October 2009 – Page 2 – Infinite Unknown

Swine flu peaks out before vaccines make it into widespread distribution

October 28, 2009 by Infinite

(Infinite Unknown) Why has President Obama declared swine flu to be a national emergency? Swine flu infections have peaked out already. Swine flu is a very mild flu, that kills far, far less people than the normal seasonal flu. So why the emergency? (What does the government know that the people don’t know?)

In my opinion the only reason President Obama declared swine flu a national emergency is that FEMA can take over.
(Notice also that a national emergency overrides some of your constitutional rights.)

Congressman Ron Paul asks why President Obama’s daughters haven’t been vaccinated against swine flu???:

Ron Paul on H1N1:

Remember that Ron Paul is not only an outstanding politician, that understands economics and knows what he is talking about when he opens his mouth, but also a medical doctor.

The official reasons you’ve been given why Obama’s daughters haven’t been vaccinated against swine flu are nothing but excuses (or better obvious lies).

President Obama doesn’t want his daughters to be vaccinated against swine flu. Basta!

(NaturalNews) Swine flu infections have peaked out in the USA, even before drug companies could get their vaccines injected into everyone. According to CDC findings announced recently in Atlanta, one in five U.S. children have already experienced the flu this month, and most of those were likely H1N1 swine flu cases, the CDC says.

This comes from a survey of over 10,000 U.S. households conducted by the CDC.

Meanwhile, flu vaccine shipments are way behind schedule. There have been supply problems from the start, and as of right now, relatively few Americans have yet been injected with the swine flu vaccine. (Many have stood in line for hours trying to be injected, but were told to go home with the vaccine ran out.)

Out of nearly 14,000 suspected flu cases tested during the week ending on October 10, 2009, 99.6% of those were influenza A, and the vast majority of those were H1N1 swine flu infections. (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/) This is a very strong indication that swine flu infections have peaked during October, 2009.

Further supporting that notion, researchers from Purdue University just published a paper in the October 15 issue of Eurosurveillance (a science journal about communicable disease) in which researchers stated that the H1N1 swine flu epidemic would peak during “week 42” (the end of October). Week 42 just passed. It’s over.

The AJC is also reporting this week that swine flu is “retreating” in Georgia, where hospital visits from the flu are markedly down (http://www.ajc.com/health/swine-flu…) and fewer illnesses are being reported in schools, too.

Even the WHO is reporting a downward trend in many areas, saying, “In tropical areas of the world, rates of illness are generally declining, with a few exceptions. …In tropical Asia, of the countries that are reporting this week, all report decreases in respiratory disease activity.” (http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_10_…)

Meanwhile, even as the swine flu infection peaks out, the shortage of swine flu vaccines means few people have yet been vaccinated. The shortage is causing “chaos” in clinics across the country, news reports say, and flu vaccination events have been cancelled due to the non-arrival of expected vaccines.

And what, exactly, is causing this shortage of vaccines? According to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, they’re being caused by “production failures” at the drug manufacturing facilities.

Dr. Gary Null Speaking Out at the NYS Assembly Hearing on Vaccinations, Fraud, Junk Science, Crimes Against Humanity and Profit

October 28, 2009 by Infinite

Must-see! (ALL of them.)

“There is no evidence that any influenza vaccine thus far developed is effective in preventing or mitigating any attack of influenza. The producers of these vaccines know that they are worthless, but they go on selling them, anyway.”
– Dr. J. Anthony Morris (Former Chief Vaccine Control Officer at the FDA)

1 of 3:

Added: October 19, 2009

FDA Allows Use of Experimental Antiviral Drug to Treat H1N1

October 28, 2009October 28, 2009 by Infinite

Experimental antiviral drug used on Americans? Americans are now used as guinea pigs.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is allowing the use of an experimental antiviral drug to treat severe cases of H1N1 or swine flu.

The drug, Peramivir, is currently being developed by BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. and is undergoing testing required for regular FDA approval.

The FDA issued a so-called emergency use authorization late Friday that allows doctors to use Peramivir, which is delivered intravenously, in certain hospitalized adult and pediatric patients with confirmed or suspected H1N1 influenza.

A handful of doctors have already treated patients with severe cases of H1N1 using Peramivir obtained through the agency’s expanded access rules that allow individual patients to obtain experimental drugs if certain conditions are met. The emergency-use authorization allows use of the drug without prior FDA approval.

The FDA said there’s only limited clinical data about whether Peramivir is safe and effective, but “based upon the totality of scientific evidence available, it is reasonable to believe that peramivir IV may be effective in certain patients.”

