Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks -- Much Ado About the Obvious - By Judith Miller
Source
WikiLeaks cables not so damaging: By Mark Colvin and staff
ABC
And WikiLeaks did try again to correspond with US Gov.
28 Nov 2010
Index on Censorship has obtained copies of correspondence between whistleblowing website Wikileaks and the US embassy in the United Kingdom, which took place between Friday and Sunday. They reveal Wikileaks editor in chief’s last-minute attempt to seek the cooperation of the United States government in redacting information from the latest controversial release of documents.
Mark Stephens of Finers Stephens Innocent, who represents Julian Assange in the UK, is a trustee of Index of Censorship.
26 November
Julian Assange, Editor in Chief, WikiLeaks
to
US Ambassador to London, Louis Susman
Subject to the general objective of ensuring maximum disclosure of information in the public interest, WikiLeaks would be grateful for the United States Government to privately nominate any specific instances (record numbers or names) where it considers the publication of information would put individual persons at significant risk of harm that has not already been addressed. PDF
27 November
Harold Hongju Koh, Legal Adviser, United States Department of State
to
Julian Assange, Editor in Chief, WikiLeaks
We will not engage in a negotiation regarding the further release or dissemination of illegally obtained U.S. Government classified materials. PDF
28 November
Julian Assange, Editor in Chief, WikiLeaks
to
US Ambassador to London, Louis Susman
I understand that the United States government would prefer not to have the information that will be published in the public domain and is not in favour of openness. That said, either there is a risk or there is not. You have chosen to respond in a manner which leads me to conclude that the supposed risks are entirely fanciful and you are instead concerned to suppress evidence of human rights abuse and other criminal behaviour.
WikiLeaks cables not so damaging: By Mark Colvin and staff
And WikiLeaks did try again to correspond with US Gov.
28 Nov 2010
Index on Censorship has obtained copies of correspondence between whistleblowing website Wikileaks and the US embassy in the United Kingdom, which took place between Friday and Sunday. They reveal Wikileaks editor in chief’s last-minute attempt to seek the cooperation of the United States government in redacting information from the latest controversial release of documents.
Mark Stephens of Finers Stephens Innocent, who represents Julian Assange in the UK, is a trustee of Index of Censorship.
26 November
Julian Assange, Editor in Chief, WikiLeaks
to
US Ambassador to London, Louis Susman
Subject to the general objective of ensuring maximum disclosure of information in the public interest, WikiLeaks would be grateful for the United States Government to privately nominate any specific instances (record numbers or names) where it considers the publication of information would put individual persons at significant risk of harm that has not already been addressed. PDF
27 November
Harold Hongju Koh, Legal Adviser, United States Department of State
to
Julian Assange, Editor in Chief, WikiLeaks
We will not engage in a negotiation regarding the further release or dissemination of illegally obtained U.S. Government classified materials. PDF
28 November
Julian Assange, Editor in Chief, WikiLeaks
to
US Ambassador to London, Louis Susman
I understand that the United States government would prefer not to have the information that will be published in the public domain and is not in favour of openness. That said, either there is a risk or there is not. You have chosen to respond in a manner which leads me to conclude that the supposed risks are entirely fanciful and you are instead concerned to suppress evidence of human rights abuse and other criminal behaviour.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Canberra reacts to US classified documents by Wikileaks
Doorstop on leaking of US classified documents by Wikileaks
Parliament House, Canberra
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: Obviously the leaking of this substantial amount of information is a real concern to Australia. Every indication is that some of the documentation could relate to national security classified documentation; we are waiting to assess the full extent of that. We have had some discussions across ministers, of course, with various United States officials, including the United States Ambassador, who's been very helpful and cooperative.
It is a matter that is taken with the utmost seriousness by the government of the United States and certainly the government of Australia and obviously governments around the world.
The release of this information could prejudice the safety of people referred to in the documentation and indeed, could be damaging to the national security interests of the United States and its allies, including Australia. So obviously Australia will support any law enforcement action that may be taken. The United States will be the lead government in that respect, but certainly Australian agencies will assist and we will look at - of course, I'd ask the Australian Federal Police to look at the issue as to whether any Australian laws have been breached as a specific issue as well.
So, these are serious matters; and we have formed a whole-of-government taskforce to look at the issues. There had previously been a specific Defence taskforce looking at a Defence documentation, but obviously, the documentations in so far, it suggested, could relate to issues broader than simply Defence strategy.
There has been established a whole-of-government taskforce to look at those issues and to obviously go through each and every incident to see what impact it may have and what action should appropriately be taken to firstly reduce any impact - adverse impact, but certainly to see what can be done to rectify the situation.
I'm very happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: Has the US Embassy given you access to all the cables that will be published on the site, so that you know what's coming?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: I've had a discussion with the United States Ambassador; I personally haven't been provided with any of the documentation. I didn't request copies. I'm not sure whether any of the other ministers potentially impacted or whose areas are potentially impacted have been provided with those documents.
JOURNALIST: The US has apologised in advanced to a lot of countries ahead of the release of these documents, saying, well, we're sorry in advance of what's going to be in these documents. Has Australia had any apology from the United States ahead of the release of these documents?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: None - no apology was sought; we mutually regretted that these events had occurred. No formal apology was sought and I wouldn't expect in that formal sense, given the closeness of our relationship, that one would be offered in those context.
It's been more in the context of working in partnership to address any fallout. But certainly, every cooperation has been provided; we were given a forewarning of these events during the course of last week. So every assistance has been provided.
JOURNALIST: What is actually in process at the moment? Is it - do we have a team going through all the documents that are available so far?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: We're looking at all documents that are available. The various agencies are looking at documents that are specific to themselves. And they in turn, the agencies will come together with our taskforce to both relate the information that has been contained in the documents and look at any remedial action that will be taken.
JOURNALIST: And just to clarify, are you getting access to documents that are not on the website from anyone else?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: Well, again - we have been forewarned. The documentation that is being placed on the website, as I understand it, is being put up in stages, if you like. So we have been given access to certain documentation; the extent to which that may or may not be put on the website is something that remains to be seen.
JOURNALIST: Attorney, does this make Julian Assange the most wanted man in Australia?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: Well, again, certainly from Australia's point of view, we think there are potentially a number of criminal laws that could have been breached by the release of this information. The Australian Federal Police are looking at that. But clearly, I don't want to pre-empt the outcome of that advice.
JOURNALIST: If Mr Assange was to land in Australia today, what would happen to him?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: Oh, look, it's not customary to talk about law enforcement actions that would be taken, but certainly, if I can again confirm that the United States authorities are looking at law enforcement action as the lead country; and we're providing every assistance and could be, in fact, [indistinct] to provide every assistance…
JOURNALIST: Is Australia considering cancelling his passport and restricting his movements?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: We’re waiting for advice from the agencies as to appropriate course of actions that may be taken in response.
JOURNALIST: Has the US asked you to consider restricting his movements and cancel his passport?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: I've received no such request. I'm not aware of communications that may have taken place between the Federal Police or any of our national security agencies.
JOURNALIST: Attorney, just one last question.
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: Yeah, sure.
JOURNALIST: You say you don't know the specifics of what's in the documents, but are you aware of any of the issues that they may touch upon, for instance, Australia's support for the war in Iraq?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: I'm aware of the nature of documents, concerning my portfolio. Obviously, I have certain responsibilities in respect to domestic national security considerations, but clearly, I won't obviously telegraph what those documents may be. But certainly, the release of those documents, on our assessment, could be prejudicial to Australia's national security interests.
JOURNALIST: There's been some reporting about Australians going missing in the Middle East and turning up on - being put on terrorism watch lists, is that one of the documents that you're expecting?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: I won't go into the specifics, but [indistinct] the national security white paper certainly identifies concerns about Australians training overseas, and not particularly in Afghanistan, but also on the Arabian Peninsula. And those concerns have been voiced by the Australian Government; that's probably as specific as I'll get on that.
JOURNALIST: What sort of criminal charges might be considered in the broader sense? What's the broad area?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: Well, again, they relate to giving away national security information or publicising national security-sensitive information and documentation, but also potentially offences relating to places and the source of documentation as well.
Thank you.
© Copyright Attorney-General's Department
Source
Parliament House, Canberra
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: Obviously the leaking of this substantial amount of information is a real concern to Australia. Every indication is that some of the documentation could relate to national security classified documentation; we are waiting to assess the full extent of that. We have had some discussions across ministers, of course, with various United States officials, including the United States Ambassador, who's been very helpful and cooperative.
It is a matter that is taken with the utmost seriousness by the government of the United States and certainly the government of Australia and obviously governments around the world.
The release of this information could prejudice the safety of people referred to in the documentation and indeed, could be damaging to the national security interests of the United States and its allies, including Australia. So obviously Australia will support any law enforcement action that may be taken. The United States will be the lead government in that respect, but certainly Australian agencies will assist and we will look at - of course, I'd ask the Australian Federal Police to look at the issue as to whether any Australian laws have been breached as a specific issue as well.
So, these are serious matters; and we have formed a whole-of-government taskforce to look at the issues. There had previously been a specific Defence taskforce looking at a Defence documentation, but obviously, the documentations in so far, it suggested, could relate to issues broader than simply Defence strategy.
There has been established a whole-of-government taskforce to look at those issues and to obviously go through each and every incident to see what impact it may have and what action should appropriately be taken to firstly reduce any impact - adverse impact, but certainly to see what can be done to rectify the situation.
I'm very happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: Has the US Embassy given you access to all the cables that will be published on the site, so that you know what's coming?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: I've had a discussion with the United States Ambassador; I personally haven't been provided with any of the documentation. I didn't request copies. I'm not sure whether any of the other ministers potentially impacted or whose areas are potentially impacted have been provided with those documents.
JOURNALIST: The US has apologised in advanced to a lot of countries ahead of the release of these documents, saying, well, we're sorry in advance of what's going to be in these documents. Has Australia had any apology from the United States ahead of the release of these documents?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: None - no apology was sought; we mutually regretted that these events had occurred. No formal apology was sought and I wouldn't expect in that formal sense, given the closeness of our relationship, that one would be offered in those context.
It's been more in the context of working in partnership to address any fallout. But certainly, every cooperation has been provided; we were given a forewarning of these events during the course of last week. So every assistance has been provided.
JOURNALIST: What is actually in process at the moment? Is it - do we have a team going through all the documents that are available so far?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: We're looking at all documents that are available. The various agencies are looking at documents that are specific to themselves. And they in turn, the agencies will come together with our taskforce to both relate the information that has been contained in the documents and look at any remedial action that will be taken.
JOURNALIST: And just to clarify, are you getting access to documents that are not on the website from anyone else?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: Well, again - we have been forewarned. The documentation that is being placed on the website, as I understand it, is being put up in stages, if you like. So we have been given access to certain documentation; the extent to which that may or may not be put on the website is something that remains to be seen.
JOURNALIST: Attorney, does this make Julian Assange the most wanted man in Australia?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: Well, again, certainly from Australia's point of view, we think there are potentially a number of criminal laws that could have been breached by the release of this information. The Australian Federal Police are looking at that. But clearly, I don't want to pre-empt the outcome of that advice.
JOURNALIST: If Mr Assange was to land in Australia today, what would happen to him?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: Oh, look, it's not customary to talk about law enforcement actions that would be taken, but certainly, if I can again confirm that the United States authorities are looking at law enforcement action as the lead country; and we're providing every assistance and could be, in fact, [indistinct] to provide every assistance…
JOURNALIST: Is Australia considering cancelling his passport and restricting his movements?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: We’re waiting for advice from the agencies as to appropriate course of actions that may be taken in response.
JOURNALIST: Has the US asked you to consider restricting his movements and cancel his passport?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: I've received no such request. I'm not aware of communications that may have taken place between the Federal Police or any of our national security agencies.
JOURNALIST: Attorney, just one last question.
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: Yeah, sure.
JOURNALIST: You say you don't know the specifics of what's in the documents, but are you aware of any of the issues that they may touch upon, for instance, Australia's support for the war in Iraq?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: I'm aware of the nature of documents, concerning my portfolio. Obviously, I have certain responsibilities in respect to domestic national security considerations, but clearly, I won't obviously telegraph what those documents may be. But certainly, the release of those documents, on our assessment, could be prejudicial to Australia's national security interests.
JOURNALIST: There's been some reporting about Australians going missing in the Middle East and turning up on - being put on terrorism watch lists, is that one of the documents that you're expecting?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: I won't go into the specifics, but [indistinct] the national security white paper certainly identifies concerns about Australians training overseas, and not particularly in Afghanistan, but also on the Arabian Peninsula. And those concerns have been voiced by the Australian Government; that's probably as specific as I'll get on that.
JOURNALIST: What sort of criminal charges might be considered in the broader sense? What's the broad area?
ROBERT MCCLELLAND: Well, again, they relate to giving away national security information or publicising national security-sensitive information and documentation, but also potentially offences relating to places and the source of documentation as well.
Thank you.
© Copyright Attorney-General's Department
WikiLeaks Shine Light Into Secret Diplomatic Channels
From the New York Times
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and American ambassadors around the world have been contacting foreign officials in recent days to alert them to the expected disclosures. A statement from the White House on Sunday said: “We condemn in the strongest terms the unauthorized disclosure of classified documents and sensitive national security information.”
“President Obama supports responsible, accountable, and open government at home and around the world, but this reckless and dangerous action runs counter to that goal,” the statement said. “By releasing stolen and classified documents, WikiLeaks has put at risk not only the cause of human rights but also the lives and work of these individuals.”
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and American ambassadors around the world have been contacting foreign officials in recent days to alert them to the expected disclosures. A statement from the White House on Sunday said: “We condemn in the strongest terms the unauthorized disclosure of classified documents and sensitive national security information.”
“President Obama supports responsible, accountable, and open government at home and around the world, but this reckless and dangerous action runs counter to that goal,” the statement said. “By releasing stolen and classified documents, WikiLeaks has put at risk not only the cause of human rights but also the lives and work of these individuals.”
Wikileaks releases US Cables - there out!
US embassy cables leak sparks global diplomacy crisis
• More than 250,000 dispatches reveal US foreign strategies
• Diplomats ordered to spy on allies as well as enemies
• Hillary Clinton leads frantic 'damage limitation'
The release of more than 250,000 US embassy cables reveals previously secret information on American intelligence gathering, and political and military strategy.
The United States was catapulted into a worldwide diplomatic crisis today, with the leaking to the Guardian and other international media of more than 250,000 classified cables from its embassies, many sent as recently as February this year.
At the start of a series of daily extracts from the US embassy cables - many of which are designated "secret" – the Guardian can disclose that Arab leaders are privately urging an air strike on Iran and that US officials have been instructed to spy on the UN's leadership.
These two revelations alone would be likely to reverberate around the world. But the secret dispatches which were obtained by WikiLeaks, the whistlebowers' website, also reveal Washington's evaluation of many other highly sensitive international issues.
These include a major shift in relations between China and North Korea, Pakistan's growing instability and details of clandestine US efforts to combat al-Qaida in Yemen.
Among scores of other disclosures that are likely to cause uproar, the cables detail:
• Grave fears in Washington and London over the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme
• Alleged links between the Russian government and organised crime.
• Devastating criticism of the UK's military operations in Afghanistan.
• Claims of inappropriate behaviour by a member of the British royal family.
• More than 250,000 dispatches reveal US foreign strategies
• Diplomats ordered to spy on allies as well as enemies
• Hillary Clinton leads frantic 'damage limitation'
The release of more than 250,000 US embassy cables reveals previously secret information on American intelligence gathering, and political and military strategy.
The United States was catapulted into a worldwide diplomatic crisis today, with the leaking to the Guardian and other international media of more than 250,000 classified cables from its embassies, many sent as recently as February this year.
At the start of a series of daily extracts from the US embassy cables - many of which are designated "secret" – the Guardian can disclose that Arab leaders are privately urging an air strike on Iran and that US officials have been instructed to spy on the UN's leadership.
These two revelations alone would be likely to reverberate around the world. But the secret dispatches which were obtained by WikiLeaks, the whistlebowers' website, also reveal Washington's evaluation of many other highly sensitive international issues.
These include a major shift in relations between China and North Korea, Pakistan's growing instability and details of clandestine US efforts to combat al-Qaida in Yemen.
Among scores of other disclosures that are likely to cause uproar, the cables detail:
• Grave fears in Washington and London over the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme
• Alleged links between the Russian government and organised crime.
• Devastating criticism of the UK's military operations in Afghanistan.
• Claims of inappropriate behaviour by a member of the British royal family.
