The Cave: 12/13/09

Friday, December 25, 2009

CHRISTMAS DAY DECEMBER 25, 2009 8:33 PM CDT

US President Obama on Christmas Eve prank called a radio talk show: 'HI, THIS IS BARRY FROM DC'

December 24, 2009

Barack Obama played a practical joke on a political colleague by phoning into a radio station and pretending to be a disgruntled voter.

The US president posed as 'Barry from DC' as a wind-up on Governor of Virginia Tim Kaine.

He said: 'Governor Kaine this is actually the president the United States here.

'I had questions about traffic in North Virginia, but rather than go there I just wanted to say how proud we are of your service as governor of the commonwealth of Virginia and just wish you and the family the best this Christmas season after a terrific round of service for the people of Virginia.'

He was speaking on 'Ask the Governor' on Washington-based station WTOP as the governor is set to step down after four years in office.

After the surprised governor had composed himself, he said how proud he'd been to work with the president since he was elected to office a year ago.

He said: 'That means a lot a lot. As I think back about my four years as governor I still think my happiest day as governor was in November 2008 and the great work we did across the nation and in Virginia was spectacular.

'We're lucky and the nation is lucky, It's been an amazing first year of your administration.'

But Obama couldn't resist poking more fun at the governor's expense.

He said: 'We are just very proud of you, we continue to think that your wife is probably a little superior to you, as I think people feel about the First Lady.

'You and me have to stick together as we're married to better people.'

Watch video on news web site:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1238218/Barack-Obama-prank-calls-colleague-Tim-Kaine-radio-show.html

Market moves and the lunatic fringe

IMPLODING equities, exploding credit default swaps, soaring gold and slumping oil -- if, at any time over the past 18 months, it seemed that markets were in the grip of lunacy, it may be because investors are, technically, lunatics.

The market mayhem since the global financial meltdown began in 2008 has provided fertile soil for proponents of a branch of investment theory which holds that market cycles move in phase with the Moon.

Now, backed with decades of data and behaviour that can no longer be explained by purely rational analysis, the lunar theory has slipped into the mainstream.

In a piece of research that involved 14 of its senior analysts from across five leading financial centres scrutinising data from 32 leading indices over several decades, Macquarie Securities has arrived at a startling discovery: the two days on either side of the new lunar month represent most of the positive returns on equity markets for the next four weeks.

"Using data since 1988 for a wide variety of indices," the report concluded, "it is quite clear that a strong surge in returns can be seen leading into the turn of the (lunar) month."

The analysts are quick to dismiss the idea that the theory applies only to markets in Asia -- a part of the world where belief in the lunar theory, especially in Hong Kong and Japan, is better established.

"The effect is not just an Asian effect, it happens globally," the Macquarie report said.

"Of the 32 markets we examined, all showed higher than average returns around the turn of the (lunar) month ... and for many of the markets, the average return for the rest of the month was below, or close to, zero."

Equity markets, it seems, act as a particularly sensitive barometer for the invisible impact of lunar cycles on human psychology -- an influence that has been widely assumed for centuries, but never solidly proven by science.

Macquarie points to two academic studies, which found that returns around the new moon are nearly double that of the corresponding full moon phase.

Using MSCI index data from the same 32 equity bourses and tracking decades of data, the Macquarie report found that: "In many markets, a very clear increase in average returns can be seen leading into the lunar new month."

The results, the analysis said, showed that without exception every market showed a very slight increase in the average return over the new moon period.

Other brokerage firms have latched on to parts of the lunar theory. Analysts at CLSA recently pointed out to clients that the recent near-collapse of the global credit and financial system was presaged by the lunar cycle.

As markets teetered on the brink of oblivion in 2008, the true panic began exactly on the 27th day of the seventh lunar cycle. Eerily, that same phase marked the height of panic during the great market crashes of 1857, 1907, 1929, 1987 and 1997.

The Macquarie report, which acknowledges that investors are unlikely to adapt their strategies to fit the new research, concludes that the relevance of the theory is "probably slightly more powerful than, say, betting that good value stocks outperform in the long run".

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/markets/market-moves-and-the-lunatic-fringe/story-e6frg91o-1225812989219

Princeton Economist and Computer Scientists Show that Derivatives Are Inherently Vulnerable to Fraud

December 24, 2009

As I have previously noted, credit default swaps are destabilizing for the economy. See this and this.

Now, Princeton University economists and computer scientists have demonstrated that financial derivatives are also inherently vulnerable to fraudulent pricing.

PhysOrg summarizes Princeton's findings:

In a result that may have implications for financial regulation, researchers from computer science and economics have revealed potentially impenetrable problems with the pricing of financial derivatives. They show that sellers of these investments could purposefully include pieces of bad risk that no buyer could detect even with the most powerful computers.

