Wednesday, June 17, 2009

FRANKENTREES CAN PASS PATHOGENS TO HUMANS


Date: Wednesday, 17-Jun-2009 18:50:06

CGI's own Food4thought shares this frightening GM tale.

FRANKENTREES CAN PASS PATHOGENS TO HUMANS

The USDA is currently taking public comments on whether or not the company ArborGen should be allowed to conduct 29 field trials of genetically engineered "cold tolerant" eucalyptus trees in the U.S. For the first time in history, this massive experiment, which is on the verge of being green-lighted, will literally be using nature as the laboratory to test more than 260,000 franken-trees.

The USDA failed to do an Environmental Impact Statement to assess potential negative issues related to the proposed field trials.

Studies have shown tree pollen can travel up to 1,000 kilometers. The spread of the these plants into the wild through seeds and plant matter is highly likely, and the impacts on native ecosystems from this invader are unknown.

One of the experimental GE tree varieties is a known host for cryptococcus gatti, a fatal fungal pathogen whose spores cause meningitis in people and animals.

(snip)

- - - - -

The USDA is taking comments at its website, so follow the link and give them yours.

food4thought

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27451

Asteroid probe set to “collide” with Earth in June 2010

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government | 17 June 2009

UK: Hard to eradicate risk some allies use torture --Miliband: Disclosing documents could jeopardize Britain's intelligence relationship with US 16 Jun 2009 Britain has abandoned some attempts to gather intelligence from prisoners held overseas for fear they may be abused, the foreign secretary said Tuesday. But David Miliband also said he could not guarantee that Britain's allies would refrain from abusing detainees. Former Guantanamo prisoner Binyam Mohamed accused Britain of colluding with the United States in his alleged torture in Pakistan and Morocco. London police are deciding whether there is evidence that British intelligence officials should face criminal charges over allegations that they were complicit in the alleged torture of Mohammed. Separately, British courts are considering several lawsuits filed by men who claim the U.K. was aware of their mistreatment overseas.

A succour-free zone: David Miliband refuses to publish old MI5 guidelines on interrogation "Information on interrogation procedures might be given to their lawyers, but that was 'not the same as putting it on the internet.'" 16 Jun 2009 David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, has said he will not publish earlier guidance for MI5 and MI6 on how to carry out interrogations, despite promises to publish the current version of the rules when they have been "consolidated and reviewed". Under questioning by the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Mr Miliband said publishing earlier guidelines could "give succour to our enemies" and that the rules had only become "more formal" after 2004. The Prime Minister promised to publish the current rules last March.

CIA pushing Obama to uphold torture secrecy 17 Jun 2009 The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is urging President Barack Obama to forestall efforts aimed at releasing parts of confidential torture memos seen as 'damaging.' According to US media, CIA is endeavoring to cover up large sections of a 2004 internal report that depicts officers administering "degrading" interrogation techniques to detainees held on suspicions of 'terror' activities.

US funds terror groups to sow chaos in Iran --America is secretly funding militant ethnic separatist groups in Iran in an attempt to pile pressure on the government. 25 Feb 2007 CIA officials are understood to be helping opposition militias among the numerous ethnic minority groups clustered in Iran's border regions. The operations are controversial because they involve dealing with movements that resort to terrorist methods terrorists in pursuit of their grievances against the Iranian regime. In the past year there has been a wave of unrest in ethnic minority border areas of Iran, with bombing and assassination campaigns against soldiers and government officials... Funding for their separatist causes comes directly from the CIA's classified budget but is now "no great secret", according to one former high-ranking CIA official in Washington who spoke anonymously to The Sunday Telegraph. His claims were backed by Fred Burton, a former US state department counter-terrorism agent, who said: "The latest attacks inside Iran fall in line with US efforts to supply and train Iran's ethnic minorities to destabilise the Iranian regime." [Let's see. If Iran 'dealt with movements that resorted to terrorist methods' against the US, the US would have declared war on Iran in what, five pico-seconds? And, LieberBush/Boner (Boehner) would be yelping for Obama's impeachment because five pico-seconds would not be quick enough. --LRP]

US seeking 'international front' against Iran 17 Jun 2009 The United States has raised the idea of an 'international front' against, what it has long been referring to as, 'wrongful' pursuits on the part of Iran. On Wednesday, US Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn depicted the formation that included Russian surveillance structures. "We are exploring the cooperation with the Russians," he said.

Iran TV Accuses U.S. of 'Intolerable' Meddling as Protesters Hit the Streets Again 17 Jun 2009 Supporters of Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi are marching again on the streets of Tehran today, state [as opposed to corporate] TV reported. It's the fifth consecutive day of protests since last week's controversial presidential election... Also today, Iranian state TV accused the United States of "intolerable" meddling in its internal affairs, The Associated Press reported. The statement echoes Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim over the weekend that the foreign media is engaged in psychological warfare against the Iranian people.

