with Republicans to join in as the only realistic hope to solve a politically volatile problem and get an immigration deal done.

"I will bring the majority of Democrats to the table in getting this done," Obama said in response to a question at a town hall in south-central Iowa. "But I’ve got to have some help from the other side."

U.S. politicians also weighed in on the growing controversy, with election season looming.

In California, Meg Whitman, the Republican front-runner in the California gubernatorial primary, said Arizona is taking the wrong approach.
"I think there’s just better ways to solve this problem," Whitman said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

California state Sen. President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said the law attempts to legalize racial profiling and called on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to review the state’s contracts with Arizona and cancel them if legally possible.

Schwarzenegger has not yet replied, but told reporters that immigration matters are the responsibility of the federal government.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, seeking re-election, told CBS’s "The Early Show" that his state needed such a law because the Obama administration has failed to secure the borders, resulting in drugs pouring into the southwestern United States from Mexico.

Each day, more than 65,000 Mexican residents are in Arizona to work, visit friends and relatives and shop, according to a University of Arizona study sponsored by the Arizona Office of Tourism. While there, the Mexican visitors spend more than $7.35 million daily in Arizona’s stores, restaurants, hotels and other businesses, the researchers found.

Bimbo Bakeries, one of many Mexican companies operating in Arizona, said Tuesday it doesn’t expect Arizona’s new immigration law to affect its employees.

"We carefully screen all associates to ensure they are authorized to work in the United States," Bimbo spokesman David Margulies said.
At the Mexico City airport Tuesday, Mexicans heading for the U.S. said they were very troubled by the new law.

"It’s humiliating," said Modesto Perez, who lives in Illinois. "It’s really ugly."

John Lear Tells All Las Vegas,

2010-04-29T12:53:00.005+01:00

...now some of you may be asking why so many airlines collapsed that I worked for and why I got fired so many times. My excuse is simple. I am not the brightest crayon in the box, I am extremely lazy, I have a smart mouth and a real poor f**king attitude.
John Lear

John Lear Tells All
A Project Camelot interview

Yes, he's incorrigible and fun loving, with a great sense of humor that has served him well over these many years. Our 2006 interview with John Lear (see below) remains one of our favorites.

When we met again with him recently, with considerably more time at our disposal than we had two years ago, John piled his studio table high with books, diagrams and research papers and sat down to tell us "everything he knew".

With special emphasis on the Bob Lazar saga - as only John can tell it - we cover the inconsistencies in the 911 theories and why as a world renowned pilot he is uniquely qualified to judge just what kind of planes, if any, hit the World Trade Center (answer, none: John explains why they were holograms); why the moon's gravity may be as much as 64% that of the Earth's, and could retain a very thin atmosphere; how Ben Rich, the former Director of the Lockheed Skunk Works, was a Mossad agent; the location of the "new Area 51", called Sandia, deep within the Nevada desert;
what really happened at Above Top Secret, an internet forum where he was attacked and which he has subsequently left... and much more.
There's nothing here about 2012 or 'Planet X' - both of which John dismisses - but we think you will be entertained and fascinated by the reported detailed experiences and opinions of someone who deserves to be respected and admired for his courage, character, and maverick commitment to revealing what he believes is the truth.
part 1

- Part 2 of 4

Part 3 of 4

Part 4 of 4

Click here for the website of 'Pilots for 911 Truth'.

Click here for Ron Schmidt's Pegasus Research ('The Living Moon') website, which represents John Lear's opinions, ideas and research.

Moon Secrets Revealed - John Lear

2010-04-29T12:41:00.000+01:00

Space probe’s leaf on Mars

2010-04-29T12:36:00.000+01:00

NASA snap ... 'trees' on the Red Planet

A MARS probe has stunned NASA scientists by sending home pictures of what look like TREES.

Rows of dark "conifers" appear to sprout from alien hills on the Red Planet.

Gorilla’ seen in snap from Mars

2010-04-29T12:25:00.000+01:00

COULD this be a giant silverback gorilla... on MARS?

Some space buffs reckon it is after seeing this picture sent back by a robot vehicle probing the rocky Red Planet for signs of life.

Enthusiast Nigel Cooper - who has studied thousands of photos taken by Nasa rovers and posted online - said: "It's definitely a creature of some sort."

Mr Cooper, 43, of Grimsby, Lincs, added: "I'm convinced there is life out there."

NASA: Evidence of life on Mars

2010-04-29T12:20:00.000+01:00

Mystery ... scientists are already planning more missions to Mars

NASA scientists last night unveiled compelling evidence of life on Mars.

A special mission to the Red Planet has revealed the likely presence of a form of pond scum - the building blocks of life as we know it.

NASA unveiled the results of the recent Opportunity and Spirit probes sent millions of miles through the solar system to discover signs of extraterrestrial life.

The results are so promising boffins have already planned a host of other missions to discover whether there is extraterrestrial life in the universe.

The recent missions have gathered evidence of sulphates on Mars, a strong indication there is water on the planet and therefore life.

Previous missions to Mars have concluded there is probably water on the planet.

But the NASA boffins said the recent missions have gone further than any others in proving there is life on Mars.

They were particularly excited about the discovery of a sulphate called gypsum which, it has emerged recently, is found in large quantities among fossils in the Mediterranean.

Jack Farmer, researcher at the Arizona State University, in Tempe, Arizona, said he was "optimistic" there was - or had been - life on Mars.

Another of the scientists Bill Schopf, researcher at the University of California in Los Angeles, added: "One, thanks to Opportunity and the rovers and orbital imaging it is clear that there are literally vast areas of Mars that are carpeted with various sorts of sulphates, including gypsum.

"Two, it turns out on earth there just hasn't been hardly any work done at all to show whether gypsum ever includes within it preserved evidence of former life.

"The age doesn't matter. We just didn't know that fossils and organic matter and things like that were well preserved within gypsum.

"So, three, it turns out that now we have made that first step we are going to find out how widespread it is in other sulphate deposits on earth.

"And those lines of evidence will then give us a way to justify going to Mars and looking at gypsum because it looks as though based on these findings that is going to turn out to be a really excellent place to find evidence of ancient life, regardless of age, if in fact it is there."

Five experts took part in last night's press conference to celebrate 50 years of astrobiology research.

Dr Steve Squyres, of Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, said the only way of being sure there is life on Mars was to bring back a sample of Mars rock.

He also said that the detection of methane in the martian atmosphere - as revealed exclusively by The Sun - raised the possibility that there was still life on Mars today.

"Methane is a molecule that should go away very quickly. We need to send a mission to find out if the source is biological.

"We also need to send a mission to return samples from Mars. That would enable scientists to find out whether Mars might ever have harboured life.

"If we are ever going to show if there was ever life on Mars, I think we're going to have to study samples back on Earth."

Almost 30 other NASA missions to discover life in space - including one to bring back rocks from Mars - have already been planned.

There are also plans to visit Jupiter's moon Europa to explore its deep underground ocean and a moon of Saturn, Enceladus, which spouted ice volcanoes.

Long-term missions will also return to Saturn's biggest moon Titan, sending a balloon flying through its atmosphere and landing a probe in its surface lakes.

Future missions would also visit comets.

NASA scientists have been searching for extraterrestrial life on other planets for some time.

Last November the space organisation launched the Kepler space telescope to look for Earth-size planets in this galaxy.

The telescope is on a three-and-a-half-year mission to find planets.

NASA has so far been able to download data - but many believe there are aliens out there.

British physicist Stephen Hawking said this week aliens might be traveling through the cosmos right now - but he warned they might have evil intentions.

Vatican tied Mount Graham Observatory launches LUCIFER Telescope

2010-04-29T12:10:00.000+01:00

The Vatican Observatory Research Group (VORG) operates the 1.8m Alice P. Lennon Telescope with its Thomas J. Bannan Astrophysics Facility, known together as the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT), at the Mount Graham International Observatory (MGIO) in southeastern Arizona where sky conditions are among the best in the world and certainly the Continental United States.

The new instrument on the Large Binocular Telescope is a powerful tool that will gain spectacular insights into the universe — from the Milky Way to extremely distant galaxies.

A new instrument for the world´s largest optical telescope, the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) on Mount Graham, allows astronomers to observe the faintest and most distant objects in the universe.

he first LUCIFER observations of star-forming regions are giving scientists an idea of the new instrument´s enormous potential. This image depicts a stellar nursery in the Milky Way about 8,000 light-years from Earth. Such clouds are typically opaque to visible light. However, infrared light detected by LUCIFER can penetrate the dust. Arjan Bik

The LBT partners in the U.S., Germany, and Italy announced April 21 that the first of two new innovative near-infrared cameras/spectrographs for the LBT is now available to astronomers for scientific observations at the telescope on Mount Graham in southeastern Arizona.

After more than a decade of design, manufacturing, and testing, the new instrument, dubbed LUCIFER 1, provides a powerful tool to gain spectacular insights into the universe — from the Milky Way to extremely distant galaxies. An identical twin instrument will be delivered to the telescope in early 2011.

"With the large light-gathering power of the LBT, astronomers are now able to collect the spectral fingerprints of the faintest and most distant objects in the universe," said LBT director Richard Green, a professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona´s Steward Observatory.

LUCIFER 1 and its twin are mounted at the focus points of the LBT´s two giant 27.6-foot-diameter (8.4 meters) telescope mirrors. Each instrument is cooled to -351° Fahrenheit (-213° Celsius) in order to observe in the near-infrared wavelength range. Near-infrared observations are essential for understanding the formation of stars and planets in our galaxy as well as revealing the secrets of the most distant and young galaxies.

LUCIFER´s innovative design allows astronomers to observe star-forming regions in unprecedented detail, which are commonly hidden by dust clouds.

The instrument is remarkably flexible, combining a large field of view with a high resolution. It provides three exchangeable cameras for imaging and spectroscopy in different resolutions, according to observational requirements.

Astronomers use spectroscopy to analyze incoming light and answer questions such as how stars and galaxies formed and what composes them.

Source: astronomy.com

Marsili seamount: tsunami threat for Southern Italy?

2010-04-06T17:29:00.000+01:00

Mount Marsili is a 3000-metre high seamount beneath the Tyrrhenian Sea, 150 km south-west of Naples. Marsili is active and recent research has indicated signs of restlessness (see this 2006 paper in PDF), although the risks of any dangerous eruptive activity are very slight). In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, the director of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Dr Enzo Boschi, has reminded everyone that Marsili is active and that there is a potential threat of an eruption/collapse generating a tsunami that would threaten Southern Italy:

It could happen tomorrow. The latest research says that the volcanic edifice is not strong and its walls are fragile. Furthermore we have measured the magma chamber that has formed in recent years and it is of large dimensions. All this tells us that the volcano is active and could erupt unexpectedly.

