Monetary Revolution Begins With Competing Currencies

In recent interviews, Congressman Ron Paul has been promoting the idea of legalizing competing currencies in the process of diffusing the Federal Reserve's monopoly over money.

As the Fed's strongest political critic, Paul will now be in a position as the new Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy to enforce more transparency and push for alternative currencies to compete with the dollar.

Already, his unprecedented measure to audit the Fed was passed in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Despite being a watered down version from the original with 300-plus cosponsors in the House, it will still accomplish more transparency of the Fed. Paul has also introduced a lesser-known piece of legislation that he says is vital to reforming monetary policy and restoring economic freedom: the Free Competition in Currency Act of 2009 (HR 4248).

The premise of this bill is that private or public monopolies are naturally destructive to freedom, especially when that monopoly can legally counterfeit the nation's currency with little oversight. Paul says during his floor statement to introduce the bill that the Federal Reserve is a "dangerous organization" that "does not allow competition because they know they can't compete."

Bill HR 4248 will essentially do three things: 1) repeal legal tender laws to remove the monopoly control of the Federal Reserve, 2) legalize private mints to issue coins to be controlled by anti-fraud and anti-counterfeit laws, and, 3) remove taxes from precious metal coins to ensure fair competition among new currencies.

Paul adds that it will provide a smooth transition away from the Fed, pointing out that "if nobody wanted to use them (competing currencies), they wouldn't have to, and everybody could be happy with the Federal Reserve. But if the situation gets so chaotic that the people are looking for an alternative, they can go over to start operating in another currency."


Obviously, coins made with precious metals will maintain, or increase, in value should the world reserve currency, the U.S. dollar, continue its decline. It is this store-of-wealth component and Constitutional obligation to pay all debts in silver or gold coinage that drives Paul's monetary philosophy. And although he prefers the private production of coinage, his proposal to de-monopolize the Fed through competition does not discriminate against paper or public alternative currencies.

Some regional paper currencies have already been in circulation for years such as Ithaca HOURS and BerkShares. According to the HOURS organization, local currencies are perfectly legal "as long as it does not look like dollars, as long as denominations are at least $1.00 value, and if it is regarded as taxable income." In other words, they are essentially tied to U.S. dollars and must be taxed the same.

Ithaca 2 HOUR Note

Ithaca HOURS, based in Ithaca, N.Y. were one of the first local currencies founded in 1991. HOURS are considered "local tender rather than legal tender, backed by real people, real labor, skills and tools" and are based on one hour of labor valued at $10. With around $100,000, or 10,000 HOURS now in circulation, they've been used for millions of dollars in trades by over 500 businesses and organizations.

The organization offers one-year, interest-free loans to local businesses. The supply of HOURS increases with these short-term loans, by issuing grants for local nonprofit organizations, a 5% annual operating/printing fee paid to a local printer, and when members sign up or renew memberships where they receive 2 - 4 HOURS for doing so. HOURS are not redeemable for dollars in banks in order to encourage local commerce.

In contrast, BerkShares, used in western Massachusetts, are directly redeemable in dollars at several participating banks. Their official website describes them as:

BerkShares are a tool for community empowerment, enabling merchants and consumers to plant the seeds for an alternative economic future for their communities. Launched in the fall of 2006, BerkShares had a robust initiation, with over one million BerkShares having been circulated in the first nine months and over 2.7 million to date. Currently, more than four hundred businesses have signed up to accept the currency. Five different banks have partnered with BerkShares, with a total of thirteen branch offices now serving as exchange stations.

BerkShares Being Printed

Anyone can purchase 100 BerkShares for $95 at partner banks. These 100 BerkShares are equal to $100 purchasing power at participating shops and restaurants. These businesses can then either spend the 100 BerkShares back in the marketplace, or convert them into $95 at the bank. Therefore, they give a 5% discount to BerkShare customers to encourage local consumption. The program is so successful that other cities like Baltimore are modeling their BNote currency after it.

Although Ron Paul specifically mentions allowing private coinage of precious metals, these regional paper currencies provide an important alternative exchange structure should the dollar collapse. It is said that these competing currencies are backed by local relationships and labor, but it seems it was their peg to the dollar that helped early skeptics trust their value. Now that the motivation for creating currency alternatives to the Federal Reserve note is rooted in the instability of the dollar, it will be interesting to see if these communities maintain faith in their value should the dollar fail in dramatic fashion.

Western Michigan is one region that has been increasingly accepting silver or gold as a competing currency for local goods and services. A man even paid for $25 of gasoline with a half-ounce silver "barter medallion" bearing Ron Paul's likeness:


Another benefit of using gold and silver as a regional competing currency is that their value is border-less, whereas a new paper-currency may have difficulty expanding trust in times of lost faith in the fiat dollar. However, the established infrastructure for alternative paper currencies may prove to be a quicker regional solution should a dollar crisis unfold rapidly.

Ultimately, the principle of competition is of utmost importance for monetary reform. The argument is that when free market principles take hold, the most stable and trustworthy alternative currencies will likely grow in scale and coverage, yet their competition will continue to keep them honest.

The Working Poor

As the middle class in America continues to be slowly wiped out, the number of working poor continues to increase. Today, nearly one out of every three families in the United States is considered to be "low income". Millions of American families are finding that they can barely make it from month to month even with both parents working as hard as they possibly can. Blue collar American workers from coast to coast are having their wages decreased at a time when it seems like the cost of virtually every monthly bill is going up. Unfortunately, there is every indication that things are only going to get worse and that average American families are going to be financially squeezed even more in the months and years to come.

The Working Poor Families Project has just released their policy brief for the winter of 2010-11. What they have discovered is that the number of working poor in the United States is higher than they have ever seen it before and it continues to increase at a staggering pace. The following are some of the key findings for 2009 that were pulled right out of their report....

* There were more than 10 million low-income working families in the United States, an increase of nearly a quarter million from the previous year.

* Forty-five million people, including 22 million children, lived in low-income working families, an increase of 1.7 million people from 2008.

* Forty-three percent of working families with at least one minority parent were low income, nearly twice the proportion of white working families (22 percent).

* Income inequality continued to grow with the richest 20 percent of working families taking home 47 percent of all income and earning 10 times that of low-income working families.

* More than half of the U.S. labor force (55 percent) has “suffered a spell of unemployment, a cut in pay, a reduction in hours or have become involuntary part-time workers” since the recession began in December 2007.

Unfortunately, things are not going to be getting any better for the working poor. In the new "one world economy" that our politicians keep insisting is so good for us, millions upon millions of American workers now find that they have to compete for work with laborers on the other side of the globe that are willing to work for slave labor wages. This is causing millions of jobs to leave the United States and it is forcing wages down.

Millions of Americans now find that they are making substantially less than they used to. If that has happened to you, perhaps you can take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. Or perhaps it is not that comforting. In any event, American workers are not just competing with each other anymore. Now there is the constant threat that all the jobs could just be sent overseas.

As wages are forced down, a record number of working Americans are finding themselves forced to turn to food stamps and to other government anti-poverty programs. Millions of Americans have been forced to take part-time jobs in order to supplement their incomes. Millions of others have been forced to take part-time jobs because that is all they can find.

This is all part of a long-term trend. The numbers don't lie. About the only people doing well are those on Wall Street and the very rich. Nearly every other segment of the population is getting poorer.

The following are 10 statistics that I have shared previously, but I think that they do a really good job of highlighting the plight that the working poor in this country are now facing....

#1 In 2009, total wages, median wages, and average wages all declined in the United States.

#2 Since the year 2000, we have lost 10% of our middle class jobs. In the year 2000 there were about 72 million middle class jobs in the United States but today there are only about 65 million middle class jobs. Meanwhile, our population is getting larger.

#3 As 2007 began, only 26 million Americans were on food stamps, but now 42 million Americans are on food stamps and that number keeps rising every single month.

#4 Since 2001, over 42,000 U.S. factories have closed down for good.

#5 One out of every six Americans is now enrolled in at least one anti-poverty program run by the federal government.

#6 Half of all American workers now earn $505 or less per week.

#7 The number of Americans working part-time jobs "for economic reasons" is now the highest it has been in at least five decades.

#8 Ten years ago, the United States was ranked number one in average wealth per adult. In 2010, the United States has fallen to seventh.

#9 In 1976, the top 1 percent of earners in the United States took in 8.9 percent of all income. By 2007, that number had risen to 23.5 percent.

#10 According to one recent study, approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010.

The United States is becoming poorer as a nation even as the boys up on Wall Street are busy grabbing a bigger share for themselves.

