Wednesday, May 25, 2011

USDA fines Missouri family $90k for selling a few rabbits without a license

USDA fines Missouri family $90k for selling a few rabbits without a license - Yahoo! News

It started out as a hobby, a way for the Dollarhite family in Dixa, Mo., to teach a teenage son responsibility. Like a lemonade stand.

But now, selling a few hundred rabbits over two years has provoked the heavy hand of the federal government to the tune of a $90,643 fine. The fine was levied more than a year after authorities contacted family members, prompting them to immediately halt their part-time business and liquidate their equipment.

The Dollarhite’s story, originally picked up by local Missouri blogger Bob McCarthy, has turned into a call to arms for critics of the government’s reach and now has both Democratic and Republican lawmakers vowing to intervene.

John and Judy Dollarhite began selling rabbit meat by the pound in 2006, and as pets to neighbors and friends in 2008.

Raised on the three-acre lot on which their home sits, the rabbits were heralded by local experts for their quality and kept in pristine condition.


When a local pet store asked them to supply their pet rabbits, the Dollarhites had no idea they would be running afoul of an obscure federal regulation that prohibits selling more than $500 worth of rabbits to a pet store without a license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Under the law, pet stores are exempt from regulation.

By by selling to pet stores for resale, the humble Dollarhites became “wholesale breeders of pet animals,” said Dave Sacks, a spokesman for USDA who defended the fine, even while admitting it “looks curious” to the average person.

That’s especially so since the Dollarhites face no accusation they mistreated any animals. Instead, they committed what’s called in regulatory parlance a “paperwork violation” under the Animal Welfare Act, a 1966 law intended to prevent the abuse of animals.

The fine is part of a campaign to step up enforcement of the law that has included levying fines on magicians who use rabbits in magic hat tricks. An Inspector General report prompted increased enforcement, Sacks said.

In an interview, Judy Dollarhite, who said she “passionately” voted for Ross Perot in the 1990s, told of her interactions with government bureaucrats that sound like they came from a libertarian’s nightmare.

Blissly ignorant about the licensing requirement, a USDA inspector arrived unannounced in November 2009 at the Dollarhites’ home. The inspector had viewed invoices at a pet store that was purchasing the rabbits, helping her track down the family’s home.

Hr1 World Plantation with Travinyle1/Hr2 Overtime with Jay 05/25 by Commoncents Radio | Blog Talk Radio

Hr1 World Plantation with Travinyle1/Hr2 Overtime with Jay 05/25 by Commoncents Radio | Blog Talk Radio
GOING LIVE AT 9PM EST

Weather Wars, Natural Airborne Microbes, Or Chemtrail Cover Up? :

Weather Wars, Natural Airborne Microbes, Or Chemtrail Cover Up? :

Revolutionary Politics::Revolutionary Politics : Timothy Geithner asked about "Debt Catastrophe and Contingency Plan"

Revolutionary Politics::Revolutionary Politics : Timothy Geithner asked about "Debt Catastrophe and Contingency Plan"

Herman Cain Needs To Reread The Constitution

Ron Paul On CNBC About The Ryan Budget & Medicare

The Coast Guard

The Coast Guard « LewRockwell.com Blog

Laurence, the Coast Guard was founded by Alexander Hamilton to stop free trade (smuggling). Then it was part of the Treasury. Now it is part of the DHS police state.

Judge: Ariz. shooting suspect mentally incompetent

Judge: Ariz. shooting suspect mentally incompetent - Yahoo! News

TUCSON, Ariz. – The man accused of wounding Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in a deadly rampage lowered his head to within inches of the courtroom table Wednesday. When he lifted it, he began yelling, angry and loud.

Federal marshals had to drag Jared Lee Loughner out of the packed federal courtroom. Minutes later, he was in a nearby room and, over a closed-circuit TV, could watch as U.S. District Judge Larry Burns declared him incompetent to stand trial.

Mental health experts concluded that the 22-year-old college dropout suffers from schizophrenia.

Burns ordered Loughner to a federal facility in Missouri for up to four months, where doctors will try to give him enough treatment to bring him to a point where he understands the case against him.

