Eeyore's News and view

Italy quake death toll at 260; pope to visit area
By VANESSA GERA
L'AQUILA, Italy (AP) - Aftershocks from the earthquake that has killed at least 260 people in central Italy sent new fears through the tent camps that shelter thousands of survivors, and Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday that he would visit the shocked and injured people of the area as soon as possible.
As rescue teams pressed ahead with their searches in the crumbled buildings, some of the almost 28,000 left homeless emerged from tents after spending a second night in chilly mountain temperatures.
"I slept so badly because I kept feeling the aftershocks," said Daniela Nunut at one of the tent camps set up across the city of L'Aquila. The 46-year Romanian-born woman said she and her companion plan to stay in the tent for now. "What can you do? You can't go into the building."
The magnitude-6.3 quake hit L'Aquila and several towns in central Italy early Monday, leveling buildings and reducing entire blocks to piles of rubble and dust.
The pope praised the relief operations as an example of how solidarity can help overcome "even the most painful trials."
"As soon as possible I hope to visit you," Benedict said Wednesday at the Vatican.
The Vatican said he would make the trip after Easter Sunday and that he does not want to interfere with relief operations.
Premier Silvio Berlusconi said 260 people have died, including 16 children. The premier, speaking in L'Aquila after a third day in the quake area, said nine bodies remained to be identified. He said about 100 injured were in serious condition.
Berlusconi said looting in the quake zone was on the rise and that the government was looking to increase penalties for the crime. He said details were still being worked out, adding the new penalties would be "very severe."
A funeral for the victims is scheduled for Friday morning, and is to be conducted by L'Aquila Bishop Giuseppe Molinari, the premier said. At least one victim's funeral was going to be held Wednesday in one of the small villages in the stricken area.
Berlusconi said about 17,700 people left homeless by the quake had found shelter in tent camps set up by authorities. An additional 10,000 people were housed in hotels along the coast, bringing the overall number of homeless to almost 28,000.
Fifteen people remain missing, officials said.
The ANSA news agency reported that four students trapped in the rubble of a dormitory of the University of L'Aquila had died.
By Tuesday evening, rescue crews gave up painstakingly removing debris from the dormitory by hand and brought in huge pincers that pulled off parts of the roof, balconies and walls, showering debris down.
"Unless there is a miracle, I've been told (by rescuers) that they probably are dead," university rector Ferdinando Di Orio said.
Since the quake early Monday, some 430 aftershocks have rumbled through, including some strong ones, said Marco Olivieri of the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology in Rome.
A strong aftershock at 7:47 p.m. Tuesday rained debris on screaming residents and rescue crews, who ran from the site.
Many survivors at the camp said they had been cold during the night as heaters in some of the tents were not working. Some read a newspaper as they lined up for hot coffee or tea and a croissant.
To shelter the homeless against the chilly nights in the mountains, about 20 tent cities have sprouted in open spaces around L'Aquila and surrounding towns. Field kitchens, medical supplies - and clowns with bubbles to entertain traumatized children - were brought in.
Officials estimated Monday that 50,000 people had been left homeless by the quake. By Tuesday evening, that number was lowered to between 17,000 and 25,000, because many moved in with friends or relatives.
Rescue workers continuing their search still held out hope to find somebody alive. Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said the rescue efforts would likely continue until Easter Sunday, beyond the period originally indicated by Berlusconi.
"It all depends on the conditions, if the person under the rubble has any air or water," Cristian Martinez, from the Spanish rescue organization Unidad Canina, said as his dogs ran across a pile of rubble that had once been a four-story building in L'Aquila.
Martinez explained that his dogs, which have been sent across the world after quakes and other catastrophes, "would bark if they found a live body and would start digging if they found a dead body."
So far, the dogs had found no signs of any living human beings in the debris.
"But we don't give up hope," said Martinez, adding that his dogs had once found somebody alive 11 days after a quake in Pakistan.
On Tuesday, rescue officials pulled a young woman alive from a collapsed building about 42 hours after the main quake struck the mountainous region.
Eleonora Calesini, a 20-year-old student, was found alive in the ruins of the five-story building in central L'Aquila.
Officials said some 10,000 to 15,000 buildings were either damaged or destroyed in the 26 cities, towns and villages around L'Aquila, a city of 70,000 that is the regional capital of Abruzzo.
Teams started inspecting some buildings still standing Wednesday, including an 18th-century church in downtown L'Aquila, which had been damaged in the quake. Teams also began surveying houses to see if residents can move back in, Berlusconi said.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090408/D97EA01O0.html

From another news source and amazing recued person, what she did until rescued
Another of those rescued today was Maria D’Antuono, 98, who said that she had spent 30 hours knitting as she waited to be freed from her ruined home.

So much for being 5 years away
Iran to say mastering final stage of nuclear cycle
TEHRAN (Reuters) – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to announce Iran has mastered the final stage of nuclear fuel production when the Islamic state celebrates its National Nuclear Day on Thursday.
"I will have good nuclear news for the honored Iranian nation tomorrow (April 9)," Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday in a televised speech at the central city of Isfahan.
Foreign nuclear analysts believe Tehran has yet to prove it has mastered industrial-scale enrichment of uranium, the key to making fuel in large, usable quantities and the most technically difficult aspect of churning out nuclear energy.
Tehran has slowly expanded its Natanz enrichment plant in defiance of U.N. resolutions demanding it stop over concerns Tehran's goal is atomic bombs, something it denies.
But analysts expected Ahmadinejad to say that Iran has perfected the last of several phases of fuel output.
"A possible announcement will be production of natural uranium pellets (in Isfahan) for Iran's Arak heavy water reactor and also production of fuel rods and assembling rods into bundles," said an analyst who asked not to be named, citing the issue's political sensitivities. "It is the final stage in a long process to produce nuclear fuel."
The nuclear fuel cycle includes mining and milling of uranium ore, uranium enrichment, fabrication and use of nuclear fuel, reprocessing of used fuel, and disposal or management of radioactive waste or unreprocessed spent fuel.
In a February 19 report, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it could not verify Iran's planned Arak heavy water reactor was being designed only for peaceful uses because Tehran had been denying visits by IAEA inspectors since August.
CONCERNS OVER HEAVY-WATER REACTOR
The report said Iran's fuel fabrication plant in Isfahan had begun producing fuel rods and that a process line for making uranium pellets was ready for operations.
Tehran says the Arak complex will be geared to making only isotopes for medical care and agriculture.
Western powers fear Iran may configure the Arak reactor to derive plutonium from spent fuel rods as another possible source of bomb-grade fuel, besides its Natanz uranium enrichment plant, which is under daily IAEA surveillance.
Iran's student news agency ISNA said, without giving a source, that Ahmadinejad would inaugurate the nuclear fuel manufacturing facility.
Nuclear energy chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh said in 2007 that Iran had produced and tested fuel pellets of enriched uranium.
Iran has long been working on its uranium enrichment capability to fuel its developing nuclear power program.
The U.N. Security Council has so far issued three sanctions resolution against Tehran for defying its demand to suspend all activities related to enrichment and fuel reprocessing, which could also be turned to producing nuclear weapons.
Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, says its nuclear program is only aimed at generating electricity.
U.S. President Barack Obama is striving for a "new beginning" in bilateral ties with Iran and could play a role in mending bridges almost three decades after Washington severed all relations soon after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.
Iran has responded cautiously to the overture, saying Washington must show real policy change toward Iran. "If you (Obama) say you are after change ... change your method, change your literature and your way," Ahmadinejad said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090408/wl_nm/us_iran_nuclear

Everything is fine Russia say they are not a threat to us, so all is well. After all we have Russia's word on it.
Iran poses no threat to US: Russia
Iran poses no threat to the United States, Russia said Tuesday, rebuffing a key argument of President Barack Obama on whether to go ahead with a European missile shield bitterly opposed by Moscow.
Former president George W. Bush had infuriated Russia by striking a deal to install 10 missile interceptors in Poland and related radar stations in the Czech Republic, saying they were needed to counter "rogue states" such as Iran.
The Obama administration says it is reviewing the shield project, studying whether it is militarily justified and cost effective.
But Sergei Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, said that the Iran threat was a myth.
"I don't see any threat to the United States coming from Iran anytime soon," Kislyak told a conference of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
He said the shield in the former Soviet bloc nations also failed to cover all of the NATO alliance.
"It didn't accomplish a single stated goal that we were told was the reason to deploy. If that was the case, that means there was something else behind this," Kislyak said.
Western nations widely suspect that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, although Obama has also reached out to try to repair relations with the Islamic republic.
Kislyak said that Russia was encouraged by Obama's approach. Under Bush, Russia engaged in some of the harshest rhetorical attacks on the United States since the Cold War.
"We sense that the American administration is willing at least to engage in serious discussions and we welcome this," he said.
"We are looking forward to these discussions because things which have been developing so far were of great concern to us," he said.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hailed Obama as "my new comrade" after their first face-to-face talks last week, saying the new president "can listen."
Obama also met on his recent European trip with leaders of Poland and the Czech Republic who pressed him to go ahead with the missile shield.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.89f94643ff57e11b42acfa11b92f8e26.fd1&show_article=1

Pirates hijack ship with 20 Americans onboard
By Daniel Wallis
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somali pirates hijacked a U.S.-flagged, Danish-owned container ship on Wednesday with 20 American crew on board in a major escalation in attacks at sea off the Horn of Africa nation, officials said.
Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Program, told Reuters the 17,000 ton Maersk Alabama had been seized off Mogadishu far out in the Indian Ocean, but all its crew were believed to be unharmed.
Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk confirmed that the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama had been attacked by pirates about 500 km (300 miles) off Somalia and had probably been hijacked. The company said it had 20 American crew on board.
A spokesman for the U.N.'s World Food Program (WFP) in Nairobi told Reuters that among the vessel's cargo were 232 containers of WFP relief food destined for Somalia and Uganda.
In the latest wave of pirate attacks, gunmen from Somalia seized a British-owned ship on Monday after hijacking another three vessels over the weekend.
In the first three months of 2009 just eight ships were hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, which links the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and is used by ships traveling between Europe and Asia.
Last year, heavily armed Somali pirates hijacked dozens of vessels, took hundreds of sailors hostage -- often for weeks -- and extracted millions of dollars in ransoms.
MORE ATTACKS
Foreign navies rushed warships to the area in response and reduced the number of successful attacks. But there are still near-daily attempts and the pirates have also started hunting further afield near the Seychelles.
On Monday, they hijacked a British-owned, Italian-operated ship with 16 Bulgarian crew on board.
Over the weekend, they also seized a French yacht, a Yemeni tug and a 20,000-tonne German container vessel. Interfax news agency said the Hansa Stavanger had a German captain, three Russians, two Ukrainians and 14 Filipinos on board.
The Maersk Alabama is owned and operated by Maersk Line Ltd, a Norfolk, Virginia-based subsidiary of A.P. Moller-Maersk and the world's biggest container shipper.
A Moller-Maersk spokesman said it had been transporting general goods to Mombasa from Djibouti when it was attacked.
The pirates typically launch speed boats from "mother ships," meaning they can sometimes evade warships patrolling the strategic shipping lanes and strike far out to sea.
They then take captured vessels to remote coastal village bases in Somalia, where they have usually treated their hostages well in anticipation of a sizeable ransom payment.
Pirates stunned the shipping industry last year when they seized a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil. The Sirius Star and its 25 crew members were freed in January after $3 million was parachuted onto its deck.
Last September, they seized a Ukrainian cargo ship carrying 33 Soviet-era T-72 tanks and other heavy weapons. It was released in February, reportedly for a $3.2 million ransom.
Many of the pirates are based in northern Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region, where the authorities called on Wednesday for more funds to tackle the gangs onshore.
"It's better for the international community to give us $1 million to clear out the pirates on the ground, instead of paying millions of dollars to keep the warships at sea," Puntland's security minister, Abdullahi Said Samatar, told Reuters.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE53721Z20090408