White House: US not meddling in Iran's affairs 17 Jun 2009 The US has dismissed the remarks made by Iran that the White House is interfering in the country's internal affairs by commenting on the election dispute. Earlier, Iran summoned the Swiss envoy to Tehran, who represents US interests, to protest against "interfering remarks" by US officials on last week's presidential election, Iran's state-run television reported. [See: US funds terror groups to sow chaos in Iran 25 Feb 2007 and US seeking 'international front' against Iran 17 Jun 2009.]

Sarkozy says Iran election a 'fraud' [He should know.] 17 Jun 2009 As the landslide victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran's disputed election provoked unrest, French President Nicolas Sarkozy denounces the result of Friday's vote as a "fraud." "The extent of the fraud is proportional to the violent reaction," Sarkozy said Tuesday. "It is a tragedy, but it is not negative to have a real-opinion movement that tries to break its chains." [And, where was Sarkozy when Bush bin Laden stole *two* presidential 'elections' in the US? Oh, that's right. Sarkozy -- and 99% of the US media -- were burrowing as deep as possible up Bush's butt. --LRP]

Iran's marine mammals endangered 17 Jun 2009 An Iranian conservationist has warned that the country's marine mammals are in danger since there is no expert in the field. Various kinds of dolphins and other marine mammals have died in Iranian waters as the country lacks experts in this field, Hashem Dakhteh told Mehr news agency on Tuesday... Previous studies showed that water pollution with contaminants and pesticides such as DDT and PCBs put marine wildlife at risk and involve very serious side effects for them.

'Israel hatching new plot in ME' 17 Jun 2009 Hezbollah leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah says the recent speech by Israel's Prime Minister suggests that the regime is hatching a new "plot" against the region. "What is happening in the region is a US-Israeli plan. There is a scheme with a clear division of roles between the US and Israel to divide the Arab region," Nasrallah said on Wednesday.

Iraq makes arrests after Sunni leader's murder 17 Jun 2009 Iraqi authorities have arrested several people who may be connected to the murder of a Sunni Muslim politician, officials said on Wednesday... Harith al-Ubaidi, head of the biggest Sunni bloc in parliament and a leading human rights advocate, was shot dead at a mosque in west Baghdad after Friday prayers. As Ubaidi was a leading rights defender, in particular of Iraqi prisoners, some fellow politicians have tried to point the finger at other potential culprits, such as Interior Ministry officials.

U.S. to issue new uniforms for troops in Afghanistan 18 Jun 2009 The U.S. House of Representatives has required the Pentagon to issue new uniforms for troops in Afghanistan after hearing complaints that camouflage that was fine in Iraq doesn't work well in Afghanistan. The requirement was included in a 106-billion-U.S.-dollar war funding bill which passed the House on Tuesday night, the Military Times reported on Wednesday.

N.S.A.'s Pinwale Examines Large Volumes of US E-mail Messages Without Court Warrants --E-Mail Surveillance Renews Concerns in Congress 17 Jun 2009 The National Security Agency is facing renewed scrutiny over the extent of its domestic surveillance program, with critics in Congress saying its recent intercepts of the private telephone calls and e-mail messages of Americans are broader than previously acknowledged, current and former officials said. A former N.S.A. analyst who, in a series of interviews, described being trained in 2005 for a program [Pinwale] in which the agency routinely examined large volumes of Americans’ e-mail messages without court warrants. Two intelligence officials confirmed that the program was still in operation.

Audit Finds U.S. Overpaid Blackwater By $55 Million 17 Jun 2009 A government audit found that the State Department overpaid the contract-security firm once known as Blackwater Worldwide by tens of millions of dollars because the company failed to properly staff its teams in Iraq. The report said the State Department should have withheld at least $55 million in payments to the company because of the shortfalls.

KBR Should Refund U.S. Payments for War Insurance, Auditors Say 16 Jun 2009 KBR Inc., the largest U.S. contractor in Iraq, should be pressed to return part of $27.6 million the Pentagon paid for the company’s war insurance premiums in 2003, according to Pentagon auditors. The Defense Contract Audit Agency recommended contracting officials begin withholding payments on future contracts if KBR doesn’t provide paperwork documenting that the insurance premium billings in 2003 were reasonable.

CIA Fights Disclosure of Interrogation Report --White House Urged to Maintain Secrecy 17 Jun 2009 The CIA is pushing the Obama administration to maintain the secrecy of significant portions of a comprehensive internal account of the agency's interrogation program, according to two intelligence officials. The officials say the CIA is urging the suppression of passages describing in graphic detail how the agency handled its detainees, arguing that the material could damage ongoing counterterrorism operations by laying bare sensitive intelligence procedures and methods.

