The Colombian military has foiled several smugglers in South America by discovering a cocaine-filled drug smuggling submarine before it left on its quest. The seized craft was able to entirely submerge in water. Typically, drug subs aren’t able to entirely submerge, and aren’t true submarines. They are not effortlessly detected. Crafts of this type can’t be detected by sonar.
Using one another to uncover drug smuggling
Drug smugglers were caught by Colombian law enforcement, reports the Daily Mail. It included the air force, navy and Colombian Inspector General’s office. Authorities found the drug smuggling submersible in the mangrove swamps of the region of Cauca, near the town of Timbiqui. Cuaca is on the Pacific coast of Colombia, and the swamps lead directly to the sea. In the drug submarine there was eight tons of cocaine discovered. There were also bunks for a four man crew along with computers for navigation. There were no persons aboard the boat when it was discovered, but some firearms were recovered along with the cargo.
Smuggling what is done next rationally
The craft was a new breed of drug smuggling submersibles or Narco Subs even though they have been used for years. Sometimes the subs are only used once although that doesn’t stop drug cartels from spending millions on making the subs with fiberglass. A drug smuggling submersible is not ordinarily a true submarine, in that the craft cannot entirely submerge. The Timbiqui boat could go down for extended periods of time 40 feet or nine meters. The Wall Street Journal reports the 105-foot craft could have gotten to the coast of Mexico or even to the United States.
Catching the drug cartels
Drug cartels are becoming craftier in the methods employed to get drugs into the United States. For many years, submersibles have been known about. They are not ever seen or caught getting the nickname “Bigfoot” tied to them. More are being identified now though after one was captured years ago. Drug cartels have been able to make subs that can submerge entirely now. That means the next move will most likely be remote controlled drug submersibles.
Citations
Daily Mail
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1357040/Sub
Wall Street Journal
online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narco_submarine
Scientists and investigators have been unable to determine the origin of the anthrax found in the 2001 anthrax attacks. The strain of the disease was comparable to a strain the prime suspect, Bruce Ivins, worked with on a daily basis as a microbiologist employed by the Army. Unfortunately, Ivins is not around to prove his innocence. He committed suicide while he was being investigated. People have taken out huge sums of money in payday loans to finance finding where this strand was created with no luck.
National Academy of Sciences contradicts FBI anthrax findings
USA Today explains the 2011 anthrax attack investigation is completely over. Still, it has been questioned by a report released by the NAS. There were some disparities found between the FBI and review panel when the National Research Council did its own review of the FBI investigation. Dr. Bruce Ivins as a microbiologist for the Army had some anthrax in a flask for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institution for Infection Disease. These seemed to have similarities to the other anthrax spores. It was not confirmed that the very same anthrax that Dr. Ivins has were used even though there were similarities in the NAS report.
Not letting Ivins go
Whether or not Dr. Ivins was at fault was not discussed in the NAS that was all about science, the New York Times explained. The National Academy of Sciences did conclude that the similarities were “consistent with and supports” the 2 strains being related. The NAS then talked poorly of the FBI. This would be for not using the right methods to identify the anthrax better. The FBI closed the case after Dr. Bruce Ivins committed suicide in 2008.
Still no information on anthrax attacks
The 2011 investigation in anthrax led to better tracing of infectious agents. This is the science of microbial forensics. The Washington Post explains that there were really great scientific techniques used by the FBI. These were applauded by the FBI. Because of the 2001 attacks, 17 individuals came down with Bacillus Anthraces spores which led to the fatal disease anthrax most often. Another five people were killed.
Information from
USA Today
usatoday.com/tech/science/2011-02-15-ant
New York Times
nytimes.com/2011/02/16/us/16anthrax.html
Washington Post
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/articl
After news broke that Congressman Christopher Lee had sent emails and photographs to a woman he met through the Craigslist personal ads, he resigned from his post. A Republican from New York, Lee had just begun his second term in the House of Representatives. He didn’t wait long to step down once the news broke. It seems that that it was better to just head things off before it became a huge scandal.