The research focused on collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs, an investment tool that combines many mortgages with the promise of spreading out and lowering the risk of default. The team examined what would happen if a seller knew that some mortgages were "lemons" and structured a package of CDOs to benefit himself. They found that the manipulation may be impossible for buyers to detect either at time of sale or later when the derivative loses money.

The team consists of Sanjeev Arora, director of Princeton's Center for Computational Intractability, his colleague Boaz Barak, economics professor Markus Brunnermeier, and computer science graduate student Rong Ge.

It is now standard wisdom that a major culprit in the 2008 financial meltdown was use of simplistic mathematical models of risk at financial firms. This paper, released as a working draft Oct. 15, suggests that the problems may go deeper.

"We are cautioning that even if you have the right model it's not easy to price derivatives," Arora said. "Making the models more complicated will not make these effects go away, even for computationally sophisticated."

Arora noted that the problem arises from asymmetric information between buyers and sellers, and goes against conventional wisdom in economic theory, which holds that derivatives reduce the negative effects of such unequal information.

"Standard economics emphasizes that securitization can mitigate the cost of asymmetric information," Brunnermeier said. "We stress that certain derivative securities introduce additional complexity and thus a new layer of asymmetric information that can be so severe it overturns the initial advantage."

Brunnermeier noted that the finding came from combining computer science and finance, which has not been done before but has the potential for further insights. “I anticipate that both fields can enrich each other,” he said.

http://www.georgewashington2.blogspot.com/

NewsWithViews.com by Former Kansas State Trooper, Greg Evensen, Ret. | Patriots issue the final warning: Listen Washington!

Patriots issue the final warning: Listen Washington!

To our ultimate shame and utmost agony, we are now a mere shadow of that symbolized greatness. We have become a pathetic caricature of the strong, independent and “righteous” embodiment of liberty, freedom and justice for every citizen. No longer are there patriotic and moving renditions of our national anthem. Sousa marches are heard once or twice a year at service academy graduations or on Memorial Day. Veterans.......

http://www.newswithviews.com/Evensen/greg147.htm
by Former Kansas State Trooper, Greg Evensen, Ret.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Hillary Clinton: We'll Still Be In Afghanistan in 50 or 60 Years

On December 1st, President Obama talked about withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan within 18 months.

Everyone now knows that there is no firm withdrawal date from Afghanistan. See this and this.

But in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee on December 2nd, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton actually gave a much longer horizon for the presence of U.S. troops in America:

Senator UDALL.— So, in an ideal world, we would get the job done militarily in the short term; in the medium and long term, we would have a presence in the region, economically, diplomacy, and politically.
Secretary CLINTON. Well, as we have with so many other countries— obviously, we have troops in a limited number of countries around the world; some have been there for 50, 60 years, but we have long-term economic assistance and development programs in many others. And we think that’s a likely outcome in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, that we would be there with a long-term commitment.

Does this mean that U.S. troops will be in Afghanistan in 50 year?

On the surface, Clinton's statement could be interpreted to mean that troops will leave sooner, but that America will have long-term economic assistance and development programs in Afghanistan for many decades to come.

However, U.S. charities working in Afghanistan report that they are subject to Pentagon sponsorship and control, and so the Afghani people view them as part of the U.S. military (which hampers their aid work).

Therefore, whether or not troops will remain in Afghanistan for a half century or more, the Afghani people and the rest of the world may consider it a permanent occupation.

Remember also that - while the U.S. government has promised to withdraw by December 31, 2011 from Iraq - the U.S. is building numerous permanent military bases in that country. (see this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this). So talk is cheap.

http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2009/12/hillary-clinton-well-still-be-in.html

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government | 24 Dec 2009

'Good' Taliban destroy Afghan Army base 20 Dec 2009 Forces under the command of a leader considered to be one of the "good Taliban" by the Pakistani military destroyed an Afghan Army camp. Taliban forces commanded by Mullah Nazir blew up an the Afghan Army base, which was just across the border from the Angoor Adda region in Pakistan. The region is under the control of Nazir, a Pakistani Taliban commander. "Sources said the Taliban planted explosives all over the base and blew it up, destroying bunkers and installations," Dawn reported. The based was destroyed after "a contingent stationed there moved out of the fortified compound." The Taliban and "a group of tribesmen" then looted the base. [See: Rep.: US may be 'funding the very insurgents we are trying to fight' --Congress investigating charges of 'protection racket' by Afghanistan contractors 17 Dec 2009.]

