40 Statistics About The Fall Of The U.S. Economy That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe
May 28th, 2013I didn’t know about #38: One Million U.S. Students Homeless, New Data Show:
For the first time in history, public schools reported more than one million homeless children and youth, according to data released today by the U.S. Department of Education.
The 1,065,794 homeless students enrolled by U.S. preschools and K-12 schools in the 2010-2011 school year is the highest number on record, and a 13 percent increase over the 2009-2010 school year. This total underestimates the number of homeless children, because it does not include homeless infants and toddlers, young children who are not enrolled in public preschool programs, and homeless children and youth who were not identified by school officials.
Via: The Economic Collapse Blog:
When you step back and look at the long-term trends, it is undeniable what is happening to us. We are in the midst of a horrifying economic decline that is the result of decades of very bad decisions.
High School Teacher Disciplined for Reminding Students About The 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Before Taking Behavioral Survey
May 28th, 2013Via: Daily Herald:
A Batavia High School teacher’s fans are rallying to support him as he faces possible discipline for advising students of their Constitutional rights before taking a school survey on their behavior.
They’ve been collecting signatures on an online petition, passing the word on Facebook, sending letters to the school board, and planning to speak at Tuesday’s school board meeting.
Students and parents have praised his ability to interest reluctant students in history and current affairs.
But John Dryden said he’s not the point. He wants people to focus on the issue he raised: Whether school officials considered that students could incriminate themselves with their answers to the survey that included questions about drug and alcohol use.
Dryden, a social studies teacher, told some of his students April 18 that they had a 5th Amendment right to not incriminate themselves by answering questions on the survey, which had each student’s name printed on it.
The survey is part of measuring how students meet the social-emotional learning standards set by the state. It is the first year Batavia has administered such a survey.
School district officials declined to provide a copy of the survey to the Daily Herald, saying the district bought the survey from a private company, Multi-Health Systems Inc., and the contents are proprietary business information.
They did provide the script teachers were to read to students before the test.
It does not tell students whether participation is mandatory or optional.
An April email communication to parents said their children could choose not to take the survey, but they had to notify the district by April 17.
The survey asked about drug, alcohol and tobacco use, and emotions, according to Brad Newkirk, chief academic officer.
The results were to be reviewed by school officials, including social workers, counselors and psychologists.
U.S. Weapons System Designs Compromised by Chinese Cyberspies
May 28th, 2013Related, From Australia: ASIO Blueprints Stolen in Major Cyber Attack on Canberra HQ:
Classified blueprints of the new ASIO headquarters in Canberra have been stolen in a cyber hit believed to have been mounted by hackers in China.
The ABC’s Four Corners program has discovered the plans were taken in an operation targeting a contractor involved with building the site.
The stolen blueprints included the building’s security and communications systems, its floor plan, and its server locations.
Via: Washington Post:
Designs for many of the nation’s most sensitive advanced weapons systems have been compromised by Chinese hackers, according to a report prepared for the Pentagon and to officials from government and the defense industry.
Among more than two dozen major weapons systems whose designs were breached were programs critical to U.S. missile defenses and combat aircraft and ships, according to a previously undisclosed section of a confidential report prepared for Pentagon leaders by the Defense Science Board.
…
Some of the weapons form the backbone of the Pentagon’s regional missile defense for Asia, Europe and the Persian Gulf. The designs included those for the advanced Patriot missile system, known as PAC-3; an Army system for shooting down ballistic missiles, known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD; and the Navy’s Aegis ballistic-missile defense system.
Also identified in the report are vital combat aircraft and ships, including the F/A-18 fighter jet, the V-22 Osprey, the Black Hawk helicopter and the Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship, which is designed to patrol waters close to shore.
Also on the list is the most expensive weapons system ever built — the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which is on track to cost about $1.4 trillion. The 2007 hack of that project was reported previously.
Related: The Best Enemy Money Can Buy by Antony C. Sutton
Henry van der Heyden: “Don’t ever trust them…never.” “China is where New Zealand’s future is.”
May 28th, 2013
Via: New Zealand Herald:
Former Fonterra chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden has apologised to “China and its people and Government ” for warning New Zealand businesses not to trust the Chinese.
Van der Heyden broke at lunchtime from his final board meeting as a Fonterra director to issue his public apology over comments made at a Tauranga business women’s conference.
“It was an ill-judged comment taken out of context,” he told the Business Herald. “I apologise to China, its people and its Government.”
“China is where New Zealand’s future is.”
Van der Heyden was earlier reported as saying doing business in China was full of surprises. “You’ve got to go and do business with your eyes wide open.”
Asked by an export manufacturer how small New Zealand businesses could ensure they were not ripped off when trading in China, Sir Henry said bad experiences should be used as opportunities to learn.
“That’s my point about China. You will be full of surprises. Don’t ever trust them…never..”
He later said the real intent of his comment was, “Be wary, be very careful.”
Power Out – Winter Conditions in New Zealand
May 28th, 2013Update: Lights On
And I sit here, watching the meters on the UPS units slowly coming back up in anticipation of the next dump.
It is suddenly still and quiet outside.
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We’ve been having insane weather. We’re not getting snow in the Far North, but there’s lots of hail, lightning, heavy rain and wind. The power has failed about five times today. So, it’s not much of a surprise that it’s down again.
If there are no updates, you’ll know why.
(If the number of homes in the Far North without power is only 500, my name is Santa Claus.)
Via: Stuff:
A polar cold snap is continuing to dump snow around the country, leaving commuters battling with hazardous road conditions and lines companies in the far north scrambling to restore power to up to 500 homes that have had their electricity cut.
The icy weather was expected to continue overnight, and MetService was warning more places yet could receive a dusting of snow.