Update on the latest Samonella
FDA: Recall of tainted pistachio nuts far from over
The recall last week of 2 million pounds of pistachios because of concerns about salmonella contamination has been expanded, and federal officials say more recalls of foods containing pistachios are on the horizon.
Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, the California company that is the nation's second-largest processer of pistachios, originally had recalled all of its pistachios harvested since September.
The recall was expanded this week to cover Setton's entire 2008 crop, except for raw in-shell pistachios. Most pistachios sold in stores are roasted.
Setton spokeswoman Fabia D'Arienzo said she did not know how many pounds of pistachios were involved in the expanded recall.
"This is going to resemble the peanut recall in that products are going to be added every day as companies discover they used Setton pistachios," says Caroline Smith DeWaal of the non-profit Center for Science in the Public Interest. "It's going to take a while for the dust to settle."
Products are still being recalled that contained peanuts or peanut paste produced by the Peanut Corp. of America, the processor tied to a salmonella outbreak this year that sickened almost 700 people.
No illnesses from pistachio consumption have been reported. The salmonella was detected in testing by an Illinois foodmaker that buys from Setton.
Setton had been processing raw and roasted pistachios on the same production lines without adequate cleaning between uses, says David Acheson, the FDA's associate commissioner for foods, adding: "Not a good idea." A Setton official said earlier that roasted pistachios may have picked up salmonella from contact with raw nuts.
Federal and state inspectors have found salmonella in the plant, including on machines used to feed pistachios through the production line.
"There were a number of other factors that demonstrated a lack of microbiological control in the facility," Acheson says.
The FDA is telling consumers and industry to not use any pistachios or foods with pistachios unless the agency can confirm that the products do not contain nuts recalled by Setton. In addition to selling in the USA, Setton sold to Canada, Korea, Hong Kong, Germany, Australia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France, Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon, Norway, Ukraine and Ecuador.
Setton did not respond to detailed questions, but Acheson says it's his impression that the company is "really busting to try to clean up the facility."
The FDA has fast-tracked research into one possible solution. The chemical propylene oxide was proven an effective pasteurization method for almonds in 2004 after salmonella outbreaks in almonds alerted growers and producers to the risk of bacterial contamination.
There is no proven process in pistachios for using propylene oxide, but FDA has a contract with the University of California-Davis to create one and hopes to have at least initial information within a month, Acheson says.
Customers can call Setton Pistachio at (888) 228-3717 for more information.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-04-07-pistachio-salmonella_N.htm

Eeyores News and View

At G20, Kremlin to Pitch New Currency
17 March 2009
By Ira Iosebashvili / The Moscow Times
The Kremlin published its priorities Monday for an upcoming meeting of the G20, calling for the creation of a supranational reserve currency to be issued by international institutions as part of a reform of the global financial system.
The International Monetary Fund should investigate the possible creation of a new reserve currency, widening the list of reserve currencies or using its already existing Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, as a "superreserve currency accepted by the whole of the international community," the Kremlin said in a statement issued on its web site.
The SDR is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement the existing official reserves of member countries.
The Kremlin has persistently criticized the dollar's status as the dominant global reserve currency and has lowered its own dollar holdings in the last few years. Both President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have repeatedly called for the ruble to be used as a regional reserve currency, although the idea has received little support outside of Russia.
Analysts said the new Kremlin proposal would elicit little excitement among the G20 members.
"This is all in the realm of fantasy," said Sergei Perminov, chief strategist at Rye, Man and Gore. "There was a situation that resembled what they are talking about. It was called the gold standard, and it ended very badly.
"Alternatives to the dollar are still hard to find," he said.
The Kremlin's call for a common currency is not the first in recent days. Speaking at an economic conference in Astana, Kazakhstan, last week, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed a global currency called the "acmetal" -- a conflation of the words "acme" and "capital."
He also suggested that the Eurasian Economic Community, a loose group of five former Soviet republics including Kazakhstan and Russia, adopt a single noncash currency -- the yevraz -- to insulate itself from the global economic crisis.
The suggestions received a lukewarm response from Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday.
Nazarbayev's proposal did, however, garner support from at least one prominent source -- Columbia University professor Robert Mundell, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1999 for his role in creating the euro.
Speaking at the same conference with Nazarbayev, he said the idea had "great promise."
The Kremlin document also called for national banks and international financial institutions to diversify their foreign currency reserves. It said the global financial system should be restructured to prevent future crises and proposed holding an international conference after the G20 summit to adopt conventions on a new global financial structure.
The Group of 20 industrialized and developing countries will meet in London on April 2.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/600/42/375364.htm

Russia confirms Iran missile contract
MOSCOW – Russian news agencies cited a top defense official Wednesday as confirming that a contract to sell powerful air-defense missiles to Iran was signed two years ago, but saying no such weapons have yet been delivered.
Russian officials have consistently denied claims the country already has provided some of the S-300 missiles to Iran. They have not said whether a contract existed.
The state-run ITAR-Tass and RIA-Novosti news agencies and the independent Interfax quoted an unnamed top official in the Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service as saying the contract was signed two years ago. Service spokesman Andrei Tarabrin told The Associated Press he could not immediately comment.
Supplying S-300s to Iran would change the military balance in the Middle East and the issue has been the subject of intense speculation and diplomatic wrangling for months.
Israel and the U.S. fear that, were Iran to possess S-300 missiles, it would use them to protect its nuclear facilities — including the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz or the country's first atomic power plant, which is now being built by Russian contractors at Bushehr.
That would make a military strike on the Iranian facilities much more difficult.
It was not clear why the missiles have not been delivered, but the reports cited the defense official as saying "fulfillment of the contract will mainly depend on the current international situation and the decision of the country's leadership."
That could indicate that Russia intends to use the contract as a bargaining chip before next month's meeting between President Dmitry Medvedev and President Barack Obama.
But the defense official said Russia does not intend to abandon the contract, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, ITAR-Tass said,
A prominent Russian analyst, Ruslan Pukhov of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, said the missile contract was seen by the Kremlin as primarily a political rather than commercial matter.
"The S-300 contract, and cooperation with Iran in general, is regarded by Moscow only as an instrument of political bargaining with the West and not as a way of realizing the fundamental defense and commercial interests of Russia," he was quoted as saying by RIA-Novosti.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090318/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_iran

Fed to buy up to $300B long-term Treasury bonds
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it will inject about $1 trillion into the economy in a bold effort to help the battered housing market and lift the country out of recession.
At the same time, the Fed left a key short-term bank lending rate at a record low of between zero and 0.25 percent. Economists predict the Fed will hold the rate in that zone for the rest of this year and for most -- if not all -- of next year.
In a new program, the Fed said it will buy up to $300 billion of long-term bonds, a move that should boost Treasury prices and drive down their rates. That would ripple through and lower rates on other kinds of debt. The last time the Fed set out to influence long-term interest rates was during the 1960s.
And expanding an existing program, the Fed said it will buy more mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The central bank will buy an additional $750 billion, bringing its total purchases of these securities to $1.25 trillion. It also will boost its purchase of Fannie and Freddie debt to $200 billion.
"This is not only going to keep mortgage rates low for a long period of time," said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. "The mere announcement may produce a honeymoon effect and bring mortgage rates down to even lower levels in the coming days."
In addition, the Fed said a $1 trillion program to jump-start consumer and small business lending could be expanded to include other financial assets.
The program -- which is rolling out this week -- currently is focused on spurring lending for autos, education, credit cards and loans for business equipment. The government already has announced an expansion to include commercial real-estate assets. Any broadening of the program would be beyond that area.
The Fed's action kept Wall Street's big rally alive. After being down earlier in the day, the Dow Jones industrial average added more than 90 points, and broader indicators also rose.
Government bond prices surged. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 2.50 percent from 3.01 percent late Tuesday.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues are taking the new steps as the economy sinks deeper into recession.
Since the Fed last met in late January, "the economy continues to contract," the policymakers observed.
"Job losses, declining equity and housing wealth and tight credit conditions have weighed on consumer sentiment and spending," they said.
Businesses, meanwhile, are facing weaker sales prospects and credit troubles have them cutting inventories. Problems overseas have crimped demand for U.S. exports, dealing domestic companies another blow, the Fed said.
Across the Atlantic, the Bank of England last week began buying government bonds from financial institutions as it turned to other ways to help revive Britain's moribund economy. The Bank of England, like the Fed, already had lowered its key interest rate to a record low of 0.5 percent.
Finance leaders from top economies have discussed coordinating actions from their governments and central banks to provide a more potent punch against the global financial crisis.
Still, the Fed hoped its actions, the government's banking rescue effort, and President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus of increased government spending and tax cuts eventually will help revive the economy.
"Although the near-term economic outlook is weak, the committee anticipates that policy actions .... will contribute to a gradual resumption of sustainable economic growth," the Fed said.
Obama has urged Americans to be patient, saying it will take time for his revival programs to work.
Bernanke has repeatedly said that stabilizing the nation's financial system is key to turning around the economy. If that can be done, then the recession might end this year, setting the stage for a recovery next year, he said.
But even in this best-case scenario, the nation's unemployment rate -- now at quarter-century peak of 8.1 percent -- will keep climbing. Some economists think it will hit 10 percent by the end of this year.
The recession that began in December 2007 already has snatched a net total of 4.4 million jobs and has left 12.5 million searching for work.
And the economy is still sinking. It contracted at 6.2 percent in the final three months of 2008, also the worst showing in a quarter-century. Analysts believe the economy in the current January-March quarter is contracting at a pace between 5.5 and 6 percent or more. They expect the economy also will continue to contract in the April-June quarter.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Fed-to-buy-up-to-300B-apf-14679757.html

