WORLDVIEW

Chinese vase fetches $83 million

2010-11-14T13:38:00.002-06:00

It was just an old Chinese vase that had been in the family for 80 years. It turned out to be much more.

When the intricately painted 18th-century piece went on the block at Bainbridges, a small suburban London auction house, it sold for a record $83 million Thursday, scooped up by a Chinese buyer.

"How do you anticipate the Chinese market?" asked the shocked auctioneer, Peter Bainbridge. "It's totally on fire."

The sale price was more than 40 times the pre-sale estimate and a record for a Chinese work of art — an outcome Bainbridge called "a fairy tale" for the family who owned the vase.

To read the rest of the story follow this link: Vase

Commentary on this story:

Internet Control or Security?

2010-07-10T17:43:00.001-05:00

Here is the link to the news story referenced in the above commentary:

Internet

Chatter Rises On Iran Strike

2010-07-10T17:26:00.001-05:00

The first really clear indication that serious planning was underway to strike at Iran’s rogue nuclear weapons site came a month ago when British news outlets reported that Saudi Arabia had given Israel permission to cross its airspace en route to Iranian targets.

Yesterday, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States said publicly that his country was willing to live with the consequences of a strike against Iran despite the enormous amount of trade between the two countries and the likelihood of riots after a strike.

Today, you have Sen. Joe Lieberman in Israel saying the U.S. would influence Iran, “through diplomatic efforts and economic sanctions if we can, but through military action if we must.”

Read the rest of the report at this link: Iran

Retired US Air Force serviceman Larry Warren to unveil fascinating footage of the best known UFO event in Britain

2009-10-16T23:55:00.001-05:00

Retired US Air Force serviceman Larry Warren to unveil fascinating footage of the best known UFO event in Britain

12:50pm Friday 16th October 2009

By World reporter

REMARKABLE revelations of the best known UFO event in Britain is set to be unveiled in Halton.

An action-packed Paranormal Week of free events is lined up at Halton Lea Library in Runcorn, from Monday.

In what is seen as a big coup, retired US Air Force serviceman Larry Warren will be showing fascinating footage shot by a USAF law enforcement official in Rendlesham forest on the night of December 27, 1980.

His roll of film - to be screened at 7pm on Friday, October 23 - includes images he claims proves what he and many British people have insisted did happen.

Larry has spoken at UFO conferences all over the world and has appeared on countless TV and radio programmes.

Rob Bethell, Mark Rosney and Jebby Robinson of the TV series Spook School will also host evenings.

Hands-on workshops will run every night and paranormal experts will be available to answer question.

Here is the link to the original story: UFO

Invasion of the killer caterpillar

2009-06-01T11:01:00.000-05:00

A PLAGUE of killer caterpillars is sparking health alerts across Britain.

Brown tail moth caterpillars each have up to two million hairs which can break off, get into the air and cause severe allergic reactions.

Thousands of the moths recently invaded a housing estate near Trowbridge, Wilts, where worried residents came out in itchy rashes.

And a family restaurant near Folkestone, Kent, was forced to close part of its car park over health fears.

Julie Payne, 35, lives on the affected housing estate.

She said: “Every time we went into the garden we found caterpillars everywhere.

“Then we noticed there were thousands of what looked like cobwebs in our cherry tree.

“We now know they are the moths’ nests.

“The children started coming out in spots and they could not stop scratching themselves.”

Inhaling or touching the tiny bristles can also lead to potentially fatal breathing problems, plus headaches and conjunctivitis.

But the caterpillars pose no threat when they turn into moths, which is due to happen in about four weeks.

The Health Protection Agency has warned the public to wash their hands and eyes should they come into contact with the caterpillars, and use calamine lotion if they develop a rash.

Link to original source: caterpillar

Pentagon Preparing For War With The Enemy: Russia

2009-05-14T14:08:00.001-05:00

Take some time and read the following article

Pentagon Preparing For War With The Enemy: Russia
By Rick Rozoff

URL of this article:

www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13614

Global Research, May 14, 2009

Fish that triggers hallucinations found off British coast

2009-05-14T09:38:00.003-05:00

A species of bream, sarpa salpa, which can trigger hallucinations when eaten, has been been discovered in British waters due to global warming.

The species of bream is normally found in the balmier waters of the Mediterranean and South Africa, was found by fisherman Andy Giles in his nets in the English Channel.

Mr Giles, 38, caught the fish, which is instantly recognised by its gold stripes running along its body, six miles south of Polperro, Cornwall.

"We were trawling for lemon sole and hauled up the net at the end of the day and almost immediately saw this striped fish, we didn't have a clue what it was," he said.

"I had never seen one before and after taking a photograph of it I tried to look it up on the internet and called some friends to see if they knew what it was.

"I put it in the fish box and brought it back for experts to have a look at it.

"Now I realise what it was and the effects it can have, perhaps I should have taken it into town to sell to some clubbers!"

There have only been three previous recordings of sarpa salpa in British waters before, with one of them being off the Channel Islands in 1983.

James Wright, a senior biologist at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, said: "These are a fairly common fish off Tenerife, Malta and Cyprus but it is very rare to get them this far north.

"It could be a single fish that was shoaling with a different species but it could be that there are more of them in our waters."

Sarpa salpa are a popular dish in many Mediterranean restaurants.

But according to marine experts, certain species of plankton-eating fish, like the sarpa salpa, can give off hallucinogenic fish poisoning if the heads or other body parts are consumed.

The effects include vivid hallucinations within minutes of eating it which can last for days.

In 2006 two men, one aged 90, were hospitalised in the south of France after eating sarpa salpa.

The elderly man suffered from auditory hallucinations a couple of hours after eating the fish followed by a series of nightmares over the next two nights.

The younger man, aged 40, endured similar effects which took 36 hours to disappear.

Here is the link to the original report: Fish

Potential outcomes in Pakistan's war with Taliban

2009-05-14T09:30:00.000-05:00

Pakistan's military is pressing ahead with an offensive to try to crush the Taliban, following warnings from Washington that the militants pose an existential threat. Following are some scenarios of how events could unfold:

WEAK PAKISTANI GOVERNMENT STRUGGLES TO PUSH BACK TALIBAN

Even if Taliban fighters melt away from their strongholds in Swat in the face of the latest army offensive, they can regroup.

Militants could stealthily widen and consolidate their territorial grip as long as they were careful not to overreach and provoke another major army offensive.

"The Pakistan Taliban are effectively taking advantage of the lack of governance and development. Neither appeasement nor military assault is likely to prove effective for handling the long-term threat posed by these groups," said Maria Kuusisto, Pakistan analyst at Eurasia Group in London.

The outlook would be more of the same -- instability, a continued terrorist threat, and a divided Pakistani leadership.

But this relatively negative outlook is already priced in, analysts say, meaning local markets will largely ignore the poor security situation and focus on the brighter economic picture.

There would be room for gains by local stocks, and the rupee would stabilize, seeing an orderly depreciation over time due to exchange rate reforms. There would be little or no impact on global markets.

MILITARY OFFENSIVE DEALS SIGNIFICANT BLOW TO TALIBAN

The Pakistani government and army so far retain considerable public support for their offensive against the Taliban in Swat. If they can press home their advantage and deal a significant military blow to the Taliban, stocks could see strong gains.

"We reiterate that investors keep an eye on the bigger picture and any progress on the political and military front should be taken as a bullish signal," Credit Suisse said last week. Analysts said the stock market upside could be 25 percent.

The military has also shown success in dealing with militants in tribal areas earlier this year.

But crushing an insurgency is notoriously difficult.

"Pakistani military forces already are privately expressing their concerns that many of the Taliban have blended in with the refugees fleeing the district, likely making it a matter of time before Taliban forces are able to reconstitute themselves in the area," risk consultancy Stratfor said in an analysis.

Furthermore, a sustained campaign against the Taliban would worsen an already severe refugee crisis and send the civilian death toll sharply higher, undermining popular support.

"If the war against militants becomes a prolonged one, and with heavy civilian casualties (as can be expected), public resentments against the government may well serve to break up the unity, laying the groundwork for both social and political unrest," said Jan Zalewski, analyst at IHS Global Insight.

To read the rest of the report follow this link:

War

North Korean nuclear test likely

2009-05-01T22:05:00.002-05:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior Obama administration official said he expects that North Korea will test a nuclear weapon before it is forced back to international disarmament negotiations.

At an event at the Brookings Institution, U.S. President Barack Obama's coordinator for weapons of mass destruction policy, Gary Samore, also on Friday expressed some understanding for Russia's objections to U.S. missile defense plans in Europe.

Samore said that North Korea was trying to divide the five countries that have been involved with it in disarmament talks. He said that North Korea was looking for ways to provoke problems.

"It's very clear that the North Koreans want to pick a fight," he said. "They want to kill the six-party talks."

North Korea has vowed to quit six-nation nuclear negotiations and restart its atomic program after the U.N. Security Council's criticism of North Korea's launch of a long-range missile on April 5. North Korea also kicked all international monitors out of its nuclear facilities.

Asked if he expected Pyongyang to carry out another nuclear test, Samore said: "I think they will. That's what they are threatening to do."

Pyongyang conducted its first atomic test in 2006, and is thought to have enough plutonium to make at least a half-dozen nuclear bombs.

Samore said that the United States is committed to the six-nation talks and predicted that North Korea would be forced back to negotiations within nine months.

"We'll just wait," he said. He added that he believed that other major powers would support further sanctions against North Korea if they carry out a test.

"The Chinese are very, very angry at the North Koreans," he said.

Among the five countries involved in the negotiations with North Korea, China is widely seen as having the most influence. It is also a member of the U.N. Security Council, which would have to approve any international sanctions.

On Russia, Samore broke with the old U.S. line formulated under the Bush administration, that Russia's objections to U.S. missile defense plans in Europe were completely unfounded.

He said that some of Russia's concerns were valid in the context of U.S.-Russia talks for long-term reduction of its nuclear arsenals.

The Bush administration had argued that its missile defense plans in Poland and the Czech Republic were aimed at countering Iran and that the system's 10 interceptors were too few to pose a threat to Moscow's vast arsenal.

However, Samore said that Russia's concerns could be legitimate if the two countries significantly reduced their arsenals of nuclear missiles.

"When we go down to really low numbers

Link to the original article: Test

Additonal report:

Korea 'will test nuclear weapon'

A SENIOR United States government official said yesterday he expects that North Korea will test a nuclear weapon before it is forced back to international disarmament negotiations.

Gary Samore, co-ordinator for America's weapons of mass destruction policy, says North Korea wants to divide the five other countries involved in the nuclear talks.

Pyongyang has vowed to restart its atomic programme in anger at United Nations security council criticism of its long-range rocket launch on 5 April.

Link to original report: Weapon

North Korea seeks upper hand with nuclear threat

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's threats on Wednesday to conduct a nuclear test and fire an intercontinental ballistic missile are likely aimed at increasing its bargaining leverage with global powers.

The North said it would go ahead with the tests unless the U.N. Security Council apologized for tightening sanctions against Pyongyang in response to the reclusive state's rocket launch this month.

* Experts say that since the North's only nuclear test in October 2006 was just a partial success, another is inevitable because Pyongyang needs to see if it has built a better bomb design. A nuclear test is one of the biggest cards North Korea can play in its strategy of brinkmanship with the international community, and doing so would push Pyongyang right to the top of U.S. President Barack Obama's agenda.

* The North for years has used its military threat to squeeze concessions from regional powers. A nuclear test, coming so soon after the North defied global warnings and launched a long-range rocket in early April, would give it more options to play in its dealings with Washington.

* It will be difficult for the North to back down from its threat unless a face-saving solution can be found. But a test, if it does occur, would not likely happen for several months due to the preparation needed.

* A test would likely rattle financial markets in North Asia, which shrugged off the North's launch of the long-range missile this month.

* North Korea will alienate China, its last major ally and biggest benefactor, with a nuclear test. It will likely be hit with further U.N. sanctions as a result because Beijing may not use its U.N. Security Council veto to protect Pyongyang, which will also take a hit financially for the large costs it takes to conduct a test.

* But since the isolated North may already feel the pinch from a tightening of existing sanctions called for in response to the rocket launch, it may believe the economic damage that would come after a test would not deal too heavy a blow to its already wobbly economy.

* A second nuclear test would also deplete the North's meager supply of fissile material, which experts say is estimated to be enough for six to eight nuclear weapons.

* North Korea will likely try to resume all of its nuclear activities, after it started to take apart its Yongbyon nuclear plant in a disarmament-for-aid deal it reached with the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

* The North said this month it had restarted its facility at Yongbyon that separates plutonium from spent fuel rods cooling at the plant, which could eventually give it enough fissile material for one more nuclear bomb.

* A second nuclear test would be heralded by the North's propaganda machinery as a triumph for leader Kim Jong-il and his "military-first" policy. This would help Kim further solidify his leadership after questions were raised about his grip on power after he was suspected of suffering a stroke in August.

Link to original report: Threat

Reaction: Swine flu spreads

2009-04-30T16:51:00.000-05:00

WHO raises the level from a 4 to a 5

2009-04-29T16:55:00.001-05:00

Is There A Swine Flu Cover Up?

2009-04-28T20:00:00.002-05:00

Is the seriousness of Swine Flu being downplayed? Did a Florida hospital try to cover up a case of the Swine Flu?

Listen to the latest Worldview podcast to find out. Here is the link:

Podcast

Newly Discovered Minor Planet

2009-04-28T13:04:00.004-05:00

The following is from the, Earth Changes Media Newsletter:

A newly discovered "minor planet" with an elongated orbit around the Sun may help explain the origin of comets, researchers said on Monday. The orbit of 2006 SQ372 is an ellipse four times longer than it is wide, said University of Washington astronomer Andrew Becker, who led the research team.

The new object is about 60 miles in diameter. "It's basically a comet, but it never gets close enough to the Sun to develop a long, bright tail of evaporated gas and dust," Becker said in a statement.

Here is an additonal report:

WASHINGTON - A newly discovered "minor planet" with an elongated orbit around the Sun may help explain the origin of comets, researchers said on Monday.

The object, known as 2006 SQ372, is starting the outward portion of a 22,500-year orbit that will take it 150 billion miles away from the Sun.

The icy lump of rock is just over 2 billion miles from Earth, a bit closer than the planet Neptune, researchers told a symposium on Monday. They will publish their findings in the Astrophysical Journal.

The orbit of 2006 SQ372 is an ellipse four times longer than it is wide, said University of Washington astronomer Andrew Becker, who led the research team. Sedna, a distant, Pluto-like dwarf planet discovered in 2003, is the only other object with a similar orbit, but not nearly as stretched out.

The new object is about 60 miles in diameter. "It's basically a comet, but it never gets close enough to the Sun to develop a long, bright tail of evaporated gas and dust," Becker said in a statement.

University of Washington graduate student Nathan Kaib said it is unclear how the object formed, "It could have formed, like Pluto, in the belt of icy debris beyond Neptune, then been kicked a large distance by a gravitational encounter with Neptune or Uranus," Kaib said in a statement.

More likely, he said, it came from the Oort Cloud, a distant reservoir of icy, asteroid-like bodies that orbit the Sun at distances of several trillion miles (km).

"One of our goals is to understand the origin of comets, which are among the most spectacular celestial events. But the deeper goal is to look back into the early history of our solar system and piece together what was happening when the planets formed," Kaib said

Here is the link to the original report: Planet

Link to an additional story: Planet

Swine Flu Update

2009-04-27T16:51:00.001-05:00

Swine Flu Update

2009-04-26T14:14:00.003-05:00

I just recorded a new podcast dealing with the Swine Flu outbreak: You can listen to it at this link:

Flu

Recent news stories:

US declares public health emergency for swine flu

WASHINGTON – The U.S. declared a public health emergency Sunday to deal with the emerging new swine flu, much like the government does to prepare for approaching hurricanes.

Officials reported 20 U.S. cases of swine flu in five states so far, with the latest in Ohio and New York. Unlike in Mexico where the same strain appears to be killing dozens of people, cases in the United State have been mild — and U.S. health authorities can't yet explain why.

"As we continue to look for cases, we are going to see a broader spectrum of disease," predicted Dr. Richard Besser, acting chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "We're going to see more severe disease in this country."

At a White House news conference, Besser and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano sought to assure Americans that health officials are taking all appropriate steps to minimize the impact of the outbreak.

Top among those is declaring the public health emergency. As part of that, Napolitano said roughly 12 million doses of the drug Tamiflu will be moved from a federal stockpile to places where states can quickly get their share if they decide they need it. Priority will be given to the five states with known cases so far: California, Texas, New York, Ohio and Kansas.

Napolitano called the emergency declaration standard operating procedure — one was declared recently for the inauguration and for flooding. She urged people to think of it as a "declaration of emergency preparedness."

"Really that's what we're doing right now. We're preparing in an environment where we really don't know ultimately what the size of seriousness of this outbreak is going to be."

E-mail reports from Mexico

I'm a specialist doctor in respiratory diseases and intensive care at the Mexican National Institute of Health. There is a severe emergency over the swine flu here. More and more patients are being admitted to the intensive care unit. Despite the heroic efforts of all staff (doctors, nurses, specialists, etc) patients continue to inevitably die. The truth is that anti-viral treatments and vaccines are not expected to have any effect, even at high doses. It is a great fear among the staff. The infection risk is very high among the doctors and health staff.

There is a sense of chaos in the other hospitals and we do not know what to do. Staff are starting to leave and many are opting to retire or apply for holidays. The truth is that mortality is even higher than what is being reported by the authorities, at least in the hospital where I work it. It is killing three to four patients daily, and it has been going on for more than three weeks. It is a shame and there is great fear here. Increasingly younger patients aged 20 to 30 years are dying before our helpless eyes and there is great sadness among health professionals here.
Antonio Chavez, Mexico City

I am a doctor and I work in the State of Mexico. I don't work in the shock team; I am in the echocardiography team, but I do get some news from my colleagues in the hospital. There have been some cases of young people dying from respiratory infections, but this happened before the alert and they were not reported because the necessary tests weren't done. We doctors knew this was happening a week before the alert was issued and were told to get vaccinated. I went to buy some anti-virals for my husband, who is also a doctor, because he had contact with a young patient who presented influenza symptoms and died. I don't think pharmacies stock enough anti-virals.

I understand the government doesn't want to generate panic, but my personal opinion is that they issued the alert too late. Still now, the population is not getting the information they need. We have been out in the street and some people are not wearing face masks and are not taking any preventive measures.

You can read more reports at this link: E-mails

Please send me any reports you come across. My e-mail is tsrk30@sbcglobal.net

I will record another podcast later today.

Swine Flu Podcast

2009-04-25T15:11:00.003-05:00

I just posted the latest episode of the Worldview podcast. The subject is the Swine Flu. Here is the link to the program:

Flu

Swine Flu Cannot Be Contained-CDC

2009-04-25T14:55:00.001-05:00

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) - An unusual new flu virus has spread widely and cannot be contained, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed on Saturday.

"It is clear that this is widespread. And that is why we have let you know that we cannot contain the spread of this virus," the CDC's Dr. Anne Schuchat told reporters on a conference call.

The strain of swine flu is suspected of killing as many as 68 people in Mexico and infecting more than 1,000 more, including eight in the United States. (Reporting by Maggie Fox, editing by Patricia Zengerle)

Link to original story: Flu

Beatbox chef

2009-04-24T09:36:00.000-05:00

Wrong: Depeche Mode

2009-04-23T19:49:00.001-05:00

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

I was born with the wrong sign
In the wrong house
With the wrong ascendancy
I took the wrong road
That led to the wrong tendencies
I was in the wrong place at the wrong time
For the wrong reason and the wrong rhyme
On the wrong day of the wrong week
I used the wrong method with the wrong technique

Wrong
Wrong

There's something wrong with me chemically
Something wrong with me inherently
The wrong mix in the wrong genes
I reached the wrong ends by the wrong means
It was the wrong plan
In the wrong hands
With the wrong theory for the wrong man
The wrong lies, on the wrong vibes
The wrong questions with the wrong replies

Wrong
Wrong

I was marching to the wrong drum
With the wrong scum
Pissing out the wrong energy
Using all the wrong lines
And the wrong signs
With the wrong intensity
I was on the wrong page of the wrong book
With the wrong rendition of the wrong hook
Made the wrong move, every wrong night
With the wrong tune played till it sounded right yeah

Wrong, wrong
(Too long)
Wrong (Too long)
Wrong (Too long)
Wrong (Too long)
Wrong (Too long)

I was born with the wrong sign
In the wrong house
With the wrong ascendancy
I took the wrong road
That led to the wrong tendencies
I was in the wrong place at the wrong time
For the wrong reason and the wrong rhyme
On the wrong day of the wrong week
I used the wrong method with the wrong technique

Wrong!

The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship

2009-04-12T21:19:00.004-05:00

The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship: An Examination of Epistemic Autocracy, From the 19th to the 21st Century (Paperback)

Here is the story of how the criminal elite hijacked science and transformed it into a weapon against the masses. This examination includes: (1.) The occult Origins of Darwinism. (2.) Nominalism and radical empiricism as instruments of epistemological manipulation. (3.) Eugenics and population control. (4.) Scientistic cults and religious engineering. (5.) Echelon, PROMIS software, and other technologies of the Panopticon Singularity. (6.) Neoconservativism as a continuation of Technocracy and Jacobinism. (7.) Transhumanism, Singularitarianism, and other futurist variants of the elite's occult religion. (8.) The unfolding endgame between scientific dictatorships.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Many of us are familiar with U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell speech to the nation on January 17, 1961, in which he warned the American public to "guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence" of the "military-industrial complex." A less known quote from the same speech sets the tone for the Collins brothers' incredibly erudite tome: "... we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite."

This book discloses exactly who these technological elite (technocrats) are; that they've been working behind the scenes for centuries, and public policy has indeed become its captive. Its aspiration has always been the implementation of a sociopolitical, technocratic utopian world order.

The breadth and scope of Philip and Paul Collins' massive study is nothing short of dazzling. "The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship" is a meticulous examination of a shared ideological construct centuries in the making. This elite circle of technocrats hasn't simply carried forth a unified grand master plan, however; the Collins brothers stress the fact that what we are dealing with is a "conspiracy of ideas," whose adherents have developed into a powerful "epistemological cartel."

Reading "The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship" is to embark on an intellectual journey of the highest order. The Collins brothers effortlessly discuss a wide range of philosophical concepts, all of which are integral to understanding the thinking and development of those behind the formation of a would-be technocracy. There simply isn't any other book that is even in the same league. "The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship" penetrates the core concepts of Gnosticism, Rosicrucian mythos, Baconian utopianism, Freemasonry and the Royal Society of London; from Darwinism to scientism, population control, eugenics and Malthusian propaganda; Jung, Hegel, Wells and Huxley; Fabian socialism, world government, evolutionary pantheism, and the deification of man. The reader is privy to the fact that there is genuine continuity between Illuminism, Jacobinism, Socialism, and Marxism; that the dialectical manipulation of society is symptomatic of "the Hegelian nexus where Darwin, Marx, and Hitler intersect." The Collins brothers are equally at ease with diverse concepts such as Bentham's Panopticon, sociocracy, semiotic manipulation, "sci-fi predictive programming," transhumanism and the techno-eugenic movement - and the implications thereof. Other books that have attempted only a fraction of what is discussed in this book seem haphazard in comparison.

I highly doubt it is even possible to convey the scope of the book in a simple review: with the range of topics discussed, along with judicious quotations from a dizzying array of sources - the breadth of "The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship" is simply mind-numbing. This book is the definitive statement identifying the significance behind the political concept of a New World Order. "Worth its weight in gold" really does apply in this case - and, of course, as is customary with such scholarly endeavors, the bibliography is worth the price alone

To order the book or to read more information, follow this link: Book

Bangkok on brink of anarchy

2009-04-12T20:38:00.002-05:00

We have been focusing on Somalia and the Pirates and I believe that we need to continue to watch that part of the world. However, there are some other parts of the world that we need to take some time to look at:

With Thailand on the brink of anarchy after another day of violence, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra called for a revolution last night.

He said now was the 'golden time' for protesters to rise up against the government, and he could return from exile to lead them.

His call came after Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva fled Bangkok and declared a state of emergency as protesters stormed the interior ministry and roamed the streets of the capital.

Troops fired in the air as red-shirted demonstrators surrounded and attacked the car carrying the Prime Minister away from the ministry.

The protests against 'rigged elections' come just a day after a summit of Asian leaders was brought to a halt in similar scenes.

There was a tense stand-off between riot police and supporters of Shinawatra with the government threatening 'tough measures' and hospitals on stand-by to take casualties.

The Foreign Office today urged Britons planning to travel to the 'Land of Smiles' to 'urgently review' their plans.

Political tensions have simmered since Shinawatra was ousted by a military coup in 2006 for alleged corruption.

He remains highly popular, however, in the impoverished countryside.

In Bangkok today troops fired at least four shots in the air as about 50 protesters broke through security at the ministry in Bangkok with the Prime Minister Abhisit inside.

Bands of anti-government protesters roamed areas of Bangkok as the emergency decree was announced, with some beating up motorists who hurled insults at them.

The emergency decree bans gatherings of more than five people, forbids news reports considered threatening to public order and allows the government to call up military troops to quell unrest.

But there were initial signs that the government might not be able to contain the protesters.

Reporters saw red-shirted demonstrators swarm over two of three armored personnel carriers outside a shopping mall in downtown Bangkok, while police stood by as a furious crowd beat a car in which they thought Abhisit was riding with poles, rocks and even flower pots.

It's apparent that we will be surrounded and suppressed by military force. Tear gas and military personnel have been prepared. So we told our people to be ready and be prepared,' said Jakrapop Penkair, a key protest leader.

'If they use force, the people will be our weapon. We are not scared. Abhisit must be ousted immediately.'

Prime Minister Abhisit suffered a political humiliation when the summit he had presented as a sign of the country's return to normality had to be cancelled yesterday after red-shirted supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra broke into the venue, sending Asian leaders fleeing by helicopter.

To read the rest of the reports and see pictures follow this link: Report

Somali Pirates Update

2009-04-12T20:29:00.002-05:00

How the U.S. Navy ended Somali pirate drama

(Reuters) - U.S. Navy special forces shot dead three Somali pirates on a lifeboat off Somalia and freed American cargo ship captain Richard Phillips on Sunday in a dramatic end to a five-day standoff, officials said.

Here are answers to some key questions about the incident, mainly from information provided to reporters by Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, head of the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet.

HOW DID THE NAVY END THE STANDOFF?

Navy SEALs, elite special operations troops, on the USS Bainbridge shot dead the pirates in the lifeboat after the Bainbridge's captain determined that Phillips' life was in imminent danger because a pirate pointed an AK-47 rifle at him.

Navy sailors then sailed to the lifeboat in a small inflatable craft and rescued Phillips, who was tied up inside the 18-foot-long lifeboat. He was later transferred to the USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship.

A U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said special operations forces had tried to approach the lifeboat earlier in the standoff, but the pirates had fired at them.

A fourth pirate who surrendered before the end of the standoff was aboard the Bainbridge when Phillips was freed.

The pirate had sought medical treatment for a stab wound to the hand, inflicted by a member of the Maersk Alabama's crew when the gang tried to hijack the ship, the official said.

The pirate was being transferred to the Boxer.

OW WERE SEA CONDITIONS AT THE TIME?

Conditions were deteriorating and the USS Bainbridge was towing the lifeboat in search of calmer waters at the time of the incident. The lifeboat was about 80 to 100 feet away from the Bainbridge when the Navy SEALs opened fire on the pirates.

The lifeboat was about 20 miles off the coast of Somalia when the standoff ended. U.S. military officials were determined to prevent the lifeboat from reaching the Somali shore.

WHAT IS PHILLIPS' CONDITION?

Phillips is in good health, Gortney said. The former hostage declined an offer of food after his rescue and has called home. President Barack Obama also called the Boxer to speak to him.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE FOURTH PIRATE?

The Navy says it is working with the U.S. Department of Justice to determine how to hold the pirate accountable for his crimes. He could be prosecuted in the United States or in Kenya, Gortney said.

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE INCIDENT?

U.S. officials insist they did not want the stand-off to end violently. Somali pirates have generally not harmed their hostages and officials fear they could now act more violently.

"This could escalate violence in this part of the world, no question about it," Gortney told reporters at the Pentagon on a conference call from his headquarters in Bahrain.

Link to original article: Q&A

Somali pirates vow retaliation after captain freed

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somali pirates on Monday vowed to retaliate for the deaths of three colleagues who were shot dead by U.S. Navy snipers hours before in a daring nighttime assault that freed a 53-year-old American captain.

The Navy Seals late Sunday rescued freighter Capt. Richard Phillips, who had been held by pirates on a lifeboat that drifted in the Indian Ocean for five days.

"Every country will be treated the way it treats us," said Abdullahi Lami, one of the pirates holding a Greek ship anchored in the pirate den of Gaan, a central Somali town.

"In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying," he told The Associated Press by telephone. "We will retaliate for the killings of our men."

He gave no details and it was not clear in what way the pirates could retaliate, though some fear they could take their revenge on the hundreds of other foreign nationals they hold on seized ships.

The rescue dealt a blow to pirates who regularly seize passing ships and hold them captive until multimillion dollar ransoms are paid. But it is unlikely to help quell the region's growing pirate threat, which has turned the Gulf of Aden and the waterways along Somalia's coast into some of the most dangerous shipping lanes on the planet.

Pirates currently hold more than a dozen foreign ships, most moored along the Horn of Africa nation's long coast, with about 230 foreign sailors from Russia to the Philippines.

The American rescue followed a similar operation Friday carried out by French navy commandos, who stormed a pirate-held sailboat, the Tanit, in a shootout at sea that killed two pirates and freed four French hostages. The French owner of the vessel was also killed in the assault.

Residents of the Somali town of Harardhere said tensions were growing there.

Abdullahi Haji Jama, who owns a clothing store in the town, said: "We fear that the pirates may retaliate against the foreign nationals they are holding."

But he also said people feared "any revenge taken by the pirates against foreign nationals could bring more attacks from the foreign navies, perhaps on our villages."

Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, said the American operation "could escalate violence in this part of the world, no question about it."

Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old self-proclaimed pirate, told The Associated Press that the three pirates' deaths were "a painful experience." Speaking from the pirate hub, Eyl, he added: "this will be a good lesson for us."

"From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them," Habeb said. "Now they became our number one enemy," he said of U.S. forces.

So far, at least, it has been rare for Somali pirates to harm captive foreign crews.

Several years ago, a crew member of a Taiwanese fishing boat hijacked for six months was killed by pirates, but no reason was given but it appeared to be an isolated incident, according to Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. No reason was given but it appeared to be an isolated incident, he said.

Somalia has been engulfed in fighting and anarchy since the 1991 overthrow of Siad Barre, and remains today a country with no effective government, a nation ruled by tribal clans.

The piracy scourge appears to have evolved partly out of an attempt by Somali fishermen to protect their waters against illegal foreign trawlers who were destroying their livelihoods. Some of the vigilantes morphed into pirates, lured by the large profits they could win in ransoms.

Somalia's prime minister welcomed the U.S. Navy's operation Sunday.

"The Somali government wanted the drama to end in a peaceful way, but anyone who is involved in this latest case had the choice to use violence or other means," Abdulkhadir Walayo, the prime minister's spokesman, told The Associated Press. "Anyway, we see it will be a good lesson for the pirates or anyone else involved in this dirty business."

Pirates were defiant though, vowing the events would not stop them form seizing more ships.

One pirate vowed the events would not stop them from targeting more ships.

"The mere killing of three and capturing one will not make us change our mind," said one pirate holding a German ship anchored in the Somali town of Harardhere who refused to give his name. "We are determined to continue our business regardless of the recent killings and arrests."

Link to original report: Retaliation

Books about Somali and Piracy: Read

Pirates hijack US tugboat

2009-04-11T10:33:00.000-05:00

NAIROBI, Kenya – The head of a Kenyan seafarers' program said Saturday that Somali pirates had hijacked an American-owned tugboat with 16 crew in the Gulf of Aden.

Nairobi-based Italian Ambassador Pierandrea Magistrati said he only could confirm that "there is a boat that has been hijacked, I believe by Somali pirates."

The hijacking took place as the American captain of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama was still being held hostage on a lifeboat being watched by two U.S. warships.

The head of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program, Andrew Mwangura, said maritime industry sources had informed his organization that the Italian-flagged U.S. tugboat was towing two barges when it was attacked. He said it was unclear if the attack took place off the coast of Somalia or further north near Yemen. He said did not know what was on the barges.

Mwangura said the attack was launched around 11 a.m. (0800 GMT) Saturday.

More U.S. warships were trying to stop Somali pirates from sending reinforcements to the lifeboat where the American captain was being held for a fourth day hundreds of miles from land, a diplomat said Saturday.

