Illuminati Will Pretend to Lead Resistance to NWO
by Henry Makow and Richard Evans
Secession has been a verboten issue in the United States since the end of the Civil War. Any group who've brought it up have been targeted by press and government as 'militant fringe groups" All of a sudden in 2009, we're seeing it endorsed by career politicians in several states simultaneously, and the media is giving them good press.
Last week, Rick Perry, Texas Governor since George W. Bush's departure in 2000, raised secession of Texas from the Federal Union at a Ron Paul type 'Tea Party" to protest Federal spending and the tax burden on the little guy.
Clearly the Illuminati intend to harness and divert popular discontent to advance their own secret agenda, i.e. the melding of the USA into their world government. Many people think the tea party movement in general exhibits a suspicious amount of organization and media acceptance. (Contrast Fox TV's coverage of this with "9-11 Truth.")
Perry later told the Star-Telegram that he "never specifically said that Texas should consider trying to secede." Technically he's correct. He got cheers telling the Tea Party rabble that the Republic of Texas legislature left a provision in the 1845 agreement to cede with the US Federal government.
But Perry is no populist. In May 2007, Dallas Morning News reported, "Gov. Rick Perry is flying to Istanbul, Turkey, today to speak at the super-secret Bilderberg Conference, a meeting of about 130 international leaders in business, media and politics." All the Governor's press secretary had to say was, "He's looking forward to learning the secret handshake." And, "It's their conference, and I suppose they can run it anyway they want." Perry's expenses were officially paid by the PAC group 'Texans for Rick Perry'.
Although he's never cared what the voters want, Perry intends to run for an unprecedented third term for Governor in 2010.
Perry's gubernatorial resume includes supporting 'Open Borders'; proponent of the $145 billion+ Trans-Texas (NAFTA) Highway to the dismay and anger of central Texas residents who have never been consulted on whether they want or need it. (Thousands of square miles of land has been seized by the State of Texas under eminent domain for this project in Central Texas from the Mexican border just west of San Antonio, Austin, and and Dallas and North Texas.) Perry helped set it up so the project is being built by the Spanish contractor Cinta, and paid for by new toll highways all over the State.
Perry further alienated Texas parents and Legislators by attempting to override a "No" decision on mandatory vaccination of 11-year-old girls with an vaccine for an STD, venereal & warts (the $350 a pop "slut shot.") Perry invoked Executive Order in Feb 2007, but families filed class action suit and many financial connections between Perry and big pharma corporation Merck came out. Perry backed down but a new bill has been introduced that will make Gardasil mandatory "as an admission requirement for all primary and secondary schools."
The story made the New York Times and CNN, referring to them as 'militant secession group' and 'fringe group'. The group, led by Richard McLaren, stated historical fact that the original Republic of Texas legislature had never ratified Texas becoming a territory or State of the United States. The Republic of Texas was chartered as a sovereign nation recognized by the United States government at the time.
All the Republic of Texas members had been calling for was an official state wide public referendum so citizens could decide whether they wanted to remain under Federal government or reclaim Republic status.
One secessionist was killed in the Davis Mountains by Texas State Police helicopter snipers. No other witnesses. How is it that Governor Rick Perry is getting full media support using the same arguments as did a 'militant fringe group' ?
The melding of the United States into the world government continues apace at the Latin American Summit. Obama is offering Cuba a "new beginning" and exchanging Masonic handshakes with Chavez of Venezuela. He is telling them that the US is no longer a senior partner but an equal in the hemisphere.
None of this should be a surprise. Obama, Chavez and Castro are all Freemasons and Communists, and the New World Order is Masonic and Communist. Insider Christian Rakovsky said the purpose of Freemasonry is to bring about Communism.
The Agenda will advance without a glitch as long as the Illuminati can continue to pretend to represent their own opposition.
-----
Thanks to David Q for suggesting this story.
Related-my "How They Control the World"
and Don Cooper - Tea Parties "Are You Kidding Me?"
The Hijacking of Our Movement and the Next Wave of Patriots
Posted April 8th, 2009 by garden plotLike many of you I get the sense that our movement is being hijacked. Over the last couple of years, as our numbers grew and our influence increased, I’ve often wondered how the establishment would try to take down our movement. Would they demonize the patriots in the media like they did in the 90’s? Would they try to infiltrate our movement and set up their own false leaders from within like they’ve done with other political movements? I’ve been waiting to see what the establishment would do because I knew that day would come. They can ignore us for only so long. Well, it appears they are taking another route by attempting to co-opt the movement, keep people locked into left right politics, and water down the message of liberty.