Paul Craig Roberts: U.S. Is A Failed State

October 27, 2009 by Infinite

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

Paul Craig Roberts

Added: October 26, 2009

Amnesty International Report: Israel Is Denying Palestinians Access To Water

October 28, 2009October 27, 2009 by Infinite

– Israel accused of denying Palestinians access to water (Independent)

– Paul Craig Roberts: Israel and the Goldstone Report – War Criminals Are Becoming Arbiters of the Law

A girl stands next to a water tank near Nablus, West Bank. Photo: October 2009

Some Palestinians only get 20 litres of water a day, Amnesty says

Israel is denying Palestinians access to even the basic minimum of clean, safe water, Amnesty International says.

In a report, the human rights group says Israeli water restrictions discriminate against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

It says that in Gaza, Israel’s blockade has pushed the already ailing water and sewage system to “crisis point”.

Israel says the report is flawed and the Palestinians get more water than was agreed under the 1990s peace deal.

‘Basic need’

In the 112-page report, Amnesty says that on average Palestinian daily water consumption reaches 70 litres a day, compared with 300 litres for the Israelis.

Israel must end its discriminatory policies, immediately lift all the restrictions it imposes on Palestinians’ access to water

Donatella Rovera
Amnesty International

Gaza thirsts as sewage crisis mounts Water shortages plague West Bank

It says that some Palestinians barely get 20 litres a day – the minimum recommended even in humanitarian emergencies.

While Israeli settlers in the West Bank enjoy lush gardens and swimming pools, Amnesty describes a series of Israeli measures it says are discriminating against Palestinians:

Israel has “entirely appropriated the Palestinians’ share of the Jordan river” and uses 80% of a key shared aquifer
West Bank Palestinians are not allowed to drill wells without Israeli permits, which are “often impossible” to obtain
Rainwater harvesting cisterns are “often destroyed by the Israeli army”
Israeli soldiers confiscated a water tanker from villagers who were trying to remain in land Israel had declared a “closed military area”
An unnamed Israeli soldier says rooftop Palestinian household water tanks are “good for target practice”
Much of the land cut off by the West Bank barrier is land with good access to a major aquifer
Israeli military operations have damaged Palestinian water infrastructure, including $6m worth during the Cast Lead operation in Gaza last winter
The Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza has “exacerbated what was already a dire situation” by denying many building materials needed for water and sewage projects.

The report also noted that the Palestinian water authorities have been criticised for bad management, quoting one audit that described the sector as in “total chaos”.

“Water is a basic need and a right, but for many Palestinians obtaining even poor-quality, subsistence-level quantities of water has become a luxury that they can barely afford,” Amnesty’s Donatella Rovera said.

“Israel must end its discriminatory policies, immediately lift all the restrictions it imposes on Palestinians’ access to water.”

Water consumption graph

Recommended for short-term survival: 20 litres For the medium term: 70 litres Recommended for the long term: 100 litres (Source: WHO)

US bank chargeoff rate exceeds Great Depression: Moody’s

October 27, 2009 by Infinite

And this is the Greatest Depression.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The rate of loan charge-offs by major U.S. banks has exceeded those seen in the early years of the Great Depression as the credit crisis continues to take a toll, Moody’s Investors Service said on Monday.

Bank charge-offs — loans written off as uncollectable — have reached $116 billion year to date, or 2.9 percent of outstanding loans on an annualized basis, Moody’s said in a report. By comparison, bank charge-offs were about 2.25 percent in 1932, the third year of the Great Depression, Moody’s said.

Charge-offs climbed to $45 billion in the third quarter from $40 billion in the second quarter and $31 billion in the first, Moody’s said.

On an annualized basis, charge-offs were about 3.4 percent of outstanding loans in the third quarter, matching the Great Depression peak in 1934, Moody’s said.

US official resigns over Afghan war: Foreign Service officer and former Marine captain says he no longer knows why his nation is fighting

October 27, 2009October 27, 2009 by Infinite

Matthew Hoh was asked to stay in the job. (The Washington Post)

When Matthew Hoh joined the Foreign Service early this year, he was exactly the kind of smart civil-military hybrid the administration was looking for to help expand its development efforts in Afghanistan.

A former Marine Corps captain with combat experience in Iraq, Hoh had also served in uniform at the Pentagon, and as a civilian in Iraq and at the State Department. By July, he was the senior U.S. civilian in Zabul province, a Taliban hotbed.

But last month, in a move that has sent ripples all the way to the White House, Hoh, 36, became the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war, which he had come to believe simply fueled the insurgency.

“I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan,” he wrote Sept. 10 in a four-page letter to the department’s head of personnel. “I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end.”

The reaction to Hoh’s letter was immediate. Senior U.S. officials, concerned that they would lose an outstanding officer and perhaps gain a prominent critic, appealed to him to stay.