The Nairobi-based diplomat, who receives regular briefings on the situation, said the four pirates holding Capt. Richard Phillips in a lifeboat under the close watch of U.S. warships some 380 miles off shore had tried to summon other pirates from the Somali mainland.

The diplomat, who spoke on condition on anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters, said that pirates had been trying to reach the lifeboat. A Somali who described himself as having close ties to pirate networks also said the pirates were trying to reach the lifeboat.

The Somali told The Associated Press that pirates had set out in four commandeered ships with hostages from a variety of nations including the Philippines, Russia and Germany. The diplomat told the AP that large pirate "motherships" and skiffs were heading in the direction of the lifeboat.

A second Somali man who said he had spoken by satellite phone to a pirate piloting a seized German freighter told the AP by phone Saturday that the pirate captain had reported being blocked by U.S. forces and was returning Saturday to the pirate stronghold of Harardhere.

Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, he said the pirate told him the ship was in sight of a U.S. Navy destroyer Saturday morning local time, received a U.S. warning not to come any closer and, fearing attack, left the scene without ever seeing the lifeboat.

A Pentagon official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations said in Washington Saturday morning that there had been no developments overnight. He declined to comment on the report that the U.S. Navy had turned back the pirates.

The diplomat said from Nairobi that at least two American ships and U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft had been attempting to deter pirate ships and skiffs from contact with the lifeboat but he did not know if the pirates and Navy ships had come into contact.

The Somali man said the pirate also told him that two other commandeered ships from Taiwan and Greece that were trying to reach the lifeboat feared a showdown with the U.S. Navy and returned to Eyl, a port that serves as a pirate hub, on Friday night. It was not immediately possible to contact people in Eyl Saturday.

The Somali man said the fourth ship that had tried to reach the lifeboat was a Norwegian tanker that was released Friday after a $2 million ransom was paid. The owner of the Norwegian tanker Bow Asir confirmed Friday that it had been released two weeks after it was seized by armed pirates off the Somali coast, and all 27 of its crew members were unhurt.

Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, was seized Wednesday when he thwarted the takeover of the 17,000-ton U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama, which was carrying food aid for hungry people in Somalia, Rwanda and Uganda. He told his crew of 20 to lock themselves in a cabin, crew members told stateside relatives.

Phillips surrendered himself to safeguard his men. The crew later overpowered some of the pirates but the Somalis fled with the captain to an enclosed lifeboat, the relatives said.

The Alabama was heading toward the Kenyan port of Mombasa — its original destination — with 20 American crew members aboard. It was expected to arrive Saturday night, said Joseph Murphy, whose son is second-in-command of the vessel.

On Friday, Phillips jumped out of the lifeboat and tried to swim for his freedom but was recaptured when a pirate fired an automatic weapon at or near him, according to U.S. Defense Department officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk about the sensitive, unfolding operations.

Negotiations had been taking place between the pirates and the captain of the Bainbridge, who was getting direction from FBI hostage negotiators, the officials said.

Sailors on the USS Bainbridge, which has rescue helicopters and lifeboats, were able to see Phillips but at several hundred yards away were too far to help him. The U.S. destroyer is keeping its distance, in part to stay out of the pirates' range of fire.

The lifeboat has some gas and the ability to move, according to U.S. defense officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive details.

U.S. sailors saw Phillips moving around and talking after his return to the lifeboat, and the Defense Department officials said they think he is unharmed.

The Bainbridge was joined Friday by the USS Halyburton, which has helicopters, and the huge, amphibious USS Boxer was expected soon after, the defense officials said. The Boxer, the flagship of a multination anti-piracy task force, resembles a small aircraft carrier. It has a crew of more than 1,000, a mobile hospital, missile launchers and about two dozen helicopters and attack planes.

The vice president of the Philippines, the nation with the largest number of sailors held captive by Somali pirates, appealed for the safety of hostages to be ensured in the standoff.

"We hope that before launching any tactical action against the pirates, the welfare of every hostage is guaranteed and ensured," said Vice President Noli de Castro. "Moreover, any military action is best done in consultation with the United Nations to gain the support and cooperation of other countries."

France's navy on Friday freed a sailboat seized off Somalia last week by other pirates, but one of the hostages was killed.

France's defense minister promised an autopsy and investigation into the death of the hostage killed during the commando operation, which freed four other captives and was prompted by threats the passengers would be executed.

The pirates had seized the sailboat carrying Florent Lemacon, his wife, 3-year-old son and two friends off the Somali coast a week ago.

Two pirates were killed, and Lemacon died in an exchange of fire as he tried to duck down the hatch. Three pirates were taken prisoner in the operation, and are to be brought to France for criminal proceedings.

Piracy along the anarchic and impoverished Somali coast, the longest in Africa, has risen in recent years.

Somali pirates have been seizing ships with many hostages and anchoring it near shore, where they have quickly escaped to land and begun negotiations for multimillion-dollar ransoms.

They hold about a dozen ships with more than 200 crew members, according to the International Maritime Bureau, a piracy watchdog group based in Malaysia. The bureau lists 66 attacks since January, not including the Alabama.

Link to the original report: hijack

Modern Day Pirates

2009-04-11T09:38:00.002-05:00

Somalia Standoff Update

2009-04-11T09:31:00.002-05:00

Here is the latest information about the situation near Somalia

Somalia Standoff Generates Debate US Policy Debate

The standoff between the U.S. Navy and pirates off the coast of Somalia is generating debate within the Obama administration over policy toward the Horn of Africa nation.

The Washington Post has a report Saturday on how U.S. officials are discussing the more general Somalia problem, and the potential terrorist threat of the Somali extremist group, al-Shabab

National security officials were quoted as saying a debate is taking place on whether a preemptive missile strike against al-Shabab is warranted.

U.S. officials said the group, which controls parts of Somalia, poses a dilemma. They point to its rapid expansion, ties between its leaders and the al-Qaida terror network, and the presence of Americans and Europeans within its ranks. But they said there is no evidence the group is planning attacks outside Somalia.

They were also quoted as saying the Obama administration differentiates itself from the former Bush administration by taking a more cautious, and less aggressive approach, on such security matters.

Previous administrations have also grappled with Somalia as a failed state.

In 1993, then President Bill Clinton ordered U.S. troops to track down a Somali warlord, leading to a long firefight in which 18 American soldiers were killed. The battle led to the book and movie called Black Hawk Down.

Link to original report: Debate

U.S. Warships Converge On Pirates

(CBS/AP) U.S. warships are trying to stop Somali pirates from sending reinforcements to a lifeboat where an American captain is being held hostage as the high-seas standoff off Africa's eastern coast entered a fourth day Saturday.

Underscoring the high stakes involved, France's navy on Friday freed a sailboat seized off Somalia last week by other pirates, but one of the hostages was killed.

A Nairobi-based diplomat, who spoke on condition on anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to reporters, said the pirates have summoned assistance but at least two American ships and U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft are deterring pirate ships and skiffs from contact with the lifeboat.

The pirates have threatened to kill their American hostage, Capt. Richard Phillips, if the U.S. attacks them, according to a Somali who has been in contact with the pirates.

The Somali said the pirates had called in four commandeered ships with hostages from a variety of nations including the Philippines, Russia and Germany.

The vice president of the Philippines, the nation with the largest number of sailors held captive by Somali pirates, appealed Saturday for the safety of hostages to be ensured in the standoff.

"We hope that before launching any tactical action against the pirates, the welfare of every hostage is guaranteed and ensured," said Vice President Noli de Castro. "Moreover, any military action is best done in consultation with the United Nations to gain the support and cooperation of other countries."

U.S. rules of engagement prevent the Americans using their vastly superior fighting power to engage the pirates if there is any danger to civilians.

The situation is new for the pirates. Normally, they seize a ship with many hostages and get it anchored near shore, where they can quickly escape to land, and then begin negotiations for multimillion-dollar ransoms. Left with only Phillips and a lifeboat that is out of fuel, they are in a vulnerable position.

According to CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips, reports out of Somalia this morning say that a group of clan elders may be trying to mediate in this standoff.

The amphibious assault ship USS Boxer will join two other Navy ships - the USS Bainbridge and the USS Hallyburton, which has helicopters - which are near the lifeboat 200 miles off Somalia.

The Boxer is the flag ship of a multination anti-piracy task force that resembles a small aircraft carrier. It has a crew of more than 1,000, a mobile hospital, missile launchers and about two dozen helicopters and attack planes.

Negotiations had been taking place between the pirates and the captain of the Bainbridge, who was getting direction from FBI hostage negotiators, the officials said.

The dangers of taking action were underlined by an attempt by the French Navy to rescue the people aboard the yacht Tanit. Four hostages, including a small child, were freed and two pirates killed when French commandos moved in on the yacht, but the yacht's captain was also killed.

So for now, the U.S. Navy appears to be working on the assumption that time is on its side.

Meanwhile, the Maersk Alabama headed toward the Kenyan port of Mombasa - its original destination - with 20 American crew members aboard. It was expected to arrive Saturday night, said Joseph Murphy, whose son is second-in-command of the vessel.

Negotiating With High-Seas Bandits

"The issue is going to be claustrophobia, sea sickness, heat, boredom," Rick Gurnon, president of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, told CBS News. "I think after a few more days in the lifeboat, the Somalis will think going to prison for two years is trading up."

At least that's the hope, said CBS' Phillips. The pirates are demanding their safety be guaranteed should they release the American ship's captain - in addition to, of course, a reported $2 million ransom.

"I'm sure the emotional level on all sides is raised with the warships on the scene," Hugh McGowan, a former commanding officer with the New York City Police Hostage Negotiating Team, said on CBS News' The Early Show. "I'm sure for the hostage takers, they assumed they were going to be in and out and get away without any problems, so now it's much more complicated."

On Friday, Phillips jumped out of the lifeboat and tried to swim for his freedom but was recaptured when a pirate fired an automatic weapon at or near him.

Discussing Captain Phillips' failed attempt to escape, McGowan said such actions are dangerous.

"You never want to be critical of what the hostage does because they're in isolation," McGowan said. "And he probably thought he could make his escape. When we talk to people about, you know, being held hostage, we really recommend that they not try something like this unless they're really 100% - maybe 1,000% - sure they're going to be successful. Even then, think about it two or three more times before you try it, because the rescue is on the way and that's the best way of getting out of it."

Piracy along the anarchic and impoverished Somali coast, the longest in Africa, has risen in recent years. Somali pirates hold about a dozen ships with more than 200 crew members, according to the International Maritime Bureau, a piracy watchdog group based in Malaysia. The bureau lists 66 attacks since January, not including the Alabama.

Current TV correspondent Kaj Larson, who has produced a documentary on modern day piracy, said that Somali pirates in recent years has been reluctant to harm their hostages.

"That's because they have such a good business model going and they're making so much money - between $50 million and $150 million in ransom money last year - it's not in their best interest to hurt the hostages. That's certainly helping the situation right now.

"That being said, these are certainly violent men who are well-armed, and the potential [for hostage deaths] always exists."

Larson said the experience of the French commando raid Friday will affect how the crisis involving the American hostage plays out. "You're going to see the U.S. Navy being patient and being steady and waiting and playing the waiting game, waiting these pirates out."

McGowan, likewise, believes the Navy will not the fire upon the pirates. "Unless the circumstances call for it, I don't see them doing that. They're being advised by the FBI, and our advice always is to be patient."

Link to original report: Warships

Books about Somalia and Piracy: Books

Dutch TV show exonerates Osama bin Laden

2009-04-11T00:27:00.002-05:00

BERLIN -- A Dutch TV jury has found Osama bin Laden not guilty of the Sept. 11 attacks.

In the conclusion Wednesday night to the show "Devil's Advocate" on Dutch public broadcaster Nederland 2, the jury of two men and three women, along with the studio audience, ruled there was no proof bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001.

The Netherlands, home to "Big Brother" creator Endemol, is known for being on the cutting edge of format-based television. But even for Dutch standards, "Devil's Advocate," from Amsterdam production house AVRO, pushes the envelope.

The show features star defense attorney Gerard Spong standing up for some of the world's worst criminals.

In the latest show, Spong was able to convince the jury that bin Laden's connection to Sept. 11 was a product of "Western propaganda." The jury also ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove bin Laden was the real head of terrorist network al-Qaida. However, the jury did rule that bin Laden is a "terrorist who has misused Islam."

The show is certain to provide further ammunition in the already heated Dutch debate over immigration and the country's large Muslim minority. The Netherlands saw a sharp rise in anti-immigration and anti-Islamic sentiment after the 2004 murder of Dutch director Theo Van Gogh by a Muslim extremist.

Spong has been at the center of the debate, supporting legal action against anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders.
Dutch TV show exonerates Osama bin Laden
'Devil's Advocate' jury finds no proof he was behind Sept. 11

By Scott Roxborough

April 9, 2009, 12:37 PM ET
BERLIN -- A Dutch TV jury has found Osama bin Laden not guilty of the Sept. 11 attacks.

In the conclusion Wednesday night to the show "Devil's Advocate" on Dutch public broadcaster Nederland 2, the jury of two men and three women, along with the studio audience, ruled there was no proof bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001.

The Netherlands, home to "Big Brother" creator Endemol, is known for being on the cutting edge of format-based television. But even for Dutch standards, "Devil's Advocate," from Amsterdam production house AVRO, pushes the envelope.

The show features star defense attorney Gerard Spong standing up for some of the world's worst criminals.

In the latest show, Spong was able to convince the jury that bin Laden's connection to Sept. 11 was a product of "Western propaganda." The jury also ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove bin Laden was the real head of terrorist network al-Qaida. However, the jury did rule that bin Laden is a "terrorist who has misused Islam."

The show is certain to provide further ammunition in the already heated Dutch debate over immigration and the country's large Muslim minority. The Netherlands saw a sharp rise in anti-immigration and anti-Islamic sentiment after the 2004 murder of Dutch director Theo Van Gogh by a Muslim extremist.

Spong has been at the center of the debate, supporting legal action against anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders.

Here is the link to the original report: Osama

Additional reports:

TV show exonerates Osama bin Laden

US hostage fails in escape bid from Somali pirates

2009-04-10T18:44:00.003-05:00

An American skipper held hostage by pirates tried to swim to freedom Friday but was recaptured seconds later when the bandits opened fire within view of a U.S. destroyer.

Four Somali pirates, who are demanding a ransom, were ready to kill Capt. Richard Phillips if they are attacked, according to a Somali in contact with the captors.

The high seas drama turned more complex and potentially deadly in its third day as both pirates and American forces rushed reinforcements to the scene several hundred miles off the coast of Somalia. The crisis stemmed from a thwarted attempt to take over the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama freighter and is testing the new Obama administration.

The pirates summoned reinforcements, calling in four commandeered ships with hostages from a variety of nations including the Philippines, Russia and Germany, according to the Somali in touch with the pirates.

The U.S. was also bolstering its force by dispatching other warships to the scene several hundred miles off the Somali coast, which already was under watch by the destroyer USS Bainbridge — named after William Bainbridge, an American naval officer who fought pirates off the Barbary Coast in the early 19th century.

Piracy along the anarchic and impoverished Somali coast, the longest in Africa, has risen in recent years. Somali pirates hold about a dozen ships with more than 200 crew members, according to the International Maritime Bureau, a piracy watchdog group based in Malaysia. The bureau lists 66 attacks since January, not including the Alabama.

Underscoring the high stakes involved, France's navy freed a sailboat seized off Somalia last week by other pirates, but one of the hostages was killed, along with two of the bandits. Three pirates were captured. In Paris, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Jean-Louis Georgelin dismissed the notion that there was any coordination between the French and Americans on the two incidents.

Phillips, of Underhill, Vt., was seized Wednesday after he thwarted the pirates' bid to hijack the Alabama, which was carrying food aid for hungry people in Somalia, Rwanda and Uganda.

Around midnight Friday local time, Phillips jumped off the covered lifeboat where he was being held and began swimming, said Defense Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk about sensitive, unfolding operations.

One of the pirates then fired an automatic weapon, the officials said, although it was not clear if shots were fired at Phillips or into the air, and he returned to the lifeboat.

He was in the water only a matter of seconds — not enough time for sailors aboard the Bainbridge to do much to help him, the defense officials said. Because both the lifeboat and the Bainbridge are moving, no swimmers or divers could have been standing by in the water, the officials said.

The Bainbridge stays a minimum of 200 yards away — too far to send its own lifeboat to pick up the captain in just a few seconds, and it has no helicopter on board, they said.

Its sailors were able to see Phillips moving around and talking after his return to the lifeboat, and the Defense Department officials believed he was unharmed.

Tom Coggio, Phillips' brother-in-law, said word of the escape attempt and his captivity has stressed his family.

"Now this is just really taking a toll on all of us," Coggio said in Richmond, Vt.

In a statement from the Maersk Line Ltd. shipping company, Phillips' wife, Andrea, thanked "our neighbors, our community, and the nation for the outpouring of support. ... My husband is a strong man and we will remain strong for him. We ask that you do the same."

The Somali in contact with the pirates holding Phillips said they are trying to link up with colleagues who are holding Russian, German, Filipino and other hostages in ships near the coast. Their goal is to get Phillips to Somalia, where they could hide him in the lawless country and make a rescue difficult, the Somali said.

That would give the pirates a stronger negotiating position to discuss a ransom.

The Somali, who helped negotiate a ransom last year to pirates who seized a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. He said he has talked with a pirate leader in Somalia who helped coordinate the failed effort to seize the Alabama.

He said the pirate leader had been in direct contact with the lifeboat via a satellite phone but lost contact after Phillips' captors threw the phone — and a two-way radio dropped to them by the U.S. Navy — into the ocean, fearing the Americans were somehow sending messages to the captain via the devices. They acted after Phillips' failed escape attempt.

Negotiations had been taking place between the pirates and the captain of the Bainbridge, who is getting direction from FBI hostage negotiators, the U.S. officials said. The captors had been communicating with other pirate vessels by satellite phone, they said.

Mohamed Samaw, a resident of the pirate stronghold in Eyl, Somalia, who claims to have a "share" in a British-owned ship hijacked Monday, said four foreign vessels held by pirates were headed toward the lifeboat. A total of 54 hostages — from China, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, the Philippines, Tuvalu, Indonesia and Taiwan — are on two of the boats.

"The pirates have summoned assistance — skiffs and mother ships are heading towards the area from the coast," said a Nairobi-based diplomat, who spoke on condition on anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media.

Samaw said two ships left Eyl on Wednesday. A third sailed from Haradhere, another pirate base in Somalia, and the fourth was a Taiwanese fishing vessel seized Monday that was already only 30 miles from the lifeboat.

He said the ships include the German cargo ship Hansa Stavanger, seized earlier this month. The ship's crew of 24 is made up of five Germans, three Russians, two Ukrainians, two Filipinos and 12 from Tuvalu.

Another man identified as a pirate by three residents of Haradhere also said the captured German ship had been sent.

"They had asked us for reinforcement, and we have already sent a good number of well-equipped colleagues, who were holding a German cargo ship," said the man, who asked that only his first name, Badow, be used to protect him from reprisals.

"We are not intending to harm the captain, so that we hope our colleagues would not be harmed as long as they hold him," Badow said. "All we need, first, is a safe route to escape with the captain, and then (negotiate) ransom later."

The U.S. sent additional warships, including the guided-missile frigate USS Halyburton and the USS Boxer, flagship for a multination anti-piracy task force. The Boxer resembles a small aircraft carrier and has a crew of more than 1,000, a mobile hospital, missile launchers and about two dozen helicopters and attack planes.

The show of force will strengthen surveillance of the area and may dissuade pirates from seizing another ship, but there are not enough for a blockade in the danger zone that sprawls across 1.1 million square miles, said a senior U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss operational matters.

The head of Somalia's near-powerless transitional government, Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, appealed to leaders in piracy hubs to work for Phillips' release. The government "wants to see this piracy problem come to an end in a peaceful manner," he said in a statement.

President Barack Obama, who is getting regular updates on the standoff, made no public comment about it Friday for a third day.

Phillips, 53, thwarted the takeover of the 17,000-ton Alabama by telling his crew of about 20 to lock themselves in a room, the crew told stateside relatives.

The crew later overpowered some of the pirates but Phillips surrendered himself to the bandits to safeguard his men, and the Somalis fled with him to the lifeboat, the relatives said.

Capt. James Staples, a classmate of Phillips at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, said he was not surprised by the escape attempt.

"That just shows me that Richie's still ... strong, he's thinking, he's alert," Staples said. "He's going to take every opportunity he can to, to make the situation a lot better for himself and probably get home as quick as he can."

Link to original article: Hostage

Related report:

Ships held by Somali pirates

At least a dozen ships and more than 200 crew members are currently being held by pirates off the coast of Somalia, according to the International Maritime Bureau and NATO. Four of the pirate-held ships are believed heading toward the lifeboat on which bandits are holding the American captain of the U.S.-flagged Maesrk Alabama, in an effort to provide assistance, according to sources close to the pirates and diplomats. A look at some of recent hijackings:

Ships currently held off the Somalia coast and the dates they were seized:

April 9: Yemeni fishing boat Shugaa Almadhi with 13 crew hijacked.

April 6: British-owned bulk carrier, the Malaspina Castle, hijacked in the Gulf of Aden. It is carrying iron and has a crew of 24 from Bulgaria, the Philippines, Russia and Ukraine. Lloyd's Marine Intelligence Unit says the ship is owned by Navalmar U.K. Ltd and managed by BNavi SpA of Italy.

April 4: German 20,000-tonne freighter Hansa Stavanger seized 400 miles off the Somali coast. It has 24 crew members on board: 5 Germans, 3 Russians, 2 Ukrainians, 2 Filipinos and 12 Tuvalus. It is owned by Hamburg-based Leonhardt & Blumberg Schiffahrtsgesellschaft mbH & Co.KG. Two men who are either pirates or affiliated with pirates have said the Hansa Stavanger is one of four vessels pirates have directed toward the Maesrk Alabama.

April 4: Taiwanese ship, Win Far 161, seized near the Seychelles islands. It has a crew of 30, including 17 Filipinos, six Indonesians, five Chinese and two Taiwanese. Two men who are either pirates or affiliated with pirates have said the Win Far 161 is one of four vessels pirates have directed toward the Maesrk Alabama.

March 25: Panama-registered, Greek-owned Nipayia with 18 Filipino crew members and a Russian captain is seized by pirates. The Nipayia is managed by Athens-based Lotus Shipping.

Two ships hijacked by pirates were released or freed Friday:

The 23,000-ton Norwegian-owned Bow Asir, captured March 26 250 miles (400 kilometers) off the Somali coast with a crew of 27 from Philippines, Poland, Russia and Lithuania. Salhus Shipping AS owns the ship, but the company does not say whether it paid a ransom for the release.

French naval forces storms the French yacht Tanit, which had been held by pirates since April 4. The assault, triggered by threats the captive passengers would be executed, frees four French tourists, including a child, but one hostage and two pirates die in the operation.

Link to the original report: Ships

An update to this story and a number of video reports an now be found at this link: Video

To do in-depth study on Somalia and the issue of Piracy I recommend these books: Read

Adam Lambert — Mad World

2009-04-09T22:23:00.001-05:00

Population Control

2009-04-09T20:25:00.002-05:00

I received the book, Perfectibilists: The 18th Century Bavarian Order of the Illuminati today. I made it to page 9 when I read this,

Thomas Malthus, born in 1776, a major influence on Darwinism, population control and the eugenics movement. Malthus became deeply concerned with the growing mismatch between people and resources and in 1798 put his thoughts to paper with his Essay on Population. This seminal work made him world-famous, and it has been studied and argued about ever since. To Mathus the greatest danger facing the human species was the difference between population increase and food production: "that the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man". Malthus argued that population grows via multiplication (even at a relatively low rate of reproduction, 2 make 4, make 8, make 16 etc.); on the other hand, food and resource production could only increase via addition (with the resultant pressure for tilage and arable land necessarily leading to catastrophe).

His gloomy forecasts called for "periodic wars, famines or plagues to reduce the surplus population, or we would soon be standing shoulder to shoulder".

Malthus promoted "hygienically unsound practices amongst impoverished populations," believing "that the undesirable elements of the human herd could be naturally culled by various maladies. The spread of disease could be further assisted through discriminative vaccination and zoning programs"

continuing to discuss the topic of population control, on page 11 there is this:

"One plan often mentioned involves the addition of temporary sterilants to water supplies or staple food. Doses of the antidote would be carefully rationed by the government to produce the desired population size".

Wow, that is a lot to think about!

After reading that I did some research and found this:

Will Malthus Be Right?
His forecast was ahead of its time, but nature may still put a lid on humanity

Malthus was right. So read a car bumper sticker on a busy New Jersey highway the other day, and it got me thinking about the Rev. Thomas Malthus, the English political economist who gave the "dismal science" its nickname. His "Essay on the Principle of Population," published in 1798, predicted a gloomy future for humanity: our population would grow until it reached the limits of our food supply, ensuring that poverty and famine would persistently rear their ugly faces to the world.

The most casual cruise on the Internet shows how much debate Malthus still stirs today. Basically, the Pollyannas of this world say that Malthus was wrong; the population has continued to grow, economies remain robust - and famines in Biafra and Ethiopia are more aberrations than signs of the future. Cassandras reply that Malthus was right, but techno-fixes have postponed the day of reckoning. There are now 6 billion people on Earth. The Pollyannas say the more the merrier; the Cassandras say that is already twice as many as can be supported in middle-class comfort, and the world is running out of arable land and fresh water. Despite a recent slowdown in the growth rate, the U.N. Population Division expects the world population to reach 9.5 billion by the year 2100.

What's missing from the debate is an understanding of the changing relationship between humanity and nature. For it is how humans fit into the natural world that will settle whether Malthus was right or wrong. He was wrong in 1798. But if he had been writing 10,000 years earlier, before agriculture, he would have been right. And were his book being published today, on the brink of the third millennium, he would be more right than wrong. Let me explain.

To read the rest of the article follow this link: Malthus

Thomas Malthus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus FRS (13 February 1766 – 23 December 1834[1]) was an English scholar who did influential work in political economy and demography.

Malthus came to prominence for drawing attention to the potential dangers of population growth: "The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man". As an Anglican clergyman, Malthus saw this situation as divinely imposed to teach virtuous behaviour: he regarded optimistic ideas of social reform as doomed to failure.[3] He thus presented to the reader a dystopian, negative, view of the world, in contrast to the eutopias of writers such as Rousseau and William Godwin. A disaster occurring as a consequence of population growth outstripping resources is known as a Malthusian catastrophe.

Malthus placed the longer-term stability of the economy above short-term expediency. He criticised the Poor Laws,and (alone among important contemporary economists) supported the Corn Laws, which introduced a system of taxes on British imports of wheat. He thought these measures would encourage domestic production, and so promote long-term benefit.

Malthus became hugely influential, and controversial, in economic, political, social and scientific thought. Many of the later evolutionary biologists read him, particularly Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, for whom Malthusianism became an intellectual stepping-stone to the idea of the survival of the fittest. Malthus remains a writer of great significance.

Modern commentators generally refer to him as Thomas Malthus, but during his lifetime he went by his middle name, Robert.

Between 1798 and 1826 Malthus published six editions of his famous treatise, An Essay on the Principle of Population, updating each edition to incorporate new material, to address criticism, and to convey changes in his own perspectives on the subject. He wrote the original text in reaction to the optimism of his father and his father's associates, (notably Rousseau) regarding the future improvement of society. Malthus also constructed his case as a specific response to writings of William Godwin (1756-1836) and of the Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794).

Malthus regarded ideals of future improvement in the lot of humanity with scepticism, considering that throughout history a segment of every human population seemed relegated to poverty. He explained this phenomenon by pointing out that population growth generally preceded expansion of the population's resources, in particular the primary resource of food.

In evaluating Malthus one can usefully distinguish between his primary (and virtually irrefutable) axioms, and the consequences he drew from the axioms, which have not always met with consensus agreement.

Primary theory: the axioms
"The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man. Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio. A slight acquaintance with numbers will show the immensity of the first power in comparison with the second."

Secondary theory: the consequences
"Yet in all societies, even those that are most vicious, the tendency to a virtuous attachment is so strong that there is a constant effort towards an increase of population. This constant effort as constantly tends to subject the lower classes of the society to distress and to prevent any great permanent amelioration of their condition."

"The way in which, these effects are produced seems to be this. We will suppose the means of subsistence in any country just equal to the easy support of its inhabitants. The constant effort towards population... increases the number of people before the means of subsistence are increased. The food therefore which before supported seven millions must now be divided among seven millions and a half or eight millions. The poor consequently must live much worse, and many of them be reduced to severe distress. The number of labourers also being above the proportion of the work in the market, the price of labour must tend toward a decrease, while the price of provisions would at the same time tend to rise. The labourer therefore must work harder to earn the same as he did before. During this season of distress, the discouragements to marriage, and the difficulty of rearing a family are so great that population is at a stand. In the mean time the cheapness of labour, the plenty of labourers, and the necessity of an increased industry amongst them, encourage cultivators to employ more labour upon their land, to turn up fresh soil, and to manure and improve more completely what is already in tillage, till ultimately the means of subsistence become in the same proportion to the population as at the period from which we set out. The situation of the labourer being then again tolerably comfortable, the restraints to population are in some degree loosened, and the same retrograde and progressive movements with respect to happiness are repeated."

Malthus also saw that societies through history had experienced at one time or another epidemics, famines, or wars: events that masked the fundamental problem of populations overstretching their resource limitations:

"The power of population is so superior to the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race. The vices of mankind are active and able ministers of depopulation. They are the precursors in the great army of destruction, and often finish the dreadful work themselves. But should they fail in this war of extermination, sickly seasons, epidemics, pestilence, and plague advance in terrific array, and sweep off their thousands and tens of thousands. Should success be still incomplete, gigantic inevitable famine stalks in the rear, and with one mighty blow levels the population with the food of the world."

The following passage suggests that techniques of animal husbandry could apply to humans, anticipating the idea which, in 1883, Francis Galton called eugenics:

"It does not... by any means seem impossible that by an attention to breed, a certain degree of improvement, similar to that among animals, might take place among men. Whether intellect could be communicated may be a matter of doubt; but size, strength, beauty, complexion, and perhaps longevity are in a degree transmissible... As the human race, however, could not be improved in this way without condemning all the bad specimens to celibacy, it is not probable that an attention to breed should ever become general."

Proposed solutions
"Malthus argued that population was held within resource limits by two types of checks: positive ones, which raised the death rate, and preventative ones, which lowered the birth rate. The positive checks included hunger, disease and war; the preventative checks, abortion, birth control, prostitution, postponement of marriage, and celibacy."

In the second and subsequent editions, with his name on the title page, Malthus put more emphasis on moral restraint. By that he meant the postponement of marriage until people could support a family, coupled with strict celibacy (sexual abstinence) until that time. "He went so far as to claim that moral restraint on a wide scale was the best means—indeed, the only means—of easing the poverty of the lower classes." This plan appeared consistent with virtue, economic gain and social improvement.

This train of thought makes Malthus's stand on public assistance to the poor especially interesting. He proposed the gradual abolition of poor laws by gradually reducing the number of persons qualifying for relief. Relief in dire distress would come from private charity. He reasoned that poor relief acted against the longer-term interests of the poor by raising the price of commodities and undermining the independence and resilience of the peasant.[citation needed] In other words, the poor laws tended to "create the poor which they maintain".

It offended Malthus that critics claimed he lacked a caring attitude towards the situation of the poor. He wrote in an addition to the 1817 edition:

"I have written a chapter expressly on the practical direction of our charity; and in detached passages elsewhere have paid a just tribute to the exalted virtue of benevolence. To those who have read these parts of my work, and have attended to the general tone and spirit of the whole, I willingly appeal, if they are but tolerably candid, against these charges ... which intimate that I would root out the virtues of charity and benevolence without regard to the exaltation which they bestow on the moral dignity of our nature...

Some, such as William Farr and Karl Marx,argued that Malthus did not fully recognize the human capacity to increase food supply. On this subject Malthus wrote: "The main peculiarity which distinguishes man from other animals, is the means of his support, is the power which he possesses of very greatly increasing these means.

You can read the entire entry at this link: Malthus

Here is a link to the books about population by Thomas Mathus: Books

More books: Population Control

Red Cross says doctors helped CIA "torture"

2009-04-09T11:32:00.002-05:00

The following was reported by Reuters

MIAMI (Reuters) - Health workers violated medical ethics when they helped interrogate terrorism suspects who were tortured at secret CIA prisons overseas, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

The medical workers, thought to be doctors and psychologists, monitored prisoners while they were mistreated at CIA prisons and advised interrogators whether to continue, adjust or halt the abuse, the ICRC said in a report based on interviews with 14 prisoners in 2007.

One prisoner alleged that medical personnel monitored his blood oxygen levels while he was subjected to waterboarding, a simulated drowning designed to induce panic and widely considered to be torture, the ICRC said.

