India to Deploy 36,000 Extra Troops on Chinese Border
November 25th, 2010Via: BBC:
India has formed two new army divisions – comprising more than 36,000 men – to defend the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.
The remote north-eastern state adjoins China which claims large parts of it.
The 56th Division will be based in the nearby state of Nagaland to guard the eastern flank of Arunachal Pradesh from Chinese attack through Burma.
The other new formation, the 71st Division, will be based in Assam to protect central Arunachal Pradesh.
There has been no response so far from China to the decision.
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Officials say they were formed at the behest of the Indian army chief, General VK Singh – who said they were necessary to beef up defences against China.
Gen Singh was not available for comment but one of his staff officers, on condition of anonymity, told the BBC that the army chief had “pushed very hard to fast-track the raising of the two divisions”.
He said that they should be “fully operational” by March 2011.
He said their formation was India’s response to the “huge Chinese build-up” in Tibet over the last three to four years. But he did not wish to elaborate.
Evidence of Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program May Be Fraudulent
November 25th, 2010Via: TruthOut:
Since 2007, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – with the support of the United States, Israel and European allies UK, France and Germany – has been demanding that Iran explain a set of purported internal documents portraying a covert Iranian military program of research and development of nuclear weapons. The “laptop documents,” supposedly obtained from a stolen Iranian computer by an unknown source and given to US intelligence in 2004, include a series of drawings of a missile re-entry vehicle that appears to be an effort to accommodate a nuclear weapon, as well as reports on high explosives testing for what appeared to be a detonator for a nuclear weapon.
In one report after another, the IAEA has suggested that Iran has failed to cooperate with its inquiry into that alleged research, and that the agency, therefore, cannot verify that it has not diverted nuclear material to military purposes.
That issue remains central to US policy toward Iran. The Obama administration says there can be no diplomatic negotiations with Iran unless Iran satisfies the IAEA fully in regard to the allegations derived from the documents that it had covert nuclear weapons program.
That position is based on the premise that the intelligence documents that Iran has been asked to explain are genuine. The evidence now available, however, indicates that they are fabrications.
The drawings of the Iranian missile warhead that were said by the IAEA to show an intent to accommodate a nuclear weapon actually depict a missile design that Iran is now known to have already abandoned in favor of an improved model by the time the technical drawings were allegedly made. And one of the major components of the purported Iranian military research program allegedly included a project labeled with a number that turns out to have been assigned by Iran’s civilian nuclear authority years before the covert program is said to have been initiated.
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The origin of the laptop documents may never be proven conclusively, but the accumulated evidence points to Israel as the source. As early as 1995, the head of the Israel Defense Forces’ military intelligence research and assessment division, Yaakov Amidror, tried unsuccessfully to persuade his American counterparts that Iran was planning to “go nuclear.” By 2003-2004, Mossad’s reporting on the Iranian nuclear program was viewed by high-ranking CIA officials as an effort to pressure the Bush administration into considering military action against Iran’s nuclear sites, according to Israeli sources cited by a pro-Israeli news service.
In the summer of 2003, Israel’s international intelligence agency, Mossad, had established an aggressive program aimed at exerting influence on the Iran nuclear issue by leaking alleged intelligence to governments and the news media, as Israeli officials acknowledged to journalists Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins. According to the book, “The Nuclear Jihadist,” as part of the program, Mossad sometimes passed on purported Iranian documents supposedly obtained by Israeli spies inside Iran.
German sources have suggested that the intelligence documents were conveyed to the US government, directly or indirectly, by a group that had been collaborating closely with Mossad.
Michael Brea Allegedly Killed Mother with Freemason Sword
November 25th, 2010Update/Unconfirmed: Victim Had Worked at Marriott Hotel That Was Destroyed on 9/11?
Ofgoatsandmen sent this one over. I’m not able to confirm this. We have to be very careful when considering information from the Daily Mail.
Via: Daily Mail:
Brea’s mother had apparently worked at the Marriott at the World TradeCenter.
But the slain woman did not work again after the hotel was destroyed in the September 11 terrorist attacks neighbours said.
I found this on CNN:
Yannick Brea had worked as housekeeper at a Marriott Hotel in Manhattan, New York.
“We were shocked and saddened to learn of the untimely death of our housekeeping associate, Ms. Yannick Brea,” said Kathleen Duffy, spokesperson for NYC Marriott Hotels. “Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to Ms. Brea’s family and friends,” she said.
Anyway, I don’t know what to make of it. If anyone can point me to any better quality information that places her at the scene on 9/11, please send it over.
—End Update—
[???]
Via: Washington Post:
More details surrounding the slaying of 55-year-old Yannick Brea are leaking out. Her son, actor Michael Brea, has been accused of the crime.
Despite initial reports that Brea’s mother had been decapitated with a samurai sword, the New York Daily News is now reporting that the weapon was actually a ceremonial Masonic sword that the actor allegedly took after a Monday night meeting of Freemasons.
“Something happened that made him do it,” Brea’s uncle told the New York Daily News. “The devil entered him.”
A police source also told the paper that Brea said he saw the devil in his mother and accused her of never accepting Jesus. As he was being led away by police, Brea allegedly yelled, “The greatest architect in the universe!” — a term sometimes used by Masons to represent a supreme being.
TMZ adds that Brea had to be subdued with a Taser before he was taken to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation. He will reportedly be turned over to the NYPD once that evaluation is complete.
