Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took to the airwaves Sunday, defending his call to limit collective bargaining rights in his state because "actions speak louder than words." The embattled first-term Republican, whose proposal has touched off a fierce nationwide debate and a series of rallies, brought his arguments to NBC's "Meet the Press."
Wisconsin is "broke," and unions use their power to block necessary cost-saving measures, Walker said. (read more)
Two human-induced spates of earthquakes took place in South Iceland on Sunday/Monday night and morning which have been traced to Reykjavik Energy’s activities in the area. The first series of quakes lasted from 02.00 until 03.30 and the second, bigger spate from 05.30 to 06.00.
Both series were made up of a large number of individual earthquakes; none of which were felt in towns. The quakes took place in the Hengill area north of Hellisheidi and south of Thingvellir.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is looking into an uptick in young children having febrile seizures following a flu shot. There have now been 36 confirmed reports of such seizures during the current flu season. All of the seizures took place less than a day after the children were given Fluzone. Fluzone is currently the sole flu shot recommended for very young children in the U.S.
"The [FDA] said recommendations for using the vaccine have not changed, nor has there been any change in flu vaccine guidance ... FDA officials said they've been paying special attention to seizure reports because of an unexplained higher rate of fevers and seizures in young children in Australia and New Zealand who got a specific flu vaccine earlier this year." Read More
" Unfortunately, the safety of these shots is highly questionable, and even more so now that the new trivalent vaccine containing influenza A, influenza B, and 2009 pandemic swine flu (H1N1) strains is being administered. In Finland, France and Sweden, narcolepsy was reported in teenage children in response to Pandemrix monovalent swine flu vaccine, leading the Finnish government to suspend its use. In Korea, nearly 2,600 swine flu vaccine side effects were reported as of August 2010, ranging from allergic reactions to fevers to headaches—and including 10 deaths."
Sky News has uncovered disturbing new evidence of the barbarity of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime in Libya east, where the opposition movement has seized control.They say the group was found entombed in a small underground cell in the city's dreaded government compound - forbidden territory for 40 years, now overrun by the forces of revolution.
The rescuers said they heard voices underground and dug through earth and freshly laid concrete to discover the seven men, some of whom were barely alive.
Sky News was taken to the small underground chamber lined with breeze blocks and topped with new cement. There seems to have been no way in or out. Read More
A brilliant spiral-shaped pattern of light was photographed and viewed by multiple witnesses in the skies over Norway.Maybe a coincidence that on the same day President Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize, gains respect from the world community, meets with the G20 again, introduces the 'Aliens', and declares himself and other country leaders as New World Leaders.
News stations were flooded with reports about the Russians taking responsibility for the light show that evening due to a out of control missile being fired however, some original reports coming from Russia declined the events taking place at the time, which were then changed several days later.
** Now why would the Russians be test firing a missile just outside the country that President Obama is in?
** Also did anyone else notice the image of the event disappearing from all the search engines for over a week after the event? many accused the search engines of censorship.
Many other theories followed the event over the coming weeks until the story was buried and forgotten, but no real explanation.
A giant sink hole in Guatemala City which swallowed up a three story building. It looks like the Borg fired a particle beam at the surface of the earth. This is one of the freakiest things I’ve ever seen.The sink hole was caused by tropical storm Agatha and the torrential rains coupled with inadequate drainage in the capital city. The sink hole is estimated to be 120 feet deep. At least 113 people were reported killed by the storm.
Guatemala was the worst affected country, with a confirmed death toll of 92. Source
About 1,000 ducks found dead earlier this week at a farm in southern South Korea were confirmed Saturday to have been infected with a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza, raising concern that the lethal virus is spreading in the country, officials said.
Mahmoud Reza Sajadi, Iran's ambassador to Russia, denied claims that the removal of the fuel rods from Iran's nuclear reactor in Bushehr was related to the Stuxnet computer virus, and said that the rods had been removed according to a request from Moscow and in coordination with it, as part of the final testing of the reactor's functioning. The pro-Ahmadinejad website Raja News claimed that the procedure was due to technical alterations made by the Russian company responsible for the reactor's operation. Source
February 4, 2011 – MATO GROSSO DO SUL/AMAZON Region – At Aquidauana, pantanal region of the Mato Grosso do Sul state, shoals of painteds, pacus, golden fishes, cacharas – and even stingrays, are floating dead in Rio Negro, one of the largest in the Amazon River basin. The estimated Environmental Policy is of that several tons of fishes died, adding that the authorities and experts, they still do not have the scale of the ecological disaster. Read More
North Korea threatened Sunday to attack South Korea and the United States, as the allies prepared to start annual joint military drills—maneuvers Pyongyang says are a rehearsal for an invasion. The North has routinely issued such war rhetoric against South Korea and the U.S. The latest warning, however, came nearly three weeks after the rival Koreas failed to reach a breakthrough in their first dialogue in months.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula rose sharply last year over two deadly attacks: the sinking of a South Korean naval ship blamed on the North and a North Korean artillery barrage. (read more)
There were unconfirmed reports Saturday that thousands of armed rebels from other regions of the country were marching toward Tripoli. Rebels have already taken over and held the eastern half of the populous coast. On Saturday, after days of fighting, they also reportedly took Sabratha, a town near the capital known for its Roman ruins. At the birthplace of the revolt, in the eastern city of Benghazi, a group of senior military officers who had defected were forming a council to lead their troops against Colonel Qaddafi’s forces. One of them, an air force general, said three air bases had defected to the rebels, along with the region’s military police.
And the rebels said they were in the process of forming an interim government to oversee the areas no longer under Colonel Qaddafi’s control. It is expected to include Mustafa Mohamed Abd al-Jalil, a former justice minister who quit to join the insurrection and may now assume the role of interim prime minister. (read more)
Iceland 27th Feb 2011 saw a increase of over 100% in earthquakes in the region of Krysuvik, with more than 360 earthquakes registering in the past 48 hours with a shallow depth of between 1 and 2 kilometers.