Other prisoners said that as they stood shackled with their arms chained above their heads, a doctor regularly measured the swelling in their legs and signaled when they should be allowed to sit down.

The ICRC interviewed 14 men who had been held in secret CIA prisons overseas before being sent to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2006.

The 14 are considered by the United States to be "high-value" al Qaeda suspects who plotted or carried out mass murders, including the September 11 attacks and the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings. They had been held by the CIA, most for more than three years, in extreme isolation and had not been allowed contact with each other when the ICRC interviewed them at Guantanamo in November 2007.

The ICRC said their claims had credence because they gave similar accounts of their treatment, including the actions of medical monitors whose names they never learned.

The ICRC monitors compliance with the Geneva Conventions governing the treatment of war captives and keeps its reports secret, sharing them only with the detaining government.

The report, written in 2007, was posted on the New York Review of Books website on Monday night by journalist Mark Danner, who has not said publicly how he obtained it.

"VIOLATED ETHICAL DUTY"

He first published excerpts last month, including a portion in which the ICRC concluded the al Qaeda captives' treatment in the CIA prisons "constituted torture" and violated international law.

The report alleges collars were placed around some prisoners' necks and used to slam their heads against the walls, and that they were forced to stand with their arms shackled above them for two or three days and left to urinate or defecate on themselves.

The prisoners told the ICRC they were beaten and kicked, left naked for long periods, subjected to sleep deprivation, loud music, cold temperatures, rape threats and forced shaving. Some said they were denied solid food unless they cooperated with interrogators and one said he was confined in a crouching position in a box too short to stand in.

A previously undisclosed portion of the report concluded that medical workers who monitored or took part in the interrogations had violated their ethical duty to do no harm, preserve dignity and act in patients' best interest.

The ICRC said "any interrogation process that requires a health professional to either pronounce on the subject's fitness to withstand such a procedure, or which requires a health professional to monitor the actual procedure, must have inherent health risks.

The rest of the report can be found here: torture

Additional reports on the story:

Report Outlines Medical Workers’ Role in Torture

Medical personnel were deeply involved in the abusive interrogation of terrorist suspects held overseas by the Central Intelligence Agency, including torture, and their participation was a “gross breach of medical ethics,” a long-secret report by the International Committee of the Red Cross concluded.

Here is the link to the entire report: Medical

Medically Assisted Torture

There was a great deal to be troubled by in a report by the International Committee of the Red Cross documenting the kinds of torture and abuse inflicted on terrorism suspects by the Central Intelligence Agency. One disturbing footnote is that medical personnel were deeply involved in facilitating the abuses, which were intended to coerce suspects into providing intelligence.

The report, prepared in 2007 but kept secret until it was published by The New York Review of Books, was based on Red Cross interviews in late 2006 with 14 “high-value detainees,” who include some of the most dangerous terrorists in custody. The prisoners’ complaints gain credibility because they described similar abuses and had been kept in isolation at different locations, with no chance to concoct a common story.

Here is the link for the rest of the story: Doctors

To read more about the CIA and Torture, see the list of books at this link: Read

Somalia and Piracy

2009-04-08T11:25:00.003-05:00

I have been posting articles about Somalia since June 10, 2006, You can read all the post related to Somalia at this link: News

The big story today is about another ship that has been taken by pirates.

Here is the information:

Somali pirates seized a Danish-owned and US-flagged ship off Somalia on Wednesday with 20 American crew on board, the US Navy and the shipowner said, in the sixth maritime hijacking in five days.

"A US-flagged Danish-owned ship was attacked at around 7:30 local time this morning, 240 nautical miles southeast of the Somali town of Eyl," Lieutenant Nathan Schaeffer, a spokesman for the navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet told AFP.

Maersk shipping line said the container vessel Maersk Alabama, belonging to the US subsidiary of Maersk, "was attacked by pirates and presumed hijacked" at around 0500 GMT.

"The US-flagged vessel has a crew of 20 US nationals and is owned and operated by Maersk Line, Limited in the US," a statement added.

The vessel was en route to the Kenyan port of Mombasa when it was attacked, Maersk said. The 155-metre-long (511-foot) vessel is carrying cereals and food supplies destined for, among others, the United Nations.

The United States underscored its concerns after the latest seizure.

"We've seen the reports," said Megan Mattson, a State Department spokeswoman in Washington. "Recent acts of piracy off the Somali coast are a continuing concern."

Only on Tuesday, the multinational naval task force working to protect shipping in the region warned merchant ships plying the waters off Somalia to increase their vigilance in the light of an increase in pirate attacks.

The warning, issued by the Fifth Fleet, highlighted attacks hundreds of miles from Somalia and said "merchant mariners should be increasingly vigilant when operating in those waters."

"We continue to highlight the importance of preparation by the merchant mariners and the maritime industry," US Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, commander of the Combined Maritime Forces, said in a statement.

"We synchronise the efforts of the naval forces deployed to the region. However, as we have often stated, international naval forces alone will not be able to solve the problem of piracy at sea. Piracy is a problem that starts ashore."

Among attacks over the past few days, Somali pirates hijacked a British-owned cargo ship, a German container carrier, a Taiwanese fishing boat, a Yemeni tugboat and a small French yacht with a three-year-old boy on board.

"Despite increased naval presence in the region, ships and aircraft are unlikely to be close enough to provide support to vessels under attack. The scope and magnitude of problem can not be understated," the statement said.

It said the area involved covers an area roughly four times the size of Texas -- or the size of the Mediterranean and Red Seas combined.

But despite successful recent attacks, it said "merchant mariners have proven successes as first line defenders against pirates" with some having used "evasive manoeuvring and other defensive measures to protect their ships and their cargoes."

Some crew members had turned fire hoses on their attackers, fired flares at them or rigged barbed wire along the sides of the ship to prevent the pirates from boarding.

More than 130 attacks, including nearly 50 which were successful, were reported in 2008. Most were in the Gulf of Aden, where 16,000 ships enter and exit the Red Sea each year on one of the world's busiest maritime trade routes.

At least 18 ships and more than 250 hostages are now in pirate hands.

Despite the recent upsurge in hijackings, the number of attacks and their success rate has declined slightly since the start of the year, which is due to unfavourable sea conditions and an increased foreign naval presence in the Gulf.

Here is the link to the original story: Pirates

There has been a big break in the story. Here is the latest update:

The U.S. crew of a hijacked U.S.-flagged container ship in the Indian Ocean appears to have retaken control of the vessel, a Pentagon official told Reuters.

"It is our understanding that the crew is back in control of the ship," said the official, who asked not to be named. He said the shipowner would hold a news conference on the matter at 12:00 p.m. (1600 GMT) in Norfolk, Virginia.

Link to original source: Update

Hijacked US crew 'retake vessel'

The US crew of a ship hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia has retaken control of the vessel, according to Pentagon sources.

Unnamed US defence officials said one pirate had been captured by the crew of the Danish-owned Maersk Alabama, which was seized earlier in the Indian Ocean.

The status of the other pirates was unknown, but officials said they were "in the water".

It was the sixth hijack in recent days, including a British and Taiwanese ship.

The Associated Press quoted a defence official as saying: "It's reported that one pirate is on board under crew control - the other three were trying to flee."

Reports suggest the other three pirates jumped overboard.

The ship's owners, Maersk, have not confirmed that the ship has been retaken.

But the firm's chief executive, John Reinhart, told AFP news agency that the crew was safe.

The ship was attacked by several small boats in the early hours of Wednesday in an incident apparently lasting for about five hours.

Maritime officials said the vessel took all possible evasive action before it reported that the pirates had boarded.

More than 130 pirates attacks, including close to 50 successful hijackings, were reported in 2008, threatening one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

link to original report: Ship

I will continue to state that I believe Somalia is a place to watch!

Today I added a number of books to the Worldview store: The books cover this history of Somalia and modern day piracy.

Our bookstore is really Amazon.com however, when you buy the books through our page we receive a percentage of the purchase amount from Amazon. You do nothing different, you shop and purchase just like if you were on amazon.com. We do not receive any of your information. Everything is handled by Amazon.com We just benefit from it! So here is the link to the latest additions: Books

Thanks for shopping and enjoy the books!

Children Discover Mysterious Creature

2009-04-06T14:54:00.002-05:00

The following was reported by: Dumfries and Galloway Standard

CHILDREN from Loreburn Primary school got a shock last week when they discovered what appeared to be the remains of a crocodile in a river just outside Dumfries.

The primary six pupils were visiting the River Cairn with a teacher and staff from the Nith District Salmon Fishery Board to release Salmon fry when they made the startling discovery.

Douglas Creighton, the primary six class teacher said: “We were doing a river study. We were taking three or fours locations and their measurements when we rounded a corner.

“There was shouting, one from the front saying ‘there’s a crocodile’. We thought it would be a lump of wood.”

On closure inspection however it appeared to be the body of some form of reptile.

Debbie Parke, a staff member of the Nith District Salmon Fishery Board said: “We were releasing fry into the river and were walking down and one of the kids started going ‘there’s a crocodile, there’s crocodile’. We had a look and it was some sort of reptile. It definitely was a shock.”

Debbie later returned to the scene with a reptile expert to determine what species the body belonged too.

The mysterious reptile is believed to be 1.2m in length.

The expert suggested that the body was most likely that of an iguana.

However it was noted that the markings on the creature did not quite match those of an Iguana.

Debbie said: “It probably was an iguana that got too large for its tank and was released into the wild.

“But the markings on the back were quite different from that and the head was quite decomposed and had no jaw. So it was hard to tell if it was a crocodile or not.”

Douglas Creighton and his pupils were left just as stumped to the identity of the curious critter.

He said: “We have got a teacher in the school who keeps reptiles. She had a look at the photographs we took. On the back an Iguana has a similar appearance. It does look like a crocodile. It has the square patches like a crocodile behind the back legs.”

“The children weren’t scared though, they were very excited. It’s led to some very exciting writing in the school.”

Link to the original story: Mystery

Are you interested in the study of mysterious creatures? Then check out our Cryptozoology section in the bookstore: Books

Italy Earthquake: quake toll rises to 90

2009-04-06T11:12:00.001-05:00

Links to additional reports:

Death toll in Italy quake on the rise

Reporting from Rome -- A powerful earthquake rocked a mountainous region of central Italy early today, killing at least 92 people, trapping victims under flattened buildings and leaving thousands of residents homeless, officials and news agencies said.

The temblor, measured at a magnitude of between 5.8 and 6.3 on the Richter scale, knocked residents out of their beds about 3:30 a.m. in the medieval town of L'Aquila, about 75 miles from Rome.

Italy quake kills 100, devastates medieval town

L'AQUILA, Italy (AFP) — A violent earthquake jolted central Italy on Monday killing at least 100 people and injuring 1,500 as buildings and homes in a walled medieval town were reduced to rubble.

Rescue workers quoted by the Italian news channel Sky TG-24 said the provisional death toll has risen to 100 "confirmed" deaths.

More than 1,700 rescuers scrambled to find victims trapped under collapsed buildings in L'Aquila, the quake's epicentre, and officials warned the toll would rise.

To read more about the subject of Earthquakes, check out these books: Earthquakes

Study finds ice-free Arctic possible within 30 years

2009-04-05T21:08:00.005-05:00

The following was reported by The Tech Herald

A joint study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Washington has made the dire warning that the world could experience an ice-free Arctic during summer in as little as thirty years.

The study, published Friday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, comes ahead of a summit in Washington involving 47 countries to discuss the state of the North and South poles.

“The Arctic is changing faster than anticipated,” said James Overland, a NOAA oceanographer who co-authored the report. “It’s a combination of natural variability, along with warmer air and sea conditions caused by increased greenhouse gases.”

Overland and Muyin Wang, a University of Washington research scientist with the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean in Seattle,"...analysed projections from six computer models, including three with sophisticated sea ice physics capabilities. That data was then combined with observations of summer sea ice loss in 2007 and 2008," according to a NOAA statement.

The report found that the area currently covered by ice is expected to reduce in size from its current 4.6 million square kilometres (about 1.8 million square miles) to about 1 million square kilometres (about 390,000 square miles) – a loss approximately two-fifths the size of the continental U.S., said the statement.

“The Arctic is often called the ‘Earth’s refrigerator’ because the sea ice helps cool the planet by reflecting the sun’s radiation back into space,” said Wang. “With less ice, the sun’s warmth is instead absorbed by the open water, contributing to warmer temperatures in the water and the air.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will host the poles summit beginning Monday.

You can read the original report at this link: ICE

Here is the link to the official National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report: Information

Additional information:

Finding The North Pole On Thin Ice

The mission: Travel more than 600 miles across the Arctic Ocean, in temperatures down to 40 degrees below zero.

It's the Catlin Arctic Survey, a British expedition to the North Pole. Its goal is to collect data to help scientists determine how fast the sea ice is disappearing.

We're skating on very thin ice
ICE could disappear from the Arctic summer within 30 years because of global warming, a US study has found.

As world governments prepare for a summit on the North and South poles that opens tomorrow, research by the University of Washington and the US Government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has delivered dire forecasts for the Arctic.

If you are looking to do more research on this topic, let me suggest the following books: Climate

Crime and Killers

2009-04-05T16:55:00.003-05:00

Inside the Minds of Healthcare Serial Killers: Why They Kill
By Katherine Ramsland

In 2004, Charles Cullen was arrested and charged in the deaths of more than 30 patients in his care. Crossing several jurisdictions in seven counties in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, he was stopped after a fifteen-year spree at ten institutions. While many people do not think of healthcare workers as serial killers, their profession is disproportionately represented among the serial killer population, and they tend to be more prolific than other serial killers, having more opportunities, better cover, and easy alibis. Healthcare professionals who kill have learned how to exploit the atmosphere of trust in the healthcare community and to hasten deaths that may go unnoticed in an already vulnerable arena. This book delves into the world of the healthcare serial killer, looking at the special characteristics of the different groups of murderers, the motives, the methods, and the outcomes. Crime specialists have long suspected that many healthcare serial killers have gone undetected. Because it is easier to cover up their crimes, it is harder to uncover that a crime has even been committed. Here, Ramsland identifies some of the warning signs that a serial killer may be on the loose in a healthcare setting. Further, she offers suggestions for reform in the healthcare and criminal justice communities that would help identify potential killers before they have a chance to strike, or strike again. Using numerous real-life cases in every chapter, she provides a fuller picture of this most deadly type of serial killer and helps readers understand how they work, and how they can be stopped.

Review
“Inside the Minds of Healthcare Serial Killers is a timely and riveting book. Ramsland's detailed descriptions of the personalities and backgrounds of healthcare killers allow the reader to see common traits and behaviors. Ramsland distinguishes between euthanasia and murder, and she also distinguishes serial killers who chose random victims from those who killed with motives toward specific people, e.g. a family member or sexual partner. Finally, she has assembled useful recommendations that will allow healthcare administrators and law enforcement agents to successfully prevent and prosecute healthcare killers, as well as a list of red flags that should indicate reasonable grounds for suspicion.”–Beatrice Yorker, JD, RN, MS, FAAN Dean, College of Health and Human Services California State University, Los Angeles

You can find more information and purchase the book a this link: Information

Beating the Devil's Game: A History of Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation

First time in paperback— essential reading for the millions of fans of CSI and Cold Case Files.

Katherine Ramsland, a renowned expert in criminology, traces the story of the evolution of forensic science––from thirteenth-century Chinese studies of decomposition through the flowering of science during the Renaissance and its veritable explosion during the era of Newtonian physics, to the marvels of the present day and beyond. Along the way, she introduces readers to such forensic pioneers as the father of toxicology; the criminalturned- detective who founded the Parisian Sureté; and trailblazers like William Bass whose integrated program in entomology, anthropology, and pathology at the Forensic Anthropology Center has galvanized the field.

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Noted forensic expert Ramsland (The Forensic Science of C.S.I.) disappoints with this plodding history of the evolution of forensic investigation. Tracing the earliest roots of what has become an invaluable component of criminal investigations and legal proceedings, Ramsland begins in ancient Greece, with Heraclitus' and Paramenides' philosophies of change and permanence as the governing forces of the world. Moving her way through the Industrial Revolution and Charles Dickens's apparent coining of the word detective, Ramsland laboriously documents case after case as investigators refine methods of fingerprinting, poison detection, ballistics and identification of potential repeat offenders. Ramsland concludes with a brief exploration of the future of forensic investigation, from sophisticated DNA analysis to the global role of forensics in the age of terrorism. Too little time is spent on some of history's most notorious cases (such as Lizzie Borden and Leopold and Loeb), with Ramsland instead offering numerous accounts of husbands poisoning their rich wives. Despite a subject so ripe for historical and sociological examination, Ramsland waters down her topic until the cases run together. Without any variation in her chronological narration, Ramsland will lose even the most dedicated of readers and C.S.I. fans. (Sept. 4)

For more information or to purchase the book follow this link: Book

The Worst Economic and Cultural Crisis of all Time

2009-04-05T14:32:00.003-05:00

This will be the longest post in the history of the Worldview blog!

I received an e-mail today and I want to share it with the readers of the blog. You will have to make up your own mind about the content. The focus of the e-mail is on the economy and the future. If after reading the article you are interested in studying the subject more consider these books. Here is the link to all of them: Economy

Now here is the e-mail, I have not changed anything:

The person who wrote this long article predicted this would happen a few years ago. Just like the depression, other riots and acts of violence. Nobody understands why this is all happening but there is a basic reason for all of it. You should read all of this and save the whole article. Maybe some of you can write this better and make a new blog or youtube video or something. Because if this person is right the whole world will become a place of poverty, war and death in a few more years. -

The vast majority of website operators don't have the guts to allow this post, anything like it, any searchable lines, or links. They have been deleted more than 90% of the time. The vast majority of syndicated talk radio hosts are screening their calls and won't allow this topic. The vast majority of callers don't have a clue. We are in big trouble. The truth is so Earth shattering, that no public figure has the guts to acknowledge it. Very few have the guts to allow a statement anything like this in their forum. The truth is being suppressed. We are in much more serious trouble than we have been told by any public figure. Don't be fooled by fluctuating economic indicators or short term market stability. The entire foundation of our economy is crumbling. Get ready people. Get your affairs in order. Get your households in order. Get your communities in order. Be prepared. This is no 'correction'. This is no ordinary recession. This won't be just another Great Depression. This will be much worse. Save this post now before it gets deleted.

Sometimes, I wonder why I bother fighting so hard for the little guy. Whats the point if they are too stupid to listen? Say that reminds me.

Amazing. The worst economic and cultural crisis of all time will go down in history horribly misunderstood. What a pathetic bunch of ignorant fools we have become. Consumer junkie credit card morons. Perfect little victims.

Don’t believe one optimistic word from any public figure about the economy or humanity in general. They are part of the problem. Its like a game of Monopoly. In America, the richest 1%, now hold ALMOST 1/2 OF ALL UNITED STATES WEALTH. Unlike ‘lesser’ estimates, this includes all stocks, bonds, cash, offshore accounts, and material assets held by America’s richest 1%. Even that filthy pig Oprah Winfrey acknowledged that it was near 50% in 2006. Naturally, she put her own ‘humanitarian’ spin on it. Calling attention to her own ‘good will’. WHAT A DISGUSTING SELF-CENTERED SELF-PROMOTING HYPOCRITE SLOB. THE RICHEST ONE PERCENT HAVE LITERALLY MADE WORLD PROSPERITY ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE.

Don’t fall for any of their 'good will' ‘humanitarian’ CRAP. ITS A SHAM. THESE PEOPLE ARE CAUSING THE SAME PROBLEMS THEY PRETEND TO CARE ABOUT. THE EQUATION THEY STAND FOR ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT WORK. Ask any professor of economics. Money does not grow on trees. The government can’t just print up more on a whim. There are serious concequences for doing so. Regardless, there is always a relative limit to the wealth within ANY economy of ANY size. So when too much wealth accumulates at the top, the currency looses value, the middle class slip further into debt, and the lower class further into poverty. A similar rule applies worldwide. The world’s richest 1% now own over 40% of ALL WORLD WEALTH. This is EVEN AFTER you account for all of this ‘good will’ ‘humanitarian’ BS from celebrities and executives.

ITS A SHAM. As they get richer and richer, less wealth is left circulating beneath them. This is the single greatest underlying cause for the current US recession. The middle class can no longer afford to pay all the bills or sustain their share of the economy. Their wealth has been gradually transfered to the richest 1%. One way or another, we suffer because of their incredible greed. We are talking about TRILLIONS of dollars which have been transfered FROM US TO THEM. All over a period of about 30 years. Thats Reaganomics for you. The wealth does not ‘trickle down’ as we were told it would. It just accumulates at the top. Shrinking the middle class and expanding the lower class. Causing a domino effect of socio-economic problems. But the rich will never stop. They just keep getting richer. Leaving even less of the pie for the other 99% of us to share. At the same time, they throw back a few tax deductible crumbs and call themselves 'heros' or ‘humanitarians’. Cashing in on the PR and getting even richer the following year. IT CAN’T WORK THIS WAY. Their bogus efforts to make the world a better place can not possibly succeed. Any ‘humanitarian’ progress made in one area will be lost in another.

EVERY SINGLE TIME. IT ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT WORK THIS WAY. This is going to end very much like a giant game of Monopoly. The current US recession will drag on for years and lead into the worst US depression of all time. The richest 1% will live like royalty while the rest of us fight over jobs, food, and gasoline. So don’t fall for any of this 'good will' 'humanitarian' BS from Hollywood, Pro Sports, and Wall Street PIGS. ITS A SHAM. Remember: They are filthy rich EVEN AFTER their tax deductible contributions. They get richer as we speak. They absolutely will not stop. Greedy pigs. Now, we are headed for the worst economic and cultural crisis of all time. Crime, poverty, and suicide will skyrocket. SEND A “THANK YOU” NOTE TO YOUR FAVORITE MILLIONAIRE. ITS THEIR FAULT.

I’m not discounting other factors like China, sub-prime, or gas prices. But all of those factors combined still pale in comparison to that HUGE transfer of wealth from poor to rich. Anyway, those other factors are related and further aggrivated because of GREED. If it weren’t for the OBSCENE distribution of bottom line wealth within our country, there never would have been such a market for sub-prime to begin with. IF IT WEREN’T FOR THE OBSCENE, UNREASONABLE, ILLOGICAL, AND IMMORAL DISTRIBUTION OF UNITED STATES WEALTH, THERE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SUCH A MARKET FOR SUB-PRIME AND THERE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A COLLAPSE IN THE HOUSING MARKET. Sub-prime did not cause the problem. It only accelerated the outcome. Make no mistake. The housing market would have been in decline by now with or without sub-prime. Which by the way, was another trick whipped up by greedy bankers and executives. IT MADE THEM RICHER. Along with many investors, developers, and public figures. Including three of the most greedy, disgusting, hypocrite pigs that have ever lived. The credit industry has been ENDORSED for years by Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, and Dr Phil. In fact, they specifically endorsed Countrywide by name. IT MADE THEM RICHER. In order to fully appreciate this, you must realize what a rotten trick Countrywide had up their sleeve to begin with. How it was ENDORSED by OPRAH WINFREY, ELLEN DEGENERES, AND DR PHIL. How incredibly irresponsible they were. How they decieved and betrayed their own loyal fans. How they were PAID FOR IT. How they contributed to the artificial rise and accelerated fall of the US housing market. Not only by concentrating so much wealth. Not only by flaunting their own extravogant lifestyles. Not only by promoting this unrealistic concept of 'bigger, better, faster, upscale' EVERYTHING. But also by endorsing sub-prime.

How many middle class dreams were shattered because of their GREED. Don't believe what you've heard from them or any other filthy rich public figure. THEY ARE LIARS. It wasn't just about irresponsible lending, borrowing, local banker bonuses, or weak oversight. That was going on BEFORE sub-prime. It was actually much more cruel and calculated. Orchestrated from the top down. 'Predatory lending' is just that. Their plan was to give easy credit to millions while the housing market was still high, inflate the market even higher in the process, reap a few years worth of payments from unsuspecting middle class buyers, allow them to accumulate little or no equity, lie in wait as those homes increased in value, then jack up their rates making it near impossible for those middle class buyers to make the payments on time. At which time, those middle class buyers would be evicted, their dreams shattered, and their homes forfeited. Which by then, until mid '07', would be even higher in value and re-sold for a higher price. The plan was to be executed primarily while the market was strong. Leaving all those previous buyers with NOTHING to show for all those payments made.

This incredibly cruel and calculated plan was orchestrated in part by Countrywide. THE SAME COUNTRYWIDE ENDORSED BY OPRAH WINFREY, ELLEN DEGENERES, AND DR PHIL. IT MADE THEM RICHER. It also made many of their loyal fans homeless. What a rotten, disgusting trio of greedy, self-serving, self-promoting, hypocrite pigs. What a rotten, disgusting, immoral way to turn a quick buck. To make as many people as possible love you. Then tell those love-sick people to run out and buy a product or service because you say so. Because you were PAID to endorse it. Without the slightest regard for the downside or anything but your own obscene bottom line. Thats why they did it. GREED. Now, there are similar ties between every major industry, every Fortune 500 company, and nearly every public figure. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. It also drives up the cost and consumption for nearly every product, service, and resource on the market. So don’t fall for their ‘good will’ 'humanitarian' BS. ITS A SHAM.

NOTHING BUT A CALCULATED, TAX DEDUCTIBLE, MARKETING PLAN TO RAISE THE VALUE OF THEIR OWN IMAGE. If you fall for it, then you’re a fool. If you see any real difference between the moral character of a celebrity, politician, attorney, lobbyist, executive, or card shark, then you’re a fool. No offense fellow citizens. But we have been mislead by nearly every living public figure. We still are. Even now, they claim to be ‘hurting’ right along with the rest of us. As if gas prices actually effect the lifestyle or bottom line of a millionaire. ITS A LIE. IN 2007, THE RICHEST 1 PERCENT INCREASED THEIR AVERAGE BOTTOM LINE WEALTH AGAIN. Most of these financial assets are on the books. Others hidden. Material assets aren't always disclosed. But make no mistake. America's richest 1 percent keep getting richer. On average, they are now worth almost $5,000,000 each. Thats an all time high. As a group, their net worth is over $20,000,000,000,000. THATS OVER TWENTY TRILLION DOLLARS. Another all time high. Which by the way, is much more than the entire middle and lower classes combined. Also more than enough to pay off our national debt, fund the Iraq war for a decade, repair our infrastructure, and bail out the US housing market. Still think that our biggest problem is China? Think again. Its the one percent club. That means every big name celebrity, athlete, executive, entrepreneur, developer, banker, and lottery winner. Along with many attorneys, doctors, and politicians.

If they are rich, then they are part of the problem. Their incredible wealth was not ‘created’, ‘generated’, grown in their back yard, or printed up on their command. The lion's share was transfered FROM US TO THEM. Directly and indirectly. Its become near impossible to spend a dollar without making some greedy pig even richer. Don’t be fooled by the fall of the stock market, industry losses, lower profit margins, bank failures, or the occasional reported loss of a millionaire’s fortune. Overall, they just keep getting richer. They do so with little or no regard for their own industries or the economy as a whole. They are obsessed primarily with a desire to accumulate more personal wealth. They absolutely will not stop. Still, they have the nerve to pretend as if they care about ordinary people. ITS A LIE. NOTHING BUT CALCULATED PR CRAP. WAKE UP PEOPLE. THEIR PRIMARY GOAL IS TO WIN THE GAME. The one percent club will always say or do whatever it takes to get as rich as possible. Without the slightest regard for anything or anyone but themselves.

Reaganomics. Their idea. Loans from China. Their idea. NAFTA. Their idea. CAFTA. Their idea. Outsourcing. Their idea. Downsizing. Their idea. Sub-prime. Their idea. High energy prices. Their idea. Oil ‘futures’. Their idea. The commercial lobbyist. Their idea. The multi-million dollar lawsuit. Their idea. The multi-million dollar endorsement deal. Their idea. $400 cell phones. Their idea. $200 cell phone bills. Their idea. $200 basketball shoes. Their idea. $30 late fees. Their idea. $30 NSF fees. Their idea. $20 DVDs. Their idea. $50 event tickets. Their idea. $30 books. Their idea. $400 PC operating systems. Their idea. $60 video games. Their idea. Obscene health care charges. Their idea. Subliminal advertising. Their idea. Commercial brainwash plots on TV. Their idea. Vioxx, and Celebrex. Their idea. Excessive medical testing. Their idea. The MASSIVE campaign to turn every American into a brainwashed, credit card, pharmaceutical, medical testing, love-sick, celebrity junkie. Their idea.

IT WAS ALL THEIR IDEA. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. All of the above drive up the cost of living, shrink the middle class, concentrate the world’s wealth and resources, create a domino effect of socio-economic problems, and wreak havok on society. All of which have been CREATED AND ENDORSED by celebrities, athletes, executives, investors, developers, entrepreneurs, attorneys, and politicians. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. So don’t fall for any of their ‘good will’ ‘humanitarian’ BS. ITS A SHAM. NOTHING BUT TAX DEDUCTIBLE PR CRAP. In many cases, the ‘charitable’ contribution is almost entirely offset. Not to mention the opportunity to plug their name, image, product, and ‘good will’ all at once. Which is usually done just before or after the release of their latest commercial project. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. These greedy pigs even have the nerve to throw a fit and spin up a misleading defense with regard to ‘federal tax revenue’.

ITS A SHAM. THEY SCREWED UP THE EQUATION TO BEGIN WITH. If the middle and lower classes had a greater share of the economic pie, they could easily cover a greater share of the federal tax revenue. They are held down in many ways because of greed. Wages remain stagnant for the vast majority because the executives, investors, developers, celebrities, athletes, attorneys, politicians, and entrepreneurs, are paid millions. They over-sell, over-charge, under-pay, outsource, lobby, re-locate, cut jobs, and cut benefits to increase or preserve their own obscene personal bottom line. They do so even at the expense of their own industries. Even after you account for the fall of the market and lower industry profit margins, the richest 1 percent still keep getting richer on average. Simply because their wealth is drawn from the majority in many ways. Not necessarily at the same rate, but still in their favor. They continue to reap more than they spend down or 'give back'. They have done so for many years. As more United States wealth rises to the top, the middle and lower classes inevitably suffer. This reduces the potential tax revenue drawn from those brackets. At the same time, it wreaks havok on middle and lower class communities and increases the need for financial aid. Not to mention the spike in crime because of it. There is a domino effect to consider. Caused primarily by a constant transfer of wealth from poor to rich. IT CAN’T WORK THIS WAY. But our leaders refuse to acknowledge this. Instead they come up with one trick after another to milk the system, feed the rich, and screw the majority. These decisions are heavily influensed by the 1% club.

Every year, billions of federal tax dollars are diverted behind the scenes back to the rich and their respective industries. Loans from China have been necessary to compensate in part, for the red ink and the multi-trillion dollar transfer of wealth from poor to rich. At the same time, the feds have been pushing more financial burden onto the states who push them lower onto the cities. Again, the hardship is felt more by the majority and less by the 1% club. The rich prefer to live in exclusive areas or upper class communities. They get the best of everything. Reliable city services, new schools, freshly paved roads, new lighting, sidewalks, drainage, upscale parks, ect. The middle and lower class communities get little or nothing without a raise in basic service charges or a local tax increase. Which, they usually can’t afford. So the red ink flows followed by service cuts and lay-offs. All because of the OBSCENE distribution of bottom line wealth in this country.

Anyway, when you account for all federal, state, local taxes, and fees, the middle class actually pay about the same rate as the rich. The devil is in the details. So when people forgive the rich for their incredible greed and then praise them for paying a greater share of the FEDERAL income taxes, its like nails on a chalk board. I can not accept any theory that our economy would suffer in any way with a more reasonable distribution of bottom line wealth. Afterall, it was more reasonable 30 years ago. Before Reaganomics came along. Before GREED became such an epidemic. Before we had an army of over-paid executives, investors, celebrities, athletes, attorneys, doctors, entrepreneurs, developers, lobbyists, and sold-out politicians to kiss their greedy asses. As a nation, we were in much better shape.

Strong middle class, free and clear assets, home equity, savings, widespread prosperity, stable job market, lower deficit, ect. Our economy as a whole was much more stable and prosperous for the majority. WITHOUT LOANS FROM CHINA. Now, we have a more obscene distribution of bottom line wealth, and resources than ever before. We have a sold-out government, crumbling infrastructure, energy crisis, home forclosure epidemic, credit crunch, weak job market, weak middle class, weak US dollar, 13 figure national debt, and 12 figure annual shortfall. The cost of living is higher than ever before. Most people can’t even afford basic health care. ALL BECAUSE OF GREED. I really don’t blame the upper class in general. At least not as a group and not without exception. No economy could ever function without some reasonable scale of income and wealth. But it can’t be allowed to run wild like a mad dog.

