U.S. Navy’s X-47B Drone Makes First Real Aircraft Carrier Landing

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X-47B drone

– U.S. Navy Gets in on Drone Action With First Real Aircraft Carrier Landing (Wired, July 25, 2013):

The Navy’s X-47B drone completed its newest round of tests off the Virginia shore last week, making it the first pilotless unmanned jet in history to land aboard a moving aircraft carrier — one of aviation’s most challenging maneuvers.

The Navy heralded the achievement as the future of warfare. “It isn’t very often you get a glimpse of the future,” said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus in a statement. “Today, those of us aboard the USS George H.W. Bush got that chance as we witnessed the X-47B make its first-ever arrested landing aboard an aircraft carrier.”

Read moreU.S. Navy’s X-47B Drone Makes First Real Aircraft Carrier Landing

How Much Data The NSA Really Gets

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H/t reader M.G.:

“One more story related to NSA spying….how much data does NSA get on everyone? Answer is everything of relevance.
Here is the link. No reference to it in US media, of course.”

The NSA claims it ‘touches’ only 1.6% of internet traffic – doesn’t sound a lot. In fact, that’s practically everything that matters

– How much data the NSA really gets (Guardian, Aug 13, 2013):

Fear not, says the NSA, we “touch” only 1.6% of daily internet traffic. If, as they say, the net carries 1,826 petabytes of information per day, then the NSA “touches” about 29 petabytes a day. They don’t say what “touch” means. Ingest? Store? Analyze?

For context, Google in 2010 said it had indexed only 0.004% of the data on the net. So, by inference from the percentages, does that mean that the NSA is equal to 400 Googles?

Seven petabytes of photos are added to Facebook each month. That’s .23 petabytes per day. So that means the NSA is 126 Facebooks.

Read moreHow Much Data The NSA Really Gets

For Parents (Nature.com): ‘Increases In Total Time Watching TV By Children Associated With Subsequent Decreases In Vocabulary And Math Skills, Classroom Engagement, Victimization By Classmates, And Physical Prowess At Kindergarten’

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– Early childhood television viewing and kindergarten entry readiness (Nature,  Advance online publication 07 August 2013):

Background:

Using a large population-based sample, this study aims to verify whether televiewing at 29 mo, a common early childhood pastime, is prospectively associated with school readiness at 65 mo.

Methods:

Participants are a prospective longitudinal cohort of 991 girls and 1,006 boys from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development with parent-reported data on weekly hours of televiewing at 29 mo of age. We conducted a series of ordinary least-squares regressions in which children’s scores on direct child assessments of vocabulary, mathematical knowledge, and motor skills, as well as kindergarten teacher reports of socioemotional functioning, were linearly regressed on early televiewing.

Results:

Every SD increase (1.2?h) in daily televiewing at 29 mo predicted decreases in receptive vocabulary, number knowledge scores, classroom engagement, and gross motor locomotion scores, as well as increases in the frequency of victimization by classmates.

Conclusion:

Increases in total time watching television at 29 mo were associated with subsequent decreases in vocabulary and math skills, classroom engagement (which is largely determined by attention skills), victimization by classmates, and physical prowess at kindergarten. These prospective associations, independent of key potential confounders, suggest the need for better parental awareness and compliance with existing viewing recommendations put forth by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

Forget Apology: Eric Holder Owes The American People A Resignation

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– Forget Apology: Eric Holder Owes The American People A Resignation (ZeroHedge, Aug 12, 2013):

Bloomberg’s Jon Weil, who has compiled the following stunning array of lies regarding the DOJ’s enforcement activity disclosed by none other than its head, Eric Holder, is far too kind when he says that the “fast and furious” Holder owes the American people an apology. What we really owes is at least a resignation (and frankly much more, but it is too early on Monday to become too politically incorrect). And considering that the DOJ in its now former employee Lanny Brauer’s words refused to prosecute those banks which were deemed “too big to prosecute”, the lying here has now became a meta phenomenon, as the DOJ is effectively caught lying about lying. How many more meta levels of higher up fraud “inception” can Holder take this, before the American people finally demand his head, metaphorically-speaking of course? Sadly, judging by the response to unprecedented scandals coming out of this administration so far, the answer is… more.

