By noon Sunday, members of the Beaufort Radio Amateur Group still were sitting in folding chairs under canopies as the generator hummed and voices from across the world streamed in through the airwaves.
The group, along with 35,000 "hams" across the United States and other countries, was participating in Field Day, an exercise organized by the American Radio Relay League. The idea is to set up temporary stations in unlikely locations and transmit from the field continuously for one entire day and into the next.
Some ham radio operators treat Field Day as a competitive event and try to make as many contacts as possible. But members of the Beaufort radio group see it as a way to keep communication skills sharp if they are needed for an emergency, said vice president David Jennings.
The NLE’s National Private Sector Working Group is seeking ideas and comments from the private sector and suggests that companies can use the exercise to test business continuity plans and procedures.
The somber ceremonies commemorated for occasion started on Saturday and in Louisiana residents staged a symbolic burial of their loved ones. President Obama is scheduled to visit New Orleans. He will deliver a speech at Xavier University which was also flooded during the Hurricane Katrina.
A district where many houses are still vacant will hold a march and a healing ceremony and many of these houses have a circle painted on them to ensure that these houses have been searched for victims.
While President is visiting the area, the doubts about spending of the $20 billion in direct federal relief after Hurricane Katrina are still looming as much of this money is still unspent even after 5 years. The fact is given due consideration by one of the congressmen who wants to spend this money somewhere else.
from fox news: A new study from the National Academy of Sciences outlines grim possibilities on Earth for a worst-case scenario solar storm. Damage to power grids and other communications systems could be catastrophic, the scientists conclude, with effects leading to a potential loss of governmental control of the situation.
The prediction is based in part on a major solar storm in 1859 that caused telegraph wires to short out in the United States and Europe, igniting widespread fires. It was perhaps the worst in the past 200 years, according to the new study, and with the advent of modern power grids and satellites, much more is at risk.
"A contemporary repetition of the [1859] event would cause significantly more extensive (and possibly catastrophic) social and economic disruptions," the researchers conclude. When the sun is in the active phase of its 11-year cycle, it can unleash powerful magnetic storms that disable satellites, threaten astronaut safety, and even disrupt communication systems on Earth. The worst storms can knock out power grids by inducing currents that melt transformers.
Modern power grids are so interconnected that a big space storm - the type expected to occur about once a century - could cause a cascade of failures that would sweep across the United States, cutting power to 130 million people or more in this country alone, the new report concludes. Such widespread power outages, though expected to be a rare possibility, would affect other vital systems.
"Impacts would be felt on interdependent infrastructures with, for example, potable water distribution affected within several hours; perishable foods and medications lost in 12-24 hours; immediate or eventual loss of heating/air conditioning, sewage disposal, phone service, transportation, fuel resupply and so on," the report states.
Outages could take months to fix, the researchers say. Banks might close, and trade with other countries might halt. "Emergency services would be strained, and command and control might be lost," write the researchers, led by Daniel Baker, director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
"Whether it is terrestrial catastrophes or extreme space weather incidents, the results can be devastating to modern societies that depend in a myriad of ways on advanced technological systems," Baker said in a statement released with the report...
mystery roar in space detected from space.com: Space is typically thought of as a very quiet place. But one team of astronomers has found a strange cosmic noise that booms six times louder than expected. The roar is from the distant cosmos. Nobody knows what causes it. Of course, sound waves can't travel in a vacuum (which is what most of space is), or at least they can't very efficiently. But radio waves can. Radio waves are not sound waves, but they are still electromagnetic waves, situated on the low-frequency end of the light spectrum. Many objects in the universe, including stars and quasars, emit radio waves. Even our home galaxy, the Milky Way, emits a static hiss (first detected in 1931 by physicist Karl Jansky). Other galaxies also send out a background radio hiss. But the newly detected signal, described here today at the 213th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, is far louder than astronomers expected. There is "something new and interesting going on in the universe," said Alan Kogut of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
tennessee disaster 3x larger than original estimate from thinkprogress: On Monday, toxic coal sludge burst through a retention wall in eastern Tennessee, causing massive property and environmental damage. Federal studies have shown that coal ash contains “significant quantities of heavy metals like arsenic, lead and selenium, which can cause cancer and neurological problems.” The incident — already being called the “largest environmental disaster of its kind in the United States” — may now be even worse than originally anticipated. Tennessee Valley Authority officials “initially said that about 1.7 million cubic yards of wet coal ash had spilled” in the disaster. Yesterday, however, they “released the results of an aerial survey that showed the actual amount was 5.4 million cubic yards, or enough to flood more than 3,000 acres one foot deep.”
