Online Radio Explosive Growth

A new survey of all forms of radio reveals that online radio has surged in popularity, but satellite radio and AM/FM radio are still growing, though at a lower rate.The study reveals that more than half of those aged over 12 years have listened to online radio over the last month and that more of those listeners are using mobile devices to receive their favorite radio stations. The numbers almost doubled from 2014 to 2015, with 53 percent saying they have listened to radio online.

Still, traditional, terrestrial radio remains the most popular form of radio, with 91 percent over 12 saying they had listened to over-the-air radio in the week before the survey was taken. This result is essentially unchanged from the 2013 survey.

Satellite radio has also grown since 2013 with XM subscribers up 7 percent.

Ad revenue for AM/FM was down, but at 3 percent, that is only slightly lower than 2013’s numbers. At 9 percent, revenue from digital posted gains. Off-air advertising was up 16 percent.

But Internet-based radio continues to show major growth.

“As smartphone listening grows, so too does Web-based listening in cars,” the article said. “As of January 2015, more than a third of U.S. adult cellphone owners (35%) have listened to online radio in the car. That is substantially more than the 21% who did so in 2013, and nearly six times the number (6%) who had done so in 2010.”

The Uncommon Core: Parents may go to Jail

Parents in South Carolina who are part of a nationwide revolt against Common Core say they are being threatened with “criminal accountability” if they prevent their children from taking the tests required by the controversial educational-standards program.

Tamra Hood, a member of South Carolina Parents Involved in Education, said the state Education Department’s Chief Operating Officer, Elizabeth Carpentier, warned parents could spend 30 days in jail if even a single day of testing is missed, Breitbart News reported.

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2014/07/duncan.png

Arne Duncan

In addition, Hood said Carpentier warned that groups that encourage parents to refuse the Common Core-aligned tests could be charged with aiding and abetting a crime.

A memo from South Carolina state education Superintendent Molly Spearman to districts bluntly declared there is “no statutory provision for parents to opt their children out of testing.”

Dino Teppara of the state agency’s public information office denied any threats were made and also denied that Carpentier said parents can be held criminally liable if they remove their children from school on testing days, insisting she “simply noted the truancy provisions in state statutes.”

In any case, Education Secretary Arne Duncan has clearly warned that if states don’t fix the problem of parents opting out, the federal government will “have an obligation to step in.”

Despite the insistence of supporters that Common Core is a state-driven education program, last week Duncan criticized parents who opt out of testing, charging they are hurting minorities and the disabled.

National Review Online reported Duncan’s position is that in the past, English language learners, students in special education and racial minorities were “swept under the rug.”

“Folks in the civil rights community, folks in the disability community, they want their kids being assessed. They want to know if they are making progress or growth,” he said.

In 2013, Duncan chalked up the opposition to Common Core to “white suburban moms who – all of a sudden – [realize] their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were, and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought they were.”

Resistance to Common Core, which has been adopted by 46 states, is building.

In Arkansas, a mother confronted the Arkansas State Board of Education about the program’s absurdly high demands, a high-school honors student in New Jersey blasted the testing publicly and an award-winning teacher in Ohio told a stunned audience she’s quitting because of Common Core.

Commenting on the resistance in New York state, where 184,000 of 1.1 million eligible students refused to take Common Core English exams earlier this month, renowned educator Diane Ravitch asked, “What if they threw a test and nobody took it? New York is about to find out,” the Long Island Press reported.

Common Core opponents have leaked a copy of an examination, and a number of states are formally taking action to withdraw from the requirements.

“Crimes of the Educators” reveals how the architects of America’s public school disaster implemented a plan to socialize the U.S. by knowingly and willingly dumbing down the population, a mission now closer to success than ever as the Obama administration works relentlessly to nationalize K-12 schooling with Common Core.

A parent in South Carolina, Artie Allen, has a Facebook page encouraging “Stop Common Core in South Carolina.”

He has no sympathy for state and district school officials fretting over funding-cut threats from the government.

“We got the sob story from one of our 3 kids schools that we kept our kids home from [testing] today that we could cause them to lose federal money. Maybe you should have thought about that before you took the money in the first place!! See what happens when you sleep with the devil.”

National Review Online pointed out that in Colorado, which voted for Obama twice, the state board approved a resolution that districts cannot be punished for test-taking rates, and lawmakers were working on a bill to protect parents who opt their children out of such tests.

The Home School Legal Defense Association noted Duncan did not clarify what he meant by “stepping in.”

“Duncan’s statements reflect a growing pressure on education bureaucrats to keep states locked into the Common Core,” HSLDA said. “Students nationwide are still opting out of voluntary benchmark assessments, which are meant to prepare them for all-day Common Core tests.”

HSLDA said it is “concerned that federal officials will again resort to financial incentives – or threaten to withhold funding – to coerce students into participating in these tests.”

“As demonstrated empirically by 2009′s ‘Race to the Top’ grants, state governments have a track record of prioritizing federal funds over their own sovereignty. Lured by the promise of funding, many cash-strapped states could not or would not resist the offer of billions of dollars in exchange for what seemed, at the time, a small sacrifice: adhering to a set of K-12 learning standards.”

The HSLDA report said that as “grassroots movements and parental opposition continues to dismantle Common Core piece by piece, concerned citizens should remain vigilant and take Duncan’s threats seriously.”

“Whenever the government threatens to ‘step in,’ the right of parents to be involved in their children’s education is bound to suffer,” the group’s report said.

Commentator Alex Newman, co-author of a new book, “Crimes of the Educators: How Utopians Are Using Government Schools to Destroy America’s Children,” with Sam Blumenfeld, wrote recently that the Obama administration “has made no secret of its desire to control your children’s education from ‘cradle to career,’ as Obama Education Secretary Arne Duncan often puts it.”

“Top officials have also been very specific in terms of the radical ideas and values they plan to hammer into the pliable minds of America’s children.”

The U.S. Department of Education, he noted, says it is “taking a leadership role in the work of educating the next generation of green citizens and preparing them to contribute to the workforce through green jobs.”

Duncan boasted in a 2010 speech to a “sustainability” summit.

“Do you send your children to school to get indoctrinated as ‘green citizens’ so they can have ‘green jobs’? If you are like most parents, the answer is no,” Newman said.

“But that matters little to the Obama administration and its extremist allies in ‘education reform’ – the United Nations, crony capitalists hoping to profit, population-control zealot and Common Core financier Bill Gates, and the whole corrupt educational establishment. Using taxpayer-funded bribes, Obama’s Education Department has been very successful so far in imposing its controversial ‘Common Core’ national standards across most of America.

Quantum Computer is ComingYorktown Heights, NY — IBM scientists unveiled two critical advances towards the realization of a practical quantum computer. For the first time, they showed the ability to detect and measure both kinds of quantum errors simultaneously, as well as demonstrated a new, square quantum bit circuit design that is the only physical architecture that could successfully scale to larger dimensions.With Moore’s Law expected to run out of steam, quantum computing will be among the inventions that could usher in a new era of innovation across industries. Quantum

computers promise to open up new capabilities in the fields of optimization and simulation simply not possible using today’s computers. If a quantum computer could be built with just 50 quantum bits (qubits), no combination of today’s TOP500 supercomputers could successfully outperform it.The IBM breakthroughs, described in the April 29, 2015, issue of the journal Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7979), show for the first time the ability to detect and measure the two types of quantum errors (bit-flip and phase-flip) that will occur in any real quantum computer. Until now, it was only possible to address one type of quantum error or the other, but never both at the same time. This is a necessary step toward quantum error correction, which is a critical requirement for building a practical and reliable large-scale quantum computer.IBM’s novel and complex quantum bit circuit, based on a square lattice of four superconducting qubits on a chip roughly one-quarter-inch square, enables both types of quantum errors to be detected at the same time. By opting for a square-shaped design versus a linear array — which prevents the detection of both kinds of quantum errors simultaneously — IBM’s design shows the best potential to scale by adding more qubits to arrive at a working quantum system.“Quantum computing could be potentially transformative, enabling us to solve problems that are impossible or impractical to solve today," said Arvind Krishna, senior vice president and director of IBM Research. “While quantum computers have traditionally been explored for cryptography, one area we find very compelling is the potential for practical quantum systems to solve problems in physics and quantum chemistry that are unsolvable today. This could have enormous potential in materials or drug design, opening up a new realm of applications.”For instance, in physics and chemistry, quantum computing could allow scientists to design new materials and drug compounds without expensive trial and error experiments in the lab, potentially speeding up the rate and pace of innovation across many industries.For a world consumed by big data, quantum computers could quickly sort and curate ever larger databases as well as massive stores of diverse, unstructured data. This could transform how people make decisions and how researchers across industries make critical discoveries.One of the great challenges for scientists seeking to harness the power of quantum computing is controlling or removing quantum decoherence — the creation of errors in calculations caused by interference from factors such as heat, electromagnetic radiation and material defects. The errors are especially acute in quantum machines, since quantum information is so fragile.“Up until now, researchers have been able to detect bit-flip or phase-flip quantum errors, but never the two together. Previous work in this area, using linear arrangements, only looked at bit-flip errors offering incomplete information on the quantum state of a system and making them inadequate for a quantum computer,” said Jay Gambetta, a manager in the IBM Quantum Computing Group. “Our four qubit results take us past this hurdle by detecting both types of quantum errors and can be scalable to larger systems, as the qubits are arranged in a square lattice as opposed to a linear array.”The work at IBM was funded in part by the IARPA (Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity) multi-qubit-coherent-operations program.

Detecting quantum errorsThe most basic piece of information that a typical computer understands is a bit. Much like a beam of light that can be switched on or off, a bit can have only one of two values: "1" or "0." However, a quantum bit (qubit) can hold a value of 1 or 0, as well as both values at the same time, described as superposition and simply denoted as “0+1.” The sign of this superposition is important, because both states 0 and 1 have a phase relationship to each other. This superposition property is what allows quantum computers to choose the correct solution among millions of possibilities in a time much faster than a conventional computer.Two types of errors can occur on such a superposition state. One is called a bit-flip error, which simply flips a 0 to a 1 and vice versa. This is similar to classical bit-flip errors and previous work has showed how to detect these errors on qubits. However, this is not sufficient for quantum error correction, because phase-flip errors can also be present, which flip the sign of the phase relationship between 0 and 1 in a superposition state. Both types of errors must be detected in order for quantum error correction to function properly.Quantum information is very fragile because all existing qubit technologies lose their information when interacting with matter and electromagnetic radiation. Theorists have found ways to preserve the information much longer by spreading information across many physical qubits. “Surface code” is the technical name for a specific error correction scheme which spreads quantum information across many qubits. It allows for only nearest neighbor interactions to encode one logical qubit, making it sufficiently stable to perform error-free operations.The IBM Research team used a variety of techniques to measure the states of two independent syndrome (measurement) qubits. Each reveals one aspect of the quantum information stored on two other qubits (called code, or data qubits). Specifically, one syndrome qubit revealed whether a bit-flip error occurred to either of the code qubits, while the other syndrome qubit revealed whether a phase-flip error occurred. Determining the joint quantum information in the code qubits is an essential step for quantum error correction, because directly measuring the code qubits destroys the information contained within them.Because these qubits can be designed and manufactured using standard silicon fabrication techniques, IBM anticipates that, once a handful of superconducting qubits can be manufactured reliably and repeatedly, and controlled with low error rates, there will be no fundamental obstacle to demonstrating error correction in larger lattices of qubits.These results highlight IBM’s long commitment to quantum information processing that has spanned more than 30 years, beginning with IBM's participation in the very first workshop in this field on the Physics of Information in 1981.