Obama, Lee warn North Korea; missile on the move 17 Jun 2009 The leaders of South Korea and the United States told North Korea to drop its atomic ambitions and stop threatening the region while media reports on Wednesday said Pyongyang was moving ahead with plans to launch a long-range missile. After a summit with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Washington on Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama said a nuclear-armed North Korea would pose a "grave threat" to the world. [Yes, only certain nuclear-armed countries are 'grave threats' to the world. Allies of the US -- albeit nuclear armed -- do not pose a 'grave threat' to the world.]

DHS Conducts Continuity of Operations Exercise (DHS) 17 Jun 2009 The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducted an exercise to test the readiness and capabilities of federal departments and agencies--coordinating with the White House--to execute their Continuity of Operations (COOP) plans today. The exercise, known as Eagle Horizon, is a mandatory annual exercise for all executive branch departments and agencies coordinated by DHS through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its National Continuity Programs (NCP) Directorate... Emergency Relocation Group members were sent by their respective agencies to pre-planned alternate locations and asked to implement COOP procedures.

President Obama Calls on Americans to Serve --Unveils 'United We Serve' Initiative to Be Led by Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps) 17 Jun 2009 President Obama called on all Americans to help in our nation's recovery by volunteering in their communities this summer in a video message released today by the White House and the Corporation for National and Community Service... The United We Serve initiative kicks off on June 22, and runs for 81 days through a new National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11.

Air France crash: autopsies suggest plane broke up in air 17 Jun 2009 Multiple fractures on the bodies of victims of the Air France disaster suggest the plane broke up in the air, post mortem results have revealed. In the latest sign that Flight 447 was no longer intact when it plunged into the Atlantic, medical examiners said the bodies had multiple fractures of legs, hips and arms. Such injuries could mean the plane broke apart in air, forensic experts said. Bodies and debris would be severely fragmented if the jet crashed intact.

New H1N1 strain found 17 Jun 2009 Brazilian scientists have identified a new strain of the H1N1 virus after examining samples from a patient in Sao Paulo, their institute said on Tuesday. The variant has been called A/Sao Paulo/1454/H1N1 by the Adolfo Lutz Bacteriological Institute, which compared it with samples of the A(H1N1) swine flu from California. The genetic sequence of the new sub-type of the H1N1 virus was isolated by a virology team lead by one of its researchers, Terezinha Maria de Paiva, the institute said in a statement.

Another 150 swine flu cases for UK 16 Jun 2009 More than 150 new cases of swine flu have been confirmed today, after English health officials detected the largest number of cases in a single day in the Birmingham area. The Health Protection Agency said 141 cases were found, with 124 of those in the West Midlands, the region with the largest swine flu outbreak in England. A further case appeared in Northern Ireland.

Libya records 13 cases of bubonic plague 17 Jun 2009 Thirteen cases of bubonic plague have been recorded in eastern Libya, near the border with Egypt, Health Minister Mohamad Hijazi told AFP on Wednesday. "Thirteen cases of the plague have been recorded in a village 30 kilometres (20 miles) away from Tobruk. Eleven people have already (been treated and) left hospital," he said, without reporting any deaths. Libyan media have spoken of between one and three fatalities.

Obama blasts right-wing Fox News 17 Jun 2009 US President Barack Obama has denounced the far-right television network, Fox News, for an adversarial stance against his administration. Speaking on America's CNBC, the US president slammed the hard-line TV channel, noting, "I've got one television station that is entirely devoted to attacking my administration ... that's a pretty big megaphone. You'd be hard pressed if you watched the entire day to find a positive story about me on that front."

US hate crimes spike 17 Jun 2009 The election of Mr Barack Obama as the first African-American US president, the financial crisis and immigration have formed a lethal cocktail leading to a spike in hate crimes, rights leaders warned on Tuesday. 'This toxic combination of the financial crisis, a significant political change, and concern about shifting demographics has created what could be a combustible combination,' Mr Wade Henderson, head of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, told reporters.

Bachmann Boasts About Breaking The Law: I'm Refusing to Fill Out the Census By By Ali Frick 17 Jun 2009 Next year, the 2010 Census will be sent to every American household, as required by the U.S. Constitution. The far right has issued dire warnings of the Census; on a May 29th episode of Bill Bennett’s radio show, RNC Chairman Michael Steele intoned, "Certainly the collection of this information is going to be part of an ongoing political campaign by this administration." In an interview with the Washington Time’s right-wing radio show this morning, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) declared that she would break the law and refuse to answer the Census questions, beyond noting the number of people in her household.

