Eeyores news and view

This one will make one year of posts, that is what i had planned to do, so we are complete with this one (373 post's in 365 days). I think the blog will continue, it will just take on a new look and go a new way. Maybe one article a day and with a little more commentary (or views). It might not be everyday also, we shall see.

Thank you to the people who have checked it out in the past.

Here is a list of frequency of each of my topics, interesting, i think. Knowing me (or at least i thought i did) i would have predicted different emphasis, but how does the old saying go? "figures never lie, but liars figure".

2nd Admendment (53)
4th of July (1)
5th Columnists (11)
9-11-2001 (1)
Abortion (11)
Abstinence (1)
Airplane car (1)
Alternative Currencies (3)
Alternative Energy (14)
American Culture (80)
American Terrorist (5)
Animals (6)
april fools day (1)
Aqua Car (1)
Archaeology (6)
Attack of Stupid (36)
Being a Man (1)
Bible (1)
Biking (1)
bl (1)
Blinding Obvious (2)
Borders (37)
Canada (2)
CCD (5)
Chemical weapons (2)
Chickens (2)
Children Abuse (6)
China (22)
China Abuse (6)
Christmas Poem (1)
Church (2)
Civics (1)
Cloning (1)
CME (2)
Coal (1)
Computer Virus Warning (4)
Cooking (1)
Creationism (1)
Crime (3)
Cuba (7)
Culture (1)
Deficit (1)
Depression (1)
Depression Stories (10)
Devotional (50)
Drawing Lots (1)
Drought (1)
E. V. Hill (1)
Earthquakes (5)
Ebooks (4)
Economy (164)
EMP (2)
England (5)
Europe Tensions (7)
Europes Economy (7)
evironmental issues (2)
Evolution (2)
Fake Email (4)
False gods (1)
Father-in-law graduated yesterday (1)
FDA bans (1)
Fireworks (3)
Food (28)
Food Storage (4)
Fraud (2)
Gangs (1)
Gardening (5)
Gas Saving Tip (5)
Germany (1)
Getting out of Debt (1)
Glimpse into our future (1)
Global Currency (2)
Global Economy (1)
Global Government (14)
Good Men (1)
Government Abuses (105)
Government that works (9)
government waste (1)
Great Idea (3)
Ham Radio (2)
Health Hepatitis-C (1)
Health News (27)
Health Risks - Mumps (1)
Health Risks- West Nile Virus (4)
Health Risks- Whooping Cough (1)
Health Risks-Bird Flu (19)
Health Risks-E coli (1)
Health Risks-Ebola (4)
Health Risks-HIV (1)
Health Risks-Malaria (1)
Health Risks-MRSA (1)
Health Risks-Salmonella (13)
Health Risks-Virus (3)
Herbal (1)
History Lesson (9)
Holiday (1)
Home School info (5)
Honduras (1)
Housing (1)
How to projects (1)
Hunting (1)
Hurricane update (5)
Identity Theft (4)
Indian Abuse (1)
Infastructure (1)
Iran (32)
Iraq (4)
Israel (4)
Judicial Activism (14)
Judicial Restraint (8)
land (1)
Left wing Terrorism (4)
Lightening (1)
Lighting (1)
livestock (2)
Lore and Stories (1)
Makes me want to cuss (1)
Mark of the Beast? (1)
Mask (1)
Medical news (2)
Memorial Day (1)
Merry Christmas (1)
Metals (1)
Mexico (2)
Missions (1)
Money Saving Tips (5)
Muslim Culture (28)
Nais (1)
National Security (1)
Natural Disasters (4)
NEO (3)
Noah's Ark (1)
North Korea (18)
Nuclear Material (15)
Pakistan (7)
Patriot Bible (1)
Patriotic (1)
Pensions (2)
Pet Flu (1)
Pet Meds (1)
Pirates (15)
Plague (3)
Political Correctness (10)
politics (55)
Possible Natural Disasters (1)
Prayer (2)
Precious Metals (9)
Prep Talk (4)
Prep Talks (25)
Presidental Watch (1)
Prisons (1)
Privacy Rights (14)
Projects (1)
Puppies (1)
Rainwater catchment (2)
Recalls (1)
Russian (17)
Russian Expansionism (26)
Science (11)
Secert Societies (1)
Shelter (1)
Shooting (1)
SIDS (2)
Skills (1)
Social Security (2)
Solar Flare (2)
solar oven (1)
Sovereignty Movement (1)
States Rights (2)
Stories - Bad Times Coming (1)
Stories - Bug Home pt1 (1)
Stories - Bug Home pt2 (1)
Stories - Bug Out (1)
Stories - Bug Out - Volcano (1)
Stories - Don't Bug Me (1)
Stories - Frisco Lessons (part 1) (1)
Stories - Frisco Lessons (part two) (1)
Stories - I’ll Have A Beer (1)
Stories - Man It is Cold Outside pt1 (1)
Stories - Man It is Cold Outside pt2 (1)
Stories - Man It is Cold Outside pt3 (1)
Stories - Missouri Rafter (1)
Stories - Missy (1)
Stories - One man Alone (1)
Stories - Over The Edge (1)
Stories - The Liddy Scenario (pt1) (1)
Stories - The Liddy Scenario (pt2) (1)
Stories - Ultra Light (1)
Stories - What Is The Password? (1)
Swine flu (32)
taxes (1)
Tea Party (1)
Technology News (5)
Technology Warning (34)
Terrorism (16)
Thailand (2)
Thanks For Asking (1)
Thanksgiving (5)
The People Win (1)
Tin Foil Hat (2)
Toilet Paper (1)
Tower of Babel (1)
Trailer Life (1)
Transportation (2)
Travel (1)
UFO (5)
Ukraine (1)
UN (4)
Universal Health Care (1)
Unrest (1)
Useful Website (16)
usless info (2)
Venezuela (24)
Volcano (3)
Voting (1)
Wasteful Culture (2)
Water (6)
Weather Disaters (1)
Weird Stuff (4)
White Throne Judement (1)
WMD (1)
World Economy (73)

Groups demand that jail stop censoring religion
Civil and religious rights organizations are demanding that a Virginia jail stop removing Bible passages and other religious material from letters written to inmates.
Anna Williams, whose son was detained at the Rappahannock County Regional Jail, says officials cut out entire sections of letters she sent to her son that contained Bible verses or religious material. She says the jail cited prohibitions on Internet material and religious material sent from home. John Whitehead, founder of The Rutherford Institute, represents Williams. His organization is challenging censorship of the mail. "She's a devout Christian, and her son's in jail there and she's been trying to send him letters with Bible passages and whatever -- and the jail has actually been going through snipping out portions of letters," the attorney explains. "[S]ome of the letters are full of Bible verses, so what her son is getting is absolutely at the end of the letter where she says goodbye, I love you, and those kinds of things." According to Whitehead, the situation is not an isolated case. "Various Christian organizations are trying to give Bibles to prisoners...and prisons and local jails are actually prohibiting [that], saying such materials could be dangerous -- and they're actually stopping them," he laments. "So this is a nationwide thing that we're seeing, and [it's] one reason why we're trying to get involved in this case and stop it and nip it in the bud." Whitehead tells OneNewsNow that courts have ruled there must be a compelling reason for censoring inmate mail -- and Bible verses, he says, hardly represent a compelling reason. Prison Fellowship, the ACLU, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and other groups sent a letter to Rappahannock Regional Jail Superintendent Joseph Higgs, Jr., calling the policy illegal. Higgs issued a statement saying the groups' letter prompted him to launch an internal investigation.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=598800
additional info can be had at
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/072009/07102009/478761

Globalize of the world is what it is about, the currency the borders and government and laws. Socialism and Communism.
Gore: U.S. Climate Bill Will Help Bring About 'Global Governance'
Former Vice President Al Gore declared that the Congressional climate bill will help bring about “global governance.”
“I bring you good news from the U.S., “Gore said on July 7, 2009 in Oxford at the Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, sponsored by UK Times.
“Just two weeks ago, the House of Representatives passed the Waxman-Markey climate bill,” Gore said, noting it was “very much a step in the right direction.” President Obama has pushed for the passage of the bill in the Senate and attended a G8 summit this week where he agreed to attempt to keep the Earth's temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees C.
Gore touted the Congressional climate bill, claiming it “will dramatically increase the prospects for success” in combating what he sees as the “crisis” of man-made global warming.
“But it is the awareness itself that will drive the change and one of the ways it will drive the change is through global governance and global agreements.” (Editor's Note: Gore makes the “global governance” comment at the 1min. 10 sec. mark in this UK Times video.)
Gore's call for “global governance” echoes former French President Jacques Chirac's call in 2000.
On November 20, 2000, then French President Chirac said during a speech at The Hague that the UN's Kyoto Protocol represented "the first component of an authentic global governance."
“For the first time, humanity is instituting a genuine instrument of global governance,” Chirac explained. “From the very earliest age, we should make environmental awareness a major theme of education and a major theme of political debate, until respect for the environment comes to be as fundamental as safeguarding our rights and freedoms. By acting together, by building this unprecedented instrument, the first component of an authentic global governance, we are working for dialogue and peace,” Chirac added.
Former EU Environment Minister Margot Wallstrom said, "Kyoto is about the economy, about leveling the playing field for big businesses worldwide." Canadian Prime Minster Stephen Harper once dismissed UN's Kyoto Protocol as a “socialist scheme.”
'Global Carbon Tax' Urged at UN Meeting
In addition, calls for a global carbon tax have been urged at recent UN global warming conferences. In December 2007, the UN climate conference in Bali, urged the adoption of a global carbon tax that would represent “a global burden sharing system, fair, with solidarity, and legally binding to all nations.”
“Finally someone will pay for these [climate related] costs,” Othmar Schwank, a global tax advocate, said at the 2007 UN conference after a panel titled “A Global CO2 Tax.”
Schwank noted that wealthy nations like the U.S. would bear the biggest burden based on the “polluters pay principle.” The U.S. and other wealthy nations need to “contribute significantly more to this global fund,” Schwank explained. He also added, “It is very essential to tax coal.”
The 2007 UN conference was presented with a report from the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment titled “Global Solidarity in Financing Adaptation.” The report stated there was an “urgent need” for a global tax in order for “damages [from climate change] to be kept from growing to truly catastrophic levels, especially in vulnerable countries of the developing world.”
The tens of billions of dollars per year generated by a global tax would “flow into a global Multilateral Adaptation Fund” to help nations cope with global warming, according to the report.
Schwank said a global carbon dioxide tax is an idea long overdue that is urgently needed to establish “a funding scheme which generates the resources required to address the dimension of challenge with regard to climate change costs.”
'Redistribution of wealth'
The environmental group Friends of the Earth advocated the transfer of money from rich to poor nations during the 2007 UN climate conference.
"A climate change response must have at its heart a redistribution of wealth and resources,” said Emma Brindal, a climate justice campaigner coordinator for Friends of the Earth.
http://www.climatedepot.com/a/1893/Gore-US-Climate-Bill-Will-Help-Bring-About-Global-Governance.