US anti-drug effort in Afghanistan criticized 23 Dec 2009 The State Department's internal watchdog on Wednesday criticized the agency's nearly $2 billion anti-drug effort in Afghanistan for poor oversight and lack of a long-term strategy. The department's inspector general said the Afghanistan counter-narcotics program is hampered by too few personnel and rampant corruption among Afghan officials. [The US mission in Afghanistan is to keep the gas and opium pipelines flowing. See: Trail of Afghanistan's drug money exposed By Julien Mercille 16 Dec 2009 The total revenue generated by opiates within Afghanistan is about $3.4 billion per year. Of this figure, according to UNODC, the Taliban get only 4% of the sum... The remaining 75% is captured by government officials, the police, local and regional power brokers and traffickers - in short, many of the groups now supported (or tolerated) by the United States and NATO are important actors in the drug trade.]

Suicide bomber in southern Afghanistan kills eight: police 24 Dec 2009 A suicide bomber with a horse and cart detonated himself Thursday in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, killing eight people and wounding five, a senior police officer said. The explosion happened around 7.15 pm (1445 GMT) outside the Kandahar provincial health ministry directorate and a guesthouse sometimes used by foreigners, deputy provincial police chief Sazel Ahmad Shairzad said.

NATO confirms two soldiers dead in Afghanistan 24 Dec 2009 NATO has confirmed that two of its soldiers have been killed in separate attacks in southern Afghanistan. The military alliance said on Thursday that Canadian soldier, Lt. Andrew Nuttall, was killed in the Panjwaii district on Wednesday. An Afghan soldier died and an interpreter was also seriously injured in the attack. Meanwhile, a British soldier was killed in a roadside bombing in the Helmand province on Tuesday.

British soldier killed on patrol in Afghanistan --Death is third this week in Helmand province for UK troops --Improvised bomb blamed after two earlier friendly fire killings 23 Dec 2009 The third British soldier this week has been killed in southern Afghanistan. The soldier from the Parachute Regiment was killed by an improvised bomb while on foot patrol near Sangin in Helmand province yesterday afternoon, the Ministry of Defence said.

Imam Tied to Fort Hood Shooter "Killed" 24 Dec 2009 A Muslim preacher linked by U.S. intelligence to a gunman who killed 13 people at a U.S. Army base is believed to have died in a Yemen airstrike on al Qaeda [al-CIAduh] militants, a security official said on Thursday. "Anwar al Awlaki is suspected to be dead (in the air raid)," said the Yemeni official, who asked not to be identified. Yemen said 30 militants were killed in the strike in the eastern province of Shabwa. The gunman in the November 5 shooting at the Fort Hood, Texas army base, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, had contacts with Awlaki late last year, U.S. authorities believe.

Jack Straw faces Iraq inquiry grilling over Tony Blair letter --Claims that PM was told UK should not assist in overthrow of Saddam 23 Dec 2009 The former foreign secretary Jack Straw is to face potentially explosive questioning at the Iraq inquiry next month over a private letter he sent to Tony Blair on the eve of the invasion, urging the prime minister to look at options apart from pressing ahead with British military involvement in the attack. It is understood that the inquiry is to receive a copy of the personal letter sent by Straw, written after discussions with Sir Michael (now Lord) Jay, the Foreign Office permanent secretary, on 16 March 2003, two days before the Commons voted to back the war.

Opponents gunning for Gordon Brown as he escapes Iraq grilling before election 24 Dec 2009 Prime Minister Gordon Brown and members of his Cabinet will not be called to give evidence to the Iraq inquiry until after the general election, it was announced yesterday. Opposition parties reacted angrily after it emerged that Sir John Chilcot's committee would wait until after polling day to quiz Mr Brown, Foreign Secretary David Miliband and International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander.

Iraq bomb attacks kill 26 24 Dec 2009 Violence across Iraq left at least 26 people dead today, most of them Shia pilgrims attending mourning ceremonies, prompting fears of further sectarian attacks as Shia Islam's most solemn occasion looms. The deaths came three days before the climax of Ashura, when hundreds of thousands of pilgrims converge on Kerbala to mourn the killing of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Imam Hussein, in a battle in 680AD.

Iraqi police: Gunmen storm checkpoint, kill 4 23 Dec 2009 Authorities say [Blackwater?] gunmen have stormed a checkpoint west of Baghdad, killing four Iraqi police officers. It is the latest in a series of attacks in which gunmen have targeted Iraqi police and army checkpoints. Two police officials say gunmen stormed the checkpoint Wednesday morning in the Abu Ghraib area to the west of the capital.

Israel threatens another large-scale Gaza war 23 Dec 2009 Israel has threatened another massive war against the Gaza Strip as the impoverished enclave continues to suffer in the aftermath of the devastating January offensive. Israeli planes have been dropping thousands of leaflets across Gaza, warning Palestinians against cooperating with the resistance fighters based in the coastal sliver.