We are rapidly becoming a nation that will have a very small privileged class of ultra-wealthy and a very large class of "workers" that is just barely trying to survive.

So is the answer even more government handouts and even more government social programs?

Of course not.

What middle class Americans need are middle class jobs.

But as I have written about previously, the United States is rapidly bleeding middle class jobs with no end in sight.

Globalism has permanently changed the game. The middle class way of life that so many millions of Americans have been enjoying for so many decades is disappearing.

Just because things were a certain way yesterday does not mean that things are going to be the same way tomorrow. The long-term economic trends that this column keeps talking about day after day after day are taking us all to a very dark economic place.

But instead of facing reality, our federal government, our state governments and our local governments just keep borrowing massive amounts of dollars to try to paper over all of our problems.

It is not going to work. Unless something is done to fix our structural economic problems, the economic decay is just going to get worse and all of this debt is eventually going to collapse our entire financial system.

If you are a member of the working poor I wish I had better news for you. Things are not going to be getting better, and unfortunately millions more Americans will probably be joining you soon.

Air travel stalls as blizzard bears down on New York, New England

(CNN) -- Thousands of travelers spent the night camped out on airport floors and thousands more were stranded in hotel rooms and relatives' homes as blizzard conditions halted flights at New York's three major airports, slowed rail travel and continued to create treacherous conditions on roads throughout the East Coast on Monday.

The storm brought high winds -- in some cases as much as 80 miles per hour -- and blinding snow to much of the East Coast beginning Sunday. Some places were forecast to receive as much as 30 inches of snow overall. Blizzard warnings remained in effect through noon Monday for much of coastal New England.

Incoming and departing flights were suspended at New York's John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports Sunday night, as well as at Newark Liberty International Airport in neighboring north New Jersey, Port Authority spokeswoman Sara Joren said.

The airports are now not expected to reopen until 4 p.m. ET Monday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Amtrak, which had canceled service between Boston and New York on Sunday, said Monday morning that it had resumed limited service between the two cities. But spokesman Cliff Cole warned that many trains may already be sold out.

The passenger train service's decision to cancel service on Sunday affected some 10,000 passengers.

Travel by road was also difficult. Emergency declarations were in place Monday in Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts, among other places.

Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell has asked people to stay off the state's roads unless absolutely necessary, said Peter Boynton, the commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management.

"If you have to be on the road, of course, the rule of the day is take it slow," he said.

Airlines have canceled some 2,000 flights since the storm began, leaving airports that normally would have been flush with activity after Christmas largely quiet. Many would-be travelers stayed away, thanks in part to many airlines' pre-emptive cancellations.

But not all. Shabaz Motan came to LaGuardia on Sunday afternoon even though he knew his flight to Chicago had been canceled. He was hoping to get a free hotel room or flight voucher from the airline, but he ended up sleeping on a cot because airline officials told him it wasn't their fault he couldn't fly.

"It's been tough," he said.

Julie Stratton also spent the night at LaGuardia. She was scheduled to fly to Indianapolis, Indiana, on Sunday, but said Monday she is now being told she may not be able to fly out until Thursday.

"It's not the best of scenarios, no," she said. "But you just have to make the best of it. There's nothing else you can do."

Most carriers were waiving penalties for passengers traveling Sunday and Monday to airports from North Carolina to Boston and beyond. Affected customers were being urged to contact the relevant airline either by phone or online.

The mayors of Philadelphia, Boston, Providence and Portland, Maine, also called snow emergencies, while New York City launched a winter snow storm operation and encouraged people to stay off the roads by taking mass transit or staying put.

"Unfortunately, our city is directly in the path," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sunday afternoon, amid a blizzard warning that extends until 6 p.m. Monday. "It's hard to stand up in a 55-mph wind, so this really is dangerous."

The Northeast was not the only area being affected. In North Carolina, icy road conditions were blamed for three deaths.

The storm's timing, coming over a holiday weekend, was fortuitous for some and disastrous for others. City and state officials predicted that the blizzard's impact on the economy and otherwise might be muted, because many people had the holiday weekend off and fewer were expected to be commuting into work than normal on Monday.

"With the people who are staying home for the holidays, it's great, but we know a lot of people who are trying to get home," said Brett Martin, claiming his hometown of Virginia Beach, Virginia, had received almost a foot of snow. "We're just playing games and hanging out by the fire."

Metropolitan New York could see snow totals between 15 and 20 inches of accumulating snow, with sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph and gusts of up to 50 mph, the National Weather Service said Monday.

Meanwhile, the NFL announced that a game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles -- originally scheduled for Sunday night -- had been postponed until 8:20 p.m. Tuesday.

"It was dangerous for the players, dangerous for the fans," said Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who called a state of emergency in anticipation of up to 14 inches of snow. "People still have to get out of the parking lot (and get in) their cars."

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick told reporters Sunday that 1,000 plows, sand and salt trucks were working to keep state roads clear and that as many as 4,000 would be deployed as the storm worsens.

"We expect visibility to be very low and travel to be extremely dangerous," Patrick said.

Watch Video http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/12/26/airlines.weather/index.html?hpt=T1

台灣‧李登輝：沒有“九二共識”

（台灣‧台北26日訊）台灣前總統李登輝周六表示，沒有“九二共識”，政治人物不能睜眼說瞎話。

馬英九日前接受媒體專訪時，要求民進黨主席蔡英文說清楚“承認九二共識嗎？”

據中央社報導，李登輝表示，沒有“九二共識”，國民黨所謂的“九二共識”就是“一中”，這對台灣是非常嚴重的問題。他進一步說，台灣是民主、主權獨立的“國家”，不能與中國談“一中”。

英國‧用超硬納米碳管作電纜‧太空天梯有望成真

（英國‧倫敦27日訊）《2001太空漫遊》作者、英國已故科幻小說大師克拉克，曾在另 一部小說《天堂噴泉》中構思出太空升降機，把人類從地球送上軌道。但由於兩地距離至少3.6萬公里，科學界一直想不出用甚麼物料製造繫鏈，能有足夠強度把 巨型升降機升起，同時不會被本身重量壓斷。

英國科學家最近在碳納米管（carbon nanotube）研究上取得突破，令建造升空天梯不再是天方夜譚。

1895年，一名俄羅斯科學家受到巴黎鐵塔啟發，曾首次提出坐升降機到太空的概念。但製造太空升降機的最主要難題是繫鏈，物料必須能抵受每平方毫米30噸的重量。

近年來，科學家仍舊沒有放棄研究建造直通太空的天梯，可是由地球直通人造衛星飛行軌道，距離達3萬5800公里，要建造天梯，電纜必須抵抗地心吸力和離心加速度，用甚麼物料建造天梯電纜一直是最大障礙。

英國劍橋大學最近在納米碳管技術上的突破，將納米碳管交織成纖維，可為天梯電纜帶來希望。

納米碳管極細，闊度不足頭髮絲的五萬分之一，綑綁在一起，比鋼鐵還要強硬，若綑成縫紉針那麼闊的納米碳管，已足以承受一輛車的重量。

美國‧84歲《花花公子》創辦人‧與24歲女友訂婚

（美國）被稱為“性書大亨”的《花花公子》雜誌創辦人赫夫納在twitter透露，他在平安夜與年輕60載的女友、24歲的前花花公子玩伴哈里斯（Crystal Harris）訂婚。

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被稱為“性書大亨”的《花花公子》雜誌創辦人赫夫納（圖）在twitter透露，他在平安夜與年輕60載的女友、24歲的前花花公子玩伴哈里斯訂婚。（圖：法新社）

84歲的赫夫納（Hugh Hefner）12月24日在twitter表示：“今晚看電影后，哈里斯與我交換禮物，我給她一枚指環。這真是一個值得紀念的平安夜。”他翌日又寫道： “當我向哈里斯送上戒指，她喜極而泣。這是我記憶中最快樂的聖誕節。”他沒說明送了什麼戒指，令各界議論紛紛。他其後再在twitter澄清，這枚戒指不 是普通聖誕禮物，“我給哈里斯的是訂婚戒指，我不是要故弄玄虛。祝各位有一個非常快樂的聖誕。”

女友為花花公子玩伴

赫夫納結過兩次婚，首任妻子是大學同學威廉斯（Mildred Williams），兩人1959年離婚。1989年，赫夫納與1988年1月號的花花公子玩伴康拉德（Kimberley Conrad）結婚，兩人今年離異，但在未離婚前，赫夫納身邊一直有多名“官方女友”陪伴。即將成為第3任花花公子夫人的哈里絲，是去年12月號的花花公 子玩伴，她讀大學時主修心理，與赫夫納一樣。（香港明報）