For many, a simpler life is better
Shrinking paychecks and rising environmental concerns are prompting Americans to pare back their lifestyles.
"Perhaps the silver lining (of the recession) is that people are coming to realize they can live with less and their lives are richer for it," says Michael Maniates, professor of political and environmental science at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa.
A third, 32%, say they have been spending less and intend to make that their "new, normal" pattern; 27% say they are saving more and plan to continue, according to a Gallup Poll in April.
Nearly half of consumers, 47%, say they already have what they need, up from 34% in November 2006, according to the 2009 MetLife Study of the American Dream.
"People are feeling forced and inspired to get back to what is core to them," says Julie Morgenstern, author of Shed Your Stuff, Change Your Life. She says they're valuing objects less and experiences and people more.
Eric Dykstra, pastor of Crossing Church in Elk River, Minn., read Morgenstern's book, then ran across a blog by Dave Bruno of San Diego. Bruno launched a "100 Thing Challenge" in November and says he pared his own possessions to fewer than that.
Dykstra began encouraging members to reduce their personal possessions to 100 items. They took on the challenge — although some counted treasures such as a shoe collection as one item.
"People have really taken this to heart," Dykstra says. They donated so much to charity — boats, furniture, snowblowers — they filled a warehouse.
"The purpose was to break the hold of materialism," he says. He went from five suits to one, from a dozen ties to two. "It was very freeing."
Other signs of change:
• Enrollment in "voluntary simplicity" courses promoted by the non-profit Northwest Earth Institute in Portland, Ore., is up 50% in the past year.
"It was a perfect time to show people they're really not giving anything up" by buying less or eating at home, says acupuncturist Deborah Waddell, who hosted a course in February in Long Valley, N.J.
• Hundreds of schools have shown a 20-minute film, The Story of Stuff, on the environmental costs of consumerism, and more than 6.6 million people have viewed it online since December 2007, according to the Tides Foundation in San Francisco.
. Websites on living close to nature are getting more traffic. The Thoreau Society, devoted to naturalist Henry Thoreau, got 400 members in its first two months this year. The non-profit Simple Living Institute in Orlando has seen online hits double in the past year, says founding member Shirley Silvasy.
Bruno says, "The recession is like a wake-up call."
http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2009-07-12-simplicity_N.htm

Is Tougher Airport Screening Going Too Far?
The Transportation Security Administration has moved beyond just checking for weapons and explosives. It’s now training airport screeners to spot anything suspicious, and then honoring them when searches lead to arrests for crimes like drug possession and credit-card fraud.
But two court cases in the past month question whether TSA searches—which the agency says have broadened to allow screeners to use more judgment—have been going too far.
A federal judge in June threw out seizure of three fake passports from a traveler, saying that TSA screeners violated his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure. Congress authorizes TSA to search travelers for weapons and explosives; beyond that, the agency is overstepping its bounds, U.S. District Court Judge Algenon L. Marbley said.
Two recent court cases question whether TSA searches have been going too far.
.“The extent of the search went beyond the permissible purpose of detecting weapons and explosives and was instead motivated by a desire to uncover contraband evidencing ordinary criminal wrongdoing,” Judge Marbley wrote.
In the second case, Steven Bierfeldt, treasurer for the Campaign for Liberty, a political organization launched from Ron Paul’s presidential run, was detained at the St. Louis airport because he was carrying $4,700 in a lock box from the sale of tickets, T-shirts, bumper stickers and campaign paraphernalia. TSA screeners quizzed him about the cash, his employment and the purpose of his trip to St. Louis, then summoned local police and threatened him with arrest because he responded to their questions with a question of his own: What were his rights and could TSA legally require him to answer?
Mr. Bierfeldt recorded the encounter on his iPhone and the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit in June against Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, claiming in part that Mr. Bierfeldt’s experience at the airport was not an anomaly.
“Whether as a matter of formal policy or widespread practice, TSA now operates on the belief that airport security screening provides a convenient opportunity to fish for evidence of criminal conduct far removed from the agency’s mandate of ensuring flight safety,” the ACLU said in its suit.
‘Mission Creep’?
TSA said in a statement on the Bierfeldt incident that travelers are required to cooperate with screeners, and while it is legal to carry any amount of money when flying domestically, the agency believes cooperation includes answering questions about property. As a result of the recording, however, TSA determined that “the tone and language used by the TSA employee was inappropriate and proper disciplinary action was taken.”
The cases will likely inflame TSA critics and frequent travelers who believe screeners take a heavy-handed approach and worsen the hassle of getting through airports with layers of rules and sometimes inconsistent policies between different cities.
“TSA agents don’t get to play cops,” says Ben Wizner, an attorney who filed Mr. Bierfeldt’s suit. The ACLU has heard an increasing number of reports of TSA agents involved in what he called “mission creep,” he says.
TSA spokesman Greg Soule says airport screeners are trained to “look for threats to aviation security” and discrepancies in a passenger’s identity. TSA says verifying someone’s identity, or exposing false identity, is a security issue so that names can be checked against terrorism watch lists. Large amounts of cash can be evidence of criminal activity, Mr. Soule says, and so screeners look at the “quantity, packaging, circumstances of discovery or method by which the cash is carried.”
Questioning travelers is part of TSA’s standard procedures, and the agency gives its employees discretion. “TSA security officers are trained to ask questions and assess passenger reactions,” Mr. Soule says. “TSA security officers may use their professional judgment and experience to determine what questions to ask passengers during screening.”
No one questions arrests made after TSA runs into evidence of drugs or other crimes during weapons searches. A bulge in baggy pants can be investigated, for example, because it might be an explosive. If it turns out to be cocaine, TSA is expected to report it to police or Drug Enforcement Agency officials.
.But once TSA has determined that someone doesn’t have weapons or explosives, agents sometimes keep searching—leading some legal experts to wonder whether questioning people about how much cash they’re carrying, the number of credit cards they have and even prescription drugs in their bags stretches the intent of airport security law.
Congress charged TSA with protecting passengers and property on an aircraft “against an act of criminal violence or aircraft piracy” and prohibited individuals from carrying a “weapon, explosive or incendiary” onto an airplane. Without search warrants, courts have held that airport security checks are considered reasonable if the search is “no more extensive or intensive than necessary” to detect weapons or explosives.
In testimony to Congress last month, Gale D. Rossides, acting TSA administrator, said the agency had moved past simply trying to intercept guns, knives and razor blades to “physical and behavioral screening to counter constantly changing threats.”
Every screener has completed a 16-hour retraining that “provides the latest information on intelligence, explosives detection and human factors affecting security,” she said. “We have revised our checkpoint Standard Operating Procedures to enable officers to use their judgment appropriately in achieving sensible security results.”
In the fake passport case, a man named Fode Amadou Fofana used a valid driver’s license with his real name at a Columbus, Ohio, TSA checkpoint. Because he had purchased his ticket for a flight at the airport just before departure, he was flagged for secondary screening. He didn’t set off metal detectors and TSA’s X-ray equipment didn’t see anything suspicious, according to court testimony. The bags were swabbed for explosive residue and did not trigger any alarms. TSA agents opened the bags and searched inside because he was selected for extra screening.
According to the judge’s ruling, the TSA agent involved testified that she had been instructed to search for suspicious items beyond weapons and explosives and to “be alert for anything that might be unlawful for him to possess, such as credit cards belonging to other people, illegal drugs or counterfeit money.”
The agent found envelopes with cash, which she considered suspicious. Three other envelopes had something more rigid than dollar bills. She testified she didn’t believe there were weapons inside, but opened them looking for “contraband” and found three fake passports.
Limiting Searches
Judge Marbley said the TSA had no authority to open the envelopes. In his ruling, he said prior cases clearly established that airport security searches should be aimed only at detecting weapons or explosives.
“A checkpoint search tainted by ‘general law enforcement objectives’ such as uncovering contraband evidencing general criminal activity is improper,” the judge wrote.The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Columbus has filed notice that it will appeal the judge’s order.
Mr. Bierfeldt’s suit, filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, seeks to bar TSA from “conducting suspicion-less pre-flight searches of passengers or their belongings for items other than weapons or explosives.”
Mr. Bierfeldt, who was released by TSA after an official in plain clothes saw political materials in his bag and asked if the cash was campaign contributions, said he just wants to save others from harassment by TSA. “It’s the principle of the matter,” he said. “I didn’t break any laws and was no threat.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204556804574261940842372518.html

Amendment to Allow Guns in Public Housing Thursday, July 9, 2009
A House panel voted to add an amendment allowing guns in public housing. This is a huge policy shift - the Clinton administration made a big deal out of barring guns for Section 8 residents, along with requiring them to submit to warrantless searches and such. It's enough to make you think that the gun control was somehow linked to people control generally...
Carolyn McCarthy , D-N.Y., a longtime gun control advocate, said opponents of the Price amendment would try to remove the language from the bill at a later point
in the legislative process, without subjecting the issue to a recorded vote.
“What we’re trying to do will not involve votes,” McCarthy said.
Wow. Democrats are crossing the aisle to vote for this, and all she can do is hope to kill it procedurally.
Not only are we winning, we are crushing them.
http://defensivehandgun.blogspot.com/2009/07/amendment-to-allow-guns-in-public.html

