Apple now worth quadruple Dell's market value

On October 6, 1997, in response to the question of what he'd do if he was in charge of Apple Computer, Dell founder and then CEO Michael Dell stood before a crowd of several thousand IT executives and answered flippantly, "What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."

Got any snappy retorts now, Mr. Dell? What's that, cat got your tongue?

John McCain Did Not Vote for George Bush in 2000

At a dinner party in Los Angeles not long after the 2000 election, I was talking to a man and his wife, both prominent Republicans. The conversation soon turned to the new president. "I didn't vote for George Bush" the man confessed. "I didn't either," his wife added. Their names: John and Cindy McCain (Cindy told me she had cast a write-in vote for her husband).

Multinationals make billions in profit out of growing global food crisis

Giant agribusinesses are enjoying soaring earnings and profits out of the world food crisis which is driving millions of people towards starvation, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. And speculation is helping to drive the prices of basic foodstuffs out of the reach of the hungry.

The prices of wheat, corn and rice have soared over the past year driving the world's poor – who already spend about 80 per cent of their income on food – into hunger and destitution.

Global warming may 'stop', scientists predict

Global warming will stop until at least 2015 because of natural variations in the climate, scientists have said. Researchers studying long-term changes in sea temperatures said they now expect a "lull" for up to a decade while natural variations in climate cancel out the increases caused by man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

Melting icebergs: The study predicts the IPCC's 0.3ºC temperature rise for the next decade may not happen
The average temperature of the sea around Europe and North America is expected to cool slightly over the decade while the tropical Pacific remains unchanged.

Outrage over plans to extract uranium ore from the Grand Canyon

A Mayfair mining company has caused uproar with plans to extract uranium from the Grand Canyon – prompting one official to ask how Britons would react “if an American company went to drill at Stonehenge”.

The Grand Canyon is not only one of the world’s most famous natural landmarks, attracting five million visitors a year and offering a home to bald eagles, condors, bighorn sheep and exotic fish. It also happens to contain vast reserves of uranium ore – suddenly in huge demand, thanks to renewed interest in nuclear power as part of the search for “green” fuel.

JOHN LENNON PLANNED TO REUNITE THE BEATLES

Former John Lennon paramour May Pang revealed that Lennon---the man who instigated The Beatles' break-up---actively planned to reunite them in 1974, but that "logistics" got in the way, The Rip Post has learned.
This is the first report ever that Lennon not only wanted to make new Beatles music, but planned to do it.
Pang’s revelation came during a lengthy interview with Casey Piotrowski, host of the nationally syndicated weekly radio program, “The Beatles Show,” in which she said that the ex-Beatle wanted to record one new song with the group as a prelude to a possible formal reunion.

Perhaps 60% Of Today's Oil Price Is Pure Speculation

The price of crude oil today is not made according to any traditional relation of supply to demand. It's controlled by an elaborate financial market system as well as by the four major Anglo-American oil companies. As much as 60% of today's crude oil price is pure speculation driven by large trader banks and hedge funds. It has nothing to do with the convenient myths of Peak Oil. It has to do with control of oil and its price. How?

Merck set up offshore accounts to avoid U.S. taxes; settles with IRS for $2.3 billion

American pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. for years held offshore accounts in Bermuda to hold patents for two of its drugs, and then used the royalties from these patents as tax deductions in the United States.
On Wednesday, the company agreed to pay $2.3 billion to the Internal Revenue Service, settling a three-year tax evasion dispute.

The settlement is the second-largest ever for the IRS.

Today is 38th Anniversary of the Kent State Shootings

On May 4, 1970, four students at Kent State University in Ohio were killed by Ohio National Guardsmen at an on-campus march to protest Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia five days earlier. Those of us who remember Kent State first hand (I was in first grade, the daughter and granddaughter of KSU professors) know the “order to fire” did not come from some commander. The contempt for the life of the “dirty f**king hippies” came from Ohio Governor Rhodes, J. Edgar Hoover, and Richard Nixon. In 1970, the Vietnam war was going horribly wrong, the public that was waking up incredibly quickly, and the President and his administration’s reaction was not only to stay the course but to dig in their heels and question the patriotism of anyone who did not go along.

Late-Night Jokes Of The Week: Testicular Fortitude And Reverend Wright (Video)

With the campaign as fodder, and especially with Reverend Wright's new appearances and the media's reaction to them, late night shows had plenty of fodder for their monologues. Below are some of the funniest, courtesy of Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

"What no jokes about Dick Cheney trying to "Not save the Whales." Willy Bova

League Stops Registering Voters, Plans To Sue Florida

MIAMI - The League of Women Voters and its 27 local leagues have helped thousands of Floridians register to vote over the years.
Just more than a week ago, however, the organization's leaders said they would have to stop their current drive because the state's top election official planned to enforce strict deadlines for the return of voter registration forms, with escalating fines of up to $1,000 for late or lost forms.