ALBERT EINSTEIN TRIED TO MAKE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND. UNBRIDLED CAPITALISM ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT WORK. TOP HEAVY ECONOMIES CAN NOT BE SUSTAINED. THEY ALWAYS COLLAPSE. Bottom line: The richest 1 percent will soon tank the largest economy in the world. It will be catastrophic. Like nothing we’ve ever seen before. The American dream will be shattered. and thats just the beginning. Greed will eventually tank every major economy in the world. Causing millions more to struggle, fight, starve, suffer, and die. Oprah, Angelina, Brad, Bono, and Bill are not part of the solution. They are part of the problem. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE HUMANITARIAN. EXTREME WEALTH MAKES WORLD PROSPERITY ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE.

WITHOUT WORLD PROSPERITY, THERE WILL NEVER BE WORLD PEACE OR ANYTHING EVEN CLOSE. GREED KILLS. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL. Of course, the rich will throw a fit and call me a madman. Of course, they will jump to small minded conclusions about 'jealousy', 'envy', or 'socialism'. Of course, their ignorant fans will do the same. You have to expect that. But I speak the truth. If you don’t believe me, then copy this entry and run it by any professor of economics or socio-economics. Then tell a friend. Call the local radio station. Re-post this entry or put it in your own words. Be one of the first to predict the worst economic and cultural crisis of all time and explain its underlying cause. WE ARE IN BIG TROUBLE.

So what can we do about it? Well, not much. Unfortunately, we are stuck on a runaway train. The problem has gone unchecked for too many years. The US/global depression is comming thanks to the 1% club. It would take a massive effort by the vast majority to prevent it. Along with a voluntary sacrifice by the rich. THATS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. But if you believe in miracles, then spend your money as wisely as possible. Especially in middle and lower class communities. Check the Fortune 500 list and limit your support of high profit/low labor industries (Hollywood, pro sports, energy, credit, pharmaceutical, cable, satelite, internet advertising, video, and music, cell phone, high fashion, jewelry, ect.). Cancel all but one credit card for emergencies only. Call the provider and demand a lower rate. Be persistent. You may get it. (By the way. I gave this piece of advice long before NBC. I'm not looking for kudos. I'm telling you that NBC is directly affiliated with the credit industry. They could have given you this piece of advice years ago. Instead, they stood by and allowed their parent company, sister companies, and network sponsors to RIP YOU OFF. Even now, they give the occasional 'good guy' financial advice only because they are pressured to do so.

They carefully balance every piece of 'good guy' advice with their primary goal to GET YOUR MONEY. Which is why their 'good guy' advice is so often followed by a plug for one of their sister companies, sister channels, network sponsors, or coorporate partners. For example: They tell you to pay down your credit card debt. Good advice. They should have given it years ago. Then, they tell you to GET MORE CREDIT CARDS and use them. Bad advice. One week Jean Chatzky tells you to avoid the 'free credit report' scam because it is always followed by a monthly service charge. Good advice. They should have given it years ago. The following week she stands by as her paid fellow advisor strongly implies for you to have your credit monitered on a monthly basis and praises a caller for doing so. Bad advice. This is actually a plug for one of their network sponsors, coorporate partners, or parent company. The praise is nothing but a psychological trick.

DON'T FALL FOR IT. Don't take ANYTHING they say at face value. Instead, read between the lines. Carefully weigh every piece of 'good guy' advice given against their primary goal. THEY WANT YOUR MONEY.). If you need a cell phone, then do your homework and find the best deal on a local pre-pay. You may be able to get one for as little as $10 a month. Don't text. The charge may seem low at the time but their profit margins are obscene. If you want home internet access, then use the least expensive provider, and share accounts whenever possible. If you need to search, then use the less popular search engines. They usually produce the same results anyway. Don’t click on any internet ad. If you need the product or service, then look up the phone number or address and contact that business directly. Don't pay for any internet download. Their profit margins for such data transfers are obscene. Don’t pay to see any blockbuster movie. Instead, wait a few months and rent the DVD from a local store, borrow it, or buy it USED. Then loan it to a friend or family member. If you prefer the outing, then choose a film produced by the lesser known studeos with lower paid actors. If you want to see a big name game or event, then watch it in a local bar, club, or at home on network TV. Don’t buy any high end official merchandise and don’t support the high end sponsors. If its endorsed by a big name celebrity, then don’t buy it. If you can afford a new car, then make an exception for GM, Ford, and Dodge. If they don’t increase their market share soon, then a lot more people are going to get screwed out of their pensions and/or benefits. Of course, you must know by now to avoid those big trucks and SUVs unless you truly need one for its utility. Don’t be ashamed to buy a foreign car if you prefer it. Afterall, those with the most fuel efficient vehicles consume a lot less foreign oil.

Which accounts for a pretty big chunk of our trade deficit. Anyway, the global economy is worth supporting to some extent. Its the obscene profit margins, trade deficits, and BS from OPEC that get us into trouble. Otherwise, the global economy would be a good thing for everyone. Just keep in mind that the big 3 are struggling and they do produce a few smaller reliable cars. Don’t frequent any high end department store or any business in a newly developed center or upper class community. By doing so, you encourage greedy developers, make them richer, and draw vital support away from industrial areas and away from the middle and lower class communities. Instead, support the local retailer and the less popular shopping centers. Especially in lower or middle class communities.

If you can afford to buy a home, then do so. But go smaller and less expensive. Don’t get yourself in too deep and don’t buy into the newly developed condos or gated communities. Instead, find a modest home in a building or neighborhood at least 20 years old. If you live in one of the poorer states, then try to support its economy first and foremost. Be on the lookout for commercial brainwash plots on TV. They are written into nearly every scene of nearly every show. Most cater to network sponsors and parent companies. Especially commercial health care. In particular, high profit pharmaceuticals and excessive medical testing.

These plugs are countless, calculated, and VERY well written. They have brainwashing down to a science. DON'T FALL FOR IT. Get off the couch and take care of your body the way nature intended. There is no substitute. If you must see a doctor, then DEMAND that he/she give you more than 5 minutes of their undivided attention. Otherwise, dispute their unreasonable charges. Be prepared with written questions about your condition and get them answered one at a time. If they refuse, then dispute their unreasonable charges. If they prescribe excessive medical testing then ask if they personally own the equipment or if they are paid a commission for each test. If they find nothing new or signifigant, then dispute their unreasonable charges. If they prescribe a pharmaceutical, then ask for a generic. Better yet, concider a change in lifestyle or simple tolerance. If they still recommend the name brand pharmaceutical, then ask about any financial ties or conflict of interest.

If they get offended, then dispute their unreasonable charges and consider a new doctor. If you must drug away your sniffles, worries, jitters, aches, and pains, then at least do your homework. Be aware of the possible side-effects ahead of time. Don't be surprised to find yourself back a week or two later feeling worse. In which case, you should dispute their unreasonable charges. If you are diagnosed with another medical condition, then ask your doctor what he/she has done to rule out those possible side-effects. Otherwise, dispute their unreasonable charges. Don't let any greedy doctor treat you like a number, make you wait an hour, or rush you out of their office. Otherwise, dispute their unreasonable charges. Don't fall for this CRAP that doctors have no choice but to over-book their time or over-charge their patients because of high overhead.

ITS A LIE. YOUR DOCTOR IS MOST LIKELY A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE. So don't fall for their CRAP. Demand their undivided attention and respect. Afterall, they took an oath. If you have the opportunity before being admitted, then check the record of your hospital. Check to see if they have been investigated or sued for providing unnecessary treatment, excessive medical testing, or fraudulent billing. Dozens have already been caught doing so. Do all of the above regardless of your coverage. Don't force your employer to cover the obscene and often fraudulent charges of a corrupt health care industry. By doing so, you make the problem worse. Keep your guard up when watching ANY talk show. These people are not your friends. They are not your advocates. They are paid actors hired to get your attention and your money. Some of them are also executive producers (Oprah Winfrey, Ellen Degeneres, and Dr Phil.). Nearly every word, smile, and stupid joke is rehearsed ahead of time. Including those which take place so often during what appear to be 'technical oversights' (Today Show. Even their stage hands are mixed in behind the scenes so that you can hear them laugh at every stupid joke.). Its all fake. Its all calculated. These people are not trying to make the world a happy place. They are trying to entertain you only because their marketing studies have shown that you are more likely to drop your guard and support their sponsors. Nearly every segment is about marketing some over-priced product or service. They will use any excuse to plug a gadget, fashion item, travel destonation, university, drug, medical test, surgical procedure, movie, TV show, book, magazine, song, website, ect. Almost all of it over-priced. Almost all of it resulting in higher profits for their sponsors, partners, and parent companies. DON'T FALL FOR IT.

Big business is fine on occasion depending on their product, ethics, employment, profit margins, and profit sharing. Do your homework. If they are screwing up our economy or society, then don't pay them for it. If you want to support any legitimate charity, then do so directly. Never support any celebrity foundation. Don't be fooled by the sale of baby photos, lies about percentage of income donated, or praise from other well known public figures. Celebrity foundations are CRAP. They spend most of their funding on PR campaigns, exotic travel, and super high end accomodations for themselves. Thats right. Filthy rich public figures have been jet-setting the world in the name of 'humanity' for years. Riding in personal jets, staying in super-exclusive resorts, and living it up in exotic locations around the world the likes of which most people could never afford even if their lives depended on it. They bring along agents, advisors, publicists, hair, make-up, wardrobe, lighting, and photo crews who are also in it for themselves. They are paid six or seven figures for their part to schedule, manage, document, showcase, praise, and publicize the 'good will' of said public figures and their respective industries. Every possible expense is passed of as 'incidental' or 'necessary' and billed right back to some 'foundation' named after said public figure and/or respective industry. Every possible tax deduction is claimed. Which are incredibly vague and diverse thanks to our sold-out government. Deals are cut with major networks who agree to praise the 'good will' or 'humanitarian' effort of said public figures and plug their latest commercial project around the same time. Others from around the world pick up the story and save these industries billions in advertising every year. Resulting in higher profits and paychecks for the 1% club. When its all said and done more wealth is transfered from poor to rich. NOT the other way around. So don't support any charity named after a living celebrity. Don't be fooled or inspired by any photo you see in a magazine, any clip on TV, any affiliation, or any short term short sighted progress report. Instead, go to Charitywatch.org and look up a top rated charity to support your favorite cause.

Its all there. For example: 'Habitat For Humanity' is a top rated charity. They have been for many years. They operate with a low overhead, volunteer workforce, and donated materials. They have built homes for the less fortunate in nearly every city nationwide. Including New Orleans. They do so as we speak. No similar effort can match their progress hour for hour or dollar for dollar. So there is no legitimate reason to support a slower, less efficient effort represented by a filthy rich Hollywood actor who flies in on a personal jet, takes most of the credit, and makes a deal with a major network for plugs just days before the premier of his latest film or DVD release. By doing so, you support not only the inefficient effort, but also the filthy rich actor. Concentrating more wealth and dumbing down our society further in the process. Instead, support 'Habitat For Humanity'. Its not perfect. It is affiliated with some big business. However, it is MUCH more efficient, effective, and less corrupt than 'Make It Right'.

The difference is profound. In general, support the little guy as much as possible and the big guy as little as possible. Keep your own greed in check. Don't play the big stakes lottery games, and don't invest only for profit. Don't believe for a second that you can get rich and still manage to keep your soul because you can't. Don't believe for a second that you can concentrate even more of the world's wealth and somehow 'give back' enough to make up for it because you can't. If you do come into a fortune, then give away the bulk of it to a legitimate cause or directly to others who have far less. Do it quickly before that big money turns your heart black. Find the courage and do it. STAY OUT OF THE 1% CLUB. Encourage others to do the same. Their standard is obscene, unjust, illogical, and immoral. There is no excuse for it. Do your part to reverse the transfer of wealth away from the rich and back to the middle and lower classes. Otherwise, there will be no economic recovery EVER. Unfortunately, there is no perfect answer. Jobs will be lost either way. Families will go cold and hungry either way. Innocent children will starve and die either way. But we need to support the largest group of workers with the most reasonable profit margins. We need to stand for a more reasonable distribution of income, bottom line wealth, and resources.

We need to support LEGITIMATE charities (Check that list at Charitywatch.org). This is our only chance to limit the severity or duration of the comming US/global depression. In the meantime, don’t listen to Bernanke, Paulson, Bartiromo, Orman, Dobbs, Kramer, Pickens, Larson, O'Reiley, Limbaugh, Bruce, Ingraham, or any other public figure with regard to the economy. They are all plenty smart but I swear to you that they will lie right through their rotten teeth. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. These people work for big business. They are sponsored by big business. The ‘experts’ they cite also work for big business. They invest in big business. They are all motivated primarily by their obsessive desire to accumulate even more personal wealth. THEY WILL LIE RIGHT THROUGH THEIR ROTTEN TEETH. So don’t fall for their tricks. Instead, look at the big picture.

The economic problems we face have been mounting for well over 20 years. All of them caused or aggrivated by a constant transfer of wealth from poor to rich. Soon, it will cause the worst ever GLOBAL DEPRESSION. Its not brain surgery. For the mostpart, Its simple math. Like I said, you are welcome to copy this entry and run it by any professor of economics or socio-economics. Go ahead and do it. Ask them specifically about the link between the distribution of wealth and economic stability. If thats not good enough, then look up what Albert Einstein had to say about greed, excess, extreme wealth, and its horrible economic and cultural concequences. Then call any syndicated talk radio show. Tell the screeners that you would like to discuss the concentration of wealth. Mention the views of Albert Einstein with regard to this issue. Your call will be refused. FLAT OUT REFUSED.

The vast majority screen their calls and won't allow this topic. Try any local talk radio show. You will face massive opposition there as well but at least they will take your call. Be prepared. These people are very good debators. The vast majority are die-hard capitalists. If they take offense, they may insult you, talk over you, try to re-define your own statements, or call you a 'socialist', 'marxist', or 'communist'. They often use these words to refer to anyone who points out the flaws of unbridled capitalism. They may follow with the old "socialism/marxism doesn't work" line. Maybe, they should take a closer look at whats happening in the world and see that unbridled capitalism doesn't work either. The heavy concentration of wealth is it's fatal flaw. We need a compromise. A relatively free market system with a minimum wage, a maximum wage, a progressive tax policy, and caps on personal wealth. Any little step in that direction would be a start. If you get the opportunity, then confront any politician or public figure in any forum. Ask them to confirm or deny the concentration of wealth and the relation if any to economic stability. Watch them squirm. They will not give you a straight answer because most public figures are filthy rich. They simply will not acknowledge the ugly truth. GREED KILLS. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL.

Its already underway. A massive campaign to divert our attention. Trump, Buffet, O'Reiley, Dobbs, Winfrey, Pickens, Larson, Norris, Branson, Bohannon, Limbaugh, Coulter, Clinton, Hannity, Ingraham, Bruce, Bloomberg, Doyle, and several other well known filthy rich public figures have been running their mouths about the economy. Finally admitting a hint of severity after years of denial. They even have the nerve to FINALLY acknowledge the possibility of a US/global depression. Still, they refuse to acknowledge the single greatest underlying cause. GREED. Instead, they focus on policies, procedures, and circumstances that were born FROM the underlying cause. GREED. They ramble on about 'sub-prime', 'toxic debt', 'junk bonds', and 'risky investments'. As if somehow all of this could have been avoided if those transactions had never taken place to begin with. What a joke.

Those factors don't represent the underlying cause of this global economic crisis. They represent the effect of a shrinking middle class and massive consumer debt. CAUSED BY GREED. A MASSIVE TRANSFER OF WEALTH FROM POOR TO RICH. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been such a market for sub-prime to begin with. The debt wouldn't have been 'toxic'. The bonds wouldn't have been 'junk'. The investments wouldn't have been so 'risky'. By focusing on such factors, they attempt to divert our attention, limit our hindsight, disregard the OBSCENE concentration of wealth and capital, that shrinking middle class, the high cost of living, and the particular form of evil responsible for almost all of it. GREED. Dancing their way around the big picture. DON'T FALL FOR IT. Remember: Our national debt was way up BEFORE sub-prime. Consumer debt was way up BEFORE sub-prime. The cost of living was up BEFORE sub-prime. Wall Street profits were obscene BEFORE sub-prime. The middle class were loosing free and clear assets BEFORE sub-prime. Our infrastructure was in bad shape BEFORE sub-prime. Loans from China were taken out BEFORE sub-prime. The dollar was loosing value BEFORE sub-prime. All of this took place over a period of many years under both Republican and Democratic rule.

All of it coincided with a transfer of wealth from poor to rich. So don’t let these cowardly, hypocritical, sold-out, partisan, filthy rich public figures divert your attention or limit your range of thought. THE CURRENT GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS WAS NOT CAUSED BY A SINGLE POLICY, PROCEDURE, POLITICAL PARTY, OR ADMINISTRATION. IT WAS CAUSED PRIMARILY BY A MASSIVE TRANSFER OF WEALTH FROM POOR TO RICH. THIS ALSO REPRESENTS A MASSIVE CONCENTRATION OF CAPITAL WORLDWIDE. OTHERWISE, THERE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SUCH A MARKET FOR SUB-PRIME AND THERE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A GLOBAL CREDIT CRUNCH. MONEY DOES NOT GROW ON TREES AND IT DOES NOT JUST FLOAT AWAY. IT ONLY TRANSFERS FROM ONE PARTY TO ANOTHER. ALBERT EINSTEIN TRIED TO MAKE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND. GREED KILLS. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL.

A word for those who respond with the usual ‘I know more than you. I spell better than you. I talk like an economist. Look how smart, knowledgable, and articulate I am’ crap. Let me say this in advance. I don’t claim to be an expert in this field. I never will be. I'm still learning and I don't claim to be infallible. But I did go on record with these predictions long before any public figure uttered the word ‘recession’. I've done so 'on the air' and 'online'. Millions of you already know my voice from various local talk radio shows in several states and one syndicated. My first call was in September of '05'. I tried to explain that we will never have world peace without world prosperity and that we will never have world prosperity without a 'fair and reasonable pay-scale'. I also tried to explain the link between 'extreme wealth' and 'extreme poverty'. My call was immediately followed by attacks from so called 'patriots' who felt that my cause must have been to promote 'socialism' or 'bring down America'. Not warn her citizens. You may also remember me from various chat rooms criticizing the 1% club and Hollywood humanitarians in particular.

If you search long enough, you will find my early postings online from ‘05' and ‘06'. At first, they were written specifically to fit within a few hundred characters. Including the first draft of this rant. It started with one short paragraph predicting a 'total collapse of the US economy'. Others included phrases like 'game of Monopoly', 'recession is inevitable', 'global recession', 'greed kills', and 'the worst economic and cultural crisis of all time'. Some of which were eventually included here. From day 1, I have tried to explain the link between extreme wealth, poverty, and economic instability. My internet account was eventually cancelled for posting 'spam' in response to articles about the economy. In December of '06', I predicted market instability by spring of the following year. I did so 'on the air'. In January of '07', I called another morning talk radio show and spoke with a guest host who was filling in for a well known public figure. Again, I specifically predicted growing market instability, the current US recession, and the subsequent US/global depression.Which by the way, will be the worst of all time by far. In February of '07', Allen Greenspan acknowledged a 'one in three' chance of a US recession.

I immediately called another talk radio show and guranteed AGAIN that it was iminent. I criticized Greenspan and tried to explain that it was not about 'odds' but instead a very simple equation with regard to distribution of income and wealth. I also gave credit to Albert Einstein who went on record with similar views in 1949. As far as I know, he was the first to do so. By late spring of '07', the market was rattled and the economic 'stimulus' in the works. Which turned out to be around $160,000,000,000. THATS ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY BILLION DOLLARS. Well over 1% of our GDP. Deemed appropriate at the time by our leaders. In fact, Bush went on record with a claim that it was based on a mathematical formula and proven strategy. They said it would work. I immediately predicted that it would have little or no effect. By summer of '07' the stock market was more unstable. The housing market in decline. Again, I predicted that it would get MUCH worse. In September of '07', I predicted that our government would have no choice but to acknowledge a US recession by October of '08'. I also assured the audiance that our economy would "go down in a ball of flames" because of greed and that no recovery would EVER take place without a more reasonable distribution of wealth and resources. I have made these predictions 'on air' and 'online' literally hundreds of times. The first call was in September of '05'. Made to a well known public figure with a large audiance. The first blog post a month or so later. Prior to that, I had never even seen one. In fact, my very first post to a blog was written specifically to warn my fellow citizens about the comming US/global depression. Which I was already convinced at the time would be SEVERE within a decade.

That was in October of '05'. At the time, there were literally only a few of us worldwide posting any such prediction online. I'm talking maybe a dozen searchable links. This particular rant began with one short paragraph in '06'. Like the others, it was originally intended to fit within a few hundred characters. At the time, I was unaware of any blogs which allowed for longer entries to be posted anonymously. This paragraph was first written in early-mid '08'. Its been updated several times. There has also been a running debate on iVillage.com which began in October of '07' (don't click on their ads). In February or March of '08', I refered specifically to the bank failures of the Great Depression and predicted that it was about to happen again. At the time, I was one of only a few bloggers worldwide to go on record with any such prediction. This was still several weeks to months before Greenspan, Paulson, Bartiromo, Orman, Kramer, O'Reiley, Larson, Bohannon, Dobbs, Celeste or any other well known public figure had acknowledged even a hint of severity. It was also several weeks before Fanny May and Freddie Mac made the news. I also predicted in March that our markets would end the year much lower than they began. Which was still contrary to what we were being told by any public figure. I was allowed to post but when my predictions came true, the site operators went back all the way to October of '07' and deleted nearly every one of my previous entries (they missed a few.). Their motive was obvious. They wanted to 'erase' my credibility. IVillage.com is directly affiliated with NBC, GE, Universal Studeos, Countrywide, CityBank, Capital One, Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Ellen Degeneres, Dr Phil, and others who I persecute by name. All of which depend on the constant dumbing down of society. All of whom are partially responsible for the current economic crisis. None of which or whom have the GUTS to acknowledge the single greatest underlying cause. GREED. In fact, those who epitomoze it (all of the above) want my big mouth SHUT.

For 3 solid years, I have been ripping on the 1% club for their incredible greed and hypocrisy. From day 1, my call has been for a more reasonable distribution of income, wealth, and resources. My warning that without it, we would face the worst economic and cultural crisis of all time. Since then, I’ve gone on record against people like Greenspan, Bernanke, Paulson, Laffer, O'Reiley, Bartiromo, Orman, Kramer, Larson, and Dobbs. So far, my predictions have been accurate.

The public figures DEAD WRONG. Afterall, not one of them acknowledged even a hint of severity in '05', '06', or '07'. When they FINALLY did this year, they all said something to the effect of "None of us saw this comming.". LIARS. There were a few of us typing our fingers to the bone trying to warn people. There were a few of us calling talk radio shows almost daily trying to warn people. I was one of them. Again, I don't claim to be an expert in this field. But I do understand simple equations, basic economics, and cultural trends. I also realize that mainstream views are DEAD WRONG and based on LIES told by filthy rich public figures who will say whatever it takes to serve their own interests. GREED. Afterall, what kind of incredible MORON could even glance at the numbers and somehow think the equation could work? What kind of incredible MORON could possibly hope to sustain an economy based on a constant transfer of wealth from poor to rich?

What the hell did they expect to happen when the middle class finally ran low on money to spend on over-priced crap like everything that I mentioned in that first long paragraph? What the hell were they thinking of? I'll tell you what. RICHES. FILTHY STINKING RICHES. Thats what. Now, they are spinning themselves dizzy trying to divert our attention. Mark my words: They will never acknowledge the obscene concentration of wealth or the negative effect had on economic stability. They will never acknowledge the downside of their own incredible greed. They will all come up with one campaign or strategy after another to blame the other guy, the other administration, the other politician, the other party, the other policy, the other industry, the other country, ect. Whatever it takes to dumb down our society. They will NEVER have the GUTS to acknowledge the single greatest underlying cause for this global economic crisis. GREED. They won't even have the guts to acknowledge the views or predictions of Albert Einstein made way back in 1949.

THOSE PARTICULAR VIEWS AND PREDICTIONS. Instead, they will produce their own big money/big business/big celebrity 'experts' who have the same motive to lie right through their rotten teeth. GREED. Its not their knowledge I question. Its their character. GREED. Like I said. This is not brain surgery. For the mostpart, its simple math. When you concentrate the world’s wealth, you also concentrate its capital, and shrink the middle class along with the potential market for every major industry. Homes go unsold. Bills go unpaid. Jobs are lost. Banks fail. More products go unsold. More jobs are lost. More banks fail. and so on. and so on. and so on. It happened 80 years ago in that order beginning with a concentration of wealth. It will happen again. This time on a catastrophic global scale. Throughout the cycle, the rich will panic and tighten their grip. Concentrating the world’s wealth and resources even further, getting richer in the process, and ensuring the collapse of every major economy worldwide. Think it can’t happen? Think again. GREED KILLS. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL.

Another thing. I don’t want credit for any of this. Otherwise, I would have given my full name a long time ago. I havn't. IT DOESN'T MATTER. I'm not selling a book and I'm not looking for any notoriety. At least not yet. I do have a plan to go public when my parents die. In fact, I have BIG plans for my inheritence. Every single penny of it. In the meantime, I don't want them to know about it. I also don't want them punished for my big mouth. Which is why I've gone out of my way to remain anonymous for 3 solid years. When I do go public, it won't be for profit and it won't be for popularity. It will be for a legitimate cause and NOTHING ELSE. In fact, I hope to be just one of many. A face in the crowd. In the meantime, I don't care who gets to say "I told you so." IT DOESN'T MATTER. As far as I’m concerned, you can put this entire rant in your own words and take credit for all of it. I don’t care. Just spread the word. Otherwise, the greatest injustice of all time will go down in history unchecked.

By the way. The bailout won’t work. IT WON’T WORK. The plan fails to address the fundamental problem. The middle class don’t need more credit. They need a reasonable share of the economic pie. They also need a lower cost of living and a chance to catch their breath. They need a break from all of the psychological marketing tricks and mass market BS. Most of all, they need to wake up, see the truth, and take a stand. GREED KILLS. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL.

10.01.08
To my surprise, two public figures have found the courage to acknowledge this problem to some degree. On 11.07.07 former presidential candidate Ron Paul mentioned the massive transfer of wealth from poor to rich. He also hinted at the possibility of economic collapse. He did so on 'Face the Nation'. He was blacklisted almost immediately for doing so. On 9.28.08 former secretary of labor Robert Reich refered to the obscene levels of income inequality as part of a "recipe for disaster". He mentioned the richest one percent in particular. He did so on 'Late Night With Conan O'Brien'. As far as I know, Albert Einstein was the first to explain the link between extreme wealth and economic instability. He did so in 1949. He explained how the first Great Depression was actually caused by a massive transfer of wealth from poor to rich. He predicted that it would happen again. He also predicted much greater levels of economic instability proportional to much greater levels of income and wealth inequality. He was right. Amazing. The prosperity of an entire world is about to be compromised. Almost entirely because of greed. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL.

Another word about the first Great Depression. It really was a perfect storm. Caused almost entirely by greed. First, there was unprecedented economic growth. There was a massive building spree. There was a growing sense of optimism. There was a growing obsession for celebrities. The American people became spoiled, foolish, brainwashed, and love-sick. They were bombarded with ads for one product or service after another. Encouraged to spend all of their money as if it were going out of style. Obscene profits were hoarded at the top. All of this represented a MASSIVE transfer of wealth from poor to rich. Executives, entrepreneurs, celebrities, and share holders. By 1929, the wealthiest 1 percent had accumulated around 40% of all United States wealth. The upper class held around 30%. The middle and lower classes were left to share the rest. When they finally ran low on money to spend, profits declined and the stock market crashed. Of course, the rich threw a fit and started cutting jobs. They would stop at nothing to maintain their disgusting profit margins and ill-gotten obscene levels of wealth as long as possible. The small business owners did what they felt necessary to survive. They cut more jobs. The losses were felt primarily by the little guy. This created a domino effect. The middle class shrunk drastically and the lower class expanded. With less wealth in active circulation, banks failed by the hundreds. More jobs were cut. Unemployment reached 25% in 1933. The worst year of the Great Depression. Those who were employed had to settle for lower wages. Millions went cold and hungry. The recovery involved a World War and higher taxes on the rich. With so many men in the service, so many women on the production line, and those higher taxes to help pay for it, the lions share of United States wealth was gradually transfered back to the middle class.

This redistribution of wealth continued until the mid seventies. At the time, the richest 1% reaped about 10% of all private income and held about 20% of all United States wealth. Far less than previous levels. The middle class had home equity, free and clear assets, and money in the bank. Most American households were secure with a single full time provider. Most retirees could enjoy their lives, live in their own homes, afford basic health care, and not have to worry about going bankrupt. THATS THE WAY IT SHOULD BE. The tide began to change in 1976. Jimmy Carter was blamed for a recession that was actually caused by a number of global circumstances including greed. Then a short sighted greedy little pig by the name of Arthur Laffer came along. Known for his famous 'Laffer Curve'. A simple and short sighted equation whipped up to increase tax revenues and profit margins without the slightest regard for ANYTHING ELSE. He convinced Ronald Reagan to campaign on and grant massive tax breaks to the rich and their respective industries. His half-baked theory was that by doing so, unprecidented levels of economic growth and revenue could be achieved. He was right. Unfortunately, he failed to see or acknowledge the big picture.

He failed to understand or admit what should have been incredibly obvious after the first Great Depression. That 'economic growth' and 'actual prosperity' are two very different things. Jobs don't 'create' wealth. They only transfer it from one party to another. The devil is in the details. Reaganomics, gave the rich and their respective industries the incentive to 'expand' and 'create jobs'. But those products and services were over-priced and then sold or billed right back to the people. Often, without their knowledge, understanding, or consent. Certainly without a clue about how the economy REALLY works. All of this resulted in higher profits for those at the top and stagnant wages for almost everyone else.

The cost of living went up right along with those obscene profit margins. The American people ended up working more hours just to maintain their standard of living. So with Reaganomics, the transfer of wealth from poor to rich was kicked back into high gear. Here we are 27 years later. Trillions in wealth and capital have been concentrated all over again. National and consumer debt are both at an all time high. The middle class are weak, the lower class flat broke, and the cost of living higher than ever before. The dollar is weak because too many of them have been hoarded and the government left with no choice but to print billions more backed up by loans from China. Its another perfect storm. THE BIG ONE.

The largest economy in the world is about to go down in a ball of flames. Ground zero of a global economic crisis. CAUSED ALMOST ENTIRELY BY GREED. A MASSIVE TRANSFER OF WEALTH FROM POOR TO RICH. As a nation, we don't even see it because our entire culture has been defined by Washington, Wall Street, Hollywood, Pro-sports, and commercial health care. We have been led around like puppies by those with the worst possible motive. GREED. THEY WANT OUR MONEY. For the mostpart, we just bend over and let them take it. We have become their perfect little victims once again. A nation of consumer junkie, credit card, couch potatoe, drug and doctor morons. We spend most of our spare time on that couch getting brainwashed by greedy public figures who will say or do whatever it takes to get our money. Even worse, those public figures have re-defined any logical standard we ever had for 'good will'. Mother Teresa is dead. America's favorite 'humanitarian' is now a filthy rich multi-media pig who reaped a billion dollar fortune from the middle class by making damn sure they stay on that couch long enough to watch her show and read her magazine. Transforming them into pathetic, naive, love-sick fools who turn around and buy any product or service given away to a cheering studeo audiance or endorsed by their idol. The same goes for Ellen Degeneres, Dr Phil, Regis and Kelly, Rachael Ray, The View, and their respective demographics. Which by the way, are almost identical. Primarily, middle class housewives, retirees, and welfare mothers. Who have been shown through marketing research to spend most of their money and food stamps on over-priced CRAP advertised on TV or a TV show website (ivillage.com). Especially if that over-priced crap is endorsed by a 'hero' or 'humanitarian'.

They are easy targets. Not like the rest of us are much less gullible. We're not. In fact, every filthy rich well known public figure and every major industry have followed suit with a similar marketing strategy. Dumbing down our society and cashing in on bogus promises to make the world a better place. They do it because they know it works. They also know that we are too stupid, short sighted, smitten, and love-sick to take a closer look at the world and see that they are wolves in sheep's clothing. To see that what they are doing is FALSE. For example: In the fall of '01', Jennifer Lopez was invited to take part in a music video for charity. The effort was hailed as a benefit for victims of AIDS and 9/11. Well, Jennifer Lopez doesn't do ANYTHING for free. She DEMANDED AND RECIEVED the following for her exclusive use: A 45 foot trailer with a TV, VCR, stereo, an assortment of CDs, a white dressing room with lavish all white decor, all white furniture, and an assortment of exotic fruits and desserts. All of this was necessary just to get her sorry ass in the studeo for 30 minutes. FOR CHARITY. Of course, the organizers are partly to blame for selling out to a 'diva'.

