Sunday, July 31, 2011
Straight Up Sunday - The US Is Facing A Day Of Reckoning Over The Deficit
Straight Up Sunday - You won't see this on TV.
The US Is Facing A Day Of Reckoning Over The Deficit
An excerpt from Bob Chapman's weekly publication.
Bob Chapman
International Forecaster
July 31, 2011
A game of chicken is being run in Washington by two groups of politicians run and owned by the same group of people behind the scenes. They all want enabling debt extension with a small touch of austerity. They want a deal that has the legs to keep the economy going until after the next election.
The most important thing they want is a reduction in Social Security and Medicare, so those funds can be used to reduce debt and fund the military industrial complex.
They also want starvation and the inability to buy drugs by the elderly to hasten their demise. That means less Social Security and Medicare spending. In two years we will also have the Obamacare death panels, where massive elimination will be put into motion.
There is nothing the Illuminists despise worse than useless eaters.
There is ample evidence that these elitists, by their own words, want to reduce world population by 60% to 90%, dependent on which of these persons you listen too. Last week Ted Turner opted for 90% on CNN.
That is what the fight regarding debt extension is all about. The only forthright and honest person in Congress to call it the way it is, is Ron Paul.
He says the bill sanctions the status quo and that it is impossible to balance the budget without cutting military, Medicare and Social Security spending and that is impossible.
The debt limit will be raised, but we fervently hope without Social Security and Medicare cuts. You have to understand your adversaries.
These people in Congress are almost all paid whores and the people who control them with money are insane.
If you can grasp that you can understand what really this is all about. Watch carefully which members won’t allow military cuts and which want to cut SS and Medicare and then you will have identified the enemy.
Founditat infowars.com
The US Is Facing A Day Of Reckoning Over The Deficit
An excerpt from Bob Chapman's weekly publication.
Bob Chapman
International Forecaster
July 31, 2011
The most important thing they want is a reduction in Social Security and Medicare, so those funds can be used to reduce debt and fund the military industrial complex.
They also want starvation and the inability to buy drugs by the elderly to hasten their demise. That means less Social Security and Medicare spending. In two years we will also have the Obamacare death panels, where massive elimination will be put into motion.
There is nothing the Illuminists despise worse than useless eaters.
There is ample evidence that these elitists, by their own words, want to reduce world population by 60% to 90%, dependent on which of these persons you listen too. Last week Ted Turner opted for 90% on CNN.
That is what the fight regarding debt extension is all about. The only forthright and honest person in Congress to call it the way it is, is Ron Paul.
He says the bill sanctions the status quo and that it is impossible to balance the budget without cutting military, Medicare and Social Security spending and that is impossible.
The debt limit will be raised, but we fervently hope without Social Security and Medicare cuts. You have to understand your adversaries.
These people in Congress are almost all paid whores and the people who control them with money are insane.
If you can grasp that you can understand what really this is all about. Watch carefully which members won’t allow military cuts and which want to cut SS and Medicare and then you will have identified the enemy.
Founditat infowars.com
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
‘Stoner Stupid’ Myth Goes Up In Smoke
July 29, 2011 by POPEYE
Filed under Featured Stories, Health
Paul Armentano, Deputy Director
Norml
The consumption of cannabis, even long-term, poses few adverse effects on cognitive performance, according to clinical trial data to be published in the scientific journal Addiction.
Investigators at the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University, Center for Mental Health Research assessed the impact of cannabis use on various measures of memory and intelligence in over 2,000 self-identified marijuana consumers and non-users over an eight-year period. Among cannabis consumers, subjects were grouped into the following categories: ‘heavy’ (once a week or more) users, ‘light’ users, ‘former heavy’ users, ‘former light’ users, and ‘always former’ — a category that consisted of respondents who had ceased using marijuana prior to their entry into the study.
Researchers reported: “Only with respect to the immediate recall measure was there evidence of an improved performance associated with sustained abstinence from cannabis, with outcomes similar to those who had never used cannabis at the end point. On the remaining cognitive measures, after controlling for education and other characteristics, there were no significant differences associated with cannabis consumption.”
They concluded, “Therefore, the adverse impacts of cannabis use on cognitive functions either appear to be related to pre-existing factors or are reversible in this community cohort even after potentially extended periods of use.”
Separate studies have previously reported that long-term marijuana use is not associated with residual deficits in neurocognitive function. Specifically, a 2001 study published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry found that chronic cannabis consumers who abstained from the drug for one week “showed virtually no significant differences from control subjects (those who had smoked marijuana less than 50 times in their lives) on a battery of 10 neuropsychological tests. … Former heavy users, who had consumed little or no cannabis in the three months before testing, [also] showed no significant differences from control subjects on any of these tests on any of the testing days.”
Additionally, studies have also implied that cannabis may be neuroprotective against alcohol-induced cognitive deficits. A 2009 study by investigators at the University of California and San Diego reported that binge drinkers who also used cannabis experienced significantly less white matter damage to the brain as compared to subjects who consumed alcohol alone.
Founditat - federaljack.com
Filed under Featured Stories, Health
Paul Armentano, Deputy Director
Norml
Investigators at the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University, Center for Mental Health Research assessed the impact of cannabis use on various measures of memory and intelligence in over 2,000 self-identified marijuana consumers and non-users over an eight-year period. Among cannabis consumers, subjects were grouped into the following categories: ‘heavy’ (once a week or more) users, ‘light’ users, ‘former heavy’ users, ‘former light’ users, and ‘always former’ — a category that consisted of respondents who had ceased using marijuana prior to their entry into the study.
Researchers reported: “Only with respect to the immediate recall measure was there evidence of an improved performance associated with sustained abstinence from cannabis, with outcomes similar to those who had never used cannabis at the end point. On the remaining cognitive measures, after controlling for education and other characteristics, there were no significant differences associated with cannabis consumption.”
They concluded, “Therefore, the adverse impacts of cannabis use on cognitive functions either appear to be related to pre-existing factors or are reversible in this community cohort even after potentially extended periods of use.”
Separate studies have previously reported that long-term marijuana use is not associated with residual deficits in neurocognitive function. Specifically, a 2001 study published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry found that chronic cannabis consumers who abstained from the drug for one week “showed virtually no significant differences from control subjects (those who had smoked marijuana less than 50 times in their lives) on a battery of 10 neuropsychological tests. … Former heavy users, who had consumed little or no cannabis in the three months before testing, [also] showed no significant differences from control subjects on any of these tests on any of the testing days.”
Additionally, studies have also implied that cannabis may be neuroprotective against alcohol-induced cognitive deficits. A 2009 study by investigators at the University of California and San Diego reported that binge drinkers who also used cannabis experienced significantly less white matter damage to the brain as compared to subjects who consumed alcohol alone.
Founditat - federaljack.com
GE - Imagination At Work (In China)
Head Of Obama’s Jobs Council, Is Moving Jobs And Economic Infrastructure To China
The Economic Collapse
July 29, 2011
Jeffrey Immelt, the head of Barack Obama’s highly touted “Jobs Council”, is moving even more GE infrastructure to China. GE makes more medical-imaging machines than anyone else in the world, and now GE has announced that it “is moving the headquarters of its 115-year-old X-ray business to Beijing“. Apparently, this is all part of a “plan to invest about $2 billion across China” over the next few years. But moving core pieces of its business overseas is nothing new for GE. Under Immelt, GE has shipped tens of thousands of good jobs out of the United States. Perhaps GE should change its slogan to “Imagination At Work (In China)”. If the very people that have been entrusted with solving the unemployment crisis are shipping jobs out of the country, what hope is there that things are going to turn around any time soon?
Earlier this month, Immelt made the following statement to a jobs summit at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce….
“There’s no excuse today for lack of leadership. The truth is we all need to be part of the solution.”
Apparently Immelt’s idea of being part of the solution is to ship as many jobs overseas as he possibly can.
A recent article on the Huffington Post documented how GE has been sending tens of thousands of good jobs out of the country….
As the administration struggles to prod businesses to create jobs at home, GE has been busy sending them abroad. Since Immelt took over in 2001, GE has shed 34,000 jobs in the U.S., according to its most recent annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But it’s added 25,000 jobs overseas.
At the end of 2009, GE employed 36,000 more people abroad than it did in the U.S. In 2000, it was nearly the opposite.
GE is supposed to be creating the “jobs of tomorrow”, but it seems that most of the “jobs of tomorrow” will not be located inside the United States.
The last GE factory in the U.S. that made light bulbs closed last September. The transition to the new CFL light bulbs was supposed to create a whole bunch of those “green jobs” that Barack Obama keeps talking about, but as an article in the Washington Post noted, that simply is not happening….
Rather than setting off a boom in the U.S. manufacture of replacement lights, the leading replacement lights are compact fluorescents, or CFLs, which are made almost entirely overseas, mostly in China.
But GE is far from alone in shipping jobs and economic infrastructure out of the United States. For example, big automakers such as Ford are being very aggressive in China. Ford is currently “building three factories in Chongqing as part of $1.6 billion investment that also includes another plant in Nanchang”.
Today, China accounts for approximately one out of every four vehicles sold worldwide. The big automakers consider the future to be in China.
Article Continues at infowars.com
The Economic Collapse
July 29, 2011
Earlier this month, Immelt made the following statement to a jobs summit at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce….
“There’s no excuse today for lack of leadership. The truth is we all need to be part of the solution.”
Apparently Immelt’s idea of being part of the solution is to ship as many jobs overseas as he possibly can.
A recent article on the Huffington Post documented how GE has been sending tens of thousands of good jobs out of the country….
As the administration struggles to prod businesses to create jobs at home, GE has been busy sending them abroad. Since Immelt took over in 2001, GE has shed 34,000 jobs in the U.S., according to its most recent annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But it’s added 25,000 jobs overseas.
At the end of 2009, GE employed 36,000 more people abroad than it did in the U.S. In 2000, it was nearly the opposite.
GE is supposed to be creating the “jobs of tomorrow”, but it seems that most of the “jobs of tomorrow” will not be located inside the United States.
The last GE factory in the U.S. that made light bulbs closed last September. The transition to the new CFL light bulbs was supposed to create a whole bunch of those “green jobs” that Barack Obama keeps talking about, but as an article in the Washington Post noted, that simply is not happening….
Rather than setting off a boom in the U.S. manufacture of replacement lights, the leading replacement lights are compact fluorescents, or CFLs, which are made almost entirely overseas, mostly in China.
But GE is far from alone in shipping jobs and economic infrastructure out of the United States. For example, big automakers such as Ford are being very aggressive in China. Ford is currently “building three factories in Chongqing as part of $1.6 billion investment that also includes another plant in Nanchang”.
Today, China accounts for approximately one out of every four vehicles sold worldwide. The big automakers consider the future to be in China.
Article Continues at infowars.com
Obama Says Becoming A Dictator Is Very Tempting As La Raza Crowd Cheers
The Intel Hub
July 29, 2011
President Obama, speaking to the Council of La Raza, has admitted that it is very tempting to do things on his own and bypass Congress. This outright scary remark has received little attention in the corporate controlled media.
The crowd cheers as Obama essentially says its tempting to become a dictator and give you all amnesty as well as half of America but we have a Constitution that doesn’t allow that.
On top of the obviously stunning comments by Obama, the fact that they were said at a La Raza conference is outright anti American.
La Raza, funded by major organizations such as The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has openly called for multiple states to be returned to Mexico and have even stopped the Arizona attorney general from doing an interview!
The fact is, the corporate media and the U.S. government refuse to even acknowledge that the Plan of San Diego is promoted by a large minority of illegal alien groups.
This is the classic divide and conquer strategy:
Fund the openly racist group La Raza in order to rile up the more extreme right wingers in a bid to start an outright race war.
Groups such as La Raza are openly funded by the globalists in a move to further the divide between races while they carry out their public eugenics operation and installation of a world government.
July 29, 2011
President Obama, speaking to the Council of La Raza, has admitted that it is very tempting to do things on his own and bypass Congress. This outright scary remark has received little attention in the corporate controlled media.
The crowd cheers as Obama essentially says its tempting to become a dictator and give you all amnesty as well as half of America but we have a Constitution that doesn’t allow that.
On top of the obviously stunning comments by Obama, the fact that they were said at a La Raza conference is outright anti American.
La Raza, funded by major organizations such as The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has openly called for multiple states to be returned to Mexico and have even stopped the Arizona attorney general from doing an interview!
The fact is, the corporate media and the U.S. government refuse to even acknowledge that the Plan of San Diego is promoted by a large minority of illegal alien groups.
This is the classic divide and conquer strategy:
Fund the openly racist group La Raza in order to rile up the more extreme right wingers in a bid to start an outright race war.
Groups such as La Raza are openly funded by the globalists in a move to further the divide between races while they carry out their public eugenics operation and installation of a world government.
"This is not protecting children from Internet pornography. It's creating a database for everybody in this country for a lot of other purposes."
By Eric W. Dolan
Thursday, July 28th, 2011 -- 9:41 pm
rawstory.com
House panel approves bill forcing ISPs to log users’ web history
The House Judiciary Committee approved legislation on Thursday that would require Internet service providers (ISPs) to collect and retain records about Internet users' activity.
CNET reported the bill would require ISPs to retain customers' names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, and temporarily-assigned IP addresses for 12 months.
The bill passed by a vote of 19 to 10, and is aimed at helping law enforcement track down pedophiles.
"The bill is mislabeled," Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), a senior member of the panel told CNET. "This is not protecting children from Internet pornography. It's creating a database for everybody in this country for a lot of other purposes."
The Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011 (H.R. 1981) was sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
“When investigators develop leads that might result in saving a child or apprehending a pedophile, their efforts should not be frustrated because vital records were destroyed simply because there was no requirement to retain them," Smith said Thursday.
"This bill requires ISPs to retain subscriber records, similar to records retained by telephone companies, to aid law enforcement officials in their fight against child sexual exploitation."