"You don't have to be a psychiatrist to know that the boy is disturbed," said Eric Fuller, who was shot in the knee and the back during the Jan. 8 shooting spree at a Giffords event outside a Tucson, Ariz., supermarket.

Fuller said he wouldn't be bothered if Loughner spends the rest of his life in a mental health facility.

"Hinckley has been gone for forever," Fuller said, referring to John Hinckley Jr., who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan 30 years ago and has since been committed to a psychiatric hospital.

Loughner spent five weeks in March and April at the federal facility in Springfield, Mo., where he was examined by psychologist Christina Pietz and psychiatrist Matthew Carroll. The two were asked to determine if Loughner understands the consequences of the case.

Burns viewed 18 hours of the experts' videotaped interviews with Loughner. He said the experts' reports and videos were confidential, but he summarized their findings at the hearing.

The judge said Carroll concluded Loughner's mental health has declined in the past two or three years and his thinking on legal issues is confused. Carroll believes Loughner doesn't grasp the gravity of the charges and is instead fixated on inconsequential issues.

Pietz concluded Loughner's thoughts are random and that he suffers from delusions, the judge said. She noted Loughner gave nonsensical answers to questions and doesn't understand the role of judges or jurors.

Neither expert thought Loughner was faking his mental health problems, with one of the therapists saying Loughner doesn't want to be perceived as mentally ill. A hearing to revisit Loughner's mental competency is set for Sept. 21.

Loughner has pleaded not guilty to 49 federal charges stemming from the shooting, which wounded Giffords and 12 others and killed six people, including a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge.

Loughner was calm at the beginning of Wednesday's hearing, tilting his head and swaying back and forth.

Later, he lowered his head, lifted it and began to speak, interrupting the proceedings.

His words were loud but difficult to make out. He said what sounded like: "Thank you for the freak show. She died in front of me." Some reporters also heard him say what sounded like "You're treasonous."

The AP has asked the court clerk's office for an official transcript and recording of the hearing.

Following the outburst, two marshals standing behind Loughner's chair grabbed him by each arm and led him from the courtroom. Loughner's father, sitting a few rows behind him, lowered his eyes and huddled with two women.

Shortly after Loughner was led away, the judge told the attorneys the suspect was entitled to be in the courtroom as long as he composed himself. "I don't want him to act up or speak out," Burns said.

After a 10-minute recess, the marshals said Loughner had calmed down. They then brought him back into the courtroom, and the judge asked Loughner if he wanted to stay and behave, or view the hearing on a TV screen in another room.

"I want to watch the TV screen," Loughner said, the two marshals tightly gripping his arms.

In addition to Fuller, the survivors included Giffords aide Pam Simon, who was shot in the chest and right wrist, and retired Army Col. Bill Badger, who is credited with helping subdue Loughner after a bullet grazed the back of Badger's head.

Giffords staff member Ron Barber also was wounded in the attack but didn't attend the hearing. "It's a little too emotional," he said.

Barber added he wasn't surprised by the judge's ruling, and said he trusts the judicial process.

Outside the grocery store where the shooting occurred, Diane Mencarini, who isn't involved in the case, said she was disturbed that the case against Loughner is on hold while therapists work to improve his mental condition.

"That sort of lets him off the hook, for a while at least," Mencarini said.

Prosecutors had requested the mental exam, citing a YouTube video in which they believe a hooded Loughner wore garbage bags and burned an American flag.

The judge gave the two experts access to Loughner's health records from his pediatrician, a behavioral health hospital that treated him for extreme intoxication in May 2006 and an urgent care center where he was treated in 2004 for unknown reasons.

Prosecutor Wallace Kleindienst said that Loughner will be sent to the Missouri facility in the next few days.

Loughner will stay there for up to four months, and doctors will seek to medicate him to see if he improves, Kleindienst said. He added he didn't know if Loughner would agree to be medicated.

If Loughner is later determined to be competent enough to understand the case against him, the court proceedings will resume.

If he isn't deemed competent at the end of his treatment, Loughner's stay at the facility can be extended. There are no limits on the number of times such extensions can be granted.

If doctors conclude they can't restore Loughner's mental competency, the judge must make another decision. If he finds there's no likelihood of Loughner being restored to competency, he can dismiss the charges.