U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry brought him to Kabul and offered him a job on his senior embassy staff. Hoh declined. From there, he was flown home for a face-to-face meeting with Richard C. Holbrooke, the administration’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“We took his letter very seriously, because he was a good officer,” Holbrooke said in an interview. “We all thought that given how serious his letter was, how much commitment there was, and his prior track record, we should pay close attention to him.”

While he did not share Hoh’s view that the war “wasn’t worth the fight,” Holbrooke said, “I agreed with much of his analysis.” He asked Hoh to join his team in Washington, saying that “if he really wanted to affect policy and help reduce the cost of the war on lives and treasure,” why not be “inside the building, rather than outside, where you can get a lot of attention but you won’t have the same political impact?”

McDonald’s pulls out of Iceland, has no plans to return

October 27, 2009 by Infinite

McDonald’s is seen as a part of most developed economies

McDonald’s is to close its business in Iceland because the country’s financial crisis has made it too expensive to operate its franchise.

The fast food giant said its three outlets in the country would shut – and that it had no plans to return.

Besides the economy, McDonald’s blamed the “unique operational complexity” of doing business in an isolated nation with a population of just 300,000.

Iceland’s first McDonald’s restaurant opened in 1993.

‘No sense’

For a kilo of onion, imported from Germany, I’m paying the equivalent of a bottle of good whisky

Jon Gardar Ogmundsson
McDonald’s Icelandic franchisee

The franchises are run by a firm called Lyst, with owner Jon Gardar Ogmundsson saying the decision was “not taken lightly”.

He said that the restaurants imported the goods from Germany, but that costs had almost doubled, with the falling krona making imports prohibitively expensive.

Economist Andrew Smithers: S&P 500 Overvalued by 40%, Set to Fall

October 27, 2009October 27, 2009 by Infinite

Eric Schumacher, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Oct. 14, 2009. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is about 40 percent overvalued and headed for a drop as central banks pull back on securities purchases that pushed up asset prices, according to economist Andrew Smithers.

Declines are likely because banks will need to sell more shares to raise capital, the economist and president of research firm Smithers & Co. said in an Oct. 23 interview at Bloomberg’s Tokyo office. The closing price on Oct. 23 of 1,079.6 was 40 percent above 771.14, a level last seen in March, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“Markets are very vulnerable to an end of quantitative easing,” said Smithers, 72, who recommended avoiding stocks in 2000 just as the U.S. benchmark entered a two-year bear market. “Central banks, they’ve got to stop some time and if that happens everything will come down.”

GAO: FDA fails to follow up on unproven, useless drugs

October 27, 2009October 27, 2009 by Infinite

FILE — In a Jan. 29, 2009 file photo reflections are seen in the sign on the global headquarters of AstraZeneca in London. The Food and Drug Administration has allowed drugs for cancer and other diseases to stay on the market even when follow-up studies showed they didn’t extend patients’ lives, say congressional investigators. The FDA approved AstraZeneca’s lung cancer drug Iressa in 2003 based on early results showing it reduced the size of tumors. But later studies showed the drug did not significantly extend patient lives. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth/file)

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration has allowed drugs for cancer and other diseases to stay on the market even when follow-up studies showed they didn’t extend patients’ lives, say congressional investigators.

A report due out Monday from the Government Accountability Office also shows that the FDA has never pulled a drug off the market due to a lack of required follow-up about its actual benefits — even when such information is more than a decade overdue.

When pressed about that policy, agency officials said they have no plans to get more aggressive.

The GAO says the FDA should do more to track whether drugs approved based on preliminary results actually have lived up to their promise.

WHO landmark study: Long-term use of mobile phones ‘may be linked to cancer’

February 26, 2011October 27, 2009 by Infinite

Do they want to sell us the ‘International Interphone Study’ as new? One year has passed since I posted the results here.

Health organizations, politicians, scientists and the industry know that mobile phone use definitely creates cancer.

We already had huge studies that hissed all red flags possible.

You are just not worth telling and you have been lied to all of the time:

– The International Interphone Study Confirms: The Use Of Mobile Phone Is Carcinogenic:
The official publication of the first intermediate results of the International Interphone Study from the International Research Centre on Cancer (CIRC) dependent on WHO confirms the increased tumors and cancer cases due to the use of mobile phone
The Use Of Mobile Phone Is Carcinogenic: Here (PDF)
INTERPHONE Results latest update Oct. 08, 2008: Interphone Results Update (PDF)

– Mobile Phone Radiation to Unleash Epidemic of Brain Tumors:
(NaturalNews) A new review of more than 100 studies on the safety of mobile phones has concluded that cellular devices are poised to cause an epidemic of brain tumors that will kill more people than smoking or asbestos.