Islamabad, Feb 26(ANI): Former Pakistan Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Mirza Aslam Beg has claimed that the American agents’ network is spread throughout the country, and that their next target is disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan. “Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan is the next target of US agents,” The Nation quoted Gen. Beg, as saying to a TV channel.
“They are working from Karachi to Gilgit under the patronage of former president Gen. Pervez Musharraf,” he added.
Khan is known as the architect of Pakistan’s nuclear programme, and is accused of illegally transferring nuke know-how to China, North Korea and Iran.
The US maintains that the A. Q. Khan network is responsible for some of the most serious cases of nuclear proliferation in recent decades.
“We have worked intensively with Pakistan and other countries to shut down that network,” US State Department spokesperson P. J. Crowley said in August last year.
“While A. Q. Khan himself is out of business, according to the Government of Pakistan, we watch his network very closely for signs that others within his realm are still in business,” he told a regular press briefing. Source
Russia is planning to spend $650 billion on renewing its military equipments, including helicopters, submarines and warships until 2020. The plan includes the purchase of 100 warships, 8 nuclear submarines, 600 jets and 1,000 helicopters.
SEOUL — The U.S. and South Korea will begin their annual spring training exercise Monday against the backdrop of a North Korea that appears more volatile than it did a year ago.In the past 11 months, North Korea has attacked the South twice and revealed a uranium enrichment facility that shows its nuclear program may be more advanced than previously thought. At the same time, the North is showing signs of internal turmoil that could indicate instability: a succession plan that appears to be underway, and news this week of food shortages so severe that citizens are foraging for grass and herbs.
This year’s Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercise is expected to focus more than in previous years on defending against small, sudden attacks like North Korea’s on a South Korean warship last March and Yeonpyeong Island in November, according to the Ministry of National Defense.
About 12,800 U.S. and 200,000 South Korean troops are participating in the exercise. Source
The sudden appearance early in the morning of an enormous crack, measuring 100 meters wide and three kilometers long, caused confusion among residents of the Huacullani district in the Chucuito province, department of Puno.
Spotted around the burial site was fluid that appeared to be leachate from the site, measuring around 10 meters wide by 10 meters long. Gas emission pipes were erected atop the burial site, which was protruding and covered with vinyl. It was only about 70 meters from the school’s fence.
On the school grounds was a piped well for pumping underground water. Since tap water is not supplied to this school, underground water was used as drinking water. The underground water well and the burial site were only 150 meters apart. (read more)
The Government has been dealt a fresh blow after it emerged the UK economy contracted even more in the final three months of last year than originally thought. The figure, between October and December, was revised down from the preliminary reading last month of 0.5%, which had already come as a shock.
The contraction had been blamed on the heavy snow in December hitting the retail sector. (read more)
Wisconsin state troopers were dispatched Thursday to try to find at least one of the 14 Senate Democrats who have been on the run for eight days to delay a vote on Republican Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to strip collective bargaining rights from nearly all public employees. Meanwhile, the state Assembly appeared close to voting on the union rights bill after two days of filibustering the measure with a blizzard of amendments. Democrats reached an early morning deal after 43 hours of debate to limit the number of remaining amendments and time spent on each.
Troopers went to multiple homes Thursday morning hoping to find at least one of the 14 Democrats, some of whom were rumored to have made short trips home to pick up clothes and other necessities before again fleeing the state. But they came up empty handed, Senate Sergeant at Arms Ted Blazel said.
"Every night we hear about some that are coming back home," said Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, who hoped sending the move to send the troopers would pressure Democrats to return. (read more)
No one was surprised when Borders bit the bullet. Least of all consulting firm GovernanceMetrics, which listed the bookstore near the top of its bankruptcy watch list for the past year. The latest report gave Borders a 13.6% chance of financial distress.
What other large companies are on the brink? We identified 15 large companies with a significant chance of financial distress in the next month. These companies have market caps of at least $200 million -- and we included one notorious small company that has a huge risk. (See all 17 companies here)
A new law that looks certain to pass through the Texas legislature would mean that its 38 public colleges, which are attended by half a million students, must permit concealed handguns on site.
It would become only the second state, after Utah, to enforce such a rule.
More than 20 states have rejected similar proposals introduced since the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007.
At present, colleges in Texas – along with churches and businesses – are free to ban firearms from their premises. Guns are prohibited from university buildings, dormitories and surrounding grounds.
The plan is likely to astonish most who recall the mass shootings at Virginia Tech, where a student killed 32 people, and in Northern Illinois the following year, where five people were murdered. (read more)
If the U.S. dollar is being devalued so rapidly, then why does it sometimes increase in value against other global currencies? Well, it is because everybody is recklessly printing money now. The 6 charts which you are about to see below prove this. The truth is that it is not just the U.S. Federal Reserve which has been printing money like there is no tomorrow. Out of control money printing has also been happening in the UK, in the EU, in Japan, in China and in India. There are times when one particular global currency will fall faster than the others, but the reality is that they are all being rapidly devalued. Unfortunately, this is a recipe for a global economic nightmare. Right now you can almost smell the panic as it rises in global financial markets. Investors all over the world are racing to get out of paper and to get into hard assets. Just about anything that is "real" and "tangible" is hot right now. Gold hit a record high last year and it is on the rise again. In fact, it just hit a new five-week high. Demand for silver is becoming absolutely ridiculous right now. Oil is marching up towards $100 a barrel again. Agricultural commodities have exploded in price over the past year. Many investors are even gobbling up art and other collectibles. (Read more and see all 6 charts here)