英國‧指密謀策動爆炸襲擊‧提控9恐怖分子

（英國‧倫敦27日訊）英國警方週一宣佈起訴在1週前的突擊行動中逮捕的9名男子，控告他們密謀在英國策動爆炸襲擊，以及策劃恐怖主義罪行。

警方本月20日在反恐突襲行動中逮捕了12人，3人無罪釋放，其餘9人被起訴，最年幼的19歲，最年長的28歲。

皇家起訴局反恐單位建議警方以密謀策動爆炸、涉及恐怖主義籌備行動，以及意圖進行恐怖主義行為亦或協助他人從事類似行為的罪名，起訴嫌犯。

警方聲明指出，嫌犯從10月1日至11月20日期間，密謀策動可能危及人命或對財物造成嚴重損毀的爆炸規模，但沒有說明襲擊的目標。

荷蘭捕12人挫恐怖襲擊

另一方面，在荷蘭，警方於平安夜在該國港市鹿特丹抓捕了12名索馬里男子，指控他們密謀策劃在荷蘭發動恐怖襲擊，其中5人已在星期日獲釋。

韓國‧“害怕防不了戰爭”‧李明博吁民團結抗朝

（韓國‧首爾27日訊）韓國總統李明博周一發表全國講話，呼吁全國團結一致，抵抗朝鮮的軍事侵略，強硬的措辭，再度觸動朝鮮半島敏感神經。

李明博在每周全國廣播演說中指出，今年3月天安艦遭朝鮮擊沉，造成46名官兵喪命的事件後，韓國國內民意分裂，才令朝鮮有機會在11月炮轟延坪島。

他表示，朝鮮會利用韓國內部份歧，找機會攻擊。面對國家安全，國民不能再分你我，因為這攸關到人民的生命和國家存亡。

此前，李明博一直被批評對朝鮮挑釁反應軟弱，對此，他表示，若對方再次輕舉妄動，將遭到韓國的“無情反擊”，以此表示他不惜和朝鮮一戰。

李明博無選擇只能硬幹

他解釋，韓國之前容忍朝鮮的好戰態度，是希望維持朝鮮半島和平，但延坪島事件令韓國汲取寶貴教訓，認識到再不能被朝鮮牽著鼻走，否則朝鮮半島難有和平。

他說：“害怕戰爭從來防止不了戰爭，只有嚴厲應對，才能阻止戰爭，才能維護和平。”

分析家指出，朝鮮挑釁的頻率及嚴重程度，使李明博別無選擇，只能下令對平壤採取嚴厲報復行動，大幅升高了韓朝擴大軍事衝突的可能性。

實彈射擊避開敏感地區

與此同時，韓國軍方週一，一連5天在全國23處海域進行海上實彈射擊訓練，但會避開延坪島及白翎島附近海域等敏感地區。

在韓國近幾波軍事演習中，朝鮮反應相當克制，但她上週再度放話，揚言不惜發動核子“聖戰”，朝鮮《勞動新聞》週一又發表評論說，朝鮮對於韓國挑釁的忍耐“是有限度的”，如果韓國繼續挑釁，“隨時隨地都可能受到嚴厲的懲罰”。

韓擬擴建延坪碼頭

韓聯社報導，韓國政府將於明年擴建延坪島和鬱陵島的碼頭，屆時可容納5000噸級艦艇。。一旦再發生類似延坪島炮擊事件，軍方可出動大型艦艇，並有效撤走島上居民。

美國‧東北部暴風雪逾千航班取消‧4州晉緊急狀態

（美國‧紐約27日訊）在歐洲暴雪導致的交通大混亂才逐步恢復之際，美國東北部多個城市星期日又遭暴風雪吹襲，多州宣佈進入緊急狀態，多個機場出現航班延誤，火車及公共交通大受影響。

對被困在巴黎和布魯塞爾機場的旅客來說，這場寒冬夢魘總算快要過去了，歐洲各航班在聖誕節已大多恢復正常，豈料這次又輪到美國因暴風雪干擾航空。

美國南方上週六度過100多年來第一個瑞雪紛飛的白色聖誕節，令南方人興奮不已，但隨著暴風雪往東岸移，東部多個城市星期日受到入冬以來第一場暴風雪吹襲，暴風雪帶長達1600多公里。

幾乎整條東岸線都發佈了暴風雪警報，其中，馬里蘭州、新澤西州、弗吉尼亞州和北卡羅來納州已宣佈進入緊急狀態，以便聯邦政府提供額外資金與資源因應風雪。

當局已呼吁民眾除非必要，否則不要出門。

紐約市成風暴中心

暴雪首先襲擊新英格蘭地區，紐約市成為風暴中心，時速72公里的狂風夾雜著暴雪讓紐約地區至少1500多架航班停運、高速公路交通癱瘓和鐵路交通服務暫時停止，給剛剛過完聖誕節的民眾增加了無窮的煩惱。

氣象局預計，東北部地區的降雪會持續到週一，部份地區的降雪量可能突破60公分，屆時能見度可能接近零。

此外，華盛頓、費城、波士頓、普羅維登斯等城市也紛紛進入雪災預警狀態，預計將有更多航班被迫取消。

美國鐵路公司甚至取消了當晚紐約發往緬因州等一些列車班次，一些大巴營運者也紛紛取消車次，眾多旅客出行受影響。

亞特蘭聖誕下雪太罕見

在美國南方，墨西哥灣區的阿拉巴馬州、密西西比州都降了小雪，喬治亞州亞特蘭大市128年來首度在聖誕節下雪。南、北卡羅來納州也度過罕見的白色聖誕，南卡州首府哥倫比亞自1887年有天氣紀錄以來第一次在聖誕節下雪。

中國‧人民銀行3個月第2次加息‧遏制物價民眾沒信心

（中國‧北京27日訊）儘管中國人民銀行上周末宣佈加息，總理溫家寶參加電台直播節目時也稱有信心遏制通貨膨脹，但中國民眾周一仍表達了對物價飆漲的焦慮。

上周六，中國人民銀行宣佈加息，是3個月內第2次加息，目的是遏制銀行貸款激增、房地產價格、以及物價飛漲而採取的措施。

【世華‧中港台澳】人倫悲劇！不忍妻子久病臥床，台北老翁含淚殺妻！

溫家寶星期日到電台參加直播節目時，堅稱物價能夠得到控制，顯示北京政府意識到民眾日益增長的憂慮。

然而，北京市民稱他們對政府抵抗通脹的行動沒信心，並對未來感到擔憂。

一名男網民在新浪微博上說：“我償還不了貸款。物價高，汽油價格剛上調，股市又疲弱，我的薪水明顯地越來越少了。我遲繳社會保險，家庭壓力也很大。一切都朝我而來，我快要窒息了。”

作為通脹關鍵指標，中國11月份的居民消費價格指數同比上漲5%，創28個月來的新高，食品價格同期上漲12%。

在天涯網站，其中一名網民就表示：“我們當前的經濟政策並不意味著賺大錢讓經濟穩定下來，而是堵住所有的漏洞。我們正在把火藥粉塞進炸藥，老百姓最終將成為這些炸藥的受害者。”

基於擔心通脹會引發社會動蕩，北京當局已出台一系列政策，以控制物價和冷卻熾熱的房地產市場。

新加坡‧網站教省時11招‧7件一樣上衣不穿綁帶鞋子

（新加坡27日訊）常對伴侶說好聽的話、與較少人一起去吃午餐、穿沒有鞋帶的鞋子、少討價還價……每天精打細算，好好利用時間，一天可節省高達7小時25分鐘！

人們常抱怨時間不夠用，新加坡有一個網站www.timesavers.sg列出11招省時貼士，教人如何省時。

省下時間做公益

省下來的時間可以做甚麼？省時網站建議︰做公益！

點擊省時網站，就會被連接到全國志願服務與慈善中心（National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre，簡稱NVPC）的主頁。只要輸入希望能加入的機構名稱、個人的興趣、受益群體或地點，網站就可以幫忙配對，尋找適合的公益機會。

省時11招：
1. 打好領帶後不要解開，每天直接套上。省5分鐘。
2. 購買7件一模一樣的上衣，不用再為穿甚麼衣服出門傷腦筋。省5至35分鐘。
3. 朋友是遲到大王，約他見面時，提早一個鐘頭。省1小時。
4. 避免被對方嘮叨，常對伴侶說好話。省2小時25分鐘。
5. 與較少人吃午飯。省45分鐘。
6. 駕駛時跟在救護車後面，讓它幫你開路。省30分鐘。
7. 看到大排長龍，不要去排隊。省45分鐘。
8. 不要討價還價。省25分鐘。
9.用紙巾霸位。省15分鐘。
10. 剃光頭，不用花時間打理頭發。省35分鐘。
11. 選不用綁鞋帶的鞋子。省5分鐘。
總共節省時間︰7小時25分鐘

