UNKNOWN DISEASE WIPING OUT BEE POPULATIONS
February 13th, 2007Via: ABC News / Reuters:
A mysterious disease is killing off U.S. honeybees, threatening to disrupt pollination of a range of crops and costing beekeepers hundreds of thousands of dollars, industry experts said on Monday.
Beekeepers in 22 states have reported losses of up to 80 percent of their colonies in recent weeks, leaving many unable to rent the bees to farmers of crops such as almonds and, later in the year, apples and blueberries.
“It’s unusual in terms of the widespread distribution and severity,” said Jerry Bromenshenk, a professor at the University of Montana at Missoula and chief executive of Bee Alert Technology, a company monitoring the problem.
Dave Hackenberg, a Pennsylvania beekeeper who reported the so-called Colony Collapse Disorder to researchers at Pennsylvania State University in November, said he had lost about 2,000 hives, which can each contain around 50,000 bees during the summer months.
He estimated that he will lose as much as $350,000 after accounting for lost income and the cost of replacing bees.
Researchers from state and federal agriculture agencies have been frustrated in their search for a cause because affected hives are often empty except for the queen and a few bees.
The number of bees in a hive typically diminishes over a period of days to the point where there are very few or none left, Hackenberg said. There is no indication of where the bees have gone or what drove them away, he said.
“The rate of loss is startling,” said Jeff Pettis, a bee researcher at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Maryland.
Pettis said the bees may have been killed off by a combination of factors including parasitic mites and a lack of nectar in pollen. Scientists are also looking into whether there is a link with significant recent bee losses in some European countries, particularly Spain.
Bromenshenk of the University of Montana said the symptoms are similar to “Dwindling Disease” that affected the U.S. bee population during the 1960s. Some beekeepers have told him that they have been seeing the problem for up to two years but have not reported it to authorities.
Amazon International and Cryptogon
February 13th, 2007Readers are wondering if Cryptogon can receive a commission on items purchased from Amazon’s global sites. I didn’t know the answer, but since about 40% of Cryptogon readers are outside of the U.S., I decided to find out.
Yes, it is possible. I just had to sign up for the affiliate programs at EACH of Amazon’s global sites. Thanks to my wife, who is fluent in French, and Babelfish’s rough translation of German, something like 95% of Cryptogon readers can now help out just by buying their goods at Amazon via these links below.
Cryptogon has virtually no readers in Japan, however, one reader from there explicitly asked if it was possible for his purchases to add to Cryptogon commissions. I’m going to try to get my affiliate status with Amazon Japan sorted out soon.
Well, in order of the country-of-origin of non U.S. Cryptogon traffic, here you go:
Thanks to all of you who make a point of remembering to help Becky and me when you shop! It ALL adds up.
Stolen Kids Turned Into Terrifying Killers
February 12th, 2007I was surprised to see this article on CNN. There was, of course, no mention of the trauma and drug induced mind control that has been happening in the “developed” world. And there was definitely no mention of Robert Duncan O’Finioan:
I don’t quite know what to make of O’Finioan’s account, other than to say that it’s congruent with lots of similar horror stories that have lurked well below the surface for the last three decades. If 2% of what he says is true, well…
What else can I say? I bought a photocopied version of Walter Bowart’s almost impossible to find Operation Mind Control back in 1990, and that still stands out as probably THE most terrifying thing that I’ve ever read in my life. Some of Cathy Obrien’s tales shouldn’t be read late at night either.
To those of you who think that this isn’t happening, in any capacity in the U.S., and that it’s all a bunch of tinfoil hat nonsense, just take comfort in the CNN article that depicts the atrocities as being something that’s happening far, far away.
To those of you who aren’t too asleep to still believe in the “American Dream,” note the similarities between O’Finioan’s account, and what’s happening elsewhere, as reported by CNN below.
Note: This area of inquiry is much better served by Rigorous Intuition, because Jeff is willing to fill in the backstory much more effectively than I am. But since we’re now living in a world where mind controlled killer children are a suitable topic for CNN, I thought, why not…
Via: CNN:
Warlords are forcing children in conflicts around the world to become killing machines — nothing more than what one child advocate calls “cannon fodder.”