According to the article, observations indicate that hydrothermal emissions from vents around Marsili have become more intense recently, and evidence of landslides discovered by the oceanographic research vessel Urania last February ‘indicate an instability impossible to ignore’. Dr Boschi warns that a flank collapse at Marsili ’would displace millions of cubic metres of material, which would be capable of generating a wave of great power’. Marsili is currently unmonitored, observes Dr Boschi: ‘A network of seismometers should be installed around the edifice, connected on land to a volcano monitoring centre. But this is beyond the budget’.

further reading...
http://volcanism.wordpress.com/2010/...outhern-italy/

Strong Geomagnetic storm will hit Earth soon

2010-04-06T17:22:00.000+01:00

Space Weather Message Code: ALTK07
Serial Number: 81
Issue Time: 2010 Apr 05 0956 UTC

ALERT: Geomagnetic K-index of 7
Threshold Reached: 2010 Apr 05 0955 UTC
Synoptic Period: 0900-1200 UTC
Station: Boulder
Active Warning: No
NOAA Scale: G3 - Strong

G3 ~ Strong
Power systems: voltage corrections may be required, false alarms triggered on some protection devices.

Spacecraft operations: surface charging may occur on satellite components, drag may increase on low-Earth-orbit satellites, and corrections may be needed for orientation problems.

Other systems: intermittent satellite navigation and low-frequency radio navigation problems may occur, HF radio may be intermittent, and aurora has been seen as low as Illinois and Oregon (typically 50° geomagnetic lat.)**.
Kp = 7
200 per cycle ~ (130 days per cycle)

7 is the highest of the scale

www.swpc.noaa.gov

Collateral Murder

2010-04-06T16:34:00.004+01:00

this highly controversial vido has been removed from youtube [suprise! suprise!!] i would urge you to view this video asap....time for truth.

http://wikileaks.org/

this highly controversial vido has been removed from youtube [suprise! suprise!!]

i would urge you to view this video asap....time for truth.

Collateral Murder

WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff. Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-site, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded. For further information please visit the special project website www.collateralmurder.com .

The military did not reveal how the Reuters staff were killed, and stated that they did not know how the children were injured.
After demands by Reuters, the incident was investigated and the U.S. military concluded that the actions of the soldiers were in accordance with the law of armed conflict and its own "Rules of Engagement".
Consequently, WikiLeaks has released the classified Rules of Engagement for 2006, 2007 and 2008, revealing these rules before, during, and after the killings.
WikiLeaks has released both the original 38 minutes video and a shorter version with an initial analysis. Subtitles have been added to both versions from the radio transmissions.
WikiLeaks obtained this video as well as supporting documents from a number of military whistleblowers. WikiLeaks goes to great lengths to verify the authenticity of the information it receives. We have analyzed the information about this incident from a variety of source material. We have spoken to witnesses and journalists directly involved in the incident.
WikiLeaks wants to ensure that all the leaked information it receives gets the attention it deserves. In this particular case, some of the people killed were journalists that were simply doing their jobs: putting their lives at risk in order to report on war. Iraq is a very dangerous place for journalists: from 2003- 2009, 139 journalists were killed while doing their work.

masonic moon

2010-04-06T16:11:00.001+01:00

2010-01-30T14:41:00.003Z

http://www.redicecreations.com/radio/2010/01jan/RIR-100128.php

Envoys of Tibet's Dalai Lama in new China talks

2010-01-26T16:14:00.002Z

Analysts say the Dalai Lama may be
China's best chance of compromise

This will be the ninth round of discussions between China and the Tibetan government-in-exile since 2002.

News of the resumption of talks was released by the exiled Tibetan leadership, based in Dharamsala in India.
A statement on the website of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism, said the five-person group would return to India at the beginning of February.

Speaking to the BBC's China Editor Shirong Chen, the Dalai Lama's representative for northern Europe, Thubten Samdup, suggested China could now be more willing to negotiate than it had been in the past.
"Within the Chinese citizens there's a re-awakening, so to speak, that perhaps the Dalai Lama is the best chance that Beijing has," he said.

But there is little evidence to suggest that China is willing to make definite concessions to the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Last week senior Chinese leaders held a major meeting about Tibet - the first in nine years - in which they indicated they would continue their hard-line approach.
Chinese President Hu Jintao told those at the meeting that China would maintain efforts to prevent "penetration and sabotage" by supporters of Tibetan independence.
He added that Beijing would ensure the "normal order of Tibetan Buddhism".

A report on the three-day meeting was carried by the state-run news agency Xinhua, which said: "The Communist Party of China's policies towards Tibet in the new era were totally correct."
Following the last round of talks between the Chinese and Tibetans, Zhu Weiqun, of the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department, blamed the Tibetans for lack of progress.

He said they had not given up their dream of an independent Tibet.
The Tibetans say they do not want independence, only real autonomy to help protect Tibet's unique culture.

How Will Obama's Spending Freeze Play in Washington

2010-01-26T16:05:00.000Z

Jan 26 2010, 9:32 am by Derek Thompson

The announcement that President Obama will freeze non-military discretionary spending for three years has the liberal caucus in a tizzy. The key fact is that non-military discretionary spending today is about 25 percent of the budget. Freezing 25 percent of spending while entitlements grow faster than inflation does not confront our deficit, but it does make the Democratic base really really mad.

Here are five quick questions about the gambit and some answers.

Where will the cuts come from?
This is being called a budget freeze, but the biggest parts of the budget won't feel the frostbite. The exemptions include: security departments like the Pentagon, Homeland Security, the Veterans Administration, and entitlements like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. The freeze targets close to a quarter of the yearly budget -- departments like Education and Health and Human Services, agricultural subsidies and earmarks. The White House will provide a specific list of possible cuts to adhere to the freeze, but ultimately it will be up to Congress to determine how the money sloshes around.

Will it dent the debt?
A little. The freeze is not -- repeat, not -- tied to inflation. That means the cuts will get even deeper each year. $15 billion saved next year. Maybe $50 billion the next year, and $75 billion the year after that. The White House is projecting $250 billion saved over ten years. My understanding is that our projected accumulated debt over that time is close to $9 trillion.

Who is the intended audience?
There are a couple candidates. (1) Moderates concerned about the deficit, whom the administration fears are slipping away nationally, as they did in Massachusetts. (2) Republicans who want to see good-faith compromises from the president to verify that he is willing to work with them, not around them, in 2010. (3) Foreign investors looking for a signal that the administration is aware of/concerned about the deficit. This freeze would represent more of a psychological boost for bondholders than a substantive economic shift.

What do the Republicans/Democrats think about it?
It sounds like they're laughing. And not with the president, either. At him. From the Times:

Republicans were quick to mock the freeze proposal. "Given Washington Democrats' unprecedented spending binge, this is like announcing you're going on a diet after winning a pie-eating contest," said Michael Steel, a spokesman for the House Republican leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio.

The year on liberal economists' minds is 1937. That's the year that FDR, seeing an economic recovery, pulled back the reigns on fiscal and monetary stimulus, causing the economy to "double-dip" into a second recession. The left is worried that, since government spending is very clearly fueling what consumer spending we've got going, tightening the federal budget could drive down the economy. You could also make the case that if the economy does turn down again after the freeze -- whether or not the freeze has anything to do with the downturn -- it will look horrible for the administration.

What could be the fallout/unintended consequences?
A couple theories are floating around. Could this be a move to slow the growth of earmarks? Possibly. By forcing a broadly Democratic Congress to wrangle amongst themselves for the cuts, it seems to me that he's setting the stage for hoards of angry electeds who are in danger of seriously ticking off their constituents in an election year. Take Blanche Lincoln for example. She chairs the Senate Agricultural Committee, is a conservative Democrat, a swing vote on every major issue including health care, and is locked in a tough reelection battle. You think the White House is going to force her to sign off on agricultural subsidy cuts?

Maybe the administration thinks this move gives them political space. You propose a freeze that is unpopular with Congress, hold it over electeds' heads as a bargaining chip, and then approach senators throughout the year making promises to spare their programs from the Deep Freeze in exchange for votes.

I'm interested to see how this polls. America's deficit hawk streak has been on a tear for months. Confronted with this semi-serious effort to demonstrate deficit hawkery, will Americans applaud the move? I'm sure the administration is hoping it can buy some good will among moderate debt watchers -- enough to forge ahead with a maybe-sorta-still-alive health care bill and apparently-very-still-alive jobs bill.

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Why Does the Spending Freeze Exempt the Militar

2010-01-26T16:03:00.000Z

Jan 26 2010, 10:30 am by Derek Thompson

President Obama's announced freeze on non-military discretionary spending will be chewed over by analysts and spit on by both liberals and skeptical conservatives. But one aspect of the policy that won't receive much chewing over is its qualifier: "non-military." Even during periods of great deficit hawkery, it's become rote in Washington to consider military spending impregnable to the forces of budget cuts. I think this is a horrible mistake.

Last year I wrote an article for the Daily Beast that asked the White House and Congress to debate the Afghanistan escalation as though the additional resources were real money, paid for by real taxes, whose addition counted against our real deficit. Here was my last paragraph:

To be sure, there is a dimension to the Afghanistan debate that goes far beyond red and black ink. There is no mechanism for the CBO to score the critical bank-shot of securing Pakistan by strengthening our presence along the Afghan border. Also, scaling down could help our financial integrity in the eyes of the Chinese, but it will impugn our moral integrity in the world's eyes if we permit a reign of extremist terror marked by scourges of stonings. I don't mean to combat our generals' advice with my own. I'm only calling for elected officials to consider the cost of war just as they would consider the cost of any other use of taxpayer dollars. Generals on the ground advocating for an expensive counterinsurgency are only reciting their best opinion. That's their job. The president should balance their recommendations with our capacity to fulfill them. That's his.

The Obama freeze does not "consider the cost of war just as [it] would consider the cost of any other use of taxpayer dollars." The Obama freeze does the opposite. It treats military spending as something too precious to be touched by the frostbite.

My point is not that military spending deserves an X-percent cut. My point is that military spending should not be exempt from the debate on how to cut costs. This spending freeze, if it follows through, will put extreme pressure on Democratic and Republican officials to determine which programs they need, which can withstand smaller budgets, which should be forced to become more cost-efficient, and which can be scrapped to spare the most important services from cuts. Why shouldn't our military face a similar exercise in self-reflection?