Obama pushes reform to restore investor confidence --Obama envisions Federal Reserve as risk regulator 17 Jun 2009 President Barack Obama will lay out on Wednesday his vision for reshaping U.S. financial regulation, aiming to tighten oversight of the largest firms whose excessive risk-taking triggered a global recession. The proposals will include closing one bank regulator and creating new overseers for big-picture economic risk and consumer financial product safety, according to a document detailing the administration's proposal.

Gas prices rise for 50th straight day 17 Jun 2009 Retail gas prices climbed for the 50th straight day Wednesday, the longest streak in records dating to 1996, even as benchmark crude fell for the fourth day in a row. A surge in crude prices during the past few months and less production from the refiners that make gasoline [and corpora-terrorists' unbridled greed] has added even more pressure on prices.

Obama Signs Same Sex Benefits Memorandum --President Announces Extension of Benefits to Fed. Employees' Same-Sex Partners 17 Jun 2009 President Obama, who has come under heavy fire from gay rights groups in recent weeks, this evening signed a presidential memorandum that extends certain benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. The president said the move "paves the way for long-overdue progress in our nation's pursuit of equality," though he acknowledged "this is only one step."

Bear necessity to move Mercedes 16 Jun 2009 An appeal has been launched to help a polar bear in Edinburgh move home. The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland said it needs £50,000 to move Mercedes from Edinburgh Zoo to the Highland Wildlife park. Original estimates put the cost of a new enclosure at £300,000 but a team of soldiers helped build the enclosure, which reduced the cost to £75,000. The society has also raised £25,000 through donations but still needs another £50,000.

Soldiers build polar bear's home --A team of territorial soldiers, usually charged with building army bases in Afghanistan, is making a home for the UK's only polar bear. [Awesome!] 19 May 2009 The 75 Engineer Regiment are working on a four-acre enclosure for Mercedes at the Highland Wildlife Park, Kingussie. Mercedes is moving from her current home at Edinburgh Zoo later this year. Costs for building Mercedes' home will be a quarter of the £300,000 originally estimated, thanks to the team of 80 soldiers.

Previous lead stories: Approves $106B Supplemental War, Vaccine Spending Bill --Wasted billions includes $7.7 for pharma-terrorists' flu vaccines 16 Jun 2009 The House has narrowly approved a $106 billion bill to ensure financing for war operations in Iraq and Afghanistan over the coming months. The vote was 226-202. The measure contains about $80 billion to fund defense activities in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of September. It also contains some $10 billion for foreign aid, $7.7 billion to 'combat' the flu pandemic, and $1 billion in rebates for consumers who turn in their old cars for more fuel-efficient models. [The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results.]

Newly Released Detainee Statements Provide More Evidence of CIA Torture Program --CIA Continues to Suppress Information From Detainee Tribunals With Heavy Redactions (ACLU) 15 Jun 2009 The CIA today released still-highly redacted documents in which Guantánamo Bay prisoners describe abuse and torture they suffered in CIA custody. The documents were released as part of an American Civil Liberties Union Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit seeking uncensored transcripts from Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) that determine if prisoners held by the Defense Department at Guantánamo qualify as "enemy combatants." In previously released versions of the documents, the CIA had removed virtually all references to the abuse of prisoners in their custody; the documents released today are still heavily blacked out but include some new information.

Accused 9/11 mastermind: 'I make up stories' 15 Jun 2009 Accused al Qaeda [al-CIAduh] mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed complained that interrogators tortured lies out of him, according to newly released sections of government transcripts. ''I make up stories,'' Mohammed said at one point in his 2007 hearing at Guantánamo Bay. In broken English, he described an interrogation in which he was asked the location of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. ''Where is he? I don't know,'' Mohammed said. 'Then he torture me. Then I said, 'Yes, he is in this area or this is al Qaeda which I don't know him.' I said no, they torture me.'' Yet at the same military tribunal hearing, Mohammed ticked off a list of 29 terror plots in which he took part.


A red-tailed hawk flies over the Old Executive Office Building with an American flag behind it in Washington Tuesday, June 16, 2009.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Miami man accused of killing and mutilating 19 cats was released on bond Wednesday after a judge ruled he posed no danger

Recent Yellowstone National Park earthquakes and Old Faithful live web cam link - June 17, 2009

Live webcam at Old Faithful link: http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/oldfaithfulcam.htm
Cave Editor's Note: Scroll down below map at earthquake link to view listing at http://www.seis.utah.edu/req2webdir/recenteqs/Maps/Yellowstone.html


Update time = Wed Jun 17 15:00:05 MDT 2009
Here are the earthquakes appearing on this map, most recent at top ...

