Saturday, December 12, 2009

20 Years Of The Simpsons



When the show started, the writers were guys in their early thirties who saw themselves as Bart and their fathers as Homer; now they are in their late forties and identify with Homer. That's why we have more stories with Homer now.

Sunday, 13 December 2009

Patric Verrone, one of the show's former writers, recalls how a series of 60-second shorts turned The Simpsons into a global television phenomenon.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/20-years-of-the-simpsons-1839329.html

LewRockwell.com | Weekend Edition, December 12-13, 2009



It's Time To Leave Afghanistan
Now, Ron Paul tells Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
The Future of Gold and the Dollar
Peter Schiff shares his insights.
'Security Breaches'
Becky Akers on another path to the total state.
Stranded in Houston
Fred Reed is rescued by an Italian restaurant.
Obama of Wall Street
He's owned by the plutocracy. Article by Matt Taibbi.
Stay Away From US Stocks and Bonds
Gold? Jim Rogers wouldn't think of selling it.
Looternomics
Make that Obamanomics, says Tim Carney.
A 'Prepared' Christmas
Teach survival skills with thoughtful, practical gifts.
Men and Women Must Never Shop Together
'Evolution' explains it, claim scientists.
It's Boom Time for the Feds
Bust time for the tax slaves.
Is it the End of the World?
Nothing to see here, move along, says WaPo.
Maintain Your Body's Critical Waste Filters
Margaret Durst on natural care for your hard-working kidneys.

Antelope are roaming Cheyenne, Wyoming neighborhoods early this year in search of food and shelter



Weather pushes big game into city



CHEYENNE - The pronghorns are in town early this year.

While it is not unusual for pronghorn antelope to come into Cheyenne and Laramie during the winter, folks at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department said it is unusual for it to happen this early in the winter weather season.

They are, of course, looking for food and shelter, which is more readily available in town than out on the wind-blown plains.

Antelope have created some traffic hazards in Cheyenne.

"People just need to take their time and be careful" when they spot antelope on or near the street, said Cheyenne police Sgt. Nathan Buseck.

There haven't been any accidents, he said, and any traffic problems with the pronghorns have been "very minor" so far.

He said antelope have been in the area of Miller Elementary. A group have been roaming the neighborhood between Eighth Avenue and Pershing Boulevard and Evans and Central avenues.

In one subdivision in Laramie, more than 100 antelope have been chewing on trees and tall grass, according to The Associated Press.

"Wildlife are best enjoyed from a distance," said Bob Lanka, a regional information and education supervisor for the Game and Fish Department.

That is the first thing to keep in mind.

Approaching wildlife raises their metabolic rate and results in more energy being expended during a time when they need it.

The early cold weather has likely caused a higher rate of mortality among the pronghorns already, he said, though there is no data yet.

There are no laws against feeding big-game animals that wander into the city, said Scott Smith, city spokesman.

But feeding wild big-game animals is not a good idea, Lanka said.

Feeding concentrates wildlife, enhancing the spread of disease, attracting predators and diminishing the fear of people so that they may become more aggressive. Improper food also can cause illness or death.

For those who want to help decrease big-game mortality in winter, Lanka suggests:

-- Keep your distance and leave wildlife alone.

-- Keep pets confined and do not allow them to chase wildlife.

-- Slow your vehicle down, especially on icy roads and at dawn and dusk. Big-game animals forage near roads and regularly cross them in search of food.

-- Make fences as wildlife friendly as possible by allowing animals to move either over or under more easily.

The department has a brochure on fencing and wildlife available at regional offices.

-- Consider having one pasture where livestock will be confined in winter and leaving the rest of your gates open so that wildlife can move through if you own a ranch.

-- Pick up bailing twine, loose wire and other things wildlife may become entangled in.

http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2009/12/11/featured_story/01top_12-11-09.txt

Flying Through Thunderstorm Equivalent to Getting 400 Chest X-rays?


December 12, 2009

Here's one that motivates me, Miss Wanderlust, to pack away my passport and more seriously consider that staycation.

Recent findings from scientists at the Florida Institute of Technology, UC Santa Cruz and the University of Florida are estimating that airplane passengers and crews traveling through just one thunderstorm of lightening-emitted X-rays, gamma rays and high-energy electrons could be exposed to radiation amounts equal to 400 chest X-rays--the maximum safe radiation exposure over a person's lifetime. Ouch.

How often does this shocking phenomenon occur? They're uncertain.

Joe Dwyer, professor of physics and space sciences at Florida Tech said,

"We know that commercial airplanes are typically struck by lightning once or twice a year. What we don't know is how often planes happen to be in just the right place or right time to receive a high radiation dose. We believe it is very rare, but more research is needed to answer the question definitively."

Another variable in the on-going study is that the scientists didn't measure the radiation using airplanes but used satellite and ground-based observations.

This would leave a little more room for hope, but as it turns out, all airplane passengers are apparently exposed to slightly elevated radiation levels due to cosmic rays.