The review was conducted by neurosurgeon Vini Khurana, who has received more than 14 awards in the past 16 years, who made headlines worldwide with his warnings. He called upon the industry to immediately work to reduce people’s exposure to the radiation from mobile phones.

– 2 Billion may suffer from Mobile Cancer by 2020: Study:
The studies and survey conducted by Australian Health Research Institute indicates that due to billions of times more in volume electromagnetic radiation emitted by billions of mobile phones, internet, intranet and wireless communication data transmission will make almost one-third of world population (about two billions) patient of ear, eye and brain cancer beside other major body disorders like heart ailments, impotency, migraine, epilepsy.

– Dangers of the wireless cell phone wi-fi and emf age – Dr. George Carlo:
Dr. George Carlo was the leading scientist of the biggest study ever ($28-million) conducted on Cell Phones.
Dr. Carlo was hired as an independent scientist by the industry to prove that cellphones are safe. Yet Dr. George Carlo hissed all red flags possible (incl. cancer)!

– Study: Nerve Cell Damage in Mammalian Brain after Exposure to Microwaves from GSM Mobile Phones (PDF)
German translation: Salford Studie (Vollversion) (PDF)
Leif G. Salford,¹ Arne E. Brun,² Jacob L. Eberhardt,³ Lars Malmgren,⁴ and Bertil R. R. Persson^>3¹Department of Neurosurgery, ²Department of Neuropathology, ³Department of Medical Radiation Physics, and ⁴Department of Applied Electronics, Lund University, The Rausing Laboratory and Lund University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

– Warning: Using a mobile phone while pregnant can seriously damage your baby:
They found that mothers who did use the handsets were 54 per cent more likely to have children with behavioural problems and that the likelihood increased with the amount of potential exposure to the radiation. And when the children also later used the phones they were, overall, 80 per cent more likely to suffer from difficulties with behaviour. They were 25 per cent more at risk from emotional problems, 34 per cent more likely to suffer from difficulties relating to their peers, 35 per cent more likely to be hyperactive, and 49 per cent more prone to problems with conduct.

– Mobile phone radiation wrecks your sleep

– Men who use mobile phones face increased risk of infertility

– Cell Towers: Wireless Convenience? or Environmental Hazard?

– THE EFFECT OF MICROWAVE EMISSION FROM MOBILE PHONES ON NEURON SURVIVAL IN RAT CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

Books:
– Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age: An Insider’s Alarming Discoveries about Cancer and Genetic Damage by Dr. George Carlo)

– Electromagnetic Fields: A Consumer’s Guide to the Issues and How to Protect Ourselves by B. Blake Levitt

– Cell Towers: Wireless Convenience? or Environmental Hazard? by B. Blake Levitt
B. Blake Levitt is an award-winning journalist who has specialized in medical and science writing for nearly two decades. She has researched the biological effects of non-ionizing radiation since the late 1970’s. A former New York Times writer, she has written widely on medical issues for both the lay and professional audience. Her work has appeared in nu-merous national publications.

Long-term use of mobile phones may be linked to some cancers, a landmark international study will conclude later this year.

Heavy users may face a higher risk of developing brain tumours later in life Photo: GETTY

A £20million, decade-long investigation overseen by the World Health Organisation (WHO) will publish evidence that heavy users face a higher risk of developing brain tumours later in life, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

The conclusion, while not definitive, will undermine assurances from the government that the devices are safe and is expected to put ministers under pressure to issue stronger guidance.

A preliminary breakdown of the results found a “significantly increased risk” of some brain tumours “related to use of mobile phones for a period of 10 years or more” in some studies.

The head of the Interphone investigation said that the report would include a “public health message”.

Britain’s Department of Health has not updated its guidance for more than four years. It says that “the current balance of evidence does not show health problems caused by using mobile phones”, and suggests only that children be “discouraged” from making “non-essential” calls while adults should “keep calls short”.

In contrast, several other countries, notably France, have begun strengthening warnings and American politicians are urgently investigating the risks.

The Interphone inquiry has been investigating whether exposure to mobile phones is linked to three types of brain tumour and a tumour of the salivary gland.

Its head, Dr Elisabeth Cardis, backed new warnings.

“In the absence of definitive results and in the light of a number of studies which, though limited, suggest a possible effect of radiofrequency radiation, precautions are important,” she said.

“I am therefore globally in agreement with the idea of restricting the use by children, though I would not go as far as banning mobile phones as they can be a very important tool, not only in emergencies, but also maintaining contact between children and their parents and thus playing a reassurance role.