Wikileaks Under DOS Attack
Wikileaks announced via Twitter that it is under a massive denial of service attack. The attack coincides with the planned publication of 250,000 documents later today. The documents are apparently confidential diplomatic cables.
As it turns out, there may not be much of interest in this release. Leaked copies of the German publication Der Spiegel appeared early on newsstands and according to German Twitter posts there’s nothing earth-shattering, at least from their point of view, in the documents.
The planned release is supposedly scheduled for 4:30 EST today in conjunction with the New York Times, the Guardian, and Der Spiegel. Some copies of Der Spiegel, though, apparently appeared on newsstands this morning.
According to CNN the “United States warned WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange that publishing the papers would be illegal and endanger peoples’ lives.” It was shortly after this news that Wikileaks came under attack, and the online rumors began almost immediately. It’s not exactly a stretch to think the US government may have something to do with it. There’s certainly no shortage of blame against them floating around. As one Twitter user put it: "Wikileaks is what happens when the US Gov is forced to go through a body scanner"
Perhaps we will never know who is behind the attack. Perhaps we’ll find out who’s behind it through a Wikileaks leak, which would be irony at its best. I would think, though, that if the US government were found to be behind a DDOS attack against a website, especially Wikileaks, it would cause a backlash on a massive scale.
As it turns out, there may not be much of interest in this release. Leaked copies of the German publication Der Spiegel appeared early on newsstands and according to German Twitter posts there’s nothing earth-shattering, at least from their point of view, in the documents.
The planned release is supposedly scheduled for 4:30 EST today in conjunction with the New York Times, the Guardian, and Der Spiegel. Some copies of Der Spiegel, though, apparently appeared on newsstands this morning.
According to CNN the “United States warned WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange that publishing the papers would be illegal and endanger peoples’ lives.” It was shortly after this news that Wikileaks came under attack, and the online rumors began almost immediately. It’s not exactly a stretch to think the US government may have something to do with it. There’s certainly no shortage of blame against them floating around. As one Twitter user put it: "Wikileaks is what happens when the US Gov is forced to go through a body scanner"
Perhaps we will never know who is behind the attack. Perhaps we’ll find out who’s behind it through a Wikileaks leak, which would be irony at its best. I would think, though, that if the US government were found to be behind a DDOS attack against a website, especially Wikileaks, it would cause a backlash on a massive scale.
US State Dept Threatens WikiLeaks/Assange
I have no comment except! no I cannot say it please use your own judgment
From The Legal Adviser
United States Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
November 27, 2010
Via Electronic Mail
Ms. Jennifer Robinson
Attorney for Mr. Julian Assange WikiLeaks
179 Great Portland Street
London WIW 5LS
Dear Ms. Robinson and Mr. Assange:
I am writing in response to your 26 November 2010 letter to U.S.
Ambassador Louis B. Susman
regarding your intention to again publish on your WikiLeaks site
what you claim to be classified U.S. Government documents.
As you know, if any of the materials you intend to publish were provided by any government officials, or any intermediary without proper authorization,
they were provided in violation of U.S. law and without regard for the grave co
nsequences of this action .
As long as WikiLeaks holds such material, the violation of the law is ongoing.
It is our understanding from conversations with representatives from The New York Times, The Guardian and Der Speigel, that WikiLeaks also has provided approximately 250,000 documents to each of them for publication,
furthering the illegal dissemination of classified documents.
Publication of documents of this nature at a minimum would:
Place at risk the lives of countless innocent individuals from journalists to human rights activists and bloggers to soldiers to individuals providing information to further peace and security;
Place at risk ongoing military operations, including operations to stop terrorists, traffickers in human beings and illicit arms, violent criminal enterprises and other actors that threaten global security; and,
Place at risk on going cooperation between countries partners, allies and common
stakeholders to confront common challenges from terrorism to pandemic diseases
to nuclear proliferation that threaten global stability.
From The Legal Adviser
United States Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
November 27, 2010
Via Electronic Mail
Ms. Jennifer Robinson
Attorney for Mr. Julian Assange WikiLeaks
179 Great Portland Street
London WIW 5LS
Dear Ms. Robinson and Mr. Assange:
I am writing in response to your 26 November 2010 letter to U.S.
Ambassador Louis B. Susman
regarding your intention to again publish on your WikiLeaks site
what you claim to be classified U.S. Government documents.
As you know, if any of the materials you intend to publish were provided by any government officials, or any intermediary without proper authorization,
they were provided in violation of U.S. law and without regard for the grave co
nsequences of this action .
As long as WikiLeaks holds such material, the violation of the law is ongoing.
It is our understanding from conversations with representatives from The New York Times, The Guardian and Der Speigel, that WikiLeaks also has provided approximately 250,000 documents to each of them for publication,
furthering the illegal dissemination of classified documents.
Publication of documents of this nature at a minimum would:
Place at risk the lives of countless innocent individuals from journalists to human rights activists and bloggers to soldiers to individuals providing information to further peace and security;
Place at risk ongoing military operations, including operations to stop terrorists, traffickers in human beings and illicit arms, violent criminal enterprises and other actors that threaten global security; and,
Place at risk on going cooperation between countries partners, allies and common
stakeholders to confront common challenges from terrorism to pandemic diseases
to nuclear proliferation that threaten global stability.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Julian Assange - Wikileaks
Update on the charges against Julian Assange. My source cannot be be verified at this moment. If you are praying people please say a pray for Julian, this is not fair he is only a truth bearer and needs our positive energy. Thanks
Remember the supporters of this and all wars.
STOCKHOLM (Rixstep) The Stockholm appeals court (Svea hovrtt) yesterday heard from Julian Assange's Swedish solicitor Bjrn Hurtig. The court decided there wasn't enough information on the table. They've therefore summoned Marianne Ny to come with a statement and/or answer questions by Wednesday 24 November. Staffan Lind of the appeals court: 'We've asked the prosecutor (Marianne Ny) for comments by Wednesday. That means we need more information to arrive at a decision.' Bjrn Hurtig: 'This means there are weaknesses in the prosecutor's argumentation and strength in ours. I'm cautiously optimistic.' Assange's British solicitor Mark Stephens expressed cynicism earlier in an interview with Expressen, questioning Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny's competence and reiterating the fact that the warrant violates both British and European law.No Link
The appeals court upheld an earlier court order, which allows investigators to bring the 39-year old Australian into custody for questioning.
Mr Assange, who is believed to be in Britain, denies the allegations, saying they are part of a smear campaign. Wikileaks has published confidential material relating to US military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The Svea Court of Appeal has today decided to reject Julian Assange's appeal against the Stockholm district court decision to remand him," the court said in a statement.
Remember the supporters of this and all wars.
Friday, November 26, 2010
TSA security procedures
This really stinks, I am speechless, enough is enough fgs!
Body Scanner Operator Caught Masturbating at Colorado Airport by Hugh Muzzbe
Not only do the new airport body scanners take risque pictures but according to the U.S. Marshals Service, the images in their thousands are being saved on hard disks.
DENVER - USA - A full body scanner operator was caught masturbating during a scanning session by airport staff late Tuesday.
Airport officials at Denver International airport were on high alert yesterday when a full body scanner operator was caught masturbating in his booth as a team of High School netball players went through the scanner.
"The young ladies were going through the scanner one by one, and every time one went through, this guys face was getting redder and redder. His hand was moving and then he started sweating. He was then seen doing his 'O' face. That's when the security dragged him out of his booth and cuffed him. He had his pants round his ankles and everybody was really disgusted," Jeb Rather, a passenger on a flight to New York told CBS news.
The controversial scanners display every minute detail of a person's body and have been called intrusive by privacy campaigners. Body scanners penetrate clothing to provide a highly detailed image so accurate that critics have likened it to a virtual porn shoot. Technologies vary, with millimeter wave systems capturing highly detailed pictures of genitals, and backscatter X-ray machines able to show precise anatomical detail. The U.S. government likes the idea because body scanners can detect concealed weapons better than traditional magnetometers.
"What do you want to do, get blown up by a goddamn Arab at 30,000 feet or we get to see your private parts? It's up to you, the ball's in your park," head of the TSA's scanning department, Rodney Schroeder, told CNN.
Body Scanner Operator Caught Masturbating at Colorado Airport by Hugh Muzzbe
Not only do the new airport body scanners take risque pictures but according to the U.S. Marshals Service, the images in their thousands are being saved on hard disks.
DENVER - USA - A full body scanner operator was caught masturbating during a scanning session by airport staff late Tuesday.
Airport officials at Denver International airport were on high alert yesterday when a full body scanner operator was caught masturbating in his booth as a team of High School netball players went through the scanner.
"The young ladies were going through the scanner one by one, and every time one went through, this guys face was getting redder and redder. His hand was moving and then he started sweating. He was then seen doing his 'O' face. That's when the security dragged him out of his booth and cuffed him. He had his pants round his ankles and everybody was really disgusted," Jeb Rather, a passenger on a flight to New York told CBS news.
The controversial scanners display every minute detail of a person's body and have been called intrusive by privacy campaigners. Body scanners penetrate clothing to provide a highly detailed image so accurate that critics have likened it to a virtual porn shoot. Technologies vary, with millimeter wave systems capturing highly detailed pictures of genitals, and backscatter X-ray machines able to show precise anatomical detail. The U.S. government likes the idea because body scanners can detect concealed weapons better than traditional magnetometers.
"What do you want to do, get blown up by a goddamn Arab at 30,000 feet or we get to see your private parts? It's up to you, the ball's in your park," head of the TSA's scanning department, Rodney Schroeder, told CNN.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Currency Crisis-US $ Dump
More on the finance down turn.
Crisis of Fiat Currencies: US Dollar Surpluses Converted into Gold
China, Russia, Iran are Dumping the Dollar - By Bob Chapman
Something is going on that your government does not want you to know about. Very few journalists have written about it and little or nothing has appeared in the mainstream media. The story could be one of major stories of our time.
Western powers have tried to destroy gold as a backing for currencies for many years. Presently the major media won’t touch the story and that is understandable.
Something we have been writing about for years is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization known as SCO. Few have been listening and few have been interested in what their mission is and what they have been up to.
Some of the members are large oil producers and some, like China, are large oil users. Some have very large US dollar surpluses. As well, some are large commodity and gold and silver buyers. In fact, members are in a great part responsible for driving these prices higher. It is debatable, but we believe there is a conscious effort to accumulate gold and silver, dump dollars and to back their currencies with gold.
China and Russia are both large gold producers and for a number of years have been buying up domestic gold and silver production, so that it never reaches the market and does not affect prices. If anything the absence of sales tends to push the markets higher. As a matter of fact Russia and India are visible buyers. Even Iran with its oil surplus recently announced that they had purchased 340 tons of gold. Their recent gold purchases are very significant as affiliate members, which have access to the present and ultimate direction of the group. You might say buying gold has been a protective effort to shield members and close observers from the problems generated by dollar policies. They are accumulating gold, as many have been worldwide, for the past ten years, but particularly over the past few years.
This buying, for protection, has served to thwart the efforts of US policymakers, the Treasury, other central banks in Europe and the Fed, from being able to continue the blatant suppression of both gold and silver prices. The malefactors, except for forays into derivatives and futures, which are transitory, have lost control and suppression of gold and silver prices, and it is only a matter of time before all visages of any control will be visible. Since 1988, in August when Present Reagan signed the Executive Order creating, “the President’s Group on Financial Markets” and the subsidiaries that have grown out of that policy, that the Treasury won many if not most of the battles. The SCO in part changed that and now they and the public are winning the war for a fair and free gold and silver market. The current class action lawsuits, including RICO, are a testament to the market manipulation in silver, which is finally coming to an end. HSBC and JPMorgan Chase, the latter that is the major owner of the Fed, are going to be finally prohibited from rigging these markets. Their officers all belong in jail, but elitists never go to jail; they pay fines, and keep right on robbing the public.
Other SCO members and observers are accumulating gold as well, be it in smaller amounts. We might add that other nations observing Russia and China and their gold purchases are buying as well. These participants must believe that there could be a return to sound money; otherwise they wouldn’t be gold buyers. Buying gold is certainly preferable to holding US dollars, which have consistently fallen in value versus other currencies over the past ten years. Then again all currencies have fallen versus gold over that period, some 19.6% annually. It is nice to see nations are finally waking up to the reality that fiat currencies will all over time deteriorate versus gold. The temptation is enormous to deficit spend.
The most interesting aspect of the SCO is that they do not strive for political agreement such as the European Union. They are interested in economic stability and development and security. There is no overall binding laws. Nations retain their sovereignty, which is the exact opposite of what the elitists in the US and Europe desire, and that is world government. The SCO has provided great flexibility something that is non-existent in elitist controlled countries. Another interesting facet is that the SCO probably represents half of the world’ population, far more than the US and Europe. As these nations accumulate gold so does some of their citizens, which puts strong upward pressures on gold prices on a continuing basis.
In addition some of these nations, such as China, are spending dollars by buying natural resources and other things in other nations in an attempt to relieve themselves of excess dollars earned in trade. Both Russia and China fully realize that the US dollar is in serious trouble and has been for a number of years due to fiscal debt and the unbridled creation of money and credit by the Federal Reserve. They well know the dollar is in serious trouble and what the outcome will probably be.
As the economies of the US and Europe become more deeply mired in problems the economies of SCO nations more and more resemble the free economies of old that were very successful. You might say they have found their way back to basics and sound money. As the dollar comes under further downward pressure more nations will probably join the SCO to escape the clutches of European and American imperialism and bureaucracy, which for some years has been onerous and unsuccessful. What we see is a natural path by nations to extricate themselves from the control of Wall Street and the City of London, which have dominated the world for so long. All these facts considered we believe gold will find its way substantially higher with the participation of these nations, a factor the West never figured on. These ten nations are sucking excess gold out of the market every day and that will continue indefinitely.
These SCO nations are well aware that the surge of hot dollars created by the Fed out of thin air are headed their way and with them inflation. Brazil was the first nation to attempt to stop this onslaught by imposing a 6% tariff on interest and dividend paying Brazilian securities, purchased with US dollars. Over the last two years between stimulus and the Fed $2.5 trillion has been injected into the US and world financial system. As a result commodity and gold and silver prices have exploded. This has caused the dollar to fall in value versus other currencies and gold. There is no question more and higher inflation is on the way, as the Fed gets into QE 2. You can also bet that QE2 will not be $600 billion, but more than $2 trillion. Inflation is already showing up in food, petroleum products, airline fares and in many other items that we use every day. As usual the government says there is little or no inflation. Even competent economists still use government’s bogus figures. What can they be thinking of? They know what is going on as well as we do. That means we are embarking on the highest inflation rates in US history. Thus far the undertow of deflation has been superseded by government banking and Fed aggregate creation. The Fed, in order to subdue deflation and such spending has to always overshoot the inflation they create, so that they can be sure that deflation cannot take hold. This money and credit is in the process of working its way through the economy, spreading inflation as it winds its way through.
The only investors who are being afforded protection are those who have invested in gold and silver and commodities. That is less than 2% of the American population. We predicted in mid-May that QE2 and QE3 would take place for a combined $5 trillion over the next two fiscal years. In fact, the Fed was late in starting in June and as a result 4th quarter GDP growth will probably be 1% and the 1st quarter of 2011 will probably be in the minus column, as unemployment heads to 25% and extended benefits run out. We are not seeing growth; we are seeing forced feeding.
The Fed’s promises are not worth the paper they are written on. Ben Bernanke will print money until he cannot anymore and we have hyperinflation. That is because he has no other choice. He has no way out and he knows it won’t work. Tragically, this is where we are headed and there is no way to stop what the elitists have put deliberately in motion.
As long as quantitative easing is official Fed and Wall Street policy, gold is going to continue to rise with silver, and the stronger the case is that gold is the real world reserve currency. That means all currencies will eventually have to be backed by gold. We believe that elitists have accepted this fact and that was borne out recently by World Bank President, CFR, Trilateralist and Bilderberger Robert Zoellick. We can assure you that was no slip of the tongue. That was a cleverly planted trial balloon to get public reaction.
We do not see QE2 and QE3 as incompetence or bungling. It happens to be the only option available to the powers behind government. The same errors committed during the Great Depression of the 1930s are being repeated and economists, including Mr. Bernanake know they do not work. Yes, the Fed contracted money supply and when they let it loose again, it was too late for it to be in anyway effective. Next comes tariffs as an outgrowth of: currency wars; interest and dividend penalties on the inflow of hot, inflationary dollars and retaliatory tariffs as a result of losing 8.5 million jobs and 432,000 businesses over ten years to free trade, globalization, offshoring and outsourcing. Smoot-Hawley tariffs and even dumb Fed moves were bad enough, but Hoover’s raising of taxes by 150% was a monumental piece of stupidity.