Dark Matter DetectionScientists on the Dark Energy Survey have released the first in a series of dark matter maps of the cosmos. These maps, created with one of the world's most powerful digital cameras, are the largest contiguous maps created at this level of detail and will improve our understanding of dark matter's role in the formation of galaxies. Analysis of the clumpiness of the dark matter in the maps will also allow scientists to probe the nature

of the mysterious dark energy, believed to be causing the expansion of the universe to speed up.The new maps were released at the April meeting of the American Physical Society in Baltimore, Maryland. They were created using data captured by the Dark Energy Camera, a 570-megapixel imaging device that is the primary instrument for the Dark Energy Survey (DES).Dark matter, the mysterious substance that makes up roughly a quarter of the universe, is invisible to even the most sensitive astronomical instruments because it does not emit or block light. But its effects can be seen by studying a phenomenon called gravitational lensing – the distortion that occurs when the gravitational pull of dark matter bends light around distant galaxies. Understanding the role of dark matter is part of the research program to quantify the role of dark energy, which is the ultimate goal of the survey.This analysis was led by Vinu Vikram of Argonne National Laboratory (then at the University of Pennsylvania) and Chihway Chang of ETH Zurich. Vikram, Chang and their collaborators at Penn, ETH Zurich, the University of Portsmouth, the University of Manchester and other DES institutions worked for more than a year to carefully validate the lensing maps."We measured the barely perceptible distortions in the shapes of about 2 million galaxies to construct these new maps," Vikram said. "They are a testament not only to the sensitivity of the Dark Energy Camera, but also to the rigorous work by our lensing team to understand its sensitivity so well that we can get exacting results from it."The camera was constructed and tested at the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and is now mounted on the 4-meter Victor M. Blanco telescope at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory's Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. The data were processed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.The dark matter map released today makes use of early DES observations and covers only about three percent of the area of sky DES will document over its five-year mission. The survey has just completed its second year. As scientists expand their search, they will be able to better test current cosmological theories by comparing the amounts of dark and visible matter.Those theories suggest that, since there is much more dark matter in the universe than visible matter, galaxies will form where large concentrations of dark matter (and hence stronger gravity) are present. So far, the DES analysis backs this up: The maps show large filaments of matter along which visible galaxies and galaxy clusters lie and cosmic voids where very few galaxies reside. Follow-up studies of some of the enormous filaments and voids, and the enormous volume of data, collected throughout the survey will reveal more about this interplay of mass and light."Our analysis so far is in line with what the current picture of the universe predicts," Chang said. "Zooming into the maps, we have measured how dark matter envelops galaxies of different types and how together they evolve over cosmic time. We are eager to use the new data coming in to make much stricter tests of theoretical models."

This is the first Dark Energy Survey map to trace the detailed distribution of dark matter across a large area of sky. The color scale represents projected mass density: red and yellow represent regions with more dense matter. The dark matter maps reflect the current picture of mass distribution in the universe where large filaments of matter align with galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Clusters of galaxies are represented by gray dots on the map - bigger dots represent larger clusters. This map covers three percent of the area of sky that DES will eventually document over its five-year mission. Courtesy of Dark Energy Survey

Physicists Believe The Large Hadron Collider Could Open A Door To The 5th Dimension & Time Travelby FEELguide • March 16, 2011 • Physics, The Universe, Unexplained • Comments (0) • 1734

First publised in Kurzweil (March 16, 2011) by Editor..☛..Physicists at Vanderbilt University have proposed a theory that the Large Hadron Collider could be the first machine capable of causing matter to travel backwards in time, says professor Tom Weiler. Some scientists predict that if the collider succeeds in producing the elusive Higgs boson particle, it will create a second particle called the Higgs singlet at the same time. Singlets should have the ability to jump into an extra, fifth dimension where they can move either forward or backward in time and reappear in the future or past. According to the theory, hypothetical particles called sterile neutrinos travel faster than light by taking shortcuts through extra dimensions in 10- or 11-dimensional space. Einstein’s general theory of relativity predicts that there are certain conditions where traveling faster than the speed of light is equivalent to traveling backward in time. The test of the researchers’ theory will be whether Higgs singlet particles and their decay

products spontaneously appear. A paper on their work by Tom Weiler and Chui Man Ho appeared online March 7 on this Cornell University site: arXiv.org.

Friday Five: Why You Should Stop Using Canola OilHealth Watch readers know when it comes to diet, fat isn’t the enemy. Despite what over 50 years of bad science will tell you, eating the right fats can sustain—even improve—your good health. But there are still some you should avoid at all costs. Canola oil is one of them. There are numerous studies—many funded by the U.S. Canola Association—touting the benefits of canola oil. But don’t let them fool you…Here are five reasons to stop using canola oil:1. It’s rancid before you buy it. Canola oil is a polyunsaturated fat. This type of fat is prone to oxidation. In other words—heat, light, or oxygen can cause it to go bad. But that doesn’t matter to Big Food.They still use a high-heat process to extract the oil from the seed. The result? Much of the product spoils before it ever exits the factory. That means it’s been ready for the garbage for weeks—even months—before you bought it.2. It poses major health threats. Canola oil won’t make you sick the moment you eat it... But the consequences of long-term use should have you reaching for other oils.The manufacturing process produces chemical byproducts called aldehydes. These compounds take time to build up in your body. Over the years they can lead to heart disease and cancer. A study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry reveals that aldehydes are formed at higher rates as the temperature of canola oil rises. Yet canola oil manufacturers subject their product to temperatures of 80–120° Celsius… That’s 176–248° Fahrenheit.3. It’s devoid of health benefits. Canola oil is rich in omega-3 fatty acids… But heat processing can change this. Heat destroys omega-3s. It also produces a foul smell. Canola oil manufacturers know this… So they deodorize the product. How? They use even more heat.It would be bad enough if the omega-3s were just useless… But they can turn into harmful trans fatty acids. Health Watch readers know these fats can cause heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other devastating conditions.4. Its safety is questionable. Canola oil began as rapeseed oil. This oil contains high levels of erucic acid and glucosinolates. The FDA found them unfit for human consumption in 1956.In the early 1970s, newer breeding practices helped reduce the amount of toxins in this oil. But don’t let lower levels fool you… These compounds are still present in canola oil today. Anderucic acid is linked to heart damage.In one study, researchers found that rats that consumed the most erucic acid developed the most lesions and fat deposits in their hearts.5. It’s genetically modified (GM). About 90% of the canola oil in the U.S. is GM. The DNA is altered so that rapeseed plants can resist the pesticide Roundup.The chemicals in Roundup put us at risk for DNA damage. They may also raise our risk of developing certain cancers. And if you consume GM canola oil, there’s a good chance you’re getting a mouthful with each serving.Research also suggests that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) could be to blame for a number of other health problems… Things like compromised immunity, infertility, insulin spikes, and premature aging. GMOs can also cause changes in major organs and in your digestive system.Canola oil is the third largest source of vegetable oil in the world. But you have healthier options to choose from. You always want to choose fats that have gone through the least processing. Try using coconut or avocado oils instead.Always look for terms like “first cold-pressed.” This means manufacturers keep the oil below certain temperatures. It keeps them from turning rancid. The result is less toxins—and health

threats. Avoiding GM products is a little easier. Just look for “organic” or “Non-GMO Project Verified” on the label.

Alabama Just Made A Major Move That Could Terrify Obama And The Rest Of The Federal Gov’tPassing House Joint Resolution 172...

The state of Alabama just became the latest state to authorize a convention of the states to propose new amendments under Article V of the Constitution.The vote, which came after several hours of debate, made the Alabama House the latest state body to vote for an Article V convention.

Under Article V, a convention of the states can be called if two-thirds of the states — in this case 34 — vote to hold one to propose new amendments to the Constitution.The new amendments would then need to be approved by three-quarters of the states — 38 at the present moment — at which point they would take effect. The benefit of this process is that it bypasses the federal government entirely, leaving the amendments up to the individual states.The resolution passed by the Alabama state House of Representatives specifically limits the amendments to be proposed in such a convention to three specific categories:

1) imposing fiscal restraints on the federal government through a balanced budget amendment;2) limiting the power and jurisdiction of the federal government; and3) implementing term limits on federal elected officials.The resolution, House Joint Resolution 172, was sponsored by Rep. Ken Johnson, a Republican. This isn’t the first year he has proposed it; a similar bill was approved by the Alabama House last year, but it died in the Senate because of insufficient support.

“We’re calling for restraints on the federal government,” Rep. Johnson told reporters when the resolution first passed.

“That means an amendment that forces them to balance the budget and stops these overreaching federal mandates.

We’re also calling for term limits on federal elected offices.”

“Because we’ve never done it, the idea that there could be a ‘runaway convention’ is always brought up as a concern,” Rep. Johnson added, addressing concerns of a liberal takeover of such a convention.“The convention would be limited to a small set of issues. But on top of that, the safeguard is that it only takes 13 states to kill any runaway convention. If there aren’t 13 conservatives states left, we’re in trouble, period. And Washington is a runaway train right now anyway. How much more damage could be done?”

CERN: What is Lying in the Way of the Proton Stream?First collisions of protons at the world's largest science experiment are expected to start the first or second week of June, according to a senior research scientist with CERN's Large Hadron Collider in Geneva.

"It will be about another six weeks to commission the machine, and many things can still happen on the way," said physicist Albert De Roeck, a staff member at CERN and a professor at the University of Antwerp, Belgium and UC Davis, California. De Roeck is a leading scientist on CMS, one of the Large Hadron Collider's key experiments.The LHC in early April was restarted for its second three-year run after a two-year pause to upgrade the machine to operate at higher energies. At higher energy, physicists worldwide expect to see new discoveries about the laws that govern our natural universe.

De Roeck made the comments Monday while speaking during an international meeting of more than 250 physicists from 30 countries on the campus of Southern Methodist University, Dallas."There are no significant signs of new physics yet," De Roeck said of the data from the first run, adding however that especially SUSY diehards—physicists who predict the existence of a unique new theory of space and time called SuperSymmetry—maintain hopes of seeing evidence soon of that theory.De Roeck in fact has high expectations for the possibility of new discoveries that could change the current accepted theory of physical reality, the Standard Model."It will take only one significant deviation in the data to change everything," De Roeck said. "The upgraded machine works. Now we have to get to the real operation for physics."

"Unidentified Lying Object" not a problem—remains stableBut work remains to be done. One issue the accelerator physicists remain cautiously aware of, he said, is an "Unidentified Lying Object" in the beam pipe of the LHC's 17-mile underground tunnel, a vacuum tube where proton beams collide and scatter particles that scientists then analyze for keys to unlock the mysteries of the Big Bang and the cosmos.Because the proton beam is sensitive to the geometry of the environment and can be easily blocked, the beam pipe must be free of even the tiniest amount of debris. Even something as large as a nitrogen particle could disrupt the beam. Because the beam pipe is a sealed vacuum it's impossible to know what the "object" is

"The unidentified lying object turns out not to be a problem for the operation, it's just something to keep an eye on," De Roeck said. "It's in the vacuum tube and it's not a problem if it doesn't move and remains stable."

The world's largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider made headlines when its global collaboration of thousands of scientists in 2012 observed a new fundamental particle, the Higgs boson. After that, the collider was paused for the extensive upgrade. Much more powerful than before, as part of Run 2 physicists on the Large Hadron Collider's experiments are analyzing new proton collision data to unravel the structure of the Higgs.

The Large Hadron Collider straddles the border between France and Switzerland. Its first run began in 2009, led by CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, in Geneva, through an international consortium of thousands of scientists.Particle discoveries unlock mysteries of cosmos, pave way for new technologyThe workshop in Dallas, the "2015 International Workshop on Deep-Inelastic Scattering," draws the world's leading scientists each year to an international city for nuts and bolts talks that drive the world's leading-edge physics experiments, such as the Large Hadron Collider.Going into the second run, De Roeck said physicists will continue to look for anomalies, unexpected decay modes or couplings, multi-Higgs production, or larger decay rates than expected, among other things.Particle discoveries by physicists resolve mysteries, such as questions surrounding Dark Matter and Dark Energy, and the earliest moments of the Big Bang. But particle discoveries also are ultimately applied to other fields to improve everyday life, such as medical technologies like MRIs and PET scans, which diagnose and treat cancer.For example, proton therapy is the newest non-invasive, precision scalpel in the fight against cancer, with new centers opening all over the world.Hosted by the SMU Department of Physics in Dedman College, the Dallas meeting of physicists began Monday, April 27, 2015, and runs through Friday, May 1, 2015.