Eeyores news and view

An Agnostic is Converted
By Arthur T. Pierson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This short story is taken from the biography of Arthur T. Pierson, who was pastoring in Detroit, Michigan at the time this encounter takes place in 1876:
"At the close of a sermon on 'Abiding in Christ,' according to my custom, I invited any person present who was impressed with his need of Christ to meet me in the inquirer's room.
"One young man of about thirty responded. He was tall, stalwart of frame, intelligent, and would have been fine looking but for a cloud that seemed to abide upon his countenance. In fact, his face seemed scarred and furrowed, as though his life had been a battle with sin and care, and be had been terribly worsted in the contest. I said to him:
"'I take it, sir, that you are here to talk with me about your spiritual interests. Will you let me into the very heart of your trouble or difficulty?'
"'Well, Sir,' said he, 'I suppose you would consider my case a desperate one. I am a follower of Robert Ingersoll [a famous agnostic/infidel in the 1800's). I am an unbeliever, a disbeliever, an infidel.'
"'But I suppose there are some things you believe. You believe the Bible to be the Book of God?'
'No, Sir.'
' You believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God?'
"'No, Sir.'
"'Well , at least you believe in a God?'
"'There may be a God; I cannot say that I believe there is, but there may be; I do not know.'
"'Then why are you here? I do not see what you want of me, if you do not believe in the Bible nor in Christ, and are not even sure there is any God.'
"'I heard you preach tonight, and it seems to me that you must believe something and that it gives you peace and comfort.'
"'You are quite right.'
"'Well, I don't believe anything, and am perfectly wretched; if you can show me the way to believe anything and to get happiness in believing, I wish you would. If you can help me, do it quickly, for I have been carrying this burden as long as I can. I am a law student, but I am so wretched I cannot study nor sit still. I wandered over here tonight, and heard the organ playing in your church, and went in expecting to hear some fine music. I heard nothing but simple congregational singing, but curiosity led me to remain and hear what you had to say, and one thing impressed me, -that you have faith in somebody or something, and you are happy in believing. My envy of you brings me in here.'
"I lifted my heart to God for special guidance, and drew my chair up close to this unhappy man and in voluntarily put my arm around him.
"'Tell me something to read,' he said.
"'I would have you read nothing but the Bible. You have been reading too much; that is partly what is the matter with you. You are full of the misleading, plausible sophistries of the skeptics. Read the Word of God.'
"'But what is the use -when I do not believe it to be the Word of God?'
"Opening my Bible, I turned to John 5:39, and with my finger on the verse slowly read: 'Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testify of Me and ye will not come unto Me that ye may have life.' 'Now,' said I, 'it is God's testimony and my experience that he who diligently searches the Scriptures will find that they contain the witness to their own divine origin and inspiration, and to the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ.'
"'Well' said he, 'I'll read the Bible, but what beside?'
"Turning to Matthew 6:6, I pointed to the words: 'Enter into thy closet, and when. thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee.' 'If that means anything, it means that if you sincerely pray to God He will reveal Himself to you.'
"'But of what use to pray to God if you don't believe there is a God?'
"For an instant I was perplexed. But a thought flashed across me, and although I never had given such counsel to any man before, I gave utterance to it, for I felt guided.
"'It makes no difference,' I replied, 'provided you are sincere. God will not disregard any genuine effort to draw near to Him. Go and pray, if only like the famous Thistlewood conspirator: "Oh, God, if there be a God, save my soul, if I have a soul."'
"'Anything more?' said he.
"'Yes,' and I opened to John 7:17, and read: If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine."That means that if you act up to whatever light you have, you shall have more light. In God's school, we never are taught a second lesson till -we practice the first. "Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord."
"'I have given you three texts already to ponder and study. I wish to add one more: Matt. 11:28, 29, 30, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." That means that if you come directly to Jesus Christ, He will give you rest. Now notice these four texts. One bids you to search the Scriptures; one, to pray in secret ; one, to put in practice whatever you know ; and the last, to come to Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour.'
"'Is that all?' he inquired.
"'That is all. Will you promise me to go and follow this simple prescription?'
"'I will.'
"After kneeling in prayer together, this Ingersollite left me. Two weeks later, at the close of service, I gave a similar invitation to inquirers. The congregation was scarcely half out of the house, when this same man came towards me, with both hands extended and his face beaming. 'I have found God and Christ, and I am a happy man!'
"He sat beside me and told me the fascinating story. He had gone home that Sunday night, taken out from his trunk the Bible his mother had put there when he left home; had opened it and knelt before the unseen God. He simply, sincerely asked that if there were a God at all, and if the Bible were the Word of God, and Jesus Christ His Son and the Saviour of man, it might be shown him plainly. As he read and prayed and sought for light, light was given; he humbly tried to follow every ray and to walk in the light, and the path became clearer and plainer and the light fuller and brighter, until his eyes rested in faith upon Jesus."
http://www.biblebelievers.com/pierson1.html

Okla. lawmaker Kern heckled as she launches 'morality proclamation'
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A state lawmaker who made national headlines by claiming homosexuality is a greater threat to the United States than terrorism was heckled by protesters as she launched a campaign for a morality proclamation that opponents said promotes an atmosphere of hate.
Rep. Sally Kern said the U.S. is drifting from traditional Christian values as she sought signatures for her petition at a state Capitol rally attended by about 250 people including ministers and their followers, four other state lawmakers, and protesters who shouted "shame on you" and "hypocrite."
"You are seeing a wonderful demonstration of intolerance," the conservative Republican from Oklahoma City said of the hecklers.
Among other things, the proclamation says, "This nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion, pornography, same-sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse and many other forms of debauchery."
The proclamation declares the federal government "is forsaking the rich Christian heritage upon which this nation was built."
Last year, gay and lesbian groups demanded Kern apologize after she told a political group that "the homosexual agenda is just destroying this nation" and poses a bigger threat to the United States than terrorism.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-07-09-kern-gay_N.htm

Pope calls for 'God-centered' global economy
Pope Benedict XVI today called for reforming the United Nations and establishing a "true world political authority" with "real teeth" to manage the global economy with God-centered ethics.
In his third encyclical, a major teaching, released as the G-8 summit begins in Italy, the pope says such an authority is urgently needed to end the current worldwide financial crisis. It should "revive" damaged economies, reach toward "disarmament, food security and peace," protect the environment and "regulate migration."
Benedict writes, "The market is not, and must not become, the place where the strong subdue the weak."
The encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth) is a theologically dense explication of Catholic social teaching that draws heavily from earlier popes, particularly PaulVI's critique of capitalism 42 years ago. And echoing his predecessor John Paul II, Benedict says, "every economic decision has a moral consequence."
Issued days before his Friday meeting with President Obama, the pope's views here are "to the left of Obama in terms of economic policy," particularly in calls for redistribution of wealth, says political scientist Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
The encyclical also echoes Benedict's many speeches, saying that to reach sound a global economy every responsibility and commitment must be rooted in the values of Christian truth.
Without that, he says, "there is no social conscience and responsibility." Neither, he says, are mere "good sentiments" enough. Human progress requires God, and today's choices concern "nothing less than the destiny of man."
Although Benedict says the church has no "technical solutions to offer," he asserts that religion has a role in the public square. His very specific suggestions on the economy, ecology and justice are addressed not just to Catholics, but to everyone, from heads of state to household shoppers.
According to the encyclical:
•Labor must be safeguarded after years of rampant market forces leaving citizens powerless in the face of "new and old risks" and without effective trade union protections.
•Elimination of world hunger is essential for "safeguarding the peace and stability of the planet," and the problem is not resources but their inequitable distribution.
"Demographic control" through an "anti-birth mentality" that promotes abortion and birth control "cannot lead to morally sound development." He blasts those who support abortion "as if it were a form of cultural progress."
•The environment is "God's gift to everyone" and we have a "grave duty to hand the earth on to future generations" in good condition, says Benedict. He laments, "how many natural resources are squandered by wars!"
•"Financiers must rediscover" ethics and not use "sophisticated instruments" to "betray the interests of savers."
•Consumers, must "realize that purchasing is always a moral — and not simple economic — act." In this context, the ecological crisis is seen as a crisis in human ecology.
"The pope is saying you need just structures and people who act justly," says Steve Colecchi, director of the office of international justice and peace for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "He's calling on every level of society to be rooted in an ethical vision of the human person."
The "true world political authority" that Benedict calls for should keep solutions as simple and local as possible but still create solidarity for the common good.
Reese notes the "strong language here on the redistribution of wealth — not something people like to talk about in the USA. If the Catholic right is against the redistribution of wealth, they're against the pope. He doesn't believe an unregulated marketplace is going to solve all the problems of economy and poverty."
Kirk Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara (Calif.) University, praised Benedict for including an emphasis on "life ethics" as "essential" to a healthy social and economic order.
Lew Daly, senior fellow at Demos, a New York City-based public policy organization and author of God's Economy: Faith-Based Initiatives and the Caring State, praised the text as "a turning point for the church and particularly for the American church, because our nation and our society is both the epicenter of wealth and the epicenter of inequality.
"Nearly half of the world's population lives on less than $2.50 a day and nearly 80% live on less than $10 a day. In the meantime a relative handful of corporations and wealthy families have grown rich far beyond the greatest emperors and kings of the past.
"There may be growth, but a faithful Catholic does not call this progress, the pope argues, until the growth is more equitably shared according to the design of the Creator," says Daly.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-07-07-pope-encyclical_N.htm

Ginsburg: I thought Roe was to rid undesirables
Justice discusses 'growth in populations that we don't want to have too many of'
In an astonishing admission, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she was under the impression that legalizing abortion with the 1973 Roe. v. Wade case would eliminate undesirable members of the populace, or as she put it "populations that we don't want to have too many of."
Her remarks, set to be published in the New York Times Magazine this Sunday but viewable online now, came in an in-depth interview with Emily Bazelon titled, "The Place of Women on the Court."
The 16-year veteran of the high court was asked if she were a lawyer again, what would she "want to accomplish as a future feminist legal agenda."
Ginsburg responded:
Reproductive choice has to be straightened out. There will never be a woman of means without choice anymore. That just seems to me so obvious. The states that had changed their abortion laws before Roe [to make abortion legal] are not going to change back. So we have a policy that affects only poor women, and it can never be otherwise, and I don't know why this hasn't been said more often.
Question: Are you talking about the distances women have to travel because in parts of the country, abortion is essentially unavailable, because there are so few doctors and clinics that do the procedure? And also, the lack of Medicaid for abortions for poor women?
Ginsburg: Yes, the ruling about that surprised me. [Harris v. McRae – in 1980 the court upheld the Hyde Amendment, which forbids the use of Medicaid for abortions.] Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don't want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion. Which some people felt would risk coercing women into having abortions when they didn't really want them. But when the court decided McRae, the case came out the other way. And then I realized that my perception of it had been altogether wrong.
When pressed to explain what she meant by reproductive rights needing to be straightened out, Ginsburg said, "The basic thing is that the government has no business making that choice for a woman."

Asked if that meant getting rid of the test the court imposed, in which it allows states to impose restrictions on abortion such as a waiting period, the justice said she was "not a big fan of these tests."

