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  • The UK Meteorological Office: slightly less reliable than tea leaves or cock entrails

    James Delingpole
    London Telegraph
    Wednesday, Dec 30th, 2009

    One of my personal favourite Comedy Moments of 2009 came in the
    unlikely context of a BBC Radio 5 Live debate on climate change. The
    female presenter, as we’ve come to expect of the BBC, was quite
    shamelessly biased towards the Warmist camp, but this apparently
    wasn’t enough for the show’s resident weatherman. When his
    turn came to read the weather, he instead chose to deliver an impromptu
    homily on the seriousness of Anthropogenic Global Warming. I forget the
    exact words but his speech began something like:  “Well I
    work for the Met Office and I’d just like to say….”

    Dear, oh dear. The poor chap. I fear the time will soon come –
    if it hasn’t already – when the phrase “I work for
    the Met Office” will command about as much respect as “I
    was in charge of the New Orleans levee defences in the run-up to
    Katrina” or “I’m head of security at Lagos
    International Airport.”  The UK Meteorological Office
    – established in 1854 – is supposed to be Britain’s
    greatest authority on forecasting the weather. So how come  these
    days its predictions are so risibly inaccurate you’d probably be
    better off consulting tea leaves or cock entrails?

    We all remember (with some bitterness) the glaring contrast between
    the Met Office’s rosy prediction of a “barbecue
    summer” and the chilly wash-out we actually experienced. This
    month, you may have noticed, they’ve screwed up yet again. A
    “mild winter” was what the Met Office promised us. But a
    “mild winter” (clue: notice how many fewer toes you have
    than you did in June) is what we definitely haven’t got.
    This has not, of course, prevented the Met Office coming up with one of
    its characteristic “even though we’re wrong we’re
    right” defences:

    A Met Office spokesman said: “That forecast was
    dealing with the whole of the winter. December has certainly been cold
    but the prediction is for December, January and February.”

    He believed the “climate team” was updating the prediction “perhaps over the course of the next week.”

    The spokesman added: “It has certainly been a cold winter so
    far in most parts but the seasonal forecast has not been proven one way
    or the other.”

    He said the weather was expected to remain cold for “the next
    week or so” but he could not comment on the longer term.

    Interesting that “could not comment on the longer term”
    bit. Normally, this is the Met Office’s prime speciality. It may
    not be able to tell us with any reliability what the weather is going
    to be like next weekend. But ask it to predict what global climate is
    going to be up to in 50 or a 100 years time and its prescience is truly
    uncanny. It’s going to be warmer, apparently. Much, much warmer.
    With drastically risen sea levels. Melted glaciers and ice caps.
    Ravening packs of emaciated polar bears cruising the world on
    diminishing ice floes. etc.

    Full article here

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  • Mobile Tech Minutes: Kindle for Tablets on Video

    E-book readers are all the rage these days, but to tell the truth I have been reading them for about ten years. One of the methods I have been using to read e-books is by using Kindle for PC on the ThinkPad tablet PC. In this video I show how this works, and how great the reading experience can be on a 12-inch screen. The ease of operating Kindle via touch is shown, as is working with the library. I also divulge what sets the Kindle method apart from other readers I have used.

    Kindle for Tablet PC


  • French Revolution! Carbon tax ruled unconstitutional just two days before taking effect

    Watts Up With That?
    Wednesday, Dec 30th, 2009

    This new French carbon tax was scheduled to go into law on Jan1,
    2010. The tax was steep: 14 euros per ton of carbon dioxide (USD
    $20).  In a stunning move, and surely a blow to warmists
    everywhere, the tax has been found unconstitutional and thrown out.
    Originally found here (Google Translation).

    Lord Monckton was kind enough to assist me in deciphering the meaning of the ruling and writes:

    In France, if at least 60 Deputies of the House and
    60 Senators appeal to the Constitutional Council, it has the power to
    pronounce on the constitutionality of a proposed law – in the
    present case, the 2010 national budget of France, which contained
    enabling provisions (
    loi deferee) for a carbon levy. The
    Council found that these enabling provisions were unconstitutional on
    two grounds: that the exemptions contained within the provisions for a
    carbon levy vitiated the primary declared purpose of the levy, to
    combat carbon emissions and hence “global warming”; and
    that the exemptions would cause the levy to fall disproportionately on
    gasoline and heating oils and not on other carbon emissions, thereby
    breaching the principle that taxation should be evenly and fairly borne.

    The Press release from the French Constitutional Council is here in English (Google Translated) and in original French

    Here’s a Deustch-Welle news article on the reversal.

    France’s Constitutional Council says the
    country’s proposed carbon tax is illegal. This is a severe blow
    to French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans to fight climate
    change.

    France’s Constitutional Council has struck down a carbon tax
    that was planned to take effect on January 1st. The council, which
    ensures the constitutionality of French legislation, said too many
    polluters were exempted in the measure and the tax burden was not
    fairly distributed.

    It was estimated that 93 percent of industrial emissions outside of
    fuel use, including the emissions of more than 1,000 of
    France’s top polluting industrial sites, would be exempt
    from the tax, which would have charged 17 euros per ton of emitted
    carbon dioxide.

    French President Nicolas Sarkozy has argued the tax is necessary to
    combat climate change and reduce the country’s dependence on oil.

    However, the council’s ruling is a severe blow to both
    Sarkozy’s environmental plan as well as France’s budget for
    2010. The government now has to find a way to come up with about 4.1
    billion euros in revenue that was expected from the tax.

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  • Video: Our Audi R8 5.2 FSI V10 cameos on The Smoking Tire

    Filed under: , , , , ,

    Gimpy Matt Farah and the Audi R8 5.2 FSI V10 – click above to watch the video

    In front of that stunning blue Audi R8 5.2 FSI V10 is the erstwhile host of The Smoking Tire and all-around good guy, Matt Farah. And while Farah might be a gifted video host, he’s not the world’s best snowboarder – i.e. he hosed his knee landing a snickerdoodle 720 backside grind. Or whatever the kids call them tricks. Sorry, Matt, but it’s true.