BioDiesel from Bad Breath?Audi Succeeds in Making Diesel Fuel from Carbon Dioxide and Water

Audi has taken another big step in the development of new, CO2 neutral fuels: A pilot plant in Dresden has started production of the synthetic fuel Audi e diesel. After a commissioning phase of just four months, the research facility in Dresden started producing its first batches of high-quality diesel fuel this month. To demonstrate its suitability for everyday use, Federal Minister of Education and Research Prof. Dr. Johanna Wanka put the first five liters into her official car, an Audi A8 3.0 TDI clean diesel quattro*, on April 21, 2015.“This synthetic diesel, made using CO2, is a huge success for our sustainability research. If we can make widespread use of CO2 as a raw material, we will make a crucial contribution to climate protection and the efficient use of resources, and put the fundamentals of the “green economy” in place,” declared Wanka.The Dresden energy technology corporation sunfire is Audi’s project partner and the plant operator. It operates according to the power-to-liquid (PtL) principle and uses green power to produce a liquid fuel. The only raw materials needed are water and carbon dioxide. The CO2 used is currently supplied by a biogas facility. In addition, initially a portion of the CO2 needed is extracted from the ambient air by means of direct air capturing, a technology of Audi’s Zurich-based partner Climeworks.Reiner Mangold, Head of Sustainable Product Development at Audi, sees Audi e-diesel and Audi e-fuels in general as an important component that complements electric mobility: “In developing Audi e-diesel, we are promoting another fuel based on CO2 that will allow long-distance mobility with virtually no impact on the climate. Using CO2 as a raw material represents an opportunity not just for the automotive industry in Germany, but also to transfer the principle to other sectors and countries.”

Production of Audi e-diesel involves various steps: First, water heated up to form steam is broken down into hydrogen and oxygen by means of high-temperature electrolysis. This process, involving a temperature in excess of 800 degrees Celsius, is more efficient than conventional techniques because of heat recovery, for example. Another special feature of high-temperature electrolysis is that it can be used dynamically, to stabilize the grid when production of green power peaks.In two further steps, the hydrogen reacts with the CO2 in synthesis reactors, again under pressure and at high temperature. The reaction product is a liquid made from long-chain hydrocarbon compounds, known as blue crude. The efficiency of the overall process — from renewable power to liquid hydrocarbon — is very high at around 70 percent. Similarly to a fossil crude oil, blue crude can be refined to yield the end product Audi e-diesel. This synthetic fuel is free from sulfur and aromatic hydrocarbons, and its high cetane number means it is readily ignitable. As lab tests conducted at Audi have shown, it is suitable for admixing with fossil diesel or, prospectively, for use as a fuel in its own right.The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is supporting the sunfire project, which started in May 2012. Construction work on the facility in Dresden-Reick kicked off in July 2013 and the plant was commissioned on November 14, 2014. The plant is set to produce over 3,000 liters (792.5 US gal) of Audi e-diesel over the coming months. Audi is sunfire’s exclusive partner in the automotive sector.Over and above the partnership with sunfire, Audi has been active in the development of CO2-neutral fuels — Audi e-fuels — since 2009. The Audi e-gas plant in Werlte, Lower Saxony, already produces Audi e-gas (synthetic methane) in a comparable manner; drivers of the Audi A3 Sportback g-tron* can fill up on it using a special fuel card. Audi is also conducting joint research into the synthetic manufacture of Audi e-gasoline with Global Bioenergies, of France. In a further project, Audi has joined forces with the U.S. company Joule, which uses microorganisms to produce the synthetic fuels Audi e-diesel and Audi e-ethanol.

CERN UpdateGENEVA, SWITZERLAND — Scientists at CERN revealed today that the Large Hadron Collider accidentally created a wormhole to a Mirror Universe.“This was completely unexpected,” one of the scientists stated, “There was some speculation that the LHC might unravel the fabric of space-time and destroy the Universe, but most of us felt certain that the destruction would be more localised, most likely limited to our Solar System or possibly just the Earth itself. No one anticipated that it would open a portal to a bizarre parallel dimension… This has totally screwed up the office pool.”“I suppose it’s still possible that the wormhole will collapse into a singularity,” he added, “but I’m not holding my breath. I’m pretty sure I’m just out €10.”Scientists from the Mirror Universe, who are assisting our scientists in trying to shut down the LHC, are denying rumours that their Universe is some kind of ‘evil’ alternate reality to our own.“It’s hardly fair to label our Universe as ‘evil’,” said one of the Mirror Universe scientists, during the joint press conference held this morning, “There are difference, of course. For example, in our Universe Betamax became the videotape standard, instead of

VHS… Of course, that doesn’t really matter any more, since HD-DVD has made tapes obsolete anyway.”Protesters outside of CERN have already added ‘Invasion from Mirror Universe’ to the long list of dangers they believe the LHC poses. “You have to keep a close watch on these scientist types,” warned one protester, “One minute they’re opening up gateways to other dimensions, and the next thing you know they’re doing something really dangerous like bouncing Wonderflonium.”Both sets of scientists insist that the LHC is perfectly safe, or at least as safe as a 27 kilometre super-collider capable of punching a hole in reality can be.“Everyone can rest assured that we’re all working together to shut down the LHC, as soon as possible,” the Mirror Universe scientist stated “even though the wormhole is absolutely stable and poses no danger whatsoever.”“Besides,” he added, “I want to get back to my Universe in time to see Gigli 2 on opening night.”Physicists at Vanderbilt University have proposed a theory that the Large Hadron Collider could be the first machine capable of causing matter to travel backwards in time, says professor Tom Weiler. Some scientists predict that if the collider succeeds in producing the elusive Higgs boson particle, it will create a second particle called the Higgs singlet at the same time. Singlets should have the ability to jump into an extra, fifth dimension where they can move either forward or backward in time and reappear in the future or past. According to the theory, hypothetical particles called sterile neutrinos travel faster than light by taking shortcuts through extra dimensions in 10- or 11-dimensional space. Einstein’s general theory of relativity predicts that there are certain conditions where traveling faster than the speed of light is equivalent to traveling backward in time. The test of the researchers’ theory will be whether Higgs singlet particles and their decay products spontaneously appear. A paper on their work by Tom Weiler and Chui Man Ho appeared online March 7 on this Cornell University site: arXiv.org.

Fukushima Update

Animals are washing up on all coasts emaciated, too weak to swim. CBS San Francisco, Apr 24, 2015 (emphasis added): Mysterious Whale Deaths: 4 Carcasses Wash Ashore NorCal Beaches This Month — Lab officials are investigating the deaths of two gray whale carcasses that washed up this week in Santa Cruz County… This latest instance continues the trend of whales washing ashore on Northern California’s beaches. Last week an emaciated 50-foot sperm whale washed up on Pacifica Beach… Just days ago, a killer whale beached itself north of Fort Bragg… According to the Marine Mammal Center, whale strandings are fairly rare.

Jose Mercury News, Apr 21, 2015: Bay Area scientists remain perplexed as to what killed an adult sperm whale… “This is a very intriguing… they don’t naturally beach themselves,” said Dr. Caitlin Brown, a veterinarian with The Marine Mammal Center. “And the fact that he’s a top predator and so emaciated is very concerning.”… [It's] about 11 feet short of the average… and multiple tons short of the average 90,000 pounds… Lauren Rust, a research biologist at The Marine Mammal Center [said] “A

sperm whale stranding is a rare event” … “It’s nothing that I’ve ever seen,” [a resident] said… “It’s just heartbreaking… It really makes you wonder.”

KPIX transcript, Apr 15, 2015: “A team of scientists [say] the whale was likely sick, possibly even starving… Lauren Rust, biologist: ‘He looks very thin, his bones are protruding. It appears that he hasn’t been eating, there’s not a lot of stomach content.’ The scientists say they wont know for a while exactly why the whale died, or if it’s related to the deaths of other marine mammals, like seals, which have been washing ashore in record numbers.”San Francisco Chronicle, Apr 15, 2015: Sue Pemberton, a curatorial assistant from the [California Academy of Sciences], said the whale appeared to be underweight for its size, which could indicate a disease or other problem. “It should have a nice, sleek torpedo shape, but you can see the outline of his skull and shoulder,” she said.Mirror, Apr 17, 2015: [The 50 ft. whale was] bleeding from its head… It is the seventeenth sperm whale to wash up on the North California coast in the last 40 years…San Francisco Chronicle, Apr 19, 2015: Whale’s cause of death remains a mystery… “There were no broken bones, and while some hemorrhaging was visible in the muscles, it was not enough to indicate blunt-force trauma such as a ship strike,” the scientists said.ABC 7, Apr 15, 2015: Pacifica resident D’Andrea Robinson [said] “I’ve never seen anything like it before“… Many Pacifica residents don’t remember the last time they saw a dead whale… They’ve seen other types of animals wash ashore in recent months. “Sea lions wash up… a lot of babies recently, but I’ve never seen a whale that size on the beach here,” said Greg Concepcion, a Pacifica resident. Residents now want to know what caused the whale to die.Santa Cruz Sentinel, Apr 23, 2015: Two gray whale carcasses washed up in Santa Cruz County this week, prompting Long Marine Lab officials to investigate… A necropsy conducted Thursday on a 40-foot adult gray whale… couldn’t determine the cause of death… there was no evidence of… ship strike or entanglement… A second gray whale… had killer whale teeth marks…AP, Apr 16, 2015: [A] rare pygmy sperm whale died after beaching itself in Point Reyes [30 miles from San Francisco]. Investigators said it had likely gotten sick and was too weak to swim.KESQ, Apr 22, 2015: Killer whale dies… Cause of animal’s death may remain a mystery — Wildlife officials say a killer whale has beached itself and died north of Fort Bragg… north of San Francisco… the cause of the animal’s death may remain a mystery. Starving animals is a sign that the main food source, plankton, is not in good supply. Chronic radiation has two effects that are reported in populations.

One, the rapidly growing, short lifespan animals exhibit mutations very early. Fruit flies have been the favorite, next to rays and frogs and then small sea life like Plankton. They have enormous birthrates, build protein and fat at exponential rates, and are nearly born pregnant. This food supply feeds small fish, which are near the bottom of the food chain, and also whales. Seals, sea lions, and other larger mammals eat the

small fish, and the radiation accumulates in their flesh. The offspring are exhibiting the effects, but the sickness in adults is becoming more and more evident.

Marshal Law: The Dress RehearsalsIf you want to see what Obamacare looks like when fully implemented, take a look at the VA. The death panel. The waiting lists. The poor funding that actually makes it to the patient care. The rude and disrespectful treatment of patients as though they were freeloaders complaining about nothing and fabricating illnesses like Gulf War Syndrome or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

If you want to see what marshall law looks like, take a good look at Baltimore. They learned a lesson from Ferguson, Missouri. You can’t come out with all your guns the first night. The main stream media pounced all over that as a militarization of the police. The armored personnel carriers. The SWAT profiling and troop-like treatment of the public was seen as too heavy handed. Obama himself sent his ministers and vassals to the scene to gather information first hand and to make sure the people were allowed to loot at will without fear of arrest. He openly criticized police as racist and focused on black people.

The first night of the Baltimore riots, fomented by the appearance of a wrongful death of Freddie Gray, and stoked by reporters running up and down the sidewalks to get the hatred and racism out on the airwaves as a constant stream of propaganda against the police, was supported by Obama. Unlike the choking murder of Eric Garner seen by millions on video taken by a bystander, Freddie Gray got immediate and full-force defense by the Attorney General who had received thousands in campaign contributions from Gray’s family. Eric was selling legal cigarettes for a dollar on the streets of New York, and not paying the exorbitant sales tax to the State. For this he was choked to death on national television. Freddie Gray pushed illegal drugs on the streets of Baltimore to anyone who could muster the price.