The Danger of Excessive Vaccination During Brain Development

In 1976, children received 10 vaccines before attending school. Today they will receive over 36 injections. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Center for Disease Control assured parents that it was safe to not only give these vaccines, but that they could be given at one time with complete safety.

Is this true? Or are we being lied to on a grand scale?

The medical establishment has created a set of terms, which they use constantly to boost their egos and firm up their authority as the unique holders of medical wisdom–the mantra is “evidence-based medicine”, as if everything outside their anointing touch is bogus and suspect. A careful examination of many of the accepted treatments reveals that most have little or no scientific “evidence-based” data to support it.

One often repeated study found that almost 80 percent of medical practice had no scientific backing.

Cyberwarfare: Darpa's New 'Space Race'

The Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, was created 50 years ago, in response to the Soviets' launch of Sputnik. In less than a year, Darpa put together the infrastructure that guided the American space effort for decades to come. Now, Darpa has been given new marching orders: to help America fight and win battles online.

Under a directive signed by the President -- and OK'd by Congress -- nearly every arm of the government's security apparatus is starting work on a massive national cybersecurity initiative, designed to protect the United States from electronic attack.

Post Carrier Accused of Warning Customer About 'Mail Cover' Surveillance

Here's a good reason to remember your postal carrier at Christmas time. Apparently, he or she can tell you if the government is secretly monitoring your mail.
Federal prosecutors in Detroit say letter carrier Darlene Cry illegally tipped off a postal customer that he was the subject of a "mail cover" -- a form of warrantless surveillance in which the envelope information on every card and letter received is secretly recorded by the Post Office, then passed to federal law enforcement or intelligence officials.

MICROSOFT DISCLOSES GOVERNMENT BACKDOOR ON WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEMS

Microsoft may have inadvertently disclosed a potential Microsoft backdoor for law enforcement earlier this week. To explain this all, here is the layman term of a backdoor from Wikipedia:

A backdoor in a computer system (or cryptosystem or algorithm) is a method of bypassing normal authentication, securing remote access to a computer, obtaining access to plaintext, and so on, while attempting to remain undetected. The backdoor may take the form of an installed program (e.g., Back Orifice), or could be a modification to an existing program or hardware device.

WQXT 22 Exclusive Footage of "UFO" sighted in St Augustine Florida over Anastasia island

D.C. madam's mystery death: The Orlando connection

Four days ago, the woman known as the "D.C. Madam" stood in the lobby of her condominium building near downtown Orlando, musing about the future. On Thursday, Palfrey was found dead, hanging by a nylon rope from a metal beam in a backyard shed near her mother's home in Tarpon Springs, on the coast 100 miles west of Orlando. Police said it was an apparent suicide.

"It's hard to believe," said Joseph Strizack, a condominium-association manager at Park Lake Towers who got to know Palfrey during her decade as an owner there. "She did not seem the least bit distraught." ...On one trip down the stairs, she lugged a 2-foot-wide box she suggested carried materials related to her infamous court case. "This is my evidence," she told Strizack before carrying it out the door.

Palfrey's death was the second suicide associated with the case.

DC Madam Predicted She Would Be Suicided

During several recent appearances on The Alex Jones Show, Palfrey also said that she was at risk of being killed and that authorities would make it look like suicide. She made it clear that she was not suicidal and if she was found dead it would be murder.
Palfrey had threatened to release the names of well-known clients of her upscale call girl ring in the nation’s capitol, and had indicated that Dick Cheney may be one of them.

"Nothing to see here folks move along......Look a crazy Black Preacher who claps funny...." Willy Bova

All Salmon Fishing Banned on West Coast

Salmon fishing was banned along the West Coast for the first time in 160 years Thursday, a decision that is expected to have a devastating economic impact on fishermen, dozens of businesses, tourism and boating.
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez immediately declared a commercial fishery disaster, opening the door for Congress to appropriate money for anyone who will be economically harmed.

A Last Wild Salmon

Sockeye, Chinook, Pink, Chum and Coho. All species of salmon from the Pacific Northwest, descendants of the primordial salmon of over a million years ago which lived in the streams of the Rocky Mountains. As ages of ice froze and refroze the inland waters, that ancient fish fled to the ocean for most of its life. But Nature dictated that she and all her generations should return to their natal stream-to breed, commit their genes to eternity, and then die.

This documentary follows the life of one such salmon, underwater all the way, as it survives against impossible odds, battling natural and human forces. The film begins with one of Nature's most astonishing performances - the ancient spawning ritual - and follows each step of development in the salmon's life.