Some children are kidnapped from their schools or their beds, some are recruited after seeing their parents slaughtered, some may even choose to join the militias as their best hope for survival in war-torn countries from Colombia, and across Africa and the Middle East, to south Asia.
Once recruited, many are brainwashed, trained, given drugs and then sent into battle with orders to kill.
There is no escape for what the United Nations and human rights groups estimate are 250,000 child soldiers today. These children, some as young as 8, become fighters, sex slaves, spies and even human shields.
U.S. Military Plans for Cyber Counterattack
February 12th, 2007Via: Network World:
If the United States found itself under a major cyberattack aimed at undermining the nation’s critical information infrastructure, the Department of Defense is prepared, based on the authority of the president, to launch a cyber counterattack or an actual bombing of an attack source.
…
This week’s massive but unsuccessful denial-of-service (DoS) attack on the Internet’s root DNS, which targeted military and other networks, did not rise to the level of requiring response, but made the possibility of a massive Internet collapse more real than theoretical. Had the attack been successful there may have been a cyber counterstrike from the United States…
U.S. ‘Prepares for Failure’ in Iraq Surge
February 12th, 2007Again, what part of “superbase” don’t you understand?
Via: Times Online:
AS America’s troop surge in Baghdad gathers force, Robert Gates, the defence secretary, is already planning for failure. If the battle for security in Iraq does not succeed, he has told Congress he is prepared to move troops “out of harm’s wayâ€.
Policy experts at the Pentagon are drawing up plans for a fresh change in strategy should it be required. “I would be irresponsible if I weren’t thinking about what the alternatives might be,†Gates said.
Norelpref: Media Bob Blog
February 10th, 2007If Cryptogon had a soundtrack, this would be it:
It’s tough to describe… Max Headroom inspired audio haiku? I just had to close the page. I was burning up my alloted bandwidth for the day in a matter of minutes.
CRYPTOGON READER CONTRIBUTES $100
February 10th, 2007WOW! Thanks, DR!
Hint: In five years of running Cryptogon, I’ve never had an exclusive area for contributors or subscribers. That is about to change. All Cryptogon readers, including people who haven’t contributed yet, will continue to have access to the type of content that they have come to know and rely upon over the years, but contributors are going to have access to more.
This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I’ll provide details soon.
DISA Plans New Top-Secret Presidential Network
February 9th, 2007The focus on HEMP is interesting.
Via: fcw.com:
The White House Communications Agency (WHCA) has developed a six-year plan budgeted at $35 million to beef up presidential communications with a new top-secret network and multimedia Crisis Management System (CMS) designed to operate in a wide range of fixed locations, on Air Force One and on a new fleet of presidential helicopters.
The WHCA also said it plans to begin research on development of communications systems that can operate in High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) environments. HEMP, generated by a nuclear blast, can knock out most forms of radio communications.
The Defense Information Systems Agency, which manages WHCA, disclosed in its fiscal 2008 budget documents that the new top-secret network and CMS will provide the president, cabinet secretaries, and designated agency directors and their staffs with a secure, dedicated network capable of handling full motion video, voice graphics and data at 64 fixed and mobile locations.
NSA Electricity Crisis Gets Senate Scrutiny
February 9th, 2007Via: Baltimore Sun:
The National Security Agency’s impending electricity shortfall is “sort of a national catastrophe,” Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said yesterday.
Rockefeller, who took over as head of the panel when Democrats regained control of the Senate this month, called the power shortage a symptom of a larger problem: the NSA’s failure to manage long-range issues.
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“They haven’t focused on the large picture,” the West Virginia Democrat said in an interview.
The Sun reported last year that the NSA expects its power demands to exceed its supply within the next two years – an issue it has been aware of since the late 1990s. NSA Director Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander has acknowledged the problem and assured lawmakers that he has assigned some of his top lieutenants to tackle it, according to a committee aide.
The NSA has set up an “issue management team” to work through the problem, The Sun reported last week. Such groups are usually assembled to focus on key spy targets, not infrastructure problems.