At the root of all this is that the Fed is supposed to be saving the US economic and financial structure. They are not doing that, they are saving the banking system and Wall Street instead and these are the
miscreants that caused the problem in the first place. The result of this policy of zero interest rates and easy money is that few are saving.
There you have it, planned destruction. Is it any wonder the SCO members and observers are buying gold on every dip and will not stop doing so until they run out of dollars. Our only question is; what took them so long and why are they not buying more faster?
© Copyright Bob Chapman, International Forecaster, 2010
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22031
Crisis of Fiat Currencies: US Dollar Surpluses Converted into Gold
China, Russia, Iran are Dumping the Dollar - By Bob Chapman
Something is going on that your government does not want you to know about. Very few journalists have written about it and little or nothing has appeared in the mainstream media. The story could be one of major stories of our time.
Western powers have tried to destroy gold as a backing for currencies for many years. Presently the major media won’t touch the story and that is understandable.
Something we have been writing about for years is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization known as SCO. Few have been listening and few have been interested in what their mission is and what they have been up to.
Some of the members are large oil producers and some, like China, are large oil users. Some have very large US dollar surpluses. As well, some are large commodity and gold and silver buyers. In fact, members are in a great part responsible for driving these prices higher. It is debatable, but we believe there is a conscious effort to accumulate gold and silver, dump dollars and to back their currencies with gold.
China and Russia are both large gold producers and for a number of years have been buying up domestic gold and silver production, so that it never reaches the market and does not affect prices. If anything the absence of sales tends to push the markets higher. As a matter of fact Russia and India are visible buyers. Even Iran with its oil surplus recently announced that they had purchased 340 tons of gold. Their recent gold purchases are very significant as affiliate members, which have access to the present and ultimate direction of the group. You might say buying gold has been a protective effort to shield members and close observers from the problems generated by dollar policies. They are accumulating gold, as many have been worldwide, for the past ten years, but particularly over the past few years.
This buying, for protection, has served to thwart the efforts of US policymakers, the Treasury, other central banks in Europe and the Fed, from being able to continue the blatant suppression of both gold and silver prices. The malefactors, except for forays into derivatives and futures, which are transitory, have lost control and suppression of gold and silver prices, and it is only a matter of time before all visages of any control will be visible. Since 1988, in August when Present Reagan signed the Executive Order creating, “the President’s Group on Financial Markets” and the subsidiaries that have grown out of that policy, that the Treasury won many if not most of the battles. The SCO in part changed that and now they and the public are winning the war for a fair and free gold and silver market. The current class action lawsuits, including RICO, are a testament to the market manipulation in silver, which is finally coming to an end. HSBC and JPMorgan Chase, the latter that is the major owner of the Fed, are going to be finally prohibited from rigging these markets. Their officers all belong in jail, but elitists never go to jail; they pay fines, and keep right on robbing the public.
Other SCO members and observers are accumulating gold as well, be it in smaller amounts. We might add that other nations observing Russia and China and their gold purchases are buying as well. These participants must believe that there could be a return to sound money; otherwise they wouldn’t be gold buyers. Buying gold is certainly preferable to holding US dollars, which have consistently fallen in value versus other currencies over the past ten years. Then again all currencies have fallen versus gold over that period, some 19.6% annually. It is nice to see nations are finally waking up to the reality that fiat currencies will all over time deteriorate versus gold. The temptation is enormous to deficit spend.
The most interesting aspect of the SCO is that they do not strive for political agreement such as the European Union. They are interested in economic stability and development and security. There is no overall binding laws. Nations retain their sovereignty, which is the exact opposite of what the elitists in the US and Europe desire, and that is world government. The SCO has provided great flexibility something that is non-existent in elitist controlled countries. Another interesting facet is that the SCO probably represents half of the world’ population, far more than the US and Europe. As these nations accumulate gold so does some of their citizens, which puts strong upward pressures on gold prices on a continuing basis.
In addition some of these nations, such as China, are spending dollars by buying natural resources and other things in other nations in an attempt to relieve themselves of excess dollars earned in trade. Both Russia and China fully realize that the US dollar is in serious trouble and has been for a number of years due to fiscal debt and the unbridled creation of money and credit by the Federal Reserve. They well know the dollar is in serious trouble and what the outcome will probably be.
As the economies of the US and Europe become more deeply mired in problems the economies of SCO nations more and more resemble the free economies of old that were very successful. You might say they have found their way back to basics and sound money. As the dollar comes under further downward pressure more nations will probably join the SCO to escape the clutches of European and American imperialism and bureaucracy, which for some years has been onerous and unsuccessful. What we see is a natural path by nations to extricate themselves from the control of Wall Street and the City of London, which have dominated the world for so long. All these facts considered we believe gold will find its way substantially higher with the participation of these nations, a factor the West never figured on. These ten nations are sucking excess gold out of the market every day and that will continue indefinitely.
These SCO nations are well aware that the surge of hot dollars created by the Fed out of thin air are headed their way and with them inflation. Brazil was the first nation to attempt to stop this onslaught by imposing a 6% tariff on interest and dividend paying Brazilian securities, purchased with US dollars. Over the last two years between stimulus and the Fed $2.5 trillion has been injected into the US and world financial system. As a result commodity and gold and silver prices have exploded. This has caused the dollar to fall in value versus other currencies and gold. There is no question more and higher inflation is on the way, as the Fed gets into QE 2. You can also bet that QE2 will not be $600 billion, but more than $2 trillion. Inflation is already showing up in food, petroleum products, airline fares and in many other items that we use every day. As usual the government says there is little or no inflation. Even competent economists still use government’s bogus figures. What can they be thinking of? They know what is going on as well as we do. That means we are embarking on the highest inflation rates in US history. Thus far the undertow of deflation has been superseded by government banking and Fed aggregate creation. The Fed, in order to subdue deflation and such spending has to always overshoot the inflation they create, so that they can be sure that deflation cannot take hold. This money and credit is in the process of working its way through the economy, spreading inflation as it winds its way through.
The only investors who are being afforded protection are those who have invested in gold and silver and commodities. That is less than 2% of the American population. We predicted in mid-May that QE2 and QE3 would take place for a combined $5 trillion over the next two fiscal years. In fact, the Fed was late in starting in June and as a result 4th quarter GDP growth will probably be 1% and the 1st quarter of 2011 will probably be in the minus column, as unemployment heads to 25% and extended benefits run out. We are not seeing growth; we are seeing forced feeding.
The Fed’s promises are not worth the paper they are written on. Ben Bernanke will print money until he cannot anymore and we have hyperinflation. That is because he has no other choice. He has no way out and he knows it won’t work. Tragically, this is where we are headed and there is no way to stop what the elitists have put deliberately in motion.
As long as quantitative easing is official Fed and Wall Street policy, gold is going to continue to rise with silver, and the stronger the case is that gold is the real world reserve currency. That means all currencies will eventually have to be backed by gold. We believe that elitists have accepted this fact and that was borne out recently by World Bank President, CFR, Trilateralist and Bilderberger Robert Zoellick. We can assure you that was no slip of the tongue. That was a cleverly planted trial balloon to get public reaction.
We do not see QE2 and QE3 as incompetence or bungling. It happens to be the only option available to the powers behind government. The same errors committed during the Great Depression of the 1930s are being repeated and economists, including Mr. Bernanake know they do not work. Yes, the Fed contracted money supply and when they let it loose again, it was too late for it to be in anyway effective. Next comes tariffs as an outgrowth of: currency wars; interest and dividend penalties on the inflow of hot, inflationary dollars and retaliatory tariffs as a result of losing 8.5 million jobs and 432,000 businesses over ten years to free trade, globalization, offshoring and outsourcing. Smoot-Hawley tariffs and even dumb Fed moves were bad enough, but Hoover’s raising of taxes by 150% was a monumental piece of stupidity.
At the root of all this is that the Fed is supposed to be saving the US economic and financial structure. They are not doing that, they are saving the banking system and Wall Street instead and these are the
miscreants that caused the problem in the first place. The result of this policy of zero interest rates and easy money is that few are saving.
There you have it, planned destruction. Is it any wonder the SCO members and observers are buying gold on every dip and will not stop doing so until they run out of dollars. Our only question is; what took them so long and why are they not buying more faster?
© Copyright Bob Chapman, International Forecaster, 2010
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22031
Toxic Poisoning
Beware of food poisoning.
I have been off planet for 4 days after eating mushrooms (not the funny ones) from the fresh food supermarket.
I am only today able to stand upright for more than 5 minutes.
The pain has been awful. I hope I do not die from poisoning what a dreadful way to go.
So readers please be very careful of the date of the food you purchase.
I hate being sick. Back soon I hope.
I have been off planet for 4 days after eating mushrooms (not the funny ones) from the fresh food supermarket.
I am only today able to stand upright for more than 5 minutes.
The pain has been awful. I hope I do not die from poisoning what a dreadful way to go.
So readers please be very careful of the date of the food you purchase.
I hate being sick. Back soon I hope.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Gold may Drop-China Orders Banks to Hold More Reserves
More on this finance fiasco-I wish I could figure out what China and USA are up to, but then I suppose all the economists in the world wish the same thing!
Gold May Drop in New York After China Orders Banks to Hold More Reserves
By Nicholas Larkin - Nov 19, 2010
Gold may decline in New York after China raised bank reserve ratios again, curbing demand for bullion.
China ordered its banks for the fifth time this year to set aside larger reserves. Gold earlier gained as the euro climbed against the dollar amid optimism a bailout for Ireland will limit contagion across Europe’s larger debt markets. Bullion futures, which usually move inversely to the greenback, reached a record $1,424.30 an ounce on Nov. 9.
“Today’s China announcement is a strong signal that the next benchmark interest-rate increase will probably be announced within two weeks,” said Bayram Dincer, an analyst at LGT Capital Management in Pfaeffikon, Switzerland. Higher rates would “be negative for gold” because they would constrain Chinese investors’ liquidity and increase the opportunity cost of holding the metal, he said.
Gold futures for December delivery lost $4.60, or 0.3 percent, to $1,348.40 an ounce at 8:38 a.m. on the Comex in New York, erasing a gain of as much as 0.7 percent. The metal for immediate delivery in London was 0.3 percent lower at $1,348.90.
Bullion rose to $1,357.50 an ounce in the morning “fixing” in London, used by some mining companies to sell output, from $1,350.25 at yesterday’s afternoon fixing. Twelve of 19 traders, investors and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, or 63 percent, said the metal will rise next week. Four forecast lower prices and three were neutral.
Draining Cash
The reserve ratio will increase 0.5 percentage point starting Nov. 29, the People’s Bank of China said. It’s draining cash from the financial system in an effort to limit inflation and asset-bubble risks in the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s strength, slid as much as 0.6 percent, fueling demand for bullion as an alternative investment, and was last down 0.2 percent.
“The dollar is still in a very unstable position,” said Bernard Sin, head of currency and metal trading at bullion refiner MKS Finance SA in Geneva. “The market is still concerned. There’s no confidence in Europe.”
Ireland’s central-bank governor, Patrick Honohan, said he expects his nation will seek a package worth “tens of billions” of euros to help rescue banks battered by the country’s property slump. Officials of the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank yesterday started to study the banks’ books.
ETP Holdings
Gold assets in exchange-traded products fell 4.56 metric tons to 2,082.65 tons yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from 10 providers. That’s the biggest drop in three weeks. Holdings reached a record 2,104.65 tons on Oct. 14.
Silver for December delivery in New York fell 0.4 percent to $26.73 an ounce after yesterday jumping 5.2 percent, the most in two weeks. It reached a 30-year high of $29.34 last week and is up 59 percent this year.
Canada’s sales of silver coins will jump more than 50 percent this year and will continue to climb in 2011, said David Madge, director of sales at the Royal Canadian Mint.
Palladium for December delivery gained 1.2 percent to $703.50 an ounce, erasing a drop and extending yesterday’s advance of 6.2 percent, the most since May. Platinum for January delivery was 0.4 percent lower at $1,657.60 an ounce.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net
bloomberg.com
Gold May Drop in New York After China Orders Banks to Hold More Reserves
By Nicholas Larkin - Nov 19, 2010
Gold may decline in New York after China raised bank reserve ratios again, curbing demand for bullion.
China ordered its banks for the fifth time this year to set aside larger reserves. Gold earlier gained as the euro climbed against the dollar amid optimism a bailout for Ireland will limit contagion across Europe’s larger debt markets. Bullion futures, which usually move inversely to the greenback, reached a record $1,424.30 an ounce on Nov. 9.
“Today’s China announcement is a strong signal that the next benchmark interest-rate increase will probably be announced within two weeks,” said Bayram Dincer, an analyst at LGT Capital Management in Pfaeffikon, Switzerland. Higher rates would “be negative for gold” because they would constrain Chinese investors’ liquidity and increase the opportunity cost of holding the metal, he said.
Gold futures for December delivery lost $4.60, or 0.3 percent, to $1,348.40 an ounce at 8:38 a.m. on the Comex in New York, erasing a gain of as much as 0.7 percent. The metal for immediate delivery in London was 0.3 percent lower at $1,348.90.
Bullion rose to $1,357.50 an ounce in the morning “fixing” in London, used by some mining companies to sell output, from $1,350.25 at yesterday’s afternoon fixing. Twelve of 19 traders, investors and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, or 63 percent, said the metal will rise next week. Four forecast lower prices and three were neutral.
Draining Cash
The reserve ratio will increase 0.5 percentage point starting Nov. 29, the People’s Bank of China said. It’s draining cash from the financial system in an effort to limit inflation and asset-bubble risks in the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s strength, slid as much as 0.6 percent, fueling demand for bullion as an alternative investment, and was last down 0.2 percent.
“The dollar is still in a very unstable position,” said Bernard Sin, head of currency and metal trading at bullion refiner MKS Finance SA in Geneva. “The market is still concerned. There’s no confidence in Europe.”
Ireland’s central-bank governor, Patrick Honohan, said he expects his nation will seek a package worth “tens of billions” of euros to help rescue banks battered by the country’s property slump. Officials of the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank yesterday started to study the banks’ books.
ETP Holdings
Gold assets in exchange-traded products fell 4.56 metric tons to 2,082.65 tons yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from 10 providers. That’s the biggest drop in three weeks. Holdings reached a record 2,104.65 tons on Oct. 14.
Silver for December delivery in New York fell 0.4 percent to $26.73 an ounce after yesterday jumping 5.2 percent, the most in two weeks. It reached a 30-year high of $29.34 last week and is up 59 percent this year.
Canada’s sales of silver coins will jump more than 50 percent this year and will continue to climb in 2011, said David Madge, director of sales at the Royal Canadian Mint.
Palladium for December delivery gained 1.2 percent to $703.50 an ounce, erasing a drop and extending yesterday’s advance of 6.2 percent, the most since May. Platinum for January delivery was 0.4 percent lower at $1,657.60 an ounce.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net
Biotech company secretly releases GM mosquitoes in Cayman Islands
Boy oh boy how do these idiots get away with this sort of thing?
Scientists at British biotechnology giant Oxitec recently developed a genetically-modified (GM) mosquito that, apart from a specific chemical antibiotic, is unable to successfully repopulate. And the company recently released millions of these GM mosquitoes in the Cayman Islands to see what would happen -- and they did so without proper approval or announcement -- prompting outrage by experts and the public over the unknown consequences of conducting such an irresponsible experiment.
Oxitec released the mosquitoes last year, but only just recently let the public know about it. The company has attempted to justify its decision by claiming its GM mosquitoes may help fight the spread of dengue fever by reducing or eliminating the wild mosquito population. But nobody knows what happens when these GM mosquitoes interact with other animals and humans, or how their altered genes will disrupt the living environment.
Seemingly content with its decision to hide the trial from the public initially, Oxitec had the audacity to announce at the recent annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene that its trial was "successful". But how the company can make such a preposterous statement without knowing the long-term effects of its irreversible decision is mind-boggling.
"Oxitec considers its trial 'successful' just days after the experiment has ended," explained Kathy Jo Wetter, a researcher at the Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Cooperation. "[U]nintended impacts on the environment cannot be known, and Oxitec's unproven technology could make things worse in the long term. There is no possibility of recall if something goes wrong -- who takes responsibility in that case?"