“Means to reduce our exposure (use of hands-free kits and moderating our use of phones) are also interesting.”

The project conducted studies in 13 countries, interviewing tumour sufferers and people in good health to see whether their mobile phone use differed. It questioned about 12,800 people between 2000 and 2004.

CDC Guesstimated H1N1 Swine Flu Cases and Refused CBS Freedom of Information Act Request

October 26, 2009 by Infinite

Inform yourself before you even think about destroying your health with the swine flu vaccine.

Watch this as a starter:

– Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – Shocking Vaccine Cover Up

– Doctor, cited on FOX News as expert on infectious diseases, would not give highly toxic swine flu vaccine to his children

It really is not looking good for the CDC. Eventually after many attempts by CBS the CDC released the test results for the H1N1 cases around the USA. It turns out that the a massive percentage of test results were NOT the H1N1 swine flu. With a lot of cases it wasn’t even the regular flu !

Added: 24. October 2009

CDC Admits Nasal Spray Vaccine is Contagious!

Added: 20. October 2009

Doctors speak out about H1N1 VACCINE DANGERS

Added: 22. October 2009

‘The flu mist nasal spry contains live viruses. Recipients may shed live viruses for up to three weeks following treatment.’

More Information on swine flu and vaccination:

US intelligence budget: $75 billion and 200,000 employees; Fusion centers to access classified military intelligence

October 26, 2009 by Infinite

Continuing change!

Dennis Cutler Blair (born 1947), is the third and current Director of National Intelligence and a retired United States Navy four-star admiral.

Speaking at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club September 15, Director of National Intelligence Admiral Dennis C. Blair, disclosed that the current annual budget for the 16 agency U.S. “Intelligence Community” (IC) clocks-in at $75 billion and employs some 200,000 operatives world-wide, including private contractors.

In unveiling an unclassified version of the National Intelligence Strategy (NIS), Blair asserts he is seeking to break down “this old distinction between military and nonmilitary intelligence,” stating that the “traditional fault line” separating secretive military programs from overall intelligence activities “is no longer relevant.”

As if to emphasize the sweeping nature of Blair’s remarks, Federal Computer Week reported September 17 that “some non-federal officials with the necessary clearances who work at intelligence fusion centers around the country will soon have limited access to classified terrorism-related information that resides in the Defense Department’s classified network.” According to the publication:

Bernard Madoff scheme’s top beneficiary Jeffry Picower found dead

October 26, 2009October 26, 2009 by Infinite

Wife finds Jeffry Picower, 67, apparently drowned in swimming pool of Palm Beach mansion

Jeffry Picower and wife Barbara pose for a portrait at their Palm Beach home in 2002. Photograph: Chris Polk/Getty

A Florida billionaire who was a top beneficiary of Bernard Madoff’s $65bn (£40bn) Ponzi scheme has died, apparently by drowning in the swimming pool of his mansion in the exclusive seaside enclave of Palm Beach.

Jeffry Picower, 67, was found by his wife and housekeeper shortly after midday on Sunday. Emergency services were unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead at the Good Samaritan medical centre.

An accountant turned wealthy investor, Picower was a friend of Madoff’s and was named in court papers as the biggest beneficiary of returns from the Wall Street fraudster’s corrupt investment empire.

Although Picower insisted he was unaware of any wrongdoing, bankruptcy trustees for Madoff’s firm sued him for $7.2bn earlier this year, claiming that he “knew or should have known” that his phenomenal payouts were fraudulent and that, at a minimum, he had “failed to exercise reasonable due diligence”.

Police in £9m scheme to log ‘domestic extremists’; Police rebranded lawful protest as ‘domestic extremism’

October 26, 2009 by Infinite

Lawful protest is now ‘domestic extremism’. (Activism is ‘extremism’.)

– How police rebranded lawful protest as ‘domestic extremism’ (Guardian)

Thousands of activists monitored on network of overlapping databases

Detailed information about the political activities of campaigners is being stored on IT systems. Photograph: Fiona Hanson/PA

Police are gathering the personal details of thousands of activists who attend political meetings and protests, and storing their data on a network of nationwide intelligence databases.

The hidden apparatus has been constructed to monitor “domestic extremists”, the Guardian can reveal in the first of a three-day series into the policing of protests. Detailed information about the political activities of campaigners is being stored on a number of overlapping IT systems, even if they have not committed a crime.

Senior officers say domestic extremism, a term coined by police that has no legal basis, can include activists suspected of minor public order offences such as peaceful direct action and civil disobedience.

Three national police units responsible for combating domestic extremism are run by the “terrorism and allied matters” committee of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo). In total, it receives £9m in public funding, from police forces and the Home Office, and employs a staff of 100.