 MAG    DATE    LOCAL-TIME  LAT     LON    DEPTH    LOCATION
y/m/d h:m:s deg deg km

 1.0  2009/06/17 06:56:29 44.726N 111.302W  1.0   17 km (11 mi) WNW of  West Yellowstone, MT
1.0 2009/06/15 04:44:52 44.622N 110.682W 3.7 34 km (21 mi) E of West Yellowstone, MT
1.2 2009/06/14 13:06:46 44.411N 110.308W 7.6 69 km (43 mi) ESE of West Yellowstone, MT
0.4 2009/06/12 23:36:29 44.122N 110.557W 2.5 54 km (33 mi) NE of Alta, WY
0.4 2009/06/12 08:34:10 44.779N 111.171W 9.3 14 km ( 9 mi) NNW of West Yellowstone, MT
0.3 2009/06/12 07:18:54 44.770N 111.074W 9.1 12 km ( 8 mi) NNE of West Yellowstone, MT
1.3 2009/06/11 17:40:21 44.610N 110.363W 2.2 55 km (34 mi) SSE of Gardiner, MT
1.4 2009/06/11 12:31:36 44.350N 110.428W 8.5 64 km (40 mi) ESE of West Yellowstone, MT
1.3 2009/06/11 11:41:05 44.350N 110.433W 7.6 64 km (40 mi) ESE of West Yellowstone, MT
0.9 2009/06/11 00:25:38 44.614N 111.061W 8.7 6 km ( 4 mi) SE of West Yellowstone, MT

Recent Earthquakes in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois and New York States - Update time June 17, 2009 at 4:30pm CDT

Recent Earthquakes in Central US

All Earthquakes on Index Map

    MAG    DATE    LOCAL-TIME  LAT     LON    DEPTH    LOCATION
y/m/d h:m:s deg deg km
map 2.8  2009/06/16 11:32:46 35.890N 96.873W  5.0    1 km ( 0 mi) S   of Agra, OK
map 2.1 2009/06/16 09:58:14 35.726N 90.287W 10.7 5 km ( 3 mi) SE of Caraway, AR
MAP 3.4 2009/06/14 16:31:08 35.624N 96.854W 5.0 4 km ( 2 mi) WNW of Sparks, OK
map 1.8 2009/06/13 09:11:10 36.346N 89.501W 5.5 4 km ( 3 mi) SW of Tiptonville, TN
map 2.3 2009/06/13 04:52:08 37.648N 88.339W 4.3 8 km ( 5 mi) SSW of Equality, IL
map 1.9 2009/06/11 19:52:25 45.934N 74.938W 7.0 126 km (78 mi) N of Norfolk, NY

Hmmm?!$134.5 billion dollars worth of Smuggling Or Counterfeit-Printing ?


Date: Wednesday, 17-Jun-2009 14:00:26

Smuggling Or Counterfeit-Printing?

Ok, this was rumored several days ago, but now I can find actual news reports - at least, outside the US:

Milan (AsiaNews) - Italy's financial police (Guardia italiana di Finanza) has seized US bonds worth US 134.5 billion from two Japanese nationals at Chiasso (40 km from Milan) on the border between Italy and Switzerland. They include 249 US Federal Reserve bonds worth US$ 500 million each, plus ten Kennedy bonds and other US government securities worth a billion dollar each.

Those sound like Bearer Bonds - at least the Kennedy ones do.

We no longer issue those (nor does pretty much anyone else) for obvious reasons - they're essentially money and can be had in VERY large size, making them great vehicles for various illegal enterprises.

But folks: This is $134.5 billion dollars worth.

If they're real, what government (the only entity that would have such a cache) is trying to unload them?

If they're fake, this is arguably the biggest counterfeiting operation ever, by a factor of many times. I've seen news about various counterfeiting operations over the years that have made me chuckle, but this one, if that's what it is, is absolutely jaw-dropping.

The cute part of this is that if the certificates are real Italy just got a hell of a bonanza­their money laundering laws provide for a statutory 40% penalty for failure to declare instruments and cash in excess of $1 0,000 Euros, which means they'd garner a close-to-$40 billion dollar windfall.

That ought to help their budget problems!

Notice, by the way, that the US Media has totally ignored this story - even though the securities in question are allegedly US instruments.

Gee, I wonder why? Might the authorities know they're real and be just a wee bit nervous that disclosure of a sovereign attempting to covertly dump nearly $140 billion in debt could cause a wee bit of panic, given that we're running nearly $200 billion a month in deficits?

Inquiring minds want to know what's really going on here.