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Robert Fisk: The tree-lined bunkers that could change the face of the Middle East

2010-01-24T20:36:00.003Z

World, January 21, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - The border looks peaceful, but Hizbollah and Israel are preparing for war.
It looks like a hop, skip and a jump. There's the first electrified fence, then the dirt strip to identify footprints, then the tarmac road, then one more electrified fence, and then acres and acres of trees. Orchards rather than tanks. Galilee spreads beyond, soft and moist and dark green in the winter afternoon - a peaceful Israel, you might think. And a peaceful Lebanon to the north, tobacco plantations amid the stony hills, just an occasional UN armoured vehicle to keep you on your toes. "Major Pardin says you cannot take pictures," a Malaysian UN soldier tells me. Then a second one says the same. Then along comes a Lebanese army intelligence officer and stares at our papers. "OK, you have permission," he declares, and I snap away with my old 36-frame real-film Nikon; the fields, the frontier fence, the high-tech surveillance tower on the horizon. This must be the most photographed border in the world.
Of course, the gentle countryside is an illusion. Benjamin Netanyahu and his colleagues in the Israeli government have been announcing that the only "army" of Lebanon is the Hizbollah, the Iranian-armed and Syrian-assisted guerrilla force whose bunkers and missiles north of the Litani river might just tip the balance in the next Hizbollah-Israeli war. And Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, the chairman of the Hizbollah, has been making some even more interesting threats: that his forces will "change the face of the Middle East region" if there is another war with Israel. No-one is in much doubt about what this means. The newly resurfaced Lebanese roads near the border - courtesy of Hizbollah money - suggest that someone might want to move men at high speed towards the frontier. Perhaps even to cross the border.
That's what the Israelis suspect, too - and it makes sense of Nasrallah's warning last week. The Hizbollah claimed that the 2006 war with Israel was a "divine victory" - it didn't feel that way to us in southern Lebanon at the time - yet even Israel admits it was a near-defeat for its own ill-trained soldiers. But how would Israel react if the Hizbollah managed to enter Israel itself? Israeli army commanders are talking about this in the Israeli press. A fast, dramatic spring across the frontier to the west - in the direction of Naharia, perhaps, or a grab at the settlement of Kiryat Shmona - and Hizbollah would announce it had "liberated" part of historic "Palestine". Israel would have to bomb its own territory to get them out.
This is no game. The Israeli army wants to revenge itself on the Hizbollah, which humiliated it in 2006. Nasrallah - on giant-wide screens, for security reasons - often talks as if he's the Lebanese president. Did the Israelis really think al-Qa'ida or the Hizbollah were beind the attempted killing of two Jordanian diplomats between Amman and the Allenby bridge, Nasrallah asked. No friend of al-Qa'ida, Hizbollah would have succeeded in blowing them up if it had been involved. The crowd roared its agreement.
But the threats continue. The Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, says that the Lebanese government will be held responsible for any future war and the Lebanese have had the usual warnings from Israel. Lebanon's infrastructure will be attacked, its bridges and highways destroyed, its villages erased. Israel, Mr Barak has been saying, was restrained in 2006 - when it attacked Lebanon's infrastructure, destroyed its bridges and highways and erased its villages. Plus ça change.
But there's a good deal of "change". Syria is being courted by the Obama administration. Its old allies in Lebanon - Druze leader Walid Jumblatt among them - are uttering honeyed words to Damascus. Indeed, Jumblatt has been meeting both Nasrallah and his old enemy Michel Aoun, and concluding that he is three-quarters of the way down the road to Damascus. And President Assad of Syria has been visiting Tehran again, to assure the Islamic Republic of his ever-loyal support.
You can see the way everyone is thinking. And here's the big question, the camel in the room. If Israel ignores Obama and attacks Iran's nuclear sites - a real aggression if ever there could be - the Hizbollah could fire rockets into Israel, perhaps even revealing its new anti-aircraft missile capacity. Hamas might join in from Gaza. Hamas is a tin-pot outfit; the Hizbollah is not. An Israeli attack on Iran will unleash Iranian military power against America. But part of that power is Hizbollah in Lebanon. This is serious business.
Over Christmas, a parcel "from a foreign country" was delivered to three Hamas officials in Beirut and blew up, killing all of them. Last week, a bomb exploded in a building in southern Lebanon owned by two Hizbollah officials, wounding three children. One of them, 11-year-old Diana Zreik, had her left leg amputated. It looks like a glance at the past, to the 1970s, when Israel posted letter-bombs to its enemies in Lebanon.
The United Nations has been complaining at the increase in Israel's overflights of Lebanese territory. The Lebanese army has been opening fire on Israeli aircraft flying over the border - useless, of course, because the Americans don't give the Lebanese army weapons that can hurt Israel - while US Senator John McCain has dropped by in Beirut to complain about the Hizbollah's weapons which, under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, are supposed to be in the hands of the Lebanese army. This is the same resolution that should prevent Israeli overflights.
And what do those overflights show? "We see Hizbollah expanding inside Lebanon and its growing influence, political and otherwise," Barak said last week. "We again wish to make clear to the Lebanese leadership that we see everything, and we will hold the parties which cause increased tension responsible... the situation can quickly deteriorate." Thank you, Israel. Especially if Israel attacks Iran.
Party of God: Hizbollah and the politics of Islamic resistance
* Hizbollah, which can be translated as Party of God, is a Lebanese, Iranian and Syrian-backed, Shia Islamist political movement with a paramilitary wing known as "Islamic Resistance". It emerged in 1982 as a small militia force with the aim of ending Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon.
The movement is now a major player in Lebanese politics with its own satellite TV network, a radio station, and a vast network of social programmes from housing to agriculture. According to Hizbollah's manifesto, the Lebanese people must be free to choose what form of government they want, but they are strongly encouraged to pick the option of Islamic government. The movement's original goal of turning Lebanon into an Islamic Republic has been abandoned.
* Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah became Hizbollah's Secretary General in 1992. A popular and charismatic figure, his face appears from billboards and hoardings across Beirut and south Lebanon. The deeply religious 49-year-old studied theology in Iran and is noted for his fiery sermons, excerpts of which are sometimes heard on mobile phone ringtones.
* Israel tried to kill Nasrallah during the month-long war it fought against Hizbollah in 2006. The conflict followed a Hizbollah attack on an Israeli army convoy patrolling the border with south Lebanon. Nasrallah now says Hizbollah will defeat Israel in any new conflict. "I promise you that should a new war with the Zionists erupt, we will crush the enemy, come out victorious and change the face of the region," he said last week.
By Robert Fisk
The independent

Gaza to be in deep darkness in hours!!

2010-01-24T20:32:00.003Z

Sunday, 24 January 2010 Gaza, January 24, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - The electricity company in the Gaza Strip has warned on Saturday evening from a severe crisis in providing the Strip with electricity as if the stoppage of providing it with the needed fuel continued it will not be able to run on Sunday morning.

Jamal Al-Dardasawi, the director of public relations in the company, said: "The power station since Saturday afternoon has been producing 30 MW instead of 65 MW because of lack of fuel needed to run it."

He added: "the gradually decline in the station production is a result of the Israeli occupation stoppage of supplying it with fuel. If Israel does not resume fuel supplying, the company will not be able to supply the Strip with electricity on Sunday morning, which means severe electricity crisis."

He pointed out that the stoppage of the station would lead to confusion in electricity distribution. "The company was forced to cut off electricity for 6 hours every two days in different areas, but the new situation would enforce it to cut off electricity for 12 hours and supply it only for few hours a day" ,he added.

He declared that until this moment nothing happened regarding re-supplying the station with fuel, hoping that the problem would be resolved during the next hours before reaching a complete stop of the station on Sunday morning or Gaza will enter in "new darkness crisis."

Photo Mohammed Asad

/www.paltelegraph.com

Pentagon reveals plans to shoot down spy satellite over Ireland

2010-01-24T20:18:00.004Z

Pentagon officials have announced plans to shoot down a failing spy satellite orbiting over Ireland with a missile from a US navy warship to prevent debris from showering the Earth.

The dramatic operation will target the secret satellite identified as USA 193, which is expected to fall from orbit in the first week of March.

Amateur satellite trackers say that the craft, about the size of a small bus, travels an orbit of 58.5 degrees that takes it over most the Earth from Ireland and the tip of Scotland to Patagonia at the southern end of Latin America. It could crash almost anywhere.

ohn Locker, a British astronomer, photographed the satellite with sunlight glinting off it at an altitude of about 200 miles from his home in the Wirral, Cheshire, and posted the picture on the website Galaxypix.com.

Astronomy enthusiasts in Ireland say that debris could land anywhere from Co Cork to Co Donegal. The Australian Government has prepared contingency plans in case the craft falls on its territory.

US officials made the decision to shoot it down after predicting that about half the 5,000lb spacecraft would survive its blazing descent through the atmosphere.

The statistical risk of death or injury is considered small. Even when the space shuttle Columbia broke up over Texas and scattered debris over two states no one on the ground was hurt. Two thirds of the Earth’s surface is covered with water. In the past 50 years about 17,000 man-made objects have re-entered the atmosphere, including the 78-ton Skylab space station that fell into the Indian Ocean and across west Australia in 1979.

The USA 193 spy satellite is equipped with small rocket “thrusters” loaded with toxic hydrazine fuel. Contact with hydrazine can cause coughing, irritated throat and lungs, convulsions, tremors or seizures, and long-term exposure can damage the liver, kidney and reproductive organs. US officials say that the craft carries no nuclear material.

USA 193 was launched on December 14, 2006, from the Vandenberg US Air Force Base in California. Once it reached orbit it failed to communicate with its ground controllers, making it uncontrollable. Though its design is top-secret, it is reported to be a high-resolution radar satellite that would take images for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Defence analysts have suggested that the Pentagon may be reluctant to allow a large piece of its most sophisticated technology to fall into the hands of a rival such as Russia or China.

The operation will test the capability of Washington’s new missile defence system, a successor to the “Star Wars” missile interception system of the 1980s.

Pentagon officials said that a navy cruiser would shoot down the satellite using a special missile modified for the task. The operation is likely to prove controversial after the rumpus over China’s anti-satellite test last year. China drew criticism from the US and other nations for shooting down a defunct weather satellite.