In that case, state and federal authorities can petition to have Loughner civilly committed and could seek to extend that commitment repeatedly, said Heather Williams, a federal public defender in Tucson who isn't involved in the Loughner case.

Loughner's lawyers haven't said whether they intend to present an insanity defense. But they noted in court filings that his mental condition will likely be a central issue at trial and described him as a "gravely mentally ill man."

Giffords spokesman C.J. Karamargin declined to comment on Wednesday's ruling and wasn't sure if Giffords would be notified. "We've never commented on Loughner's legal case," he said. "There's no reason to start now."

Giffords' astronaut husband Mark Kelly is in space on NASA's next-to-last shuttle flight.

Asked about whether Kelly would be told of the judge's decision, Karamargin said: "I don't know. My guess is he's of course in constant communication with Earth, so I imagine he will be told."

Downtown Kansas City Green Sky 1PM

Rally over police-entry ruling draws more than 250 to Indiana Statehouse

Rally over police-entry ruling draws more than 250 to Indiana Statehouse | The Courier-Journal | courier-journal.com

NDIANAPOLIS – More than 250 people gathered on the south lawn of the Indiana Statehouse on Wednesday to protest an Indiana Supreme Court decision that Hoosiers don't have the right to resist police officers who enter their homes illegally.

Critics of the decision called for voters to oust Supreme Court Justice Steven David, the court’s newest member who wrote the majority opinion in the case, by voting “no” on a retention question that will be on the 2012 ballot.

They also called for the court to reconsider and narrow the decision, which appears to have overturned hundreds of years of common law precedent.

“As citizens, it’s our job to be ever-vigilant against the government,” said Sean Shepard, an entrepreneur and former congressional candidate.

“A boundary has been crossed,” he told the diverse crowd. “And we’re not going to tolerate it.”

Stephen Skolnick and Emily Veno, college students from Carmel, spearheaded the rally, which was organized largely through the social networking website Facebook.

Looking out over the people gathered on the lawn, Skolnick said, “This is only a small fraction of the number who are impacted by this issue.” Organizers said about 1,000 people were watching a web stream of the rally online.

The court's 3-2 ruling came this month in a case in which a man was convicted of misdemeanor resisting law enforcement for shoving an officer who tried to enter his home without a warrant. The police were responding to a 911 call about a domestic disturbance.

The controversial decision brought Indiana law in line with most other states, but critics contend that it infringes on their constitutional rights and centuries of practice concerning homeowners' rights and the limits of police power.

Alex Calls Upon All Texans to March on State Capital!!

Graduation Guests Ticketed For Loud Cheering

Graduation Guests Ticketed For Loud Cheering - Greenville News Story - WYFF Greenville
Fourteen people were ticketed for public disorderly conduct during Tuesday night's Byrnes High School graduation for being "disruptive" when their graduate's name was called out.

Duncan Police Chief Ryan Cothran said, "These guests may see it as cheering in their eyes, but it's disruptive."

Cothran said his police department works in conjunction with the school district to enforce its policy during graduations. The audience is warned twice during the ceremony that all applause should be held until the end of the ceremony, said Cothran.

"We had a rowdy bunch this year," said Cothran.

The chief stated the practice of ticketing guests with public disorderly conduct has been in place for three years. He said this has been the most ever to get a ticket. Each person must pay a $262 fine.

"Some people are thankful for a calm graduation," said Cothran.

Seniors are also told to let their family and friends know outbursts are not going to be tolerated, according to Cothran.

Spartanburg School District 5 spokesman Bobby Bentley said the policy is in place so everybody can hear their graduates name called.

"As a district and student body, we want the graduation ceremony to be very dignified," said Bentley.

Officers were spread out over the crowd to identify the guests who they felt were disruptive. When asked if someone would be ticketed for simply clapping at a normal level for their graduate, Bentley said, "I don't think so."

Read more: http://www.wyff4.com/news/28020400/detail.html#ixzz1NOMHyYQc

Obama: Anglo-American Establishment Will Lead New World Order (2011)

The Last Nail - Floor Speech May 25 2011

Harry Reid Pushes Patriot Act Past Rand Paul

Harry Reid Pushes Patriot Act Past Rand Paul - FoxNews.com

With very little time left on the clock to save the Patriot Act from expiring on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had to work some procedural gymnastics to get past Sen. Rand Paul's many objections (and amendments), as well as a number of members in his own party.

