Archive

Archive for February 2, 2011

Unrest in Egypt at Tahrir Square

February 2, 2011 Comments off

Bursts of gunfire are erupting in the area around Cairo’s Tahrir Square as pro- and anti-government protesters continue to defy an Egyptian government curfew.

News reports cite witnesses saying at least three people have been killed in the latest violence early Thursday morning.

On Wednesday, supporters of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak charged into the square on horseback and camels while others rained firebombs from rooftops in what appeared to be an orchestrated assault against protesters calling for an end to his near-30-year-rule.

Anti-government demonstrators, after first trying to respond peacefully, fought back with rocks and Molotov cocktails as battles broke out around Tahrir Square. Doctors set up a makeshift clinic in a mosque near the square to help the more than 640 injured. Egypt’s health ministry says three people were killed in Wednesday’s clashes.

Reporters said Egyptian troops initially fired Read more…

Authoritarian governments start stockpiling food to fight public anger

February 2, 2011 Comments off
Authoritarian governments across the world are aggressively stockpiling food as a buffer against soaring food costs which they fear may stoke popular discontent.  

Riots started in Tunisia initally over the price of staple food like sugar, salt and grain Photo: AP
By Ben Farmer in Islamabad 4:11PM GMT 28 Jan 2011

Commodities traders have warned they are seeing the first signs of panic buying from states concerned about the political implications of rising prices for staple crops.

However, the tactic risks simply further pushing up prices, analysts have warned, pushing a spiral of food inflation.

Governments in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa have recently made large food purchases on the open market in the wake of unrest in Tunisia which deposed president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. Read more…

Winter storm brings much of America’s heartland to a standstill

February 2, 2011 Comments off
Lorries struggle through whiteout conditions on the I-70 highway in Missouri
Lorries struggle in whiteout conditions on the I-70 highway in Missouri. Photograph: LG Patterson/AP

A huge winter storm, described as the worst in decades, has brought much of America’s heartland to standstill, closing airports, main roads, schools, colleges and government officies.

The streets of Dallas, Oklahoma City and Tulsa were deserted, and more snow and freezing temperatures are forecast. Chicago is expecting 60cm (2ft) of snow, Indianapolis 2.5cm of ice.

The weather system, which stretches 2,000 miles across a third of the country from Texas to Maine, brought with it a cold front that has seen temperatures dropping to -12C (9F) and lower in its wake. Winds topped 60mph in Texas, while in Chicago public schools called a snow day for the first time in 12 years. Both the city’s major airports are closed. Chicago officials also the city’s iconic Lake Shore Drive after numerous accidents left motorists stranded for several hours. Officials said the move was temporary, but Read more…

China to raise interest rates within month – report

February 2, 2011 Comments off
BEIJING: China will likely raise interest rates again within the month, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing a forecast of economists and bankers with knowledge of the thinking of Chinese policymakers.

The Hong Kong-datelined story did not identify its sources, citing the sensitivity of the information.

It also cited the economists and bankers as saying China was unlikely to let the yuan currency appreciate faster anytime soon as a way to fight inflation.

Analysts polled by Reuters saw two more rate rises by the end of the first half.

The median forecast of economists polled by Reuters is for inflation to reach its fastest in more than two years at an annual pace of 5.3 percent for January.

Categories: China Tags: , ,

NASA Issues 2012 Warning and Possible End of The World as we know it.

February 2, 2011 16 comments

I had a POST on this about 2 weeks ago that goes in-depth on this issue.   Hopefully it will become more mainstream now.

MORE EVIDENCE OF PHOTON BELT: Astrophysicist Alexia Demetriev says our solar system is entering an interstellar energy cloud

In light of recent news, the following information is paramount. On July 14, 2010 we learned that our sun is passing through an interstellar energy cloud which excites/energizes the sun.  NASA, along with The National Academy of Science and other world renowned scientist are so concerned about this up and coming solar maximum in late 2012, that way back in March 10, 2006 NASA issued a solar storm warning (in writing) for 2012. What NASA omitted in their 2006 solar storm warning is what prompted NASA in the first place to issue a 2012 solar storm warning four years in advance?  Then in 2010, NASA again warns the general population of a pending solar storm, telling the population to get ready for a once in a lifetime solar storm. Despite that news agencies and websites like this one are beginning to cover this developing story, no high government official has yet to stick his or her neck out to make an official announcement about the catastrophic implications as to allow the global population to begin preparing.