The militias are on the march again: 'Million Man Militia' event planned in July
Calling Glenn Beck! Here's another "frustrated Americans" event for you to champion!
David Weigel at the Windy happened to catch the latest idea from the militiamen who are starting to see their paranoid ranks rising:
A peaceful demonstration of at least a million — hey, if we can 10 million, even better — but at least one million armed militia men marching on Washington. A peaceful demonstration. No shooting, no one gets hurt. Just a demonstration. The only difference from any typical demonstration is we will all be armed.
As Weigel says, lotsa luck getting a permit for that.
It's all very reminiscent of Linda Thompson:
[I]n 1994, Thompson declared herself "Acting Adjutant General" of the "Unorganized Militia of the United States" and announced plans for an armed march on Washington, D.C. which was to be held on September 19 of that year, in which an ultimatum demanding the repeal of such laws as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Brady Bill would be delivered to members of the United States Congress, and those members refusing to comply with the ultimatum would be arrested and tried for treason. The proposed march was almost universally denounced by groups on the right wing, from the John Birch Society to the militia organizations. Thompson canceled the march, claiming publicly that the announcement was never anything more than a publicity stunt and the march was never intended to actually happen, while claiming to her supporters that operatives in the Federal government had plans to detonate a small nuclear device in D.C. and blame her organization for the act. Publicity stunt or not it effectively spelled the end of her time in the limelight.
It may have ended her time in the limelight, but Thompson's legacy is still with us; a video she shot in the 1990s has been one of the primary sources of the "FEMA concentration camps" conspiracy myth.
Still, there's no doubt militias are bubbling back up to the surface these days.
In Stockton, California, the militia being organized in the event of a police shortage this summer is sounding increasingly scary:
I was most interested to hear from Alan Pettet himself. Pettet, 66, is the organizer of this group, which he said numbers 270. Pettet said he has a rainbow coalition (my words, not his) of rifle-wielding men and 11 women ready to be sworn in by an unidentified federal judge on the steps of Stockton City Hall on July 1.
That's scary enough, although you have to question why any judge would participate in this ceremony.
Now here is a turn that sounds even more ridiculous. But don't take my word for it, here it is in Pettet's own words:
"Five minutes after we're sworn in, we oust the mayor and City Council and then we can declare martial law."
Over in Michigan, militiamen are preparing for the depredations of the evil Obama administration too:
"Am I angry?" asked the unemployed commander, with a semi-automatic rifle strapped across his pectorals. "Yeah, it sets you off a little bit."
Come to a Michigan Militia picnic and you realize the commander is not alone. The farm where they rallied was chockfull of people like him, people boiling on the back burner, struggling to make ends meet, carrying around a knapsack of resentment for a government that they claim has taken almost everything from them and given nothing in return.
"Liberty," says the commander, 33, whose Christian name is Matthew Savino, of Adrian. "You cannot take my liberty. Eventually a man draws a line in the sand."
Why, he sounds just like Glenn Beck!
Indeed, doesn't all this seem right up Beck's alley? That's how you make those dire prophecies conveniently self-fulfilling.
The Campaign for Liberty is making things happen at the local level and without support we can't make things happen, it's is up to you to make a difference.
Ask not what I can do for my country, but instead ask what can you do for your country.
They needed money for the meet up group last night and all I could afford was a dollar.
I created this website with the idea in mind that I wanted to see how many people were commited stop one world government from replacing their Representive Government that Govern themselves and have it turned over to be run by the people that belong to only to a single Government Party.
But at least I gave a little of something and feel it is going to a good cause, even though I knwo it is not enough money to defeat the NWO evil.
Our founders stated that all powers not given to the federal government in the Constitution are reserved the the states. Yet for far to long, we have allowed Washington to dictate one-size-fits-all policies for the entire country in matters like the abortion debate. This website is not only involved in exposing the New World World Order, but it's also a Campaign to end the New World Order, close it's doors and Recliam our God given Constitutional Republic and Save the Republic.
Last night my local Campaign for Liberty team met to discuss our future plans and Agenda
On the list of things to do
Money for Meetup Group
Petition for HR 1207-Audit the Fed
Monthly 'Tea Parties'
Get Candidates to run for office
Start date for canvassing neighborhoods
Find venues for Exposing our movement, like at gun shows and festivals.