新加坡‧已婚男子租房養情婦‧樟宜村變“二奶村”

（新加坡27日訊）新加坡樟宜村變成“二奶村”，很多已婚男子被指在這裡租房金屋藏嬌。

據《新報》報導，一名馬航的機師約翰（48歲）就在樟宜村養了他的3個情婦，他還特地租用了一間一房一廳的公寓給其中一個情婦住。

最近樟宜村的二奶有增加趨勢。

他表示，這個單位的租金很合理，介於1000元至1300元（約2300令吉至2990令吉）。

約翰的3個情婦分別是25歲、27歲和21歲。年齡最小的情婦是在樟宜村的一家海鮮餐館當女招待。他在樟宜村租了一間月租800元的房間給這個情婦住。

他受訪時說︰“我很喜歡這個地方，因為不容易踫到熟人。”

居民不滿被叫“二奶村”

不滿樟宜村被叫“二奶村”，居民們怨聲載道。

在受訪的12個居民當中，7人表示知道或略為聽說樟宜村又被稱為“二奶村”。

一名家庭主婦不高興地說︰“不是所有的二奶都集中在這裡，其他地方也有二奶吧！”

在樟宜村營業的受訪攤販也表示，最近在樟宜村出現的二奶的確有增加的趨勢，而且還有一些太太來這裡找二奶“算賬”，一名攤販就見過幾位衣著光鮮的太太就在小販中心罵一名在用餐的女子“狐狸精”。

包二奶3大風險

風險1︰被捉

據住有60戶二奶家庭的Nagoya唐人街Windsor區村長敬亭說，金屋藏嬌可能被捉。

自從當局加強取締同居男女後，他們都儘量不在家裡過夜，多數選擇上酒店開房，逃避當局眼線。

據知，當局最近突擊了400戶二奶家庭，如果不是“捉奸在床”，幾乎統統都否認。

知情者說︰“白天在家中被突擊時，獅城漢會說是去做客，但如果晚上過夜就很難混過去。所以這兩年來，許多獅城客寧願花錢帶二奶到酒店開房。”

風險2︰被甩

許多二奶都很年輕，一旦獅城漢給的錢不夠用或陪膩了對方，這段霧水姻緣就不堪一擊。

不少二奶周末侍候情夫，平日空閨寂寞，干脆用情夫給的鈔票“包二爺”。

當二奶和“二爺”（小白臉）的感情日深後，就會把獅城漢一腳踢開。

風險3︰被騙

許多獅城漢包二奶，都會毫不猶豫在當地買房，但他們因擔心被捉，通常都把產業登記在二奶名下。

可是，當年紀輕輕二奶有了房產，就會想方設法佔為己有，先騙獅城漢的養老金，再把房屋轉賣牟利。

高峰期住有100戶獅城二奶的快樂花園村長安東尼說︰“那些老家不在這裡的二奶，從不給真正的地址，賣屋後便失蹤，獅城漢只能吃悶虧，錢是無望取回了。”可以說，玩二奶變成被二奶玩。

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Brian Aitken – New Jersey Man Freed by Governor Chris Christie After Corrupt Judge Denies Jury Right To Hear Law

Intel Hub - The Judge in this case denied the jury the right to hear the law. This is an OUTRIGHT attack on the 2nd amendment and freedom as a whole. How is it legal for a judge to hold a bias against a defendent which is turn almost cost him seven years in jail?

Ginny Simone talks to Brian Aitken – For more information, go to http://www.nraila.org/News/Read/InThe…

http://www.NRANews.com

Listen To Our Interview with NWO Researcher Adrian Salbuchi.

http://tinyurl.com/25wwffz

Ron Paul: Competing Currencies Can 'End the Fed' Softly (VIDEO)

Ron Paul on the House floor introducing his bill for legalizing competing currencies -- the HR 4248 Free Competition in Currency Act of 2009.

The Act Summary:

1. Repeals the federal law establishing U.S. coins, currency, and reserve notes as legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues.
2. Prohibits any tax on any coin, medal, token, or gold, silver, platinum, palladium, or rhodium bullion issued by a state, the United States, a foreign government, or any other person.
3. Prohibits states from assessing any tax or fee on any currency or other monetary instrument that is used in interstate or foreign commerce and that has legal tender status under the Constitution.
4. Repeals provisions of the federal criminal code relating to uttering coins of gold, silver, or other metal for use as current money and making or possessing likenesses of such coins. Abates any current prosecution under such provisions and nullifies any previous convictions.

Contact your Rep to support this effort. Read full bill HERE.

Bartlett: Cooking the Books -- The 2010 Deficit Was $2.1 (Not $1.3) Trillion

Bruce Bartlett (The Fiscal Times), Cooking the Books: The 2010 Deficit Was $2.1 Trillion:

If corporate accountants used government rules for their financial statements, they’d be jailed. That’s why we rarely see the real number of the federal deficit—a terrifying $2.1 trillion last year. ...

In principle, changes in the cost of long-term commitments should be included in the budget, as they would under accrual accounting. The Financial Report takes a stab at doing so and finds that it would have almost doubled last year’s budget deficit from $1.3 trillion to $2.1 trillion.

WHO CARES ~ WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG ??

3,149 UK Wind Turbines – Produced Less Than 0.5% Of UK’s Electricity Needs

During the cold snap, the 3,149 UK wind turbines were nearly useless. At times delivering less than half of a percent of the UK’s electricity needs.

Maybe 1,000,000 wind turbines would do the job, as long as there aren’t any calm days?

Would there be any birds or tourists left in the UK?

Economics Is Simple ... The Fat Cats Just Want You to Think It's Complicated So That You Won't Demand Change

Economics and finance seem like complicated topics, and so many people "leave it to the experts".

However, these topics are actually simple, and if people hear a clear explanation, they will be able to form an opinion about our current economy and the government's response to economic challenges.

It will be easy to understand the economy if we think of money as water. Links showing that the analogy holds true with the economy are provided for convenience.

Let's imagine that there is only a limited amount of fresh, drinkable water in the U.S. (which is true), and that a handful of say 5 big water companies control the rights to 90% of the water in the country.
Let's further imagine that the water companies - wishing to make more money - expand beyond their traditional water business, into mining for oil and gas. Indeed, the oil and gas mining business becomes so lucrative that it soon dwarfs the size of their actual water business. They keep their traditional water business, but soon also become the largest polluters in the country.
They dig for oil and gas right around where the aquifiers are where they pump water. Unfortunately, they are greedy and cut corners, and end up polluting all of the aquifiers with toxic crude petroleum compounds.
The water companies loudly tell the government that this pollution was "unexpected" and simply a temporary "water-flow" problem. They jump up and down and yell that - unless the government "bails them out" by giving them more water - the entire water distribution system in the U.S. will fail, and Americans will suffer a water shortage and severe thirst.
Advocates for the American people argue that the big water companies should be forced to clean up the aquifiers. They point out that we will have a drastic water shortage unless these water supplies - which constitute the lion's share of fresh water in the U.S. - are cleaned, and that the water companies must be forced to stop mining for oil and gas right next to the water supplies so that it won't happen again. They also demand that the government distribute the water in its emergency strategic water supply directly to the people, as that will directly address the problem of thirst and water scarcity.
They point out that drilling for oil is a wholly-separate business from pumping and selling drinking water, and demand that the water companies sell their petrol business.
They point out that if the costs of cleaning up the aquifier are honestly tallied, the water companies are bankrupt. They say this the problem is not a "temporary" water shortage, but that the big water companies are actually insolvent, and that their entire business model is flawed.
And they note that the big water companies are not as efficient at extracting water from aquifiers as smaller water companies, but that the big companies are getting so big that they re driving the smaller companies out of business.
The big water companies respond that they're "too big to fail", that they're doing fine and only experiencing a very temporary "liquidity crisis" shortage of water, that they just need a little temporary help to get the water flowing to America again, and that they'll drill safely for oil and gas and that so new rules are needed.
The White House and Congress (having received a lot of contributions from the big water companies), and the Federal Water Reserve - a quasi-governmental agency owned entirely by the big 5 water companies - decide not to crack down on the big 5 water companies. Instead, they exempt them from pollution laws by relaxing reporting requirements so that the companies don't have to report how much oil and gas pollution has really gotten into the aquifiers. Indeed, the government let's the big companies write the rules for a series of highly-publicized "stress tests" which are simply a P.R. ploy to reassure the public that the water is safe and the companies sound, even though neither is true.
The government and Federal Water Reserve also buy all of the polluted water in the aquifiers at 100% of the normal price for clean water (and used it for security for cheap loans to the big water companies), and that water is stockpiled in the bowels of the Federal Water Reserve building (even though the high petrol content makes the water highly flammable, and thus a fire hazard). So instead of the water companies having to pay for their toxic pollution problems themselves, the government takes care of it ... at the taxpayers' expense.
The government also taps into it's emergency water supply, and gives all of the water to the big 5 companies to help them through their "temporary" water shortage. Americans are starting to get thirsty, but the big 5 don't sell to average Americans. Instead, they use most of the water in their oil and gas mining operations (it takes a lot of water sprayed on the rocks being drilled to keep the dust down). The big 5 sell some of the water to fat cats who already have lots of fresh water in private ponds and storage tanks, and stockpile some of it. Somehow the water given to the big companies never trickles down to the public. The average American on "Main Street" gets thirstier and thirstier.
The government also props up the big water companies by giving them all sorts of subsidies, incentives and business opportunities which guarantee that they'll make money. The government offers none of these to smaller water companies, and actually penalizes smaller water companies by charging them extra fees to pay for the misbehavior of the big companies.
The American people become thirstier and thirstier, and without water to grow crops, put in their cars' radiators, or even wash their hands, America becomes poorer and living standards decline.
The big water companies try to make the situation seem extremely complicated, so that only the "experts" can understand it. By making things seem complex, the American people won't feel competent to demand changes. Indeed, they even promote academics who are trained to ignore the real world and instead focus on highly complex - and unrealistic - models.
But the situation is actually simple. Things haven't improved, and won't improve until:

• The government gets back to the real system - that is, actually delivering water - instead of ignoring water and stressing the artificial paper profits or oil mining operations of the big water companies

• The big water companies are broken up, so that smaller water companies focusing just on H20 can step up to find clean water and sell it to normal Americans

• The big companies are forced to clean up the polluted water, and the illegal mining operations of the big companies are prosecuted

Simple, isn't it?

Missouri Guard to train inmates for emergencies

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. —The Missouri National Guard plans to start training some of the state's prison inmates to help it during natural disasters and other emergencies.

Missouri Guard spokeswoman Maj. Tammy Spicer said Thursday that under the proposal, the prison inmates would become a more formalized part of the Guard's disaster response. She said it would give the Guard a larger and better trained pool of workers to respond to emergencies. The training would focus on skills such as filling and stacking sandbags and removing debris.

Prison inmates already have been used in the past to help local officials during floods and other emergencies. Over the past several years, prison inmates have worked with volunteers and others to shore up levees and fill sandbags along flooding rivers from near St. Louis to northwestern Missouri.

Earlier this year, Gov. Jay Nixon allowed 37 inmates from a prison in St. Joseph to help stack sandbags along I-29 near Craig to protect the highway from a flooded Missouri River. In 2008, nearly 150 inmates from prisons across the state were among those fortifying levees near the Mississippi River in northeastern Missouri. And in 2007, prison inmates and the National Guard worked to protect a water treatment plant, schools and an ethanol plant near Craig from flood water.

Spicer said formal agreements between the Missouri Guard and the state Department of Corrections have not yet been signed. It was not known how many inmates could participate or how much the training would cost.

The National Guard said the inmates who participate in the training could not be convicted of violent offenses and would need to be eligible for the Department of Corrections work release program.

The Department of Corrections said the requirements to be eligible for work release include having 5 years or less left on their sentence and having no escape attempts or convictions for offenses such as rape, kidnapping and robbery. Prison officials also examine the inmates' mental health and the risk they pose to the public

Fading optimism in “new normal” America

Optimism is so deeply embedded in the American national psyche that it withstood the Great Depression in the 1930s and a string of recessions since then. But in the era some economists call “the new normal” in America, optimism is fading.

So say public opinion polls that ask Americans how they see the future, theirs and their country’s. One recent survey, by the respected Pew Research Center, found that depression era Americans were more optimistic about economic recovery in the near future than people questioned in a Pew poll this October, when only 35 percent said they expected better economic conditions in a year’s time. In response to a similar question in 1936 and 1937, about half expected general business conditions to improve over the next six months.

The phrase “new normal” was coined by PIMCO, one of the world’s biggest investment funds, and is shorthand for an American future that includes lowered living standards, slow growth and high unemployment. Joblessness now stands at 9.8 percent, up from 9.6 percent in October. Add workers who have given up looking for jobs and people forced to work part time and the rate climbs to 17 percent, a powerful reason for declining optimism.

But it’s not the only one. A slew of studies, surveys and reports show that a growing number of Americans – some surveys say more than half – no longer believe that their country is a land of unlimited opportunity, where all it takes to rise to success is hard work and determination.

“The end of American optimism,” as a headline over an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal proclaimed this summer, has not quite arrived. But Americans increasingly believe that the rich just get richer and the poor just get poorer. They have good reason to think so. The rich-poor gap in the United States is wider than in any other developed country.

That has rarely been a matter of concern for most Americans but the recession that began in December 2007 turned inequality into a topic of public debate, on occasion with peculiar twists.

In November, a widely-read New York Times columnist, Nicholas Kristof, compared the United States to Latin American banana republics. To see countries where the richest one percent take home more than a fifth of the national income, he said, it was no longer necessary to leave the U.S.

Read Full Article

Stripped In Oklahoma City Airport Security

新加坡‧白龍王呼吸困難又留醫‧出院後暫無法問事

（新加坡26日訊）白龍王呼吸困難，再次入加護病房，如今已出院，但暫時無法問事。

獅城導遊陳耀宗（38歲）說，他前天早上帶著3名獅城客走訪白龍王廟，發現白龍王剛從醫院加護病房出院，身體狀況不好。

他說，廟宇還沒開門前，白龍王大弟子盧師兄就向外面排隊的信徒說明，白龍王不舒服，只會為人祈福，不會問事。

醫生每天來檢查

早上6時廟宇開門時，白龍王不在廟宇大殿內，而是在大殿旁的住家大門外。

他的鼻孔內插入呼吸管，手背上貼著膠布，偶爾還會咳嗽得很厲害。

6時15分，一輛救護車進入白龍王廟，一名女醫生進入白龍王的住家檢查他的狀況，並在6時50分離開。

陳耀宗說，白龍王的女兒黃龍王隨後告訴他，白龍王在本月19日因為呼吸困難，心跳加速，進入泰國醫院的加護病房，22日出院。

如今，醫生每天都會來檢查，並囑咐他不要說太多話，也不要吸入大殿內的香燭煙。

陳耀宗說，白龍王當時還說︰“我這幾天不太舒服，不過這麼多人從世界各地來找我，我也不想讓他們失望而歸，所以會儘量接見每個人。”

新加坡‧一個為錢‧一個為性‧300新加坡漢峇淡島養二奶

（新加坡26日訊）超過300名獅城漢在峇淡島養二奶，月花數百元金屋藏嬌，一個為錢一個為性，樂當周末夫妻。

印尼的峇淡島，與新加坡一水之隔，只需45分鐘航程就到彼岸，向來是新加坡人的“包二奶天堂”。

從印尼各島涌來的賣春女、女傭，甚至一些良家婦女，都希望找到金龜婿提供長期飯票，而許多獅城的風流客也愛到島上獵艷、尋找“第二春”，希望以“負擔得起”的價錢，養個“周末”小老婆。

記者走訪了兩個二奶村的村長，他們說，島上的二奶，80%都是由獅城客包養。

據位於Nagoya唐人街Windsor區的村長敬亭（41歲）說，根據“官方數據”，峇淡島目前有至少400個未婚同居的二奶家庭。

敬亭村長說，以80%包二奶的金主是獅城客來計算，超過300名獅城男在峇淡島養二奶。

之所以有“官方數據”，是因為租房買房都由獅城漢“買單”，官方因此從中獲得他們的個人資料。而這也只是“保守估計”。

實際數目相信更多

“當局近來通過他人舉報或突擊，揭發了不少‘深藏不露’的二奶家庭，實際數目相信更多。”