Why I Carry a Gun
My old grandpa once said to me, "Son, there comes a time in every man's life when he stops bustin' knuckles and starts bustin' caps and usually it's when he becomes too old to take an ass whoopin'.
I don't carry a gun to kill people. I carry a gun to keep from being killed.
I don't carry a gun to scare people. I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.
I don't carry a gun because I'm paranoid. I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.
I don't carry a gun because I'm evil. I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.
I don't carry a gun because I hate the government. I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.
I don't carry a gun because I'm angry. I carry a gun so that I don't have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.
I don't carry a gun because I want to shoot someone. I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.
I don't carry a gun because I'm a cowboy. I carry a gun because, when I die and go to Heaven, I want to be a cowboy.
I don't carry a gun to make me feel like a man. I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.
I don't carry a gun because I feel inadequate. I carry a gun because,
unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.
I don't carry a gun because I love it. I carry a gun because I love life
and the people who make it meaningful to me.
"Police Protection" is an oxymoron. Free citizens must protect themselves..
Police do not protect you from crime; they usually just investigate the crime after it happens and then call someone in to clean up the mess.
Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an --- whoopin'."
....author unknown (but obviously brilliant)
Remember the average response time to a 911 call is over 4 minutes.
The average response time of a 357 magnum is 1400 FPS.

Study: Being obese can take years off your life
March 17, 2009 - 8:05pm y MARIA CHENG AP Medical Writer
LONDON (AP) - Being obese can take years off your life and in some cases may be as dangerous as smoking, a new study says. British researchers at the University of Oxford analyzed 57 studies mostly in Europe and North America, following nearly one million people for an average of 10 to 15 years. During that time, about 100,000 of those people died.
The studies used Body Mass Index (BMI), a measurement that divides a person's weight in kilograms by their height squared in meters to determine obesity. Researchers found that death rates were lowest in people who had a BMI of 23 to 24, on the high side of the normal range.
Health officials generally define overweight people as those with a BMI from 25 to 29, and obese people as those with a BMI above 30.
The study was published online Wednesday in the medical journal, Lancet. It was paid for by Britain's Medical Research Council, the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and others.
"If you are heading towards obesity, it may be a good idea to lose weight," said Sir Richard Peto, the study's main statistician and a professor at Oxford University.
Peto and colleagues found that people who were moderately fat, with a BMI from 30 to 35, lost about three years of life. People who were morbidly fat _ those with a BMI above 40 _ lost about 10 years off their expected lifespan, similar to the effect of lifelong smoking.
Moderately obese people were 50 percent more likely to die prematurely than normal-weight people, said Gary Whitlock, the Oxford University epidemiologist who led the study.
He said that obese people were also two thirds more likely to die of a heart attack or stroke, and up to four times more likely to die of diabetes, kidney or liver problems. They were one sixth more likely to die of cancer.
"This really emphasizes the importance of weight gain," said Dr. Arne Astrup, a professor of nutrition at the University of Copenhagen who was not linked to the Lancet study. "Even a small increase in your BMI is enough to increase your risks for cardiovascular disease and cancer."
Previous studies have found that death rates increase both above and below a normal BMI score, and that people who are moderately overweight live longer than underweight or normal-weight people.
Other experts said that because the papers used in the study mostly started between 1975 and 1985, their conclusions were not as relevant today.
Astrup worried that rising obesity rates may reverse the steep drops in heart disease seen in the West.
"Obesity is the new dark horse for public health officials," he said. "People need to be aware of the risks they're taking when they gain weight."
___
On the Net:
http://www.lancet.com
http://wtop.com/?nid=106&sid=1626903

Eeyore's News and view

MacBook pledges 8-hour battery life
Eight hours. Repeat it to yourself, slowly and carefully if you like. Eight hours. That's the battery life claimed for, and apparently delivered by, the $2,799 17-inch MacBook Pro recently shipped by Apple Inc.
Not having surveyed every last portable computer in the retail channel today, I won't swear to it, but I believe this is the longest notebook battery life out there, at least in terms of a "standard" battery that fits inside the notebook itself. Some "extended life" batteries can be attached to portable computers, creating a bulge (or a carrying handle of a sort). But in terms of self-contained batteries, the MacBook Pro likely takes the cake.
I did not run the battery down to zero, watching each minute tick off. But in test after unplugged test, the time remaining registered pretty darned close to eight hours and almost always more than seven. Compare that to the previous-generation 17-inch MacBook Pro that I use daily; fully charged, I can get about three hours out of the battery.
The new computer is also unique in terms of the battery itself: You can't swap it out for another battery. Apple has sealed the battery in the computer and claims it will last through five years of recharges. The company will replace the battery if need be, but this also marks a first, I believe, for the portable Mac line. By doing this, however, the firm is able to make the notebook thinner than previous models, while still clocking in at 6.6 pounds. No one would mistake this for the interoffice-envelope-friendly MacBook Air, but it's ergonomics are impressive.
Even with the battery life, however, many might wonder who would need a $2,799 notebook computer. I know of several folks who really do. The kinds of users who need and appreciate this kind of computer are involved in video or sound editing, photography, publishing, design, Internet work, that sort of thing — and we need to have this kind of power in a portable package. Things don't just happen in offices anymore, and I have a colleague who's as likely to edit high-definition video in the Amazon jungles of Brazil as in his editing bay in Silver Spring.
For these people — and perhaps for a few more — the new MacBook Pro represents a stunning achievement of design, engineering and performance. It is the kind of computer you can depend on when work beckons, and it'll probably deliver a fair load of fun, too.
On the work side, my test unit came with a 320 gigabyte hard disc drive and 4GB of RAM, both of which are more than enough for most needs. Video-heads may want to upgrade the hard drive independent of Apple, and a high-speed 500GB hard drive is due from Seagate later this month. But the "standard issue" hard drive and memory are double what roughly the same amount of moolah bought two years ago, so that's certainly progress.
The keyboard is also different from my workday MBPro: it's the "Chiclet" style now popular on Mac portables, and that's not difficult to type on. Some large portables include a separate numeric keypad, but this one doesn't. Apple says the aesthetics are better this way, and I can't argue. If you need to crunch numbers, separate keypads can be found.
Also nice here is the touchpad, which is "clickable" in place of mouse-buttons. You can also use various finger movements to "swipe" through Web pages and other applications. It's well done.
Graphics hounds will appreciate the two separate graphics processors. The standard graphics chip, from NVIDIA (STET), is the default processor and helps the unit deliver that close-to-eight-hour battery life. When you need to amp things up, a "discrete" NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT processor can kick in to help performance. That's more for my friend Dan Weber the video editor than it would be for me, and its use trims battery life by about three hours. But I have the feeling Dan would appreciate a five-hour graphics powerhouse nonetheless.
Overall, this is an excellent, if "niche" machine — it's not for every kid going back to school. It's my hope that many of the high-end features here will migrate to other Mac portables at lower prices.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/16/kellner-macbook-pledges-8-hour-battery-life/

Russia weighs Cuba, Venezuela bases:
Russia could use bases for its strategic bombers on the doorstep of the United States in Cuba and Venezuela to underpin long-distance patrols in the region, a senior air force officer said Saturday. "This is possible in Cuba," General Anatoly Zhikharev, chief of the Russian air force's strategic aviation staff, told the Interfax-AVN military news agency.
The comments were the latest signal that Moscow intends to project its military capability in far-flung corners of the globe despite a tight defence budget and hardware that experts consider in many respects outdated.
Zhikharev indicated that Russia was looking only at occasional use of the facilities -- not setting up permanent bases in the region.
He noted that the Venezuelan constitution prohibited establishment of military bases of foreign states on Venezuelan territory and described the Russian possibile use of the facility there as "we land, we complete the flight, we take off."
Zhikharev said Cuba had a several air bases equipped with the long runways needed by the heavy bombers and said the facilities there were "entirely acceptable" for use by the Russian aircraft during long-distance patrols.
"If the will of the two states is there, the political will, then we are prepared to fly there" to the bases in Cuba, the agency quoted Zhikharev as saying.
The general also said that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had offered to let Russian strategic bombers use a military airfield on La Orchila island, a military base off the west coast of the country.
"Yes, there has been such a proposal from the Venezuelan president," Zhikharev said.
"If a relevant political decision is made, this is possible," he added.
Russia resumed patrols by its long-distance strategic bombers in August 2007 after a 15-year hiatus, noting at the time that it was mirroring the United States which never suspended its global bomber patrols after the Cold War.
Last year, Russia temporarily based a pair of Tu-160 bombers at an airbase in Venezuela in a carefully-choreographed display of force regarded by as a warning message to the United States.
A Russian flotilla led by the nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great also joined Venezuelan navy vessels for manoeuvres in the Caribbean late last year, timed to coincide with a visit to the region by President Dmitry Medvedev.
The previous US administration of George W. Bush officially shrugged off the Russian aviation and naval moves in Latin America, characterising them as more for show than anything representing a military worry for the United States.
Last July however, a top US air force officer warned that Russia would cross "a red line" if it were to base nuclear capable bombers in Cuba.
"If they did, I think we should stand strong and indicate that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line for the United States of America," said General Norton Schwartz said on July 23.
The Interfax report said there were three types of Russian aircraft capable of long-distance bomber patrols: The Tu-95MS, the Tu-160 and the Tu-22.
It was Tu-160 strategic bombers that were sent to Venezuela for temporary basing last year. Each aircraft of this type is capable of carrying 12 cruise missiles that can be fitted with nuclear warheads
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.9776268a25e75ad5b44b4d87e8a32a02.4a1&show_article=1
More information about the same story is found here also
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/15/general-muses-over-basing-bombers-near-us/

