Luke_Wilbur

I actually agree with both of you. I think elected officials should be straight forward with the facts. It is difficult to see which spin is actually the truth. I think some parts in Iraq are better, but some parts are worse. In my opinion, the British cut out way too soon. I also think two major tactical mistakes were made. Our military should never have disbanded the revolutionary guard. Our military should have had more troops engaged in the first place. I also think we made major political mistakes after taking over Iraq. The Bush administration should have given more jobs to Iraqi people. The Bush administration should have never told Congress that this war would be funded with Iraqi oil. The State Department should not be running a private army. The Bush administration should have waited for the Iraqi government to define International Oil rights. Currently I see the Iraqi government getting closer with Iran. This is only logical since they are neighbors. But, it does not help speed up the process of troop withdrawal. Now I see that the British are slowing down their withdrawal. Iraq's forces should not have engaged Basra without a green light from Washington. I am sure that there are many logistical aspects we do not see due to security reasons. But, our government has to realize that this is not simular to any wars in the past. People communicate faster on what is really going on. Our television networks filter out some, but the world wide web is too fast. Usually the truth or most outlandish rise up to the top of the noise. But, spin masters of both parties do their very best to Psyop our emotions. But, the tolerance of the American People is waning. What is sad is that I know people fighting for Old Glory. They are getting more confused every day. So the only thing I ask of our military and political leaders is to tell the truth. Our country is going to be blindsided by deadlier threats in the near future if we are not prepared.

On this issue, I totally agree with you. I wish that someone would find out how much gas stations really pay for gas.

Global Resources has a patent pending process that allows for removal of oil and alternative petroleum products at very low cost from various resources, including shale deposits, tar sands and waste oil streams with significantly greater yields and lower costs than are available utilizing existing known technologies. The process uses specific frequencies of microwave radiation to extract oils and alternative petroleum products from secondary raw materials, and is expected to dramatically reduce the cost for oil and gas recovery from a variety of unconventional hydrocarbon resources. Global's technology will not only be developed to extract oil from shale, but from depleted oil fields in the US and elsewhere, many of which still contain more than half of the hydrocarbons originally in these fields, because the residual hydrocarbons are too viscous to extract with conventional technology. Global Resources Patent-Pending technological innovations define new exploration standards including; extracting the remaining in-situ oil reserves from capped-off oil wells, converting shale and/or coal to gas or crude oil, extracting oil from drill cuttings & converting the remaining soil into clean landfill, and cracking automobile tires hydrocarbons into crude oil & carbon black material. On April 06, 2007 GBRC created technology that converts unusable automobile fluff (ASR) into gases and/or diesel fuel and heating oil. Automobile fluff consists of materials that are comprised of non-metallic components equaling approximately ten percent of the total weight of an automobile. Currently, these materials are going to landfills across the United States and Europe and costing about $40 to $60 a ton to dispose of. With 16 million cars disposed of each year in the United States and no home for these materials other than landfills, we are burying millions of barrels of oil per year. GBRC can convert this waste material into reusable by- products! Global Resource Corp.'s HAWK 10 eliminates auto recycling's costs and environmental hazards by breaking down autofluff with its patent-pending high- frequency microwave technology. The microwaves gasify the materials-a process also known as "cracking the hydrocarbon chain"-and convert them into 80 percent light combustible gases, and 20 percent oil. The gas is then cycled in a closed-loop system to fuel the next round of material breakdown, without emitting any harmful waste. The Department of Energy issued a report on Wednesday, June 20, 2007, identifying 25 companies that possess unconventional fuel production technologies. The report includes a profile on Global Resource and its energy production technologies, which can potentially unlock billions of barrels of oil from various oil shale, tar sands, coal and capped oil wells located in the USA. On July 2, 2007 Global Resource Corporation announced that it has commenced a second round of testing on coal using its patent pending technology. The reason for the second round of tests is to substantiate original results. During initial testing, GRC's lab technicians discovered only a miniscule CO or CO2 amount analyzed by their gas chromatograph/mass spectrometry equipment that was directly related to the oxygen naturally inherent to the bituminous coal samples tested. If further testing confirms the results, GRC could very well be the first company to gasify coal without contributing a major greenhouse negative effect by not using oxygen in the gasification process. On July 9 Global Resource Corporation (OTC: GBRC), announced the results from tests proving that the Company's energy conversion process can produce oil and vast amounts of combustible gas from recycled plastics. Global Resource's chief engineer, Hawk Hogan, revealed the results, from tests performed in the Company's laboratory, during Recycling Today Magazine's 'Plastics Recycling Conference' in Orlando. Mr. Hogan introduced the world's most efficient and high-yield plastics-to-energy conversion process, designed by Global Resource, to representatives of global recycling companies. With minimal energy input, energy conversion machines operate at capacities of 5, 10 or 20 tons of material per hour. The process generates energy from plastics or rubber, and can produce up to 18 times the energy that is used to fuel the machine. For instance, a 10 ton per hour unit operates on 950,000 btu per hour, and the process can generate on average of 17,300,000 btu per hour output. Aug. 6 Global Resource Corporation (OTC: GBRC.PK) was recognized by the United States Department of Energy in June as a company that may one day make available hundreds of years of oil, a number based on the United States' current burn rate. Global Resource's patent pending technology, applied to various natural and synthetic materials, produces energy in an economical and environmentally friendly process. To find the report, visit the DOE website at: http://www.globalresourcecorp.com/DOE-REPORT.pdf October 17 Global Resource Corporation announced that its common stock is now listed for trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol (FWB: AH62). The International Security Identification Number (ISIN) number is US37945C2026. The Frankfurt exchange is the third-largest organized exchange-trading market in the world (just behind the NYSE and Nasdaq), in terms of turnover and dealings in securities. Consequently, GBRC anticipates a much wider, international market access for its shares. The listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange will provide increased exposure to worldwide capital markets and will enable European institutional and individual investors to trade the Corporation's common stock in Euros. Jan 3, 2008 Global Resource Corp. signed a agreement with C6 Energy, Sydney, Australia, to introduce into international markets Global Resource Corp.'s revolutionary microwave technology for producing energy. C6 Energy develops systems to improve the environment by converting waste materials and bituminous coal to produce energy and other usable products. Global Resource Corp. Phone: (856) 767-5661 Fax: (856) 767-5664 inquire@Globalresourcecorp.com

