http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a0CXIV7hRY
About Real-Time Magnetosphere Simulation
http://www2.nict.go.jp/y/y223/simulation/realtime/index.html
DECEMBER 26, 2009 AT 5:57 PM CDT
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Cave's Magnetosphere Update | December 26, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a0CXIV7hRY
About Real-Time Magnetosphere Simulation
http://www2.nict.go.jp/y/y223/simulation/realtime/index.html
Israel summons envoys from all over the world
This is the first time a conference for all of Israel's heads of missions has been held.
December 26, 2009 - Israel's ambassadors and consuls generals from all over the world have been summoned to attend a conference to be held over global challenges facing Israel.
The meeting to be attended in Jerusalem Al-Quds on December 27-31 is hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, the ministry reported on its website.
"The idea is to facilitate direct dialogue with the country's leaders, mutual updates on major diplomatic issues, and a discussion of action plans to deal with the challenges awaiting Israel in the international arena in the coming year, including the Iranian threat," it said.
This is while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called a report by the UN Human Rights Council's Gaza commission a real threat to Israel.
The UN Special Rappoteur for the occupied Palestinian Territories has also urged western powers to push Israel to end its blockade of the Gaza Strip immediately. Richard Falk also called for economic sanctions against Israel.
Benyamin Netanyahu will also attend the conference along with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy Dan Meridor, and other senior officials.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114663§ionid=351020202
Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government | 26 Dec 2009
Restrictions Rise After Terrorism Attempt 27 Dec 2009 Transportation authorities began imposing tighter security measures at airports on Saturday and ordered new restrictions governing the activities of passengers during flights as investigators conducted searches to learn more about the Nigerian engineering student accused of igniting an incendiary device aboard a Northwest Airlines jet as it landed in Detroit on Friday... According to a statement posted Saturday morning on Air Canada’s Web site, the Transportation Security Administration will severely limit the behavior of both passengers and crew during flights in United States airspace -- restricting movement in the final hour of flight. "Among other things," the statement in Air Canada’s Web site read, "during the final hour of flight customers must remain seated, will not be allowed to access carry-on baggage, or have personal belongings or other items on their laps."
Brown reassures as bomb hunt turns to London 26 Dec 2009 The prime minister sought to reassure the public today after it was revealed a student based in the UK is suspected of trying to bomb a passenger jet. Gordon Brown spoke as the Metropolitan Police searched the home of Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, who studied engineering at University College London. The Nigerian has been named by US authorities as the man responsible for trying to blow up a plane carrying 278 passengers as it landed in Detroit on Christmas Day. Brown said the incident had posed a "serious potential threat" and the government was prepared to take "whatever action necessary" to safeguard the public from further attacks.
Terror attack on US flight to Detroit investigated in London 26 Dec 2009 Searches are being carried out at a mansion flat in central London after a man with suspected links to al-Qaida [al-CIAduh] allegedly tried to blow up a transatlantic plane, Scotland Yard said today... Security has been stepped up at UK airports for passengers flying to the US, the Department for Transport said. Gordon Brown said the UK would take "whatever action was necessary" to protect passengers. UK airport operator BAA said searches on flights to the US would increase. A statement on the British Airways website said Washington had revised its security arrangements for all travellers to the US and they would only be allowed one piece of hand luggage.
Police search London addresses after plane attack 26 Dec 2009 Police have been searching premises in London today after a Nigerian man tried to ignite an explosive device on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Britain had been working closely with US authorities and investigating the incident since it had happened. "Because of the serious potential threat posed by the incident, I have spoken to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan police, whose offices have been carrying out searches of properties in London," Brown said in a statement.
Investigators: Northwest Bomb Plot Planned by al-Qaeda in Yemen --Officials Say Bomb Materials Sewn Into Suspect's Underwear by Top Terror Bomb Maker 26 Dec 2009 The plot to blow up an American passenger jet over Detroit was organized and launched by al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh] leaders in Yemen who apparently sewed bomb materials into the suspect's underwear before sending him on his mission, federal authorities tell ABC News. Investigators say the suspect had more than 80 grams of PETN, a compound related to nitro-glycerin used by the military. The so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid, had only about 50 grams kin his failed attempt in 2001 to blow up a U.S.-bound jet.
