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Suddenly, Welcome to The World of 'Moral Hazard'
Excerpt....
"Now, with big banks dropping like flies and Wall Street vaporizing amid a mortgage meltdown, every corner bar and hair salon is filled with experts on the perils of moral hazard. Everyone gets it: Cut risk down to next to nothing and some people do crazy things.
Borrowers across America took a dive for low- or no-down-payment mortgages buoyed by the Federal Reserve's low-risk interest rates. Wall Street sliced the mortgages thinner than prosciutto ham, "spreading risk," and sold pieces all over the world, where, like magic, they seemed to fatten balance sheets. The deal was so win-win that Bear Stearns, Lehman, Merrill and the rest of the world's mega-banks engorged on their own product. It was as if foie gras geese forced corn and fat down their own throats. The risk of exploding seemed to be nil.
For behind it all sat Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, running mortgage liquidity into the nation's neighborhoods like an open fire hydrant. Several years ago, when the Journal's editorial board met with Fannie Mae's top executives and pressed the issue of financial risks, we were told by way of ending the conversation that Fannie was merely fulfilling the "mandate of Congress" to spread home ownership across the land. Congress, of course, is a temple to moral hazard."
Congress got us here; back door dealings and stupid ideas have been presented to get us out of here....
When the solutions come from the same folks who created the problems, beware! Excerpt.... ... more -
Satellite-Surveillance Program to Begin Despite Privacy Concerns
The Department of Homeland Security will proceed with the first phase of a controversial satellite-surveillance program, even though an independent review found the department hasn't yet ensured the program will comply with privacy laws. The Department of Homeland Security will proceed with the first phase of a controversial satellite-surveillance program, even though a... more
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Senatorial sea change: How the Feds are voting for the earth first
As our economy free falls toward a recession and possible depression, what can the government really do?
Letdown after failure after empty promise has more than discouraged American voters and investors. But there is one bright spot in the government’s plan to rescue us and it begins with the environment.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) have unveiled a $56.2 billion “economic recovery package” which includes funding for things like public transit, home weatherization, and environmental cleanup.
But that’s not all, by an overwhelming 93 to 2 vote, the full Senate approved the Baucus-Grassley tax extender bill, which includes a one-year extension of the production tax credit given out to producers of clean energy specific to solar and wind.
In this day and age of the politics of fear and the inability of large government bureaucracies to get anything done, this recent development seems to be an exception to the rule.
For more on our government going Green, the bailout, and other shreds of hope, check out some of the links below.
How the US Government Engineered the Current Economic Crisis (TechCrunch.com)
Government IT Goes Green (FCW.com)
Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty
Photo by Cubadad.
[Hit the link above for all the proper links] As our economy free falls toward a recession and possible depression, what can the government really do? ... more -
You Want BioDiesel? Take a look at this!!
Oil to Fuel one step continuous process
Oil to Fuel in seconds
All known feedstocks
Ageless Catalyst
Process Benefits
1) Current waste products can be turned into fuel.
2) No use of strong acids or bases in the process.
3) Fast reaction times (seconds).
4) Cheap feedstocks such as waste grease and animal tallow as well as a variety of plant oils can be converted to biodiesel.
5) The metal oxide based catalyst is a contained in a fixed bed reactor thereby eliminating the current need to continuously add catalyst to the reaction mixture thereby reducing the amount of waste produced.
6) Unwanted side reactions with free fatty acids producing soaps are eliminated, thereby reducing the amount of waste that must be disposed of properly.
7) Insensitive to free fatty acid and water content of the feedstocks.
8) Flexible feedstock; animal or plant sources of lipids can be used.
9) The catalyst does not "poison" over time.
pretty cool, eh? Oil to Fuel one step continuous process Oil to Fuel in seconds All known feedstocks Ageless Catalyst ... more -
Polar bears at risk increasing with offshore oil
PLEASE TAKE ACTION!
GreenpeaceOffshore Oil = Increased Risk for Polar Bears
Polar bears are hanging on for dear life. They are faced with a rapidly shrinking arctic environment due to global warming. And now the Senate is poised to drive another nail in polar bears' coffins by voting for more drilling off of America's shores.
More oil drilling will do nothing to lower gas prices. It will, however, increase global warming pollution and put the polar bear on an even faster track towards extinction. To solve our dead-end dependence on fossil fuels we need legislation that immediately ends the massive tax breaks for Big Oil; doubles the average fuel efficiency of existing cars to at least 50 miles per gallon; substantially invests in public transportation so people have more and better choices; and provides robust incentives for renewable energy investments to transition us to a clean energy future.