An investigation by the Guardian can reveal:

China Shipping Development Profit Drops 81% as Bulk Rates Slump

October 26, 2009 by Infinite

China Shipping Development Company Limited operates crude oil and refined oil shipment, coal shipment, and dry bulk shipment along the People’s Republic of China coast as well as internationally.

Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) — China Shipping Development Co., the dry-bulk arm of the nation’s second-biggest shipping group, reported an 81 percent drop in third-quarter profit as rising overcapacity hammered commodity-shipping rates.

Net income declined 81 percent to 292 million yuan ($43 million), or 0.0858 yuan per share, the company said in a statement today. Nine-month profit was 905.7 million yuan.

The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of dry-bulk rates, averaged 61 percent lower in the period than a year earlier as growth in the global fleet (Sure!) outpaced China’s demand for iron ore and other commodities. The shipping line has locked in long-term liquefied natural gas and oil contracts, offsetting the dry-bulk rate drop.

Three US helicopters crash in Afghanistan, 14 Americans killed

December 16, 2009October 26, 2009 by Infinite

Related information:

– Morale dips for American marines in Afghanistan (Times):

“I’m not much for this war. I’m not sure it’s worth all those lives lost,” said Sergeant Christian Richardson as we walked across corn fields that will soon be ploughed up to plant a spring crop of opium poppy.

– Afghanistan opium production reaches 6,900 tons (PressTV)

Opium production rate has soared to 6,900 tons in Afghanistan in the past 10 years ‘despite‘ the presence of 100,000 foreign troops in the country for nearly eight years.

A report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said on Wednesday that Afghanistan produces 92 percent of the world’s opium that has devastating global consequences.

The UN report also noted that Afghanistan’s illegal opium production is worth 65 billion dollars.

The heroin and opium market feeds 15 million addicts, with Europe, Russia and Iran consuming half the supply, UNODC reported.

– Ron Paul: ‘The more troops we send the worse things get!’

Update:

– DEA personnel, embassy staff among 14 dead in Afghan chopper crash (CNN):

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — Three Drug Enforcement Administration personnel were among 14 Americans killed when three helicopters went down in Afghanistan on Monday, a law enforcement source said.

They were the first DEA personnel to be killed in Afghanistan.

Afghan crashes kill 14 Americans

Dozens of American soldiers have died in Afghanistan this year

At least 14 Americans have been killed in a series of air crashes in Afghanistan, military officials say.

In the first incident, four US soldiers died and two were hurt when two helicopters collided mid-air in the south, Nato-led forces said.

In a separate incident seven soldiers and three civilians were killed in a helicopter crash in the west.

Hostile fire was ruled out as a cause of the collision, in which another 12 Americans and 14 Afghans were injured.

No cause has yet been identified for the mid-air collision.

This year has seen the highest death toll of international troops in Afghanistan since the Taliban were overthrown in 2001.

There have been dozens of American soldiers among those killed.

Source: BBC News

Three US helicopters crash in Afghanistan

Rescue operations are under way across Afghanistan, after three helicopters crashed in a series of pre-dawn sorties, leaving at least four (Now at least 14.) US troops dead and two others seriously injured.

Two helicopters collided in mid-air, in the south of the country, while a third went down under heavy fire in the west, moments after extracting soldiers from a daring night raid against one of the region’s most wanted drug smugglers.

US officials said hostile fire was not involved in the mid-air collision, but they are still investigating the cause of the second crash.

The soldiers injured in the collision were evacuated to military hospitals, but a rescue operation to recover casualties from the second crash was still ongoing, officials said.

Elite US troops had launched an airborne assault against a compound in western Afghanistan, believed to “harbour insurgents” linked to Afghanistan’s multi-billion dollar opium trade.

FTSE 100 chief executives receive inflation-busting pay rises averaging 7.4 per cent

October 26, 2009 by Infinite

FTSE 100 chief executives have received inflation-busting pay rises averaging 7.4 per cent over the past year, almost making up for a 29 per cent drop in their bonuses, according to a report published Monday.

Incomes Data Services, the pay research group, said company chiefs’ salaries were growing twice as fast as the pay of shop-floor workers.

Their total remuneration fell just 1.5 per cent in spite of collapsing profits in one of the deepest postwar recessions, it said. Chief executives were still earning, on average, as much as in 2006, when the economy was booming.