from clyde lewis: While science incessantly debates global warming, perhaps it is time to debate global cleansing. Mother Nature is ready to purge herself of all of the toxins, radioactive materials and chemicals used by the elite to render the population ineffective and malleable, caught in the crossfire between nature and puppetmaster.
Recorded every Monday evening in front of a live audience at Dante's Inferno in Portland Oregon, the Ground Zero Lounge features Clyde Lewis in this audience participation discussion of current events as they relate to the paranormal.
darth cheney visits georgia in show of solidarity from guardian: The US vice-president arrived in Tbilisi today, in a show of political backing for the nation and its pro-Western Georgian president. Dick Cheney's visit comes a day after the White House announced a $1bn (£500m) economic aid package for the country, which was ravaged by last month's war with Russia. The trip and his meetings with President Mikhail Saakashvili today have raised speculation that a US military aid package might be announced soon. Georgia has been a significant troop contributor to US operations in Iraq. Cheney arrived after a trip to neighbouring Azerbaijan, where he said the US had a "deep and abiding interest" in the region's stability.
russia closes georgia embassy from ap: Russia closed its embassy in Georgia and halted consular operations after Georgia severed diplomatic ties following last month's war, the Russian consul said Wednesday.
deluded saakashvili expected US & israel to act as knights in shining armor from kurt nimmo: According to UPI editor at large, Arnaud de Borchgrave, Georgia miscalculated in its attack on South Ossetia — and bad. “NATO guarantees that an attack against one member country is an attack against all are no longer what they used to be. Had Georgia been inside NATO, a number of European countries would no longer be willing to consider it an attack against their own soil,” writes de Borchgrave. In other words, a lot of people in Europe see the insanity of going up against Russia with its nukes only minutes away from Brussels, Paris, Berlin, etc. Georgia, with its tie-eating leader and deranged ethnic nationalism, simply was not worth it.
georgia mobilizes commando units near south ossetia from ria novosti: Georgia is mobilizing commando units near its border with South Ossetia, a senior Russian military official said on Tuesday. Russia officially recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states on August 26, saying the move was needed to protect the regions after Georgia's August 8 attack on South Ossetia.
georgia admits dropping cluster bombs from russia today: The Georgian government has admitted dropping cluster bombs in its military offensive to regain control of South Ossetia, reports Human Rights Watch. The international organisation says it has received an official letter form Georgia’s Defence Ministry that acknowledges the use of the M85 cluster munition near the Roki tunnel linking South Ossetia with Russia. The M85 is the same weapon that was used extensively by Israel in its 2006 war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Human Rights Watch has also said that Russia used the widely condemned weapons in several places during the conflict. Moscow has rejected the accusations.
russia: US delivered weapons to georgia under cover of aid from ap: Russia warned the West on Monday against supporting Georgia’s leadership, suggesting that the United States carried weapons as well as aid to the ex-Soviet republic and calling for an arms embargo until the Georgian government falls. The remarks by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his spokesman came as European Union leaders delicately approached their relations with Russia, weighing how to punish Moscow for its invasion of Georgia without isolating the continent’s major energy supplier.
russia ‘could destroy nato ships in black sea within 20 minutes' from ria novosti: Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is capable of destroying NATO’s naval strike group currently deployed in the sea within 20 minutes, a former fleet commander said on Friday. Russia’s General Staff said on Tuesday there were 10 NATO ships in the Black Sea - three U.S. warships, the Polish frigate General Pulaski, the German frigate FGS Lubeck, and the Spanish guided missile frigate Admiral Juan de Borbon, as well as four Turkish vessels. Eight more warships are expected to join the group.