Tell your Senator today! A vote to protect our coastal waters from more drilling is a vote the polar bears desperately need right now.
Please follow the link below to sign a pre-written letter or you can personlize & edit the letter.
http://members.greenpeace.org/action/start.php?action_i... PLEASE TAKE ACTION! GreenpeaceOffshore Oil = Increased Risk for Polar Bears ... more -
Calls rise among Republicans for Sarah Palin to step down from GOP ticket
As the economy worsens, so does Palin in the eyes of fellow Republicans...
Sarah Palin faces the biggest test of her month-old candidacy with this Thursday's vice presidential debate, but many Republicans are already convinced the Alaska governor is not ready for prime time - and may never be.
"It was fun while it lasted," conservative National Review columnist Kathleen Parker regretfully concluded last week. "But circumstances have changed since Palin was introduced as just a hockey mom with lipstick."
Those "circumstances," Parker and others are now saying, include not just the Wall Street meltdown - a crisis that seems to cry out for seasoned leadership - but also Palin's choppy, tenuous, even unintelligible answers to the few questions she has fielded on her own.
Palin's interview last week with CBS' Katie Couric is Exhibit A - a frightening glimpse, say fans and critics alike, into what happens when Palin is allowed to speak without a script.
"It's very important when you consider even national-security issues with Russia," she told Couric in explaining why being able to see Russia from Alaska should count as foreign policy experience on her résumé. "It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right next to, they are right next to our state." As the economy worsens, so does Palin in the eyes of fellow Republicans... ... more -
Senate Lifts Offshore Drilling Ban In Huge Spending Bill
Senators have passed a spending bill that aids Gulf Coast disaster victims and subsidizes federal loans for automakers. President Bush is expected to sign the measure despite some reservations.
The $634 billion bill provides money to keep the government running until the next president takes office.
The 78-12 vote Saturday also lifts a quarter-century ban on oil drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. That's a big victory for Republicans.
The Democrats have once again caved into Bush's demands.
Republicans say ending the drilling ban should lower gasoline prices. Democrats say it won't mean additional oil production for years.
Then why did lift the ban?
The lifting of the offshore oil drilling moratorium does not mean drilling is imminent. But it could set the stage for the government to offer leases in some Atlantic federal waters as early as 2011.
The low-interest loans for automakers are intended to help the companies develop technologies and retool factories to meet new standards for cleaner and more fuel-efficient cars.
After hard lobbying, automakers won up to $25 billion in low-interest loans to help them develop technologies and retool factories to meet new standards for cleaner and more fuel-efficient cars.
The legislation also contains 2,322 pet projects totaling $6.6 billion, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group. That included 2,025 in the defense portion alone that cost a total of $4.9 billion. Senators have passed a spending bill that aids Gulf Coast disaster victims and subsidizes federal loans for automakers. President Bush... more -
How to slip $25 Billion past the Main Stream Media...
A $25 Billion Lifeline for GM, Ford, and Chrysler
September 24, 2008 05:45 PM ET | Rick Newman
In Washington these days, an 11-figure expenditure barely attracts notice.
With Congress preoccupied with the massive, $700 billion bailout plan for the financial industry, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler have finally secured Part One of their own federal rescue plan. A bill set to be passed by Congress and signed by President Bush as early as this weekend -- separate from the controversial Wall Street bailout plan -- includes $25 billion in loans for the beleaguered Detroit automakers and several of their suppliers. "It seemed like a lot when we first started pushing this," says Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, one of the bill's sponsors. "Suddenly, it seems so small."
But please don't call it a "bailout" -- Detroit is too proud for that. Exact details will come later, but the loans would probably amount to at least $5 billion for each of the Detroit 3, plus smaller amounts for suppliers. That would allow them to borrow money at interest rates as low as 4 percent -- a steep discount compared with the double-digit rates they're paying now. Over several years, the automakers could save hundreds of millions in financing costs. Plus, they'll have five years before they have to start repaying the loans.
yeah, right... "Suddenly it seems so small." A $25 Billion Lifeline for GM, Ford, and Chrysler September 24, 2008 05:45 PM ET | Rick Newman ... more -
Treasury Scam Letter... Beware!
From: Minister of the Treasury Paulson
Subject: REQUEST FOR URGENT CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP
Dear American:
I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.
I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.