    But what a nightmare! The perfect car on the perfect road and he just got a pint of blood drained out of his right knee the previous day. What on earth to do? A substitute – brilliant! Get someone else to walk and talk – so to speak – like Matt. And most importantly, drive like him. But who? Who out there could possibly fill his size 12 Pilotis? We think you know where this is heading, and we think it’s time for you to jump to watch the video.

    Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2009 Weblogs, Inc.

    [Source: The Smoking Tire]

    Continue reading Video: Our Audi R8 5.2 FSI V10 cameos on The Smoking Tire

    Video: Our Audi R8 5.2 FSI V10 cameos on The Smoking Tire originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Bombshell Eyewitness Revelations: Confirmed FBI Cover-Up Of Flight 253 Attack

    Detroit attorney Kurt Haskell dropped bombshell revelations
    concerning his eyewitness experience of the Flight 253 attack and how
    the FBI detained a second man after dogs detected a bomb in his luggage
    on The Alex Jones Show today. The FBI has not only ignored
    Haskell’s story, but they have launched a cover-up by refusing to
    even acknowledge the existence of another man who filmed the entire
    flight, including the aborted attack, as well as the well-dressed man
    who aided the bomber to board the plane even though he had no passport
    and was on a terror watch list.

    Watch this space for more stories on this astounding news that the corporate media has completely failed to cover.

    —————————————–

    Kurt Nimmo
    Prison Planet.com
    Tuesday, December 29, 2009

    Detroit attorney Kurt Haskell appeared on the Alex Jones Show today
    and detailed his experience at the Amsterdam airport and on flight 253.
    Mr. Haskell provided information not covered by the corporate media.

    featured stories   Alex Jones Interviews Eye Witness On Flight 253
    palin featured stories   Alex Jones Interviews Eye Witness On Flight 253
    Kurt Haskell.

    In addition to a detailed retelling of the story he gave the
    corporate media, Mr. Haskell addressed the unprofessional and
    lackadaisical behavior of the FBI and airport security after the plane
    landed at the Detroit Metro airport in Romulus, Michigan. He
    characterized their behavior as a “complete embarrassment. They
    actually put us in more jeopardy than we were already in.”

    Passengers were told to remain seated in the aircraft for 20 minutes
    after landing despite the fact security did not know at that point if
    there was an explosive on the plane or if the fire started by the
    suspect Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab while on descent to the airport had
    spread under the floor in the cabin or to the fuel tanks in the wings.

    After being allowed to disembark from the plane by officials,
    passengers were detained in customs with their carry-on luggage for six
    hours while they waited to be interrogated by the FBI, according to
    Haskell.

    At this point a bomb-sniffing dog pointed at carry-on luggage in the
    possession of a man Haskell described as Indian around 30 years old.
    Officials led the man away to an interrogation room. Haskell said he
    was concerned because the bomb-sniffing dog had flagged the man,
    indicating he may have had explosives in his carry-on luggage. The
    Indian man was subsequently led away in handcuffs.

    Following this incident the FBI moved the passengers to another
    location. “You’re being moved,” the FBI told them,
    “it is not safe here. I’m sure you all saw what happened
    and can read between the lines and why you’re being moved.”

    Haskell said the corporate media refuses to cover this aspect of his
    story. He has repeated it to “countless” news agencies and
    they uniformly have not included it to his knowledge.

    • A d v e r t i s e m e n t
    • efoods

    Mr. Haskell questioned why officials have not released the Amsterdam
    airport security video that will undoubtedly reveal crucial information
    about the “sharp-dressed man” who escorted a disheveled
    Mutallab to the boarding area. Haskell described the suspected
    terrorist as appearing to be a “poor black teenager.”

    The well-dressed Indian man did all the talking. He insisted
    Mutallab be boarded on the plane without a passport and when an airport
    employee refused to do so Mutallab and the Indian man went to talk with
    a supervisor. The Indian man tried to pass off Mutallab as a Sudanese
    refugee and have him boarded despite the fact doing so would be in
    violation of regulations concerning refugees. In general, documentation
    must be provided by an embassy in order for refugees to board
    international flights.

    Popout

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    Mr. Haskell did not see Mutallab again until the botched terror
    bombing inside the plane on the approach to Detroit. He did not know
    how Mutallab finally boarded the aircraft.

    The FBI was not pleased with Kurt Haskell when they conducted a
    follow-up interview earlier today in Michigan. They showed him close-up
    photographs of various people, including Mutallab. “They kind of
    tried to trick me,” Haskell explained. The agents tried to pass
    off two photos of Mutallab as different people. Kurt asked the agents
    if they were attempting to impeach his story and smear him.

    The Indian man was not included in the photographs.

    Haskell asked them why he was not shown a full body shot of the
    suspect. Haskell was eight rows back from the suspect. The FBI agents
    did not answer and were displeased with the question. He also asked the
    FBI agents if it would be more appropriate to bring the surveillance
    video from the Amsterdam airport instead of still photos. “I
    don’t think they liked that comment from me,” Haskell
    added. The FBI said they did not have the videotape.

    The agents showed Haskell a photograph of the man flagged by the
    bomb-sniffing dog and taken into custody in customs. “Isn’t
    this the man who had the bomb in his carry-on bag that you arrested in
    customs who you refuse to admit exists?” Haskell asked the
    agents. “They really didn’t like that comment from me and
    had no comment back to me but I said it sure looks like the man you
    refuse to admit exists.”

    Kurt Haskell was circumspect and careful not to speculate during the
    interview with Alex Jones. He indicated he is only interested in the
    facts and does not want to endanger his version of events by
    speculating on motives.

    Corporate media interviews with the Haskells.

    Popout

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  • RESPA 2010 and Reverse Mortgages

    A reverse mortgage, also known as a reverse-annuity mortgage or a home equity conversion mortgage, is a special type of home equity loan for individuals age sixty-two (62) and older. Reverse mortgages allow owners to convert a portion of the equity in their homes to cash, in order to subsidize living expenses and other monetary needs. Typically, the loan proceeds do not have to be repaid during the homeowner’s lifetime, are not counted as taxable income, and do not affect the homeowner’s eligibility for Social Security or Medicare benefits.