The American Civil Liberties Union and 29 other organizations sent a letter (PDF) to Rep. Smith on July 27, claiming that "any data retention mandate is a direct assault on bedrock privacy principles."
"The data retention mandate in this bill would treat every Internet user like a criminal and threaten the online privacy and free speech rights of every American, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have recognized," Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said.
"Requiring Internet companies to redesign and reconfigure their systems to facilitate government surveillance of Americans' expressive activities is simply un-American. Such a scheme would be as objectionable to our Founders as the requiring of licenses for printing presses or the banning of anonymous pamphlets."
The bill is supported by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the National Center for Victims of Crime, the National Sheriff’s Association, the Major County Sheriff’s Association, the International Union of Police Associations and the Fraternal Order of Police.
Thursday, July 28th, 2011 -- 9:41 pm
rawstory.com
House panel approves bill forcing ISPs to log users’ web history
CNET reported the bill would require ISPs to retain customers' names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, and temporarily-assigned IP addresses for 12 months.
The bill passed by a vote of 19 to 10, and is aimed at helping law enforcement track down pedophiles.
"The bill is mislabeled," Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), a senior member of the panel told CNET. "This is not protecting children from Internet pornography. It's creating a database for everybody in this country for a lot of other purposes."
The Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011 (H.R. 1981) was sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
“When investigators develop leads that might result in saving a child or apprehending a pedophile, their efforts should not be frustrated because vital records were destroyed simply because there was no requirement to retain them," Smith said Thursday.
"This bill requires ISPs to retain subscriber records, similar to records retained by telephone companies, to aid law enforcement officials in their fight against child sexual exploitation."
The American Civil Liberties Union and 29 other organizations sent a letter (PDF) to Rep. Smith on July 27, claiming that "any data retention mandate is a direct assault on bedrock privacy principles."
"The data retention mandate in this bill would treat every Internet user like a criminal and threaten the online privacy and free speech rights of every American, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have recognized," Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said.
"Requiring Internet companies to redesign and reconfigure their systems to facilitate government surveillance of Americans' expressive activities is simply un-American. Such a scheme would be as objectionable to our Founders as the requiring of licenses for printing presses or the banning of anonymous pamphlets."
The bill is supported by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the National Center for Victims of Crime, the National Sheriff’s Association, the Major County Sheriff’s Association, the International Union of Police Associations and the Fraternal Order of Police.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Defense Cuts? Don't Believe it Until you See Them
July 27, 2011
Dissent Magazine / By Mark Engler
Photo Credit: PRWatch
In the real world, talk of cuts to the military has a way of evaporating when it comes time for appropriations.
One upshot of the debt-ceiling debate is that politicians might finally be ready to trim the outrageously bloated U.S. military budget. That’s the story, anyway, being told bythe Washington Post. The paper reported: “[A]s lawmakers and the White House move closer to a grand bargain that could reshape the country’s fiscal priorities, Pentagon budget planners are...girding for the possibility that they will have to reduce projected spending by as much as $800 billion over the next 12 years.”
Certainly, it would make sense, in a time when conservatives are insisting on austerity, that the military—a huge and pork-laden area of discretionary spending—would be on the table. But there’s a good rule of thumb about defense cuts: Don’t believe them until you see them.
The Nation’s Robert Dreyfuss is optimistic that real cuts will be in the offing. In a piece entitled, “Defense on the Chopping Block,” he wrote: “Now, it appears that Obama is backing cuts as much as $886 billion, and that might just be an opening bid.” Of hawkish conservatives who are warning against reductions in Pentagon spending, Dreyfuss wrote:
It’s okay to laugh at their contention that the military is being “stretched thin” after a decade of unbridled expansion and a doubling of military spending since 2000, not even counting Iraq and Afghanistan.
Article continues at alternet.org
Dissent Magazine / By Mark Engler
Photo Credit: PRWatch
In the real world, talk of cuts to the military has a way of evaporating when it comes time for appropriations.
Certainly, it would make sense, in a time when conservatives are insisting on austerity, that the military—a huge and pork-laden area of discretionary spending—would be on the table. But there’s a good rule of thumb about defense cuts: Don’t believe them until you see them.
The Nation’s Robert Dreyfuss is optimistic that real cuts will be in the offing. In a piece entitled, “Defense on the Chopping Block,” he wrote: “Now, it appears that Obama is backing cuts as much as $886 billion, and that might just be an opening bid.” Of hawkish conservatives who are warning against reductions in Pentagon spending, Dreyfuss wrote:
It’s okay to laugh at their contention that the military is being “stretched thin” after a decade of unbridled expansion and a doubling of military spending since 2000, not even counting Iraq and Afghanistan.
Article continues at alternet.org
Green agenda has parallels with excesses of communism
heraldsun.comHerald Sun
July 28, 2011 12:00AM
Czech President Vaclav Klaus says the climate change movement is a threat to democracy.
IN a serendipitous coincidence of timing, in the space of two hours this week, Australians were afforded a sharp, momentary insight into the two opposing ideological mindsets that are competing for the soul of our nation.
In a Sydney hotel on Monday night, Czech President Vaclav Klaus, an economist who fought against communism, was warning of the new threats to our freedom he recognises in the doctrine of global warming.
Almost simultaneously, in a Hobart casino, Greens senator Christine Milne was unilaterally announcing, on ABC-TV's Q&A show, that the Government would be conducting an inquiry into the section of the Australian media that she finds "extreme(ly) bias(ed) against action on climate change".
Milne's every illiberal pronouncement was greeted with applause by an audience that seemed full of tree huggers, bearded public servants and other recipients of government largesse, about the only growth industry left in Tasmania.
Klaus, on the other hand, was speaking to an audience of economic liberals and climate change realists invited by the Institute of Public Affairs, the Melbourne-based free-market think tank.
"Twenty years ago we still felt threatened by the remnants of communism. This is really over," Klaus said.
"I feel threatened now, not by global warming -- I don't see any -- (but) by the global warming doctrine, which I consider a new dangerous attempt to control and mastermind my life and our lives, in the name of controlling the climate or temperature."
Klaus, 70, who has twice been elected as Czech President and is its former prime minister, is one of the most important figures in post-communist Europe. His experiences under totalitarian rule have made him exquisitely alert to the erosion of democratic freedoms.
He said environmentalists had been arguing for decades that we should reduce our consumption of fossil fuels, using various farcical ploys from the exhaustion of natural resources to the threat of "imminent mass poverty and starvation for billions".
Those same environmentalists shamelessly talk now about dangerous global warming.
"They don't care about resources or poverty or pollution.
"They hate us, the humans. They consider us dangerous and sinful creatures who must be controlled by them.
"I used to live in a similar world called communism. And I know it led to the worst environmental damage the world has ever experienced."
Global warming alarmists "want to change us, they want to change our behaviour, our way of life, our values and preferences. They want to restrict our freedom because they themselves believe they know what is good for us. They are not interested in climate. They misuse the climate in their goal to restrict our freedom. Therefore ...what is in danger is freedom, not the climate".
He described the parallels he sees between the loss of freedom under communism and the new global warming doctrine.
Under communism, "politics dictated the economics and dictated life. Our main ambition during the dark communist days was to change that and create an autonomous society and autonomous economic system with only a marginal role played by politics ... I am sorry to discover now politics dictates the economics again. And the global warming debate is the same story (in which) politicians dictate the issue".
He said because of his experience of communism, "maybe I am over-sensitive. I am afraid that some of the people who spend their lives in a free society don't appreciate sufficiently all the issues connected with freedom.
"So my over-sensitivity is like an alarm clock warning about the potential development, which I am really afraid of."
With Klaus's words ringing in my ears I went home and watched a recording of Milne's performance on Q&A.
There Milne was equating those decent Australians who have been exercising their democratic right to protest at anti-carbon tax rallies with the crazed gunman who killed 76 people in Norway on the weekend.
"It's been pretty shocking around Australia over the last month or two in relation particularly to the carbon price," she said.
Coupled with her view that the voices of those in the media who are against the carbon tax ought to be investigated, it was a chilling echo of the attack on freedom Klaus had just warned against.
The speed at which the arrogance of the Greens has grown since they entered a power-sharing arrangement with the Gillard Government almost a year ago, and the shambolic acquiescence of the Government to their demands, has caught us unawares. It has lulled us into accepting as normal some remarkably illiberal ideas.
For instance, there is the drastic reshaping of the economy by the carbon tax Gillard assured us we would not have, and its six unaccountable new bureaucracies.
There is the media inquiry flagrantly designed by the Government and Greens to punish only the media organisation whose newspapers (such as this one) have most embarrassed them and exposed their mistakes.
THERE is the idea that companies that create wealth and jobs for Australia are evil "big polluters", and that our most important industry, mining, should be saddled with a "super-profits tax".
There is the idea that there is something so wrong with private school funding that an inquiry is needed, and that the Greens' policy of 30 per cent death duties on estates over $5 million is perfectly reasonable.
We are like frogs in boiling water.
Even Reserve Bank chairman Glenn Stevens this week blamed the "increasingly bitter political debate" for declining consumer confidence.
No, the bitterness of the debate comes from the fact people feel their way of life being compromised by a Government that is a rule unto itself and seems to believe it knows better than us what is good for us.
The carbon tax is a factor, but the single most unsettling event was the live cattle trade fiasco, which is still unresolved.
It prompted the feeling that, if the Government can suddenly and arbitrarily stop a legitimate thriving industry in its tracks, based on a one-sided television show, with no right of reply, then what can it do to me? That is a very sobering thought.
It is what stops people shopping, and it is what makes the debate bitter.
The more the Government turns a deaf ear to the people, the louder the people shout. And then, what is the reaction of an undemocratic Government but to find ways to muzzle dissent?
Via newzworldorder
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Colorado Will Make History in 2012
By Mason Tvert
Executive Director, SAFER
hightimes.com
An historic effort is now underway to pass a statewide ballot initiative that will end marijuana prohibition in Colorado in 2012. All the polls show public support at a record high and suggest this might in fact be the best opportunity yet to pass such a measure.
In summary, the proposed constitutional amendment would remove all penalties for private adult possession and limited home growing; establish a system similar to alcohol in which there are licensed retail stores, cultivation facilities, product manufacturing, and testing; and allows for the cultivation, processing, and sales of industrial hemp. The full text of the initiative is available on the campaign’s new website.
Earlier this month, a broad coalition of activists, organizations, businesses, and professionals launched the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which will serve as the driving force behind the measure. Among its core initial members are Colorado’s two largest marijuana reform organizations, Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) and Sensible Colorado, as well as several of the nation’s largest and most widely recognized reform organizations, including the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), the Drug Policy Alliance, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), and Just Say Now.
The campaign is currently in the initial stages of the petition drive to qualify the initiative for the November 2012 ballot. Approximately 86,000 signatures of registered Colorado voters are required, and the campaign has set a goal of 140,000 total signatures to ensure enough of them are valid. This is a very difficult process, so the campaign is recruiting, training, and mobilizing an army of volunteers from around the state to get involved and help get the job done. Significant grassroots and coalition-building efforts are also underway so the campaign can immediately kick into high gear following the petitioning drive.
Like all of the marijuana reform efforts in Colorado over the past several years, this will be an aggressive, volunteer-powered, grassroots campaign. And, as in the past, its success will be driven by the support of the hundreds of thousands of people in Colorado – and millions nationwide – who want to bring about an end to marijuana prohibition.
Not only will the success of this initiative have a major impact on Colorado; it will set off a major chain reaction that forces other states, as well as the federal government, to begin strongly reconsidering their approaches to marijuana policy. After all, they will be directly confronted with the realization at which many of us have already arrived – legalization is no longer a question of “if,” but “when.” The answer is 2012. And the “how?” With your support. So please take some time to check out the campaign and become part of an effort that will be written about in history books for years to come.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Executive Director, SAFER
hightimes.com
An historic effort is now underway to pass a statewide ballot initiative that will end marijuana prohibition in Colorado in 2012. All the polls show public support at a record high and suggest this might in fact be the best opportunity yet to pass such a measure.
In summary, the proposed constitutional amendment would remove all penalties for private adult possession and limited home growing; establish a system similar to alcohol in which there are licensed retail stores, cultivation facilities, product manufacturing, and testing; and allows for the cultivation, processing, and sales of industrial hemp. The full text of the initiative is available on the campaign’s new website.
Earlier this month, a broad coalition of activists, organizations, businesses, and professionals launched the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which will serve as the driving force behind the measure. Among its core initial members are Colorado’s two largest marijuana reform organizations, Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) and Sensible Colorado, as well as several of the nation’s largest and most widely recognized reform organizations, including the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), the Drug Policy Alliance, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), and Just Say Now.
The campaign is currently in the initial stages of the petition drive to qualify the initiative for the November 2012 ballot. Approximately 86,000 signatures of registered Colorado voters are required, and the campaign has set a goal of 140,000 total signatures to ensure enough of them are valid. This is a very difficult process, so the campaign is recruiting, training, and mobilizing an army of volunteers from around the state to get involved and help get the job done. Significant grassroots and coalition-building efforts are also underway so the campaign can immediately kick into high gear following the petitioning drive.
Like all of the marijuana reform efforts in Colorado over the past several years, this will be an aggressive, volunteer-powered, grassroots campaign. And, as in the past, its success will be driven by the support of the hundreds of thousands of people in Colorado – and millions nationwide – who want to bring about an end to marijuana prohibition.
Not only will the success of this initiative have a major impact on Colorado; it will set off a major chain reaction that forces other states, as well as the federal government, to begin strongly reconsidering their approaches to marijuana policy. After all, they will be directly confronted with the realization at which many of us have already arrived – legalization is no longer a question of “if,” but “when.” The answer is 2012. And the “how?” With your support. So please take some time to check out the campaign and become part of an effort that will be written about in history books for years to come.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No Freedom of the Press in Canada
Feds silence scientist over salmon study
By Margaret Munro, Postmedia News
canada.com
VANCOUVER — Top bureaucrats in Ottawa have muzzled a leading fisheries scientist whose discovery could help explain why salmon stocks have been crashing off Canada's West Coast, according to documents obtained by Postmedia News.
