Ashtabula County: Judge Tells Residents to Arm Themselves
April 9th, 2010Via: WKYC:
In the ongoing financial crisis in Ashtabula County, the Sheriff’s Department has been cut from 112 to 49 deputies. With deputies assigned to transport prisoners, serve warrants and other duties, only one patrol car is assigned to patrrol the entire county of 720 square miles.
“I did the best with what they (the county commissioners) gave me. If it wasn’t enough, don’t blame me, don’t blame this department,” said Sheriff Billy Johnson.
Johnson said he is suing the commissioners to get a determination of whether he should use his limited budget to carry out obligations defined by law or put more patrol cars on the streets.
“I just can’t do it anymore,” he said. “I have to have the court explain to the commissioners and to me what my statutory duties are.”
The Ashtabula County Jail has confined as many as 140 prisoners. It now houses only 30 because of reductions in the staff of corrections officers.
All told, 700 accused criminals are on a waiting list to serve time in the jail.
Are there dangerous people free among the 700 who cannot be locked up?
“There probably are,” Sheriff Johnson said, “but I’m telling you, any known violent criminal, we’re housing them. We’ve got murderers in there.”
Ashtabula County is the largest county in Ohio by land area.
Ashtabula County Common Pleas Judge Alfred Mackey was asked what residents should do to protect themselves and their families with the severe cutback in law enforcement.
“Arm themselves,” the judge said. “Be very careful, be vigilant, get in touch with your neighbors, because we’re going to have to look after each other.”
Ashtabula County gun dealers and firearms instructors tell WKYC their business has really picked up since the Sheriff’s Department cutbacks began some months ago.
“That’s exactly why they are coming, so that they can protect themselves,” says Tracy Williams, a certified firearms instructor in Jefferson. “They don’t feel that they are protected. They want to be able to protect themselves.”
Williams says interest in his classes has doubled recently, and many of those coming are people who he would not normally expect to have interest in obtaining a concealed carry permit.
Intel Brain Scan Analysis Software
April 9th, 2010Via: AP / USA Today:
Mind reading may no longer be the domain of psychics and fortune tellers — now some computers can do it, too.
Software that uses brain scans to determine what items people are thinking about was among the technological innovations showcased Wednesday by Intel Corp., which drew back the curtain on a number of projects that are still under development.
The software analyzes functional MRI scans to determine what parts of a person’s brain is being activated as he or she thinks. In tests, it guessed with 90% accuracy which of two words a person was thinking about, said Intel Labs researcher Dean Pomerleau.
Eventually, the technology could help the severely physically disabled to communicate. And Pomerleau sees it as an early step toward one day being able to control technology with our minds.
“The vision is being able to interface to information, to your devices and to other people without having an intermediary device,” he said.
For now, the project’s accomplishments are far more modest — it can only be used with prohibitively expensive and bulky fMRI equipment and hasn’t yet been adapted to analyze abstract thoughts.
The system works best when a person is first scanned while thinking of dozens of different concrete nouns — words like “bear” or “hammer.” When test subjects are then asked to pick one of two new terms and think about it, the software uses the earlier results as a baseline to determine what the person is thinking.
The software works by analyzing the shared attributes of different words. For example, a person who is thinking of a bear uses the same parts of the brain that light up when he or she thinks of a puppy or something else furry. A person thinking of a bear also shows activity in the amygdala — home of the fight-or-flight response.
Kyrgyzstani Government Ousted in Violent Uprising
April 8th, 2010Via: Globe and Mail:
Massive, violent protests have toppled the authoritarian regime in Kyrgyzstan, an impoverished Central Asian republic wooed by both Moscow and Washington and the site of a sprawling air base vital to the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.
By nightfall, the opposition claimed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev had fled and a new government headed by former foreign minister Rosa Otumbayeva, 59, was in control.
…
Scores of protesters were reportedly shot and killed by security forces during waves of day-long running battles that left the capital littered with burning vehicles as crowds stormed the main television station and the Interior Ministry. According to witness reports, another leading opposition figure, Keneshbek Duishebayev, was issuing orders for calm from the National Security Agency, the reviled and feared secret police.
After days of mounting violence, Mr. Bakiyev, the increasingly repressive and unpopular Kyrgyzstani leader, reportedly fled Bishkek on the presidential jet and was believed headed for Osh, a city in the Uzbek south of the landlocked former Soviet republic.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Sounds a Warning on Growing Deficit
April 8th, 2010*chortle*
For a translation of the slop below, see: America’s Impending Master Class Dictatorship.
Via: Washington Post:
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke warned Wednesday that Americans may have to accept higher taxes or changes in cherished entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security if the nation is to avoid staggering budget deficits that threaten to choke off economic growth.