Rescued AIG says it has to pay $165M in bonuses immediately
WASHINGTON (AP) — Leaders of the White House economic team and the Senate's top Republican bellowed about bonuses at a bailed-out insurance giant and pledged to prevent such payments in the future.
From one Sunday talk show to the next, they tore into the contracts that American International Group asserted had to be honored, to the tune of about $165 million and payable to executives by Sunday — part of a larger total payout reportedly valued at $450 million. The company has benefited from more than $170 billion in a federal rescue.
AIG has agreed to Obama administration requests to restrain future payments. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pressed the president's case with AIG's chairman, Edward Liddy, last week.
"He stepped in and berated them, got them to reduce the bonuses following every legal means he has to do this," said Austan Goolsbee, staff director of President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
"I don't know why they would follow a policy that's really not sensible, is obviously going to ignite the ire of millions of people, and we've done exactly what we can do to prevent this kind of thing from happening again," Goolsbee said.
Added Lawrence Summers, Obama's top economic adviser: "The easy thing would be to just say ... off with their heads, violate the contracts. But you have to think about the consequences of breaking contracts for the overall system of law, for the overall financial system."
Summers said Geithner used all his power, "both legal and moral, to reduce the level of these bonus payments."
The Democratic administration's argument about the sanctity of contracts was more than Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky could bear.
"For them to simply sit there and blame it on the previous administration or claim contract — we all know that contracts are valid in this country, but they need to be looked at," McConnell said. "Did they enter into these contracts knowing full well that, as a practical matter, the taxpayers of the United States were going to be reimbursing their employees? Particularly employees who got them into this mess in the first place? I think it's an outrage."
In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke did not address the bonuses but expressed his frustration with the AIG intervention.
"It makes me angry. I slammed the phone more than a few times on discussing AIG," Bernanke said. "It's — it's just absolutely — I understand why the American people are angry. It's absolutely unfair that taxpayer dollars are going to prop up a company that made these terrible bets — that was operating out of the sight of regulators, but which we have no choice but to stabilize, or else risk enormous impact, not just in the financial system, but on the whole U.S. economy."
AIG reported this month that it had lost $61.7 billion for the fourth quarter of last year, the largest corporate loss in history.
In a letter to Geithner dated Saturday, Liddy said outside lawyers had informed the company that AIG had contractual obligations to make the bonus payments and could face lawsuits if it did not do so.
Liddy said in his letter that "quite frankly, AIG's hands are tied," although he said that in light of the company's current situation he found it "distasteful and difficult" to recommend going forward with the payments.
Liddy said the company had entered into the bonus agreements in early 2008 before AIG got into severe financial straits and was forced to obtain a government bailout last fall.
The bulk of the payments at issue cover AIG Financial Products, the unit of the company that sold credit default swaps, the risky contracts that caused massive losses for the insurer.
Goolsbee acknowledged the AIG example could make it harder to sell the administration's financial plan to Congress.
"Yes, you worry about that backlash. But you're also angry that this would happen at an institution that has been so troubled and you're trying to save. So I think that's perfectly fair," he said.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/insurance/2009-03-15-summers-aig_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

Minister beaten after clashing with Muslims on his TV show
Minister beaten after clashing with Muslims on his TV show
By Jonathan Petre
Last updated at 4:39 PM on 15th March 2009
Comments (32) Add to My Stories A Christian minister who has had heated arguments with Muslims on his TV Gospel show has been brutally attacked by three men who ripped off his cross and warned: ‘If you go back to the studio, we’ll break your legs.’
The Reverend Noble Samuel was driving to the studio when a car pulled over in front of him. A man got out and came over to ask him directions in Urdu.
Mr Samuel, based at Heston United Reformed Church, West London, said: ‘He put his hand into my window, which was half open, and grabbed my hair and opened the door.
Frightened: TV minister Noble Samuel
He started slapping my face and punching my neck. He was trying to smash my head on the steering wheel.
Then he grabbed my cross and pulled it off and it fell on the floor. He was swearing. The other two men came from the car and took my laptop and Bible.’
The Metropolitan Police are treating it as a ‘faith hate’ assault and are hunting three Asian men.
In spite of the attack, Mr Samuel went ahead with his hour-long live Asian Gospel Show on the Venus satellite channel from studios in Wembley, North London. During the show the Muslim station owner Tahir Ali came on air to condemn the attack.
Pakistan-born Mr Samuel, 48, who was educated by Christian missionaries and moved to Britain 15 years ago, said that over the past few weeks he has received phone-in calls from people identifying themselves as Muslims who challenged his views.
‘They were having an argument with me,’ he said. ‘They were very aggressive in saying they did not agree with me. I said those are your views and these are my views.’
He said that he, his wife Louisa, 48, and his son Naveed, 19, now fear for their safety, and police have given them panic alarms. ‘I am frightened and depressed,’ he said. ‘My show is not confrontational.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1162039/Minister-beaten-clashing-Muslims-TV-show.html

Eeyore's News and View

Bair Says Insurance Fund Could Be Insolvent This Year
By Alison Vekshin
March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair said the fund it uses to protect customer deposits at U.S. banks could dry up amid a surge in bank failures, as she responded to an industry outcry against new fees approved by the agency.
“Without these assessments, the deposit insurance fund could become insolvent this year,” Bair wrote in a March 2 letter to the industry. U.S. community banks plan to flood the FDIC with about 5,000 letters in protest of the fees, according to a trade group.
“A large number” of bank failures may occur through 2010 because of “rapidly deteriorating economic conditions,” Bair said in the letter. “Without substantial amounts of additional assessment revenue in the near future, current projections indicate that the fund balance will approach zero or even become negative.”
The FDIC last week approved a one-time “emergency” fee and other assessment increases on the industry to rebuild a fund to repay customers for deposits of as much as $250,000 when a bank fails. The fees, opposed by the industry, may generate $27 billion this year after the fund fell to $18.9 billion in the fourth quarter from $34.6 billion in the previous period, the FDIC said.
The fund, which lost $33.5 billion in 2008, was drained by 25 bank failures last year. Sixteen banks have failed so far this year, further straining the fund.
Angry Bankers
Smaller banks are outraged over the one-time fee, which could wipe out 50 percent to 100 percent of a bank’s 2009 earnings, Camden Fine, president of the Independent Community Bankers of America, said yesterday in a telephone interview.
“I’ve never seen emotions like this,” said Fine, adding that he’s received more than 1,000 e-mails and telephone messages from angry bankers.
“The FDIC realizes that these assessments are a significant expense, particularly during a financial crisis and recession when bank earnings are under pressure,” Bair wrote. “We did not want to impose large assessments when the industry and economy are struggling. We searched for alternatives but found none better.”
The agency, which has released the change for 30 days of public comment, could modify the assessment to shift the burden to the large banks “that caused this train wreck,” Fine said. “Community bankers are feeling like they are paying for the incompetence and greed of Wall Street,” he said.
Legal Constraints
Bair dismissed that suggestion.
“For risk-based assessments, our statute restricts us from discriminating against an institution because of size,” Bair wrote.
The deposit insurance fund won’t dry up because the government can get funds from the industry and congressional appropriations, and borrow from the Treasury, Chip MacDonald, a partner specializing in financial services at law firm Jones Day, said today in a telephone interview.
“As a depositor, I am not worried in the least,” MacDonald said. “No one is going to let the FDIC go without any money.”
Consumers should watch this issue closely, said Edmund Mierzwinski, consumer program director at U.S. PIRG, a Boston- based consumer-watchdog group.
“I wouldn’t take their money out of the bank yet,” Mierzwinski said. “If the FDIC is saying that there is this serious problem, then we should all be concerned. I think there is a chance the FDIC is going to have to ask taxpayers for money in the future.”
No Taxpayer Funds
Bair rejected arguments that the agency should use government aid to rebuild the fund. The FDIC has authority to tap a $30 billion line of credit at the Treasury Department and legislation pending in Congress would boost the amount to $100 billion.
“Banks, not taxpayers, are expected to fund the system,” Bair said. Asking for taxpayer support “could paint all banks with the ‘bailout’ brush.”
The FDIC “will revise the interim rule, if appropriate, in light of the comments received,” the agency said in a Federal Register notice.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?id=washingtonstory&sid=alsJZqIFuN3k

Md. residents: Reports needed on SWAT team use March 4, 2009 - 4:43am
By KATHLEEN MILLER Associated Press Writer
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Five Maryland residents testified Tuesday that SWAT teams storming their homes handcuffed them, drew guns or even killed their dogs in two instances, telling a state legislative panel that the state needs reports on how the units are used.
State Senator Anthony Muse of Prince George's County is sponsoring legislation that would require law enforcement agencies to issue monthly reports to the Maryland Attorney General on the number, purpose, authorization, general location and results of Maryland SWAT team deployments.
"I believe our law enforcement agencies do a tremendous job under the pressure and the limited resources that they have," Muse said. "But there is no doubt that sometimes things go horribly, horribly wrong. There are those behind us today who will testify that things did go horribly wrong."
Last summer, police raided the home and killed the dogs of an innocent Berwyn Heights mayor after drug smugglers sent a package containing 32 pounds of marijuana to his residence. Police now say the smugglers hoped to have a courier pick up the package shortly after it was dropped outside Mayor Cheye Calvo's front door. Officers kicked down the door and shot Calvo's dogs during the raid, later clearing him and his family of all wrongdoing.
"As I was forced to kneel down on the floor at gunpoint I remember thinking this was a terrible, terrible mistake," Calvo told the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Tuesday. "But as I learned more I've come to understand that what my family and I experienced is part of a broader and troubling trend in law enforcement where police are using SWAT teams for jobs that used to be done by regular police officers."
One after the other, Baltimore County resident George Spicka, Montgomery County resident Sylriel Peters and Howard County residents Karen Thomas and C.B. Petit Jr. told lawmakers about SWAT team raids of their homes in which police damaged property, sometimes killed or threatened to kill family pets and disrupted their lives.
"We will never forget the terror as we saw multiple high-powered weapons aimed at our children's chest," Petit said. "The laser dots on our chests haunt us daily and are now in our nightmares."
Thomas said the raid of her home stemmed from her 20-year-old son selling one gram of marijuana to an undercover police officer _ he ultimately pleaded guilty and served two weeks in jail for the incident, while Petit and Peters said there were no charges brought against anyone living in their homes.
Spicka said he was arrested, but the charges against him were dropped and he's now suing Maryland Transit Authority detectives over the raid. He says he was taken from his home wearing bedroom slippers and not allowed to grab his glasses or change shoes before being taken into jail after the raid. He adds that officers could not locate his cell phone when he was released.
"I had to slog through Glen Burnie in the dark, not being able to see clearly beyond 20 feet, in a rain that soaked me and my slippers, until I found an all night diner that called me a cab," Spicka told legislators.
Law enforcement representatives said it was impossible to comment on particular cases without firsthand knowledge of the situation, but that raids are a necessary part of police work.
"When I write a search warrant I don't know that person could be the sweetest person in the world or a 12 year-old-child who is hell bent on using a firearm who will pull a trigger and can pull a trigger," said Percel Alston Jr., who testified for the Maryland State Fraternal Order of Police. "You don't necessarily know the intent of the person on the other side of the door."
They also said the legislation at hand would probably not change the way raids are conducted.
"I think at the end of the day what you'll wind up with is a report," Phillip Hinkle, general counsel for the Charles County Office of the Sheriff. "You're going to have numbers on a piece of paper."
But Calvo and others said the reports are necessary so lawmakers can devise future legislation to protect people from raids based on inaccurate information or small offenses.
"I see this as a first step and not a final step," Calvo said.
On the Net:
Read Senate Bill 447: http://mlis.state.md.us/2009rs/billfile/SB0447.htm
http://wtop.com/?nid=708&sid=1615452

