Saturday, September 6, 2008

Gen Dyn. Geo-Eye, US. Russia, CDC Threataganda, +


General Dynamics-built GeoEye-1 Satellite Successfully Launched Today
GILBERT, Ariz., Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The GeoEye-1 satellite, designed and built by General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, was successfully launched into a 423-mile orbit today from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. GeoEye-1 is the world's highest-resolution commercial Earth imaging satellite, capable of offering half-meter color imagery to government and commercial customers.

US warship confronts Russian military in ‘tinderbox’ port

The USS Mount Whitney, pictured here in the Bosphorus, today made a controversial landing at the port of Poti

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4682003.ece
A US Navy flagship carrying humanitarian aid yesterday steamed into a Georgian port where Russian troops are still stationed, stoking tensions once again in the tinderbox Caucasus region.
A previous trip by US warships was cancelled at the last minute a week ago amid fears that an armed stand-off could intensify in the Black Sea port of Poti.
The arrival of the USS Mount Whitney, flagship of the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean, came as Moscow accused Dick Cheney, the hawkish US Vice-President, of stoking tensions during a visit to Tbilisi this week. After meeting President Saakashvili, Mr Cheney vowed to bring Georgia into the Nato alliance. Russia sees such moves as Western encroachment on its traditional sphere of influence.
Russia’s leaders have accused previous US warships that docked at the port of Batumi, to the south, of delivering weapons to re-arm the smashed
Defiant Cheney vows Georgia will join Nato
CDC chief states flu pandemic is coming

Director of the Center for Disease Control, Dr. Julie Gerberding, speaks Thursday during a flu pandemic preparedness conference at Logistics Health's Riverside Center South. PETER THOMSON photo
Ready or not, a flu pandemic is coming, says Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Gerberding talked about preparing for the pandemic threat at a national conference Thursday at Logistics Health in La Crosse. No one knows when the pandemic is coming or what strain of flu virus will cause it, but it is overdue, she said.
She said she has only two meetings a week at the CDC and one focuses on flu pandemic preparations. “We take it very seriously,” Gerberding said, adding that the national strategy is to “save lives and sustain a civil society” during a pandemic.

The Continuity in Government Project
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/cgi-bin/blogs/voices.php/2008/09/06/p28403

The political infrastructure for martial law in the U.S. is already in place. Apparently unsure that the USAPATRIOT Act(s) and the Military Commissions Act weren’t strong enough, on May 9, 2007, Bush issued a document doubly titled “National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD 51″ and “Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-20.” This document supposedly outlines the federal government’s plan for maintaining continuity in the face of a “catastrophic emergency.”
“Catastrophic emergency” is defined as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government function.” So, pretty much anything…
In the event of this improbable catastrophe, this unconstitutional legislation by the executive grants itself supreme power to ensure the continuity of Constitutional government. Good one.
In other words, NSPD 51/HSPD-20 would impose martial law under the authority of the White House through DHS. It would suspend constitutional government under the provisions of Continuity in Government (COG).
Since 2003, following the invasion of Iraq, Homeland Security (DHS) has contemplated time and again the possibility of a so-called code red alert “scenario” — using a potential or possible Al Qaeda terrorist attack on American soil — as a pretext for implementing martial law. At one time, Tommy Thompson Former Health and Human Services Secretary said that if we “went to” Code Red the entire civilian government would “shut down.” There are no known provisions for returning America from Code Red status, once it is invoked.
Michel Chosudovsky in “Bush Directive for a “Catastrophic Emergency” in America” writes:
“This Combined Directive NSPD /51 HSPD 20 grants unprecedented powers to the Presidency and the Department of Homeland Security, overriding the foundations of Constitutional government. NSPD 51 allows the sitting president to declare a “national emergency” without Congressional approval The adoption of NSPD 51 would lead to the de facto closing down of the Legislature and the militarization of justice and law enforcement:
Human Trials Of Universal Flu Vaccine Begin At Oxford University

US frustrated over China's refusal to come clean on nuke capability
http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/15257
Washington, Sept.5 (ANI): Pentagon officials have claimed that China continues to resist disclosing details of its strategic nuclear weapons programs despite both governments having had several exchanges and discussions in the past two years.
The Washington Times quoted one unnamed defense official as saying that Beijing has adopted stalling tactics, which has left Washington quite frustrated over what he called excessive secrecy and a lack of dialogue.

One factor responsible for the current stalemate on the issue has been the absence of a visit by General Jing Zhiyan, the commander of China's nuclear forces, to the U.S. Strategic Command or the United States despite President Hu Jintao having made a promise to do so in 2006....

Emergency drill shuts streets (Chicago)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-080906-emergency-drill,0,6956199.story?track=rss




Photos: Future Combat Systems, here and now



Homelands Security to use social networks for alerts


The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has developed a tool for MySpace users to get emergency broadcast warnings for natural disasters.

The tool saw its first deployment after Hurricane Gustaf came ashore at the start of the week. Officials from the DHS asked MySpace to fast track the applications after the storm hit and it went live on Tuesday.
"What you are seeing us doing with DHS and FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) is the beginning of bigger things to come in the future," MySpace chief security officer Hemanshu Nigam told Agence France-Presse (AFP)


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