Guantanamo may have to stay open until 2011 23 Dec 2009 The prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may not close until 2011 because of anticipated appropriation struggles in Congress, the need to change federal law and construction time to upgrade an Illinois facility to hold ~~detainees~~ prisoners. The Thomson Correctional Center may not be purchased from the state until March and will need up to 10 months of construction said Joe Shoemaker, spokesman for Sen. Dick Durbin, who represents Illinois in the Senate.

From Guantánamo to Desk at Al Jazeera 23 Dec 2009 Of the 779 known ~~detainees~~ prisoners who have been held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, only one was a journalist. The journalist, Sami al-Hajj, was working for Al Jazeera as a cameraman when he was stopped by Pakistani forces on the border with Afghanistan in late 2001. Mr. Hajj... was never charged with a crime during his years in custody. Now, more than a year after his release, Mr. Hajj, a 40-year-old native of Sudan, is back at work at the Arabic satellite news network, leading a new desk devoted to human rights and public liberties. The captive has become the correspondent.

Navy attempted suicide rate nearly 3 percent 24 Dec 2009 Sailors attempted to commit suicide at rates significantly higher than the other services in 2008, according to a recent Defense Department-sponsored survey of service members. The Navy’s attempted suicide rate -- at 2.8 percent, or roughly 1 in every 35 sailors -- was three times higher than in the previous survey, conducted in 2005.

US, Poland Sign Deal on Stationing GIs --Deal to serve as legal framework for possible future missile defense site 12 Dec 2009 U.S. and Polish officials signed a deal Friday to regulate the stationing of American troops and military equipment in the eastern European country, paving the way for a U.S. military presence in the heart of the former Soviet bloc. The step is a prerequisite for the deployment of U.S. Patriot missiles to Poland, which is expected early next year.

'There is a core of resistance that has not been moved by entreaties by the U.S. government.' US poll shows worry about swine flu shot persists 22 Dec 2009 Americans who were worried about the safety of the swine flu vaccine are still worried and it may not be easy to convince them to get themselves or their children vaccinated, researchers said on Tuesday. "Thirty-five percent of parents say they are not going to get it and 60 percent say the major reason is safety," Robert Blendon of the Harvard School of Public Health said in a telephone interview.

More swine flu vaccine recalled: FDA 23 Dec 2009 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday AstraZeneca's MedImmune unit is voluntarily recalling some of its H1N1 swine flu vaccine because it was not as potent as it should be. Health Norman Baylor, director of the office of vaccines research and review at the FDA, said the recall involves a total of 4.7 million doses of the company's nasal spray vaccine, but only about 3,000 of those doses are left in warehouses.

Reaction to Senate Passage of Health Care Bill --Reaction to Senate passage of health care bill 24 Dec 2009 Remarks on the Senate's passage of health care legislation Thursday: "We are now finally poised to deliver on the promise of real, meaningful health insurance reform that will bring additional security and stability to the American people... This will be the most important piece of social legislation since Social Security passed in the 1930s." -- President Barack Obama.

Senate Passes 'Health Care' Overhaul Bill --Roll was called at 7:05 a.m. on Thursday 25 Dec 2009 The Senate voted Thursday to reinvent the nation’s health care system, passing a bill to guarantee access to health insurance for tens of millions of Americans and to ~~rein in health costs~~ bail out the insurance industry as proposed by President Obama. The 60-to-39 party-line vote, on the 25th straight day of debate on the legislation, brings Democrats a step closer to a goal they have pursued for decades. It clears the way for negotiations with the House, which passed a broadly similar bill last month by a vote of 220 to 215.

Health Bill Clears Last Hurdle Before Passage in Senate 23 Dec 2009 Exultant Senate Democrats pushed President Barack Obama's landmark health care overhaul past a final procedural hurdle Wednesday, setting up a Christmas Eve vote to pass the legislation extending coverage to 30 million Americans. Democrats voted 60-39 to end a GOP filibuster and move to a final vote Thursday. All 58 Democrats and two independents hung together against unanimous Republican opposition.

Abortion looms as possible 'health' bill deal killer 23 Dec 2009 DemocRATs are close enough to taste victory in their quest to ~~remake the nation's health care system~~ bail out the pharmaterrorists and insurance company cartel, but differences between the House and Senate on abortion could still blow it all up. [Any port in a storm! I'm sick of insurance company stocks SOARING since Opharma, et al., burned us on the public option.]

Senior Dem: Kill the Senate health reform bill and start over 23 Dec 2009 The Senate's healthcare bill is fatally flawed, a senior Democrat atop a powerful committee said on Wednesday. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), the chairwoman of the House Rules Committee and co-chairwoman of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, said that the Senate's bill is so flawed that it's unlikely to be resolved in conference with the bill to have passed the House.