Sen. Reid basically killed his current bill and and opted to take up a House small business bill (it's in a form that's considered filibuster-proof as far as starting debate goes). Neither Rand Paul nor anyone else can object to this. Reid then amended the House bill with the entire text of the Patriot Act extension.

In doing so, Sen. Reid has essentially extended the Patriot Act although there are some steps that must still take place; it will be likely Thursday before a cloture vote can occur. It's unclear whether Reid can get to final passage in time, but these things have a way of working themselves out.

Even with the extension, it seems very likely the Patriot Act will expire for a very brief period of time. The House must take it up and pass it - and President Obama isn't even back until Saturday.



Read more: http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/05/24/harry-reid-pushes-patriot-act-past-rand-paul#ixzz1NNuapqus

5/25/2011 -- Springfield Illinois -- intense HAARP ring and Ghost storm

U.S. DOJ Searching and Seizing Computers and Obtaining Electronic Evidence in Criminal Investigations | Public Intelligence

U.S. DOJ Searching and Seizing Computers and Obtaining Electronic Evidence in Criminal Investigations | Public Intelligence

Members of Congress Get Abnormally High Returns From Their Stocks

Members of Congress Get Abnormally High Returns From Their Stocks

Members of the House of Representatives considerably outperform the stock market in their personal investments, according to a new academic study.

Four university researchers examined 16,000 common stock transactions made by approximately 300 House representatives from 1985 to 2001, and found what they call "significant positive abnormal returns," with portfolios based on congressional trades beating the market by about 6 percent annually.

What's their secret? The report speculates, but does not conclude, it could have something to do with the ability members of Congress have to trade on non-public information or to vote their own pocketbooks -- or both.

A study of senators by the same team of researchers five years ago found members of the higher chamber even better at beating the market -- outperforming it by about 10 percent, an amount the academics said was "both economically large and statistically significant."

"Being one of 435, as opposed to one of 100, is likely to result in a significant dilution of power relative to members of the Senate," the researchers wrote.

The researchers, Alan J. Ziobrowski of Georgia State University, James W. Boyd of Lindenwood University, Ping Cheng of Florida Atlantic University and Brigitte J. Ziobrowski of Augusta State University, noted that the circumstances are ripe for abuse.

"In the course of performing their normal duties, members of Congress have access to non-public information that could have a substantial impact on certain businesses, industries or the economy as a whole. If used as the basis for common stock transactions, such information could yield significant personal trading profits," they wrote.

Durable Goods Orders Tumble as Auto Demand Plunges

Durable Goods Orders Tumble as Auto Demand Plunges - CNBC

New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods fell more than expected in April to record their largest decline in six months as aircraft and motor vehicle orders tumbled, a government report showed on Wednesday.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders dropped 3.6 percent after an upwardly revised 4.4 percent rise in March, which was previously reported as a 4.1 percent increase.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected orders to decline 2.2 percent last month.

Durable goods orders are a leading indicator of manufacturing and the report suggested some cooling in factory activity as the auto sector deals with a shortage of parts following an earthquake in Japan.

Wednesday Morning Commoncents with Jay 05/25 by 98 5 WVER VE RADIO | Blog Talk Radio

Wednesday Morning Commoncents with Jay 05/25 by 98 5 WVER VE RADIO | Blog Talk Radio

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Terrorists, US both attacking Pakistan: Nawaz

Terrorists, US both attacking Pakistan: Nawaz

Pakistan Tribune
May 25, 2011

The chief of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, Nawaz Sharif, on Tuesday asked the government to constitute a commission to investigate the attack on the PNS Mehran in Karachi.

“The attack was aimed at destroying our surveillance capability. The planes destroyed in the attack were of high importance in protecting the territorial waters,” he told a public gathering here attended by Senator Pervez Rasheed, MNA Mohammad Safdar Awan, and others.

“The masses are aware of the forces involved in the attack, so the government must probe the incident by setting up an independent commission. The forces behind the attack want to render us incapable of defending the country,” he stressed.

