The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. – Benjamin Franklin
China is set to overtake the US next year as the world’s largest producer of manufactured goods, four years earlier than expected, as a result of the rapidly weakening US economy.
The great leap is revealed in forecasts for the Financial Times by Global Insight, a US economics consultancy. According to the estimates, next year China will account for 17 per cent of manufacturing value-added output of $11,783bn and the US will make 16 per cent.
 Tracy J. Smith/Courtesy of the U.S. Army Spc. Joseph Noble of the Georgia Army National Guard takes part in field training alongside Republic of Georgia soldiers during Immediate Response 08 at Vaziani Military Base, Georgia, in July. The training wrapped up Thursday. |
U.S. personnel responsible for training members of the Georgian military remain stationed inside the volatile country, where fighting erupted Friday between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway province of South Ossetia.
The U.S. European Command said on Monday that there were no plans at this time to withdraw the U.S. military trainers from the country. There are still 127 U.S. trainers in Georgia, where the American forces had been preparing the Georgian army for operations in Iraq.
Meanwhile, U.S. civilians started to make their way out of the country over the weekend, according to the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi.
Convoys carrying family members of diplomats, government workers and ordinary citizens bound for the embassy in neighboring Armenia continued on Monday.
Added: August 12, 2008
Source: YouTube
Iran’s Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar
Iran’s Defense Minister Mohammad-Najjar has warned that its response to a surprise enemy attack would be a greater surprise for the aggressor.
He said Iran has developed an extensive defense force to repel any possible attack, adding the Islamic Republic is currently a major defensive power.
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Federal Reserve has auctioned another $25 billion in loans to the nation’s banks and given them more time to pay the money back in an effort to combat a serious credit squeeze.
The Fed announced Tuesday that the money would be loaned at a rate of 2.754 percent. In the latest auction, the Fed offered the loans for an extended period of 84 days, rather than the 28-day period for the previous loans.
It marked the Fed’s latest attempt to be innovative in providing the nation’s banking system with the cash it needs to combat a serious credit crisis stemming from mounting mortgage loan losses.
Read moreFed auctions another $25 billion to combat a serious credit squeeze
(NaturalNews) A moderate increase in fitness level can decrease a man’s risk of dying by between 50 and 70 percent, according to a study conducted by the Exercise Testing and Research Lab at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, and published in the journal Circulation.
Highly recommended:
– Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth (Book1) Great exercises!
– Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth (Book2)
– The Biology Of Belief
– The Wisdom of Your Cells
– Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East
Related article: Scientists stop the ageing process
“It is important to emphasize that it takes relatively moderate levels of physical activity – like brisk walking – to attain the associated health benefits,” said researcher Peter Kokkinos. “Certainly, one does not need to be a marathon runner. This is the message that we need to convey to the public.”
Researchers studied more than 15,000 male U.S. veterans, 6,749 black and 8,911 white. The men had been given standardized treadmill tests, in which they were encouraged to walk until they were tired, then monitored for an average of 7.5 years each.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal income taxes between 1998 and 2005, according to a new report from Congress.
The study by the Government Accountability Office, expected to be released Tuesday, said about 68 percent of foreign companies doing business in the U.S. avoided corporate taxes over the same period.
Collectively, the companies reported trillions of dollars in sales, according to GAO’s estimate.
August 11, 2008: The U.S. Air Force is, for the first time, converting a fighter wing from manned (F-16) combat aircraft, to unmanned ones (the MQ-9 Reaper.) The conversion, for the 174th Fighter Wing, has been in the works for three years, and the last combat sorties in manned aircraft were flown last week, by members of the 174th serving in Iraq.
The air force has already converted several combat wings to fly Predators which, while armed (with two 107 pound Hellfire missiles), are considered reconnaissance aircraft. The Reaper is considered a combat aircraft, optimized for seeking out and destroying ground targets. Jet powered combat UAVs are in development. It’s only a matter of time before UAVs take over air superiority, strategic bombing and suppression of enemy air defenses duties as well.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called a halt to the advance of Russian troops in Georgia.
MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced Tuesday that he has ordered an end to military operations against Georgia.
The announcement came minutes before French President Nicolas Sarkozy was to land in Moscow to meet with Medvedev to negotiate terms for a possible cease-fire.
