Thorium, Unlimited Energy

This article describes Thorium as a wonder-fuel that would safely solve our energy problems.

work by Nobel laureate Carlo Rubbia at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) on the use of thorium as a cheap, clean and safe alternative to uranium in reactors may be the magic bullet we have all been hoping for, though we have barely begun to crack the potential of solar power.

Dr Rubbia says a tonne of the silvery metal – named after the Norse god of thunder, who also gave us Thor’s day or Thursday - produces as much energy as 200 tonnes of uranium, or 3,500,000 tonnes of coal. A mere fistful would light London for a week.

The article further claims that thorium reactors are not in widespread use for historical and big-business political reasons.

"It is almost impossible make nuclear weapons out of thorium because it is too difficult to handle. It wouldn’t be worth trying." It emits too many high gamma rays.

You might have thought that thorium reactors were the answer to every dream but when CERN went to the European Commission for development funds in 1999-2000, they were rebuffed.

Brussels turned to its technical experts, who happened to be French because the French dominate the EU’s nuclear industry. "They didn’t want competition because they had made a huge investment in the old technology," he said.

German Nacktscanner (Airport Porno-Scanners)

In 2008, Germans were against the full-body airport scanners, calling them "nonsense":

"I can tell you in all clarity that we will not take part in this nonsense," a spokeswoman for the interior ministry told a regular news conference.

Two years later, Germany begins

Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, a conservative Christian Democrat and member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet, indicated he is more open to the full-body scanners than previously.

implementing the scanners:

German air passengers in Hamburg will pass through full-body scanners before catching their flights. The scanners have raised fears about risks to health and personal privacy.

Verified Non-GMO Food

The Non-GMO Project provides product testing and labeling.

This will make it easier for consumers to buy non-GMO products.

Argentina Collapse

Interesting video on two decades of political turmoil in Argentina. Shows effects on the people.

Twelve parts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH6_i8zuffs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whVSw5X2pVU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPddW3da2aA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dbb4U8v3YQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPZcxQhUc9E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMiedzHeUzg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPST2cqgVQs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBSNTxPM3mU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnig3LwEs3Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsirWiQ5kv0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAtVUx8_Rps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvEPPsC3Xfs

Combat Brigades Did Not Leave Iraq

Obama's claim that combat troops have left Iraq

The last U.S. brigade combat team in Iraq has left the country, a move that helps U.S. President Barack Obama reach his goal of 50,000 troops in the country by September 1.

is a lie

So while the “last full U.S. combat brigade” have left Iraq, just under 50,000 soldiers from specially trained heavy, infantry and Stryker brigades will stay, as well as two combat aviation brigades.

Compared with the 49,000 soldiers in Iraq, there are close to 67,000 in Afghanistan and another 9,700 in Kuwait, according to the latest Army chart on global commitments dated Aug. 17. Under an agreement with the Iraqi government, all U.S. troops must be out of Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011.

There are seven Advise and Assist Brigades in Iraq, as well as two additional National Guard infantry brigades “for security,” said Army spokesman Lt. Col. Craig Ratcliff.

World's Most Expensive BBQ

Around the world, elected officials abuse the tax payers.

Germany is trying to hide the details of the "World's Most Expensive BBQ" for George Bush:

A court in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Friday will consider whether the original bill from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s June 2006 barbecue with then US President George W. Bush has to be made public. The event is reported to have cost €8.7 million.

After a request from the far-right NPD party, the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state Interior Ministry reported in 2007 and 2008 that the visit had cost €8.7 million. Other German states ponied up some €5.7 million to send police officers.

Swedes To Leave Afghanistan

Obama's war in Afghanistan is being deserted by the rest of the world. Swedish troops will leave Afghanistan next year.

A Red-Green government would begin the withdrawal of Swedish troops from Afghanistan in July 2011, with the last soldiers home by the 2013, the three party opposition coalition announced on Friday.

"Our strategy is completely consistent with the international strategy for a successive withdrawal," said Social Democrat leader Mona Sahlin at a Friday press conference.