    Reverse mortgages were created as a mechanism to reduced financial stress on aging Americans who seek to convert the equity in their homes into a stream of income without having to sell their residence or relocate. A reverse mortgage functions similarly to a line of credit, with the lender making payments to the home owner, only instead of requiring repayment during lifetime, the lender receives a claim to the homeowner’s property after death.

    For many elderly individuals within the United States this system is particularly attractive as a means for securing an enjoyable retirement and ensuring that all lifetime needs are met. Certain protections are afforded to homeowners electing to utilize the benefits of a reverse mortgage, including the security that the lender may never force the sale of the property, and the homeowner and their heirs may never be forced to repay additional sums to the lender which exceed the value of the property.

    The 2010 amendments to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) change the way in which lenders must complete disclosures required under the Act, affording lenders less wiggle-room in their estimation of costs to the borrower, in an attempt to ease the mortgage shopping process for consumers. Traditionally, RESPA has required that a lender provide all borrowers with a Good Faith Estimate (GFE), a document showing the costs that a lender will charge the borrower in conjunction with the loan, as well as a Settlement Statement (HUD-1), a document that provides an itemized listing of the funds that were paid at closing. Under the new legislation, the GFE and the HUD-1 forms must essentially match, as the new RESPA amendments allow for no more than a ten-percent (10%) difference between many amounts initially quoted on a GFE and those listed on the HUD-1 at the closing table.

    The unconventional nature of a reverse mortgage, in addition to the new more stringent reporting requirements under the 2010 amendments, have caused many lenders to question how the costs should be reported on the GFE and HUD-1. On November 16, 2009, in an attempt to quell industry anxiety over the new requirements, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its “New RESPA Rule FAQs” (FAQs).

    The informational pamphlet attempts to address many questions regarding completion of the GFE and HUD-1 in the case of reverse mortgages. For instance, unlike conventional mortgages, a reverse mortgage does not have a traditional “loan amount,” which is a required figure on both the GFE and HUD-1. The FAQs dictate, that on the GFE and HUD-1, lenders must list the initial principal limit calculated for the reverse mortgage, as opposed to a traditional loan amount. The FAQS also reveal that the unforeseen nature of many occurrences affecting a reverse mortgage, such as the loan term conditioned on the lifespan of the homeowner, will not be a hindrance to the proper completion of the GFE and HUD-1, because the lender may list “Not Applicable” or “N/A” for these required line items under which a reverse mortgage does not seem to fit.

    In the face of the apprehension harbored by many lenders over compliance with the new RESPA requirements, these FAQs are extremely helpful in reducing noticeable industry tension. While these answers ease worries about compliance with the new RESPA amendments, they do little to forecast how helpful the changes will be in protecting homeowners seeking to utilize the benefits of a reverse mortgage. With so many sections of the GFE and HUD-1 settlement statement clearly not applicable to the unique circumstances surrounding a reverse mortgage, it remains to be seen how helpful these documents will actually be in protecting consumers and allowing borrowers to shop for the lowest loan costs.

    For additional information, please see the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s “New RESPA Rule FAQs” at: http://nhl.gov/offices/hsg/ramh/res/resparulefaqs.pdf

  • The Decade Of Tyranny

    Loss of basic freedoms has spurred a mass awakening, next decade will be defined by restoration of liberties

    Alex Jones, Steve Watson and Paul Watson
    Prisonplanet.com
    Tuesday, Dec 29, 2009

    During the first nine years of the new millennium we have been
    witness to a rapid erosion of freedom. Our basic liberties have been
    systematically denigrated and diluted by a vast expansion of
    coordinated global tyranny.

    The decade is not over yet, there is still another year to go,
    however, given that the mainstream media is obsessively compiling
    it’s own decade lists, we felt it necessary to draw up our own to
    highlight the major events that have shaped the world we now live in
    and the future we face.

    It is important to stress the fact that while we have indeed
    experienced a decade of tyranny, we have also seen a mass awakening, an
    expansion of knowledge and an exponential increase in opposition to the
    agenda we have come to know as the new world order.

    Here in chronological order, follow’s Prisonplanet.com’s defining moments of the decade.

    2001 – 9/11

    9/11 was the precursor for everything that followed during the
    decade of tyranny. The immediate invasion of Afghanistan saw the U.S.
    go to war without a formal declaration.

    The Decade Of Tyranny world trade tower explosion 

    The passage of the USA PATRIOT Act overnight, with members of
    Congress not even being afforded time to read it, paved the way for a
    decade of freedom stripping government legislation.

    The expansion of the phony war on terror as justification for big
    government, a domestic police state and an interventionist foreign
    policy also stemmed directly from 9/11.

    Over the past decade we have ceaselessly exposed the lies behind
    9/11. We have seen the 9/11 truth movement blossom from the efforts of
    a select few individuals to encompass the work of thousands.

    While there is no doubt 9/11 is the decade of tyranny’s
    defining moment, exposing the truth behind it has also led to to an
    equally influential awakening that is still ongoing.

    2002 – Creation Of The Department of Homeland Security

    The fallout of 9/11 led to a re-alignment of power in the U.S., with
    the shadow government stepping out into the open and implementing
    elements of a long term agenda to subvert Constitutional freedom.

    The Decade Of Tyranny

    After the passage of the PATRIOT Act in late 2001, the next major
    step toward tyranny came with the expansion of the federal government
    through the creation of the DHS.

    The DHS has played the role of the domestic police state enforcer
    agency, encompassing every major law enforcement agency in the nation
    under one single office.

    With multiple subsequent reports and video productions fingering the
    American people as potential terrorists, the Orwellian titled agency
    has proven it has nothing to do with security and everything to do with
    limiting the freedoms of people all over the country.

    2003 – Invasion Of Iraq

    The March 2003 invasion of Iraq was a war based on a mountain of
    lies and deceit, and yet at the time the public swallowed the
    propaganda with wanton bloodlust. The constant invocation of a link
    between 9/11 and Saddam Hussein was repeatedly debunked both before and
    after the invasion, but the course for war was set.