The documents show the Privy Council Office, which supports the Prime Minister's Office, stopped Kristi Miller from talking about one of the most significant discoveries to come out of a federal fisheries lab in years.
Science, one of the world's top research journals, published Miller's findings in January. The journal considered the work so significant it notified "over 7,400" journalists worldwide about Miller's "Suffering Salmon" study.
Science told Miller to "please feel free to speak with journalists." It advised reporters to contact Diane Lake, a media officer with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Vancouver, "to set up interviews with Dr. Miller."
Miller heads a $6-million salmon-genetics project at the federal Pacific Biological Station on Vancouver Island.
The documents show major media outlets were soon lining up to speak with Miller, but the Privy Council Office said no to the interviews.
The Privy Council Office also nixed a Fisheries Department news release about Miller's study, saying the release "was not very good, focused on salmon dying and not on the new science aspect," according to documents obtained by Postmedia News under the Access to Information Act.
Miller is still not allowed to speak publicly about her discovery, and the Privy Council Office and Fisheries Department defend the way she has been silenced.
But observers say it is indefensible and more evidence of the way the government is undermining its scientists.
"There is no question in my mind it's muzzling," said Jeffrey Hutchings, a senior fisheries scientist at Halifax's Dalhousie University.
"When the lead author of a paper in Science is not permitted to speak about her work, that is suppression," he said. "There is simply no ifs, ands or buts about that."
The Harper government has tightened the leash on federal scientists, whose work is financed by taxpayers and is often of significant public interest — be it about fish stocks, air pollution or food safety.
In one high-profile case reported by Postmedia News last year, Natural Resources Canada scientist Scott Dallimore had to wait for "pre-clearance" from political staff in the minister's office in Ottawa to speak about a study on a colossal flood that swept across northern Canada at the end of the last ice age.
Researchers, who used to be free to discuss their science, are now required to follow a process that includes "media lines" approved by communications officers, strategists and ministerial staff in Ottawa. They vet media requests, demand reporters' questions in advance and decide when and if researchers can give interviews.
Article continues canada.com
Story Located at activistpost.com
By Margaret Munro, Postmedia News
canada.com
VANCOUVER — Top bureaucrats in Ottawa have muzzled a leading fisheries scientist whose discovery could help explain why salmon stocks have been crashing off Canada's West Coast, according to documents obtained by Postmedia News.
The documents show the Privy Council Office, which supports the Prime Minister's Office, stopped Kristi Miller from talking about one of the most significant discoveries to come out of a federal fisheries lab in years.
Science, one of the world's top research journals, published Miller's findings in January. The journal considered the work so significant it notified "over 7,400" journalists worldwide about Miller's "Suffering Salmon" study.
Science told Miller to "please feel free to speak with journalists." It advised reporters to contact Diane Lake, a media officer with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Vancouver, "to set up interviews with Dr. Miller."
Miller heads a $6-million salmon-genetics project at the federal Pacific Biological Station on Vancouver Island.
The documents show major media outlets were soon lining up to speak with Miller, but the Privy Council Office said no to the interviews.
The Privy Council Office also nixed a Fisheries Department news release about Miller's study, saying the release "was not very good, focused on salmon dying and not on the new science aspect," according to documents obtained by Postmedia News under the Access to Information Act.
Miller is still not allowed to speak publicly about her discovery, and the Privy Council Office and Fisheries Department defend the way she has been silenced.
But observers say it is indefensible and more evidence of the way the government is undermining its scientists.
"There is no question in my mind it's muzzling," said Jeffrey Hutchings, a senior fisheries scientist at Halifax's Dalhousie University.
"When the lead author of a paper in Science is not permitted to speak about her work, that is suppression," he said. "There is simply no ifs, ands or buts about that."
The Harper government has tightened the leash on federal scientists, whose work is financed by taxpayers and is often of significant public interest — be it about fish stocks, air pollution or food safety.
In one high-profile case reported by Postmedia News last year, Natural Resources Canada scientist Scott Dallimore had to wait for "pre-clearance" from political staff in the minister's office in Ottawa to speak about a study on a colossal flood that swept across northern Canada at the end of the last ice age.
Researchers, who used to be free to discuss their science, are now required to follow a process that includes "media lines" approved by communications officers, strategists and ministerial staff in Ottawa. They vet media requests, demand reporters' questions in advance and decide when and if researchers can give interviews.
Article continues canada.com
Story Located at activistpost.com
Study: Marijuana compound helps mitigate cocaine addiction in mice
By Stephen C. Webster
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011 -- 12:28 pm
rawstory.com
Researchers in Maryland and Beijing have learned that a component marijuana helps mitigate cocaine addiction in mice, leading some to hope that marijuana may one day become the next big anti-addiction therapy.
The discovery was announced in the July 2011 edition of Nature Neuroscience.
The study found that cannabidiol, an active component of marijuana that does not produce an inebriating effect, effectively turns down a receptor in the brain that is stimulated by cocaine.
Scientists used a synthetic version of cannabidiol, called JWH-133, to see how mice given regular doses of cocaine would respond. They found that mice given JWH-133 dramatically reduced their cocaine intake by up to 60 percent.
Their success in reducing cocaine consumption in mice may lead to new drug replacement therapies for cocaine and crack addiction, helping addicts detox and overcome withdrawal symptoms much like methadone therapy sometimes prescribed to heroin addicts.
As a recreational drug, marijuana produces less dependence and withdrawal effects than even caffeine. Cocaine is much more intoxicating and produces a strong reinforcing effect that makes a user more likely to use the drug again.
JWH-133 is closely related to JWH-018, which has been the subject of recent controversy for its appearance in "Spice" and other herbal smoking blends purported to produce marijuana-like highs. While JWH-133 does not produce such effects, JWH-018 and other similar test chemicals do, leading the Drug Enforcement Administration to place a series of them on their list of controlled substances.
The International Narcotics Control Board, an independent agency set up by the United Nations, said recently that banning JWH-018 was a positive step in drug control efforts, but urged industrialized nations to go further and also adopt blanket bans on new substances to prevent the rise of new designer drugs -- a policy recommendation that, if adopted, would also apply to JWH-133.
(H/T: Time)
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011 -- 12:28 pm
rawstory.com
The discovery was announced in the July 2011 edition of Nature Neuroscience.
The study found that cannabidiol, an active component of marijuana that does not produce an inebriating effect, effectively turns down a receptor in the brain that is stimulated by cocaine.
Scientists used a synthetic version of cannabidiol, called JWH-133, to see how mice given regular doses of cocaine would respond. They found that mice given JWH-133 dramatically reduced their cocaine intake by up to 60 percent.
Their success in reducing cocaine consumption in mice may lead to new drug replacement therapies for cocaine and crack addiction, helping addicts detox and overcome withdrawal symptoms much like methadone therapy sometimes prescribed to heroin addicts.
As a recreational drug, marijuana produces less dependence and withdrawal effects than even caffeine. Cocaine is much more intoxicating and produces a strong reinforcing effect that makes a user more likely to use the drug again.
JWH-133 is closely related to JWH-018, which has been the subject of recent controversy for its appearance in "Spice" and other herbal smoking blends purported to produce marijuana-like highs. While JWH-133 does not produce such effects, JWH-018 and other similar test chemicals do, leading the Drug Enforcement Administration to place a series of them on their list of controlled substances.
The International Narcotics Control Board, an independent agency set up by the United Nations, said recently that banning JWH-018 was a positive step in drug control efforts, but urged industrialized nations to go further and also adopt blanket bans on new substances to prevent the rise of new designer drugs -- a policy recommendation that, if adopted, would also apply to JWH-133.
(H/T: Time)
NAACP calls for an end to the war on drugs
By David Edwards
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011 -- 4:47 pm
rawstory.com
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is officially calling on the U.S. government to end the war on drugs.
A majority of NAACP delegates at their annual convention in Los Angeles Tuesday voted to pass a resolution titled: "A Call to End the War on Drugs, Allocate Funding to Investigate Substance Abuse Treatment, Education, and Opportunities in Communities of Color for A Better Tomorrow."
"Today the NAACP has taken a major step towards equity, justice and effective law enforcement," NAACP president and CEO Benjamin Jealous said in a press advisory. "These flawed drug policies that have been mostly enforced in African American communities must be stopped and replaced with evidenced-based practices that address the root causes of drug use and abuse in America."
The resolution noted that African Americans are 13 times more likely to be sentenced to jail than whites facing the same drug charges.
"Studies show that all racial groups abuse drugs at similar rates, but the numbers also show that African Americans, Hispanics and other people of color are stopped, searched, arrested, charged, convicted, and sent to prison for drug-related charges at a much higher rate," California State Conference of the NAACP president Alice Huffman said.
"This dual system of drug law enforcement that serves to keep African-Americans and other minorities under lock and key and in prison must be exposed and eradiated."
More than 1200 NAACP units across the country will be encouraged to advocate for an end to the drug war once the resolution is ratified in October.
President Barack Obama said last week that he was not willing to "pursue a decriminalization strategy."
Photo credit: Flickr
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011 -- 4:47 pm
rawstory.com
A majority of NAACP delegates at their annual convention in Los Angeles Tuesday voted to pass a resolution titled: "A Call to End the War on Drugs, Allocate Funding to Investigate Substance Abuse Treatment, Education, and Opportunities in Communities of Color for A Better Tomorrow."
"Today the NAACP has taken a major step towards equity, justice and effective law enforcement," NAACP president and CEO Benjamin Jealous said in a press advisory. "These flawed drug policies that have been mostly enforced in African American communities must be stopped and replaced with evidenced-based practices that address the root causes of drug use and abuse in America."
The resolution noted that African Americans are 13 times more likely to be sentenced to jail than whites facing the same drug charges.
"Studies show that all racial groups abuse drugs at similar rates, but the numbers also show that African Americans, Hispanics and other people of color are stopped, searched, arrested, charged, convicted, and sent to prison for drug-related charges at a much higher rate," California State Conference of the NAACP president Alice Huffman said.
"This dual system of drug law enforcement that serves to keep African-Americans and other minorities under lock and key and in prison must be exposed and eradiated."
More than 1200 NAACP units across the country will be encouraged to advocate for an end to the drug war once the resolution is ratified in October.
President Barack Obama said last week that he was not willing to "pursue a decriminalization strategy."
Photo credit: Flickr
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Sheriff's Deputy Kills Former NFL Player Outside a Convenience Store
Jacob Sullum | July 12, 2011
reason.com
On Sunday a Kern County, California, sheriff's deputy shot and killed David Lee "Deacon" Turner, a 56-year-old former running back for the Cincinnati Bengals, outside a convenience store in Bakersfield. Police questioned Turner, who was coming out of the store with his 19-year-old son, while investigating reports of teenagers asking adults to buy them alcohol and cigarettes. The Kern County Sheriff's Office says Deputy Wesley Kraft fired twice at Turner after the former football player hit Deputy Aaron Nadal over the head with a bag containing two 24-ounce cans of beer. Turner's son offered a strikingly different account:
Turner's son was too shaken to speak with Eyewitness News on Sunday, but he told his sister what he witnessed.
"They asked my dad if he was the person buying alcohol for underage youth," Jerrica Cor-Dova said.
According to Turner's son, his father denied the claims, but deputies continued to question him. Turner then asked officers if he was being arrested. The deputies said no, and Turner grabbed his stuff and began to walk away.
"As he was walking away, the officers came up behind him and hit him in the back of the legs with a club, causing him to fall on his knees," Cor-Dova said.
Turner's son said the bag his father was carrying fell to the ground and the beer in the bag exploded. The next thing he heard was two shots being fired.
"My brother said he yelled my dad's name, and my father was lying there still," Cor-Dova relayed the story.
But according to the sheriff's department, the shots were fired because one of the officers was hit over the head with the items in the bag. His son said that never happened.
"I know that there is a video recording, so we are relying heavily on the video recording from Fastrip," Cor-Dova said.
reason.com
Turner's son was too shaken to speak with Eyewitness News on Sunday, but he told his sister what he witnessed.
"They asked my dad if he was the person buying alcohol for underage youth," Jerrica Cor-Dova said.
According to Turner's son, his father denied the claims, but deputies continued to question him. Turner then asked officers if he was being arrested. The deputies said no, and Turner grabbed his stuff and began to walk away.
"As he was walking away, the officers came up behind him and hit him in the back of the legs with a club, causing him to fall on his knees," Cor-Dova said.
Turner's son said the bag his father was carrying fell to the ground and the beer in the bag exploded. The next thing he heard was two shots being fired.
"My brother said he yelled my dad's name, and my father was lying there still," Cor-Dova relayed the story.
But according to the sheriff's department, the shots were fired because one of the officers was hit over the head with the items in the bag. His son said that never happened.
"I know that there is a video recording, so we are relying heavily on the video recording from Fastrip," Cor-Dova said.
New polls confirm Obama's Democratic base crumbles
July 26, 2011 | 3:04 am
Political commentary from Andrew Malcolm
LAtimes
With all of the spotlights on the high-stakes debt maneuverings by President Obama and Speaker John Boehner the last few days, few people noticed what Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders said:
"I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition."
This is political treason 469 days before a presidential election. Yes, yes, this is just a crusty old New England independent for now, albeit one who caucuses loyally with Harry Reid's Democratic posse.
But while most of the media focuses on Republican Boehner and the tea party pressures on him to raise the debt limit not one Liberty dime, Sanders' mumblings are a useful reminder that hidden in the shadows of this left-handed presidency are militant progressives like Sanders who don't want to cut one Liberty dime of non-Pentagon spending.Vermont's independent senator Bernie Sanders
Closely read the transcript of Obama's Monday statement on the debt talks stalemate. The full transcript is right here. And the full transcript of Boehner's response is right here.