Macroeconomic Equalibria, Globalist Agenda, and You


Globalists underestimate the American spirit. We are a people who will bear much, but cannot bear injustice for long. We will sacrifice much but will not allow the theft of our liberty; we will not stand silently while the future of our nation is left in tatters for future generations. When this occurs it has been corrected. That correction is happening......
http://www.newswithviews.com/Graham/cj120.htm
by C.J. Graham

EMERGENCY ANTI-ESCALATION RALLY | No Escalation • End the Wars • Bring Our Troops Home | Sat Dec. 12, 2009 • 11am-4pm • Washington DC

EMERGENCY ANTI-ESCALATION RALLY
Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 • 11am-4pm • Washington DC

Latest flyer | Press Release | Rally Guide | facebook group/event

Tell Obama & Congress: "NO, YOU CAN'T!"
No Escalation • End the Wars • Bring Our Troops Home

Lafayette Square | White House
Metro: Farragut West or Farragut North


Speakers: Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Rep. Cynthia McKinney, Ralph Nader, Sen. Mike Gravel, Kathy Kelly, Chris Hedges, David Swanson, Rev. Graylan Hagler, Gael Murphy, Brian Becker, Debra Sweet, Mathis Chiroux, Elaine Brower, Coy McKinney, Chioma Oruh, Lynne Williams, Hon. Betty Hall, Marian Douglas-Ungaro, Dr. Michael Knox, Ralph Lopez, David Zirin, Chris Towne, Cpt. Ron Fisher.

Plus: Statements from Rabbi Michael Lerner, Col. Ann Wright, Kevin Zeese, Dr. Stephen Zunes, Granny D (turning 100), Jared Ball, John Judge, Stephen Lendman, Kyle Galindez and Sarah-Jaine Szekeresh.

Please see Rally Guide for information on speakers.

Live Music: Jordan Page, Head-Roc, Emma's Revolution, Precise Science.




Under Obama-Pelosi-Reid, the US has already sent about 35,000 more troops into the Afghanistan graveyard of empires. Now, Obama has announced another round of re-enforcements—an Afghan surge of 30,000 additional GIs, thereby betraying his supporters on the left and ignoring the majority of Americans, 55% of whom disapprove of his handling of the war. Instead, Obama is taking the advice from the war party—from Petraeus, McChrystal, and Mullen. It's high time Obama, Pelosi, and Reid heard a clear message from a resurgent antiwar movement demanding no escalation and an immediate pullout of all US forces from Afghanistan and Iraq, including an immediate halt to Predator drone attacks and CIA operations in the region.


Come to the rally and let our united voices be heard!

http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=102877

'Obamaville' sign posted near Colorado Springs homeless camp


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Someone has put a lot of thought into a welcome sign that may surprise you, it's in front of a homeless camp off I-25 in Colorado Springs.


Its message, "Welcome to Obamaville, Colorado's fastest growing community." Despite repeated calls no one could answer the question, who put up the sign?


To some homeless the sign's message says enough. Mark Limonez, a homeless man living in "tent city", says the sign doesn't make him feel good about trying to get back on his feet. "Guys are trying to work but there's not enough work out there, so they go pan handling or flag a sign" Limonez says, "I've never seen so many camps since I've been out in the streets - there's no money."


There are no logos on the front of the sign and no clues to where it comes from.


http://www.kjct8.com/Global/story.asp?S=11658051

FloridaToday.com | Manatees dying at a record pace


FLORIDA TODAY • December 12, 2009 - A record 105 manatees died in Brevard County, Florida this year, almost twice as many as the next highest county and a quarter of the manatees to perish statewide.

Brevard has more habitat; therefore, more manatees tend to live and die here than in any other Florida county.

But biologists are worried about the high numbers that keep dying young. Along the Space Coast, almost half died within a year of birth.

Statewide, 413 sea cows have died this year, putting the species on pace to break the previous record of 417 deaths, set in 2006.

"It's virtually certain that's going to happen," said Pat Rose, executive director of Save the Manatee Club, an advocacy group based in Maitland. "I would love it if that did not happen."

Brevard's total surpassed the previous county record of 87 manatee deaths, also set in 2006, by 20 percent.

Thirteen died here because of cold snaps.

Boats killed six manatees, only 5 percent of the county's overall death toll, and 91 manatees statewide, or 22 percent.

But "perinatal" deaths topped the causes with 48 in Brevard, or 45 percent, and 114 statewide, about 28 percent.

Florida defines perinatal deaths as those that happen before the manatee grows to be 5 feet long -- typically, within a year of birth. The category can include deaths caused by complications with birth and disease.

Boaters against go-slow manatee zones attribute this year's high death toll to a growing manatee population. The record deaths came in the same year the state counted a record 3,802 manatees statewide. The boaters say slow zones do little to protect a species they see thriving.

Manatee conservationists chalk up the statewide deaths from boat strikes and record overall deaths as proof that the species is in peril.

Rose acknowledges that the record perinatal deaths in Brevard may be evidence of robust manatee numbers here.

"But it can't really explain the magnitude of that," he said. "I think it's a really bad year. You don't get these kind of spikes in perinatal deaths without something bad happening."
(2 of 2)

But state biologists don't know what that is. They, like Rose, say the high statewide perinatal deaths can't be explained by population growth alone.

The 101 perinatal deaths last year, however, represented an even higher portion of the overall deaths, almost 30 percent. A total of 337 manatees died statewide in 2008.

This year, the biggest portion of deaths deemed perinatal was in animals too decomposed to tell what killed them.

"It's really hard to say something really statistical about those perinatal deaths because they are really based on the size of the manatee, so it has a big mix of causes," said Martine DeWit, associate research scientist at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg.

This year's perinatal deaths in Brevard nearly tripled the previous 20-year average of about 17.

DeWit suspects that the increase may signify more manatees being born this year. But she stops short of declaring a "recovery."