Personal ad response by ‘Craigslist congressman’ leads to issues
Christopher Lee’s resignation from the NY House of Representatives was the culmination of events that began on Craigslist. The Washington Post reports that Gawker.com had photos released onto it. A female living in MD, that was not named, had a personal ad that Lee responded to. The woman had a question to ask. It asked, “will someone prove to me not all CL men look like toads?” Lee, beginning his second term in the House of Representatives, wrote her back claiming that he was a lobbyist on Capitol Hill and that he was younger than his actual age of 46. There was a conversation that continued between them. Then, he sent her pictures of him which made her realize the truth.
Gawker leaks photographs
Christopher Lee sent the female photographs of himself without a shirt on. He said it was “all I had” after she asked if he sent pictures of himself topless typically. She asked Christopher Lee if he was married, which he replied he was divorced, when they were having conversations. Lee has a son and a wife. She found out that he was older than 40, a congressman from the 26th District of NY and was married. This was when she looked him up after recognizing the photos a bit. Gawker.com got the e-mails and pictures from her after that. It did not take long to make the news.
Resignation by Gawker force
The story got out fairly fast after Wednesday, February 9, Gawker.com published the photos. According to NPR, Speaker of the House, John Boehner, got a letter from Christopher Lee of resignation. This was within hrs of the news. A clerk read the letter aloud on the floor later in the day. A special election will have to be called by Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, to replace him.
Information from
Washington Post
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/articl
NPR
npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2011/02/10/1
Gawker
gawker.com/#!5755071/married-gop-congres
Home values have been plummeting for months. As a result, a record number of home loans are now underwater. Real estate is suffering from low value and also lower demand, as more homes are being foreclosed on, joblessness is still high, and credit restrictions are tighter than ever. Values could continue to fall.
Nearly a third of all mortgages might be under water
Home prices have been going down. This has been because of the recession effects. Because of continuing foreclosures, high joblessness and fewer homes being sold, the value of houses has continued to trend downward. It is estimated that 27 percent of American homeowners could possibly be under water on their home loans, meaning payments to the loan company cost more than the home is worth, according to Bloomberg. About 15 million home loans are under water, in accordance with Zillow. Zillow is a real estate information company. In the last year, home prices are estimated to have dropped 6 percent. Just since September 2010 they have gone down 3 percent. Values are expected to decline 5 percent more in 2011.
Misleading decline in foreclosures
Foreclosure activity has been closely watched over the past year in the hopes that a slowing rate of foreclosure would mean a real estate sector close to recovering. The crisis is not over yet, states CNN. The slowing rate of foreclosures in January doesn’t mean that. Before banks would foreclose on homes, they wouldn’t review paperwork first, which was called the “robo-signing” scandal. This is why there have been fewer foreclosures occurring lately. There is a good chance the number of homes that get foreclosed on will increase. This won’t be until the foreclosed homes in courts are done with though.
Nevertheless problems in some places
The foreclosures are making things really hard in areas that have real estate values every high. Nevada, AZ and California still lead the nation in foreclosure-affected states. FL has started improving lately. Before this, it was in ninth place on the foreclosure rates list.
Information from
Bloomberg
bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-09/home-price-d
CNN
http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/10/real_es
The faith of Tom Cruise and John Travolta-Scientology–is the subject of an FBI probe. Scientology human trafficking accusations have been floating around for a few years. News of a Federal Bureau of Investigation based on those allegations surfaced this week. Ex Church members have told tales of being locked up in pushed labor camps and experiencing physical and mental abuse.
Using the desert as a scientology get away for work
The FBI human trafficking investigation of Scientology allegedly started in 2009, when agents started interviewing previous Scientologists who tried to quit. The St. Petersburg Times started the story two years back where a Scientology compound was found in the California desert near LA where hazing and hours of pushed labor for hardly any pay would take place to apostates. Screenwriter Paul Haggis’ profile revealed the FBI investigation of Scientology on February 7 in the New Yorker. In 2009, the Church of Scientology lost Haggis. This was due not only to what the Times showed was human trafficking but additionally because of the Proposition 8 support that California had and was supported by Scientology.