An Unbalanced Approach to a Balanced Approach
Using political forensics, notice any clues, perhaps telltale code words that reveal to whom he was really addressing his Monday message? Clearly, it wasn't congressional Republicans -- or Democrats, for that matter.
The nation's top talker uttered 4,526 words in those remarks. He said "balanced approach" seven times, three times in a single paragraph.
That's the giveaway. Obviously, David Plouffe and the incumbent's strategists have been polling phrases for use in this ongoing debt duel, which is more about 2012 now than 2011. "Balanced approach" is no sweet talk for old Bernie or tea sippers on the other side.
Obama is running for the center already, aiming for the independents who played such a crucial role in his victorious coalition in 2008. They were the first to start abandoning the good ship Obama back in 2009 when all the ex-state senator could do was talk about healthcare, when jobs and the economy were the peoples' priority.
Democrats lost the New Jersey and Virginia governor's offices largely as a result of that and Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts. And then came last November's midterms when voters chose the approach of that historic pack of House-bound Republicans.John Boehner Obama Harry Reid enjoy ongoing Deficit Talks 7-23-11
Republicans have their own poll problems in some areas. But even without an identified GOP presidential alternative, we've had a plethora of recent polls showing Obama's fading job approval, especially on the economy.
Now, comes a new ABC News/Washington Post poll with a whole harvest of revelations, among them, strong indications that Obama's liberal base is starting to crumble. Among the nuggets:
Despite those hundreds of billions of blown stimulus dollars and almost as many upturn promises from Joe Biden, 82% of Americans still say their job market is struggling. Ninety percent rate the economy negatively, including half who give it the worst rating of "poor."
Are You Better Off Today Than Jan. 20, 2009?
A slim 15% claim to be "getting ahead financially," half what it was in 2006. Fully 27% say they're falling behind financially. That's up 6 points since February.
A significant majority (54%) says they've been forced to change their lifestyle significantly as a result of the economic times -- and 60% of them are angry, up from 44%.
To be sure, 30 months after he returned to home cooking, George W. Bush still gets majority blame for the economy.
But here's the breaking news for wishful Democrats: George W. Bush isn't running for anything but exercise.
"More than a third of Americans now believe that President Obama’s policies are hurting the economy, and confidence in his ability to create jobs is sharply eroding among his base," the Post reports.
Strong support among liberal Democrats for Obama's jobs record has plummeted 22 points from 53% down below a third. African Americans who believe the president's measures helped the economy have plunged from 77% to barely half.
Obama's overall job approval on the economy has slid below 40% for the first time, with 57% disapproving. And strong disapprovers outnumber approvers by better than two-to-one.
Political commentary from Andrew Malcolm
LAtimes
With all of the spotlights on the high-stakes debt maneuverings by President Obama and Speaker John Boehner the last few days, few people noticed what Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders said:
"I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition."
This is political treason 469 days before a presidential election. Yes, yes, this is just a crusty old New England independent for now, albeit one who caucuses loyally with Harry Reid's Democratic posse.
But while most of the media focuses on Republican Boehner and the tea party pressures on him to raise the debt limit not one Liberty dime, Sanders' mumblings are a useful reminder that hidden in the shadows of this left-handed presidency are militant progressives like Sanders who don't want to cut one Liberty dime of non-Pentagon spending.Vermont's independent senator Bernie Sanders
Closely read the transcript of Obama's Monday statement on the debt talks stalemate. The full transcript is right here. And the full transcript of Boehner's response is right here.
An Unbalanced Approach to a Balanced Approach
Using political forensics, notice any clues, perhaps telltale code words that reveal to whom he was really addressing his Monday message? Clearly, it wasn't congressional Republicans -- or Democrats, for that matter.
The nation's top talker uttered 4,526 words in those remarks. He said "balanced approach" seven times, three times in a single paragraph.
That's the giveaway. Obviously, David Plouffe and the incumbent's strategists have been polling phrases for use in this ongoing debt duel, which is more about 2012 now than 2011. "Balanced approach" is no sweet talk for old Bernie or tea sippers on the other side.
Obama is running for the center already, aiming for the independents who played such a crucial role in his victorious coalition in 2008. They were the first to start abandoning the good ship Obama back in 2009 when all the ex-state senator could do was talk about healthcare, when jobs and the economy were the peoples' priority.
Democrats lost the New Jersey and Virginia governor's offices largely as a result of that and Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts. And then came last November's midterms when voters chose the approach of that historic pack of House-bound Republicans.John Boehner Obama Harry Reid enjoy ongoing Deficit Talks 7-23-11
Republicans have their own poll problems in some areas. But even without an identified GOP presidential alternative, we've had a plethora of recent polls showing Obama's fading job approval, especially on the economy.
Now, comes a new ABC News/Washington Post poll with a whole harvest of revelations, among them, strong indications that Obama's liberal base is starting to crumble. Among the nuggets:
Despite those hundreds of billions of blown stimulus dollars and almost as many upturn promises from Joe Biden, 82% of Americans still say their job market is struggling. Ninety percent rate the economy negatively, including half who give it the worst rating of "poor."
Are You Better Off Today Than Jan. 20, 2009?
A slim 15% claim to be "getting ahead financially," half what it was in 2006. Fully 27% say they're falling behind financially. That's up 6 points since February.
A significant majority (54%) says they've been forced to change their lifestyle significantly as a result of the economic times -- and 60% of them are angry, up from 44%.
To be sure, 30 months after he returned to home cooking, George W. Bush still gets majority blame for the economy.
But here's the breaking news for wishful Democrats: George W. Bush isn't running for anything but exercise.
"More than a third of Americans now believe that President Obama’s policies are hurting the economy, and confidence in his ability to create jobs is sharply eroding among his base," the Post reports.
Strong support among liberal Democrats for Obama's jobs record has plummeted 22 points from 53% down below a third. African Americans who believe the president's measures helped the economy have plunged from 77% to barely half.
Obama's overall job approval on the economy has slid below 40% for the first time, with 57% disapproving. And strong disapprovers outnumber approvers by better than two-to-one.
Monday, July 25, 2011
The Pot Republic On air and online July 26, 2011 at 9:00pm
Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.
10 States That Consume Too Much Fast Food
Want fries with that?
Americans love fast food. (We spent $165 billion on it in 2010.) But we don't all love it equally. Like the obesity rate, fast-food consumption varies widely by region. Residents of some states disproportionately choose fast food over other options when they go out to eat, with consequences for the state’s collective health.
Using government data on the percentage of restaurants in each state that serve fast food and the percentage of dining-out dollars the average resident spends in them each year, Health.com identified the 10 states where fast-food consumption is most prevalent. Here they are, in alphabetical order health.com
Oklahoma
Just over half of the restaurants in Oklahoma serve fast food. (That includes no fewer than 271 locations of the Sonic drive-in chain, which was founded here.) Sooners make good use of them. Statewide, they spend an average of 58 cents of every restaurant dollar on fast food—and some spend far more.
In 2007, Fortune named Oklahoma City the fast-food capital of America because it consistently appears near the top of the list of cities with the most "heavy users" of fast food. Market research showed that 55% of the city's residents visited a fast-food restaurant at least 12 times in the previous month, and that those fast-food fans averaged 21 monthly visits.
Americans love fast food. (We spent $165 billion on it in 2010.) But we don't all love it equally. Like the obesity rate, fast-food consumption varies widely by region. Residents of some states disproportionately choose fast food over other options when they go out to eat, with consequences for the state’s collective health.
Using government data on the percentage of restaurants in each state that serve fast food and the percentage of dining-out dollars the average resident spends in them each year, Health.com identified the 10 states where fast-food consumption is most prevalent. Here they are, in alphabetical order health.com
Oklahoma
Just over half of the restaurants in Oklahoma serve fast food. (That includes no fewer than 271 locations of the Sonic drive-in chain, which was founded here.) Sooners make good use of them. Statewide, they spend an average of 58 cents of every restaurant dollar on fast food—and some spend far more.
In 2007, Fortune named Oklahoma City the fast-food capital of America because it consistently appears near the top of the list of cities with the most "heavy users" of fast food. Market research showed that 55% of the city's residents visited a fast-food restaurant at least 12 times in the previous month, and that those fast-food fans averaged 21 monthly visits.
Police Knew Gunman’s Name Before Arrest
British news anchor questions how authorities were aware of Breivik’s identity in advance
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Monday, July 25, 2011
Anders Behring Breivik
Despite being portrayed by the media as inept due to the length of time it took them to reach the island of Utoeya, it has now emerged that police knew the name of gunman Anders Behring Breivik before they even arrested him, a startling admission that prompted one of Britain’s top news anchors to question how authorities were aware of the gunman’s identity in advance.
During his Channel 4 News broadcast on Friday evening, host Jon Snow asked “why police knew the killer’s name by the time they had arrived on the island,” reported the Telegraph live blog.
“He surrendered the moment police called his name 3 minutes after they arrived. What we don’t know is how the police knew the terrorist’s name before they arrested him,” said Snow, who is recognized as one of Britain’s most trusted news anchors, and cannot be dismissed as a “conspiracy theorist”.
Snow also posed the question on his official Twitter page.
How authorities knew the gunman’s identity before his slaughter of young Norwegians on the island of Utoeya had even come to an end, and while the overwhelming speculation still centered around Islamic terrorists, is a mystery, as is the question of why the cops didn’t shoot Breivik immediately.
It’s also starkly inconsistent with the “incompetence” angle that’s been heavily pushed by the establishment media in explaining why it took over 90 minutes for police to reach the island, a gap that significantly contributed to Breivik being able to claim such a huge number of victims.
Some have speculated that Breivik may have had accomplices, and although police disregarded eyewitness accounts of multiple shooters on the island, during testimony at his court case today, Breivik admitted that he was merely one part of an organization that included at least two other “cells” who were planning future attacks.
“I believe that there were two people who were shooting,” survivor Alexander Stavdal told Norwegian VG, while other eyewitnesses reported hearing gunshots from “two different places on the island at the same time.”
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Monday, July 25, 2011
Anders Behring Breivik
During his Channel 4 News broadcast on Friday evening, host Jon Snow asked “why police knew the killer’s name by the time they had arrived on the island,” reported the Telegraph live blog.
“He surrendered the moment police called his name 3 minutes after they arrived. What we don’t know is how the police knew the terrorist’s name before they arrested him,” said Snow, who is recognized as one of Britain’s most trusted news anchors, and cannot be dismissed as a “conspiracy theorist”.
Snow also posed the question on his official Twitter page.
How authorities knew the gunman’s identity before his slaughter of young Norwegians on the island of Utoeya had even come to an end, and while the overwhelming speculation still centered around Islamic terrorists, is a mystery, as is the question of why the cops didn’t shoot Breivik immediately.
It’s also starkly inconsistent with the “incompetence” angle that’s been heavily pushed by the establishment media in explaining why it took over 90 minutes for police to reach the island, a gap that significantly contributed to Breivik being able to claim such a huge number of victims.
Some have speculated that Breivik may have had accomplices, and although police disregarded eyewitness accounts of multiple shooters on the island, during testimony at his court case today, Breivik admitted that he was merely one part of an organization that included at least two other “cells” who were planning future attacks.
“I believe that there were two people who were shooting,” survivor Alexander Stavdal told Norwegian VG, while other eyewitnesses reported hearing gunshots from “two different places on the island at the same time.”
Sunday, July 24, 2011
United States intelligence agencies were conducting a large-scale program of recruiting retired Norwegian police officers
Norway Terror Attacks a False Flag
Webster G. Tarpley
infowars.com
July 24, 2011
More Than One Shooter on Island; Oslo Bomb Drill Just Concluded; Was It NATO’s Revenge for Norway’s Decision to Stop Bombing Libya?
The tragic terror attacks in Norway display a number of the telltale signs of a false flag provocation. It is reported that, although the world media are attempting to focus on Anders Behring Breivik as a lone assassin in the tradition of Lee Harvey Oswald, many eyewitnesses agree that a second shooter was active in the massacre at the Utøya summer youth camp outside of Oslo. It has also come to light that a special police unit had been conducting a drill or exercise in downtown Oslo which involved the detonation of bombs – exactly what caused the bloodshed a few hundred meters away little more than 48 hours later. Further research reveals that United States intelligence agencies had been conducting a large-scale program of recruiting retired Norwegian police officers with the alleged purpose of conducting surveillance inside the country. This program, known as SIMAS Surveillance Detection Units, provided a perfect vehicle for the penetration and subversion of the Norwegian police by NATO.
Media paints Breivik as lone wolf, Lee Harvey Oswald type terrorist.
A motive for the attack is also present: as part of its attempt to mount an independent foreign policy, including the imminent diplomatic recognition of a Palestinian state as part of a general rapprochement with the Arab world, Norway was leading the smaller NATO states in dropping out of the imperialist aggressor coalition currently bombing Libya. Norway was scheduled to stop all bombing and other sorties against the Gaddafi forces as out of August 1 at the latest.
Finally, the CIA limited hangout operation known as Wikileaks has already furnished a prefabricated off-the-shelf case for incompetence and malfeasance against the current Norwegian government that is doing all these things – in the form of a series of real or doctored dispatches which document the alleged negligence of this government in dealing with the terrorist threat, all in the view of US State Department officials.
VG of Oslo: “Several” Eyewitnesses Say there were Two Shooters on the Island
As noted, world press and media of the Anglo-American school have immediately battened onto Breivik as an archetypal lone assassin cast in the mold of Lee Harvey Oswald, Sirhan Sirhan, and so many others. The problem for the terror mythographs is that , in most of these cases, there is credible to overwhelming evidence that these figures could not have acted alone. Among more recent loan assassins, Breivik could be compared to Major Nidal Hasan of Fort Hood, Texas, whose shooting spree dates back to November 2009. Hasan is accused of having killed seven people. At the time, it was considered remarkable that Hasan had managed to kill so many armed soldiers on the military base. But early reports suggested that there were one or two other shooters in addition to Hasan. As usually happens, these extra shooters were soon expunged from the hegemonic media narrative.1
In the Norwegian case, the evidence that Breivik was not alone in claiming his fearful toll of victims is clear and convincing. Here are some excerpts from a report published by the Oslo newspaper VG:
“Several of the youths who were at the Utøya the shooting drama, told VG that they are convinced that there must have been more than one perpetrator. Marius Helander Røset believes the same thing: – I am sure that there was shooting from two different places on the island at the same time, he said.