    The Decade Of Tyranny 92bb61ae 53c9 cba7 ee54 2d8799706fd1 news fb baghdadexplosions

    The invasion was an illegal attack based on a wholly contrived
    pretext and the war was not approved by Congress. This set the
    precedent for unconstitutional global pre-emptive strikes in the name
    of the war on terror. Conservative estimates
    put the death told as a result of the invasion at around 655,000, but
    this number is far higher when the previous years sanctions are taken
    into account. Upon U.S. occupation of the country, Iraq was turned into
    one giant gulag, with hundreds of thousands detained and held in
    internment camps for the most menial offenses.

    The occupation of Iraq provided the opportunity to build hundreds of
    military bases to be used as launch pads for future pre-emptive wars in
    the key geopolitical region of the Middle East.

    2004 – The Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal

    The Abu Ghraib torture scandal was shocking for two primary reasons.
    The first being the treatment of the prisoners themselves, the vast
    majority of whom were innocents caught up in random sweeps who had
    nothing to do with insurgents or terrorism whatsoever. However, the
    photographs that were broadcast around the world only scratched the
    surface of the the true horror of what happened not just at Abu Ghraib,
    but what happened and continues to occur at dozens of U.S. torture
    camps around the world where suspects are illegally kidnapped and
    imprisoned on a whim via a process euphemistically labeled
    “rendition”.

    The Decade Of Tyranny 539w

    The second most disturbing aspect to the story was how the media
    covered it and how the public’s reaction was carefully
    manipulated. By only showing the most mild examples of torture, which
    in reality were disgusting but to a public immersed in violent movies
    and television were seen as tame, the true depth of the scandal, as revealed in the Taguba military report,
    was disguised. Abu Ghraib was also about inoculating the public against
    the idea that torture was something only history’s despotic
    regimes engaged in. To many who have been completely brainwashed by
    this tyranny – torture is now as American as Mom and apple pie.

    Low-level culprits in the scandal were burned while their superiors
    who ordered them to torture in complete violation of both the U.S.
    constitution and the Geneva Conventions were protected by the Bush
    administration and continue to be protected by Obama who has failed to
    fulfil his election promise that they would be prosecuted and that
    similar detention sites like Guantanamo Bay would be closed.

    2005 – Hurricane Katrina Fallout

    The disaster in New Orleans provided the federal government with the perfect opportunity to wargame a martial law takeover.

    The Decade Of Tyranny helpless

    Emergency preparedness legislation and FEMA executive orders that
    have been in effect for decades, were suddenly put into use at the
    expense of basic freedoms.

    The Posse Comitatus Act was overturned as active duty military
    paraded the streets and aided police in confiscating firearms and
    implementing mandatory evacuation orders.

    The precedent has now been set for natural disasters to constitute
    broad sweeping changes to ancient laws and rights, overturning and
    replacing basic liberties with repressive mechanisms of government
    control.

    2006 – Liquid Bombing Scam

    The biggest story of 2006 was undoubtedly the staged liquid bomb
    plot, which led to tighter restrictions on carrying fluids aboard
    airliners and heralded a new wave of invasive technologies to be
    implemented in airports and eventually introduced on a day-to-day basis.

    The Decade Of Tyranny

    Despite the fact that the alleged terrorists involved in the plot to
    explode multiple airliners were closely tracked for months beforehand,
    added to the fact that they didn’t have flight tickets or even
    passports, it was announced on August 10th that authorities had busted
    the plot amidst a wave of propaganda about continuing the war on
    terror, similar to what we are hearing in the aftermath of the
    Christmas Day bombing attempt.

    According to news reports the British government and MI5 wanted to wait at least a week before busting the liquid terror cell
    that their agents had fully infiltrated, including planting a mole
    within the bomb squad. From the acknowledged timeline and admission
    that the real attack was scheduled for August 16th – little else
    can be deduced but the shocking fact that MI5 wanted the bombings to go
    forward – arresting the perpetrators only after the attack.

    A deluge of fearmongering and paranoia ensued, with ridiculous
    measures hastily enforced in airports which remain with us to this day,
    such as mothers being forced to drink their own bottled breast milk to
    prove it is not an explosive liquid.

    2007 – Ron Paul Revolution, The Rise Of The Resistance

    After years of endless war, economic decline and suppression of
    basic freedoms, 2007 saw a mobilization of resistance amid a clamor for
    change.

    The Decade Of Tyranny ron paul revolution

    With a presidential election looming, Congressman Ron Paul, a public
    representative with an immaculate record, emerged as an icon of
    counteraction against the growth of big government and the erosion of
    liberty.

    Beginning as an underground phenomenon driven by grassroots
    activists, the Ron Paul Revolution soon became a mainstream talking
    point and the Congressman was propelled to the forefront of the debate
    over America’s future.

    Of course, big money and the monopoly of power eventually won out,
    so the 2008 election saw a new new world order puppet installed in the
    shape of Barack Obama.

    However, Ron Paul’s incredible efforts throughout 2007 and
    2008 during his presidential campaign provided a platform for the
    restoration of liberty and proved that the electoral process has not
    been completely usurped by those who have shown they have no allegiance
    to we the people.

    2008 – The Bailout Heist

    In October 2008, the central banks that own the U.S. government set
    the course for the most egregious looting of the American public in
    history with the passage of the TARP “bailout” legislation.

    The Decade Of Tyranny 13bailout.600

    The bailout merely increased the severity of the financial downturn
    and allowed the same elite to exploit the crisis as a pretext for
    centralizing control of the world economic system and creating a new
    world order and a single global currency.

    Henry Paulson, one of the chief architects of the bailout and the man who committed financial terrorism by threatening the Congress with martial law and food riots if they didn’t pass the initial TARP package, brazenly pocketed $200 million in Goldman Sachs profits tax free while
    handing out billions in ill-gotten gains to his bankster buddies, all
    this after he pulled a bait and switch by changing the entire focus of
    the bailout from buying up toxic debt to giving money directly to
    financial institutions.