Not only are mosquitoes a necessary component of the natural food chain, representing the prey of various creatures like birds and bats, but they are also important pollinators in the same way that bees are. Even though they appear to be a nuisance, without them, the entire food chain could collapse.
Source
Scientists at British biotechnology giant Oxitec recently developed a genetically-modified (GM) mosquito that, apart from a specific chemical antibiotic, is unable to successfully repopulate. And the company recently released millions of these GM mosquitoes in the Cayman Islands to see what would happen -- and they did so without proper approval or announcement -- prompting outrage by experts and the public over the unknown consequences of conducting such an irresponsible experiment.
Oxitec released the mosquitoes last year, but only just recently let the public know about it. The company has attempted to justify its decision by claiming its GM mosquitoes may help fight the spread of dengue fever by reducing or eliminating the wild mosquito population. But nobody knows what happens when these GM mosquitoes interact with other animals and humans, or how their altered genes will disrupt the living environment.
Seemingly content with its decision to hide the trial from the public initially, Oxitec had the audacity to announce at the recent annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene that its trial was "successful". But how the company can make such a preposterous statement without knowing the long-term effects of its irreversible decision is mind-boggling.
"Oxitec considers its trial 'successful' just days after the experiment has ended," explained Kathy Jo Wetter, a researcher at the Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Cooperation. "[U]nintended impacts on the environment cannot be known, and Oxitec's unproven technology could make things worse in the long term. There is no possibility of recall if something goes wrong -- who takes responsibility in that case?"
Not only are mosquitoes a necessary component of the natural food chain, representing the prey of various creatures like birds and bats, but they are also important pollinators in the same way that bees are. Even though they appear to be a nuisance, without them, the entire food chain could collapse.
Pet Food Ingredients Revealed!
Boy this is scary if you love your pets and we all do.
Pet Food Ingredients Revealed!
Pet Food Ingredients Revealed!
NASA delays Discovery's flight
These old space craft are ready for the wreckers, I wish they would stop endangering lives. I know Uncle Sam is broke so give up the space program for a while and get the country into a proper state of order for the American citizens.
(NASA) has delayed the launch of space shuttle Discovery to finish repairs and fix its cracked fuel tank.
What is the ISS for anyway, the elite when tshtf?
Discovery's 11-day mission to the International Station has been postponed until December 3, 2010. The previous plan was set for November 30.
The liftoff was delayed after a potentially dangerous hydrogen leak was detected while the spaceship was being fueled on November 5, Reuters reported.
Technicians also found a large crack in the foam insulation covering the tank, which is a debris hazard for launch.
The same problem killed seven astronauts when the foam falling from the shuttle Columbia's fuel tank and striking the ship during launch triggered an accident in 2003.
Discovery's 50-cm crack, however, led NASA experts to four others in an underlying support structure.
Repairs are underway but NASA managers have decided to postpone the liftoff so that they can find the cause of the tank cracks and make sure about Discovery's safety.
Engineers are also preparing fuel tanks for a final shuttle flight in February.
Discovery will retire after two or three more flights to complete the 100-billion-dollar, 16-nation space station.
If the shuttle misses the December launch, it will have to wait until February 2011 for another resupply and maintenance mission to the ISS.
Discovery will deliver Leonardo, the pressurized logistics storage module to the Station, along with a human-like robot called Robonaut 2. Two spacewalks will also be conducted for regular maintenance and installation.
(NASA) has delayed the launch of space shuttle Discovery to finish repairs and fix its cracked fuel tank.
What is the ISS for anyway, the elite when tshtf?
Discovery's 11-day mission to the International Station has been postponed until December 3, 2010. The previous plan was set for November 30.
The liftoff was delayed after a potentially dangerous hydrogen leak was detected while the spaceship was being fueled on November 5, Reuters reported.
Technicians also found a large crack in the foam insulation covering the tank, which is a debris hazard for launch.
The same problem killed seven astronauts when the foam falling from the shuttle Columbia's fuel tank and striking the ship during launch triggered an accident in 2003.
Discovery's 50-cm crack, however, led NASA experts to four others in an underlying support structure.
Repairs are underway but NASA managers have decided to postpone the liftoff so that they can find the cause of the tank cracks and make sure about Discovery's safety.
Engineers are also preparing fuel tanks for a final shuttle flight in February.
Discovery will retire after two or three more flights to complete the 100-billion-dollar, 16-nation space station.
If the shuttle misses the December launch, it will have to wait until February 2011 for another resupply and maintenance mission to the ISS.
Discovery will deliver Leonardo, the pressurized logistics storage module to the Station, along with a human-like robot called Robonaut 2. Two spacewalks will also be conducted for regular maintenance and installation.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Julian Assange - Wikileaks - Arrest Order
A little more about this fiasco. Time for the people to revolt and let t p t b know this is unacceptable.
I normally do not like the things Alan Taylor writes but I think he has hit the nail on the head here.
WIKILEAKS: Swedish Sex Case: by Alan Taylor
It is becoming pretty clear that political involvement is driving the ongoing saga of the Assange sex case in Sweden. United States involvement at this time, although likely, is far from evident. What is evident is that there are several nebulous figures involved in this case, each one with a personal agenda ; Marianne Ny head of Sweden's prosecution office; and the other a prominent figure in Sweden's ruling Social Democrat Party attorney Claes Borgstrom.
The SDP supports a strong military, and has has defence cooperation agreements with the United States, and has access to United States intelligence gathering and analysis infrastructure via Swedish Military Intelligence Agency (MUST) in Upsalla. In addition the National Security Agency designed and provided technology for HMS Orion Sweden's SIGINT intelligence gathering ship. The whole point of this is to demonstrate that the Swedes are far from neutral, and are integrated into the United States global SIGINT operations.
The driver in this sorry affair is the SDP wheeler dealer Claes Borgstrom. Borgstrom is a long time supporter of Sweden's military association with the United States. Could Borgstom be acting as a proxy for the United States in nailing Assange? Yes, it is possible.
The other character is the very vocal Marianne Ny; prosecutor; and advocate of extending rape crime and sexual assault into other areas of sexual behaviour. It was upon Borgdtrom's insistence in a phone call to Ny that resulted in the re-opening of the Assange case.
So where does this leave Assange? The brief answer is, "exposed". However, under no circumstances should Assange surrender to the Swedish authorities. Let them find him, this will give time for this whole ball of Swedish wax to unravel, and expose the Swedes as being far from neutral in this sordid little affair they have cooked up.
The Swedes are firmly in the pockets of the Americans, and the Bilderberg Group. In fact the head of the Swedish Social Democratic Party Mona Ingeborg Sahlin is a prominent Bilderberger and conference attender.
ABC Australia:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says allegations of rape are false and without basis after an international arrest warrant was issued for him due to complaints by two women. And has said that Australian security forces had earlier warned him that he might face attempts to discredit him.
ABC
Ok Claes Borgstrom, who the bloody hell is he beside a lawyer and a Social Democratic politician? 2000 and 2007, Borgström was appointed by the Swedish government as the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman. He now has his own law office together with Social Democratic politician and former Minister for Justice Thomas Bodström.[3] Since 2008 he is also the Swedish Social Democratic Party's spokesperson on gender equality issues. (Thanks to Wiki)
Now the plot thickens:
the “rape" investigation was reversed after the intervention of a political figure, Claes Borgstrom, who is now acting for the women. The case was given to a specific prosecutor, Marianne Ny.
Assange's lawyer states my client has repeatedly offered to be interviewed, first in Sweden before he left, and then subsequently in the UK (including at the Swedish Embassy), either in person or by telephone, videoconferencing or email and he has also offered to make a sworn statement on affidavit. All of these offers have been flatly refused by a prosecutor who is abusing her powers by insisting that he return to Sweden at his own expense to be subjected to another media circus that she will orchestrate. This behavior is not a prosecution, but a persecution.
Source
Letter from Swedish Counsel Bjorn Hurtig to English co-Counsel for Julian Assange.
Note Neither Mr. Assange nor Counsel, nor WikiLeaks have ever received a single written word, at any time, in any form, from Swedish authorities on the Swedish investigation against our editor.
TBC
My grandmother always told me to look at the eyes - they mirror the soul. ??
Mr Borgstrom
I normally do not like the things Alan Taylor writes but I think he has hit the nail on the head here.
WIKILEAKS: Swedish Sex Case: by Alan Taylor
It is becoming pretty clear that political involvement is driving the ongoing saga of the Assange sex case in Sweden. United States involvement at this time, although likely, is far from evident. What is evident is that there are several nebulous figures involved in this case, each one with a personal agenda ; Marianne Ny head of Sweden's prosecution office; and the other a prominent figure in Sweden's ruling Social Democrat Party attorney Claes Borgstrom.
The SDP supports a strong military, and has has defence cooperation agreements with the United States, and has access to United States intelligence gathering and analysis infrastructure via Swedish Military Intelligence Agency (MUST) in Upsalla. In addition the National Security Agency designed and provided technology for HMS Orion Sweden's SIGINT intelligence gathering ship. The whole point of this is to demonstrate that the Swedes are far from neutral, and are integrated into the United States global SIGINT operations.
The driver in this sorry affair is the SDP wheeler dealer Claes Borgstrom. Borgstrom is a long time supporter of Sweden's military association with the United States. Could Borgstom be acting as a proxy for the United States in nailing Assange? Yes, it is possible.
The other character is the very vocal Marianne Ny; prosecutor; and advocate of extending rape crime and sexual assault into other areas of sexual behaviour. It was upon Borgdtrom's insistence in a phone call to Ny that resulted in the re-opening of the Assange case.
So where does this leave Assange? The brief answer is, "exposed". However, under no circumstances should Assange surrender to the Swedish authorities. Let them find him, this will give time for this whole ball of Swedish wax to unravel, and expose the Swedes as being far from neutral in this sordid little affair they have cooked up.
The Swedes are firmly in the pockets of the Americans, and the Bilderberg Group. In fact the head of the Swedish Social Democratic Party Mona Ingeborg Sahlin is a prominent Bilderberger and conference attender.
ABC Australia:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says allegations of rape are false and without basis after an international arrest warrant was issued for him due to complaints by two women. And has said that Australian security forces had earlier warned him that he might face attempts to discredit him.
Ok Claes Borgstrom, who the bloody hell is he beside a lawyer and a Social Democratic politician? 2000 and 2007, Borgström was appointed by the Swedish government as the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman. He now has his own law office together with Social Democratic politician and former Minister for Justice Thomas Bodström.[3] Since 2008 he is also the Swedish Social Democratic Party's spokesperson on gender equality issues. (Thanks to Wiki)
Now the plot thickens:
the “rape" investigation was reversed after the intervention of a political figure, Claes Borgstrom, who is now acting for the women. The case was given to a specific prosecutor, Marianne Ny.
Assange's lawyer states my client has repeatedly offered to be interviewed, first in Sweden before he left, and then subsequently in the UK (including at the Swedish Embassy), either in person or by telephone, videoconferencing or email and he has also offered to make a sworn statement on affidavit. All of these offers have been flatly refused by a prosecutor who is abusing her powers by insisting that he return to Sweden at his own expense to be subjected to another media circus that she will orchestrate. This behavior is not a prosecution, but a persecution.
Letter from Swedish Counsel Bjorn Hurtig to English co-Counsel for Julian Assange.
Note Neither Mr. Assange nor Counsel, nor WikiLeaks have ever received a single written word, at any time, in any form, from Swedish authorities on the Swedish investigation against our editor.
TBC
My grandmother always told me to look at the eyes - they mirror the soul. ??
Mr Borgstrom
Carbon price now or we'll pay later
Why can not people see the trouble we are facing regarding our killing of the Planet Earth?
While most of us do not agree with our PM she is on the money with this.
I have spoken a lot about reform lately - because I believe that's the job of governments. As it is a word that gets a good workout in politics, it is worth stopping occasionally to think about what it means.
Reform means literally that - a reshaping. A reforming government starts with the proposition that it is possible to reshape the landscape, to look afresh at the way things are done and find a better way.
It is possible to do something for so long that you forget there are other ways to do it. Electricity generation in Australia is a bit like that. Historically, Australia has relied almost entirely on our extensive coal reserves to fulfil our electricity needs.
That has served us for a long time, and it has served us well. Many Australians work in the coal industry, and it is an industry that is not about to vanish. But, just because the dominance of coal has been the status quo, it does not mean it should remain the status quo.
In fact, the exact opposite is the case: as the climate changes, it is up to this generation of people and the generations coming up fast behind it to take the action necessary to tackle climate change and its potentially devastating impacts on the Australian economy.
Australians want action on climate change, and that means cutting carbon pollution. And that, inevitably, will involve a gradual shift away from carbon-intensive power generation.
The question is how we do this in the most effective way to ensure costs are minimised. Our electricity sector contributes more than one-third of our national carbon pollution. In terms of the electricity Australians use, about 82 per cent of power in the national electricity market is generated from coal. Only 10 per cent comes from natural gas and 8 per cent from renewable sources.
Conventional brown-coal power stations are between three and four times more carbon intensive than the most-efficient natural-gas power stations. Black coal sits in between these two - which is why we have one of the most carbon-intensive electricity sectors in the world.
If we can change the way the electricity sector operates, we can bring down our levels of carbon pollution, and continue the crucial task of tackling climate change. Putting a price on carbon would do this.
By introducing a price, fuels that produce less carbon pollution become more price competitive. Energy sources such as natural gas, wind and solar become more able to compete with coal. And as the price of producing more carbon pollution goes up, coal-fired power stations will have an incentive to invest in new technologies such as carbon capture and storage.
Right now, Australia's energy sector is suffering from a lack of certainty created by the fact that the Parliament has repeatedly blocked the government's attempts to introduce a carbon price.
Because it is generally accepted that there will be a carbon price at some point but there is no time frame in place, the energy sector is caught between investing in old technologies it knows are going out of date, and investing in new technologies it does not yet have an incentive to invest in. That dilemma, and the lack of infrastructure investment that accompanies it, is playing a role in pushing up electricity prices.
As Rod Sims, chairman of New South Wales's electricity price regulator, said last week, one of the key drivers of current electricity price rises is ''continuing carbon price uncertainty''.
A carbon price will give industry the certainty it needs to plan ahead. It will allow it to start making investment decisions now so that we can make the transition to a low-carbon economy smoothly, efficiently and in the cheapest possible way.
Continued lack of certainty will see vital investment decisions delayed and money ploughed into costly and wasteful stop-gap options.
As former prime minister John Howard and his then environment minister Malcolm Turnbull know, a carbon price is the only prudent answer because it unlocks one of the most powerful forces on earth - the genius of the free market.
By resetting price signals, we will open the door to a new era of investment and innovation, creating thousands of jobs for Australians in the industries of tomorrow.
The alternative is very stark. If we continue to do nothing, we will pay a heavy cost - electricity prices will spiral, big investment decisions will remain on hold, our power supplies will begin to run short, and clean energy jobs will be lost offshore.
This is a domestic economic reform that is needed to reshape the way the Australian economy works.
Like the controversial cuts to tariffs and the decision to float the dollar 25 years ago, a carbon price will shift the way things are done.
Julia Gillard is Prime Minister.
SMH
While most of us do not agree with our PM she is on the money with this.
Julia Gillard
Advertisement
Investment will be shelved and electricity prices spiral unless industry has certainty.I have spoken a lot about reform lately - because I believe that's the job of governments. As it is a word that gets a good workout in politics, it is worth stopping occasionally to think about what it means.
Reform means literally that - a reshaping. A reforming government starts with the proposition that it is possible to reshape the landscape, to look afresh at the way things are done and find a better way.
It is possible to do something for so long that you forget there are other ways to do it. Electricity generation in Australia is a bit like that. Historically, Australia has relied almost entirely on our extensive coal reserves to fulfil our electricity needs.
That has served us for a long time, and it has served us well. Many Australians work in the coal industry, and it is an industry that is not about to vanish. But, just because the dominance of coal has been the status quo, it does not mean it should remain the status quo.
In fact, the exact opposite is the case: as the climate changes, it is up to this generation of people and the generations coming up fast behind it to take the action necessary to tackle climate change and its potentially devastating impacts on the Australian economy.
Australians want action on climate change, and that means cutting carbon pollution. And that, inevitably, will involve a gradual shift away from carbon-intensive power generation.
The question is how we do this in the most effective way to ensure costs are minimised. Our electricity sector contributes more than one-third of our national carbon pollution. In terms of the electricity Australians use, about 82 per cent of power in the national electricity market is generated from coal. Only 10 per cent comes from natural gas and 8 per cent from renewable sources.