The PML-N chief said the attack on the PNS Mehran could have been averted had the government constituted a commission to probe the US Special Forces operation in Abbottabad in accordance with the resolution of the National Assembly. He said the inability of the rulers to take bold decisions had encouraged the anti-Pakistan forces to conduct such brazen attacks.

Chinese Company Eyes Idaho : News Article : Idaho Department of Commerce

Chinese Company Eyes Idaho : News Article : Idaho Department of Commerce

Originally in The Idaho Statesman, 12/31/2010
Written by Rocky Barker

As economic power shifts to Asia, Idaho's location makes it a prime site for an industrial foothold

A Chinese national company is interested in developing a 10,000- to 30,000-acre technology zone for industry, retail centers and homes south of the Boise Airport.

Officials of the China National Machinery Industry Corp. have broached the idea — based on a concept popular in China today — to city and state leaders.

They are also interested in helping build and finance a fertilizer plant near American Falls, an idea company officials returned to Idaho this month to pursue.

This ambitious, long-term proposal would start with a manufacturing and warehouse zone tied to the airport, and could signify a shift in the economic relationship between the two superpowers — a relationship once defined by U.S. companies like the J.R. Simplot Co., Hewlett-Packard and Morrison-Knudsen that would head to China to build and develop.

“I think China’s coming over here shows they are willing to collaborate on the reinvigoration of the American industrial base,” said Jeff Don, CEO of Eagle-based C3, which is acting as an Idaho representative for the Chinese company, called Sinomach for short.

Sinomach is just one of an increasing number of companies and investors showing interest in Idaho.

Hoku Materials Inc., a subsidiary of a Chinese energy firm, already has 500 people building its $400 million plant to make polysilicon for solar panels in Pocatello. It expects to begin production in 2011, employing 250 people, said Scott Paul, Hoku’s president and CEO.

China surpassed Japan as the second largest economy in the world in 2010. And in June, Gov. Butch Otter traveled there to tell anyone who would listen that Idaho is open for business.

EAST IDAHO PROJECT COULD COME FIRST

Sinomach is China’s third-largest contractor, with more than $14 billion in sales last year. It has been active in more than 130 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Russia and Eastern Europe as general contractor for large infrastructure and building projects.

Sinomach executives told Southeast Idaho Energy, which is planning to build a $2 billion fertilizer plant in Power County, they want the contract for engineering, procurement and construction. Their access to financing is their deal sweetener.

Southeast Idaho Energy hopes to turn coal into gas to produce nitrogen fertilizer and sulfur. The company expects to hire 700 to 1,000 people during construction with 150 permanent workers.

The company also would separate the carbon dioxide that contributes to climate change and ship it to Wyoming, where it can be pumped underground to enhance the extraction of natural gas.

While Otter was in Beijing in June, he spoke about the project with Jin Kening, chairman of the China National Chemical Engineering Corp. — a different government-owned company. Don said Chinese national companies do compete with each other, but won’t let their own competition get in the way.

“Whatever makes the deal go forward,” Don said.

Doug Sayer, president and CEO of Premier Technology, worked with Otter in Beijing to build long-term relationships with China National. His company could bid on some of the work to build the fertilizer plant.
“Anything we can do to work toward having good industry opportunities for investment is important whether we get a piece of that work,” Sayer said.

The state’s efforts have been critical to the discussions, said Pat Sullivan, a Boise lobbyist who works with Southeast Idaho Energy.

“One thing these Chinese see is we have a governor here who has a great big open-door policy, and I think that’s making a difference in this Sinomach project,” he said.

AN UNUSUAL IDEA THAT MAY BECOME COMMON

Sinomach is not looking only at Idaho.

UK 'to send helicopters to Libya'

UK 'to send helicopters to Libya' - Yahoo! News

Britain and France are to deploy attack helicopters in Libya in an effort to break the stalemate in the conflict, France's defence minister has said.

There was no immediate confirmation of Gerard Longuet's claim from the Ministry of Defence, but a spokesman said that "all options are being looked at".

Any use of attack helicopters such as the RAF's Apaches, which can hit small targets in built-up areas - such as besieged city Misrata - would represent a significant stepping-up of international military operations.

It is understood that, if authorised, Apaches could fly from HMS Ocean in the Mediterranean for joint operations with French aircraft to stop the forces of dictator Muammar Gaddafi targeting civilians in Misrata.