Man held over US plane bomb bid 26 Dec 2009 A Nigerian man believed to be linked to al Qaeda militants was in custody today after he tried to ignite an explosive device on a US passenger plane as it approached Detroit. The suspect, who suffered extensive burns, was overpowered by passengers and crew on the Christmas Day flight from Amsterdam. The passengers, two of whom suffered minor injuries
Officials say explosion on US plane was terror attack 26 Dec 2009 US authorities believe an incident involving a small explosion aboard a Delta-Northwest Airlines flight to Detroit on Friday was an attempted act of terrorism, a White House official said. The Transportation Security Administration said the person responsible for the incident was taken into custody and the plane, which departed from Amsterdam, had landed safely in Detroit. "We believe this was an attempted act of terrorism," a White House official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Airports Tighten Security After Failed Bomb Plot 25 Dec 2009 The Transportation Security Administration is enhancing security at airports around the country after a senior U.S. counterterrorism official said someone tried, but failed, to blow up a Delta/Northwest Airlines Flight 253 passenger plane. U.S officials say the passenger, Abdul Mudallad, a Nigerian citizen, claims he was acting on behalf of Al-Qaeda when he tried to blow up a flight Friday as it landed in Detroit from Amsterdam.
Police lose battle over evidence of 'British 9/11' plot --Scotland Yard must reveal whether it had CIA intelligence 26 Dec 2009 Scotland Yard has been ordered to reveal whether it has any evidence to support America’s claim that Britain was saved from a 9/11-style disaster by the CIA’s secret foreign interrogation centres. The Times has won a case under the Freedom of Information Act forcing British police to say whether the US stopped a plot to fly planes into Canary Wharf and Heathrow. The claim was made by President [sic] Bush when he first acknowledged the existence of a clandestine CIA prison network created to fight his War on of Terror. Scotland Yard has been given 35 days to comply or appeal. If it admits that there is no such intelligence, it would undermine any political defence for America’s strong-arm tactics in fighting terrorism.
Software fraudster 'fooled CIA' into terror alert --Spooks 'f*cking livid' 24 Dec 2009 A con man fooled US spooks into grounding international flights by selling them "technology" to decode al-Qaeda messages hidden in TV broadcasts, it's claimed. A long and highly entertaining Playboy article explains that in 2003, Dennis Montgomery was chief technology officer at Reno, Nevada-based eTreppid Technologies. Montgomery reportedly convinced the CIA that he had software that could detect and decrypt "barcodes" in broadcasts by Al Jazeera, the Qatari news station.
Friend of Fort Hood gunman 'killed in attack on Yemen hideout' 26 Dec 2009 An American-born radical Islamist, believed to have links to the Fort Hood gunman accused of killing 13 colleagues last month, may have been among 30 militant leaders killed when Yemeni aircraft bombed suspected al-Qaeda hideouts. Anwar al-Awlaki, who reportedly corresponded by e-mail with Major Nidal Malik Hasan before the shooting at the Texan base, was thought to have been attending an al-Qaeda meeting in Rafadh when the airstrikes took place on Thursday. At least 34 [alleged] members of the terror organisation were killed, according to the Yemeni Embassy in Washington. A similar number were killed in a raid last week.
Obusha opens new war front; lamestream media focuses on bogus terror incidents to provide popular support for 'war on terror:' U.S.-aided attack in Yemen thought to have killed Aulaqi, 2 al-Qaeda leaders 25 Dec 2009 Yemeni forces, backed by the United States, launched a major attack Thursday on a meeting of senior al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh] operatives thought to include the Yemeni American cleric linked to the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings [?!?], U.S. and Yemeni officials said. U.S. officials believe that the cleric, Anwar al-Aulaqi, was probably killed in the assault, as were two al-Qaeda leaders, according to a senior Obama administration official. One of those leaders was the head of the terrorist network's operations on the Arabian Peninsula and once served as Osama bin Laden's personal secretary; the other was a Saudi national and former detainee at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Yemeni officials, tribal leaders and eyewitnesses said it was not clear whether Aulaqi and the al-Qaeda leaders were killed or wounded in the strike [so they can be re-killed another day].
In Pakistan, militants blow up three more schools 25 Dec 2009 'Pakistani militants' have reduced three state-run schools to ruins across the country's volatile northwest, where the government has launched a major counterinsurgency operation. The bomb attacks targeted two schools in the Khyber tribal district near the border with Afghanistan, a Press TV correspondent reported. "Militants blew up a government boys' high school and a middle school with explosives around 3.00 am (2100 GMT)," tribal administration official Rehan Gul Khattak said. [Blowing up schools? That's (exclusively) a Blackwater-US drone-CIA black ops thing.]
Afghanistan another Vietnam, says captive US soldier 25 Dec 2009 An American trooper in Taliban captivity says that the United States has lost its grip on the Afghan war, urging the American people to help stop the 'nonsense.' "I'm afraid to tell you that this war has slipped from our fingers and it's just going to be our next Vietnam unless the American people stand up and stop all this nonsense," said US soldier Bowe Robert Bergdahl in a video released by the militants on Friday, the AFP news agency reported... Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP that the soldier "is not being tortured or tormented" by the militants [unlike how the US treats its captives].