In fact, I have my doubts about the entire project. Charity just isn't what it used to be. Most of it has gone commercial. SOLD OUT. Even the UN has become a PR firm for Hollywood and Pro-Sports. Going so far as to allow George Clooney access to the UN headquarters auditorium with his own camera crew. A F$#@$&% CELEBRITY. Of course, that footage was plastered all over the media weeks later right along with plugs for his latest Hollywood blockbuster. Like I said, the UN has become a PR firm. Most of their 'good will ambassadors' are filthy rich, hypocrite pigs who dumb down their ignorant fans, take as much of their money as possible, buy up mass acreage and multiple mansions, flaunt their extravogant lifestyles, jet-set the world, burn through limited life sustaining resources like there is no tomorrow, drive up the cost of living worldwide, and then run their mouths about 'poverty' or some other 'injustice' everytime their latest commercial project hits the market. They do it for publicity. They even have the nerve to run their mouths about 'global warming', 'conservation', and 'green' living. As if the example they set is anything but obscene. As if a roll of eco-friendly toilet paper somehow offsets the clear cutting of a dozen acres to build another F%$#$@# CELEBRITY MANSION. Of course, they have NOTHING to say about greed or economic injustice.

NOTHING to say about the concentration of wealth and resources worldwide. NOT A SINGLE F%$#@#$ WORD. What a bunch of false heroes. These people have no real desire to make the world a better place. Their primary goal is to APPEAR as if they do. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. It also gives them a lame excuse to be such greedy, rank, filthy, disgusting, slobbering, squandering, hypocrite pigs. Amazing. EVERY big business, EVERY big celebrity, EVERY billionaire, and damn near every multi-millionaire on the planet have all taken up 'philanthropy' or 'good will'. Those with the most money, also have the most power, and influense by far. They own or influense every government, manage every major industry, and the lion's share of life sustaining resources. They literally rule our world. They always have. Still, every major problem of modern society gets worse by the day. The world's wealth is more concentrated than ever before. Her life sustaining resources are in high demand, more expensive than ever before, and squandered by the rich on extravogant living. Meanwhile, families loose their homes, retirees loose their pensions, heroes loose their lives, crime is up, and red ink flows in nearly every community nationwide. The global economy is in a state of crisis. The prosperity of an entire world is about to be compromised. Still, those with the most power, money, influense, and 'good will' promise to make it all better. If only we continue to buy any product or service with their name on it. IT IS A SHAM. GOOD WILL HAS BECOME BIG BUSINESS.

The rich and famous do not want to be seen as 'pigs' or go down in history as 'villains'. They want to be seen as 'heros' and go down in history as 'humanitarians'. The market for their product has become global. The fan base has become global. Therefore, the 'humanitarian' effort and 'good will' has gone global. These 'humanitarian' efforts and 'good deeds' are not chosen to address the greatest need or injustice. They are chosen almost exclusively to appeal to the largest demographic for their commercial product. The largest fan base. Efficiency or effect is of little or no concern. Its all about marketing and fame.

This is why so many have taken up 'philanthropy' or 'good will' around the world. This is why so many have 'schools' or 'foundations' in their name. This is why so many play golf or appear on a TV game show for 'charity'. This is why so many sign motorcycles or auction off their own 'personal effects' for 'charity'. This is why so many have TV shows with a 'charitable' gimmick. This is why so many arrange photo ops with wounded veterans, firefighters, or sick children. This is why so many have adopted children from around the world (Which they always pay others to care for full time. The hired professionals are sworn by legal contract to confidentiality.

Not allowed to discuss or appear in public with the children they care for. Those 'photo/interview' opportunities are reserved exclusively for the rich and famous 'adoptive' parent.). Its all about marketing and fame. This is why we are so often reminded of their respective 'good deeds' or 'humanitarian' effort shortly before or after the release of their latest commercial product. IT IS A SHAM. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE HUMANITARIAN. GOOD WILL HAS BECOME BIG BUSINESS.

The point about our government printing up more money was that it can't be done "on a whim" and that there are serious concequences for doing so (weak dollar, higher gas prices, inflation). I never said that it can't be or hasn't been done at all. Afterall, those loans from China weren't infused in the form of Chinese currency. They were infused in the form of our own. Not given to the middle or lower classes but instead to the banks in the form of credit. Its done nothing but perpetuate the problem. It never has been and never will be the answer. Sorry if I wasn't explicit enough the first time. The original draft of this particular rant was written over 2 years ago and intended to fit within 300 characters. I've been updating it weekly for the last year or so. Responding to a constant line of BS from the media and inserting those updates where they seem most appropriate. Which is why I jump so often from one issue to another and back again. Anyway, I'm no English major. I don't think in paragraphs and I find it difficult to write in paragraphs. So if any of you want to re-organize or re-word this post, feel free to do so. Whatever it takes to make people understand.

11/05/08
A new president will be taking office soon. Backed up by a heavily democratic congress who have all campaigned on a promise to raise taxes on the rich. Unfortunately, this will be too little too late. Nowhere near enough to compensate for the incredible corruption of both major parties. Nowhere near enough to pay for the bailout. Nowhere near enough to stop that runaway train. There will be no change for the better. Obama's financial advisers are pigs. Warren Buffet is a pig. Oprah Winfrey is a pig. Obama himself is a multi-millionaire politician married to a multi-millionaire attorney.

He has already run the most expensive political campaign in history. Some of it squandered on a $400 lobster feast for his wife. Financed for the mostpart by ordinary people who can't even afford a $400 lobster feast. It happened on Obama's watch. Probably more than once. He even had the nerve to ask those ordinary people to help pay off the campaign debt of another filthy rich multi-millionaire politician PIG (Hilary Clinton). I will admit that Barack Obama seems to have more character than most of his colleagues. Certainly more than Clinton, Gore, McCain, Palin, Bush, Cheney, Romney, Schwarznenager, Palosi, Kerry, Guliani, Kennedy, Bloomberg, or Edwards.

He was probably a very good down to earth man at one time. The same goes for Joe Biden. Not anymore. Afterall, John McCain was also a very good down to earth man at one time. A true American hero. NOT ANYMORE. Now, he is a filthy rich politician pig married to a filthy rich big business pig. SOLD OUT. Mark my words: Obama and Biden will do the same. Whatever moral character they may have left, will be lost or heavily compromised while in office. Like the others, their administration will be riddled with scandals of greed and corruption. Like the others, they will succumb to the greatest epidemic ever faced by modern man. By far, the most intoxicating element of modern society.

Greed. Simply the desire to get as rich as possible. It has the potential to blacken any heart. Break the will of any human being. Influense any government. Corrupt any society. Those who succumb to it are lost forever. You can not get through to these people. You can not make them understand. No matter how bad it gets for the little guy. No matter how many families loose their homes. No matter how many people go cold and hungry. No matter how many innocent children starve and die. No matter how much blood is shed. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS. The rich will ALWAYS blame the other guy. They will ALWAYS say or do whatever it takes to secure their own extreme personal wealth. When they 'give back', its only because they expect more in return. They will NEVER compromise their own bottom line. They will NEVER jeapordize their position in the 1% club. They will NEVER stand for a more reasonable distribution of wealth and resources. They will NEVER acknowledge greed as a form of evil. They will NEVER acknolwedge the potential it has to ruin EVERYTHING. They will NEVER admit the simple truth. GREED KILLS. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL.

Ford, GM, and Dodge are begging the current admistration for some type of 'bridge loan' in order to avoid bankruptcy. The unions are begging for it. The people are divided. All because of a LIE. Again, we have been mislead. I'm not disputing their need. Its legit. I'm disputing the underlying cause. Competition my ass. China my ass. Japan my ass. Those factors are real but not fatal. They are also concequential. Not primary. Again, its GREED and CORRUPTION. Not only that of the auto executives and celebrities who demand millions to endorse the product (Toby Keith, Tiger Woods) but also within the health care industry. Thats right. Health care. The average doctor is a millionaire several times over. The average health care executive many times over. Both on average, are members of the 1% club. AGAIN, ITS THEIR FAULT. If it weren't for the OBSCENE health care charges, brainwash plots, and artificially inflated market, then the financial burden placed on Ford, GM, and Dodge wouldn't be anywhere near as high. They could easily match the labor of Honda, Toyota, and Hyndai who's workers are younger on average, more liberal, and not so demanding when it comes to 'health care'. In this case, the little guy is partly to blame for their incredible ignorance. They smoke, drink, get fat, fall for the most OBVIOUS health care scams, live by drug and doctor, kiss greedy doctor ass, drive up the cost of their own health care, demand full coverage, and then strike if they don't get it. Retired US auto workers on average are now causing their former employers to incur several hundred thousand dollars PER RETIREE in health care expenses over the span of their retirement. Those in the current workforce are partly to blame as well. Not for greed. Their wages are reasonable.

But their health care demands are well in excess. If they would simply open their eyes, acknowledge the incredible greed and corruption within the health care industry, get off the couch, get off the pharmaceuticals, and take care of their own bodies, then their own cost of living would be lower, their health would be better, the market for their product would be higher, and the financial burden placed on Ford, GM, and Dodge would be MUCH lower. I'm not discounting other factors like gas prices, competition, and the US product line. But greed and ignorance wreak havok like no other elements of our society. They cause or allow the cost of living to rise and the middle class to shrink along with the potential market for every major industry. In this case, they also raise the financial burden placed on US auto makers. Mark my words: One or two of the big three US automakers will go bankrupt. They will do so regardless of any 'bridge loan'. Other well known foreign auto makers will follow. The entire manufacturing industry will become a shell of its former self. Millions of retirees will be cut off entirely. ALL BECAUSE OF GREED, CORRUPTION, AND IGNORANCE. The ripple effect is profound. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL.

12/16/08
The feds have reduced their interest rate to an all time low. IT WON'T WORK. The same goes for any potential bailout for the US auto industry or any other. IT WON'T WORK. IT ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY WILL NOT WORK. I would bet my life on it a hundred times over. Again, our own leaders refuse to acknowledge the single greatest drag on our economy. The single greatest underlying cause for the global economic crisis. GREED. They all refuse to acknowledge the downside. That idiot pig Arthur Laffer refuses to acknowledge it. Greenspan, Bernanke, and Paulson refuse to acknowledge it. Bush, Clinton, Kerry, Gore, Obama, and Kennedy refuse to acknowledge it. Lars Larson, Tammy Bruce, Lou Dobbs, Mike Gallagher, Suze Orman, Bill O'Reiley, Maria Bartiromo, Jim Kramer, Rush Limbaugh, and Jim Bohannon refuse to acknowledge it. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson, and T-Boone Pickens refuse to acknowledge it. The same goes for all of their filthy-rich billionaire friends. All of the above are hypocrite pigs who don't have the guts to admit the simple truth. This is not brain surgery. For the mostpart, its simple math. WE ARE IN THIS MESS BECAUSE OF GREED. The world's richest one percent are now so incredibly rich that there simply isn't enough wealth circulating beneath them to sustain the global economy. Its on the brink of collapse. IT WILL COLLAPSE. We are now entering what will go down in history as the worst economic and cultural crisis of all time by far. You think its bad now? YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET. NOTHING. Trillions more in wealth/capital will be concentrated (Not lost. Concentrated.). Many more banks large and small will fail. Tens of millions will loose their savings (Transfered from poor to rich.). Even FDIC accounts will be forfeited (Yes they will. Yes they will. Yes they will.). Every major industry will become a shell of its former self. Unemployment will reach unprecidented levels. Millions of retirees will be cut off entirely. The lower class will become dominant. The financial aid system will fail miserably. The vast majority of those in need will have no access. Crime, poverty, and suicide will skyrocket. There will be riots and random acts of violence at banks, hospitals, and government buildings. The next generation will be left to fight in the crumbling streets over a shattered American dream. The rest of the world will have it even worse. So don't blame innocent people from other countries you idiots. Blame the rich. Blame the government. Blame the health care industry. Then blame yourselves for being so stupid for so many years. We have allowed a particular form of evil to grow out of control, intoxicate our society, consume our government, wreak havok on our own economy and culture, RUIN any chance we ever had at world prosperity, and jeapordize the very foundation of modern society. At the same time, we have allowed those who epitomize it to get away with calling themselves 'heroes' or 'humanitarians'. Putting a happy face on greed and dumbing down our society further in the process. THAT MEANS YOU. So wake up fellow citizens. Grow a spine. Don't fall for all of this 'good will' 'humanitarian' BS from the rich. IT IS A SHAM. NOTHING BUT TAX DEDUCTIBLE PR CRAP. Instead, look at the bottom line. IT'S F#@&#%$ OBSCENE. NOW GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULLS YOU IDIOTS. WE ARE IN THIS MESS BECAUSE OF GREED. AMERICA'S RICHEST ONE PERCENT NOW OWN ALMOST 1/2 OF ALL UNITED STATES WEALTH. THE WORLD'S RICHEST ONE PERCENT NOW OWN OVER 40% OF ALL WORLD WEALTH. THATS WAY TOO MUCH. THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT HEROES. THEY ARE NOT HUMANITARIANS. THEY ARE DISGUSTING HYPOCRITE SLOBS. IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW MUCH THEY GIVE BACK. THEY STILL KEEP WAY TOO MUCH. IT CAN'T WORK THIS WAY. IT ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY CAN NOT WORK THIS WAY. IT NEVER HAS AND IT NEVER WILL. GREED KILLS. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL.

1% CLUB PIGS: I've said it many times and I will say it many more. Greed is not the desire to break the law or intentionally oppress another human being. Greed is simply the desire to take more than your reasonable share of wealth or any limited resource. By doing so, you reduce the value of currency and raise the cost of living worldwide. You shrink the middle class and the potential market for every major industry. You expand the lower class and the need for financial aid. You cause a domino-effect of socio-economic problems. You literally cause innocent people to suffer and die. YOU MAKE WORLD PROSPERITY MATHEMATICALLY AND PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE. It does not matter how much you 'give back'. It matters how much you KEEP. This is why I will go to my grave with nothing but bleeding and burning hatred for all of you. Thats right. I hate you and I'm not afraid to admit it. Afterall, its OK to hate a rapist. Its OK to hate a terrorist. I do. But I also hate wolves in sheep's clothing. THAT MEANS YOU. In fact, I consider the equation you stand for to be the greatest injustice of all time. It makes my f$#@&$# blood boil. Jealosy my ass. Low self-esteem my ass. Self-pity my ass. Anyone who still thinks that after reading all of this is a F&#@%$# MORON. You disgusting hypocrite pigs. I've noticed the little shots you've been taking at me, a few others, and the cause we stand for. The psychological stunts. Thats right Will Smith, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Today Show pigs, Regis and Kelly, Ellen DeGeneres, Dr Phil, Oprah Winfrey, Elizabeth Hasslebeck, Melissa Scott, Joyce Meyer, Lars Larson, Bill O'Reiley, Lou Dobbs, Ann Coulter, Tammy Bruce, Laura Ingraham, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Jerry Doyle. I've noticed the crafty elusive statements you've been making about greed and subtle insults directed at those very few of us who stand against it. I also know that you're well aware of this campaign and that you're trying to shut it down. Of course, trying to do so in a manner that won't draw anymore attention to it. You've even gone out of your way to specifically attack 'anonymous' bloggers in general. As if we are somehow less credible without a registered account. I'm not the slightest bit intimidated by any of it. YOUR TRICKS WILL NEVER WORK ON ME. Mark my words: No matter what you say or do, I will spend the rest of my life persecuting all of you for the disgusting, obscene, unjust, illogical, and immoral equation you stand for. I won't break any laws. I won't harm one hair on your rotten heads. Its not that I don't wish you were gone. I do. But I would never jeapordize such an important cause with a criminal act. NEVER. My only realistic goal is to make as many people as possible understand. Including future generations. I hope they look back on these words and spit on your graves. Afterall, they won't achieve any degree of world peace or prosperity until after they acknowledge GREED as a form of EVIL. Not until they acknowledge it with a number or some type of material standard. In the unlikely event they ever do, I hope they FINALLY come up with a system that works for the vast majority. One with a reasonable pay scale and caps on personal wealth. Otherwise, their system will fail over and over again. Just like the one you stand for. It can't work this way. It never has and it never will. NEVER. NO WAY IN HELL. So mark my words: I will not make excuses for a single one of you. I don't care how smart you think you are. I don't care how talented you think you are. I don't care how pretty you think you are. I don't care how noble you think you are. I don't care what you think you've done to earn up to fifty thousand times the pay of a firefighter, soldier, farmer, teacher, cop, aid worker, cook, paramedic, truck driver, or garbageman. You're not worth it. I don't even care if your personal fortune fell out of the sky. If you're rich, I hate you. I don't care how much you 'give back'. I care how much you keep. Therefore, I will do everything within my power and within the law to expose your incredible greed and hypocrisy. If you want to break my will, then you're going to have to break my neck first. and if you pull a stunt like that, then a lot of people will know what happened to me and why. I've planned in detail for it. Most of you have no idea. Regardless, you pigs will not go down in history as 'heroes' or 'humanitarians'. Not if I can help it. We're in this mess primarily because of you. Its going to get MUCH worse primarily because of you. Thats what I believe and thats the message I intend to spread for the rest of my life. DEAL WITH IT.

1.21.09
A few more words about our new president and how certain public figures are using him to divert our attention, dumb down our society, shut my big mouth, and discredit the cause I stand for. I said it during the presidential campaign, I said it again in November, and I will say it again now. Our new president has more character than most of his colleagues. Much more. In fact, he puts Bush, Cheney, Rice, Clinton, Gore, Palosi, Reagan, Carter, Romney, Schwarzenegger, Bloomberg, and Kennedy to shame. He also puts nearly every living public figure to shame. Including those who claim to support him. By politician, public figure, and 1% club standards, he is an angel. That being said, he is still a politician. Still a public figure. Still a member of the one percent club. Just a man. Like any other, he is a product not only of genetics but also of his environment. Like any other, he is intoxicated by certain elements of modern society. Including three of the worst. Fame, fortune, and power. All three have the potential to corrupt the mind, the heart, and the will of any human being. I can name only one who resisted the influense of all three. Mother Teresa died in 1998. The amazing standard she set died with her. Since then, an army of public figures and false heroes have sold out the very concept of 'good will'. Capitalizing on bogus promises to make the world a better place. The vast majority, on day one. The rest, along the way. Obama will do the same. Its just pathetic human nature. Put any man or woman on a stage or throne and something about them is different. Make any man or woman rich and something about them is different. I said it in November and I will say it again. Barack Obama was probably a very good down to earth man at one time. That was before the corrupt influense of fame, fortune, and power. Now, something about him is different. The same goes for Michelle Obama. They have already begun to sell out. Not only as necessary during the campaign because of our ignorant society and the fact that we won't elect ANYONE unless they look a certain way, dress a certain way, talk a certain way, kiss our babies, cut our taxes, tell us what we want to hear no matter how unrealistic, believe in God, follow a certain religion, support a certain industry, and show up on our favorite talk show with a fake smile, stupid jokes, and lame dance moves. That was bad enough. A sell-out necessary to get elected by a pathetic, ignorant, naive, short sighted, half-wit, couch potatoe, love-sick, celebrity junkie society. But also for profit before, during, and after the election. I already mentioned the $400 lunchtime lobster feast. Paid for mostly by ordinary people who were willing to cut into their modest bottom lines in order to help get their hero elected. SHE ATE IT. That was bad enough. Another sign of the times. As expected, its already getting worse. I have no problem with the armor plated presidential limo, the extra security, the inauguration, or the speech. I have no problem with the concept of a public celebration. But I do have a problem with the $35,000 ring, the $150,000 dress, the exotic crystal, the exotic food, the coorporate plugs, NBC, MTV, BET, Beyonce, LL Cool J, Miley Cyrus, and every other filthy rich big business/big money/big celebrity hypocrite pig who had the nerve to fly in on their personal jets, stand there lavished in gold, and jewels, and fur, and $10,000 suits and pretend as if they and Obama share a desire to make the country and our world a better, more stable, more peaceful, and more 'just' place for all its people. Once again, promoting their own interests, dumbing down our society, and dancing their way around the single greatest underlying cause for the global economic crisis. GREED. The single greatest threat to modern society. GREED. Filthy, rotten, disgusting, self-centered, self-serving, black-hearted, hypocritical GREED. By doing so, they divert our attention AGAIN at a crucial time when we need more than ever to finally acknowledge GREED as a form of EVIL. At a time when we need more than ever to understand how it burns through moral character, spreads like wildfire, jumps from one industry to another, one person to another, and wreaks havok on society worldwide. IT ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY BEYOND ANY SHADOW OF A DOUBT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL. All of this happened on Obama's watch. I understand that he didn't plan most of the details. But he did know about many. He stood by and watched that event sell out to the highest bidder. He also bought the ring. He didn't even have a word to say about the double standards or many ethical contradictions. Afterall, he got elected. It was no longer necessary to kiss so much big business, big money, big celebrity, 1% club ass. SELL-OUT. Now, that army of filthy-rich, self-centered, self-serving, self-promoting, hypocrite pigs are using Obama's hopefull words against those very few of us who know better. They even have the nerve to belittle and villianize people like me simply because we don't float around with happy uplifting thoughts and a smile on our face. They pretend as if our message can't possibly be legitimate if its expressed with anger, contempt, hatred, or fear. As if a 'positive' attitude is any match for that domino-effect of socio-economic problems caused almost entirely by GREED. I understand that Obama could never go on record with views anything like mine. He has no choice but to be tolerant of other filthy-rich and powerful public figures. I can even forgive the affiliation to some extent. I also believe that he truly does want some degree of government reform, ethics, accountability, peace, prosperity, stability, opportunity, and economic justice for all people. Like I said, by politician standards he is an angel. Which is probably the nicest thing I will ever say or even think about a rich and powerful public figure. I find it near impossible to hate the man. He is literally the only rich and powerful public figure on this planet that I don't hate. I also understand why he gave the uplifting speech. I really don't blame him for a single word of it. But I will not pretend as if a smile or 'positive' attitude is any match for that particular form of evil consuming our world. I will not choose 'hope' over 'fear' just because it feels nice. Of course, I want things to get better. Of course, I will try in vain to help make things better. Of course, I want something legitimate to celebrate. Something that we could all be a part of. Of course, I desperately want Obama to succeed. Of course, I desperately want all of my predictions to be proven wrong. I just don't see it happening. With or without Obama, we are still stuck on that runaway train. Its not going to be any better. Its not going to be alright. Not for the vast majority. Its going to get much worse and stay that way for a very long time. I fully expect to die knowing that I devoted myself to a cause which was lost from day one. Greed will always triumph over good will. The people will never take any real stand against it. The vast majority are pathetic, ignorant, naive, short sighted, brainwashed, pharmameutical, medical-testing, couch potatoe, credit card, love-sick, celebrity junkie, powderpuffs. Perfect little victims. I hate to say that about my fellow citizens but its the truth. Afterall, they didn't see this comming. I tried to warn them and they still didn't see it. Others tried to warn them and they didn't see it. Albert Einstein tried to warn them SIXTY F$#&#$# YEARS AGO. They didn't listen. They didn't see it. They did NOTHING to stop this or even slow it down. Even now, when the problem is so much more obvious. Even now, when the futures of their children are at stake. Still, they do NOTHING. Sometimes, I wonder if they are even worth fighting for. What the hell is the point? They will never listen. They will never wake up. They will never do simple math. They will never take a stand. There will never be economic justice. There will never be a more reasonable distribution of wealth and resources. Therefore, there will never be any degree of world peace or prosperity. Its only going to get worse. A LOT WORSE. GREED KILLS. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL.

The new stimulus won't work. The new money won't work. The new budget won't work. There may be a shallow revival later this year or next but it won't sustain itself. It absolutely positively will not work. Obama's efforts are revolutionary but they are too little too late. The opposition too strong. Which by the way, is not about national debt. Thats a lie. Nobody cares. Its about inflation. The rich are throwing a fit over government spending because when more money is printed, their money looses some value. They have some damn nerve. They already have too much money. Leaving the majority with too little. They won't give it up. They won't tolerate higher taxes. The equation they stand for absolutely can not work. Still, they have the nerve to throw a bloody fit over government spending unless its their own budget with their own pork, their own diversion of funds, their own tax breaks, and their own kick backs. Hundreds of billions worth. In which case, they are all for it. Afterall, inflation is fine with all of them as long as they end up with a net gain in buying power. Otherwise, they throw a bloody fit. This is why Democrats and Republicans always fight tooth and nail over government spending. Its not about 'patriotism'. Its not about 'fiscal responsibility'. Its not about the 'middle class'. Its about their own incredible greed. Of course the majority were better off under Clinton. They were also better off under Reagan. Even with a lower GDP, they will still better off. Only because that massive transfer of wealth from poor to rich was still in the early to mid stages. It began in the late seventies. It was accelerated under Reagan and again under Bush. Now, we have finally reached a tipping point. The majority can no longer afford to pay all of their bills and sustain their share of the economy. In fact, they are in debt to the tune of almost $2,000,000,000,000. THATS ALMOST TWO TRILLION DOLLARS. Obama's efforts are about re-distributing some wealth. He is one of the very few politicians to care about the majority almost as much as his own bottom line. Which is about the best we can hope for from any politician. Unfortunately, the rich won't give up anything. Even those who claim to support him won't give it up under any circumstances. This leaves Obama with no choice but to print trillions in US currency, water down all existing US wealth, raise taxes slightly on the rich, and tweak the budget slightly in favor of the majority. Hopefully, resulting in a gradual transfer of wealth from rich back to poor. Its a revolutionary effort. Very noble. Unfortunately, it won't be enough to stop that runaway train. The rich are too greedy. The opposition too strong. The government too corrupt. Obama himself will sell out before its all said and done. Mark my words he will sell out to the rich. That vital transfer of wealth from rich back to poor will not take place. Therefore, Obama will have no choice but to acknowledge a severe US depression by the end of his first term or shortly thereafter. There will be no economic recovery without a more reasonable distribution of bottom line wealth. The richest one percent must be willing to settle for less. A lot less. Otherwise, there will be no economic recovery ever. Not one of us will live to see it.

3.04.09
We are being fed a constant line of BS from the media about 'lost' market wealth. Similar to the line of BS we have been fed for years about wealth 'creation'. NBC and their panel of paid 'experts' (liars) recently took a question from a viewer (it may have been staged) about market 'losses' and 'gains'. Their answer was downright vague and misleading as usual. Stock values don't simply represent our collective 'productivity' or 'hard work'. Otherwise, Ford, GM, and Dodge would be doing fine. Afterall, the cars got built. If their answer had been true, then we could all just work a little harder, produce a little more, buy a little more, and revive our own economy. We can't. Its not that simple. Their answer was CRAP. Another stunt to make it appear as if we're all in this together. That panel of paid 'experts' (liars), also refered to stock values as 'phantom' wealth. Thats not exactly true either. Otherwise, those shares could never be traded for any actual product or service (They are. They always have been.). They also wouldn't give the majority share holders such authority. So what did NBC and their filthy rich trio of paid 'experts' (liars) leave out? The ugly truth as usual. Corporate stock values are not 'phantom'. They actually represent past profit margins, current profit margins, accounting scams, bailouts, and the potential transfer of more dollars FROM US TO THEM. The only 'phantom' elements involved are the shady speculation and accounting scams. Which do effect those values but they still result in a transfer of dollars from one party to another. Otherwise, those fluctuating values are based on real world events. In the meantime, they are traded like an alternative form of currency. Eventually cashed in for market value. Just like gold and silver. Like any other form of currency, the richest one percent hold the lion's share. They currently own about 1/2 of the entire US market. The upper class own around 1/3. Foreign investors own around 1/8. The lower 90% of us own the scraps leftover. This equation has contributed to a constant transfer of wealth from poor to rich. Its been accelerating for decades along with obscene, record setting profit margins for big business. These record setting profit margins were mathematically impossible to sustain with a shrinking middle class. The housing and stock markets were impossible to stabilize long term. They were on a crash course with or without sub-prime. Which is why in part, the rampant speculation and accounting scams took place. Also why the 'mark to market' rule was changed. Which basically allowed traders to take their profits and disregard the potential liabilities that inevitably came with a concentration of wealth and capital worldwide. These were all stunts whipped up by the 1% club to artificially inflate and sustain the market at a time when the very foundation of our economy was crumbling. To sell out their own industries and convert capital into dividends, bonus checks, and golden parachutes. Now, the cat is out of the bag. The market has finally crashed. Those artificially inflated stock values have fallen on average by about 50% in the past two years. They are down worldwide. Which may lead one to believe that America's richest 1% are finally taking a loss. They are not. Those values are down not only because they were artificially inflated. But primarily because so many people are finally running out of money to give them. This is the single greatest underlying cause for the global economic crisis. Unfortunately no public figure has the guts to acknowledge it. When the filthy rich pigs (Bill Clinton, Jean Chatzky, Bill O'Reiley, Jim Kramer, Suze Orman, Maria Bartiromo, Lars Larson, Lou Dobbs, Warren Buffet, ect) talk about 'lost' market wealth, they fail to acknowledge that much of that wealth wasn't 'lost' at all. It was transfered to various members of the 1% club. These transfers took place before, during, and after the height of the market in 2007. In many cases, 'junk bonds', 'toxic debt', or 'artificial values' were left in their place. Otherwise, those pigs are primarily refering to lost 'business'. A slower transfer of wealth. There is a HUGE difference. Actual wealth doesn't just float away. Stock values fluctuate but they still represent a transfer of actual wealth from one party to another. Unfortunately, that transfer of wealth has been in favor of the rich for too many years. THEIR CURRENT PROFITS ARE DOWN ON AVERAGE BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN TOO OBSCENE FOR TOO LONG. THEY ALREADY OWN THE LION'S SHARE OF UNITED STATES WEALTH. A SIMILAR RULE APPLIES WORLDWIDE. MARKETS ARE DOWN BECAUSE THE WORLD'S WEALTH AND CAPITAL HAVE BEEN CONCENTRATED. AMERICA'S RICHEST 1 PERCENT NOW OWN ALMOST 1/2 OF ALL UNITED STATES WEALTH. THAT IS MUCH MORE THAN THE ENTIRE MIDDLE AND LOWER CLASSES COMBINED. THE WORLD'S RICHEST ONE PERCENT NOW OWN OVER 40% OF ALL WORLD WEALTH. THAT IS MUCH MORE THAN THE LOWER 90% WORLDWIDE. PROFITS FOR THE RICHEST 1% ARE DOWN ON AVERAGE BUT NOT GONE. THEY STILL GET EVEN RICHER AS WE SPEAK. THEIR INCREDIBLE WEALTH WAS NOT CREATED, GENERATED, OR GROWN IN THEIR BACK YARD. IT WAS TRANSFERED FROM US TO THEM. NOT ONLY THROUGH CORPORATE PROFITS BUT ALSO THROUGH INDIVIDUAL PROFITS. THE WORLD'S WEALTHIEST 1 PERCENT ARE NOW SO INCREDIBLY RICH, THAT THERE SIMPLY ISN'T ENOUGH CURRENCY CIRCULATING BENEATH THEM TO SUSTAIN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY. ITS FINALLY ON THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE. ANYONE IN THE FIELD OF ECONOMICS WHO STILL WON'T ACKNOWLEDGE THE SINGLE GREATEST UNDERLYING CAUSE FOR THIS GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS IS EITHER A MORON OR A COWARD. ITS NOT BRAIN SURGERY. FOR THE MOSTPART, ITS SIMPLE MATH. THE RICH ALREADY OWN TOO MUCH OF EVERYTHING. STILL, THEY WANT MORE. THEY ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT LET GO OF THEIR INCREDIBLE GREED. THEY ARE USING EVERY ILLEGAL AND IMMORAL TRICK IN THE BOOK TO AVOID TAKING THEIR LOSSES. THEY DO SO WITHOUT THE SLIGHTEST REGARD FOR ANYTHING OR ANYONE BUT THEMSELVES. IT CAN'T WORK THIS WAY. IT ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY CAN NOT WORK THIS WAY. IT NEVER HAS AND IT NEVER WILL. ALBERT EINSTEIN TRIED TO MAKE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND. GREED KILLS. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL.