Reports: Russia building anti-satellite weapons March 5, 2009 - 12:11pm
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia is working to develop anti-satellite weapons to match efforts by other nations, a deputy defense minister was quoted as saying Thursday.
Gen. Valentin Popovkin said Russia continues to oppose a space arms race but will respond to moves made by other countries, according to Russian news reports.
"We can't sit back and quietly watch others doing that; such work is being conducted in Russia," Popovkin was quoted as saying.
Russia already has some "basic, key elements" of such weapons, he said without elaboration.
Popovkin, who previously was the chief of Russian military Space Forces, reportedly made the statement at a news conference in response to a question about U.S. and Chinese tests of anti-satellite weapons.
In February 2008, a U.S. Navy ship launched a missile that hit a dying spy satellite. The test boosted the credibility of missile defense advocates. In 2007, China destroyed one of its own defunct satellites with a ballistic missile.
The Kremlin has criticized U.S. plans for space-based weapons, saying they could trigger a new arms race. Russia and China have pushed for an international agreement banning space weapons, but their proposals have been rejected by the United States.
As part of missile defense plans developed by the previous U.S. administration, the Pentagon worked on missiles, ground lasers and other technology to shoot down satellites.
George W. Bush's administration plan to locate missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic put it at odds with Russia, which opposed the move as a threat to its security.
President Barack Obama has signaled that he might forgo an anti-missile system in Eastern Europe if Russia helps end a standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
The Kremlin has welcomed Washington's moves to improve ties, but Russian officials continue to emphasize the need for modernization of Russian military arsenals.
Popovkin said the government budgeted 1.5 trillion rubles ($42 billion) for weapons purchases this year. He said a quarter of that sum will be spent on strategic nuclear forces.
The military will use the money to put more than 10 new intercontinental ballistic missiles on line by year's end, Popovkin said _ a much faster pace of deployment than in previous years.
Popovkin said the military also intends to complete tests of the Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile and put it into service by the year's end. Russian leaders have boasted of its capability to penetrate missile defenses and described it as a key part of the military's future nuclear arsenal.
But the Bulava, intended for Russia's nuclear submarines, has failed in five of its 10 test launches.
"Any weapon may fail during tests," Popovkin was quoted as saying. "We were forced to increase the number of tests because of a series of failures. We have checked the entire production chain and found a number of flaws."
Popovkin said the Russian air force will receive about 50 new planes and 50 military helicopters this year. The figure is significantly higher than the total number of combat aircraft commissioned by the military since the 1991 Soviet collapse. He also said a next-generation fighter jet is set to make its maiden flight in August.
http://wtop.com/?nid=105&sid=1610163

Here is an excellent article from 230gr at the FRC forums about Garlic
Preserving Garlic
Silverskin or Porcelain garlics are usually still good in storage all through the winter and into the spring. But if you're going to want to try to preserve it, anyway, then you have three pretty safe choices for longer term storage (drying, freezing and pickling - recommended) and one fairly dangerous choice for shorter term storage (in oil - NOT recommended).
Drying Garlic.
Drying garlic is the least expensive and safest way to preserve garlic and retain as much as possible of its fresh character. It's also easy to do. Simply cut the garlic into 1/8" to 1/4" thin slices, and dry them in your dehydrator at 100 to 130o F or so and dry them until they are hard and crisp, even on the inside but still light in color. Do not overcook them, when they turn brown they will turn bitter. In a few days they will become completely dry will keep for years if you can keep it dry. The dried slices should to be kept whole until used in order to better preserve the allicin potential. You can grind the dried slices into powder or nuggets at the time you use them and upon re-moisturizing, allicin happens. The whole dried slices will retain almost all of their potency.Note: Drying garlic is the only way to retain the potential to make allicin - neither freezing nor pickling can do that, and allicin is the beginning of everything that garlic means to us as food, flavoring or pharmaceutical.
Pickling Garlic.
Pickled garlic may not be exactly like fresh garlic but it has a wonderfully refreshing and invigorating flavor of its own. They lose a lot of the heat in pickling and so you can eat more garlic this way. I found a few recipes to pass on for several different ways of pickling garlic. Pickle the garlic anyway you want to, but pickle it and eat it because it is too delicious of a snack to pass up.Pickled Garlic: 12 large heads garlic, about 1 3/4 lb 21/2 cups white vinegar 1 cup dry white wine 1 tbsp pickling salt 1 tbsp granulated sugar 1 tbsp dried oregano 5 dried whole chili peppers Separate garlic bulbs into cloves. To soften and loosen skins, blanch garlic cloves in rapidly boiling water 30 seconds; immediately immerse in cold water, drain and peel cloves. Place 5 clean 8 oz Mason jars in a boiling water canner; fill with water, bring to a boil. Boil SNAP lids 5 minutes to soften sealing compound. In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine vinegar, wine, pickling salt, sugar and oregano. Bring to a boil; boil gently 1 minute; remove from heat. Add peeled garlic cloves to hot vinegar mixture. Stir constantly 1 minute. Pack garlic and 1 dried whole chili pepper into a hot jar to within 3/4-inch of top rim. Add hot liquid to cover garlic to within 1/2-inch of top rim (head space). Using rubber spatula, remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim removing any stickiness. Centre SNAP lid on jar; apply screw band just until fingertip tight. Place jar in canner. Repeat for remaining garlic and liquid. Cover canner; return water to a boil. Process -- boil filled jars -- 10 minutes. Remove jars. Cool undisturbed 24 hours. Check jar seals. Sealed lids curve downward. Remove screw bands; wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store in a cool, dark place. Warning: This recipe was specially formulated to allow home canners to preserve a low acid food -- garlic -- in a commonly available boiling water canner. Please do not deviate from the recipe ingredients; quantities jar size and processing method and time. Any change could affect the safety of the end product.
Fermented Garlic Pickles
PICKLING with LACTO-FERMENTATIONBack before the advent of canning and freezing, folks preserved their vegetable harvest via lacto-fermentation. This process, once commonplace, survives today mostly in the form of sauerkraut and kim-chi. These days, almost all store bought pickles and contemporary pickle recipes are vinegar-based. Lacto-fermented pickles contain no vinegar at all.In lacto-fermentation, salt is added to vegetables, either by covering them in salty water or by mixing them with salt to draw out their own juices. Either way, the vegetable ends up stewing in salty liquid. Lactic microbial organisms take hold in this environment and make it so acidic that bacteria that cause food to spoil can’t live there. The result is a pickled food that will keep without canning or refrigeration. Lacto-fermented pickles are also full of beneficial bacteria that, like the bacteria in yogurt, are good for your gut and make food more digestible.Just about any firm, sturdy vegetable can be lacto-fermented including Radishes (daikon especially), cucumbers, cabbage, baby onions, green beans, carrots, beets, lemons, turnips, and, of course, garlic cloves will work nicely. Essentially, all you have to do is pack a canning jar or crock with your veggies and cover them with a brine solution and leave it somewhere dark and cool to ferment. Pickling time varies by taste, vegetable, ambient temperature, but say anywhere from three days to four weeks. Open it up and sample at regular intervals to decide when you like your pickles best. It’s a frighteningly simple and flavorful transformation.Use sea salt or canning salt over iodized salt and non-chlorinated water. The saltier your solution, the longer the vegetable will last, but too much salt can be unpalatable. More salt is generally required in the summer when microbial action is fast paced, less in the winter.If you’re pickling your veggies in brine, covering them with premixed salt water, at:1. 2 tablespoons of sea salt per quart of water (a 3.6% brine solution) is a pretty standard strength for most pickles. 2. 3 tablespoons of salt per quart (5.4% solution) yields a salty but extra long lasting pickle. 3. 10% brine lasts even longer but often the vegetables must be soaked in fresh water before being eaten. 4. Some old-time recipes call for brines with enough salt to float an egg. This translates to about a 10% salt solution. 5. Experiment with brine strength. A general rule of thumb to consider in salting your ferments: more salt to slow microorganism action in summer heat; less salt in winter when microbial action slows.The directions are simple:1. Clean and cut veggies and fill a very clean jar. Add any spices (like black peppercorns or chili peppers) and, to increase crunchiness, add fresh tannin-rich grape leaves (or fresh cherry, oak, and/or horseradish leaves). 2. Pour brine to cover. Leave a little breathing room at the top of the jar about 1/2″.3. Cap and wait: once the vegetables are in the jars, leave them at room temperature (72 degrees) for 4 to 14 days. During summer months, I leave them on my kitchen counter to ferment. During the fall and winter, I snuggle my jars into towels and place them in an insulated picnic cooler. How long you allow them to ferment depends on how tangy you like your vegetables. I suggest opening a jar after three to five days but if you like the tanginess, allow them to ferment a bit longer. After 14 days, you can place all the jars in the refrigerator for up to eight months.4. It is important to note that fermented vegetables have a very distinct smell and may bubble and fizz when first opened. When done correctly, they have a strong sour smell. Note: “Dry Style” fermentation you’re packing salt and shredded vegetables together (like sauerkraut and kim-chi) use minimum of 1 1/2 percent salt by weight of vegetables or about two to three tablespoons of salt per quart of prepared veggies.1. Shred vegetable2. Pack into container, salting as you go3. Put a weight on top of the vegetable to help press out the liquids. Cover with cheesecloth.4. It should take about three days minimum to pickle. Do a taste test every few days thereafter, and as soon as you have got a good flavor (probably in about a week or so) transfer your pickles to the refrigerator where they should last for several months as leaving them in a cabinet, they won’t last nearly as long.You’ll know they’re bad if they start to smell or look off, or take on a slimy texture.Refrigerator Garlic Pickles AIngredients: Whole, peeled garlic cloves Red wine vinegarSalt (about 1 Tbs. per cup of vinegar)Place the cloves of garlic in a jar with an air-tight lid. Add enough vinegar to cover, and add salt. Place lid on jar and shake to dissolve salt. Store in the refrigerator for two weeks before using to "cure". These should keep almost indefinitely, covered and refrigerated. Refrigerator Garlic Pickles BIngredients: Whole, peeled garlic cloves 5% Vinegar of your choiceKikkoman's light soy sauce Place the cloves of garlic in a jar with a lid and add enough vinegar to cover. Place lid on jar and store in the refrigerator for two weeks to "cure". Drain vinegar off and use separately as garlic flavored vinegar. Place cloves into jar and add soy sauce to cover. Wait a week or more before eating. These should keep almost indefinitely, covered and refrigerated. Refrigerator Garlic Pickles C2 whole heads garlic, divided into peeled cloves 2/3 cup distilled white vinegar or wine vinegar3 tablespoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon commercial mixed pickling spice 3 sprigs fresh thyme, 3 inches long one 1/2 pint sterilized jar with lid Peel garlic, cut any pieces that are thicker than 3/4 inch in half length-wise. In a small saucepan, boil vinegar, sugar, salt and pickling spice, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add garlic cloves and return to a boil; cook stirring for 1 minute. Put thyme sprigs in jar then pour in garlic, liquid, and spices, filling to within 1/4 inch of top, making sure garlic is covered. Cover tightly. Let sit at room temperature for 24 hours to blend flavors, then refrigerate for up to 2 months. Garlic in Oil Warning! - Not Safe. It's important to keep food safety in mind when storing garlic in oil. Low-acid foods like raw garlic can be a source of Clostridium botulinum bacteria. Oil's oxygen-free environment is perfect for growth of this anaerobic bacteria. Garlic in oil, therefore, must be stored correctly to prevent botulism food poisoning. It's best to store these oils in the refrigerator, but for a limited time only, not be refrigerated longer than 3 weeks. After 3 weeks of refrigeration, the increased number of bacteria will become a food safety hazard. This conflicts with the desire for long term storage of the garlic, however, after removing the garlic, the flavored oil can be stored safely at room temperature. When vegetables or herbs are dried, water will not be available for bacterial growth.
Therefore, DRIED vegetables (including garlic) in oil can be stored safely at room temperature. Note. Tomatoes are high in acid. Therefore, plain dried tomatoes in oil can be safely stored at room temperature. I grow North German cultivar of Porcelain (ophios) garlic which may be the most cold hearty garlics of all and will survive -45oF . Their bulbs are usually over 2 1/2 inches in diameterand with 3" bulbs are not unusual . The wrappers tend to be very thick, very white and parchment-like and tightly cover their few 3 to 5, but very large, cloves. Great eating garlic, Porcelains are all very richly flavored garlic. Porcelain garlics store longer than most other garlics, only the Silverskins store longer, it's hard to ask much more out of a garlic. The Porcelains are the densest of all garlics and weigh more per unit of volume than the other kinds and research scientists say that makes it a superior medicinal garlicIn our experience, Porcelains are very hardy garlic and will grow well in most of the USA, but get larger the further North they are grown. Even so, they do well in most areas of the South most years although they are "iffy" in Florida and South Texas and the warmer winter parts of California. Porcelain garlics are unique in that the scapes they produce in the spring coil in all kinds of ways and resemble a bed of snakes before the scapes all straighten up and become vertical. If eaten while soft and still in the curl, the scapes are absolutely delicious in soup, dips and stir fries. We plant from cloves, as most people do, though some plant bulbils that develop on scapes. The problem is that your clove size is reduced by about a third and it takes two full growing seasons to mature the bulblets. We usually plant our garlic the end of October and harvest late in July, well before the Silverskins. 230gr
http://frc4u.org/phpbb/index.php?topic=406.0;topicseen