The second night, after six city blocks and more than 140 vehicles were burned and destroyed, the warfighter’s method was employed. Armored troops showed up. They gasses the people with a sleeping gas called CS gas that doesn’t sting the eyes or lungs, but slows down the heart rate of those exposed to make them more docile. The arrested hundreds of people who violated the curfew, but let everyone go the next day without charging them or demanding any bail. On the third day, after a day of amplified hate speeches and calls for violent uprising of blacks against whites, the people were again forced off the streets. President Obama simply asked for police departments to do some soul searching. The fourth day, whites were arrested by the dozens, while blacks were pushed aside by police.

Marshall law looks like this. If the people of Baltimore had the right to own firearms, which they do not at present, then there might have been a house-to-house search for weapons to ensure the public safety. The point is that the best practice of how to cause a riot, stop a riot, and control a city while maintaining the maximum level of hatred

between races and classes of people is being rehearsed. Those lessons are being passed on the next city and the next.

For those afraid of a foreign invasion of America, look around. The invasion is over. The only thing left now is the insurrection. Obama has armed more people than any tyrant in history. He has sold more guns to more people inside America than any man ever. And, he has been telling us to hate eachother. He has brought back to life the long dead prejudices of the 50’s and 60’s to the 21’st century. He has played the films, used the rhetoric, and pasted the labels so that you know who you are, and how you are supposed to act. The tragedy is that you fell for it. You took to the streets like windup toys and smashed like mindless monsters, and hated on command like soldiers who were indoctrinated that their enemy were dogs or pigs and not even human.

I urge you to wake up out of your drugged stupor and see what has been done to you by a man who looks black on the outside, but he is an Aryan tyrant on the inside. Sure, his father was black. But, his mother was a white CIA operative who was tasked with raising and training an agent of the worst type. He murders at will with drones. He rules the country from one chair, with one pen, and one phone, and he has not a care in the world that we have two other branches of government, because he has complete and sole control of the agencies who collect and spend all the money.

Wake up America. Wake up and see what has taken place. The most recent act of approving the most corrupt legal official in US history as the new Attorney General, having refused to prosecute the most egregious laundering of billions in drug cartel cash in world history was perpetrated by 10 Senators. These Senators were compromised or were simply communist agents. These ten Senators must immediately be recalled from their last elections and impeached by their constituents. Begin today.

Your liberties are gone. Your freedom is gone. Your nation has been robbed of all of its money, tens of millions of jobs have been terminated, and your press has been bought by your enemies. You are being fed propaganda all day and night with 24-hours news services that do nothing of the sort or reporting that kept us free for 200 years. This can be fixed within one week of decisive action without a single act of violence, only by following the laws we already have on the books.

God bless the United States if we decide to save our divinely inspired republic, and may God bless each you in this surrender of these United States if we do not.

Teens Getting RareBirth rates are dropping in the United States and by the year 2050 teenagers will become just a small percentage of the population if current trends continue to hold true.

Right now, there are fewer teens, as a percentage of the population, than at any point on record, reports The Washington Post, and the numbers will stay low while the population in general gets older.

The news was revealed as a small part of a recent Pew Research Center survey about the changing religious demographics in the world. Data in that survey showed that the numbers of young people ages 13 to 19 over the past 50 years has fluctuated in the U.S., but aside from a few climbs has mostly dropped — from a high of about 15 percent of the population in 1965 down to around 9.5 percent by 2013, with the most recent data coming in a bureau estimate from that year. The higher rates are from "millennials," a word coined to describe people born in around 1980 to the year 2000. However, as the nation's birth rates drop, so do the numbers of teens.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, there were 3.93 million births in the United States in 2013, a number down slightly from 3.95 million in 2012 and 9 percent below a high in 2007.

The numbers of babies that are being born to women ages 15 to 44 also dropped to a record low of 1.86 in 2013, a number down from the 2.1 babies per mother that the reports said is needed to stabilize the population. And, the reports show, out of every 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, the average births dropped from 63 in 2012 to 62.5 in 2013.

The previous low for teenagers, The Post reports, was in 1953, as the babies born during the childbirth boom following World War II had not yet become teenagers.

But before 1900, there were more teens per capita, as Americans' life expectancy was not as long, meaning there were lower percentages of older people to skew the results.

But there are still some parts of the United States where there are more teens, such as in the western states where Mormons and Hispanics tend to have more children.

Further, Census Bureau data shows projections that are not quite so dire, as they show the numbers of teens ages 12-17 fluctuating only by a few points. However, when compared to the numbers of people growing older, it brings the overall percentage of teens down in population trends

Tap the TapThe adult human body is about 60 percent water, and every system in the body depends on water to function. Making sure we drink enough every day is essential for good health, and the amount many health experts recommend is eight 8-ounce glasses every day. But if you're drinking the wrong kind of water, you can be increasing your risk of heart disease, cancer, and other conditions.

Have you substituted bottled water for tap water? Or does your drinking water come from a well? If so, you could be at risk. Read on to discover three ways the water you drink may be wrecking your health.

• Magnesium deficiency. Magnesium supports more than 300 metabolic processes, including regulating blood pressure and heart rhythm and the proper absorption of calcium. Health experts say as many as 80 percent of us fail to reach the RDA of 360 milligrams daily for women and 420 milligrams for men. Older adults are especially vulnerable. Bottled drinking water is making the situation even worse, since many people have swapped tap water, which is a significant source of magnesium, for bottled water, which contains far less. Typical symptoms of magnesium deficiency include insomnia, anxiety, pain, muscle cramps and weakness, restless leg syndrome, abnormal heart rhythms, and fatigue.

• Arsenic. Arsenic is a deadly poison, and a study at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that even trace amounts that naturally occur in well water double the risk of developing and dying from heart disease, stroke, and atherosclerosis. The Environmental Protection Agency's limit on arsenic in drinking water is 10 parts per billion, but the standards only apply to municipal water utilities. Arsenic levels are much higher — sometimes as much as 100 times higher — in well water in some areas of the country, particularly in northern New England, the upper Midwest, and in the Southwest.

Numerous studies have found links between arsenic and poor health. A study at New York University found that smoking intensified the damaging health effects of arsenic, and a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found a link between arsenic in drinking water and diabetes. An additional study by the National Academy of Sciences found that drinking water causes skin, bladder, and lung cancer.

• Fluoride. "Fluoride is a very powerful cardiac poison," says Dr. Russell Blaylock, renowned neurosurgeon and editor of the Blaylock Wellness Report. "Fluoride was added to drinking water to reduce cavities, but even the American Dental Association has admitted that fluoridation doesn't reduce the number of cavities," Dr. Blaylock tells Newsmax Health. The U.S. regulatory agencies admitted that 3 parts per million of fluoride in water produces severe fluorosis of the teeth and bones, is neurotoxic, is a cell toxin, and produces organ damage.

"Dentists that I know say they can always tell when a patient has been drinking fluoridated water because the enamel of their teeth is soft," Dr. Blaylock says. "Fluoride destroys the teeth — that's what fluorosis is. It just starts making little pits in the enamel, and the whole idea was that you were supposed to be making your teeth stronger. It doesn't — it destroys them.

"Fluoride can also injure the nervous system and even cause cancer," says Dr. Blaylock. "Degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's are possibly linked to drinking fluoridated water. Cancer, behavioral problems, thyroid suppression, male infertility and impotence are also some examples of what may happen to the body when too much fluoride is present.

"Once in the body, fluoride is very difficult to remove, but some nutrients, including vitamin C and magnesium, can decrease its toxicity," says Dr. Blaylock.

NORAD: Home of the Brave?

Washington (AFP) - The US military command that scans North America's skies for enemy missiles and aircraft plans to move its communications gear to a Cold War-era mountain bunker, officers said.

The shift to the Cheyenne Mountain base in Colorado is designed to safeguard the command's sensitive sensors and servers from a potential electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack, military officers said.

The Pentagon last week announced a $700 million contract with Raytheon Corporation to oversee the work for North American Aerospace Command (NORAD) and US Northern Command.

Admiral William Gortney, head of NORAD and Northern Command, said that "because of the very nature of the way that Cheyenne Mountain's built, it's EMP-hardened."

"And so, there's a lot of movement to put capability into Cheyenne Mountain and to be able to communicate in there," Gortney told reporters.

"My primary concern was... are we going to have the space inside the mountain for everybody who wants to move in there, and I'm not at liberty to discuss who's moving in there," he said.

The Cheyenne mountain bunker is a half-acre cavern carved into a mountain in the 1960s that was designed to withstand a Soviet nuclear attack. From inside the massive complex, airmen were poised to send warnings that could trigger the launch of nuclear missiles.

But in 2006, officials decided to move the headquarters of NORAD and US Northern Command from Cheyenne to Petersen Air Force base in Colorado Springs. The Cheyenne bunker was designated as an alternative command center if needed.

That move was touted a more efficient use of resources but had followed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of modernization work at Cheyenne carried out after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Now the Pentagon is looking at shifting communications gear to the Cheyenne bunker, officials said.

"A lot of the back office communications is being moved there," said one defense official.

Officials said the military's dependence on computer networks and digital communications makes it much more vulnerable to an electromagnetic pulse, which can occur naturally or result from a high-altitude nuclear explosion.

Under the 10-year contract, Raytheon is supposed to deliver "sustainment" services to help the military perform "accurate, timely and unambiguous warning and attack assessment of air, missile and space threats" at the Cheyenne and Petersen bases.

Raytheon's contract also involves unspecified work at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

Harnessing “Black Holes”: The Large Hadron Collider – Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction

What would you have done to stop catastrophic events if you knew in advance what you know now.We have the moral obligation to take action in every way we can. The future is in our hands. The stakes are the highest they have ever been. The Large Hadron Collider developed by the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) is a dangerous instrument. The start-up April 5 has initiated a more reckless use of LHC’s capabilities. 

How do scientists “know” that these black holes would be harmless? That defies logic. Why would these black holes function any differently than black holes in outer space, sucking matter into them? 

The Large Hadron Collider – the rationale

The world’s largest supercollider is located at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) in a 17-mile-long tunnel built in a giant circle, buried 330 feet underground. It is beneath the French-Swiss border near Geneva. Total cost: over $9 billion (as of January 2010). It’s been funded by European governments and $542 million from the United States. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was restarted April 5, after a two-year shutdown and a $150 million upgrade.

Inside the LHC, two beams of protons are forced to smash into each other at high speed. The initial goal was to create the so-called “God” particle – Higgs boson — achieved in 2012. Now they hope to recreate the Big Bang, discover dark matter, expose other dimensions and more. To do that, scientists are nearly doubling the power level so the two beams of particles will collide much more violently.

“…Over $9 billion cathedral of science that is apparently, in any practical sense, useless… So many years, so much effort, so much money and material, so much energy and cutting-edge ingenuity. And yet the wizards at the controls aren’t really out to produce anything practical, or solve any urgent human problem…”

“…The physicists at cern have their generous patrons in governments all over the world.

… L.H.C. is a 21st-century cathedral of science, where thousands of passionately devoted, hardworking physicists—monks by any other name—have gathered to experience epiphany and revelation, and continue writing Genesis 2.0….”[1]

Genesis 2.0 is true. The rest are whitewash and lies.

This is the largest and most elaborate scientific enterprise ever built. Governments don’t invest billions and tremendous amounts of time and energy in “useless” theoretical projects unless there’s a very practical reason, a very specific useful intention and goal.

“The goal…is to achieve a deeper, better, truer understanding of the fundamental structure and nature of existence.[2]

The project objectives have been clear all along, including calling Higgs boson the “God” particle and calling one experiment Genesis 2.0. The Large Hadron Collider is about creating life and controlling realities.