French foreign minister Alain Juppe confirmed that France is sending helicopters to Libya, which he said would fall within UN Security Council resolution 1973, that authorises the protection of civilians. And Mr Longuet later told reporters in Brussels: "The British, who have similar resources to us, are going to do the same thing we are."

French amphibious assault ship Le Tonnerre sailed from Toulon last week and reports in the Paris media suggest it is carrying 12 helicopters and sailing for the Libyan coast.

Speaking in London after talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Foreign Secretary William Hague declined to comment on the prospect of the use of attack helicopters.

Strange Lightning And Clouds Before And After Joplin Tornado :

Strange Lightning And Clouds Before And After Joplin Tornado :

The Intel Hub
May 24th, 2011

Strange lightning and clouds have been reported in and around the area of Joplin Missouri.

Video Description:

After the massive destruction from a Tornado hit Joplin, Mo. these very strange lights & lightning went on for hours. No thunder. This was filmed in Chetopa, Ks. appx 45 miles from Joplin. You can see scalar waves in the cloud area. Apologies for the shaking video.

We also came across this video taken 60 miles from Joplin. If you saw these clouds in the area please contact us.

The clouds look very similar to Mammatus Clouds which have been known to indicate severe thunderstorms.

Japan lets U.S. missile interceptor export

Japan lets U.S. missile interceptor export - UPI.com

TOKYO, May 25 (UPI) -- Japan is preparing to approve U.S. export of their jointly developed sea-based ballistic missile interceptors to third countries, sources told Kyodo News.

Such a decision by the Japanese government, to be communicated to the United States at next month's meeting of their defense heads, would mean a relaxation of the country's ban on arms exports, the sources told Kyodo News.

The decision relates to the new Block 2A type of the Standard Missile-3 interceptor, which are fired from ships specially quipped air defense systems, to knock out intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

The Kyodo report said the two sides will discuss export of each interceptor to comply with Japan's export controls.

The United States, which is Japan's closest ally, plans to begin deploying the SM-3 system in 2018 and wants Japan to relax its export controls largely to shield Europe from Iranian missiles.

Kyodo's sources said Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan's administration would require Washington and its destination countries to ensure no transfer to other nations. North Korea, Iraq and any other country that is under U.N. sanctions would automatically be ruled out of the export provision.



Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/05/25/Japan-lets-US-missile-interceptor-export/UPI-95791306321477/#ixzz1NMokFhK9

Indian firms look to U.S. for cheap labour as outsourcing goes full circle

Indian firms look to U.S. for cheap labour as outsourcing goes full circle | Mail Online

It's a frustration experienced by most people when they've made phone calls to large companies.

An unfamiliar voice answers the phone in a call centre hundreds of miles away where cheap labour is commonplace.

But in a reversal of fortunes it now appears that large Indian companies are actually now themselves outsourcing - to U.S. shores.

A young woman working in a call centre
An Indian woman working in a call centre

Reversal of fortunes: Indian companies are now outsourcing their work to the U.S. where a struggling economy has caused lower wages

Large corporations that have boomed in India amid the country's nimble economy have been drawn to the U.S. where unemployment has soared.

Struggling residents desperate for work are paid between $12 and $14 a hour to be stationed in tiny cubicles for long shifts of telesales work.

Once the employees are established, many are offered the chance to be flown to India themselves - the same tactic Western countries have done in India.

Experts said that the phenomenon, which could become more widespread in the coming years, is partly due to Indian workers demanding higher wages and higher living standards.

'The U.S. became the fastest-growing location for us last year. We expect that to continue this year,' Genpact chief executive V.N. 'Tiger' Tyagarajan said.

Joseph Vafi, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in San Francisco told the Washington Post: 'What you have going on in India are salary hikes. As these companies get larger and larger, it just makes sense for them to do some hiring in the States.'



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389963/Indian-firms-look-U-S-cheap-labour-outsourcing-goes-circle.html#ixzz1NMoVJyFw

WikiLeaks: 'North American Initiative' no 'theory'

WikiLeaks: 'North American Initiative' no 'theory'

By Bob Unruh
© 2011 WND



Barack Obama

A document posted online by WikiLeaks reveals there were strategy discussions regarding the adoption of a "North American Union" – called the North American Initiative in this case – at the ambassadorial level in the United States government.

