American spacecraft had to dodge space debris four times in 2008, NASA revealed Tuesday, a fact that highlights both the extent of the space junk problem and the primary mitigation option open to NASA.
By tracking pieces of debris larger than around four inches, space engineers can identify some dangerous space junk and meteoroids. If a satellite or spacecraft is in danger of getting hit, they simply move it out of harm’s way. The International Space Station, for example, had to make an evasive maneuver back in August 2008, to avoid a piece of an old Russian craft.
“On average, Shuttle and ISS have conducted several collision avoidance maneuvers over the past ten years on the order of about one per year,” said Nicholas Johnson, chief scientist at NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office, in a teleconference with reporters ahead of a House subcommittee on space and aeronautics meeting about space debris.
Space debris is an increasing problem. Johnson noted that from the 1960s until the past year, orbital debris had increased linearly, despite advances in decreasing the amount of debris left behind per trip to space. But recently, a Chinese missile test on a satellite and the collision of two satellites in orbit, sent the amount of space debris up considerably. The satellite collision alone increased the risk to the upcoming May shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope by 8 percent.
That complicated an already unusual mission. The Hubble Space Telescope, orbiting at 340 miles above Earth’s surface, has a far more densely crowded space debris environment than the ISS. The orbits near 560 miles are the most crowded with junk.
DIY site Instructables details how to build a solar thermal water heater on the cheap using parts from a recycled refrigerator grill and a few other bits and pieces. So how well does it work?
"I let this guy run for a couple of hours one hot sunny day and heated up a five gallon bucket of cold water (measured at 70 degrees F) to over 110 degrees F. The temp that day was about 76 degrees F. If the water is allowed to sit in the panel for several minutes and then forced out (by blowing in one of the hoses) the water was measure at 170 degrees F."
The actual device isn't currently the most practical way to heat water for an entire home (it's more of a prototype), but it's a very cool idea. As for the price, you're going to have to do some salvaging to hit the under $5 mark, but even if you don't the materials should be rather cheap.
Solar Thermal Water Heater For Less Than Five Dollars [Instructables]
This is information I compiled for an e-mail that I sent to everyone in my address book, more specifically for my friends who work in finance and investments. I encourage anyone to use this or to come up with something similar to e-mail to their own friends, family, and co-workers.
If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks...will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.... The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.... The modern theory of the perpetuation of debt has drenched the earth with blood, and crushed its inhabitants under burdens ever accumulating. -Thomas Jefferson
History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and its issuance. -James Madison
If congress has the right under the Constitution to issue paper money, it was given them to use themselves, not to be delegated to individuals or corporations. -Andrew Jackson
The Government should create, issue, and circulate all the currency and credits needed to satisfy the spending power of the Government and the buying power of consumers. By the adoption of these principles, the taxpayers will be saved immense sums of interest. Money will cease to be master and become the servant of humanity. -Abraham Lincoln
"(The Great Depression resulting from the Stock Market crash) was not accidental. It was a carefully contrived occurrence....The international bankers sought to bring about a condition of despair here so they might emerge as rulers of us all." - Louis McFadden
(1876-1936) US Congressman (R-PA) (1915-1935), Chairman of House Banking and Currency Committee. Poisoned in 1936.Source: testified in Congress (1933). There were at least two attempts on his life by gunfire. He died of suspected poisoning after attending a banquet.
In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. --Voltaire (1764)
Congress, not private banks, lawfully allowed to issue currency
I don’t have a degree in economics or monetary policy, but the following statement makes sense to me:
There are quite a number of important political issues that are virtually screaming out for true reform, but if I had to pick the two most important, they would be (a) election reform, and (b) the subject of this thread -- monetary reform.
liquidate all of the ill-gotten assets of criminal scam artists like Henry Paulson and Bernard Madoff, and use the resultant proceeds to help replenish whatever retirement funds they raided; and
replace our current debt-based money system with a debt-free money system, whereby all new money -- instead of being loaned into circulation at interest -- is spent into circulation interest-free to fund the production of public goods everyone can see and benefit from (e.g., roads and bridges), and at a rate pegged by law to objective criteria such as population growth and the general price level.
Now, since derivatives are just glorified gambling bets, and since the derivatives bubble dwarfs not only the most liberal estimate of the U.S. money supply, but the GDP of the entire planet, I think it's important to stress that the monetary issue is actually composed of two logically distinct sub-issues: (a) derivatives, and (b) fractional reserve banking.
With all the recent fear-mongering regarding pandemics, depressions, and the end of the world in general, it's easy to fall victim to the psy-ops that are intended to keep the masses in a perpetual state of fear and subservience. But just ignoring the government's harassment tactics will ultimately do more harm than good, as will forgetting "old news" of government corruption because of the constant revelations of even more corruption (I think that at the highest levels, the government's intention is that the general public will continue to be hopelessly overwhelmed with never-ending waves of bad news and therefore will give up on being informed or proactive altogether). With that in mind, let's take a look back at some "old news", and attempt to highlight one type of harassment tactic: equating opposing views with extremism. But first, here is what has recently transpired...