“It’s true that the power, space and cooling needs of the agency weren’t adequately addressed, and we’re fixing it,” said NSA spokesman Ken White. He said the agency had been working on the problem with lawmakers for nine months, updating them as recently as this week.
Related: NSA Risking Electrical Overload: “The Terrorists” and Sustainable Fascism
The Untold Story of Milk
February 9th, 2007Oh man, I can’t wait to get this: The Untold Story of Milk: Green Pastures, Contented Cows and Raw Dairy Products by Ron Schmid.
Via: Amazon Reviewer:
Milk is bad for you. No mammal needs milk after being weaned. Raw milk is dirty, dangerous, and a major health hazard. Only pasteurized milk is clean and only ultra-pasteurized or irradiated milk is really safe. Pasteurization was created to make the milk supply safe. Raw milk has no greater health benefits than pasteurized milk. People want pasteurized milk, and prefer it over raw.
Supposedly educated people will tell you these things and be dead serious. Unfortunately, they are dead WRONG on every single point above, and the health of tens of millions suffer greatly for their ignorance or intentional deceit.
Ron Schmid is one of the most important proponents of traditional diets. His first book, Traditional Foods Are Your Best Medicine, is the best introduction to the nutritional research of Weston Price currently available. With this new book, he once again proves his voice is a beacon of intelligence and clarity in a sea of disinformation and corruption.
This book is a scholarly, well researched and documented look into the trials and tribulations of milk use in society. While its primary focus is on the raw milk issue and the scientific and political shenanigans surrounding the milk business, it also delves into the related issues of the history of milk use and traditional diets.
There is a great deal of information in this book. Schmid traces the history of milk use from the distant past to current times. He cites considerable research and published works regarding the healing power and nutritional value of milk from healthy animals. He examines in detail the use of the raw milk cure, milk in traditional diets, and the political/economic battles around milk production in this country during the last century. An immense amount of hard work went into the writing of this book, and it shows. (Good job, Ron.)
Schmid unmasks the unscientific propaganda in the raw milk debate and gives the clearest and most objective report to date on the real science and history of this issue. His analysis of the research is in-depth and thorough, and his presentation of the information is calm and balanced. This stands somewhat in contrast to the other major work on the issue, The Milk Book, by William Douglass, which contains some factual errors, suffers from many typos, and can come across as snide and derogatory when it is intended to be humorous. (It is still quite worth reading, however, and I recommend it as well.)
Schmid’s book is level-headed, comprehensive and powerful. He addresses all the issues of the raw milk debate in detail; disease, cleanliness, quality, politics, economics, nutrition, and health attributes. He adroitly dismantles the lies, propaganda, incompetence, and villany of the powers that seek to deny the American people one of the most potent health foods on the planet, and addresses the science and historical facts in an irrefutable manner. This is currently the definitive work on milk. It is difficult to believe that one could do a better job. It is an easy 5 stars.
There are many lies and urban myths about milk, and the real history of the milk industry is every bit as tawdry as most other histories of corporate interference in our lives. The scare tactics and other, considerably less ethical, manipulations of industry and of government agencies who are too often the bought dogs of industry, are shown to frequently be extreme distortions or outright lies. The behavior of some of the agencies and people described in the book is just about the strongest argument for capital punishment I have ever seen. (And I oppose capital punishment!) It amazes me that such people are allowed to walk the streets, much less wield such unchecked power over the health and lives of the citizens who trust them and pay their salaries. Bad dog. Bad, bad dog.
Every statement in the opening paragraph of this review has been proven false. Raw milk from clean, healthy, grass-fed cows is not only healthy, it has nutritional properties that could help alleviate many illnesses that currently plague our society. Even one of the founders of the Mayo Clinic used raw milk therapy to cure serious illness. (But you cannot patent milk. At least, not yet.)
It is vital in this day and age for people to take charge of their own health, and to do that they must have good information. If you want to know the facts about milk and the history of the milk industry in this country, get this book. It is a wonderful antidote to the urban myths and lies about milk that pervade our culture.
Related: Raw Milk and Lifting the Veil that has Been Pulled Over Our Eyes
Research Credit: Robert