dissident russian websiter owner shot dead by police from winter patriot: The owner of a dissident Russian website has been shot dead after being detained by the police. Magomed Yevloyev was apparently shot in the temple while in police custody, in what the police are calling an accident. Yevloyev's website, ingushetiya.ru, was very critical of the Kremlin. The government had made repeated attempts to shut it down. If at first you don't succeed ... There's much more to this story; if you're interested in more details, here and here are good places to start.
israelis shoot palestinian w/ learning disability in the face w/ rubber bullets from press tv: A Palestinian has been critically wounded after Israeli troops shot him in the face in an overnight raid in the West Bank village of Ni'lin. The military forces attacked the village where there has been a weekly demonstration against Israel's controversial separation barrier. During the operation, 40-year-old Awad Srur was shot with four rubber-coated bullets, three of which struck him in the face, according to doctors treating him at a hospital in the nearby town of Ramallah.
imagine: lennon's response to mccartney's 'friendship first' concert in israel from people's voice: Four decades ago, Israel banned The Beatles fearing their revolutionary message of love and peace would corrupt their youth. On September 25, 2008, Sir Paul McCartney will perform his 'Friendship First' concert in Tel Aviv for $4.3 million and is being promoted as one of "music's most revered stars" and a holder of "the key principals of friendship – loyalty and respect." As I wondered what Lennon might have said to his old mate in regards to making money from an apartheid state, I reminisced to REVOLUTION.
poll: 55% of americans support israeli strike on iran from thinkprogress: A recent poll released by the Israel Project claims that 55 percent of Americans would approve of the “United States and its allies making targeted conventional military strikes against Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities.” That number rises to 63 percent if economic and diplomatic sanctions fail and Iran acquires nuclear capability. The Israel Project released the findings at a press conference this week with pollster Frank Luntz, who suggested that the reason for the high numbers was simply that “Iran scares people.” Still, there was a great deal of support for diplomacy, “with 62 percent saying an ‘opportunity for a diplomatic solution still exists.’”
israel: when we say attack, we mean it from press tv: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says Israel is determined to use 'any option' to stop Iran's nuclear program should sanctions fail... "The time is still for diplomacy and sanctions, but much more effective sanctions. We keep saying that we do not remove any option from the table. I propose to others not to remove any option from the table as well. But when we say it, we mean it," Barak said.
update: US special ops attack pakistan from nytimes: Helicopter-borne American Special Operations forces attacked Qaeda militants in a Pakistani village near the border with Afghanistan early Wednesday in the first publicly acknowledged case of United States forces conducting a ground raid on Pakistani soil, American officials said.
dutch newspaper: US attack on iran imminent from infowars: Holland’s largest newspaper, Telegraaf, reports that a decision has been made by the United States to attack Iran in the next few weeks. Targets include both nuclear facilities and military installations, according to the newspaper. UAVs will be used in the attack. The Dutch secret service, the AIVD (Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst), has allegedly helped with target mapping. Telegraaf claims the AIVD has collaborated with the U.S. in sabotaging the Iranian weapons industry. Deemed “successful,” these operations were recently halted because of the U.S. plan for airstrikes. AIVD information over the last few years has been shared with the CIA.
thai protesters flout premier's state of emergency
slideshow: india's state of emergency from time: Over one million people are still stranded in the impoverished eastern state of Bihar in the area's worst floods in over 50 years.
japanese prime minister resigns from time: Japan's unpopular prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, announced his resignation Monday after less than a year in office. Fukuda, in a hastily arranged news conference Monday evening, said he was stepping down to avoid a "political vacuum" at the head of the world's second-largest economy. "My decision is based on what I thought the future political situation ought to be," Fukuda said
6 mexican cops jailed in oregon man's death
from oregonian: Mexican prosecutors are taking the unusual step of jailing six policemen from the resort town of San Jose del Cabo for what they say could be 30 days or more while they investigate how and whether a vacationing Oregonian was beaten to death in officers' custody, according to U.S. officials. Steve Royster, spokesman for the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, said Tuesday that last week's death of 38-year-old Sam Botner of Yoncalla was "a grave concern." The State Department is monitoring Mexico's investigation, he said.
