Mayan Time Scale

From Tech Slurry

Source Link: Mayan Time Scale, Picasa

Continuity of Government

Continuity of government (COG) is the principle of establishing defined procedures that allow a government to continue its essential operations in case of nuclear war or other catastrophic event.

COG was developed by the British government during World War II to counter the threat of Luftwaffe bombing during theBattle of Britain. The need for continuity-of-government plans gained new urgency with nuclear proliferation.

Countries during the Cold War and afterwards developed such plans to avoid (or minimize) confusion and disorder in a power vacuum in the aftermath of a nuclear attack.

United States

Main article: Continuity of Operations Plan

• Each facility is counterpart to its peacetime equivalent.
  • Raven Rock Mountain Complex → The Pentagon (Department of Defense)
  • Mount Weather → Federal Emergency Management Agency (Used temporarily for Members of Congress in Sept. 2001)
  • Camp David → Executive Office of the President
  • Unknown → United States Congress (The Greenbrier was to be used until 1992, when it was decommissioned)
  • Cheyenne Mountain → North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)
  • United States Strategic Command Center (Offutt Air Force Base) → United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM)

Source Link: Wikipedia

Hillary: Hypocrisy on Free Speech?

On Tuesday, February 15^th Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a speech on the importance of Freedom of Speech in the Internet age.  She focused her attention on foreign countries and chided them for curtailing the speech of their citizens.

During that speech Ray McGovern, a veteran who also served for 27 years as a CIA analyst, exercised his freedom of speech by standing and silently turning his back on Secretary Clinton. He was protesting the ongoing wars, the treatment of Bradley Manning and the militarism of U.S. foreign policy.  He did not shout at the Secretary of State or interrupt her speech.  He merely stood in silence.  

McGovern’s action was a powerful one and it threatened the Secretary of State. Two police officers roughed him up, pulled him from the audience and arrested him.  As you can see from the pictures, the 71 year old McGovern, was battered and bruised, indeed his attorney reports he was left in jail bleeding. 

McGovern is not just a former CIA analyst.  He did the daily intelligence briefing for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.  He also briefed the National Security Advisor, Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Cabinet on security matters.  He has come to see that the current U.S. wars are about controlling natural resources, especially oil, positioning U.S. military bases in key areas and protecting the unusual alliance between the U.S. and Israel.  So, when he stood silently his speech was being heard.

And, when Secretary of Clinton kept speaking about the importance of freedom of speech, as if nothing was occurring before her eyes, Ray McGovern’s voice became even louder.  The hypocrisy of the United States became thunderous.  Free speech was being snuffed out right before her eyes but she kept talking about freedom of speech, doing nothing to protect it while criticizing other countries, U.S. client states like Egypt and those enemies like Iran, for their failure to allow their people to speak freely. 

On the same day that McGovern was roughed up and left bleeding by the police, independent journalist Brandon Jourdan returned from Haiti after being on assignment documenting the rebuilding of schools. When he returned to the United States, he was immediately detained, questioned about his travels and  had all of his documents, computer, phone and camera flash drives searched and copied. This is the seventh time Jourdan says he has been subjected to lengthy searches in five years, and has been told by officials that he is “on a list.” Freedom of speech?  Freedom of the press?  Did Secretary of State Clinton say anything?  No.  She remained silent.

And, on that same day, as he has for the last 8 months, Pfc Bradley Manning sits in solitary confinement, pre-trial torture, for the alleged crime of sharing with the media evidence of war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as crimes committed by agents of U.S. foreign policy.  Included in the documents he is accused of leaking are diplomatic cables that show Secretary of State Clinton issuing a memorandum directing U.S. diplomats to spy, including illegally spying on UN diplomats.  During his long pre-trial punishment has Secretary of State Clinton said anything about Pfc Manning’s illegal punishment before trial?  No, she has remained silent.

Finally, a last example of many all of which I will not describe here, while Secretary of State Clinton was speaking, agents of the U.S. Department of Justice were trying to find a way to prosecute Julian Assange, the editor in chief of WikiLeaks.   They claim this super-journalist, whose publication has released more classified documents than the Washington Post has in decades, is not a journalist.  Some of the most recent publications of WikiLeaks helped to spark the revolution in Tunisia.  And, during the revolt in Egypt, WikiLeaks documents showing that Mubarak’s newly appointed Vice President, Omar Suleiman was the choice of Israel to be Mubarak’s successor.  This U.S. trained military and intelligence officer tortured people at the request of the United States.  While Secretary of State Clinton has remained silent about the trumped up investigation of Assange, she did not remain silent about Suleiman.  She made it clear, he was America’s choice as Mubarak’s successor.

Please write Secretary of State Clinton and urge her to put actions to her words.  Urge her to stand up for freedom of speech in the United States.  First, she should apologize for the treatment of Ray McGovern and seek to have the charges against him dropped.  But, more importantly, she should ask that Bradley Manning be released for prison and the charges against him be dropped.  His patriotic act of exposing war crimes and other criminal activity deserves plaudits from free speech loving Americans.  Similarly, she should tell Attorney General Holder that the abusive investigation of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks should be halted.  Secretary Clinton is at the center of numerous challenges to free speech in the United States.  She could become a leader in reviving this first and foremost freedom in America, or she could remain silent.  Click here to urge her to put actions to her words.

Finally, Ray McGovern wrote me a day after his brutal ordeal saying: “The painful bruises are those for our country and its erstwhile ideals physically I hurt, but no broken bones, dislocated shoulders, or anything else that will not heal please pass word around.”  If you share Ray’s concern for the direction of the United States, write Hillary Clinton and support efforts to change the direction of the country.

Sincerely,


Kevin Zeese
Executive Director
Voter For Peace

TSA Refuses To Provide Body Scanner Info In Lawsuit - Claiming Copyright Prevents Handing Over The Info

Last year, we mentioned that privacy advocates EPIC were suing over the TSA's decision to use the naked scanners at airports. Reader jilocasin alerts us to a bizarre update in that lawsuit. Apparently the TSA is refusing to provide specific evidence to the court first claiming that it was "sensitive security information," but also saying that it won't hand over the info because it'scopyrighted material.




Source Link: Techdirt

Obama Administration Says It Can Spy On Americans, But Can't Tell You What Law Allows It

McClatchy quotes Michael German, a former FBI agent, who now works for the ACLU pointing out the obvious:

"It's wrong that they're withholding a legal rationale that has to do with the authorities of the FBI to collect information that affects the rights of American citizens here and abroad.... The law should never be secret. We should all understand what rules we're operating under and particularly when it comes to an agency that has a long history of abuse in its collection activities."

Source: TechDirt

Toxic Tide: Discovering the Health Effects of the Deepwater Disaster

Months after BP’s well was capped, the health effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill may just be starting to surface. Residents across the Gulf Coast report mysterious ailments, and some blood samples show traces of chemicals related to the oil. But as Living on Earth’s Jeff Young reports, firm answers are hard to come by and frustration is growing in coastal communities.


This is what you get when you let corporations run our country by purchasing our elected officials.  The american dream to own and run a successful business so that you can become independently wealthy is also our biggest downfall. 

Source Links:

Living on Earth

KUOW

Winter storm: Map shows most of Northern Hemisphere covered in snow and ice

Global Warming?

Link

Shareaholic Set Up

Here's a quick walk through on how to set up Shareaholic so that you can easily share articles to loads different web sites.

Walk Through Hosted on Google Documents