    Following the election of Barack Obama in November 2008, the new
    President’s actions made it abundantly clear that he would pick
    up where the Bush administration left off, increasing the looting
    exponentially to a figure well over $24 trillion by the latest estimates, which don’t even account for the last 6 months.

    2009 – Acceleration of World Government

    2009 represents the year that the agenda for a world government was
    both openly announced and the acceleration of its implementation
    reached breakneck speed as globalists exploited both the engineered
    financial crisis and the contrived global warming scam to move to
    finalize total dictatorial control over the planet.

    The Decade Of Tyranny 04traub.xlarge1

    In an October New York Times editorial entitled “We Can Do It,”
    Ki-moon wrote that efforts to impose restrictions on CO2 emissions
    “Must include an equitable global governance structure.”

    New EU President Herman Van Rompuy said in a December press conference that the Copenhagen conference was, “The first step towards the global management of our planet.”

    Similarly, Al Gore said in a speech earlier this year that attempts to regulate CO2 emissions would be driven through “global governance and global agreements.”

    Although it failed to ram through a large portion of the global government agenda, the Copenhagen agreement laid the foundation for the introduction of a global transaction tax
    which would be paid to the World Bank, representing a massive transfer
    of wealth to the new world government now being primed for total
    takeover.

    Ten years ago, people who warned about a coming new world order
    bossed by a global government were called paranoid conspiracy
    theorists. Is the march towards a one world government still a
    conspiracy theory, even as its architects openly announce its
    implementation?

    The Decade of Freedom?

    The battle between tyranny and freedom is a long term game of
    brinkmanship, however, as we move into 2010, we are reaching a crucial
    time in modern history. Humanity must decide whether to engage in a
    battle for freedom or accept a future under the rule of tyranny.

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  • EcoSnoop – Rat On Your Neighbors and “Save The Planet”

    Watts Up With That
    Tuesday, December 29, 2009

    Now, you can rat on your neighbors, your company, even your friends
    and family. Thanks to EcoSnoop, there’s an app for that.

    Popout

    This can also be useful for catching those who talk the talk, but
    don’t walk the walk. This might just backfire on more than 
    a few people. But since the green movement started this Stasi-esque
    information gathering campaign on “eco-offenders” [their
    word], that makes it OK to snap photos of green activists too, right? I
    could see some examples.  Bill McKibben leaves lights on after
    leaving a room? Joe Romm takes his car instead of the bus? Monbiot lets
    his car idle at a stoplight? Jim Hansen uses electricity generated by
    coal? William Connolley leaves his computer on after a frenzied
    all-nighter of Wikipedia editing?  Gore uses the elevator to his
    penthouse suite in SFO rather than take the stairs? Lots of opportunity
    there.

    Now before the usual suspects get up in arms about my satire, let me
    say that I’m a fan of energy conservation. As many readers know,
    I walk the walk with my own energy saving measures. In fact just last
    week I upgraded part of my office to LED lighting, and I’m so
    impressed with it I’m going to showcase the product here.
    I’m not, however, going to turn in my neighbor because he left
    his porch light on one night or forgot to turn off his sprinkler when
    it rains. Yet you’ll find examples like that on the EcoSnoop web page.

    Here’s what they say about the iPhone app campaign:

    EcoSnoop.- Sustainability through Activism EcoSnoop for iPhone is an activism tool that allows green-aware users to assist and encourage corporate green initiatives. What’s the big deal?

    It has been estimated that as much as 30% of the energy consumed in office buildings is wasted.
    This suggests a significant opportunity for energy use reduction, cost
    savings, and the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions through
    cost-effective energy efficiency opportunities.

    To help identify the best opportunities, both from the perspective
    of the building owner and the utility, it is important to examine how,
    where, and when energy is used and the savings are likely to occur.
    (Excerpt taken from the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency
    Sector Collaborative on Energy Efficiency Office Building Energy Use
    Profile)

    Q: How can I help using my iPhone?
    A: Users locate and report on eco-offenders by submitting pictures and descriptions of blatant abuse and misuse issues.

    Q: What happens with my pictures?
    A:The EcoSnoop website and iPhone applications are a centralized
    repository of environmental awareness and a tool for actively promoting
    energy conservancy and green awareness. By using the EcoSnoop iPhone
    application, the user becomes an important link in the chain of helping
    to report and mediate green waste (energy, pollution, etc.).
    Additionally, by going yourself and encouraging friends to utilize the
    website to add as much information as possible about the picture
    (address information, responsible party information, etc.) you are
    giving the EcoSnoop community the tools to encourage positive change!

    EcoSnoop: We need your help saving the world…1 picture at a time.

    Online: EcoSnoop.com
    Twitter: @EcoSnoop

    *An Appency Press Video Promo Reel – www.theappencypress.com*

    h/t to WUWT reader Steve Keohane

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  • What’s Left of Nortel Today?

    Ciena today announced that it had jumped all of the regulatory hurdles in its $769 million buy for the metro Ethernet assets of Canadian telecommunications company Nortel, bringing the company’s year-long dismemberment through the bankruptcy courts closer to the end. According to a Nortel spokeswoman, the company has some patents and its joint venture with LG Electronics left.

    The LG joint venture was created in 2005 and offers IP phones and unified communications equipment. Nortel put its portion of the JV on the block in May. The scope of the remaining patents, which include some potentially valuable LTE patents, is unclear. But as we end the year it’s worth taking a look at one of the first victims of what we believe will be an ongoing consolidation of the telecommunications equipment industry. Nortel’s demise brings to a close more than 100 years of operations for the company, which started out in 1895 as Northern Electric and Manufacturing supplying telephones (and later gramophones!) to Canadians.

    Jan. 14: Nortel files for bankruptcy with $4.5 billion in debt.

    Feb. 20: It becomes clear that Nortel will sell itself in pieces rather than emerge from bankruptcy as a whole company.

    Feb. 25: Nortel cuts 3,200 employees, bringing its workforce down to 25,000.

    March 31: Radware buys Nortel’s application delivery business for $18 million. Nortel bought that business in 2000 for $7 billion.