mexican drug wars threaten US from washington times: An escalating turf fight between warring drug cartels in Mexico is spreading into the United States with federal officials warning that deadly shootouts and ambushes along the southwestern border pose a serious threat to both U.S. law enforcement and American citizens, according to a confidential multi-agency government report. The Aug. 29 report predicts a rise in the use of "deadly force" against U.S. police officials, first responders and residents along the border, and further spillage of drug-gang violence deeper into the United States. Written by the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (AcTIC) and the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Investigative Support Center, the report also said the drug cartels are expected to hire members of deadly street gangs now in this country, including Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), to "carry out acts of violence against cartel members in the U.S." "U.S. law enforcement and first responders need to maintain a heightened awareness at all times," the report said.
almost 1,000 deaths this year in mexico border city from afp: Mexicans plan mass protests against insecurity on Saturday, but not in the city with the highest murder rate this year, where many are focused on more immediate safety concerns. Violence has escalated throughout Mexico since President Felipe Calderon, who took office at the end of 2006, launched a military crackdown on drug trafficking, but nowhere more than in Ciudad Juarez.
update: ecuador giving US air base the boot from washington post: When U.S. officers stationed in this humid coastal city give reasons they should continue their decade-old airborne surveillance mission, they talk not only about fighting drug runners on the open seas but about the $71 million they've spent to renovate and maintain the city's airport, and the $6.5 million they inject each year into the local economy. But the government of Ecuador has decided, and Washington has apparently agreed, that one of the most important foreign outposts in the United States' war on drugs will close. The 450 U.S. Air Force personnel and contractors stationed at a military base that shares the airport's runway will be leaving next year.
from reuters: The United States hopes to conduct its first ever humanitarian disaster relief drills with the Chinese military in late 2009 or 2010, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command said on Wednesday.
Admiral Timothy Keating said he and Lt. Gen. Zhang Qinsheng, a senior commander of the People's Liberation Army, had agreed to begin "active consideration the formulation of a plan that will lead to humanitarian assistance exercises relatively soon."
The U.S. military, which has long sought to engage China's fast-growing but secretive armed forces to avoid clashes in the Pacific, had held search and rescue and signaling drills with the Chinese, but never full disaster relief exercises, Keating told an audience at the Heritage Foundation.
from ap: Midwestern levees are bursting. Polar bears are adrift. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Home values are abysmal. Air fares, college tuition and health care border on unaffordable. Wars without end rage in Iraq, Afghanistan and against terrorism. Horatio Alger, twist in your grave.
The can-do, bootstrap approach embedded in the American psyche is under assault. Eroding it is a dour powerlessness that is chipping away at the country's sturdy conviction that destiny can be commanded with sheer courage and perseverance.
The sense of helplessness is even reflected in this year's presidential election. Each contender offers a sense of order - and hope. Republican John McCain promises an experienced hand in a frightening time. Democrat Barack Obama promises bright and shiny change, and his large crowds believe his exhortation, "Yes, we can."
in ron paul coins, federal agents don't trust from the trail: As if Ron Paul's supporters needed any more motivation to storm the battlements and wreak havoc on the Republican presidential primary, now comes this: the feds are trying to take away their money. Federal agents on Wednesday raided the Evansville, Indiana headquarters of the National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve and Internal Revenue Codes (NORFED), an organization of "sound money" advocates that for the past decade has been selling what it calls Liberty Dollars, a private currency it says is backed by silver and gold stored in Idaho, with a total of more than $20 million in circulation, according to the group.
fed makes biggest temporary injection since 9/11 from reuters: The Federal Reserve on Thursday pumped its biggest temporary daily infusion into the U.S. banking system since just after the September 11, 2001 attacks as short-term lending rates rose on both sides of the Atlantic. Even though some news about bank write-downs from riskier investments was not as dismal as some investors had feared, underlying strains pushed overnight lending rates up in both the United States and Europe.