Congress Raises Debt Ceiling to $12.4 Trillion --Senate votes to raise ceiling on government's debt by $290 billion to $12.4 trillion 24 Dec 2009 The Senate voted Thursday to raise the ceiling on the government debt to $12.4 trillion, a massive increase over the current limit and a political problem that President Barack Obama has promised to address next year. The Senate's rare Christmas Eve vote, 60-39, follows House passage last week and raises the debt ceiling by $290 billion. The vote split mainly down party lines, with Democrats voting to raise the limit and Republicans voting against doing so.

Bo the First Dog not spending Christmas in Hawaii 23 Dec 2009 First Dog Bo will not join President Obama and his family on their Hawai'i vacation, which begins tomorrow, the state Department of Agriculture confirmed today. State Veterinarian Dr. James Foppoli had emailed the White House about Hawai'i's strict anti-rabies quarantine rules in anticipation of a visit by the famous Portuguese water dog, said Janelle Saneishi, spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture.

Previous lead stories: Taliban claim control of over 80pc of Afghanistan 22 Dec 2009 Rejecting as baseless the US allegations about the presence of Afghan Taliban in the tribal areas, a militant commander said they did not need to flee to the neighbouring country when the Taliban controlled major parts of Afghanistan. Mulla Sangeen, a key commander of the Afghan Taliban, claimed there was no truth in the US charges, as the Taliban were holding 80 per cent of the territory in Afghanistan.

NATO says no deadline for Afghan troop withdrawal 22 Dec 2009 The head of NATO said on Tuesday there would be no deadline for the exit of allied troops from Afghanistan, as fears grow among Afghans that foreign forces will leave before their own troops are able to guarantee security. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen was visiting Afghanistan for the first time since U.S. President Barack Obama announced plans this month to send 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan to try and tame mounting violence.

Lithuania 'hosted at least two secret CIA prisons' 22 Dec 2009 A Lithuanian inquiry has found that the US Central Intelligence Agency set up and used secret prisons on its soil following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the US. Lithuania's intelligence agency assisted the CIA-run secret prisons, which were used to hold at least eight 'al-Qaeda' suspects, the parliamentary panel in charge of the probe said in a report on Tuesday. The National Security Committee report records instances in 2005 and 2006 when chartered planes were allowed to land in Lithuania, adding that all the Lithuanian officials, including President Dalia Grybauskaite, were kept in the dark about the aircraft's passengers.

Oklahoma Has Biggest Deficit Among States

Oklahoma has the unwanted distinction of having the largest revenue shortfall of any state, according to a new report. That reality is illustrated by the state's revenue collections, which are down by more than 25 percent from a year ago.

The state last week ordered yet another round of cuts, this time instructing agencies to cut 10 percent from their budgets.

A November state budget report by the National Conference of State Legislatures says Oklahoma's 18.5 percent shortfall for the current fiscal year edges out Arizona's 18 percent, with Illinois in third at 16.5 percent.The report says states have lopped $145.9 billion from their fiscal year 2010 budgets compared with 2009. For most states, the fiscal year begins on July 1.

In addition, 36 states have reported additional shortfalls for 2010 totaling $28.2 billion....

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2009/12/22/106170.htm

CaveNews YouTube Channel | Animated Magnetosphere Update - Christmas Eve December 24, 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl9YvgL8saU

CHRISTMAS EVE DECEMBER 24, 2009 AT 8:32 PM CDT

About Real-Time Magnetosphere Simulation
http://www2.nict.go.jp/y/y223/simulation/realtime/index.html

CaveNews YouTube Channel

Conspiracy Theory with Jeese Ventura | December 23, 2009 Big Brother Episode (video)

Conspiracy Theory with Jeese Ventura - EPISODES

TruTV

Jesse Ventura and a team of expert investigators are on a mission to examine some of the most frightening and mysterious conspiracy allegations of our time. They examine available evidence as well as talking to experts and eyewitnesses to learn more about such topics as global warming, possible 9/11 cover-ups, secret government weapons and apocalyptic prophecies. "This is my personal journey," Ventura says, "to prove that there is more to these stories than you know about."