他透露，他管理800戶家庭，當中有60戶是新加坡人包養的二奶家庭。

而位於“快樂花園”（Happy Garden）排屋民宅的村長安東尼（43歲）則說，高峰期曾有100戶獅城二奶，但由於種種原因，如今只剩10戶左右。

養二奶每月約花費千四

據記者探悉，獅城客養二奶的大略費用，包括300家用、100元房租，和每個月4個周末的船費約200元，總數達600元（馬幣約1422令吉）。

有時候還要花錢住酒店度春宵，那又是另外一筆開銷了。

如果買房養二奶，當地的房價，則是從簡陋的2萬元起跳、類似三房組屋大小的4萬元，到8萬元排屋甚至百萬元大豪宅不等。

澳洲‧瓦努阿圖7.3級強震‧引發小海嘯‧無傷亡報告

（澳洲‧悉尼26日訊）南太平洋島國瓦努阿圖星期日發生7.3級強震，引發小規模海嘯，但未有傷亡損毀報告，海嘯警報不久後解除。

夏威夷太平洋海嘯警報中心指出，地震於當地時間星期日凌晨12時16分（大馬時間週六9時16分）來襲，促使當局向瓦努阿圖、斐濟和法屬新喀里多尼亞發佈海嘯警報。

文告稱：“海平面高度證實當地曾出現海嘯。海嘯可能對沿岸地區或者震央附近地區帶來破壞。”

但由於海嘯浪潮僅比平常海浪高出15公分，也沒有傳出災情，海嘯警報不久後便解除。

美國地質調查局稱，地震震央位於塔納島伊桑戈爾以西145公里，震源深度12.3公里；當地有多座活躍的火山。

遊客聚酒店狂歡迎聖誕

瓦努阿圖首都維拉港酒店員工表示，地震發生時，許多遊客正聚在酒店狂歡迎接聖誕節。

他說：“我們一部份人跑到外面觀察海浪變化，但甚麼也沒發生。地震沒有造成傷亡或損失。”他補充，地方電台沒有廣播海嘯預警的消息。

格蘭德酒店接待員形容這是一起小地震，並指有民眾打電話到氣象局詢問，但無人應答。附近島嶼酒店的員工也表示，沒有聽到海嘯警報。

他說：“我們沒有接到任何海嘯警報通知。我們都感受到地震，但不知道曾發生海嘯。”

瓦努阿圖群島位於斐濟、澳洲和紐西蘭北部，處於太平洋環火山帶內，當地地殼板塊活動劇烈，以致地震和火山活動頻密。

英國‧與出版商簽約‧阿桑奇獲477萬出自傳

（英國‧倫敦26日訊）“維基泄密”網站創辦人阿桑奇在星期日刊登的專訪中指出，他已經同出版商簽訂價值超過100萬英鎊（477萬令吉）的自傳合約。

阿桑奇告訴英國《星期日泰晤士報》說，這些錢將用來為自己辯護。阿桑奇面對瑞典2名女子對他的性侵指控官司。

用來為自己辯護

他說：“我不想要寫這本書，但我必須這麼做。我已經花了20萬英鎊（95萬令吉）支付律師費，我必須為自己辯護，讓‘維基泄密’繼續運作。”

澳洲籍的阿桑奇表示，他將分別從美國克諾普夫出版社（Alfred A.Knopf）以及英國坎農給特出版社（Canongate），獲得80萬美元（247萬令吉）和32萬5000英鎊（155萬令吉）。

他說，再加上其他國家市場和連載權，總額估計將達110萬英鎊（525萬令吉）。

阿桑奇的爆料網站“維基泄密”最新一波的行動，是逐步地公開數十萬份美國外交電文。

自“維基泄密”公佈這些密電，該網站已面臨資金問題。阿桑奇目前獲得保釋，住在他英國朋友的家不準離開，他正全力爭取不要被引渡到瑞典。

英國‧航班大亂‧經濟活動受影響‧大雪毀歐聖誕假期

（英國‧倫敦26日訊）歐洲多國連日大雪，已嚴重擾亂耶誕佳節期間歐洲地區的旅遊、購物與經濟活動，氣象預測，歐洲地區的嚴寒天氣預計還會持續一段時間。

歐洲航空交通已大致恢復正常，英國的主要機場聖誕節大致能正常運作，但各機場也警告，由於天候十分惡劣，航班仍然可能延誤。

倫敦希斯羅機場聖誕節當天只有數班航班取消，機場共有600航班，接載7萬乘客。

巴黎機場取消400航班

歐洲第二繁忙的法國巴黎戴高樂機場因為消除機翼結冰的抗凍劑生產工廠罷工造成抗凍劑短缺，被迫在平安夜取消400班航機，相當於半數航班，約300名乘客在機場度過平安夜。

比利時和德國的交通也受到大風雪嚴重影響，機場聖誕節當天才大致恢復正常運作，但法蘭克福仍有航班取消。

在愛爾蘭，大雪導致約4萬旅客滯留在都柏林機場。

新一輪降雪給捷克交通造成嚴重影響，大約有25%的長途火車晚點，布拉格機場20多個航班延誤。

英國‧死亡率週內急升60%‧北半球將爆流感高峰

（英國‧倫敦26日訊）A（H1N1）型流感近日在北半球有死灰復燃之勢。寒流肆虐的英國過去一週有10人死亡，令英國今冬流感爆發以來死於A型流感的人增至24人，另有3人死於B型流感，死亡率一週內急升60%。

歐美加流感個案增加

歐洲疾病控制及預防中心警告，歐洲各地的流感個案有增加趨勢，美國及加拿大也有同樣情況，北半球即將踏入流感高峰期。

英國衛生部門統計數字顯示，現時全英有多達460名確診及懷疑感染流感的病人，正接受深切治療，比起1週前多出逾倍，預料當地A型流感的感染及死亡個案將在未來數週持續攀升。

英國A型流感死者當中，8人來自大曼徹斯特，連監獄亦有7名囚犯確診感染。死者還包括一名孕婦及9名18歲以下兒童，部份患者在感染1周內死亡。

醫學專家指出，按英國每年3000至4000人死於流感的數字估計，24個A型流感死亡個案可能只是冰山一角，很多患者是併發肺炎或心臟病發致死，死亡證大多不會列明死於流感。

雖然政府專家都試圖淡化A型流感的影響，但預料病毒仍會在未來幾年的流感季節與其他季節性流感同時傳播。

大部份感染者是年輕人

此外，美加部份地區近期亦錄得A型流感病例上升，大部份感染者是年輕人，地區性流感爆發的州份由4個增至13個，密西西比州更有廣泛地區爆發疫情。

在加拿大，求診人士的流感病毒測試呈陽性反映的比率，在一週內由8.3%增至10.8%。中國北部、蒙古及斯里蘭卡亦錄得更多宗流感個案。另外，埃及則錄得1宗H5N1禽流感。

英國‧暴風雪致希思羅機場大亂‧擬立法處懲機場當局

（英國‧倫敦26日訊）英國媒體星期日報導，聖誕節前的暴風雪天氣導致倫敦希思羅機場大亂，英國政府欲制定新法案，讓機場當局必須對乘客行程嚴重影響負責，繳付罰款。

英國《星期日泰晤士報》引述交通部長哈蒙德的話說，監管機構將被賦予新權力，對機場罰款數千萬英鎊。

聖誕節前，嚴寒天氣導致希思羅機場停擺數日。

哈蒙德說，西班牙擁有的英國機場管理公司（BAA）在現行制度下，將不會受到處罰。全球最繁忙的國際機場希思羅機場，是由BAA所管理。

報導說，英國民航管理局（CAA）已確認，希思羅機場航空大亂將不會導致機場管理局被罰款。

希思羅機場的幾個航廈，在聖誕節前數天變成旅客臨時的棲身之所，由於航班取消，憤怒的乘客被迫睡在充當臨時床的行李盤上過夜。

據報導，英國當局預計通過一個新的機場經濟監管法案，給予監管機構額外權力，對機場管理當局服務失誤處以罰款。法案將包括對沒有做好準備應付惡劣天氣作懲罰。

目前，CAA只能在乘客排隊安檢上機時間是否太長，座位是否足夠或清潔度等特定類別罰款。

監管機構被賦予權力介入

《星期日泰晤士報》說，一旦機場不能有效地作業，監管機構也被賦予權力進行介入。報導補充說，如果機場管理局出現過失，也會被剝奪執照。

哈蒙德表示：“由於機場是最終的戰略基礎設施，我們可能需要使出最後一招，因為除了安全和保安方面，我們目前正缺乏這些權力。”