Another word about wealth 'creation'. That term is horribly over-used. 90% of the time, it is a LIE. Actual wealth can't be 'created' without harvesting a new resource or making much more efficient use of one. Even then, there is usually a lagging downside. For example: If you develop one area, then local property values rise. Those who invest and locate only do so for maximum profit. They almost always follow the trend and do so in newly developed areas. Cities and states have been fighting tooth and nail for these investments. Giving developers and investors huge tax breaks and incentives. Even going so far as to subsidize a portion of their investment on the backs of middle class tax payers. These deals are always cut behind closed doors under the guise of 'economic development'. Others have no choice but to do the same just to keep their own remaining business. Otherwise, those jobs, residents, and revenue are lost (relocated). Not to mention the transfer of dollars from poor to rich for every investment. Resulting in a net loss for the middle and lower classes. One area is unnecessarily developed. Deals are cut. Investors, developers, and politicians get richer. The people get F$#&$&. Another area falls apart. Followed by a spike in violent crime. The cycle continues. Before you know it, more innocent people can't even take a walk in their own communities without fear of being mugged, raped, or killed. Another horrible downside of greed. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL.

3.11.09
The organized campaign to suppress the truth and divert our attention continues. Forbes has reported that many of the world's billionaires have lost bottom line wealth. They wen't out of their way to crunch all those numbers, draw their conclusions, and plaster them all over the media. Still no data for 2008 on the wealthiest one percent or the distribution of bottom line wealth worldwide. Why not? I'll tell you why not. Because they don't want us to make the connection. The current economic crisis was not caused by subprime, China, Japan, Mexico, the CRA, one bad policy, one administration, one major political party, or the other. These factors are only proximate at best. Not underlying. The current economic crisis was caused primarily by a massive transfer of wealth from poor to rich. In particular, the richest 1%. I realize there is some debate in the US over their share of her bottom line wealth. Some recent studies have shown it to be as little as 40%. Others near 50%. Nearly all recent studies have shown about 40% of the world's bottom line wealth to be held by the richest one percent. However, most studies to date have not included 'everything'. They refer only to one reported set of financial assets or another. They often take no stab at material assets or hidden assets. It is well known that various currencies, gold, silver, platinum, jewels, and other holdings are being hidden in secret accounts and vaults around the world. Well known but impossible to calculate. Also, when it comes to greed, fraud, oppression, corruption, or any other form of evil, history has shown time and time again that its almost always worse than first reported. The watered down results by then, are usually a year or two old. However, there is very little debate that wealth is being concentrated worldwide. Virtually every study shows it. The rate at which that wealth is concentrated has increased over the last decade or so along with record setting profits. It is incredibly obvious when you look around. For these reasons, I tend to believe the higher estimates. Regardless, it has become an epidemic worldwide. IT IS THE PROBLEM. Mark my words: Bottom line wealth may be fluctuating at the very top but its not comming back down to the majority where it belongs. When a billionaire looses a chunk of his or her net worth, it is almost always to other high ranking members of the 1% club. Not the majority. I would believe otherwise only with bankruptcy down, forclosure down, consumer debt down, unemployment down, home sales up, car sales up, middle class savings up, and a shrinking lower class. That would indicate a transfer of wealth from rich back to poor. Again, it can't be 'created'. It can't be 'stimulated'. It must be transfered from the rich and back to the majority. Otherwise, it won't work. That, unlike GDP, would indicate a healthy, stable, and sustainable US economy. On a global scale, it would be the single greatest step we could possibly take torwards world peace and prosperity. In which case, I would be thrilled to see my predictions proven wrong. I would gladly apologise for my rotten attitude. I would do so 'on-air' and 'online'. I would do my very best to apologise to every single critic. Including the filthy rich public figures I rip on. Its not going to happen. Wealth is still being transfered from poor to rich. Here in the US and also worldwide. Their stock values are down on average but their share of the world's bottom line wealth up on average. There is no doubt in my mind. There is also no doubt in my mind that the rich are converting and hiding assets around the world like never before. I don't claim to know half their tricks. But I do know they have many. They also have most of the world's leaders in their pocket. Almost all of whom will betray their own people on a whim and stop at nothing to get or remain as rich as possible. They absolutely will not let go of their incredible greed. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL.

3.30.09
Every major economy in the world will be in depression by 2015.

I do not know the original source of the above words. If I find a link, I will post it later.

North Korea 'has launched rocket'

2009-04-04T22:16:00.003-05:00

From BBC News:

North Korea appears to have launched a rocket, despite international appeals not to go ahead.

Officials from Japan, South Korea and the US confirmed lift-off at 0230 GMT. The rocket appeared to have passed over Japan to the Pacific, Tokyo said.

North Korea says it is sending a satellite into orbit, but its neighbours suspect the launch could be a cover for a long-range missile test.

They say it violates UN resolutions and have warned of consequences.

"A short time ago a flying object appeared to have been launched from North Korea," the Japanese government statement said.

The US State Department and South Korea's presidential office also confirmed a launch.

Japan did not try to intercept it, as it had indicated that it would if its territory was threatened, it said in a statement.

The US called the launch "provocative" and the Japanese government described it as "regrettable".

Additional reports:

North Korea launches long-range rocket

North Korea fired an intercontinental rocket this morning, defying weeks of warnings from world leaders and risking new sanctions and high level denunciation in the UN Security Council.

The Japanese, US and South Korean governments confirmed that the three-stage rocket was fired at around 11.30am (03.30GMT) from the Musudan-ri launch site in the north-east of North Korea. It safely cleared northern Japan where batteries of Patriot missile interceptors and nervous local authorities were on standby in case of a misfiring or falling missile fragments.

“The projectile launched from North Korea today appears to have passed over towards the Pacific,” the office the Japanese prime minister, Taro Aso, said in a statement.

North Korea appears to have launched rocket - Japan

North Koreans Launch Rocket Over the Pacific

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea defied the United States, China and a series of United Nations resolutions by launching a rocket on Sunday that the country said was designed to propel a satellite into space, but that much of the world viewed as an effort to prove it is edging toward the capability to shoot a nuclear warhead on a longer-range missile.

The launching took place at 11:30 a.m. local time, said an official at the Foreign Ministry of South Korea who spoke on condition of anonymity until the government makes a formal announcement

For additional research, here is a link to books on North Korea: Books

Perfectibilists: The 18th Century Bavarian Order of the Illuminati

2009-04-04T20:35:00.004-05:00

In his new book, Perfectibilists: The 18th Century Order of the Illuminati, author Terry Melanson puts a human face on the legendary secret society, which has been the object of more wild speculation than any other group over the past two hundred years.

The following is from the PRweb:

The secret society known as the Illuminati is the semi-fictional bad guy in the new Ron Howard film Angels & Demons, from Dan Brown's novel of the same name, with Tom Hanks reprising his role of sleuth Robert Langdon in the 2006 blockbuster, The Da Vinci Code.

In his new book, Perfectibilists: The 18th Century Order of the Illuminati, author Terry Melanson puts a human face on the legendary secret society, which has been the object of more wild speculation than any other group over the past two hundred years.

Translating many books and original documents into English for the first time, Melanson traces the origins and subsequent diaspora of this fabled cult in encyclopedic detail, including thumbnail biographies of over 400 confirmed members, hundreds of illustrations, and actual mission statements written by the Order's inner circle.

First calling the new cult "Perfectibilists," to reflect his philosophy of perfecting the faculty of enlightened reason, founder Adam Weishaupt soon decided the word was too obscure, and adopted the name by which it has been known ever since: The Illuminati

"I have foreseen everything, and I have prepared everything. Let my whole order go to rack and ruin; in three years I will answer to restore it, and that to a more powerful state than it is in at present... I shall rise stronger than ever... I can sacrifice whole provinces, the desertion of a few individuals, therefore, will not alarm me."
--- Adam Weishaupt, 1782.

Sharing many adherents with the Freemasons, the Order was active in Bavaria from 1776 to 1786, when it was suppressed by the government, and many members were forced to emigrate to more sympathetic political climes. They then proceeded to infiltrate the highest cultural and political circles in Europe, heavily influencing the era's revolutionary fervor that led to the fall of the ancient monarchies, leaving a legacy that still plays a pivotal role in the dynamics of our modern world.

"....all the Lodges are summoned to confederate together, to unite their efforts to maintain the Revolution; to gain over it, in all parts, friends, partisans, and protectors; to propagate the flame, to vivify the spirit, to excite zeal and ardor for it, in every state, and by every means in their power."
--- circular to all Lodges from the Grand Orient in France, signed by the Duke d'Orleans, C. 1789.

Melanson also documents the direct adoption by Yale's Skull & Bones cult of Illuminati rituals and methods of manipulation, which formed a virtual blueprint for the creation of secret societies.

"Who was the fool, who the wise man, beggar or king? Rich or poor, all are the same in death."
--- Slogan above a painting of skulls surrounded by Masonic symbols which hangs in Skull & Bones' sacred room 322, was lifted directlyfrom a Illuminati initiation ceremony.

A welcome addition to anyone's library, Perfectibilists: The 18th Century Order of the Illuminati, is a chronicle of the Age Of Enlightenment, and the eclectic characters who embodied it. The record of this fascinating group's actual activities demonstrates that the true story is often, indeed, stranger (and scarier), than fiction.

Terry lives in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada and is the owner/operator of the popular Internet site, conspiracyarchive.com.

Here is the link to the original report: Book

More information about the book:

Presenting an advanced and authoritative perspective, this definitive study chronicles the rise and fall of the Order of the Illuminati, a mysterious Enlightenment-era guild surrounded by myth. Describing this enigmatic community in meticulous detail, more than 1,000 endnotes are included, citing scholars, professors, and academics. Contemporary accounts and the original documents of the Illuminati themselves are covered as well. Copiously illustrated and featuring biographies of more than 400 confirmed members, this survey brings to light a 200-year-old mystery.

Customer Reviews

I have studied the Illuminati for years through various conspiracy books and websites. There can be a lot of confusion and misconceptions about who they were and what they were trying to accomplish. If I only had this book years ago, my research would have been faster and more complete. The book is well sourced, giving follow up reading, websites as well as known members. This is probably the most in depth volume on the Illuminati that you can find without having to learn German. Hopefully this trend will continue, and the public will take more interest in the enlightenment societies that shaped our nation and western civilization for that matter.

Possibly the most important English language work on the Bavarian Illuminati ever published to date. Based on documentation translated from French and German sources, Melanson keeps hysteria and paranoia to a minimum and provides an incredible reference work that outlines the history of the Order and its far-reaching cast of characters. Researched, footnoted and sourced in great detail, with documents never seen in English. Not the first book to pick up, as it assumes a certain amount of prior knowledge of the subject (see the Illuminati section of Vernon Stauffer's 'New England and the Bavarian Illuminati', which contains one of the best introductions on the Order to date), but VERY highly recommended to the serious scholar.

Only two reservations. First, the 'Skull & Bones' chapter seems to have flown in from another planet (or possibly a marketing department's request), and it stands out oddly. Second, Melanson makes no distinction between the different factions of Freemasonry that were expanding in continental Europe in the 1700s. Stauffer does a good job pointing out the differences in his book between the social club Anglo-Saxon Masons; the mystical Rosicrucian-style Masons who were attempting to make their brand more mysterious; and the Enlightenment social reformers of the Grand Orient of France who were involved in political movements. One style of Masonry was not the same as the next, and each had very different goals. But this is possibly a minor point and my own obsession.

I disagree strongly with Melanson's[...] website on a regular basis, and I think he and his fellow bloggers there seek boogeymen and a hyper-competent all-seeing, all-knowing criminal class of evildoers that control the world. But The Perfectibilists does not engage in the hysterics of that website. Melanson has produced a solid work of scholarship, and he is to be commended.

You can purchase the book from our Amazon.com bookstore: Buy Now

Ontario Man Found Guilty of Murder Through Spreading HIV

2009-04-04T20:01:00.002-05:00

From CFRA Radio:

A Hamilton man is the first HIV-positive man in Canada to be convicted of murder through spreading HIV.

A jury has found 52-year-old Johnson Aziga guilty of two counts of first degree murder in the deaths of two women who died from AIDS-related illnesses.

Aziga was also found guilty on 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of attempted aggravated sexual assault.

It was the first trial in Canadian history involving someone being charged with lethally infecting partners with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The man had been aware he was carrying HIV since 1996.

Aziga was accused of transmitting the virus while having unprotected sex with co-workers and women he met in bars and nightclubs.

additional reports

Hamilton man found guilty of murder by spreading HIV

A Hamilton jury rendered a historic legal verdict Saturday, making Johnson Aziga the first HIV-positive man in Canada to be convicted of murder for recklessly spreading the virus that causes AIDS.

Mr. Aziga, 52, of Hamilton, was found guilty as charged of two counts of first-degree murder and 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault, as well as being convicted on one count of attempted aggravated sexual assault.

Ontario man, 52, found guilty of first-degree murder in landmark HIV murder case

Taliban leader claime responsibility for New York Shooting

2009-04-04T09:21:00.008-05:00

I was checking out a number of news souurces when I cam across this statement:

Pakistani Taliban militant leader Baitullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for a shooting at a U.S. immigration center in New York in which a gunman killed 13 people, saying it was revenge for U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan.

Here is more of the report:

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A pilotless U.S. drone aircraft fired a missile in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing 13 people including some foreign militants, security officials and residents said.

Hours later, Pakistani Taliban militant leader Baitullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for a shooting at a U.S. immigration center in New York in which a gunman killed 13 people, saying it was revenge for U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan.

U.S. officials were not immediately available for comment about Mehsud's claim, but Pakistani security analysts dismissed it as a publicity stunt.

The New York Times quoted representative Maurice Hinchey, whose district includes the town of Binghamton in New York state where the shooting took place, as saying indications were the gunman was an immigrant from Vietnam.

With the Afghan insurgency intensifying, the United States began launching more drone strikes against al Qaeda and Taliban militants on the Pakistani side of the border last year.

Since then, about 35 U.S. strikes have killed about 350 people, including mid-level al Qaeda members, according to reports from Pakistani officials, residents and militants.

The attack Saturday was in the North Waziristan region, a stronghold of al Qaeda and Taliban militants on the Afghan border, about 35 km (20 miles) west of the region's main town of Miranshah at about 3 a.m. (5 p.m. EST on Friday).

"The missile hit a house where some guests were staying," one intelligence agency official said, referring to foreign militants. "We have information that 13 people were killed including some guests."

Here is the link to the rest of the report: Shooting

Links to additional reports:

Pak Taliban claim responsibility for New York shootout

Pakistani Militant 'Behind US Gun Rampage'

Pakistani internet users hit by Confiker virus

2009-04-03T17:24:00.002-05:00

This report comes from, The Nation

Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) Friday warned Pakistani internet users of a virus attack saying majority of the Pakistani internet users have been hit by the Confiker worm like other countries of the world.

Senior Executive Vice President, (Commercial) PTCL Dr Sadik Al-Jadir said the virus had slowed down the internet speed available to the PTCL internet users. “The remedy is to update your system with the new anti-virus on a regular basis.

The computer virus known as Confiker worm has attacked the common operating systems around the world, reportedly affecting millions of computers,” he added.

The affected computers experience issues like slow browsing and no browsing. The virus also restricts access to websites that can help in the removal of the software. The virus, however, failed to break through the computers being regularly updated with the latest updates of Windows operating systems and Anti Virus.

Dr Sadik Al-Jadir further said majority of internet and broadband users in Pakistan have been affected by this virus attack, and are facing slow browsing or no browsing.

Among these, many PTCL customers are facing this problem and are calling 1218 to reach Technical Support.

The PTCL technical support is assisting customers by guiding them to update their operating systems and anti virus and the required patches are also made available on PTCL website www.ptcl.com.pk where customers can download the patch files and configuration guidelines.

Dr Sadik Al-Jadir informed that the incoming calls on 1218 Broadband Technical Support Helpline increased by 4 times starting April 1.

He offered apology on behalf of the company to those customers who had faced difficulties in getting through the technical support representatives because of this unexpected call traffic.

The PTCL has increased the number of representatives, overnight, and has taken all necessary measures to overcome the situation due to the virus attack.
He added that all PTCL landlines are pre-activated to use 100 hours of free dial-up time from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm, and the usage is totally free from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am.

Any PTCL landline customer can access internet using free Phone n Net dial-up service. Customers will need to dial 131 77777 with username ptcl and password ptcl

Here is the link to the original story: Virus

Rocket Fuel Chemical Found in Baby Formula

2009-04-03T17:05:00.006-05:00

From ABC News:

When a parent puts a bottle of baby formula to a child's lips, the parent might not know exactly what ingredients are in that thick, nutritionally packed mix. But rocket fuel? That's not an ingredient many expect to find.

A study by government researchers released Thursday tested 15 different brands of formula and found a chemical -- also found in rocket fuel -- contaminating every single one.

While the levels of the chemical, perchlorate, have been deemed safe by the Environmental Protection Agency, some worry public health is at risk.

Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested the formula for the presence of perchlorate, a chemical used as the main ingredient in solid rocket fuel. It's a worry because perchlorate can interfere with the production of thyroid hormones by inhibiting the absorption of iodine.

The CDC study found cow's milk-based formula contained more perchlorate than that made with soy or other ingredients.

The two brands with the highest levels -- more than double that of the other milk-based products -- command 87 percent of the market share for infant formula.

The report does not specify the brand names of any formula tested.

Perchlorate has been found in the water supplies of 35 states and has been detected in everything from vegetables to milk. In the case of dairy, the rocket fuel in the water flows into grass, which is eaten by cows, and is then passed along into milk.

You can read the rest of the article at this link: Formula

As always I try to provide links to all the important information. This allows readers to just come to this blog and they can find everything they need to know.

CDC: Rocket fuel chemical found in baby formula

Perchlorate found in infant formula -- CDC

Samples of powdered infant formula contain trace levels of a rocket fuel ingredient, a federal study has found.

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested infant formula for traces of perchlorate because of concerns that the chemical can damage thyroid function. Their findings were published last month in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.

Perchlorate has been found in the drinking water of at least 35 states and the District of Columbia. The chemical can inhibit the thyroid gland's iodine uptake, interfering with fetal development.

The highest levels of perchlorate were found in formulas derived from cow's milk, the researchers found. They also looked at soy-based formulas, as well as formulas from lactose-free cow's milk and synthetic amino acids. They declined to say which brands they tested, but said each one contained detectable levels.

Here is the link to the offical study: Fuel

Mystery Of Big Black Cat Deepens In NY Suburb

2009-04-02T18:06:00.002-05:00

The following was found at WCBSTV

Number Of Black Cat Sightings On The Rise Near State Park

'Suspicious Animal Sightings' Signs Posted Around Rockland County

Halloween is long gone. So what's up with the black cat sightings near New York's Tallman Mountain State Park?
Signs posted around the Rockland County park warn the public about "Suspicious Animal Sightings."

Other sightings were reported in the hamlet of Palisades. One was in a driveway. Two were in a backyard.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation says wild cat sightings often turn out to be a large dog, coyote or bobcat.

Orangetown police are increasing patrols. State park police have installed cameras to snap pictures of passing animals.

These are described as sleek, long-tailed, black felines. They're larger than mid-size dogs.

No regional zoos, veterinarians or residents have reported a missing large cat.

You can view a video report at this link:Cat

U.S. to North Korea: Don't launch your missile

2009-04-02T17:25:00.003-05:00

I have not posted anything about this situation but it appears to be getting serious!

The State Department on Thursday sent a blunt, public message to North Korea: Don't launch your missile.

We don't want to see this launch go forward," department spokesman Robert Wood said.

But at the same time, the United States is carefully avoiding any suggestion that it would try to disrupt the launch and is being vague about what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others have said the "consequences" of the launch would be.

Behind the U.S. tightrope act is the United States' hope of handling the situation in a way that will not endanger the six-party talks aimed at dismantling and eventually erasing North Korea's nuclear weapons program, a senior administration official told CNN on Thursday.

The official said the North Koreans have pretty much backed themselves into a corner. While they may have begun the process of threatening to launch a missile to gain leverage with the United States, it is now an issue of saving face -- and they are certain to go ahead with the launch.

They recognize there will be a strong reaction at the United Nations, but have no choice at this point, the official said.

The diplomacy involved is very delicate, the official noted. All of the other countries involved in the six-party talks agree a launch would be bad, but Russia and China are less eager to impose sanctions while South Korea and Japan want to be much tougher. So the United States has to stake out a middle position and be patient, the official said.

The United States wants to handle the situation so that after the launch -- and an appropriate period of criticism of North Korea -- the six-party talks will be resumed, the official said.

"We are not going to take our eye off the ball or let them distract us from the goal, which is denuclearization," the official said. "We really believe that is the best way to take care of the issue and we think we can get it if we keep working with the North Koreans. At some point it is a war of attrition and we will continue to wear them down.

You can read the rest of the report at this link: Missile

Here are a number of links to additional reports:

New UN sanctions unlikely if North Korea tests rocket
Reuters - ‎17 minutes ago‎
By Louis Charbonneau and Arshad Mohammed - Analysis UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China and Russia are all but certain to stymie a US push for new UN sanctions on North Korea if it fires off a rocket, leaving tighter enforcement of existing ...

North Korea Prepares to Launch Missile
The New American - ‎1 hour ago‎
Quoting from a senior US military official, CNN has reported that North Korea has begun fueling its long-range missile. Such knowledge is readily discernible from viewing satellite imagery. The Pyongyang regime has previously announced that it plans to ...

N. Korea warns Japan against targeting rocket
CNN International - ‎15 hours ago‎
N. Korea says it will attack Japanese military, "major targets," if it shoots down rocket N. Korea said it would conduct launch between April 4 and April 8 (CNN) -- North Korea says it will attack the Japanese military and "major targets," if Japan ...

UNSC may convene amid N. Korea war threats
PRESS TV - ‎3 hours ago‎
Tokyo says it will call an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council if North Korea goes ahead with its controversial rocket launch. Japanese UN envoy Yukio Takasu said on Thursday that the session could take place to discuss a possible response ...

more to come...

4,000-year-old temple discovered in Cyprus

2009-04-01T22:13:00.002-05:00

I apologize for being late with this. I try to find the latest stories as soon as I can but I am only one person. To all the readers of the Worldview blog, please feel free to send me links to stories you think would work for this blog. The more current the story the better!

As they say, better late than never!

From MSNBC

NICOSIA, Cyprus - An Italian archaeologist claimed Friday to have discovered Cyprus' oldest religious site, which she said echoes descriptions in the Bible of temples in ancient Palestine.

Maria Rosaria Belgiorno said the 4,000-year-old triangular temple predates any other found on the east Mediterranean island by a millennium.

"For sure it's the most ancient religious site on the island," she told The Associated Press from her home in Rome. "This confirms that religious worship in Cyprus began much earlier than previously believed."

But authorities on the island say they cannot confirm her claim before further study.

"That the site is dated to around 2,000 B.C. is certain, but the interpretation that it's a temple or a sacred site has yet to be confirmed," Cyprus Antiquities Department official Maria Hadjicosti told state radio.

The 200-sq.-meter (2,150-sq.-foot) building was discovered last year outside Pyrgos, a village near the south coast, where previous digs unearthed a settlement dating to 2,000 B.C. that included a perfumery, winery and a metal workshop.

Belgiorno, who heads an Italian archaeological mission in Cyprus, initially disclosed the find to English-language The Cyprus Weekly.

She said evidence points to a monotheistic temple with a sacrificial altar that resembles Canaanite places of worship described in the Bible.

"The temple has a very peculiar shape for a building, which is very rare."

Belgiorno said a key piece of evidence linking the site to Biblical accounts of temples in ancient Palestine is a pair of 6-meter (20-foot) stone "channels" extending from either side of the altar that allowed sacrificial animals' blood to flow out of the structure.

Other evidence includes a stone water basin, which she said might have been used in the ritual cleansing of the channels.

Belgiorno said the temple was situated across from the industrial area in the heart of the settlement, which she estimates covered 35 hectares (86 acres). Most of the settlement now lies under village homes and holiday villas.

The industrial area was built around a large mill producing olive oil that was used as fuel to fire up the metal workshop and as a perfume base.

To read the rest of the article follow this link: Temple

Additional reports on the story:

Dig uncovers oldest temple in Cyprus

Archaeologist: Oldest Cyprus temple discovered

The Great UFO Hoax of 2009

2009-04-01T18:04:00.003-05:00

The following is from this Newsweek article: UFO
If you prefer to keep a little magic in your life—by which I mean believing in the possibility of UFOs—then read no further. For I am going to tell you about the latest UFO hoax.

You may remember the sightings of a UFO over Morristown, N.J., in January, which was blogged about and even captured on video that has been posted to YouTube as clips from TV broadcasts. Here is an example:

and an amateur astronomer

It was all a hoax, as the perpetrators reveal in this month’s issue of eSkeptic.Here is the link to the article: Hoax

Last November, write Joe Rudy, who describes himself as “an avid reader of Skeptic magazine” who teaches science and gives private music lessons, and Chris Russo, who works in sales and says he “intends to continue his quest to spread reason and truth, one pseudoscience at a time,” the two 20-somethings were sitting around discussing pseudoscience and the many people who believe one or another form of it. “We had always had a strong interest in why people were so easily fooled by such irrational superstitions as psychic ability, spiritual mediums, alien abductions, and the like,” they write. So they “set out on a mission to help people think rationally and question the credibility of so-called UFO ‘professionals.’”

They cooked up a spaceship hoax “to show everyone how unreliable eyewitness accounts are, along with investigators of UFOs.” They used 5 feet of fishing line to tie flares to each of five 3-foot helium balloons and launched them from a field on January 5, 2009. “Once all five balloons were ready for takeoff (with our fingers on the verge of frost bite),” they write, “we struck the 15-minute flares and released them into the sky in increments of fifteen seconds,” filming the UFOs as they floated away.

Media coverage was extensive. A lot of it featured Paul Hurley, a pilot, and his family, who appeared of several news broadcasts describing the strange lights they saw in the sky. (For some reason, reporters find pilots’ UFO sightings especially believable.) Rudy and Russo repeated the performance four more time, gaining media coverage for each. Conspiracy websites and radio shows covered the sightings, but “the icing on the cake came when the popular History Channel show UFO Hunters featured the Morristown UFO as their main story one week,” the duo recall. “Bill Birnes, the lead investigator of the show and the publisher of UFO Magazine, declared definitively that the Morristown UFO could not have been flares or Chinese lanterns.”

This was the pair’s main quarry, exposing the foolishness of UFO “investigators.” They write, “are UFO investigators simply charlatans looking to make a quick buck off human gullibility? . . . If a respected UFO investigator can be easily manipulated and dead wrong on one UFO case, is it possible he’s wrong on most (or all) of them? Do the networks buy into this nonsense, or are they in it for the ratings?”

Videos:

How We Staged the Morristown UFO Hoax, Part 1: The Setup

What is XDR-TB?

2009-04-01T15:14:00.002-05:00

Frequently asked questions - XDR-TB

Source: WHO

1. What is XDR-TB?

XDR-TB is the abbreviation for extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). One in three people in the world is infected with dormant TB germs (i.e. TB bacteria). Only when the bacteria become active do people become ill with TB. Bacteria become active as a result of anything that can reduce the person’s immunity, such as HIV, advancing age, or some medical conditions. TB can usually be treated with a course of four standard, or first-line, anti-TB drugs. If these drugs are misused or mismanaged, multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) can develop. MDR-TB takes longer to treat with second-line drugs, which are more expensive and have more side-effects. XDR-TB can develop when these second-line drugs are also misused or mismanaged and therefore also become ineffective. Because XDR-TB is resistant to first- and second-line drugs, treatment options are seriously limited. It is therefore vital that TB control is managed properly.

2. What is the medical definition of MDR-TB and XDR-TB?
MDR-TB, or multidrug-resistant TB, is a specific form of drug-resistant TB. It occurs when the TB bacteria are resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most powerful anti-TB drugs.
XDR-TB is TB that is resistant to any fluoroquinolone, and at least one of three injectable second-line drugs (capreomycin, kanamycin, and amikacin), in addition to MDR-TB. This definition of XDR-TB was agreed by the WHO Global Task Force on XDR-TB in October 2006.

3. How do people become infected with XDR-TB?
People who are ill with pulmonary TB (i.e. TB of the lungs, the site most commonly affected) are often infectious and can spread the disease by coughing, or sneezing, or simply talking, as this propels TB bacteria into the air. A person needs only to breathe in a small number of these germs to become infected (although only a small proportion of people will become infected with TB disease). Sometimes the bacteria are already drug resistant if they come from a person who already has drug-resistant TB. A second way of developing MDR-TB or XDR-TB is when a patient’s own TB develops resistance. This can occur when anti-TB drugs are misused or mismanaged. This happens when TB control programmes are poorly managed, for example when patients are not properly supported to complete their full course of treatment; when health-care providers prescribe the wrong treatment, or the wrong dose, or for too short a period of time; when the supply of drugs to the clinics dispensing drugs is erratic; or when the drugs are of poor quality.

4. How easily is XDR-TB spread?
There is probably no difference between the speed of transmission of XDR-TB and any other forms of TB. The spread of TB bacteria depends on factors such as the number and concentration of infectious people in any one place together with the presence of people with a higher risk of being infected (such as those with HIV/AIDS). The risk of becoming infected increases the longer the time that a previously uninfected person spends in the same room as the infectious case. The risk of spread increases where there is a high concentration of TB bacteria, such as can occur in closed environments like overcrowded houses, hospitals or prisons. The risk will be further increased if ventilation is poor. The risk of spread will be reduced and eventually eliminated if infectious patients receive proper treatment.

5. Can XDR-TB be cured or treated?
Yes, in some cases. Several countries with good TB control programmes have shown that cure is possible for up to 30% of affected people. But successful outcomes also depend greatly on the extent of the drug resistance, the severity of the disease and whether the patient’s immune system is compromised. It is vital that clinicians caring for TB patients are aware of the possibility of drug resistance and have access to laboratories that can provide early and accurate diagnosis so that effective treatment is provided as soon as possible. Effective treatment requires that all six classes of second-line drugs are available to clinicians who have special expertise in treating such cases.

6. How common is XDR-TB?
We do not know at the moment, but XDR-TB is rare. However, WHO estimates that there were almost half a million cases of MDR-TB worldwide in 2004, and MDR-TB usually has to occur before XDR-TB arises. We also know that findings from the only global study carried out so far showed that in some places perhaps as many as 19% of MDR-TB cases were in fact XDR-TB, but this is likely to be uncommon. Wherever second-line drugs to treat MDR-TB are being misused, the possibility of XDR-TB exists. Research is being carried out urgently to find out more.

7. How can a person becoming infected with XDR-TB?
The majority of healthy people with normal immunity may never become ill with TB, unless they are heavily exposed to infectious cases who are not treated or who have been on treatment for less than about one week. Even then, 90% of people infected with TB bacteria never develop TB disease. This applies to XDR-TB as well as to “ordinary” TB. People with HIV infection, however, in close contact with a TB patient, are more likely to catch TB and fall ill. The TB patients whom they meet should be encouraged to follow good cough hygiene, for example, covering their mouths with a handkerchief when they cough, or even, in the early stages of treatment, using a surgical mask, especially in closed environments with poor ventilation. The risk of becoming infected with TB is very low outdoors in the open air. Overall, the chances of being infected with XDR-TB are even lower than with ordinary TB because cases of XDR-TB are still very rare.

You canr ead more question an answers at this link: TB

Drug-resistant TB may ‘spiral out of control,' U.N. says

2009-04-01T14:54:00.004-05:00

BEIJING -- The world is on the cusp of an explosion of drug-resistant tuberculosis cases that could deluge hospitals and leave physicians fighting a nearly untreatable malady with little help from modern drugs, global experts said Wednesday.

"The situation is already alarming, and poised to grow much worse very quickly," said Dr. Margaret Chan, the director-general of the World Health Organization.

With Bill Gates at her side, Chan urged health officials from 27 countries at a three-day forum in Beijing on drug-resistant TB to recognize the warning signs of what looms ahead, saying that traditional drugs are useless against some strains of tuberculosis and health-care costs for treating those strains can be 100 to 200 times more than for regular tuberculosis.

"This is a situation set to spiral out of control. Call it what you may: a time bomb or a powder keg. Any way you look at it, this is a potentially explosive situation," Chan warned.

Gates, the software magnate turned philanthropist, said scientific overconfidence had led to a lack of innovation and urgency in fighting tuberculosis, which affects 9 million people each year, killing nearly 2 million of them.

"The most commonly used diagnostic test is today more than 125 years old," Gates said. "The vaccine was developed more than 80 years ago, and drugs have not changed in 50 years."

Tuberculosis is a highly contagious bacterial infection that attacks the lungs and can affect other organs as well. Coughing, sneezing and even talking can spread the bacteria. If untreated, a person with TB can infect 10 to 15 other people in a year.

Once thought conquered in developed countries, virulent forms of tuberculosis are again on the march, caused often by improper use of drugs and poorly managed treatment regimes. It remains largely a disease of poverty.

Chan said that traditional treatment often left the patient wishing to end the medicine.

"Instead of taking two to four pills, one has to take 13 pills. Put yourself in the position of the patient. Thirteen pills are not 13 candies," Chan said, noting that courses of treatment can last four to six months and patients don't like the hassle of taking the pills for so long.