From Times Online

February 15, 2008

China and net censorship -Timeline:

2010-01-24T19:38:00.003Z

Friday, 22 January 2010
As Google considers withdrawing from China, the BBC looks at the highs and lows of internet access and freedom in the most populous country in the world.
1 May 2001: US and Chinese hackers engage in an internet war as the diplomatic row about the crashed US spy plane rumbles on.
7 November 2002: Activist Jiang Lijun arrested following an investigation that used information supplied by Yahoo.
14 June 2005: Microsoft agrees to censor its blog writing tool , called Spaces, on MSN China
7 September 2005: Net giant Yahoo is accused of supplying information to Chinese authorities which led to the jailing of journalist Shi Tao.
25 January 2006: Google.cn is set up, and censored by the search giant in line with official rules on what people can do and see online in China.
9 February 2006: Yahoo is accused by Reporters Without Borders of aiding the Chinese authorities by releasing data that led to the arrest of net activist Li Zhi.
15 February 2006: Yahoo, Microsoft, Cisco and Google are criticised in a US congressional hearing for giving in to pressure from China to censor their web.
16 November 2006: The first part of the Great Firewall of China - also known as the Golden Shield Project - goes into service. This uses several means to make it difficult to reach sites the Chinese government has deemed illegal.
April 2007: Chinese version of MySpace launches, but lacks discussion forums devoted to politics and religion. It also has a filtering system that stops the posting of content about Taiwan's independence, Falun Gong, the Dalai Lama and other "inappropriate" topics.
June 2007: Yahoo issues a statement saying it was "dismayed" that Chinese citizens have been imprisoned for expressing their political views on the internet.
August 2007: MSN and Yahoo sign a "self-disciplinary pledge" that will limit what users can say on their blogging sites. Both decline to implement one element of the pledge requiring them to collect the real names of users.
November 2007: Yahoo settles a lawsuit brought by families of bloggers convicted by information the internet firm handed over to the Chinese authorities.
25 March 2008: BBC News website unblocked in China.
1 April 2008: In the run-up to the Olympic games, China unblocks websites such as Wikipedia, Blogger and YouTube. However, many thousands of others remain inaccessible.
16 October 2008: China introduces laws which say anyone using an internet cafe must have their picture taken and show ID before they can go online.
24 March 2009: Chinese government blocks access to YouTube for carrying videos of soldiers beating monks and other Tibetans.
9 June 2009: China introduces the Green Dam net filtering software that will be fitted to every new PC sold in the country from July 2009. The software was created to stop people looking at "offensive" content such as pornography and violent imagery. The Chinese authorities say use of the software is not "mandatory".
10 June 2009: On the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests , micro-blogging service Twitter, photo site Flickr and YouTube are blocked to stop people discussing or seeing footage of events in 1989.
July 2009: During riots, China blocks keyword searches for "Urumqi" - the city where the unrest was unfolding. Also blocked were Twitter, Facebook and local alternatives.
13 January 2010: Google announces it is considering withdrawing from China following a cyber attack on e-mail accounts of human rights activists.
21 January 2010: The US calls on Beijing to investigate the cyber attacks on Google, saying China has tightened censorship.
22 January 2010: China denounces US criticism of its internet controls, saying it could harm ties between the two countries.
BBC News website RELATED ARTICLES Obama 'troubled' by Google cyber-attacks in China

Obama 'troubled' by Google cyber-attacks in China

2010-01-24T19:24:00.006Z

US President Barack Obama continues to be "troubled" by alleged cyber-attacks originating in China on the internet search giant Google, officials say.

A White House spokesman said Mr Obama wanted "some answers" and agreed those responsible should "face consequences".

The comments came after China denounced US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's criticism of its internet restrictions, saying it was harming relations.

Google has said it will decide shortly whether to end its China operations.

The company currently holds about one-third of the Chinese search market, far behind Chinese rival Baidu, which has more than 60%.

'Consequences'

Earlier on Friday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the US should "respect the facts" and stop making "groundless accusations".

"The US has criticised China's policies to administer the internet, and insinuated that China restricts internet freedom," Ma Zhaoxu said.

"This runs contrary to the facts and is harmful to China-US relations."

The warning from Beijing came after Mrs Clinton said in a speech that the internet had been a "source of tremendous progress" in China, but that any country which restricted free access to information risked "walling themselves off from the progress of the next century".

The private sector had a shared responsibility to safeguard freedom of expression and should take a "principled stand" against censorship, she said.

Mrs Clinton also called on the Chinese authorities to investigate Google's complaint that hackers in China had tried to infiltrate its software coding and the e-mail accounts of human rights activists, in a "highly sophisticated" attack.

"Countries or individuals that engage in cyber-attacks should face consequences and international condemnation," she added.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Friday, White House spokesman Bill Burton made it clear that President Obama agreed with her.

"As the president has said, he continues to be troubled by the cyber-security breach that Google attributes to China," he said.

"All we are looking for from China are some answers," he added.

Chinese officials have repeatedly said that Google and other foreign internet companies are welcome to operate within China as long as they obeyed the country's laws and traditions.

When the California-based company launched google.cn in 2006, it agreed to censor some search results - such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Tibetan independence or Falun Gong - as required by the Chinese government.

Google now says it is looking at operating an unfiltered search engine within the law in the country, though no changes to filtering have yet been made.

China has more internet users - about 350 million - than any other country and provides a lucrative search engine market worth an estimated $1bn (£614m) last year.

INTERNET ROW TIMELINE

12 Jan: Google says it may leave China after cyber attacks and calls for end to censorship of its search results

13 Jan: US says cyber attacks on Google "troubling"

14 Jan: China gives first reaction to Google statement: foreign firms welcome to work in China "according to law"

16 Jan: US says it will make formal protest over Google cyber attacks

21 Jan: China says its dispute with Google should not be linked to US relations

21 Jan: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticises China's internet controls and urges Beijing to investigate Google attacks

22 Jan: China rejects Mrs Clinton's criticism as "groundless" 22 January 2010-bbc news

Indefinite Guantanamo detention plans condemned

2010-01-24T19:16:00.003Z

The US has just missed a deadline to close the prison camp.

The American Civil Liberties Union has criticised a recommendation that 47 Guantanamo Bay inmates should be held indefinitely without trial.

Justice department officials said the men were too dangerous to release, but could not be tried as evidence against them would not stand up in a US court.

ACLU executive director Anthony Romero said their detention would reduce the camp's closure to a "symbolic gesture".

The White House said the president did not have to accept the recommendation.

It came as the deadline President Barack Obama had set himself on his second day in office for closing the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay passed.

'Not evidence at all'

Earlier on Friday, officials said a task force led by the justice department had recommended that while 35 detainees could be prosecuted through trials or military tribunals, 110 could be released either now or at a later date.

The other 47 detainees were considered too dangerous to release, but could not be tried because the evidence against them was too flimsy or was extracted from them by coercion, so would not hold up in court, it concluded.

In a statement, the ACLU said it disputed that any significant category of such detainees existed, and renewed its call for the closure of the prison.

"If there is credible evidence that these prisoners are dangerous, there is no reason why that evidence could not be introduced against them in criminal trials," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU National Security Project.

"The criminal laws, and the material support laws in particular, are broad enough to reach anyone who presents a serious threat, and the federal courts are fully capable of affording defendants fair trials while protecting the government's legitimate interest in protecting information that is properly classified."

Mr Jaffer said evidence that had been "tainted" according to the task force's recommendation, was "not evidence at all". The US justice system, he added, "excludes coerced evidence not only because coercion and torture are illegal, but because coerced evidence is unreliable".

"Just as important as closing the prison quickly is closing it right, and that means putting an end to the illegal policy of indefinite detention without charge or trial," said Mr Romero.

Former detainee Moazzam Begg criticised Mr Obama for failing to keep his promise on closing Guantanamo Bay.

"The whole talk that change has come to America is simply a lie," he told the BBC.

'Dismay'

The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says the recommendation will dismay many of Mr Obama's supporters, who had hoped the president would end the practice of detention without trial.

However, a White House official stressed that this was only a recommendation, which Mr Obama did not have to accept. The task force's findings will also be subject to review by the National Security Council.

Congress has laid down that only those to be tried can be moved to US soil, so the question of what to do with those who officials want to be detained indefinitely without trial has yet to be resolved.

More than 40 detainees have been transferred out of the prison during Mr Obama's first year in office.

But diplomatic hurdles and domestic opposition to the government's plan to house suspects on US soil have hampered his plans to close it down completely.

Plans to move detainees approved for trial to a prison facility in Illinois remain under consideration.

Yemen suspension

The task force recommended that among those cleared for release, 80 detainees, including about 30 Yemenis, could be freed immediately, the Washington Post said.

The panel said the release of another 30 Yemenis should be contingent on an improved situation in Yemen, the newspaper reported.

However, the US recently suspended the repatriation of Yemeni prisoners indefinitely, following an airliner bomb plot that was allegedly planned in Yemen.

Yemenis account for approximately half of the inmates at Guantanamo.

Mr Obama set himself the 22 January closure deadline a year ago, shortly after being sworn in.

He has subsequently said he wants the camp closed this year, without setting a specific deadline.

Saturday, 23 January 2010-bbc.co.uk

Iraq littered with high levels of nuclear and dioxin contamination, study finds

2010-01-24T05:19:00.005Z

Toxic zones in Iraq

Iraq littered with high levels of nuclear and dioxin contamination, study finds

• Greater rates of cancer and birth defects near sites • Depleted uranium among poisons revealed in report

Martin Chulov in Baghdad
guardian.co.uk, Friday 22 January 2010 17.45 GMT

More than 40 sites across Iraq are contaminated with high levels or radiation and dioxins, with three decades of war and neglect having left environmental ruin in large parts of the country, an official Iraqi study has found.

Areas in and near Iraq's largest towns and cities, including Najaf, Basra and Falluja, account for around 25% of the contaminated sites, which appear to coincide with communities that have seen increased rates of cancer and birth defects over the past five years. The joint study by the environment, health and science ministries found that scrap metal yards in and around Baghdad and Basra contain high levels of ionising radiation, which is thought to be a legacy of depleted uranium used in munitions during the first Gulf war and since the 2003 invasion.

The environment minister, Narmin Othman, said high levels of dioxins on agricultural lands in southern Iraq, in particular, were increasingly thought to be a key factor in a general decline in the health of people living in the poorest parts of the country.

If we look at Basra, there are some heavily polluted areas there and there are many factors contributing to it," she told the Guardian. "First, it has been a battlefield for two wars, the Gulf war and the Iran-Iraq war, where many kinds of bombs were used. Also, oil pipelines were bombed and most of the contamination settled in and around Basra.

"The soil has ended up in people's lungs and has been on food that people have eaten. Dioxins have been very high in those areas. All of this has caused systemic problems on a very large scale for both ecology and overall health."

Government study groups have recently focused on the war-ravaged city of Falluja, west of Baghdad, where the unstable security situation had kept scientists away ever since fierce fighting between militants and US forces in 2004.

"We have only found one area so far in Falluja," Othman said. "But there are other areas that we will try to explore soon with international help."

The Guardian reported in November claims by local doctors of a massive rise in birth defects in the city, particularly neural tube defects, which afflict the spinal cords and brains of newborns. "We are aware of the reports, but we must be cautious in reaching conclusions about causes," Othman said. "The general health of the city is not good. There is no sewerage system there and there is a lot of stagnant household waste, creating sickness that is directly affecting genetics. We do know, however, that a lot of depleted uranium was used there.

"We have been regulating and monitoring this and we have been urgently trying to assemble a database. We have had co-operation from the United Nations environment programme and have given our reports in Geneva. We have studied 500 sites for chemicals and depleted uranium. Until now we have found 42 places that have been declared as [high risk] both from uranium and toxins."

Ten of those areas have been classified by Iraq's nuclear decommissioning body as having high levels of radiation. They include the sites of three former nuclear reactors at the Tuwaitha facility – once the pride of Saddam Hussein's regime on the south-eastern outskirts of Baghdad – as well as former research centres around the capital that were either bombed or dismantled between the two Gulf wars.