I think the court uses them as a label that accommodates the result it wants to reach. It will be, it should be, that this is a woman's decision. It's entirely appropriate to say it has to be an informed decision, but that doesn't mean you can keep a woman overnight who has traveled a great distance to get to the clinic, so that she has to go to some motel and think it over for 24 hours or 48 hours.
I still think, although I was much too optimistic in the early days, that the possibility of stopping a pregnancy very early is significant. The morning-after pill will become more accessible and easier to take. So I think the side that wants to take the choice away from women and give it to the state, they're fighting a losing battle. Time is on the side of change.
Three years ago, Ginsburg received some embarrassing national attention when she napped on the bench during a court hearing.
"Justices David Souter and Samuel Alito, who flank the 72-year-old, looked at her but did not give her a nudge," reported Gina Holland of the Associated Press.
The incident caught the attention of Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank, who said:
"At first, she appeared to be reading something in her lap. But after a while, it became clear: Ginsburg was napping on the bench. By Bloomberg News's reckoning – not denied by a court spokeswoman – Ginsburg's snooze lasted a quarter of an hour.
"It's lucky for Ginsburg that the Supreme Court has so far refused to allow television in the courtroom, for her visit to the land of nod would have found its way onto late-night shows."
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=103457

Eeyores news and view

The above cartoon is great to post one the one year aniversry of the Heller case against DC ans for the people.

There is a lot of unrest around the world right now. Here are a few articles today

Honduras torn between ousted leader, replacement
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) - Honduras is now torn between two presidents: one legally recognized by world bodies after he was deposed and forced from the country by his own soldiers, and another supported by the Central American nation's congress, courts and military.
Presidents from around Latin America were gathering in Nicaragua for meetings Monday to resolve the first military overthrow of a Central American government in 16 years, and once again Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took center stage, casting the dispute as a rebellion by the region's poor.
"If the oligarchies break the rules of the game as they have done, the people have the right to resistance and combat, and we are with them," Chavez said in the Nicaraguan capital, Managua.
There is a deep rift between the outside world - which is clamoring for the return of democratically elected, but largely unpopular and soon-to-leave-office President Manuel Zelaya - and congressionally designated successor Roberto Micheletti.
Micheletti rejected any outside interference and declared a two-night curfew, while Chavez vowed that "we will overthrow (Micheletti)."
Zelaya was seized by soldiers and hustled aboard a plane to Costa Rica early Sunday, just hours before a rogue referendum Zelaya had called in defiance of the courts and Congress, and which his opponents said was an attempt to remain in power after his term ends Jan. 27.
The Honduran constitution limits presidents to a single 4-year term, and Zelaya's opponents feared he would use the referendum results to try to run again, just as Chavez reformed his country's constitution to be able to seek re-election repeatedly.
Micheletti said the army acted on orders from the courts, and the ouster was carried out "to defend respect for the law and the principles of democracy." But he threatened to jail Zelaya and put him on trial if he returned. Micheletti also hit back at Chavez, saying "nobody, not Barack Obama and much less Hugo Chavez, has any right to threaten this country."
Earlier, Obama said in a statement he was "deeply concerned" about the events, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Zelaya's arrest should be condemned.
"I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter," Obama's statement read.
For those conditions to be met, Zelaya must be returned to power, U.S. officials said.
Two senior Obama administration officials told reporters that U.S. diplomats were working to ensure Zelaya's safe return.
The officials said the Obama administration in recent days had warned Honduran power players, including the armed forces, that the U.S. would not support a coup, but Honduran military leaders stopped taking their calls.
Zelaya said soldiers seized him in his pajamas at gunpoint in what he called a "coup" and a "kidnapping." The United Nations, the Organization of American States and governments throughout Latin America called for Zelaya to be allowed to resume office.
"I want to return to my country. I am president of Honduras," Zelaya said Sunday before traveling to Managua on one of Chavez's planes for regional meetings of Central American leaders and Chavez's leftist alliance of nations, known as ALBA.
Zelaya's call for civil disobedience and peaceful resistance appeared to gain only modest support in Honduras, where a few hundred people turned out at government buildings to jeer soldiers and chant "Traitors!"
Some of Zelaya's Cabinet members were detained by soldiers or police following his ouster, according to former government official Armando Sarmiento. And the rights group Freedom of Expression said leftist legislator Cesar Ham had died in a shootout with soldiers trying to detain him.
A Honduran Security Department spokesman said he had no information on Ham.
Armored military vehicles with machine guns rolled through the streets of the Honduran capital and soldiers seized the national palace, but no other incidents of violence were reported.
Sunday afternoon, Congress voted to accept what it said was Zelaya's letter of resignation, with even the president's former allies turning against him. Micheletti, who as leader of Congress is in line to fill any vacancy in the presidency, was sworn in to serve until Zelaya's term ends.
Micheletti belongs to Zelaya's Liberal Party, but opposed the president in the referendum.
Micheletti acknowledged that he had not spoken to any Latin American heads of state, but said, "I'm sure that 80 to 90 percent of the Honduran population is happy with what happened today."
The Organization of American States approved a resolution Sunday demanding "the immediate, safe and unconditional return of the constitutional president, Manuel Zelaya."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the coup and "urges the reinstatement of the democratically elected representatives of the country," said his spokeswoman, Michele Montas.
The Rio Group, which comprises 23 nations from the hemisphere, issued a statement condemning "the coup d'etat" and calling for Zelaya's "immediate and unconditional restoration to his duties."
And Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou canceled a planned visit to Honduras, one of just 23 countries that still recognize the self-governing island.
Coups were common in Central America for four decades reaching back to the 1950s, but Sunday's ouster was the first military power grab in Latin America since a brief, failed 2002 coup against Chavez. It was the first in Central America since military officials forced President Jorge Serrano of Guatemala to step down in 1993 after he tried to dissolve Congress and suspend the constitution.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090629/D99493GO0.html

Chavez threatens military action over Honduras coup
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday put troops on alert after a coup in Honduras and said he would respond militarily if his envoy to the Central American country was kidnapped or killed.
Chavez said Honduran soldiers took away the Cuban ambassador and left the Venezuelan ambassador on the side of a road after beating him during the army's coup against his leftist ally, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.
The Honduran army ousted Zelaya and exiled him in Central America's first military coup since the Cold War, after he upset the army by trying to win re-election.
Chavez said on state television if his ambassador to Venezuela was killed, or if troops entered the Venezuelan Embassy, "that military junta would be entering a de facto state of war. We would have to act militarily ... I have put the armed forces of Venezuela on alert."
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, part of a coalition of leftist governments headed by Chavez that includes Honduras, said he would support military action if Ecuador's diplomats or those of its allies were threatened.
The socialist Chavez has in the past threatened to use his armed forces in the region but never followed through. He said that if a new government is sworn in after the coup it would be defeated.
"We will bring them down, we will bring them down, I tell you," he said, while hundreds of red-shirted supporters gathered outside Venezuela's presidential palace in solidarity with Zelaya.
HISTORY OF COUPS
The United States has long accused the Venezuelan former soldier of being a destabilizing force in Latin America. Chavez himself tried to take power in a coup in 1992 and was briefly ousted in a 2002 putsch but was reinstated after protests.
Chavez, who accused the administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush of backing his removal, said there should be an investigation into whether Washington had a hand in Zelaya's ouster.
"They will have to get to the bottom of how much of a hand the CIA and other imperial bodies had in this," he said.
The White House denied any U.S. participation in the coup. "There was no U.S. involvement in this action against President Zelaya," a White House official told Reuters.
President Barack Obama said he was deeply concerned by the events in Honduras and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton condemned the action taken against Zelaya. A senior U.S. official said Washington recognizes only Zelaya as president.
The United States supported a number of military coups in Central America during the Cold War and used Honduras as a base for its counter-insurgency operations in the region in the 1980s.
Washington still has several hundred troops stationed at Soto Cano Air Base, a Honduran military installation that is also the headquarters for a regional U.S. joint task force that conducts humanitarian, drug and disaster relief operations.
Chavez and other Latin American leaders from his ALBA coalition, including Ecuador's President Rafael Correa and Bolivia's President Evo Morales, were headed to Nicaragua on Sunday to discuss what action to take over Honduras.
ALBA's nine members also include Cuba, Honduras and Nicaragua. Ecuador said Sunday it will not recognize any new government in Honduras.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE55R1S820090628?sp=true

NKorea criticizes US missile defense for Hawaii
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea criticized the U.S. on Monday for positioning missile defense systems around Hawaii, calling the deployment part of a plot to attack the regime and saying it would bolster its nuclear arsenal in retaliation.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he ordered the deployment of a ground-based, mobile missile intercept system and radar system to Hawaii amid concerns the North may fire a long-range missile toward the islands, about 4,500 miles away.
"Through the U.S. forces' clamorous movements, it has been brought to light that the U.S. attempt to launch a pre-emptive strike on our republic has become a brutal fact," the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary.
The paper also accused the U.S. of deploying nuclear-powered aircraft and atomic-armed submarines in waters near the Korean peninsula, saying the moves prove "the U.S. pre-emptive nuclear war" on the North is imminent.
... (more of the article at the link)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/29/AR2009062900307_pf.html

Russia Holds Major War Games In Caucasus
Russia Holds Largest War Games Since War With Georgia _ In Signal To Georgia, And To US
Thousands of troops, backed by hundreds of tanks, artillery and other heavy weaponry, began rumbling through the North Caucasus on Monday, as Russia began its largest military exercises since last year's war with Georgia.
The Caucasus 2009 war games are being seen by many experts as a warning shot for nearby Georgia, where the government says it has rearmed armed forces and where NATO recently wrapped up its own exercises.
Experts say the exercises may also be signal to the United States that Russia will give no ground on its efforts to maintain an exclusive sphere of influence in Georgia and other former Soviet republics. The games run through July 6 _ the day that President Barack Obama arrives in Moscow for a highly anticipated summit with Russia's Dmitry Medvedev.
Defense Ministry official say more than 8,500 troops will take part, along with nearly 200 tanks, armored vehicles, 100 artillery units and several units from Russia's Black Sea naval fleet.
... (read more of the story at this link)
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/29/ap/europe/main5120564.shtml

China's banks are an accident waiting to happen to every one of us
Fitch Ratings has been warning for some time that China's lenders are wading into dangerous water
China's banks are veering out of control. The half-reformed economy of the People's Republic cannot absorb the $1,000bn (£600bn) blitz of new lending issued since December.
Money is leaking instead into Shanghai's stock casino, or being used to keep bankrupt builders on life support. It is doing very little to help lift the world economy out of slump.
Fitch Ratings has been warning for some time that China's lenders are wading into dangerous waters, but its latest report is even grimmer than bears had suspected.
"With much of the world immersed in crisis, China appears to be one of the few countries where the financial system continues to function largely without a glitch, but Fitch is growing increasingly wary," it said.
"Future losses on stimulus could turn out to be larger than expected, and it is unclear what share the central and/or local governments ultimately will be willing or able to bear."
... (more of the article is at the following link)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/5675198/Chinas-banks-are-an-accident-waiting-to-happen-to-every-one-of-us.html