First had burping and farting cows and then bletching sheep and now we have burping worms the cause of Global Warming.
Burping Worms May Contribute to Climate Change
While the biological emissions from these critters pales in comparison to the nitrous oxide emitted by fossil fuel burning, their contribution could increase as more and more nitrogen-rich fertilizer runs off into lakes, streams and seas, the authors of the study said.
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is more commonly known to anyone who has sat in the dentist's chair as laughing gas.
In the atmosphere it is a powerful greenhouse gas, packing about 310 times the punch as the same weight of carbon dioxide (though carbon dioxide is still the bigger driver because there is much more of it).
Studies of soil-dwelling earthworms had showed that the creepy crawlies emitted nitrous oxide because of the nitrogen-converting microbes they gobbled up into their guts with every mouthful of soil.
Peter Stief, of the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Germany, and his colleagues noticed that no one had ever looked for similar nitrous oxide emission in aquatic animals, so that's where they turned their attention.
"We were looking for an analogy in the aquatic system," Stief said.
The researchers found that in a variety of aquatic environments, animals that dug in the dirt for their food did indeed emit nitrous oxide, thanks to the bacteria in the soil they ate, which "survive surprisingly well in the gut environment," Stief told LiveScience.
The team's findings are detailed in the March 2 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The nitrous oxide given off by these so-called filter feeders has little global impact of course.
"We're not expecting a new catastrophe," Stief said.
But on the scale of an individual lake or stream, "the difference can be huge," Stief said — as much as an 8-fold difference between situations where animals were and were not present.
Nitrate from fertilizer runoff can exacerbate the situation because those bacteria that end up in animal guts love to feast on it.
Increased nitrogen levels can also favor algal blooms, which suck up all the oxygen in the water. This could cause a shift in the ecosystems subjected to runoff, favoring the species that are more tolerant to oxygen depletion, which also tend to be the nitrous oxide emitters.
Because these species tend to be at the bottom of the food chain, any shifts in species abundance can cascade up the food chain, Stief noted.
The findings don't mean that animals will be to blame for any future increases in nitrous oxide, because the pollution would fuel their emissions ultimately comes from humans.
"We have not discovered that the animals represent an environmental problem," Stief said.
The research was supported by a European Union Marie Curie Fellowship, the Danish Research Agency and Aarhus University, Denmark.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,504646,00.html

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez tightens state control of food amid rocketing inflation and food shortages
President Hugo Chavez is tightening state control over Venezuela's food supply, setting quotas for food staples which are to be sold at government-imposed prices.
Venezuela's public finances are unravelling, with oil prices at $40 a barrel, while the national budget is calculated at $60 a barrel. Inflation is running at over 30 per cent, yet with the new measures Mr Chavez is seeking to ensure that his core support, the poor, can still fill their shopping baskets with food.
"If any industry wants to ride roughshod over the consumers, with a view to getting better dividends, we are going to act," said Carlos Osorio, the national superintendent of silos and storage. "For the government, access to food is a matter of national security."
Production quotas and prices have now been set for cooking oil, white rice, sugar, coffee, flour, margarine, pasta, cheeses and tomato sauce.
White rice, the staple for many Venezuelans, can now only be sold at a price of 2.15 bolivares (71p) per kilo. Private companies insist that production of that kilo costs 4.41 bolivares (£1.46) and that government regulations are impossible to fulfil and companies will quickly go broke. Companies that are dedicated to rice production must ensure that 80 per cent of their efforts are dedicated to white rice. The new regulations set production percentages, as companies were rebranding their products to avoid the government controls, like flavouring the rice, as the price restrictions apply only to white rice.
"Forcing companies to produce rice at a loss will not resolve the situation, simply make it worse," said Luis Carmona of Polar, a rice company that has been singled out by the government for trying to sidestep restrictions.
Government price controls on basic goods have been in place, in various forms, since 2003. But the restrictions have forced Venezuela to become increasingly reliant on imports of these products as local farmers will not supply the selected food staples at government prices.
Mr Chavez last month won a referendum allowing him to stand indefinitely for re-election. With that now achieved the Venezuelan leader, who has vowed to turn his South American nation into a model Socialist state, is now taking some unpopular decisions needed to stabilise his floundering economy.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/4938993/Venezuelas-Hugo-Chavez-tightens-state-control-of-food-amid-rocketing-inflation-and-food-shortages.html

Eeyore's News and view

Near Earth Objects is a fascinating subject and is something for everyone to consider in my opinion, it would not take much of one to foul things up for us and different parts of the world for years. Follows two articles and a link to find out more if you want.
Surprise Asteroid Makes Near-Miss of Earth
Wait! Did you hear that whooshing sound?
A small asteroid buzzed by Earth Monday, though only real astronomy geeks in the Pacific would have noticed.
The rock, estimated to be no more than 200 feet wide, zoomed past our planet at an altitude of 40,000 miles at 1:44 p.m. universal time — or 8:44 EST.
Dubbed 2009 DD45, it was discovered only on Friday by Australian astronomers.
Forty thousand miles may sound like a lot, but it's only about one-seventh of the way to the moon, and less than twice as far out as many telecommunications satellites.
Had 2009 DD45 hit the Earth, it would have exploded on or near the surface with the force of a large nuclear blast — not very reassuring when you consider humanity had only about three days' notice.
According to the Australian news Web site Crikey, the asteroid is likely to be drawn in by Earth's gravity, meaning it may return for many more near misses in the future.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,503164,00.html

Space rock gives Earth a close shave
An asteroid of a similar size to a rock that exploded above Siberia in 1908 with the force of a thousand atomic bombs whizzed close past Earth on Monday, astronomers said on Tuesday.
2009 DD45, estimated to be between 21 and 47 meters (68 and 152 feet) across, raced by at 1344 GMT on Monday, the Planetary Society and astronomers' blogs reported.
The gap was just 72,000 kilometers (44,750 miles), or a fifth of the distance between Earth and the Moon and only twice the height of satellites in geosynchronous orbit, the website space.com said.
The estimated size is similar to that of an asteroid or comet that exploded above Tunguska, Siberia, on June 30 1908, flattening 80 million trees in a swathe of more than 2,000 square kilometres (800 square miles).
2009 DD45 was spotted last Saturday by astronomers at the Siding Spring Survey in Australia, and was verified by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre (MPC), which catalogues Solar System rocks.
The closest flyby listed by the MPC is 2004 FU162, a small asteroid about six metres (20 feet) across which came within about 6,500 kms (4,000 miles) of us in March 2004. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.783c3aae6eb418393fc6f8c443ef6765.2f1&show_article=1