報導說，英國交通部指這項提案有待完成，目前尚不清楚何時會提交國會。

中國‧“物價上漲刺痛我心”‧溫家寶自認有責任穩定

（中國‧北京26日訊）中國總理溫家寶星期日表示，物價上漲問題刺痛他的心，並表示自己有責任和有信心穩定物價。

當天上午，溫家寶將走進中央人民廣播電台中國之聲直播間，參與特別節目《重返災區——中國之聲溫暖行動》，並回答了幾位聽眾的問題。

對於一名深圳聽眾提出最近物價上漲的問題，溫家寶說，這個問題刺痛了他的心，並坦承，通膨預期比通膨本身更可怕。

但他強調，作為政府主要領導人，他有責任亦有信心控制物價，和群眾一起渡過難關。

物價總水平開始回落

他透露，當局已經採取了多項措施，包括透過支持農業發展、提高銀行存款準備金率及利率、控制過度投資等，過去一個月，物價總水平已開始回落。

他表示，他曾經承諾，在任內控制樓價急升情況，雖然未完全做到，但會繼續努力，並從兩方面著手，一方面是興建更多保障性住房，另一方面要抑制房地產投資，加強土地管理，在這問題上絕不會退縮。

溫家寶又指，中國過去一年走得不容易，而明年的任務將會更加艱鉅和複雜，但他相信，只要全國上下一心，努力奮鬥，可以把中國建成民主、富強及文明的現代化國家。他一定會鞠躬盡瘁，死而後已。

時間已過兩年多
汶川地震歷歷在目

溫家寶回憶2008年汶川地震災區時表示，“時間過去兩年多了，仿佛歷歷在目”。

他追憶，他在2008年5月15日乘船進入廣元災情最嚴重的青川縣後，看到到處是震垮的房屋，折斷的橋梁，隨後抵達木魚鎮，那裡的房子全震垮了，救援隊在一座垮塌的小學搶救人員，廢墟裡埋著數百名師生。

他表示，當時鎮裡的居民和附近的農民聞訊都趕來了，“我們的人民非常之好，他們強忍著巨大的悲痛，我記得有一個生動的事例，就在我慰問居民的時候，他遞給了我一封信。”

溫家寶說：“他家裡頭也有人遇難，但是他在信裡還感謝政府，還鼓勵人們戰勝困難，我看到了信，心裡特別難過。時間過去兩年多了，仿佛歷歷在目。”

談及另一災區的舟曲，溫家寶指出，目前遇到的困難包括冬季居住、物價上漲、租房租金過高，並表示，當局將加大扶助力度。

美國‧內戰信息解碼：沒有救兵

（美國‧弗吉尼亞26日訊）美國18世紀內戰時期一個收在玻璃瓶內的加密信息，上週六被成功破解。147年前，聯軍攻陷密西西比州，但信息透露：不會有援軍到來。

這則加密信息誌期1863年7月4日，維克斯堡南軍司令彭伯頓正是在這一天向聯軍投降，結束了維克斯堡戰役，是美國內戰的一個重大轉折點。

這個玻璃瓶加密信息是由密西西比河西部的南軍司令，向彭伯頓發出的，內文稱：“我無法幫你。我沒有軍隊，沒有資源，我沒有辦法到那邊去。”

這個2寸長（5.1公分）的玻璃瓶，從1896年起一直擱在弗吉尼亞州里士滿市聯邦博物館，瓶底還有一顆子彈。館主賴特基於好奇，某天突然決定要調查瓶中信息的內容。最終由中央情報局退休解密員格雷迪，破解信中密碼。

印度‧最大通訊衛星升空失敗爆炸

（印度‧新德里26日訊）印度上週六發射歷來最大型通訊衛星GSAT-5P失敗，原因是運載火箭GSLV-F06在升空後爆炸，濃煙與火光齊冒，最後墜落孟加拉灣。

這枚火箭是從南部清奈市80公里外的斯利哈里柯塔發射站發射，但升空47秒後失控，偏離預定飛行路線，地面指揮中心不得不將它引爆。

該中心今年4月曾試圖發射火箭失敗，被迫延期，這回爆炸，不但令造價約8000萬令吉的衛星付之一炬，也令印度晉身衛星強國的鴻圖大計再度受挫。

On Christmas Day, 2010

Dog Poet Transmitting…….

Now comes the year of transition. We approach whatever personal myth we may be anticipating or in apprehension of with the coming of 2012. It stands to reason that 2011 is going to prove to be as life changing as anyone might expect, being the year of entry into the year of prophecy, spoken of by so many cultures and predicted and defined by such precise and arcane mathematics.

One of the reasons, possibly the main reason that massive transformation is assured, is that so many people are expecting it and the conditions of life reflect the state of the human mind. The world reflects the state of the human mind as it is shaped and misshapen by the particular generations of a particular age. The human mind is just a particularization of the one mind, or rather, a point at which the personal accesses the cosmic mind. Another reason that assures massive transformation is the state of the world.

The cosmic mind is influenced by the generational perceptions of the aggregate personal mind, which is how you get pervasive decadence and religious insanity. The cosmic mind reacts to the mass movements of the personal mind at different points and that’s how you get periods of awakening, cultural rejuvenation and widespread catastrophe. Nature is the manifest representation of the ruling and invisible, all encompassing consciousness and that explains why Nature erupts in different ways, at different times, when the mass of humanity has moved far enough afield from the golden mean, to begin injuring and pissing her off. It’s as much of a mathematical pissoff as it is a personal reaction from something with perceptions and makeup of a greater order than the human and therefore not comprehensible to the human. Of course, just because you are human, doesn’t mean you have to stay that way. It’s just a stage you’re going through.

Back in the days of Mithras, where they celebrated and understood The Sun King, before he became Louis of France and lost his head dying for his own sins instead of proving his immortality by dying for yours, there were cultures to support the deeper truths, without having to understand them. Back when civilization meant being civilized, instead of pretending to be realized, by virtue of the possession of complex technologies, destined to destroy it, life was somewhat easier, if no less fatal.

Certain historians make much of the brutality of earlier times, without much seeing the brutality of the one in which they are penning their vain epistles to how little they know. In these times, historians base their speculations on what is most likely to allow them to be published. A casual scan of who controls the publishing world and academia should give a clue to which version of history is permitted and which is not; whether it even happened or not.

Historians and other academics of these times are an interesting breed. They shape minds according to the demands and requirements of the marketplace, which is a sure sign that they are pawns of the industries and corporations, which air the music they dance to. It goes without saying that their minds were as easily shaped by the same process. Maybe they know what they are and maybe they don’t. It doesn’t change it.

You’ll note a pervasive similarity between all of the religions, with the exception of the Hindu/Buddhist schematic, as it is understood by the wiser minds within it; the less wise make Hinduism and Buddhism just as rigid as their competitors. Every one of these religions insists that their founder spoke the only truth and symbolized the only way. It doesn’t matter that everything they believe was grafted upon its predecessor, which had the same tenets outlined according to the needs of their particular time.

This oppressive and limiting insistence upon being the only way is the clearest evidence that they have lost their way and that’s why new founders appear at regular intervals to show the way yet one more time. Each time, the new founders are met with the resistance of the institutions that they are destined to recycle and each time the institutions fall and get remade for their own period of mind gaming the populations, shortly after the founder has done his curtain call. From that point on, its just folly mating with ignorance until what should be seen as an embarrassment, is celebrated as genius by those controlling and interpreting it for their own profit and the profit of those they actually serve. You know all of this and, if you don’t, you don’t know much.

People live troubled lives because they do not question authority. That means every kind of authority; political, religious, economic and cultural. If I left anyone out they are included too. Accept nothing you have been told until you have proven it to be true. You can ‘incline’ toward what you cannot prove and believe it may be true but you’re more and more a fool every time you take something on someone else’s say so. I can’t tell you how many times someone assured me of something and I found it wasn’t so. Now, when I hear someone speak I say, “Oh, so that’s how it looks to him/her. Then I study what it is they believe so that the motive for it will present itself and… it always does. I can measure a person’s fear and reactive potential to real truth, according to their willingness to accept what others tell them.

It doesn’t matter that we are in a dark age, as far as how you can authoritatively live your life. The darkness of the age is only an indication of the darkness of the human mind. If your mind is not dark then the world you live in isn’t either. A real power accrues to you to the degree that you opt to live in timeless space, instead of the time and place of the contemporary hallucination. Technologies and bad sciences have come and gone for stretches of time beyond your counting. Religions have been around for as long as the unknown. How long has the unknown been around? It’s been around forever. Religion is a human construct, an attempt to put confining dimensions on the unknown. It can’t be done. It only turns into a travesty of limitation, as twisted and messed up as our present day understandings of psychology and medicine. The medical practice of today is anything but a healing modality. It is geared toward maximum profit generated by those for whom disease is a growth industry.