Eeyores news and view

WHO declares first flu pandemic in 41 years
The World Health Organization scaled up its flu warning to its highest level Thursday, declaring the first global influenza epidemic in 41 years as cases of H1N1 continued to mount in the USA, Europe, Latin America and Australia.
The WHO informed member nations of its decision after holding an emergency meeting in Geneva. Although the agency describes the pandemic as "moderate in severity," the ruling will spur governments to step up preventive efforts and vaccine makers to develop a vaccine in time to stave off an expected glut of cases in the fall flu season in the Northern Hemisphere.
"At this early stage, the pandemic can be characterized globally as being moderate in severity," the WHO said in a statement to member nations, urging them not to take radical steps like closing their borders or restricting trade or travel.
On Wednesday, the WHO said 74 countries had reported nearly 27,737 cases of H1N1 flu, including 141 deaths.
H1N1, better know as swine flu, is also continuing to spread during the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Normally, flu viruses disappear with warm weather, but swine flu is proving to be resilient.
The agency has detailed information on 201 of the 1,027 hospitalized patients, showing that 41% suffered from pneumonia, 16% required mechanical assistance with breathing and 8% died.
About half of the people who have died from the new H1N1 flu were young and healthy, which is more typical of H1N1 flu varieties than of other strains, says CDC spokesman Thomas Skinner.
Th statitics are dramatic: Of 27 deaths in the USA, 17 occurred in people from 24 to 65 years old. Only 9 occurred in people younger than 24 and one in a patient older than 65.
The last pandemic — the Hong Kong flu of 1968 — killed about 1 million people worldwide. Ordinary flu kills about 250,000 to 500,000 people each year.
Many health experts say WHO's pandemic declaration could have come weeks earlier but the agency became bogged down by politics. In May, several countries urged WHO not to declare a pandemic, fearing it would cause social and economic turmoil.
"This is WHO finally catching up with the facts," said Michael Osterholm, a flu expert at the University of Minnesota who has advised the U.S. government on pandemic preparations.
Fear has already gripped Argentina, where thousands of people worried about swine flu flooded into hospitals this week, bringing emergency health services in the capital of Buenos Aires to the brink of collapse. Last month, a bus arriving in Argentina from Chile was stoned by people who thought a passenger on it had swine flu. Chile has the most swine flu cases in South America.
In Hong Kong on Thursday, the government ordered all kindergartens and primary schools closed for two weeks after a dozen students tested positive for swine flu — a move that some flu experts would consider an overreaction.
The U.S. government recently set aside $1 billion for the development of a new vaccine against the novel virus. On Tuesday, the White House asked Congress for approval to spend up to $9 billion more for a vaccine and other preventive measures.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-06-11-swine-flu-pandemic_N.htm

Here are two articles that are a sign of the near future for us here.
Top French court rips heart out of Sarkozy internet law
France's highest court has inflicted an embarrassing blow to President Sarkozy by cutting the heart out of a law that was supposed to put France in the forefront of the fight against piracy on the internet.
The Constitutional Council declared access to the internet to be a basic human right, directly opposing the key points of Mr Sarkozy's law, passed in April, which created the first internet police agency in the democratic world.
The strongly-worded decision means that Mr Sarkozy's scheme has backfired and inadvertently boosted those who defend the free-for-all culture of the web.
Mr Sarkozy and Christine Albanel, his Culture Minister, forced the law through parliament despite misgivings from many of the President's centre-right MPs. It was rejected in its first passage through Parliament.
COMMENT: the law is now effectively dead
The law innovated by creating an agency, known by its initials HADOPI, which would track abusers and cut off net access automatically to those who continued to download illicitly after two warnings.
The law was supported by the industry and many artists. They saw it as a model for the USA and Europe in the fight to keep earning a living from their music and film. Net libertarians saw it as the creation of a sinister Big Brother. Many called it technically unworkable. Some artists saw it as hostile to the young consumers who are their main customers.
The Socialist opposition appealed to the council on the grounds that the constitution was breached by the creation of an extra-judicial agency with powers to punish internet offenders.
The council, which includes two former presidents and is usually seen as elderly and out-of-touch, gave the Left more than it was hoping for.
Les sages – the wise men – as the council is known, took the teeth out of the law. They ruled that "free access to public communication services online" is a right laid down in the Declaration of Human Rights, which is in the preamble to the French constitution. It also said the law breached privacy by enabling the HADOPI agency to track people's internet activity.
It agreed that the law reached the separation of powers because if gave an administrative authority power to impose justice. And to boot, it violated the presumption of innocence because alleged pirates would be cut off without being able to defend themselves, the council said.
The Government insisted today that the HADOPI law would still be put into force, without its censured sections. Ms Albanel, whose job is now on the line, said that the agency would still send warnings to abusers although it was not clear how it would track them. It would then be up to prosecutors and the courts to take action, she said.
That situation already exists and does not work in France and most other countries. Courts do not have time to haul in the millions of ordinary users who pilfer copyright material online.
While bloggers and internet users cheered the council decision, announced last night, the affair has left a bad taste in the entertainment world. Young musicians opposed the law as a weapon designed to protect the big recording companies.
Old-school leftists like Juliette Greco, the grande dame of Left Bank song in the 1950s, strongly supported the crackdown and reproached the Socialists for betraying artists with their opposition to the law.
Patrick Bruel, a middle-aged popular singer with leftwing views, railed against the council decision this morning. Downloading a song free is like walking out of the bakers' with a baguette and refusing to pay for it, he said.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6478542.ece

Climate laws add to police workload
FRONTLINE police will be forced to become "carbon cops" under the Government's blueprint to cut greenhouse emissions.
The Herald Sun can reveal Australian Federal Police agents will have to prosecute a new range of climate offences.
But they are yet to be offered extra resources, stretching the thin blue line to breaking point.
"The Government is effectively saying to us, 'Ignore other crime types'," Australian Federal Police Association chief Jim Torr said.
The group had been trying for months, without success, to discuss the issue with Climate Change Minister Penny Wong, he said.
Interpol has warned the carbon market will be irresistible to criminal gangs because of the vast amounts of cash to be made. Possible rorts include under-reporting of carbon emissions by firms and bogus carbon offset schemes.
"If someone is rorting it by even 1 per cent a year, we're talking about many, many millions of dollars," Mr Torr said.
Ms Wong's office said AFP agents would be expected to enter premises and request paperwork to monitor firms' emissions reductions. They would act on the 30-strong Australian Climate Change Regulatory Authority's orders.
It said the authority could appoint staff members or police as inspectors.
She said the Department of Climate Change had spoken to the AFPA and the parties would talk again. Carbon trading involves carbon emissions rights buying and selling. Businesses can offset emissions by investing in climate-friendly projects, or carbon credits.
Ms Wong's office said provisions had been made to ensure compliance. "Inspectors may enter premises and exercise other monitoring powers," she said. "The inspectors may ask questions and seek the production of documents. There is provision for the issue of monitoring warrants by magistrates."
The AFP's 2855 sworn agents are involved in law enforcement in Australia and overseas, investigating terrorist threats, drug syndicates, people trafficking, fraud and threats against children.
Mr Torr said breaking carbon trading laws would be like breaking other laws. "These offences will constitute another federal crime type, along with narcotics importing, people smuggling and all the rest of it, that the AFP will be expected to police," he said. "I can see very complex, covert investigations . . . a lot of scientific expertise required."
The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is facing Senate defeat unless it can secure the support of key cross-benchers or the Opposition.
Opposition climate change spokesman Andrew Robb said the scheme was problematic
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25623185-661,00.html

It is not enough that he wants to micromange the car makers and the banks now he wants to get into telling them what they can pay?
US government seeks to rein in executive pay
Democrats want to push administration on US corporate pay strategies
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration is taking a half-step toward taming U.S. executive pay. Some lawmakers prefer a fuller stride.
Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee said Thursday the administration's efforts to hector the private sector into reining in executive pay might not go far enough.
The administration contends that excessive compensation contributed to the U.S. financial crisis, but rejects direct intervention in corporate pay decisions.
Instead, the administration plans to seek legislation that would try to rein in compensation at publicly traded companies through nonbinding shareholder votes and less management influence on pay decisions.
"I do differ with the administration in that hope springs eternal and their position seems to be that if we strengthen the compensation committees we will do better," said the committee chairman, Rep. Barney Frank, a Democrat.
Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat, said that instead of giving shareholders a nonbinding voice on pay, their votes should be binding on boards of directors.
Democrats and administration officials agreed that companies across the private sector need to adjust compensation practices to avoid damaging the economy.
Gene Sperling, a counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, said administration guidelines call on all publicly held companies to link compensation to long-term performance, not short-term gains.
"We believe that compensation practices must be better aligned with long-term value and prudent risk management at all firms, and not just for the financial services industry," Sperling said.
The committee also heard from officials from the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
While the administration has approached the issue with caution, a top Republican said the plans amounted to "incessant government intervention."
"The president cannot continue his heavy-handed meddling in the private sector and expect it to function, much less flourish," said Rep. Tom Price, chairman of the Republican Study Committee.
Alabama Rep. Spencer Bachus, the top Republican on the committee, added: "We need to get government out of businesses."
The administration has drawn a sharp line between the overall corporate world and those institutions that have tapped the government's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.
On Wednesday, it set pay limits on companies that receive TARP assistance, with the toughest restrictions aimed at seven recipients of "exceptional assistance." They are Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., General Motors Corp., Chrysler LLC, American International Group Inc., GMAC LLC and Chrysler Financial.
The regulations limit top executives of companies that receive TARP funds to bonuses of no more than one-third of their annual salaries.
The administration named Kenneth Feinberg, a lawyer who oversaw payments to families of Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack victims, as a "special master" with power to reject pay plans he deems excessive at the seven companies with the biggest injections of public money. Feinberg also would have authority to review compensation for the top 100 salaried employees at those companies.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Administration-Rein-in-pay-apf-15500519.html?.v=6