Conventional brown-coal power stations are between three and four times more carbon intensive than the most-efficient natural-gas power stations. Black coal sits in between these two - which is why we have one of the most carbon-intensive electricity sectors in the world.
If we can change the way the electricity sector operates, we can bring down our levels of carbon pollution, and continue the crucial task of tackling climate change. Putting a price on carbon would do this.
By introducing a price, fuels that produce less carbon pollution become more price competitive. Energy sources such as natural gas, wind and solar become more able to compete with coal. And as the price of producing more carbon pollution goes up, coal-fired power stations will have an incentive to invest in new technologies such as carbon capture and storage.
Right now, Australia's energy sector is suffering from a lack of certainty created by the fact that the Parliament has repeatedly blocked the government's attempts to introduce a carbon price.
Because it is generally accepted that there will be a carbon price at some point but there is no time frame in place, the energy sector is caught between investing in old technologies it knows are going out of date, and investing in new technologies it does not yet have an incentive to invest in. That dilemma, and the lack of infrastructure investment that accompanies it, is playing a role in pushing up electricity prices.
As Rod Sims, chairman of New South Wales's electricity price regulator, said last week, one of the key drivers of current electricity price rises is ''continuing carbon price uncertainty''.
A carbon price will give industry the certainty it needs to plan ahead. It will allow it to start making investment decisions now so that we can make the transition to a low-carbon economy smoothly, efficiently and in the cheapest possible way.
Continued lack of certainty will see vital investment decisions delayed and money ploughed into costly and wasteful stop-gap options.
As former prime minister John Howard and his then environment minister Malcolm Turnbull know, a carbon price is the only prudent answer because it unlocks one of the most powerful forces on earth - the genius of the free market.
By resetting price signals, we will open the door to a new era of investment and innovation, creating thousands of jobs for Australians in the industries of tomorrow.
The alternative is very stark. If we continue to do nothing, we will pay a heavy cost - electricity prices will spiral, big investment decisions will remain on hold, our power supplies will begin to run short, and clean energy jobs will be lost offshore.
This is a domestic economic reform that is needed to reshape the way the Australian economy works.
Like the controversial cuts to tariffs and the decision to float the dollar 25 years ago, a carbon price will shift the way things are done.
Julia Gillard is Prime Minister.
Beginning of The Golden Plunge
Little more information on finance - please click on the link for charts and more detail.
It’s no secret that the U.S. is borrowing too much, that China manipulates its currency and that Europe’s fiscal troubles are growing at the same time that “the luck of the Irish” is running out. There does not seem to be any international political will to cooperate to rectify any of these imbalances.
The G-20 meeting in Seoul, South Korea, achieved nothing to improve global imbalances and end the currency conflicts.
Pentagon data diverted to Chinese servers
And the CIA is worried about WikiLeaks what a joke me thinks.
The United States has revealed the details of a startling breakdown in cyber security in April, when 15 per cent of the world's internet traffic was diverted through China.
Experts describe it as one of the biggest redirections of internet data they have ever seen.
For 18 minutes on April 8, emails and internet material sent from the Pentagon and NASA were re-routed via Chinese servers.
A US government report blames China Telecom, but does not say why it might have happened or whether it was done intentionally.
But experts say it is a sign of the security risks ahead.
The Heritage Foundation's Dean Cheng, who specialises in Chinese political and security affairs, says a lot of data may have been accessed by China.
"There are instances where situations are not necessarily the deliberate result of government decisions, but that doesn't make them an accident," he said.
"Particularly when you are talking about 15 per cent of the global internet traffic.
"If it had been going on for a few minutes, that would be one thing as servers simply got overwhelmed.
"That it went on for so long would suggest that that's a lot of data that could be scooped up."
Mr Cheng is convinced a lot of that data has now been archived in China and is slowly being studied.
He says even the encrypted material would eventually be broken down.
Australia threatened
Dale Meyerrose, a former chief information officer for the director of national intelligence, says this is a serious threat.
"What we're seeing here is a technique that may have in fact ... have been a cover for something else," he said.
"In my 35 years of dealing with this, there's an intended consequence and a series of unintended consequences and I think they always play out in these sorts of things."
Mr Cheng says it is not just a US problem.
"It's not simply American information that has been made vulnerable, but that of our allies, including Australia."
China has denied it hijacked the internet but the incident has added to global concerns about cyber security.
US defence secretary Robert Gates this week described potential attacks as a huge future threat and a considerable current threat.
ABC au
Another bloggers words quite funny if you think about it: Say the Chinese turned on their call home protocol, and all the Chinese made modems, routers, ect called home. You know that at least some of the electronics used in the Pentagon and elsewhere originated from China!By ABC North America correspondent Lisa Millar
The United States has revealed the details of a startling breakdown in cyber security in April, when 15 per cent of the world's internet traffic was diverted through China.
Experts describe it as one of the biggest redirections of internet data they have ever seen.
For 18 minutes on April 8, emails and internet material sent from the Pentagon and NASA were re-routed via Chinese servers.
A US government report blames China Telecom, but does not say why it might have happened or whether it was done intentionally.
But experts say it is a sign of the security risks ahead.
The Heritage Foundation's Dean Cheng, who specialises in Chinese political and security affairs, says a lot of data may have been accessed by China.
"There are instances where situations are not necessarily the deliberate result of government decisions, but that doesn't make them an accident," he said.
"Particularly when you are talking about 15 per cent of the global internet traffic.
"If it had been going on for a few minutes, that would be one thing as servers simply got overwhelmed.
"That it went on for so long would suggest that that's a lot of data that could be scooped up."
Mr Cheng is convinced a lot of that data has now been archived in China and is slowly being studied.
He says even the encrypted material would eventually be broken down.
Australia threatened
Dale Meyerrose, a former chief information officer for the director of national intelligence, says this is a serious threat.
"What we're seeing here is a technique that may have in fact ... have been a cover for something else," he said.
"In my 35 years of dealing with this, there's an intended consequence and a series of unintended consequences and I think they always play out in these sorts of things."
Mr Cheng says it is not just a US problem.
"It's not simply American information that has been made vulnerable, but that of our allies, including Australia."
China has denied it hijacked the internet but the incident has added to global concerns about cyber security.
US defence secretary Robert Gates this week described potential attacks as a huge future threat and a considerable current threat.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Hong Kong confirms 1st bird flu in years
Here we go again - Beware of injections folks please.
Health officials in Hong Kong have raised an alert on a serious case of bird flu as they have diagnosed the first human case of the disease.
A 59-year-old woman fell ill with the H5N1 avian flu virus shortly after returning home from China, Hong Kong's officials confirmed on Thursday, AFP reported.
The officials noted that she was in serious conditions, adding that it is not yet clear whether she was infected in Hong Kong, the densely populated city of 7 million residents.
This is the first outbreak of the disease in that area since 2003. There is a "high risk" of contracting the potentially fatal disease.
The government has raised the crowded city's avian influenza alert level to "serious", said a spokesman for the Department of Health.
Hong Kong's Health Secretary York Chow reiterated that measures were being taken to monitor markets and chicken farms. Tests were also conducted on chickens imported from China, DPA reported.
Hong Kong recorded its last human case of the bird flu in 2003 when six people died of the virus.
The World Health Organization has announced that over 500 cases of bird flu have been diagnosed world-wide since 2003. According to the international organization, merely 302 cases have been fatal so far.
Health officials in Hong Kong have raised an alert on a serious case of bird flu as they have diagnosed the first human case of the disease.
A 59-year-old woman fell ill with the H5N1 avian flu virus shortly after returning home from China, Hong Kong's officials confirmed on Thursday, AFP reported.
The officials noted that she was in serious conditions, adding that it is not yet clear whether she was infected in Hong Kong, the densely populated city of 7 million residents.
This is the first outbreak of the disease in that area since 2003. There is a "high risk" of contracting the potentially fatal disease.
The government has raised the crowded city's avian influenza alert level to "serious", said a spokesman for the Department of Health.
Hong Kong's Health Secretary York Chow reiterated that measures were being taken to monitor markets and chicken farms. Tests were also conducted on chickens imported from China, DPA reported.
Hong Kong recorded its last human case of the bird flu in 2003 when six people died of the virus.
The World Health Organization has announced that over 500 cases of bird flu have been diagnosed world-wide since 2003. According to the international organization, merely 302 cases have been fatal so far.
Water for Health
Please remember - Water is not just for weight loss but for all round good health!
The Claim: Drinking Water Before Meals Aids Weight Loss - By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
THE FACTS Late November marks the start of the gluttonous holiday season. But a simple step might help keep food intake in check: a glass of water before meals.
Dieters have been encouraged to employ this trick for ages, with the reasoning quite simple: the water fills the stomach, thus reducing hunger. But only in recent years have studies borne this out.
In the most recent, a randomized trial published in the journal Obesity in February, scientists at Virginia Tech followed a group of overweight subjects age 55 and up on low-calorie diets for about three months. Half the people were told to drink two cups of water before every meal. At the end of the study, the water group had lost an average of 15.5 pounds, compared with 11 pounds in the other group.
A 2008 study showed a similar effect, finding a 13 percent reduction in calorie intake in overweight subjects who consumed water before breakfast. But a third study, this one in 2007, had a peculiar finding: drinking water 30 minutes before a meal reduced calorie intake and feelings of hunger in older adults, but had little effect on subjects under 35. It’s not clear why, but the researchers pointed out that because older adults are at increased risk of being overweight and obese, further studies should determine whether this is effective for the aging population.
Studies show the average person gains about a pound between Thanksgiving and January. Most adults gain one to two pounds a year over a lifetime, so staving off the holiday pound can go a long way.
THE BOTTOM LINE Drinking water before a meal can reduce calorie intake, though the effect seems most prominent in older people. ANAHAD O’CONNOR scitimes@nytimes.com
nytimes.com
The Claim: Drinking Water Before Meals Aids Weight Loss - By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
THE FACTS Late November marks the start of the gluttonous holiday season. But a simple step might help keep food intake in check: a glass of water before meals.
Dieters have been encouraged to employ this trick for ages, with the reasoning quite simple: the water fills the stomach, thus reducing hunger. But only in recent years have studies borne this out.
In the most recent, a randomized trial published in the journal Obesity in February, scientists at Virginia Tech followed a group of overweight subjects age 55 and up on low-calorie diets for about three months. Half the people were told to drink two cups of water before every meal. At the end of the study, the water group had lost an average of 15.5 pounds, compared with 11 pounds in the other group.
A 2008 study showed a similar effect, finding a 13 percent reduction in calorie intake in overweight subjects who consumed water before breakfast. But a third study, this one in 2007, had a peculiar finding: drinking water 30 minutes before a meal reduced calorie intake and feelings of hunger in older adults, but had little effect on subjects under 35. It’s not clear why, but the researchers pointed out that because older adults are at increased risk of being overweight and obese, further studies should determine whether this is effective for the aging population.
Studies show the average person gains about a pound between Thanksgiving and January. Most adults gain one to two pounds a year over a lifetime, so staving off the holiday pound can go a long way.
THE BOTTOM LINE Drinking water before a meal can reduce calorie intake, though the effect seems most prominent in older people. ANAHAD O’CONNOR scitimes@nytimes.com
Julian Assange - Wikileaks - Arrest Order
I can not believe this surely they are kidding?
Swedish court orders arrest of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange.
Swedish authorities have issued a warrant for the arrest of Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks whistle-blower website. Assange views the charges as a response to his publication of classified war documents.
A Stockholm court approved the request to detain Assange on Wednesday, after a prosecutor called for his arrests over allegations of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion during a visit to Sweden in August.
The decision, which was announced after a hearing at the Stockholm district court, will allow Swedish prosecutors to seek assistance from other countries to obtain Assange's arrest.
The prosecutor's office began the investigation against Assange, an Australian citizen, in September. "The reason for my request is that we need to interrogate him. So far, we have not been able to meet him to carry out the interrogations," said Marianne Ny, heading up the case for the Prosecution Authority.
'Smear campaign'
Assange has strongly denied the charges, calling them baseless. His lawyer in Sweden, Bjoern Hurtig, has criticized the request, calling it "exaggerated" and "out of proportion."
A German Bundeswehr soldier stationed in northern AfghanistanBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Many say the leaked files could further endanger soldiers' lives"[ Assange] of course denies the allegations and opposes being arrested, and we do not think it is proportional to demand his arrest just to interrogate him," Hurtig told news agency AFP. He said that his client "is absolutely prepared to come to Sweden [and] wants to cooperate."
Assange has previously suggested that the allegations against him could be part of a "smear campaign" aimed at discrediting his website. In October, WikiLeaks angered the Pentagon over its release of nearly 400,000 classified documents on the Iraq war, which Assange said showed 15,000 more civilian deaths than previously thought.
In July, the site posted some 77,000 secret US files on the conflict in Afghanistan. The publication met with widespread criticism, with German Commander Hans-Werner Fritz, currently stationed in Afghanistan, calling it "absolutely irresponsible and dangerous."
Author: Gabriel Borrud, Martin Kuebler (AFP, Reuters, dpa)- Editor: Rob Turner
Source
And the Sydney Morning Herald story
SMH
Swedish court orders arrest of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange.
Swedish authorities have issued a warrant for the arrest of Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks whistle-blower website. Assange views the charges as a response to his publication of classified war documents.
A Stockholm court approved the request to detain Assange on Wednesday, after a prosecutor called for his arrests over allegations of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion during a visit to Sweden in August.
The decision, which was announced after a hearing at the Stockholm district court, will allow Swedish prosecutors to seek assistance from other countries to obtain Assange's arrest.
The prosecutor's office began the investigation against Assange, an Australian citizen, in September. "The reason for my request is that we need to interrogate him. So far, we have not been able to meet him to carry out the interrogations," said Marianne Ny, heading up the case for the Prosecution Authority.
'Smear campaign'
Assange has strongly denied the charges, calling them baseless. His lawyer in Sweden, Bjoern Hurtig, has criticized the request, calling it "exaggerated" and "out of proportion."
A German Bundeswehr soldier stationed in northern AfghanistanBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Many say the leaked files could further endanger soldiers' lives"[ Assange] of course denies the allegations and opposes being arrested, and we do not think it is proportional to demand his arrest just to interrogate him," Hurtig told news agency AFP. He said that his client "is absolutely prepared to come to Sweden [and] wants to cooperate."
Assange has previously suggested that the allegations against him could be part of a "smear campaign" aimed at discrediting his website. In October, WikiLeaks angered the Pentagon over its release of nearly 400,000 classified documents on the Iraq war, which Assange said showed 15,000 more civilian deaths than previously thought.
In July, the site posted some 77,000 secret US files on the conflict in Afghanistan. The publication met with widespread criticism, with German Commander Hans-Werner Fritz, currently stationed in Afghanistan, calling it "absolutely irresponsible and dangerous."
Author: Gabriel Borrud, Martin Kuebler (AFP, Reuters, dpa)- Editor: Rob Turner
And the Sydney Morning Herald story
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Prophetic Art in Bank of America
I know, I know Alex Jones BUT still very interesting/odd/weird!!
Posted By Matt Ryan On November 11, 2010 @ 4:18 pm In Media | 229 Comments
Infowars.com -November 11, 2010
Below are three paintings prominently featured in the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, NC along with interpretations sent to us by a listener. This fresco was created by artist Benjamin F. Long.
Benjamin F. Long’s first secular fresco, and his largest work to date, consists of three panels composed for the dedication of the Bank of America Corporate Center dominating the lobby as no other artwork could, the panels present the themes of making/building, chaos/creativity, and planning/knowledge in an daring blend of abstract and realism, set off with touches of gold.
This is the first of three in the order of timing of events. You see the classic Masonic checkered floor as part of the landscape that they control. You see the classic blond-haired, blue-eyed Arian “youth” in the classic Masonic heel-to-heel 90 degree stance. Take note to the burning bush blowing dead West. I see this as the Western World being burned and this is the current state of the dismantling affairs of the U.S. while Americans (in general) go unaware. I see this because of the white man right next to the burning bush and he is wearing a red sweater and blue jeans. Red, white and blue. He represents the majority of unaware Americans and remains distracted via the book he is reading while the bush (which again represents the Western World) is burning to the ground right next to him. Now, take a look at the female puppet on strings being controlled. Could this mean that the next President will be a woman? Most important is the group of characters at the bottom-left. This clearly shows a colonial forefather arguing with modern day “suits”. This is highly suggestive of constitutionalists arguing with the “New World” unfolding. Notice they are pointing to the Masonic Arian as the subject at hand? This suggests the Tea Party Movement and the fight against the coming-out of World Government. This is (now) in the first of these three key time eras.