London Police officers to be 'microchipped' by top brass in Big Brother style tracking scheme

Every single Metropolitan police officer will be 'microchipped' so top brass can monitor their movements on a Big Brother style tracking scheme, it can be revealed today.

According to respected industry magazine Police Review, the plan - which affects all 31,000 serving officers in the Met, including Sir Ian Blair - is set to replace the unreliable Airwave radio system currently used to help monitor officer's movements

Is Racism still alive and well in St. Augustine? A new documentary looks at Florida in 1964 and now

Imagine being kicked out of a church, beaten, spat upon, mocked and called names, all because of the color of your skin. Most won't remember the events of the year 1964 in a place called St. Augustine, Florida because most of us weren't alive then, but there are a few who will remember the atrocious things that happened there. Sadly, through the decades that have passed, many of these individuals' stories have faded - until now.

When amateur filmmaker Jeremy Dean learned of these stories, it became his goal to share them with the world. After six years of working on the film, "Dare Not Walk Alone" is finally available for viewing.

Dare Not Walk Alone

The inherent difficulty in making a film about the civil rights movement is that, as with World War II, its essential narratives and images have become so ingrained in the collective consciousness that they border on abstractions. In "Dare Not Walk Alone," first-time helmer Jeremy Dean tries to sidestep the history-book buffer by zeroing in on a single, lesser-known chapter of the movement and its continuing aftershocks on the local community. Combining little-seen footage and revealing interviews with an activist zeal that trumps its sometimes muddled construction, pic opened April 25 in limited release, two years after its initial fest runs.

House Nixes $10 Million Florida Road Earmark, Calls for Investigation

The House nixed a mysterious $10 million earmark for a Florida highway project while calling for a Justice Department investigation into the earmark's origins, a probe that likely will set its crosshairs first on Rep. Don Young.

Young, R-Alaska, made an about-face on Wednesday and fell in line with the bill to axe the $10 million Florida road study after he received strong criticism for his support of the 2005 earmark and his questionable relationship with a Florida land developer connected to the project.

Florida files 450 criminal charges against Danbury man

A Danbury man already in custody in Florida on 126 charges in an Internet sex case is now facing an additional 450 counts of child pornography.

Authorities in Florida say 46-year-old Leonard Shuster was arrested in Orlando last month on his way to what he thought was a sexual encounter with a young girl and her mother. Police say the married father of three actually had been chatting on the Internet with detectives posing as the woman.

DCF worker fired after DUI, child neglect charges

A Department of Children & Families child abuse investigator was fired after her arrest for drunk driving with her 3-year-old child in the car, authorities said Tuesday.

Jill Renee Kostiuk, 37, ran a red light over the weekend colliding with an SUV while her son was in the back seat, according to an arrest report. She was charged with child neglect and DUI and on Monday was fired from DCF.

Dolphin Dies During Performance In Florida Park

A dolphin has died after a collision with another dolphin in mid-air during a stunt performance at Discovery Cove, a sister park of SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. This is the first time an incident of this nature has ever occurred since the park opened in 2000.

The dolphin, a 30-year-old female named 'Sharky' collided in mid-air, head on, with her co-performer 'Tyler', a 13-year-old male, during a live show at the park on Saturday April 26. Sharky died a short time later after suffering head injuries. Tyler was not injured, but is still being observed closely.

"Mission Accomplished" 5 Years Later

The White House said Wednesday that President Bush has paid a price for the "Mission Accomplished" banner that was flown in triumph five years ago but later became a symbol of U.S. misjudgments and mistakes in the long and costly war in Iraq.

Thursday is the fifth anniversary of Bush's dramatic landing in a Navy jet on an aircraft carrier homebound from the war. The USS Abraham Lincoln had launched thousands of airstrikes on Iraq.

"While the Bush administration has used the book "1984" by George Orwell as a manual for Propaganda, it seems the Memory Hole application needs a new no bid contract awarded to Apple, rather than the previous contractor Microsoft, so the Memory Hole will stop crashing and digest the rubbish about any Mission being Accomplished in Iraq." Willy Bova

Canada's C-51 Law May Outlaw 60% of Natural Health Products; Big Pharma Pushing to Criminalize Supplements

A new law being pushed in Canada by Big Pharma seeks to outlaw up to 60 percent of natural health products currently sold in Canada, even while criminalizing parents who give herbs or supplements to their children. The law, known as C-51, was introduced by the Canadian Minister of Health on April 8th, 2008, and it proposes sweeping changes to Canada's Food and Drugs Act that could have devastating consequences on the health products industry.