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007DPS....39.0801J

This is what was claimed by a lot of folks, and has now come to light (at least to the public) how far the Bush Admin. would have gone.
Bush-era memos claim broad powers for president
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration determined that certain constitutional rights would not apply as the U.S. stepped up its response to terrorism, according to documents released to the public for the first time.
In nine legal opinions disclosed Monday by the Obama administration, the Justice Department under former President George W. Bush claimed exceptional search-and-seizure powers. Within two weeks of the 2001 attacks, government lawyers were discussing ways to wiretap U.S. conversations without warrants.
Also revealed by the Obama administration in court documents Monday: The CIA destroyed nearly 100 videotapes — far more than previously known — of interrogations and other treatment of terror suspects. Congressional Democrats and other critics have charged that some of the harsh interrogation techniques amounted to torture, a contention that Bush and other officials rejected.
The Bush administration eventually abandoned many of the legal conclusions, but the documents themselves had been closely held. By releasing them, President ama continued a house-cleaning of the Bush administration's most contentious policies.
"Too often over the past decade, the fight against terrorism has been viewed as a zero-sum battle with our civil liberties," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a speech as the documents were being prepared for release. "Not only is that school of thought misguided, I fear that in actuality it does more harm than good."
The legal memos written by the Bush administration's Office of Legal Counsel show a government grappling with how to wage war on terrorism in a fast-changing world. The conclusion, reiterated in page after page of documents, was that the president had broad authority to set aside constitutional rights.
Fourth Amendment protections against unwarranted search and seizure, for instance, did not apply in the United States as long as the president was combatting terrorism, the Justice Department said in an Oct. 23, 2001, memo.
"First Amendment speech and press rights may also be subordinated to the overriding need to wage war successfully," Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo wrote, adding later: "The current campaign against terrorism may require even broader exercises of federal power domestically."
On Sept. 25, 2001, Yoo discussed possible changes to the laws governing wiretaps for intelligence gathering. In that memo, he said the government's interest in keeping the nation safe following the terrorist attacks might justify warrantless searches.
That memo did not specifically attempt to justify the government's warrantless wiretapping program, but it provided part of the foundation.
Yoo, now a professor at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law, did not return messages seeking comment. Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who served as White House counsel when many of the memos were written, did not immediately respond to a request for comment made through his attorney.
The memos reflected a belief within the Bush administration that the president had broad powers that could not be checked by Congress or the courts. That stance, in one form or another, became the foundation for many policies: holding detainees at Guantanamo Bay, eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without warrants, using tough new CIA interrogation tactics and locking U.S. citizens in military brigs without charges.
Obama has pledged to close the Guantanamo Bay prison within a year. He halted the CIA's intensive interrogation program. And last week, prosecutors moved the terrorism case against U.S. resident Ali Al-Marri, a suspected al-Qaeda sleeper agent held in a military brig, to a civilian courthouse.
A criminal prosecutor is wrapping up an investigation of the destruction of the tapes of interrogations.
Monday's acknowledgment of videotape destruction, however, involved a civil lawsuit filed in New York by the American Civil Liberties Union. It is not clear what exactly was on the recordings. The government's letter cites interrogation videos, but the lawsuit against the Defense Department also seeks records related to treatment of detainees, any deaths of detainees and the CIA's sending of suspects overseas, known as "extraordinary rendition."
At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters he hadn't spoken to the president about the report, but he called the news about the videotapes "sad" and said Obama was committed to ending torture while also protecting American values.
ACLU attorney Amrit Singh said the CIA should be held in contempt of court for holding back the information for so long.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-03-02-justicememo_N.htm

Russia says Obama letter has nothing concrete
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has received a letter from U.S. President Barack Obama, Medvedev's spokeswoman said on Tuesday after being asked about a report in the New York Times.
"We have received this letter. It was in fact a reply to a letter from Medvedev sent to Obama after his appointment. The letter contained an assessment of the situation, but there were no concrete proposals about any mutually binding decisions," Natalya Timakova told reporters during a visit by Medvedev to Spain.
The New York Times reported that in the letter Obama had offered to back off deploying a new missile system in Eastern Europe if Russia helps to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons. Moscow has not yet responded to the letter, according to the paper.
Russia opposes the deployment of a U.S. missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic. The system was proposed by the administration of former President George W. Bush.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Friday.
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2009/03/03/africa/OUKWD-UK-MEDVEDEV-OBAMA.php

A man (not a male) will do what ever he has to, so that he can feed his family. I won't be as carvelier as some to say that they are selling the "birthright" like Esau did for a mess of pottage. I just hope that i never have to make that choice.
Dallasites turn in 147 guns in exchange for grocery cards07:25 PM CST on Saturday, February 28, 2009
The city of Dallas' gun buyback program yielded 147 guns in exchange for $50 grocery store gift cards Saturday, the city announced.
Dallas residents trade guns for grocery gift cards
Although many of the guns turned in were generations-old rifles and shotguns, a few of the guns more typically used in crimes – handguns – were collected.
"This shows that people will be behind a positive activity," said Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway, who spearheaded the event at Reunion Arena. "Some of those guns are ones our officers are up against."
Throughout the morning, a steady stream of young and old braved the cold weather to turn in their guns. Mayor Tom Leppert said he initially expected officers would take in about 20 weapons. But just an hour and a half into the event, 77 guns had been exchanged for $50 Kroger cards.
"It's more than I thought we were going to get," Leppert said. "I'm pleasantly surprised."
Dallas police officers who examined the guns generally asked nothing of the people turning them in other than to see their driver's licenses. Officers tagged the guns and inspected them to make sure they were functioning. After putting the guns through a 20-minute inspection process, officers placed them in bins and gave the gift cards. The guns eventually will be smelted.
Those who came had various reasons for participating. Some said their guns had been handed down but never used. Others didn't want the guns around their kids. And some wanted money for groceries.
Gary Reed said he exchanged his guns because of his Christian faith. Reed pulled his sport utility vehicle into the old arena's parking lot around 10:30 a.m., and an officer approached him.
"What you got there," Lt. Gary Tittle asked.
"I got two of them. No, three of them," Reed responded as he pulled out a shotgun, rifle and pistol from the back seat of his SUV.
The two men walked into Reunion Arena, and the officer asked why Reed decided to bring the guns in.
"My church has been asking me to do more," said Reed, 42, who drove 25 minutes to Dallas from Crandall. "These were weapons I got in my younger years, and I'll leave it at that."
Reed said he planned to take the $150 worth of gift cards he'd receive and give them away to strangers.
Caraway said that although the guns collected might not have been used in crimes, that wasn't the point of the buyback. Some could have been stolen later and used in crimes, he said. Others might have lain around homes, where children could have played with them.
"Some of these guns are very dangerous," Caraway said. "It takes only one gun, one shot to destroy a family."
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/yahoolatestnews/stories/030109dnmetguns.1130ece0.html

This last one is globalization, socialism, communism what ever you want to call it, but i will just call it scary. You ought to be aware of it at least.
Brown woos Obama on global deal
GORDON BROWN hopes to forge a partnership with President Barack Obama in Washington this week, to call for a “global new deal” to lift the world out of recession.
As he prepares for his first White House visit since the president’s inauguration, the prime minister has hinted that he is ready to make further tax cuts to boost the UK economy.
Brown will meet Obama on Tuesday and address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. Aides say he has both to demonstrate to a sceptical British public that he commands the respect of the president, and to persuade the American political establishment that global action is needed to rescue the US economy.
Brown is under pressure to persuade American political leaders to sign up to bold aims for the G20 summit of industrial and leading developing nations, which is to be held in London next month.
Many US politicians believe economic policy should put America first, and have shown little interest in concerted global action. Brown will argue for a renewal of the transatlantic relationship, with the two powers working together to solve global economic problems.
The prime minister will borrow from the rhetoric of Franklin Roosevelt, who introduced the government-financed New Deal to tackle the US Depression of the 1930s. He will argue that his 21st century “global new deal” will also require public spending on a huge world-wide scale.
Writing in The Sunday Times today, Brown calls for “universal action to prevent the crisis spreading, to stimulate the global economy and to help reduce the severity and length of the global recession”.
His stress on continued economic “stimulation” will increase speculation about next month’s budget. No 10 sources said that, while no final decision had been taken about further tax cuts, the prime minister would do “whatever it took” to pull the UK out of recession.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5822265.ece

Eeyores News and a View

Sheriff Joe makes the news again
Protest against Sheriff's immigration policy heats up
Reported by: Tony Arranaga
PHOENIX -- Tensions rose between two large groups of protesters in downtown Phoenix on Saturday afternoon.
At issue, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's stand on immigration and his policy to detain undocumented immigrants.
A group of about 1,000 people turned out to march from Steele Indian School Park, along Central Avenue to protest Arpaio's practices.
According to Sheriff's Office spokesman Doug Matteson, one man was cited for carrying a concealed weapon after he made verbal threats against Arpaio. He reportedly was also carrying handcuffs and a Los Angeles police department badge.
Deputies are investigating whether the man was permitted to carry the handgun.
The route continued downtown to the Wells Fargo building where Arpaio's offices are located. There is no word on whether the Sheriff was there.
The mostly-peaceful march suddenly turned tense, as a group of Arpaio supporters numbering in the hundreds began to shout at protestors along their route.
Phoenix police officers were posted along the route to keep both sides safe.
“We are excited to see such a strong and peaceful showing of opposition to the wrong-headed policies of Sheriff Joe Arpaio,” Salvador Reza of Puente said in a news release after the march. “... 5,000 marched today to make sure that the abuses that we’ve suffered under for far too long move from the local to being dealt with on the national level as well.”
Arpaio said that if the feds want to change the laws, he's still got two state laws on the books to support his efforts to crack down on undocumented immigrants.
marchers arrived at the Sandra Day O'Connor Federal Building at about 1:30 p.m.
http://www.abc15.com/content/news/phoenixmetro/story/Protest-against-Sheriffs-immigration-policy-heats/Vyv7DAtHPEm7MOXPV9zIew.cspx