Other Paitings and Description Here
Posted By Matt Ryan On November 11, 2010 @ 4:18 pm In Media | 229 Comments
Infowars.com -November 11, 2010
Below are three paintings prominently featured in the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, NC along with interpretations sent to us by a listener. This fresco was created by artist Benjamin F. Long.
Benjamin F. Long’s first secular fresco, and his largest work to date, consists of three panels composed for the dedication of the Bank of America Corporate Center dominating the lobby as no other artwork could, the panels present the themes of making/building, chaos/creativity, and planning/knowledge in an daring blend of abstract and realism, set off with touches of gold.
This is the first of three in the order of timing of events. You see the classic Masonic checkered floor as part of the landscape that they control. You see the classic blond-haired, blue-eyed Arian “youth” in the classic Masonic heel-to-heel 90 degree stance. Take note to the burning bush blowing dead West. I see this as the Western World being burned and this is the current state of the dismantling affairs of the U.S. while Americans (in general) go unaware. I see this because of the white man right next to the burning bush and he is wearing a red sweater and blue jeans. Red, white and blue. He represents the majority of unaware Americans and remains distracted via the book he is reading while the bush (which again represents the Western World) is burning to the ground right next to him. Now, take a look at the female puppet on strings being controlled. Could this mean that the next President will be a woman? Most important is the group of characters at the bottom-left. This clearly shows a colonial forefather arguing with modern day “suits”. This is highly suggestive of constitutionalists arguing with the “New World” unfolding. Notice they are pointing to the Masonic Arian as the subject at hand? This suggests the Tea Party Movement and the fight against the coming-out of World Government. This is (now) in the first of these three key time eras.
Bank of America Is in Deep Trouble
Bank of America Is in Deep Trouble, and There May Be Financial Disaster on the Horizon
Its stock value has dropped 40 percent since April, and the bank is mum on what losses it's hiding on its $2.3 trillion balance sheet.
November 11, 2010
Will Bank of America be the first Wall Street giant to once again point a gun to its own head, telling us it'll crash and burn and take down the financial system if we don’t pony up for another massive bailout?
When former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson was handing out trillions to Wall Street, BofA collected $45 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to stabilize its balance sheet. It was spun as a success story -- a rebuke of those who urged the banks be put into receivership -- when the behemoth “paid back” the cash last December. But the bank’s stock price has fallen by more than 40 percent since mid-April, and the value of its outstanding stock is currently at around half of what it should be based on its “book value” -- what the company says its holdings are worth.
Read More
Its stock value has dropped 40 percent since April, and the bank is mum on what losses it's hiding on its $2.3 trillion balance sheet.
November 11, 2010
Will Bank of America be the first Wall Street giant to once again point a gun to its own head, telling us it'll crash and burn and take down the financial system if we don’t pony up for another massive bailout?
When former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson was handing out trillions to Wall Street, BofA collected $45 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to stabilize its balance sheet. It was spun as a success story -- a rebuke of those who urged the banks be put into receivership -- when the behemoth “paid back” the cash last December. But the bank’s stock price has fallen by more than 40 percent since mid-April, and the value of its outstanding stock is currently at around half of what it should be based on its “book value” -- what the company says its holdings are worth.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Obama Criticises China
Obama Ends G-20 Summit With Criticism of China - By SEWELL CHAN
SEOUL, South Korea — The Group of 20 major economies took initial steps to address imbalances in the global economy on Friday. But they did not act as assertively as President Obama had hoped, and he left little doubt that he considered one country, China, the primary source of the problem.
Scrapping a longtime practice of speaking with diplomatic caution about China’s currency policy, Mr. Obama accused Beijing of intervening aggressively to keep its currency, the renminbi, below its market value to promote exports. He said it was a mistake for nations to think that “their path to prosperity is paved simply with exports to the United States.”
“Precisely because of China’s success, it’s very important that it act in a responsible fashion internationally,” Mr. Obama said at a news conference at the conclusion of the economic summit meeting here. “And the issue of the renminbi is one that is an irritant not just to the United States, but is an irritant to a lot of China’s trading partners and those who are competing with China to sell goods around the world.”
Though his own Treasury Department, like those of prior administrations, has certified that China is not a “currency manipulator,” a designation that can prompt Congressional trade action, Mr. Obama appeared to remove the remaining wiggle room he had on the subject of the renminbi, declaring: “It is undervalued. And China spends enormous amounts of money intervening in the market to keep it undervalued.”
The tougher language seems likely to add tension with China, which has already sharply criticized the Obama administration’s decision to try to mediate territorial disputes involving China and its East and Southeast Asian neighbors.
But Mr. Obama’s efforts to persuade China to act on its own, or as part of a collective commitment by big economies to address trade imbalances, have yielded only incremental steps, raising the possibility of a contentious and awkward prelude to a state visit to Washington by President Hu Jintao of China scheduled for January.
Under heavy American pressure, the leaders of the Group of 20 economies did agree Friday to curb “persistently large imbalances” in trade, as well as saving and spending, that officials believe pose risks to global growth. The group’s communiqué reflected an emerging consensus that longstanding economic patterns — in particular, the United States’ consuming too much and big exporters like China and Germany consuming too little — were no longer sustainable.
But the uneasy compromise fell short of initial American demands for numerical targets on trade surpluses and deficits, and left most of the work to monitor and address such imbalances for future meetings. “Instead of hitting home runs, sometimes we’re going to hit singles,” Mr. Obama said. “But they’re really important singles.”
Mr. Obama acknowledged that the agreement “doesn’t provide an enforcement mechanism,” but said it “does give the international community the ability to monitor and see exactly what countries are doing” and “gives a mechanism to apply at least some peer pressure” on countries treating their trading partners unfairly.
The cautious approach reflected, according to several officials from the Group of 20 powers, the concerns of China, which resisted setting any kind of timetable for currency appreciation, and Germany, which insisted that the problem involved fiscal, monetary and other policies, not just trade.
The leaders did, however, agree to “move toward market-determined exchange-rate systems,” to avoid trade and currency wars and to coordinate their policies.
Mr. Hu said that the Chinese economy would shift toward domestic consumption and that the government would make it a priority to increase domestic demand, as the United States and many economists have urged.
Mr. Obama said that China’s shift toward higher consumption and a stronger currency would occur “in a gradual fashion.” He said he hoped that Mr. Hu’s visit to Washington in January would yield additional progress.
The declaration the Group of 20 leaders agreed upon was largely based on an agreement that finance ministers, including Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, hammered out last month at a meeting in Kyongju, South Korea. But it added a timetable.
The finance ministers are to agree by next June on “indicative guidelines” for “timely identification” of big, enduring imbalances that “require preventive and corrective actions to be taken.”
Using those guidelines, the International Monetary Fund will then conduct an analysis of the causes and consequences of the imbalances by the next Group of 20 leaders’ meeting, to be held in France late next year.
Technical and watered-down as it was, the language on imbalances was the most contentious element of the 22-page joint statement by the leaders. It was completed only after days of negotiation by the leaders’ representatives that stretched into early Friday, hours before the leaders approved the deal.
“In Seoul, there was too much jostling over currencies, deficits and exports for the Group of 20 leaders to make any significant breakthroughs,” said David Shorr of the Stanley Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates international cooperation and monitors the Group of 20. “But there was also enough concern to avert a disastrous breakdown.”
Expectations for the meeting had been low, particularly after officials from China, Germany, Brazil and other nations accused the Federal Reserve of weakening the dollar to support the sluggish American recovery.
The meeting did, however, yield substantial agreements in other areas. The leaders endorsed an encompassing new round of bank capital standards known as Basel III, called for a conclusion to the long-delayed Doha round of world trade talks and declared that development of poorer countries mattered not only for social justice, but for the bottom-line goal of raising global demand to sustain the recovery.
The leaders also backed a broader role for the International Monetary Fund, in addition to having it examine the imbalances.
They ratified changes in the fund’s governance that will expand representation of emerging markets, and supported the expansion of lending programs for countries facing a sudden liquidity crunch.
President Obama suggested that the controversy over currencies and trade sometimes obscured those accomplishments.
“Naturally there’s an instinct to focus on the disagreements, because otherwise, these summits might not be very exciting — it’s just a bunch of world leaders sitting around intervening,” he said, adding that “in each of these successive summits we’ve actually made real progress.”
Other leaders offered similar, if mild, praise.
“Not heroic, but good and steady progress,” said the British prime minister, David Cameron.
José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, said the outcome was “a quantum leap in terms of global economic governance,” given the refusal of some countries even to discuss imbalances two years ago.
Su-Hyun Lee and Mark McDonald contributed reporting.
NY Times
SEOUL, South Korea — The Group of 20 major economies took initial steps to address imbalances in the global economy on Friday. But they did not act as assertively as President Obama had hoped, and he left little doubt that he considered one country, China, the primary source of the problem.
Scrapping a longtime practice of speaking with diplomatic caution about China’s currency policy, Mr. Obama accused Beijing of intervening aggressively to keep its currency, the renminbi, below its market value to promote exports. He said it was a mistake for nations to think that “their path to prosperity is paved simply with exports to the United States.”
“Precisely because of China’s success, it’s very important that it act in a responsible fashion internationally,” Mr. Obama said at a news conference at the conclusion of the economic summit meeting here. “And the issue of the renminbi is one that is an irritant not just to the United States, but is an irritant to a lot of China’s trading partners and those who are competing with China to sell goods around the world.”
Though his own Treasury Department, like those of prior administrations, has certified that China is not a “currency manipulator,” a designation that can prompt Congressional trade action, Mr. Obama appeared to remove the remaining wiggle room he had on the subject of the renminbi, declaring: “It is undervalued. And China spends enormous amounts of money intervening in the market to keep it undervalued.”
The tougher language seems likely to add tension with China, which has already sharply criticized the Obama administration’s decision to try to mediate territorial disputes involving China and its East and Southeast Asian neighbors.
But Mr. Obama’s efforts to persuade China to act on its own, or as part of a collective commitment by big economies to address trade imbalances, have yielded only incremental steps, raising the possibility of a contentious and awkward prelude to a state visit to Washington by President Hu Jintao of China scheduled for January.
Under heavy American pressure, the leaders of the Group of 20 economies did agree Friday to curb “persistently large imbalances” in trade, as well as saving and spending, that officials believe pose risks to global growth. The group’s communiqué reflected an emerging consensus that longstanding economic patterns — in particular, the United States’ consuming too much and big exporters like China and Germany consuming too little — were no longer sustainable.
But the uneasy compromise fell short of initial American demands for numerical targets on trade surpluses and deficits, and left most of the work to monitor and address such imbalances for future meetings. “Instead of hitting home runs, sometimes we’re going to hit singles,” Mr. Obama said. “But they’re really important singles.”
Mr. Obama acknowledged that the agreement “doesn’t provide an enforcement mechanism,” but said it “does give the international community the ability to monitor and see exactly what countries are doing” and “gives a mechanism to apply at least some peer pressure” on countries treating their trading partners unfairly.
The cautious approach reflected, according to several officials from the Group of 20 powers, the concerns of China, which resisted setting any kind of timetable for currency appreciation, and Germany, which insisted that the problem involved fiscal, monetary and other policies, not just trade.
The leaders did, however, agree to “move toward market-determined exchange-rate systems,” to avoid trade and currency wars and to coordinate their policies.
Mr. Hu said that the Chinese economy would shift toward domestic consumption and that the government would make it a priority to increase domestic demand, as the United States and many economists have urged.
Mr. Obama said that China’s shift toward higher consumption and a stronger currency would occur “in a gradual fashion.” He said he hoped that Mr. Hu’s visit to Washington in January would yield additional progress.
The declaration the Group of 20 leaders agreed upon was largely based on an agreement that finance ministers, including Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, hammered out last month at a meeting in Kyongju, South Korea. But it added a timetable.
The finance ministers are to agree by next June on “indicative guidelines” for “timely identification” of big, enduring imbalances that “require preventive and corrective actions to be taken.”
Using those guidelines, the International Monetary Fund will then conduct an analysis of the causes and consequences of the imbalances by the next Group of 20 leaders’ meeting, to be held in France late next year.
Technical and watered-down as it was, the language on imbalances was the most contentious element of the 22-page joint statement by the leaders. It was completed only after days of negotiation by the leaders’ representatives that stretched into early Friday, hours before the leaders approved the deal.
“In Seoul, there was too much jostling over currencies, deficits and exports for the Group of 20 leaders to make any significant breakthroughs,” said David Shorr of the Stanley Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates international cooperation and monitors the Group of 20. “But there was also enough concern to avert a disastrous breakdown.”
Expectations for the meeting had been low, particularly after officials from China, Germany, Brazil and other nations accused the Federal Reserve of weakening the dollar to support the sluggish American recovery.
The meeting did, however, yield substantial agreements in other areas. The leaders endorsed an encompassing new round of bank capital standards known as Basel III, called for a conclusion to the long-delayed Doha round of world trade talks and declared that development of poorer countries mattered not only for social justice, but for the bottom-line goal of raising global demand to sustain the recovery.
The leaders also backed a broader role for the International Monetary Fund, in addition to having it examine the imbalances.
They ratified changes in the fund’s governance that will expand representation of emerging markets, and supported the expansion of lending programs for countries facing a sudden liquidity crunch.
President Obama suggested that the controversy over currencies and trade sometimes obscured those accomplishments.
“Naturally there’s an instinct to focus on the disagreements, because otherwise, these summits might not be very exciting — it’s just a bunch of world leaders sitting around intervening,” he said, adding that “in each of these successive summits we’ve actually made real progress.”
Other leaders offered similar, if mild, praise.
“Not heroic, but good and steady progress,” said the British prime minister, David Cameron.
José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, said the outcome was “a quantum leap in terms of global economic governance,” given the refusal of some countries even to discuss imbalances two years ago.
Su-Hyun Lee and Mark McDonald contributed reporting.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Aung San Suu Kyi is FREE
So long in detention I hope she can now stay free.
YANGON — Myanmar's military government freed its arch-rival — democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi — on Saturday after her latest term of detention expired. Several thousand jubilant supporters streamed to her residence.
A smiling Suu Kyi, wearing a traditional jacket and a flower in her hair, appeared at the gate of her compound as the crowd chanted, cheered and sang the national anthem.
Speaking briefly in Burmese, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate thanked the well-wishers, who quickly swelled to as many as 5,000, and said they would see each other again Sunday at the headquarters of her political party.
"If we work in unity, we will achieve our goal. We have a lot of things to do," she told the well-wishers. Speaking briefly in Burmese, she said they would see each other again Sunday at the headquarters of her political party.
"There is a time for quiet and a time for speaking," she also said, the U.K.'s Sky News reported.
Sky's reporter was working in secret like other correspondents because of restrictions on journalists imposed by the government, the broadcaster said. The unidentified reporter said she ran with supporters through the streets of Yangon to reach Suu Kyi's house after news of her release came through.
Suu Kyi, 65, whose latest period of detention spanned 7 1/2 years, has come to symbolize the struggle for democracy in the Southeast Asian nation ruled by the military since 1962.
However it was still unclear whether the rulers of Myanmar, also known as Burma, had imposed any conditions on her release and whether she would accept them, NBC News said.
The release from house arrest of one of the world's most prominent political prisoners came a week after an election that was swept by the military's proxy political party and decried by Western nations as a sham designed to perpetuate authoritarian control.
Supporters had been waiting most of the day near her residence and the headquarters of her political party. Suu Kyi has been jailed or under house arrest for more than 15 of the last 21 years.
YANGON — Myanmar's military government freed its arch-rival — democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi — on Saturday after her latest term of detention expired. Several thousand jubilant supporters streamed to her residence.
A smiling Suu Kyi, wearing a traditional jacket and a flower in her hair, appeared at the gate of her compound as the crowd chanted, cheered and sang the national anthem.
Speaking briefly in Burmese, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate thanked the well-wishers, who quickly swelled to as many as 5,000, and said they would see each other again Sunday at the headquarters of her political party.
"If we work in unity, we will achieve our goal. We have a lot of things to do," she told the well-wishers. Speaking briefly in Burmese, she said they would see each other again Sunday at the headquarters of her political party.
"There is a time for quiet and a time for speaking," she also said, the U.K.'s Sky News reported.
Sky's reporter was working in secret like other correspondents because of restrictions on journalists imposed by the government, the broadcaster said. The unidentified reporter said she ran with supporters through the streets of Yangon to reach Suu Kyi's house after news of her release came through.