The Associated Press reported on April 6 that dark matter is being pursued at CERN, at the international space station, and in an undisclosed underground mine. There seems to be a rush to capture dark matter, implying it is very important.

Governments hope to gain

1)              something that can be monetized and sold to us, making money for the already wealthy and powerful

2)              power and control — being able to control primal forces and unleash those forces at will

3)              weapons, including weapons of mass destruction, that can annihilate with precision

4)              assets, resources, property, real estate, land — creating new life, new planets,new universes, with assets and property to strip and plunder, worlds to conquer, own, rule,  enslave, as well as to escape to after Earth’s demise

History shows that this will be for private and government benefit only.

An LHC sponsor, the United States itself is responsible for more death, destruction, and permanent environmental damage than any other country on Earth. Its objectives are “command and control” and “full spectrum dominance”. That’s how the U.S. uses technologies and knowledge gained. What about the other sponsors?

Alarm bells should be going off everywhere.

Can scientists be trusted?

The popular myth is that science and scientists are objective and neutral, but science is fiercely competitive, even cutthroat. “Science” is often not a pursuit of truth, but a pursuit to be first, to win the biggest grants, to get the best speaking invitations and honors.

Many scientists and their professional organizations cling to “consensus” beliefs in the face of contrary evidence. New evidence-based theories are fought off as fiercely as if they were marauding pirates. Jealous of their rank, privileges, lab space, accolades, benefits, and titles, men and women of science can stoop to petty and even criminal acts to retain their power and position. Watching a colleague fail can be a cause for celebration.

Funding usually comes from the federal government or from industry. Rarely is this about “pure” science. There are objectives. The public welfare is far down the list as a consideration. With the government, science becomes an extension, just as with LHC, to advance national military and security objectives. If scientists stray outside accepted study subjects or find information inconvenient to the sponsors, they can be penalized, sometimes severely. “Publish or perish” means going where the funding is, and staying away from controversy. “Let’s leave it to the scientists” is not a good idea.

LHC construction and operating hazards

The reality of life is that the Earth and the universe are nesting, interconnected, intimate ecosystems. What happens in one place effects everything, because everything is unified together.

First, here are some facts and questions about the Large Hadron Collider regarding its construction:

LHC has at least one magnet with a magnetic field 100,000 times stronger than the Earth’s magnetic field

What impact does that have on the Earth’s self-protective, life-sustaining magnetic fields?

 “The huge superconducting magnets that line the LHC’s 27km-long tunnel must be warmed up, slowly and gently, from -271 Celsius to room temperature”[3]. A shutdown and restart can apparently take months.[4]

What is the impact of the entire extremely magnetic, super-cooled LHC system on the Earth’s magnetic field?

What happens to the Earth and its magnetic fields every time the LHC is turned on?

o   What happens if the magnets are not “slowly and gently” warmed up?

o   What happens if an accident vents the helium and/or causes fire and explosions that rapidly heat up the magnets?

LHC’s 17 mile long tunnel is super-cooled with helium. It is one degree colder than outer space, making it the coldest place in the universe.Scientists will smash proton beams together at energies up to 13 trillion electron volts, double the energy used before.

What is the impact of having this ultra-cold 17-mile-long environment buried in the Earth?

There can be 800 million – 1 billion collisions per second

o   If something goes wrong, how many seconds or minutes does it take to react and shut it down? See below about the September 2008 accident.

o   With hundreds of millions of collisions happening per second, how much damage can be cascading out immediately, too late to stop?

The walls of the LHC tunnel are concrete. Inside the LHC tunnel are 1,232 pressurized cylinders (dipoles) positioned end to

end. Each cylinder is 50 feet long, 2 feet thick, and weighing 35 tons. A pipe runs through the center of each cylinder, surrounded by “powerful electromagnets” cooled by helium. These pipes are what the particle beams are fired through.

When the LHC is turned on, the force inside each dipole “is equal to the power of a 747 taking off”. So, inside the entire 17-mile-long tunnel, which contains 1,232 dipoles, is the force of 1,232 747s taking off.

Cables connect these cylinders and carry 11,000 amps of electricity. However, the cables must be super-cooled with helium to give them “super-conductivity” to carry that high amperage. If they aren’t super-cooled, the cables become ordinarily conductive wire, and they cannot handle the 11,000 amps of electricity.

An accident on September 10, 2008 from just one incorrect soldered joint.

“Sparks erupted. An intense electrical arc began burning a hole in the dipole’s steel jacket. Pressurized helium [inside the jacket escaped,] turned from liquid to gas and blasted into the tunnel, creating a huge pressure wave.”[5]

No one in the LHC control room knew there was a problem.

“In a domino-like chain reaction, 35-ton dipoles were jerking and smashing against other 35-ton dipoles, some blown two feet off their moorings… In the vicinity of the accident the air had been instantly supercooled by the tons of escaping helium”.

In less than a minute, $40 million dollars of damage was done. But it could have been worse.

The emergency stop button was literally and “fortuitously” pushed by the pressure wave as it went past, and the system shut down. No human or automatic control shut down the system. Only then did the control room know something had happened. However, all they knew was the beam had shut down.

o   If the pressure wave had not shut down the power, what would have been the result, with this 17 mile long tunnel filled with 1,232 pressurized cylinders weighing 35 tons each, with 11,000 amps of electricity running through them, super-cooled and incredibly magnetic?

o   What would have happened to the land above?

o   What would have happened to the Earth?

o   What happens when this powerful beam is no longer going through dipoles but through the concrete into the surrounding earth?

o   And what did happen as a result of this accident? Did it cause fractures in the rock, or cause an earthquake?

o   What was the impact to the two villages that sat atop this disaster, a mere 330 feet above?

o   How could a system be built that has no sensors and no warning systems for situations like this, that deals with this level of electricity, coolant, pressure, and force (see below)? Is this an example of how oblivious these physicists are about reality and proper safety procedures, or of how cock-sure they are that nothing will go wrong?

o   Why have the French and Swiss governments exempted this facility from normal safety requirements such as sensors and warning systems, especially when their citizens are most in danger if something goes wrong?

The process of making the proton streams:

“Atom by atom, the electrons will be stripped from each hydrogen nucleus to create free protons, which will then be beamed into a series of four pre-accelerators of increasing size, one after another, in a kind of loop-de-loop, each pre-accelerator powering the beam up by a factor of 10 or 20 or 30, finally up to 3.5 [trillion electron volts] and…7     trillion electron volts . [and now, In 2015, the power will be nearly doubled to 13 trillion

electron volts (TeV)] As the energy increases, the beams will narrow, be steered and focused from the main control room, and then be “injected” into the collider.”

The force of the proton stream:

Author Kurt Anderson asked one of the top managers of the accelerator team, Paolo Fessia, if he’d feel a proton beam if it were pointed at him. “’I’ve never thought about that,” he replied. But he said it would bore a quarter-mile-long hole through any material.”[6]

o   Paolo Fessia never thought about the impact of a beam on a human. Yet, he’s building and operating a very powerful machine that could fail. In fact, he’s a top manager at the LHR. He’s a theoretical physicist, maybe sees things as equations, pen and paper problems, but he doesn’t think of real-world consequences. This is another example of CERN’s lack of safety consciousness.

o   This invisible-to-the-eye, infinitesimally tiny stream of protons can bore a quarter mile long hole through any material.

a-    What if the beam is focused in the wrong direction?

b-    The tunnel is only 330 feet below ground. One-quarter mile is 1320 feet. Towns sit above the collider. The beam can easily penetrate the ground and anything above ground up to 1000 feet above the surface, or below ground (aquifer or lake).

c-     This is a perfect military weapon, partially because it’s invisible.

Ironically, the extensive Vanity Fair article quoted here uses several apocalyptic images to describe the LHC, yet all the while downplays risks.

These were just some of the mechanical issues of the LHC, not the experimental goals themselves. Are you alarmed yet?

LHC experimental goals and primal dangers

Tiny but mighty. Paradoxical. Inverse proportion. Atoms stripped down, then smashed and broken down into components that are never ever built to be split off, components that only function properly as a part of a whole atomic ecosystem. How do they function as separate entities? Are they doomed and are we doomed?

The universe, down to our cells and molecules, functions because these atoms are one –  integrated, whole — not pieces. The answers to what might happen with these fundamental particles may be found in poetry, spirituality, metaphysics, biology, relationship dynamics, and sociology. These particles, this matter, will be unbalanced, unattached, unnourished, and separate. They are not built to be separate; they are built to be in a sustaining relationship.

But no one at CERN seems to be “talking” to atoms or asking these questions. LHR “scientists” smash, blast, separate.

LHC Experimental Goals (sources [7]):

Higgs boson discovered in July 2012– “a keystone of the whole structure: the Higgs field, associated with Higgs bosons, is imagined to be a kind of subatomic “molasses” that imparts mass to other particles passing through it.”

This Higgs boson is part of the primary sustaining and creation-inducing forces of existence and our reality. Could a weapon utilizing the information from Higgs boson literally be a weapon of mass destruction? Who could withstand it? This is a frightening possibility.

Dark matter comprises most of the universe. “Dark matter has revealed itself so far is through the pull it exerts on galaxies…

they rotate with such speed that  they would tear themselves apart were there not some invisible form of matter holding them together through gravity.”

There is so much dark matter, it outweighs by five times the normal matter in the observable universe.

“The search for dark matter on Earth has failed to reveal what it is made of, but the LHC may be able to make the substance. If the particles that constitute it are light enough, they could be thrown out from the collisions inside the LHC. While they would zip through the collider’s detectors unseen, they would carry energy and momentum with them.”[8]

“Reality on the large scale is dark matter, with visible matter just froth on the substance. So we focus huge efforts on trying to find out if dark matter is a set of many elementary particles, and hope that some of those particles’ properties will also help to explain some other big questions.[9]

These are powerful, powerful substances and forces which are 75% of all matter and hold galaxies together. Scientists are trying to break this open, create it, and claim it.

Weapons that harness dark matter or destroy dark matter would be terrifying. Who could stand against such weapons?

What happens if scientists pull this 75%, much heavier, dark matter into our visible matter existence? Is it really so tiny and light? These scientists are not thinking.

Compared to other forces, Earth’s gravity is “puny”, say LHC scientists. “One explanation…is that we experience only a fraction of the force, with the rest acting through microscopic, curled up extra dimensions of space. “The gravitational field we see is only the bit in our three dimensions, but actually there are lots of gravitational fields in the fourth dimension, the fifth dimension, and however many more you fancy,” says Andy Parker, professor of high energy physics at Cambridge University.[10]

What would happen if this explanation were true and these scientists brought into this dimension the full force of gravity?

  “ Matter has its equal and opposite anti-matter, and they destroy each other on contact…according to the guiding principle of symmetry, at the moment of the big bang, all the matter and anti-matter should have canceled themselves out, leaving nothing behind. Not only did that not happen—we are among the evidence that it didn’t—but 14 billion years later there is a lot more matter than anti-matter in the universe. Something has to explain that mysterious imbalance, and the betting is that it’s supersymmetry, the idea that for every known particle there’s an as-yet-undetected “superpartner”—and that dark matter consists of those superpartners.  There’s a very good chance that the proton collisions at the L.H.C. will create some of those primordial bits.”[11]

They miss the whole aspect of relationship, of the beginning of the universe resembling the creation of children. Indigenous people could inform them that the universe is alive like we are.

“Turning up the energy of the LHC may just give scientists an answer to the question of why gravity is so weak.”[12]

“The rules of quantum mechanics say that particles behave like waves, and as the LHC ramps up to higher energies, the wavelengths of the particles it collides become ever shorter. When the wavelengths of the particles are small enough to match the size of the extra dimensions, they would suddenly feel gravity much more strongly.”