Eeyores news and view

I thought it was the "rightwing" terrorist that were the concern?
FBI's newest 'Most Wanted' terrorist is American
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time, an accused domestic terrorist is being added to the FBI's list of "Most Wanted" terror suspects.
Daniel Andreas San Diego, a 31-year-old computer specialist from Berkeley, Calif., is wanted for the 2003 bombings of two corporate offices in California.
Authorities describe San Diego as an animal rights activist who turned to bomb attacks. They say wears a tattoo that reads: "It only takes a spark."
A law enforcement official said the FBI was to announce Tuesday that San Diego was being added to the "Most Wanted" terrorist list. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the announcement ahead of time.
San Diego would be the 24th person on the list, and the only domestic terror suspect.
The move to add a domestic, left-wing terrorist to the list comes only days after the Obama administration was criticized for internal reports suggesting some military veterans could be susceptible to right-wing extremist recruiters or commit lone acts of violence. That prompted angry reactions from some lawmakers and veterans groups.
An arrest warrant was issued for San Diego after the 2003 bombings in northern California of the corporate offices of Chiron Corp., a biotechnology firm, and at Shaklee Corp., a nutrition and cosmetics company. The explosions caused minor damages and no injuries.
A group calling itself "Revolutionary Cells" took responsibility for the blasts, telling followers in a series of e-mails that Chiron and Shaklee had been targeted for their ties to a research company that conducted drug and chemical experiments on animals.
Officials have offered a $250,000 reward for information leading to San Diego's capture, five times the reward amounts offered for other so-called eco-terrorists wanted in the U.S.
In February, the FBI announced San Diego may be living in Costa Rica, possibly working with Americans or people who speak English in the Central American country.
Law enforcement officials describe San Diego as a strict vegan who possesses a 9mm handgun. On his abdomen, he has images of burning and collapsing buildings.
The FBI's "Most Wanted" terrorist list is distinct from the much longer-running "Ten Most Wanted" list. Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is on both.
There is another American already on the list, but he is wanted for his work overseas for al-Qaeda. Adam Yahiye Gadahn grew up in California but moved to Pakistan and works as a translator and consultant to al-Qaeda.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-21-most-wanted-american_N.htm

Supreme Court limits warrantless vehicle searches April 21, 2009 - 10:42am
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that police need a warrant to search the vehicle of someone they have arrested if the person is locked up in a patrol cruiser and poses no safety threat to officers.
The court's 5-4 decision puts new limits on the ability of police to search a vehicle immediately after the arrest of a suspect.
Justice John Paul Stevens said in the majority opinion that warrantless searches still may be conducted if a car's passenger compartment is within reach of a suspect who has been removed from the vehicle or there is reason to believe evidence of a crime will be found.
"When these justifications are absent, a search of an arrestee's vehicle will be unreasonable unless police obtain a warrant," Stevens said.
Justice Samuel Alito, in dissent, complained that the decision upsets police practice that has developed since the court first authorized warrantless searches immediately following an arrest.
"There are cases in which it is unclear whether an arrestee could retrieve a weapon or evidence," Alito said.
Even more confusing, he said, is asking police to determine whether the vehicle contains evidence of a crime. "What this rule permits in a variety of situations is entirely unclear," Alito said.
The decision backs an Arizona high court ruling in favor of Rodney Joseph Gant, who was handcuffed, seated in the back of a patrol car and under police supervision when Tucson, Ariz., police officers searched his car. They found cocaine and drug paraphernalia.
The trial court said the evidence could be used against Gant, but Arizona appeals courts overturned the convictions because the officers already had secured the scene and thus faced no threat to their safety or concern about evidence being preserved.
The state and the Bush administration complained that ruling would impose a "dangerous and unworkable test" that would complicate the daily lives of law enforcement officers.
The justices divided in an unusual fashion. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia, David Souter and Clarence Thomas joined the majority opinion. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Stephen Breyer and Anthony Kennedy were in dissent along with Alito.
http://wtop.com/?nid=343&sid=1655492

12 nations open naval warfare exercises off Fla.
By RON WORD
Associated Press Writers
MAYPORT NAVAL STATION, Fla. -- Navies from the United States and 11 other countries on Monday launched two weeks of war exercises off Florida's Atlantic coast that will include training in combating piracy and drug smuggling.
Several Latin American countries, Canada and Germany are taking part in UNITAS Gold, which is now in its 50th year and is the Navy's longest-running yearly exercise. Hundreds of white-uniformed officers held a starting ceremony before embarking on ships, submarines and aircraft to begin training meant to foster naval cooperation throughout the Americas.
Sailors, Marines and other military forces will perform live-fire exercises, undersea warfare, helicopter and amphibious operations, among other training. More than 25 ships, four submarines, 6,500 sailors and 50 aircraft are taking part in the exercise hosted by the U.S. Navy's 4th Fleet, based at Mayport Naval Station just north of Jacksonville.
U.S. ships participating in the $7 million exercise are the amphibious transport dock ship, the USS Mesa Verde, the guided missile destroyer the USS Donald Cook; guided missile frigates, USS Doyle and USS Kauffman, and the U.S. Coast Guard ship Thetis.
Rear Adm. Joseph Kernan, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and of the U.S. 4th Fleet, opened the exercises Monday. It was the first time that UNITAS was being held off the mainland United States, although the Navy has hosted the annual event in Puerto Rico.
Kernan noted that multi-national forces are combating piracy off Somalia and said exercises such as UNITAS will help nations coordinate efforts to oppose that scourge.
"If piracy proliferates into the region, my belief is that exercises of this nature will allow us to address it effectively," he said.
Other countries involved in UNITAS exercises are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.
"As we move forward together, I am confident that future opportunities to work with our partners will not only strengthen our ability to operate together and provide for our nations' security, but will also build personal respect and friendships," he told them.
Kernan said he expected individual sailors and junior officers to benefit the most from the training. Several countries are also trading sailors so they can observe operations of their respective navies, officials said.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1008724.html

I thought it was Right wing terrorist that were the problem?
Middle America: The new face of terror April 21, 2009 - 4:49am
WASHINGTON - Abu Mansour Al-Amriki whispers as he reveals his plans to ambush a unit of Ethiopian and Somali forces just outside Baidoa in Somalia.
He can hardly contain his excitement as he lays out his plan into the camera.
"As they entered into our ambush, we began opening up with small arms fire."
The video is then peppered with the crackle of small arms-fire and smoke. After a brief firefight, al-Amriki, the commander of a Mujahideen Youth Movement unit, returns to the camera and gloats about a "David vs. Goliath" like accomplishment.
"We attacked a number that was much greater than our size. We were maybe somewhere around 30 to 40. Whereas the Ethiopians were said to be anywhere between 3,000 to 4,000.
Al-Amriki's appearance may surprise you. He's a white American who speaks English and is one of what may be a growing number of born and bred Americans fighting against the U.S. in the war against terrorism.
But these new faces get no special treatment.
U.S. air strikes in Pakistan last year created an urgent question for the U.S. government: Where's Adam Gadahn?
Gadahn is better known as "Azzam the American" from California. He is said to be a top adviser to Osama Bin Laden.
"We need to get information -- we need to find him," says Michael Darmiento, assistant director of the Diplomatic Security Service directorate with the Bureau of Diplomatic Security.
Gadahn is known as al-Qaida's American connection.
"There have been some new developments," Darmiento says. "There's a lot of information about him having been killed possibly."
Intelligence sources say he may have been with top al-Qaida associate Abu Laith al Libi, who died in a January missile strike. But Darmiento said he can't confirm that. Therefore, a $1 million reward was put on the table to find out one way or the other.
Al-Amriki, a Muslim convert, can be seen on numerous videos bragging and laughing about Mujahideen Youth Movement's conquests. Federal law enforcement sources say he has been in Somalia for about two years.
Unconfirmed reports indicate he is former member of U.S. Special Forces.
http://wtop.com/?nid=778&sid=1654838

Gov. Palin to receive her own AR-15NRA members, keep an eye out for your copy of American Rifleman, if it hasn't already arrived. According to the latest edition of the magazine, Bob Reynolds, owner of Templar Consulting LLC, will make a special presentation at the NRA Foundation Banquet on May 14.
It's a modified AR-15 (civilian version of the milspec M16 rifle), specially customized in honor of Gov. Sarah Palin. Chambered for .50 Beowulf instead of the standard 5.56mm cartridge, this special AR features several custom engravings. The Big Dipper is on the magazine well, an outline of the state of Alaska is on the stock, and on the upper receiver are a moose, the NRA logo and an inscription, "In Honor of Governor Sarah Palin."
"Gov. Palin stood up and announced she was a supporter of the Second Amendment," says Reynolds. "I was really excited about that. I feel like the NRA has done a lot for my rights. And I feel the Governor has, too. I just wanted to do something to give back. And since the Governor lives in Alaska, I thought .50 Beowulf was appropriate."
Reynolds actually made two of these very special AR's. One will be presented to the governor, and the other will be auctioned at the Banquet.
http://texas4palin.blogspot.com/2009/04/gov-palin-to-receive-her-own-ar-15.html

Eeyore's News and View

Iranian nuke plot vaporized in the city: NY banks unwittingly aided in material transfers, says DA
The Manhattan district attorney's office has smashed a sinister plot to smuggle nuclear weapons materials to Iran through unwitting New York banks, the Daily News has learned.
Officials plan to unseal a 118-count indictment Tuesday accusing a Chinese national of setting up a handful of fake companies to hide that he was selling millions of dollars in potential nuclear materials to Tehran.
"This case will cut off a major source of supply to Iran and it shows how they are going ahead full steam to get a nuclear bomb. Long-range missiles they pretty much have already," a law enforcement source close to the case said.
"We think it is one of the largest suppliers of weapons of mass destruction to Iran."
Experts say Iran, under the leadership of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, appears close to amassing enough nuclear material to make an atom bomb. A United Nations embargo bans Iran from acquiring the high-tech metals needed to make a long-range nuclear weapon a reality.
The indictment will outline the financial conspiracy behind 58 different transactions, including shipments of various banned materials from China to Iran between 2006 and late 2008.
Among them:
33,000 pounds of a specialized aluminum alloy used almost exclusively in long-range missile production.
66,000 pounds of tungsten copper plate, which is used in missile guidance systems.
53,900 pounds of maraging steel rods, a superhard metal used in uranium enrichment and to make the casings for nuclear bombs.
The recipient is believed to have been a subsidiary of the Iranian Defense Ministry.
The suspect, who is not believed to be in the U.S., set up four bogus import-export companies that did business with six Iranian shell firms, one source said.
"They took elaborate steps to conceal the identity of the shipper and the recipient," the source said.
The deals went through "several" New York banks, which cooperated when the alleged plot was uncovered.
"The New York banks were completely unaware," the source said.
Authorities first stumbled over the scheme seven months ago in an unrelated probe into Iranian money-laundering through Lloyd's, a British bank.
In January, Lloyd's paid a $350 million fine to settle accusations it "stripped" information from Iranian money transfers to New York banks, hiding where the cash came from.
Officials said they suspected that money was also used to finance Iran's nuke program.
"The important thing is to put sunlight on these deals," the law enforcement source said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/04/07/2009-04-07_iranian_nuke_plot_vaporized_in_the_city_-2.html