Among the changes proposed by the bill are radical alterations to key terminology, including replacing the word "drug" with "therapeutic product" throughout the Act, thereby giving the Canadian government broad-reaching powers to regulate the sale of all herbs, vitamins, supplements and other items. With this single language change, anything that is "therapeutic" automatically falls under the Food and Drug Act. This would include bottled water, blueberries, dandelion greens and essentially all plant-derived substances.

Clinton blasts Bush for not stopping a project Bill Clinton OK'd

Hillary Clinton loves to tell the story about how the Chinese government bought a good American company in Indiana, laid off all its workers and moved its critical defense technology work to China.

It’s a story with a dramatic, political ending. Republican President George W. Bush could have stopped it, but he didn’t.

What Clinton never includes in the oft-repeated tale is the role that prominent Democrats played in selling the company and its technology to the Chinese. She never mentions that big-time Democratic contributor George Soros helped put together the deal to sell the company or that the sale was approved by her husband's administration.

Permanent Wars for Oil and Permanent Terrorism

When the Bush-Cheney administration took over in January 2001, the international price of oil was about $22 a barrel. Now, nearly eight years later, the price of oil is hovering around $120 a barrel, a more than five hundred percent increase. Thus, as far as oil is concerned, things have not unfolded in Iraq as planned and expected by the Neocons in the Bush-Cheney administration. First, they thought that gushing Iraqi oil would pay for the invasion and occupation of the country. Instead, the cash outlay for this adventure is likely to reach one trillion dollars, and the total cost to the U.S. economy will likely surpass three trillion dollars. Second, the price of oil is reaching record levels with no top in sight and this is threatening to tip the U.S. and the world economies into a protracted economic recession. This is partly due to the fact that Iraqi oil output has not increased as planned and is rather below where it was when the United States invaded and occupied Iraq in 2003. From a macroeconomic point of view, this ill-advised and illegal war has been an unmitigated disaster.

Making a 'Killing' on the 'War on Terror'

For a multitude of politicians, interest groups, professional associations, corporations, media organizations, universities, local and state governments and federal agency officials, the War on Terror is now a major profit center, a funding bonanza, and a set of slogans and sound bites to be inserted into budget, project, grant and contract proposals.

For the country as a whole, however, it has become a maelstrom of waste and worry that distracts us from more serious problems.

Biofuels 'crime against humanity'

A United Nations expert has condemned the growing use of crops to produce biofuels as a replacement for petrol as a crime against humanity. The UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, said he feared biofuels would bring more hunger. The growth in the production of biofuels has helped to push the price of some crops to record levels.

Biofuel: Criminal Path Leads To Global Food Crisis

The United States and the European Union have taken a "criminal path" by contributing to an explosive rise in global food prices through using food crops to produce biofuels, according to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food.

Speaking at a press conference today in Geneva, Jean Ziegler said that fuel policies pursued by the US and the EU were one of the main causes of the current worldwide food crisis. Mr. Ziegler said that last year the US used a third of its corn crop to create biofuels, while the European Union is planning to have 10 per cent of its petrol supplied by biofuels. The Special Rapporteur has called for a five-year moratorium on the production of biofuels.

Oil Of Oregano Rivals Modern Antibiotic Drugs

Oil pressed from oregano leaves that contain the active ingredient carvacrol may be an effective treatment against sometimes drug-resistant bacterial infection. Georgetown University researchers have found that oil of oregano appears to reduce infection "as effectively as traditional antibiotics."

Cannabis Shrinks Tumors: Government Knew in '74

The term medical marijuana took on dramatic new meaning in February, 2000 when researchers in Madrid announced they had destroyed incurable brain tumors in rats by injecting them with THC, the active ingredient in cannabis.

The Madrid study marks only the second time that THC has been administered to tumor-bearing animals; the first was a Virginia investigation 26 years ago. In both studies, the THC shrank or destroyed tumors in a majority of the test subjects.

Former Shill for Big Pharma Tells the Truth About Drug Testing

Erick Turner, a psychiatry professor at the Oregon State Health and Sciences University, woke up one day and realized that he was acting as a shill for pharmaceutical corporations. Worse, he was promoting drugs that not only provide very little benefit, but also do great harm. In spite of the benefits paid to him, including accommodations and thousands of dollars, and the ego satisfaction of being recognized as a "Very Important Person" by his fellow physicians, his conscience wouldn't let him continue.

Half man, half chimp - should we beware the apeman's coming?

A LEADING scientist has warned a new species of "humanzee," created from breeding apes with humans, could become a reality unless the government acts to stop scientists experimenting.
In an interview with The Scotsman, Dr Calum MacKellar, director of research at the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, warned the controversial draft Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill did not prevent human sperm being inseminated into animals.

 

 

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