Outbreaks of multi-drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis are highest in India, China, Russia, South Africa and Bangladesh. Scientists now see even worse strains, which they label extensively drug-resistant TB, that can be treated neither with the two principal anti-TB drugs nor with more expensive second-line drugs.

In early 2007, 20 countries reported cases of the more fatal TB. By the end of last year, 54 countries reported the malady.

Jorge Sampaio, the U.N. secretary general's special envoy to halt TB, called the extensively drug-resistant strain "a very deadly and devastating epidemic."

Later in the day, Gates offered a grant of $33 million to China's Ministry of Health to finance what he called an innovative pilot program for TB prevention that other nations could use. The program uses new systems to reduce pill intake, offers incentives for doctors to monitor TB and pays for the development of new diagnostic tests.

China has about 1.5 million cases of TB each year.

Under the pilot program, TB patients will get medicine kits with built-in reminder alarms as well as receive cell-phone text messages reminding them to take their medicines.

Gates said that his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was financing research on a new TB vaccine and that "it'll be about five to six years from now before we could have a completely new vaccine."

Here is the link to the original report: TB

Here are links to additional reports:

Drug resistant tuberculosis is a "time bomb" - WHO

Health officials gathered in Beijing on Wednesday warned against deadly drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis, which are spreading fastest in developing countries that lack the infrastructure to tackle the disease.

Over half of new cases of tuberculosis that are resistant to multiple drugs are resistant right from the start, and not as a direct result of substandard treatment, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned.

WHO raises alarm over drug-resistant TB cases

Hard-to-cure TB poses new global health threat

The Beijing Chest Hospital was packed with people on a recent weekday morning. In the waiting area, Wang Chong, a migrant worker who has been fighting tuberculosis for several months, was facing a dilemma: Does he continue treatment that has already cost him more than $5,000 or stop before his savings are wiped out?

It's not only his health at stake. If Wang stops treatment prematurely, his tuberculosis is likely to morph into one of the new, hardier strains that resist the drugs he has been using and that pose a growing threat to global public health. Countries as diverse as China, Russia and South Africa are vulnerable, and the new strains have also appeared in the United States.

Here is the link for the MSNBC report: TB

Chicago - O'Hare UFO video surfaces on Youtube

2009-03-31T23:19:00.003-05:00

Let's start this report with some background.

The Chicago O'Hare UFO sighting concerns a time when some people said that they saw a saucer or disc-shaped UFO over Chicago O'Hare International Airport on November 7, 2006; the reports garnered national media attention.

At approximately 4:30 p.m on Tuesday November 7, 2006, federal authorities at Chicago O'Hare International Airport received a report that a group of twelve airport employees were witnessing a metallic, saucer-shaped craft hovering over gate C-17.

According to eyewitness reports, the strange object was first spotted by a ramp employee who was "pushing back" United Airlines flight 446 which was departing Chicago for Charlotte, North Carolina. The ramp worker then apprised the flight crew of UA446 of the existence of the spinning, metallic object above their aircraft, and it is believed that both the pilot and co-pilot of this aircraft also witnessed the object at that time.

According to Jon Hilkevitch of the Chicago Tribune in an interview on CNN's Glenn Beck program: "The disk was visible for approximately two minutes and was seen by close to a dozen United Airlines employees, ranging from pilots to supervisors, who heard chatter on the radio and raced out to view it." [1][2] The UFO was then seen to suddenly accelerate straight up through the overcast skies. Witnesses reported that the object left behind an open hole of clear air in the cloud layer and that the mysterious hole disappeared or "closed" within a few minutes. So far, no conclusive photographic evidence of the UFO has surfaced although it was reported to Hilkevitch that one of the United Airlines pilots was in possession of a digital camera at the time of the sighting and may have photographed the event[3].

Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now after all this time a Video of the event has supposedly surfaced:

Here the video:

sitfu.com has the story about the video. Here is the link: Video

H5N1 virus may be adapting to pigs in Indonesia

2009-03-31T16:36:00.002-05:00

H5N1 virus may be adapting to pigs in Indonesia

Mar 31, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – Scientists report that H5N1 avian influenza viruses may be adapting to pigs, as evidenced by the finding that H5N1 viruses isolated from pigs in Indonesia were less harmful to mice than were H5N1 viruses from chickens.

The finding suggests that in growing in pigs, the virus may have become less harmful to mammals in general, the authors report. That sounds reassuring, but the authors say it may mean the virus is one step closer to turning into a human pandemic strain.

In the study, scientists from Japan and Indonesia collected viruses from chickens and pigs in Indonesia, grew them in laboratory cell cultures, and used them to infect mice. They found that the viruses from pigs were less lethal to mice than the viruses from chickens, according to their recent report in the Archives of Virology.

"We found that swine isolates were less virulent to mice than avian isolates, suggesting that the viruses became attenuated during their replication in pigs," the report states.

An intermediate host
Pigs are seen as a possible intermediate host that can help avian flu viruses adapt to humans, because the epithelial cells in pigs' trachea can be infected by both avian and human flu viruses, the article notes. If avian and human viruses infected a pig at the same time, they could mix or reassort, giving rise to a novel strain that might be able to spread in humans. The flu pandemics of 1957-58 and 1968-69 were caused by avian-human hybrid viruses, though it is not known if they arose in pigs.

But even if they don't mix with human strains, avian flu viruses that infect pigs are believed capable of adapting to them—gaining the capability to grow efficiently in swine cells—and thereby adapting to other mammals, the authors write. Humans occasionally are infected with swine flu viruses, something that has been reported at least twice this flu season in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So far, H5N1 infections in pigs have been reported rarely or gone unnoticed because infected pigs show no signs of illness, the scientists write. But the authors, who include Chairul Nidom of Airlangga University in Surabaya, Indonesia, report that they found H5N1 infections in pigs in Indonesia in 2005, 2006, and 2007. They determined that the swine viruses were closely related to viruses in chickens found nearby, indicating H5N1 spread from chickens to pigs at least three different times.

They gathered three viruses from pigs and two from chickens on East Java in 2006 and 2007. They first determined that all the viruses grew well in embryonated eggs and in cultures of canine kidney cells, demonstrating that both avian and swine strains could grow in mammalian cell cultures. They then infected groups of mice with a range of doses of the five isolates.

The results showed that all three pig viruses were less virulent in mice than the chicken viruses were, as measured by how large a dose it took to kill half of the mice. Two of the pig isolates were "strongly attenuated" in mice.

In a genetic analysis, the scientists found several amino acid differences that might explain the lower virulence of the swine isolates, but they "were unable to determine which mutations were strongly correlated to low virulence in mice because these mutations are frequently found among avian and human H5N1 viruses," the report says.

Prelude to a pandemic strain?
The authors offer this interpretation of their findings: "Since our swine strains were isolated from pigs with no apparent influenza-like symptoms, the decrease of pathogenicity in mice suggests that the H5N1 viruses may have lost their pathogenicity in mammals during replication in pigs. Given that for the H5N1 viruses to cause a pandemic, they would likely become attenuated in humans, becoming attenuated in mammals may be a prelude to the generation of a pandemic strain."

They add that because H5N1 infections in swine increase the risk that a pandemic strain could emerge, the findings point up the need for "continuous surveillance and management of H5N1 viruses in pigs."

The findings may mean that H5N1 viruses from swine will be less virulent in mammals generally, but it's not clear that the viruses have truly adapted to swine, said Richard Webby, PhD, a virologist, flu researcher, and associate member of the Department of Infectious Diseases at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.

Noting that the study authors used only five isolates, Webby said, "Trying to make too much of a conclusion from that number would be premature. The two least lethal viruses were both from swine, but one [swine isolate] was lethal. So perhaps if these become adapted to mammals, they're potentially going to be less pathogenic."

Whether H5N1 viruses become more or less virulent when they adapt to mammals is a very important question, he said, adding that the findings "might be to some extent reassuring."

Regarding the authors' statement that attenuation of the virus in mammals might be a prelude to the development of a pandemic strain, Webby commented, "I guess the thought behind that is that for a pathogen to be successful, it's got to transmit readily, so if it makes the host too sick, so they go to a hospital or die, the chances of its transmitting to someone else are reduced."

But Webby told CIDRAP News that it's not clear that H5N1 viruses have really become established in swine anywhere. "If these viruses have gone into swine, I think the key is whether they become established in swine. If that happened, we'd be concerned. I think the consensus now is that pigs are like humans; they can be infected, but it's unlikely there'd be a lot of transmission."

He said US Department of Agriculture researchers have infected pigs with H5N1 viruses and found that the viruses didn't grow at all. But those researchers used viruses that didn't come from pigs in the first place. He noted that pigs often are fed broken eggs or even chicken carcasses, and such pigs might carry the virus in their snouts without becoming truly infected.

Webby suggested that researchers now should "put these swine viruses back into swine and see if they actually are more adapted to swine than the avian viruses."

Here is a link to a site that is dedicated to following the H5N1 Virus: Site

Boy Found Infected with EV71 in HK

2009-03-31T15:50:00.002-05:00

I have been following the spread of the Hand, Foot, and Moth disease in China.

You can read all the reports at this link: Disease

Here is just a sample from some of the stories:

New outbreaks reported Tuesday in three Chinese provinces and Beijing put the number of children infected with hand, foot and mouth disease above 12,000 and the death toll has risen to at least 26 across the country.

The official Xinhua News Agency said outbreaks in southwest Yunnan, the northeastern province of Jilin and the tropical island of Hainan, putting the total number of infections at 12,164.

Then we had this update:

The number of cases across China has climbed to 15,799, up from 12,000 reported on Tuesday. Officials said that the rise was due to tighter rules on reporting and not because of the spread of the infection.

Today I just came across this report:

Boy Found Infected with EV71 in HK

The Center for Health Protection (CHP) of the Hong Kong's Department of Health Tuesday confirmed a case of Enterovirus-71 (EV71) infection involving a 10- year-old boy and urged the public to be vigilant against the disease.

A CHP spokesman said the boy had presented with fever and rash over his hands and feet since March 25. He was admitted to hospital on March 29 and is now in stable condition.

His throat swab specimen tested positive for EV71.

There was no Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease (HFMD) outbreak in the primary school that the boy attended and his family contacts had no symptoms of HFMD.

This is the ninth case reported to the CHP this year. There were 16 cases of EV71 in 2006, 12 in 2007 and 98 in 2008 respectively in Hong Kong

You can read the entire report at this link: EV71

UFO Spotted Over East Coast

2009-03-31T15:05:00.003-05:00

It's too soon to be an April Fool's Day prank, but the U.S. Air Force said that a series of flashing lights and booming sounds sighted and heard over Virginia recently must be a UFO.

On Sunday night, March 29th, witness described seeing odd lights, booming noises and in some instances a fireball in the sky over the Richmond area.

Initially, the disturbance was explained as part of a Russian rocket breaking up on reentry.

Geoff Chester, public relations officer with the US Naval Observatory said that the disturbance was consistent with the expected path of the booster rocket from the Soyuz spacecraft, which launched Thursday on a mission to the international space station.

But on Tuesday, March 13, Stefan Bocchino of the USAF Joint Space Operations Center said in an e-mail to WTOP radio in Virgina that the bright light was not the result of a man made object.

While the Joint Space Operations Center tracks man made objects, in space they do not track natural objects such as meteorites.

According to Cornell University, it is estimated that somewhere between 2900-7300 kilograms of meteors per year hit Earth. Most of these are dust-sized particles that burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.

Here is the link to the original report: UFO

Did some searching and found the following reports:

Upset about that fireball? Blame the Russians, not the Klingons

UPDATEThe air force is disputing the Russian rocket story, saying it was a meteor.

That green-tailed fireball streaking across Hampton Roads on Sunday could have been Russian space junk hurtling toward its demise on the other side of the world.

A spokesman for the Naval Observatory said Monday that a discarded rocket booster from last week's Soyuz space flight was in a decaying orbit and projected to pass over southeastern Virginia before 10 p.m. That's roughly the time that Marianne Mills, of Newport News and scores of other area residents saw a jaw-dropping light show.

A flash lit up the sky, and a fiery "something" sped toward the horizon.

"I've seen meteors before," Mills said, "but I've never seen anything like that."

There might be a good reason.

Geoff Chester, an observatory spokesman, began investigating the matter Monday morning after reports surfaced of a lightninglike flash, a colorful fireball and an explosion or boom.

A bright meteor was one possibility.

"That's usually the first thing that pops into my mind," Chester said.

But just to be safe, he checked computer records that track falling space debris. The second stage of a Soyuz rocket that helped send a crew to the International Space Station last week was scheduled to pass over Hampton Roads around the time of the disturbance.

"Whether this was the rocket booster or not, I can't tell you definitely," he said. "It just seems awfully coincidental that you would have a bright fireball following the path of a decaying rocket booster."

Authorities are fairly certain about what it was not.

The National Weather Service at Wakefield ruled out an atmospheric disturbance. The Federal Aviation Administration said commercial air traffic was not affected. And airports in Norfolk, Richmond and Newport News had nothing unusual to report.

Neither Langley Air Force Base nor Oceana Naval Air Station was conducting military exercises that could explain it.

"We don't have any insight into it," said Kelley Stirling, an Oceana spokeswoman. "We're all having the same conversation here."

Sure, a new "Star Trek" film debuts in May, but the Klingons aren't claiming responsibility — at least not yet.

However, the National UFO Reporting Center in Washington state received several calls from Virginia and Maryland based on Sunday's sighting.

"My temptation is to suggest that it almost certainly was a meteor, but we don't know that yet," said Peter Davenport, director. "All we know is that people saw a fireball."

Whatever truth is out there, it made the night more interesting for Mills.

She was driving east on Interstate 64 around New Kent County shortly before 10 p.m. when something flashed above her.

Here is the link to the rest of the report: UFO

Mysterious flash/boom rocks eastern seaboard, including firsthand reports

A mysterious flash of light, followed by a loud boom was reported by thousands of people from Maryland through North Carolina, prompting many calls to local 911 centers. The event also received massive media attention. So far, authorities have only been able to rule out that it wasn't a meteorological event. The following are some of the reports that were coming into the Mutual UFO Network headquarters:

Richmond, Virginia - 9:45-10:05 p.m. - Two witnesses observed what they described as resembling a green meteor shoot down from the sky toward the ground. The first witness' husband came outside to see what she was looking at. He looked in the opposite direction from where his wife had spotted the object, but nothing was seen. He continued to scan the night sky when he saw a bright white orb appear in the western sky, shooting horizontally from right to left for a couple of seconds, before vanishing.

Chesapeake, Virginia - 9:30 p.m. - Witness observed a flash in the sky followed with a loud boom unlike the jets they have in the area. Within a few seconds a second boom was heard, but it was not as loud as the first. The witness indicated he later heard several similar reports over his local television news.

Virginia Beach, Virginia - (time not provided) - Witness was driving home when he noticed what appeared to be lightning-like flashes in the sky above his car. He stopped the car to get out to have a better look. The whole night sky lit up a bluish color and he saw something burning, followed by large orange sparks falling from behind the object's path of travel. It was followed by a large boom, then disappeared.

You can read all the reports at this link: UFO

Public Protection of Political Gain?

2009-03-31T13:58:00.002-05:00

Cat Mutilation News Reports

2009-03-31T09:52:00.004-05:00

I was sent an e-mail containing links to news reports about Cat Mutilations. Here are the reports:

Mutilated Cats Found In St. Petersburg Neighborhood

From July 8, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Detectives are investigating reports of mutilated cats found by residents of an enclave on 49th Street North, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said.

The most recent incident was Friday when Anthony Bartolo found his 10-year-old cat, Fluffy, in the front yard, according to a sheriff's office incident report.

The feline's throat had been cut, Bartolo said.

"It's really devastating," he said. "If you can take a knife to a cat and cut its throat, you're a sick person."

Bartolo's neighbor, Lois Fuller, said five of her cats have gone missing - and one has shown up mutilated - since March.

In June, Fuller, 58, said she found her cat with a straight cut along its ribcage and its organs pulled out.

The reports prompted the sheriff's office Tuesday to assign a detective to the case, sheriff's spokeswoman Marianne Pasha said.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Tampa Bay is also investigating, SPCA spokeswoman Marissa Segundo said.

Bartolo, 47, said it is unlikely another animal attacked his cat because the wound was "a straight cut, like a razor."

Fuller said she too thinks it was a person who mutilated her cat.

"We're thinking along the line of a satanic cult," she said. "That's what it is."

Fuller and her neighbors now keep watch after dark, she said. Some residents stay up until 2 a.m., and others wake up at 4 a.m. and stroll the streets looking for anything suspicious, she said.

"We've all got our eyes open right now," Fuller said.

Bartolo said he's offering a $500 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

Anyone with information can call the SPCA of Tampa Bay at (727) 586-3591.

Cat deaths are considered cruelty cases

From August 20, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG — The head of a cat was found in front of a newspaper box this spring, its separated paws seemingly placed next to it.

In three more incidents reported this summer, cats were found eviscerated, victims of mysterious attacks.

• A tan Siamese Hemingway was found cut in half on June 24.

• A black cat was dismembered in the front yard of a Pinellas Point home in July.

• A white, tan and black cat was "cleanly severed" behind the shoulders on Aug. 10.

Mother Nature at work?

Some think otherwise.

"We figured it was obviously animal cruelty,'' said firefighter Albert Vildostegui, who rushed from the Lake Maggiore fire station June 24 to find a dead cat in the grassy median of Lake Maggiore Boulevard S just east of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street.

It was "a pretty clean cut right in the middle of the body." There was little blood.

Suspicion of foul play is common when people find the badly damaged bodies of animals, said Greg Andrews, the operational manager for Pinellas County Animal Services.

In July, Pinellas County deputies investigated a case of several apparently mutilated cats in a neighborhood near 49th Street N. They decided that those deaths were the work of hungry animals.

But to some, the St. Petersburg killings appear different. The injuries seem more methodical.

On July 11 police found what appeared to be half a black cat in the front yard of a home in the 6700 block of Pinellas Point Drive S. There was no blood.

On Aug. 10, someone found a cat's head and shoulders near Lake Maggiore Boulevard and Fourth Street S. The hind quarters were not found.

"The body did not appear to have been attacked by other animals as neither the fur or remaining organs were pulled or torn," according to a police report.

"Maliciously cut with an unknown device," the report said.

The same report mentions perhaps the most disturbing incident yet: apparently severed paws and a head placed against a newspaper vending box, also near Maggiore Boulevard and Fourth Street S.

Police say they don't know much about the possibility of ritual cat killings. So far, they are investigating the incidents as a pattern of animal cruelty calls.

"We have no leads or clues in these reports," police spokesman Bill Proffitt said.

Reward Offered in Destin, Florida Animal Cruelty Case

From June 2006

The Case:
According to The Panhandle Animal Welfare Society and Northwest Florida Daily News, on the morning of May 26, "Spot", a 16-year-old calico cat, was found deceased by his owner on the front lawn of his home on Holly Street. Spot's body was mutilated and a necropsy revealed Spot had been skinned with a knife. Since investigators did not find blood on the scene they believe that Spot was killed elsewhere and returned to the home.

Cats Mutilated in Austin, Texas

DALLAS (August 14, 2001) -The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for mutilating and killing at least 10 cats, but possibly more, in the Austin, Texas area from March through July. Neighbors in the Anderson Mill Estates community, where some of the cats have been abducted, have pooled about $4,000 for the reward fund as well.

The cats apparently all suffered similar trauma, having been found cut in half or dismembered in pieces. At least one of the cats was missing organs. In at least five of the cases, one part of the cat's body had been returned to the owner's property soon after the killing. In all of the cases, the cats had been let outdoors for a relatively short period of time before they turned up dead. A veterinarian who examined one of the cat corpses said he believes the killing had been done "deliberately and traumatically, most probably with a moderately sharp knife or perhaps a serrated knife."

Investigators seek clues to cat mutilations
CNN - Jun 26, 2003SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) -- If the person who has killed and mutilated 11 cats in the city's Avenues neighborhood is trying to send a message, ...

Cat Mutilations Spread Fear of Cults in Suburb
New York Times - Aug 13, 1989
By ROBERT REINHOLD, SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES. LEAD:
The reports of horrible new nocturnal mutilations come almost weekly, the latest last weekend,

States Baffled By Cat Mutilations Colorado, Utah Investigators...
CBS News - Jun 20, 2003(AP) Authorities investigating a string of cat mutilations in the Denver area are talking with Salt Lake City police to determine whether there is any ...

Police in two states probe cat mutilations; death toll hits 42
Denver Post - NewsBank - Jun 29, 2003Two more mutilated cats were found in Aurora on Saturday, the latest in a series of similar mutilations that have left as many as 42 cats in the metro area ...

Police investigate cat mutilations At least 8 have been killed, left...
Dallas Morning News - NewsBank - Aug 26, 1998Police are investigating a spate of pet mutilations in a Far North Dallas neighborhood, where as many as eight cats have been found decapitated or ...

Cat Mutilations A Mystery
KWTX - Oct 25, 2007(October 25, 2007)--Another mutilated cat was found in San Antonio, this one cut with a "scalpel-like" instrument. It is the 11th incident in three weeks in ...

Animal Shelters Team Up To Stop Cat Mutilations
woai.com - Oct 19, 2007Local animal shelters are banning together to stop the troubling cat mutilations going on citywide. So far, six cats have been found killed. ...

Another Cat Found Mutilated in Texas, Bringing Total to 13 Since April
DigitalJournal.com - Aug 14, 2008Is it a serial cat killer or just some weirdo hurting the animals as a means to gain attention? The reason isn't yet known but another mutilated feline has ...

more to come...

René Descartes

2009-03-31T09:04:00.000-05:00

It's the birthday of the father of modern philosophy and modern mathematics: the rationalist René Descartes, (books by this author) born in La Haye, Touraine, France (1596). His most famous phrase is "Cogito ergo sum," or "I think, therefore I am."

He was sent away to study at a Jesuit school. The priests allowed him to stay in bed all morning because of his delicate health, and this became a routine that he followed throughout his life. When he met his fellow mathematician Blaise Pascal in 1647, he told Pascal that the only way to stay in excellent health and to do good mathematical work was to not allow anyone to get you up in the morning until you were ready.

It was during one of his mornings in bed that Descartes invented coordinate geometry, while he watched a fly hovering in the air. He realized that the fly's position at any moment could be described as its distance from three intersecting lines or axes.

Stop Me From Killing Myself!

2009-03-30T22:33:00.006-05:00

Suicide, suicide wishing I were dead.
Suicide, suicide deep in my head.
Suicide, suicide cutting my wrists.
Suicide, suicide I'm so done with this.

2 days,2 days let until I die.
2 days,2 days til the last tear I'll cry.
2 days,2 days until I am all gone.
2 days,2 days til the dark breaks the dawn.

Suicide, suicide deep inside my head.
Suicide, suicide now I'm alomst dead.
Suicide, suicide turn out the light.
Suicide, suicide good bye, good night.

Amber Zitzloff

Join me at 11:00pm Central time as I discuss the topic of sucide live on Blog Talk Radio.

Here is the audio from the show:

Argentina: A Cattle Mutilation in Victoria

2009-03-30T14:16:00.000-05:00

On the evening of March 28, 2009, a new mutilation took place in the city of Victoria, Province of Entre Rios (Argentina) at a small ranch owned by Mr. Ignacio Oñativia. A yearling calf was found mutilated, displaying the same incisions we have been seeing since 2002. The clean cuts can be seen in the photographs, with nothing but small traces of blood left behind. The details surrounding the case are unique: in conversation with Mr. Oñativia, he told me that he only kept four (4) animals at that location, among them a rather troublesome calf who posed a problem when it came to putting it in a pen. However, last night, when he entered his ranch, he saw the three animals inside the pen without anyone's prompting. This drew his attention, and made him think that the missing [calf] must surely be dead.

He said to himself that the same situation always seemed to happen - whenever he brought animals from the island, one of them died. He set out to find the missing one. Upon finding it, the first thought that crossed his mind was that it could have died of hoof-and-mouth disease, but when he approached it, he quickly realized that a mutilation was involved. He came to find me at the Museo OVNI and took me to the site, so that I could see for myself.

This location is only meters away from the entrance roundabout to Victoria from Gualeguay, 100 meters from the high voltage wires and 1000 meters from El Ceibo Creek, elements that are never missing in cattle mutilations.

I would like to extend my thanks to the Oñativia family, especially Mr. Ignacio, who not only came to find me, but also assisted me in videotaping and photographing the animal, as the dark of night was complete.

Here is the link to the original article: Mutilation

Study: Wind Spreads Disease Faster Than Thought

2009-03-30T14:12:00.001-05:00

Plant and human diseases that travel with the wind can spread more quickly than previously believed, according to a study at Oregon State University and elsewhere. The findings cause concern not only for some human diseases but also a new fungus that threatens global wheat production.

The research concludes that invading diseases do not always progress in an orderly, constant rate and that some airborne pathogens can actually accelerate as they move.

"It's now becoming clear that some types of diseases can spread more rapidly and widely than we anticipated," said Chris Mundt, a professor of plant pathology at OSU. "This makes it especially important, in some cases, to stop a spreading disease quickly if you hope to stop it at all."

The studies explain, in part, how West Nile Virus spread so rapidly across the United States when experts had been expecting a slower movement.

They help analyze the progression of some historic disease problems, such as the potato blight that led to the Irish potato famine of the mid-1840s. And they suggest that a new fungal wheat pathogen that emerged a few years ago in Uganda may be a bigger threat to world production than first thought.

Mundt, an international expert on pathogens of several important food crops, has studied wheat stem rust for years.

"If we didn't have crops that could resist wheat stem rust, we pretty much wouldn't have a wheat industry," Mundt said. "From this pathogen we've learned a lot about plant disease resistance in general.

"And this new study confirms that it is crucial to get prepared for the rapid spread of a new variety of wheat stem rust that appeared in Uganda in 1999."

The new wheat stem rust, Mundt said, could attack 75 percent of the world's known wheat varieties, and in a bad year might cause up to 50 percent crop losses in some areas.

"We don't want to suggest that the sky is falling, but major losses could occur if the right set of conditions converges," Mundt said. "This is something that we shouldn't take a chance on. It's already spread to Iran, and the new research shows that its global spread may be about to pick up speed."

He said there is little time to waste. "This wheat disease problem could be global within a few years," Mundt said. "We would be foolish to ignore it."

Most plant and animal diseases spread by contact or proximity tend to move in a fairly predictable way, researchers say. But some carried by wind-carried spores or migrating birds can spread rapidly.

From 2004-06 the avian bird flu spread across parts of Africa, Europe and Asia through migrating birds. From New York City in 1999, the West Nile Virus spread across most of North America within three years.

"It was surprising to see how closely the spread of very different plant, animal and human diseases followed the same mathematical relationship," Mundt said. "This is giving us a better ability to predict how various types of diseases may move, and hopefully prepare for them."

The study was published recently in The American Naturalist, a professional journal.

Here is the link to the original story: Wind

Lao province at risk of bird flu outbreak

2009-03-30T11:01:00.000-05:00

HANOI, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Many areas of Phongsaly province of Laos are at risk of infection from the H5N1 bird flu virus as local people are continuing to bring in poultry and eggs illegally from neighboring countries, the Lao newspaper Vientiane Times reported Monday.

Provincial authorities find it hard to identify when and where there's a virus outbreak as people can walk or drive across and engage in casual trade of poultry easily at border areas without checkpoints, said provincial Livestock and Fisheries Deputy Head Somnith Keoboun-ngune.

Last month there was an outbreak of the virus in Khua district, Phongsaly province. Now the outbreak is over and the district was declared bird-flu free today, said Somnith.

To prevent the spread of the virus to other districts, the provincial avian influenza control committee together with district and village committees culled about 2,600 poultry in 11 villages and set up checkpoints, said Somnith.

The provincial livestock and fisheries sector will work with the sectors concerned in leading a public campaign about bird flu, said Somnith.

Here is the link to the original report: Bird Flu

What Is EV71 And Why Are Kids Dying In China?

2009-03-29T21:48:00.001-05:00

Here is some important information realting to the spread of hand, foot and mouth disease in china.

The recent outbreak in China of enterovirus 71 has been called Hand, foot and mouth disease. HFMD is a common illness in infants and children. In most cases it is a mild condition that doesn’t require medical treatment and goes away in 7 to 10 days.
While HFMD is a common ailment of children and is widespread in North American daycares the virus in China is the EV71 which is a much more serious form. The main concern isn’t the virus itself but the syndromes that can come from it including acute flaccid paralysis (similar to paralytic poliomyelitis), bulbar and brain encephalitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and rapidly fatal pulmonary edema and hemorrhage.

In 1998 a huge outbreak took place in Taiwan. From March to December 1998 there were 129,106 cases of the disease reported in the nation’s children. That is just the reported cases. It was estimated that the total number of children that came down with the disease was over one million. 405 children had the most severe cases and in 19.3 percent of those cases death was the final outcome. All of the children who died were under the age of five although older children did have severe cases.

In an autopsy it was revealed that the presence of the EV 17 virus had invaded the spinal cord. When these children went to hospital they have generally already suffered for 2 to 4 days with high fevers. Once they were so sick that they were hospitalized the children died within 24 hours. Almost all of the children in the Taiwan outbreak died from pulmonary edema and hemorrhage or after they developed brain-stem encephalitis.

While prior to the outbreak in Taiwan it was thought that the only mode of transmission was fecal-oral it has started to be believed that it can also be transmitted by respiratory transmission.

The transmission of this disease can linger for months after recovery as it stays present in the feces for at least two months.

There is no set treatment for the virus. Rather doctors have to wait for a symptom to develop and then treat.

Once a child has HFMD they should be excluded from child care and school until any blisters have healed. If a child has Enterovirus 71 neurological disease they should be isolated from other children until their feces are clear of the virus.

China is in the early stages of this disease. With 22 children having already died in Fuyang it is sad to say but chances are the virus will be present during the time span of the Summer Games in Beijing.

There have already been reports of other areas in the Anhui provision where Fuyang is of children being ill and two probable deaths from the virus.

Will Beijing be safe for the athletes come August? Because the virus is most prevalent in young children it would appear so. Still that leads to the question of the safety of the youngest tourist coming to witness the games. There is a slim chance that children should stay away if the virus spreads to Beijing. It is always better to err on the side of caution when considering the risks to children’s health.

Here is the link to the original source: EV71

China hand, foot and mouth virus epidemic getting worse

2009-03-29T21:26:00.001-05:00

China is asking medical personnel countrywide to go house-to-house to help stop an outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease which has now killed 19 children thus far this year.

“The epidemic is getting worse and infections are expected to peak between May and July,” Deng Haihua, director of the information office of the Ministry of Health (MOH), stated in a press conference.

40 Chinese children died in the spring of 2008 and thousands more were infected when the sickness was linked with enterovirus 71, which could cause a severe form of the disease characterised by high fever, paralysis and meningitis.

Heze city reported 1,734 HFMD cases between Jan. 1 and midnight Friday, according to the city’s health bureau. Just on Friday, 440 cases were reported

The hand, foot and mouth virus typically affects babes and children. Although some cases can be deadly, most are mild with children recovering quickly. It is spread by direct contact with nose and throat discharges, saliva, fluid from blisters, or the stool of infected persons.

Here is the link to the original story: China

New Radio Program!

2009-03-29T15:51:00.003-05:00

We are trying something new here at the Worldview blog. We have created the Worldview Radio Program!

Today we did the first ever broadcast! It was not that good but we are still learning and trying to figure out how everything works.

Here is the link to the program: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Trevor-Hammack

During the program I mentioned the situation in China and the spread of hand, foot and mouth disease. I had a number of people ask questions about this so here is some additonal information:

China county accused of child virus cover-up

BEIJING, March 24 (Reuters) - Chinese state media accused a local government on Tuesday of covering up the number of children suffering from hand, foot and mouth disease and the number of deaths.

The government of Minquan county in central Henan province said only one child was killed by the virus, but there may be at least 10 more deaths cases in the region, the official China National Radio said on its website (www.cnr.cn).

"(The death toll) should be no less than double figures," the report said, citing anonymous hospital sources. Double figures in Chinese means more than 10.

Hand, foot and mouth is a common childhood illness and rarely fatal, but it can cause fever, mouth sores and rashes with blisters.

There were possibly more than 2,000 children who had been infected by the disease, contradicting the official number of 277, since January, the report added, citing two doctors in Minquan People's Hospital.

Several officials had been punished for "failing to act" to contain the disease, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Calls to the Henan Health Bureau and Minquan local government went unanswered.

Xinhua said two toddlers died from hand, foot and mouth disease in neighbouring Shandong province. There were more than 502 cases in the city, a "high increase" from the same period last year, it said.

Earlier this year, a 17-month-old boy died of the disease in Lixin county in neighbouring Anhui province.

More than 40 Chinese children died in the spring of 2008 and thousands were infected when the illness was linked with enterovirus 71, which can cause a severe form of the disease characterised by high fever, paralysis and meningitis.