The concept of a North American Union largely has been ridiculed by many in government and media.The Wikipedia entry on North American Unioncalls it a "theoretical economic union" that has "been the subject of various conspiracy theories."

However,WND has built an extensive library of reportsthat document progress toward the idea, andbest-selling author Jerome Corsi's book, "The Late Great USA,"shows how the Security and Prosperity Partnership, an agreement signed in 2005 by President George W. Bush, threatens American sovereignty.

Read the blueprint for America's restoration, in "Taking America Back," Joseph Farah's manifesto for sovereignty, self-reliance and moral renewal

The WikiLeaks documentwas uncovered by investigators withAmericans for Legal Immigration,and the organization reports they "appear to confirm an incremental and covert plan within the highest levels of the American and Canadian governments to accomplish deeper 'North American Integration,' while keeping most average citizens in the dark and bypassing the constitutions of the existing three sovereign nations of America, Canada and Mexico."

ALIPAC spokesman William Gheen told WND, "This is the smoking gun. This is not conjecture. This is a high-ranking member of the U.S. government who created this document."

(Story continues below)



Read more:WikiLeaks: 'North American Initiative' no 'theory'http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=301325#ixzz1NMo5CifB

QE3 Has Already Started

QE3 Has Already Started | Oil Price.com
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Tuesday, 24 May 2011 02:40
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Most analysts have missed the fact that QE3 has already started in earnest. Of course, it would have been easy to miss. Ben Bernanke has not made any grand pronouncements. He hasn’t done some public thinking out loud, as he did among friends at Jackson Hole, Wyoming last August. It is not even called “QE3”. Think of it as a “stealth QE3”. But make no mistake. A new variety of quantitative easing has already begun in a big way, and is generating its desired effect.

The new QE3 is the “RISK OFF” trade. QE2 ended up pouring $600 billion into stocks, commodities, oil, gold, and silver. Since April 29, the prospect of slowing economic growth has prompted this hot money to take flight and bail from these assets classes. Think of it as the same $600 billion stampeding into risky markets, doing a 180, and then stampeding right back out against.

Where is all this money going? Into the Treasury bond market. We have in fact been in new bull market for bonds since February, taking the yield on the ten year Treasury down from 4.10% to 3.10%. If the current “RISK OFF” trade continues, or even accelerates, we could see ten year yields down to 2.0%-2.5% by the end of the summer.

In the ultimate irony, we might even see bonds peak and risk assets bottom on June 30, the day QE2 ends. Given the way that events compress and accelerate these days, I would not be surprised to see things unfold this way. This is why I have been selling short puts on the long bond ETF (TLT), and avoiding bearish bets on bonds, like the plague, such as the (TBT). It is also why I have been piling on shorts in oil and stock at every opportunity.

There is no doubt that this is Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s plan, and they have voiced as much to Washington confidents in recent weeks. The beauty of this plan is that it has no government fingerprints on it. They are getting private investors to do the heavy lifting for them. That will make them immune from attacks from anti-interventionists, like the Tea Party, and anti-Federal Reservists, like Ron Paul. Bernanke can just sit back and let natural market forces do his handiwork for him.

Clever Ben, clever.

Of course Bernanke cannot employ this strategy forever. Eventually the expiration of Obama’s many stimulus programs, the end of the Bush tax cuts, a growing drag by the state and municipal sector, and a worsening structural unemployment problem, will slow economic growth enough to where the Fed will have to take real action. Then they will have to launch a real QE3, or face another Great Recession, something the administration would rather not see in an election year.

Keep in mind that the next Recession will be far worse than the last one. None of the problems of the 2008-2009 debacle, like too big to fail, the real estate collapse, and the burgeoning bad debts on bank balance sheets, have really been solved. The can has merely been kicked forward. The only difference will be that there will be no TARP and no bail outs next time. The chips will fall where they want.

Microsoft Researchers Transform Humans Into Electronics Controllers | Body Harnesses Ambient Electrical Energy to Control Devices

Microsoft Researchers Transform Humans Into Electronics Controllers | Body Harnesses Ambient Electrical Energy to Control Devices | Microsoft | LiveScience

A team of researchers from Microsoft has discovered a home automation system that could eliminate costly rewiring and outsmart even the smartest appliances.