Sign up for Campaign for Liberty and use local Coordinator tools.
Re: 'Campaign for Liberty' 3rd District News
The problem is they use Our tax MONEY against We therPpl-now do You see the only solution. I donut know what it is abooot these on line Baby Haarp Seals & MONEY, if they r just cheap r broke. I asked for HELP for a Grl that went to jail for contempt-She is fighting the beast in illinois to get Her kids back-by going to jail She lost all Her SSI $$$ for the month. When I was jailed I lost my SSI, 2 Ppl did come forth, I asked for HELP to create an environment for Honey Bees-outta 1000's of PPl, 1 Grrl chipped in for 2 broods of Bees. Right now all I am able to do is give my voice-ask most any gov't piece of shit aboot Petes Farm. I tried to help the disabled Vet in Oh, the Manna Store raid. Every day I keep track & the beast grows
--- On Thu, 4/23/09, Doug Bloom
I appreciate even hearing a voice for support my friend...
That is worth more then money and I sure don't get enough of that even as a treasure.
It's good to even here positive feedback and hear what people say and
knowing that we can't stop in trying defeat this evil that oppresses the weak.
If I can do anyrhing I will.
But as like most I have been struggling too and are aware that there is still people just like me.
I guess I never thought twice but I thought I would try to inspire some hope.
I still want to believe we can be free...
Thanks
neverknwo
The Hijacking of Our Movement and the Next Wave of Patriots
Posted April 8th, 2009 by garden plotLike many of you I get the sense that our movement is being hijacked. Over the last couple of years, as our numbers grew and our influence increased, I’ve often wondered how the establishment would try to take down our movement. Would they demonize the patriots in the media like they did in the 90’s? Would they try to infiltrate our movement and set up their own false leaders from within like they’ve done with other political movements? I’ve been waiting to see what the establishment would do because I knew that day would come. They can ignore us for only so long. Well, it appears they are taking another route by attempting to co-opt the movement, keep people locked into left right politics, and water down the message of liberty.
We have met the enemy and they are us!
OBAMA PUBLICATION TARGETS FREEDOM-LOVING AMERICANS
By Lynn Stuter
April 21, 2009
NewsWithViews.com
"We must be on the alert for these right wing extremists. You can easily spot them. They are pro-life, pro-states' rights, anti-federal government involvement, pro-gun, anti-illegal immigration, and they are often US military veterans. Golly! Let me know if you see any." — Hal
"I went to bed a conservative and woke up a threat to national security" — Tea Party Sign
The Department of Homeland Security, headed by Also Known As (AKA) Obama appointee, Janet Napolitano, has released a report that targets every freedom-loving American. No greater indictment of the truth about the Marxist AKA Administration can be found than this just released report, following hard on the heels of the MIAC report out of Missouri that stated, emphatically, that right-wing extremists are "usually supporters of former Presidential Candidate: Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr" and display "pictures, cartoons, bumper stickers that contain anti-government rhetoric." This report, it was determined, had connections to Morris (the Sleaze) Dees and his Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an organization that has made no bones about its pro-Marxist, anti-American stance.
The opening salvo of the report, titled Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment:
"This product is one of a series of intelligence assessments published by the Extremism and Radicalization Branch to facilitate a greater understanding of the phenomenon of violent radicalization in the United States. The information is provided to federal, state, local, and tribal counterterrorism and law enforcement officials so they may effectively deter, prevent, preempt, or respond to terrorist attacks against the United States. Federal efforts to influence domestic public opinion must be conducted in an overt and transparent manner, clearly identifying United States Government sponsorship."
A footnote on the same page contains these warnings:
"LAW ENFORCEMENT INFORMATION NOTICE: This product contains Law Enforcement Sensitive (LES) information. No portion of the LES information should be released to the media, the general public, or over non-secure Internet servers. Release of this information could adversely affect or jeopardize investigative activities.
Warning: This document is UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY (U//FOUO). It contains information that may be exempt from public release under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552). It is to be controlled, stored, handled, transmitted, distributed, and disposed of in accordance with DHS policy relating to FOUO information and is not to be released to the public, the media, or other personnel who do not have a valid need-to-know without prior approval of an authorized DHS official. State and local homeland security officials may share this document with authorized security personnel without further approval from DHS."
Oh, golly, gee whiz … now why would that be?
