AUGUST 2009

Today in History August 31, 2009
1852 - The first pre-stamped envelopes were created with legislation of the U.S. Congress.
1881 - The first tennis championships in the U.S. were played.
1887 - The kinetoscope was patented by Thomas Edison. The device was used to produce moving pictures.
1920 - The first news program to be broadcast on radio was aired. The station was 8MK in Detroit, MI.
1935 - The act of exporting U.S. arms to belligerents was prohibited by an act signed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1954 - 70 people were killed when Hurricane Carol hit the northeastern coast of the U.S. .
1964 - California officially became the most populated state in America.
1965 - The Department of Housing and Urban Development was created by the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.
1988 - A Delta Boeing 727 crashed during takeoff at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas. Fourteen people were killed in the accident that was later blamed on the crew's failure to set the wing flaps in their proper position.
1990 - East and West Germany signed a treaty that meant the harmonizing of political and legal systems.
1991 - In a "Solidarity Day" protest hundreds of thousands of union members marched in Washington, DC.
1992 - Randy Weaver, a white separatist, surrendered to authorities after an 11 day siege at his cabin in Naples, ID.
1997 - Princess Diana of Wales died at age 36 in a car crash in Paris. Her companion, Dodi Fayed, and their chauffeur were also killed.

Bill S.773 would give president emergency control of Internet -- Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet.

Silent Subliminal Mind Control -- United States Patent 5,159,703 Lowery October 27, 1992 - Silent Subliminal Presentation System. This invention relates in general to electronic audio signal processing and, in particular, to subliminal presentation techniques.

'Moon Rock' in Dutch Museum Is Fake -- The Dutch national museum said Thursday that one of its prized possessions, a rock supposedly brought back from the moon by U.S. astronauts, is just a piece of petrified wood. Read More...

The Massacre of Muslim Civilians is always: ‘Self-Defence’ but never Terrorism -- The Anglo-US-Israeli axis continues to market the murdering of Muslims civilians as the result of self-defence, through its media outlets.

Thought it couldn't happen? IOWA QUARANTINE ORDER -- The Iowa Department of Public Health (Department) has determined that you have had contact with a person with Novel Influenza A H1N1. Novel Influenza A H1N1 is a disease which is spread from person to person and is associated fever (greater than 100.0 F), cough, sore throat, rhinorrhea (runny nose), nasal congestion, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Novel Influenza A H1N1 presents a risk of serious harm to public health and if it spreads in the community severe public health consequences may result. The Department has determined that it is necessary to quarantine your movement to a specific facility to prevent further spread of this disease.

PENNSYLVANIA Emergency Health Powers Act HB-492 -- The Commonwealth must do more to protect the health, safety and general well-being of its citizens. (2) New and emerging dangers, including emergent and resurgent infectious diseases and incidents of civilian mass casualties, pose serious and immediate threats. (3) A renewed focus on the prevention, detection, management and containment of public health emergencies is called for.

Lockerbie bomber release "linked to oil deal" says report -- Britain agreed to include Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer deal with Libya because of "overwhelming interests" shortly before an oil deal was sealed with Tripoli, a newspaper reported on Sunday. Read More...

DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated, Scientists Show -- Scientists in Israel have demonstrated that it is possible to fabricate DNA evidence, undermining the credibility of what has been considered the gold standard of proof in criminal cases.

No-warrant terrorism raids proposed -- The Federal Government has unveiled plans to toughen its counter-terrorism laws, including a change to allow police to break into a suspect's home without getting approval from a judge.

Laser breakthrough opens door to DNA manipulation -- Laser Breakthrough Opens Door To DNA Manipulation.

Weekend bank failures -- Regulators have shut down banks in California, Maryland and Minnesota, pushing to 84 the number of bank failures this year amid the soured economy and rising loan defaults. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Friday it had taken over the three banks: Affinity Bank, based in Ventura, Calif., with about $1 billion in assets and $922 million in deposits; Baltimore-based Bradford Bank, with $452 million in assets and $383 million in deposits; and Mainstreet Bank, based in Forest Lake, Minn., with assets of $459 million and deposits of $434 million. The insurance fund (FDIC) has been so depleted by the epidemic of collapsing financial institutions that some analysts have warned it could sink into the red by the end of this year. The fund fell 20 percent to $10.4 billion at the end of June, the FDIC reported Thursday.

Meltdown 101: Why banks' struggles have worsened -- For any money in a failed bank's deposit accounts that exceeds the insured limits, you become essentially a creditor of the bank. You would eventually recover some of your money, but the amount can range from 40 cents on the dollar up to the full amount. Recovery of the money could take months.

Whirlpool to shut Indiana plant, cut 1,100 jobs -- Whirlpool Corp. announced Friday it will close its Evansville, Ind., factory next year, moving the plant's production of top-freezer refrigerators to a facility in Mexico. Comment: Wasn't NAFTA a blessing? I don't see any politicians jumping in to keep Whirlpool here. (Thanks Jimm)!!

Town Hall clash! Arrest threat over Obama joker poster -- A video of the town hall held earlier this week by Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., shows an unnamed protester standing on school grounds carrying a sign that read "Organizing for National Socialist Health Care – The Final Solution" and depicted Barack Obama in the Joker's makeup. Read More...

South Dakota Supreme court limits interrogation of travelers -- The South Dakota Supreme Court on Wednesday limited the ability of police to search and interrogate innocent interstate travelers absent a reasonable and articulable suspicion of wrongdoing.

Iraqi shoe thrower released from prison early for good behavior -- He has been in custody since the outburst on December 14 last year during a Bush news conference.

The Katrina videos that Congress did not want you to see

WHO warns of severe form of swine flu -- Doctors are reporting a severe form of swine flu that goes straight to the lungs, causing severe illness in otherwise healthy young people and requiring expensive hospital treatment, the World Health Organization said Friday.

Creators of H1N1 vaccine refuse to take it -- Journalist Wayne Madsen tells Russia today scientists involved in creating previous vaccinations are telling family and friends not to take the H1N1 vaccine. Madsen also warns that the government may make the vaccination mandatory.

New Flu Pandemic Game! Fluedo! -- The Flu Pandemic Game, which can be downloaded from the Department of Health’s website, is for three to 60 players, takes around 90 minutes and has chance cards much like Monopoly.

Return of swine flu-what's ahead for Americans -- The alarm sounded with two sneezy children in California in April. Just five months later, the never-before-seen swine flu has become the world's dominant strain of influenza, and it's putting a shockingly younger face on flu. So get ready.

Columbia says president has swine flu -- Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has contracted the H1N1 swine flu virus and is being treated by doctors while continuing to work from his residence, government spokesman Cesar Velasquez said on Sunday.

Early & current fears about vaccination -- If large numbers of confirmed Swine Flu deaths occur, contrary to compelling scientific reasons why they should not, then serious investigation is called for to determine if inoculations, not H1N1, caused them, and whether corporate greed and government complicity are behind a sinister plot to distract world attention from a deepening global depression, enrich drug companies hugely, and depopulate nations in numbers too horrifying to imagine - or as some observers put it, "depopulation by inoculation."

CT scans cause cancer -- A computed tomography (CT) scan can detect calcified plaque in coronary arteries. And because this calcium-laced plaque is believed to be associated with the presence of heart disease, CT scans are being widely advertised and hyped at many medical centers. Mostly, the scans are aimed at the healthy as a new must-have "preventive" test. Ads push the message that if the test shows you don't have heart disease, the worried well can breathe a sigh of relief and if calcified plaques do show up, they can begin medical treatment.

Anti swine flu shot website -- Welcome to NoShot.org, whether your researching more information about the H1N1 flu vaccination or stumbled across our site by accident we ask that you take a moment and read over what we've presented below. This concerns not only your health but the health of your loved ones too so it's worth the time. If you find us helpful than please pass along our URL so others may be informed as well. If you have any questions, comments, or information use the contact form at the bottom of the page.

Vaccination debate website

Operation fax to stop the vax campaign -- Consider this site central command for those ready to jump in and stop this sickening assault on humanity.

Flu shot or get fired -- About 25,000 Capital Region hospital workers need the state-mandated shield, and the area's top sites say comply or quit

Banks hiding Tsunami of foreclosures -- “I believe we are about to see a tsunami of foreclosures in the U.S. A lot of homes have been held back because if the banks are foreclosing on them they will have to do a writedown on the mortgages they have on their balance (sheets),” Karsbol told CNBC.

More on internment camps by Chuck Baldwin -- "We remain vulnerable to massive catastrophes in this country--natural or man-caused. We need to be prepared and FEMA with all its faults--BACKED BY THE MILITARY--is charged with this job." (Emphasis added.)

Fired from a $105,000 job for emailing a rense.com story -- "I live in Minneapolis. I was let go from my job (of TEN years) at Target Corp, Marketing over an article from rense.com which I e-mailed to a subordinate at work. This happened one year ago, and I'm just now starting to recover from the shock of it." Read More...

New browser red flags disputed facts on the web -- Developers of new web browsing software that flags questionable claims or outright lies on the web hope it will become a valuable tool to deal with the misinformation that litters the Internet.

Energy saving light bulbs offer dim future -- Energy saving light bulbs are not as bright as their traditional counterparts and claims about the amount of light they produce are "exaggerated", the European Union has admitted.

Acoustic weapons...death by cortisol -- Imagine an enemy that learns how to use your body’s natural defenses to kill you. And, by doing so, they can cause your death in a way that is untraceable and that will always be attributed to natural causes.

57% would like to replace entire Congress -- If they could vote to keep or replace the entire Congress, just 25% of voters nationwide would keep the current batch of legislators.

Today in History August 28, 2009
1609 - Delaware Bay was discovered by Henry Hudson.
1774 - The first American-born saint was born in New York City. Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton was canonized in 1975.
1830 - "The Tom Thumb" was demonstrated in Baltimore, MD. It was the first passenger-carrying train of its kind to be built in America.
1907 - "American Messenger Company" was started by two teenagers, Jim Casey and Claude Ryan. The companies name was later changed to "United Parcel Service."
1917 - Ten suffragists were arrested as they picketed the White House.
1922 - The first radio commercial aired on WEAF in New York City. The Queensboro Realty Company bought 10 minutes of time for $100.
1939 - The first successful flight of a jet-propelled airplane took place. The plane was a German Heinkel He 178.
1955 - Emmett Till was abducted from his uncle's home in Mississippi. Two white men had brutally murdered the black teen-ager after he supposedly whistled at a white woman.
1963 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his "I Have a Dream" speech at a civil rights rally in Washington, DC. More than 200,000 people attended.
1981 - John Hinckley, Jr. pled innocent to the charge of attempting to kill U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Hinckley was later acquitted by reason of insanity.
1981 - "The New York Daily News" published its final afternoon edition.
1986 - Jerry Whitworth, a retired Navy warrant officer, was convicted for his role in a Soviet spy ring. He was sentenced to 365 years in prison and fined $410,000.
1989 - Jim Bakker's fraud and conspiracy trial opened.
1991 - A subway operator in New York was charged with manslaughter after his train derailed, killing 5 people and injuring 133.
1994 - A DEA plane crashed in Peru killing 5 U.S. agents.
1995 - The biggest bank in the U.S. was created when Chase Manhattan and Chemical Bank announced their $10 billion deal.

Democratic Health Care Bill Divulges IRS Tax Data -- Section 431(a) of the bill says that the IRS must divulge taxpayer identity information, including the filing status, the modified adjusted gross income, the number of dependents, and "other information as is prescribed by" regulation. That information will be provided to the new Health Choices Commissioner and state health programs and used to determine who qualifies for "affordability credits."

Mock emergency drill tests readiness of Hillsborough volunteers -- Under the drill's fictitious scenario, nearly 400 volunteers came to the scene pretending to obtain bags of mock emergency supplies. Instead, the bags contained coupons for township restaurants and businesses.

1,000 Banks to Fail In Next Two Years says Bank CEO -- The US banking system will lose some 1,000 institutions over the next two years, said John Kanas, whose private equity firm bought Bank United of Florida in May.

Another Taser Death - Man Dies after L.A. Police Tasering -- The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says a man has died after a deputy shocked him three times with an electric stun gun at a San Fernando Valley subway station.

FBI investigating mystery laptops sent to governors -- The FBI is trying to figure out who sent five Hewlett-Packard laptop computers to West Virginia Governor Joe Mahchin a few weeks ago, with state officials worried that they may contain malicious software. HP laptops mysteriously were also ordered for officials in 10 states.

Socialist calls for US-style primaries in French ballot -- An American-style primary election open to all French voters will be organised by the Parti Socialiste (PS), the main opposition party, to pick the man or woman who will challenge President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2012.

Tamiflu turned children into hallucinating sobbing wrecks -- raging fevers, nightmares and hallucinations which plagued both our children until we decided they could take no more.

Experts field questions about novel flu vaccines for pregnant women -- Federal health officials today hosted a Web telecast to help pregnant women and new mothers prepare for an uptick in novel H1N1 flu infections, a day after a federal judge rejected an advocacy group's request to limit use of the H1N1 vaccine in pregnant women.

Judge rejects ban on use of vaccine in pregnant women -- -- A judge on Wednesday denied an advocacy group's bid to prevent the government from giving pregnant women flu vaccines with a preservative that contains mercury.

DHS funding police cameras that automatically check license plates -- Automated license plate scanners, which enable cops to quickly check whether passing cars warrant stopping, are the latest police tool to take advantage of available digital technologies—and stir up fears of Big Brother.

Newspaper slump deepens as 2Q ad sales fall 29 pct -- Newspapers' financial woes worsened in the second quarter as advertising sales shrank by 29 percent, leaving publishers with $2.8 billion less revenue than they had at the same time last year.

Misinformation linked to explosion of swine flu in US schools -- A high number of students at Sylacauga city schools are reporting being sick, but it appears to be a stomach virus doing most of the damage right now instead of the H1N1 strain of influenza that has worried health officials around the world.

Vaccine induced epidemic outbreaks -- Read the facts!

Defense officials prepare for H1N1 flu -- "We'll be getting vaccine the same time the highest priority groups are receiving their vaccine," said Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) Wayne Hachey, director of preventive medicine and surveillance in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs.

Toll road firms continue to lose millions -- Toll road giants Macquarie and Transurban lose millions as motorists continue to avoid toll roads.

MORE ON INTERNMENT CAMPS by Chuck Baldwin -- "Keep a wary eye out for anything that the federal government could use to encroach upon our liberties and freedoms--even reports of internment camps. If the reports are bogus, you've lost nothing; but if they are real, you could end up losing your liberty."

McCain speaks with angry crowd at Ariz. town hall -- Sen. John McCain met with an angry crowd at a town-hall meeting about health care reform Wednesday, sometimes having to fight to talk and telling one woman who wouldn't stop yelling that she had to leave.

Power is shut off as bills pile up -- More Americans are having their power shut off as the weak economy makes it harder to pay bills.

$49.9M US Contract for 300 Winchester Magnum Ammo -- ATK subsidiary Federal Cartridge Co. in Anoka, MN received a $49.9 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for .300 Winchester magnum ammunition. Maximum quantity is 80,100 boxes of 480 rounds each, minimum is 117 boxes. This ammunition will be used by U.S. forces engaged in combat, and by the US Navy in Match Team competition.

EDITORIAL: The government 'Death Book' -- Bureaucrats investigate what life is 'not worth living'....Read More....

5 First Steps to Deal With Debt -- The moves you need to make to get back to even.

Scientist warning of dangers of Monsanto herbicide get threatened

CDC turns to social sites to get flu message out -- U.S. health authorities are turning to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter in a bid to prepare people to be vaccinated against the pandemic H1N1 virus.

Lyme/Autism group blasts GM foods as dangerous -- Stop eating dangerous genetically modified (GM) foods! That's the upshot of the Lyme Induced Autism (LIA) Foundation's position paper released.

Foreclosure guilt haunts home buyers -- In most cases, folks who buy foreclosed properties never deal with the previous residents, but Jesse Chase, 30, of Las Vegas came home one day to find his life partner sitting with the woman who owned the house before her. The two were weeping. The previous owner had come by just to see her former home again.

US copter loses ballot boxes as Afghan vote count moves slowly forward -- As the count for Afghanistan’s hotly disputed election trudges along at a snail’s pace, a bit of excitement happened when the US military admitted that it had misplaced 25 ballot boxes it was shipping from Paroon to Kabul. Actually it didn’t so much misplace them as it dropped them, off a helicopter, into what officials are describing as "the rugged mountains of Nuristan."

Half of health workers reject swine flu shot -- About half of Hong Kong's health workers would refuse the swine flu vaccine, new research says, a trend that experts say would likely apply worldwide.

The fast food industry's 7 most heinous concoctions -- In this article, we'll name and shame the very worst offenders, whether they're 1,400-calorie hamburgers or 550-calorie cups of coffee. So let's get things rolling with …...

Here's another one for the "you've got to be kidding me" articles --  Giant microbe toys manufactured by toy company- wouldn't your child just love one of these to play with?

Some stupid news: Scientists ponder threat of a zombie attack

Vending machines take finger scans instead of cash -- Biometric scanners are popping up everywhere, and now Hitachi has debuted the first vending machine that will accept a finger scan instead of cash or coins. By linking the scan to a credit card account, customers can simply place their finger in the machine and purchase whichever snack goods they desire most. It’s probably the best reward you’ll ever get for giving a vending machine the finger.

No swine flu "crisis" plan for Copenhagen climate summit -- Denmark does not intend to establish an "emergency plan" for managing a major swine flu outbreak at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December, a Danish health official said Thursday.

Brisk July portends frigid snowy winter say experts -- Meteorologists at AccuWeather have a name for 2009: "Year Without True Summer." The worst part? It could lead to the truest of winters.

Mohammed Jawad: 'I was 12 when I was arrested and sent to Guantanamo' -- Sitting cross-legged on the cushioned floor of a family friend’s house, Mohammed Jawad furrowed his brow and fidgeted nervously as he struggled to explain his extraordinary ordeal over the past seven years.

DoD seeks panacea for pandemics -- DARPA/DSO is soliciting research proposals that seek to develop highly innovative approaches to counter any known, unknown, naturally occurring or engineered pathogen.

Fed urges secrecy on banks in bailout program...revealing the truth could collapse economy -- The U.S. Federal Reserve asked a federal judge not to enforce her order that it reveal the names of the banks that have participated in its emergency lending programs and the sums they received, saying such disclosure would threaten the companies and the economy.

Bee colony collapse disorder caused by several viruses -- An illness that has been decimating US honeybees for more than three years probably isn't caused by a single virus, but by multiple viruses that wear down the bees' ability to produce proteins that can guard them against infection, according to a new study.

Moon rock in Dutch museum is petrified wood  -- The Dutch national museum said Thursday that one of its prized possessions, a rock supposedly brought back from the moon by U.S. astronauts, is just a piece of petrified wood.