Witnesses: – There were two people
Police believe Anders Behring Breivik (32) is the perpetrator who was dressed as a policeman , and have charged him for two terrorist attacks. Young people interviewed by VG describe an additional perpetrator – who was not wearing a police uniform. The person was following them around was 180 centimeters tall, had thick dark hair and a Nordic appearance. He had a pistol in his right hand and a rifle on his back. – I believe that there were two people who were shooting, says Alexander Stavdal (23)….
At the press conference Saturday morning opened the police said that there could have been several perpetrators and emphasized that there is an ongoing investigation.”2
The presence of a second shooter is of course most inconvenient for the lone assassin theory, since it represents incontrovertible evidence of a criminal conspiracy, the very thing which the media coverage is usually anxious to avoid. In the Norwegian case, the reports of a second shooter seemed to be persistent enough 36 hours after the main event so as to hold out some hope that the entire official version can be brought down on this particular.
Police Had Drilled Setting off Bombs in Same Area a Few Days Earlier
Another telltale critical sign of a false flag operation is the holding of drills or exercises –allegedly for counterterrorism purposes — by the police or the military at the same time as the terror attack, or shortly before the real terror attack begins. Sometimes, the terror drills or exercises are scheduled to begin slightly after the time when the actual terror attack occurs. In these cases, it is often discovered that the self-styled anti-terror drill or exercise contains a simulated action or event which strongly resembles the real world terror attack, the one which actually kills people. The media will then refer to an astounding coincidence or a weird happenstance, but the reality is that the terror drill has been taken live or flipped live in the form of real killings. The secret is that the legally sanctioned drill has been used to conduit or bootleg the actual butchery through a government bureaucracy whose resources are required to run the terror but in which there are many officials who cannot be allowed to know what is happening.
The Norway events provide a very clear illustration of this principle. In Oslo, a powerful bomb went off in or near the building which houses the office of the Prime Minister. Exactly as we would expect, special anti-terror police had been drilling setting off bombs in a nearby part of the Norwegian capital little more than 48 hours earlier. The public had not been informed in advance, but found out what was happening when they began hearing bombs on Tuesday and Wednesday, whereas the main bomb went off on Friday. Here is a report from the newspaper Aftenposten:
“Armed police were seen in the area around the opera house in Oslo, and violent explosions could be heard over large parts of the city. No one knew that this was all a matter of practice. The Information Section of the Oslo police deeply regrets that the public was not made aware of the seemingly dramatic exercise….It was the emergency squad, the national police special unit against terrorism, which was conducting a drill in the cordoned off area at Bjørvika pier. According to a press release from the police, nearly a day after the exercise, the drill consisted of training in the controlled detonation of explosive charges….The exercise will continue for the rest of Wednesday night and a few more explosions are expected….The exercise followed a familiar pattern for all anti-terror forces around the world: The men lowered themselves down from the ceiling and into through the window that had just been blown out, while they fired hand their weapons.”3
Peter Power of Visor Consultants told BBC Radio Five in the wake of the London subway bombings of July 7, 2005 that his firm had been conducting an exercise based on explosions going off in substantially the same stations of the London underground at the same times when the real explosions had actually occurred. The Norwegian events exhibit the same kind of strange coincidence.
A Motive: Norway Had Decided to Stop Bombing Libya August 1
The targets of the Norwegian terror attacks are all expressly political, including government offices and a summer youth camp of the ruling Labor Party, and thus point in the direction of politics. The government of Norway is currently a coalition composed of the Labor Party, the Socialist Left Party, and the Center Party. Norway has traditionally attempted to cultivate a pro-Arab foreign policy, as seen in its sponsorship of the Oslo peace accords between Israeli Prime Minister Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the mid-1990s. The current government has announced its intention of granting diplomatic recognition to a Palestinian state in the near future. When the destabilization of Libya began last February, the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre of the Labor Party warned Norway’s partners in the NATO alliance against getting involved.
But soon after this, Norway gave in to US pressure and agreed to participate in NATO’s bombing of Libya for an initial period of three months, sending six planes which have carried out an estimated 10% of all the bombing raids mounted by the Atlantic alliance. However, as the end of its three-month commitment had passed, Norway had reduced its contingent to four planes during the month of July, and had announced on June 10 that it was planning to withdraw altogether from the NATO bombing coalition no later than August 1.
The Norwegian decision to drop out of the NATO attack coalition was associated with a similar move by the Netherlands, which was announced on that same day of June 10. The Dutch had decided to maintain their contingent of six planes, but will no longer take part in bombing attacks on ground targets. Henceforth, the Dutch are willing only to help enforce the no-fly zone through air interdiction. There was therefore the potential that Norway’s example could trigger a general tendency by the smaller NATO states to quit the bombing coalition, in which their collective presence is highly significant.
Leading figures of the Norwegian government were among the first to undercut the supposed rationale for the NATO bombing, while urging negotiations: ‘”The solution to the problems in Libya are political, they cannot be solved by military means alone,” Norwegian Prime Minister Stoltenberg told reporters gathered for a conference in Oslo on May 13. “We are very much supporting all efforts to find a political solution to the challenges we are facing in Libya,” he added. Norway’s government …pledged to scale down its role in NATO-orchestrated air strikes on Libya after its current three-month commitment ends on June 24.4
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
This was the policy of the entire Norwegian government: ‘Norway will scale down its fighter jet contribution in Libya from six to four planes and withdraw completely from the NATO-led operation by Aug. 1, the government said Friday…. Defense Minister Grete Faremo said she expects understanding from NATO allies because Norway has a small air force and cannot “maintain a large fighter jet contribution during a long time.” Norway’s air force, meanwhile says its F-16 jets have carried out about 10 percent of the NATO airstrikes in Libya since March 31. The parties in Norway’s center-left coalition government had been at odds over whether to extend the country’s participation, which was scheduled to expire June 24. The most leftist faction in the government, the Socialist Left Party, opposed an extension, but a compromise was reached to stay in the operation until Aug. 1 with fewer planes. “It is wise to end the Norwegian fighter jet contribution. Now Norway should apply its efforts to find a peaceful solution in Libya,” Socialist Left Party lawmaker Baard Vegar Solhjell said.’5
State Department Complained of Norway’s “Lack of Commitment” to Libyan Adventure
The Norwegian decision to stop waging war against Libya, the first of its kind by any member of the Atlantic alliance, has attracted the attention of diplomatic observers, one of whom commented that the current government in Oslo has advocated “a distinctly more peaceful approach to global policies by the Norwegian government…. [despite] recent pressure from the US on Norway to contribute more in Libya military campaign. Norway has been resisting that pressure and pushing for a more peaceful approach to the US-led NATO attacks on Libya and refused to provide weapons to NATO, finally announcing last month that Norway would quit its military role in Libya by August 1. In March, as the US was rallying unilateral support to invade Libya, Norway’s minister of foreign affairs Jonas Gahr Støre was one of the few nations to warn the US against armed intervention in Libya. Norway initially supplied six fighter jets for Libya operations and has carried out about 10% of the Libya strikes since 19 March. However, US officials singled out Norway and Denmark for their ‘lack of commitment’ to the mission to oust Gaddafi… Other Norway-Libya links include Norway’s major oil- and fertilizer-related interests in Libya: the Norwegian state-owned Statoil, which has about 30 employees at its Tripoli offices….[Norway's] businesses have conducted major business operations in Libya, in co-operation with Qaddafi’s regime.”6
At the present stage of the inquiry, the best estimate of a motive for the Norwegian attacks is to punish the country for its independent and pro-Arab foreign policy in general, and for its repudiation of the NATO bombing coalition arrayed against Libya in particular.
Are SIMAS Surveillance Detection Units the New Gladio for Norway?
US and NATO intelligence have been shown to possess extraordinary capabilities inside Norway, many of which may be operating outside of the control of the Norwegian government. In early November 2010, the Oslo television channel TV2 exposed the existence of an extensive network of paid assets and informants of US intelligence recruited from the ranks of retired police and other officials. The ostensible goal of this program was the surveillance of Norwegians who were taking part in demonstrations and other activities critical of the United States and its policies. One of the Norwegians recruited was the former chief of the anti-terror section of the Oslo police.7 Although the goal was supposedly merely surveillance, it is possible to imagine some other and far more sinister activities that could be carried out by such a network of retired cops, including the identification and subversion of rotten apples on the active-duty police force. Some of the capabilities of a network of this type would not be totally alien to the sort of events that have just occurred in Norway.
The official name for the type of espionage cell which the United States was creating in Norway is Surveillance Detection Unit (SDU). The SDUs in turn operate within the framework of the Security Incident Management Analysis System (SIMAS). SIMAS is known to be used for spying and surveillance by US Embassies not just in the Nordic bloc of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, but worldwide. The terror events also raise the question of whether SIMAS has an operational dimension. Could this apparatus represents a modern version of the Cold War stay behind networks set up in all NATO countries and best-known under the name of the Italian branch, Gladio?
The Norwegian government needs to find out. Thus far Norwegian ministers have asserted that they never approved the SIMAS network of SDUs. “We never knew about it,” claimed Norway’s Justice Minister Knut Storberget and Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in chorus. Hillary Clinton stated instead that the Norwegians had been informed.
CIA’s Wikileaks Limited Hangout Has Rationale for Toppling Norway’s Government
Thanks to document dumps by the CIA limited hangout subsidiary generally known as Wikileaks, an obvious path for using the Norwegian terror attacks as a rationale for overthrowing the current government has already been provided. Real or doctored State Department cables obligingly made available by Wikileaks portray the Norwegian government which NATO hates as a collection of bunglers and misfits, unable to take effective measures to safeguard the national security of the country.
Some of these tables have been published in the immediate wake of the terror attacks by the London Daily Telegraph, a newspaper reputedly close to NATO intelligence circles. According to this article, while ‘talking about an attempt by the Police Security Service (PST) to track one particular suspected Al Qaeda terror cell, a cable written by the US Ambassador to Norway, Barry White, describes [how Norwegian authorities] … refused the help of the UK authorities to put surveillance on a potential suspect and adds: “Not only will they not put their own resources on him…but they also just turned down the visiting UK intel service’s offer of two twelve-person surveillance teams.” The cable goes on to say the UK and US intelligence services analyzed coded conversation between terror suspects and decided it warranted surveillance. But, says the cable, “PST instead found a way to interpret the same translated coded conversation in a rosier, less threatening light, an interpretation which makes little sense to the US or UK.”‘ A catalog of even the most recent failures and fiascos of the FBI and the CIA in the so-called Global War on Terror would help to put these hypocritical judgments into proper perspective, but it would also be too voluminous to be appended here.
Stock up with Fresh Food that lasts with eFoodsDirect (Ad)
Another damaging particular appears made to order for an attempt to blame the alleged bungling of the Norwegian government for the Oslo bomb attack: ‘The memo also reveals how, despite apparently having surveillance on the suspect, the PST lost track of bomb-making equipment which was being stored in an apartment after it was apparently removed without investigators’ noticing. The PST then failed to track one suspect for 14 days because the investigator assigned to him was called away on another job. The memo concludes: “The PST is in over its head…it simply cannot keep up.”‘
Another State Department memo dished up by Wikileaks, supposedly written in 2007… adds: “The official police (PST) threat evaluation…states that international terror organizations are not a direct threat against Norway. A memo written in 2008 shows how the US felt that Norway was not awake to the possibility of a potential terrorist attack. The cable reads: “We repeatedly press Norwegian authorities to take terrorism seriously. We will seek to build on this momentum to fight the still-prevalent feeling that terrorism happens elsewhere, not in peaceful Norway.” And a cable written just last year adds: “The PST still viewed Denmark as more of a target than Norway, for reasons very specific to the cartoon controversy.” 8
The government of Norway needs to go on the offensive and establish the whole truth of what has just occurred. Otherwise, that government is likely to succumb to the internationally orchestrated campaign which the Wikileaks documents so clearly foreshadow.
This post first appeared on Webster Trapley’s blog.
Webster G. Tarpley
infowars.com
July 24, 2011
More Than One Shooter on Island; Oslo Bomb Drill Just Concluded; Was It NATO’s Revenge for Norway’s Decision to Stop Bombing Libya?
The tragic terror attacks in Norway display a number of the telltale signs of a false flag provocation. It is reported that, although the world media are attempting to focus on Anders Behring Breivik as a lone assassin in the tradition of Lee Harvey Oswald, many eyewitnesses agree that a second shooter was active in the massacre at the Utøya summer youth camp outside of Oslo. It has also come to light that a special police unit had been conducting a drill or exercise in downtown Oslo which involved the detonation of bombs – exactly what caused the bloodshed a few hundred meters away little more than 48 hours later. Further research reveals that United States intelligence agencies had been conducting a large-scale program of recruiting retired Norwegian police officers with the alleged purpose of conducting surveillance inside the country. This program, known as SIMAS Surveillance Detection Units, provided a perfect vehicle for the penetration and subversion of the Norwegian police by NATO.
Media paints Breivik as lone wolf, Lee Harvey Oswald type terrorist.
A motive for the attack is also present: as part of its attempt to mount an independent foreign policy, including the imminent diplomatic recognition of a Palestinian state as part of a general rapprochement with the Arab world, Norway was leading the smaller NATO states in dropping out of the imperialist aggressor coalition currently bombing Libya. Norway was scheduled to stop all bombing and other sorties against the Gaddafi forces as out of August 1 at the latest.
Finally, the CIA limited hangout operation known as Wikileaks has already furnished a prefabricated off-the-shelf case for incompetence and malfeasance against the current Norwegian government that is doing all these things – in the form of a series of real or doctored dispatches which document the alleged negligence of this government in dealing with the terrorist threat, all in the view of US State Department officials.