An article from Kurt Nimmo on March 12 describes an internal document from the Missouri State Police, after the report was leaked to Alex Jones by an anonymous Missouri police officer:
"Alex Jones has received a secret report distributed by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) entitled “The Modern Militia Movement” and dated February 20, 2009. A footer on the document indicates it is “unclassified” but “law enforcement sensitive,” in other words not for public consumption. A copy of the report was sent to Jones by an anonymous Missouri police officer.
The MIAC report specifically describes supporters of presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr as “militia” influenced terrorists and instructs the Missouri police to be on the lookout for supporters displaying bumper stickers and other paraphernalia associated with the Constitutional, Campaign for Liberty, and Libertarian parties." http://www.prisonplanet.com/secret-state-police-report-ron-paul-bob-barr...
Although this particular report was retracted after intense public outcry and publicized denouncement by Ron Paul, Bob Barr, and Chuck Baldwin, the MIAC website still retains active and dedicated to it's stated cause:
"MIAC is the mechanism to collect incident reports of suspicious activities to be evaluated and analyzed in an effort to identify potential trends or patterns of terrorist or criminal operations within the state of Missouri. MIAC will also function as a vehicle for two-way communication between federal, state and local law enforcement community within our region." http://miacx.org/
This type of policy is regarded by some as a relatively new phenomenon, and indeed many are inclined to place blame for the report on current national and world events, more specifically, current government abuse of power. However, this is not the case. Upon further examination of the source and content of the MIAC report, several similarities with previous reports from other agencies and organizations have emerged. In fact the original article by Kurt Nimmo describes one such program:
"The MIAC report is similar to one created by the Phoenix Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Joint Terrorism Task Force during the Clinton administration (see page one and page two of the document). The FBI document explicitly designates “defenders” of the Constitution as “right-wing extremists.” The MIAC report expands significantly on the earlier document."
On March 26, 2009, ALIPAC issued a press release regarding MIAC, which in part stated:
"ALIPAC is issuing a national advisory to all local, state, and Federal law enforcement agencies and officers, along with all DHS Fusion Centers, a warning against any reliance upon faulty and politicized research issued by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and Anti Defamation League (ADL).
A national scandal emerged in Missouri, after their MIAC Fusion Center issued an eight page document which made many false claims. The documents attempted to politicize police and cast suspicion on millions of Americans. The 'Missouri Documents', as they came to be called, listed over 32 characteristics police should watch for as signs or links to domestic terrorists, which could threaten police officers, court officials, and infrastructure targets." http://www.alipac.us/article4073.html
Indeed, the MIAC report and the sources from which it's information is derived is remarkably similar to previous profiling and "intelligence" put forth by other organizations many years ago:
"The Posse Comitatus is an intermittently active, loosely organized group of "Christian Identity" activists dedicated to survivalism, vigilantism, and anti-government agitation. Following the pseudo-religious tenets of the "Identity" movement, Posse members typically proclaim Jews to be the "synagogue of Satan," blacks and other people of color to be subhuman "mud races," and Northern European whites to be the "Chosen People" of Biblical prophecy. The name of the group translates from Latin to mean "power of the county," and the Posse believes that all governmental power is rooted at the county, not Federal, level.
Of course, Nazi-esqe racism is abhorrent, thus the setup here with this particular group, setting the tone for the reader before the rest of the information is given.
"Because Posse members believe that the Federal government is controlled by 'enemies' - often meaning Jews - they resist paying taxes, as well as other duties of law abiding citizenship. Some members of the group have even refused to apply for driver's licenses, because this would imply submission to an 'illegitimate, subversive' authority. Elements of the Posse's ideology, most notably its fierce hostility to Federal authority are echoed among today's militias."
Source: Anti-Defamation League. [Special Report] Paranoia as Patriotism:
Far-Right Influences on the Militia Movement. 1995."
"The Posse Comitatus is a loose association of people who share the same beliefs, a blend of Christian Identity, tax protest, Sovereign Citizen ideology, and common law activism. Posse Comitatus followers believe that the sheriff is the highest legitimate government authority, and that the federal government has no rightful power over American citizens. Therefore, the posse argues, judges, the I.R.S., and the F.B.I. are constantly violating the rights of Americans everywhere. The sheriff (according to Posse adherents) can form a posse of citizens to enforce the law, and if he fails to do so, then the citizenry may forcibly replace him."
Source: START, The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and the Response to Terrorism
"These data were collected for the Terrorism Knowledge Base® (TKB®), managed by the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT) until March 2008. START has neither reviewed nor verified these data, but is presenting this information as a service to the homeland security community."
A quick search of MIPTs website produces no immediately obvious connection with the ADL or SPLC. Without further investigation, however, one cannot rule out this possibility.
What then is the real reason why such excuses are made on behalf of the "legitimacy" of these current programs, when obviously fourteen years pre-dates our current wave of "unforeseen" crises? And to what extent does a foreign influence have over American Constitutional law?