Today in History August 27, 2009
1660 - The books of John Milton were burned in London due to his attacks on King Charles II.
1858 - The first cabled news dispatch was sent and was published by "The New York Sun" newspaper. The story was about the peace demands of England and France being met by China.
1859 - The first oil well was successfully drilled in the U.S. by Colonel Edwin L. Drake near Titusville, PA.
1889 - Charles G. Conn received a patent for the metal clarinet.
1892 - The original Metropolitan Opera House in New York was seriously damaged by fire.
1894 - The Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act was passed by the U.S. Congress. The provision within for a graduated income tax was later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
1928 - The Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed by 15 countries in Paris. Later, 47 other nations would sign the pact.
1938 - Robert Frost, in a fit of jealousy, set fire to some papers to disrupt a poetry recital by another poet, Archibald MacLeish.
1962 - Mariner 2 was launched by the United States. In December of the same year the spacecraft flew past Venus. It was the first space probe to reach the vicinity of another planet. .
1984 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced that the first citizen to go into space would be a teacher. The teacher that was eventually chosen was Christa McAuliffe. She died in the Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986.
1985 - The Space Shuttle Discovery left for a seven-day mission in which three satellites were launched and another was repaired and redeployed.
1989 - The first U.S. commercial satellite rocket was launched. A British communications satellite was onboard.
1992 - Federal troops were ordered to Florida for emergency relief due to Hurricane Andrew. 2001 - The U.S. military announced that an Air Force RQ-1B "Predator" aircraft was lost over Iraq. It was reported that the unmanned aircraft "may have crashed or been shot down."
2001 - Work began on the future site of a World War II memorial on the U.S. capital's historic national Mall. The site is between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

Public "may refuse pandemic vaccine" -- Parents and healthcare workers may refuse to get immunized or vaccinate their children against a pandemic virus if they believe the risks of a novel vaccine outweigh the benefits, according to research published in Emerging Health Threats Journal.

Army's new bid to promote mental health-170 questions -- Come October, the service will require all its active duty, National Guard, and reserve soldiers to take a test that will help identify potential problem areas for soldiers. The 170-question test will look at physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and family issues and then recommend follow-on training as needed.

New Taliban leader 'ruthless' -- The Pakistani Taliban have appointed a new chief, militants said Saturday, selecting a top commander known for his ruthless efficiency in staging attacks, including a major hotel bombing and a deadly assault against the Sri Lankan cricket team.

Compulsory vaccination in America? Bill passes in Massachusetts - 30 days in jail or $1000 a day fine.

Glenn Beck's fear of Obama: Seize power overnight -- Will President Obama "seize power overnight" in a move to consolidate White House control of the U.S. government? That's the fear of Fox News anchor Glenn Beck who discussed the issue at length today with another broadcasting powerhouse, radio's Rush Limbaugh. Read More...

Statin drugs cause serious structural muscle damage -- New research shows that in some people statins cause serious structural damage to muscles.

FDA approves military flu testing on portable lab -- Military doctors can use a portable polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing device to diagnose novel H1N1 flu infections in troops overseas, the FDA announced.

Swine flu toy sold at CDC headquarters -- "You've got to be kidding me!" category!! The fuzzy, stuffed toy that resembles a microbe of the H1N1 virus, commonly know as "swine flu" is sold in the CDC's gift shop, along with several other toy versions of microbes.

CIA spies 'certified' with 2 weeks training -- With just two weeks of training, or about half the time it takes to become a truck driver, the CIA certified its spies as interrogation experts after 9/11 and handed them the keys to the most coercive tactics in the agency’s arsenal.

Real US unemployment rate at 16%: Fed official -- "If one considers the people who would like a job but have stopped looking -- so-called discouraged workers -- and those who are working fewer hours than they want, the unemployment rate would move from the official 9.4 percent to 16 percent, said Atlanta Fed chief Dennis Lockhart.

Files prove Pentagon is profiling reporters -- Contrary to the insistence of Pentagon officials this week that they are not rating the work of reporters covering U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Stars and Stripes has obtained documents that prove that reporters’ coverage is being graded as “positive,” “neutral” or “negative.”

Pentagon reporter screening crisis deepens -- The Pentagon has begun using a contractor to rate the attitudes of potential embedded reporters, according to the partially - government-funded Stars & Stripes newspaper.

Sibel Edmonds deposition: video & transcript released -- Long-gagged FBI whistleblower's full under-oath testimony from Ohio election case, details Congressional blackmail,  bribery, espionage, infiltration, more...

Breast cancer 'wonder drug' increases risk of rare tumour by 440% -- Breast cancer patients given tamoxifen are more than four times more likely to develop a more aggressive tumour than those not prescribed the drug, scientists have warned.

Setting the people up to die-a conspiracy of silence about swine flu natural remedies -- The absence of natural remedies information from virtually all the advice being handed out to the American public is increasingly suspicious. If a pandemic flu is, indeed, threatening to infect half the U.S. population, and if most of the population is deficient in a nutrient known to strongly prevent influenza infections, wouldn't it make good sense to make a few announcements encouraging Americans to raise their vitamin D levels throughout the coming winter?

When heated high fructose corn syrup can be dangerous -- Researchers have established the conditions that foster formation of potentially dangerous levels of a toxic substance in the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) often fed to honey bees.

DARPA seeks precision electronic warfare -- US military researchers are looking to build networks of small, low-power transmitter boxes which together can perform "surgical jamming" of digital signals - shutting down cellphones and sat nav receivers within an area "on the order of a city block corner".

Cellphones & brain tumors-15 reasons for concern -- This report provides information on scientific findings from studies on the risk of brain tumors from cellphone use. It includes studies independent of industry funding as well as telecommunications industry funded studies. Further, it includes background information on the soon to be published Telecom-funded Interphone study.

Bernanke Victimized by Identity Fraud Ring -- According to court documents, the Fed chairman and his wife were swindled in 2008 by a skilled team of crooks.

Mysterious tubular clouds defy explanation -- Similar tubular shaped clouds called roll clouds appear in various places around the globe. But nobody has yet figured out what causes the Morning Glory clouds.

CDC offers perspective on White House flu severity scenario -- A White House expert advisory group's report on influenza preparedness on Aug 24 contained many recommendations, such as appointing a flu czar, but its illness and death projections seem to be drawing most of the public's attention.

AFRICOM: Pentagon's first direct military intervention in Africa -- Until last October Africa was the only continent other than Australia and Antarctica without a U.S. military command. The fact that one has now been established indicates that Africa has achieved heightened importance for the Pentagon and its Western military allies.

Alex Jones website blocked under filter for ‘criminal skills’ content -- According to a tip to infowars.com, the Oregon County Library in Thayer, Missouri has classified [cached] this website, JonesReport.com, as ‘promoting’ criminal skills.

Satellites used to predict infectious disease outbreaks -- Rather than searching for weird weather or enemy missiles, some satellites are helping researchers to track—and predict—the spread of deadly diseases.

Maytag Refrigerator Recall Expanded Following More Overheating -- Maytag is expanding its March refrigerator recall to include an additional 46,000 Maytag, Magic Chef, Performa by Maytag and Crosley brand refrigerators. The original Maytag refrigerator recall was for 1.6 million refrigerators that posed a fire hazard.

Long range Taser that can be fired from a 12 gauge shotgun -- THE manufacturer of the Taser stun gun is sparking new controversy with the commercial launch of a long-range version that can be fired from a 12-bore shotgun.

Survey says travelers feel mistreated, misinformed & misled -- Read the top 10 issues as ranked as “most important” by this Consumer Travel Alliance poll of newsletter readers. Delayed/canceled flights and hidden fees/surcharges topped the list of issues.

Growing poverty & despair in America -- Annually, two - three million Americans, including 1.3 million children, experience homelessness and many more are at risk. Most vulnerable are those losing jobs, homes, and the millions of low-income workers paying 50% or more of their income in rent so that a missed paycheck, health emergency, or unexpected financial burden makes them vulnerable to homelessness at a time government aid is being cut.

Held in a psych ward for 11 days & declared delusional for saying 9-11 was an inside job -- "I was wrongly diagnosed as delusional by the psychiatric staff of Ward 7 at Northland Base Hospital and held against my will for 11 days, because I maintained that 9/11 was the work of criminal elements inside the US Administration. Not only did the staff not have their facts right or make an effort to look into what I was claiming, but they were contravening Section 4 of the Mental Health Act, which makes it clear that people can not be deemed to be mentally ill on the basis of their political beliefs."

Today in History August 26, 2009
1498 - Michelangelo was commissioned to make the "Pieta."
1743 - Antoine Lavoisier was born. He was the chemist that proved that the union of oxygen and other chemicals is used in burning, rusting of metals and breathing.
1842 - The first fiscal year was established by the U.S. Congress to start on July 1st.
1873 - Dr. Lee DeForest was born. He was the inventor of the Audion tube. The tube makes the broadcasting of sound possible.
1873 - The school board of St. Louis, MO, authorized the first U.S. public kindergarten.
1883 - A two-day eruption of the volcanic island Krakatoa began. The tidal waves that were associated with the eruption killed 36,000 people when they destroyed the island.
1920 - The 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect. The amendment prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in the voting booth.
1957 - The first Edsel made by the Ford Motor Company rolled out.
1973 - A U.S. Presidential Proclamation was declared that made August 26th Women's Equality Day.
1987 - The Fuller Brush Company announced plans to open two retail stores in Dallas, TX. The company that had sold its products door to door for 81 years.
1990 - The 55 Americans at the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait left Baghdad by car and headed for the Turkish border.
1998 - The U.S. government announced that they were investigating Microsoft in an attempt to discover if they "bullied" Intel into delaying new technology.

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY DIES AT AGE 77 -- Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal lion of the Senate and haunted bearer of the Camelot torch after two of his brothers fell to assassins' bullets, has died at his home in Hyannis Port after battling a brain tumor. He was 77. His family announced his death in a brief statement released early Wednesday.

34 Percent of U.S. Workers Surveyed Have Only One Week or Less of Savings to Cover Expenses if Laid Off from Work -- Despite the fact that most financial advisors caution workers to save the equivalent of six months’ salary in preparation for troubled economic times, a recent Monster Meter Poll reveals more than one-third of U.S. workers surveyed on Monster.com admit they have only one week or less of savings to cover living expenses if they were to be laid off from work.

As veterans await checks, VA workers get $24M bonuses -- Outside the Veterans Affairs Department, severely wounded veterans have faced financial hardship waiting for their first disability payment. Inside, money has been flowing in the form of $24 million in bonuses.

Veterans Wrongly Told They Have Fatal Disease -- Former Air Force reservist Gale Reid received a letter from the Veterans Affairs Department that told her she had Lou Gehrig's disease, and she immediately put herself through a battery of painful, expensive tests. Five days later, the VA said its "diagnosis" was a mistake.

Miami health center starts RFID soap monitoring -- RFID tags are being deployed at the University of Miami to report when doctors and nurses wash their hands, and let them know if their fingernails aren't clean.

CDC advice to parents: flu shots for all -- "We're going to continue to stress that the vaccine is the most important thing that parents can do to protect their children," said Tom Skinner, a CDC spokesman. This H1N1 vaccine should be taken in addition to the seasonal flu vaccine, and not as a replacement for it. (The seasonal flu vaccine, offered every fall, is recommended for people at risk for serious complications, including very young children, people older than 65, those with chronic health conditions and pregnant women.)

Man collapses with ruptured appendix...three weeks after NHS doctors 'took it out' -- After weeks of excruciating pain, Mark Wattson was understandably relieved to have his appendix taken out. Doctors told him the operation was a success and he was sent home. But only a month later the 35-year-old collapsed in agony and had to be taken back to Great Western Hospital in Swindon by ambulance. Guess what for...ruptored appendix!!

Post Office plans cuts via buyouts of up to 30,000 employees -- The U.S. Postal Service is offering buyouts to tens of thousands of employees as it faces financial losses caused by the recession, as well as changes in the way Americans communicate.

Drastic Measure? Officials Consider Early Roll-Out of Swine Flu Vaccine -- The government appears to be moving forward with an early roll-out of a vaccine against the H1N1 swine flu virus – even as trials to determine its safety, efficacy and proper dosage are still under way.

Bernanke’s Next Tasks Will Be Undoing His First -- As he looks forward to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke’s biggest challenge will be to undo much of what made him a hero during his first term.

Pittsburgh airport to run mock disaster drill -- The Pittsburgh International Airport is not only preparing for the upcoming G-20 Summit, they are getting ready for a rare mock disaster drill. The drill has nothing to do with the summit, but 30 crews will be responding to the staged scenario in which 100 people on a large aircraft are injured in an accident.

Geithner asks Congress for higher US debt limit -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner formally requested that Congress raise the $12.1 trillion statutory debt limit on Friday, saying that it could be breached as early as mid-October.

Waxman Takes on Drug Makers Over Medicare -- As the health care debate focuses on whether cost cuts are looming in Medicare coverage, Representative Henry A. Waxman is on a crusade to save Medicare billions of dollars — in a way that he says would end up helping the elderly.

Marines seek crowd blasting "venom" launcher -- The Marine Corps has issued an urgent request for a powerful non-lethal weapon that can fires volleys of 40mm grenades. And in parallel, the service is launching a push for a more futuristic version of the same weapon.

Troop support is KBR's bread & butter -- Logging more than 1 billion labor hours and supporting more than 100,000 troops are impressive feats at any time. Add growing revenues by the double digits amid an economic downturn, and it’s a wonder KBR Inc. isn’t laughing all the way to the bank.

1 crime solved for every 1,000 CCTV cameras senior official says -- Just one crime is solved a year by every 1,000 CCTV cameras in Britain's largest force area, it was claimed today.

The H1N1 Swine Flu Pandemic: Manipulating the Data to Justify a Worldwide Public Health Emergency -- The Atlanta based Center for Disease Control (CDC) acknowledged that what was being collected in the US were figures of "confirmed and probable cases". There was, however, no breakdown between "confirmed" and "probable". In fact, only a small percentage of the reported cases were "confirmed" by a laboratory test.

Federal Reserve loses suit demanding transparency -- A federal judge on Monday ruled against an effort by the U.S. Federal Reserve to block disclosure of companies that participated in and securities covered by a series of emergency funding programs as the global credit crisis began to intensify.

US Training Center run by Xe (formerly known as Blackwater) -- Training today to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

Possible leak detected at chemical weapons depot -- The Army says a low level of mustard agent has been detected in a building storing chemical weapons at the Pueblo Chemical Depot.

Ron Paul takes out the New World Order trash -- Comic: Ron Paul Cleans House in D.C.

Rex 84-your internment camp awaits you -- Did you know that the United States Army National Guard has been advertising job openings for “Internment Specialists?” Who would we be rounding up for internment, anyway? The United States hasn’t done that openly since Asian-Americans were forced into relocation camps during the World War II era.

CIA threatened to kill detainee families -- A newly declassified CIA report says interrogators threatened to kill family members of a man accused of planning the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The report, written in 2004 and released Monday by the U.S. Justice Department, said CIA officers told Khalid Sheikh Mohammed that if any other attacks happened in the United States, “we’re going to kill your children.”

Springfield Mass. to be under a period of martial law over crime rates -- (police chief said-police be allowed to operate under what he called "a short period of martial law." The move, over a period of 30 to 60 days, would give police the power to sweep all the illegal guns in the city) Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, in a press conference Monday afternoon at police headquarters, said there will be additional patrols by officers on foot and in cruisers all hours of the day.

Sunscreen may be linked to Alzheimer's -- University of Ulster says two of its experts have been awarded £350,000 by the European Union to explore the possible links between the sunscreen and the brain disease.

2009 makes Orwell's 1984 look harmless say 2 German authors -- "The only danger which terrorism really poses is the way in which our society has reacted to it," said writer Ilija Trojanow at the official launch of his book Attack on Freedom. Read More...


Today in History August 25, 2009
1718 - Hundreds of colonists from France arrived in Louisiana. Some settled in present-day New Orleans.
1814 - The U.S. Library of Congress was destroyed by British forces.
1840 - Joseph Gibbons received a patent for the seeding machine.
1916 - The National Park Service was established as part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
1920 - The first airplane to fly from New York to Alaska arrived in Nome.
1921 - The U.S. signed a peace treaty with Germany.
1940 - Arno Rudolphi and Ann Hayward were married while suspended in parachutes at the World’s Fair in New York City.
1941 - U.S. President Roosevelt signed the bill appropriating funds for construction of the Pentagon.
1950 - U.S. President Truman ordered the seizure of U.S. railroads to avert a strike.
1972 - In Great Britain, computerized axial tomography (CAT scan) was introduced.
1981 - The U.S. Voyager 2 sent back pictures and data about Saturn. The craft came within 63,000 miles of the planet.
1992 - It was reported by researchers that cigarette smoking significantly increased the risk of developing cataracts.
1993 - Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman was indicted by a federal grand jury for terrorist activities, one of which was the World Trade Center bombing.
1993 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 3,652.09, an all-time high.
1997 - The tobacco industry agreed to an $11.3 billion settlement with the state of Florida.
1998 - A survey released said that 1/3 of Americans use the Internet.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for Aug. 25, 2009

Re-mix of ‘9/11 building 7’ by Martin Noakes & Tim Jones -- Toronto producers "SO OUT THERE" have released one of the most controversial dance tracks to hit the floors this summer which is FREE for download. Their latest song 9/11 What Went Down With Building 7? was written to support the massive growth of the global 9/11 Truth Movement - individuals and organizations questioning the mainstream interpretation of September 11th 2001. Check out the video and music on the site.  DOWNLOAD HERE!

VA Simplifies Rules for PTSD -- The VA is publishing a proposed regulation today in the Federal Register to make it easier for a Veteran to claim service connection for PTSD by reducing the evidence needed if the stressor claimed by a Veteran is related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity. Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted over the next 60 days. A final regulation will be published after consideration of all comments received.

SPLC Report: Return of the Militias -- The total report can be downloaded in the right side box or click here.

It FINALLY made the news: 1,200 Gulf War Veterans Wrongly Told They Have ALS -- At least 1,200 Gulf War veterans across the country have been mistakenly notified by the Veterans Administration that they suffer from a fatal neurological disease.

MANDATORY VACCINATIONS? TELL FEDS AND STATES TO 'STICK IT' by Devvy Kidd

Exposed: The swine flu hoax -- The alarm has been sounded. Politicians, pharmaceutical executives and media conglomerates would have us believe that a 1918-style pandemic is a real threat. The 1918 pandemic, however, evolved out of conditions unique to World War I, for four specific reasons.

Hundreds of 9-11 first responders dying of cancer -- 85 per cent of first responders are suffering from lung diseases which they say were caused by the huge clouds of dust. Those people are now calling on the state for medical support. So far the US government has refused to help.

Rhode Island to shut down state government for 12 days -- Rhode Island will shut down its state government for 12 days and trim millions of dollars in funding for local governments under a plan Gov. Don Carcieri proposed Monday to balance a budget hammered by surging unemployment and plummeting tax revenue.

First it was Cash for Clunkers - Latest in stimulus: Cash for refrigerators -- A $300 million cash-for-clunkers-type federal program to boost sales of energy-efficient home appliances provides a glimmer of hope for beleaguered makers of washing machines and dishwashers, but it's probably not enough to lift companies such as Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR - News) and Electrolux out of the worst down cycle in the sector's history.

Homelessness grows in shadow of White House -- The nation's capital has one of the worst chronic homelessness problems in the nation and almost triple the number of homeless per 10,000 people as the national average, according to 2007 statistics from the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

First lady now requires 26 servants -- The annual cost to taxpayers for such unprecedented attention is approximately $1,750,000 without taking into account the expense of the lavish benefit packages afforded to every attendant. She is served by twenty-six attendants, including a hair dresser and make-up artist.

"Don't Inject Me" swine flu vaccine song & video by Mike Adams -- Check it out!!

When swine flu brings in big money -- Never in history has there been an attempt to vaccinate so many people in so short a period of time.

Radioactive wreckage, land mines plague Iraq -- Radioactive wreckage and tens of millions of landmines still blight Iraq after decades of war and the deadly violence that engulfed the nation after the 2003 invasion, the environment minister has said.

Presidential panel calls for planning czar, faster vaccine (what? Another czar?) -- A White House expert advisory group today released a report calling for the Obama Administration to accelerate novel H1N1 vaccination preparation for high-risk Americans and appoint a White House pandemic preparedness point person, among other recommendations.

Panel urges HHS to prepare for vaccine safety concerns -- An advisory committee today called on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to be ready to respond quickly to safety concerns that may emerge during this fall's novel H1N1 influenza vaccination campaign.