Suu Kyi, 65, whose latest period of detention spanned 7 1/2 years, has come to symbolize the struggle for democracy in the Southeast Asian nation ruled by the military since 1962.
However it was still unclear whether the rulers of Myanmar, also known as Burma, had imposed any conditions on her release and whether she would accept them, NBC News said.
The release from house arrest of one of the world's most prominent political prisoners came a week after an election that was swept by the military's proxy political party and decried by Western nations as a sham designed to perpetuate authoritarian control.
Supporters had been waiting most of the day near her residence and the headquarters of her political party. Suu Kyi has been jailed or under house arrest for more than 15 of the last 21 years.
US asks China to raise Yuan
Well I wonder what China will say to this request.
US asks China to raise yuan by January
The United States has called on China to hasten its efforts toward reforming its currency exchange rate against the dollar by January of next year.
US President Barack Obama, who has repeatedly said the yuan's undervalued currency has hurt the US economy, urged Chinese officials to let the yuan rise against the dollar by the time Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Washington in January, Reuters reported on Saturday.
"President Hu Jintao's visit in January would be an important time to look at exactly what the quantum of progress has been on this," said United States' National Security Advisor Tom Donilan.
The United States “would like to see China proceed apace on these reforms, because it's important we think to China, but it's important to the world in terms of a stable economic path forward," Donilan added.
"The pacing of this is obviously a sovereign decision by them,” noted Donilan, who accompanies Obama at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Yokohama.
The US claims that the yuan has been artificially undervalued, saying that such a low rating keeps exports relatively cheap and gives Chinese exporters an unfair advantage over their rivals.
But China has warned that any sudden rise in the value of the unit would pummel its businesses and trigger massive unemployment.
Meanwhile, the Chinese president assured US officials that the existing currency rate would not wreak havoc on the US economy.
“We will continue to steadily move forward the reform of the exchange rate regime in a self-initiated, controllable and gradual manner," Hu said.
Earlier in March, Governor of the People's Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan said Beijing would eventually shift away from its special exchange rate policy.
Source
US asks China to raise yuan by January
The United States has called on China to hasten its efforts toward reforming its currency exchange rate against the dollar by January of next year.
US President Barack Obama, who has repeatedly said the yuan's undervalued currency has hurt the US economy, urged Chinese officials to let the yuan rise against the dollar by the time Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Washington in January, Reuters reported on Saturday.
"President Hu Jintao's visit in January would be an important time to look at exactly what the quantum of progress has been on this," said United States' National Security Advisor Tom Donilan.
The United States “would like to see China proceed apace on these reforms, because it's important we think to China, but it's important to the world in terms of a stable economic path forward," Donilan added.
"The pacing of this is obviously a sovereign decision by them,” noted Donilan, who accompanies Obama at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Yokohama.
The US claims that the yuan has been artificially undervalued, saying that such a low rating keeps exports relatively cheap and gives Chinese exporters an unfair advantage over their rivals.
But China has warned that any sudden rise in the value of the unit would pummel its businesses and trigger massive unemployment.
Meanwhile, the Chinese president assured US officials that the existing currency rate would not wreak havoc on the US economy.
“We will continue to steadily move forward the reform of the exchange rate regime in a self-initiated, controllable and gradual manner," Hu said.
Earlier in March, Governor of the People's Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan said Beijing would eventually shift away from its special exchange rate policy.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Julian Assange - Wikileaks
Update
Julian Assange is in the lead for Time: Person of the Year 2010 (Good luck Julian you deserve the recognition and the thanks from all residents of the world for the truth you bring to us with no bs.
Source
WikiLeaks registers company in Iceland - Whistleblower WikiLeaks has registered in media-friendly Iceland its first known legal entity -- a business that so far has no office or activity, the website's spokesman said Friday.
Source
Julian Assange is in the lead for Time: Person of the Year 2010 (Good luck Julian you deserve the recognition and the thanks from all residents of the world for the truth you bring to us with no bs.
WikiLeaks registers company in Iceland - Whistleblower WikiLeaks has registered in media-friendly Iceland its first known legal entity -- a business that so far has no office or activity, the website's spokesman said Friday.
The Truth About Sunscreen
Be careful what you slop on (always slip and slap) yourself and your children's skin.
Links between chemicals in sunscreens and harmful effects on the body have been well researched and documented in various medical journals. However, only small amounts of this information have leaked out into the mainstream media. There is also increasing evidence that while sunscreens may stop you burning, very few provide protection against the radiation linked to skin cancer.
Source
Links between chemicals in sunscreens and harmful effects on the body have been well researched and documented in various medical journals. However, only small amounts of this information have leaked out into the mainstream media. There is also increasing evidence that while sunscreens may stop you burning, very few provide protection against the radiation linked to skin cancer.
CME on the way to Earth
If satellite/technology equipment goes haywire we know why.
Coronal Mass Ejection Headed Towards Earth, NASA Say Solar Flare Will Strike Earth Nov. 14 or 15 -
EARTH-DIRECTED ERUPTION: Active sunspot 1123 erupted during the early hours of Nov. 12th, producing a C4-class solar flare and apparently hurling a filament of material in the general direction of Earth.
Coronagraph images from NASA's twin STEREO spacecraft show a coronal mass ejection (CME) emerging from the blast site and heading off in a direction just south of the sun-Earth line. The cloud could deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field sometime on Nov. 14th or 15th, sparking auroras.
NASA
Coronal Mass Ejection Headed Towards Earth, NASA Say Solar Flare Will Strike Earth Nov. 14 or 15 -
EARTH-DIRECTED ERUPTION: Active sunspot 1123 erupted during the early hours of Nov. 12th, producing a C4-class solar flare and apparently hurling a filament of material in the general direction of Earth.
Coronagraph images from NASA's twin STEREO spacecraft show a coronal mass ejection (CME) emerging from the blast site and heading off in a direction just south of the sun-Earth line. The cloud could deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field sometime on Nov. 14th or 15th, sparking auroras.
Hold the banks to account
Australian banks are protected by the bank deposit guarantee backed by Australian taxpayers, but what have they given us in return? High fees, marked up interest rates and unfair banking practices
But we can change all that if we call on the Government to restore the true twin pillars of our financial system: real competition and effective regulation.
The media and politicians are paying full attention to the banks--the time to call for change is now. Tell the Government we need real reform, not half measures, by signing up below:
To restore fair and honest banking practices and to ensure the long-term strength and stability of our banking system, we call on the Government to reinforce the twin pillars of real competition and effective regulation.
GetUp
Banking Reforms
We're calling on the Government to make a whole host of reforms underpinned by the twin pillars of real competition and effective regulation, to make the banking sector more competitive and fairer to customers:
* Increased powers and mandate for the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) to maintain a truly competitive banking sector.
* Protecting customers from predatory lending practices by preventing banks from pursuing debts for loans that should never have been made.
* Portable bank account numbers, to make it easier for you to switch your bank account to another institution.
* An end to mortgage exit fees, making it cheaper to move your mortgage to a more competitive provider.
* An end to unfair and unlawful penalty fees for small defaults like going over your credit limit, and caps on other fees.
* Measures to make it easier for small and midsized players to compete with the big banks.
* Compelling banks to offer accredited essential service products, like low-fee bank accounts, that are always offered alongside higher cost alternatives.
* Banning ‘pre-approval’ credit card offers and unsolicited credit limit increases.
* Controls on minimum credit card repayments, so that debts can be paid off within a reasonable time.
But we can change all that if we call on the Government to restore the true twin pillars of our financial system: real competition and effective regulation.
The media and politicians are paying full attention to the banks--the time to call for change is now. Tell the Government we need real reform, not half measures, by signing up below:
To restore fair and honest banking practices and to ensure the long-term strength and stability of our banking system, we call on the Government to reinforce the twin pillars of real competition and effective regulation.
Banking Reforms
We're calling on the Government to make a whole host of reforms underpinned by the twin pillars of real competition and effective regulation, to make the banking sector more competitive and fairer to customers:
* Increased powers and mandate for the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) to maintain a truly competitive banking sector.
* Protecting customers from predatory lending practices by preventing banks from pursuing debts for loans that should never have been made.
* Portable bank account numbers, to make it easier for you to switch your bank account to another institution.
* An end to mortgage exit fees, making it cheaper to move your mortgage to a more competitive provider.
* An end to unfair and unlawful penalty fees for small defaults like going over your credit limit, and caps on other fees.
* Measures to make it easier for small and midsized players to compete with the big banks.
* Compelling banks to offer accredited essential service products, like low-fee bank accounts, that are always offered alongside higher cost alternatives.
* Banning ‘pre-approval’ credit card offers and unsolicited credit limit increases.
* Controls on minimum credit card repayments, so that debts can be paid off within a reasonable time.
China asks US to adopt responsible economic policies
More on my Warning.
China has called on the United States to adopt responsible economic policies, following the Federal Reserve's announced plans to inject $600 billion into the country's market.
Speaking at the G20 summit in the South Korean capital of Seoul on Friday, Chinese President Hu Jintao urged the United States to revise its economic policies, as he presented a plan for achieving strong and balanced global growth.
"Major reserve-currency economies must carry out responsible policies and keep their exchange rates relatively stable," AFP quoted Hu as saying.
On the final day of the two-day summit of world's leading economies, which has been dominated by disputes over currency and trade policies, the Chinese president called for a sustainable development and further reinforcement of international cooperation.
"The world community should improve the framework for strong, sustainable and balanced growth and promote cooperative development... champion open trade and promote coordinated development," Hu said.
The Chinese president also called for restructuring of the financial system.
"The world community should reform the financial system and promote stable development... narrow the development gap and promote balanced development," he added.
The United States has been fiercely criticized by other G20 member states who oppose the US Federal Reserve's announced plans to print and pump $600 billion into its economy by the end of June 2011.
The move is believed to improve the US slow-moving economy, as it partially weakens the dollar's value and thus helps the country's exporters to be more competitive and stimulates job creation.
Asian governments, in particular China, accuse the US of trade protectionism as they argue that it will add to the flood of cash pouring into the region and destabilize regional economy, pushing up the value of Asian currencies and making exports more expensive.
Meanwhile, the United States has also blasted China, saying Beijing holds the yuan deliberately low so that Chinese goods can enjoy an artificial competitive edge at the expense of other countries.
Source
China has called on the United States to adopt responsible economic policies, following the Federal Reserve's announced plans to inject $600 billion into the country's market.
Speaking at the G20 summit in the South Korean capital of Seoul on Friday, Chinese President Hu Jintao urged the United States to revise its economic policies, as he presented a plan for achieving strong and balanced global growth.
"Major reserve-currency economies must carry out responsible policies and keep their exchange rates relatively stable," AFP quoted Hu as saying.
On the final day of the two-day summit of world's leading economies, which has been dominated by disputes over currency and trade policies, the Chinese president called for a sustainable development and further reinforcement of international cooperation.
"The world community should improve the framework for strong, sustainable and balanced growth and promote cooperative development... champion open trade and promote coordinated development," Hu said.
The Chinese president also called for restructuring of the financial system.
"The world community should reform the financial system and promote stable development... narrow the development gap and promote balanced development," he added.
The United States has been fiercely criticized by other G20 member states who oppose the US Federal Reserve's announced plans to print and pump $600 billion into its economy by the end of June 2011.
The move is believed to improve the US slow-moving economy, as it partially weakens the dollar's value and thus helps the country's exporters to be more competitive and stimulates job creation.
Asian governments, in particular China, accuse the US of trade protectionism as they argue that it will add to the flood of cash pouring into the region and destabilize regional economy, pushing up the value of Asian currencies and making exports more expensive.
Meanwhile, the United States has also blasted China, saying Beijing holds the yuan deliberately low so that Chinese goods can enjoy an artificial competitive edge at the expense of other countries.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
China, U.S. in `Grand Bargain' on Yuan
OK Harking back to my Warning Post, here is a little more.
China is accelerating the yuan’s appreciation as part of the “grand bargain” to win U.S. support for Beijing to gain a bigger say at the International Monetary Fund, says Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s Jim O’Neill.
China’s yuan, known as the renminbi, reached the strongest level against the dollar since 1993 ahead of a Group of 20 leaders meeting this week in Seoul. The gain came after the IMF’s executive board approved a plan that would make China the third-strongest member in the organization, a position described by the fund’s chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn as allowing Beijing to take more “responsibility” in the global economy.
bloomberg.com
Debt Plan Would Cut Taxes, Social Security, Medicare
Source
China is accelerating the yuan’s appreciation as part of the “grand bargain” to win U.S. support for Beijing to gain a bigger say at the International Monetary Fund, says Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s Jim O’Neill.
China’s yuan, known as the renminbi, reached the strongest level against the dollar since 1993 ahead of a Group of 20 leaders meeting this week in Seoul. The gain came after the IMF’s executive board approved a plan that would make China the third-strongest member in the organization, a position described by the fund’s chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn as allowing Beijing to take more “responsibility” in the global economy.
Debt Plan Would Cut Taxes, Social Security, Medicare
Ozone layer holes causing sunburn among whales
What we do to ourselves we also do to the creatures. Shame, shame!
Scientists have discovered that a growing number of whales too are at a risk of sunburn due to the hole in the ozone layer. The findings come from a study of 156 blue, fin and sperm whales in the Gulf of California, according
to the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Researchers have long known that whales suffer from blisters on their backs. However, why they have lesions (damaged tissue) has been a mystery - until now, reports the Daily Mail.
After analysing the scores of high resolution photographs and whale skin samples, a team of British and Mexican researchers now believe they are caused by acute sunburn.
Laura Martinez-Levasseur, of the Zoological Society of London, said: "Whales need to come to the surface to breathe air, to socialise and to feed their young, meaning that they are frequently exposed to the full force of the sun."
Blue whales, who have fairer skin than most whales, suffered more than the darker fin whales, she reports in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Sperm whales, who spend more time at the surface, were also vulnerable.
The problem was the most acute for blue whales, the study found. In 2007, just six out of 48 blue whales had sunburn. By 2009, 15 out of 22 whales studied were suffering.
"A likely cause is rising ultraviolet radiation as a result of either ozone depletion, or a change in the level of cloud cover," said Martinez-Levasseur.
Prof Edel O'Toole, from Queen Mary, said: "As we would expect to see in humans, the whale species that spent more 'time in the sun' suffered greater sun damage.
'We predict that whales will experience more severe sun damage if ultraviolet radiation continues to increase," she said.
Source
Scientists have discovered that a growing number of whales too are at a risk of sunburn due to the hole in the ozone layer. The findings come from a study of 156 blue, fin and sperm whales in the Gulf of California, according
to the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Researchers have long known that whales suffer from blisters on their backs. However, why they have lesions (damaged tissue) has been a mystery - until now, reports the Daily Mail.
After analysing the scores of high resolution photographs and whale skin samples, a team of British and Mexican researchers now believe they are caused by acute sunburn.
Laura Martinez-Levasseur, of the Zoological Society of London, said: "Whales need to come to the surface to breathe air, to socialise and to feed their young, meaning that they are frequently exposed to the full force of the sun."
Blue whales, who have fairer skin than most whales, suffered more than the darker fin whales, she reports in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Sperm whales, who spend more time at the surface, were also vulnerable.
The problem was the most acute for blue whales, the study found. In 2007, just six out of 48 blue whales had sunburn. By 2009, 15 out of 22 whales studied were suffering.
"A likely cause is rising ultraviolet radiation as a result of either ozone depletion, or a change in the level of cloud cover," said Martinez-Levasseur.
Prof Edel O'Toole, from Queen Mary, said: "As we would expect to see in humans, the whale species that spent more 'time in the sun' suffered greater sun damage.
'We predict that whales will experience more severe sun damage if ultraviolet radiation continues to increase," she said.
Slow your ageing body clock
Wellbeing is a great source of information.