"I wouldn't call it the species recovering. It could be that the population numbers are growing," she said. "That doesn't mean the population is recovering because there are so many threats to manatees."

Those include red tide, declining warm water springs and seagrass disappearance.

"The overall numbers are relatively high this year. And nothing is really jumping out. We didn't have a big red tide die-off this year," DeWit said. "But what was really obvious this year is that we had really strange cold weather peaks."

The state attributes 54 manatee deaths, about 13 percent, to cold stress in 2009, including 13 deaths in Brevard. That was the second highest on record in the county. The highest was 28 cold stress deaths in 1990.

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20091212/NEWS01/912120314/1006/Manatees+dying+at+a+record+pace

Roughly 1,000 workers at state-owned Codelco’s Chuquicamata copper mine (world's largest copper mine) in Chile block access to mine in protest


... “They want to buy our water, electricity, vacation time and each new worker that enters this company will only have a salary,” union leader Yuri Chavez said at one of the entrances to the mine.

“All the workers are with their labor leaders waiting for this stubborn management to understand that the benefits we’ve gained after years of struggle can’t be sold for a bit more money,” he added. ...


READ MORE:

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=348732&CategoryId=14094

Tens of Thousands of Spanish Union Members march in Madrid waving banners "Don't let them take advantage of the crisis"

Spanish unions march to protect pay, benefits

Tens of thousands of union members marched through the centre of Madrid today waving flags and holding banners denouncing plans to cut their pay and benefits to revive Spain's slumping economy.


"Don't let them take advantage of the crisis," read a banner draped on a podium where leaders of Spain's biggest unions said workers would not bear the brunt of efforts to restore competitiveness and economic growth in the country which has experienced a sharp downturn.


"The priority has to be the fight against unemployment," General Workers Union (UGT) leader Candido Mendez said.


He spoke beneath a historic arch now surrounded by roadworks as part of massive public works programmes which have given many workers jobs during the crisis.


Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has promised unions he will not accede to corporate calls to relax rigid labour laws, which business leaders say have helped push unemployment close to 20 percent.


But Zapatero has said he hopes unions and companies can reach a deal on improving workplace competitiveness by the first quarter of next year in government-sponsored talks.


Union leaders say they are in favour of the so-called "social dialogue" with business leaders.


But the demonstration, with marchers coming from all over Spain in hundreds of buses before gathering in the city's Independence Square, was to remind the government of the unions' power to get people out onto the streets if pushed too far.


Marchers carried placards protesting lost jobs and one group set up a stall for people to throw eggs at photographs of business and political leaders including Zapatero.


Mendez warned the prime minister not to cut government spending before the economy, which was long distorted by a now defunct property boom, had returned to health.


The gravity of the problem was underscored earlier this week when credit-rating agency Standard & Poor's said Spain had two years to get its fiscal house in order or it could face a debt downgrade.


http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091212/world-news/spanish-unions-march-to-protect-pay-benefits

BEIJING (Reuters) | Obama half-brother has been named "image ambassador" of his hometown of Shenzhen, China and had in Nov briefly met the US Pres


BEIJING (Reuters) - Sat Dec 12, 2009 - The half-brother of President Barack Obama has been named a "volunteer image ambassador" for the gritty southern Chinese city in which he lives, state media said on Saturday.

Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo, who had the same, late, father as the U.S. president, was also given a "five-star volunteer" award in a ceremony in Shenzhen on Friday, the official Guangzhou Daily said.

The newspaper added that Ndesandjo held a concert earlier this year to raise money for victims of last year's massive earthquake in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan.

Ndesandjo has kept a low public profile since reports surfaced last year that he was living and working in the southern Chinese manufacturing center of Shenzhen, around an hour's train ride from Hong Kong. He made a rare public appearance earlier in November in the nearby city of Guangzhou to launch a novel he said drew on his painful childhood under an abusive father.

He briefly met the U.S. president in November during Obama's visit to China.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BB0NG20091212?type=politicsNews


RELATED:

November 19, 2009:


" ... The President took time on the trip to meet his younger half-brother, who lives in China where he works as a piano teacher and runs a business in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen.


Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo seemed overwhelmed by the meeting. He said: “My big brother, you know I think he was on his way to see the President of China. He came directly off the plane, changed some clothes and then came down and saw us. He just gave me a big hug. It was so intense. I’m over the moon. My wife, I think she is still recovering.”


The younger man, who shares the same father with the US President, bought his tickets to fly to Beijing months ago, hoping to reconnect with his brother. The two last met in January when Mr Ndesandjo attended the President’s inauguration as a family guest.


He said that they had a long chat and he took the occasion to introduce Mr Obama to his wife, whom he married a year ago and who is a native of central Henan province ... "


Mr Ndesandjo, who emerged into the spotlight a few weeks ago to promote a novel he has written that draws on his own painful childhood with his abusive father, has lived in China for seven years.


Speaking to CNN, President Obama said that he didn’t know his half-brother very well but he did not feel Mr Ndesandjo was betraying private family details in his book. “It’s no secret that my father was a troubled person,” he said.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6921888.ece


Gulf Times | Shipping alert over massive iceberg - Dislodged from Antarctica about a decade ago before drifting north and twice the size of Hong Kong


Australian authorities have issued a shipping alert over a gigantic iceberg almost twice the size of Hong Kong island that is gradually approaching the country’s southwest coast.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the once-in-a-century cliff of ice, which dislodged from Antarctica about a decade ago before drifting north, was being monitored.