HAARP

December 2

Is it a communications research project or a doomsday weapon that can change the weather, shoot satellites out of orbit - and trigger mind control across the globe? Jesse Ventura and his team head north to a remote region of Alaska to confront the military installation called HAARP.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

9/11

December 9

Jesse Ventura steps into America's most controversial conspiracy by challenging the 9/11 Commission Report and searching for evidence that the September 11th attacks may have been an inside job. At the urging of victims' families, he finds witnesses who claim the towers were brought down by explosives, the missing black box flight recorders were actually recovered and ground control knew the hijackers were in the cockpits before the jets took off.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Global Warming

December 16

Whether global warming is real or not, it's believed some people are using the issue to make billions of dollars, start a one-world government and control our lives, from the cars we drive to the foods we eat. Jesse Ventura starts with Al Gore and goes far beyond as he uncovers the evidence that leads to one man thought to be behind the global warming conspiracy.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

Big Brother

December 23

Big Brother is watching and it's not who you think. Jesse Ventura's investigation of government surveillance on its citizens tears the lid off a nationwide program that is thought to turn local businessmen and office workers into spies, snooping on their neighbors and ratting on their friends in exchange for information and special privileges from the FBI- including, some charge, a "license to kill."

Secret Societies – NEW!

Premiere On: Wed, December 30 at 10P

They're thought to be a group of the world's elite who meet once a year at a luxury hotel and decide how they will run the world. It's believed they plan to thin out the population through disease-and vaccines. Jesse Ventura infiltrates the Bilderberg Group.

Manchurian Candidate – NEW!

Premiere On: Wed, January 6 at 10P

Authors and experts warn that forces within the government have revived a program that uses mind control techniques to turn ordinary citizens into programmed assassins. This real-life Manchurian Candidate seems outlandish-until Jesse Ventura searches for the evidence and goes face-to-face with a man who claims he's one of the killers.

Apocalypse 2012 – NEW!

Premiere On: Wed, January 13 at 10P

It's believed that the world is heading for disaster in 2012 and the government is preparing to save and protect the elite - while leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves. Jesse Ventura investigates claims of top secret underground bunkers being built in places ranging from the Nevada desert to the White House, including the largest, now under construction beneath a major metropolitan airport.

http://www.trutv.com/shows/conspiracy_theory/episodes/index.html

SteveQuayle.com | Hot Headlines - December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve: Hawk will broadcast a special 2-hr program: topic, Perilous Times – Prepare for the Worst

Hunger for False Flag in U.S. by Luciferian Illuminati Inside U.S. Govt. / Military / Intel Agencies/ Money Center Banks - Still Strong?: As Americans continue to experience the engineered slide from prosperity, strength, and freedom that is better called the Planned Destruction of America, courtesy of the Illuminati Luciferians Hell bent on establishing a Global government under the anti-Christ , their political minions , business minions, more

National Irish Bank Stop Handling Cash

Dropping the Bomb on Health Care

Obamacare Sparking 10th Amendment Rebellion, Action in 7 States

It's Who You Know

Lack of Bank Liquidity Threatens Commercial Real Estate Market

States’ Jobless Funds Going ‘Absolutely Broke’

Economic Data Dump for Christmas Eve: Durable Goods Numbers “Ain’t” What They Seem

Fort Hood Shooter Asked About Killing Americans in 2008: Report

Government Takeover to a T

Patriots Issue the Final Warning: Listen Washington!

Life and Premature Death of Pax Obamicana

Where's the Line to See Jesus? – video

Location of Christ's Birth from Temple Mount

Criminalizing Christmas Cookies, Candy Canes, and Crèches

Mayon Volcano now 'Very Intense'

No Rescue for Mayon Holdouts, Governor Warns

Indonesia's Next Big Quake Due Under Mentawais

Russia to Work on New Nuclear Missiles: Medvedev

Iran Comes Out on Top in Secret Simulated War Games

Organic Sector Opposed to GE Animals

Codex Alimentarius in 7 More Days and Not a Peep

Arrow drivers wake to nightmare before Christmas

On Tuesday, as many as 1,400 truck drivers for Arrow Trucking Co., based out of Tulsa, OK, have been frantically trying to figure out their next moves as the company unexpectedly announced it was “suspending all operations” that day.

Truckers started calling in to the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and Land Line after they were awakened with phone calls from their dispatchers alerting them to the grim news that the company was shutting its doors and that their instructions were to turn in their trucks to the nearest Freightliner dealership. However, no instructions were given for drivers of International trucks.

One OOIDA member told Land Line on Tuesday, Dec. 22, that he had a bad feeling this was coming down the pike when his fuel card didn’t work at a truck stop the previous night. As of press time, the company driver, who didn’t want to be named, was stranded at a Freightliner dealership in Roanoke, VA, because he didn’t have enough fuel to make it to his delivery in Maryland .... READ MORE

http://www.landlinemag.com/Special_Reports/2009/Dec09/122209-arrow-drivers.htm

California Governor Schwarzenegger May Appeal to Obama as $21 Billion Deficit Defies Solution...