Saudi would have nuked Houthis: Yemeni MP 25 Dec 2009 Yemeni lawmaker Yahya al-Houthi says Saudi Arabian warplanes are engaged in the relentless bombardment of civilian positions in Yemen's war-torn north. In an interview with Press TV on Friday, the Yemeni lawmaker accused the Saudi army of using internationally banned weapons in its attacks on villages in the northern province of Sa'ada, regretting the high civilian toll from the raids. If Riyadh had nuclear weapons, it would have used them against the Houthi fighters, the lawmaker charged.
In fresh Iraq violence, 18 people killed 25 Dec 2009 More than a dozen people have died as a fresh wave of violence hits Iraq despite tightened security measures for Christmas and the Shia occasion of Ashura. Six people were killed and 26 others wounded in a bomb explosion in Baghdad's eastern district of Sadr City on Friday when a roadside bomb struck a procession to mark the anniversary of the third Shia Imam's martyrdom...
Two dozen killed in blasts across Iraq 24 Dec 2009 Over two dozen people have been killed and more than 150 others have been wounded in a string of bomb attacks across Iraq ahead of Christmas and Ashura. In the worst Thursday attack in the central Iraqi town of Hilla in Babil Province, twin car bombs killed 15 people, including the provincial councilor, Naama al-Bakri, a senior member of the ruling Dawaa Party, and injured 70 others.
Probe confirms CIA black jails in Lithuania 26 Dec 2009 After the unexpected resignation of Lithuania's intelligence chief, a controversial parliamentary probe confirms the existence of CIA-run black jails in the Baltic state. The parliamentary panel report caused considerable consternation after confirming that the CIA ran at least two black prisons in Lithuania where 'terror suspects' may have been held.
Iran: US nukes biggest threat to global security 24 Dec 2009 Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili says the US should be relieved of its veto power and disarmed over the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. "The least penalty for the United States is its disarmament and disqualifying its veto power," said Jalili during his visit to Hiroshima. "Unfortunately not only was not the US condemned for Hiroshima massacre but it was also awarded with veto power in the (UN) Security Council," he said.
Israeli soldiers shoot dead six Palestinians 26 Dec 2009 Israeli soldiers have shot dead six Palestinians and left a fourth one wounded in separate incidents in the West Bank and the north of the Gaza Strip. According to a Palestinian medical source, three Palestinians were killed in northern Gaza as they were on their way to cross over a wall to work in Israel on Saturday.
Barak cracks down on army 'mutineers' 24 Dec 2009 Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Israel's most decorated soldier, is targeting army-linked seminaries that produce many of the country's combat troops because the young soldiers are refusing to move against Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Barak's action has incensed Israel's right wing, which supports the settlers and has vowed to oppose the 10-month freeze on settlement building announced by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, under pressure from Washington, in late November.
Their lukewarm pandemic was the dry-run. School vaccinations could expand as byproduct of swine flu pandemic 25 Dec 2009 Top public health officials see this year's swine flu vaccination efforts as an opportunity to consider large-scale immunization campaigns at the nation's schools. Local and state health departments were charged with administering the estimated 259 million doses the federal government bought to 'fight' the H1N1 influenza virus. A total of 34 states incorporated public and private schools into their campaigns. [See: Baxter working on vaccine to stop swine flu, though admitted sending live pandemic flu viruses to subcontractor 26 Apr 2009 and Killer flu recreated in the lab 07 Oct 2004.]
Cook County sheriff set to hire hundreds 24 Dec 2009 (IL) The Cook County Sheriff's Department says it is set to make hundreds of hires in coming months. Sheriff Tom Dart said Wednesday that his department is prepared to hire more than 500 correctional officers next year. The first class of recruits is to come in January. The sheriff's office says the jobs are available because of a federal mandate that more officers be added at the Cook County Jail.
Cellphone Searches (The New York Times) 26 Dec 2009 The Ohio Supreme Court has struck an important blow for privacy rights, ruling that the police need a warrant to search a cellphone. The court rightly recognized that cellphones today are a lot more than just telephones, that they hold a wealth of personal information and that the privacy interest in them is considerable. This was the first such ruling from a state supreme court. It is a model for other courts to follow.
U.S. promises unlimited financial assistance to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac 25 Dec 2009 The Obama administration pledged Thursday to provide unlimited financial assistance to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, an eleventh-hour move that allows the government to exceed the current $400 billion cap on emergency aid without seeking permission from a bailout-weary Congress. The Christmas Eve announcement by the Treasury Department means that it can continue to run the companies, which were seized last year, as arms of the government for the rest of President Obama's current term. But even as the administration was making this open-ended financial commitment, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac disclosed that they had received approval from their federal regulator to pay $42 million in Wall Street-style compensation packages to 12 top executives for 2009.
Previous lead stories: '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.]
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.