I just watched the Battlestar Galactica Final Season Premiere. Kara Thrace "Starbuck" has returned after two months. She tells the entire crew that she has found Earth. But, only Lee Adama believes her. We also now know Colonel Saul Tigh, Galen Tyrol, Samuel T. Anders, Tory Foster, are four of the Final Five Cylons. Who is the fifth? Starbuck, President Laura Roslin, Gaius all have visions. The President and Gaius share the same visions with the Cylons. Starbucks visions are different. She is the only one that has seen Earth. But how did she get a new ship? And how did she get back to the Ionian Nebula where the Galactica fleet was located? Starbuck also saw Leoben in her vision before she died. Gaius has been intimate with hot cylon Caprica Six. She is constantly linked to him. Six tells him what to say and do. Starbuck is married to Samuel, a cylon. Gaius was somewhat intimate with Dianna "Number three" cylon. Starbuck is has saved the fleet many times, knows how to get to Earth, and only Lee believes her. Gaius has inadvertantly helped the cylons anihilate the colonies and gave information about the Ionian Nebula and now is considered by some as a Messiah. Diana died and was boxed following an overpowering vision of the final five. Diana wants to know who are the final five. Caprica wills her programming to block who the five are. Kara's and Laura's visions conflict on the direction of Earth. We also know Nicholas, the infant son of Cally and Galen is the second human-Cylon hybrid. Is it possible that the half-Cylon infant Hera and Nicholas are the ending to this Saga? We know that the Cylons do not know where Earth is. We know that they are following the Galactica to find earth. But, there is a overide that seems to stop them from destroying the last Colonial fleet. We saw this tonight when Sam confronted a cylon fighter. There was a recognition signature when Sam's eyes glowed red. The cylon fleet immediately left. One possible scenerio is that Sam subconciously transmitted to the cylon fleet that Kara was back and she knows how to get to earth. So, the cylon fleet backed off and waited. Remember that the Cylon God" told Kendra in Razor; Starbuck is the Harbinger of Death and will lead Humanity to its doom.

Senator Clinton did make her tax returns public as promised. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Statement of Jay Carson Clinton Campaign Spokesman April 4, 2008 Today Senator Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton are releasing their tax returns for the years 2000 through 2006, and are providing information regarding their 2007 taxes as well. The Clintons have now made public thirty years of tax returns, a record matched by few people in public service. None of Hillary Clinton's presidential opponents have revealed anything close to this amount of personal financial information. What the Clintons' tax returns show is that they paid more than $33,000,000 in federal taxes and donated more than $10,000,000 to charities over the past eight years. They paid taxes and made charitable contributions at a higher rate than taxpayers at their income level. 2000 THROUGH 2007 TAX SUMMARY HILLARY AND BILL CLINTON Senator Hillary Clinton and President Clinton 2007 Tax Information

Congress authorized $3,200,000 for the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP). While the official stated goal of HAARP is to “further advance our knowledge of the physical and electrical properties of the Earth's ionosphere which can affect our military and civilian communication and navigation systems,” conspiracy theories abound from it being a weapon of mass destruction to it being able to manipulate weather conditions around the globe. The truth is that the project has received $111.3 million in pork since 1995.