“Mariners are advised that at 1200 GMT on December 9, an iceberg 1,700km south-southwest of the West Australian coast was observed,” it said.

“The iceberg is 140sq km in area – 19km long by 8km.”

Experts believe the iceberg - known as B17B - is likely to break up as it enters warmer waters nearer Australia.
The iceberg has been floating around Antarctica since shearing off the icy continent but had lately begun heading north because of ocean currents and weather conditions.

Its discovery comes after two other large icebergs were spotted further east, off Australia’s Macquarie Island, followed by more than 100 smaller chunks heading towards New Zealand

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=331389&version=1&template_id=39&parent_id=21

Earthquakes hit Oklahoma and Colorado - Saturday December 12, 2009 at their epicenters

MAP 3.1 2009/12/12 11:34:06 35.537 -97.338 5.0 OKLAHOMA

December 12, 2009 Oklahoma Earthquake Details
Magnitude3.1
Date-Time
Location35.537°N, 97.338°W
Depth5 km (3.1 miles) set by location program
RegionOKLAHOMA
Distances
  • 4 km (3 miles) NE (42°) from Spencer, OK
  • 5 km (3 miles) N (350°) from Nicoma Park, OK
  • 5 km (3 miles) SW (234°) from Jones, OK
  • 19 km (12 miles) ENE (71°) from Oklahoma City, OK
  • 309 km (192 miles) N (351°) from Dallas, TX


MAP 3.0 2009/12/11 20:32:27 37.006 -105.219 5.0 COLORADO

Dec 11, 2009 Colorado Earthquake Details
Magnitude3.0
Date-Time
Location37.006°N, 105.219°W
Depth5 km (3.1 miles) set by location program
RegionCOLORADO
Distances
  • 28 km (18 miles) SE (140°) from San Luis, CO
  • 37 km (23 miles) NNE (26°) from Red River, NM
  • 47 km (29 miles) NE (45°) from Questa, NM
  • 150 km (93 miles) SSW (201°) from Pueblo, CO
  • 303 km (188 miles) S (184°) from Denver, CO

Mayon Volcano an active stratovolcano (in the province of Albay, in the Bicol Region, on the island of Luzon) in the Philippines is acting up again


December 12, 2009

LEGAZPI CITY—Mayon Volcano shook at least 29 times on Thursday, its highest recorded seismic activity this week and indicating it remained active, scientists said Friday.


Volcanologists were continuing to monitor the mountain for quakes and gas emissions in case it was ready to erupt, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.


The agency said seismic instruments had been detecting low- and high-frequency harmonic quakes, indicating magma was forming and climbing up the volcano’s vent.


Instruments had recorded 44 earthquakes that have rocked the volcano since Dec. 1, resident volcanologist Ed Laguerta said.


He said the volcano continued to disgorge sulfur dioxide, and that it had spat out 710 tons of the gas in the past 24 hours. The volcano had been spitting out 592 tons and up to 1,303 tons of sulfur dioxide in the past three days, Laguerta said.


Alert level 2 remains hoisted over Mayon volcano, meaning the six-kilometer permanent danger zone and the seven-kilometer extended danger zone are off limits to human activity.


http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=2009/december/12/news6.isx&d=/2009/december/12


RELATED:


Mayon Volcano, also known as Mount Mayon, is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay, in the Bicol Region, on the island of Luzon, in the Philippines.

Renowned as the "Perfect Cone" because of its almost perfectly conical shape, Mayon is situated 15 kilometres northwest of Legazpi City.


HiramCook YouTube Channel | Tea Light Stove - Vertical Wick - Boil Test 1 & 2

hiramcook



In this video I use a Tea Light stove lined inside with exhaust wrap to find out if this combo works for an application wawhiker has in mind.

Lab0098
Title: Tea Light Stove - Vertical Wick - Boil Test 1
Room temp: 51°
Humidity: 41%
Weather condition: Cloudy - Windy
Burner:Tea light cup lined with 1" tall exhaust wrap
Stove/Pot stand:Hardware cloth - 1/2" squares - 4 squares high
Pot: Standard #2 (Boy Scout pot)
Fuel: Denatured Alcohol (Ace)
Amount of fuel: 20 ml
Amount of water: 1 cup(s)
Water temp at start: 60°
Time to boil : 3 minutes 46 seconds
Time to run-out: 6 minutes 55 seconds
Water temp at run-out: NA
NA = Not Applicable

Norway Spiral Light 2009 EISCAT (video)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAiTgnZgniE





OK PEOPLE / OR SHEEPLE DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU THINK THIS IS LOL

AFTER I FIRST SAW THIS I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT OF HAARP. Then seeing all the attention from UFO poeple (which i have NO BONE TO PICK WITH) - and the fact that this thing is now the most viewed thing on Youtube, I have made this video to try and explain that this is the result of ELV WAVES - giga joules of energy being tranmitted and focusseed into the atmosphere.

Why now ? you may ask... Well its uncannt that this happens during COP15 - or have we forgotten about this ? Perhaps a LIVE demionstration for the delegates hmmm?

Well look it up do the research and don't believe some idiot saying its a UFO on a dupetube comment!

The Norwegian Version of this is called EISCAT.

YES its scary - and ? YES it has military applications!!!

There are definaitely links between these things and man made global warming!!!