How is "right-wing extremist" defined? Well, let's see, along with anyone who is a "white supremacist," "anti-Semitic," member of a "militia group" or "Christian Identity," the definition also includes anyone who …
• believes in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
• believes in the sovereignty of the United States.
• believes the Second Amendment is about the right of citizens to keep and bear arms.
• believes the Federal Reserve is unconstitutional.
• believes the 16th Amendment is unconstitutional along with the Internal Revenue Service.
• believes that the United States is the union of states, established to address, under the United States Constitution, those powers specifically enumerated; that all other powers are reserved to the states or the people under the 10th Amendment.
• believes abortion should not be a means of birth control.
• believes that marriage is between one man and one woman.
• does not believe sexual practice infers special rights or privileges.
• believes inter-racial crimes should be addressed the same no matter the color of the perpetrator.
• believes the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) were not in the best interests of America or American jobs.
• opposes the outsourcing of American jobs to foreign nations.
• opposes the moving of American companies, built on the ingenuity and labor of Americans, to foreign countries.
• wants the approximate 45,000,000 illegal aliens out of the United States.
• opposes the bankrupting, by illegal aliens, of social systems established to help American citizens in need.
• believes the One World Order/New World Order advocates when they state openly that they intend to subjugate America to global governance.
• opposes the Security and Prosperity Partnership, precursor to the North American Union, removing the borders and sovereignty of the United States in a merger with Canada and Mexico.
And the "extremist" might be
• any soldier returning from Iraq!
• anyone who opposes the loss of American jobs to foreign nations!
• the individual who realizes that you cannot spend your way out of debt; that the trillions being spent by AKA and Congress is pushing America over the edge into a catastrophic depression that will make the one in 1929 look like child's play!
• the individual who realizes that AKA is a Marxist intent on bringing to fruition the transformation of the United States to a Marxist state!
These individuals are known to stockpile weapons, ammunition and food!
And all of these people just might be "violent domestic right-wing terrorists" or "extremists" bent on "violence against the government."
Of course, the primary catalyst of all this, according to the publication, is the election of the "first African American president." In other words, all of this has to do with race!
And, by the way, if you are unemployed, there is a "strong association" between your employment status and "rightwing extremist beliefs in [your] children—specifically xenophobia and antidemocratic ideals."
And if you've purchased a gun recently, know that you are more likely to participate in "paramilitary training exercises" even if the thought never crossed your mind!
And not to be left out, reason why S 773 and S 778 should be passed so AKA can control the internet:
"the advent of the Internet and other information-age technologies since the 1990s has given domestic extremists greater access to information related to bomb-making, weapons training, and tactics, as well as targeting of individuals, organizations, and facilities, potentially making extremist individuals and groups more dangerous and the consequences of their violence more severe. New technologies also permit domestic extremists to send and receive encrypted communications and to network with other extremists throughout the country and abroad, making it much more difficult for law enforcement to deter, prevent, or preempt a violent extremist attack."
AKA wants "right wing extremist terrorists" to know that …
"DHS/I&A [Intelligence and Analysis] will be working with its state and local partners over the next several months to ascertain with greater regional specificity the rise in rightwing extremist activity in the United States, with a particular emphasis on the political, economic, and social factors that drive rightwing extremist radicalization."
It is of interest that no similar documents have been produced concerning the tactics of left-wing extremists of the kind AKA is known to associate with; groups like the Black Panthers, Students for a Democratic Society, ACORN, Industrial Areas Foundation and all the front organizations being established to organize people in support of AKA's Marxist agenda; groups like fightthesmears.com, factcheck.org, organizing for America.com, Daily Kos, Americans United for Change, and born again American.org.
On April 14, 2009, former U.S. Representative Tom Tancredo, a staunch supporter of stopping the influx of illegal aliens into the United States, attempted to exercise his First Amendment right of free speech at the University of North Carolina where he had been asked to speak against providing in-state tuition to illegal aliens.
What ensued was reported thusly by The News & Observer of Raleigh:
"Hundreds of protesters converged on Bingham Hall, shouting profanities and accusations of racism while Tancredo and the student who introduced him tried to speak. Minutes into the speech, a protester pounded a window of the classroom until the glass shattered, prompting Tancredo to flee and campus police to shut down the event."
The number of "protesters" was placed at around 200. Now, mind you, these weren't "right-wing extremist terrorists" such as AKA, by definition, maintains were in the room to listen to "right-wing extremist terrorist" Tom Tancredo speak, these "protesters" were of the variety most likely to associate with AKA and his left-wing minions.