Source
Weight gain
Health checks
* Waist measurement, no more than 80cm (for women) and 94cm (for men) BMI, which should be 18.5–24 (unless heavier due to muscle)
Diet
* Serve small portions and eat food low in fat, glycemic index (GI) and kilojoules)
* Address food allergies and eat spicy food to boost metabolism
Exercise
* Exercise for 30 minutes or more on most days
* Cross-train to increase strength, aerobic fitness, balance and flexibility
Emotions
* Learn to live in the moment to beat stress, which can lead to abdominal weight gain (from cortisol), cravings and increased appetite
Lifestyle
* Avoid smoking
* Get enough sleep— less than six hours can cause increased appetite and insulin levels
* Home-cook food
Supplements/herbs
* Chromium and lipoic acid to stabilise blood sugar
* Gymnema sylvestre and L-gluatamine for sugar cravings
* Lecithin and L-carnitine for fat burning
Skin
Health checks
* See specialist for yearly skin cancer screening
* Monitor own skin and see GP about changed moles, freckles or concerning new spots
Diet
* Eat antioxidant-rich fruits/vegetables
* Minimise sugar intake and browned or barbecued foods, which cause wrinkles via glycation
* Cut alcohol and caffeine
Exercise
* Do aerobic exercise (eg cycling, jogging) to boost circulation, enhance oxygenation to cells and keep skin supple from the inside
Emotions
* Avoid arguments — studies show they slow healing
* Minimise anxiety, which can dehydrate skin
Lifestyle
* Reduce sun damage: use a broad-spectrum sunscreen, wide-brimmed hat and avoid sunbaking
* Increase water intake to maintain skin moisture
Supplements/herbs
* Glucosamine for collagen synthesis
* Antioxidants to penetrate the dermis eg Q10, silymarin, catechins and pycnogenol
* Fish oil for inlammation
Bones
Health checks
* Get bone density checked over 65 or earlier if you you have a small build, family history of fractures or use corticosteroid medication
Diet
* Eat more fish and high-calcium foods, eg dairy products, legumes and green leafy vegetables
* Avoid soft drinks, too much alcohol and caffeine and excess salt
Exercise
* Weight-bearing activities eg walking, running and strength training, to maintain bone mass and strength
Emotions
* Seek counselling for depression, which increases osteoporosis risk, possibly due to hormone changes
Lifestyle
* Avoid smoking and diabetes
* Enjoy 10 minutes of sun exposure every day to increase your levels of vitamin D
Supplements/herbs
* Calcium and HRT if needed at menopause
* Vitamins K and D if deficient
* Phyto-oestro gens, such as genistein
Heart
Health checks
* Blood cholesterol for HDL, LDL and triglicerides
* Once yearly screening for high blood pressure and diabetes
Diet
* Adopt the Mediterranean diet, which is low in glycaemic index, saturated fats and sugar while high in fish, vegetables and fruit
Exercise
* Exercise regularly, to a point of exertion
* Walk 30 minutes a day and halve your risk of heart attack
Emotions
* Minimise depression, anxiety and loneliness, all strongly linked to cardiovascular disease and heart attack
Lifestyle
* Avoid high blood pressure, diabetes, gum disease, snoring and sleep defecit, which increase risks of a heart attack
Supplements/herbs
* Fish oil for inflammation of arteries and lowering cholesterol
* Q10 for blood pressure
* SAMe for depression
Joints
Health checks
* Blood checks for inflammation and rheumatoid factor if arthritis is suspected
* X-rays to check for damage to cartilage and bones
Diet
* Eat spicy foods —turmeric may help reduce arthritis
* Cut saturated fats, sugar and salt
* Eat more fish
* Identify and address food sensitivities
Exercise
* Improve circulation of synovial fluid between your joints via exercise such as swimming, walking, yoga and tai chi
Emotions
* Do daily relaxation to minimise stress which produces inflammation that may contribute to some forms of arthritis
Lifestyle
* Prevent weight gain
* Warm up before exercise
* Avoid repetetive strain injuries
* Treat all joint injuries promptly
Supplements/herbs
* Glucosamine and chondroitin for cartilage health
* Ginger, evening primrose oil and fish oil to reduce inflammation and pain
* SAMe for arthritis
Brain
Health checks
* Memory checks and CT/MRI scans if problems such as stroke or Alzheimer’s are suspected
Diet
* Cut out trans fats and cut back on saturated fats in red meats and dairy products
* Boost omega-3s with fish, nuts and seeds and antioxidants with fruit, vegetables and green tea
* Minimise alcohol intake
Exercise
* Every form of exercise whether walking, jogging or gardening, increases circulation to the brain and reduces belly fat (which bumps up dementia risk)
Emotions
* Meditate daily — stress damages brain function and memory by shrinking the hippocampus in the brain
* Maintain friendships — a good social network helps reduce dementia risk
Lifestyle
* Reduce cholesterol and risk factors for stroke/diabetes
* Wear headgear when cycling, skiing and renovating
* Quit smoking
* Read, do puzzles and continue education to boost brain function
Supplements/herbs
* Ginkgo biloba to improve neural circulation
* Withania to help you adapt to stress
* B vitamins for brain function
* Magnesium to stabilise nervous system
Bowel
Health checks
* Foecal occult test involving a stool sample every two years over age 50
* Colonoscopy (a thin tube and camera to view bowel) every five years over 50 or if bowel symptoms occur or you have family history
Diet
* Minimise red meat intake and saturated fats
* Eat plenty of green cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and chard, which protect against bowel cancer
* Eat plenty of wholegrains and fibre
* Eat yoghurt with live cultures
* Drink adequate water
Exercise
* Exercise enables oxygen to better fight cancer cells
* Studies show an hour of vigorous activity every day is particularly protective
Emotions
* Laugh more, prioritise sleep and do progressive relaxation to combat tension, which can compromise the natural peristaltic motion of the bowel
Lifestyle
* Reduce bowel inflammation by avoiding any foods, situations or vices (eg drinking, recreational drugs) that cause bloating or bowel upset and inflammation
Supplements/herbs
* Probiotics to promote good bacteria and nutrient uptake.
* Slippery elm for mucous membrane health
* Dandelion root for liver function and constipation
Bladder
Health checks
* Bladder stress test
* Urinalysis and culture via sample
* Ultrasound or cytoscopy (a thin tube and camera inserted via urethra)
Diet
* Eat more phyto-oestrogens, found in fruit, vegetables, soy, lentils, flaxseed and chickpeas
* Minimise curries, tomatoes, corn syrup, caffeine, fruit juice, alcohol and carbonated drinks, which irritate the bladder
Exercise
* Regularly squeeze the muscles of your pelvic floor and hold for 10 seconds to maintain muscle tone
* Jumping, jogging and skipping to utilise your pelvic muscles
Emotions
* Use long and short (spot) meditations to reduce anxiety —distress can lead to hormonal changes and muscle tension that affect both kidney and bladder and can cause an over-active bladder or fluid retention
Lifestyle
* Avoid weight gain and conditions such as diabetes (they increase bladder problems)
* Treat digestive problems, allergies — bloating, coughing and sneezing can reduce bladder function and muscle tone
Supplements/Herbs
* Black haw root and cramp bark to relax muscular tension and spasm in the bladder
* Uva ursi to reduce bacteria and smooth and sooth irritated bladder tissue
Weight gain
Health checks
* Waist measurement, no more than 80cm (for women) and 94cm (for men) BMI, which should be 18.5–24 (unless heavier due to muscle)
Diet
* Serve small portions and eat food low in fat, glycemic index (GI) and kilojoules)
* Address food allergies and eat spicy food to boost metabolism
Exercise
* Exercise for 30 minutes or more on most days
* Cross-train to increase strength, aerobic fitness, balance and flexibility
Emotions
* Learn to live in the moment to beat stress, which can lead to abdominal weight gain (from cortisol), cravings and increased appetite
Lifestyle
* Avoid smoking
* Get enough sleep— less than six hours can cause increased appetite and insulin levels
* Home-cook food
Supplements/herbs
* Chromium and lipoic acid to stabilise blood sugar
* Gymnema sylvestre and L-gluatamine for sugar cravings
* Lecithin and L-carnitine for fat burning
Skin
Health checks
* See specialist for yearly skin cancer screening
* Monitor own skin and see GP about changed moles, freckles or concerning new spots
Diet
* Eat antioxidant-rich fruits/vegetables
* Minimise sugar intake and browned or barbecued foods, which cause wrinkles via glycation
* Cut alcohol and caffeine
Exercise
* Do aerobic exercise (eg cycling, jogging) to boost circulation, enhance oxygenation to cells and keep skin supple from the inside
Emotions
* Avoid arguments — studies show they slow healing
* Minimise anxiety, which can dehydrate skin
Lifestyle
* Reduce sun damage: use a broad-spectrum sunscreen, wide-brimmed hat and avoid sunbaking
* Increase water intake to maintain skin moisture
Supplements/herbs
* Glucosamine for collagen synthesis
* Antioxidants to penetrate the dermis eg Q10, silymarin, catechins and pycnogenol
* Fish oil for inlammation
Bones
Health checks
* Get bone density checked over 65 or earlier if you you have a small build, family history of fractures or use corticosteroid medication
Diet
* Eat more fish and high-calcium foods, eg dairy products, legumes and green leafy vegetables
* Avoid soft drinks, too much alcohol and caffeine and excess salt
Exercise
* Weight-bearing activities eg walking, running and strength training, to maintain bone mass and strength
Emotions
* Seek counselling for depression, which increases osteoporosis risk, possibly due to hormone changes
Lifestyle
* Avoid smoking and diabetes
* Enjoy 10 minutes of sun exposure every day to increase your levels of vitamin D
Supplements/herbs
* Calcium and HRT if needed at menopause
* Vitamins K and D if deficient
* Phyto-oestro gens, such as genistein
Heart
Health checks
* Blood cholesterol for HDL, LDL and triglicerides
* Once yearly screening for high blood pressure and diabetes
Diet
* Adopt the Mediterranean diet, which is low in glycaemic index, saturated fats and sugar while high in fish, vegetables and fruit
Exercise
* Exercise regularly, to a point of exertion
* Walk 30 minutes a day and halve your risk of heart attack
Emotions
* Minimise depression, anxiety and loneliness, all strongly linked to cardiovascular disease and heart attack
Lifestyle
* Avoid high blood pressure, diabetes, gum disease, snoring and sleep defecit, which increase risks of a heart attack
Supplements/herbs
* Fish oil for inflammation of arteries and lowering cholesterol
* Q10 for blood pressure
* SAMe for depression
Joints
Health checks
* Blood checks for inflammation and rheumatoid factor if arthritis is suspected
* X-rays to check for damage to cartilage and bones
Diet
* Eat spicy foods —turmeric may help reduce arthritis
* Cut saturated fats, sugar and salt
* Eat more fish
* Identify and address food sensitivities
Exercise
* Improve circulation of synovial fluid between your joints via exercise such as swimming, walking, yoga and tai chi
Emotions
* Do daily relaxation to minimise stress which produces inflammation that may contribute to some forms of arthritis
Lifestyle
* Prevent weight gain
* Warm up before exercise
* Avoid repetetive strain injuries
* Treat all joint injuries promptly
Supplements/herbs
* Glucosamine and chondroitin for cartilage health
* Ginger, evening primrose oil and fish oil to reduce inflammation and pain
* SAMe for arthritis
Brain
Health checks
* Memory checks and CT/MRI scans if problems such as stroke or Alzheimer’s are suspected
Diet
* Cut out trans fats and cut back on saturated fats in red meats and dairy products
* Boost omega-3s with fish, nuts and seeds and antioxidants with fruit, vegetables and green tea
* Minimise alcohol intake
Exercise
* Every form of exercise whether walking, jogging or gardening, increases circulation to the brain and reduces belly fat (which bumps up dementia risk)
Emotions
* Meditate daily — stress damages brain function and memory by shrinking the hippocampus in the brain
* Maintain friendships — a good social network helps reduce dementia risk
Lifestyle
* Reduce cholesterol and risk factors for stroke/diabetes
* Wear headgear when cycling, skiing and renovating
* Quit smoking
* Read, do puzzles and continue education to boost brain function
Supplements/herbs
* Ginkgo biloba to improve neural circulation
* Withania to help you adapt to stress
* B vitamins for brain function
* Magnesium to stabilise nervous system
Bowel
Health checks
* Foecal occult test involving a stool sample every two years over age 50
* Colonoscopy (a thin tube and camera to view bowel) every five years over 50 or if bowel symptoms occur or you have family history
Diet
* Minimise red meat intake and saturated fats
* Eat plenty of green cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and chard, which protect against bowel cancer
* Eat plenty of wholegrains and fibre
* Eat yoghurt with live cultures
* Drink adequate water
Exercise
* Exercise enables oxygen to better fight cancer cells
* Studies show an hour of vigorous activity every day is particularly protective
Emotions
* Laugh more, prioritise sleep and do progressive relaxation to combat tension, which can compromise the natural peristaltic motion of the bowel
Lifestyle
* Reduce bowel inflammation by avoiding any foods, situations or vices (eg drinking, recreational drugs) that cause bloating or bowel upset and inflammation
Supplements/herbs
* Probiotics to promote good bacteria and nutrient uptake.
* Slippery elm for mucous membrane health
* Dandelion root for liver function and constipation
Bladder
Health checks
* Bladder stress test
* Urinalysis and culture via sample
* Ultrasound or cytoscopy (a thin tube and camera inserted via urethra)
Diet
* Eat more phyto-oestrogens, found in fruit, vegetables, soy, lentils, flaxseed and chickpeas
* Minimise curries, tomatoes, corn syrup, caffeine, fruit juice, alcohol and carbonated drinks, which irritate the bladder
Exercise
* Regularly squeeze the muscles of your pelvic floor and hold for 10 seconds to maintain muscle tone
* Jumping, jogging and skipping to utilise your pelvic muscles
Emotions
* Use long and short (spot) meditations to reduce anxiety —distress can lead to hormonal changes and muscle tension that affect both kidney and bladder and can cause an over-active bladder or fluid retention
Lifestyle
* Avoid weight gain and conditions such as diabetes (they increase bladder problems)
* Treat digestive problems, allergies — bloating, coughing and sneezing can reduce bladder function and muscle tone
Supplements/Herbs
* Black haw root and cramp bark to relax muscular tension and spasm in the bladder
* Uva ursi to reduce bacteria and smooth and sooth irritated bladder tissue
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
WikiLeaks supported by real Journalists
Not the fox type ones.
Journalists from 40 countries join in support for WikiLeaks
Journalists from every region of the world have joined together to support the whistle-blowing organization Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange who, they say, have provided an extraordinary resource for journalists around the world and made "an outstanding contribution to transparency and accountability on the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars".
The journalists, many of whom are prominent investigative reporters, come from countries as diverse as Russia and Namibia, and Israel and Indonesia, plus many from European countries and North America. The journalists, who are linked through investigative journalism networks, decided to speak out publicly after watching a growing campaign of threats and unfair criticisms against Assange and Wikileaks.
Following are the statement, the list of signatories and contacts for media inquiries about the statement in different regions of the world.
Full Story
List of Supporters
Source
Journalists from 40 countries join in support for WikiLeaks
Journalists from every region of the world have joined together to support the whistle-blowing organization Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange who, they say, have provided an extraordinary resource for journalists around the world and made "an outstanding contribution to transparency and accountability on the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars".
The journalists, many of whom are prominent investigative reporters, come from countries as diverse as Russia and Namibia, and Israel and Indonesia, plus many from European countries and North America. The journalists, who are linked through investigative journalism networks, decided to speak out publicly after watching a growing campaign of threats and unfair criticisms against Assange and Wikileaks.
Following are the statement, the list of signatories and contacts for media inquiries about the statement in different regions of the world.
List of Supporters
US test fires secret missile off CA
The US has launched a missile off Southern California amid concerns that the country has been secretly developing advanced weapons to increase its military dominance.
A dramatic image of the launch was captured on video on Monday evening by a KCBS news helicopter flying over Los Angeles.
Local news stations said the missile appeared to have been launched by a US Navy vessel.
However, the US Navy and the Air Force have not offered an explanation about the launch.
When contacted by media outlets, Navy officials said they were unaware of a missile launch in the cited area.
Colonel Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Tuesday that it did not appear that the reported event was part of a "regularly scheduled missile test."
Meanwhile, the US Northern Command said it had launched an investigation into the incident.
"At this time, we are unable to provide specific details, but we are working to determine the exact nature of this event. We can confirm that there is no indication of any threat to our nation and we will provide more information as it becomes available," the military command said in a statement.
The report comes as the United States has been making efforts to upgrade its nuclear arsenal and unconventional weapons.
Meanwhile, the US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan have launched a massive military operation in the southern province of Kandahar, causing extensive damage -- especially to civilian property.
The western military alliance has announced the test of new powerful weapons during the operation.
Witnesses said NATO bombs and missiles have damaged villagers' houses and farms which are the residents' only source of income.
The US military adventurism comes as the United Nations announced recently that Afghan civilian deaths had soared by over 30 percent in 2010 compared to the same period last year.
Update some feedback from other sources:
Every military department has denied it being one theirs. Now Pentagon saying it could have been an accident or even an optical illusion. OMG this is the best. They really believe that we are that stupid. Move along folks, nothing to see here.
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