EISCAT is an acronym for the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association. It operates three incoherent scatter radar systems, at 224 MHz, 931 MHz in Northern Scandinavia and one at 500 MHz on Svalbard, used to study the interaction between the Sun and the Earth as revealed by disturbances in the ionosphere and magnetosphere. At the Ramfjordmoen facility (near Tromsø, Norway) it also operates an ionospheric heater facility, similar to HAARP. Additional receiver stations are located in Sodankylä, Finland, and Kiruna, Sweden. The EISCAT Headquarters are also located in Kiruna.

EISCAT is funded and operated by research institutes and research councils of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Japan, China, the United Kingdom and Germany.


CaveNews YouTube Channel | Magnetosphere Update - December 11, 2009



Hallam, Nebraska's Prairieland Dairy - "all natural" promotion means the cows get no hormone injections or antibiotics


Prairieland on a roll in milk production

The "all natural" promotion of the product means the cows get no hormone injections to boost their milk production and no antibiotics in their feed.


HALLAM, NEBRASKA - Dec 12, 2009 - The management at Prairieland Dairy feeds its 1,500 cows distillers' grain from the Adams ethanol plant, leftover cereal mix from US Foods in Lincoln and something called "spent brewers grain" from the microbrewery operation at Lazlo's Brewery and Grill.

They make compost for springtime gardeners and all-natural eggnog for Christmas. They use odorless, tasteless seaweed as the binding agent in their chocolate milk. The cows move back and forth through a tunnel under the road.

And if seemingly endless innovation goes according to plan, Prairieland is on its way to selling every drop of the 12,000 gallons of milk it produces a day near Firth into the Lincoln market.

"Right now we're focused on Lincoln," said marketing director Terry Landes. "And if we could be Lincoln's hometown dairy, we'd be fine."

In their first year of processing and direct marketing, sales already have reached 6,000 gallons a week.

"We go in every day with the attitude it's going to happen," Landes said of the longer-term goal.

This isn't the first time the dairy plant 14 miles away at Hallam has been a launching pad for big dreams.

In 2006, smaller dairy farmers and business partners Rex DeFrain of Fairbury and Jerry Bond of Avoca carved out some space in the dairy section in Lincoln stores from the same processing point, using glass bottles for eye appeal and flavors as exotic as root beer.

It all came apart in 2008, largely because of their inability to find other farmers willing to break ranks with the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative and sell milk to their Legacy Dairy to keep up with demand.

Prairieland, formed earlier from dairy farms at Firth, Beatrice and Falls City, acquired the plant from the bank a year ago.

"All the milk comes from our farm," Landes said. "That's our approach."

Rather than trying to pry producers out of the DFA hierarchy, they remain in the DFA supply line themselves and buy back part of their own milk for the Hallam plant.

"It's a bit of an insurance policy," Landes said of the continuing DFA association.

But so far, there's nothing to suggest that the boom phase at Prairieland is about to go bust.

"The last three months, we've doubled every month," Landes said.

The product selection, all sold under the Prairieland label, is built around white and chocolate milk, cream and half-and-half. And the stores on the delivery list include such familiar names as Russ's, Hy-Vee and Ideal.

The "all natural" promotion of the product means the cows get no hormone injections to boost their milk production and no antibiotics in their feed.

The local origin of the milk supply is also a big selling point.

A Prairieland brochure features a woman in 1950-style attire working on her milk mustache and seemingly pondering the question printed just above her: "Do you know where your milk comes from?"

For all their innovative zeal, Prairieland partners would like to take their customers back to the days when the answer to that question was a lot clearer.

The idea of local food is no longer just a fad, Landes said. "We're beyond the fad standard. It's a fad like the Internet is a fad."

http://www.journalstar.com/business/local/article_e7880564-e6be-11de-98a7-001cc4c03286.html

Thousands of employees may not get paid - They work for Southern Illinois University (SIU)


CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Thousands of employees are on edge after hearing news they might not get a paycheck later this month. They work for Southern Illinois University, which is one of the region's largest employers.

The problem started in October, when the state fell behind on its payments to SIU. University leaders say they can't make anymore cuts and need $16 million in back payments with in a weeks time or they won't meet payroll at the end of Dec. This next week will determine if SIU will continue to operate smoothly or face very real and difficult cuts that will affect not only the employees, but the economy in the region ....

READ MORE:

http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/79012672.html


Friday, December 11, 2009

BusinessInsider.com | America's Partners Are Now Treating Us Like A Third-World Country

Dec. 11, 2009

Two recent stories regarding America and its global partners jump out to us:
  • In Germany they're freaking out because all the good manufacturing jobs are coming to America -- courtesy of our super-weak dollar.
  • And in China, they're slapping tarrifs on our steel, accusing us of dumping.

That's right.

The rest of the world now views us the way we, for decades, viewed the rest of the world. We complained about them getting our good manufacturing jobs, and dumping cheap-ass steel onto our shores, undercutting ours.

The world's so-called reserve currency has weakened to the point that we're regarded as a pesky third-world country, undermining developed mature economies.

Keep an eye out for this.

CIA canceled secret contract with the former Blackwater security firm that allowed the company's employees to load missiles on drones in Pakistan

WASHINGTON (AP) ―

Dec 11, 2009 5:30 pm US/Eastern

CIA Director Leon Panetta has canceled a secret contract with the former Blackwater security firm that had allowed the company's employees to load missiles on Predator drones in Pakistan.

A person familiar with the contract says Panetta canceled the contract earlier this year and the work is being transferred to government workers. The person spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the classified program.

A spokesman for the company now known as Xe Services was not immediately available for comment. The New York Times first reported the contract's existence in August.