The little pink book that makes politicians squirm is back. In fiscal year 2008, Congress stuffed 11,610 projects (the second highest total ever) into the 12 appropriations bills worth $17.2 billion. The 11,610 projects represent a 337 percent increase over the 2,658 projects in fiscal year 2007. The $17.2 billion is a 30 percent increase over the fiscal year 2007 total of $13.2 billion. Only the Defense and Homeland Security bills included earmarks in fiscal year 2007, so comparisons of other bills are made between fiscal years 2008 and 2006. Total pork identified by CAGWsince 1991 adds up to $271 billion. “When Congress adopted earmark reforms last year, there was hope that the number and cost of earmarks would be cut in half. By any measure, that has not occurred,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz. In fiscal year 2008, Congress stuffed 11,610 projects (the second highest total ever) worth $17.2 billion into the 12 appropriations bills. That is a 337 percent increase over the 2,658 projects in fiscal year 2007, and a 30 percent increase over the $13.2 billion total in fiscal year 2007. Alaska led the nation with $556 in pork per capita ($380 million total), followed by Hawaii with $221 ($283 million) and North Dakota with $208 ($133 million). CAGW has identified $271 billion in total pork since 1991. For the first time, the names of members of Congress were added to the projects. The top three porkers were members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, beginning with Ranking Member Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) with $892 million; Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) with $469 million; and Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) with $465 million. The Pig Book Summary profiles the most egregious examples, breaks down pork per capita by state, and presents the annual Oinker Awards. All 11,610 projects are listed in a searchable database on CAGW’s website www.cagw.org. Examples from the 2008 Pig Book include: $3 million for The First Tee; $1,950,000 for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service; $460,752 for hops research; $211,509 for olive fruit fly research in Paris, France; $196,000 for the renovation and transformation of the historic Post Office in Las Vegas; $188,000 for the Lobster Institute in Maine; and $148,950 for the Montana Sheep Institute. “Americans do not send their hard-earned tax dollars to Washington so that Sen. Daniel Inouye can bring home $173 million in defense pork and receive the Pacific Fleeced Award or get sapped by $4.8 million going to wood utilization research, on which the government has spent $91 million since 1985,” concluded Schatz. Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) Leslie K. Paige, 202-467-5300

Looks like members of Anonymous are finding out the real costs of doing battle with Scientology. A Latham & Watkins letter signed by former Assistant U.S. Attorney, David J. Schindler, was sent to one member with the charge of terrorism.

I see an increase of over $40 million in funding at the school and classroom level for DCPS and $5 million more for summer youth employment. Construction costs will always be outrageous.

Ok. It is April 2nd. Did anyone read the story where Hillary Clinton scheduled a 3:00 pm press conference to announce that she is conceding the Democratic nomination. Barrack Obama then scheduled a press conference for 2:58 pm so he could concede first. Clinton then raised the anty and announced that her press conference would be held at 3:00 pm Atlantic time, nearly an hour before Obama’s. Not to be outdone, the Obama campaign released a concession letter dated 12 years ago in the Senator's own handwriting.

This is amazing. Unlike Hillary Clinton, he has no controversial vote on Iraq to defend. Unlike Barack Obama, he has extensive experience in both the Senate and the White House. He has put aside his wooden, policy-wonk demeanor to emerge as the Bush administration's most eloquent critic. And thanks to An Inconvenient Truth, Gore is not only the most impassioned leader on the most urgent crisis facing the planet, he's also a Hollywood celebrity, the star of the third-highest-grossing documentary of all time. http://www.algore.org/

Wind Power - The United States added enough wind power in 2007 alone to provide electricity to more than a million homes. Texas is the fastest-growing wind power state and about 15% of the country has excellent wind, especially the Great Plains. Today's efficient wind turbines are sleek and powerful, and can be taller than the Statue of Liberty with blades longer than the wings of a Boeing 737. When connected together through a national grid, wind power could provide at least one-third of our total electricity needs. Solar thermal power -- which uses solar energy to drive turbines -- already produces enough electricity in the United States for about 100,000 homes, but several utilities have announced projects to provide enough power for 10 times that many homes in the next several years. And, because solar thermal power plants can store energy to produce electricity at night, they can be installed in place of new coal power plants. Just a small area of solar thermal in the Southwest could supply all of the US electricity needs. Solar Photovoltaics: States like California and New Jersey are already implementing programs to encourage communities to install solar panels in new homes, buildings, and even on parking lot roofs. Solar photovoltaics, which can now be integrated into roof tiles, have no moving parts and can even produce electricity on cloudy days. It will become more common as global installations of photovoltaics grow by an expected 800% in the next 10 years. If these systems were installed on all sunny buildings in the US, we could supply at least one-quarter of our electricity needs. Geothermal Power: Today, the United States is the leading producer of geothermal power, producing enough electricity from underground hot rocks for more than 2 million homes. Experts say that we could have 15-30 times as much power over the next few decades thanks to recent advances in geothermal technology. http://www.wecansolveit.org/content/soluti..._of_renewables/

A clean energy economy is a win for American jobs. A recent report showed that investment in a clean and efficient economy would "lead to over 3 million new green-collar jobs, stimulate $1.4 trillion in new GDP, add billions in personal income and retail sales, produce $284 billion in net energy savings, all while generating sufficient returns to the U.S. treasury to pay for itself over ten years." http://www.wecansolveit.org/content/soluti...energy_economy/