VG of Oslo: “Several” Eyewitnesses Say there were Two Shooters on the Island
As noted, world press and media of the Anglo-American school have immediately battened onto Breivik as an archetypal lone assassin cast in the mold of Lee Harvey Oswald, Sirhan Sirhan, and so many others. The problem for the terror mythographs is that , in most of these cases, there is credible to overwhelming evidence that these figures could not have acted alone. Among more recent loan assassins, Breivik could be compared to Major Nidal Hasan of Fort Hood, Texas, whose shooting spree dates back to November 2009. Hasan is accused of having killed seven people. At the time, it was considered remarkable that Hasan had managed to kill so many armed soldiers on the military base. But early reports suggested that there were one or two other shooters in addition to Hasan. As usually happens, these extra shooters were soon expunged from the hegemonic media narrative.1
In the Norwegian case, the evidence that Breivik was not alone in claiming his fearful toll of victims is clear and convincing. Here are some excerpts from a report published by the Oslo newspaper VG:
“Several of the youths who were at the Utøya the shooting drama, told VG that they are convinced that there must have been more than one perpetrator. Marius Helander Røset believes the same thing: – I am sure that there was shooting from two different places on the island at the same time, he said.
Witnesses: – There were two people
Police believe Anders Behring Breivik (32) is the perpetrator who was dressed as a policeman , and have charged him for two terrorist attacks. Young people interviewed by VG describe an additional perpetrator – who was not wearing a police uniform. The person was following them around was 180 centimeters tall, had thick dark hair and a Nordic appearance. He had a pistol in his right hand and a rifle on his back. – I believe that there were two people who were shooting, says Alexander Stavdal (23)….
At the press conference Saturday morning opened the police said that there could have been several perpetrators and emphasized that there is an ongoing investigation.”2
The presence of a second shooter is of course most inconvenient for the lone assassin theory, since it represents incontrovertible evidence of a criminal conspiracy, the very thing which the media coverage is usually anxious to avoid. In the Norwegian case, the reports of a second shooter seemed to be persistent enough 36 hours after the main event so as to hold out some hope that the entire official version can be brought down on this particular.
Police Had Drilled Setting off Bombs in Same Area a Few Days Earlier
Another telltale critical sign of a false flag operation is the holding of drills or exercises –allegedly for counterterrorism purposes — by the police or the military at the same time as the terror attack, or shortly before the real terror attack begins. Sometimes, the terror drills or exercises are scheduled to begin slightly after the time when the actual terror attack occurs. In these cases, it is often discovered that the self-styled anti-terror drill or exercise contains a simulated action or event which strongly resembles the real world terror attack, the one which actually kills people. The media will then refer to an astounding coincidence or a weird happenstance, but the reality is that the terror drill has been taken live or flipped live in the form of real killings. The secret is that the legally sanctioned drill has been used to conduit or bootleg the actual butchery through a government bureaucracy whose resources are required to run the terror but in which there are many officials who cannot be allowed to know what is happening.
The Norway events provide a very clear illustration of this principle. In Oslo, a powerful bomb went off in or near the building which houses the office of the Prime Minister. Exactly as we would expect, special anti-terror police had been drilling setting off bombs in a nearby part of the Norwegian capital little more than 48 hours earlier. The public had not been informed in advance, but found out what was happening when they began hearing bombs on Tuesday and Wednesday, whereas the main bomb went off on Friday. Here is a report from the newspaper Aftenposten:
“Armed police were seen in the area around the opera house in Oslo, and violent explosions could be heard over large parts of the city. No one knew that this was all a matter of practice. The Information Section of the Oslo police deeply regrets that the public was not made aware of the seemingly dramatic exercise….It was the emergency squad, the national police special unit against terrorism, which was conducting a drill in the cordoned off area at Bjørvika pier. According to a press release from the police, nearly a day after the exercise, the drill consisted of training in the controlled detonation of explosive charges….The exercise will continue for the rest of Wednesday night and a few more explosions are expected….The exercise followed a familiar pattern for all anti-terror forces around the world: The men lowered themselves down from the ceiling and into through the window that had just been blown out, while they fired hand their weapons.”3
Peter Power of Visor Consultants told BBC Radio Five in the wake of the London subway bombings of July 7, 2005 that his firm had been conducting an exercise based on explosions going off in substantially the same stations of the London underground at the same times when the real explosions had actually occurred. The Norwegian events exhibit the same kind of strange coincidence.
A Motive: Norway Had Decided to Stop Bombing Libya August 1
The targets of the Norwegian terror attacks are all expressly political, including government offices and a summer youth camp of the ruling Labor Party, and thus point in the direction of politics. The government of Norway is currently a coalition composed of the Labor Party, the Socialist Left Party, and the Center Party. Norway has traditionally attempted to cultivate a pro-Arab foreign policy, as seen in its sponsorship of the Oslo peace accords between Israeli Prime Minister Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the mid-1990s. The current government has announced its intention of granting diplomatic recognition to a Palestinian state in the near future. When the destabilization of Libya began last February, the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre of the Labor Party warned Norway’s partners in the NATO alliance against getting involved.
But soon after this, Norway gave in to US pressure and agreed to participate in NATO’s bombing of Libya for an initial period of three months, sending six planes which have carried out an estimated 10% of all the bombing raids mounted by the Atlantic alliance. However, as the end of its three-month commitment had passed, Norway had reduced its contingent to four planes during the month of July, and had announced on June 10 that it was planning to withdraw altogether from the NATO bombing coalition no later than August 1.
The Norwegian decision to drop out of the NATO attack coalition was associated with a similar move by the Netherlands, which was announced on that same day of June 10. The Dutch had decided to maintain their contingent of six planes, but will no longer take part in bombing attacks on ground targets. Henceforth, the Dutch are willing only to help enforce the no-fly zone through air interdiction. There was therefore the potential that Norway’s example could trigger a general tendency by the smaller NATO states to quit the bombing coalition, in which their collective presence is highly significant.
Leading figures of the Norwegian government were among the first to undercut the supposed rationale for the NATO bombing, while urging negotiations: ‘”The solution to the problems in Libya are political, they cannot be solved by military means alone,” Norwegian Prime Minister Stoltenberg told reporters gathered for a conference in Oslo on May 13. “We are very much supporting all efforts to find a political solution to the challenges we are facing in Libya,” he added. Norway’s government …pledged to scale down its role in NATO-orchestrated air strikes on Libya after its current three-month commitment ends on June 24.4
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
This was the policy of the entire Norwegian government: ‘Norway will scale down its fighter jet contribution in Libya from six to four planes and withdraw completely from the NATO-led operation by Aug. 1, the government said Friday…. Defense Minister Grete Faremo said she expects understanding from NATO allies because Norway has a small air force and cannot “maintain a large fighter jet contribution during a long time.” Norway’s air force, meanwhile says its F-16 jets have carried out about 10 percent of the NATO airstrikes in Libya since March 31. The parties in Norway’s center-left coalition government had been at odds over whether to extend the country’s participation, which was scheduled to expire June 24. The most leftist faction in the government, the Socialist Left Party, opposed an extension, but a compromise was reached to stay in the operation until Aug. 1 with fewer planes. “It is wise to end the Norwegian fighter jet contribution. Now Norway should apply its efforts to find a peaceful solution in Libya,” Socialist Left Party lawmaker Baard Vegar Solhjell said.’5
State Department Complained of Norway’s “Lack of Commitment” to Libyan Adventure
The Norwegian decision to stop waging war against Libya, the first of its kind by any member of the Atlantic alliance, has attracted the attention of diplomatic observers, one of whom commented that the current government in Oslo has advocated “a distinctly more peaceful approach to global policies by the Norwegian government…. [despite] recent pressure from the US on Norway to contribute more in Libya military campaign. Norway has been resisting that pressure and pushing for a more peaceful approach to the US-led NATO attacks on Libya and refused to provide weapons to NATO, finally announcing last month that Norway would quit its military role in Libya by August 1. In March, as the US was rallying unilateral support to invade Libya, Norway’s minister of foreign affairs Jonas Gahr Støre was one of the few nations to warn the US against armed intervention in Libya. Norway initially supplied six fighter jets for Libya operations and has carried out about 10% of the Libya strikes since 19 March. However, US officials singled out Norway and Denmark for their ‘lack of commitment’ to the mission to oust Gaddafi… Other Norway-Libya links include Norway’s major oil- and fertilizer-related interests in Libya: the Norwegian state-owned Statoil, which has about 30 employees at its Tripoli offices….[Norway's] businesses have conducted major business operations in Libya, in co-operation with Qaddafi’s regime.”6
At the present stage of the inquiry, the best estimate of a motive for the Norwegian attacks is to punish the country for its independent and pro-Arab foreign policy in general, and for its repudiation of the NATO bombing coalition arrayed against Libya in particular.
Are SIMAS Surveillance Detection Units the New Gladio for Norway?
US and NATO intelligence have been shown to possess extraordinary capabilities inside Norway, many of which may be operating outside of the control of the Norwegian government. In early November 2010, the Oslo television channel TV2 exposed the existence of an extensive network of paid assets and informants of US intelligence recruited from the ranks of retired police and other officials. The ostensible goal of this program was the surveillance of Norwegians who were taking part in demonstrations and other activities critical of the United States and its policies. One of the Norwegians recruited was the former chief of the anti-terror section of the Oslo police.7 Although the goal was supposedly merely surveillance, it is possible to imagine some other and far more sinister activities that could be carried out by such a network of retired cops, including the identification and subversion of rotten apples on the active-duty police force. Some of the capabilities of a network of this type would not be totally alien to the sort of events that have just occurred in Norway.
The official name for the type of espionage cell which the United States was creating in Norway is Surveillance Detection Unit (SDU). The SDUs in turn operate within the framework of the Security Incident Management Analysis System (SIMAS). SIMAS is known to be used for spying and surveillance by US Embassies not just in the Nordic bloc of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, but worldwide. The terror events also raise the question of whether SIMAS has an operational dimension. Could this apparatus represents a modern version of the Cold War stay behind networks set up in all NATO countries and best-known under the name of the Italian branch, Gladio?
The Norwegian government needs to find out. Thus far Norwegian ministers have asserted that they never approved the SIMAS network of SDUs. “We never knew about it,” claimed Norway’s Justice Minister Knut Storberget and Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in chorus. Hillary Clinton stated instead that the Norwegians had been informed.
CIA’s Wikileaks Limited Hangout Has Rationale for Toppling Norway’s Government
Thanks to document dumps by the CIA limited hangout subsidiary generally known as Wikileaks, an obvious path for using the Norwegian terror attacks as a rationale for overthrowing the current government has already been provided. Real or doctored State Department cables obligingly made available by Wikileaks portray the Norwegian government which NATO hates as a collection of bunglers and misfits, unable to take effective measures to safeguard the national security of the country.
Some of these tables have been published in the immediate wake of the terror attacks by the London Daily Telegraph, a newspaper reputedly close to NATO intelligence circles. According to this article, while ‘talking about an attempt by the Police Security Service (PST) to track one particular suspected Al Qaeda terror cell, a cable written by the US Ambassador to Norway, Barry White, describes [how Norwegian authorities] … refused the help of the UK authorities to put surveillance on a potential suspect and adds: “Not only will they not put their own resources on him…but they also just turned down the visiting UK intel service’s offer of two twelve-person surveillance teams.” The cable goes on to say the UK and US intelligence services analyzed coded conversation between terror suspects and decided it warranted surveillance. But, says the cable, “PST instead found a way to interpret the same translated coded conversation in a rosier, less threatening light, an interpretation which makes little sense to the US or UK.”‘ A catalog of even the most recent failures and fiascos of the FBI and the CIA in the so-called Global War on Terror would help to put these hypocritical judgments into proper perspective, but it would also be too voluminous to be appended here.
Stock up with Fresh Food that lasts with eFoodsDirect (Ad)
Another damaging particular appears made to order for an attempt to blame the alleged bungling of the Norwegian government for the Oslo bomb attack: ‘The memo also reveals how, despite apparently having surveillance on the suspect, the PST lost track of bomb-making equipment which was being stored in an apartment after it was apparently removed without investigators’ noticing. The PST then failed to track one suspect for 14 days because the investigator assigned to him was called away on another job. The memo concludes: “The PST is in over its head…it simply cannot keep up.”‘
Another State Department memo dished up by Wikileaks, supposedly written in 2007… adds: “The official police (PST) threat evaluation…states that international terror organizations are not a direct threat against Norway. A memo written in 2008 shows how the US felt that Norway was not awake to the possibility of a potential terrorist attack. The cable reads: “We repeatedly press Norwegian authorities to take terrorism seriously. We will seek to build on this momentum to fight the still-prevalent feeling that terrorism happens elsewhere, not in peaceful Norway.” And a cable written just last year adds: “The PST still viewed Denmark as more of a target than Norway, for reasons very specific to the cartoon controversy.” 8
The government of Norway needs to go on the offensive and establish the whole truth of what has just occurred. Otherwise, that government is likely to succumb to the internationally orchestrated campaign which the Wikileaks documents so clearly foreshadow.
This post first appeared on Webster Trapley’s blog.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Iranian nuclear scientist shot dead in front of home
By Agence France-Presse
Saturday, July 23rd, 2011 -- 4:24 pm
rawstory.com
TEHRAN — A nuclear scientist was shot dead on Saturday by unknown assailants on a motorcycle, the latest expert with links to Iran's controversial atomic programme to be targeted, local media reported.
"A physics professor and nuclear scientist was assassinated a few hours ago in front of his house in Tehran," Mehr news agency reported at 1430 GMT.
The ISNA news agency identified the victim as Dariush Rezaei, 35, an expert with links to the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI). Fars news agency said he was also associated with the defence ministry.
Top provincial security official Safar Ali Baratlou told the ILNA news agency that no one had yet been arrested in connection with the shooting.