Most GPs may reject swine flu vaccine -- Up to 60% of GPs may choose not to be vaccinated against swine flu, with many concerned about the safety of the vaccine, a GP newspaper survey suggests.

Montana firearms freedom act -- The primary purpose of the MFFA is to set up a legal challenge to federal power under the commerce clause. MSSA and SAF expect to mount this legal challenge by filing a suit for a declaratory judgment to test the principles of the MFFA in federal court on October 1st, the day the Montana law becomes effective.

Social Security payments to shrink for the first time in a generation -- Millions of older people face shrinking Social Security checks next year, the first time in a generation that payments would not rise.

Detox & Cleanse with raw apple cider vinegar -- The cleansing properties of apple cider vinegar have been utilized for centuries. Eastern medicine teaches us that apple cider vinegar can help stimulate circulation and aid detoxification in the liver. Ancient cultures often used apple cider vinegar to purify the blood. Today we are exposed to more toxins than ever before, so it's become even more important that we take care of our bodies by detoxing with natural medicinal foods like apple cider vinegar.

Fed must release data on emergency loans judge says -- The Federal Reserve must make records about emergency lending to financial institutions public within five days because it failed to convince a judge the documents should be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.

Vegetable gardens help morale grow -- Employer-sponsored gardens can be a cheap and easy way to boost workers' morale, relate better to certain customers and expand a company's health and wellness program.

Hundreds of I-35 bridge collapse suits await trial -- It has been more than two years since the Interstate-35W bridge in Minneapolis suddenly collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people and injuring 145 others, and yet scores of lawsuits filed against firms involved in the bridge’s design and upkeep are just getting under way.

More Americans abusing attention deficit disorder drugs -- It's a new form of drug abuse that is soaring among teenagers -- abuse of prescription drugs. Attention-deficit pills seem to be the drug of choice.

Mexican Army takes over customs at US border -- Mexico's Army took control of customs Sunday on the busy US border, as federal authorities pulled agents off the job in a massive anti-corruption shakeup, officials told AFP.

NASA photos: Cities at night

Codex Alimentaruis threatens human health -- The main purposes of this Programme are protecting health of the consumers and ensuring fair trade practices in the food trade, and promoting coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organizations."

$1000 Per Day Fine And 30 Days In Jail For Refusing The Swine Flu Vaccine In Massachusetts? -- A new law just passed in Massachusetts imposes fines of up to $1000 per day and up to a 30 day jail sentence for not obeying authorities during a public health emergency. So if you are instructed to take the swine flu vaccine in Massachusetts and you refuse, you could be facing fines that will bankrupt you and a prison sentence on top of that. See the YouTube video on this website of a news report about this disturbing new law.

Experts concerned about dangers of antibacterial products -- Canadian Medical Association calls on the federal government to ban all antibacterial household products because of fears they cause bacterial resistance.

Feds to steal state pension funds -- Congress may confiscate every state pension fund into the bankrupt social security system. Indications that this strategy is being discussed in Washington have come in to us from several sources over the last few days.

National Interoperability Field Operations Guide - Scanner frequencies for emergencies

Today in History August 24, 2009
0079 - Mount Vesuvius erupted killing approximately 20,000 people. The cities of Pompeii, Stabiae and Herculaneum were buried in volcanic ash.
1456 - The printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed.
1814 - Washington, DC, was invaded by British forces that set fire to the White House and Capitol.
1853 - The first convention of the American Pharmaceutical Association was held.
1867 - Johns Hopkins died. The railroad millionaire left $7.5 million in his will for the founding of a new medical school in his name.
1869 - A patent for the waffle iron was received by Cornelius Swarthout.
1880 - Joshua Lionel Cowen was born. He was the inventor of the toy electric train.
1891 - Thomas Edison applied patents for the kinetoscope and kinetograph (U.S. Pats. 493,426 and 589,168).
1932 - Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the U.S. non-stop. The trip from Los Angeles, CA to Newark, NJ, took about 19 hours.
1949 - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) went into effect. The agreement was that an attack against on one of the parties would be considered "an attack against them all."
1954 - The Communist Party was virtually outlawed in the U.S. when the Communist Control Act went into effect.
1970 - A bomb went off at the University of Wisconsin's Army Math Research Center in Madison, WI. The bomb that killed Robert Fassnacht was set by anti-war extremists.
1986 - Frontier Airlines shut down. Thousands of people were left stranded.
1990 - Iraqi troops surrounded foreign missions in Kuwait. .
1992 - Hurricane Andrew hit southern Florida causing 55 deaths in the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana.
1998 - A donation of 24 beads was made, from three parties, to the Indian Museum of North America at the Crazy Horse Memorial. The beads are said to be those that were used in 1626 to buy Manhattan from the Indians.
2001 - The remains of nine American servicemen killed in the Korean War were returned to the U.S. The bodies were found about 60 miles north of Pyongyang. It was estimated that it would be a year before the identies of the soldiers would be known
2005 - The planet Pluto was reclassified as a "dwarf planet" by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Pluto's status was changed due to the IAU's new rules for an object qualifying as a planet. Pluto met two of the three rules because it orbits the sun and is large enough to assume a nearly round shape. However, since Pluto has an oblong orbit and overlaps the orbit of Neptune it disqualified Pluto as a planet.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for Aug. 24

As veterans await checks, VA workers get $24M bonuses -- Outside the Veterans Affairs Department, severely wounded veterans have faced financial hardship waiting for their first disability payment. Inside, money has been flowing in the form of $24 million in bonuses.

Specter Calls for Hearings on End-of-Life Care Guide for Veterans -- Sen. Arlen Specter on Sunday called for hearings to scrutinize a guide for veterans' end-of-life care which one former Bush official says sends a "hurry-up-and-die" message to injured troops. The guide, called "Your Life, Your Choices," was suspended under the Bush administration but has been revived under the current Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Death Book for Veterans -- Who is the primary author of this workbook? Dr. Robert Pearlman, chief of ethics evaluation for the center, a man who in 1996 advocated for physician-assisted suicide in Vacco v. Quill before the U.S. Supreme Court and is known for his support of health-care rationing. "Your Life, Your Choices" presents end-of-life choices in a way aimed at steering users toward predetermined conclusions, much like a political "push poll." For example, a worksheet on page 21 lists various scenarios and asks users to then decide whether their own life would be "not worth living."

Social Utility: How Much Are Grandpa and Grandma Worth? By Russell L. Blaylock, M.D. -- "We can honestly say that it was the labor of our seniors that built this great country, so how can be betray them now? Even worse is that we are telling them that we don’t even care that they are suf­fering during their last days and that they are aware that relief of their suf­fering exist, but they cannot have it?—?the money, they are told, would be better spent on edu­ca­tional pro­grams, studies of global cli­mate change and a plethora of other socialist dreams. If we let this happen, we should hold our heads in shame."

It's Official, More Than A Million U.S. Gulf War Troops Dead and Disabled -- According to an official Department of Veterans Affairs Gulf war Information Systems Report dated August 2007, more than THREE AND A HALF MILLION U.S. troops who took part in the Gulf War since 1990 are dead or disabled.

Swine flu conference in Washington DC predicts end of the USA as a result of swine flu pandemic -- Every day the mainstream media in the US and around the world hypes the threat of the so-called swine flu and spends acres of words on every alleged fatality. And yet not one mainstream media outlet has covered the first INTERNATIONAL Swine Flu Conference, which finishes today 21st August in Washington DC.

Substitute House Bill No. 6200 - Public Act No. 09-128 - AN ACT CONCERNING THE USE OF LONG-TERM ANTIBIOTICS FOR THE TREATMENT OF LYME DISEASE -- Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 20-8a and 20-13e of the general statutes, on and after said date, the Department of Public Health shall not initiate a disciplinary action against a licensed physician and such physician shall not be subject to disciplinary action by the Connecticut Medical Examining Board solely for prescribing, administering or dispensing long-term antibiotic therapy to a patient clinically diagnosed with Lyme disease, provided such clinical diagnosis and treatment has been documented in the patient's medical record by such licensed physician.

VACCINATION LAWS -- The purpose of this page is simply to provide reproductions of and links to various federal and state laws and regulations concerning vaccinations of citizens in the event of pandemics, particularly the predicted "swine flu" episode for this fall. There appears to be great interest at present regarding this matter, yet there is no readily available source where an interested American can actually read the relevant laws for every jurisdiction. The author has been primarily concerned with compiling those laws that actually subject a citizen to forced innoculations.

Nearly One in Two Mortgages in Ohio is Underwater or Close to it -- Ohio joins California, Florida, New Jersey, Illinois and Arizona as the top states in the nation with the most number of properties either in or approaching negative equity position, according to the report.

Lockerbie was Mossad “false flag” operation -- Both the ZOG administrations in Washington and London have expressed their displeasure over the hero welcome given to the so- called “Lockerbie bomber”, Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi by his countrymen in Libya. Read More...

VIDEO: Town Hall Meeting with U.S. Congressman Brian Baird -- Marine voices his concern at Town Hall Meeting! He was one questioner out of 38, that was called at random from an audience that started at 3,000 earlier in the evening.

Sen. Lieberman: Postpone Universal Healthcare -- One of the Senate's most powerful Democrats said Sunday that President Obama should take an "incremental" approach to fixing health care and argued that the country should postpone adding nearly 50 million new patients to the government system until after the recession is over.

USDA Says Biotech Is Compatible with Organic -- The organic movement rejects biotechnology as inherently contradictory to its fundamental goal of promoting environmental protection in agriculture.

Heart disease warning over cholesterol found in junk food -- A form of junk food cholesterol virtually unknown to the public may pose the biggest threat of heart disease, research suggests.

The vaccines are far more deadly than the swine flu -- What worries the public most is the mass vaccination programmes governments are putting in place to combat the emerging pandemic, which could well be worse than the pandemic itself.

Swine flu campaign waits on vaccine -- Government health officials are mobilizing to launch a massive swine flu vaccination campaign this fall that is unprecedented in its scope -- and in the potential for complications. Government hopes to vaccinate half the population.
Related Article: Swine flu: Who will get vaccinated first?

Does virus vaccine increase the risk of cancer? -- The swine flu vaccine has been hit by new cancer fears after a German health expert gave a shock warning about its safety. Some people fear that the risk of cancer could be increased by injecting the cells.

Next step in H1N1 scare: Microchip implants -- A Florida-based company that boasts selling the world's first and only federally approved radio microchip for implanting in humans is now turning its development branch toward "emergency preparedness," hoping to produce an implant that can automatically detect in its host's bloodstream the presence of swine flu or other viruses deemed a "bio-threat."

WHO predicts 'explosion' of swine flu cases -- The global spread of swine flu will endanger more lives as it speeds up in coming months and governments must boost preparations for a swift response, the World Health Organization said Friday.

UN AGENDA 21: Cap and Trade Calls for Productive U.S. Farmland to be Converted -- New forests would spread across the American landscape, replacing both pasture and farm fields, under a congressional plan to confront climate change, an Environmental Protection Agency analysis shows. About 18 million acres of new trees — roughly the size of West Virginia — would be planted by 2020, according to an EPA analysis of a climate bill passed by the House of Representatives in June.

20 Foods That Make You Smarter -- Here are some healthy, environmentally friendly ways to kick-start your brain.

Farmers suing German-based Bayer Cropscience over genetically engineered strain of rice -- Nearly 1,500 rice farmers are suing the German conglomerate Bayer Cropscience and affiliated companies over a genetically engineered strain of rice. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Little Rock claims the farmers' crops were corrupted by the rice that was produced by Bayer. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in August 2006 that traces of an unapproved genetically engineered rice had been found in U.S. supplies of long-grain rice. The lawsuit says Bayer and Riceland Foods Inc. confirmed the traces in early 2006 but didn't tell farmers, the government or the public until July or August.

Clock ticks down on a deadly chemical stockpile -- Efforts have been stepped up at the Blue Grass Army Depot to wipe out the last of the U.S. chemical weapons' stockpile. But disposal isn't expected to be completed until 2021, well past deadlines.

If it's Friday, there must be a bank failure somewhere - The first time a foreign bank has bought a failed U.S. bank - Large Texas bank shut down by federal regulators -- Guaranty Bank became the second-largest U.S. bank to fail this year after the Texas lender was shut down by regulators and most of its operations sold at a loss of billions of dollars for the U.S. government to a major Spanish bank.

Unemployment Edges Up to Great Depression Level -- Here is a chart released by the government that claims to show the percentage of unemployed people in the United States as of July, 2009. It is a fictional snapshot of the actual number of unemployed and under-employed people.

Days Away From Economic Chaos? -- America is just a few days away from a possible day of reckoning. I again call attention to this day, August 25, when the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issues its 2nd Quarter report for 2009 on the state of health of American banks.

FEMA’s new administrator has a message for Americans -- Get in touch with your survival instinct.

Text of H.R. 645: National Emergency Centers Establishment Act -- This is the original text of the bill as it was written by its sponsor and submitted to the House for consideration. This is the latest version of the bill available on this website.

Biologists napping while work militarized -- As researchers discover more agents that alter mental states, the Chemical Weapons Convention needs modification to help ensure that the life sciences are not used for hostile purposes, says Malcolm Dando.

Seller, beware: Feds cracking down on garage sales -- If you're planning a garage sale or organizing a church bazaar, you'd best beware: You could be breaking a new federal law. As part of a campaign called Resale Roundup, the federal government is cracking down on the secondhand sales of dangerous and defective products.

KBR reorganizes to expand federal and defense business -- KBR Inc. is stepping up its push into the federal and defense contracting arena with the formation of the Government, Defense and Infrastructure Business Group.

Blackwater's license to kill under the lens -- Did the non-disclosure clauses just expire for some former Blackwater Xe executives? It would seem to be the case, based on the New York Times‘ series of scoops on the company’s more-intimate-than-previously-reported ties to the CIA.

Texas Senator Declares Anti-Toll Campaign for Governor -- US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison on Monday officially announced her bid to unseat fellow Republican Rick Perry as Texas governor. As she unveiled her campaign platform in LaMarque, transportation issues emerged as one of five themes central to her argument that she would be better for the state than the ten-year incumbent who has championed the use of toll roads and the sale of public assets to foreign corporations.

Thousands Flee as Greek Fires Rage -- Firefighting crews resumed their efforts early Monday across Greece after raging wildfires swept through the northern suburbs of Athens over the weekend, destroying homes and forcing thousands of residents to evacuate.

Man jailed for 3 months for driving with breath mints -- The arresting officer thought the mints looked like crack cocaine and threw Mays in the slammer for drug possession.

No-warrant terrorism raids proposed -- The Federal Government has unveiled plans to toughen its counter-terrorism laws, including a change to allow police to break into a suspect's home without getting approval from a judge.

VIDEO: Mom in minivan tasered twice in Salina traffic stop; camera captures deputy's rough roadside arrest -- Lady was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and going 50 in a 45 mph zone. The district attorney's office dismissed the charges a month later -- after watching the videotape, said her lawyer, Terrance Hoffmann. The prosecutor could not be reached for comment.

Water Cops Crack Down in Drought Areas -- Citations being written, Sprinklers Monitored and Trickles Investigated, With Some Effect: In Los Angeles, Consumption Is Lowest in 32 Years. In San Antonio, city water officials credit strict water restrictions -- and the more than 1,800 water waste citations issued since April.

CIA Faulted for Conduct at Prisons -- The CIA lacked clear safeguards to prevent abuses in some instances in its network of secret prisons for terror suspects, and some interrogators had inadequate training and oversight, a long-withheld 2004 report found, according to current and former officials who have read the document.

Colwood British Columbia first Canadian city to declare electrosensitivity month in August.

Where Is The Anti-War Movement In The Age Of Obama?

Today in History August 21, 2009
1680 - The Pueblo Indians drove the Spanish out and took possession of Santa Fe, NM.
1841 - A patent for venetian blinds was issued to John Hampton.
1888 - The adding machine was patented by William Burroughs.
1912 - Arthur R. Eldred became the first American boy to become an Eagle Scout.
1959 - Hawaii became the 50th state. U.S. President Eisenhower also issued the order for the 50 star flag.
1971 - Laura Baugh, at the age of 16, won the United States Women's Amateur Golf tournament
1987 - A U.S. Marine was convicted for spying for the first time. Sergeant Clayton Lonetree was giving secrets to the KGB while working as a guard at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. He served eight years in a military prison.
1996 - The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 was signed by U.S. President Clinton. The act made it easier to obtain and keep health insurance.
1997 - Afghanistan suspended its embassy operations in the United States.
2003 - In Ghana, businessman Gyude Bryant was selected to oversee the two-year power-sharing accord between Liberia's rebels and the government. The accord was planned to guide the country out of 14 years of civil war.

As veterans await checks, VA workers get $24M bonuses -- Outside the Veterans Affairs Department, severely wounded veterans have faced financial hardship waiting for their first disability payment. Inside, money has been flowing in the form of $24 million in bonuses.

WHO predicts ‘explosion’ of swine flu cases -- The global spread of swine flu will endanger more lives as it speeds up in coming months and governments must boost preparations for a swift response, the World Health Organization said today.

Over 50 killed on Afghan election day -- More than 50 people have been killed throughout Afghanistan, as voters went to the polls to elect a new president to lead the country out of militant-related violence. After the polls closed, the incumbent Afghan President who is running for a second term, hailed the turnout, saying those who cast their ballot displayed great bravery.

Australia signs $50bn gas deal with China -- The world's two biggest listed oil companies signed an A$50 billion (£25 billion) deal to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia to China in the largest-ever trade deal between the two countries.

Cash for Clunkers to end on Monday -- The Obama administration will end the popular $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program on Monday, giving car shoppers a few more days to take advantage of big government incentives.

Eating Curry Fights Dementia -- Regular consumption of curry could reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, according to a study conducted by researchers from Duke University and presented at the annual meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Ten Things That Are Missing from Obama's Health Care Reform Debate -- Read the top 10 things missing from Obama's health care reform plan. Number 1 being ending the FDA's suppression of natural cures and safe, effective nutritional supplements.

Government Permission Will Be Required To Travel -- In other words, if your name appears among hundreds of thousands on "watchlists," or you assert that the government should not require ID to fly or you don't want to reveal your date of birth for concern about identity theft, or you don't choose to declare your gender, you can just stay home or find other modes of transportation.

Mexico Hit By Lowest Rainfall In 68 Years -- Mexico is suffering from its driest year in 68 years, killing crops and cattle in the countryside and forcing the government to slow the flow of water to the crowded capital.


Today In History August 20, 2009
1866 - It was formally declared by U.S. President Andrew Johnson that the American Civil War was over. The fighting had stopped months earlier.
1914 - German forces occupied Brussels, Belgium, during World War I.
1918 - The British opened its Western Front offensive during World War I.
1940 - France fell to the Germans during World War II.
1945 - Tommy Brown of the Brooklyn Dodgers became the youngest player to hit a home run in a major league ball game. Brown was 17 years old.
1953 - It was announced by the Soviet Union that they had detonated a hydrogen bomb.
1955 - In Morocco and Algeria hundreds of people were killed in anti-French rioting.
1964 - A $1 billion anti-poverty measure was signed by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.
1977 - Voyager 2 was launched by the United States.
1986 - Patrick Henry Sherril, postal employee, killed 14 co-workers in a shooting spree at the post office in Edmond, OK.
1989 - Jose and Kitty Menendez were shot to death by their sons Lyle and Erik. The first trials ended in hung juries.
1998 - Canada's Supreme Court announced that Quebec could not secede without the federal government's consent.
1998 - The U.N. Security Council extended trade sanctions against Iraq for blocking arms inspections.