I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. I assure you, this transaction is 100% safe.
This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check.
We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.
Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.
Yours Faithfully
Minister of Treasury Paulson From: Minister of the Treasury Paulson Subject: REQUEST FOR URGENT CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP Dear American: ... more -
U.S. tortures Congressman from Idaho
Tortured, jailed without trial, and imprisoned on false charges... Sound too incredibly like a blockbuster movie plot??? heh It's real life, and it's happening.
Congressman George Hansen in the 80's was exposing corruption by the billions of dollars and had angered "mega banksters". You be the one to decide who was behind this dictatorial action typical of Europe in the Dark Ages. Between the "diesel therapy" by inhuman Federal Marshals and the mistreatment of merciless prison guards, 60 year old Congressman George Hansen suffered not only unbearable torture, but permanent injuries that would cripple most young men. This type of insufferablly outrageous violation of our Constitutional rights and law is being executed on a regular basis, and allegedly aimed at those who dare question the banking fraud or the [then] Clinton presidency.
Adapted with permission from George Hansen, Congressman, retired, himself.
Follow the links at the site, or click here for some of the more common answers to questions you're bound to have reading up on this... http://www.uhuh.com/reports/hansen/hanhurts.htm
They really screwed him...think it can't happen to you? Tortured, jailed without trial, and imprisoned on false charges... Sound too incredibly like a blockbuster movie plot??? heh It... more -
What the 2nd Amendment is REALLY for...
Dr. Gratia-Hupp speaks to representatives, pulling no punches. Suzanna witnessed first-hand her parents shot dead by a "lunatic" and explains why she doesn't even blame the gunman, per se.
Who does she blame?
Watch this short clip and find out the silent gunman really is, and who Suzanna feels is ultimately responsible for the merciless death of her parents; and watch as Suzanna points out who we really need to protect ourselves from.
Spoken like a true American, and from someone who's honestly been there with something truly important to lose, as we all do.
...how does Brave'World do it? ... "PSSST! DO SOMETHING!" =) Dr. Gratia-Hupp speaks to representatives, pulling no punches. Suzanna witnessed first-hand her parents shot dead by a "lunatic... more -
Seven observers debate the (sorry) state of the economy.
“Reason assembled a panel of economists and other market watchers to help make sense of the headlines.
"Blame the Fed
Gerald P. O’Driscoll Jr.
The U.S. economy is in the midst of an old-style credit crunch brought on by a combination of bad policies and incredibly lax underwriting standards at financial institutions. The biggest policy failure was the decision by Alan Greenspan’s Federal Reserve to hold interest rates too low for too long. Heretofore unqualified borrowers suddenly “qualified” as underwriting standards relaxed and then disappeared.
No Hoofing to Hooverville
Megan McArdle
Ignore the econopundits making comparisons to the 1930s. While the parallels are striking, we are missing the key ingredient in the onset of the Great Depression: tight Fed policy that caused the money supply to shrink by 25 percent.
First, Do No (More) Harm
Ron Paul
This nation is facing an economic crisis the likes of which have not been seen in several generations. It is crucial that we take to heart the lesson that should have been learned after the Great Depression, which is that the central bank should do nothing.
The Vicious Ethanol Cycle
Robert Bryce
I see three big dangers to the global economy: the ongoing fallout from the mortgage mess, rising energy prices, and rising food prices. That last item is the most maddening, because surging food prices are largely the result of the ethanol scam.
As U.S. ethanol distilleries vacuum up ever increasing quantities of corn, and corn takes up an ever larger percentage of arable land, prices for all types of food are skyrocketing. During the last two years, corn prices have more than doubled and soybean prices have nearly tripled. In 2007 food prices in the U.S. increased by nearly 5 percent. Bill Lapp, of the Omaha-based research firm Advanced Economic Solutions, told The Boston Globe in March that he expects food prices to increase at an annual rate of 7.5 percent for the next five years.
Because of mandates requiring gasoline producers to mix ethanol with their fuel, 20 percent of the U.S. corn crop in 2006—about 2.1 billion bushels—was diverted into ethanol production. …[the] Security Act of 2007, … requires the consumption of 36 billion gallons of ethanol by 2020, a fivefold increase over current levels.
War Is the Health of the Civilian State
Robert Higgs
Adam Smith famously observed that there is “a great deal of ruin in a nation”—that is, nations can take a lot of abuse. Let’s hope he was right, because the George W. Bush administration has taken a great many actions during the past seven years that contribute to economic ruin.