An outbreak in Fuyang, also in Anhui, was not made public until late April last year, provoking calls for officials to be sacked and triggering memories of the deadly SARS epidemic in 2003 that was also initially covered up.

Here is the link to the original report: Virus

more to come on this subject

China on high alert for virus that has killed 19 kids

2009-03-29T08:20:00.003-05:00

The following is being reported by GMA News:

BEIJING – China's health minister has urged medical workers to fan out across the country's rural areas to detect and prevent cases of hand, foot, and mouth disease, which has already killed 19 children this year, state media reported Sunday.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Chen Zhu told health officials to visit every village and household in the countryside to check for cases of the child virus, after health officials said Friday that more than 41,000 cases had been detected as of March 27.

The report said the virus has killed 19 children this year, one higher than the figure given on Friday.

The outbreak appears more widespread than in recent years, based on previously released data, with about twice the number of children infected compared to the same period last year.

Chen said in a teleconference Saturday that local health authorities should report such infections promptly to the ministry and that experts should be sent to help in places where the disease is prevalent, Xinhua reported.

The disease typically strikes infants and children, and while occasionally deadly, most cases are mild, with children recovering quickly after suffering little more than a fever and rash.

State media reported last year that the virus sickened 27,000 people and killed dozens in the first few months of 2008 before reports of outbreaks subsided in May. China's central Anhui was the worst-hit province with 26 deaths. It's not known how many died nationwide.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease is characterized by fever, mouth sores and a rash with blisters. It is spread by direct contact with nose and throat discharges, saliva, fluid from blisters, or the stool of infected persons. It is not related to hoof and mouth disease, which infects cattle, sheep and pigs.

Here is the link to the original story: Virus

Links to additional reports:

18 children fall victim to disease outbreak

China is facing a serious situation in the control of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) with 41,846 cases recorded so far this year as of Thursday, resulting in the deaths of 18 infants, a senior health official said on Friday.

"The epidemic is getting worse and infections are expected to peak between May and July," Deng Haihua, director of the information office of the Ministry of Health (MOH), told a press conference.

Contagious disease kills 18 kids in PRC

Highly infectious hand, foot and mouth disease has killed 18 children and infected nearly 42,000 in China this year, with the peak period still to come, a government official said yesterday.
"Currently the situation in our country on controlling the hand, foot and mouth disease is rather serious," health ministry spokesman Deng Haihua told journalists.

"The epidemic is in a stage of increasing... and we expect the peak period will come between May and June."

More to come...

Africanized Honey Bees

2009-03-28T20:06:00.004-05:00

The following was reported by the, East Valley Tribun.

Five emergency calls in five hours were enough to prompt fire officials here to put out word that bee season has arrived, and that it could be a busy one after a wet winter.

Bees swarm in the spring as groups break away from overcrowded colonies, often setting up hives in places that bring them in contact with people. That’s no small issue with aggressive Africanized honeybees established around Arizona.

“When you run into bees and there’s an actual attack, immediately call 911. Do not delay,” said Hugh Chase, a public information officer with the Phoenix Fire Department.

Kevin Hodgson, owner of The Beekeeper: Total Bee Control, joined Chase at a news conference last week to show bees and a honeycomb he’d removed that morning from a tree in a woman’s front yard. It’s been a busy season so far because of winter rain, he said.

“When it rains a lot, there’s more pollen and nectar on the plants,” he said. “That gives the bees a lot of food, which increases the number of swarms.”

Osman Kaftanoglu, project manager of the School of Life Sciences´ Honey Bee Research Laboratory at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic Campus in Mesa, said all indications point to many swarms this spring.

“It will be a busy bee season and there will be a lot of swarms this month and next month,” Kaftanoglu said. “Due to the winter rains there are a lot of flowers blooming this time of year.”

However, Diana Sammataro, a research entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, said it’s impossible to predict what will happen.

“There’s no way of knowing because no one is tracking where swarms come from,” Sammataro said. “Bee season depends on how many colonies there are in the winter, the climate and the location.”

Africanized honeybees are dangerous to humans and pets because they respond aggressively and in large numbers to perceived threats, making them far more dangerous than European honeybees. The so-called killer bees arrived in southern Arizona in 1993 and since have been found in every county.

Those who are attacked should run away from the bees or get inside buildings, closing doors behind them. Diving into a pool doesn’t help; the bees will wait for a person to surface.

Chase, with the Phoenix Fire Department, said the best protection is taking steps to avoid provoking bees, such as staying on hiking trails and not trying to take a closer look at a bee hive.

Here is the link to the original story: Bees

Here is an additional report:

Officials: Wet winter could make for a busy bee season

Here is the link to the above video report: Killer Bees

More information to come...

Cat Mutilations

2009-03-28T14:07:00.004-05:00

A few day's ago I posted an article on Cattle Mutilations. You can read that post at this link: Cattle

Today I came across a report about Cat Mutilations happening in Texas.

CORPUS CHRISTI TEXAS:

A cat was found mutilated with only its head and leg found in the Southside Tuesday night and a detective is currently investigating the crime.

According to CrimeStoppers, there have already been 13 cat mutilations in the city since April. Tuesday's cat mutilation happened on the 4200 block of Yorktown.

A man was riding his bike down the road when he spotted parts of a cat's body dumped on the ground. After his discovery, he immediately called police.

"The parts that we saw this morning was just the head, right behind the ears and one foreleg from the shoulder down," Veternarian Tom House with Animal Care Services said.

House said he wasn't sure what happened to the rest of the body.

He also said the straight cuts on the flesh and bone indicate the cuts were made by a knife or ax. He said he had seen six cats in the past two months that have been cut up in the same way. Since April, he had seen three other cats brought into Animal Care Services that appeared to have been part of a ritual mutilation with dissections done.

The incisions were made like those you'd see in an autopsy, he added.

"It was definitely a straight cut so it was not something that was done by another animal where there's anything that was ripped or torn," Field Supervisor Richard Gould said.

Residents in the neighborhood were shocked that was a cat killer on the loose.

"I had no idea that is cause for concern," resident Amanda Comstock said.

The mutilations began in 2006 and since then, several cats have disappeared or have been found mutilated.

Officials at Animal Care Services are recommending that people keep their cats indoors because Halloween isn't too far away.

Apparently, during September and October, Animal Care workers said they start to see more of the same type of crimes. Most of the cats that have been mutilated have been black and some have been white.

A detective was assigned to investigate the cat mutilations but no arrests have ever been made.

Here is the link to the original report: Cat

Here is a report from 2008

Mutilated Cat Found On City's South Side

I found a site that is encouraging people to sign a petition to stop Cat Mutilations and Murder in San Antonio.

This is from the site:

In recent months we have had a serious rash of cat (& some dog) mutilations and murders in San Antonio, TX USA. The latest was a black cat that had acid poured on its tail. In one neighborhood people found their pets cut into pieces on their front lawns. Black cats are the most frequent target, but other cats and some dogs have been tortured and murdered also.

Here is the link: Stop

Here is information on a 2007 case

Police solve cat mutilations mystery

After 16 family pets were mutilated in a North Texas community, police feared a budding serial killer was at large.

A team of detectives investigated and they believe they now have answers.

When Shaun Trotter looks at his seven-month-old kitten, he remembers another cat with the same markings, and the same precocious personality.

That cat darted through the door one evening this spring.

"About ten minutes later, we went out and tried looking for her and couldn't find her," said Trotter.

Her picture eventually joined a growing file of cats killed in the small town of DeCordova.

Many, like Trotter's cat, were found dead on the golf course.

"Around March of 2007, we started discovering, getting reports, of half cats that were being discovered at scenes in DeCordova," said Detective Johnny Rose of Hood County Sheriff's office.

The sheriff formed a team of investigators to figure out what was happening.

One of their biggest steps: secretly putting up cameras in the neighborhood around the golf course to figure out who, or what, was coming out at night.

"It's been shown in other studies of serial killers that they start out mutilating animals and gradually start with humans. So we were afraid they were going to graduate to killing humans," said Rose.

But the cameras found, sprinting past the light, predators, not humans.

This month, after hundreds of man hours, a forensics expert and a zoologist confirmed deputies' detectives' suspicions.

"[They] ruled the cats were being killed by predators, such as coyotes," Rose said.

In all, Rose blames 16 cat mutilations on the coyotes in DeCordova.

But while Rose is now confident of the culprits, he's less certain of how to keep them away.

As long as kittens here play outside, there will be coyotes waiting for them.

Here is the link: Solved

The following is from Earthfiles.com

On March 18, 2009, Corpus Cristi police investigated a cat found cut in half near the city’s Club Estates Elementary School on the south side of Corpus Christi. The cat was cut cleanly through its middle with a smooth incision. Its organs had been removed and were not at the scene. 31 cat mutilations have been reported to Corpus Christi police since April 2008. Twelve of those 31 cats have been found in the same general area on the south side of the city. Police have no suspects and have not made any arrests. Anyone with information, please call Corpus Christi CrimeStoppers at: 361-888-8477.

Over the years, recurring cycles of cat mutilations have been reported in England, Canada and many states in America. Texas has had repeated cat mutilations in Corpus Cristi, San Antonio, Austin, and Plano, Texas, an affluent suburb north of Dallas. In 1991, 1993 and the late 1990s, Texas police received dozens of reports about cats found cut in half, usually with the front half near the owners' yards or sidewalks. Plano Police Detective Mike Box also had missing reports on more than 80 domestic house cats that wore collars and I. D. tags, but were never found. Detective Box investigated satanic cult activities, but could not find any evidence that connected them to the mutilated and missing cats and other animals such as dogs.

Here is the link to the original article. Beware there is a photo of the mutilated cat: Story

More to come as I find new information.

Meningitis kills over 1,100 West Africans - WHO

2009-03-28T10:14:00.000-05:00

One third of the world’s stockpiled meningitis vaccine doses have been dispatched to West Africa where an outbreak has killed more than 1,100 people since January, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.

Meningitis is an infection of the thin lining that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. Infection rates in Africa tend to rise during the dry and hot period from January to May.

So far this year, the WHO said nearly 25,000 suspect cases have been reported across the “meningitis belt” that stretches from Senegal to Ethiopia, with 85 percent of those concentrated in Niger and Nigeria. WHO says 300 million people in that area are at risk of the disease every year.

The current epidemic is the biggest these countries have faced in the past five years,” said Fadela Chaib, a spokeswoman for the U.N. agency.

In response, more than 4 million meningitis vaccine doses - one third of the world’s emergency stockpile of 13 million doses - have been released to boost immunity levels in those two countries, she told a news briefing in Geneva.

In the past week alone, 171 people have died in Nigeria and about 30 in Niger from meningitis, which spreads mainly through kisses, sneezes, coughs, and in close living quarters, especially when people share cups, forks, and spoons.

“We will need a large amount of vaccines,” Chaib said. “The stockpile of vaccines is a limited one.”

MORTALITY RATE

The largest recorded meningitis outbreak in the African high-risk zone, where like polio the disease is endemic, occurred in 1996-1997 when an estimated 100,000 people were infected in Nigeria and 50,000 in Niger.

Symptoms include a stiff neck, fever, sensitivity to light, confusion, headaches and vomiting. About 5 to 10 percent of patients die within 24-48 hours of the onset of symptoms, even with quick diagnosis and therapy. Up to 20 percent of people who survive infection with bacterial meningitis suffer brain damage, hearing loss, or learning disability.

“During the dry season...because of dust winds and upper respiratory tract infections due to cold nights, the local immunity of the pharynx is diminished, increasing the risk of meningitis,” a WHO factsheet said. Population movements to pilgrimages and large markets also contribute to epidemics.

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation last year approved millions of dollars in funding to buy more meningitis vaccines for use during epidemics in Africa.

Those purchases should start soon, said a spokesman for the Geneva-based GAVI, which is backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and whose financing arm raises money for vaccine programmes through the sale of bonds in capital markets.

Meningitis vaccines are made by major pharmaceutical companies including Novartis and Wyeth.

Here is the link to the original story: Meningitis

Meningitis epidemic strikes

2009-03-28T09:38:00.004-05:00

More than 200 people have died of meningitis in the past week alone in Niger and Nigeria, according to the World Health Organization.

Before we look at the current situation let's take the time to ensure we know the basics:

What is Meningitis?

Meningitis is an infection of the fluid of a person's spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain. People sometimes refer to it as spinal meningitis. Meningitis is usually caused by a viral or bacterial infection. Knowing whether meningitis is caused by a virus or bacterium is important because the severity of illness and the treatment differ. Viral meningitis is generally less severe and resolves without specific treatment, while bacterial meningitis can be quite severe and may result in brain damage, hearing loss, or learning disability. For bacterial meningitis, it is also important to know which type of bacteria is causing the meningitis because antibiotics can prevent some types from spreading and infecting other people. Before the 1990s, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) was the leading cause of bacterial meningitis, but new vaccines being given to all children as part of their routine immunizations have reduced the occurrence of invasive disease due to H. influenzae. Today, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria meningitidis are the leading causes of bacterial meningitis.
Source: CDC

What are the signs and symptoms of meningitis?

High fever, headache, and stiff neck are common symptoms of meningitis in anyone over the age of 2 years. These symptoms can develop over several hours, or they may take 1 to 2 days. Other symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, discomfort looking into bright lights, confusion, and sleepiness. In newborns and small infants, the classic symptoms of fever, headache, and neck stiffness may be absent or difficult to detect, and the infant may only appear slow or inactive, or be irritable, have vomiting, or be feeding poorly. As the disease progresses, patients of any age may have seizures.
Source: CDC

How is meningitis diagnosed?

Early diagnosis and treatment are very important. If symptoms occur, the patient should see a doctor immediately. The diagnosis is usually made by growing bacteria from a sample of spinal fluid. The spinal fluid is obtained by performing a spinal tap, in which a needle is inserted into an area in the lower back where fluid in the spinal canal is readily accessible. Identification of the type of bacteria responsible is important for selection of correct antibiotics.

Can meningitis be treated?

Bacterial meningitis can be treated with a number of effective antibiotics. It is important, however, that treatment be started early in the course of the disease. Appropriate antibiotic treatment of most common types of bacterial meningitis should reduce the risk of dying from meningitis to below 15%, although the risk is higher among the elderly.

Is meningitis contagious?

Yes, some forms of bacterial meningitis are contagious. The bacteria are spread through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions (i.e., coughing, kissing). Fortunately, none of the bacteria that cause meningitis are as contagious as things like the common cold or the flu, and they are not spread by casual contact or by simply breathing the air where a person with meningitis has been.

However, sometimes the bacteria that cause meningitis have spread to other people who have had close or prolonged contact with a patient with meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitidis (also called meningococcal meningitis) or Hib. People in the same household or day-care center, or anyone with direct contact with a patient's oral secretions (such as a boyfriend or girlfriend) would be considered at increased risk of acquiring the infection. People who qualify as close contacts of a person with meningitis caused by N. meningitidis should receive antibiotics to prevent them from getting the disease. Antibiotics for contacts of a person with Hib meningitis disease are no longer recommended if all contacts 4 years of age or younger are fully vaccinated against Hib disease

Source: CDC

Let's return to the current situation:

LAGOS, Nigeria (CNN) -- More than 200 people have died of meningitis in the past week alone in Niger and Nigeria, according to the World Health Organization.

The disease is an epidemic in 76 areas of the two countries, the health agency reported Wednesday.

A spokesman for W.H.O. in Nigeria, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka, said Saturday that the outbreak is bigger than usual and stretches across the African meningitis belt from east- to west-sub-Saharan Africa.

The outbreak began around the start of the year, Soyinka told CNN. It usually peaks in the dry season because of dust, winds and cold nights, before dipping around May when the rains come, he said.

A shortage of vaccines means officials are relying on "effective prevention," in which they watch for outbreaks and then vaccinate people in the epicenter and surrounding areas, Soyinka told CNN.

There have been nearly 25,000 suspected cases and more than 1,500 deaths in the meningitis belt in the first 11 weeks of the year, W.H.O. reported. More than 85 percent of those cases happened in northern Nigeria and Niger.

Nigeria's Ministry of Health has reported 17,462 suspected cases of meningococcal disease, including 960 deaths, the world health agency said. In the past week, it reported 4,164 suspected cases with 171 deaths.

Sixty-six local government areas in Nigeria have crossed the epidemic threshold. Epidemic thresholds are a way the W.H.O. confirms the emergence of an epidemic so it can step up vaccinations and other management measures.

Niger's Ministry of Health has reported 4,513 suspected cases of meningococcal disease, including 169 deaths, since the start of the year. In the past week, 1,071 suspected cases and 30 deaths have been reported, the W.H.O. said.

Ten of Niger's 42 districts have crossed the epidemic threshold.

By comparison, other countries are reporting fewer than 50 cases a week.

Meningitis is an infection of the meninges, the thin lining that surrounds the brain and the spinal cord. Several different bacteria can cause meningitis but Neisseria meningitidis -- which is to blame for this outbreak -- is one of the most significant because of its potential to cause epidemics.

Health authorities have released 2.3 million doses of vaccine to Nigeria and 1.9 million doses to Niger, the W.H.O. said.

Here is the link to the original story: Nigeria

Here are additional reports about this story:

Meningitis Outbreak Grips Sub-Saharan Africa

The World Health Organization says Sub-Saharan Africa is in the grips of a meningitis outbreak. It says the two West African countries of Niger and Nigeria are the most heavily affected.

The World Health Organization reports nearly 25,000 suspected cases of meningitis, including more than 1,500 deaths, have been reported during the first 11 weeks of this year. WHO says 85 percent of the cases and deaths have occurred in Northern Nigeria and Niger.

Meningitis death toll reaches 960 in Nigeria; 17,000 people infected

GENEVA — The death toll from a severe outbreak of meningitis in Nigeria has risen to 960.

The World Health Organization says some 17,000 people have been infected with the disease since Jan. 1.

WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib says it is the first time there have been so many cases in northern Nigeria, an area she describes as being outside the usual African "meningitis belt."

Chaib says a total of 17,462 cases of meningitis have been reported in the three-month outbreak in Africa's most populous country and that the WHO and other agencies are helping to vaccinate people against the disease.

Meningitis kills more than 1100 West Africans: WHO

Cattle Mutilations

2009-03-27T11:21:00.007-05:00

A topic that shows up constantly around the Internet is Cattle Mutilations.

Let's take an in-depth look at the subject:

Cattle mutilation (also known as bovine excision[1]) is the apparent killing and then mutilation of cattle under unusual or anomalous circumstances. Sheep and horses have been allegedly mutilated under similar circumstances.

Since the time that reports of purported animal mutilations began, the causes have been attributed variously to natural decomposition, normal predators, cryptid predators, extraterrestrials, secretive governmental or military agencies, and cults. "Mutilations" have been the subject of two independent federal investigations in the United States.

Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cattle Mutilation Phenomena refers to thousands of cases in North America where cattle have been found mutilated under abnormal circumstances. Sheep, horses or even humans have also been similarly mutilated, according to some accounts. Many mutilated cattle have been found marked with fluorescent paint, probably to help identify them in the dark.

The cows are found dead (although the cause of death is undetermined), exsanguinated (all their blood has been removed). Precise "laser-precision" cuts are observed in the mutilated cattle. They have had certain organs surgically removed from their bodies. Often their reproductive and rectal organs have been removed.

Source: www.crystalinks.com

I did some searching and found this FBI report on the subject:

The material concerning the Animal Mutilation Project contains accounts of animal mutilations which were reported during the late 1970's. The FBI became involved when fifteen mutilations occurred in New Mexico. Various theories concerning the origins of the mutilations were explored by the FBI, including satanic cults, UFOs, pranksters, and natural predators. The investigation failed to identify any individuals responsible for the mutilations.

Here is the link to the 5 part report:

FBI

Latest Cattle Mutilation news reports:

Third cattle mutilation found in county Trinidad Times Independent - ‎14 hours ago

‎
A cattle was found mutilated on a ranch in northern Las Animas County last weekend, the third to be found in such a state this month.

The mutilated cow was owned by Jim Garren, and found at about 1:30 p.m. March 21 by his ranch manager on Garren's land located about 12.5 miles southeast of Walsenburg.

"Her udder had been surgically removed," Garren said. "And that's the extent...there wasn't any other trauma on the cow at all."

The two-and-a-half year old Kobe and Angus crossbreed had last been seen at feeding time the previous day. It had also given birth to a calf that night that was discovered hiding in the brush about 50 yards from the carcass.

Garren said that he noticed no tracks around the carcass. "No marks, no disturbance of any kind of the soil," he said. "She was partially underneath a juniper tree, and there was no breakage in the tree, no branches or anything; it just looked like the cow had laid down very peacefully; there was no trauma on the cow, on her head or any parts of her body, we could find zero holes."

Garren added, "There wasn't any blood around anywhere."

Asked if he was aware of the other cattle mutilations that have taken place around the county recently, Garren replied, "Yeah, I just didn't think it would happen to me; guess I got elected."

Garren contacted authorities after discovering the carcass and was put in touch with the local brand inspector.

The first of the new wave of cattle mutilations reported in Las Animas County occurred March 8 to a cow owned by Trinidad School District No. 1 instructor Mike Duran. That cow had been discovered by Duran lying dead on its side by a stream at his winter grazing pastures west of Weston, it's udder and uterus removed. The second mutilation, a week old calf, was discovered March 17 by owner Tom Miller on his ranch east of Hoehne.

Miller reported that the only things left on the calf was some hide, the forelegs and its neck and head. "All the rest of the organs were gone...you could look right into the ribcage and everything," Miller said during a previous interview, adding that the hipbones on the calf were also broken.

Miller and Duran both reported a previous mutilation as having occurred in their herds in the mid-to-late 1990s. Garren said the March 21 mutilation was his first.

"He probably picked my best bred heifer out of the whole herd," Garren said. "That's the way it goes; when you lose one it's your best one."

Through the county's brand inspector Garren was put in touch with Chuck Zukowski, a field investigator from the Mutual UFO Network who also investigated the Duran and Miller mutilations.

"What was interesting about the Garren mutilation is that the stomach tissue was still there," Zukowski said. "You figure if a predator would get it, it would not only go for the udder but also take the stomach tissue."

Zukowski noted that predators seemed to have gotten to the carcass somewhat the following night, but that pictures taken upon discovery of the carcass that afternoon showed it untouched.

"It was just completely incomprehensible how anything or a body, person or whatever would have the ability to do that without leaving some sort of signatures around," Garren said.

Here are more recent reports:

Two more cows found mutilated

Two more Southern Colorado ranchers say they have discovered cows mutilated under strange circumstances.

A cow on a ranch near Walsenburg was found with its udders cut off and a calf on a ranch near Trinidad was found missing the entire center of its body as well as its ears.

A similar mutilation was discovered March 8 on a pasture near the Purgatoire River, just west of the small town of Weston. That cow was found dead by rancher Mike Duran with its udders and reproductive organs surgically removed from its body.

Mutilated Cows Still A Big Mystery

WALSENBURG - In the past month, three different ranchers in Southern Colorado have all reported that their cows were mutilated.

The first was reported at the Purgatoire River near Weston, ten days later, another report came in, this time in Trinidad. And the most recent case came last Sunday, when yet another cow was found dead near Walsenburg.

Three Separate cows, three separate ranchers...all with the same bizarre story. Each of them found one of their cows' dead...and we're not talking death by natural causes...the cows were reportedly mutilated. NEWSCHANNEL 13 received pictured to prove it, some of them are too disturbing to show.

Then we have this report:

Colorado rancher blames aliens for cattle mutilations

There are many theories to who is reponsible for the mutilations:

Here are a few

Cults
Closely related to the deviant hypothesis is the hypothesis that cattle mutilations are the result of cult activity.[19] However, contrary to the deviancy hypothesis, which holds that cattle are mutilated at random by individual deviants, the cult hypothesis holds that cattle mutilations are coordinated acts of ritual sacrifice carried out by organized groups.

Beliefs held by proponents of the cult hypothesis vary, but may include:

That the apparent absence of blood at mutilation sites may indicate cult members drink it

That organs have been removed from cattle for use in rituals

That unborn calves have been harvested from mutilated cattle.

The hypothesis that cults were responsible for cattle mutilation was developed in the U.S. during the 1970s, a time of growing national concern over cults issues

It became a social phenomenon in areas where cattle were being mutilated and there were several panics when it was claimed that cattle mutilations were a 'warm up' in preparation for human sacrifices

Source: Wikipedia

The next theory is:

Government/military experimentation

In his 1997 article “Dead Cows I've Known”[26], cattle mutilation researcher Charles T Oliphant speculates cattle mutilation to be the result of covert research into emerging cattle diseases, and the possibility they could be transmitted to humans.

Oliphant posits the NIH, CDC, or other federally funded bodies, may be involved, and they are supported by the US military. Part of his hypothesis is based on allegations that human pharmaceuticals have been found in mutilated cattle, and on the necropsies that show cattle mutilations commonly involve areas of the animal that relate to “input, output and reproduction”. To support his hypothesis, Oliphant cites a previous case in which plain clothes military officers, traveling in unmarked vehicles, entered a research facility in Reston, Virginia to secretly retrieve and destroy animals that were contaminated with a highly infectious disease.

Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Then we have:

Aliens and UFOs

Various hypotheses suggest cattle mutilations have been committed by aliens gathering genetic material for unknown purposes. Most of these hypotheses are based on the premise that earthly entities could not perform such clean dissections in such a short space of time without being seen or leaving evidence behind at the mutilation site, and around laboratory reports suggesting the use of unconventional cutting tools and other unexpected phenomena.
Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Many people are very skeptical of such theories:

cattle mutiliation - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com

The Straight Dope: What's the story with cattle mutilations?

New wheat disease could spread faster than originally thought

2009-03-26T18:30:00.001-05:00

EOnow.com reported the following:

CORVALLIS - A study by Oregon State University and other institutions has shown that wind-borne human and plant diseases have the potential to spread far more rapidly than previously understood.

The findings, which were published in "The American Naturalist," pose serious concerns for some diseases, including a new fungus that threatens global wheat production.

"It's now becoming clear that some types of diseases can spread more rapidly and widely than we anticipated," said Chris Mundt, a professor of plant pathology at OSU. "This makes it especially important, in some cases, to stop a spreading disease quickly if you hope to stop it at all."

The studies help to explain, for example, how West Nile Virus spread so rapidly across the United States when experts expected a slow, methodical progression. They also aid the analysis of historic diseases, such as the potato blight that led to the Irish potato famine in the mid-1840s.

Researchers used stripe rust, a wheat disease that has spores that can spread on the wind, as a model to help explain how wind-borne pathogens can move. Mundt, an international expert on pathogens of several important food crops, has studied stripe rust for years.

"If we didn't have crops that could resist wheat stem rust, we pretty much wouldn't have a wheat industry," Mundt said. "From this pathogen we've learned a lot about plant disease resistance in general, and also how pathogens can move and spread. And this new study confirms that it is crucial to get prepared for the rapid spread of a new variety of wheat stem rust that appeared in Uganda in 1999."

That new type of wheat stem rust, Mundt said, has the potential to attack 75 percent of the world's known wheat varieties, and in a bad year might cause up to 50 percent crop losses in some parts of the world. Scientists are aware of the problem and are working on developing resistant wheat varieties, Mundt added.

"We don't want to suggest that the sky is falling, but major losses could occur if the right set of conditions converges," Mundt said. "This is something that we shouldn't take a chance on. It's already spread to Iran, and the new research shows that its global spread may be about to pick up speed."

Most plant and animal diseases that are spread by contact or close proximity tend to move in a fairly predictable and constant rate of speed, researchers say. However, a significant number of pathogens can be borne by wind-carried spores or migrating birds. In those cases, even though only small amounts of an invading pathogen may show up at any one remote spot, it has the potential to get a foothold and spread rapidly at this distant location - giving the invading pathogen the ability to literally accelerate as the epidemic spreads.

In just two years from 2004-06, the avian bird flu spread across parts of three continents in Africa, Europe and Asia, carried by migrating birds. From an initial source of infection in New York City in 1999, the West Nile Virus spread across most of North America within three years, and soon thereafter to the entire Western Hemisphere.

The spread of these diseases seems to follow very definable mathematical formulas, researchers found.

Here is the link to the original story:

Wheat

Man survived both atomic bombings

2009-03-25T11:25:00.004-05:00

Ever had a really bad day? I am not talking about a normal bad day but one that should be recorded in the history books?

Let me tell you about a day that tops all bad days!

Imagine it is August 6, 1945 and you are on a buisness trip in the city of Hiroshima! Everything is going ok until a US plane dropped the first atomic bomb.You suffer serious burns but are released the next day and travel back to your hometown, Nagasaki. You are thankful you survived. Then suddenly on August 9,1945 the US drops another atomic bomb! If that is not amzing enough consider this, you survice the second bombing as well! I know, you are thinking come on that is impossible. Meet Tsutomu Yamaguchi:

The following is from the BBC:

Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip on 6 August 1945 when a US plane dropped the first atomic bomb.

He suffered serious burns and spent a night there before returning to his home city of Nagasaki just before it was bombed on 9 August.

He said he hoped his experience held a lesson of peace for future generations.

'Horrifying history'

It was already recorded that Mr Yamaguchi had survived the Nagasaki bomb but on Tuesday officials recognised that he had been in Hiroshima as well.

Certification as a hibakusha or radiation survivor qualifies Japanese citizens for government compensation, including medical check-ups, and funeral costs.

His double dose of atomic bombs, however, does not mean Mr Yamaguchi's compensation will increase, a Nagasaki city official said.

"My double radiation exposure is now an official government record," Mr Yamaguchi told reporters.

"It can tell the younger generation the horrifying history of the atomic bombings even after I die."

About 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki.

Many survivors fell sick with radiation-related illnesses, including cancers, for years after the bombings.

Here is the link to the original story: Bomb

Deadly bacteria on EMS equipment

2009-03-24T22:15:00.002-05:00

My last two post have been about MRSA and some breaking news. I have been searching for more updates and I ended up finding this report:

News4 WOAI uncovers a new study that finds MRSA could be carried on about one-third of the stethoscopes used by Emergency Medical Service Workers.
Firefighters and EMT workers in San Antonio got an email today as a reminder to clean their instruments.

Stephen Schott has been an EMT for sixteen years and says every morning he scrubs down his ambulance and after every call, he cleans it again.

“There’s so many different patients and so many different medical conditions and germs that are out there. It really does need to be cleaned often.”

A new Reuters study claims an item used on every patient can easily be the carrier of the dangerous and deadly bacteria, MRSA. Dr. Craig Manifold, the Medical Director of the San Antonio Fire Department, explains the study to News4 WOAI.

“The particular study looked at the stethoscope, not something that we typically think of as an item that can be contaminated, but often goes from patient to patient. So I wanted to make sure that they’re aware and go through and refresh their minds on the cleaning processes.”

Manifold says simply wiping down the stethoscopes with alcohol or soap and water after each patient will stop the spread of the infection.

Here is the link to the original story: MRSA

Breakthrough in superbug fight

2009-03-24T22:04:00.004-05:00

My previous post was about breaking news dealing with MRSA. Here is an update to that story:

Experts from a university have developed a new way of fighting deadly hospital superbugs, it was revealed.

MRSA and similar infections that are resistant to antibiotics could be tackled following the breakthrough at Queen's University Belfast.

Special salts can be used to kill or prevent the growth of colonies of dangerous germs.

Martyn Earle, from Queen's, said: "Our goal is to design ionic liquids with the lowest possible toxicity to humans while wiping out colonies of bacteria that cause hospital-acquired infections."

There were 229 cases of MRSA in Northern Ireland in 2007, a slight reduction from the previous year. MRSA often strikes weak or elderly patients and can be a factor in their deaths. It can be passed between patients and visitors, and sufferers have to be isolated and special hygiene measures taken.

The development was carried out by eight researchers from the Queen's University Ionic Liquid Laboratories (Quill) centre.

Many types of bacteria, such as MRSA, exist in colonies that adhere to the surfaces of materials.

The colonies often form coatings, known as biofilms, that protect them from antiseptics, disinfectants, and antibiotics.

Assistant director at Quill Mr Earle added: "We have shown that, when pitted against the ionic liquids (salts) we developed and tested, biofilms offer little or no protection to MRSA, or to seven other infectious micro-organisms."

The Queen's work is being supported by an award from Invest NI.

Here is the link to the original story: MRSA

Someone posted a comment about the original story on MRSA. Here is what they wrote:

The Russians found a way to treat MRSA years ago.

Its just that the FDA that restricts there use in the US.

news.bbc.co.uk...

Bacteriophage's are used to treat many hard to treat bacterial infections in Russia and other countries.

Before penicillin they were commonly used in the US.

tahilla.typepad.com...
www.sciencedaily.com...
www.phageinternational.com...

The comments were posted at this link: ATS