Campaign for Liberty | Obamacare and the Legacy of Progressivism
The suspense is over and it is inevitable that the monstrous medical care bill will become law. There is no way to sanitize this thing, period. It is the ultimate "Progressivist" legacy.
Paul Krugman, perhaps the most visible "Progressive" today, supports this bill because it vastly expands the scope of the state in our lives. Like most "Progressives," Krugman believes many things about a state controlled by people he supports. Among the "Progressive" beliefs are:
- "Experts" should decide what is best for everyone;
- The executive branch of government must employ "experts" who can make rules for everyone else;
- Governmental executives (i.e., President of the United States) should not be impeded by legislators, most of whom are not "experts," and who fail to have the interests of everyone in mind, unlike the "experts" of the executive branch;
- Therefore, the legislative branches of government should defer to the executive branch, provided the "right kind of people" are in the executive’s chair.
Few people actually know everything that exists in this long and convoluted bill. However, that is unimportant, for in the end, the executive branch and its bureaucracies, not Congress, will interpret what the bill contains.
Most people still have the civics book ideas in their heads regarding law and the three branches of government. Americans are taught from grammar school on that the federal government has three branches: Congress, the Executive Branch, and the Federal Courts. According to the civics lessons, Congress makes the laws, the Executive Branch carries out the laws, and the Federal Courts interpret the laws.
That "model" of government disappeared even before the Progressive Era gripped the country a century ago, but it gained in strength during the Great Depression. "Progressives" such as Theodore Roosevelt and Herbert Croly, believed that people had become so advanced through "science" that they no longer needed to be subjected to the messy and (to them) "chaotic" processes of private markets and legislative debate. The "experts" already knew what needed to be done, and anything done by legislatures and markets to delay the directives of the "experts" should be swept away. READ MORE ...
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=468
Webster Tarpley | Lithuanian Probe Blames Top Officials for CIA Prison Scandal
Lithuania provided all the necessary conditions for operating a CIA secret prison for terror detainees, a parliamentary investigation has confirmed.
In light of the report, Lithuania’s prime minister has called for a crackdown on corruption in the country’s security services.
… historian and investigative journalist Webster Tarpley says that now that the official probe has proven the allegations true, the official US media is trying to cover the story up.
‘This is a very bitter pill [for Lithuania],’ Tarpley told RT. ‘It is clear that as a price for NATO membership, Lithuania was forced to let the CIA run wild with kidnappings, secret prisons and no charges, no due process, no notifications to the International Red Cross – none of this stuff.’
Click here to view Webster Tarpley’s recent interview on Russia Today
NaturalNews.com | Today's Featured Stories - Saturday December 26, 2009
The season for sharing: Christmas brings gifts to the people of Vilcabamba, Ecuador
(NaturalNews) Christmas was in full swing in Vilcabamba, Ecuador this year, where numerous foreigners participated in widespread gift-giving. I took part in a half-day gift distribution effort where two local business men from Vilcabamba joined with two...
Just 16 Ships Expel as Much Pollution as All the Cars in the World
(NaturalNews) Large shipping vessels have become commonplace in today's global marketplace as goods are imported and exported across the world. While the high levels of pollution they create are something that most people don't think too much about, some...
Brain Fitness should be Alongside All Fitness Protocols
We all share worries about brain decline, especially among the aging population. Scientists have long concluded that mental processing does slow with age. According to most studies, the human brain stops growing in its early 20s, after which...
The Cause Behind the Great Potato Famine (And Why it's Coming Back)
(NaturalNews) Researchers have sequenced the genome of the fungus responsible for the Great Irish Potato Famine in the 1800s, uncovering the reason that the organism continues to plague potato farmers to this day. "This pathogen has an exquisite ability...
Hundreds of Chemicals Found in Newborns
The umbilical cord is the lifeline of infants; it brings nutrients and oxygen to the baby. These days, it also brings hundreds of poisons. Recently, the Environmental Working Group tested the umbilical cord blood of ten American minority...
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...
(Hand-picked by the Health Ranger for your education and amusement)
- S.C. Attorney General to lead legal attack on health care reform bill
- US Senate passes health care reform bill
- Surge in "infertility tourism" leads to "Viking" babies
- Following Greg Caton kidnapping, U.S. government grants Interpol immunity
- Journalist changes his mind about vegetarianism
- Chevron hires TWELVE public relations firms to discredit indigenous Indians in Ecuador
- See ChevronToxico.com - the campaign for justice in Ecuador
- CDC lies about autism statistics
- Obesity far more deadly than previously thought, say scientists
- Confirmed: Brittany Murphy was taking antidepressants, bi-polar drugs and much more before her death
- Elderly patients aggressively over-treated with pharmaceuticals
- Amazon Kindle hacked, DRM code broken so that books can be copied off as PDFs
Hordes of Angry Activists and a $27 Billion Court Case Is Making Oil Giant Chevron Pretty Nervous
A dozen nonprofits are going right after the company's greed, and the outcome will likely have repercussions in the oil industry for years to come.