The American Empire Is Bankrupt

Cheney tied to cash theft and possible murder in Iraq

WashingtonPost.com | Lawmakers for new Health Care Bill have personal Investments to protect

News Updates from Citizens For Legitimate Government | 17 Jun 2009

N.S.A.'s Pinwale Examines Large Volumes of US E-mail Messages Without Court Warrants --E-Mail Surveillance Renews Concerns in Congress 17 Jun 2009 The National Security Agency is facing renewed scrutiny over the extent of its domestic surveillance program, with critics in Congress saying its recent intercepts of the private telephone calls and e-mail messages of Americans are broader than previously acknowledged, current and former officials said. A former N.S.A. analyst who, in a series of interviews, described being trained in 2005 for a program [Pinwale] in which the agency routinely examined large volumes of Americans’ e-mail messages without court warrants. Two intelligence officials confirmed that the program was still in operation.

Audit Finds U.S. Overpaid Blackwater By $55 Million 17 Jun 2009 A government audit found that the State Department overpaid the contract-security firm once known as Blackwater Worldwide by tens of millions of dollars because the company failed to properly staff its teams in Iraq. The report said the State Department should have withheld at least $55 million in payments to the company because of the shortfalls.

New H1N1 strain found 17 Jun 2009 Brazilian scientists have identified a new strain of the H1N1 virus after examining samples from a patient in Sao Paulo, their institute said on Tuesday. The variant has been called A/Sao Paulo/1454/H1N1 by the Adolfo Lutz Bacteriological Institute, which compared it with samples of the A(H1N1) swine flu from California. The genetic sequence of the new sub-type of the H1N1 virus was isolated by a virology team lead by one of its researchers, Terezinha Maria de Paiva, the institute said in a statement.

SteveQuayle.com | Hot Headlines - June 17, 2009

Swine Flu Vaccination Poses Serious Threat to Your Health AP Interview: Kids May Be First to Get Swine Flu Vaccine
Medvedev Calls for New Reserve Currencies
California's Hard Times Driving People Back to the 'Dust Bowl'
U.S. Mortgage Applications Plunge to Near Seven-Month Low
IRS Moves to Ban Tax Returns Filed By All But ‘Experts’
The Hammer Drops
That Worrying Wall of Debt
Judgment Day: Broke California Faces Shutdown at Arnie Schwarzenegger’s Hands
Giant Volcano Smoldering Under the Sea of Santorini 'Teenage' Andes Could Collapse Costa Rica Issues Alert Level 3 as Arenal Volcano Spews Vapor Who is the Real Newt Gingrich? Part 1 The Arctic Oil Rush
Evangelical Silence Empowers ADL 'Bullying'
AP Interview: Kids May Be First to Get Swine Flu Vaccine V - Upfront Trailer – video
Bottomless Pit Linked to Asperatus, Australia's Wandjina? March of the Killer Robots
Robotics Scientists And BSG Cast Members Agree, We're All Doomed - Battlestar Galactica

ProgressiveRailroading.com | Texas port to launch rail yard relocation project

This summer, the Port of Beaumont, Texas, expects to begin a long-planned rail yard relocation project.

The $16 million project, of which $12 million will be covered by federal grants, calls for creating a rail-car holding yard inside the port’s property, demolishing several tracks in the area and closing the current car holding area behind city hall. The port has been developing the project the past seven years.

The new yard is designed to store about 400 cars, more than triple the current yard’s 120-car capacity. Another yard south of the port near an ExxonMobil refinery will provide storage capacity for another 100 cars.

After the project’s completed in about two years, trains will enter the port from a Kansas City Southern Railway Co. (KCSR) line. The moves will take about 10 minutes to complete vs. one or two hours, according to the port, which is served by KCSR, BNSF Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad.

UniverseToday.com | The Case of the Missing Sunspots: Solved?