Australia Bans Flu Vaccine

Due to children reacting to the seasonal flu vaccine with convulsions and in one case a coma, Australia suspended use of the flu vaccine:

Seasonal flu vaccinations across Australia for children under five have been suspended after 23 children in Western Australia were admitted to hospital with convulsions following their injections.

One child, aged 1, remains in a coma in a Perth hospital.

Finland Suspends H1N1 Vaccine

European governments are often thought as being more health-conscious than the USA. Finland suspended use of the H1N1 vaccine:

The Finnish National Institute for Health (THL) proposed suspending vaccinations for H1N1 swine flu, due to suspected links to increased narcolepsy in children and adolescents, the body announced this week.

The Fed Is The Problem

This article blames the (private cartel) Federal Reserve for not saving the markets. The problem is the Federal Reserve! The Fed created the housing bubble. The Fed bailed out it's buddies and now is fighting to withhold information about which buddies were bailed out. A collapsing debt bubble that was caused by the Fed is not solved by quantitative easing:

What has emerged since the acrimonious Fed meeting on August 10 is that Bernanke was unable to marshal a consensus behind fresh QE.

FDA Fails To Protect

For decades, the FDA and medical personnel have known of the risks of using the same tubing connections for every device. The risk is death if devices are hooked up incorrectly, such as an air pump hooked into an IV tube which will cause a deadly air embolism, putting liquid food directly into veins:

Instead of snaking a tube through Ms. Rodgers’s nose and into her stomach, the nurse instead coupled the liquid-food bag to a tube that entered a vein.

Putting such food directly into the bloodstream is like pouring concrete down a drain. Ms. Rodgers was soon in agony.

...

Their deaths were among hundreds of deaths or serious injuries that researchers have traced to tube mix-ups. But no one knows the real toll, because this kind of mistake, like medication errors in general, is rarely reported.

At gas stations, the nozzles at diesel pumps are a different size than unleaded, those reducing the chance of mistake. In the medical world, the FDA has everything be the same:

Experts and standards groups have advocated since 1996 that tubes for different functions be made incompatible — just as different nozzles at gas stations prevent drivers from using the wrong fuel.

But action has been delayed by resistance from the medical-device industry and an approval process at the Food and Drug Administration that can discourage safety-related changes.

“Nurses should not have to work in an environment where it is even possible to make that kind of mistake,” said Nancy Pratt, a senior vice president at Sharp HealthCare in San Diego who is a vocal advocate for changing the system. “The nuclear power and airline industries would never tolerate a situation where a simple misconnection could lead to a death.”

Since the FDA can't protect consumers, is it time to admit that government regulation is a failure?

Federal Reserve Secrecy

The Federal Reserve, authorized by Congress to run the monopoly over our money since 1913, sent bail-out funds to it's banker buddies and now wants to keep that information secret. Apparently the private Federal Reserve will appeal to the Supreme Court, to keep their dealings secret.

The Fed's argument for keeping the bailout secret is:

... disclosure of the documents threatens to stigmatize borrowers and cause them “severe and irreparable competitive injury,” discouraging banks in distress from seeking help. The appeals court panel rejected that argument.

The people also want to know the non-banks that received bailouts.

Why do we allow a secret organization to continue to control our money? When will we end the Fed?

Endless Traffic

Many cities have terrible traffic during peak hours, though the roads typically become passable at other times of the day.

In China, a road has been continually jammed for nine days:

Thousands of vehicles were bogged down Monday in a more than 100-kilometre (62-mile) traffic jam leading to Beijing that has lasted nine days and highlights China's growing road congestion woes.

The 100km jam is expected to last for another month:

The city authorities have sent 400 police to the area to try to calm the situation -- the second time in two months such a massive traffic snarl has occurred on the road that links the Chinese capital to Tibet.

September 10

On Septemeber 10, 2001 Donald Rumsfeld announced the Pentagon had lost accountability of over $2 trillion:

"According to some estimates we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions," Rumsfeld admitted.

Also on September 10, 2001 George Bush agreed to a plan to attack Osama bin Laden:

The day before the September 11 attacks, the Bush administration agreed on a plan to oust the Taliban regime in Afghanistan by force if it refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, according to a report by a bipartisan commission of inquiry.