Today, the Alliance for Climate Protection launched a multi-year, multi-faceted campaign designed to engage the American public and ignite a movement to address one of the most important issues facing civilization: solving the climate crisis. Unprecedented in scale for a public policy issue, the Alliance’s “We” campaign draws from the best practices of successful commercial, social marketing and political campaigns. The Alliance’s campaign combines advertising, online organizing via its new website at http://www.wecansolveit.org, and partnerships with a diverse and growing group of grassroots organizations, to educate the American public on the urgent need to solve the climate crisis and activate them to demand real solutions from elected officials. The international scientific community agrees that we may have only a short time to act in order to ensure that the next generation will inherit a healthy planet. By broadly shifting public opinion to move past a ‘tipping point’, the Alliance’s We campaign will help embolden leaders in both major political parties and all sectors of civil society to offer genuinely effective policies, programs and laws that will sharply reduce emissions of CO2, methane and other greenhouse gas pollutants. “We can solve the climate crisis, but it will require a major shift in public opinion and engagement,” saidf ormer Vice President and Alliance Chairman Al Gore. “The technologies exist, but our elected leaders don’t yet have the political will to take the bold actions required. When politicians hear the American people calling loud and clear for change, they’ll listen.” The Alliance’s three year, commercial-scale campaign will fund an aggressive and innovative online activation and mobilization program supported by nationwide television, print, radio and online advertising all geared towards engaging 10 million supporters to drive policy change. To date, the Alliance has already enlisted more than one million activists towards that goal. The We campaign’s first television ad, titled “Anthem,” highlights the historic nature of the challenge and the need for a society-wide commitment to finding comprehensive solutions. The ad draws a dramatic parallel between the collective spirit of American leadership that helped us win the Second World War, overcome segregation and put a man on the moon to the spirit needed today to solve the climate crisis. The ad will run nationally on network and cable channels, including placements on shows such as American Idol, House and Law & Order. “There is no problem that can’t be solved when Americans unite behind a shared commitment,” said Alliance CEO Cathy Zoi. “Solving the climate crisis is a moral question that transcends who we vote for, which house we worship in or who signs our paychecks. It is past time for us to come together on this issue.” The Alliance will also reach an unprecedented number of Americans across the political, ideological and socioeconomic spectrum through a series of partnerships with groups such as the Girl Scouts, the United Steelworkers union, and the National Audubon Society, among many others. The Alliance will support the organizations’ efforts to educate their members about playing an active role in solving the climate crisis. Noting the Alliance’s goal of supplementing and supporting the numerous and effective ongoing efforts to fight climate change across the country, Larry Schweiger, President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation and Alliance Board Member said, “The Alliance’s campaign couldn’t come at a better time. Catalyzing public opinion on the need to solve the climate crisis will greatly benefit the myriad local and national efforts already underway to reach real solutions.” Alliance Board Member and former Republican Congressman Chairman of the House Science Committee Sherwood Boehlert highlighted the non-partisan nature of the effort. “The We campaign is a way to overcome the partisanship that has plagued efforts to confront the immensely important issue of climate change for too long. It doesn’t matter who you are—Republican, Democrat or Independent—the We campaign will enable individuals , some of whom have never considered the effects of climate change, to make a positive impact.” Highlighting the historic nature of this challenge, Gore said, “It is a privilege to be alive at a moment when we are called upon to join a movement greater than ourselves. We have found this generation’s opportunity to be great. Together we can do for future generations what our parents and grandparents did for us: confront the defining challenge of our time, and find the solutions together.” About the Alliance: The Alliance for Climate Protection is a 501©(3) organization founded in 2006 by former Vice President Al Gore, who currently serves as the chairman of the bipartisan board of directors. Building on the momentum of the Academy Award winning film, "An Inconvenient Truth," the Alliance engages individuals, communities, corporations and governments across the world to take action to quickly reduce their own greenhouse pollution and to demand action from their political, business and community leaders to enact policies that will sharply reduce emissions.

As of 2007, the work of Bob Teal and his Magnipulsion Engine from 1976 has all but been forgotten. Teal was granted two patents for his mechanical, reciprocating electromagnetic attraction engine in 1977 and 1978. However, nothing in these patents disclosed the essential secrets of its extraordinary operating characteristics. Its capabilities were only hinted at in a rare piece of company literature. By 1978, Teal was out of money, and work on the Magnipulsion Engine had stopped. Luckily, these documents fell into the hands of Free Energy researcher Dr. Peter Lindemann in 1979. By 1983, a group of people in Santa Barbara, California, including Peter Lindemann and Michael Knox, were working on reviving Teal's ideas and developing their own advanced power plant called the Flux Motor. The Flux Motor produced extremely high torque and was able to recover over 80% of its input electricity. Unfortunately, this group also ran out of money before finishing their work. So, the secrets of these amazing electric motors lay quietly in a file box for 24 years. View the video at YouTube. The recycled energy is used to induce motion in the system, via the collapsing magnetic field.