Emergency and Disaster Information Services (EDIS) | Current active volcanoes

Current active volcanoes
Name of Volcano Location Volcano Type Details
Status
ArenalCosta RicaStratovolcanoReadEruptionOrange
AsamaJapanComplex volcanoReadEruptionAlert Level 2
BezymiannyRussiaStratovolcanoReadEruptionYellow
ChaitenChileCalderaReadEruptionRed
ColimaMexicoStratovolcanoesReadEruptionOrange
DiengIndonesiaComplex volcanoReadEruptionAlert Level 2
FernandinaGalapagos IslandsShield volcanoReadEruptionOrange
FuegoGuatemalaStratovolcanoReadEruptionOrange
GalerasColombiaComplex volcanoReadEruptionAlert Level 3
Guagua PichinchaEcuadorStratovolcanoReadEruptionOrange
Jebel al-TairYemenStratovolcanoReadEruptionOrange
KarangetangIndonéziaStratovolcanoReadEruptionAlert Level 4
KilaueaUSAShield volcanoReadEruptionOrange
KoryakskyRussiaStratovolcanoReadEruptionYellow
KrakatauIndonesiaCalderaReadEruptionAlert Level 3
MakianIndonéziaStratovolcanoReadEruptionAlert Level 2
ManamPápua Új-GuineaStratovolcanoReadEruptionAlert Level 3
Miyake-JimaJapanStratovolcanoReadEruptionOrange
Mt. ErebusAntarcticaStratovolcanoReadEruptionOrange
Mt. EtnaItalyStratovolcanoesReadEruptionOrange
Ol Doinyo LengaiTanzaniaStratovolcanoReadEruptionYellow
PacayaGuatemalaComplex volcanoReadEruptionOrange
PoasCosta RicaStratovolcanoReadEruptionOrange
PopocatepetlMexicoStratovolcanoesReadEruptionYellow
RabaulPapua New-GuineaPyroclastic shieldReadEruptionAlert Level 2
RedoubtUSAStratovolcanoReadEruptionOrange
Rinjani
StratovolcanoReadEruptionAlert Level 2
Sakura-JimaJapánStratovolcanoReadEruptionAlert Level 2
Santa MariaGuatemalaStratovolcanoReadEruptionOrange
Sarychev PeakRussiaStratovolcanoReadEruptionRed
SemeruIndonesiaStratovolcanoReadEruptionAlert Level 2
SheveluchRussiaStratovolcanoReadEruptionOrange
SlametIndonéziaStratovolcanoReadEruptionAlert Level 3
Soufriere HillsMontserratStratovolcanoReadEruptionAlert Level 3
StromboliItalyStratovolcanoReadEruptionOrange
Suwanose-JimaJapanStratovolcanoReadEruptionOrange
TungurahuaEcuadorStratovolcanoReadEruptionOrange
UbinasPeruStratovolcanoReadEruptionOrange
YasurVanuatuStratovolcanoReadEruptionAlert Level 3

National Association of Radio-Distress Signalling and Infocommunications
Emergency and Disaster Information Services (EDIS)
Budapest Hungary

SolarCycle.com | Small new Cycle 24 sunspot has popped up high in latitude in the southern hemisphere of the sun - 17June09

Benjamin Fulford | The swine flu vaccine is designed to weaponize the H1N1 virus

Virus mix-up by lab could have resulted in pandemic

Baxter has been caught red handed nearly triggering pandemic, they are also moving ahead, together with allied pharma companies, with supplying the "vaccine" for pandemics

the criminal charges I filed against Baxter and WHO with the Austrian police (in German) but with an English translation partially

The swine flu vaccine is designed to weaponize the H1N1 virus

A journalist in Austria has forwarded proof that the anti-swine flu vaccine they are trying to mandatorily make everyone take is actually designed to weaponize the H1N1 virus and kill billions of people. We issue a warning to all Medical associations and WHO staff: if you try to proceed with this plan you will be labeled as enemies of humanity and there will be a bounty placed on each of you.

THE POWER HOUR NEWS | June 17, 2009

FDA: Zicam nasal spray can cause loss of smell -- Consumers should stop using Zicam Cold Remedy nasal gel and related products because they can permanently damage the sense of smell, federal health regulators said Tuesday.

Shuttle launch delayed until July due to gas leak -- For the second time in less than a week, a hydrogen gas leak on shuttle Endeavour's fuel tank early Wednesday forced a launch delay, pushing the space station construction mission into July.

ABC TURNS PROGRAMMING OVER TO OBAMA; NEWS TO BE ANCHORED FROM INSIDE WHITE HOUSE -- On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care -- a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm! Highlights on the agenda: ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.

House passes $106 billion war funding bill -- War-funding legislation survived a fierce partisan battle in the House on Tuesday, a major step in providing commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan the money they would need for military operations in the coming months.

Schools put on notice they may be turned into shot clinics -- Schoolchildren could be first in line for swine flu vaccine this fall — and schools are being put on notice that they might even be turned into shot clinics. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday she is urging school superintendents around the country to spend the summer preparing for that possibility, if the government goes ahead with mass vaccinations.

Swine flu vaccine poses serious threat to your health -- If they attempt to force these untested and essentially experimental vaccinations on you, cite the Nuremberg Code, which states: “The voluntary consent of the human subject is essential.” No experimental vaccine should be “conducted where there is an a priori reason to believe that death or disabling injury will occur, except, perhaps, in those experiments where the experimental physicians also serve as a subjects.

Brazil finds NEW strain of H1N1 virus -- Brazilian scientists have identified a new strain of the H1N1 virus after examining samples from a patient in Sao Paulo, their institute said Tuesday. The variant has been called A/Sao Paulo/1454/H1N1 by the Adolfo Lutz Bacteriological Institute, which compared it with samples of the A(H1N1) swine flu from California.