To all homeowners in foreclosure: Judge wipes out $460,000 mortgage debt

October 26, 2009 by Infinite

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur has become something of a crusader for homeowners’ rights in the wake of the housing crisis, as well as a major critic of US banks. Moyers played a clip of her giving a speech this past January in which she urged homeowners to ignore eviction notices and become “squatters in [their] own homes” if they need to:

“So why should any American citizen be kicked out of their homes in this cold weather? … Don’t leave your home. Because you know what? When those companies say they have your mortgage, unless you have a lawyer that can put his or her finger on that mortgage, you don’t have that mortgage, and you are going to find they can’t find the paper up there on Wall Street. So I say to the American people, you be squatters in your own homes. Don’t you leave. In Ohio and Michigan and Indiana and Illinois and all these other places our people are being treated like chattel, and this Congress is stymied.”

Source: Top economist: President Obama ‘missed opportunity’ to reform financial system

FOR decades, when troubled homeowners and banks battled over delinquent mortgages, it wasn’t a contest. Homes went into foreclosure, and lenders took control of the property.

On top of that, courts rubber-stamped the array of foreclosure charges that lenders heaped onto borrowers and took banks at their word when the lenders said they owned the mortgage notes underlying troubled properties.

In other words, with lenders in the driver’s seat, borrowers were run over, more often than not. Of course, errant borrowers hardly deserve sympathy from bankers or anyone else, and banks are well within their rights to try to protect their financial interests.

But if our current financial crisis has taught us anything, it is that many borrowers entered into mortgage agreements without a clear understanding of the debt they were incurring. And banks often lacked a clear understanding of whether all those borrowers could really repay their loans.

Even so, banks and borrowers still do battle over foreclosures on an unlevel playing field that exists in far too many courtrooms. But some judges are starting to scrutinize the rules-don’t-matter methods used by lenders and their lawyers in the recent foreclosure wave. On occasion, lenders are even getting slapped around a bit.

One surprising smackdown occurred on Oct. 9 in federal bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York. Ruling that a lender, PHH Mortgage, hadn’t proved its claim to a delinquent borrower’s home in White Plains, Judge Robert D. Drain wiped out a $461,263 mortgage debt on the property. That’s right: the mortgage debt disappeared, via a court order.

So the ruling may put a new dynamic in play in the foreclosure mess: If the lender can’t come forward with proof of ownership, and judges don’t look kindly on that, then borrowers may have a stronger hand to play in court and, apparently, may even be able to stay in their homes mortgage-free.

The reason that notes have gone missing is the huge mass of mortgage securitizations that occurred during the housing boom. Securitizations allowed for large pools of bank loans to be bundled and sold to legions of investors, but some of the nuts and bolts of the mortgage game — notes, for example — were never adequately tracked or recorded during the boom. In some (many) cases, that means nobody truly knows who owns what.

Rep. Alan Grayson vs. Rep. Paul Broun on the Constitution

October 25, 2009 by Infinite

– The US Government: Bought and Paid For

This is Rep. Alan Grayson and Rep. Paul Broun discussing a bill to deny funds to one specific named organization in a Science and Technology markup. Such a bill is known as ‘a bill of attainder’.

Added: October 21, 2009

China Containerised Freight Index drops for first time since June – Global economy could be in for a double dip recession

October 26, 2009October 25, 2009 by Infinite

Recovery!

(Keep a close eye on the Baltic Dry Index now.)

Shanghai: Alarm bells are ringing for liner firms as one of the most accurate gauges of the container index fell for the first time in more than four months today.

The China Containerised Freight Index, operated by the Shanghai Shipping Index, dropped for the first time since early June today. Despite lines reporting increased volumes and some being successful with rate increases this news will be a hammer blow for the industry.

The CCFI takes data from the leading 20 lines operating out of China. Its numbers have been consistently in line with the fortunes of the container sector over the years, especially since China accounts for one in two boxes moved.

With container shipping often a precursor of the world economy, the drop in the CCFI has some analysts suggesting the global economy could be in for a nasty double dip recession.

Asian leaders to pledge EU-style bloc

October 25, 2009 by Infinite

Graphic highlighting facts on the 10-member states of the ASEAN national grouping

HUA HIN, Thailand — Asian leaders will pledge to overcome their differences and push towards the formation of an EU-style community as they wrap up an annual summit in Thailand on Sunday.

Human rights issues, border disputes and signs of apathy over a meeting that was twice delayed by protests have at times marred the gathering of leaders from a region that contains more than half the world’s population.

But plans to increase the region’s global clout by building closer ties eventually dominated the three-day meeting of Southeast Asian nations along with China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

Heads of state at the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin will sign a raft of agreements Sunday on boosting economic and political integration and cooperating on subjects including climate change and disaster management.

Japan’s proposal for a so-called East Asian community will be up for further discussion, after Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said the region should “have the aspiration that East Asia is going to lead the world.”

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is also set to restate its commitment to create its own political and economic community by 2015.