Stagflation or Depression?
Robert E. Wright
The current U.S. economic outlook is as bleak as it was in 1974 or even 1930. Will the economy wither? Or will it just wilt a little before blossoming in a bath of Fed-supplied liquidity? Nobody knows for sure, but I fear the former. Here’s why:
Our educational system does a poor job of teaching people how to think independently. Today’s globalized economy, however, demands ever larger numbers of engineers, doctors, scientists, and sundry creative types.
"The Only Thing to Fear Is Fear-Driven Government ‘Control’
Donald J. Boudreaux
Contrary to the conventional wisdom… the massive move toward centralized control of the economy during the administrations of both Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt did not “rescue” Americans from economic hardship. All that FDR’s soaring rhetoric … managed to do was to prolong an economic downturn into America’s deepest and longest depression—one that showed no reliable signs of ending until after Roosevelt met his maker. … [I]nvestors were terrified by the very real risk during the 1930s that government would extend its control over the economy even beyond what it achieved with its New Deal programs." “Reason assembled a panel of economists and other market watchers to help make sense of the headlines. ... more -
Prohibition, The Great Depression and Income Taxes... Connection? Yes!
Why did Prohibition start? What helped it end... click and read...
Excerpt:
"As historian Norman Clark reports:
"Before 1930 few people called for outright repeal of the (18th) Amendment. No amendment had ever been repealed, and it was clear that few Americans were moved to political action yet by the partial successes or failures of the Eighteenth. ... The repeal movement, which since the early 1920s had been a sullen and hopeless expression of minority discontent, astounded even its most dedicated supporters when it suddenly gained political momentum."
What happened in 1930 that suddenly gave the repeal movement political muscle? The answer is the Great Depression and the ravages that it inflicted on federal income-tax revenues.
Prior to the creation in 1913 of the national income tax, about a third of Uncle Sam's annual revenue came from liquor taxes. (The bulk of Uncle Sam's revenues came from customs duties.) Not so after 1913. Especially after the income tax surprised politicians during World War I with its incredible ability to rake in tax revenue, the importance of liquor taxation fell precipitously.
By 1920, the income tax supplied two-thirds of Uncle Sam's revenues and nine times more revenue than was then supplied by liquor taxes and customs duties combined. In research that I did with University of Michigan law professor Adam Pritchard, we found that bulging income-tax revenues made it possible for Congress finally to give in to the decades-old movement for alcohol prohibition.
Before the income tax, Congress effectively ignored such calls because to prohibit alcohol sales then would have hit Congress hard in the place it guards most zealously: its purse. But once a new and much more intoxicating source of revenue was discovered, the cost to politicians of pandering to the puritans and other anti-liquor lobbies dramatically fell.
Prohibition was launched.
Despite pleas throughout the 1920s by journalist H.L. Mencken and a tiny handful of other sensible people to end Prohibition, Congress gave no hint that it would repeal this folly. Prohibition appeared to be here to stay -- until income-tax revenues nose-dived in the early 1930s.
From 1930 to 1931, income-tax revenues fell by 15 percent.
In 1932 they fell another 37 percent; 1932 income-tax revenues were 46 percent lower than just two years earlier. And by 1933 they were fully 60 percent lower than in 1930.
With no end of the Depression in sight, Washington got anxious for a substitute source of revenue.
That source was liquor sales.
Bottoms Up!
+af Why did Prohibition start? What helped it end... click and read... Excerpt: "As historian Norman Clark reports: ... more -
You blamed WHOM for the mortgage meltdown?? Think Again...
Whomever you've been blaming for our recent financial messes JUST MIGHT CHANGE after you read some of this.... I TOLD you it was very complex... Here's one of the guilty parties....
Excerpt...
"Who's to blame for the biggest financial catastrophe of our time? There are plenty of culprits, but one candidate for lead perp is former Sen. Phil Gramm. Eight years ago, as part of a decades-long anti-regulatory crusade, Gramm pulled a sly legislative maneuver that greased the way to the multibillion-dollar subprime meltdown. Yet has Gramm been banished from the corridors of power? Reviled as the villain who bankrupted Middle America? Hardly. Now a well-paid executive at a Swiss bank, Gramm cochairs Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign and advises the Republican candidate on economic matters. He's been mentioned as a possible Treasury secretary should McCain win. That's right: A guy who helped screw up the global financial system could end up in charge of US economic policy. Talk about a market failure."