Get away of Scientology changed Tom Cruise though
It was shown in the Times and New Yorker that there have been escapees out of the Scientology desert compound. They would be pushed to return back there though. Women in the compound were discouraged from having kids and pushed to get abortions. The workers in the compound got paid $50 a week while former Scientologists explained leader David Miscavige lived well on the church’s money. Miscavige forced a worker to customize motorcycles for Tom Cruise. Thousands of dollars is normally what is paid for something like this. An SUV was customized and renovation of an airplane hangar both happened by Cruise with Scientology.
Scientology says it didn’t take place
Human trafficking was denied by the Church of Scientology meaning the FBI was denied. A New Yorker article spoke with a spokesman. He said it was a “rehash of unfounded accusations.” What the Scientology defectors said matches what the FBI human trafficking signs list. Lots of physical and emotional abuse was seen by these people. They also controlled the food, schedule, money, speech, ID and travel documents of all those confined.
Information from
St. Petersburg Times
tampabay.com/news/scientology/article115
New York Daily News
nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/02/07/2
The New Yorker
newyorker.com/reporting/2011/02/14/11021
New York Post
nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/cruise
Showing that diet may have an impact on the conditions of ADHD has been elusive. A recently available research demonstrated a potential link between an ADHD eating habits and improvement in ADHD symptoms. However, medical experts familiar with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder questioned the researchers’ recommendation that diet become part of standard treatment for the condition.
What was shown by the ADHD diet research
The Lancet released a study on Thurs that stated ADHD may be addressed with an elimination eating habits. ADHD symptoms were reduced 64 percent in children in a study done by Dutch scientists that took away all food that would normally trigger food allergies. The ADHD diet, depending on rice, white meat and veggies, was administered to forty one kids for five weeks. It was demonstrated that 32 of them had clear ADHD symptom improvement. In the second phase of the research, the kids were fed what are assumed to be ADHD trigger foods and most of them relapsed. There was not any reduction in hyperactivity in the control group of children that had a standard healthy diet.
What pediatricians believe
Scientists think that when treating children for ADHD, it can be good to use an elimination diet considering the ADHD eating habits study. Pediatricians do not tend to like the idea of the diet though. An ADHD diet could also make children subject to nutritional deficiencies. Often, children with allergies will show ADHD behavior. That led the pediatricians to think that the improvements had to do with allergies more than anything else. Other pediatricians questioned the methodology of the ADHD research, which had no independent observers.
How allergies connect with ADHD
The National Institute of Mental Health explains that there isn’t any proof that processed foods with a lot of sugar triggers ADHD even though it has been believed for a while. Because some kids have allergic reactions to some foods, such as asthma, skin rashes and diarrhea, theories have been raised that foods can also adversely affect their brain chemistry. The Dutch research only lasted five weeks though. That means any questions like these could not possibly have been answered. ADHD does not really have a “standard” cure for children. Each child is looked at differently.
Citations
CNN
pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/03/d
ABC News
abcnews.go.com/Health/Allergies/adhd-foo
Business Week
businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healt
An Israeli study has found an interesting link between clowns and In Vitro Fertilization victory, or pregnancy being achieved by implanting an embryo through In Vitro Fertilization. The investigation was done to see if laughter, as a natural stress reducer, could impact In Vitro Fertilization pregnancy victory rates. Women undergoing In Vitro Fertilization therapy within the investigation were found to be more likely to become pregnant if a “medical clown” frequented them after an implantation procedure. Several people have taken out such huge personal loans to go through IVF, they will probably be much happier to find out the process worked.