From Bloomberg’s Jonathan Weil:

Eric Holder Owes the American People an Apology

The Justice Department made a long-overdue disclosure late Friday: Last year when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder boasted about the successes that a high-profile task force racked up pursuing mortgage fraud, the numbers he trumpeted were grossly overstated.

Read moreForget Apology: Eric Holder Owes The American People A Resignation

US Judge Says Bloomberg’s ‘Stop-And-Frisk’ Policy Is Unconstitutional, Accuses ‘Highest Officials’ Of Discrimination

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– US Judge Says Bloomberg’s “Stop-And-Frisk” Policy Is Unconstitutional, Accuses “Highest Officials” Of Discrimination (ZeroHedge, Aug 12, 2013):

In a shocking twist for the New Normal, a US judge has actually upheld the constitution…

From Reuters:

  • New York district judge Shira Scheindlin says New York City “stop-and-frisk” policy violates U.S. constitution — court ruling
  • U.S. district judge Shira Scheindlin says city acted with delberate indifference toward police practice of making unconstitutional stops and conducting unconstitutional frisks
  • Judge says city adopted policy of “indirect racial profiling” by targeting racially defined groups for stops
  • Judge says city policy resulted in disproportionate, discriminatory stopping of blacks and hispanics, violating equal protection clause
  • Judge says city’s highest officials “turned a blind eye” to evidence that stops are being conducted in racially discriminatory manner
  • Judge orders independent monitor to oversee compliance with policy changes that must be introduced
  • Judge says city must adopt written policy specifying circumstances where stops are authorized
  • Judge says city must adopt trial program requiring the use of body-worn cameras in one precinct per borough
  • Judge says city must set up community-based remedial process under court-appointed facilitator

And the punchline:

  • Judge says nypd personnel felt or were aware of pressure to increase number of stops after arrival of nyc mayor bloomberg, nypd commissioner kelly

We hope judge Scheindlin never takes baths or embarks on naval adventures in the near, or long-term, future.

Warrantless Vaginal Searches Conducted By Texas Police

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– Warrantless Vaginal Searches Conducted By Texas Police (Benn Swan Full Disclosure, Aug 9, 2013):

Police in Texas have been caught conducting completely warrantless vaginal searches of women on the side of freeways.

Yes, you read that correctly.

A new set of videos show Texas state troopers probing women’s vaginas and anal areas while searching for drugs.

After watching the videos, which were taken by police car dashboard cams, it is painfully obvious that police were confident that the women did not have marijuana — but they went ahead with the cavity searches anyways.

Read moreWarrantless Vaginal Searches Conducted By Texas Police

IRS Needs AR-15?s For ‘Standoff Capabilities’?

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– IRS Needs AR-15?s For “Standoff Capabilities”? (Benn Swan Full Disclosure, Aug 10, 2013):

The IRS, which primarily acts as an audit agency, refuses to answer why its agents need AR-15s for “standoff capability.”

In May, U.S. Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-SC) was getting a lot of questions about ammo shortages and government agencies stockpiling guns and ammo. He wanted to know why IRS agents were buying ammo in large quantities and wanted to see the ammo supply himself.  He went to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Maryland where he witnessed 8 or 9 IRS agents using AR-15s at an indoor 100 yard firing range.

Duncan questioned why IRS agents needed to be trained with AR-15 military rifles with 30 round magazines for “standoff capability” and why the IRS couldn’t use agencies like the U.S. Marshals to assist them when needed.

BenSwann.com asked Duncan if the IRS offered him any new information regarding his investigation.

Read moreIRS Needs AR-15?s For ‘Standoff Capabilities’?

New Company Allows Organizations To Hire Fake Protesters

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When a reporter asked a paid protester in the above image what this protest was for- he told the reporter, “It’s a day to ban guns, I think.”
-The Event was actually for a new movement called “Purge Day” dealing with mental illness.

– New Company Allows Organizations To Hire Fake Protesters (Benn Swan Full Disclosure, Aug 9, 2013):

So, no one supports your cause? No problem. You can hire supporters- even protesters. A company started last October by 22-year-old Adam Swart provides just this service.  In a telephone interview I spoke with Swart about his new found success. “I came up with the idea on a visit to Estonia,” says Swart. At the airport, Swart says he saw a man who was being swarmed by a crowd of excited onlookers. He tells me, “I thought- Why can’t I have that kind of attention?” And so, Swart’s company, Crowds on Demand, was born.