“What you’d expect is that as you reach the right energy, you suddenly see inside the extra dimensions, and gravity becomes big and strong instead of feeble and weak,” says Parker. The sudden extra pull of gravitywould cause particles to scatter far more inside the machine, giving scientists a clear signal that extra dimensions were real.”[13]

Feel gravity much more strongly? Gravity becomes “big and strong”? The sudden extra pull of gravity? How big and strong could this gravity become? Gravity is a fundamental, foundational force of nature, of unimaginable strength. What happens when and if it is dissected from its ecosystem — its balancing ecosystem — to be unbalanced, to be released, to be in uninhibited form? What then? What could happen? What if LHC allowed this force to be weaponized?

Extra dimensions –”There could be a whole universe full of galaxies and stars and civilisations and newspapers that we didn’t know about,” says [professor of high energy physics at Cambridge University Andy] Parker. “That would be a big deal.”[14]

[British theoretical physicist John]Ellis says, “we can find extra dimensions, black holes, all sorts of weird and wonderful things.”[15]

“The start-up had been preceded by some well-publicized hysteria on the fringes, with alarmists worrying that the L.H.C. would create a black hole that could swallow the earth.”

“The kind of black holes that Ellis has in mind are harmless ones, microscopic and incredibly short-lived,although produced, if they are produced, by the thousands or millions a year. “That will take time,” says cern’s director general, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, and probably only when the L.H.C. is running at maximum power. But if micro black holes do appear, Ellis says, it would be “fantastically exciting,” since they would imply the existence of additional spatial dimensions beyond the three we know.”

One American filed a lawsuit to stop LHC, saying the Earth could be destroyed if black holes were created — a 50% chance. He was slandered as loony. How do scientists “know” that these black holes would be harmless? That defies logic. Why would these black holes function any differently than black holes in outer space, sucking matter into them? And how would that end for all of us?

Other dimensions are excitedly referred to, but what might exist in these theoretical realms? Forcing open doors into other dimensions without any invitation and without any knowledge of what and who is on the other side is suicidal and potentially omni-cidal.

“Finding new dimensions … may hold the key to creating, at long last, a unified physics that makes sense of both the tiny-scale forces that hold atoms together and the gravity that pulls on everything we can actually see.”[16]

Just because something – an atom — seems tiny to humans is irrelevant. It and the tremendous force that holds it together are tremendously consequential and powerful. Only fools and the arrogant call things “tiny”.

Genesis 2.0 –When author Kurt Anderson told physicist Maria Spiropulu that her experiment at LHC is “simulating the conditions” at the beginning of the universe, “she emphatically corrects me. “No— we’re re-creating those conditions.   We will find out the fundamental nature of how the universe is created.”

So, these physicists are trying to re-create the conditions for the Big Bang, the initial explosion that possibly created the whole universe with such explosive force that it threw out stars and planets and matter that are stillmoving away from that explosive center billions of years later. These people must be blind to miss the insanity of what they’re attempting to do.

LHC is attempting to create life, create new universes, create new sources of matter for governments and private backers — plunderers’ paradise for the taking, all at the flip of a Big Bang switch. If those universes contain life-forms, those also can be plundered, enslaved, put in zoos and private collections, dissected, and experimented on.

What tools and weapons of horror could be created out of the elemental forces LHC is unleashing? Governments that freely use white phosphorus, cluster bombs and

munitions, land mines, Agent Orange, napalm, atomic weapons, sonar, depleted uranium, electromagnetic and frequency weapons, chemical and biological agents, and allow devastating destruction to the Earth have shown that there is no limit to what they will use.

“As knowledge has dramatically grown—thanks to particle physicists opening the smaller and smaller dolls, and to astrophysicists measuring the distances and movements and energies of stars—so has our awareness of the vastness of our ignorance.”[17]

But this awareness hasn’t created humility. The knowledge they seek is a mirage, which recedes faster and faster the harder they chase it. Worse than that, this knowledge is also a path to destruction.

These people of LHC and the sponsoring governments are pursuing forces that are the glue of life, through which we exist. Forces to create and forces to annihilate. These barbarians have no idea what they are smashing. The pursuit of ultimate knowledge, ultimate power, to control the destinies and future of everything — that always brings ruin.

Tiny and mighty, atoms stripped down to their primal forces — only the arrogant, the evil, the addicted, or the insane pursue such potentially life-ending folly, flinging open doors to other domains with no care about what might be waiting on the other side, doors that no one invited them to open.

If we ever interact with these dimensions, it will be because we were invited.

You cannot understand life by pulling it apart. You cannot know about life by destroying it. You only know life by relationship – biophilia.[18]

But some at CERN do not think any of this is special.

[Cambridge University PhD student] Thibault Mueller:

“We (have established) that we as a species are not special, the Earth is not special, our Solar System is not special. Now we are saying: ‘Ah! Our Universe is not that special either’.”[19]

That’s how a living universe can be smashed and disassembled. Because, at least for some, it has no special value, it does not create awe, it is not something to be cherished. These are the people that hold our lives and the future in their hands.

The public is strangely silent about the LHC. I have quoted Vanity Fair and the Guardian articles – each has a huge readership. The LHC has been written about for years. Why isn’t the public completely outraged by this project? Are people asleep? The severe and

catastrophic problems with this project are easily visible. It doesn’t take an advanced degree or education. It just takes common sense. Have people become so brain-washed that “science knows best” or “scientists would never do wrong” or “governments fund research for the good of the public”?

Those who see must act. Because of these severe issues, the Large Hadron Collider, the CERN complex, and all related ventures and colliders must be shut down now, with all equipment and complexes dismantled completely.

Look at the dangers. Look at what’s at stake. I’ll repeat: we have the moral obligation to takeaction in every way we can, based on the knowledge we have at this point in time. The alternative is looking back from the future, if there is one, and seeing a horrible disaster that we might have prevented if we’d only taken action.

The future is in our hands. The stakes are the highest they have ever been. The Large Hadron Collider is a dangerous instrument wielded by men and women seeking ultimate knowledge and power. The start-up April 5 has initiated a more reckless use of LHC’s capabilities, endangering all life including our universe.

Spouses and family members of the CERN scientists, energy companies supplying electricity to this facility, environmental and spiritual organizations, and citizens in every country – we must shut this project down now.

Iraqi Caught Crossing US-Mexico Border was Military Trainer and Spoke Fluent Russian

Breitbart Texas exclusively obtained leaked information on the Iraqi man who was apprehended while illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas on February 12, 2015. The Border Patrol agent responsible for interviewing the subject initially expressed concerns that the Iraqi was sent by Russia, largely due to the Iraqi man’s history as a military trainer, his speaking several languages, including Russian, and his having lived in Crimea, according to one of the leaked documents. Breitbart Texas was provided with two documents by a federal agent who works under the umbrella of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The agent insisted on remaining anonymous.

The Iraqi man is named Ahmed Adnan Taha, Al Khafaji. His date of birth is 6-25-84. He has one sister in the U.S., one in Turkey, three brothers in Turkey, one in Ukraine, one in New York State, and three brothers in Iraq, according to the leaked documents.

The Iraqi told U.S. authorities that he spoke fluent Russian and lived in Crimea prior to the Russian invasion. He further stated that a Ukrainian paid $4,000 for him to get to the U.S., however, the Iraqi refused to identify the Ukrainian to U.S. authorities.

The public statement given by Border Patrol at the time of the Iraqi’s apprehension stated, “On Thursday, February 12, 2015, RGV Border Patrol Agents encountered an

adult Middle Eastern male south of Pharr, Texas. The subject was taken into custody and transported to the Border Patrol station for further processing. The subject was setup for Expedited Removal back to his country of origin and transferred to the custody of ICE/ERO.”

Breitbart Texas recently asked the Border Patrol agency about the specifics in this report and their spokesman for the Rio Grande Valley Sector (RGV) responded, “All record checks were conducted, our federal partners did interview the subject with no derogatory information being found.”

It is significant to note that Border Patrol processing an individual does not mean that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actually deported the individual.

Breitbart Texas provides images of both leaked documents below. The second document contains copy-and-pasted information from the official report, according to the federal agent who provided the information. The typos in the report were contained in the original and therefore included. Breitbart Texas redacted the TECS ID number.

Obama’s Secret Invasion: America 2016

With Muslim immigrants streaming into the United States at a rate of 100,000 per year, some of the communities targeted for new arrivals are seeking information on their new neighbors, only to be frustrated by federal bureaucrats and their hired contractors.

How does a city get on the U.S. State Department’s list of 190 communities selected for refugee resettlement? How can cities find out who will be coming and when? What services will they use, and what will be the cost to taxpayers?

And, the granddaddy of all questions: Can the communities be assured that foreign nationals with ties to ISIS, al-Shabab and other Islamic terrorist groups won’t slip through the government’s porous screening process posing as “refugees”?

The answers to these questions are simple. Very little information is available. And there are no guarantees that some very bad apples won’t arrive in your town, says a leading expert on the refugee resettlement program.

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2015/03/muslim-immigration.jpg

One community that is trying to get information right now is Spartanburg, South Carolina.

On March 16, Ann Corcoran, author of the Refugee Resettlement Watch blog, spoke at a national security summit in Columbia, South Carolina, hosted by former Defense Department analyst Frank Gaffney. A few days before that conference, on March 9, a story broke in the local Spartanburg newspaper that World Relief, one of the nine resettlement agencies that works under contract with the federal government, was planning to open an office in Spartanburg.

When an agency like World Relief opens an office in a city, it means refugees will be arriving soon. There are no public hearings or announcements in local media, Corcoran said. Typically a story will appear in the local newspaper just before or after the first arrivals appear in town.

Corcoran met some activists at Gaffney’s conference who wanted to find out more about the plans for resettling United Nations-certified refugees in their city.

“It is like pulling teeth to get any information,” Corcoran said. “And these are long-term grassroots activists who know how to get information.”

One of the activists is Christina Jeffrey, a political science professor and former U.S. House of Representatives historian who ran against Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., in last

year’s Republican primary. Gowdy is now chairman of the House subcommittee on immigration and refugees.

“He is chair of this committee, and so they want to set up a refugee office in his home district, and we still can’t get any information,” Corcoran said.

Jeffrey has asked the federal government to prepare a comprehensive impact statement, detailing the impact the refugees will have on Spartanburg’s public services. Schools, health facilities, housing, the job market and public welfare programs will all be affected, but so far nobody is saying to what extent.

The mayor of Athens, Georgia, who asked for the same type of report last year, encountered the same blackout of information.

St. Cloud, Minnesota, residents have also inquired about how many more Somali refugees will be arriving in light of recent problems with Somali student protests at a local community college. Dozens of other Somalis have either left the country to fight for al-Shabab or ISIS while others have been charged and convicted with sending material support to overseas terrorist organizations.

“They’re trying to get information because residents have heard the rumor that there are 1,500 more Somalis getting ready to be resettled there in St. Cloud,” Corcoran said.

The resettlement agencies hold lots of meetings and place lots of phone calls with “stakeholders” in the targeted communities, but these collaborative efforts almost always occur outside of the public spotlight.

“The term ‘stakeholders’ does not apply to you, the taxpayer footing the bill for all of this,” Corcoran said.

According to a March 8 article in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, “a partnership of faith leaders” called Come Closer Spartanburg issued an invitation more than a year ago to World Relief to open a refugee office in Spartanburg. The March 8 article was the first public revelation of this effort even though World Relief had been working behind the scenes with “stakeholders” for a year. An initial group of 65 refugees will arrive this year, starting in April or May, from Congo, Bhutan and Syria.

Jeffrey, in a March 30 op-ed in the local newspaper, shed more light on the group, Come Closer Spartanburg, and its goals:

“On its website, Come Closer Spartanburg describes the city of Spartanburg as ‘home to what has been identified as the fifth most dangerous neighborhood in the United States. We have extremely high rates of unemployment, poverty and domestic violence. Overall, we were recently listed as the fourth most ‘miserable’ city to live in our country. It does not take long to realize that we are a city in need of transformation.”

Jeffrey discovered that the objective is to plant a “seed community” in Spartanburg that will eventually blossom and transform the city. The federal government is creating communities within communities often pitted against each other economically and culturally.