    July 28: Nortel gets court approval to sell its CDMA business and LTE Access assets to Ericsson for $1.13 billion after some drama involving a bid by Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry. Nokia Siemens Network was also a potential bidder. The deal is completed on Nov. 13.

    August 10: Nortel’s CEO Mike Zafirovski quits.

    Nov. 23: Ciena beats out Nokia Siemens Networks for Nortel’s metro Ethernet assets with a bid of $769 million.

    Nov. 25: Ericsson and Kapsch emerge as successful joint bidders for Nortel’s global GSM/GSM-R business, and on Dec. 2 received court approval to pay $103 million in cash for the assets.

    Dec. 8: Nortel completes the sale of some of its Carrier Networks business associated with the development of next generation packet core network components to Hitachi for $10 million.

    Dec. 18: Nortel completes the sale of its global Enterprise Solutions business, as well as its government equipment business and DiamondWare subsidiary, to Avaya for $900 million.

    Dec. 23: Nortel agrees to sell its Carrier VoIP business to privately held Genband for $282 million.

    Image courtesy of Ashwin Kumar’s Flickr stream.


  • National Guard For NY Airport Security

    Fox 40
    Tuesday, December 29, 2009

    Governor David A. Paterson today advised passengers traveling into
    or out of New York airports to allow extra time to check in and
    continue through security screenings prior to their flights. As these
    measures will add time to standard pre-flight procedures, travelers
    should arrive an additional hour earlier to mitigate delays.

    The Governor also announced that the Task Force Empire Shield has
    provided a supplementary force of approximately 80 National Guard
    soldiers who will provide support during peak travel periods, focusing
    on John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport.

    The Governor first directed the Task Force to assemble the
    supplementary force following the December 25 incident aboard a
    Detroit-bound flight. They will be a consistent presence during busy
    travel hours and also patrol ground transportation hubs on New
    Year’s Eve.

    “While many are shaken, this recent threat should not hamper
    our holiday and future travel plans. We have taken the necessary
    precautions to ensure the safety of all travelers and we ask that they
    also continue to be observant of security measures and
    protocols,” Governor Paterson said. “Our actions should not
    raise the alarm, but rather demonstrate that we are working at the
    local, state and federal levels to keep travelers safe.”

    Full story here.

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  • Online Holiday Spending Reaches $25 Billion; Shows Strong Growth In Consumer Electronics Sales

    The numbers are in. And they look good. It appears that online holiday spending rose slightly this year, by 5 percent, to $27 billion for the shopping season from November 1 through Christmas Eve, according to comScore. For the time period from Black Friday through Christmas Eve, sales showed a slight uptick, rising 3.5 percent. With respect to individual product categories, consumer electronics saw yearly sales growth of slightly over 20 percent, while sales of jewelry and watches also rose.

    From reports over the past few months, the numbers indicated that the total online spending would be higher this year than last, when the U.S. spending was blindsided with a crippling recession. The final shopping weekend before Christmas saw a 13 percent growth rate in online spending from the previous year, thanks to the wintry mess that hit the Eastern Seaboard. And the full week posted a 6 percent yearly increase in spending, setting a one-week sales record with more than $4.8 billion in spending. Online sales numbers from Black Friday and Cyber Monday also appeared to be stronger than last year.


    Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

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  • CrunchDeals: Family Guy ‘Dark Side’ plus Season 7 on DVD for $17.48

    fg

    Ah, here’s a pretty nice deal for Family Guy fans. You can get the new special edition Family Guy Presents: Something Something Something Dark Side Star Wars spoof on DVD for $12.49 but when you buy that DVD plus Season 7 of Family Guy, the total is just $17.48.

    On the product page, scroll down a little bit to where you see “Best Value” and add the products that way to get the discount.

    Something Something Something Dark Side [Amazon via FatWallet]


    Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

    Read Original Article

  • JO-ZERO: Super-agile, super-cool mini humanoid (video)

    Picture 6

    A big problem almost any robot nowadays has is limited agility. While this isn’t an issue for industrial and other “practical” robots, humanoids can only move in a slow, mechanical and chopping motion. Honda’s Asimo, for example, is considered super-advanced, but doesn’t move too elegantly either.

    But Japan-based Himeji Softworks raises the bar in that area. Their JO-ZERO robot kit shows we haven’t reached that Nureyev level of elegance yet either, but it’s pretty impressive, especially since it’s the brainchild of a small venture. It can break-dance (sort of) and pull off a number of cool stunts.

    One of the key points is that JO-ZERO’s back is bendable, which is not only quite unique but obviously boosts agility quite a bit. He has a total of 20 joints (four in each arm, five in each leg and two in the back) and weighs just 800g.

    JO-ZERO stands 30cm tall. You can program him by yourself (Nakamura-san, his inventor, says it’s pretty easy) and remote-control him via infrared. His price: $1,300.

    This video show how JO-ZERO moves (it gets better later). This is one amazing robot.


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  • CrunchDeals: Sony VAIO W netbook for $375 (it’s pink, though)

    pink If you like pink, you can save a heap on Sony’s 10.1-inch VAIO W netbook. The Microsoft Store is selling it for just $374.25 with free shipping. The same netbook is available in white for $499.

    You’ll recall that the VAIO W features a 1368×768 resolution screen despite being only 10 inches, as well as a 1.66GHz Atom N280 CPU. Other specs include 1GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive, Windows 7 Starter, two USB ports, Bluetooth, six-cell battery, VGA output, webcam with face tracking, and a weight of just under three pounds.

    Sony W Netbook VPCW121AX (Pink) [Microsoft Store via dealnews]


    Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

    Read Original Article

  • Calls for Full-Body Screening Devices Grow After Terror Attempt

    Angela Greiling Keane
    Bloomberg
    Tuesday, Dec 29th, 2009

    A suspected terrorist’s attempt to blow up a U.S.
    airliner may override privacy concerns and intensify a push for
    full-body scanning equipment at airports.

    U.S. officials charged a 23-year-old Nigerian man with trying to
    blow up Northwest Flight 253 as it prepared to land in Detroit on
    Christmas Day. President Barack Obama said yesterday he ordered a
    thorough review of the episode and called for new scrutiny of screening
    policies and technologies.