Swart says that business is doing extremely well. According to their website, their office is located in a swanky downtown LA office suite. He says his biggest client so far was a $10k contract, but he would not disclose the client. Not bad for a 22-year-old kid. “We do most of our business through word of mouth. We are able to provide our customers with top-notch service, so they spread the word to other potential clients,” says Swart.

Read moreNew Company Allows Organizations To Hire Fake Protesters

Why Are So Many People Choosing To Leave The United States Permanently?

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… because the shit is about to hit the fan.

– Why Are So Many People Choosing To Leave The United States Permanently? (Economic Collapse, Aug 11, 2013):

Have things gotten so bad that it is time to leave the United States for good?  That is a question that a lot of Americans are dealing with these days, and an increasing number of them are choosing to leave the country of their birth permanently.  Some are doing it for tax reasons, some are doing it because they believe the future is brighter elsewhere, and others are doing it because they are very distressed about the direction that America is heading and they don’t see any hope for a turnaround any time soon.  Personally, I have several friends and contacts that regard themselves as “preppers” that have decided that the United States is too far gone to recover.  They have moved their families out of the country and they never plan to return.  As this nation continues to head down the very troubled road that it is currently on, this trend is probably only going to accelerate even more.

In fact, some Americans are even going so far as to renounce their citizenship when they leave.  This represents only a small percentage of those that are leaving the country, but as Bloomberg recently reported, the number of Americans that renounced their citizenship in the second quarter of 2013 was six times larger than the number that renounced their citizenship in the second quarter of last year…

Read moreWhy Are So Many People Choosing To Leave The United States Permanently?

Is China Doomed?

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– Is China Doomed? (The National Interest, Aug 9, 2013):

Between 1978, the year Deng Xiaoping’s sweeping economic reforms were launched, and 2011, China’s GDP increased by an average of 10 percent annually, three times that of the global economy. Now the boom times may be over.

By mid-2013, economic growth had slowed to 7.7 percent. That’s still a roaring pace compared to the rest of the world. Europeans, Americans and even Japanese might say about China’s slippage, “We should all have such problems.” Still, in thirty-five years, the Chinese polity hasn’t had to handle a prolonged economic slowdown and one may be in the offing. Hence the debate on what the deceleration could portend should it get worse and linger.

Read moreIs China Doomed?

Eurozone Funding Shortfall Rises To Over $4 Trillion, Increases By More Than $500 Billion In A Year

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– Eurozone Funding Shortfall Rises To Over $4 Trillion, Increases By More Than $500 Billion In A Year (ZeroHedge, Aug 11, 2013):

Back in April 2012, Zero Hedge pointed out something rather disturbing for the European banking sector and defenders of the European monetary myth: the “aggregate shortfall of required stable funding Is €2.78 trillion” which was the number estimated by the BIS’ Basel III rules needed to return to some semblance of balance sheet stability in Europe. More importantly, this was a number so big, it was obvious that there was only one way to deal with it: cover it up deeply under the rug and pray it never reemerged.

What happened next was inevitable: Basel III’s implementation was delayed as there was no way Europe’s banks could satisfy their deleveraging requirements, while the actual capital shortfall hole became bigger and bigger. Today, 16 months later, the FT discovers what Zero Hedge readers knew long ago in “Eurozone banks need to shed €3.2tn in assets to meet Basel III.” In other words, not only has Europe not fixed anything in the past year, but the liquidity tsunami injected by the central banks merely taped over the epic capital shortfall that just got epic-er, increasing from €2.8 trillion to €3.2 trillion, an increase of half a trillion to over $4 trillion in one short year.

Sadly, just like back in April 2012, so now, Europe has no hope of actually addressing this much needed deleveraging and so the can kicking will continue until the number rises to $5 trillion, $6, $7 etc until one day the market’s “head in the sand” strategy finally fails and every emperor around the world is found to be naked.

From the FT:

Europe’s biggest banks will have to cut €661bn of assets and generate €47bn of fresh capital over the next five years to comply with forthcoming regulations aimed at reducing the likelihood of another taxpayer funded bailout.