It’s the same tactic that has been used for decades in Europe.

“Looking at other U.S. cities with new refugee communities, it appears that contractors often keep sending refugees to the same place until there is a community within a community. Unassimilated communities have created problems in Europe, and we are beginning to have similar problems here in the United States (witness Milwaukee, Wis., and Lewiston, Maine),” Jeffrey writes.

Corcoran said the word “assimilation” is no longer used by the resettlement agencies and their friends in the federal government. Rather, the new buzzword is “integration.” The goal of integration is to have a multitude of diverse cultures living side by side in “coexistence” but never assimilating.

President Obama issued an executive memorandum dated Nov. 21, 2014, to all federal agencies directing them on “Creating Welcoming Communities and Fully Integrated Immigrants and Refugees.”

This sort of backroom dealing between the federal government, its hired resettlement contractors and local officials is not designed to provide information to the people who live and work in the targeted refugee cities, Corcoran said.

“They don’t like this whole idea that their town is being secretly selected,” she said. “This has been going on for over a year now in Spartanburg, and the refugees are now due to start arriving in a month or so. And these people have no information until it’s actually upon them.”

The mayor of Athens, Nancy Denson, requested a plan. The city of Spartanburg is asking for the same consideration.

“That’s what these people in Spartanburg are asking for, and they are asking that when you have a plan that you present it publicly at a public hearing,” Corcoran said. “They don’t want to have to show any of that to the public. They’re saying it’s only 65; well, it’s only 65 for the first year. It will continue to be more every year afterward once you become a seed community.”

Of the more than 500 Syrian refugees brought to the U.S. so far this past year, 90 percent of them have been Muslim, Corcoran said.

Corcoran is pushing for reform of the refugee system in America.

She believes communities targeted for resettlement should be entitled to an economic and social impact study.

“And they should put it out for review at multiple public hearings, because once the public hears this, what we find is they don’t want it,” she said. “Because they say, ‘We are struggling with our own homeless, our own mentally ill and poorly educated. Why do we need to take in other countries’ problems?”

Outside of the financial hurdles and the drain on social services, the security issue is perhaps the most troublesome for cities on the receiving end of these seedling communities.

WND reported in February that a senior FBI counter-terrorism official, Michael Steinbach, testified before the House homeland security committee and admitted that the U.S. lacks the capability to properly screen out terrorists and terrorist sympathizers from the ranks of the U.N. refugee program.

Another issue is school overcrowding and the need to pay for interpreters and tutors who can speak obscure tribal languages. A Spartanburg activist was scheduled to meet with Gowdy Wednesday to discuss the impact of refugees on the local education system.

Corcoran said World Relief has been withholding basic information on its resettlement plans, such as how many refugees will be coming from what countries over what time frame and their religious affiliations.

“They’re saying Syrians, Bhutanese and or Congolese. These World Relief lackeys our activists are dealing with on the local level are saying it’s only going to be Syrian Christians, which is BS,” Corcoran said. “Ninety percent of the Syrians coming into the country right now are Muslim. But they lie to them and tell them it’s going to be Christians. That is just not so; they don’t get to pick like that. They’re going to get the whole mix (as assigned by the United Nations), and they’re probably going to get Somalis, too.

“The bottom line here, though, is that they’re trying to get the information pulled out from everyone who is looking into this.”

SNAP Fraud in perhaps 50% of Recipients

A Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) spokesman tells the Associated Press that 12,000 non-disabled adults were in Maine’s SNAP program before Jan. 1 - a number that dropped to 2,680 by the end of March.

More than 9,000 Maine residents have been removed from the state's food stamp program since Republican Gov. Paul LePage's administration began enforcing work and volunteer requirements.

The new rules prevent adults who are not disabled and do not have dependents from receiving food stamps for more than three months - unless they work at least 20 hours a week, participate in a work-training program or meet volunteering requirements.

DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew said the goal of the requirements is to encourage people to find work.

"If you're on these programs it means you are living in poverty and so the more that we can help incentive people on that pathway to employment and self-sufficiency the better off they're going to be," Mayhew told the Associated Press.

In Maine, once someone loses their benefits, they cannot regain assistance for three years.

Maine was one of at least eight states that declined to use the federal waiver this year out of the 37 states that had been eligible, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service.

State Rep. Scott Hamann (D –South Portland) has introduced a bill that would direct the administration to seek a waiver for certain counties with high unemployment or a lack of jobs.

The measure may not gain support from LePage's administration. HHS spokesperson David Sorensen says, recipients only need to volunteer for 24 hours a month to comply with the requirements and the administration believes there are enough opportunities even in the most economically depressed regions.

CDC: U.S. Heroin Deaths Nearly Tripled in 3 Years; WH: Mexico ‘Primary Supplier’

The number and rate of deaths in the United States from overdoses involving heroin nearly tripled in the three years from 2010 to 2013, the last year on record, according to a "Data Brief" published in March by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

All of the heroin in the United States is smuggled from abroad and Mexico is the "primary supplier" of that drug to this country, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

“From 2010 through 2013, the age-adjusted rate for heroin-related drug-poisoning deaths nearly tripled from 1.0 per 100,000 in 2010 to 2.7 per 100,000 in 2013,” said the CDC data brief.

The overall number of overdose deaths involving heroin increased from 3,036 in 2010 to 8,257 in 2013, according to the CDC.

“Foreign sources of opium are responsible for the entire supply of heroin consumed in the U.S.,” says the White House webpage on “The International Heroin Market.”

“Poppy cultivation and heroin production have been decreasing steadily in Colombia since 2001, when cultivation reached a peak of 6,540 hectares,” says the White House. “In contrast, opium poppy cultivation in Mexico remains high, and Mexico continues as the primary supplier of heroin to the United States. Estimated cultivation of opium poppy reached 10,500 hectares in 2012, with an estimated pure potential production of 26 metric tons.”

The CDC brief pointed to what it called a “steady increase” in recent years in U.S. “poisoning” deaths involving heroin.

“Drug poisoning (overdose) is the number one cause of injury-related death in the United States, with 43,982 deaths occurring in 2013,” said the report. “While much attention has been given to deaths involving opioid analgesics, in recent years there has been a steady increase in the number of drug-poisoning deaths involving heroin.”

“While the age-adjusted rate for drug-poisoning deaths involving opioid analgesics has leveled in recent years, the rate for deaths involving heroin has almost tripled since 2010,” said the report.

According to the CDC, opioid analgesics include, for example, hydrocodone, morphine, and oxycodone.

“Age-adjusted death rates are constructs that show what the level of mortality would be if no changes occurred in the age composition of the population from year to year,” says the CDC. “Thus, age-adjusted death rates are better indicators than unadjusted (crude) death rates for examining changes in the risk of death over a period of time when the age distribution of the population is changing.”

From 2000 through 2007, the age-adjusted death rate for overdoses involving heroin hovered between 0.6 deaths per 100,000 and 0.8 deaths per 100,000. By 2013, it had climbed to 2.7 per 100,000.

“From 2000 through 2013, the age-adjusted rate for drug-poisoning deaths involving heroin nearly quadrupled from 0.7 deaths per 100,000 in 2000 to 2.7 deaths per 100,000 in 2013,” said the CDC report. “Most of the increase occurred after 2010.”

The Midwest has overtaken the Northeast and West as the region of the country most likely to see heroin overdoses. In 2000, the Northeast and West had the highest age-adjusted heroin overdose death rates, at 0.9 per 100,000. That year the rate was 0.5 per 100,000 in the South and 0.4 per 100,000 in the Midwest.

In 2013, the Midwest had the highest heroin overdose death rate, at 4.3 per 100,000. That year, the Northeast had a heroin overdose death rate of 3.9 per 100,000, the West had a rate of 1.8 per 100,000 and the South had a rate of 1.7 per 100,000.

Although men are more likely than women to die from an overdose involving heroin, the rate of increase in heroin-related deaths among women has been steeper than among men. In 2000, 279 women died from an overdose involving heroin, for a death rate of 0.2 per 100,000. In 2013, 1,732 women died from an overdose involving heroin for a death rate of 1.2 per 100,000. In thirteen years, the heroin-related deaths and death rate for U.S. women increased six-fold.

Men saw an approximately four-fold increases in their heroin-related deaths and death rates. In 2000, 1,563 men in the United States died from overdoses involving heroin for a rate of 1.1 per 100,000. In 2013, 6,525 men died from overdoses involving heroin for a death rate of 4.2 per 100,000.

“Each year a small subset of drug-poisoning deaths involved both opioid analgesics and heroin,” said the CDC report. “For example, in 2013, 1,342 deaths involved both opioid analgesics and heroin. Deaths involving both opioid analgesics and heroin are included in both the rate of deaths involving opioid analgesics and the rate of deaths involving heroin. Depending on the year, 22 percent to 25 percent of drug-poisoning deaths lack information on the specific drugs involved. Some of these deaths may involve opioid analgesics or heroin.”

Two of the following three growing seasons saw record levels of opium poppy cultivation. Corrupt officials may have undermined the government's enforcement efforts. Afghan farmers claimed that "government officials take bribes for turning a blind eye to the drug trade while punishing poor opium growers".[19]

Another obstacle to getting rid of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is the reluctant collaboration between US forces and Afghan warlords in hunting drug traffickers. In the absence of Taliban, the warlords largely control the opium trade but are also highly useful to the US forces in scouting, providing local intelligence, keeping their own territories clean from Al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents, and even taking part in military operations.

While U.S. and allied efforts to combat the drug trade have been stepped up, the effort is hampered by the fact that many suspected drug traffickers are now top officials in the Karzai government.[20] Estimates made in 2006 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimate that 52% of the nation's GDP, amounting to $2.7 billion annually, is generated by the drug trade.[21] The rise in production has been linked to the deteriorating security situation, as production is markedly lower in areas with stable security.[22] By some, the extermination of the poppy crops is not seen as a viable option because the sale of poppies constitutes the livelihood of Afghanistan's rural farmers. Some 3.3 million Afghans are involved in producing opium.[23] Opium is more profitable than wheat and destroying opium fields could possibly lead to discontent or unrest among the indigent population.[24] Some poppy eradication programs have, however, proven effective, especially in the north of Afghanistan. The opium poppy eradication

program of Balkh Governor Ustad Atta Mohammad Noor between 2005 and 2007 successfully reduced poppy cultivation in Balkh Province from 7,200 hectares in 2005 to zero by 2007.[25]

Former U.S. State Department Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Thomas Schweich, in a New York Times article dated July 27, 2007, asserts that opium production is protected by the government of Hamid Karzai as well as by the Taliban, as all parties to political conflict in Afghanistan as well as criminals benefit from opium production, and, in Schweich's opinion, the U.S. military turns a blind eye to opium production as not being central to its anti-terrorism mission.[26][27] In March 2010, NATO rejected Russian proposals for Afghan poppy spraying, citing concerns over income of Afghan people.[28] There have also been allegations of American and European involvement in Afghanistan's drug trafficking with links to Taliban.[29]

On October 28, 2010 agents of Russia’s Federal Service for the Control of Narcotics joined Afghan and American antidrug forces in an operation to destroy a major drug production site near Jalalabad. In the operation 932 kg (2,055 lb) of high quality heroin and 156 kg (344 lb) of opium, with a street value of US$250 million, and a large amount of technical equipment was destroyed. This was the first anti-drug operation to include Russian agents. According to Viktor Ivanov, Director of Russia’s Federal Service for the Control of Narcotics, this marks an advance in relations between Moscow and Washington. Afghan President Hamid Karzai called the operation a violation of Afghan sovereignty and international law.[30][31]

As had been the case in Indochina during the Vietnam War[32] the US invasion has in fact been causal in a massive increase in opium production, the aforementioned eradication efforts being largely window dressing. A SIGAR report showed a threefold increase in area under cultivation between 2002 and 2014[33] An December 2014 UNAIDS study[34] showed an increase of 7% in one year alone.