Who do we need to be concerned about in the realm of committing terrorist acts?
• Was it these "right-wing extremist terrorists" who attempted to intimidate white voters arriving at the poles to vote in Philadelphia on November 4, 2008? No, that was the Black Panthers; associated with AKA.
• Was it these "right-wing extremist terrorists" who provided the "muscle for the money" program? No, that was ACORN; associated with AKA.
• Was it these "right-wing extremist terrorists" who organized the bus tours to the homes of AIG officials for the purposes of harassment and intimidation? No, again. That was ACORN; associated with AKA.
• Was it these "right-wing extremist terrorists" who organized efforts to infiltrate tax day tea parties to shape media coverage? No, that was the pro-AKA Huffington Post and ACORN; associated with AKA. Another report states that rabble-rousers were being recruited to turn peaceful protests on April 15, 2009 into "violent and racist events." This was attributed to the pro-AKA Huffington Post and Daily Kos, the web blog sight central in the AKA "birth certificate" issue.
Of course, none of this was reported by the pro-AKA lamestream media.
Ask to comment on this DHS report, Janet Napolitano issued the following press release on April 15, 2009 which states, in part:
"The primary mission of this department is to prevent terrorist attacks on our nation. The document on right-wing extremism sent last week by this department's Office of Intelligence and Analysis is one in an ongoing series of assessments to provide situational awareness to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies on the phenomenon and trends of violent radicalization in the United States. I was briefed on the general topic, which is one that struck a nerve as someone personally involved in the Timothy McVeigh prosecution. (Note: There is a question about Timothy McVeigh being a Manchurian candidate controlled by the CIA.)
Let me be very clear: we monitor the risks of violent extremism taking root here in the United States. We don't have the luxury of focusing our efforts on one group; we must protect the country from terrorism whether foreign or homegrown, and regardless of the ideology that motivates its violence.
We are on the lookout for criminal and terrorist activity but we do not – nor will we ever – monitor ideology or political beliefs. We take seriously our responsibility to protect the civil rights and liberties of the American people, including subjecting our activities to rigorous oversight from numerous internal and external sources."
Well, aren't we all just so relieved to know that Janet Napolitano isn't targeting "ideology or political beliefs." While reading the report issued under her aegis, I got the distinct impression that was exactly what she was doing!
And what about the violence on the University of North Carolina campus; how is Ms Napolitano dealing with that act of terrorism?
Well … uh … gee … uh … gosh … I don't know; haven't heard a peep out of Ms Napolitano on that subject!
Other Americans have also come to the conclusion that Napolitano was targeting people based on their ideology or political beliefs.
The Thomas More Law Center has filed a lawsuit against Napolitano in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of nationally syndicated conservative radio talk show host, Michael Savage, Gregg Cunningham (President of the pro-life organization Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, Inc (CBR)), and Iraqi War Marine veteran Kevin Murray.
In their press release on the filing of the federal lawsuit, Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Law Center stated,
“Janet Napolitano is lying to the American people when she says the Report is not based on ideology or political beliefs. In fact, her report would have the admiration of the Gestapo and any current or past dictator in the way it targets political opponents. This incompetently written intelligence assessment, which directs law enforcement officials across the country to target and report on American citizens who have the political beliefs mentioned in the report, will be used as a tool to stifle political opposition and opinions. It will give a pretext for opponents of those Americans to report them to police as rightwing extremists and terrorists. You can imagine what happens then.”
Likewise, David K. Rehbein, National Commander, The American Legion, sent Napolitano a letter of protest. In response, Napolitano states, "We do not mean to suggest that veterans as a whole are at risk of becoming violent extremists."
Oh, really? Could have fooled me!
One has to wonder how much this targeting of veterans has to do with the protest that occurred when AKA suggested that returning Iraq veterans should address combat injuries through private insurance.
As with any wanna-be despot, AKA does not like it when the peons oppose his anti-American pro-Marxist policies!
The message this report sends is clear: if you don't like what Marxist AKA has in store for you, shut up or you will be targeted by AKA's goons!
You going to take that, America?
© 2009 Lynn M. Stuter - All Rights Reserved
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Pop Culture and Freemasonry: Parks and Recreation
I checked my DVR today and began watching a show I was interested in seeing called “Parks and Recreation”. I was interested because 6 out of 10 years of my entire working life was with two parks and rec as well as my Eagle Scout project was with the City Parks and Rec. While I was watching the show, a very funny Masonic reference made during the public forum. Apparently, a man feels that he is being targeted by a 9° Mason. I always knew that bureaucrats were “higher” level Masons. Pretty funny show all around.