“I have reached a decision to halt the operation to force the Georgian authorities to peace,” Medvedev said. “The aggressor has been punished and has incurred very significant losses. Its armed forces are disorganized.”
WASHINGTON – More banks are tightening lending standards on home mortgages and other consumer and business loans as a deepening credit crisis exerts a heavier toll on the economy.
Federal Reserve said Monday the percentage of banks reporting tighter lending standards rose across various loan types in its July survey. In April, the central bank had found that the percentage of banks reporting tighter lending standards was already near historic highs.
Georgian officials tonight claimed the country had been ‘overrun’ by Russian troops after a full-scale ground invasion.
Amid reports that Moscow forces had taken the town of Gori – and were marching on the capital Tsblisi – Georgian soldiers appeared to be in full retreat.
Troops were apparently in complete chaos as a full-scale rout pushed them back through the countryside.
Meanwhile, the civilian crisis intensified with thousands of refugees fleeing the seemingly unstoppable advance of the Russian army.
An unidentified Georgian woman cries after finding out that her child was killed in a neighbouring village, in the town of Gori
Around 9,000 soldiers and 350 tanks had been massing at a base in the border region of Abkhazia throughout the day.
Read moreGeorgia ‘overrun’ by Russian troops as full-scale ground invasion begins
MOSCOW, August 11 (RIA Novosti) – Georgian troops have been surrounded in South Ossetia and are giving themselves up, a senior Russian military official said on Monday.
“Russian troops are currently disarming the surrounded Georgian forces in South Ossetia,” Col. Gen. Anatoly Nagovitsyn, deputy head of the General Staff, told a news conference.
Read moreRussia: Georgian troops in South Ossetia surrendering
Hmmmhhh. Fending off Russia? No way!
*****
Jewish Georgian Minister Temur Yakobshvili on Sunday praised the Israel Defense Forces for its role in training Georgian troops and said Israel should be proud of its military might, in an interview with Army Radio.
“Israel should be proud of its military which trained Georgian soldiers,” Yakobashvili told Army Radio in Hebrew, referring to a private Israeli group Georgia had hired.
Read moreJewish Georgian minister: Thanks to Israeli training, we’re fending off Russia
On July 15th the US Dollar Index closed at 71.87, the lowest close since reaching its record low in April. This index was in the process of breaking down, and in fact it had actually fallen out of its uptrend channel on the following chart.
The U.S. embassy in Kyrgyzstan has found itself embroiled in scandal after the country’s interior ministry announced that a hoard of U.S.-made weapons has been found in a house in Bishkek rented by U.S. citizens. The embassy hurriedly stated that the weapons were intended for antiterrorism exercises, but Kyrgyz enforcement agencies have not confirmed that. The news is the talk of Kyrgyzstan. The prosecutor general has begun an investigation.
GORI, Georgia – Russian armored vehicles rolled deep into western Georgia on Monday, quickly seizing several towns and a military base and slicing open a damaging second front in Russia’s battle with Georgia. Other Russian forces captured the key central city of Gori.
Fighting also raged Monday around Tskhinvali, the capital of the separatist province of South Ossetia. Swarms of Russian planes launched new raids across Georgia, sending screaming civilians running for cover.
The invasions of Gori and the towns of Senaki, Zugdidi and Kurga came despite a top Russian general’s claim earlier Monday that Russia had no plans to enter Georgian territory. By taking Gori, which sits on Georgia’s only east-west highway, Russia has the potential to effectively cut the country in half.
There is more to life. The human body was not designed to “fall apart”.
Nobel Prize winner Dr. Alexis Carrel was able to keep cells from a chicken heart alive and replicating new cells for 28 years, far outliving the life of a chicken which is 7 to 12 years. The cells did not die of aging they simply terminated the experiment.
“The cell is immortal. It is merely the fluid in which it floats that degenerates. Renew this fluid at regular intervals, give the cell what it requires for nutrition, and as far as we know, the pulsation of life can go on forever.” – Dr. Alexis Carroll, Nobel Prize Winner
Highly Recommended:
– The Biology Of Belief
– The Wisdom of Your Cells
– Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East
More here: (Health & Science) (Gesundheit & Wissenschaft)
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Clean bill of health: Scientists have shown that clearing damaged protein from the liver helps stop age decline in the organ (Source: iStockphoto)
Scientists have stopped the ageing process in an entire organ for the first time, a study released today says.