Juice It Up! Dr. Julian Whitaker reveals fresh juices for blood pressure, arthritis, ulcers and more -- Celery Juice Lowers Blood Pressure, Cabbage Juice Heals the Stomach, Cherry Juice Reduces Pain and Inflammation. Read More...

Lockerbie bomber's release agreed -- The Lockerbie bomber is to be released on compassionate grounds, the Scottish Government has announced. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, 57, was jailed in 2001 for the atrocity which claimed 270 lives in 1988. Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill revealed that the Libyan, who has terminal prostate cancer, would be allowed to return to his homeland. The US Government said it "deeply regretted" the Scottish Government's decision to release Megrahi.  (Thanks to Mike Tawse in the UK for alerting TPH to this breaking news).

VIDEO: Former probation officer says changing the diet changes the behavior -- Is it possible that the problems so many children and schools have these days are food related?

Time for Pentagon to do more with less -- The Pentagon must do better, especially with defense spending poised to shrink. The bottom line: The days of lavish defense budgets are over. If America is to adequately equip its forces, it must figure out how to get more for less.

Probing Doctors' Ties to Industry -- Can you trust your doctor? Patients might well ask themselves this question when they learn that 94 percent of physicians have "a relationship" with the pharmaceutical, medical device or other related industries, according to a national survey of physicians published two years ago in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Swine flu PSA YouTube contest announced by HHS -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is sponsoring a 2009 Flu Prevention PSA Contest, informally referred to herein as the Swine Flu YouTube Contest, with a grand prize payout of $2500. Its purpose is to help increase and renew awareness about H1N1 influenza A and promote the Flu.gov website.

Climate plan calls for forest expansion -- New forests would spread across the American landscape, replacing both pasture and farm fields, under a congressional plan to confront climate change, an Environmental Protection Agency analysis shows.

YouTube: The Movie "Carriers"  Opens Sept. 4th -- The movie, which will be released on September 4 in Us (September 11 in Spain) begins with pandemic outbreak of a rare strain of flu to go into the reaction of men in extreme situations. Check out the trailer...

Woman's House Mistakenly Auctioned by Bank -- You know times are tough when people are getting kicked out of their house when it’s not even for sale. That’s what happened to Anna Ramirez after she found all of her stuff out on the front lawn of her Homestead home last week and a strange man demanding she get out of his newly purchased house. The eviction came after Ramirez’s home was mistakenly auctioned off to the highest bidder by her bank, Washington Mutual. Usually, you get a warning before you get the boot. A foreclosure letter. Maybe a sign saying your house is up for sale. Not Ramirez, who found her belongings bashed and battered in the street.

Cannabis treats prostate cancer, study finds -- Following the growing interest in medical benefits of cannabis, a new study finds that the compound can help fight prostate cancer. According to the study published in the British Journal of Cancer, chemicals found in cannabis can stop prostate cancer cells from growing in the laboratory.

Tamiflu puts 600,000 at greater risk of a stroke -- A Government watchdog is concerned that the anti-swine flu drug can interact with the blood-thinning medication warfarin, which is taken by more than 600,000 people in the UK.

Breast screening info 'misleads' -- Women undergoing routine breast screening in the UK are being misled about the risks involved, warn a group of UK experts.

New York Sate requires Flu Shot for Health Care Workers -- The State Health Department is requiring tens of thousands of health care workers across the state to be vaccinated for flu, amid fears that swine flu will return in the fall.

Blackwater tied to CIA assassination plot -- Millions were spent on program, which did not capture or kill any suspects.

Taliban threats deter Afghan voters -- Taliban threats kept voter turnout low in the capital and the militant south Thursday as Afghans chose the next president for their deeply troubled country. Militants launched scattered rocket and bomb attacks, violence that closed some polling sites.

Some smokers start growing tobacco -- Driven largely by ever-rising tobacco prices, a growing number of smokers who have turned to their green thumbs to cultivate tobacco plants to blend their own cigarettes, cigars and chew.

Hal Turner was an FBI trained agent provocateur, his attorney told reporters in Hartford -- A New Jersey blogger facing charges in two states for allegedly making threats against lawmakers and judges was trained by the FBI on how to be deliberately provocative, his attorney said Tuesday. Read the rest...

Environmental Mercury Contamination Found To Be Widespread -- The federal government is considering new rules to limit mercury emissions from cement kilns, which makes two new studies released this week timely. The first study, from the federal government, shows how pervasive mercury is in our environment," while the second, from Duke University chemists, "explains how that mercury becomes toxic to us," as "particles released into the air from cement kilns or coal-fired power plants can settle on lakes and rivers where they accumulate in fish and other wildlife. And since we humans are at the top of the food chain, some of that mercury eventually ends up in our bodies."
Related Articles:
* Fish in streams across U.S. tainted with mercury
* Mercury found in all fish caught in U.S.-tested streams
* Federal study reveals widespread mercury contamination in fish from air pollution, mining
* Duke study finds easily inhalable ash bits carry most toxicity

Reverse Mortgages Leave Seniors at Risk, GAO Says -- Reverse mortgages, which are usually backed by HUD's Federal Housing Administration, enable seniors to withdraw equity from their homes. The loan and the accumulated interest do not have to be paid back until the owner dies or sells the home. But the upfront costs are substantial.


Today in History August 19, 2009
1692 - Five women and a clergyman were executed after being convicted of witchcraft in Salem, MA.
1856 - The process of processing condensed milk was patented by Gail Borden.
1919 - Afghanistan gained independence from Britain.
1929 - "Amos and Andy," the radio comedy program, made its debut on NBC starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll.
1955 - Severe flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Diane, in the Northeast United States, claimed 200 lives.
1960 - Two dogs were launched in a satellite into Earth's orbit by the Soviet Union.
1981 - The final episode of "Charlie's Angels was aired on ABC-TV.
1993 - "Cheers" ended an 11-year run on NBC-TV. The show debuted on September 30, 1982.
1996 - A judge sentenced former Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker to four years probation for his Whitewater crimes.
1998 - The first piece of the 351 foot bronze statue of Christopher Columbus arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
2004 - Google Inc. stock began selling on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The initial price was set at $85 and ended the day at $100.34 with more than 22 million shares traded.

Hurricane Bill grows to Category 4 storm -- Are you prepared?

NaturalPedia.com Delivers New Encyclopedia of Natural Health Knowledge to the World -- Mike Adams, the creator of NaturalPedia, is the editor of NaturalNews.com, the internet's top natural health news site. This website discusses all your Natural News Issues!!

Orthorexia Nervosa: Healthy food obsession sparks rise in new eating disorder -- Eating disorder charities are reporting a rise in the number of people suffering from a serious psychological condition characterised by an obsession with healthy eating. The condition, orthorexia nervosa, affects equal numbers of men and women, but sufferers tend to be aged over 30, middle-class and well-educated.

Navy Drills/Depleated Uranium to be used on US coast lines -- The U.S. Navy, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet have decided, without our consent, that that are going to use the Pacific Ocean off the Coast of California, Oregon and Washington and the land over four states to test weapons of war. They did not contact Senator Harry Reid of Nevada to obtain permission to use the Nevada Test Site for these warfare experiments. Instead they decided to use public lands, the Pacific Ocean, private property, wildlife, and humans as test subjects for warfare testing in four states. Related Link: http://www.californiaskywatch.com/index.html

Cervical-cancer vaccine Gardasil still faces questions -- Three years after the world's first cervical-cancer vaccine was hailed as a public-health breakthrough, Gardasil is facing renewed questions about its safety and value.

“California Won’t Accept Its Own IOUs” -- Small businesses that received $682 million in IOUs from the state say California expects them to pay taxes on the worthless scraps of paper, but refuses to accept its own IOUs to pay debts or taxes. The vendors' federal class action claims the state is trying to balance its budget on their backs.

Tanning beds as bad as cigarettes, arsenic -- A study released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a department of the World Health Organization, classified tanning beds as "carcinogenic to humans."

Monsanto to Charge as Much as 42% More for New Seeds -- Monsanto Co., the world’s largest seed maker, plans to charge as much as 42 percent more for new genetically modified seeds next year than older offerings because they increase farmers’ output.

The Great Flu Game Online -- An online game on influenza.

Doctors on lookout for Guillain-Barré symptoms in swine flu patients -- Doctors treating swine flu patients have been instructed to monitor the incidence of a rare nerve disease that has been linked to the body’s immune response to flu-like illnesses. Neurologists will study the occurence of Guillain-Barré syndrome, which affects the nervous system and can cause temporary paralysis, during the swine flu pandemic and vaccination programme.

Secretary Shinseki Announces Expansion of Counseling for Combat Veterans -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced that combat Veterans will receive readjustment counseling and other assistance in 28 additional communities across the country where the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will establish Vet Centers in 2010.

VIDEO: Butler, Missouri: CNN INTERVIEW GOES WRONG WITH MISSOURI TRUCK DEALER -- This Missouri car salesman kept his cool while CNN reporter tries to make him come off looking like a redneck, gun-toting hillbilly.

Man says he sold kidney in U.S. for $20k -- New York recipient says he was near death when Israeli man answered ad. This took place back in 2005 but the article is just now being published. For years, kidneys have been available on a thriving international black market, but evidence of organ trafficking in the United States is harder to find. However, doctors and others in the transplant field have long suspected an illegal organ market exists here.

New data: Mega-quake could strike near Seattle -- Using sophisticated seismometers and GPS devices, scientists have been able to track minute movements along two massive tectonic plates colliding 25 miles or so underneath Washington state's Puget Sound basin. Their early findings suggest that a mega-earthquake could strike closer to the Seattle-Tacoma area, home to some 3.6 million people, than was thought earlier.

Chinese mayor apologizes for lead poisoning -- Environmental problems have escalated as China's economy booms, sometimes prompting violent protests. Counting on lax enforcement of regulations, some companies find it easier and cheaper to dump poisons into rivers and the ground rather than dispose of them safely.

20 Syrian civilians killed in failed missile test -- Twenty Syrian civilians were killed and 60 more were injured after a Scud missile test-fired jointly by Syria, North Korea and Iran in late May strayed off course, Japan's Kyodo News reported.

Security tightened ahead of Afghan election -- Security is being tightened in Afghanistan as voters prepare to go to the polls tomorrow for a much-anticipated presidential election.

School prayer charges stir protests: Educators face jail in Florida -- Students, teachers and local pastors are protesting over a court case involving a northern Florida school principal and an athletic director who are facing criminal charges and up to six months in jail over their offer of a mealtime prayer.

Is Cap and Trade for Babies Next? -- Just when you thought you'd seen everything, a pair of scientists at Oregon State University has published a study arguing that any effort to limit carbon emissions must consider the impact of "reproductive choices" on the ecological equation.

Scientists fear a revolt by killer robots -- “These are powerful technologies that could be used in good ways or scary ways,” warned Eric Horvitz, principal researcher at Microsoft who organised the conference on behalf of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.

Socialist Sweden Moves to Ban Homeschooling for Religious or Philosophical Reasons -- The Swedish Association for Home Education (ROHUS) is asking for support from the international community to stop an attempt by the Swedish government to outlaw homeschooling. The new legislation argues that because a child's education should be "comprehensive and objective" it must be "designed so that all pupils can participate, regardless of what religious or philosophical" views of parents or children.

Zimbabwe’s Hyperinflation: #2 in world history -- Steve Hanke and Alex Kwok just published a paper calculating last year’s hyperinflation in Zimbabwe, when “conventional inflation measures were not available.” Their conclusion is that in mid-November, prices were doubling every day. That means Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation ranks second worst in world history. Link to PDF about this article: http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj29n2/cj29n2-8.pdf

Today in History August 18, 2009
1735 - The "Evening Post" of Boston, MA, was published for the first time.
1846 - Gen. Stephen W. Kearney and his U.S. forces captured Santa Fe, NM.
1894 - The Bureau of Immigration was established by the U.S. Congress.
1916 - Abraham Lincoln's, the 16th president of the U.S., birthplace was made into a national shrine.
1920 - Tennessee ratified the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Amendment guaranteed the right of all American women to vote.
1937 - The first FM radio construction permit was issued in Boston, MA. The station went on the air two years later.
1940 - Canada and the U.S. established a joint defense plan against the possible enemy attacks during World War II.
1963 - James Meredith graduated from the University of Mississippi. He was the first black man to accomplish this feat.
1966 - The first pictures of earth taken from moon orbit were sent back to the U.S.
1982 - The longest baseball game played at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL, went 21 innings before the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Cubs 2-1.
1983 - 22 people were killed and over $1 billion in damage was caused when hurricane Alicia hit the Texas coast.
1990 - The first shots were fired by the U.S. in the Persian Gulf Crisis when a U.S. frigate fired rounds across the bow of an Iraqi oil tanker.
1997 Virginia Military Institute admitted a female student for the first time in its 158-year history.
2008 Pervez Musharraf resigned as the president of Pakistan.

Swine Flu Vaccine Linked to Paralysis, Leaked Memo Reveals -- A warning letter about the swine flu vaccine was leaked to the DailyMail over the weekend. Written by Professor Elizabeth Miller, head of the Health Protection Agency's Immunization Department, it warns neurologists that the influenza vaccine of 1976 was linked to a devastating neurological condition called Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). "The vaccines used to combat an expected swine influenza pandemic in 1976 were shown to be associated with GBS and were withdrawn from use," says the July 29 letter.

Swine flu vaccinations 'disaster in the making' -- In 1976, 40 million were vaccinated for a swine flu pandemic that never materialized. Thousands filed claims for injury. At least 25 died and 500 developed paralyzing Guillain-Barre syndrome. The H1N1 vaccine will contain oil-based adjuvants including squalene, which contributed to Gulf War Syndrome. This left GIs with arthritis, fibromyalgia, lymphadenopathy, photosensitive rashes, chronic fatigue, chronic headaches, ulcers, dizziness, weakness, memory loss, seizures, mood changes, neuro-psychiatric problems, multiple sclerosis, lupus and other diseases.

Lockheed Martin to Cut 800 Space Systems Jobs -- Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defense contractor, said it plans to cut about 800 jobs at its space systems division by the end of the year, as it anticipates flat budgets for space programs at NASA and the Pentagon in the coming decade.

Toyota spent $1.4M lobbying in 2nd quarter -- Toyota Motor North America Inc. spent $1.4 million in the second quarter to lobby on vehicle safety and other issues, according to a recent regulatory filing.

Rationing and Denying Care by Dr. Dave Janda -- It should be clear that the same warning notice must be placed on The ObamaCare Plan as on a pack of cigarettes: Consuming this product will be hazardous to your health. Read More...

Obama's MySpace page: I'm 52 years old, not 48 -- A new wrinkle in the dispute over his birth – and whether he is eligible to be president under the U.S. Constitution's requirement that the president be a "natural born" citizen – appeared today when Obama's official MySpace page declared his age is 52, thus placing his birth year at 1957 instead of 1961 as has been claimed.

All about Rahm Emanuel -- Emanuel was encouraged by his mother to take ballet lessons as a boy and is a graduate of the Evanston School of Ballet. Also...In the first Gulf War, Emanuel served with the Israel Defense Forces as a civilian volunteer helping to maintain equipment. Read More...

Why Cash for Clunkers is Stupid -- “‘It just don’t make sense,’ said a used-car-parts salesman in Dayton, Ohio. In Glenview, Illinois, mechanics watched a blue 1994 Chevy Lumina van wheeze and choke for five minutes before stopping. ‘That’s a good American GM product,’ said service manager Mark Rolla, ‘that won’t die.’”

Thousands Quit AARP Over Health Reform -- CBS News has learned that up to 60,000 people have cancelled their AARP memberships since July 1, angered over the group's position on health care.

Man charged with stealing 130M credit card numbers in record identity theft -- Federal prosecutors on Monday charged a Miami man with the largest case of credit and debit card data theft ever in the United States, accusing the one-time government informant of swiping 130 million accounts on top of 40 million he stole previously.

6 more cases of botched cancer treatment at Pa. VA -- Six more cases have been found of cancer patients being given incorrect radiation doses at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia. The errors happened in a common surgical procedure to treat prostate cancer. That brings the total to 98 veterans who were given incorrect radiation doses over a six-year period at the hospital.

NYC officials drill for possible anthrax attack -- New York City has been getting ready for a massive anthrax attack — even if it never happens. The Department of Health conducted a drill Saturday to test city preparedness to distribute antibiotics and vaccines to large numbers of New Yorkers.

Truck peddles fresh food, not ice cream, in Detroit -- In a neighborhood served by 26 liquor stores but only one grocery, a community group is peddling fresh fruits and vegetables just like you would ice cream.

Russia arrests 8 suspects in Arctic Sea hijacking -- Russia's navy arrested eight men accused of hijacking the Arctic Sea freighter near Sweden and forcing the crew to sail to West Africa, the defense minister said Tuesday.

Vaccine Fillers and Ingredients -- In addition to the viral and bacterial RNA or DNA that is part of the vaccines, read the fillers...

A third of nurses will refuse to have the swine flu jab -- Up to a third of nurses will say no to the swine flu jab because of concerns over its safety, a poll has found. NHS workers are first in line for the vaccine, but a survey of 1,500 nurses found many will reject it.

U.S schools gear up for swine flu shots -- Hundreds of districts nationwide preparing for mass vaccinations.

Children risk cancer by eating salami and ham, warns charity -- Parents should not put ham or salami in their children's packed lunches because processed meat increases the risk of developing cancer, experts in the disease are warning. The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) wants families to instead use poultry, fish, low-fat cheese, hummus or small amounts of lean meat as sandwich fillings when making up school lunchboxes.

Mental Stress Training Is Planned for U.S. Soldiers -- The Army plans to require that all 1.1 million of its soldiers take intensive training in emotional resiliency, military officials say. The training, the first of its kind in the military, is meant to improve performance in combat and head off the mental health problems, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide, that plague about one-fifth of troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Scientists analyze blood to test for toxic airplane air exposure -- Inside a freezer in a research laboratory at the University of Washington are blood and blood plasma samples from 92 people who suffer from mysterious illnesses, including tremors, memory loss and severe migraine headaches. They are mostly pilots and flight attendants who suspect they've been poisoned in their workplace -- on board the aircraft they fly.

Man carries assault rifle to Obama protest -- and it's legal -- A man toting an assault rifle was among a dozen protesters carrying weapons while demonstrating outside President Barack Obama's speech to veterans on Monday, but no laws were broken. It was the second instance in recent days in which unconcealed weapons have appeared near presidential events.

White House disables e-tip box -- Following a furor over how the data would be used, the White House has shut down an electronic tip box — flag@whitehouse.gov — that was set up to receive information on “fishy” claims about President Barack Obama’s health plan. E-mails to that address now bounce back with the message: “The e-mail address you just sent a message to is no longer in service. We are now accepting your feedback about health insurance reform via http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck.”

Starting to Fizzle -- After $150 billion in election-year check writing, $700 bill billion in TARP funds (with a shocking $150 billion in pork to get it passed), $787 billion in “stimulus” funds, $2 trillion in secret Federal Reserve loans; after bailouts of General Motors, Chrysler, Freddie and Fannie; after spending more than any government in the history of the world to fix the economy, MSNBC reports that hopes for economic recovery are “starting to fizzle.”

Lego 6-Month Profit Surges To $177 Million -- Hurray for Legos! It's nice to see a profitable company and one that's all about non-computer creativity for kids. (Thanks Jimm)!

What happens to accounts if the bank fails? -- It can be unsettling when your bank fails. No advance notice is given to the public before the institution is closed because officials don't want to create a run on the bank. If you were a Washington Mutual customer, you knew it was in trouble because it was in the news. But sometimes it's not nearly so obvious.

24 Banks w/$5 Billion or more in assets..."could" fail -- Some of the names of the banks listed are VERY recognizable and have been mentioned as "troubled banks" in other various articles. To say we're in trouble is a complete understatement. (Thanks Jimm)!