'loose change: final cut'
from louder than words: 'Loose Change: Final Cut' is the third installment of the documentary that asks the tough questions about the 9/11 attacks and related events. This movie hopes to be the catalyst for a new independent investigation, in which the family members receive answers to their questions, and the TRUE PERPETRATORS of this horrendous crime are PROSECUTED and PUNISHED.
massive attack simulation to involve every state from jerome corsi: Under the direction of the Department of Homeland Security, NORAD-USNORTHCOMhas begun planning comprehensive, multi-year exercises aimed at involving every U.S. state in game-playing designed to simulate national emergencies. The emergencies planned in the exercise scenarios range from natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, to terrorist attacks and health emergencies, as envisioned in a possible avian flu epidemic or pandemic influenza. US & israel won't cooperate with syrian inquest from raw story: UN nuclear watchdog has no evidence Syria had nuclear facility... The International Atomic Energy Agency... has not been able to conduct an investigation into the events surrounding the Sept. 6 Israeli bombing of a Syrian military installation because neither the Bush administration nor Israel are cooperating.
comcast sued over web interference from ap: A San Francisco Bay area subscriber to Comcast Corp.'s high-speed Internet service has sued the company, alleging it engages in unfair business practices by interfering with subscribers' file sharing. Subscriber Jon Hart based his claims on the results of an investigation by the Associated Press published last month that showed Philadelphia-based Comcast actively interferes with attempts of some high-speed Internet subscribers to share files online.
from cnn: Four soldiers and a reserve police officer were arrested Sunday on suspicion of looting cigarettes and alcohol from a store in this tornado-ravaged town, state officials said.
In a separate incident, two people wearing Red Cross jackets who were not members of the relief agency were arrested Sunday on suspicion of looting, said Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for the adjutant general's office. She did not have any additional details.
The soldiers from Fort Riley Army base and the reserve police officer had come to assist on their own and were not part of any official detachment, said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the state's adjutant general.
"These were people who weren't supposed to be there," Bunting said.
Watson said the five were arrested at a Dillon's supermarket and were being held at the Pratt County Jail without bail. They have not yet been charged.
Watson said the five were in uniform, so police allowed them to come and go freely despite a town curfew. She said the officer was from a central Kansas community, but she was not sure which town...
Greensburg, a south-central Kansas town of about 1,500 people, was destroyed by a tornado that killed eight people in the town and injured scores of others.
from ap/yahoo: Another terrorist attack, a warmer planet, death and destruction from a natural disaster. These are among Americans' grim predictions for the United States in 2007.
Only a minority of people think the U.S. will go to war with Iran or North Korea over those countries' nuclear ambitions. An overwhelming majority of those surveyed think Congress will raise the federal minimum wage. One-third see hope for a cure to cancer.
Six in 10 people think the U.S. will be the victim of a terrorist attack. An identical percentage thinks it likely that a biological or nuclear weapon will be unleashed somewhere else in the world.
Seventy percent of people in the U.S. predict a major natural disaster in the country and an equal percentage expects worsening global warming. Also, 29 percent think it likely that the U.S. will withdraw its troops from Iraq.
Among other predictions for the U.S. in 2007:
_35 percent predict the military draft will be reinstated.
_35 percent predict a cure for cancer will be found.
_25 percent anticipate the second coming of Jesus Christ.
from the chattanoogan: The Republican re-writing of the Insurrection Act gives Bush the authority to declare martial law. For the first time since 1878, the president has the power to deploy troops within the United States. Bush and future presidents now have a power that, in other countries, is reserved to the dictator.
Despite the unprecedented and shocking nature of this new law, there has been no outcry in the American media and little reaction from our elected officials in Congress.
The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C.331 -335) had historically, along with the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C.1385), prohibited military involvement in domestic law enforcement.
Now, Public Law 109-364, or the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" (H.R.5122) allows the President to declare a "public emergency," station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor.
the following piece was written by father frank morales, an episcopal priest & longtime activist. listen to an interview with him here ...
President Bush seized this unprecedented power on the very same day that he signed the equally odious Military Commissions Act of 2006. In a sense, the two laws complement one another. One allows for torture and detention abroad, while the other seeks to enforce acquiescence at home, preparing to order the military onto the streets of America. Remember, the term for putting an area under military law enforcement control is precise; the term is "martial law." ...
The law also facilitates militarized police round-ups and detention of protesters, so called "illegal aliens," "potential terrorists" and other "undesirables" for detention in facilities already contracted for and under construction by Halliburton. That's right. Under the cover of a trumped-up "immigration emergency" and the frenzied militarization of the southern border, detention camps are being constructed right under our noses, camps designed for anyone who resists the foreign and domestic agenda of the Bush administration.
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