MUCH MORE at link... Enjoy!
+af Whomever you've been blaming for our recent financial messes JUST MIGHT CHANGE after you read some of this.... I TOLD you it was ... more -
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Says `No One Knows What to Do' to Solve Cri...
By James Rowley and Brian Faler
Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Congress is unlikely to pass new legislation to overhaul financial regulations this year because ``no one knows what to do,'' Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said today.
``We are in new territory, this is a different game,'' Reid said at a briefing in Washington. Neither Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke nor Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson ``know what to do but they are trying to come up with ideas,'' Reid said.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said today that the administration is willing to consider a suggestion in Congress to have the U.S. buy distressed mortgages, akin to the role the Resolution Trust Corp. played in disposing of bad debts of from savings and loan associations in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said the Federal Reserve has the authority to act as an ``effective Resolution Trust Fund'' to buy up and dispose of bad debt stemming from the subprime mortgage crisis.
``The Fed has the authority to move in this area,'' Dodd told reporters in Washington.
[more at link]...
Harry, congratulations... the lobotomy was successful... and you're the US SENATE MAJORITY LEADER!!!!!
So,
printing money like it's going out of style, thus causing a weak US dollar AND increasing inflation...,
invalidating states' anti-usury laws...,
taking more and more line-items "off-budget"...,
tacking pork money onto bills totally unrelated to what the pork's for...,
and now, bailing out STUPID companies with "government" money?! [that is to say, OUR MONEY]...
you should just resign in embarrassment.
in ancient Japan, the "cure" would be to fall on your sword with honor.
i guess Congress has run out of THAT, too. By James Rowley and Brian Faler ... more -
Obama lashes out at McCain
Barack Obama took the fiercest swipe yet at John McCain's economic positions here Tuesday in light of turmoil on Wall Street, portraying the Arizona senator as blithely ignorant and willing to continue on with Bush administration policies.
The Democratic presidential nominee slightly departed from his typical stump speech here to promote his economic plan and bash McCain for saying in March that he believed in less regulation on Wall Street.
The speech comes amid continued upheaval in world financial markets that has brought three of the five largest U.S. investment banks to their knees, and is requiring tens of billions of dollars in federal government bailouts.
"We are in the most serious financial crisis in generations. Yet Sen. McCain stood up yesterday and said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong," Obama told a crowd of 2,184 at the Colorado School of Mines. "A few hours later, his campaign sent him back out to clean up his remarks ... But we know that Senator McCain meant what he said the first time."
McCain, who appeared on MSNBC this morning, said his first priority is addressing the "alphabet soup of regulatory agencies," which he said were designed for the 1930s.
"Now we have an instantaneous financial system that's global in nature and it's not compartmentalized," he said. "Look at the Stock Exchange today as to what it was even 20 or 30 years ago. So you've got to fix that and also, very frankly, people were asleep at the switch."
Obama slammed McCain for being "fundamentally a deregulator," citing remarks McCain made in March that he believes in less regulation in the financial markets. He called McCain's decision to form a commission to study the economy "the oldest Washington stunt in the book."
"Here's the thing - this isn't 9/11," Obama told a boisterous standing crowd in a gymnasium. "We know how we got into this mess. What we need now is leadership that gets us out."
He got another ovation when he said he wouldn't allow lobbyists' interests to penetrate the White House.
"I am the only candidate who can say that Washington lobbyists do not fund my campaign, they will not run my White House, and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am President of the United States," he said. "That's how we're going to end the outrage of special interests tipping the scales."
Lakewood resident Penny Roach introduced Obama.
Roach was laid off from Merrill Lynch a few years ago, and struggles to pay medical bills even though she has skeletal health insurance.
She said Colorado needed to "turn blue" in November.
"Barack Obama is the only candidate ... who is a leader who isn't afraid to take on the special interests," she said.
Obama, who has spent the last day and a half in small Colorado towns, heads to Los Angeles tonight and Elko, Nev., tomorrow for another rally.
In addition to hitting his financial plan hard, he's peddled a message to Western voters emphasizing the need for clean energy, better paying jobs and tax cuts for the middle class.
Yesterday, he told a crowd in Grand Junction that Colorado and Gov. Bill Ritter understand clean energy and that if he wins in November, he'd invest $150 billion in 10 years to invest in renewable sources of energy and clean cars.
In Golden today, hundreds of overflow supporters who didn't get tickets into the event waved and screamed at the motorcade as it arrived a few minutes late to the engineering school.