The CIA's Predator program targets senior al Qaeda and Taliban in Pakistan's tribal area along the border with Afghanistan, but the agency has never confirmed its role in the operation.

http://cbs3.com/topstories/CIA.Blackwater.contract.2.1365127.html

Chicago News Bench | SPIRAL UFO IN CHINA SAME AS NORWAY



UPDATE, DEC 10, 2009: Russia admitted Thursday to another failed test of its much-touted Bulava intercontinental missile, after unusual lights were spotted from Norway across the border from the launch site. Story at WSJ.com with video... (Question: Why did Moscow initially deny that this was their missile?)

Alert: On the morning of December 9 there was an amazing "spiral UFO" seen in Norway (see "Videos of Bizarre 'Star Gate' Light Over Norway: Spiral UFO"). But we found a video (below) of a virtually identical incident in China. We also found a fascinating document (pdf) from the infamous Foreign Technology Division (DoD) with the enticing title "First UFO Incident For Our Country," authored by Long Ruyi (translated to English by Randy Dorsey), stamped October 7, 1983. Source: http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/ufo/ADA133326_UFO.pdf

The document's subtitle is "UFO incident causes sensation throughout half of China." On page 1 of the document, it's written that "According to the Chinese Association for UFO Research, such a huge spiral UFO has occurred at least three times in the last four years over northwest China. During the inquiry into these matters, three viewpoints have been formed: 'the metor theory', 'the aircraft theory', and 'the flying saucer theory'." (Emphasis added)





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ovni 332 China same spiral of Norway???
by tarpez666


Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government | 11 Dec 2009


Obama reaffirms Bush opposition to verifying stockpiles of anthrax, smallpox --In 2001, the Bush administration abruptly withdrew from lengthy negotiations to create a verification regimen. 09 Dec 2009 The Obama administration plans to announce a new policy on Wednesday to curb the spread of biological weapons, but it will reaffirm the Bush regime’s opposition to an international regimen for verifying stockpiles of anthrax, smallpox and other agents. The policy, to be disclosed in a speech in Geneva by the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, Ellen O. Tauscher, will focus on increasing health security to reduce the impact of outbreaks of infectious disease, whether natural or man-made, administration officials said Tuesday. The United States, these officials said, will pledge to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention, a 1975 treaty barring the development, production and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons. But Ms. Tauscher will declare that the Obama administration does not support efforts to create a mechanism for monitoring compliance with the treaty because, a senior administration official said, supplies of biological weapons are "too difficult to verify."

US rushing troops, supplies to Afghanistan By Dan De Luce 10 Dec 2009 Engineers are working furiously to prepare for a surge of troops and supplies into Afghanistan to carry out President Barack Obama's war plan, the top US military officer said. "The debate is over. The decision has been made. It is time to execute," Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a press conference in Washington. Hundreds of Marines would be in southern Helmand province next week, tonnes of supplies were due to be delivered and the military was "accelerating deployment plans for the rest of the extended surge forces," Mullen said.


Petraeus predicts intensified combat in Afghanistan 10 Dec 2009 'Progress' will come more slowly from the U.S. troop escalation in Afghanistan than it did during a similar move in Iraq, the top American commander in the Middle East told Congress on Wednesday, predicting intensified combat in coming months. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command, said Afghanistan was beset by problems that would challenge the new U.S. strategy, including government corruption, 'insurgent' sanctuaries along the Pakistani border and the strength of the Taliban movement.


Top U.N. official in Afghanistan to leave his post --The United Nations says Kai Eide's contract is expiring and that his exit is unrelated to a clash with his U.S. deputy over corruption in the Afghan government. 11 Dec 2009 The top United Nations official in Afghanistan, under criticism of not being tough enough with President Hamid Karzai over the issue of corruption, will not seek reappointment when his contract expires in March, the U.N. said today Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide is following through on his previous intention to leave when his two-year contract is finished, said U.N. spokesman Dan McNorton.


Wartime US President Picks Up His Peace Prize 10 Dec 2009 Honored for peace in a time of war, President Barack Obama is formally becoming a Nobel laureate under such odd circumstances that even he will make a point of it. In a ceremony in Oslo, the president on Thursday will receive his Nobel Peace Prize medal and diploma for his work to reshape the way the United States deals with the world. Yet he does so under the long shadow of Afghanistan, where he is ordering 30,000 more troops to war.


Special essay on the 'Obama Effect' by CLG Founder: 'They are war criminals in complicity with other war criminals.' The Obama Effect: The Demise of the Democratic Party and a Gift to the Country --The Rec Report By Michael Rectenwald 11 Dec 2009 Every last tissue of belief in the Democrats should by now be shred and cast aside. The Democrats are no less the corporate bailers and militarists than the Republicans. They hand trillions to the banks and brokerage firms; they dissolve union contracts and send the workers to the dogs; their unmanned drones bomb Pakistan, killing and maiming innocents and displacing tens of thousands; they sell the same lies about the wars-that they have to do with terrorism or democracy rather than oil and other resources-as their predecessors; they fund the very enemy that they claim to fight; they keep up the same contracts with Blackwater and its successors; they vote for the same war funding; they carry out the same secret renditions; they sanction and continue the same spying on US citizens; they exonerate torturers and war criminals from the previous administration; they are war criminals in complicity with other war criminals.