Mehr reported that Rezaie's wife was also wounded in the attack and rushed to hospital.
It said Rezaei studied nuclear engineering in Tehran's Amir Kabir University, had a degree in neutron physics and undertook research for the AEOI.
Several Iranian nuclear scientists have disappeared in recent years or been targeted in attacks the Islamic republic has blamed on the United States and Israel, which suspect Tehran's atomic programme masks a nuclear weapons drive.
Last November 29, Majid Shahriari was killed in the capital when men on motorcycles attached a bomb to his car, and current nuclear chief Fereydoon Abbasi Davani survived a similar assassination attempt on the same day.
Abbasi Davani had been targeted by UN Security Council sanctions under Resolution 1747 adopted in March 2007. He was identified as a senior defence ministry and armed forces logistics scientist.
Another top Iranian nuclear scientist, Masoud Ali Mohammadi, was killed in a bomb blast on January 12, 2010, which Tehran blamed on "mercenaries" in the pay of the US and Israeli intelligence services.
Following the attacks, Tehran vowed to boost security for its nuclear scientists.
Earlier this year the authorities announced they had arrested the man behind the bombing that killed Ali Mohammadi, saying they had cracked a network working for the Israeli spy agency Mossad.
Iranian leaders have also blamed arch-foes Israel and Washington for the unexplained disappearances of several of their military officials and nuclear scientists in recent years, and for a computer attack by the Stuxnet malware in the summer of 2010 against its centrifuges enriching uranium.
Iran is at loggerheads with the West over its nuclear programme, and the most recent round of talks between Tehran and the world powers broke down in Istanbul in January.
The Islamic republic is currently under four sets of UN Security Council sanctions over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.
The United States and the 27-member European Union have also imposed other unilateral punitive measures against Tehran.
Iran, however, remains adamant that it will push ahead with its controversial enrichment activities, which can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or the fissile material for an atomic warhead.
Tehran insists it will use the enriched uranium to fuel its future nuclear power plants, and that its atomic programme is entirely peaceful.
In June, Abbasi Davani announced plans to triple Iran's capacity to enrich uranium to 20 percent purity, which Tehran says will be used to fuel its sole medical research reactor in the capital.
Iran began its higher-grade enrichment in February 2010, following the collapse of negotiations with the West over the acquisition of nuclear fuel.
Saturday, July 23rd, 2011 -- 4:24 pm
rawstory.com
"A physics professor and nuclear scientist was assassinated a few hours ago in front of his house in Tehran," Mehr news agency reported at 1430 GMT.
The ISNA news agency identified the victim as Dariush Rezaei, 35, an expert with links to the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI). Fars news agency said he was also associated with the defence ministry.
Top provincial security official Safar Ali Baratlou told the ILNA news agency that no one had yet been arrested in connection with the shooting.
Mehr reported that Rezaie's wife was also wounded in the attack and rushed to hospital.
It said Rezaei studied nuclear engineering in Tehran's Amir Kabir University, had a degree in neutron physics and undertook research for the AEOI.
Several Iranian nuclear scientists have disappeared in recent years or been targeted in attacks the Islamic republic has blamed on the United States and Israel, which suspect Tehran's atomic programme masks a nuclear weapons drive.
Last November 29, Majid Shahriari was killed in the capital when men on motorcycles attached a bomb to his car, and current nuclear chief Fereydoon Abbasi Davani survived a similar assassination attempt on the same day.
Abbasi Davani had been targeted by UN Security Council sanctions under Resolution 1747 adopted in March 2007. He was identified as a senior defence ministry and armed forces logistics scientist.
Another top Iranian nuclear scientist, Masoud Ali Mohammadi, was killed in a bomb blast on January 12, 2010, which Tehran blamed on "mercenaries" in the pay of the US and Israeli intelligence services.
Following the attacks, Tehran vowed to boost security for its nuclear scientists.
Earlier this year the authorities announced they had arrested the man behind the bombing that killed Ali Mohammadi, saying they had cracked a network working for the Israeli spy agency Mossad.
Iranian leaders have also blamed arch-foes Israel and Washington for the unexplained disappearances of several of their military officials and nuclear scientists in recent years, and for a computer attack by the Stuxnet malware in the summer of 2010 against its centrifuges enriching uranium.
Iran is at loggerheads with the West over its nuclear programme, and the most recent round of talks between Tehran and the world powers broke down in Istanbul in January.
The Islamic republic is currently under four sets of UN Security Council sanctions over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.
The United States and the 27-member European Union have also imposed other unilateral punitive measures against Tehran.
Iran, however, remains adamant that it will push ahead with its controversial enrichment activities, which can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or the fissile material for an atomic warhead.
Tehran insists it will use the enriched uranium to fuel its future nuclear power plants, and that its atomic programme is entirely peaceful.
In June, Abbasi Davani announced plans to triple Iran's capacity to enrich uranium to 20 percent purity, which Tehran says will be used to fuel its sole medical research reactor in the capital.
Iran began its higher-grade enrichment in February 2010, following the collapse of negotiations with the West over the acquisition of nuclear fuel.
Media Quick to Blame Muslims for Norway Attack
Single White Norway Psychopath Killer: Anders Behring Breivik, 32, Nationalist, Hates Islam
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/22/2011 20:08 -0400
Nationalism
Norway
zerohedge.com
Perhaps it is time for the Telegraph to issue a retraction to its knee-jerk publication in which it automatically cast blame on Islamists and other "eastern" terrorists-by-default. Because according to just released info, they could not have been more wrong, and it is the reaction to precisely this type of prejudice that will never facilitate bridging frayed relations between disparate cultures. Anyway, so much for prejudiced speculation and/or lies about some Islamist organization taking the blame for the events in Norway today. Here is the truth:" VG has received confirmation from several independent sources that it was Anders Behring Breivik, who was arrested by armed police after the mass killings of Utøya Friday. VG was also present when the emergency squad took action against the flat 32-year-old susceptible west of Oslo. Several foreign media have also named Breivik as the perpetrator." More on his motives: "A childhood friend of Breivik says to VG Nett that he should have been right-wing in the late 20's, and posted a series of controversial opinions on Facebook." And the kicker, for all the bigots out there: he was an ultra nationalist who hated Islam. Today's tragic events were merely the outburst of deranged and very much troubled Loughner, McVey-like psychophath. And nothing more.
In online debates he makes his mark as a well-read, and one with strong opinions about Norwegian politics. He promotes a very conservative opinions, which he also called nationalist. He expresses himself strongly opposed to multiculturalism - that cultural differences can live together in a community.
He has had many posts on the site Document.no, an Islam-critical site that publishes news and commentary.
In one of the posts he states that politics today no longer revolves around socialism against capitalism, but that the fight is between nationalism and internationalism. He expressed clear support for the nationalist mindset.
He also commented on the Swedish news articles, where he makes it clear that he believes the media have failed by not being "NOK" Islam-critical.
There is more in the full article here but the gist is clear: this is a case where blaming Islamist or Jihadist jingoism is about as far from the truth as possible.
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/22/2011 20:08 -0400
Nationalism
Norway
zerohedge.com
Perhaps it is time for the Telegraph to issue a retraction to its knee-jerk publication in which it automatically cast blame on Islamists and other "eastern" terrorists-by-default. Because according to just released info, they could not have been more wrong, and it is the reaction to precisely this type of prejudice that will never facilitate bridging frayed relations between disparate cultures. Anyway, so much for prejudiced speculation and/or lies about some Islamist organization taking the blame for the events in Norway today. Here is the truth:" VG has received confirmation from several independent sources that it was Anders Behring Breivik, who was arrested by armed police after the mass killings of Utøya Friday. VG was also present when the emergency squad took action against the flat 32-year-old susceptible west of Oslo. Several foreign media have also named Breivik as the perpetrator." More on his motives: "A childhood friend of Breivik says to VG Nett that he should have been right-wing in the late 20's, and posted a series of controversial opinions on Facebook." And the kicker, for all the bigots out there: he was an ultra nationalist who hated Islam. Today's tragic events were merely the outburst of deranged and very much troubled Loughner, McVey-like psychophath. And nothing more.
He has had many posts on the site Document.no, an Islam-critical site that publishes news and commentary.
In one of the posts he states that politics today no longer revolves around socialism against capitalism, but that the fight is between nationalism and internationalism. He expressed clear support for the nationalist mindset.
He also commented on the Swedish news articles, where he makes it clear that he believes the media have failed by not being "NOK" Islam-critical.
There is more in the full article here but the gist is clear: this is a case where blaming Islamist or Jihadist jingoism is about as far from the truth as possible.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Could Oslo Blast have come from Below the Building?
Oslo Bombing: Why Would “Terrorists” Attack Near-Empty Office Building on Public Holiday?
Infowars.com
July 22, 2011
Daily Mail reports: Fortunately, it is a public holiday in Norway and the offices are less busy than a normal weekday.
Why would “terrorists,” who presumably want to kill as many people as possible, choose to bomb the building on a day when they know it will be almost empty?
Comment from a reader:
I’m from Norway and here are some little reported facts:
1) Fact: A person dressed as a cop has shot and killed at least 5 members of the youth organization of the governing labour party in their convention at Utøya. He is now captured.
Comment: Falske cops? These are professionals. The shootings happened at the same time as the explosion, but far, far away from each other (several houres + you have to take a boat to get to the island).
2) Fact: The explosion took place downdtown in the height of the holliday, with all the surrounding buildings (many important press, union and governmental buildings, including the labour party) being almost empty. At a normal day thousands would have been killed and wounded. Today, only a handful dead and wounded.
Comment: Why would terrorists choose a timing with less impact? Now, if this is a black-operation in order to influence opinion, it makes sense.
3) Fact:"My friend’s father is a dynamiter blaster expert by profession. He has worked with explosions for 35 years. He noticed that the ground was raised so that the armouring which had been below the ground now lay above the ground. For this to happen the explosion have had to happen UNDER the ground, like if a gas tube had exploded (there was road/sewer work in the exact area for several days prior to this). When the ground is raised like this, as was apparant on the news, it can not have been a car bomb like the media speculates. People have been smelling sulphur all over downtown."
Comment: Who had the resources to get access underground? Not the fundamentalist simpleton, to be sure.
4) Fact: After less than one hour the police concluded that it was a “bomb”.
Comment: How can they have determined this so quickly? There has been complete chaos, people are evacuated and even corpses was not removed within an hour. How could they determine this so quickly? How could they rule out an accident in the gas pipes? This smells fishy.
I will continue to update here from Oslo if anything else suspicious pops up.
Article continues at infowars.com
July 22, 2011
Daily Mail reports: Fortunately, it is a public holiday in Norway and the offices are less busy than a normal weekday.
Why would “terrorists,” who presumably want to kill as many people as possible, choose to bomb the building on a day when they know it will be almost empty?
Comment from a reader:
I’m from Norway and here are some little reported facts:
1) Fact: A person dressed as a cop has shot and killed at least 5 members of the youth organization of the governing labour party in their convention at Utøya. He is now captured.
Comment: Falske cops? These are professionals. The shootings happened at the same time as the explosion, but far, far away from each other (several houres + you have to take a boat to get to the island).
2) Fact: The explosion took place downdtown in the height of the holliday, with all the surrounding buildings (many important press, union and governmental buildings, including the labour party) being almost empty. At a normal day thousands would have been killed and wounded. Today, only a handful dead and wounded.
Comment: Why would terrorists choose a timing with less impact? Now, if this is a black-operation in order to influence opinion, it makes sense.
3) Fact:"My friend’s father is a dynamiter blaster expert by profession. He has worked with explosions for 35 years. He noticed that the ground was raised so that the armouring which had been below the ground now lay above the ground. For this to happen the explosion have had to happen UNDER the ground, like if a gas tube had exploded (there was road/sewer work in the exact area for several days prior to this). When the ground is raised like this, as was apparant on the news, it can not have been a car bomb like the media speculates. People have been smelling sulphur all over downtown."
Comment: Who had the resources to get access underground? Not the fundamentalist simpleton, to be sure.
4) Fact: After less than one hour the police concluded that it was a “bomb”.
Comment: How can they have determined this so quickly? There has been complete chaos, people are evacuated and even corpses was not removed within an hour. How could they determine this so quickly? How could they rule out an accident in the gas pipes? This smells fishy.
I will continue to update here from Oslo if anything else suspicious pops up.
Article continues at infowars.com
Expert Who Concluded WTC 7 Was A Controlled Demolition Killed In Car Accident
Infowars.com
July 22, 2011
A Dutch building demolition expert who went on record as saying he believed that World Trade Center building Seven was brought down in a controlled demolition, has been reported killed in a car accident.
Bloggers in the Netherlands have reported that Danny Jowenko was killed instantly on Saturday when his car veered off the road and collided head on into a tree. The reports state that Jowenko’s dog was found alive in the car.
Jowenko was said to have been driving home from church. It is not clear at this time what caused the car to leave the road, according to the reports.
Jowenko is best known in the 9/11 truth community for appearing in a video that first surfaced in 2006 on a Dutch television news program called, Zembla investigates 9/11 theories.
After being shown the footage of WTC 7 collapsing Jowenko stated “This is a controlled demolition carried out by a team of experts.”
At the time Jowenko did not know that he was watching footage from September 11th 2001 and responded in disbelief when the reporters explained what the footage was.
Article continues at infowars.com
July 22, 2011
Bloggers in the Netherlands have reported that Danny Jowenko was killed instantly on Saturday when his car veered off the road and collided head on into a tree. The reports state that Jowenko’s dog was found alive in the car.
Jowenko was said to have been driving home from church. It is not clear at this time what caused the car to leave the road, according to the reports.
Jowenko is best known in the 9/11 truth community for appearing in a video that first surfaced in 2006 on a Dutch television news program called, Zembla investigates 9/11 theories.
After being shown the footage of WTC 7 collapsing Jowenko stated “This is a controlled demolition carried out by a team of experts.”