The head of the decommissioning body, Adnan Jarjies, said that when inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived to "visit these sites, I tell them that even if we have all the best science in the world to help us, none of them could be considered to be clean before 2020."

Bushra Ali Ahmed, director of the Radiation Protection Centre in Baghdad, said only 80% of Iraq had so far been surveyed. "We have focused so far on the sites that have been contaminated by the wars," he said. "We have further plans to swab sites that have been destroyed by war.

"A big problem for us is when say a tank has been destroyed and then moved, we are finding a clear radiation trail. It takes a while to decontaminate these sites."

Scrap sites remain a prime concern. Wastelands of rusting cars and war damage dot Baghdad and other cities between the capital and Basra, offering unchecked access to both children and scavengers.

Othman said Iraq's environmental degradation is being intensified by an acute drought and water shortage across the country that has seen a 70% decrease in the volume of water flowing through the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

"We can no longer in good conscience call ourselves the land between the rivers," she said. "A lot of the water we are getting has first been used by Turkey and Syria for power generation. When it reaches us it is poor quality. That water which is used for agriculture is often contaminated. We are in the midst of an unmatched environmental disaster."

Haiti: Guns or food?

2010-01-24T04:30:00.003Z

Peter Hallward: Arrival of US military raises questions of motivations and memories of recent interventions

Haiti - Shock Doctrine

2010-01-24T04:14:00.005Z

After the earthquake in Haiti, America is seen coming to the aid of the Haitians, with its mighty military power, although aid has been sent, it is not getting through to the people, which may be purposely done to plunge Haiti into rioting and looting that will need the U.S. soldiers to step in and declare military rule. This will be the prelude to yet another puppet government put into place to serve the U.S. Imperialists. The Shock Doctrine has been observed many times before. After a tsunami wipes out the coasts of Southeast Asia, the pristine beaches are auctioned off to tourist resorts. New Orleans residents, scattered from Hurricane Katrina, discover that their public housing, hospitals and schools will never be reopened. After 9/11 The White house passed the patriot act. These events are examples of the shock doctrine: using the publics disorientation following massive collective shocks - wars, terrorist attacks, or natural disasters -- to achieve control by imposing economic shock therapy.

Doctors Without Borders: Haiti Aid Planes refused landings

2010-01-24T04:12:00.004Z

France has accused the U.S. of occupying quake-devastated Haiti, saying Washington is hindering the relief effort with its troops surge. More foreign soldiers and police are being sent to the Island-nation, where looting and violence are on the rise, as people are still desperate for vital supplies - a week after the disaster. The French minister in charge of humanitarian relief, Alain Joyandet, has asked the UN to clarify America's role in Haiti. He says after US troops took charge of the main airport, they've been turning away aircraft carrying aid, in favour of military planes. French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office tried to play down reports of the rift with the U.S, saying cooperation between the two countries was going well. But the charity Doctors without Borders backed Joyandet's call to the UN, adding that aid delays threaten lives.

France accuses US of 'occupying' Haiti

2010-01-24T04:00:00.004Z

19 January 2010 France has accused the U.S. of occupying stricken Haiti, saying its military surge is hindering the relief effort. The French minister in charge of humanitarian aid has asked the UN to clarify America's role in the country. He says after assuming charge of Haiti's main airport, they've been turning away emergency supplies in favor of military planes. The charity Doctors without Borders backed his call to the UN, saying lives were being put at risk. US commanders insist they agreed to give priority to aid shipments last night after UN intervention.

POSTER

2010-01-24T03:59:00.000Z

POSTER

2010-01-24T03:53:00.006Z

US Embassy in Haiti acknowledges excessive force by UN

2010-01-24T03:42:00.005Z

photos: ©2006 Haiti Information Project HIP - Port au Prince, Haiti — In the early morning hours of July 6, 2005 more than 350 UN troops stormed the seaside shantytown of Cite Soleil in a military operation with the stated purpose of halting violence in Haiti. When the shooting stopped seven hours later, more than 26 people, the majority of them unarmed civilians lie dead with scores more wounded. Officially, the UN responded that they only opened fire after being fired upon and discounted non-combatant casualties. Further, the UN claimed that only six people, who they described as "bandits," had been killed during the military operation. According to documents provided to HIP by a researcher who obtained them under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the U.S. Embassy and various intelligence agencies attached to the Pentagon's Southern Command, were aware of the excessive use of force by UN forces in Haiti on July 6, 2005. Despite being heavily censored by U.S. officials under Executive Order 12598 in the "interest of national defense or foreign relations," what emerges is clear evidence of the disproportionate use of force by UN troops in Cite Soleil. An "After Action Report" submitted to the US Embassy by the UN states that the UN attack on the crumbling civilian neighborhood was intense, prolonged, and carried out with heavy artillery and weaponry that UN officials knew could cause extensive collateral damage and the death of innocent victims. These disturbing revelations are made all the more important in light of accusations that the UN committed a second massacre in Cite Soleil on December 22, 2006. In that raid, video and photographic documentation as well as eyewitness testimony obtained by HIP, paints a picture all too similar to the events of July 6, 2005. According to the After action report,"...the firefight lasted over seven hours during which time [UN] forces expended over 22,000 rounds of ammunition... [An official] with MINUSTAH acknowledged that, given the flimsy construction of homes in Cite Soleil and the large quantity of ammunition expended, it is likely that rounds penetrated many buildings, striking unintended targets." According to the FOIA documents , UN and US officials knew of, and ignored victim's claims of the MINUSTAH massacre. A U.S. Embassy cable to the Secretary of State and US Southern Command on July 19, 2005 and titled "Human Rights Groups Dispute Civilian Causalities", states, "Human rights organizations continue to dispute the number of civilian causalities from the MINUSTAH operation in Cite Soleil on July 6. Some local human rights groups estimate the number of deaths attributed to MINUSTAH soldiers [to be] between... 50 to 70 people..." "Pro-Aristide affiliated human rights organizations are calling it a massacre by the UN. MINUSTAH have allowed charges of a massacre to fester, but they released a statement on July 25 stating that their forces did not intentionally target civilians." While the cable may reflect the official version put forward by the UN of unintended targets, testimony from the survivors and photographic evidence from July 6, 2005, of what are clearly head shots targeting civilians, contradicts this. Although many were likely killed behind thin walls, the video evidence of the disproportionate number of victims felled by single shots to the head from high-powered rifles lends credence to the testimony of survivors following the deadly raid. General Heleno Ribera, the top UN military commander in Haiti at the time, sought to explain away the casualties as acts of retaliation by alleged gang members in Cite Soleil following the raid. In a cable from the US Permanent Mission to the United Nations to State Department Headquarters on July 20, 2005, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) quoted a censored source who cited "rumors around Port au Prince" as proof of retaliation by gangs as the main cause of civilian casualties on July 6. The censored source cited by the DPKO report took it one step further, "The gang members are trying to frame MINUSTAH for causing civilian casualties." This assertion is directly contradicted by numerous interviews with survivors and eyewitnesses recorded by human rights groups and the Haiti Information Project following the UN raid on July 6. In a cable from US Embassy Port au Prince to State Department Headquarters on July 26, 2005, a personal commentary apparently added by former US Ambassador James B. Foley states, "It remains unclear how aggressive MINUSTAH was, though 22,000 rounds is a large amount of ammunition to have killed only six people." http://www.haitiaction.net

Unrest In Haiti Continues

2010-01-24T03:40:00.001Z

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI - MARCH 3: A young Haitian watches as a U.S. Marine takes up a defensive position during a patrol March 4, 2004 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The 2,000 U.S. Marines and other military forces are expected to maintain order in the capital after president Jean Bertrand Aristide went into exile in the Central African Republic.

ANALYSIS: US military deployment stirs tension in Haitian traged

2010-01-24T03:29:00.003Z

Buenos Aires - The growing US military deployment in Haiti is provoking mixed feelings in the Caribbean country and beyond.

There is relief that someone might actively combat lawlessness on the streets of Port-au-Prince in the wake of last week's devastating earthquake. But there are serious concerns that the quake-related aid operation could become an open-ended military intervention.

Help is still desperately needed with an estimated 200,000 dead and 1 million homeless, but even aid is subject to political and ideological interpretation.

'We fully support military involvement in logistics and security, but it needs to be under the umbrella of the UN,' Penny Lawrence, aid and development charity OXFAM's director for Britain, told the German Press Agency dpa.

'The rhetoric on coordination is right, but in practice it is proving challenging.'

Benoit Leduc of Doctors Without Borders more bluntly said that his organization was concerned about the 'militarization of aid' and 'the extreme confusion of distributing food with a gun.'

On the ground, many Haitians are happy about the arrival of US Marines.

'The Americans are our only hope. I think they will deactivate the gangs,' said Wawa, a 38-year-old former gang member who commands respect in Port-au-Prince's dangerous shantytowns.

Yet even Haitians themselves are afraid that once American troops are in place their own needs might be relegated. By Thursday, there were rumours of a plan to oust refugees from Haiti's national stadium in Port-au-Prince to make space for US troops to land helicopters, for example.

Critics have denounced US forces in control of the city's airport for prioritizing military flights over civilian flights.

Commander Buck Elton, air operations chief for the US military in Haiti, insisted that the landing plan is evenly divided between demands. He told reporters that on Wednesday, for example, there were 43 international aid aircraft, 55 US civilian aid aircraft and 51 military aircraft.

Aid organizations around the world have politely criticized what analyst Seumas Milne defined as the US military's 'shockingly perverse priorities' in the British daily The Guardian.

Loris de Filippi, emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders' Choscal Hospital in the Cite Soleil neighbourhood of Port- au-Prince, complained about a Hait-bound aid plane being diverted to the Dominican Republic.

'We have had five patients in Martissant health centre die for lack of the medical supplies that this plane was carrying,' De Filippi said. 'We were forced to buy a saw in the market to continue amputations. We are running against time here.'

Elton said that a Doctors Without Borders plane on Sunday had a scheduled 3 pm landing but had to be diverted to the nearby Dominican, before returning to touch down at 8 pm in Port-au-Prince.

He emphasized that long delays at Port-au-Prince airport are often beyond control of US forces: waiting for evacuees to board planes and fuel shortages, among other factors, also caused some planes to be diverted.

Taiwanese media called US rescue teams 'bullies' for pushing a Taiwanese search group out of various sites including a UN building, even as the Asian team had located survivors and was working to get them out of the rubble.

Others have claimed that US forces gave preference to the evacuation of US citizens and that they generally favoured security 'rather than humanitarian aid,' as Paris-based Le Monde put it.

Traditional critics of US policy, such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, went further still.

'The United States government is using a humanitarian tragedy to militarily occupy Haiti,' Chavez complained. 'Cuba has more doctors in Haiti than the United States.'