Foreign involvementSee also: CIA transnational anti-crime and anti-drug activities § Southwest Asia, CIA activities in the Near East, North Africa, South and Southwest Asia § Afghanistan and Allegations of CIA drug trafficking

Approximately 40,000 foreign troops attempted to manage “security” in Afghanistan, principally of 32,000 regular soldiers from 37 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces: the International Security Assistance Force. 8,000 US and other special operations forces, mainly privately contracted soldier of fortune,[33] make up the balance. There is significant resistance, both from the ideological/theocratic Taliban, especially in southern Afghanistan, and also independent local warlords and drug organizations. Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), described the situation this way: “There is no rule of law in most of the southern parts of Afghanistan—the bullets rule.”

Despite a $7.5 billion effort on behalf of the United States to stop Afghanistan’s heroin market, a recent US Report indicates that the Islamic nation has risen above American invasions in the name of the war on drugs and increased their opium farm lands by nearly 40 percent.

According to a report financed by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), Afghani opium production experienced an increase in 2013, with nearly 806-square-miles of opium poppies sowed throughout the country -- a third more than the year before.

"Poppy is like a virus that is already embedded in a sick body," Ashita Mittal, acting country director for the UN Organization of Drugs and Crime, told the Associated Press. "It is going to impact the whole economy of this country. We do believe that in the absence of the growth of the licit economy, the illicit economy will take over."

It is expected that this year’s harvest will surpass previous record-breaking yields, which were responsible last year for generating nearly $3 billion for Afghanistan’s economy -- a staggering 15 percent of the their gross national product.

The United States military has been on a seek and destroy mission in Afghanistan to shut down the country’s opium production, which has equated nothing but failure as troops prepare to evacuate later this year. Overall, the operation has been no match for the government corruption that seems to have always been several steps ahead of military forces, says Mittal.

While Helmand Governor Mohammad Naeem blames the increase in opium production on the Taliban, UN officials argue that it is corruption inside the government that has enabled the flood.

Afghanistan opium production is responsible for supplying three-quarters of the world’s heroin.

Heroin production in Afghanistan increased 40 times since NATO began its ‘War on Terror’ in 2001, the head of Russia’s Federal Drug Control Service stated, adding that more than 1million people have died from Afghan heroin since then.

“Afghan heroin has killed more than 1 million people worldwide since the ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’ began and over a trillion dollars has been invested into transnational organized crime from drug sales,” Viktor Ivanov said at the conference on the drug situation in Afghanistan.

Ivanov stressed that the main factor of instability in the war-torn country remains the prosperous heroin industry.

"Any impartial observer must admit the sad fact that the international community has failed to curb heroin production in Afghanistan since the start of NATO’s operation.”

According to his presentation at UN’s 56th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna on March 11, opium growth has increased by 18 per cent from 131,000 hectares to 154,000.

As the situation in Afghanistan changed with NATO withdrawing its troops, Russia along with Afghanistan and the international community must face the new reality and develop an efficient strategy to deal with the heroin problem, explained Ivanov. 

Opium production has been central to Afghanistan’s economy ever since US and NATO forces invaded in October 2001. Just before the invasion Taliban had implemented a ban on poppy growing, declaring it to be anti-Islam, which lowered the overall production. But after the West’s involvement, production resumed and now the country produces some 90 per cent of the world’s opium, the great bulk of which ends up on the streets of Europe and Russia.

US and NATO officials have been stuck in a Catch-22 fight against Afghan opium. At the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna in March, Ivanov stated that on the one hand, they are attempting to win the hearts and minds of the local population, which increasingly depends on the cultivation of opium poppy for their livelihood. On the other, they need to cut off finances to the Taliban insurgency, which is fueled by the sale of opium poppy to foreign markets.

About 15 per cent of Afghanistan’s Gross National Product depends on drug-related exports, which amounts business worth US$2.4 billion a year, according to UN 2012 figures.

Spokesman for Afghanistan's Counternarcotic Ministry Qayum Samir told Radio Free Europe on Monday that 157,000 hectares are being planted with poppies this spring, which is up by an estimated 3,000 hectares since last year. Samir argued that lack of security, lack of governance and widespread poverty are the reasons behind the increase in heroin production.

Moscow believes the simplest solutions are the most effective ones, and eradicating the country’s poppy fields is the key to solving the problem, underlined Viktor Ivanov. 

But there is a big difference between how Russia and the US see the solution to the problem.

However, based on the US and NATO strategy, there seems no intention to get rid of all Afghan poppy fields, which is an inconsistency in the Western approach. 

“The US together with the Colombian government eradicates 200,000 hectares of coca bushes a year. In Afghanistan, only 2,000 hectares of poppy fields are being eradicated – one 100th of that amount,” Ivanov pointed out.

And alongside the refusal to get rid of the poppies, there is the apparent interest of international banks in “dirty” money. Narcotics have nearly as large a share in total world trade as oil and gas, argued Ivanov in his presentation to UN.   

The head of Russia’s drug enforcement suggested US and European banks tacitly welcome and “encourage” the inflow of drug money, he explained.

Gil Kerlikovske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the executive office of the US president, told RT that “We can intercept and seize tons of narcotics, we can make arrests of traffickers, but we really need to choke off the funds that supply this.”

Currently, Russia supports solutions proposing to improve social and institutional development in Afghanistan and discussing the problem at the international level.

For More Than 30 Years, the Big Banks Have Been Key Players In the Drug Trade

It has become mainstream news that at least some of the big banks are  laundering staggering sums of drug money.  See this, this, this, this, this, this and and this.

But you may not know the scope or history of the problem.

Official statistics show that huge sums of drug money are laundered every year:

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) conducted a study to determine the magnitude of illicit funds generated by drug trafficking and organised crimes and to investigate to what extent these funds are laundered.  The report estimates that in 2009, criminal proceeds amounted to 3.6% of global GDP, with 2.7%  (or USD 1.6 trillion) being laundered.

This falls within the widely quoted estimate by the International Monetary Fund, who stated in 1998 that the aggregate size of money laundering in the world could be somewhere between two and five percent of the world’s gross domestic product.  Using 1998 statistics, these percentages would indicate that money laundering ranged between USD 590 billion and USD 1.5 trillion. At the time, the lower figure was roughly equivalent to the value of the total output of an economy the size of Spain.

Indeed, the head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says that drug dealers kept the banking system afloat during the depths of the 2008 financial crisis.

This started a long time ago. For example, Citibank was caught laundering drug money for Mexican cartels in 2001.

In the 1990s, earlier, Citibank apparently set up special client accounts for a big drug dealer:

One of the more infamous cases involving taxpayer bailed-out Citigroup’s ties to money laundering drug cartels emerged in the late 1990s when Raúl Salinas de Gortari, the brother of former Mexican President Carlos Salinas, was arrested after his wife, Paulina Castañón, attempted to withdraw $84 million from a Swiss account controlled by Raúl under an alias.

***

According to a 1995 Los Angeles Times report, Salinas “amassed at least $100 million in suspected drug money.”

Switzerland’s top prosecutor at the time, Carla del Ponte, “launched the investigation after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration supplied information that led Swiss agents to the accounts in Geneva, where they arrested Raúl Salinas’ wife and her brother on Nov. 15 as the pair attempted to withdraw more than $83 million.”

Del Ponte told the Los Angeles Times that after observing Salinas’ interrogation by Mexican federal prosecutors the sums found in those accounts were “suspected to be from the laundering of money related to narcotics trafficking.”

In 1998, when Swiss prosecutors completed their Salinas investigation, The New York Times disclosed that “Swiss police investigators have concluded that a brother of former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari played a central role in Mexico’s cocaine trade, raking in huge bribes to protect the flow of drugs into the United States.”

***

A 1998 report by the General Accounting Office (GAO) pointed a finger directly at Citibank. Investigators revealed that “Mr. Salinas was able to transfer $90 million to $100 million between 1992 and 1994 by using a private banking relationship formed by Citibank New York in 1992. The funds were transferred through Citibank Mexico and Citibank New York to private banking investment accounts in Citibank London and Citibank Switzerland.”

With the connivance of bank officials, in 1992 Salinas was able to “effectively disguise” the source of those funds and their destination.

Indeed, with hefty fees secured from assisting their well-connected client Salinas, Citibank “set up an offshore private investment company named Trocca, to hold Mr. Salinas’s assets, through Cititrust (Cayman) and investment accounts in Citibank London and Citibank Switzerland.”

***

A 1999 Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report on “Private Banking and Money Laundering” revealed that “a culture of secrecy pervades the private banking industry.”

“For example,” Senate investigators disclosed, “in the case of Raul Salinas . . . the private bank hid Mr. Salinas’ ownership of Trocca by omitting his name from the Trocca incorporation papers and naming still other shell companies as the shareholders, directors, and officers. Citibank consistently referred to Mr. Salinas in internal bank communications by the code name ‘Confidential Client Number 2′ or ‘CC-2.’ The private bank’s Swiss office opened a special name account for him under the name of ‘Bonaparte’.”

In the 1980s, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) – apparently backed by top CIA officials – laundered drug money.  Time Magazine reported in 1991:

Because the US wanted to supply the Mujahideen rebels in Afghanistan with stinger missiles and other military hardware it needed the full cooperation of Pakistan. By the mid-1980s, the CIA operation in Islamabad was one of the largest US intelligence stations in the World. `If BCCI is such an embarrassment to the US that forthright investigations are not being pursued it has a lot to do with the blind eye the US turned to the heroin trafficking in Pakistan’, said a US intelligence officer.

As Wikipedia notes, Alfred McCoy (Professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and one of the world’s top experts on drug trafficking):

Uncovered money laundering activities by banks controlled by the CIA, first the Castle Bank which was then replaced by the Nugan Hand Bank, which had as legal counsel William Colby, retired head of the CIA.  He also alludes to the BCCI, which seems to have played the same role as the Nugan Hand Bank after its collapse in the early 1980s, claiming that “the boom in the Pakistan drug trade was financed by BCCI.

Citibank was still laundering Mexican drug money in 2001.

popular banks are supporting their finances.

Bank of America, Western Union, and JP Morgan, are among the institutions allegedly involved in the drug trade. Meanwhile, HSBC has admitted its laundering role, and evaded criminal prosecution by paying a fine of almost $2 billion. The lack of imprisonment of any bankers involved is indicative of the hypocritical nature of the drug war; an individual selling a few grams of drugs can face decades in prison, while a group of people that tacitly allow -- and profit from -- the trade of tons, escape incarceration.

The hypocrisy of the role that banks play in the drug trade is particularly disgraceful when considering the recent system of marijuana regulation that was introduced in Colorado. The state's legal marijuana business has proven to be highly lucrative, with

$5 million made in the first week of 2014. However, at present, marijuana businesses cannot access essential banking services. Despite liberalization of marijuana laws in Colorado and elsewhere, the plant remains illegal at the federal level; this means that banks won't open accounts for marijuana businesses, so the majority of their transactions are cash-only. The movement of such large amounts of cash can be highly dangerous for business owners, and troublesome for both customers and tax collectors.

Earlier this week, several Colorado legislators made a bipartisan appeal to the federal government, requesting clear guidelines for marijuana businesses' regulation within the banking sector. Banks have avoided allowing these new companies to open accounts, ironically, for the fear of being penalized, or implicated as launderers. Essentially, the current banking system implicitly tolerates the handling of violent cartels' illegal assets, but blocks the legal and legitimate business of the Coloradan marijuana industry.

The role that banks have played in the global drug trade has been partly responsible for widespread carnage and countless civilian deaths, particularly in Mexico. Now, as legal marijuana industries begin to emerge, and the war on drugs seems to slowly decelerate, the banking sector has an opportunity to redeem itself in this respect. Banks cannot undo the wrongs of the past, but they can create a fairer future for regulated trade within this expanding and legal new industry, and without supporting lawlessness.