December 24, 2009 - The oil industry is more powerful today than at any other time in history save the early 20th century. Thanks to last year's record run-up in oil prices, seven of the world's most valuable corporations are now oil companies. Yet just one of those companies has become the focus of intense consumer ire.
Perhaps the largest coordinated activist campaign in history is being launched against the San Ramon-based Chevron Corporation. Foregoing boycotts and other traditional market campaign techniques, non-governmental organizations are creatively communicating the business case for why Chevron should change its ways, focusing on mobilizing company shareholders and consumers to compel the company to come clean and pursue social and environmental leadership.
This unprecedented campaign to make Chevron the poster child of corporate irresponsibility has already persuaded pension funds in California, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania to consider selling a total of $12 billion in Chevron shares on the grounds that the firm is mismanaging its operations around the globe. The prime focus of this ongoing anti-Chevron effort has been the company's annual shareholder meetings, but protests at the Richmond refinery and a series of movie and PR stunts have been also been effective tactics. READ MORE....
RELATED:
Chevron hires TWELVE public relations firms to discredit indigenous Indians in Ecuador
Russia to start eastward oil, gas shipments via Arctic in 2010
Sovcomflot, Russia's largest shipping company, will start delivering Russian oil and gas in the eastern direction of its Arctic shipping lane in the summer, the company head said on Saturday.
At a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Sergei Frank said Sovcomflot was planning to launch pilot shipments of Russian hydrocarbon reserves in the eastern direction of the Northern Sea Route, from the Atlantic to the Pacific via Russia's Arctic, later this year.
"We will make such pilot deliveries in the summer," he said.
Frank said the goal was to expand oil and gas markets for domestic energy producers and enter new ones.
The businessman said though shipments via the Arctic had been made before, the scale and cargoes were different.
"We are cooperating closely with the transportation and nuclear power ministries, and with the federal office of Rosatomflot [state-run civil nuclear fleet corporation] now to arrange everything properly for [oil and gas] shipments," Frank said.
He said the eastward shipment experience would later be used in the development of West Siberia's Yamal fields and also for liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies.
NOVO-OGARYOVO, December 26 (RIA Novosti)
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091226/157382462.html
Russia Today | New brainwave gadget could help free the disabled
Russia Today
26 December, 2009, 02:03
Russian scientists have come up with a device which could allow people to control their environment through the power of brainwaves. The new invention gives great hope to those who have lost control of their muscles.
Imagine living life trapped in your own body – unable to move, unable to speak. This is reality for many people who have survived strokes, injured their spines, or suffered other damage to their nervous systems.
But hope may be in sight, thanks to emerging research in Moscow.
“By imagining the movement of the left hand, the patient can make the lights switch on, or by imagining the movement of the right hand, he can learn to switch the TV set on. Since we take the signal right from the brain, this functions potentially even in cases when the patient can’t move his hands at all, when the muscle activity is zero,” says Vadim Roshin, research officer from the Russian Academy of Science.
Aleksandr Kaplan at Moscow State University is developing devices that use the brain’s basic electrical signals to control machines that can help – but he thinks they can do much more.
In one basic program, sensors read the brain’s impulses and send the message to a computer, in this case working to put a puzzle game together. Currently, there are several teams across the globe working on this.
Kaplan’s focus is on increasing the machine’s efficiency, with the goal of introducing this technology for everyday use.
“The main thing is you can use your thoughts directly, without using your muscles. Why use your muscles if you can do the same with just your thoughts? Why do you need to press a button if you have the thought in your brain already? This is the essence of brain-computer interface. We decipher electrical activity and send instructions directly, bypassing muscles,” explains Prof. Aleksandr Kaplan.
The equipment is expensive and the technology is still years from mainstream use. Also, the headwear might not be the best-looking in the world.
However, they promise that, as the technology develops, they will work on something that looks a little bit better. And fashion may be a small price to pay for somebody to be able to interact with the world around them.
U.S. Recruits Worldwide For Afghan War
| End Of The Year: U.S. Recruits Worldwide For Afghan War - by Rick Rozoff - 2009-12-24 |
The first of 33,000 more U.S. troops have arrived in Afghanistan for a Christmas surge and they will soon be joined by as many as 10,000 additional non-American troops serving under NATO in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Washington will have over 100,000 uniformed personnel and tens of thousands of new military contractors in the South Asian war zone, and with more than 50,000 other NATO and NATO partner forces present total troop strength will exceed 150,000.