    Metal detectors currently used to screen passengers wouldn’t
    have found the explosive allegedly carried aboard by the suspect, said
    former Federal Aviation Administration security chief Billie Vincent.
    Only more sophisticated devices such as low-level X-rays and
    millimeter-wave technology would work, Vincent said.

    Senator Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, called for more
    widespread use of the full-body scanners after the aborted attack.
    “We were very lucky this time but we may not be so lucky next
    time, which is why our defenses must be strengthened,” Lieberman,
    chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
    Committee, said in a statement yesterday.

    Full article here

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  • The Bald Eagle, National Symbol of the United States of America

    For many years I taught my fifth grade students about the symbols of the United States of America. Over the years I have grown to love our national symbol, the American Bald Eagle. Many students are shocked to learn that our national symbol is not the flag, but the Bald Eagle.

    In 1782 it was chose as the National Bird and then as our national emblem in 1787. You can find it on the Great Seal of the United States with its wings spread wide and a shield for his breast. The shield has 13 red and white stripes. In its right talon it holds an olive branch and, if you care to count, you will find that the olive branch has 13 leaves and 13 berries. This olive branch represents the United States desire for peace. In the Bald Eagles left talon is a bundle of 13 arrows that represent our willingness to fight for our freedom, if necessary. Finally in its beak is a scroll with the motto “E Pluribus Unum” which means ‘one out of many’.

    The Bald Eagle also appears on the Presidential Seal, most coins, paper money and many stamps.

    There are many types of eagles all over the world, but the American Bald Eagle only lives on the North American Continent. That is one reason that the Golden Eagle was not chosen because it lives in Europe, also.

    It has been reported that at one of the first battles of the Revolutionary War the noise of the battle awoke sleeping eagles who flew from their nests circling the men fighting below. Their shrill cries blended with the cries of the fighting men. Some of them said they are “shrieking for freedom”.

    When born the Bald Eagle is born it is gray and not the graceful bird of flight that you see five years later after it has developed it’s white tail feathers and head feathers.

    The Bald Eagle is at the top of the food chain living in the tops of lofty mountains and near coasts and lakes where fish abound. They represent boundless freedom as they soar through the blue skies.

    When you first see this bird he is really impressive. It has a 2 ½ – 3 foot body and can spread its sings 6-8 feet. When it spreads those wings and takes flight you catch your breath because they are so beautiful. To see their nests (aerie) in trees you would look for a tree that is usually over seventy five feet tall. The nests themselves are about five feet in diameter and just as deep.

    There are many interesting facts about the Bald Eagle, such as its diving speed which can reach 100mph as it goes for a fish. At one time they were being killed in record numbers for their beautiful feathers. The government intervened and put them on the endangered list.

    The term ‘eagle eyes’ refers to their ability to see 1 ½ miles away. We need to keep an eagle eye on our freedoms that are represented by this noble bird, The American Bald Eagle, so that we don’t loose them.

    Thirty seven years of teaching school is in my past and my future is full of hope and promise.

    Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

  • Detroit terror attack: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab ‘defended 9/11′

    Aislinn Laing
    London Telegraph
    Tuesday, Dec 29th, 2009

    Detroit bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab defended the 9/11 terror
    attacks on New York, saying they were justified by American military
    activity.

    The 23-year-old suspect in the attempted Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Flight 253 is reported to have shocked friends with his hardline views as far back as 2001.

    He is said to have justified the plane attacks by saying that US
    troops stationed in Saudi Arabia since the 1991 Gulf War had
    “humiliated” Muslims.

    One friend said the Nigerian’s views had provoked the first
    row between them when they discussed the terror attacks in 2006.

    “We were talking about 9/11. I was saying under no
    circumstances could it ever be OK to kill all those innocent people. He
    was much more equivocal,” he told US papers.

    Full article here

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  • Brazil’s Lula signs law cutting CO2 emissions

    by Agence France-Presse

    BRAZIL—President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a law Tuesday requiring that Brazil cut greenhouse gas emissions by 39 percent by 2020, meeting a commitment made at the Copenhagen climate talks.

    Brazil announced at the summit a “voluntary commitment” to reduce CO2 emissions by between 36.1 and 38.9 percent in the next 10 years.

    The new law, however, is subject to several decrees setting out responsibilities and regulations for the farming, industrial, energy, and environmental sectors.

    Lula is expected to sign the decrees in January after consulting scientists and other experts, officials said.

    Despite its ambitious targets, Greenpeace’s top representative in Brazil, Sergio Leitao, called it merely a list of good intentions and accused Lula of using double standards in environmental issues.

    “Brazil usually makes good speeches on the international stage, as in Copenhagen, but in practice it doesn’t keep its word,” he told reporters.

    Before signing the new law, in fact, Lula vetoed three of its provisions, including a reference to “promoting the development of clean energy sources and the gradual phasing out of energy from fossil fuels.”

    Environment Minister Carlos Minc said he was was pleased with the new law because it showed Brazil’s determination to respect the pledges it made in Copenhagen.

    “It doesn’t matter if the Copenhagen summit didn’t get the results we wanted. We will still meet our goals,” he told reporters.

    The climate change conference held in the Danish capital ended last week with a non-binding agreement that exposed the stark divide between rich and developing nations.

    A total of $30 billion was pledged from 2010-2012 to help poor countries in the firing line of climate change, and rich nations set a goal of providing $100 billion annually in aid by 2020.

    It established a goal of limiting warming to 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F), but did not impose binding targets to reduce the emissions of gases that scientists say are heating up the world’s atmosphere to dangerous levels.

    The Copenhagen agreement was put together by leaders of the United States, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, and major European nations, after it became clear the 194-nation summit was in danger of failure.