I posted two articles from the 411man, today the first here and the other at the bottom of the page
The Economy Is Contracting A Lot More Rapidly Than The Government Is Reporting, Per TrimTabs
Posted by Tyler Durden at 3:53 PM
TrimTabs is out with their most recent employment data, which compares to the earlier ADP report, that the market forgot about after the first 30 minutes of trading. According to TrimTabs "the U.S. economy lost 700,000 to 750,000 jobs in March as wages and salaries plunged 4.5% year-over-year. TrimTabs estimated that the economy shed 4.3 million jobs in the past 12 months, the largest annual job loss since 1970."
"Job losses have been accelerating in recent months," said Charles Biderman, CEO of TrimTabs. "Investors who think the economy is bottoming out are going to get quite a shock this spring." TrimTabs uses daily income tax withholdings into the U.S. Treasury to estimate changes in employment. According to TrimTabs, the country lost 2.1 million jobs in the past three months and 3.4 million jobs in the past six months.
Much more interestingly, TrimTabs estimates that Joe Schmoe's conviction that the market has bottomed is translating into returns to good ole spending behavior and savings rates are in fact lower than reported, meaning the as savings rates inevitably run up, the pain for the economy will just get so much worse.
TrimTabs reported that the personal savings rate in February was much lower than the 4.2% reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. "Real-time income tax data indicates that personal income is plummeting and that the savings rate was no more than 0.9% in February," said Biderman. "The only reason the savings rate was positive was that income tax refunds were up sharply relative to last year."
And to add to the gloom and doom, which Zero Hedge does not disagree with, TrimTabs concludes: "The key macroeconomic and liquidity indicators TrimTabs tracks show no sign of a bottom for the economy. The economy is still contracting a lot more rapidly than the government is reporting."
http://frc4u.org/phpbb/index.php?topic=792.0;topicseen

Salmonella found in central Calif. pistachio plant
April 7, 2009 - 6:39am
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Federal officials confirmed Monday they found traces of salmonella in a central California pistachio processing plant that sparked a nationwide recall of the nut.
The Food and Drug Administration said state and federal inspectors discovered the bacteria in "critical areas" at Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc., the second-largest pistachio processor in the nation.
FDA officials also said they found places at the facility where raw and roasted nuts could have become cross-contaminated with salmonella.
Setton Pistachio, which sells its nuts to Kraft Foods Inc. and 35 other wholesalers across the country, temporarily shut down after voluntarily recalling more than 2 million pounds of nuts last week.
The company expanded its recall on Monday to include all raw and roasted pistachios from its 2008 crop. A company spokeswoman did not immediately return messages seeking further details.
"The company is working closely with the FDA on this matter and is cooperating fully," Setton spokeswoman Fabia D'Arienzo said in a statement. "Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc. is committed to quality products and consumer safety, and is taking aggressive action to prevent the need for any future recalls."
Federal regulators say consumers should avoid eating pistachios or foods made with the nuts until they can determine that they don't contain any nuts that Setton has recalled. The FDA on Monday also advised wholesalers, retailers, and operators of restaurants and food service establishments against selling or serving any pistachios or pistachio products until they can figure out whether they came from Setton.
No illnesses from consumers eating tainted pistachios have been reported.
The contamination was discovered by a Kraft manufacturer in Illinois, where workers doing routine testing found the bacteria in roasted pistachios about to go into trail mix. Officials traced the source back to the Terra Bella plant that supplied the nuts.
Pistachios are used in everything from ice cream to cake mixes, and the FDA believes more recalls are imminent.
Salmonella, the most common cause of food-borne illness, causes diarrhea, fever and cramping. Most people recover, but the infection can be life-threatening for children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.
Roasting is supposed to kill the bacteria in nuts. But problems can occur if the roasting is not done correctly or if roasted nuts are re-contaminated.
http://wtop.com/?nid=104&sid=1637137

Fed announces credit lines with 4 central banks
WASHINGTON (AP) — Five central banks in Europe, Japan and the United States have agreed currency swap lines that enable the Federal Reserve to provide euro, yen, sterling and Swiss francs to U.S. financial institutions, the Fed said Monday.
Under the agreement, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank of Japan would offer their domestic currencies to the Fed for lending to U.S. financial institutions, should the need arise, the Fed said.
The Fed said it will provide up to $45 billion to the Bank of England, $108 billion to the European Central Bank, $99 billion to the Bank of Japan and $35 billion to the Swiss National Bank.
Under currency swap arrangements, which were common last fall when the credit crisis intensified, the Fed provides dollars in exchange for reserves of the other nations' currencies.
The credit lines are intended to improve credit conditions in global financial markets by increasing the international availability of U.S. dollars.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2009-04-06-fed-swap_N.htm

Found this one Posted by 411man at FRC
World Bank President Admits Agenda For Global Government http://www.infowars.com/world-bank-president-admits-agenda-for-global-government/
Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet.com
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
World Bank President and Bilderberg elitist Robert Zoellick openly admitted the plan to eliminate national sovereignty and impose a global government during a speech on the eve of the G20 summit.
Speaking about the agenda to increase not just funding but power for international organizations on the back of the financial crisis, Zoellick stated, “If leaders are serious about creating new global responsibilities or governance, let them start by modernising multilateralism to empower the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank Group to monitor national policies.”
In other words, give global institutions the power to regulate national policy as part of the creation of global government.
What Zoellick is outlining is essentially the end of national sovereignty and the reclassification of national governments as mere subordinates to a global authority that is completely unaccountable to the voting public of any country.
The more cynical amongst us would call this a global dictatorship. Zoellick couches the plan in flowery rhetoric of helping the poor and alleviating poverty, but as we have documented for years, the global elite’s goal of world government has little to do with saving the planet and everything to do with creating a global fascist state.
Zoellick, former Executive Vice President of Fannie Mae and advisor to Goldman Sachs, is a top elitist who was intimately involved in the Enron scandal and the 2000 presidential election debacle. He was also a signatory to the Project For A New American century document that called for invading Iraq as part of implementing a brutal world empire in 1998. He was later a foreign policy advisor to George W. Bush.
As to be expected, Zoellick is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. He also attended the annual invitation-only conferences of the Bilderberg Group in 1991, 2003, 2006 and 2007.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will use the G20 summit in London to extend an olive branch to China, offering them a central role in the construction of a new world order and a global government, according to reports.
“Brown will hold talks with Hu Jintao, China’s president, following discussions with Barack Obama, amid signs that developing countries see the G20 summit as a chance to impose a new world order and end the era of Anglo-European dominance,” reports the Guardian.
Under the proposal, China will vastly increase its IMF funding in return for more voting rights.
A central focus of the G20 summit will be the proposal to supplant the dollar with a new global currency. Both the IMF and the United Nations threw their weight behind the implementation of a new global reserve currency system to replace the dollar, in the same week that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told CFR globalists that he was “open” to the idea.
China and Russia brought the issue to the forefront of this week’s G20 when they jointly called for a new global reserve currency a week ago.
Brown has consistently called for global regulation of the financial system as a means towards global governance. In a speech at St Paul’s Cathedral in London yesterday he again called for a new “global society”.
http://frc4u.org/phpbb/index.php?topic=750.0

Eeyore's News and View

This to me is stupid, it makes as much sense as mandating corn based ethanol. Why when we are having trouble feed our families (and the world) would you purposely cut back on food production?
ABC: Judge Cuts Water to California Farmers to Save Endangered Fish
By Brad Wilmouth
Created 2009-03-31 10:29
On the March 28 World News Saturday, ABC gave rare attention to the plight of drought-stricken farmers in California who have been denied access to a major water supply by a judge citing the Endangered Species Act to protect a type of fish. During a story recounting the unusual level of problems facing these farmers – a recession coinciding with drought – correspondent Lisa Fletcher informed viewers: "And for the first time ever, farmers may be completely cut off from one of their sources of water. Farmers don't have access to this water that runs right through the center of their farmland. It is being allocated to the delta smelt, a little fish protected by the Endangered Species Act. Conservationists say the smelt are dying in the irrigation pumps, so a judge ruled they must be shut off for much of the growing season."
Fletcher then told of an almond farmer who is now forced to spend $600,000 digging his own well. Fletcher: "That hits almond farmers, like Shawn Coburn, particularly hard. Ninety percent of the nation's almonds come from this valley, and almond trees need a lot of water. ... So Coburn is spending $600,000 to dig a new well, and he hopes to buy himself some time."
The report ended with a soundbite of Firebaugh, California, city manager Jose Ramirez pleading for more water: "All our people want here is a job. That's all we want. You let the water flow, food will grow, and jobs will flow after that, and we're in business."
Below is a complete transcript of the story from the March 28 World News Saturday on ABC:
DAN HARRIS: In California, the problem is not too much wet weather, but not enough of it. A drought combined with the bad economy have delivered a one-two punch to the Central Valley, where much of the nation's food is grown. 100,000 acres went unplanted last year, and this year, it could be 750,000 acres. Economists say that will mean $1.5 billion in lost income and the elimination of 40,000 jobs. Lisa Fletcher is in California tonight.
LISA FLETCHER: In just a glance, you know something is very wrong.
PETE RAMIREZ, CROP DUSTER: It's like a desert. A couple of years ago, it was all farmland and everybody had a job.
THEDA LAWRENCE, MENDOTA: What are the people gonna do? How are they gonna eat whenever there's no farming?
FLETCHER: A quarter of the nation's fruits and vegetables are grown here in California's Central Valley. But the farmers here have been hit with two crises at the same time. They're in their third year of severe drought. And now, they must also cope with the worst recession in a generation. That has driven unemployment to staggering levels – 35 percent in some places, numbers that recall the Great Depression. And for the first time ever, farmers may be completely cut off from one of their sources of water. Farmers don't have access to this water that runs right through the center of their farmland. It is being allocated to the delta smelt, a little fish protected by the Endangered Species Act. Conservationists say the smelt are dying in the irrigation pumps, so a judge ruled they must be shut off for much of the growing season. That hits almond farmers, like Shawn Coburn, particularly hard. Ninety percent of the nation's almonds come from this valley, and almond trees need a lot of water.
http://frc4u.org/phpbb/index.php?action=post;topic=714.0;num_replies=0