Looking at the link between clowns and victory of IVF
Reuters reports that a link between IVF treatment victory and clowns were discovered at a research hospital in Israel. When females were being give in-vitro fertilization treatments, a “medical clown” frequented them. Females who got the visit ended up with a much higher rate of victory with the procedure than the women who didn’t. The head of the study, Dr. Shevach Friedler, got the idea after reading about the positive effects of laughter as a natural tension reducer. Dr. Friedler’s team at Harofeh Medical Center had women in recovery rooms being frequented by a clown in order to experiment on the females to see if the reduced stress helped the implanting of an embryo.
A serious investigation
Laughter, apparently seemed the best medicine. A greater percentage of females who received the “clown treatment” successfully became pregnant than those who went without a visit from a clown. The study was done using a total of 209 women which were going through in-vitro fertilization. The in-vitro fertilization had a fairly good success rate for the 209 women. The rate was at 36 percent. Only a 20 percent victory rate was shown for women who did not get the clown treatment. ”Fertility and Sterility” is a reproduction science medical journal that will be publishing the study. There is an actual medical clown college degree at the University of Haifa, in Israel, as clowns do help reduce stress among patients.
The costs of a clown on top of it all
In-vitro fertilization is expensive, somewhat dangerous and doesn’t always work. According to WebMD, the procedure results in a pregnancy in 32 percent of all cases, however only 25.6 percent of treatments resulted in a live birth. Success rates also vary by age group and wide range of factors. About $12,400 is paid for this therapy. Usually it is the last thing that people do to get pregnant after all other choices have been used.
Information from
Reuters
reuters.com/article/2011/01/12/us-send-c
WebMD
webmd.com/infertility-and-reproduction/g
Murdoch has announced the launch of The Daily, an iPad-only newspaper, reports TechCrunch. Touted as the new direction for journalism, The Daily will combine classic reporting with the latest systems. In accordance with reports, The Daily costs 14 cents on a daily schedule, 99 centers weekly or $39.99 per year. Subscribing is as simple as a single click. The first two weeks of The Daily are free of charge. At least you won’t need a cash advance to test it out for 2 weeks.
Daily brand not as strong as Wall Street Journal
While moving legacy newspaper brands like the Wall Street Journal behind online pay walls has garnered both supporters and detractors, The Daily is a new creature entirely. Murdoch states that using portable tablet technology is the best way to get news to younger people considering less people read print journalism or even watch Television newscasts. As there is no built-in audience that will expect The Daily to conform to print journalism conventions, Murdoch has the chance to define something new.
“We have license to experiment. We believe The Daily will be the model for how stories are told,” said Murdoch.
Daily uses the iPad to process information
The Daily is an iPad newspaper. Murdoch plans on having media stories updated all day long on it. Users familiar with the animated, 3-D graphical Cover Flow interface of iTunes may have no trouble navigating through The Daily’s stories. Users can change media to be to a specific area or personal preference while stories can have high definition video and panoramic photos.
Making the Daily something users want
It has been really hard to attract big marketers meaning free online media delivery has been unsuccessful for most besides Google News. A lot of iPad users might be interested in the Daily thinking about the low price that comes with it. Still, Rupert Murdoch claims it is high enough to get many marketers interested in participating.
Considering that it only cost $30 million to get The Daily off the ground – a pittance compared to starting a daily print newspaper – and will cost about $500,000 per week to run, Murdoch states that the huge base of iPad users and the advertisers they draw should make The Daily a success.
Citations
The Daily
thedaily.com/
Tech Crunch
techcrunch.com/2011/02/02/murdoch-the-da
Rupert Murdoch on The Daily vs. the Wall Street Journal
youtube.com/watch?v=E1BmRzg0I3U
Paulson, a successful hedge fund director, is considered an investing guru by those who think that betting in opposition to the U.S. housing sector – deriving a cash loan each time someone was foreclosed upon – is an acceptable by-product of a deregulated stock market. Regardless of whether Paulson is considered to be a crook or a guru, there is no disputing the housing bubble and investment in various financials have made him a billionaire. He will not be taking out a payday cash advance to cover his home mortgage at any time soon.