Today in History August 17, 2009
1492 - Christopher Columbus signed a contract with Spain to find a passage to Asia and the Indies.
1629 - Horses were first imported into the colonies by the American Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1860 - New Yorkers learned of a new law that required fire escapes to be provided for tenement houses.
1861 - Virginia became the eighth state to secede from the Union.
1864 - U.S. Civil War General Grant banned the trading of prisoners.
1865 - Mary Surratt was arrested as a conspirator in the Lincoln assassination.
1917 - A bill in Congress to establish Daylight Saving Time was defeated. It was passed a couple of months later.
1941 - The office of Price Administration was established in the U.S. to handle rationing.
1946 - The last French troops left Syria.
1964 - Jerrie Mock became first woman to fly an airplane solo around the world.
1964 - The Ford Motor Company unveiled its new Mustang model.
1967 - "The Joey Bishop Show" debuted on ABC-TV.
1967 - The U.S. Supreme Court barred Muhammad Ali's request to be blocked from induction into the U.S. Army.
1969 - In Los Angeles, Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of assassinating U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
1969 - Woodstock Music Festival concludes
1970 - Apollo 13 returned to Earth safely after an on-board accident with an oxygen tank.
1975 - Khmer Rouge forces capture the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. It was the end of the five-year war.
1985 - The U.S. Postal Service unveiled its new 22-cent, "LOVE" stamp.
1993 - A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted two former police officers of violating the civil rights of beaten motorist Rodney King. Two others acquitted.
1996 - Erik and Lyle Menendez were sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing their parents.
1999 - In India, the government of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee collapsed after losing a vote of confidence.
2002 - At the National Maritime Museum in London, the exhibit "Skin Deep - A History of Tattooing" opened.

Tropical Storm Hits Florida - Hurricane Bill Forms -- Are you prepared?

NYC officials drill for possible anthrax attack -- New York City has been getting ready for a massive anthrax attack — even if it never happens. The Department of Health conducted a drill Saturday to test city preparedness to distribute antibiotics and vaccines to large numbers of New Yorkers.

City Government in Chicago Closed For Business On Monday -- The City of Chicago will basically be closed for business on Aug. 17, a reduced-service day in which most city employees are off without pay, according to a release from the Office of Budget and Management. City Hall, public libraries, health clinics and most city offices will be closed.

UK concludes military involvement in Iraq -- Britain has concluded its troop presence in Iraq following its six years of military involvement in the war-torn country.

Music Video: Heroes Close To Home Video -- Recorded at Servello Family Studios Altoona, PA Featuring Jack Servello on all instruments and vocals and Richie Servello on Drums.

Polio surge in Nigeria after vaccine virus mutates -- Polio, the dreaded paralyzing disease stamped out in the industrialized world, is spreading in Nigeria. And health officials say in some cases, it's caused by the vaccine used to fight it.

Swine flu jab link to killer nerve disease: Leaked letter reveals concern of neurologists over 25 deaths in America -- A warning that the new swine flu jab is linked to a deadly nerve disease has been sent by the Government to senior neurologists in a confidential letter. The letter from the Health Protection Agency, the official body that oversees public health, has been leaked to The Mail on Sunday, leading to demands to know why the information has not been given to the public before the vaccination of millions of people, including children, begins.

Mexico Replaces All 700 Customs Inspectors -- Mexico has replaced all 700 of its customs inspectors with agents newly trained to detect contraband, from guns and drugs to TVs and other big-ticket appliances smuggled to avoid import duties. The shake-up - part of a broader effort to root out corruption and improve vigilance at Mexican ports with new technology - doubled the size of Mexico's customs inspection force.

What To Do If Force Vaccinated By Dr. Russell Blaylock -- Read Dr Blaylock's List of suggestions on How to Reduce the Toxic Effects of the A/H1N1 Vaccine.

UK: Death toll from hospital bugs hits new high -- More than 30,000 people have died after contracting the hospital infections MRSA and Clostridium difficile in just five years, official figures will show this week. The spread of infections into most British hospitals, which occurred under the last Conservative government, had been allowed to "escalate, and become out of control" under Labour, Mr Lamb said, with waiting targets and efficiency prioritised over basic safety and cleanliness.

"Mad as Hell Doctors" Embark on Cross Country Care-A-Van to Demand Single-Payer from Congress -- Frustrated with the health care 'options' coming out of Washington, D.C., six "Mad as Hell" Oregon physicians are taking an unprecedented road trip across America to lobby Congress for a single-payer health care system.

Parents are worried about the swine flu vaccine -- Parents are confused and concerned about the swine flu vaccine due to be introduced in October.

Obama Campaign Ad Firms Signed On to Push Health-Care Overhaul -- Two firms that received $343.3 million to handle advertising for Barack Obama’s White House run last year have profited from his top priority as president by taking on his push for health-care overhaul.

The brutal truth about America’s healthcare -- An extraordinary report from Guy Adams in Los Angeles at the music arena that has been turned into a makeshift medical centre.

Obama Says Insurers Are Trying to Block Change -- In Montana, President Obama on Friday accused some insurance companies of trying to undermine his plans for overhauling health care by “funding in opposition,” a comment that could inflame tensions at a time when Mr. Obama is hoping to keep insurers at the negotiating table.

Should Mandatory HIV Testing Be the Norm? -- After nearly three decades of fighting HIV/AIDS, more than a 140 people in the U.S. are still being infected with the virus every day. To combat that, the Centers for Disease Control recommends identifying new cases by systematically testing every patient who steps into an emergency room - without asking the patient.

United States soldiers will deploy to Colombia -- Some American troops will soon find themselves stationed at military bases scattered across the South American nation of Colombia with a mission to use advanced Predator drone technology to aid in fighting the drug trade and to combat terrorism, according to published reports Saturday.

Army suicides surpass 2008 suicide numbers By Michelle Tan -- As many as 12 soldiers killed themselves in July, the Army announced today, and the service remains on course to setting a record for suicides in a single year. Of the 12 deaths, eight were active-duty soldiers and four were National Guard or Army Reserve soldiers who were not on active duty at the time of their deaths. All 12 deaths are possible suicides and remain under investigation.

Greta Interviews Couple Who Filmed ACORN Buses At Penn Town Hall -- Greta Van Susteren of FOX News speaks with a couple who filmed ACORN being bused in to a Pennsylvania town hall which the couple attended.

Who is funding the Afghan Taliban? You don’t want to know -- The article by Jean MacKenzie originally appeared in GlobalPost. This is part of a special series by GlobalPost called Life, Death and The Taliban. Read More...

ANCHOR BABIES: BORN IN THE USA By Frosty Wooldridge -- U.S. House member Nathan Deal introduced a new bill to stop 400,000 babies birthed annually by unlawful migrants to gain instant citizenship. Known as “Jackpot Babies or Anchor Babies”, these children cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars annually in medical as well as educational costs K-12. This three part series will give American citizens a mouthful of ashes as to what it costs them and what those anchor babies do to their medical, educational and prison systems. It doesn't have to be this way. Most European countries have done away with birthright citizenship because they experienced the same abuses we are seeing.

Today In History August 14, 2009
1756 - Daniel Boone married 16-year-old Rebecca Bryan.
1848 - The Oregon Territory was established.
1873 - "Field and Stream" magazine published its first issue.
1888 - A patent for the electric meter was granted to Oliver B. Shallenberger.
1896 - Gold was discovered in Canada's Yukon Territory. Within the next year more than 30,000 people rushed to the area to look for gold.
1917 - China declared war on Germany and Austria during World War I.
1935 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. It created unemployment insurance and pension plans for the elderly.
1936 - The first basketball competition was held at the Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. The U.S. defeated Canada, 19-8.
1941 - The U.S. Congress appropriated the funds to construct the Pentagon (approximately $83 million). The building was the new home of the U.S. War Department.
1945 - It was announced by U.S. President Truman that Japan had surrendered unconditionally. The surrender ended World War II.
1953 - The whiffle ball was invented.
1959 - The first meeting was held to organize the American Football League.
1973 - The U.S. bombing of Cambodia ended. The halt marked the official end to 12 years of combat in Indochina by the U.S.
1980 - People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) was incorporated.
1987 - Mark McGwire set the record for major league home runs by a rookie when he connected for his 39th home run of the season.
1997 - Timothy McVeigh was formally sentenced to death for the Oklahoma City bombing.
2006 - U.N. cease fire takes effect in Lebanon

MSNBC’s Ed Schultz Radio Show: Conservatives ‘Want Obama to Get Shot’ -- Hmmmm....And he's still on the air?????!!!!!

National Guard Takes Over School In Swine Flu “Vaccine Riot” Drill -- A High School in Maine is to be taken over by the National Guard today for the purposes of a drill that will see Guardsmen deal with unruly citizens begging for swine flu vaccines. Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris, ME, has been chosen as a distribution site for the H1N1 flu vaccine by state officials.

FAA Suspends Two Air Traffic Controllers in Hudson Air Crash -- The Federal Aviation Administration has suspended a pair of air-traffic controllers from New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport, following the catastrophic midair collision of an airplane with a helicopter over the Hudson River August 8, that killed nine people. Read More Details...

Passengers stranded on a plane really are stuck -- So what can a flier do? Federal aviation law gives pilots and the airlines sole authority to decide whether to keep passengers on planes or let them off, government officials and aviation legal experts say. Anyone trying to leave on their own could be cited for interfering with the duties of the flight crew and fined up to $25,000, says Alison Duquette, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, the government agency that regulates air travel and safety.

Fla. doc fired over 'doughnuts equal death' sign -- Dr. Jason Newsom railed against burgers, french fries, fried chicken and sweet tea in his campaign to promote better eating in a part of the country known as the Redneck Riviera. He might still be leading the charge if he had only left the doughnuts alone. launched a one-man war on obesity by posting sardonic warnings on an electronic sign outside. After the lawyers threatened to sue, his bosses at the Florida Health Department made him remove the anti-fried dough rants and eventually forced him to resign, he says.  Read More...

State deputizes dentists, others to help with vaccinations -- Massachusetts health authorities took the unprecedented step yesterday of deputizing dentists, paramedics, and pharmacists to help administer vaccines against both the seasonal flu and the novel swine strain expected to make a return visit in the fall.

Turmeric Fights Body Fat -- A diet high in turmeric may help reduce weight gain by suppressing the growth of new fat tissue, according to a study conducted by researchers from Tufts University and published in the Journal of Nutrition.

Officials see rise in militia groups across US -- Worth a re-post. Militia groups with gripes against the government are regrouping across the country and could grow rapidly, according to an organization that tracks such trends.

Video: Couple embracing in iconic Woodstock photo still together -- Blast from the past.

Mom in minivan tasered twice in Salina traffic stop; camera captures deputy's rough roadside arrest -- The young mother was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and going 50 in a 45 mph zone. The district attorney's office dismissed the charges a month later -- after watching the videotape, said her lawyer, Terrance Hoffmann. The prosecutor could not be reached for comment.

Today In History August 13, 2009
1784 - The United States Legislature met for the final time in Annapolis, MD.
1846 - The American Flag was raised for the first time in Los Angeles, CA.
1889 - A patent for a coin-operated telephone was issued to William Gray
1907 - The first taxicab started on the streets of New York City.
1912 - The first experimental radio license was issued to St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia, PA.
1931 - The first community hospital in the U.S. was dedicated in Elk City, OK.
1934 - Al Capp's comic strip "L'il Abner" made its debut in newspapers.
1935 - The first roller derby match was held at the Coliseum in Chicago, IL.
1942 - Walt Disney's "Bambi" opened at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, NY.
1961 - Berlin was divided by a barbed wire fence to halt the flight of refugees. Two days later work on the Berlin Wall began.
1989 - The wreckage of Texas Congressman Mickey Leland's plane was found a week after disappearing in Ethiopia. There were no survivors of the 16 passengers.
1990 - Iraq transferred $3-4 billion in bullion, currency, and other goods seized from Kuwait to Baghdad.
1994 - It was reported that aspirin not only helps reduce the risk of heart disease, but also helps prevent colon cancer.

Thought For The Day from our friend Mike Tawse in the UK - When The Law Protects Your Rights… What Is Left Of Freedom? - When the law protects your rights, they can be destroyed in the same way. He who defines your rights, defines your freedom, and in doing so, sets its limit. Therefore, the law, which protects your rights, will limit your freedom and it can only protect your rights until the law itself is changed.
Check out Mike's other website: My Serrapeptase Adventure - http://serrapeptaseadventure.ws

ACTION ITEM: Letters to Legislators to PREVENT MANDATED Swine Flu Vaccination in your State -- This link will provide you with 4 SIMPLE ACTION ITEMS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE - SAMPLE LETTER TO LEGISLATORS. Adjust any of this information to apply to your state.

Banks Fall Short on Mortgage Help -- Among the companies that have not modified any loans were American Home Mortgage Servicing and National City Bank. Bank of America had a 4 percent assistance rate for trial modifications, with Wells Fargo marginally better at 6 percent. "We're disappointed in the performance of some of the servicers," Barr said. "We think they could have ramped up better, faster, more consistently and done a better job of serving borrowers and bringing stabilization to the broader mortgage markets and economy and we expect them to do more."

US soldiers, largest swine flu-infected group in Iraq -- US soldiers in Iraq have become the largest group in the country to be infected with the deadly A/H1N1 virus, which is rapidly spreading in Asian countries.
Swine flu cases climb among US soldiers in Iraq -- The number of American troops in Iraq diagnosed with swine flu has climbed to 67, making U.S. soldiers the largest group in the country to come down with the potentially deadly virus, Iraqi health officials said Wednesday.

Former Clinton aide Betsey Wright accused of smuggling knife and needles into prison -- Betsy Wright, 66, a vocal death penalty opponent, was detained May 22, prison officials said. It was unclear why she allegedly carried the items into the prison. Wright denied the charges, but admitted bringing in the Doritos, which she claimed she found in the bottom of a prison vending machine.

Flying Is Getting More Personal Starting Aug. 15 -- A new TSA program called "Secure Flight," which transfers the responsibility of pre-screening passengers from the airlines to the TSA. Secure Flight requires that airlines get your birthdate and gender so you can be prescreened agasinst a government watch list.

Cities Tolerate Homeless Camps -- Nashville is one of several U.S. cities that these days are accommodating the homeless and their encampments, instead of dispersing them. With local shelters at capacity, "there is no place to put them," said Clifton Harris, director of Nashville's Metropolitan Homeless Commission, says of tent-city dwellers.

VACCINATION LAWS (amended Aug. 9, 2009) -- The purpose of this page is simply to provide reproductions of and links to various federal and state laws and regulations concerning vaccinations of citizens in the event of pandemics, particularly the predicted "swine flu" episode for this fall. There appears to be great interest at present regarding this matter, yet there is no readily available source where an interested American can actually read the relevant laws for every jurisdiction. The author has been primarily concerned with compiling those laws that actually subject a citizen to forced inoculations.

Donald Rumsfeld makes $5m killing on bird flu drug -- Donald Rumsfeld has made a killing out of bird flu. The US Defence Secretary has made more than $5m (£2.9m) in capital gains from selling shares in the biotechnology firm that discovered and developed Tamiflu, the drug being bought in massive amounts by Governments to treat a possible human pandemic of the disease.

Biological Warfare and the National Security State A Chronology -- This chronology has drawn from dozens of books, articles and declassified government documents in its preparation. Notable in this regard is Michael Christopher Carroll's Lab 257: The Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret Germ Laboratory; Linda Hunt, Secret Agenda; Bob Coen and Eric Nadler, Dead Silence: Fear and Terror on the Anthrax Trail; the National Security Archive's documentary history of U.S. Biological Warfare programs and The Sunshine Project.

Drug to combat swine flu leaves '1,000 patients in suffering' -- The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said yesterday that between 1 April and 6 August there had been 418 reports of adverse side effects to Tamiflu and a further 686 suspected cases of adverse reactions. Last week alone there were 125 reports of adverse side effects in people taking Tamiflu, although not all of them may be due to the drug, the MHRA said.

Think you deleted your cookies? Think again -- Unlike traditional browser cookies, Flash cookies are relatively unknown to web users, and they are not controlled through the cookie privacy controls in a browser. That means even if a user thinks they have cleared their computer of tracking objects, they most likely have not. Read More...

5 Ways Companies Mistreat Job Seekers -- When it comes to hiring, some employers act like they hold all the cards--and they can treat job seekers as poorly as they want, without consequence. They're wrong: Smart employers know that good candidates have options (to say nothing of the ethical implications of being rude just because you think you can). Read five common ways employers behave badly when hiring...

Hunger Hits Detroit's Middle Class -- Food has long been an issue in this city without a major supermarket. Now demand for assistance is rising, affecting a whole new set of people. Take a look at the photo as a security guard watches over groceries being delivered in Detroit.

72% of older drivers have no idea their meds impair driving -- Many older drivers who take medications that could affect their performance behind the wheel are unaware of the risks associated with those drugs, according to a new study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

NY City Swine Flu Victim Widow Plans $40 Mln Suit -- The widow of a New York City school administrator who became the first person in the city to die of H1N1 flu said on Tuesday she planned to file a $40 million wrongful death lawsuit against the city. The widow claims the city of failing to adequately control the H1N1 outbreak and failing to inform Wiener that he had come in contact with individuals who tested positive for the H1N1 flu.

Food Firms Warn of Sugar Shortage -- Some of America's biggest food companies say the U.S. could "virtually run out of sugar" if the Obama administration doesn't ease import restrictions amid soaring prices for the key commodity.

China warns of 'arms race in outer space' -- "Outer space is now facing the looming danger of weaponization," he said. "Credible and effective multilateral measures must be taken to forestall the weaponization and arms race in outer space."

Kissinger continues to influence U.S. policy despite extensive ties to Beijing -- Former Sec. of State Henry Kissinger is continuing to influence U.S. foreign policy, despite conflicts of interests involving his international business relations with China’s government.

Officials see rise in militia groups across US -- Militia groups with gripes against the government are regrouping across the country and could grow rapidly, according to an organization that tracks such trends.

Swastika Painted at Congressman's Office -- A swastika was spray-painted on a sign in front of Rep. David Scott's office early this morning, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports. The Democratic Georgia congressman, who is black, suggested that the swastika did not come from any of his constituents. He said he has received racist mail in recent days and is working with local and national law enforcement.

It's Still a Depression -- It is no wonder there seems to be a groundswell of discontent growing throughout the States. Fewer working people are carrying an ever greater burden of people in government. And those people who have lost their jobs are resentful that government workers are immune to the pains of a severe economic contraction.

Government Bailouts and the Stock Market - The Seen and the Unseen -- The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 “paid farmers to slaughter livestock and plow up good crops, as if destroying useful goods could somehow make the nation wealthier,” Hamilton writes on his blog. “And yet, here we are again, with the cash for clunkers program insisting that working vehicles must be junked to qualify for the subsidy.”

Consumer, Celebrity Bankruptcies May Hit 1.4 Million -- Consumer bankruptcies show no sign of abating after rising more than a third this year and may hit 1.4 million by Dec. 31 as jobs are lost and loans are harder to get, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Bob Prechter "Quite Sure" Next Wave Down Will Be Bigger and March Lows Will Break -- "The big question is whether the rally is over," Prechter says, suggesting "countertrend moves can be tricky" to predict. But the veteran market watcher is "quite sure the next wave down is going to be larger than what we've already experienced," and take major averages well below their March 2009 lows.