“These choices are difficult, and it always seems easier to put them off — until the day they cannot be put off anymore,” Bernanke said in a speech. “But unless we as a nation demonstrate a strong commitment to fiscal responsibility, in the longer run we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth.”
The Final Frontiersman
April 8th, 2010Via: VBS TV:
In 1980, Jimmy Carter established the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the Alaskan Interior, cutting off 19 million acres of prime boreal wilderness from the mitts of fur trappers, oil tycoons, and would-be lodge owners alike. Only six families of white settlers were grandfathered in and allowed to keep cabins in the refuge—of them, only one still stays there year-round living off the land. His name is Heimo Korth, and he is basically the Omega Man of America’s Final Frontier.
Raised in suburban Wisconsin, Heimo set off in his teens to the Alaskan Bush to pursue the Davy Crockett lifestyle in more or less the only place it was still possible. Amid numerous setbacks and misadventures, Heimo gradually learned how to master his terrain, provide for his Eskimo wife, and rear children in one of the most inhospitable environments in North America.
In this premiere edition of Far Out, we take a bush plane to the middle of nowhere, Alaska, to catch up with Heimo and his wife, Edna—now reaching their golden years. Over the course of our ten-day stay, the Korths show us everything you need to know about fur-trapping, caribou-hunting, caribou-eating, river-crossing, boredom-staving, bear-avoidance, and bear-defense to live happily over 100 miles from the nearest neighbors. Vegans, you have been warned. Heimo’s epic journey and adventures have been documented in the critically acclaimed book, THE FINAL FRONTIERSMAN, written by Heimo’s cousin, James Campbell.
Thai Premier Declares Martial Law to Control Protests
April 8th, 2010Via: Bloomberg / Business Week:
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared martial law in the capital after protesters stormed parliament, testing the army’s willingness to break up four weeks of mostly peaceful demonstrations.
About 3,000 people entered the gates of Parliament for about two hours and thousands more occupied Bangkok’s commercial district for a fifth day. The emergency decree bans gatherings of more than five people, allows detention without charge and gives soldiers immunity from prosecution.
“The law doesn’t mean we aim to crack down or hurt people, especially innocent people,” Abhisit said in a televised address. “The nation has been severely affected by the protests and the government needs to rectify the situation.”
The protesters, many loyal to exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, grew in confidence after police and soldiers abandoned attempts to disperse them yesterday. Army Chief Anupong Paojinda enforced orders from Abhisit a year ago to break up rallies by the same group that turned violent, something he may be reluctant to do this time.
“Declaring martial law may backfire on Abhisit,” said Michael Nelson, a lecturer at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. “If Anupong sees this as a political problem, an emergency decree may not prompt the military into action.”
Abhisit, who has been living in an army barracks, said protesters have breached the constitution and he declared the demonstration illegal. The law would also prevent misinformation and help stop sporadic grenade attacks that have hit the capital over the past month, he said.
Canada’s Only Bullion Bank Gold Vault Is Practically Empty
April 8th, 2010WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
DISCLOSURE: I am a BullionVault client and affiliate.
During the interview, Lenny Organ states that he was in the ScotiaMocatta vault in 2008. What’s the situation now??? Anyone dealing with precious metals, especially precious metals certificates, should listen to this.
Central Fund of Canada investors, who aren’t just using that thing as a blinking number that updates in realtime, also need to listen to this.
Via: ZeroHedge:
Continuing on the trail of exposing what is rapidly becoming one of the largest frauds in commodity markets history is the most recent interview by Eric King with GATA’s Adrian Douglas, Harvey Orgen (who recently testified before the CFTC hearing) and his son, Lenny, in which the two discuss their visit to the only bullion bank vault in Canada, that of ScotiaMocatta, located at 40 King Street West in Toronto, and find the vault is practically empty. This is a relevant segue to a class action lawsuit filed against Morgan Stanley, which was settled out of court, in which it was alleged that Morgan Stanley told clients it was selling them precious metals that they would own in full and that the company would store, yet even despite charging storage fees was not in actual possession of the bullion. It appears that this kind of lack of physical holdings by all who claim to have gold in storage, is pervasive as the actual gold globally is held primarily in paper or electronic form. Lenny Organ who was the person to enter the vault of ScotiaMocatta, says “What shocked me was how little gold and silver they actually had.” Lenny describes exactly how much (or little as the case may be) silver was available – roughly 60,000 ounces. As for gold – 210 400 oz bars, 4,000 maples, 500 eagles, 10 kilo bars, 10 one kilogram pieces of gold nugget form, which Adrian Douglas calculates as being $100 million worth, which is just one tenth of what the Royal Mint of Canada sold in 2008, or over $1 billion worth of gold. As Orgen concludes: “The game ends when the people who own all these paper obligations say enough and take physical delivery, and that’s when the mess will occur.”