Read moreEurozone Funding Shortfall Rises To Over $4 Trillion, Increases By More Than $500 Billion In A Year

Fresh Clashes Between Egypt Security Forces, Pro-Morsi Protesters Loom

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– Fresh clashes between Egypt security forces, pro-Morsi protesters loom (CBS News, Aug 11, 2013):

Supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi fortified their two Cairo sit-in sites as Egyptian security officials said their forces will move against the entrenched protest camps within 24 hours — perhaps as early as daybreak Monday.At the main sit-in, vendors said they have sold hundreds of gas masks, goggles and gloves to protesters readying for police tear gas. Three waist-high barriers of concrete and wood have been built against armored vehicles.

Read moreFresh Clashes Between Egypt Security Forces, Pro-Morsi Protesters Loom

Are These The Last Days Of The U.S. Marine Corps?

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FYI.

– Are These The Last Days Of The U.S. Marine Corps? (Economic Collapse, Aug 11, 2013):

Are the current personnel cuts the beginning of the end for the U.S. Marines?  Could these actually be the last days of the U.S. Marine Corps?  A decade ago, such a notion would have been absolutely unthinkable, but times have changed.  The Marine Corps was already in the process of drawing down from a peak of 202,100 Marines to 182,100, and now Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is warning that the sequester cuts may force the Army to be cut down to a size of 380,000 and the Marine Corps to be cut down to a size of 150,000.  Unfortunately for the Marines, even larger cuts may eventually be coming.  Many in the Obama administration and in the Pentagon are now openly questioning whether there will be an important role for the Marines to play in the future.  After all, the U.S. military has not conducted a major amphibious landing since the Korean War.  As our politicians look for even more ways to cut military expenses in the years ahead, the Marines may end up being very tempting “low hanging fruit” that the bureaucrats can’t resist.  And unless another major conflict erupts, it seems clear that more cuts are probably coming.  In fact, even the New York Times admits that “deep reductions” to the U.S. military have long been an important goal for Barack Obama.

Read moreAre These The Last Days Of The U.S. Marine Corps?

19 Very Disturbing Facts About Illegal Immigration That Every American Should Know

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– 19 Very Disturbing Facts About Illegal Immigration That Every American Should Know (The American Dream, Aug 9, 2013):

Should we roll out the red carpet and allow millions upon millions of thieves, rapists, gang members and drug dealers to come waltzing into this country any time they would like?  Should we broadcast a message to the rest of the world that anyone that can find a way to enter this country and somehow get to a “sanctuary city” can sign up for a plethora of welfare benefits and live a life of leisure at the expense of hard working American citizens?  Yes, those questions sound absurd, but what I have just described will essentially be official U.S. government policy if the immigration bill going through Congress becomes law.  And unfortunately, Democrats now say that they have the Republican votes that they need to get “immigration reform” through the House of Representatives.  If this amnesty bill becomes law, it will encourage even more illegal immigration and it will be one more step toward making the U.S. border essentially meaningless.

Read more19 Very Disturbing Facts About Illegal Immigration That Every American Should Know

Panel Of Top International Scientists Claims EMF Exposures Destroy Health And Well-Being

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– EMF exposures destroy health and well-being, claims panel of top international scientists (Natural News, Aug 10, 2013):

Nearly 8 million people worldwide die from cancer on an annual basis. Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death, killing almost 17 million people in 2011; both of these statistics are spiraling out of control. Now three top scientists, Dr. Panagopoulos of the University of Athens , Associate Prof. Johansson of the Karolinska Institute, and Dr. Carlo of the Science and Public Policy Institute, are sounding the alarm bell.

Leaders in their respective fields, Panagopoulos, Johansson, and Carlo, claim electromagnetic field (EMF) exposures significantly below international safety levels exposures are destroying the public’s health and well-being.

Read morePanel Of Top International Scientists Claims EMF Exposures Destroy Health And Well-Being

France Confirms It Will Continue Ban On Monsanto’s GMO Corn, Despite Council Ruling

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– France confirms it will continue ban on GMO corn, despite council ruling (Natural News, Aug 09, 2013):

It has been confirmed that France will extend its moratorium on the cultivation of Monsanto’s genetically-modified (GM) MON810 corn within its borders, despite a recent ruling by the French Council of State that the longstanding ban violates European Union (EU) law. As reported in a recent AFP article translated into English by GMWatch.org, French Head of State Francois Hollande made an official public announcement that the moratorium will, indeed, be extended in order to ensure the integrity of the nation’s agricultural system.

Read moreFrance Confirms It Will Continue Ban On Monsanto’s GMO Corn, Despite Council Ruling