Except for a modest amount of troops assigned to the NATO Training Mission - Iraq in Baghdad, the U.S. with its 120,000 troops is now largely alone in that country. NATO, especially new NATO, member and candidate states were ordered to transfer their forces from Iraq to Afghanistan starting approximately a year ago and are now redeploying soldiers from missions in Kosovo, Lebanon and Chad to the same destination. The Afghan battlefront, then, currently has the largest amount of military forces stationed in any war zone in the world. [1]
Troops from NATO countries stationed in Bosnia, the Central African Republic, Chad, Lebanon and off the coast of Somalia are currently assigned to European Union missions (European warships also participate in NATO's Ocean Shield naval interdiction in Somali waters and the Gulf of Aden) and their transfer to the South Asian war front indicates the virtual interchangeability of armed units assigned to NATO and the European Union. [2]
Since the beginning of this year's escalation of the war in Afghanistan and into neighboring Pakistan, Western public figures and media have dwelt frequently and at length on the war being a - or the - test for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, ostensibly the major watershed and crucible in its 60-year history.
When the bloc, the world's only military alliance, invoked its Article 5 mutual assistance clause in September of 2001 to support its leading member, the U.S., in its invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, the Alliance was fresh on the heels of its first-ever war: The 78-day bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in early 1999, the first all-out military assault targeting a European nation since Hitler's and Mussolini's attacks and invasions of 1939-1941.
By activating Article 5 - "The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all [and] will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith" - NATO enlisted for its first land war and its first war in Asia.
It also exploited its effective war provision to launch Operation Active Endeavor in early October of 2001, a comprehensive, airtight naval surveillance and interdiction program throughout the entire Mediterranean Sea that monitors all activity in NATO's new mare nostrum (our sea) and dominates all access points into the world's most important sea: The Strait of Gibraltar, the Dardanelles Strait and the Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean with the Atlantic Ocean, the Black Sea, the Red Sea and thence to the Indian Ocean, respectively.
The U.S.-led military alliance gained control over that vast stretch of strategic waterways by adopting the American post-September 11, 2001 pretexts of combating terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. The first was the rationale for invading Afghanistan, the second for invading Iraq. READ MORE
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16653
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Manpower Expands Military Recruitment for Australia - GlobalResearch.ca
- 2009-12-25
Plan Mexico proposed $1.4 billion in mostly foreign military financing - Obama's Role in the Militarization of Mexico
Obama's Role in the Militarization of Mexico; An Interview with Laura Carlsen - Global Research.ca
"Militarization is not the way to deal with Mexico's political crisis." Laura Carlsen
Mike Whitney--- Will you explain what Plan Mexico is and how it relates to the North American Free Trade Agreement? (NAFTA)
Laura Carlsen: Plan Mexico, also called the Merida Initiative, is a three-year regional security cooperation plan devised by the former Bush administration and presented in October of 2007. The plan grew out of the extension of NAFTA into security areas, known as the Security and Prosperity Partnership. Originally Plan Mexico was to be announced in the context of the SPP trinational summit but was delayed. It is presented as a petition of the Mexican president Felipe Calderon for US help in the war on drugs but in reality it was designed in Washington as a way to "push out the borders" of the US security perimeter, that is, that Mexico would take on US security priorities including policing its southern border and allowing US companies and agents into Mexico's intelligence and security operations.
Plan Mexico proposed $1.4 billion in mostly foreign military financing. It is referred to as a "Counternarcotics, Counterterrorism and Border Security" proposal.
MW---Shortly after he was elected president, Felipe Calderon began using the military in the so-called War on Drugs. Since then, there has been a steady rise in troop deployments and an escalation in the violence. What is the Washington's role in this ongoing counterinsurgency operation?
Laura Carlsen: The Obama administration has supported the plan and even requested, and received from Congress, additional funds beyond what the Bush administration requested. In the three years since Calderon launched the war on drugs in Mexico with the support of the US government drug related violence has shot up to over 15,000 executions and formal reports of violations of human rights have increased sixfold. More than 45,000 solders have been deployed in streets and communities throughout Mexico. Washington recognizes serious problems with the drug war model and yet continues to claim, absurdly, that the rise in violence in Mexico is a good sign--it means that the cartels are feeling the heat, the argument runs. the plan itself does not contain any real benchmarks of what citizens should expect as signs of progress so it can continue to be funded despite its failure.
The State Department was required to submit a human rights report to release 15% of some portions of the appropriations and finally did so last summer. But the report stated that even given a lack of progress in human rights (including reported use of torture with impunity, lack of civilian justice for military forces, killings of civilians and corruption) the mere fact of reporting constituted compliance and released the funds.
So far the effort is not described as a counterinsurgency effort, because Mexico does not have a formal widespread insurgency movement. However, the targeting of grassroots opposition leaders in recent years has raised fears that dissidents are and will be a target of the increasingly militarized society.