Getting Citigroup with John Paulson
To some, hedge fund manager Paulson represents all of what’s wrong with Wall Street. Paulson has been considered a “guru” as he made $15 billion in 2007 simply betting in opposition to the United States real estate market. Now, he is changing his mind on what to do. He bet that the U.S. economy would soon rebound. He bet on high gold prices and rebounding house prices with his “after the fall” outlay while also putting investments into many indexes. Paulson’s stake in Citigroup earned his hedge fund investors utilizing Paulson & Co. about $1 billion this year. Citigroup had a 50 percent increase in price in the past year.
Currently, Paulson & Co. owns a ton of cash in investments. About $35 billion is what the business is responsible for. Where most hedge funds eschewed the more volatile elements of the sector past year, Reuters reports that John Paulson and business took small financial lumps early in 2010, yet managed to swing things around into double-digit gains. There was a 35 percent jump in 2010 in Paulson’s gold investments while the Paulson Advantage Plus fund went up 17 percent.
Why the 17 percent is getting noticed
When it comes to John Paulson being successful, the Globe and Mail points out the 15 percent gain the S&P 500 had is not much farther down than the 17 percent the Paulson Advantage Plus Fund gained. But the Canadian newspaper’s viewpoint could just as very easily be considered sour grapes. While it may be true that John Paulson’s “against-the-bubble” investing strategy undermined the economy at the expense of millions, the investments were made in a Wild West-style climate where federal regulators were about as effective at cleaning up the town as the milk-and-cookies sheriff who hesitates before firing. Most are upset about this though. They say it is not an excuse to do what he did.
Articles cited
The Guardian
guardian.co.uk/books/2010/mar/07/the-gre
The Globe and Mail
theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/marke
Reuters
reuters.com/article/2011/01/25/us-hedgef
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_default_swa
John Paulson and Joe Stiglitz on the mispricing of risk
youtube.com/watch?v=l8G-b315B6E
Winter weather and the resulting ice can do a real number on your auto. In the span of a few hours, ice can cover the entire outside – and sometimes inside – of your car. Do not just hammer and scrape away. Learn the proper way, right here.
Brush out the snow if you don’t want ice
Brushing the snow off is a simple way to stop your auto from getting ice on it. Snow and ice are forms of water which means they can change very easily. Your windshields, door handles and locks will get much less ice to them if the snow is brushed off and cannot melt into that layer of ice. Brush away the snow regularly, even if you don’t plan to go driving. Use a snow brush or broom. Don’t use the snow shovel you keep around to clean the driveway, unless you do not mind chipping window glass or scratching the paint job. It’s also a poor choice to use boiling water on frozen locks and handles. More than likely, something will break.
How your hand can help with ice difficulties
Just whack the ice with your hand if you’re brave enough to touch that cold ice with your own hand. You can probably break it and brush it off if the layer is thin enough. Do not use anything harder than your hand, however – particularly on window ice. Glass is more brittle within the winter while a shattered window costs a lot to replace.
Keeping it cold is bad
In order to make it a bit easier to get your vehicle cleaned off, you can simply turn on the headlights and get the heater running. Just make sure the exhaust pipe and radiator grill are clear before you do. Don’t leave your motor after you start it. If it is really cold and the radiator’s coolant/water mix is off, this could be very bad. It won’t help to have things frozen. The engine will overheat and die if you are not paying attention.
Here’s another idea: wait until your wipers bladesare thoroughly clean before turning on the windshield wipers. Sometimes the blades are stuck within the ice and need to get warm before working. This might cause the motor on the wiper blade system to break. It can help to have winter-grade wiper fluid. Window ice can be melted this way. help melt window ice, as well.
Citations
Popular Mechanics
popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/repair/h
Or you could just cover your car
youtube.com/watch?v=vcx7t4qe0gs
Profile
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=91.7)
paulpaulson- paulpaulson
Syndicate