Purifier device developed that can wipe out bird & swine flu viruses -- British scientists have developed a revolutionary machine which can wipe out swine and bird flu, it has been revealed. The purifier device, which can be installed in hospitals, planes, offices and even homes, was found to be 99 percent effective in tests to kill airborne bacteria. Read More...

Florida tent city offers hope to homeless -- Church-run camp boasts food hall, showers, laundry room, computers. The Pinellas Hope camp, 250 single-person tents in neat rows on land owned by the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg in a wooded area north of the city, has been filled to capacity since it opened two years ago.

Every vehicle in Mexico to get RFID sticker tags for registration & tolling -- Mexican toll and motor vehicle registry authorities are cooperating to deploy sticker tags on the windshield of every vehicle in the country. (it's coming here too)

Retailers head for exits in Detroit -- No national grocery store chains left in city & you have to leave town to buy a Chrysler or a Jeep. Lately, they are finding it increasingly tough to buy groceries or get a cup of fresh-roast coffee as the 11th largest U.S. city struggles with the recession and the auto-industry crisis.

Promises, promises - Indian health care victims -- On some reservations, the oft-quoted refrain is "don't get sick after June," when the federal dollars run out. It's a sick joke, and a sad one, because it's sometimes true, especially on the poorest reservations where residents cannot afford health insurance. Officials say they have about half of what they need to operate, and patients know they must be dying or about to lose a limb to get serious care.

US credit card defaults rise to record in May -- U.S. credit card defaults rose to record highs in May, with a steep deterioration of Bank of America Corp's lending portfolio, in another sign that consumers remain under severe stress.

Polio vaccine victim wins lawsuit against big pharma -- A New York jury has concluded that pharmaceutical company Lederle Laboratories was responsible for the injury to a man who contracted polio from a vaccine 30 years ago, and ordered it to pay him $22.5 million.

Cash to become extinct as chips take off -- CASH is accelerating down the path to extinction as new technologies threaten to mark the end of loose change within a decade. Bank and credit union bosses say cash won't be alone, with wallets and credit cards also likely to disappear too.

Agent Orange continues to poison Vietnam -- Animals that inhabited the forests and jungles have become extinct, disrupting the communities that depended on them. The rivers and underground water in some areas have also been contaminated. Erosion and desertification will change the environment, contributing to the warming of the planet and dislocation of crop and animal life. An estimated 3 million Vietnamese people were killed in the war, which also claimed 58,000 American lives. For many other Vietnamese and U.S. veterans and their families, the war continues to take its toll.

Media smearing of truth movement reaching a crescendo -- Despite recent breakthroughs, media continues to paint 9/11 truthers, others as dangerous terrorists.

Microbe found two miles under Greenland ice is reawakened from a 120,000-year sleep -- A tiny purple bug that has been buried under nearly two miles of ice for 120,000 years has been revived in a lab. The unusual bacterium was found deep within a Greenland ice sheet and scientists believe it holds clues to how life might survive on other planets. Researchers coaxed the dormant frozen microbes, back to life by carefully warming the ice samples containing them over a period of 11-and-a-half months.

Smart car? This one knows when you've had a stroke -- BMW is building the ultimate nanny machine — a car that will safely guide itself to a stop and notify the authorities if the driver suffers a heart attack, stroke or other medical emergency and can no longer drive.

Indigenous genocide in battle for oil fields -- IT HAS been called the world's second "oil war" but the only similarity between Iraq and events in the jungles of northern Peru over the past few weeks has been the mismatch of force. On one side have been police armed with automatic weapons, tear gas, helicopter gunships and armoured cars. On the other are several thousand Awajun and Wambis Indians, many of them in war paint and armed with bows and arrows, and spears.

US video game sales fall 23% in May -- Market researcher NPD Group says U.S. video gamers spent less on games, hardware and accessories in May compared with a year ago.

A stunning graph of world cement production and China is certainly using a lot of it -- Cement is mainly used to make concrete, and is sort of the "active ingredient" in concrete - it is combined with sand and gravel in roughly fixed proportions. So cement production can be considered a rough proxy for the total amount of construction going on in a country.

Freak Beijing storm turns day into night -- China correspondent Stephen McDonell and ABC cameraman Rob Hill saw day turn into night as a freak storm swept across the capital Beijing today.

The dark side of Plan Columbia -- On May 14 Colombia's attorney general quietly posted notice on his office's website of a public hearing that will decide the fate of Coproagrosur, a palm oil cooperative based in the town of Simití in the northern province of Bolívar.