Today In History August 12, 2009

1811 - The first colonists arrived at Cape Disappointment, Washington.
1833 - Charles Gaylor patented the fireproof safe.
1861 - Fort Sumter was shelled by Confederacy, starting America's Civil War.
1864 - Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest captured Fort Pillow, in Tennessee and slaughters the black Union troops there.
1877 - A catcher's mask was used in a baseball game for the first time by James Alexander Tyng.
1927 - The British Cabinet came out in favor of women voting rights.
1938 - The first U.S. law requiring a medical test for a marriage license was enacted in New York.
1945 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in Warm Spring, GA. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 63. Harry S Truman became president.
1955 - The University of Michigan Polio Vaccine Evaluation Center announced that the polio vaccine of Dr. Jonas Salk was "safe, effective and potent."
1963 - Police used dogs and cattle prods on peaceful civil rights demonstrators in Birmingham, AL.
1967 - Jim Brown made his TV acting debut on the NBC show "I Spy."
1969 - Lucy and Snoopy of the comic strip "Peanuts" made the cover of "Saturday Review."
1981 - The space shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral, FL, on its first test flight.
1983 - Harold Washington was elected the first black mayor of Chicago.
1984 - Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Challenger made the first satellite repair in orbit by returning the Solar Max satellite to space.
1987 - Texaco filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy after it failed to settle a legal dispute with Pennzoil Co.
1989 - In the U.S.S.R, ration cards were issued for the first time since World War II. The ration was prompted by a sugar shortage.
2002 - JCPenney Chairman Allen Questrom rang the opening bell to start the business day at the New York Stock Exchange as part of the company's centennial celebrations. James Cash (J.C.) Penney opened his first retail store on April 14, 1902.

Dirty Secret No. 1 in Obamacare by Chuck Norris -- Health care reforms are turning into health care revolts. Americans are turning up the heat on congressmen in town hall meetings across the U.S. While watching these political hot August nights, I decided to research the reasons so many are opposed to Obamacare to separate the facts from the fantasy. What I discovered is that there are indeed dirty little secrets buried deep within the 1,000-plus page health care bill. Read More...

President Obama tells Mexico he will begin seeking immigration reform this year -- "We have a broken immigration system," he said. "Nobody denies it. Continuing on the current path means tensions with Mexico, danger for those trying to cross into the United States illegally, unfairness for those trying to immigrate legally, exploitation by unscrupulous employers, the depression of U.S. wages and other ills," Obama added.

Illegal's Will be Counted in the U.S. Census 2010 -- California could get nine House seats it doesn’t constitutionally rate because illegal aliens will be counted in 2010, concluded an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal.

U.S. Freezes Assets of North Korea Bank -- The U.S. moved Tuesday to freeze the assets of a North Korean bank accused of providing financial services to companies involved in Pyongyang's missile programs. The Treasury Department's action against Korea Kwangson Banking Corp., or KKBC, means any bank accounts or other financial assets found in the United States that belong to the firm are blocked. Americans also are prohibited from doing business with the bank. It is based in North Korea and has operated at least one overseas branch in Dandong, China.

With jobs harder to find, work gets easier for Army recruiters -- Traditionally the Army has attracted the young, many of them fresh out of high school. They join for the promise of adventure, the chance to be part of something bigger, and a free college education. But as the number of jobs dwindles across the country, more Americans are enlisting later in life, drawn by the promise of steady work and generous benefits.

Another 45,000 US troops needed in Afghanistan, military adviser says -- The United States should send up to 45,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, a senior adviser to the American commander in Kabul has told The Times. The US reinforcements already approved by Mr Obama include 8,000 Marines of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade who have arrived in Helmand province, replacing the British troops in the south of the province, and 4,000 US Army soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade, who are also arriving in the region.

Lying Low After a Layoff -- When he lost his job as a business development manager with General Dynamics Information Technology in February, Cole was too ashamed to tell anyone except his wife and family what had happened. It made no difference that 1,200 other workers were pink-slipped at the same time. He felt as if he had done something wrong, even though he knew he hadn't.

Bank of America faces more bonus embarrassment -- Bank of America Corp will likely face more embarrassing disclosures about bonuses paid at Merrill Lynch & Co after a federal judge refused to rubber-stamp a settlement over the $3.6 billion of payouts.

NASA wants proposals for space taxis -- NASA plans to use $50 million of federal economic stimulus funds to seed development of commercial passenger transportation service to space, agency officials said on Monday.

California Won't Even Accept Its Own IOUs -- The state government itself will not accept its own IOU's as payment for debts – at least not until their “maturity date” in October.

GMTV host Andrew Castle berates minister over how he almost lost his daughter to swine flu 'danger' drug -- GMTV presenter Andrew Castle yesterday waded into the row over the widespread prescription of Tamiflu as he revealed his daughter almost died after taking the swine flu drug.

Dirty Secrets of the Food Processing Industry By Sally Fallon -- This presentation was given at the annual conference of Consumer Health of Canada, March, 2002. If we don't return to good eating practices one mouth at a time, one meal at a time, one farm at a time, preparing our own food and preparing it properly, there is not going to be another generation.

300 children a day added to DNA database: 400,000 under-15s on Big Brother roll -- More than 300 children a day have their DNA taken by the police and added to the national database. Already 412,670 youngsters under 15 have their genetic profiles stored. Once 15 to 17-year-olds are added, the total rises to an astonishing 1.1million, according to Freedom of Information replies revealed yesterday.


Today In History August 11, 2009
1874 - A patent for the sprinkler head was given to Harry S. Parmelee.
1877 - The two moons of Mars were discovered by Asaph Hall, an American astronomer. He named them Phobos and Deimos.
1896 - Harvey Hubbell received a patent for the electric light bulb socket with a pull-chain.
1909 - The American ship Arapahoe became the first to ever use the SOS distress signal off the coast of Cape Hatteras, NC.
1924 - Newsreel pictures were taken of U.S. presidential candidates for the first time.
1934 - Alcatraz, in San Francisco Bay, received federal prisoners for the first time.
1951 - The first major league baseball game to be televised in color was broadcast. The Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves 8-1.
1962 - Andrian Nikolayev, of the Soviet Union, was launched on a 94-hour flight. He was the third Russian to go into space.
1971 - Harmon Killebrew of the Minnesota Twins got his 500th and 501st home runs of his major league baseball career.
1991 - The space shuttle Atlantis ended its nine-day journey by landing safely.
1992 - In Bloomington, MN, the Mall of America opened. It was the largest shopping mall in the United States.
1994 - A U.S. federal jury awarded $286.8 million to about 10,000 commercial fishermen for losses as a result of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
1995 - All U.S. nuclear tests were banned by President Clinton.
2002 - US Airways announced that it had filed for bankruptcy.

United States Air Force Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan 2009-2047 (Unclassified) -- See the unclassified document. However, you may want to read this related article: Unmanned aircraft take on increased importance

Consumer, Celebrity Bankruptcies May Hit 1.4 Million -- Celebrities who filed for bankruptcy in July included movie actor Stephen Baldwin, who sought protection from creditors after lenders began foreclosure procedures against his home. Lenny Dykstra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a petition that says the former Major League Baseball All-Star owes between $10 million and $50 million. Read More...

Government Prepares for “unwillingness to follow government orders” -- The International Swine Flu Conference is being held in Washington D.C. next week. Read the agenda for the breakout sessions, especially the session on “psychological issues” (Session #2) and the topic heading: “Unwillingness to follow government orders.” Also note session #6, which includes “Control and diffuse social unrest & public disorder” and “Isolate prisons and other facilities.” Read the entire Swine Flu Conference Brochure at: http://www.new-fields.com/ISFC/brochure.pdf

8 cities in US line up for swine flu vaccine test including St Louis -- Hundreds of Americans in eight cities are lining up for experimental swine flu shots in a race to get a vaccine out in case the new flu virus regains strength this fall and winter. About 2,800 people will participate in the government-led studies. Saint Louis University will test 200 adults and 200 children. Also under way are separate studies by five flu vaccine manufacturers under contract with the government.

57 Trillion Reasons To Murder 100 Million Americans With Poisonous Vaccinations by Leonard G. Horowitz -- The fact is, you are worth more dead than alive to Obama's ilk, because in reality, there is a WARRANT FOR YOUR DEATH THAT CARRIES A REWARD OF $189K, and rising. Now you would never believe this is true. But do your "homework" and learn the FACTS - Read More...

Flu drugs 'unhelpful' in children -- Research has cast doubt on the policy of giving antiviral drugs to children for swine flu. (Sent to us by our friend Mike Tawse in the UK....thanks Mike)

Zombie Subdivisions and "Pig In The Python" Shadow Inventory -- These idled, “zombie” subdivisions can be found across metro Atlanta, but they’re most prevalent in outer-ring suburban areas. Selling them has proven tough, with some properties sitting on the market for months on end without even a nibble.

A Few things You Should Know About Offshore Banking in 2009 -- The Swiss emerged from those early conflicts wise enough to know that war was a messy, violent and costly affair…especially for whoever was waging war against them. So it comes as no shock that Switzerland hasn’t been at war internationally since 1815.

Deaths from avoidable medical error more than double in past decade, investigation shows -- Preventable medical mistakes and infections are responsible for about 200,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, according to an investigation by the Hearst media corporation. The report comes 10 years after the Institute of Medicine's "To Err Is Human" analysis, which found that 44,000 to 98,000 people were dying annually due to these errors and called for the medical community and government to cut that number in half by 2004.

Banks make $38bn from overdraft fees -- US banks stand to collect a record $38.5bn in fees for customer overdrafts this year, with the bulk of the revenue coming from the most financially stretched consumers amid the deepest recession since the 1930s, according to research. The fees are nearly double those reported in 2000.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, JFK's sister and Special Olympics founder, dies -- President John F. Kennedy's sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver, a champion for the rights of the mentally disabled and founder of the Special Olympics, has died. She was 88.

Air Force Used Twitter to Track Public Backlash to Statue of Liberty Flyover -- Although the Pentagon has warned of the security risks posed by social networking sites, newly released government documents show the military also uses these Internet tools to monitor and react to coverage of high-profile events.

Spokane VA Center Miscounted Suicides -- The number of Spokane, Wash.-area veterans who killed themselves in a one-year period is far greater than the Spokane Veteran Affairs Medical Center knew at the time, a VA investigation has found. The VA's Office of Medical Investigations discovered that from July 2007 through the first week of July 2008, at least 22 veterans in the Spokane VA service area killed themselves, and 15 of them had contact with the medical center.

Amputee Private Matt Woollard plans return to fight Taliban -- A BRITISH soldier who had part of his leg blown off by a landmine is preparing to return to Afghanistan to settle “unfinished business” with the Taliban. The army expects him to pass fitness tests and he could return as early as next year.

Morrison & Foerster and DRA to Present Appeals Argument Against Department of Veterans Affairs on Behalf of 900,000 Veterans -- Non-profit group Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) and co-plaintiff Veterans United for Truth (VUFT) are asking Court of Appeals judges to reverse the lower court’s ruling, which lacks the authority to order VA to provide timely medical care and disability benefits to hundreds of thousands of waiting veterans. The lawsuit was filed in July 2007 on behalf of all veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), conditions impacting more than 600,000 U.S. service members sent to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Canada Finds Possible US Plane Lost in 1942 -- Nine people were aboard the PBY-5A Catalina, which was based at Presque Isle, Maine. Four crew members survived. Five others died inside the aircraft. Their bodies have yet to be recovered.

Neutralizing A TASER Gun Assault -- A simple body armour can be nothing but a piece of tin foil worn under the clothes. That would short out the electrical currents even if the darts pierce through it. Two or three layers of the foil would even be better if the dart probes pierced it and would provide small holes so the taser electrical arcs would short out more and faster. Even a piece of cardboard or heavy cloth wrapped in tin foil would do the trick.

VIDEO: An Interview with Gerald Celente

'Buy American' won't endanger Canadian trade says Obama -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday downplayed the threat to Canadians posed by Buy American policies while rejecting the notion that Canada should be seen as a health-care "bogeyman." The Buy American policy, which requires that U.S. suppliers use American-made materials in economic-recovery projects, has cast a chill over Canadian exporters and provoked fears of U.S. protectionism.

Big Brother Britain has more CCTV cameras than China -- Britain has one and a half times as many surveillance cameras as communist China, despite having a fraction of its population, shocking figures reveal. There are 4.2million closed circuit TV cameras here, one per every 14 people.

Obama fights back as bid to reform US healthcare stalls -- President Barack Obama has become mired in a frenzied fight over US healthcare reform as Republicans scent a devastating political victory that could hobble his presidency. Obama yesterday lashed out at critics of his ailing push to provide coverage for America's 46 million uninsured people by saying that his critics were resorting to "outlandish rumours" and "misleading information" to scupper his plans.

Today In History August 10, 2009
1821 - Missouri became the 24th state to join the Union.
1856 - In Louisiana, a hurricane came ashore and killed about 400 people.
1869 - The motion picture projector was patented by O.B. Brown.
1885 - The first electric streetcar, to be used commercially, was operated in Baltimore, MD, by Leo Daft.
1914 - Austria-Hungary invaded Russia.
1921 - Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with polio.
1927 - Mount Rushmore was formally dedicated. The individual faces of the presidents were dedicated later.
1944 - U.S. forces defeated the remaining Japanese resistance on Guam.
1945 - The day after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan announced they would surrender. The only condition was that the status of Emperor Hirohito would remain unchanged.
1949 - In the U.S., the National Military Establishment had its name changed to the Department of Defense.
1969 - Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were murdered. Members of the Charles Manson cult committed the crimes one day after the killing of Sharon Tate and four other people.
1977 - The "Son of Sam," David Berkowitz, was arrested in Yonkers, NY. Berkowitz, a postal employee, had shot and killed six people and wounded seven others.
1981 - Pete Rose hit a single and broke the National League all-time hit record with his 3,630 hit.
1988 - U.S. President Reagan signed a measure that provided $20,000 payments to Japanese-Americans who were interned by the U.S. government during World War II.
1995 - Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were charged with 11 counts in the Oklahoma City bombing.
1995 - Norma McCorvey, "Jane Roe" of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, announced that she had joined the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue.
2006 - In Great Britain, 24 people were arrested for their roles in a plot to blow up airliners traveling between Britain and the United States. In Pakistan, 7 people were arrested for their roles in the same plot.

51 U.S. soldiers in Iraq diagnosed with swine flu -- Fifty-one American troops in Iraq have been diagnosed with and treated for swine flu, while another 71 soldiers remain in isolation suspected of contracting the potentially deadly virus, the U.S. military said Sunday.

Officials announce first death of a Kansan infected with swine flu virus -- Kansas health officials Thursday announced the first death of a Kansan infected with the swine flu virus.

Indian woman who tested positive for swine flu dies says officials -- "She was found to be H1N1 positive. This patient has expired early in the day today (Saturday)," Manisha Mhaiskar, from the Mumbai municipal authority, told a news conference. If confirmed, the death would be only India's second from the virus, which first emerged in Mexico and the United States in April.

Using New Laws for Swine Flu, Designed for a Much Deadlier Disease, May Create a Perfect Storm -- The US government is using laws designed for dealing with a very deadly pandemic, or bioterrorism, to bring about a mass vaccination program for swine flu, beginning with the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act 0f 2006. "Today, untested vaccines with novel adjuvants that are likely to cause more autoimmune illness than occurred in 1976 will almost certainly be used. The manufacturers have been given liability, as have the government program planners. *But no compensation mechanism has been created. And the public has not been informed."

Congress to get 8 new private jets -- Congress plans to spend $550 million to buy eight jets, a substantial upgrade to the fleet used by federal officials at a time when lawmakers have criticized the use of corporate jets by companies receiving taxpayer funds.

Town Hall Meetings: Video Compilation: Town Hall Rebellion -- A compilation of videos from across the country of Americans standing up against the totalitarian Obamacare agenda.

Florida bank failures bring 2009 tally to 71 -- Two bank failures in Florida raised the number of bank failures to 71 for the year, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. late Friday. Florida regulators closed Community National Bank of Sarasota County in Venice, Fla., and First State Bank of Sarasota, Fla.
Related Link: Another Bank Fails: Community First Bank, Prineville, Oregon - was closed by the Oregon Division of Finance & Corporate Securities, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver. No advance notice is given to the public when a financial institution is closed.

National Guard asked to explain 'internment' jobs -- An ad campaign featured on a U.S. Army website seeking those who would be interested in being an "Internment/Resettlement" specialist is raising alarms across the country, generating concerns that there is some truth in those theories about domestic detention camps, a roundup of dissidents and a crackdown on "threatening" conservatives.

Geithner asks Congress for higher U.S. debt limit -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner formally requested that Congress raise the $12.1 trillion statutory debt limit on Friday, saying that it could be breached as early as mid-October.

Another Hurdle for the Jobless: Credit Inquiries -- Digging out of debt keeps getting harder for the unemployed as more companies use detailed credit checks to screen job prospects.

Fiat Plans To Build Chrysler Cars At Bertone Plants -- The Wall Street Journal reports, "Fiat SpA plans to build Chrysler Group LLC vehicles in Italy at the plants it will acquire through its purchase of niche manufacturer Carrozzeria Bertone, according to the Italian government." The acquisition "underscores how fast Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of both Fiat and Chrysler, is moving to follow through on his plans to produce Chrysler products outside North America." Marchionne is in the "midst of revamping Chrysler's production as he redefines its product portfolio." Comment: Here's more bailout money, never to be seen again...along with the United States manufacturing jobs. How nice!

Sotomayor sworn in as Supreme Court justice -- Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in Saturday as the Supreme Court's first Hispanic justice and only third female member in the top U.S. court's 220-year history.

Seniors refuse to keep "Health Care Comments Quiet" & AARP Walks OUT! -- "AARP WALKS OUT ON PROTESTING SENIOR CITIZENS...AND CITIZENS TAKE OVER. (Note also, AARP has failed to notify seniors about the pending $400 or more billion cut to Medicare spending and the associated cuts to care)"

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Freed Violent Illegal Aliens -- Data released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) show an alarming number of violent illegal immigrants being released from custody due to lack of space and funding. Through a Freedom of Information Act request from the Houston Chronicle, ICE reported that several hundred illegal immigrants previously convicted of murder and sexual assault were released from custody in Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota and California in the past few years.

Where did that bank bailout go? Watchdogs aren't entirely sure -- Although hundreds of well-trained eyes are watching over the $700 billion that Congress last year decided to spend bailing out the nation's financial sector, it's still difficult to answer some of the most basic questions about where the money went.

Multivitamins Lower Heart Disease Death Risk -- Multivitamins taken regularly over a long period of time may lower the risk of death from heart disease by 16 percent, according to a new study at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center at the University of Washington. The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, also tied daily supplements of vitamin E over a 10-year period to a 28 percent decrease in the risk of death from heart disease.

Now hiring: Everywhere you didn't want to work -- Some of the dirtiest, smelliest, most dangerous jobs are suddenly looking a lot more appealing in this economy. People who have been out of work for months are lining up for jobs at places they once considered unthinkable: slaughterhouses, sewage plants, prisons. Recessions and tight job markets always force some people to take less-desirable or lower-paying work than they are used to. But this recession has been the most punishing job destroyer in at least 60 years, slashing a net total of 6.7 million jobs.

At least 12 dead, many missing in Pacific storms -- Two powerful storms have slammed into eastern Asia, leaving at least 12 dead and hundreds missing. Typhoon Etau plowed into Japan's west coast on Monday, bringing heavy rain that triggered floods and landslides.

1 million evacuated as typhoon hits China -- A typhoon slammed into China's eastern coast Sunday, forcing the evacuation of nearly a million people after earlier lashing Taiwan with torrential rains that caused the island's worst flooding in 50 years and left dozens missing and feared dead.