Research Credit: KS
Jury Finds Tom DeLay Guilty On All Counts
November 25th, 2010Via: Raw Story:
Former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay — once one of the most powerful and feared Republicans in Congress — was convicted Wednesday on charges he illegally funneled corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002.
Jurors deliberated for 19 hours before returning guilty verdicts against DeLay on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces up to life in prison on the money laundering charge.
Research Credit: Eileen
Former Obama Aide Arrested in Maryland on a Charge of Soliciting Sex from a Minor
November 25th, 2010Via: NBC:
A New Jersey congressman has fired his chief of staff — a former Obama aide — after the aide was arrested in Maryland on a charge of soliciting sex from a minor.
Democratic Rep. Steve Rothman took the action after learning that top aide Robert Decheine was among 11 people snared in a Gaithersburg, Md., police sting. Police placed ads on a website and an undercover officer communicated with customers through phone and text messages.
Russia, China Pledge Bigger Role for Yuan, Ruble
November 24th, 2010Via: AFP:
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday the Chinese yuan would soon start trading in Russia as the countries seek to challenge the dollar and promote the use of national currencies.
“We agreed to expand the possibilities for application of national currencies during trade and economic contacts,” Putin said after talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in the former Imperial capital Saint Petersburg.
“Now the ruble started trading on the exchange in China and the yuan trade will begin in Moscow in early December,” Putin said, hailing the move as a “serious step” on the path to strengthening economic ties.
On Monday, China conducted the first yuan trade with the Russian ruble in order “to promote the bilateral trade between China and Russia” and to reduce the conversion cost among other tasks, said a statement posted on the website of the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.
Both China and Russia, which both seek to promote their national currencies worldwide, have called for a revamp of the global financial system in the wake of the global economic crisis, saying there is a need for a new supra-national currency besides the dollar.
Total trade between Russia and China is estimated to top 50 billion dollars at the end of the year, the Russian government said. Much of that trade is currently handled with US dollars rather than Chinese yuan or Russian rubles.
Next Step for Body Scanners Could be Trains, Boats, Metro
November 24th, 2010Via: The Hill:
The next step in tightened security could be on U.S. public transportation, trains and boats.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says terrorists will continue to look for U.S. vulnerabilities, making tighter security standards necessary.
“[Terrorists] are going to continue to probe the system and try to find a way through,” Napolitano said in an interview that aired Monday night on “Charlie Rose.”
“I think the tighter we get on aviation, we have to also be thinking now about going on to mass transit or to trains or maritime. So, what do we need to be doing to strengthen our protections there?”
Napolitano’s comments, made a day before one of the nation’s busiest travel days, come in the wake of a public outcry over newly implemented airport screening measures that have been criticized for being too invasive.
The secretary has defended the new screening methods, which include advanced imaging systems and pat-downs, as necessary to stopping terrorists. During the interview with Rose, Napolitano said her agency is now looking into ways to make other popular means of travel safer for passengers and commuters.
Napolitano isn’t the only one who’s suggested that advanced scanning machines could be used in places beyond airports.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, introduced legislation this past September that would authorize testing of body scanners at some federal buildings.
Related: Full-Body Scanners Popping Up at Courthouses
U.S. Launches Giant Eavesdropping Satellite
November 23rd, 2010Via: AFP:
The United States has placed in orbit a vast reconnaissance satellite reputed to be the largest eavesdropping device ever launched into space.
The largest unmanned American launch vehicle, the Delta-4 Heavy rocket, roared into the the night sky in Cape Canaveral, Florida on Sunday carrying the mysterious satellite on a mission dubbed NROL-32.
The National Reconnaissance Office did not disclose the purpose of the satellite but widespread reports in the US media suggest it is for eavesdropping on enemy communications.
Dollar Up Sharply on Koreas; European Financial Mess
November 23rd, 2010WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
Intraday, the dollar has broken up and out of its most recent daily interval range, the top of which was 79.461. The first meaningful resistance on this dollar rally is 80.085 (the pivot low from 6 August 2010). If it clears that, the next upside target is around 83.55.
The U.S. Dollar Index is currently at 79.6.
Via: Reuters:
U.S. crude oil futures prices fell on Tuesday as the dollar strengthened and investors looked to less-risky assets after an exchange of artillery fire on the Korean peninsula.
Worries that Ireland’s debt crisis might spread to other euro zone countries also helped strengthen the dollar.
Wi-Fi Makes Trees Sick?
November 23rd, 2010Via: PC World:
Radiation from Wi-Fi networks is harmful to trees, causing significant variations in growth, as well as bleeding and fissures in the bark, according to a recent study in the Netherlands.
All deciduous trees in the Western world are affected, according to the study by Wageningen University. The city of Alphen aan den Rijn ordered the study five years ago after officials found unexplained abnormalities on trees that couldn’t be ascribed to a virus or bacterial infection.
Additional testing found the disease to occur throughout the Western world. In the Netherlands, about 70 percent of all trees in urban areas show the same symptoms, compared with only 10 percent five years ago. Trees in densely forested areas are hardly affected.
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The study exposed 20 ash trees to various radiation sources for a period of three months. Trees placed closest to the Wi-Fi radio demonstrated a “lead-like shine” on their leaves that was caused by the dying of the upper and lower epidermis of the leaves. This would eventually result in the death of parts of the leaves. The study also found that Wi-Fi radiation could inhibit the growth of corn cobs.