Mysterious space blob discovered at cosmic dawn
(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of astronomers, led by Carnegie's Masami Ouchi, have discovered a mysterious, giant object that existed when the universe was only 800 million years old. Dubbed an extended "Lyman-Alpha blob," it is a huge body of gas. It is named Himiko for a legendary Japanese queen and stretches for 55 thousand light years, a record for that early point in time. Its length is comparable to the radius of the Milky Way's disk.
Using information from a suite of telescopes, astronomers have discovered a mysterious, giant object that existed at a time when the universe was only about 800 million years old. Objects such as this one are dubbed extended Lyman-Alpha blobs; they are huge bodies of gas that may be precursors to galaxies. This blob was named Himiko for a legendary, mysterious Japanese queen. It stretches for 55 thousand light years, a record for that early point in time. That length is comparable to the radius of the Milky Way's disk.
Using information from a suite of telescopes, astronomers have discovered a mysterious, giant object that existed at a time when the universe was only about 800 million years old.
The researchers are puzzled by the object. Even with superb data from the world's best telescopes, they are not sure what it is. Because it is one of the most distant objects ever found, its faintness does not allow the researchers to understand its physical origins. It could be ionized gas powered by a super-massive black hole; a primordial galaxy with large gas accretion; a collision of two large young galaxies; super wind from intensive star formation; or a single giant galaxy with a large mass of about 40 billion Suns. Because this mysterious and remarkable object was discovered early in the history of the universe in a Japanese Subaru field, the researchers named the object after the legendary mysterious queen in ancient Japan.FOX Nation Exclusive! GE CEO Confronted at Shareholder Meeting!
Thank Goodness I pulled all my stock out of GE.."Factor" producer (and GE shareholder) Jesse Watters attended the annual GE shareholder meeting on April 21 in Orlando, Florida. During the Q&A period, Watters asked Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt about the recent ugly comments by Janeane Garofalo on MSNBC. Watch "The O'Reilly Factor" at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET for the full exchange!
LYRID METEOR UPDATE: Yesterday, April 22nd, Earth passed through a stream of debris from Comet Thatcher, and the encounter sparked the annual Lyrid meteor shower. According to the International Meteor Organization, rates peaked at 16 meteors per hour--not an intense display. Nevertheless, a number of pleasingly bright Lyrids were photographed by spaceweather readers.
BIG DISTRACTION: Maybe so few Lyrids were counted because observers were distracted by something else. During the shower's peak, Venus and the Moon converged for a spellbinding encounter so bright it was visible through clouds in broad daylight:
Stan Richard took the picture (and others) from suburban Des Moines, Iowa. "Fortunately," he says, "the clouds parted just in time for me to catch the Moon passing directly in front of Venus." The eclipse was widely seen and photographed from western parts of North America. Click on the links below for a sampling of the best shots.
more images: from Bret Dahl of Plano, Texas; from Antonio Estrada of Toluca, México; a movie from John McNair of Monument, Colorado; from Mark Seibold of Portland Oregon; from Jorge Figueroa of Guatemala; from Kevin Jung of Grand Rapids, Michigan; from Friedrich Deters of LaGrange, North Carolina; from Ignacio A. Rodriguez of Monterrey, Mexico; from Becky Ramotowski of Fort Davis, Texas; from Bob King of Duluth, Minnesota; from Dennis Mammana of Borrego Springs, California; from Pablo Lonnie Pacheco of García, Nuevo León, México; from Robert Astalos of Alamosa, Colorado; from John Shirley near Folsom, California; from Jeff Stone at NASA's Mission Control parking lot in Houston, TX; from Ron Wayman of Tampa, Florida; from Thad V'Soske of Grand Valley, Colorado; from Mark Staples of Waldo, Florida; from Bill Davis of Albuquerque, New Mexico; from John Buchanan of Cheney, Washington; from Jorge Solano of San José Pinula, Guatemala; from Francisco Diaz of Lindon, Utah;
SOLAR PROMINENCE: Every clear day, astrophotographer Pete Lawrence of Selsey, UK, scans the limb of the sun for photogenic prominences. "On April 22nd I spotted a rather odd looking one," he says. "I've never seen anything quite like it before." This photo shows the view through his SolarScope SF-70:
The twisting, swirling maelstrom underwent many changes in the hours that followed Lawrence's first sighting. "At one point I could see real time movement on my computer screen," he says. "It was amazing!"