Dec. 24 (Bloomberg) -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, anticipating a $21 billion budget deficit, plans to ask President Barack Obama to ease mandates and minimums on social programs to save as much as $8 billion.

The Republican governor plans to seek the relief, according to a California official who asked not to be identified because details haven’t been resolved. Instead of seeking one-time stimulus money or a bailout, the most-populous state wants the U.S. to reduce mandates and waive rules stipulating expenditures on programs such as indigent health care, the official said.

California is among states most affected by the economic recession. It has the lowest credit rating and recorded the nation’s second-highest rate of home foreclosures, trailing only Nevada. Unemployment peaked at 12.5 percent in October amid the loss of 687,700 jobs from the year before, when the jobless figure was 8 percent. Wealth declined as the stock market lost 40 percent of its value in 2008. READ MORE ....

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aKc0QT2U7Gc0

Self-Sufficiency Preparedness | Indoor / Outdoor Rocket Stoves

Sold on Ebay

This Rocket Stove is designed for indoor use but can be used outdoors as well. It has a standard 4" pipe connect on the top, as pictured for you below, to hook up to your chimney pipe. This is the ultimate in preparedness items. If seriously hard times befall us, you may run out of propane, kerosene, or be unable to afford natural gas to cook with. This Indoor Rocket Stove will allow you to keep on cooking food and boiling water inside the comfort of your dwelling if times get really rough. You can use any type of dry biomass to cook with such as leaves, twigs, bark, grass, cork husks or stocks, etc., etc.

Highlights

It weighs 15 lbs all together and made entirely of steel with a cooking top area of close to 12 inches by 14 inches. The height to the top of the cooking surface is on the average of 19".
Has removable top for outdoor cooking as well.
Extremely efficient, you can cook a meal with extremely small amount of wood. Especially needed in times of disasters.
Portable fun for the kids to cook hot dogs, or to cook serious meals.
There always seems to be a lot of twigs and small branches at camp sites but no large firewood in sight (previous campers used it).
Very little ashes left when done. (Burns efficiently)

This Indoor Rocket Stove has been designed so that the top can come off and be used as an outdoor rocket stove as well. This means you'll be able to clean it out and be able to get fires going with the top off then put the top on and start cooking if using it indoors. You will still need to dump out the ash every couple of meals or so depending on how long you cook in it.

This isn't the most convenient method to cook with using it indoors, but it's a very effective to way to cook with very little wood or dry plant matter. The removable top is designed so that the smoke and heat are fed through two steel plates to the chimney pipe attachment as pictured. It's as safe to use as any wood burning stove, other than it doesn't have a door to close in the fire, so keep that in mind and don't leave it unattended. Just like any wood burning stove there is a risk of back draft pushing smoke back through the air and wood intake. Also much like wood burning stoves, you will want to place this Indoor Rocket Stove on a fire resistant surface such as tile, brick, etc. so that if burning embers come out of it they don't fall onto carpet, wood, tarps or any other combustible type flooring. Honestly this Indoor Rocket Stove is not nearly as easy to de-ash like the outdoor version we sell being that you would have to remove your stove pipe to dump the ashes. Also getting fires started in it, you will have to remove the top plate and stove pipe to do so unless you can find another ingenious way to get it started. So there are some draw backs using this Indoor Rocket Stove but would be still good for times of preparedness and having the dual usage of indoor and outdoor.

The stove is designed for cooking purposes and not for heating being that the Indoor Rocket Stove is insulated inside to force the heat out the top where your pan is. However it will get hot on the sides, so please wait for it to cool before you try to move it or dump ashes out. Three steel legs on the Indoors Rocket Stoves for good solid balancing.

The outdoors version of these rocket stoves are used in Africa because people can burn grass, sagebrush, and other dry plant matter to cook food in places where trees are rare therefore firewood is scarce. It has a steel tongue which is the flat metal bar coming out of the bottom opening for setting longer pieces of wood into it and for better air flow for the fire under the tongue. A small piece of rolled up paper or some dried leaves can get it started and you can use small twigs and branches or wood that you've split with a hatchet to feed the fire.

If you want to find more information on Rocket Stoves you can go to Youtube and type in rocket stoves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ9fkmIwsd8

More Pictures:

NaturalNews.com | Today's Featured Stories - December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas from NaturalNews and the Health Ranger
(NaturalNews) Here's a Merry Christmas to all the NaturalNews readers from the Health Ranger. And yes, I do specifically mean Merry Christmas. I don't mean just "Happy Holidays" or "happy winter break" or even "happy end-of-year time off." What I mean...

Meditation Reduces Heart Disease Deaths
(NaturalNews) The Medical College of Wisconsin in conjunction with Maharishi University in Iowa funded a study about the effects of transcendental meditation on health. Researchers discovered that over the course of nine years, the group assigned to meditate...