The stable state of our known solar system in terms of planets and their moons implies that there are no such intruders on a regular cycle of destruction and mayhem. If you consider the age of our solar system and how many orbital cycles would have been completed by now by the intruder. The past destruction would be more evident.

In a new NASA study, researchers taking advantage of improvements in satellite sensor capabilities offer the first measurement-based estimate of the amount of pollution from East Asian forest fires, urban exhaust, and industrial production that makes its way to western North America. China, the world’s most populated country, has experienced rapid industrial growth, massive human migrations to urban areas, and considerable expansion in automobile use over the last two decades. As a result, the country has doubled its emissions of man-made pollutants to become the world’s largest emitter of tiny particles called pollution aerosols that are transported across the Pacific Ocean by rapid airstreams emanating from East Asia. Hongbin Yu, an associate research scientist of the University of Maryland Baltimore County working at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., grew up in China and taught there as a university professor, where he witnessed first-hand and studied how pollution from nearby power plants in China affected the local environment. Early this decade, scientists began using emerging high-accuracy satellite data to answer key questions about the role tiny particles play in the atmosphere, and eventually expanded their research to include continent-to-continent pollution transport. So Yu teamed with other researchers to take advantage of the innovations in satellite technology and has now made the first-ever satellite-based estimate of pollution aerosols transported from East Asia to North America. The new measurements from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite substantiate the results of previous model-based studies, and are the most extensive to date. The new study will be published this spring in the American Geophysical Union’s Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres. “We used the latest satellite capabilities to distinguish industrial pollution and smoke from dust transported to the western regions of North America from East Asia. Looking at four years of data from 2002 to 2005 we estimated the amount of pollution arriving in North America to be equivalent to about 15 percent of local emissions of the U.S. and Canada,” Yu said. “This is a significant percentage at a time when the U.S. is trying to decrease pollution emissions to boost overall air quality. This means that any reduction in our emissions may be offset by the pollution aerosols coming from East Asia and other regions.” Yu and his colleagues measured the trans-Pacific flow of pollution in teragrams, a unit of measurement of the mass of pollution aerosol (1 teragram is about 2.2 billion pounds). Satellite data confirmed 18 teragrams -- almost 40 billion pounds -- of pollution aerosol was exported to the northwestern Pacific Ocean and 4.5 teragrams – nearly 10 billion pounds -- reached North America annually from East Asia over the study period. Yu points out, however, that the matter of pollution transport is a global one. “Our study focused on East Asian pollution transport, but pollution also flows from Europe, North America, the broader Asian region and elsewhere, across bodies of water and land, to neighboring areas and beyond,” he said. “So we should not simply blame East Asia for this amount of pollution flowing into North America.” In fact, in a model study published last November in the Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Mian Chin, also a co-author of this study and an atmospheric scientist at NASA Goddard, suggests that European pollution also makes a significant contribution to the pollution inflow to North America. “Satellite instruments give us the ability to capture more accurate measurements, on a nearly daily basis across a broader geographic region and across a longer time frame so that the overall result is a better estimate than any other measurement method we’ve had in the past,” said study co-author Lorraine Remer, a physical scientist and member of the MODIS science team at NASA Goddard. The MODIS instrument can distinguish between broad categories of particles in the air, and observes Earth’s entire surface every one to two days, enabling it to monitor movement of the East Asian pollution aerosols as they rise into the lower troposphere, the area of the atmosphere where we live and breathe, and make their way across the Pacific and up into the middle and upper regions of the troposphere. Remer added that the research team also found that pollution movements fluctuate during the year, with the East Asian airstream carrying its largest “load” in spring and smallest in summer. The most extensive East Asian export of pollution across the Pacific took place in 2003, triggered by record-breaking wildfires across vast forests of East Asia and Russia. Notably, the pollution aerosols also travel quickly. They cross the ocean and journey into the atmosphere above North American in as little as one week. “Using this imaging instrument, we cannot determine at what level of elevation in the atmosphere pollution travels. So, we do not have a way in this study to assess the degree of impact the pollution aerosols from China have on air quality here once they cross over to North America. We need improved technology to make that determination,” said Remer. “Nevertheless, we realize there is indeed impact. For example, particles like these have been linked to regional weather and climate effects through interactions between pollution aerosols and the Sun's heat energy. Since pollution transport is such a broad global issue, it is important moving forward to extend this kind of study to other regions, to see how much pollution is migrating from its source regions to others, when, and how fast,” said Remer. According to measurements taken with a satellite instrument, vast quantities of industrial aerosols and smoke from biomass burning in East Asia and Russia are traveling from one side of the globe to another. Explosive economic growth in Asia has profound implications for the atmosphere worldwide. Data collected by a NASA satellite shows a dense blanket of polluted air over the Northwestern Pacific. This brown cloud is a toxic mix of ash, acids, and airborne particles from car and factory emissions, as well as from low-tech polluters like coal-burning stoves and from forest fires. This image generated by data from NASA’s instrument called MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) onboard the Terra satellite demonstrates how large and pervasive this transport phenomenon is across vast areas. In the above picture, heavy aerosol concentrations appear in shades of brown, with darker shades representing greater concentrations. Areas lined in black on the land surface represent human population. Notice how heavy aerosol production and dense population areas correspond. Also notice how there are dense patches of red points in East Asia. These correspond with intense forest fires, sending vast quantities of aerosols into the atmosphere. Although this image gives the impression that the fires and plumes of aerosols may not be connected, in fact they are. There’s a direct relationship between those fire point and the brown patches appearing to the East. China’s exports fill shelves around the world, but according to a new NASA research paper, China also heavily exports pollution. This week, space agency scientists reveal how Chinese industrialization and Russian forest fires in combination with pollution transported eastward from Europe send roughly 18 teragrams — almost 40 billion pounds—of pollution aerosols into the atmosphere over the Northwestern Pacific every year. The MODIS instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite has been tracking the particulate pollution for more than seven years, gathering data as most of it drifted east across the Pacific Ocean. About 4.5 teragrams of particulate pollution each year could reach the western boundary of North America, which is about 15% of local emissions of particulate pollutants from the U.S. and Canada. In the last two decades, China has more than doubled its pollution production. This boom may be contributing to substantial changes in climate and weather in places far from the origin of the particulates. Never in human history—anywhere—has there been industrial growth like that in modern China. But with fast growth comes unintended consequences, and from space evidence of those consequences is starting to emerge. The research relies on measurements of something called “aerosol optical thickness”. It’s a quantitative measurement about how well a slice of atmosphere transmits light. The greater the value of optical thickness for a given location, the less light of a particular wavelength can pass through it. Measurements of aerosol optical thickness describe quantities of tiny particles in a given volume. By measuring how much light can penetrate a region of atmosphere across a variety of wavelengths, scientists can make certain inferences about the quantity and type of particles blocking that light. This visualization shows the seasonal variations of transport of pollution aerosols across the North Pacific. The East Asian airstream carries its largest pollution loading in spring and smallest in summer and fall. With heavy concentrations of aerosols represented by shades of brown, scientists can track the origins and distribution of the particles as they travel in the atmosphere. The sequence also shows a trail of substantial aerosol concentrations from a variety of sources. These sources include heavy industrial activity in East Asia associated with high population density represented in this sequence by gradations of black covering the land surface, and intense Russian forest fires in high latitudes.