The Redmond, Wash., team has shown that the human body is a natural antenna. It reliably picks up the electromagnetic signals that emanate from all electrical systems and appliances in the home. These ambient signals can be used to create an affordable home automation system that controls household electronics with a pat on the wall or even a simple hand gesture.

The researchers conducted a set of experiments in 10 houses representing a variety of construction types in the Pacific Northwest. Each homeowner was equipped with a laptopand data-acquisition device and had a sensor pad strapped to his or her ne

Meltdowns also at No.2, No.3 reactors

NHK WORLD English

he operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says findings show that fuel meltdowns may have occurred at the No.2 and No.3 reactors within days of the March 11th earthquake. But it says both reactors are now stable at relatively low temperatures.

Tokyo Electric Power Company said earlier this month that fuel rods at the plant's No.1 reactor had melted.

The utility says a cooling system failure at the No.2 reactor 3 days after the quake led to a sharp drop in its water level.

Workers tried pumping in water from a fire engine, but the injection wasn't enough and the fuel rods likely became exposed.

Most of the fuel is thought to have melted down and collected at the bottom of the reactor pressure vessel by 8 PM on March 15th. That's about 101 hours, or 4 days, after the earthquake.

At the No.3 reactor, TEPCO says the fuel could have reached a state of meltdown at around 3 AM on March 14th, about 60 hours after the quake.

However, TEPCO says there is still a chance the damage to the fuel rods is limited.

It says if the water gauges inside the 2 reactors are accurate, their readings show there were sufficient levels of water in the pressure vessels to prevent a total meltdown.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011 11:38 +0900 (JST)

Bipartisan Plutocracy: Obama is a Political Puppet

Bipartisan Plutocracy: Obama is a Political Puppet

The outspoken scholar and Princeton University professor Cornel West has been viciously attacked by many on the political left, especially supporters of President Obama. Why? Because he had the courage to call Obama a “black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a black puppet of corporate plutocrats.” For more of West’s views see this article.

Most of the attention has been on the use of the word “black,” as if the black Cornel West had made a racist comment. In fact, West got it right because he and some other true progressives have condemned Obama for not being an authentic progressive. Right again, Obama has never shown himself to be a true leftist progressive, even though many on the conservative right may think he is one. West thinks Obama “has no backbone.”

It is not that Obama is not black enough, as some think West was saying. It is about the dishonesty, deceit and corruptness of Obama.

What everyone should be praising West for is that he correctly made the point that Wall Street oligarchs and corporate plutocrats have stolen the US government by using vast sums of money to corrupt both Democrat and Republican politicians.

West just told the truth about Obama who got elected because as a candidate for president he received a huge sum from the most awful Wall Street company, Goldman Sachs.

What West has explained is that “poor and working people have low priority in US government policy including the Obama Administration.” No surprise because West is definitely a true liberal progressive who has been making this kind of criticism very openly for a long time. Indeed, if poor and working people, as well as all African Americans, would wake up to reality they would abandon Obama, even as the lesser evil. Obama has told too many lies and done too many wrong things to deserve their support.

Nearly all members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, are nothing more than mascots of Wall Street oligarchs and puppets of corporate plutocrats, something that all intelligent Americans, including those in the Tea Party movement, should totally agree with.

Here is something else West said: "The tea party folk are right when they say the government is corrupt. It is corrupt. Big business and banks have taken over government and corrupted it in deep ways....we've got to think seriously of third-party candidates, third formations, third parties."

Over at FutureofCapitalism.com this point was made: Obama “has basically enshrined the too-big-to-fail banks while also propping up GE and the firms that will benefit from ObamaCare.” True enough.

We need many more people that get mass media attention to say the kind of things that West has said. Americans need to be reminded incessantly that their government has been hijacked by rich and powerful elites.

With a corrupt two-party plutocracy elections no longer offer the promise of much needed reforms. Odds are that Tea Party people will realize that their favored Republicans will also not deliver a rehabilitated, honest government serving the interests or ordinary Americans.

Contact Joel S. Hirschhorn through delusionaldemocracy.com.