    Related Links:

    Electric car Think to be assembled in U.S. in 2011

    Sarkozy wants French carbon tax to take effect in July

    A conversation with Indian youth activist Ruchi Jain






  • Ron Paul Says Agenda Behind Bombing Incident Is More War, More Attacks On Liberty

    Congressman: “I am concerned what they are going to do to the American people”

    Ron Paul Says Agenda Behind Bombing Incident Is More War, More Attacks On Liberty 291209top

    Paul Joseph Watson
    Prison Planet.com
    Tuesday, December 29, 2009

    Congressman Ron Paul fears that the agenda behind the
    Flight 253 bombing incident is to expand the war on terror into Yemen
    while stripping Americans of more liberties, warning that it’s
    time people woke up and realized that the government cannot guarantee
    their safety.

    The Congressman highlighted how the bombing attempt
    followed geopolitical turmoil in Yemen in the form of attacks in the
    country launched by the Saudis with the endorsement of the U.S. –
    and how sectors of the media and politicians were now calling for Yemen
    to be a new front in the war on terror as a consequence of the
    Christmas Day incident.

    “It seems ironic that there is so much excitement
    about this and now talk about attacking Yemen,” said Paul, adding
    that it was the United States’ presence in Yemen that represented
    a threat to America, not the purported presence of Al-Qaeda members in
    Yemen.

    Two days after the incident, influential neo-lib Joe Lieberman cited the attempted plane bombing
    in calling for Yemen to be the next target of the military-industrial
    complex after Afghanistan, claiming the plot had links back to the
    Middle Eastern nation.

    Paul raised the question of how a $75 billion dollar a
    year intelligence gathering structure failed to stop a dangerous man
    who had no passport and was on a terror watch list from boarding a
    plane.

    “It really scares me because we do so much
    already – we spend $75 billion dollars on intelligence gathering
    in this country in order to protect us and make us safe, so with $75
    billion dollars we weren’t able to detect this individual where
    there’s a glaring warning sign,” said Paul, citing the fact
    that the bomber’s father tried to warn the U.S. that his son was
    a threat a month ago.

    Paul labeled the nature of the incident, “Either
    awful stupidity or there must be an agenda….I am concerned what
    they are going to do to the American people,” citing how the 9/11
    hijackers were also known to the authorities, who were warned that they
    were only training to learn how to fly a plane and not how to land, but
    that nothing was ever done about it.

    Paul said the people punished for the incident would not be those who failed to stop the terrorist, but the American people.

    “They’ll add some more security on to us
    – first they make us take off our shoes and then our belts and
    then small bottles of water and put our computers in a tray and on and
    on so something else is going to happen, they won’t let us get
    out of our seats or look at our bags….thinking that’s
    going to make us a lot safer,” said Paul, adding that security
    should be managed by airline companies and not the government.

    “The bigger the problem and the more the fear is
    built up, the more they take away our personal liberties and turn us
    all into zombies and the American people go along with it and say as
    long as it makes us safer I guess it’s OK to go along but
    it’s time the American people woke up and started realizing that
    there’s a bit of propaganda going on and quite possibly this
    incident will not only undermine our personal liberties but will also
    accelerate our intervention and the violence occurring in the Middle
    East,” concluded the Congressman.

    Watch the clip below.

    Popo

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  • At Council of Economic Advisers: Alice Doesn’t Work Here Any More

    After 51 years –- that’s not a typo — Alice Williams, executive assistant to the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, is retiring from the federal government this week. Williams has been something of a permanent fixture at the CEA as members of the three-member council came and went as the presidency changed hands.

    Steven Braun
    Alice Williams (center) with current CEA chair Christina Romer (left) and former chair Joseph Stiglitz (right) at her retirement party.

    Williams was hired during the Eisenhower administration by a precursor of the U.S. Agency for International Development. She signed on to the CEA staff in 1970 in the Nixon years when Paul McCracken was the chairman.

    A retirement party earlier this month drew five CEA chairs -– the current one, Christina Romer, and predecessors Charles Schultz (Carter), Joseph Stiglitz (Clinton), Martin Baily (Clinton) and Edward Lazear (George W. Bush) –- as well as one-time CEA wanna-be Lawrence Summers, the former Treasury secretary and now Obama economic adviser.

    “I remember when I got there and thinking, ‘I know nothing, she knows everything — and thank goodness that she does!’ She was the matriarch of the institution,” said Lazear, now back at Stanford. “Always professional, she served presidents and chairs from both parties without the slightest hint of partisanship. Alice was a constant. A truly remarkable woman, she was our voice, our institutional memory, and she taught all of us how to do our jobs. “

    Baily, now at the Brookings Institution in Washington, echoed that: “She was the glue that held CEA together through administrations with very different political persuasions and through chairs with very different personalities, most of whom were extremely demanding. Even after many, many years at CEA she worked incredibly hard and maintained a real enthusiasm for the life and role of the institution, getting us into meetings and helping us be part of the important economic decisions.”

    Williams, a competitive ball room dancer, plans to keep dancing and to travel in retirement.

     UPDATE: Joseph Stiglitz, another former CEA chair, adds: “We were academics, and for most of us, this was our first experience with government or bureacracy.  She really made the CEA work.  Got us into meetings.  (You have to be in meetings to have your voice heard!)  Had her ear to the ground–always knowing what was going on.  She also had a big effect on the ‘culture”–the good spiritedness that market the CEA across administrations.  She was one of the reasons that it was always fun and enjoyable to come to work every day–in spite of the “battles” that were to be fought (and somtimes lost).  For those of us who believe that government can play an important role in our society, she provides proof that government can work:  a dedicated civil servant, someone who worked tirelessly and selflessly for decades, across Administrations–including long hours into the night. On a more personal note, the particular challenge of managing my office–an inflow of papers vastly greater than an outflow meant that finding the papers I needed for a particular meeting on short notice was not always easy.  Somehow, she managed it all.”

    UPDATE: Ray Squitieri, now at the Office of the Comptroller of the Current and a former CEA staffer, writes: “Alice certainly was the glue that kept the natural centrifugal forces of the CEA in check. With a staff of freewheeling academics who came and went every year or two, CEA would not have worked at all without Alice’s steady hand in the front office. Another key to CEA’s longevity and influence was Kitty Furlong, head of CEA’s superb statistical office, who retired a couple of years ago. Kitty had been at the Council since the 1947–no, that’s not a typo either–with a few years off for child raising.”