The most detailed temperature map to date of the "Tiger Stripe" region on the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus reveals that the area is even warmer than previous measurements indicated. Jets resembling geysers are erupting from cracks in the icy crust of this region, so named because the fissures look like the stripes of a tiger. The temperature measurements were made by the Cassini spacecraft’s Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) during the spacecraft’s close flyby of the moon on March 12, 2008. The warmth suggests the possibility that there might be liquid water beneath the ice. Liquid water, together with abundant organic material detected by Cassini as it flew through the jets, would make Enceladus a promising place to search for extraterrestrial life. "Enceladus has got warmth, water and organic chemicals -- some of the essential building blocks needed for life," said Dennis Matson, Cassini Project Scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "We have quite a recipe for life on our hands, but we have yet to find the final ingredient -- liquid water, but Enceladus is only whetting our appetites for more." "This latest flyby is the closest we have been to Enceladus while mapping its temperatures," said CIRS Principal Investigator Michael Flasar of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Seeing them as high as 180 Kelvin (minus 136 Fahrenheit) in the surface cracks near the south pole is amazing, because the temperatures expected on a quiescent Enceladus are only 60 K (minus 352 F). Some very energetic process below the surface is generating a lot of heat and spewing out the molecules and particles that are seen by the other Cassini instruments when the spacecraft passes over the south polar region. Enceladus continues to surprise and fascinate." The CIRS team is based at NASA Goddard. This new view shows that at least three of the south polar fractures are active along almost their full lengths -- the fourth one, on the right, was only partially covered by this scan. The infrared radiation was mapped by CIRS at wavelengths between 12 and 16 microns. The infrared data, shown in false color, are superimposed on a grayscale image mosaic of the south pole obtained by Cassini's cameras on July 14, 2005, during the previous close Enceladus flyby. The warmest parts of the fractures tend to lie on locations of the plume jets identified in earlier images. Numbers on the map indicate latitude and longitude. "These spectacular new data will really help us understand what powers the geysers. Plus, the surprisingly high temperatures make it more likely that there's liquid water not far below the surface," said John Spencer, Cassini scientist on the CIRS team at the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colo. Cassini flew through the jets during this flyby of the moon, and the spacecraft's Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer saw a much higher density of volatile gases, water vapor, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, as well as organic materials, some 20 times denser than expected. Organic materials contain carbon and are necessary for life as we know it. Mission scientists say the organics "taste and smell" like some of those found in a comet. The jets themselves harmlessly peppered Cassini, exerting measurable torque on the spacecraft, and providing an indirect measure of the plume density. This map was made by scanning the south pole during the period from 16 to 37 minutes after closest approach to Enceladus, at a distance between 14,000 and 32,000 kilometers (about 8,700 and 20,000 miles) as Cassini rapidly receded from its close (50-kilometer or 32-mile) flyby. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The Composite Infrared Spectrometer team is based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