The following scientific data revealed by Alexei Dmitriev further supports NASA’s original 2012 solar storm warning issued back in March of 2006. Read more…

DEADLY SUPERBUG NDM-1 in BRITAIN

February 2, 2011 1 comment
superbugThe bacteria have spread from India and Pakistan and are now being found in hospitals here

Back in 1987 Dr. Robin Cook wrote the medical thriller “Outbreak.” The best-selling novel focused on a team of brilliant medical researchers desperately racing against time to stop a deadly virus from spreading across the United States and potentially killing millions.

Once again fiction becomes reality as England faces its own potentially deadly outbreak with the looming possibility that a superbug from India could bring mass fatalities and spread like wildfire across an unprotected population.

According to the British Health Protection Agency (HPA), a virulent super-bacteria called NDM-1 has invaded the island nation from the Indian sub-continent and Pakistan.

Concerned health professionals have found the bacteria cropping up in hospitals across the country.

Bacteriologists are now burning the midnight oil in a desperate attempt to get a handle on a disease that has the ability to kill thousands.

Superbugs—of which the NDM-1 bacteria is one—are resistant to Read more…

Cheap food may be a thing of the past

February 2, 2011 1 comment
Vincent Kessler  /  Reuters

U.S. grain prices should stay unrelentingly high this year, according to a Reuters poll, the latest sign that the era of cheap food has come to an end.

U.S. corn, soybeans and wheat prices — which surged by as much has 50 percent last year and hit their highest levels since mid-2008 — will dip by at most 5 percent by the end of 2011, according to the poll of 16 analysts.

The forecasts suggest no quick relief for nations bedeviled by record high food costs that have stoked civil unrest. It means any extreme weather event in a grains-producing part of the world could send prices soaring further.

The expectations may also strengthen importers’ resolve to build bigger inventories after a year in which stocks of corn and soybeans in the United States — the world’s top exporter — dwindled to their lowest level in decades.

Story: Global food chain stretched to the limit Read more…

Hundreds of Russians protest against Putin

February 2, 2011 Comments off

MOSCOW (AP) — About 500 people demonstrated in a central Moscow square on Monday to demand the ouster of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his “rule of thieves.”

The rally took place peacefully, but police detained a separate group of 20 opposition activists nearby. About 60 protesters also were detained in St. Petersburg, one of a number of other cities where demonstrations were held.

Prominent opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was arrested and jailed for 15 days following a similar demonstration a month ago, kept up his assault on Russia’s longtime leader as he addressed the protesters on Moscow’s Triumph Square.

He compared Putin to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek, who is facing mass unrest after 30 years in power.

“Please, someone tell me how our Read more…

Muslim Brotherhood: ‘Prepare Egyptians for war with Israel’

February 2, 2011 1 comment

YAAKOV LAPPIN

A leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt told the Arabic-language Iranian news network Al-Alam on Monday that he would like to see the Egyptian people prepare for war against Israel, according to the Hebrew-language business newspaper Calcalist.

Muhammad Ghannem reportedly told Al- Alam that the Suez Canal should be closed immediately, and that the flow of gas from Egypt to Israel should cease “in order to bring about the downfall of the Mubarak regime.” He added that “the people should be prepared for war against Israel,” saying the world should understand that “the Egyptian people are prepared for anything to get rid of this regime.”

Ghannem praised Egyptian soldiers deployed by President Hosni Mubarak to Egyptian cities, saying they “would not kill their brothers.” He added that Washington was forced to abandon plans to help Mubarak stay in power after “seeing millions head for the streets.”

Ignoring China’s Military Buildup At Our Own Peril

February 2, 2011 Comments off

James Carafano, PhD

It went from being just another country to a world power in just a few decades. The world’s leading manufacturer, it was also one of the great traders. It boded well for peace and stability, some said. The extensive trade ties and business connections reduced the likelihood of future war to all but nil.
Until the first shot was fired.
In 1914, the German Empire declared war on two of its largest trading partners: France and Britain. The first modern age of globalization gave way to global war, followed by a global pandemic, a global depression and, finally, another world war.
The lesson? It takes more than a robust economy to make a peaceful nation.
Today, China’s economic rise ought to be cold comfort for those laboring to keep Washington and Beijing off a collision course.
A few weeks ago my fellow Examiner columnist, the Cato Institute’s Gene Healy, highlighted the work of political scientist Erik Gartzke, the university professor who “found that the statistical correlation between economic freedom and peace is vastly greater than the relationship between representative government and peace.”
In other words, Gartzke suggests the more economic freedom the less the Read more…