South Korea Halts Operations at Reactors Over Faked Certificates
May 28th, 2013Via: New York Times:
South Korea was forced to turn off two nuclear power reactors on Tuesday and delay the scheduled start of operation at another two, after its inspectors discovered that the reactors used components whose safety certificates had been fabricated.
South Korea’s nuclear power industry has been plagued by a series of forced shutdowns, corruption scandals and mechanical failures in recent years, undermining public confidence in atomic energy even as the country’s dependence on it for electricity is expected to grow in coming years.
A anonymous whistle-blower led government investigators to uncover the latest problem, in which control cables had been supplied to four reactors with faked certificates even though the part had failed to pass a safety test, the country’s Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said on Tuesday. The control cable is used to send electronic signals to a reactor’s control system in the event of an accident.
Cradle Turns Smartphone Into Handheld Biosensor; ‘Performs as Accurately as a Large $50,000 Spectrophotometer in the Laboratory’
May 27th, 2013😯
Woh.
Via: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign:
Researchers and physicians in the field could soon run on-the-spot tests for environmental toxins, medical diagnostics, food safety and more with their smartphones.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers have developed a cradle and app for the iPhone that uses the phone’s built-in camera and processing power as a biosensor to detect toxins, proteins, bacteria, viruses and other molecules.
Having such sensitive biosensing capabilities in the field could enable on-the-spot tracking of groundwater contamination, combine the phone’s GPS data with biosensing data to map the spread of pathogens, or provide immediate and inexpensive medical diagnostic tests in field clinics or contaminant checks in the food processing and distribution chain.
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The wedge-shaped cradle contains a series of optical components – lenses and filters – found in much larger and more expensive laboratory devices. The cradle holds the phone’s camera in alignment with the optical components.
At the heart of the biosensor is a photonic crystal. A photonic crystal is like a mirror that only reflects one wavelength of light while the rest of the spectrum passes through. When anything biological attaches to the photonic crystal – such as protein, cells, pathogens or DNA – the reflected color will shift from a shorter wavelength to a longer wavelength.
For the handheld iPhone biosensor, a normal microscope slide is coated with the photonic material. The slide is primed to react to a specific target molecule. The photonic crystal slide is inserted into a slot on the cradle and the spectrum measured. Its reflecting wavelength shows up as a black gap in the spectrum. After exposure to the test sample, the spectrum is re-measured. The degree of shift in the reflected wavelength tells the app how much of the target molecule is in the sample. See a video of the app in action at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh7MUjIYuyw.
The entire test takes only a few minutes; the app walks the user through the process step by step. Although the cradle holds only about $200 of optical components, it performs as accurately as a large $50,000 spectrophotometer in the laboratory. So now, the device is not only portable, but also affordable for fieldwork in developing nations.
In a paper published in the journal Lab on a Chip, the team demonstrated sensing of an immune system protein, but the slide could be primed for any type of biological molecule or cell type. The researchers are working to improve the manufacturing process for the iPhone cradle and are working on a cradle for Android phones as well. They hope to begin making the cradles available next year.
Japan: SKWID Harnesses the Power of Both the Wind and the Tide
May 27th, 2013If you’re like me, you’re going to wonder how the vertical power generation axis is going to handle the shear stress caused by the rest of the unit bobbing around on the surface.
See the short .pdf on MODEC’s site:
Stable performance in an unstable sea.
The float structure supports the power generation assembly via a set of rubber mounts like a gimbal to isolate the power generation assembly from the wave motion.
Cool.
Via: CBS:
The Savonius Keel & Wind Turbine Darrieus (SKWID) power generation system being developed by Mitsui Ocean Development & Engineering Company (MODEC) is a floating system that shares a vertical floating axis. On the company’s website, MODEC says the concept will generate double or more power from the same sea surface area as a conventional wind turbine.
According to Japan’s NHK News, the wind turbine will be 47 meters above sea level and the tidal turbine will have a diameter of 15 meters. The two sections will be connected by a power generator, the Japanese news agency reports.
NHK News sources say that the turbine will be tested in the fall. Once operational, the turbine could generate enough energy to power about 300 households, the news agency reports.
Research Credit: almaverdad2
Cryptogon Reader Sends $100 Donation
May 27th, 2013It’s looking like a wide miss on earnings this month. Thanks to DE for making it a lot less wide.
Dairy Farmer Acquitted on Three of Four Charges in Raw Milk Trial
May 27th, 2013In fascist America, being convicted of just one of the absurd charges against you is considered a victory.
Via: Journal Sentinel:
Dairy farmer Vernon Hershberger was acquitted on three of four criminal charges early Saturday morning in a trial that drew national attention from supporters of the raw, unpasteurized milk movement.
Jurors in Sauk County Circuit Court deliberated about four hours, until nearly 1 a.m. Saturday, before returning a verdict of guilty on one charge of violating a holding order placed on products on the Hershberger farm following a raid there in the summer of 2010.
The 41-year-old farmer faces up to a year in jail and $10,000 in fines on that conviction. A sentencing date will be announced later, Judge Guy Reynolds said.
Hershberger was found innocent of three charges that included operating an unlicensed retail store that sold raw milk and other products; and operating a dairy farm and dairy processing facility without licenses.
Hershberger’s supporters have said he was targeted for prosecution because he sold raw milk directly to consumers through a private buying club with several hundred members.
The trial’s outcome will set a precedent, according to the Weston A. Price Foundation, an organization that has advocated for the legalization of raw-milk sales in Wisconsin and other states. “This is a victory for the food rights movement,” said one of Hershberger’s attorneys, Elizabeth Rich.
Research Credit: Loveandlight