The truth is the world is going open source. On the good side technology can advance at a much faster rate and it becomes cheaper to implement. This message board started as an open source project. WashDC.com is our current open source project. It has saved our publication hundreds of thousands of dollars. The bad side is that open source technology can be hacked easier. So, it is not for everyone. From your posts I would surmise that Intel is finding more people willing to learn its architecture at a reasonable rate. Someone told me that Chinese and Japanese women are attracted to men with large thumb muscles. Brains over Bronze. Now, we just have to try to get American kids to think software writing is cool. I am going to teach my kid everything I know. I am sure it will be easy for him to surpass my knowledge base. I also would not underestimate our government's ability in cyberwarfare. I think I just saw a commercial about it for the military.

Harris Teeter will open a 50,000 square foot full-service grocery store in the rapidly emerging NoMa (north of Massachusetts Avenue) neighborhood of Washington, D.C., under a 20-year lease announced today by StonebridgeCarras. The upscale North Carolina-based grocery chain will locate at Constitution Square, a mixed-use complex located directly west of the New York Avenue Metro station in the heart of NoMa. The store, located at the corner of First and M Streets, N.E., is scheduled to open in the winter of 2010/2011. Constitution Square, under development by affiliates of StonebridgeCarras of Bethesda, MD and Walton Street Capital of Chicago, IL, was recently selected for a 521,000 square foot 15-year lease for the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ). This lease announcement came a day after NPR announced its decision to relocate its headquarters to 1111 North Capitol Street, N.E. in NoMa. Constitution Square’s first phase of development, scheduled to break ground in April and deliver in 2010, will total 1.6 million SF and include the Harris Teeter Store; Two Constitution Square with 589,000 SF, 88 percent of which will be occupied by the Department of Justice; the 340,000 SF One Constitution Square speculative office development; a residential building with 440 apartments; and 30,000 square feet of additional retail space. The KLNB Retail team of Cary Judd and Melissa Lower Welch represented Harris Teeter in the lease transaction. JBG Rosenfeld Retail is the leasing agent for the balance of the Constitution Square retail space. SK&I Architectural Group of Bethesda, MD is the architect for the retail and residential components of Constitution Square. A key aspect of completing this transaction was the District's commitment to provide a tax incentive to assist with the cost of providing 150 parking spaces for the Harris Teeter store. The Constitution Square Economic Development Act of 2008 was passed by the District of Columbia Council in January, 2008 and signed into law on January 29, 2008 by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. "We talk a lot about the importance of building dynamic new neighborhoods -- and NoMa is Exhibit A," said Mayor Fenty. "First NPR, then the Justice Department, and now a high-end, full- service grocery store -- all within a few feet of a Metrorail station. It’s clear now that NoMa is no longer just a plan – it’s a reality.” "The vision of NoMa is a true mixed-use environment – combining office, retail, and residential uses to create a neighborhood out of a former industrial warehouse center,” commented StonebridgeCarras Principal Doug Firstenberg. “To truly accomplish that vision requires a great grocery store. Harris Teeter simply represents the best grocer to help us create this neighborhood. We greatly appreciate the District’s support with enactment of special legislation to address the challenges of providing the right plan and parking necessary to attract a quality store such as Harris Teeter to an urban location." "Harris Teeter has been studying the NoMa market for the past several years,” noted Harris Teeter President Fred Morganthall. “We found that Constitution Square's mixed-use plan provides the type of urban location where we can provide an outstanding grocery store and become an integral member of this emerging commercial and residential community." Morgenthall added: "To create a 50,000 square foot store on a single level is highly unusual at the hub of a burgeoning urban area like NoMa. The combination of the location, the quality of the Constitution Square development, and the floor plan of the store will allow us to bring all of the best aspects of Harris Teeter stores to NoMa, such as our Fresh Foods Market, Fisherman's Market, and Farmer's Market." “Our shared vision for NoMa has been a mixed-use, walkable, livable community that enhances the quality of life for the existing residents while also attracting new residents to this growing area,” noted District of Columbia Council Member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), whose Ward includes Constitution Square. “A critical component to achieving this vision is having an easily accessible full service grocery store. Bringing Harris Teeter to Constitution Square and NoMa fulfills this key need.” “The District needs to carefully target its investment in development projects that will both meet the needs of our citizens as well as provide a reasonable return on our investment,” said Council Member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who co-sponsored the Constitution Square legislation. “At Constitution Square, the District has been able to help secure a Harris Teeter grocery store that will meet the needs of our current citizens and help attract new residents, and already has been instrumental in attracting the Department of Justice and NPR to NoMa.” "It is quite unique for a high-end, full-service grocery store like Harris Teeter to commit to a new store so early in the development of an emerging neighborhood,” said Elizabeth Price, President of the NoMa Business Improvement District. “You just have to look at how grocery stores have transformed neighborhoods in other parts of the District to realize the significance of this lease.” NoMa is an emerging mixed-use neighborhood north of the U.S. Capitol and Union Station in Washington DC. Private developers have invested approximately $1.5 billion to date with plans to develop over 20 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, and retail space in the area covered by the NoMa BID over the next 10 years. The BID provides daily street and sidewalk cleaning, safety ambassadors, marketing, events, and other services to make NoMa a clean, safe, and vibrant neighborhood for businesses, residents, and visitors. For more information about the BID, including an interactive development map, see the BID Website at http://www.nomabid.org.