Obama, who stayed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Denver last night, stopped and waved at people lining the sidewalk on the corner of 15th and Welton Streets before heading to Jefferson County.
(Denver Post) Barack Obama took the fiercest swipe yet at John McCain's economic positions here Tuesday in light of turmoil on Wall Street, por... more -
65 MPG Ford Available in November… Too Bad The Government Is Keeping You From Buyi...
This November, Ford is expanding their slate of vehicles to include the Ford Fiesta ECOnetic, a sporty five-seater that gets a whopping 65 miles per gallon. This is great news for those of us that want to combat higher gas prices when the time comes to replace our current vehicles. It is very reasonably priced, and it will be available for purchase in the last quarter of this year. This November, Ford is expanding their slate of vehicles to include the Ford Fiesta ECOnetic, a sporty five-seater that gets a whoppin... more
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Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac CEOs to get Golden Parachutes
Shareholders in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw the value of their stock nearly disappear Monday after the mortgage giants had been taken over by the federal government, but the companies' chief executives will leave after banking millions and taking millions more on the way out the door. Shareholders in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw the value of their stock nearly disappear Monday after the mortgage giants had been tak... more
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Don't look up! GeoEye Is Watching
Let the tracking begin!
Excerpts from company's web site:
GeoEye is the premier provider of geospatial information for the national security community, strategic partners, resellers and commercial customers to help them better map, measure and monitor the world. The Company is recognized as the industry's trusted imagery expert for delivering reliable service and the exceptional quality of its imagery products and solutions. It operates a constellation of Earth imaging satellites, mapping aircraft and has an international network of ground stations, a robust imagery archive, and advanced imagery processing capabilities for developing innovative geospatial products and solutions.
This sub-meter ground resolution means GeoEye-1 will be able to discern an object on the ground approximately 16 inches in size and map it to within 3 meters of its true location, using both multispectral imagery and panchromatic imagery.
GeoEye-1 will make 15 orbits per day flying at an altitude of 423 miles with an orbital velocity of about 16,800 mi/hr. Its sun-synchronous orbit allows it to pass over a given area at about 10:30 a.m. local time every day. Given its altitude and sun-synchronous orbit, field of view and superior resolution GeoEye-1 can “revisit” any point on the globe every three days or sooner, depending upon the required look angle.
Here is a list of use for their products in respective order:
Defense
National and Homeland Security
Air and Marine Transportation
Oil and Gas
Energy
Mining
Mapping and Location-based Services
State and Local Government
Insurance and Risk Management
Agriculture
Natural Resources and Environmental Monitoring
Excerpt from FAQ page:
Q. What about the imagery 24-hour hold rule for space pictures better than IKONOS?
A. After a lengthy U.S. Government interagency review, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) notified commercial imagery providers that the 24-hour hold rule that was required for imagery at a resolution better than .82-meter is no longer in place. On June 29, 2007, GeoEye’s commercial remote sensing license was modified to reflect this change. This means that GeoEye will be able to sell imagery as soon as possible after it has been captured.
What do you think about this?
Don't think you aren't being monitored. It's is just so far removed, you just don't notice it.
Good luck fellow citizens.
Ride on! Let the tracking begin! Excerpts from company's web site: ... more -
Colorado sues DOD over mustard gas
Another fine example of the government operating expeditiously:
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Tuesday filed suit in U.S. District Court seeking a court-ordered deadline for the destroying the mustard agent and toxic chemicals stored at the Pueblo chemical weapons depot.
"There have been so many delays," said Gary Baughman, director of the state's hazardous materials and waste management divisions, "we felt we needed an enforceable schedule."
The Pueblo facility is storing about 780,000 artillery and mortar rounds containing 2,611 tons of mustard agent in 94 igloos. The agents have been there for more than 50 years.
In addition, four igloos contain 26 containers of leaking chemical munitions, more than 500 overpacked containers, according to the state's lawsuit.
The Department of Defense killed a plan in 2004 that would have completed treatment in 2012 for financial reasons, according to the state's suit.
A second plan developed in 2005 with a completion date in 2014 was also shelved.
Congress passed a law directing the Pentagon to complete the weapons destruction at the Pueblo Depot and the Blue Grass Army Depot, in Richmond, Kentucky by 2017.
The Pentagon cannot complete the job before 2020 because of technical and financial limitations, said spokeswoman Katherine DeWesse. Another fine example of the government operating expeditiously: ... more
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