MW--- In your article you say that the Merida Initiative is the direct outgrowth of the national security framework imposed on bilateral relations. Does that mean that the Bush Administration was using the War on Drugs and the War on Terrorism to conceal its real political goals? If so, what are those goals?
Laura Carlsen: The Bush administration used the counterterrorism paradigm to extend US presence in strategic areas. In Mexico, the idea was to open up lucrative defense and intelligence contracts while aiding the rightwing government, which still faced serious questions of legitimacy due to unresolved accusations of fraud in the 2006 elections.
MW---Are there US intelligence agents, special forces or mercenaries conducting counterinsurgency operations in Mexico? Is Mexico required to allow the US military to operate in Mexico due to security and/or trade agreements?
Laura Carlsen: Mexico does not allow US soldiers on its territory. However there is a growing presence of DEA and other types of US agents in the country, as well as a private security companies. We do not have a good system for tracking the presence and activities of the private firms contracted for security and training purposes. This is a major problem.
MW---What effect has militarization had on political expression? How has it affected grass roots organizations, unions, and indigenous groups? Has there been an uptick in military-related violence, such as rape, beatings, torture and homicide?
Laura Carlsen: There has been an increase in human rights violations by the armed forces. In some regions, dissident leaders have been targeted by the military.
Women, indigenous people, migrants, dissidents and youth are particularly vulnerable.
Note: "The militarization of Mexico has led to a steep increase in homicides related to the drug war. It has led to rape and abuse of women by soldiers in communities throughout the country. Human rights complaints against the armed forces have increased six-fold.... The Mexican Armed Forces are not subject to civilian justice systems, but to their own military tribunals. These very rarely terminate in convictions." "The Perils of Plan Mexico", Laura Carlsen, counterpunch
MW---More than 50 Mexican human rights organizations have petitioned Congress to withdraw support for the Merida Initiative. Their letter reads: READ MORE
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16654
-
by Mike Whitney - 2009-12-24
by Mike Whitney - 2009-12-24
Mike Whitney--- Will you explain what Plan Mexico is and how it relates to the North American Free Trade Agreement? (NAFTA)
Laura Carlsen: Plan Mexico, also called the Merida Initiative, is a three-year regional security cooperation plan devised by the former Bush administration and presented in October of 2007. The plan grew out of the extension of NAFTA into security areas, known as the Security and Prosperity Partnership. Originally Plan Mexico was to be announced in the context of the SPP trinational summit but was delayed. It is presented as a petition of the Mexican president Felipe Calderon for US help in the war on drugs but in reality it was designed in Washington as a way to "push out the borders" of the US security perimeter, that is, that Mexico would take on US security priorities including policing its southern border and allowing US companies and agents into Mexico's intelligence and security operations.
Plan Mexico proposed $1.4 billion in mostly foreign military financing. It is referred to as a "Counternarcotics, Counterterrorism and Border Security" proposal.
MW---Shortly after he was elected president, Felipe Calderon began using the military in the so-called War on Drugs. Since then, there has been a steady rise in troop deployments and an escalation in the violence. What is the Washington's role in this ongoing counterinsurgency operation?
Laura Carlsen: The Obama administration has supported the plan and even requested, and received from Congress, additional funds beyond what the Bush administration requested. In the three years since Calderon launched the war on drugs in Mexico with the support of the US government drug related violence has shot up to over 15,000 executions and formal reports of violations of human rights have increased sixfold. More than 45,000 solders have been deployed in streets and communities throughout Mexico. Washington recognizes serious problems with the drug war model and yet continues to claim, absurdly, that the rise in violence in Mexico is a good sign--it means that the cartels are feeling the heat, the argument runs. the plan itself does not contain any real benchmarks of what citizens should expect as signs of progress so it can continue to be funded despite its failure.
The State Department was required to submit a human rights report to release 15% of some portions of the appropriations and finally did so last summer. But the report stated that even given a lack of progress in human rights (including reported use of torture with impunity, lack of civilian justice for military forces, killings of civilians and corruption) the mere fact of reporting constituted compliance and released the funds.
So far the effort is not described as a counterinsurgency effort, because Mexico does not have a formal widespread insurgency movement. However, the targeting of grassroots opposition leaders in recent years has raised fears that dissidents are and will be a target of the increasingly militarized society.
MW--- In your article you say that the Merida Initiative is the direct outgrowth of the national security framework imposed on bilateral relations. Does that mean that the Bush Administration was using the War on Drugs and the War on Terrorism to conceal its real political goals? If so, what are those goals?
Laura Carlsen: The Bush administration used the counterterrorism paradigm to extend US presence in strategic areas. In Mexico, the idea was to open up lucrative defense and intelligence contracts while aiding the rightwing government, which still faced serious questions of legitimacy due to unresolved accusations of fraud in the 2006 elections.