Semi-Automatic Rifle Ban Would Reduce Jobs, Not Crime
NEWTOWN, Conn. -- Responding to Attorney General Eric Holder's comment yesterday that the Obama Administration will attempt to reinstate a ban against semi-automatic rifles, the National Shooting Sports Foundation reminded Congress and all Americans that such a ban would cause jobs to be lost in a difficult economy, have no effect on reducing crime and would deprive millions of law-abiding sportsmen and gun owners of their Constitutional right to own the firearm of their choice.
Holder made his comments in connection with criminals supplying illegal guns from the United States to drug dealers in Mexico.
"The problem of criminals breaking the law to acquire firearms and illegally smuggling them across the border is not remedied by legislation that would violate the rights of Americans to own semi-automatic firearms," said Steve Sanetti, president of NSSF, the trade association of the firearms industry.
"These types of firearms, which are erroneously called 'assault weapons,' are used by millions of Americans for hunting, sporting and personal defense purposes," Sanetti added. "We can only conclude that certain officials are waiting for any politically advantageous excuse to announce the intention to seek a new ban on sporting rifles, a ban that would break the president's campaign promise to gun owners that 'I'm not going to take away your guns.'"
The industry and firearms owners were understandably outraged by Holder's comments yesterday, and today even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi backed away from the idea of a new gun ban. "On that score, I think we need to enforce the laws we have right now," said Pelosi, surprisingly taking the position of pro-gun advocates.
Holder's use of the inaccurate term "assault weapons" is one that is deliberately used by gun-ban advocates to create confusion between legally sold, semi-automatic rifles and look-a-like, fully automatic military versions. While the civilian version of these rifles may resemble their military counterparts, the civilian rifle fires only one round with each pull of the trigger. Additionally, these rifles fire ammunition calibers no more powerful than traditional-looking sporting arms. Civilian access to fully automatic machine guns has been severely restricted since 1934.
Studies show that the ban against sporting firearms, known as the Assault Weapons Ban, that was in place from 1994 to 2004 did not reduce crime. Furthermore, there has been no increase in crime involving these types of firearms since Congress allowed the ban to expire.
A ban on sporting firearms also would have a severe effect on jobs and the economy. Sales of semi-automatic rifles have been strong over the last several months -- overall sales of firearms have increased as much as 42 percent -- and have allowed companies in the firearms industry to withstand, to some extent, the downturn in the economy.
"These semi-automatic rifles are the most popular rifle in America today and they are largely behind the recent increase in firearms sales," said Sanetti. "This is a bright spot in our economy and has helped save jobs in our industry."
Since the election last November gun owners have feared the Obama Administration would seek legislation that would infringe on their Second Amendment rights. "It appears gun owners' fears were well-founded given Attorney General Holder's comment that the Obama Administration will seek new restrictions on gun owners. A new gun ban would fly in the face of last year's Supreme Court decision in the Heller case that reaffirmed the Second Amendment right of all Americans to keep and bear arms," said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel.
http://www.nssf.org/news/PR_idx.cfm?PRloc=share/PR/&PR=022609.cfm&CFID=4370336&CFTOKEN=4ec9be7ee4146df3-B7DF39EF-F7BF-B802-F55FABA960F1BCB6&jsessionid=f03026464e39ae9a23632f7655122e84197b

CIA Denies Helping Nazi Adolf Eichmann
March 01, 2009 12:33 PM ET By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
A gripping new book about the hunt and seizure of Nazi Adolf Eichmann, implementer of the "final solution," includes this stunning charge: The CIA knew his alias and his Argentina address but didn't tell Israel. Hunting Eichmann by Neal Bascomb says the CIA balked to protect Nazis working for it. Not exactly, Langley tells Whispers: "CIA did not, contrary to legend, know Eichmann's precise alias or whereabouts. We even got a tip in the 1950s that he could be at large in Jerusalem!"

The U.S. Government: Devious or Just Plain Stupid...
You Make the Call
Ben Bernanke - the "Sultan of Spin" himself - came out this morning and echoed the misguided hopes of CNBC's Trillion Dollar Survey from January. He optimistically believes that the crisis will be resolved before the end of 2009...that 2010 will be a year of recovery.
His hopeful yet empty words caused me to reflect on the progress of government intervention through this crisis so far. And I can come to only one conclusion;
I'm praying that they're devious.
That their measures are intended to fail. That they've got some secret plot...a conspiracy going on. Otherwise it means our leaders - political and economic - are just plain obtuse - complete with dunce caps.
Because there's no other way to explain the abysmal failure of rhetoric and 'policy' over the course of the last year. It's either deliberate or just thanks to incompetence. And with a darkening future ahead of us, we can only hope that it isn't the latter.
So I'm done holding it in. I've been watching this farce play out for months and it's time to let loose the broadside on these fools...smashing their misconceptions, half-truths and lies of omission to little bits.
Enough with the talk...it's time for the fireworks.
The Free Market Didn't Fail; The Regulations Did
Truthfully, every time I hear some politician talk about how this is an example of the failure of free markets, I want to whack the guy on the head with a rubber mallet.
There's a fine line between free markets and the deregulation that's allegedly intended to create a 'free-er' market...and that's a distinction most fail to notice.
And in the last few decades we haven't had anything even closely resembling a free market. Instead, we've had a 21st century banking system that's governed by a gutted 1940s regulatory structure.
I'm talking about some of more dangerous "free market reforms" of the Clinton/Bush era. The repeal of the Glass Steagall Act - which kept the banking system functional from the Great Depression through the end of the 20th century - and the 2004 decision to lift leverage limitations on American banks.
Were these regulations removed with the intention of creating a free-er marketplace? In my humble opinion; absolutely not.
These were crucial safety nets for our highly-regulated economic system that got in the way of bankers' profits. Removing them wasn't a free market initiative, and it didn't create a free market. It just made the whole situation far more dangerous.
If anything, the massive amounts of lobbyist money that made this deregulation possible prove - beyond a shadow of a doubt - that the U.S. government is too compromised to properly manage the economy.
Meanwhile, the government-mandated ratings agencies continued to stamp their seal of approval on questionable mortgage-backed securities. And the SEC continued to let Madoff and Stanford go about their business, long after they were warned of Madoff's shenanigans.
You're probably starting to see that it wasn't the free market that created today's problems, but the false sense of security brought on by "strict" government regulations.
So yeah, let's go ahead and build a bigger safety blanket. One that costs more, makes the market even less efficient, and ultimately proves to be as dodgy and inconsistent as the existing regulatory system. Now that's genius.
Taking it a step further; the size and scope of this crisis could be pinned directly on the Federal Reserve. That's right; Greenspan's 'liquidity experiment' and years of rock-bottom interest rates were the lungs blowing up the bubble. But that's a different story altogether.
Moving on to Lie # 2...
A Novel Idea for Politicians: Quit Lying and Make up Your Mind
This is a big one.
Asking a politician to tell the truth or actually make up his mind...well that's like asking a teenager to drive 20 miles under the speed limit. It's just not going to happen.
Generally, that's because telling the truth is bad for a politician's business. No problem there...I can respect that. But what about when it's actually a good thing for the country?
Take right now for instance. The markets are running scared. They're beaten down and oversold, waiting for a single ray of hope or even just some consistency. What do they get instead?
They get bald-faced lies like the most recent joint statement from the Treasury, FDIC, OTS, OCC and the Fed...one that macroeconomist Mike Shedlock calls "a Purposeful Joint Lie." A document so filled with puffery and damage control that it could make Ben Bernanke blush.
They get a government that fails to warn them that one of the people's newest acquisitions - AIG - is set to declare the single largest loss in corporate history. They get a President who tells the press that years of trillion dollar deficits are on the way...only to backpedal a few weeks later and promise deficits half that size by the end of his first term.
Hey government; I've got a novel idea. How 'bout you pick a story, and stick to it?
Want another shining example? Look no further than "illiquid assets." Know why they're illiquid? Because the government won't pick a value and stick to it.
The "illiquid assets" aren't worth face value, and they'd fetch maybe a third of their value in the secondary market (for sake of argument). But ever since Paulson's "Master Liquidity Enhancement Conduit" (MLEC) in the summer of 2007, the government's been waffling back and forth with half-hearted promises to pay 75% of face value...perhaps more...perhaps less. They just haven't made up their minds.
So instead of having the market's clearing mechanism do its magic, working out deals and determining a fair market value for these securities - so that we can all move on with the lengthy road to recovery - we've got the government in there gummin' up the works.
Faced with the decision of either shaking the rotten apples out of the tree or forcing taxpayers to pay for those rotten apples, they've chosen indecision. And the market's not happy about that.
Paving the Road to Great Depression II
Remember, sequels are always bigger, more violent and less entertaining than the original. Oh, and they also have a knack for rehashing the worst parts of the original.
But seriously folks, let's set the stage before I'm dismissed as a 'fearmonger' by people that don't know all the facts. It surprises me that so much of the news media has reverted to questioning whether this is even the biggest slump since the Great Depression. Have they been reading the same news I have?
Both George Soros and Nassim Taleb have gone on record as saying that we're facing a bigger slump than the Great Depression. In a little-known interview regarding his interest rate policy, Greenspan warned that this event could make the Great Depression, "look like a Sunday Picnic." And at least nominally speaking, you can safely say that this is the biggest asset price bubble in the history of human civilization. So yes, it can be a little unnerving.
And yes; a full-blown Depression is in the range of possible outcomes.
Especially if bumbling politicians and the Fed keep themselves firmly lodged between the economy and a recovery. Just look at 1990s Japan or 1929 America. In both cases, authorities got involved and mucked up the works. Unlike the barely-remembered 1920-21 slump, a deep recession that quickly corrected itself thanks to non-intervention.
Not that they couldn't be helping if they wanted to. They'd just have to make up their minds, quit pandering to their "sponsors" or just plain get out of the way. But that's not likely any time soon.

Russian bomber neared Canada before Obama visit
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian fighters scrambled to intercept an approaching Russian bomber less than 24 hours before U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Ottawa last week Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay said on Friday.
The Bear bomber did not enter Canada's Arctic airspace but the two Canadian F-18 fighters had to order the plane to turn back, MacKay told a news conference.
Obama spent a few hours in the Canadian capital on February 19 on his first foreign trip since becoming president.
"I'm not going to stand here and accuse the Russians of having deliberately done this during the presidential visit but it was a strong coincidence, which we met with the presence, as we always do, of F-18 fighter planes ... and sent a strong signal that they should back off and stay out of our air space," MacKay said.
He also said Russia had stepped up its bomber flights toward the Canadian Arctic in the last few years, reviving a practice that was common during the Cold War.
MacKay did not say exactly when the incident occurred or how close the bomber came to Canadian airspace.
"It's not a game. It's not a game at all. These aircraft approaching Canadian or U.S. airspace are viewed very seriously," he said.
"We have asked on a number of occasions ... that we are given a heads up when this type of air traffic is to occur and to date we have not received that kind of notice."
In Moscow, a spokesman for Russia's defense ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.
MacKay spoke after a meeting with U.S. General Gene Renuart, commander of the binational North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
"They (the Russians) have been professional in the way they have conducted their aircraft operations," Renuart said.
Canada's minority Conservative government has promised to spend billions of dollars boosting Canada's presence in the Arctic, which scientists believe has vast reserves of oil and natural gas.
"Our intention is very much to demonstrate our sovereignty, our capability to protect our territory, our airspace, our water (and) our people in the Arctic and that includes our resources," MacKay said.
Five countries with an Arctic coastline -- Russia, the United States, Canada, Norway, and Denmark through its control of Greenland -- have competing claims to the region.
Scientists say oil and gas exploration could begin during the summer months within decades.
Russia said this week it would respond to any moves to militarize the Arctic.
Ottawa -- which plans to build a deep water port in the region -- has stepped up sovereignty patrols in the Arctic and last August it said it would toughen reporting requirements for ships entering its waters in the Far North.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE51Q2W220090227?sp=true