President Obama 'creating torture impunity' 11 Dec 2009 A US civil rights group says that President Barack Obama by creating impunity is following his predecessor into allowing torture policies to continue in the country. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said on Thursday that the US president has failed to provide accountability on torture. Director of ACLU's National Security Project Jameel Jaffer said "the Bush administration constructed a legal framework for torture and now the Obama administration is constructing a legal framework for impunity." "We're frustrated by the growing gap between (the) Obama administration's rhetoric on accountability and the reality," Jaffer added.


War criminals we can believe in: White House wants suit against Yoo dismissed 08 Dec 2009 The Obama administration has asked an appeals court to dismiss a lawsuit accusing former Bush regime attorney John Yoo of authorizing the torture of a terrorism suspect, saying federal law does not allow damage claims against lawyers who advise the president on national security issues. Such lawsuits ask courts to second-guess presidential decisions and pose "the risk of deterring full and frank advice regarding the military's detention and treatment of those determined to be enemies during an armed conflict," Justice Department lawyers said Thursday in arguments to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.


Blackwater, 'CIA's partner in secret operations' 11 Dec 2009 The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has recruited private security guards from Blackwater for clandestine operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a report says. The New York Times cited statements by former company employees and intelligence officials as evidence that Blackwater guards participated almost nightly in "snatch and grab" raids on suspected militants during the height of the Iraqi insurgency from 2004 to 2006.


Blackwater Guards Tied to Covert Raids by the C.I.A. 11 Dec 2009 Private security guards Mercenaries from Blackwater Worldwide participated in some of the C.I.A.’s most sensitive activities -- clandestine raids with agency officers against people suspected of being insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan and the transporting of detainees, according to former company employees and intelligence officials. The raids against suspects occurred on an almost nightly basis during the height of the Iraqi insurgency between 2004 and 2006, with Blackwater personnel playing central roles in what company insiders called "snatch and grab" operations, the former employees and current and former intelligence officers said.


Mission accomplished! Big Oil Jumps for Licenses in Iraq 10 Dec 2009 Foreign oil executives are flocking to Iraq as it prepares to open some of its untapped oil assets to Western oil companies... Iraq's second oil-licensing round, to be held Friday and Saturday, has elicited substantial interest from Big Oil. The most tempting prizes are the Majnoon and West Qurna-Phase 2 fields, each of which contains more than 12 billion barrels of proven reserves. The fields have been in the majors' sights for decades.


Seven killed in Baghdad bomb attacks 11 Dec 2009 Iraqi officials say attacks in and around Baghdad have taken the lives of seven people, including three police officers and two soldiers. A car bomb rocked the town of Yusufiyah, 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of the capital at around 5:00 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Friday, leaving six people killed, AFP quoted an Interior Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity.


Another US soldier loses life in Iraq 11 Dec 2009 The United States military says another American soldier has lost his life due to non-combat injuries in conflict-stricken Iraq. "A Multi-National Division-Baghdad soldier died Dec. 10, of non-combat related injuries," according to a US military statement issued on Thursday.


Israeli vandals attack West Bank mosque 11 Dec 2009 Israeli extremists have attacked a mosque in the occupied West Bank, vandalizing the property and desecrating the holy book of Islam, the Qur'an. Suspected hardline Israeli settlers stormed the holy site in the northern West Bank village of Yasuf at night, set fire to the mosque's library and sprayed hate messages on the building.


Islamabad says bin Laden not in Pakistan 11 Dec 2009 Pakistan has rejected reports claiming the al-Qaeda leadership is "definitely" hiding in the country's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. "Even US leaders have lately accepted that we do not know about the whereabouts of al-Qaeda leadership and we have seen statements to this effect," Pakistan's Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit said on Thursday.


Pakistan to Deport U.S. Terror Suspects After Inquiry 11 Dec 2009 Pakistan will accept U.S. requests to deport six Muslim Americans arrested this week on suspicion of seeking training as jihadist guerrillas, after an inquiry into the case, a provincial minister said. “It’s quite clear that the next step for these men is to be deported to their home country, America, but we will do so only after a full investigation is complete,” Punjab province Home Minister Rana Sanaullah said today in a telephone interview from Lahore, the provincial capital.


Five Put on Leave Over Internet Posting 10 Dec 2009 Five employees of the Transportation Security Administration have been placed on administrative leave since the discovery that sensitive guidelines about airport passenger screening had been posted on the Internet. The assistant secretary of homeland security, David Heyman, told senators that the employees had been taken off duty until a full investigation is completed.


Private Contractor Posted Secret TSA Screening Manual Online 09 Dec 2009 ...Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday that her department is conducting a review to determine how the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) air passenger screening manual ended up online. Napolitano also confirmed that a private contractor had posted the manual online. The most sensitive parts of the Standard Operating Procedures manual were redacted in a way that computer-savvy individuals easily overcame, revealing sample CIA, Congressional and law enforcement credentials, and that only 20 percent of checked bags at airports are to be hand searched for explosives.


Indiana City Threatens $2500 Fines for Challenging Traffic Tickets --Lawyer sues traffic and parking courts in Indianapolis, Indiana over threatened $2500 penalty for contesting a ticket in court. 09 Dec 2009 Motorists who receive minor parking or traffic tickets in Indianapolis, Indiana are being threatened with fines of up to $2500 if they attempt to take the ticket to court. A local attorney with the firm Roberts and Bishop was so outraged by what he saw in Marion County traffic court that he filed a class action suit yesterday seeking to have the practice banned as unconstitutional.