Analysts around the globe were guessing at the intentions of US President Barack Obama in his deployment of US troops in Haiti.

Is Obama trying to clean up Washington's image after messy military adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan? Is he trying to underline the benefits of US involvement to give 'American interventionism' a good name?

'Obama has issued (at a speed that contrasts with the indolence of his predecessor in the case of Katrina in New Orleans) extraordinary assistance measures,' Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes said in a column in the Spanish daily El Pais.

The Austrian daily Die Presse highlighted the contrast of US aid efforts in Haiti with Washington's history of supporting dictatorships in Central American regimes.

'If President Obama now commits to stand by poor Haiti as a partner also after the Caribbean republic disappears from the headlines, he has learned a lesson from US history,' Die Presse wrote.

Le Monde stressed less altruistic aspects and noted that, for the United States, 'Haiti is a national security imperative as much as it is a humanitarian imperative.' Washington fears, the daily said, 'an exodus that could push hundreds of thousands of boat people to Florida, just 1,200 kilometres away.'

There may be no right answer for Washington's foreign critics. Obama made the point himself last year, following the coup in Honduras.

'Critics who say that the United States has not intervened enough in Honduras are the same people who say that we're always intervening and the Yankees need to get out of Latin America,' Obama complained in August. 'You can't have it both ways.'

Washington would have at least as much a target for criticism if the US military response in Haiti had been far more restrained.

Its own history of intervention in Haiti makes the US ripe for suspicion now, but specifically France, as the one-time master of the former African slave colony, and the rest of the developed world also bear responsibility for a disaster that has been severely exacerbated by a legacy poverty.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro wrote that 'Haiti is a net product of colonialism and imperialism.'

The challenge for the troubled country lies far beyond quake relief: even before its latest disaster

.Haiti was the poorest country in the Americas, with more than 80 per cent of its people living in poverty.

Children board a bus headed for the airport in Port-au-Prince,-

2010-01-24T03:27:00.002Z

Children board a bus headed for the airport in Port-au-Prince, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010. Several children, orphans whose orphanage was damaged in the Jan. 12 earthquake, are being sent to France by the school Lycee Francais and the French Embassy in Haiti, and already have adoptive parents waiting

A woman gestures as she is

2010-01-24T03:23:00.000Z

A woman gestures as she is helped up a hill when its her turn to receive food at a aid distribution site run by the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division a week after the massive earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010.

A man gestures to a Haitian policeman

2010-01-24T03:21:00.000Z

A man gestures to a Haitian policeman during looting in Port-au-Prince, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010. Sporadic looting continues as earthquake survivors scavenge for anything they can find in the rubble left by Haiti's Jan. 12 earthquake.

Haitian Jean Rispard, center, asks for medical attention

2010-01-24T03:17:00.002Z

Haitian Jean Rispard, center, asks for medical attention as U.S. Army Sgt. Nicholas Moore, of the 82nd Airborne Division, walks in front of him at the port in Port-au-Prince, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010. Rispard, who works in a private security company, and his son were injured during last week's earthquake.

Hatians scuffle to enter a food distribution center

2010-01-24T02:49:00.007Z

Hatians scuffle to enter a food distribution center in Port-au-Prince January 21, 2010. Shops began to reopen in Haiti's capital on Thursday and banking services were to resume at the weekend but the government and aid workers still struggled to assist masses of earthquake survivors camped out in rubble-strewn streets.

Crumbling cliffs don't deter Pacifica residents

2010-01-24T02:44:00.002Z

In this Jan. 22, 2010 photo, workers looks over a cliff next to an apartment building where six units were evacuated on Thursday, in Pacifica, Calif.

(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

By JASON DEAREN, Associated Press Writer Jason Dearen, Associated Press Writer – Sat Jan 23, 4:07 pm ET

PACIFICA, Calif. – It wasn't the thunderous sound of a massive chunk of ocean bluff plummeting to the beach that jarred Marva Seaton to life Thursday at 5:30 a.m., but a rap at her door.

For her own safety, she was ordered out of her apartment building, perched atop an eroding seaside cliff about 80 feet above the sea just off scenic Highway 1 south of San Francisco.

Still, like many of her neighbors who live in 18 units that have been evacuated over the past month, she planned to stay on the Pacific shoreline.

"I just relocated down the street at the Land's End," Seaton said, referring to a condominium complex a half block away that is also threatened by a disappearing bluff. "It's nice."

Last month, an apartment building here was completely evacuated, and on Thursday residents of six units in Seaton's building also had to leave their homes.

With bluffs along the Northern California coast crumbling under pressure from massive waves and driving El Nino rains, one would think the allure of seaside living would fade. But for Seaton and other coastal denizens here — many of whom hang mirrors over their kitchen sinks so they can gaze at the silver sea while doing dishes — the idea of leaving is not on their minds.

"None of us really worry about it so much," said Sandra Smith, who lives in the building next to Seaton's. "We just go with the flow. We were prepared mentally for this storm."

As rain fell Friday and a cold wind blew, neon-vested workers on the street in front of the buildings began preparing for work to reinforce the loose sandstone bluff, which had eroded to the edge of both buildings. Seaton's evacuation was caused by a 60-foot length of bluff that broke off.

Down the street in front of the Land's End, half of what used to be a bluff-top park was gone. Broken walking paths led to perilous drop-offs to the rocks below. Pipes and sprinklers once covered by grass and ice plant dangled from the muddy cliffs. Bright orange plastic fencing and warning signs were strewn about.

Amid the chaos of evacuations, a storm and work crews on Thursday, Smith and other residents of Esplanade Avenue pitched in to help the evacuees move their stuff. It was raining, cold and took all day.

Luckily for some evacuees, four units in Smith's buildings were vacant, so some evacuees were able to move next door.

"People from every apartment building were helping. We worked from 6 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m. in the rain," she said, standing on her balcony over the same bluff, massive waves crashing behind her. "It's a tight community."

Doug Rider, chief building inspector for Pacifica, said there were no plans to evacuate any more people on Friday. "It's a good day today. We're leaving people in their homes," he said. "But it's a day-to-day thing."

Crews brought in a massive, 180-foot-high crane to begin a project meant to shore up the cliffside and save the buildings.

Over the next two months, workers will dangle in a basket from the crane, drilling holes 60-to-80 feet into the loose sandstone cliffside. They will insert steel bars, one-and-a-half-inches thick, into the holes, fill those with grout and spray concrete over that.

Then, plates will be attached to the end of the steel bars, and everything will be tightened to create a massive sea wall that will allow the buildings to be reoccupied, said project foreman Scott Young of Engineered Soil Repairs, the firm handing the project.

In addition, massive boulders have been brought in and dropped by crane onto the beach below, helping to shield the rotting bluffs from the ocean's wrath.

Early estimates are that the whole ordeal will cost the buildings' owner $1 million to $2 million. Owner Millard Tong said he did not want to comment for this article.

This is not the first time storm-driven surf and heavy rain have taken a toll on this stretch of coastline that is home to Mavericks, one of the world's most famous big wave spots.

During El Nino storms in 1998, at least seven homes in Pacifica were destroyed after the bluffs they were built on crumbled to the beach below. Homeowners then watched as wrecking machines dismantled their seaside dream homes, sending them off the cliffside.

A few miles south, at Devil's Slide on Highway 1, the California Department of Transportation is overseeing the construction of two tunnels being built in an area where the roadway has faced frequent closures from rock slides and bluff erosion.

Northward, on a stretch of the Great Highway in San Francisco, officials on Wednesday closed southbound lanes until the summer after most of the bluff near the roadway deteriorated during recent storm surf.

While engineers working on the bluffs in Pacifica believe the project will save the endangered apartment buildings, building inspector Rider said he would wait and see what the crews drilling into the bluff find before speculating on when the buildings might again be habitable.

From resident Robert DalPorto's porch, located next to the building partially evacuated on Thursday, the views of the sea were stunning. To the left, however, one can see the bluff had eroded right up to the evacuated buildings.

Still, DalPorto had no plans to leave unless he is told to and hoped he could stay in his beloved rental.

"I wouldn't buy anything here" DalPorto said. "But renting, you can always leave if you have to."

Storms trash Calif. beaches, bring snow to AZ, NM

2010-01-24T02:39:00.003Z

Steve Masoner, co-fonder of the non-profit 'Save Our Beach', removes a tire from the beach, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010 after a week of storms washed debris ashore in Seal Beach, Calif.

(AP Photo/Jason Redmond)

Sat Jan 23, 3:34---

SEAL BEACH, Calif. – The sky was blue and the sun bright for the first time in days after a week of powerful Southern California rain storms, but all Victoria Macey could see was the mountain of steaming trash and twisted debris on her favorite beach.

"I'm completely shocked. From our house, all we could see was gorgeous clouds and then we come down here and there's so much trash, it's really sad," Macey said as she photographed a sopping plastic baby doll propped atop an overturned end table. "I can't believe how many shopping carts there are. That's what blows my mind."

The mounds of soggy sofa cushions, rusted shopping carts, plastic children's toys, dented refrigerators and hundreds of plastic cans and food wrappers were just one calling card left by a week of punishing rain that pelted Southern California and went on to tangle with Arizona and New Mexico.

About 35 miles to the north of Seal Beach, hundreds of residents who evacuated from wildfire-scarred communities in the San Gabriel Mountain foothills north of Los Angeles returned home Saturday to assess the damage and remove mud and debris from their properties. There were no reports of major damage despite widespread concerns about mudslides and debris flows from the relentless rain.

About half of the 500 residents of a small western Arizona farming community who were evacuated after floodwaters swept through the town Thursday, returned Saturday. Muddied streets and damaged homes and businesses remained, and La Paz County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Glenn Gilbert said the community was in cleanup mode. Many said they were happy to survive the storm.

On Saturday, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office announced the body of 6-year-old Jacob Baudek, who was swept away by rising by floodwaters in central Arizona Thursday, was spotted by hikers along the Agua Fria River and recovered from the river bank.

At higher elevations, forecasters warned of blowing and drifting snow and issued winter weather and wind advisories for southern New Mexico, with heavy snow expected in the Gila and Sacramento mountains. In the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico, wind gusts could top 90 mph on Saturday. More than 2 feet of snow have fallen in the Chama area in northern New Mexico, while parts of southwestern New Mexico got 27 inches of snow.

In Northern California, a rare tornado warning was issued Saturday in the San Francisco Bay area's Contra Costa County after a trained weather spotter reported seeing a funnel cloud. The National Weather Service said the cloud was seen about 9 miles south of Oakley, but it weakened without touching down and the agency's warning expired.

Harsh winter weather also hit the Dakotas, where thousands of people were without power after icy weather toppled miles of power lines. A winter storm carrying freezing rain and snow pushed through the region with blizzardlike conditions expected to develop over the weekend and into Monday.