Medicare Projections

The chief actuary of the Medicare program has wrote that Medicare is financially unsustainable:

‘the financial projections shown in this report for Medicare do not represent a reasonable expectation for actual program operations in either the short range (as a result of the unsustainable reductions in physician payment rates) or the long range.’

Social Security is also financially unsustainable. And the FDIC is broke.

The End Of Antibiotics

This article published in England describes how overuse of antibiotics may shortly lead to complete ineffectiveness of antibiotics. This will lead to human deaths and livestock deaths.

The era of antibiotics is coming to a close. In just a couple of generations, what once appeared to be miracle medicines have been beaten into ineffectiveness by the bacteria they were designed to knock out. Once, scientists hailed the end of infectious diseases. Now, the post-antibiotic apocalypse is within sight.

Border Patrol Abuse

Border Patrol thugs running an "inland checkpoint" (checkpoint hundreds of miles inland where they demand your papers) physically assaulted a pastor. The non-violent pastor was criminally charged and at trial the jury found him not guilty.

Tempe pastor cleared in checkpoint confrontation
... A Border Patrol agent questioned Anderson about his citizenship but he refused to answer, saying it was his constitutional right to remain silent. After he wouldn't move to a secondary inspection area, Anderson says a state police officer and Border Patrol agents broke both windows of his car, shocked him with a stun gun, dragged him out and slammed him onto the ground. ...

TARP Bailed Out Foreign Banks

As many suspected, the overwhelmingly unpopular (except to the bailed out bankers) program to prop up failed banks gave America's money to foreign banks.

Watchdog: U.S. Rescue Helped Foreign Banks
The $700 billion U.S. bailout program launched in response to the global economic meltdown had a far greater impact overseas than other countries' financial rescue plans did on the U.S., according to a new report from a congressional watchdog.

Billions of dollars in U.S. rescue funds wound up in big banks in France, Germany and other nations. That was probably inevitable because of the structure of the Treasury Department's program, the Congressional Oversight Panel says in a new report issued Thursday.
...

Subsidized Housing Injuries

62 people were injured while trying to apply for government-subsidized housing:

Thirty thousand people turned out in East Point on Wednesday seeking applications for government-subsidized housing, and their confusion and frustration, combined with the summer heat, led to a chaotic mob scene that left 62 people injured.

At the Tri-Cities Plaza Shopping Center, emergency vehicles passed each other, transporting 20 people to hospitals. Medical and police command posts were set up on scene. East Point police wore riot gear. Officers from four other agencies supported them. Yet no arrests were made.

All of this resulted from people attempting to obtain Section 8 housing applications and, against long odds, later securing vouchers for affordable residences. Some waited in line for two days for the applications.

Government Admits Storing TSA Full Body Scans

After previous denials, now the government admits they do store full image body scans from checkpoints.

For the last few years, federal agencies have defended body scanning by insisting that all images will be discarded as soon as they're viewed. The Transportation Security Administration claimed last summer, for instance, that "scanned images cannot be stored or recorded."

Now it turns out that some police agencies are storing the controversial images after all. The U.S. Marshals Service admitted this week that it had surreptitiously saved tens of thousands of images recorded with a millimeter wave system at the security checkpoint of a single Florida courthouse.

Third DUI For Illegal

An illegal alien killed a person while committing his third DUI. After one or two DUIs and being here illegally, why was this person allowed to remain free?

The Virginia man suspected in a drunken-driving crash that killed a Catholic nun in Prince William County this weekend is an illegal immigrant and repeat offender who was awaiting deportation and who federal immigration authorities had released pending further proceedings, police said Monday.

Allies Leave Afghanistan

While the US increases troop commitments to Afghanistan, other participating countries are leaving.

The Netherlands are leaving now.
Canada is leaving in 2011.
Poland is leaving in 2012.

The Netherlands became the first NATO country to end its combat mission in Afghanistan, drawing the curtain Sunday on a four-year operation that was deeply unpopular at home and even brought down a Dutch government.