US Still Paying Blackwater Millions - Outcry Grows From Veterans, Elected Officials -- Despite its scandal-plagued track record, Blackwater (which has rebranded itself as Xe) continues to have a presence in Iraq, trains Afghan forces on US contracts and provides government-funded training for military and law enforcement inside the United States. The company is also actively bidding on other government contracts, including in Afghanistan, where the number of private contractors is swelling. According to federal contracting records reviewed by The Nation, since President Barack Obama took office in January the State Department has contracted with Blackwater for more than $174 million in "security services" alone in Iraq and Afghanistan and tens of millions more in "aviation services."

Birmingham, Alabama: Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale Critical Of Commission -- He says he had a meeting with the commissioners and they said that they would cut his budget by 30% if they didn't get an occupational tax. Then as he left the meeting the media showed him documents that they were expecting to cut is budget by 52%. He called the commissioners heartless.

Alabama city destroying ancient Indian mound for a Sam's Club -- City leaders in Oxford, Ala. have approved the destruction of a 1,500-year-old Native American ceremonial mound and are using the dirt as fill for a new Sam's Club, a retail warehouse store operated by Wal-Mart.


Today in History August 7. 2009
1789 - The U.S. War Department was established by the U.S. Congress.
1782 - George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart.
1888 - Theophilus Van Kannel received a patent for the revolving door.
1928 - The U.S. Treasure Department issued a new bill that was one third smaller than the previous U.S. bills.
1934 - The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling striking down the government's attempt to ban the controversial James Joyce novel "Ulysses."
1942 - U.S. forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II.
1959 - The U.S. launched Explorer 6, which sent back a picture of the Earth.
1964 - The U.S. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which gave President Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.
1981 - After 128 years of publication, "The Washington Star" ceased all operations.
1989 - A small plane carrying U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland, D-TX, and 15 others disappeared during a flight in Ethiopia. The wreckage of the plane was found six days later. There were no survivors.
1990 - U.S. President Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard against a possible invasion by Iraq.
2003 - In California, Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he would run for the office of governor.

Sonia Sotomayor confirmed by 68-31 Senate vote -- Sonia Sotomayor won confirmation Thursday as the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice, a history-making Senate vote that capped a summer-long debate heavy with ethnic politics and hints of high court fights to come. The third woman in court history, she'll be sworn in Saturday as the 111th justice and the first nominated by a Democrat in 15 years.

Federal whistleblower Sibel Edmonds subpoenaed, set to break gag order unless DOJ intecedes -- Unless the Dept. of Justice re-invokes their twice-invoked "state secrets privilege" claim in order to once again gag former FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, her attorneys have notified the department by hand-delivered, sworn letter of declaration [PDF] this week, that she intends to give a deposition, open to the media [Updated: see bottom of article for details], in response to a subpoena this Saturday in Washington D.C.

USAspending.gov: Want to see where tax dollars go? --  Have you ever wanted to find more information on government spending? Have you ever wondered where Federal contracting dollars and grant awards go? Or perhaps you would just like to know, as a citizen, what the Government is really doing with your money. Read More...

Congressman wants government GPS in cars -- An Oregon congressman says he wants to test having a government GPS unit in every car so a tax could be imposed on the miles driven. The proposal, H.R. 3311, which calls for a test project costing $150 million-plus, was introduced by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. (this has been in the works for years)

Ohio city nets 10,000 traffic tickets in 1 month -- Heath, Ohio (population 8,527) has issued more than 10,000 tickets in a 4-week period. At $100 a pop, that's a pretty nice supplemental income for the Licking County municipality. But residents are red hot over the aggressive monitoring, as well as the slow turnaround time for mailing out the traffic summons.

Russia to boost border control after China plague outbreak -- Russia will boost monitoring at its border with China following an outbreak of pneumonic plague in a neighboring north-western region, Russia's top sanitary doctor said Monday.

Baxter completes first swine flu vaccine batches -- Baxter International Inc said on Wednesday it completed its first commercial batches of H1N1 vaccine in late July and is discussing distribution plans with national health authorities.

California nurses protest lack of safety protection for swine flu -- A cancer nurse at Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael has died of the H1N1 flu, becoming the first reported health care worker in California killed by the new variant of swine flu.

Now they want to give you 3!!! flu shots this fall -- Get ready to roll up your sleeve three times for flu shots this fall. That's right, three times. This year's flu season is shaping up to be a very different one. Most people will need one shot for the regular seasonal flu and probably two others to protect against the new swine flu. Experts suggest you get that first shot as early as this month — if you can find it.

WHO tries to assure you the vaccines are safe (yeah, right!) -- Dated 6 August, and issued from Geneva, where the WHO has its headquarters, the world agency said that vaccines are one of the most important medical devices for minimizing illness and deaths during a pandemic, but to be effective they have to be available quickly and in very large quantities. Read More...

Retired vaccine scientist would never vaccinate his kids -- "If I had a child now, the last thing I would allow is vaccination." -Retired Vaccine Researcher to Jon Rappoport.

Flu jabs not tested on children -- A new vaccine for swine flu is most likely to be targeted at vulnerable groups such as young children and pregnant women. But a Radio 4 documentary has discovered that little or no data exists on the safety or effectiveness of flu vaccines on these groups.

Snitch switch: Turn tables on Obama rat patrol -- John Cornyn, R-Texas, has demanded that Obama either halt the program, widely known in the blogosphere as the "snitch" program, or define how he will protect the privacy of those who send or are the subject of e-mails to the flag@whitehouse.gov e-mail address.

Obama's dissident database could be secret...and permanent -- "Since we can't keep track of all of them here at the White House, we're asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov." Read More...

Obama seeks to institutionalize indefinite detention -- Press reports have revealed that the Obama administration is considering the creation of a prison and court complex on US soil to process and hold current and future terrorist suspects. It would include a facility to indefinitely detain people held without trial or any other constitutionally mandated due process rights.

The Fed buys last week's Treasury notes -- The Fed bought $7 billion in Treasuries today and even more yesterday. This is at the upper end of their recent range of already exceptional purchasing activity. If things are so rosy that every single dip is being bought in the stock market with a vengeance, I wonder why these printing operations are really necessary?

Ron Paul son Rand joins Kentucky GOP race for Senate -- Rand Paul, the son of 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul, ended months of speculation Wednesday by saying he will run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated next year by fellow Republican Jim Bunning.

Pennsylvania state Rep speaks out against I-80 tolls -- Rep. Dick Stevenson, a Republican representing Mercer and Butler counties, opposes recent statements by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission that the previously rejected application for tolling authority will soon be resubmitted to the federal government.

Florida, EZ-PAss exchanging data to test camera based tolls -- Several toll agencies in Florida and the E-ZPass have begun exchange of camera based data to test the feasibility of levying tolls on one another's license plates in a pilot program.

Mercenaries training US local police a new trend -- There are many police and law enforcement officials who are concerned with the growing trend of using military-experienced mercenaries to train and work with local police officers in the United States, but there are many who believe the events of September 11, 2001 dictate the need for this new paradigm.

US led blitz kills farmers in Afghanistan -- The farmers were loading cucumbers on a truck when the American forces hit them from their aircraft."
A US military spokeswoman in Kabul also confirmed the attack, but said the men were militants spotted loading weapons on a truck. (cucumbers look like bombs???)

Modified corn seeds sow doubts -- Next spring, farmers in Canada will be able to sow one of the most complicated genetically engineered plants ever designed, a futuristic type of corn containing eight foreign genes.

Lying about Iraq made me quit says UK military press officer -- Having to peddle "government lies" about the safety of soldiers in Iraq led to a Ministry of Defence press officer suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, an employment tribunal will hear.

Plans show magnitude of proposed NSA building -- A draft environmental assessment obtained by KSL 5 News gives some idea of the magnitude of a highest security-intelligence facility the government proposes to build at Camp Williams. Plans call for approximately 1.5 million square feet of building space--more than twice the size of the Energy Solutions Arena.

New Air Force facility energizes ionosphere; fans conspiracy flames -- Alaska: High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (Haarp): a $250 million facility with a 30-acre array of antennas capable of spewing 3.6 megawatts of energy into the mysterious plasma of the ionosphere. Read More...

"We sell a bunch of junk" says Whole Foods chief -- Struggling US store says it would attempt to educate in the ways of healthy eating. When Whole Foods arrived in the UK two years ago it was hailed as a mecca for those determined to follow a healthy diet. But today the struggling US store's chief executive will probably want to eat his words after admitting that, alongside the organic carrots and bags of granola, the shops "sell a bunch of junk".

Popular insect repellent Deet is neurotoxic -- Researchers say that more investigations are urgently needed on DEET to confirm or dismiss any potential neurotoxicity to humans, especially when deet-based repellents are used in combination with other neurotoxic insecticides.

Today in History August 6, 2009
1787 - The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia began. The articles of the U.S. Constitution draft were to be debated.
1806 - The Holy Roman Empire went out of existence as Emperor Francis II abdicated.
1926 - Gertrude Ederle became the first American woman to swim the English Channel. She was 19 years old at the time. The swim took her 14 1/2 hours.
1926 - Warner Brothers premiered its Vitaphone system in New York. The movie was "Don Juan," starring John Barrymore.
1945 - The American B-29 bomber, known as the Enola Gay, dropped the first atomic bomb on an inhabited area. The bomb named "Little Boy" was dropped over the center of Hiroshima, Japan. An estimated 140,000 people were killed.
1960 - Nationalization of U.S. and foreign-owned property in Cuba began.
1965 - The Voting Rights Act was signed by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.
1981 - Fire fighters in Indianapolis, IN, answered a false alarm. When they returned to their station it was ablaze due to a grease fire.
1986 - William J. Schroeder died. He lived 620 days with the Jarvik-7 manmade heart. He was the world's longest surviving recipient of a permanent artificial heart.
1995 - Thousands of glowing lanterns were set afloat in rivers in Hiroshima, Japan, on the 50th anniversary of the first atomic bombing.
1996 - NASA announced the discovery of evidence of primitive life on Mars. The evidence came in the form of a meteorite that was found in Antarctica. The meteorite was believed to have come from Mars and contained a fossil.
1998 - Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky spent 8 1/2 hours testifying before a grand jury about her relationship with U.S. President Clinton.

FEMA is dysfunctional, so we're making it larger? -- Don't look now, but US lawmakers -- Republican and Democrat alike -- in Congress are grabbing more power for themselves while at the same time creating a whole new federal bureaucracy. Americans will rue the day it was created when they see their communities under the control of federal bureaucrats and agencies. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was so ineffective and mismanaged during Hurricane Katrina that it should be totally dismantled and replaced with a new disaster response agency, according to a draft of a Senate report that was presented to their Homeland Security Committee.

The FDIC Is in Trouble -- Of course, in the end, all of this falls on the taxpayer, either directly in the form of more taxes or indirectly via the destruction of the dollar's purchasing power. Another bale of straw on the camel's back, and another reason to be concerned about holding paper dollars for the long term.

Canadian counterinsurgency manual reflects US-Canada "synergy" -- Obama's administration has sent clear signals, through political appointments and holdovers (such as Defense Secretary Robert Gates), that the US military and national security apparatus' transformation toward fighting smaller, "irregular wars" begun under Bush will continue apace.
Comment: The info in this link is even more disturbing than that admission. (Thanks Jimm)

House orders up 3 elite jets -- At the end of July, the House approved nearly $200 million for the Air Force to buy three elite Gulfstream jets for ferrying top government officials and Members of Congress. Ellis said the airplanes are part of a larger trend for the Appropriations Committee to simply decide that big-ticket items are program increases, not earmarks, so they require less public disclosure.

Activists hold little hope for legal justice on Agent orange -- A legal victory for Vietnamese Agent Orange victims is highly unlikely as the US government and chemical companies work only to protect themselves, several international activists have said.

Hundreds panic in India over swine flu death -- Hundreds of anxious people, many with young children, crowded a hospital Wednesday to be tested for swine flu in a western Indian city that reported the country's first fatality two days ago.

WHO plans to vaccinate more than half the world's population for swine flu -- Get in line folks!  NOT...!!!!

Soldier who didn't obey is jailed -- A soldier at Fort Hood who fought his deployment to Afghanistan and stopped obeying orders was sentenced to a month in jail and demoted to private in a military court on Wednesday morning.

Magnesium deficiency linked to ADD & ADHD in children -- Children's diets today are filled with processed foods, refined sugars and food additives. This type of diet depletes children of magnesium in two ways. First, this diet is extremely low in magnesium to begin with. Secondly, refined sugars and food additives can actually stress the nervous system, causing the body to use up magnesium supplies as it tries to counteract this effect.

Spike in suicide calls due to the economy -- Economic woes are weighing heavily on some Americans _ so much so that the federal government is boosting financial support for suicide prevention centers around the nation.

Demand at food banks up, even in well off DC suburbs -- As the national unemployment rate nears 10 percent, more and more people are turning to food banks for help keeping food on their plates.

Oregon hemp farming bill becomes law -- New State Program for Hemp Farmers to be Established.

Cat food irradiation in Australia banned as cats die -- About 90 cats fell ill last year and 30 died before a Sydney vet, Georgina Child, made the link in November between the mystery illness and a brand of Canadian gourmet pet food called Orijen.

New Jersey bill seeks help of truckers in reporting suspicious activity -- A bill awaiting a floor vote before the full Senate would make an exception from the state’s cell phone law for truck drivers to assist in national security efforts. Assembly lawmakers already approved a similar version.

Pain ray first commercial sale looms -- The military isn’t about to deploy its pain ray to the battlefield. But someone in the commercial sector is about to. We don’t know who. The sale is mentioned in a presentation by Raytheon, who built the microwave weapon for the Defense Department.

Obama team mulls new quarantine regulations -- The Obama administration is quietly dusting off an effort to impose new federal quarantine regulations, which were vigorously resisted by civil liberties organizations and the airline industry when the rules were first proposed by the Bush administration nearly four years ago.

White House website asking for info on anti health care advocates -- Of the information that American snitchers send off to the White House, who in the White House is going to get this information? What are they going to do with it? Will they create a data base of people that stand against Obama? What is to be done with such a database? Who will get visited by the FBI in the dead of night because they sent an email critical of Obama’s socialist styled healthcare policies?

An overdue ban on a dangerous sweetener, Aspartame -- Back in 2006, based on highly sensitive and life long feeding tests in groups of about 200 rats and at doses less than usual human dietary levels, the prestigious Italian Ramazzini Foundation confirmed that aspartame is unequivocally carcinogenic. A high incidence of cancers was induced in multiple organs, including lymph glands, brain and kidney.

Citizen uprising begins; Congress feels heat back home -- The vast American heartland is standing up to the Washington elitists who presume to know what we need better than we do.

Feds at DefCon alarmed after RFIDs scanned -- It’s one of the most hostile hacker environments in the country –- the DefCon hacker conference held every summer in Las Vegas. Federal agents at the conference got a scare on Friday when they were told they might have been caught in the sights of an RFID reader.

Today in History August 5, 2009
1833 - The village of Chicago was incorporated. The population was approximately 250.
1861 - The U.S. federal government levied its first income tax. The tax was 3% of all incomes over $800. The wartime measure was rescinded in 1872.
1864 - During the U.S. Civil War, Union forces led by Adm. David G. Farragut were led into Mobile Bay, Alabama.
1884 - On Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid.
1914 - The electric traffic lights were installed in Cleveland, Ohio.
1921 - The first play-by-play broadcast of a baseball game was done by Harold Arlin. KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh, PA described the action between the Pirates and Philadelphia.
1923 - Henry Sullivan became the first American to swim across the English Channel.
1962 - Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home. The "probable suicide" was caused by an overdose of sleeping pills. Monroe was 36 at the time of her death.
1963 - The Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed by the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union. The treaty banned nuclear tests in space, underwater, and in the atmosphere.
1964 - U.S. aircraft bombed North Vietnam after North Vietnamese boats attacked U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.
1969 - The Mariner 7, a U.S. space probe, passed by Mars. Photographs and scientific data were sent back to Earth.
1974 - U.S. President Nixon said that he expected to be impeached. Nixon had ordered the investigation into the Watergate break-in to halt.
1981 - The U.S. federal government started firing striking air traffic controllers.
1990 - U.S. President Bush angrily denounced the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
1991 - An investigation was formally launched by Democratic congressional leaders to find out if the release of American hostages was delayed until after the Reagan-Bush presidential election.
1992 - Federal civil rights charges were filed against four Los Angeles police officers. The officers had been acquitted on California State charges. Two of the officers were convicted and jailed on violation of civil rights charges.

FEMA announces creation of children's working group -- The working group will allow FEMA and its partners to explore and implement planning and response strategies specific to children throughout the agency and ensure that during a disaster the unique needs of children are not only considered, but fully integrated into how FEMA administers this support to states and the public.

Diseased African green monkeys used to make swine flu vaccine; Private military contractor (DyneCorp) holds patent -- Aside from the dangerous ingredients many people already know about (like squalene or thimerosal), one of the key ingredients used in flu vaccines (including the vaccines being prepared for the swine flu pandemic) is the diseased flesh of African Green Monkeys. This is revealed in U.S. patent No. 5911998 - Method of producing a virus vaccine from an African green monkey kidney cell line. Read more...

Pneumonia vaccine may help limit swine flu deaths -- Most of the serious consequences linked to the H1N1 virus are the result of pneumonia, but the Pneumovax vaccine is underused. (another excuse to give another vaccine)

Blackwater founder implicated in murder -- A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia.

Dangers in the shots-components of H1N1 vaccines -- We all are their experimental lab rats. There is no concern about harming or killing anyone, because the companies (GlaxoSmithKline, Baxter, and Novartis, and others) have been indemnified by the government, so that there is absolutely no recourse for any deaths or injuries these vaccines may cause.

Squalene-the swine flu vaccine's dirty little secret -- When a virus is injected into your body in a vaccine, and especially when combined with an immune adjuvant like squalene, your IgA immune system is bypassed and your body’s immune system kicks into high gear in response to the vaccination. Injecting organisms into your body to provoke immunity is contrary to nature, and vaccination carries enormous potential to do serious damage to your health.

Buffett's Betrayal -- From the article: As Roger Lowenstein wrote in his 1995 biography of Buffett, "Wall Street's modern financiers got rich by exploiting their control of the public's money ... Buffett shunned this game ... In effect, he rediscovered the art of pure capitalism - a cold-blooded sport, but a fair one." But there's nothing fair about Buffett getting a bailout, about exploiting the taxpaying public for his own gain. The naïve 14-year-olds among us thought he was better than this.

Bloomberg: Dollar Drops to Lowest Level Since Weeks After Lehman Collapsed -- "We are starting to see the dollar sell-off getting more momentum," said Paresh Upadhyaya, who helps manage $21 billion in currency assets as a senior vice president at Putnam Investments in Boston. "Risk sentiment is very strong now that the global recovery is under way."

Here comes the commercial real estate bubble...about to burst -- “The degree and speed at which these changes in market fundamentals have occurred are staggering,” noted CoStar Group’s President and CEO Andrew C. Florance." Florance noted that, on an inflation-adjusted basis, the average price per square foot buyers paid for office properties had enjoyed an 11-year run-up beginning at the end of 1996 to their peak in the third quarter of 2007. In the past six quarters, U.S. office buildings have lost more than half their value.

Commercial Real Estate Reaches Saturation Point -- In addition, office-leasing activity is off 39% from year-ago levels and all but three U.S. office markets posted negative net absorption over the first two quarters of 2009.

Poor GMO Food Giant -- The Decatur, Ill.-based agribusiness company earned $64 million, or 10 cents per share. That's down from $372 million, or 58 cents per share, in the same period a year ago when the company benefited from crop prices that hit all-time highs. Comment: Hurray for our side, organic home gardening, and people not eating frankenfoods! Someone is certainly not telling the real story regarding ADM's losses. (Thanks JImm)!!