Apparently, even the quiet sun has something to offer. If you have a solar telescope, take a look.
The moon transits the earth from 31 million miles. Posted to YouTube by The Bad Astronomer. Happy Earth Day. Happy International Year of Astronomy, too. Open thread below...
Fort Detrick disease samples may be missing
--CID has been investigating USAMRIID since at least early February. 22 Apr 2009 Army criminal investigators are looking into the possibility that disease samples are missing from biolabs at Fort Detrick. As first reported in today's edition of The Frederick News-Post, the investigators are from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division unit at Fort Meade. Chad Jones, spokesman for Fort Meade, said CID is investigating the possibility of missing virus samples from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. CID is responsible for investigating crimes where the Army is, or may be, a party of interest, according to the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command website. USAMRIID is the Army's top biodefense lab, where researchers study pathogens including Ebola, anthrax and plague. [See: Flu 'Oddities'.]
'Agents are looking for what may have gone missing between 1987 and 2008.' Cold comfort By Katherine Heerbrandt 22 Apr 2009 The Criminal Investigation Division at Fort Meade has been investigating USAMRIID at Fort Detrick since at least early February. Meade's CID pursues investigations of serious crimes and sensitive subjects of concern to the Army at regional bases like Detrick, which has no internal investigative arm. A News-Post story in February reported that USAMRIID was shutting down most of its bioresearch while it tried to match its inventory to its records, citing an "overage" of BSAT, biological select agents and toxins. Meade's CID, however, isn't concerned with overstock. Instead, agents are looking for what may have gone missing between 1987 and 2008.
'We have not been able to come up with any explanation of why anyone would have swine flu.' New Strain of Swine Flu Investigated --Two Children in San Diego Area Had No Contact With Pigs 22 Apr 2009 Public health authorities are investigating two highly unusual cases of a previously unknown strain of swine flu that was found in the San Diego area late last month. The cases occurred almost simultaneously in children who had no contact with pigs or each other, a scenario that raised the possibility that the illnesses may be the sign of an emerging pandemic strain of influenza... In 1976, a strain of swine flu caused illness in 13 soldiers at Fort Dix in New Jersey, killing one. [See: Killer flu recreated in the lab 07 Oct 2004 Scientists have shown that tiny changes to modern flu viruses could render them as deadly as the 1918 strain which killed millions. A US team added two genes from a sample of the 1918 virus to a modern strain known to have no effect on mice. See: Rumsfeld's growing stake in Tamiflu --Defense Secretary, ex-chairman of flu treatment rights holder, sees portfolio value growing 31 Oct 2005 The prospect of a bird flu outbreak may be panicking people around the globe, but it's proving to be very good news for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other politically connected investors in Gilead Sciences, the California biotech company that owns the rights to Tamiflu, the influenza remedy that's now the most-sought after drug in the world. Rumsfeld served as Gilead (Research)'s chairman from 1997 until he joined the Bush administration in 2001, and he still holds a Gilead stake valued at between $5 million and $25 million, according to federal financial disclosures filed by Rumsfeld.]
H5N1 virus may be adapting to pigs in Indonesia --Scientists: adaptation may mean virus is one step closer to morphing into human pandemic strain 31 Mar 2009 Scientists report that H5N1 avian influenza viruses may be adapting to pigs, as evidenced by the finding that H5N1 viruses isolated from pigs in Indonesia were less harmful to mice than were H5N1 viruses from chickens. The finding suggests that in growing in pigs, the virus may have become less harmful to mammals in general, the authors report. That sounds reassuring, but the authors say it may mean the virus is one step closer to turning into a human pandemic strain.
The President visits CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia to speak to CIA employees directly, discussing precisely why he has decided to change interrogation policy for the United States. (public domain)
Police Found Freddie Mac CFO Dead by Hanging
22 Apr 2009 Law enforcement sources said David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer of mortgage company Freddie Mac, was found hanging in the basement of his Reston, Va., home, dead from an apparent suicide early this morning. The death was "an active investigation" and there were "no signs of foul play," Fairfax County police officer Sabrina Ruck said. Kellermann, 41, had been the company's CFO since September, after a government takeover of the company following the housing crisis.
CONSPIRACY THEORIES FLOURISH...