First let me say, i'm glad the man was caught, but what does it say about your right to privacy? What does it say about your right to be left alone?
Google cheat view
A FURIOUS wife has called in divorce lawyers after spotting her husband’s car parked outside another woman’s house — on Google.
She saw the Range Rover while using the internet giant’s new Street View service to snoop on a female friend’s home.
The hubby had claimed he was away on business, but his missus recognised his motor immediately because of its blinged-up hubcaps.
The love cheat is not the only husband trapped by Google’s controversial new 360-degree photo search which covers 25 cities and towns throughout the country.
Top media lawyer Mark Stephens said: “I was talking about the Range Rover case when another divorce lawyer came up to say his firm was dealing with the same sort of thing. People are getting caught out on Google.
“I suspect the husband’s lawyers will claim it was an invasion of privacy that will cost him his marriage and Range Rover.”
Street View has triggered a stream of complaints from people caught on camera since its launch on March 20.
Google removed some images — including a man sheepishly leaving a sex shop. An office worker was also caught having a crafty cigarette by a No Smoking sign.
And yesterday The Sun told how a fleet of UFOs was spotted on Street View hovering over an East London bookies.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2350771.ece

Senate Legislation Would Federalize Cybersecurity
Rules for Private Networks Also Proposed
By Joby Warrick and Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, April 1, 2009; A04
Key lawmakers are pushing to dramatically escalate U.S. defenses against cyberattacks, crafting proposals that would empower the government to set and enforce security standards for private industry for the first time.
The proposals, in Senate legislation that could be introduced as early as today, would broaden the focus of the government's cybersecurity efforts to include not only military networks but also private systems that control essentials such as electricity and water distribution. At the same time, the bill would add regulatory teeth to ensure industry compliance with the rules, congressional officials familiar with the plan said yesterday.
Addressing what intelligence officials describe as a gaping vulnerability, the legislation also calls for the appointment of a White House cybersecurity "czar" with unprecedented authority to shut down computer networks, including private ones, if a cyberattack is underway, the officials said.
How industry groups will respond is unclear. Jim Dempsey, vice president for public policy at the Center for Democracy and Technology, which represents private companies and civil liberties advocates, said that mandatory standards have long been the "third rail of cybersecurity policy." Dempsey said regulation could also stifle creativity by forcing companies to adopt a uniform approach.
The legislation, co-sponsored by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), was drafted with White House input. Although the White House indicated it supported some key concepts of the bill, there has been no official endorsement.
Many of the proposals were based on recommendations of a landmark study last year by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Currently, government responsibility for cybersecurity is split: The Pentagon and the National Security Agency safeguard military networks, while the Department of Homeland Security provides assistance to private networks. Previous cybersecurity initiatives have largely concentrated on reducing the vulnerability of government and military computers to hackers.
A 60-day federal review of the nation's defenses against computer-based attacks is underway, and the administration has signaled its intention to incorporate private industry into those defenses in an unprecedented way.
"People say this is a military or intelligence concern, but it's a lot more than that," Rockefeller, a former intelligence committee chairman, said in an interview. "It suddenly gets into the realm of traffic lights and rail networks and water and electricity."
U.S. intelligence officials have warned that a sustained attack on private computer networks could cause widespread social and economic havoc, possibly shutting down or compromising systems used by banks, utilities, transportation companies and others.
The Rockefeller-Snowe measure would create the Office of the National Cybersecurity Adviser, whose leader would report directly to the president and would coordinate defense efforts across government agencies. It would require the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish "measurable and auditable cybersecurity standards" that would apply to private companies as well as the government. It also would require licensing and certification of cybersecurity professionals.
The proposal would also mandate an ongoing, quadrennial review of the nation's cyberdefenses. "It's not a problem that will ever be completely solved," Rockefeller said. "You have to keep making higher walls."
Last week, Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair told reporters that one agency should oversee cybersecurity for government and for the private sector. He added that the NSA should be central to the effort.
"The taxpayers of this country have spent enormous sums developing a world-class capability at the National Security Agency on cyber," he said.
Blair acknowledged there will be privacy concerns about centralizing cybersecurity, and he said the program should be designed in a way that gives Americans confidence that it is "not being used to gather private information."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/31/AR2009033103684_pf.html

Verizon Wireless sees Kindle-type e-readers coming
April 1, 2009 - 6:35pm
By PETER SVENSSON AP Technology Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Amazon's Kindle might soon be getting new competitors in the market for electronic-book devices.
Tony Lewis, who heads an initiative within Verizon Wireless to provide access to non-phone devices, said Wednesday that five companies have approached Verizon about wireless connections for e-readers.
"You're going to see a lot of e-readers out there," Lewis said. "The interest level is tremendous."
Lewis wouldn't say which manufacturers Verizon has been talking to. But he hinted that they are looking at entering parts of the e-book market that the Kindle doesn't focus on, like college textbooks.
Amazon.com Inc. launched the second version of the Kindle a month ago. It uses Sprint Nextel Corp.'s wireless network to provide near-instant access to a store with 100,000 books.
So far, the Kindle's main competitor has been Sony Corp.'s Reader. It has the same type of screen, meant to imitate the look of paper, but lacks wireless access. Instead, books are loaded by connecting the device to a computer.
"We'd love to have Sony on there," Lewis said, refusing to confirm if the company had been in touch. He spoke at a cell phone trade show that started Wednesday in Las Vegas.
AT&T Inc., the second largest wireless carrier after Verizon Wireless, has also been talking to e-reader manufacturers, said Ralph de la Vega, the company's head of consumer services. Since AT&T's network is more similar to ones used overseas, it could support international e-book readers, he noted. The Kindle can download books only in the U.S.
Just like Verizon Wireless, AT&T is looking for ways to expand the uses of its wireless network beyond cell phones to generate additional revenue.
Verizon Wireless is a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. of New York and Vodafone Group PLC of Britain.
http://wtop.com/?nid=108&sid=1639098

Quick breads a delight
Easy treat to bake for self or gift
Whenever I stick a pan of quick bread in the oven, I never know whether I am going to enjoy it myself or wrap it up as a gift. Often I do both, for a home-baked quick bread is a flashy, evocative treat.
Delightful aromas waft across my kitchen as I stir the batter with a medley of spices: cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, mace, fresh and ground ginger, grated lemon and orange peel, and crushed seeds such as cardamom and coriander.
Coriander seeds' lemonlike flavor perks up the old traditional Southern lemon tea bread. Cardamom, too, adds a heady aroma to quick breads.
These easy-to-do breads owe their name to the fact that they are leavened with baking powder or baking soda and not yeast, so there's no need to sit and wait for the bread to rise before baking. No kneading is required, either. Stir up the batter and stick it in the oven and bake until golden and delicious - real quick.
The breads should be baked on the lowest shelf of the oven, where the heat is the highest, and in small loaves for better and faster baking. You can always count on the top of the loaf to crack - well, most times - because the crust browns before the center of the bread has finished rising. As the center expands, the loaf cracks, creating its beauty mark.
When I bake these breads, I turn them around in the oven halfway through the baking - or if I'm baking two pans at the same time, I switch the position of the pans. That's another down-home trick that works.
Jamaican banana bread
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus another tablespoon for coating the nuts
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup coconut, grape-seed or light peanut oil, or a mixture of all three
3/4 cup light brown sugar, preferably crystallized sugar
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
3 or 4 tablespoons dark rum or lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pan or a 6-cup ring mold or cake pan, and dust lightly with flour. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and set aside.
Combine the eggs, oil and sugar in a large bowl, and beat vigorously with a wire whisk or an electric hand mixer for a few minutes until well blended. Add the mashed bananas, rum or lemon juice, and allspice, and beat until just smooth.
Stir in the flour and leavening, mixing only until blended. Coat the walnuts all over with the 1 tablespoon flour and stir into the batter. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and shake the pan gently to settle the batter.
Set the filled pan in the middle of the oven on the lower shelf and bake the bread for about 55 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, but still moist. When done, set the pan of bread on a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes. Then turn the bread out of the pan and serve warm, if desired.
Molasses tea bread
3/4 cup vegetable oil, such as grape-seed, peanut, corn or coconut, or a mixture of the oils
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup dark or robust molasses
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 or 4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger or 2 to 3 teaspoons ground ginger
1 to 2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 1/4 cups unbleached flour, plus another tablespoon for coating the nuts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Easy-to-make quick breads such as Jamaican banana bread are leavened with baking powder or baking soda so there's no need to wait for the bread to rise.
3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 1/2 tablespoons crystallized sugar such as Sugar in the Raw, or more if desired
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan, dust lightly with flour, shake out excess, and set aside.
Combine the oil, eggs, molasses, sugar, ginger, allspice and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl, and beat vigorously with a whisk or hand-held electric mixer until well blended.
Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add the flour and buttermilk alternately to the molasses mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon after each addition. Sprinkle the walnuts or pecans all over with the 1 tablespoon flour and then stir into the batter, mixing well.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and shake gently to settle the batter. Set the pan in the center of the hot oven on the lower rack. Bake the bread for 10 minutes and then scatter the top of the loaf evenly with the crystallized sugar.
Bake the molasses bread for 45 to 50 minutes longer, or until it is brown and puffy and a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean but a little moist. Don't overbake the bread and dry it out; it should be moist.
Remove the pan from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes. Run a metal spatula around the edge of the bread and turn out the bread onto a rack or board lined with a tea cloth or sheet of wax paper. Then turn the bread upright and serve warm, if desired.
Lemon coriander bread
4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour, plus another tablespoon for coating the nuts
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/4 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup mild-flavored nut or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons crushed coriander seeds, lightly toasted if desired
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, pecans or pistachios
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter and then dust lightly with flour 2 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pans, or 2 8-by-2-inch cake pans, or 2 6-cup ring molds.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and set aside. Stir the lemon juice into the buttermilk and set side.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, oil, crushed coriander seeds, lemon peel and eggs. Using a hand-held electric mixer, beat the mixture on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
Quickly, using a large spoon, add the flour and milk alternately to the bowl. Then beat the batter briskly with the spoon for about 30 seconds, scraping the bowl as needed.
Toss the chopped nuts with the 1 tablespoon flour and stir into the batter, mixing well but gently.
Pour the batter into the buttered pans, dividing evenly between the two. Shake the pans to level the batter. Place the pans on the lower shelf of the hot oven. Don't allow the pans to touch.
Bake the breads for 40 minutes and then insert a metal tester or toothpick into the center of the breads to test for doneness. If the tester comes out clean but moist and the breads are golden brown, they are done. If not, bake 5 or so minutes longer, and test again, watching carefully.
When done, remove the breads from the oven and cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 to 12 minutes. Turn the breads out of the pans and onto the wire rack and serve warm, if desired.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/01/quick-breads-a-delight/