National Guard may be deployed to troubled Alabama county -- The sheriff in Alabama's most populous county may call for the National Guard to help maintain order, a spokesman said Tuesday, after a judge cleared the way for cuts in the sheriff's budget and hopes dimmed for a quick end to a budget crisis.

Experts predict quieter Atlantic hurricane season -- experts on Wednesday reduced the number of projected hurricanes in the north Atlantic this season to four, two of them major hurricanes with winds above 178 kilometers (111 miles) per hour.

Stan Deyo's quake predictions hit the nail on the head -- He nailed today's Baja California quakes 4 days ago. See map. His spot on forecast picked the July 15th 7.8 New Zealand earthquake 2 days before it struck on July 13.

Residents flee China's quarantined plague town -- Frightened residents of a Chinese town sealed off after an outbreak of pneumonic plague have begun to flee under cover of darkness, sneaking around checkpoints set up to stop the spread of one of the world’s deadliest diseases.

Don't go to Great Britain because of swine flu Russia says -- Russia’s leading health official urged a boycott of Britain over swine flu yesterday as he appealed to his country’s football fans not to travel to Wales for a World Cup qualifying match.

Russian submarines discovered patrolling East Coast -- Two nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines have been patrolling in international waters off the East Coast for several days, in activity reminiscent of the Cold War, defense officials said Tuesday.

Government fines & harassment for people who refuse to answer intrusive survey questions -- The survey, which is sent to 3 million random homes each year, is in addition to the census but demands far more invasive information from citizens, such as how many times they have been married, if they have a toilet that flushes, and how much is left outstanding on their mortgage.

Senator says Army neglected to protect troops from deadly poison in Iraq -- Democrats in the U.S. Senate say the Army and the nation's largest war contractor failed to protect troops from a "deadly poison" in Iraq and are demanding that the inspector general investigate.

Jay Leno discusses destruction of speed cameras on BBC -- Appearing Sunday on the top-rated BBC show Top Gear, Leno suggested that as a visitor, the number of cameras in England is overwhelming. He also suggested that US drivers have a much less tolerant attitude toward photo enforcement.

Now it's barcodes that can be read at a distance -- Radio frequency identification tags are not fully catching on, thanks to objections from Alan Watt, Katherine Albrecht, and others who have been hammering away for years at RFID’s threats to privacy and civil liberties. Now enters the new barcodes. Read More...

Culture of fear at the US border -- Janet Napolitano wants Americans to stop living in fear. To achieve that, DHS must change its fear-mongering policies.

Bringing the "bio" war home -- The 2001 anthrax attacks underscore the dangers posed to our health and safety by the Bioweapons- Industrial Complex.

Secondary DU contamination now under way in Gaza -- It is with horror to learn that the UNDP has started clearing the rubble from Gaza. "The task of pulverizing the pieces of broken concrete will begin in eight days".

Health bills allow some a religious exemption (such as the Amish) -- One of the central tenets of the health care legislation under construction on Capitol Hill is a mandate that every American be protected by some kind of medical insurance. There’s one exception to the mandate, though: people opposed to buying health coverage for religious reasons.

Hog farm lawsuit settled for $1.1 million -- A couple who lives near Stockton Lake, Missouri has been awarded $1.1 million in a lawsuit settlement because of the stench from a nearby factory hog farm. The lawsuit said Mullings built one of six barns without a construction permit, a violation of Missouri Department of Natural Resources regulations. The farm operated six years without an operating permit from DNR.

African chickens won't eat GM feed -- Chickens refusing to eat the maize they had been fed has led to the discovery that their feed had been genetically modified to include a well-known weed and insect killer.

Intense, prolonged exposure to World Trade Center attacks linked to health problems years later -- Large number of individuals, such as recovery and rescue workers, nearby residents and office workers, who experienced intense or prolonged exposure to the World Trade Center attack have reported new diagnoses of asthma or posttraumatic stress 5-6 years after the attack, according to a study in the August 5 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on violence and human rights.

Today in History August 4, 2009
1735 - Freedom of the press was established with an acquittal of John Peter Zenger. The writer of the New York Weekly Journal had been charged with seditious libel by the royal governor of New York. The jury said that "the truth is not libelous."
1753 - George Washington became a Master Mason.
1790 - The Revenue Cutter Service was formed. This U.S. naval task force was the beginning of the U.S. Coast Guard.
1821 - "The Saturday Evening Post" was published for the first time as a weekly. .
1921 - The first radio broadcast of a tennis match occurred. It was in Pittsburgh, PA.
1922 - The death of Alexander Graham Bell, two days earlier, was recognized by AT&T and the Bell Systems by shutting down all of its switchboards and switching stations. The shutdown affected 13 million phones.
1954 - The uranium rush began in Saskatchewan, Canada.
1958 - The first potato flake plant was completed in Grand Forks, ND.
1964 - The bodies of Michael H. Schwerner, James E. Chaney, and Andrew Goodman were found in an earthen dam in Mississippi. The three were civil rights workers. They had disappeared on June 21, 1964..
1977 - U.S. President Carter signed the measure that established the Department of Energy.
1987 - The Fairness Doctrine was rescinded by the Federal Communications Commission. The doctrine had required that radio and TV
stations present controversial issues in a balanced fashion.
1993 - Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell, Los Angeles police officers were sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for violating Rodney King's civil rights.

VIDEO: Austin, Texas - Rep. Doggett had a very bad, bad day when constituents followed him and chanted “just say no” to health care.

Health Care Bill Would Allow Feds To Snoop in Your Checkbook -- Congressman John Shadegg calls the language in the healthcare bill "pretty troubling." Section 163 of the bill states that the government would be allowed real-time access to a person's bank records - including direct access to bank accounts for electronic fund transfers.

Obama Family Secret Service Code Names -- The new First Family has been issued code names by the Secret Service. Take a look...

What's Really in Obama's Health Care Reform Bill - A Plain English Translation

A record breaking July for cool temps (NOT IN TEXAS) -- More than 1,100 daily record low temperatures were broken in July nationwide, according to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). When record afternoon low highs are considered, that number jumps to more than 3,000 records. An additional 1,200 stations tied records.

UK: Patients forced to live in agony after NHS refuses to pay for painkilling injections -- Tens of thousands with chronic back pain will be forced to live in agony after a decision to slash the number of painkilling injections issued on the NHS, doctors have warned.

UK to install cameras in private homes -- The UK government is about to spend $700 million dollars installing surveillance cameras inside the private homes of citizens to ensure that children go to bed on time, attend school and eat proper meals.

Clorox gets sales boost from flu outbreak -- “We are preparing for the potential of H1N1?.?.?. expanding during the traditional flu system, and we’re working closely with our retailer partners to take advantage of any opportunities that may accrue to us,” Mr Peiros said. Comment: A pandemic is an opportunity??? (Thanks Jim)

French general takes over key NATO command in Norfolk, VA -- In an unprecedented move, a French general will take over a key NATO command in Norfolk, Virginia, charged with transforming the Europe-centered Cold War alliance to tackle today's global challenges, NATO said Wednesday.

Weather records are a state secret -- But if global warming continues to be set back so firmly, one begins to wonder if the monetary elite will continue to support it. That will mean one less dominant social theme for us to write about. (Thanks Jim)

Obama faces 30 death threats a day, stretching Secret Service -- US President Barack Obama is the target of more than 30 potential death threats a day and is being protected by an increasingly over-stretched and under-resourced Secret Service, according to a
new book.

New Firm Offers Electronic Medical Records To Psychologists -- An Ann Arbor company called TherapyCharts is introducing its electronic health record system tailored to the specific needs of individual and small clinic psychologists, clinical social workers and mental health counselors.

Magnesium is the underrated master mineral -- Magnesium is a very underrated, virtually ignored mineral for our diets, yet it is the most crucial and essential to over 300 bodily biochemical and cellular metabolic processes. It has been called the "Master Mineral" because of its central importance to so many cellular functions and proper body glucose balance. Because of poor topsoil conditions and poor eating habits, almost everyone is magnesium deficient to some extent.

Something fun - The top 100 essential folk songs -- These are the 100 essential folk songs as voted by our Folk Alley listeners, which are available for streaming at this website.

The year of no tomatoes -- You may be noticing that tomatoes are doing poorly this year. We may have to worry about the H1N1 Swine Flu, but Tomatoes are worries about the early emergence and outbreak of the Potato Famine Blight, or 'Late Blight'.

Post office branches that may close -- United States Postal Service - Station/Branches Identified For Full Study.

US dollar collapse starting next Monday? -- The trading week finished with a further attack against the US Dollar, reversing a short-lived strenghening of the US Dollar that could be observed during the last two days

Wal-Mart weighs role in U.S. H1N1 vaccination plans -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc is discussing with U.S. health officials the possibility of putting vaccination sites at some of its stores for an H1N1 swine flu inoculation campaign this fall, a company official said .

HR3311 calls for federal tax on miles traveled -- A bill up for consideration in the U.S. House seeks to change the way highway users are taxed to fund transportation. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-OR, introduced a bill that would establish a federal pilot program to study vehicle miles traveled, or VMT,  as a possible supplement to or possible replacement for the current per-gallon fuel tax. The bill, HR3311, does not specify what would happen to the fuel tax if a VMT program were established.

Greece plans mandatory swine flu vaccination -- Greece will vaccinate its entire population of 12 million against the H1N1 swine flu pandemic which has swept around the world in weeks, killing hundreds of people, the country's health minister said on Friday.

Are we prepared for flu outbreak? -- Most Americans aren't worried about the resurgence of swine flu, but government agencies have been working for months to prepare for an epidemic. (note in the article where they may ask people to stay home for 4 months, but later they say store 7 days worth of supplies)

Fox news video on the military activation & mass quarantines for flu followed by comments -- According to CNN, the Pentagon is "to establish regional teams of military personnel to assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall, according to Defense Department officials."

From Akron Ohio -- the influenza Stay at Home Toolkit -- Basic Information on what household members can do to prevent the spread of flu.

Tax revenue posts biggest drop since Depression -- Tax receipts are on pace to drop 18 percent this year, the biggest single-year decline since the Great Depression, while the federal deficit balloons to a record $1.8 trillion.

Pregnant mother tasered at baptism party -- A child’s Virginia baptism ended up being a real shocker. Responding to a noise complaint in Prince William County, police sought to quell the assembled crowd — who they said were making too much of a racket — by firing a Taser at the child’s grandfather and at the pregnant mother of the baptized child.

Antidepressants facts website -- The Serotonergic System, the Pineal Gland & Side-Effects of Serotonin Acting Anti-Depressants -Part 1

27 million Americans on antidepressants -- Use of antidepressant drugs in the United States doubled between 1996 and 2005, probably because of a mix of factors, researchers reported on Monday.

I was a Taser guinea pig -- First, they attached the metal probes to my hip, and to my sneaker. Then, two men grabbed my forearms, in case I fell over. After a deep breath and a final look, I gave the thumbs-up. That’s when Taser International chairman and co-founder Tom Smith blasted me with his latest stun gun, the X3.

Tamiflu causes sickness & nightmares in children -- More than half of children taking the swine flu drug Tamiflu experience side-effects such as nausea and nightmares, research suggests.

Armored SWAT team confronts Young Americans for Liberty in Washington DC -- Yesterday, YAL Events Director, Trevor Leach, and our top youth activists demonstrated on the Washington, DC, National Mall to collect petitions in opposition of Obama's government takeover of health-care.

Too much TV time bad for kid's blood pressure -- You knew too much TV could be bad for kids in general. Now, hints a study released Monday, too much time in front of the tube, even playing video games, may increase a child's risk of developing high blood pressure.

Scientists fear a revolt by killer robots -- Advances in artificial intelligence are bringing the sci-fi fantasy dangerously closer to fact.


Today in History August 3, 2009
1492 - Christopher Columbus left Palos, Spain with three ships. The voyage would lead him to what is now known as the Americas. He reached the Bahamas on October 12.
1750 - Christopher Dock completed the first book of teaching methods. It was titled "A Simple and Thoroughly Prepared School Management."
1880 - The American Canoe Association was formed at Lake George, NY.
1900 - Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. was founded.
1922 - WGY radio in Schenectady, NY, presented the first full-length melodrama on radio. The work was "The Wolf", written by Eugene Walter.
1923 - Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the U.S. after the sudden death of President Harding.
1933 - The Mickey Mouse Watch was introduced for the price of $2.75.
1958 - The Nautilus became the first vessel to cross the North Pole underwater. The mission was known as "Operation Sunshine."
1981 - U.S. traffic controllers with PATCO, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, went on strike. They were fired just as U.S. President Reagan had warned.
1985 - Mail service returned to a nudist colony in Paradise Lake, FL. Residents promised that they’d wear clothes or stay out of sight when the mailperson came to deliver.
1988 - The Iran-Contra hearings ended. No ties were made between U.S. President Reagan and the Nicaraguan Rebels.
1992 - The U.S. Senate voted to restrict and eventually end the testing of nuclear weapons.
2004 - In New York, the Statue of Liberty re-opened to the public. The site had been closed since the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.

Bob Chapman on gold, silver, a bank holiday and the monetary elite -- The editors of The Daily Bell are pleased to present this exclusive interview conducted by Scott Smith with hard-money expert Bob Chapman.

Remains Identified as Navy Captain Michael Scott Speicher (Missing In Action Since 1991) -- The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) has positively identified remains recovered in Iraq as those of Captain Michael Scott Speicher. Captain Speicher was shot down flying a combat mission in an F/A-18 Hornet over west-central Iraq on January 17th, 1991 during Operation Desert Storm. Our Prayers are with the family.
Related Article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32257391/ns/us_news-military

Amish farmers lose court battle against RFID -- Michigan farmers have failed in their attempt to block the introduction of RFID tags for cattle, despite arguments about the cost and the risk of upsetting an otherwise benevolent deity.

DO NOT GO TO CARS.GOV -- Glenn Beck: Cash For Clunkers is a government scam to gain access to your computer!

The Latest Layoff Report: Saturday, August 1st/Sunday, August 2nd 2009

The truth about flu shots by Sherry Tenpenny -- It is absolutely crucial that you share the following information with your friends, family and both elected and appointed bureaucrats within your community.

WHO lists warning signs for severe H1N1 -- The WHO said signs that can signal a progression to severe disease include shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, turning blue, bloody or colored sputum, chest pain, altered mental status, high fever lasting more than 3 days, and low blood pressure.

Pneumonic plague in China-town quarantined -- A second man died of pneumonic plague in a remote area of northwestern China as officials quarantined a town to stop the pneumonia-causing disease spreading.
Related Article: Q+A-What is plague and what are its various forms? -- China has sealed off a remote western town of 10,000 people after two people died of pneumonic plague. Read some facts about the plague.

Pfizer to pay Nigeria $75 million for using children in experiments -- American-based pharmaceutical company Pfizer has signed a settlement worth up to $75m (£45m) with the Nigerian state of Kano, a joint statement says.

Flu scare a boon for body bag sales -- Demand for body bags is prompting a surge of interest in the wares of a small Toronto custom bag manufacturer named Trevor Owen Ltd. Inquiries about its pandemic body bags are pouring in from as far away as the Sultanate of Oman on the Arabian Peninsula.

New wide-ranging powers to quarantine, force medical exams may be tested in flu outbreak -- A resurgence of swine flu anticipated this fall could test new provincial powers that include being able to place sick people under quarantine in their homes and shut down schools.

CDC to seek public's advice on H1N1 vaccination drive -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans to gather the public's thoughts in August on how big this fall's H1N1 influenza vaccination drive should be.

Liberty Dollar - Ambushed & Closed -- "It is with a very heavy heart that I regret to inform you that I have suspended (closed) the Liberty Dollar operation… until I am acquitted. "My thanks for your continued support. These are tough times and it takes tough people to bring about a free and independent currency that provides us with "just weights and measures" and throw off the yoke of a manipulated monetary/tax system and generate a peaceful and prosperous society"...Thank you again for all your efforts to return America to value - one dollar at a time!...Bernard von NotHaus - Monetary Architect/Editor

Monsanto, Dow stack up the genes with smartstax GM corn -- The most complex genetically engineered corn (maize) yet has been approved for use next year in Canada and the United States without its potential health and environmental risks being investigated, anti-biotech activists claim.

US Marshalls seize sanitizer for bacteria problems -- Officers with the U.S. Marshals Service have seized all skin sanitizers and skin protectants, including ingredients and components, at Clarcon Biological Chemistry Laboratory's facility in Roy, Utah, the Food and Drug Administration said. The FDA also warned the public Saturday not to use any Clarcon products because they contain harmful bacteria and are promoted as antimicrobial agents that claim to treat open wounds, damaged skin, and protect against various infectious diseases. No cases have been reported to the FDA.

Watch Bernanke Go into Panic Mode Over Congressman Ron Paul's Bill to Audit the Federal Reserve System -- Ben Bernanke is in panic mode over Ron Paul's bill to let Congress audit the FED. Watch him stutter and stammer. The video is a delight. Never has the FED been under such scrutiny. This is unique.

Want a job? How about a National Guard Internment resettlement specialists -- Job training for a Internment / Resettlement Specialist requires 19 weeks, one day of One Station Unit Training (OSUT) which includes Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training. Part of the training is spent in the classroom and part in the field.

Military civilian terror prison eyed -- The Obama administration is looking at creating a courtroom-within-a-prison complex in the U.S. to house suspected terrorists, combining military and civilian detention facilities at a single maximum-security prison.

Illinois National guard puts military war machines on streets in Springfield -- In Springfield, Illinois, the commoners will get acclimated in the coming week to the idea of the military on the streets. “A Springfield-based military police company will be training with a new armored vehicle in the area this week,” the Associated Press reports. “The Illinois Army National Guard says training with the new Armored Security Vehicles will start Thursday and run through Sunday.”

Injecting oxygen into tumors can kill cancer -- Injecting oxygen into cancerous tumours significantly boosts the chances of recovery, a ground-breaking study has revealed. Read More...

World's largest science group rejecting man made climate fears -- An outpouring of skeptical scientists who are members of the American Chemical Society (ACS) are revolting against the group's editor-in-chief -- with some demanding he be removed -- after an editorial appeared claiming “the science of anthropogenic climate change is becoming increasingly well established.”

National Biodefense Sceince Board meets in September to discuss flu(Federal register) -- As stipulated by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services is hereby giving notice that the National Biodefense Science Board (NBSB) will be holding a public meeting. The meeting is open to the public.

DHS -- September is National Preparedness month.

Towns Halls gone wild -- On the eve of the August recess, members are reporting meetings that have gone terribly awry, marked by angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior. In at least one case, a congressman has stopped holding town hall events because the situation has spiraled so far out of control.

See rebellion at grass roots -- A rebellion is brewing in home congressional districts of incumbent Democrats evidenced by the reaction at several town hall meetings.

US Mint must seek court Ok to keep rare 1933 gold coins -- The U.S. government improperly seized a set of extremely rare and valuable "double eagle" coins from a Philadelphia jeweler's descendants and must win a forfeiture case to keep them, a judge ruled this week.

Power shifts to military in plan for Washington DC calamity -- A shift in authority has given military officials at the White House a bigger operational role in creating a backup government if the nation’s capital were “decapitated” by a terrorist attack or other calamity, according to current and former officials involved in the decision.

Sibol Edmonds: Bin Laden worked for US before 9/11 -- Sibel says that the US maintained 'intimate relations' with Bin Laden, and the Taliban, "all the way until that day of September 11."

Our future in health care? - -UK poor patients forced to live in pain as national health service reduces pain injections.

Warning in Philippines against fake flu vaccines & medicines -- Filipinos should guard against the proliferation of counterfeit medicines in the country, and more people should be made aware of the dangers that these illegal substances pose to public health.