Batch of H1N1 Vaccine Pulled Due to Severe Allergic Reactions 10 Dec 2009 Health officials across Canada are being asked to hold back a batch of [deadly] swine flu vaccine that appears to be causing higher rates of severe allergic reactions. The vaccine's manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, is asking governments to stop using vaccine doses from one particular lot shipment issued in late October.


House Votes to Tighten Regulation of Wall Street 12 Dec 2009 The House on Friday approved a Democratic plan to significantly tighten federal regulation of Wall Street and the financial sector, advancing a far-reaching Congressional response to the financial crisis still reverberating through the economy. After three days of floor debate, the House voted 223 to 202 to approve the measure. It creates a new agency to oversee consumer lending, establishes new rules for transactions that contributed to the meltdown, and seeks to reduce the threat that one or two huge companies on the verge of collapse could bring down the economy.


Treasury Pay Czar Limits Pay At Automakers, Banks --Other Payouts Delayed 11 Dec 2009 The Obama administration's pay czar is limiting the cash compensation for executives at companies that received the largest taxpayer bailouts to $500,000. The 25th through the 100th top earners at Citigroup, GMAC, American International Group and General Motors also must take more than half their compensation in stock, and at least half must be delayed for three or more years, said Kenneth Feinberg, the Treasury Department's Special Master for Executive Compensation.


Americans Want Government to Spend for Jobs, Send Bill to Rich 10 Dec 2009 Americans want their government to create jobs through spending on public works, investments in alternative energy or skills training for the jobless. They also want the deficit to come down. And most are ready to hand the bill to the wealthy. A Bloomberg National Poll conducted Dec. 3-7 shows two-thirds of Americans favor taxing the rich to reduce the deficit.


Max Baucus gave girlfriend $14K raise 11 Dec 2009 Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, gave a nearly $14,000 pay raise to a female staffer in 2008, at the time he was becoming romantically involved with her, and later that year took her on a taxpayer-funded trip to Southeast Asia and the Middle East, though foreign policy was not her specialty.


Impeachment drama over, Jenny Sanford files for divorce 11 Dec 2009 First Lady Jenny Sanford issued a statement this morning saying she is filing for divorce from Gov. Mark Sanford. In a two-page filing made this morning in Charleston County family court, Jenny Sanford asked for a divorce on grounds of adultery. The news comes the same week as Gov. Sanford (R) was censured but spared impeachment by a House subcommittee investigating allegations that Sanford misused campaign money, and state planes and other assets.


Text of divorce statements from SC first lady, gov 11 Dec 2009 Here is the text of a statement released Friday by South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford on filing for divorce from Gov. Mark Sanford months after he publicly confessed an affair with an Argentine woman.


Copenhagen climate summit in disarray after 'Danish text' leak --Developing countries react furiously to leaked draft agreement that would hand more power to rich nations, sideline the UN's negotiating role and abandon the Kyoto protocol 08 Dec 2009 The UN Copenhagen climate talks are in disarray today after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that show world leaders will next week be asked to sign an agreement that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN's role in all future climate change negotiations. The document is also being interpreted by developing countries as setting unequal limits on per capita carbon emissions for developed and developing countries in 2050; meaning that people in rich countries would be permitted to emit nearly twice as much under the proposals.


Ocean acidification rates pose disaster for marine life, major study shows --Report launched from leading marine scientists at Copenhagen summit shows seas absorbing dangerous levels of CO2 10 Dec 2009 The world's oceans are becoming acidic at a faster rate than at any time in the last 55m years, threatening disaster for marine life and food supplies across the globe, delegates at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen have been warned. A report by more than 100 of Europe's leading marine scientists, released at the climate talks this morning, states that the seas are absorbing dangerous levels of carbon dioxide as a direct result of human activity.


Previous lead stories: John Prescott expresses doubt over British support for Iraq invasion --We all know George Bush is crap, former deputy prime minister tells New Statesman 09 Dec 2009 John Prescott has become the latest senior Labour politician to voice open doubts about his own support for Tony Blair's decision in 2003 to place British military forces behind the American-led invasion of Iraq. In a wide-ranging interview with the New Statesman magazine the former deputy prime minister asks himself: " I do wonder, looking back now, having the privilege of discussing with Tony about all this, how did I go along [with it]?" Listening to some of Blair's video-conferences with George Bush was, he admits, a hair-raising experience. "Bush is crap, you know it, I know it, the party knows it," he tells the magazine.


Iraq to auction vast oilfields despite bombs 08 Dec 2009 The threat of bombs and violence will compete with the lure of some of the world's most promising oilfields when oil majors fly into Baghdad this week to bid in Iraq's second auction of contracts since the U.S. invasion. The risks, nearly seven years after U.S. forces toppled Saddam Hussein, were on display on Tuesday when a series of car bombs killed 112 people in the capital, rattling the windows of the Oil Ministry where the Dec. 11-12 auction will be held.


Accused 9/11 plotters may face NY "Guantanamo" 09 Dec 2009 If the men accused of plotting the September 11 attacks wonder what conditions they might face when they are moved to New York from Guantanamo Bay for trial, they can expect solitary confinement, 23-hour-a-day lockdowns, constant video surveillance and almost no visitors. U.S. That has been the experience in New York of one American student, Syed Fahad Hashmi, accused of minor acts of aiding al Qaeda. Those conditions have drawn criticism from human rights advocates who protest outside the Manhattan jail where Hashmi has spent 2-1/2 years in solitary confinement awaiting trial.