MW---Are there US intelligence agents, special forces or mercenaries conducting counterinsurgency operations in Mexico? Is Mexico required to allow the US military to operate in Mexico due to security and/or trade agreements?
Laura Carlsen: Mexico does not allow US soldiers on its territory. However there is a growing presence of DEA and other types of US agents in the country, as well as a private security companies. We do not have a good system for tracking the presence and activities of the private firms contracted for security and training purposes. This is a major problem.
MW---What effect has militarization had on political expression? How has it affected grass roots organizations, unions, and indigenous groups? Has there been an uptick in military-related violence, such as rape, beatings, torture and homicide?
Laura Carlsen: There has been an increase in human rights violations by the armed forces. In some regions, dissident leaders have been targeted by the military.
Women, indigenous people, migrants, dissidents and youth are particularly vulnerable.
Note: "The militarization of Mexico has led to a steep increase in homicides related to the drug war. It has led to rape and abuse of women by soldiers in communities throughout the country. Human rights complaints against the armed forces have increased six-fold.... The Mexican Armed Forces are not subject to civilian justice systems, but to their own military tribunals. These very rarely terminate in convictions." "The Perils of Plan Mexico", Laura Carlsen, counterpunch
MW---More than 50 Mexican human rights organizations have petitioned Congress to withdraw support for the Merida Initiative. Their letter reads: READ MORE
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16654
Escalating War in Afghanistan Apt to Hurt Fragile U.S. Economy
If Iraq war spending helped plunge the U.S. economy into its worst slump since the Depression, what does President Obama think his escalation of the Afghan war will do it?
Besides forcing taxpayers to cough up fresh billions to enable the Pentagon to chase down a few hundred Taliban fighters, the Afghan war is liable to continue to inflate oil prices---and this means more than the ongoing swindle of motorists at the pump.
Higher oil prices also slow the global economy, causing our trading partners to buy fewer Made-in-USA goods, thus reducing demand for our products and leading to layoffs.
Spending money on war also siphons billions of dollars from truly productive uses.
“Today, no serious economist holds the view that war is good for the economy,” write Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard government finance expert Linda Bilmes in their book “The Three Trillion Dollar War: the True Cost of The Iraq Conflict.”
Referring to Iraq, they write, “The question is not whether the economy has been weakened by the war. The question is only by how much.” They note, “Oil prices started to soar just as the war began, and the longer it has dragged on, the higher prices have gone.”
Even so, by their estimate, (a word they stress,) the increased price of oil attributed to the war comes “to somewhat in excess of $1.6 trillion.” Not only consumers but State and local governments “have had to cut back other spending to pay the higher prices of oil imports.” READ MORE.... |
Federal War Spending Exceeds State Government Outlays
Via: Public Record:
The U.S. spends more for war annually than all state governments combined spend for the health, education, welfare, and safety of 308 million Americans.
Joseph Henchman, director of state projects for the Tax Foundation of Washington, D.C. says the states collected a total of $781 billion in taxes in 2008.
For a rough comparison, according to Wikipedia data, the total budget for defense in fiscal year 2010 will be at least $880 billion and could possibly top $1 trillion. That’s more than all the state governments collect.
Henchman says all American local governments combined (cities, counties, etc.) collect about $500 billion in taxes. Add that to total state tax take and you get over $1.3 trillion. This means Uncle Sam’s Pentagon is sopping up nearly as much money as all state, county, city, and other governmental units spend to run the country.
If the Pentagon figure of $1 trillion is somewhat less than all other taxing authorities, keep in mind the FBI, the various intelligence agencies, the VA, the National Institutes of Health (biological warfare) are also spending on war-related activities. READ MORE>>>
http://pubrecord.org/nation/6376/federal-spending-exceeds-state/
6.0 magnitude earthquake hit the Banda Sea - 146.3 km (90.91 mi) S of Tual, Propinsi Maluku - Saturday, December 26, 2009 at 05:57:24 PM at epicenter
| MAP | 6.0 | 2009/12/26 08:57:25 | -5.561 | 131.130 | 57.0 | BANDA SEA |
Earthquake Details | Magnitude | 6.0 |
|---|---|
| Date-Time |
|
| Location | 5.561°S, 131.130°E |
| Depth | 57 km (35.4 miles) |
| Region | BANDA SEA |
| Distances | 270 km (165 miles) N of Saumlaki, Tanimbar Islands, Indonesia 345 km (215 miles) W of Dobo, Aru Islands, Indonesia 765 km (475 miles) N of DARWIN, Northern Territory, Australia 2700 km (1680 miles) E of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia |
Friday, December 25, 2009
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 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.'
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.htmby 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 1
8 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.
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