Published in today’s online edition of Nature Medicine, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York City also say the older organs function as well as they did when the host animal was younger.
The researchers, led by Associate Professor Ana Maria Cuervo, blocked the ageing process in mice livers by stopping the build-up of harmful proteins inside the organ’s cells.
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Struggling home finance giant Fannie Mae Friday reported a massive second-quarter loss of 2.3 billion dollars, more than three times analysts’ estimates.
From documentary filmmaker William Lewis comes a bone chilling documentary on the spying, tracking and control of the American public.
Source: Google Video
At a meeting with the permanent members of the Russian Security Council, the President declared:
“Russia has maintained and continues to maintain a presence on Georgian territory on an absolutely lawful basis, carrying out its peacekeeping mission in accordance with the agreements concluded. We have always considered maintaining the peace to be our paramount task. Russia has historically been a guarantor for the security of the peoples of the Caucasus, and this remains true today.
Last night, Georgian troops committed what amounts to an act of aggression against Russian peacekeepers and the civilian population in South Ossetia. What took place is a gross violation of international law and of the mandates that the international community gave Russia as a partner in the peace process.
Read moreDmitry Medvedev made a statement on the situation in South Ossetia.
A warplane drops bombs near the Georgian city of Gori on Friday as Russian and Georgian forces battled.
TBLISI, Georgia (CNN) — Bombs rocked Tbilisi early Saturday morning as the fight between Georgia and Russia over a breakaway region intensified and moved into the Georgian capital.
Government buildings, including the Parliament, were evacuated when the bombs fell.
Georgia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Irakali Alasania, said during a special session of the Security Council that the foreign minister had informed him of bombs falling on the Black Sea port of Poti and the Viziani airfield near Tbilisi.
Georgian television reported that the port had been destroyed.
Russia and Georgia, a former Soviet state, are fighting over the disputed Caucasus region of South Ossetia, a pro-Russian autonomous region of Georgia.
Read moreFighting with Russia spreads to cities across Georgia
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) – Georgia’s president says the country is calling home its troops from Iraq amid heavy fighting in the breakaway province of South Ossetia.
Georgia has 2,000 troops serving with the coalition forces in Iraq, making it the third-largest contributor after the United States and Britain.
But Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili told CNN television Friday the troops would return urgently to Georgia after fighting erupted in South Ossetia.
“One brigade of Georgian forces is in Iraq and we are calling it home tomorrow,” Saakashvili said in the interview.
OxyContin (Oxycodone) This prescription drug is classified as an opioid and is given to cancer patients and those suffering from chronic pain. OxyContin use often leads to physical dependence and addiction.
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MIAMI, Florida (CNN) — Fifty-six government employees — including a police officer, a felony court clerk, two corrections officers and 27 school bus drivers and attendants — were arrested in a scam that used health insurance information to fraudulently obtain prescriptions for the painkiller OxyContin, authorities said Wednesday.
Arrested as “recruiters” in the alleged OxyContin scam, are, clockwise: Janice Currington; Dwonvalyn Johnson; Barbara Miller Benaby; Guyton Wynell; Marcella Pierce; and Wanda McNeal.
Sixty-two people were arrested in total and all face charges including racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and grand theft, according to the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office.
Drug companies are quietly pushing through price hikes of 100% – or even more than 1,000% – for a very small but growing number of prescription drugs, helping to drive up costs for insurers, patients and government programs.
The number of brand-name drugs with increases of 100% or more could double this year from four years ago, researchers from the University of Minnesota say. Many of the drugs are older products that treat fairly rare, but often serious or even life-threatening, conditions.
Among the examples: Questcor Pharmaceuticals last August raised the wholesale price on Acthar, which treats spasms in babies, from about $1,650 a vial to more than $23,000. Ovation raised the cost of Cosmegen, which treats a type of tumor, from $16.79 to $593.75 in January 2006.
“There may have been multiple ‘positions’ which were reclassified … but they all appear to have been held by just one trader, and this was a very special trader, with an enormous concentration of positions in crude oil amounting to perhaps 460 million barrels, and not much interest in anything else,” noted John Kemp of RBS Sempra Commodities.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) – A quiet data revision that has boosted by nearly 25 percent the number of oil futures contracts U.S. regulators think are held by speculators is raising eyebrows in the energy trading community.
Read moreBig CFTC data revision raises oil traders’ eyebrows