Also note the interesting detour into what Stephan Spicer of the Central Fund Of Canada, said regarding his friend at a major bank, who wanted access to his 15,000 oz of silver, and had to wait 6-8 weeks for its to be flown in from Hong Kong.
It is funny that central bankers thought they could take the ponzi mentality of infinite dilution of all assets coupled with infinite debt issuance, as they have done to fiat money, and apply it to gold, in essence piling leverage upon leverage. They underestimated gold holders’ willingness to be diluted into perpetuity – when the realization that gold owned is just 1% of what is physically deliverable, you will see the biggest bank run in history.
Research Credit: Pookie
Scientist Researching Radio Frequency Waves for Cancer Treatment Killed in “Home Invasion Robbery”
April 7th, 2010Via: Palm Beach Post:
Who would want to kill scientist Joseph Morrissey, who enjoyed an international reputation for his pioneering research into the use of radio frequency waves in cancer treatment?
That’s the question friends and colleagues were asking late Tuesday after Morrissey, 46, an assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences at Nova Southeastern University, was fatally shot during what police say was a home invasion robbery.
Morrissey was “very well-liked,” said Andres Malave, dean of NSU’s College of Pharmacy.
Just after midnight Monday, an intruder burst into his Plantation home, bound him and his wife, and set fire to the house in the 600 block of NW 75th Terrace, according to police.
A neighbor told WFOR-Ch. 4 that during the ordeal the robber also abducted the couple, took them to a nearby bank and forced them to make a cash withdrawal.
Morrissey’s wife Linda, 48, and the couple’s young son, who was asleep at the time, later escaped from the house and were not injured.
“This is very disturbing,” said Appu Rathinavelu, a fellow scientist who has known Morrissey for 15 years. “I am not able to believe it when I heard the news. It’s like a dream.”
First to respond to the scene were Plantation firefighters, who extinguished a blaze accelerated by gasoline, according to Detective Robert Rettig.
Plantation Fire-Rescue Battalion Chief Joel Gordon said firefighters were met by a woman, apparently Morrissey’s wife, and directed to his body in a patio area.
The investigation, quickly joined by officials from the State Fire Marshal’s office, continued well into the afternoon Tuesday.
Access to the quiet suburban street in a neighborhood called Secluded Gardens was blocked to all but residents for much of the day, and yellow crime scene tape surrounded the turquoise-colored house.
Any fire damage to the house was not visible from the outside.
During the day two cars belonging to the Morrisseys were towed away.
Police said the suspected robber was a man, but provided no additional details.
While Morrissey was not teaching classes this semester, he still kept a rigorous schedule in the lab.
Malave said Morrissey customarily arrived at his lab by 7 a.m., and often returned to his work the late afternoon after picking up his son from school at 4 p.m.
“He was very focused on his research,” Malave said. “We will miss him as a friend at the college.”
In a statement, NSU Chancellor Ray Ferrero Jr. said, “Our hearts and prayers go out to his family. Dr. Morrissey was an excellent professor and well regarded in the research world. He will be missed by the entire NSU family — faculty, staff and students.”
Morrissey earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of South Florida and a PhD from Stanford University. He came to Florida in 1993 to work for the Goodwin Institute for Cancer Research in Plantation.
“He was so energetic. He enjoyed his life and his work,” said Claire Thuning-Roberson, the founder and former director of the institute.
At NSU, Morrissey did research in the use of electromagnetic energy to enhance the effectiveness of cancer medications, the university said.
He recently brought in grants worth $100,000 to fund his work at NSU and was just back from delivering a keynote address at a conference in Australia.
“We lost a great individual, a great scientist, and someone who was to [help] move this college into the future,” said Malave. “He was a key faculty member.”
For 12 years he worked as a senior scientist at Motorola in Plantation.
Los Angeles Could Run Out of Money in About Four Weeks
April 7th, 2010Via: Los Angeles Times:
City Controller Wendy Greuel declares an ‘urgent financial crisis’ and says the only way to continue paying bills in the short term is to begin draining the city’s already limited emergency reserve.
The city’s top financial official issued a grim assessment of the escalating budget crisis Monday, warning that Los Angeles could be unable to pay its bills in just over four weeks.
City Controller Wendy Greuel declared an “urgent financial crisis” and said the only way to continue paying bills in the short term was to begin to drain the city’s already limited emergency reserve.
U.S. Approves Assassination of American Cleric
April 7th, 2010Via: New York Times:
The Obama administration has taken the extraordinary step of authorizing the targeted killing of an American citizen, the radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have shifted from encouraging attacks on the United States to directly participating in them, intelligence and counterterrorism officials said Tuesday.