Looking for state of art map services. NAVTEK offers location-based content for automotive and consumer electronics manufacturers, and the top mapping Web sites. Leading companies like Google see the potential in the marketplace and they share NAVTEQ's vision for the role navigation and location content will play in the way consumers live and work in the future. The company reported with making over a half billion dollars in Net Revenue with four hundred and eighty million dollars in operating expenses. Increasingly, governmental agencies and businesses are using map data to boost efficiencies. NAVTEQ is meeting the demand. The U.S. Government chose NAVTEQ maps to help the Department of Homeland Security synchronize its planning for and response to emergencies and natural disasters. NAVTEQ maps are also guiding the growing number of fleet operators and dispatchers seeking to maximize route efficiencies, minimize driving errors, and save fuel. In the fourth quarter of 2006, NAVTEQ entered into an agreement to acquire Traffic.com, a U.S. provider of real-time traffic data. This acquisition, which was completed on March 6th, 2007, provides the high quality traffic data customers and consumers want today and a technology platform for the future. In addition, we acquired The Map Network, a Washington, D.C.-based producer of officially licensed maps designed to market travel destinations, special events, hotels, and marquee venues. Our acquisition of The Map Network broadens our capacity to deliver localized content to a wide variety of customers across multiple industries. Earlier in the year, we also announced the acquisition of a leading Mexican map company, MapIT!, a division of gedas AG. NAVTEQ generates revenue primarily through the licensing of our database in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and North America (Americas). The largest portion of our revenue comes from digital map data used in self-contained hardware and software systems installed in vehicles (in-dash systems). The company believes that, in addition to automobile market conditions in general and automobile sales mix. There are two key factors that affect our performance with respect to this revenue: the number of automobiles sold for which navigation systems are either standard or an option (adoption) and the rate at which car buyers select navigation systems as an option (take-rate). We believe the adoption of navigation systems in automobiles in Europe has stabilized at over 80%, but that adoption of such systems in North America continues to increase. In addition, the take-rates have increased during recent years in both Europe and North America and we expect that these will continue to increase for at least the next few years as a result of market acceptance by our customers of products and services that use our database and anticipated reductions in the price of in-dash systems. As the adoption of navigation systems in automobiles increases in North America, and the take-rates in both North America and Europe increase, we believe each of these can have a positive effect on our revenue, subject to our ability to maintain our license fee structure and customer base. NAVTEQ's unrivaled leadership is overwhelmingly demonstrated in the marketplace: Every major U.S. and European automaker relies on NAVTEQ maps to power the navigation system in one or more of their models. NAVTEQ maps also power many personal navigation devices (PNDs), including units made by Garmin, Magellan, and Thales, as well as many of the leading location-enabled applications. The top Web mapping portals, including Google, Yahoo!, MapQuest, and Rand McNally, are map-enabled by NAVTEQ. Become a member of the NAVTEQ Network for Developers and begin exploring technical resources and tools, accessing sample map data, leveraging technical support, and participating in the industry-leading LBS Challenge today. http://developer.navteq.com

With gas prices inflating, states will need to depend more on local farms to supply the growing food demand. The states that have a small agriculture infrastructure will suffer the most.

I just got this from Google. Looks like good news for bloggers and publishers.

Thanks Joe. I hope that Moth Man does not get you as well. Just remember not to flash a light in the dark. Moths tend to be attracted to the light.

I finally received a response from Google regarding this issue. __________________________________________________________ Hi Luke, I apologize for the delay in updating you as I was out of the office on Friday. The legal team confirmed that this clause is not meant as an exclusivity provision as that was actually taken out of the AdSense Program Policies. Therefore, this clause means: 1. Yes, AdSense publishers can participate in other ad networks. 2. If a publisher has a relationship with an advertiser outside of AdSense, this clause does not prohibit them from communicating with one another. I hope this addressed your concern and feel free to let me know if you have any further questions. Cheers, Jennifer AdSense Account Strategist Google, Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043