Another smaller storm was forecast for Southern California beginning Tuesday evening and would last about two days, said National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Vanderburg.

But that storm was the farthest thing from the minds of weather-weary Southern Californians, who ventured to the region's famous beaches by the dozens on Saturday to bask in the sunshine and balmy temperatures. Many were shocked to find the trash from the storm's urban run-off and picked gingerly through tangled garbage to reach the water.

Fifty-two cities in the Los Angeles metropolitan area drain into the San Gabriel River bed and litter and garbage flow tens of miles to the ocean each time there's a heavy rain, said Kim Masoner, who founded Save Our Beach 10 years ago to combat the problem. Earlier, the couple worked with more than 1,400 volunteers to remove 12 large trash bins of debris from the river's mouth.

On Saturday, Steve Masoner pulled a waist-high white plastic rocking horse from the mess and propped it on the rocks lining the river mouth. His wife added a soggy Spiderman doll and a cracked SpongeBob SquarePants bike helmet and a swimming pool skimmer to the pile before helping her husband wrestle apart two shopping carts.

Similar scenes played out on beaches in Long Beach, Newport Beach and San Diego where the Los Angeles, Santa Ana and Tijuana rivers empty into the sea. Many surfers said they would avoid the water because of concerns about bacteria from storm run-off.

Meanwhile, the Surfrider Foundation canceled its beach cleanups through the end of the month near the Tijuana River because the hazardous waste created too much of a liability.

"Even if they do have gloves and masks, it's too dangerous," Dan Murphy, of Surfrider, said of the beach volunteers. "Whatever the trash is on the beach, it's been flowing in the sewage and it's covered with the stuff."

___

Associated Press writers contributing to this report include Christopher Weber in Los Angeles, Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff and Jacques Billeaud and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix.

US prepares Gitmo for 1000s of Haitian migrant

2010-01-24T02:33:00.001Z

Wed Jan 20, 10:22 pm ET

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba – The U.S. has begun preparing tents at Guantanamo Bay for Haitians migrants in case of a mass migration spurred by the earthquake, a senior official at the base said Wednesday.

About 100 tents, each capable of holding 10 people, have been erected and authorities have more than 1,000 more on hand in case waves of Haitians leave their homeland and are captured at sea, said Navy Rear Adm. Thomas Copeman.

Authorities have also has tested the latrine facilities and gathered cots and other supplies, said Copeman, the commander of the task force that runs the detention center for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo, where the U.S. holds nearly 200 men.

The Haitian migrants would be held on the opposite side of the base as the detention center, separated by some 2 1/2 miles of water across Guantanamo Bay, and would have no contact with the prisoners.

U.S. immigration officials have said they will fast-track applications for a federal designation that will allow illegal Haitian immigrants to live and work temporarily in this country, but only if they were in the U.S. on the day of the Jan. 12 earthquake.

The U.S. base in southeastern Cuba is also being used to transport supplies and personnel to the aid effort in Haiti, about 200 miles away.

In the early 1990s, it housed tens of thousands of Haitian boat people were held at Guantanamo until they could be sent home.

http://news.yahoo.com

NASA Global Warming Alarmist Endorses Book That Calls For Mass Genocide

2010-01-24T02:29:00.002Z

Dr James Hansen: Eco-fascist author who wrote that industrial civilization should be destroyed “has it right”

Prominent NASA global warming alarmist Dr. James Hansen has endorsed an eco-fascist book that calls for cities to be razed to the ground, industrial civilization to be destroyed and genocidal population reduction measures to be implemented in the name of preventing climate change.

Hansen, who was back in the news today commenting on a NASA press release that claims the last decade was the warmest on record, said that Keith Farnish, author of a new book called Time’s Up, is correct in calling for acts of sabotage and environmental terrorism in blowing up dams and demolishing cities in order to return the planet to the agrarian age.

Hansen is a key figure in the global warming movement, for it was his 1988 with testimony to a US Senate committee chaired by Al Gore that really got the ball rolling for the elite in their mission to hijack the environmental movement and promote apocalyptic fears of climate change as a means of seizing absolute power over humanity.

Author Farnish “believes – as the Hon Sir Jonathon Porritt does – that mankind is a blot on the landscape and that breeding (or for that matter, existence) should be discouraged,” writes James Delingpole.

“The only way to prevent global ecological collapse and thus ensure the survival of humanity is to rid the world of Industrial Civilization,” writes Farnish, adding that “people will die in huge numbers when civilization collapses”.

Farnish echoes similar talking points to those featured in White House science czar John Holdren’s Ecoscience textbook, which called for a “planetary regime” to carry out forced abortions and mandatory sterilization procedures, as well as drugging the water supply, in an effort to cull the human surplus.

Farnish explains his desire to see rampant population reduction in the name of saving the planet.

“In short, the greatest immediate risk to the population living in the conditions created by Industrial Civilization is the population itself. Civilization has created the perfect conditions for a terrible tragedy on the kind of scale never seen before in the history of humanity. That is one reason for there to be fewer people,” he writes.

And how is the collapse of industrial civilization to be achieved? By indiscriminate acts of sabotage and eco-terrorism.

“Unloading essentially means the removal of an existing burden: for instance, removing grazing domesticated animals, razing cities to the ground, blowing up dams and switching off the greenhouse gas emissions machine. The process of ecological unloading is an accumulation of many of the things I have already explained in this chapter, along with an (almost certainly necessary) element of sabotage,” writes Farnish.

But surely the respected and authoritative individuals we have been told by the media to trust when it comes to the science behind global warming would rebuke such outlandish, deranged and extreme methods of addressing climate change?

“Keith Farnish has it right: time has practically run out, and the ’system’ is the problem,” wrote Dr. James Hansen on the Amazon website. “Governments are under the thumb of fossil fuel special interests – they will not look after our and the planet’s well-being until we force them to do so, and that is going to require enormous effort.

It has also come to light that Hansen wasn’t even asked to comment on Farnish’s book, he freely volunteered his opinion. “Just to put the quote into context, it was indeed spontaneous from James and surprised me a little at first,” wrote author Farnish on the Yahoo Answers website.

“It’s an important thing to remember when we talk about AGW: many of the activist-scientists pushing it passionately want the earth to be getting hotter and it for it to be largely man’s fault. These watermelons certainly don’t want the opposite to be true, because then they wouldn’t have the excuse they so desperately need to destroy the capitalist system and take us all back to the agrarian age,” comments Delingpole.

The entire climate change takeover is being spearheaded by self-hating psychotics who want to impose a global one child policy in the name of curbing overpopulation. As we have vehemently proven, the overpopulation hype is a debunked myth with no basis in reality. The real reason global eugenicists want to implement such policies, along with taxing the life-giving gas carbon dioxide, is because it would give them absolute control over every single aspect of our lives – a control freak’s utopia.

The propagandistic method of depicting humans as the enemy is perfectly tailored to this agenda, because it elicits the response of making people call for their own kind to be regulated, controlled, and even killed under the contrived pretext of preventing an ecological apocalypse.

This approach was again evident in a recent United Nations sponsored poster campaign which depicted humans as evil horror movie monsters intent on slaughtering wildlife and killing the earth.

The global elite resolved to take this approach back in 1991 when the Club of Rome, a powerful globalist NGO committed to limiting growth and ushering in a post-industrial society, said in their report, The First Global Revolution, “In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill…. All these dangers are caused by human intervention… The real enemy, then, is humanity itself.”

Genocidal psychotics are now trying to obtain the power to carry out the kind of nihilistic blueprint for terror Farnish outlines in his book in pursuit of their “post-industrial society”. What makes it all the more galling is that these eco-fascists present their lunacy in such a reasonable and sober tone. In reality, although they try to characterize humanity as a virus upon the planet, the only real cancer upon the earth is their virulently neo-fascist doctrine of warped environmentalism and population control.

The only real threat to humanity’s survival is not climate change, which has naturally occurred for eons since the very incarnation of planet earth, but the insane, self-destructive and monstrous plans to “solve” the issue being proposed by eco-fascists like Farnish and endorsed by people in prominent positions of influence like Hansen.

Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet.com Friday, January 22, 2010

Britain raises terror threat level to "severe"

2010-01-23T15:38:00.004Z

2010 01 23. By Adrian Croft | Reuters.com

The decision to raise the level from 'substantial' means security services now consider an attack in Britain, a key U.S. ally, to be "highly likely" but the government said it had no information to suggest an attack was imminent.

Britain gave no reason for the move by its Joint Terrorism Analysis Center (JTAC) which comes as Britain and other countries step up precautions in the wake of the failed Christmas Day attack on an airliner in Detroit.

Raising the threat level is expected to lead to tighter security at airports and public buildings.

"JTAC keeps the threat level under constant review and makes its judgments based on a broad range of factors, including the intent and capabilities of international terrorist groups in the UK and overseas," Home Secretary (interior minister) Alan Johnson said in a statement.

"The fact that we've moved to another threat level means we put more resources in, we heighten the state of vigilance. It shouldn't be thought to be linked to Detroit or anywhere else for that matter," he told the BBC.

Security expert Anthony Glees said his guess was that the decision to raise the threat level was linked to the Afghanistan conference and to intelligence from the United States.

"I think it's very probable that people, either members of al Qaeda or associated to al Qaeda, will be figuring that it would be a huge trophy attack in some way to damage the holding of the Afghanistan conference," he told the BBC.

The threat level was last changed on July 20, 2009 when it was lowered to substantial from severe. It had been lowered to severe on July 4, 2007 from critical, the highest level, which had been declared a few days earlier following attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow.

Suicide bombings in July 2005 killed 52 people on London's transport networks and a number of plots have been thwarted since then.

MAJOR CONFERENCE

Britain hosts an international conference on Afghanistan on Thursday that London says may set a timetable for transferring responsibility for some areas to Afghan control.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and foreign ministers from 50 countries are expected to take part.

Talks on Afghanistan will be preceded by a January 27 meeting on Yemen, which declared war on al Qaeda last week under pressure for a crackdown on the global militant group after its Yemen-based wing said it was behind an attempt on December 25 to blow up a U.S. passenger jet.

The Nigerian suspect in the Detroit airliner plot, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, studied a few years ago in London, raising concern about whether he was radicalized in Britain.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown told parliament this week Britain was suspending direct flights to Britain by a Yemeni airline and was stepping up immigration checks in the wake of the failed Detroit attack.

"We know that a number of terrorist cells are actively trying to attack Britain and other countries," Brown said.

Sajjan Gohel of the Asia Pacific Foundation thinktank said one factor that affected threat level changes was security agencies' monitoring of electronic "chatter" among militants.

"It may be that Britain is being mentioned more often or it may be the volume of potentially threatening messages being collected that provides a sense of heightened threat," he said.

U.S. Homeland Security Department spokesman Matt Chandler said Britain was raising its measures to effectively where the United States was.