President Obama Lobbies Senate, Favors Insurance Industry Version of Health Care Reform

October 25, 2009 by Infinite

Change!

– Fall Of The Republic – The Presidency Of Barack H. Obama (The Full Movie HQ)

– The US Government: Bought and Paid For

President Barack Obama is actively discouraging Senate Democrats in their effort to include a public insurance option with a state opt-out clause as part of health care reform. In its place, say multiple Democratic sources, Obama has indicated a preference for an alternative policy, favored by the insurance industry, which would see a public plan “triggered” into effect in the future by a failure of the industry to meet certain benchmarks.

The administration retreat runs counter to the letter and the spirit of Obama’s presidential campaign. The man who ran on the “Audacity of Hope” has now taken a more conservative stand than Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), leaving progressives with a mix of confusion and outrage. Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill have battled conservatives in their own party in an effort to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. Now tantalizingly close, they are calling for Obama to step up.

The Newest In Taser Technology: Taser X3 – Firing Up The Newest Tasers

November 18, 2009October 25, 2009 by Infinite

Taser X3 Photo credit: James Martin/CNET

On Friday, Taser International held a demo day at the Alameda Sheriff’s Office Regional Training Center in Dublin, Calif., to show off some of the latest in electronic control devices.

The Taser X3, the newest device with multishot technology, goes beyond the single-shot capabilities of first-generation tasers and provides the ability to deploy a second and third cartridge immediately. Also, it can simultaneously zap three bad guys at once.

Taser International:
“The X3 is a revolutionary new multi-shot ECD that can engage multiple targets, display Warning Arcs™ while loaded, and deliver a calibrated Neuro Muscular Incapacitation (NMI) pulse that results in improved safety characteristics. While the X3 offers enhanced firepower over existing ECDs, it also represents a quantum leap in sensor and computation power – making it by far the most intelligent hand-held force option ever developed.” Source: Taser International

October 24, 2009 9:10 AM PDT
By: James Martin

Taser International says its XREP (Extended Range Electronic Projectile) is the most technologically advanced projectile ever deployed from a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. The self-contained, wireless electronic control device fires accurately up to 100 feet and attaches itself to the target before deploying its charge. Photo by James Martin/CNET

DUBLIN, Calif.–Don’t tase me, bro. Really.

CNET News took a trip to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Regional Training Center on Friday to have a look at some of the newest equipment from Taser, which was among the companies showing off weaponry at the UrbanShield 2009 training event. The electric-shock gadgets are controversial and have drummed up some bad press over the years for causing the occasional serious injury or even fatality. But the company has maintained its insistence that they are significantly safer than the alternative (i.e. guns).

We didn’t get to tase anybody. But we did get to see the Shockwave, a big Taser device that can incapacitate five or six people at a time, which company representatives told us is designed for crowd-control situations and can be triggered remotely via a 100-foot firing wire.

There are also two recently released handheld Tasers: the X3, which unlike its single-shot predecessors can fire off a total of three shots at once; and the XREP, a Taser projectile that’s fired out of a modified 12-gauge shotgun (the modifications ensure that regular cartridges can’t be used instead). Both devices are bright yellow, which representatives told us means they’re easily identified as non-lethal weapons.

You can’t go to your local sporting goods store and buy these Tasers–unlike the smaller, consumer-grade C2 devices, the X3 and XREP lines are only sold to police, military, and sometimes animal-control professionals. Taser International’s vice president of training, Rick Guilbault, told us that a Taser was once used to pry off a rogue python that had wrapped itself around a woman’s arm and wouldn’t let go.

President Obama declares H1N1 swine flu a national emergency

October 26, 2009October 25, 2009 by Infinite

President Barack Obama walks down the stairs of Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Friday, Oct. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency. The White House on Saturday said Obama signed a proclamation that would allow medical officials to bypass certain federal requirements. Officials described the move as similar to a declaration ahead of a hurricane making landfall.

Source: AP

* Disaster proclamation intended as proactive measure

* CDC said swine flu widespread in 46 of 50 states (Adds details on new antiviral drug)

WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama has declared 2009 H1N1 swine flu a national emergency, the White House said on Saturday.

The declaration will make it easier for U.S. medical facilities to handle a surge in flu patients by allowing the waiver of some requirements of Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health insurance programs as needed, the White House said in a statement.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday that swine flu has become widespread in 46 of the 50 U.S. states, a level comparable to the peak of ordinary flu seasons but far earlier and with more waves of infection expected.

Obama signed the statement on Friday night.

The White House statement said the declaration was intended to prepare the country in case of “a rapid increase in illness that may overburden health care resources.” It was similar to disaster declarations issued before hurricanes hit coastal areas.