Benefits of Maca Root: Find More Energy and Hormonal Balance
Find yourself depending on coffee for a boost in the morning? Why not try maca instead? Maca is a root from Peru; it's a tuber, like a potato, and offers an amazing energy boost for those with low energy. Maca however, unlike coffee, offers...

Traffic Noise Raises Blood Pressure
(NaturalNews) Living in areas with high traffic noise may lead to higher blood pressure and a concurrently higher risk of heart attack or stroke, according to a study conducted by researchers from Lund University Hospital in Sweden and published in the...

More Evidence Supports the Importance of Vitamin D in Heart Disease Prevention
Although the link between low Vitamin D status and chronic disease has been well known for some time, a new study has shed further light on the role of Vitamin D in cases of hypertension and congestive heart failure. Researchers from the...

Big Pharma's narcotics cause more deaths than both heroin and cocaine
(NaturalNews) On the heels of the sudden death of celebrity actress Brittany Murphy, people are once again raising the question of just how dangerous drugs might really be. Some...

Today's health headlines from across the 'net
(Hand-picked by the Health Ranger for your education and amusement)

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BIG PHRMA PAYOFF: HIDDEN TAX ON PEDIALYTE, PRENATAL VITAMINS, AND PAIN RELIEVERS

This could mean that billions will be wasted on the additional costs for prescription drugs in instances when OTC medicines could be just as safe and effective at treating the illness

If you want to see how Obamacare will hit you and your family in the wallet, look no further than the inside of your medicine cabinet. Open the cabinet door and you may see an antihistamine such as Claritin for allergies, pain relief medicine such as Tylenol or Excedrin, Pedialyte to prevent your kids from becoming dehydrated when they are sick, and prenatal vitamins if you and your spouse are expecting another one ...

... OTC drugs are much cheaper those available for prescription, but they could now be more expensive to individual consumers given that prescription drugs would still be eligible for favored treatment in the tax plans, and that insurance companies would be mandated to cover many of them. Consequently, any time a consumer has the slightest headache, the financial incentive would often be to see a doctor and get a prescription rather than go to the store and get medicine off the shelf.

This could mean that billions will be wasted on the additional costs for prescription drugs in instances when OTC medicines could be just as safe and effective at treating the illness. A 2005 study in the American Journal of Managed Care found that the Food and Drug Administration’s clearing of antihistamines such as loratadine (Claritin) for over-the-counter sale saves about $4 billion a year in health care costs. Ironically, the liberals and Democrats who normally rail against big pharmaceutical companies are now creating a huge windfall the firms that make expensive prescription drugs by penalizing users of OTC medicines. READ MORE ....

http://biggovernment.com/2009/12/23/big-phrma-payoff-hidden-tax-on-pedialyte-prenatal-vitamins-and-pain-relievers/

Treasury Gives Misleading Account of TARP Results

December 24, 2009

Both Obama and the Treasury Department keep talking up the TARP as if it is a money maker for taxpayers, when nothing could be further from the truth. Obama tried this stunt in his anniversary of Lehman speech, and the Treasury continues with the theme, of implying that results for the firms that paid back are representative of what the final results would be.

If this logic were generally true, that would mean subprime bonds were a good investment too. After all, most borrowers did make good on their mortgages. A late September Moodys mortgage survey that a reader sent me estimated that total losses on subprime RMBS will be about 26%, which means that 74% were money good.

The problem with the Treasury/Obama three card monte is that the strongest TARP are the ones that paid off first. Things can only go downhill from here. Do you expect AIG to repay the TARP in full? Or the auto companies?

But you’d never guess that if you took the latest propaganda at face value. From MarketWatch:

The Troubled Asset Relief Program has generated at least $16 billion in profit so far, the Treasury Department said late Wednesday…

Total repayments by TARP banks should top $175 billion by the end of 2010, cutting taxpayer exposure to the sector by three-quarters, the Treasury estimated.

TARP programs aimed at stabilizing the banking system will earn a profit from dividends, interest, early repayments, and the sale of warrants, it added. Bank investments of $245 billion in Treasury’s 2009 fiscal year were initially projected to cost $76 billion, but are now forecast to generate a profit.

Yves here. Did you catch that? This is too clever by half. They are now talking about TARP “bank only” results, which serves to omit the biggest turkeys.

Then we get this bit:

According to a recent Treasury report, 55 institutions that received TARP money are delinquent on dividends they owe the government, as of a Nov. 16 payment deadline.

Yves here. Admittedly, these are smaller banks. Nevertheless, we reported in October that just about no one noticed that 34 banks had missed their TARP dividends. Now we are up to 55. This is an impressive rate of decay.