At the time Jowenko did not know that he was watching footage from September 11th 2001 and responded in disbelief when the reporters explained what the footage was.
Article continues at infowars.com
Naked Woman found hanging from balcony hands tied behind back and feet bound - POLICE SUSPECT SUICIDE!
Naked, bound woman found hanging at historic California mansion
By Edecio Martinez
cbsnews.com
(CBS/KFMB) CORONADO, Calif. - Police say a nude woman was found hanging from a balcony, her hands and feet bound, at a mansion in Coronado, Calif. Wednesday.
According to CBS affiliate KFMB, investigators identified her as 32-year-old Rebecca Nalepa, also known as Rebecca Zahau.
The victim was the girlfriend of multi-millionaire Jonah Shacknai, who police say owns the home. They had been dating about two years.
Jonah's brother Adam Shacknai discovered the Nalepa's body and called 911 early Wednesday and reported that a woman, who was staying at the home, was in distress, according to deputies. After Adam Shacknai found Nalepa's body hanging by a rope from a balcony, he cut her down. Nalepa's hands were tied behind her back and her feet were also bound together.
An autopsy is being completed Thursday by the San Diego Medical Examiner's office.
Once police officers and paramedics arrived Wednesday morning, paramedics performed life-saving measures on the woman. But despite those efforts, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators are calling the death suspicious but have not ruled out the possibility of suicide.
"It appears to be some type of a violent death, and I'm not going to compromise the integrity of the investigation by giving anything more than that at this time," San Diego County Sheriff's Dept. Capt. Tim Curran said.
The Spreckels Mansion, once owned by San Diego magnate John D. Spreckels, was built in 1908. It sits on 12,751 square feet of property with a 115-foot unobstructed view of the beach. Spreckels also owned the nearby Hotel del Coronado, in addition to many other properties and businesses.
The mansion is now owned by Shacknai, who Forbes Magazine identifies as the CEO of a Healthcare/Biotech firm in Scottsdale, Arizona called Medicis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Shacknai and his family live in Arizona and stay at their Coronado mansion during the summer months. According to records, Shacknai purchased the home in 2007 for $12.7 million.
By Edecio Martinez
cbsnews.com
(CBS/KFMB) CORONADO, Calif. - Police say a nude woman was found hanging from a balcony, her hands and feet bound, at a mansion in Coronado, Calif. Wednesday.
According to CBS affiliate KFMB, investigators identified her as 32-year-old Rebecca Nalepa, also known as Rebecca Zahau.
The victim was the girlfriend of multi-millionaire Jonah Shacknai, who police say owns the home. They had been dating about two years.
Jonah's brother Adam Shacknai discovered the Nalepa's body and called 911 early Wednesday and reported that a woman, who was staying at the home, was in distress, according to deputies. After Adam Shacknai found Nalepa's body hanging by a rope from a balcony, he cut her down. Nalepa's hands were tied behind her back and her feet were also bound together.
An autopsy is being completed Thursday by the San Diego Medical Examiner's office.
Once police officers and paramedics arrived Wednesday morning, paramedics performed life-saving measures on the woman. But despite those efforts, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators are calling the death suspicious but have not ruled out the possibility of suicide.
"It appears to be some type of a violent death, and I'm not going to compromise the integrity of the investigation by giving anything more than that at this time," San Diego County Sheriff's Dept. Capt. Tim Curran said.
The Spreckels Mansion, once owned by San Diego magnate John D. Spreckels, was built in 1908. It sits on 12,751 square feet of property with a 115-foot unobstructed view of the beach. Spreckels also owned the nearby Hotel del Coronado, in addition to many other properties and businesses.
The mansion is now owned by Shacknai, who Forbes Magazine identifies as the CEO of a Healthcare/Biotech firm in Scottsdale, Arizona called Medicis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Shacknai and his family live in Arizona and stay at their Coronado mansion during the summer months. According to records, Shacknai purchased the home in 2007 for $12.7 million.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
UPROAR AS BBC MUZZLES CLIMATE CHANGE SCEPTICS
Thursday July 21,2011
By Nathan Rao
express.co.uk
THE BBC was criticised by climate change sceptics yesterday after it emerged that their views will get less coverage because they differ from mainline scientific opinion.
In a report by its governing body, the BBC Trust, the corporation was urged to focus less on opponents of the “majority consensus” in its programmes.
It said coverage should not be tailored to represent a “false balance” of opinion if one side came from a minority group.
The report was partly based on an independent review of coverage by Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics at University College, London.
Although he found no evidence of bias in BBC output, he suggested where there is a “scientific consensus” it should not hunt out opponents purely to balance the story.
He highlighted climate change as an example along with the controversy over the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine potentially leading to autism.
On climate change, Professor Jones said there had been a “drizzle of criticism of BBC coverage” arising from “a handful of journalists who have taken it upon themselves to keep disbelief alive”.
"A sceptic is not a denier, all good scientists should be sceptics."
Dr David Whitehouse
The report says: “In its early days, two decades ago, there was a genuine scientific debate about the reality of climate change. Now, there is general agreement that warming is a fact even if there remain uncertainties about how fast, and how much, the temperature might rise.”
But critics accused Professor Jones of using the report as a cover to “push the BBC’s green agenda”.
Among them are former Tory Chancellor Lord Lawson, who was accused by the Government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir John Beddington, of making “incorrect” claims in An Appeal To Reason, the peer’s book on climate change.
Lord Lawson, chairman of the sceptical Global Warming Policy Foundation, said the fact that carbon dioxide levels were rising leading to global warming was not under dispute. However, he added, its extent and effect could not be explained by majority scientific opinion alone.
He said: “The BBC is already extremely one-sided on this issue. They have a settled view which is politically correct.
“The idea that because scientific opinion falls largely on one side you can’t have a debate is outrageous. Because there’s a strong majority in basic science doesn’t mean the issue is off the table, yet the BBC says it should be.”
The foundation’s director, Dr Benny Peiser, said the report would lead to biased coverage of climate change and stifle any real debate.
He said: “This is nothing the BBC has not been doing for the past 10 years, however. They are completely biased on the issue of climate change and this is nothing more than an effort to push their green agenda.”
Dr David Whitehouse, the foundation’s editor and a former BBC science correspondent, said the corporation had “lost the plot” when it came to science journalism.
He said the corporation was “grouping sceptics with deniers” which would result in a lack of valid scientific input to its reports.
He said: “A sceptic is not a denier, all good scientists should be sceptics. The BBC has got itself into a complete muddle.
“In seeking to get the science right it has missed the journalism which is about asking awkward questions and shaking the tree.”
But the BBC Trust defended the report. A spokesman said: “The report is not suggesting that climate change sceptics will not have a place on the BBC in future.
“The point Professor Jones makes is that the scientific consensus is that it is caused by human activity. Therefore the BBC’s coverage needs to give less weight to those who oppose this view, and reflect the fact that the debate has moved on to how to deal with climate change.”
By Nathan Rao
express.co.uk
In a report by its governing body, the BBC Trust, the corporation was urged to focus less on opponents of the “majority consensus” in its programmes.
It said coverage should not be tailored to represent a “false balance” of opinion if one side came from a minority group.
The report was partly based on an independent review of coverage by Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics at University College, London.
Although he found no evidence of bias in BBC output, he suggested where there is a “scientific consensus” it should not hunt out opponents purely to balance the story.
He highlighted climate change as an example along with the controversy over the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine potentially leading to autism.
On climate change, Professor Jones said there had been a “drizzle of criticism of BBC coverage” arising from “a handful of journalists who have taken it upon themselves to keep disbelief alive”.
"A sceptic is not a denier, all good scientists should be sceptics."
Dr David Whitehouse
The report says: “In its early days, two decades ago, there was a genuine scientific debate about the reality of climate change. Now, there is general agreement that warming is a fact even if there remain uncertainties about how fast, and how much, the temperature might rise.”
But critics accused Professor Jones of using the report as a cover to “push the BBC’s green agenda”.
Among them are former Tory Chancellor Lord Lawson, who was accused by the Government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir John Beddington, of making “incorrect” claims in An Appeal To Reason, the peer’s book on climate change.
Lord Lawson, chairman of the sceptical Global Warming Policy Foundation, said the fact that carbon dioxide levels were rising leading to global warming was not under dispute. However, he added, its extent and effect could not be explained by majority scientific opinion alone.
He said: “The BBC is already extremely one-sided on this issue. They have a settled view which is politically correct.
“The idea that because scientific opinion falls largely on one side you can’t have a debate is outrageous. Because there’s a strong majority in basic science doesn’t mean the issue is off the table, yet the BBC says it should be.”
The foundation’s director, Dr Benny Peiser, said the report would lead to biased coverage of climate change and stifle any real debate.
He said: “This is nothing the BBC has not been doing for the past 10 years, however. They are completely biased on the issue of climate change and this is nothing more than an effort to push their green agenda.”
Dr David Whitehouse, the foundation’s editor and a former BBC science correspondent, said the corporation had “lost the plot” when it came to science journalism.
He said the corporation was “grouping sceptics with deniers” which would result in a lack of valid scientific input to its reports.
He said: “A sceptic is not a denier, all good scientists should be sceptics. The BBC has got itself into a complete muddle.
“In seeking to get the science right it has missed the journalism which is about asking awkward questions and shaking the tree.”
But the BBC Trust defended the report. A spokesman said: “The report is not suggesting that climate change sceptics will not have a place on the BBC in future.
“The point Professor Jones makes is that the scientific consensus is that it is caused by human activity. Therefore the BBC’s coverage needs to give less weight to those who oppose this view, and reflect the fact that the debate has moved on to how to deal with climate change.”
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
CERN Scientists Gagged On ‘Politically Incorrect’ Global Warming Data
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Physicists ordered not to draw conclusions from study which seeks to confirm that the sun drives climate change
In a shocking illustration of how the man-made climate change establishment has seized control of the scientific process, physicists at the CERN lab in Geneva were gagged from drawing conclusions about data that seeks to replicate studies which prove the sun is the main driver of climate change, after their boss told them that such heresy was politically incorrect.
“The chief of the world’s leading physics lab at CERN in Geneva has prohibited scientists from drawing conclusions from a major experiment. The CLOUD (“Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets”) experiment examines the role that energetic particles from deep space play in cloud formation. CLOUD uses CERN’s proton synchrotron to examine nucleation,” reports the Register.
The experiment is likely to confirm data from earlier studies which found cosmic rays are pivotal in the formation of clouds and that, “Tiny changes in the earth’s cloud cover could account for variations in temperature of several degrees,” an impact massively more significant than the comparatively minor level of warming caused by man-made CO2 emissions.
Suggesting that the data in the yet to be published study has validated this hypothesis, physicists involved in the project were gagged from making any interpretations of the data by their boss, not because of problems with accuracy, but because such a conclusion was not politically correct as it did not fit with the “consensus” that man is the main culprit behind climate change.
In an interview with Welt Online, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, Director General of CERN, stated, “I have asked the colleagues to present the results clearly, but not to interpret them.”
Heuer’s reason for gagging his own scientists is that their conclusions would enter, “Immediately into the highly political arena of the climate change debate.”
In other words, Heuer doesn’t want the data to circulate freely in the public domain because it presumably contradicts the notion that man is the main driver of climate change.
It goes without saying that Heuer’s approach represents the antithesis of what science is supposed to be all about, impartial observation and following where the data leads, not following an artificial “consensus” manufactured by politicians for the purpose of legitimizing a global carbon tax system.
As physicist Nigel Calder writes, “The once illustrious CERN laboratory ceases to be a truly scientific institute when its Director General forbids its physicists and visiting experimenters to draw the obvious scientific conclusions from their results.”
Despite the fact that global warming alarmists have claimed there is no link between the huge raging fireball in space that is over 100 times bigger than the earth, drives the seasons and causes ice ages, and climate change, the data produced by Henrik Svensmark’s studies shows a clear historical correlation between cosmic ray penetration and temperature...
Article continues at infowars.com
Infowars.com
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Physicists ordered not to draw conclusions from study which seeks to confirm that the sun drives climate change
“The chief of the world’s leading physics lab at CERN in Geneva has prohibited scientists from drawing conclusions from a major experiment. The CLOUD (“Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets”) experiment examines the role that energetic particles from deep space play in cloud formation. CLOUD uses CERN’s proton synchrotron to examine nucleation,” reports the Register.
The experiment is likely to confirm data from earlier studies which found cosmic rays are pivotal in the formation of clouds and that, “Tiny changes in the earth’s cloud cover could account for variations in temperature of several degrees,” an impact massively more significant than the comparatively minor level of warming caused by man-made CO2 emissions.
Suggesting that the data in the yet to be published study has validated this hypothesis, physicists involved in the project were gagged from making any interpretations of the data by their boss, not because of problems with accuracy, but because such a conclusion was not politically correct as it did not fit with the “consensus” that man is the main culprit behind climate change.
In an interview with Welt Online, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, Director General of CERN, stated, “I have asked the colleagues to present the results clearly, but not to interpret them.”
Heuer’s reason for gagging his own scientists is that their conclusions would enter, “Immediately into the highly political arena of the climate change debate.”
In other words, Heuer doesn’t want the data to circulate freely in the public domain because it presumably contradicts the notion that man is the main driver of climate change.
It goes without saying that Heuer’s approach represents the antithesis of what science is supposed to be all about, impartial observation and following where the data leads, not following an artificial “consensus” manufactured by politicians for the purpose of legitimizing a global carbon tax system.
As physicist Nigel Calder writes, “The once illustrious CERN laboratory ceases to be a truly scientific institute when its Director General forbids its physicists and visiting experimenters to draw the obvious scientific conclusions from their results.”
Despite the fact that global warming alarmists have claimed there is no link between the huge raging fireball in space that is over 100 times bigger than the earth, drives the seasons and causes ice ages, and climate change, the data produced by Henrik Svensmark’s studies shows a clear historical correlation between cosmic ray penetration and temperature...
Article continues at infowars.com