"We have enhanced our security measures and communicated specific information to industry, law enforcement and the American people," he said.

Article from: Reuters.com There are five levels of threat: * Critical - an attack is expected imminently * Severe - an attack is highly likely * Substantial - an attack is a strong possibility * Moderate - an attack is possible but not likely * Low - an attack is unlikely

UFO FLEET OF 43 ORBS LargestFleetFootage in USA

2010-01-23T14:53:00.000Z

UFO Fleet Guadalajara Mexico

2010-01-23T14:46:00.002Z

On June 10, 2004, the city of Guadalajara witnessed undoubtely the most spectacular UFO fleet sighting in known history. The sky over the city became filled with hundreds of sphere-shaped objects grouped together in a massive formation and all moving in unison - like a spectacle straight from a major Hollywood Sci-Fi film. The number of luminous spheres was in the hundreds, and among them, in a certain spot within the formation was a much bigger craft, disc-shaped, which might have been controlling the whole armada.

UFO ( wormhole ) STRANGE LIGHTS IN MEXICO DECEMBER 2009 !!

2010-01-23T14:37:00.000Z

Spiral UFO Over Thailand, December 2009

2010-01-23T14:32:00.001Z

Yet another Spiral UFO mass sighting has occured, this time in Thailand. The effect you see is believed to be emissions from an alien vessel as it enters Earth's troposphere.

FIRST CONTACT 2009 REAL MASS UFO FLEETS WORLDWIDE (NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 )

2010-01-23T14:24:00.002Z

A COMPILATION OF SOME OF THE LATEST UFO FOOTAGE AND ENERGY VORTEX SPIRALS TAKEN AROUND THE WORLD WITHIN THE LAST FEW WEEKS, MOST OF THE FOOTAGE TAKEN THIS DECEMBER, THE SIGHTINGS AND REPORTS ARE STILL ON GOING. INDEED WE ARE LIVING IN CRAZY TIMES, ILL LEAVE YOU TO BE THE JUDGE.. FOR ALL OF THE CLIPS USED IN THIS VIDEO PLEASE VISIT MY PAGE WHERE YOU WILL FIND THEM ALL UNEDITED AND IN THEIR TOTALITY. THE CHINA VORTEX WAS APPARENTLY RECORDED 20 YEARS AGO BUT WAS JUST ONLY RECENTLY RELEASED,SORRY FOR THIS SMALL MISTAKE. ENERGY VORTEX SPIRALS

September 9/11 Events Show Up On $20 Bill!

2010-01-12T11:41:00.007Z

Recently we became aware of an amazing coincidence between images on an American $20 Bill and the tragic events that happened in New York and the Pentagon on 11th September, 2001. Below are examples of how, by folding the note, you can see the burning Twin Towers on one side, the burning Pentagon on the other side, and the words Osama emblazoned across the top. Is this a coincidence? First of all fold the new $20 Bill as shown above Then fold it like this

Fold the right side exactly like you did the left and you'll see the Pentagon ablaze!

What are the chances of these images appearing on a $20 Bill by using a few simple folds?

U.S. to store $800m in military gear in Israel

2010-01-11T12:34:00.002Z

The U.S. Army will double the value of emergency military equipment it stockpiles on Israeli soil, and Israel will be allowed to use the U.S. ordnance in the event of a military emergency, according to a report in Monday's issue of the U.S. weekly Defense News. The report, written by Barbara Opall-Rome, the magazine's Israel correspondent, said that an agreement reached between Washington and Jerusalem last month will bring the value of the military gear to $800 million. This is the final phase of a process that began over a year ago to determine the type and amount of U.S. weapons and ammunition to be stored in Israel, part of an overarching American effort to stockpile weapons in areas in which its army may need to operate while allowing American allies to make use of the ordnance in emergencies. The agreement was signed by Brig. Gen. Ofer Wolf, who heads the Israel Defense Forces' technology and logistics branch, and Rear Adm. Andy Brown, the logistics director of U.S. Army European Command. The United States began stockpiling $100 million in military equipment in Israel in 1990, 12 years after it first began storing weapons within the territory of key allies, starting with South Korea. An American defense official told Defense News that the U.S.-Israel agreement reflects the Obama administration's continued commitment to Israel's security and the understanding that changes in U.S. economic conditions and inflation have limited the weapons available to Israel. The deal allows Israel access to a wider spectrum of military ordnance, and the U.S. official said his government was considering which forms of military supplies would be added to stores in Israel. Missiles, armored vehicles, aerial ammunition and artillery ordnance are already stockpiled in the country. The agreement is expected to aid Israel in its effort to bolster its weapons stockpiles for use in an emergency. Israel's stores of aerial and artillery ammunition were depleted during the Second Lebanon War in 2006, nearly reaching levels the IDF considers dangerously low. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1141745.html

'Watch your step,' Barak warns Hamas over renewed Gaza rocket fire

2010-01-11T12:27:00.002Z

Palestinians mourning the deaths of three Islamic Jihad militants in an IAF strike Sunday. (AP) Last update - 13:37 11/01/2010 By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and Reuters Security experts: Dissent against Hamas growing in Gaza, causing group to ease crackdown over rocket fire. Addressing an increase of rocket fire into Israel from Gaza, Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday advised Gaza's Hamas rulers to "watch their step, and not to cry crocodile tears if they force [Israel] to take action." Army Radio on Monday quoted Israeli security experts as saying that Hamas has lessened its determination to prevent the rocket fire from Gaza, due to growing dissent in the coastal strip. Speaking at an event marking the successful completion of testing for the Iron Dome short-range missile defense system, Barak said that Israel's three-week incursion into Gaza last winter had made Hamas reluctant to resume the rocket fire that triggered the offensive. "The deterrence achieved during Operation Cast Lead still exists, and it is strong. The fire in recent days stems from Hamas' inability to rein in Jihad bodies and independent groups." Barak also said he believed Hamas was unable to rein in the other militant groups. "I think the recent days reflect the inability of Hamas to control the dissident groups, the Popular Committees or Islamic Jihad, who are trying to break the tranquility," Barak told Reuters during the unveiling of the anti-rocket system. "Hamas is well deterred from trying another direct collision with Israel. I hope that they will take over - or else," the defense minister said when asked if a new Gaza conflict was possible. On Sunday, an Israel Air Force strike in central Gaza killed three Palestinian militants, including a senior field commander, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a "powerful response" to recent rocket and mortar shell attacks from the coastal territory. The IAF strike targeted a cell as its members were launching rockets at Israel. Barak said Monday that he supported Netanyahu's plan to close off Israel's southern border with Egypt by building a NIS 1.5 billion fence which the prime minister said would prevent the entry of "infiltrators and terrorists." "Good fences make good neighbors," he said. The defense minister also said "Iron Dome" would "change the equation" and could deter militants from launching attacks. "It is a major change and provides the Israeli civilian population, once deployed in the coming years, cover against small sized rockets and missilettes," he said. Israel's three-week offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter was followed by relative calm, with rocket attacks from the coastal enclave a rare occurrence. However, over the last week, in a dramatic escalation, Gaza militants fired over 20 rockets and mortar shells into Israel, prompting swift retaliation. On Sunday, an Israel Air Force strike in the central Gaza Strip killed three Palestinian militants, including a senior field commander, hours after Netanyahu vowed a "powerful response" to any attacks from the coastal territory. The security officials told Army Radio that Israel's plan to build the security fence along its southern border with Egypt and the delays in the Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange deal, have swayed Gaza public opinion against the ruling party. Meanwhile, in contrast to previous Israeli attacks on Gaza, Sunday's operation drew no condemnations from any Palestinian group, and no threats of retaliation. Arab media covered the incident in brief, without the customary footage of wounded Palestinians, bodies and blackened vehicles, Army Radio reported. The absence of threats and condemnations left room for Hamas rivals on the airwaves. PLO Executive Committee Secretary General Yasser Abed Rabbo said "Hamas, or its allies, are operating under this excuse or that one, in advancement of their own interests they are leading the Palestinian people to slaughter." The low profile of this event could be attributed to recent efforts to reconcile between the rival Palestinian parties Fatah and Hamas. The Lebanese daily As-Safir reported Monday that a planned summit between the Saudi king and the Syrian president was planned for Thursday in Riyadh, focusing on mending the rift between Fatah and Hamas. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak may also attend the summit. If the summit goes as planned, it will be the first meeting between Syrian President Bashar Assad and Mubarak in over a year, and will also focus on rehabilitating broken ties between Egypt and Syria. http://www.haaretz.com

Obama Orders US Government To Begin Preparing For Biological Attack

2010-01-11T12:04:00.003Z

AFP) – Dec 30, 2009

WASHINGTON — The US Post Office could play a key role in distributing medical aid in the event of a biological attack, according to an executive order released by the White House.

The order signed by President Barack Obama directs government agencies, local law enforcement and the US Post Office to work on a model for distribution of medical countermeasures in the wake of a biological attack.

"This policy would seek to: (1) mitigate illness and prevent death; (2) sustain critical infrastructure; and (3) complement and supplement State, local, territorial, and tribal government medical countermeasure distribution capacity," the order said.

"The US Postal Service has the capacity for rapid residential delivery of medical countermeasures for self administration across all communities in the United States," the order added.

The US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano were instructed to work with the post office to develop a "dispensing model for US cities to respond to a large-scale biological attack, with anthrax as the primary threat consideration."

The order calls for the model to be drawn up within 180 days, but gives no details as to whether the idea of using the US postal system to assist Americans in the wake of a biological attack is a new one.

The United States has sought to bolster its capacity to respond to biological attacks since 2001, when anthrax-laced letters mailed to people across the United States led to five deaths.

The order came amid heightened security concerns here following an attempt to bring down a US-bound jetliner on Christmas Day. A 23-year-old Nigerian has been charged in the case.

Goldman Sachs boss says banks do "God's work"

2010-01-11T10:48:00.005Z

Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, speaks during a panel discussion at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York September 23, 2009. Goldman Sachs behind every market crash since 1920s

LONDON (Reuters) - The chief executive of Goldman Sachs, which has attracted widespread media attention over the size of its staff bonuses, believes banks serve a social purpose and are doing "God's work."

In an interview with London's Sunday Times newspaper, Lloyd Blankfein also said he believed big profits and bonuses at banks were a sign that the world economy was recovering.

"We help companies to grow by helping them to raise capital. Companies that grow create wealth. This, in turn, allows people to have jobs that create more growth and more wealth. We have a social purpose," he told the paper.

The dominant Wall Street bank posted third-quarter earnings of $3 billion and plans to hand out more than $20 billion in year-end bonuses.

Blankfein told the Sunday Times that the bank's compensation practices correlated with long-term performance.

"Others made no money and still paid large bonuses. Some are not around anymore. I wonder why?"

He added that he understood, however, that people were angry with bankers' actions: "I know I could slit my wrists and people would cheer."

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Greg Mahlich)