Top Freddie Mac Official ‘Suicided’ After $50 Billion Traced From US To Israel
Enhanced Driver's Licenses Now Available
DETROIT (WXYZ) - Starting June 1st, if you plan to travel to Canada, you'll need a passport or some other approved document. An Enhanced Driver's License--or EDL--is now available to Michigan residents.
WATCH DAVE LEWALLEN'S REPORT IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ON THE RIGHT
The EDL acts both as a driver's license and as a "mini-passport," eliminating the need for Michigan residents to show a passport or certified birth certificate to leave and re-enter the U.S.
It costs $45 for an EDL (versus $100 for a passport) and $30 for a state identification card.
FACIAL RECOGNITION USED BY PICASA, FACEBOOK, & TWITTER - 2 articles
Polar Rose inches towards useful face recognition
I finally got access to Polar Rose (news story), an image search site I've been looking forward to trying. This early version of the product isn't terribly compelling, though. Today, Polar Rose can pick out faces in photos. It doesn't tell you who's who, though. The idea is that Web users who have the Polar Rose browser plugin do that.
Polar Rose plugin users can ID people in pictures by clicking on the rose icon. The icon automatically pops up below the head of of every person in a picture.
On the other side of the product is a search engine for pictures of people. If you want to find a picture of someone, and that person has been tagged by users, Polar Rose will show you all the pictures that match.
Future versions of the product will actually do facial recognition, I'm told, although the company isn't disclosing when that function will go into beta. This is the holy grail of visual search, of course. Last year, Riya demoed a tool that was supposed to do what Polar Rose is still building, but Riya eventually gave up and moved into image search for commerce (it finds shoes that look alike, for example).
I hope to see Polar Rose's technology, once it is fully developed, if it's fully developed, inside a people search engine like Spock or Wink. That's where it's needed.
See also: Google image search recognizes faces and Recaptcha: The smartest way to deal with something annoying.
Face recognition comes to Flickr
Polar Rose's facial recognition feature correctly identified half of the photos in this batch of Flickr images.
(Credit: Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)Without any big fuss, a face-recognition feature has been added to Flickr.
The new feature was launched recently by Swedish start-up Polar Rose. It lets users import all their photos from a Flickr account to an account on Polar Rose, where the images are then automatically assembled into groups dedicated to various individuals.
As with similar features in Google Picasa and Apple iPhoto, names eventually show up next to faces in the photos once the user has identified the faces. The labels then get sent back to the Flickr account. Polar Rose, founded by Swedish mathematician Jan Erik Solem in 2004, intends to license its technology to numerous Web sites.
"No other company wants to offer its face-recognition technology to all other sites," said Solem, now CTO of the company.
Polar Rose is also ready to import photos from Facebook accounts, but there's a snag.
"Facebook has a rule that downloaded data cannot be stored more than 24 hours," Solem said.
And since thumbnails are stored in the user's Polar Rose account, the start-up won't immediately be applying the feature to Facebook photos.
Already in place, though, is the authentication function Facebook Connect, which lets users log in with their credentials from Facebook. A friends list can also be imported from Facebook and can be used when identifying faces in photos from Flickr.
Solem won't say whether there's a commercial deal afoot with Flickr. "Of course we talk with them," he said.
Flickr, for its part, has kept a low profile on the subject.
"Flickr has the second most popular API on the Web," said a representative for Yahoo, which owns Flickr. "Polar Rose is one of the many third-party developers using the Flickr API to innovate and present public Flickr data in new and unique ways."
Solem said the launch of face recognition in Picasa last September, and in Apple iPhoto in January, increased interest in his company's technology. "It's a feature that lots of sites are looking for now, but that they cannot build themselves," he said.
As of March, Polar Rose had agreements with minor Web sites such as Glowfoto.com, Jalbum.net, and 23hq.com, and with the open-source software Gallery.
"But we don't have enough revenues for something substantial, " Solem said then, confirming that the company was looking for more venture capital beyond the $5.1 million invested in 2006 by VC firm Nordic Venture Partners.
Polar Rose's technology is based on matching 3D models of faces--one of three established methods for facial recognition. It was first launched as a plug-in to Web browsers in June 2007, letting users identify faces in any photo on the Web. Users could also click on a face in any photo on the Web and get a suggestion on who it is.
The plug-in still exists, but although some 60 million identified faces are stored in a database, users rarely get to know who's who in a certain picture as Polar Rose only reveals names when the identification is highly reliable, representing only 15 percent of the stored faces.
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