They poison the environment and encourage you to eat bad food, simply because they are invested in your becoming sick. The pharmaceutical industry is composed of real life vampires, engaged in things far darker than you might suspect. You don’t need any of their crap and the only things that really work are illegal or suppressed and the one’s behind making them illegal and suppressing them is the pharmaceutical industry and the other tentacles of the octopus monster that is the global corporate, temporal authority. One individual who has freed their mind is more powerful than this entire entity. The power latent within every human being is greater than all the darkness that can be arrayed against it. There are people walking the Earth right now who make remarkable changes in the world at every point where they are moving through it and it takes place without anyone seeing it happen. Those who have freed their mind have freed it from those forces which are the source of all bondage; vanity, glamour, ambition, greed, fear, unbridled appetite and the host of other longstanding enemies of humanity in it’s recurrent confinements of the past, the present and what is certain to come in the future.

The road starts where you are standing and it leads where you are headed. The geography and direction do not matter. It is the intention and aspiration which determine the events you encounter. The scenery of the illusionary world grows more and more transparent as its power to influence your thought and perception diminishes. This is an ancient condition that exists forever within the cycling state of ages, cultures and lives. It is hidden in the midst. It is calling out the way but cannot be heard because the voices imploring you to go in the wrong direction have a greater amplification, having been listened to more and being more pronounced in power due to the nature of these times.

A new year is coming and it is headed directly toward 2012. There is no way that it arrives anywhere else. It is up to you how you travel this year, in the consistency of your daily thoughts, words and actions. From here you can go anywhere. It’s up to you if you do. No matter what, ‘somewhere’ will be the result.

End Transmission…….

TSA Airport Security Cartoons

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Pentagon's Christmas Present: Largest Military Budget Since World War II

On December 22 both houses of the U.S. Congress unanimously passed a bill authorizing $725 billion for next year's Defense Department budget.

The bill, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011, was approved by all 100 senators as required and by a voice vote in the House.

The House had approved the bill, now sent to President Barack Obama to sign into law, five days earlier in a 341-48 roll call, but needed to vote on it again after the Senate altered it in the interim.

The proposed figure for the Pentagon's 2011 war chest includes, in addition to the base budget, $158.7 billion for what are now euphemistically referred to as overseas contingency operations: The military occupation of Iraq and the war in Afghanistan.

The $725 billion figure, although $17 billion more than the White House had requested, is not the final word on the subject, however, as supplements could be demanded as early as the beginning of next year, especially in regard to the Afghan war that will then be in its eleventh calendar year.

Even as it currently is, the amount is the highest in constant dollars (pegged at any given year's dollar and adjusted for inflation) since 1945, the final year of the Second World War. With recent U.S. census figures at 308 million, next year the Pentagon will spend $2,354 for every citizen of the country at the $725 billion price tag alone.

Last year's Pentagon budget, by way of comparison, was $680 billion, a base budget of $533.8 billion and the remainder for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. In July of this year Congress approved the 2010 Supplemental Appropriations Act which contained an additional $37 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Next year's defense authorization of $725 billion compares to, according to the Center for Defense Information, a Pentagon budget of $444.6 billion in 1946; $460.4 billion in 1968, the highest yearly amount during the Vietnam War; and $443.4 billion in 1988, the highest during the eight years of the Ronald Reagan administration's massive military buildup. (Numbers in 2004 constant dollars.) [1]

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates American military spending for 2009 to have accounted for 43 percent of the world total. Carl Conetta, co-director of the Project on Defense Alternatives, earlier this year estimated the 2010 U.S. defense budget to constitute 47 percent of total worldwide military expenditures and to amount to 19 percent of all American federal spending.

In addition, Pentagon spending has increased by 100 percent since 1998 and "the Obama budget plans to spend more on the Pentagon over eight years than any administration has since World War II." [2]

With 2.25 million full-time civilian and military personnel, excluding part-time National Guard and Reserve members, the Defense Department is the U.S.'s largest employer, outstripping Walmart with 1.4 million employees and the U.S Post Office with 599,000. [3]

"Add in what Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, and the Energy departments spend on defense and total US military spending will reach $861 billion in fiscal 2011, exceeding that of all other nations combined," according to Todd Harrison, senior fellow for Defense Budget Studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. [4]

In April Robert Higgs of The Independent Institute advocated that the budgets - in part or in whole - of the departments of Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, Energy, State and Treasury and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) should be calculated in the real military budget, which would in 2009 would have increased it to $901.5 billion.

"Adding [the] interest component to the previous all-agency total, the grand total comes to $1,027.8 billion, which is 61.5 percent greater than the Pentagon's outlays alone."

His numbers are:

National Security Outlays in Fiscal Year 2009
(billions of dollars)

Department of Defense 636.5

Department of Energy (nuclear weapons and environmental cleanup) 16.7

Department of State (plus international assistance) 36.3

Department of Veterans Affairs 95.5

Department of Homeland Security 51.7

Department of the Treasury (for the Military Retirement Fund) 54.9

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (1/2 of total) 9.6

Net interest attributable to past debt-financed defense outlays 126.3

Total 1,027.5 [5]

The above-cited Carl Conetta stated at the beginning of this year that the 2011 Pentagon budget will mark a milestone in that "the inflation-adjusted rise in spending since 1998 will probably exceed 100% in real terms by the end of the fiscal year.

"Taking the 2011 budget into account, the Defense Department has been given about $7.2 trillion since 1998, when the post-Cold War decline in defense spending ended. Approximately $2.5 trillion of this total is due to spending above the annual level set in 1998. This added amount constitutes the post-1998 spending surge."

Based on constant 2010 dollars, Conetta further details that the Ronald Reagan administration spent $4.1 trillion on the Defense Department, the Georgia W. Bush administration spent $4.65 trillion and "Barack Obama plans to spend more than $5 trillion."

He also compares the two previous largest post-World War Two surges in U.S. military spending to the current one:

From 1958-1968: 43 percent

From: 1975-1985 57 percent

In regards to which he said, "the 1998-2011 surge is as large as these two predecessors combined."

His calculations also include a growth in Pentagon contract employees of 40 percent since 1989, thereby freeing up uniformed service members for more direct combat roles.

The U.S. share of global military spending grew from 28 percent during the Cold War to 41 percent by 2006 and that of NATO member states, including the U.S., from 49 percent to 70 percent in the same period.

Contrariwise, the "group of potential adversary and competitor states has gone from claiming a 42 % share to just 16 % in 2006.

"Had Ronald Reagan -" who is generally regarded a hawkish president -" wanted to achieve in the 1980s the ratio between US and adversary spending that existed in 2006, he would have had to quadruple his defense budgets.

"And, of course, since 2006, the US defense budget has not receded, but instead grown by another 20% in real terms.

"By 2011, the United States will probably account for more than half of all global military spending calculated in terms of 'purchasing power parity' (which corrects for differences between national economies)." [6]

The defense authorization bill passed on December 22, despite its monumental and unprecedented size, has been routinely described in the American press as stripped-down, scaled-down and pared-down because an arms manufacturer or two, their lobbyists and obedient congresspersons didn't get every new defense contract and weapons project they desired three days before Christmas.

The December 22 vote in the House was, as Associated Press accurately described it, conducted without debate or discussion - and "without major restrictions on the conduct of operations" - particularly in regards to the $158.7 billion for the military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, $75 million to train and equip the armed forces of Yemen for the counterinsurgency campaign in that country and $205 million more to fund Israel's Iron Dome missile shield.

Regarding the first vote on December 17: "This year's bill is mostly noteworthy for its broad bipartisan support during wartime....Unlike during the height of the Iraq War when anti-war Democrats tried to use the legislation to force troops home, the House passed the defense bill Friday with almost no debate on Afghanistan." [7]

Aside from voting for the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy as a stand-alone measure, excising an amendment to allow abortions to be performed on military bases, and refusing reparations to victims of the World War Two Japanese occupation of the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam (apparently $100 million for the purpose was considered excessive in the $725 billion authorization), there was no meaningful dissent in either house of Congress.

Increasing the U.S. war budget to the highest level it's been since the largest and deadliest war in history while no nation or group of nations poses a serious threat to the country, and to a degree where it effectively exceeds the defense spending of the rest of the world combined, is all in the proper order of things for the world's sole military superpower.


1) Center for Defense Information
http://www.cdi.org/news/mrp/us-military-spending.pdf
2) Christian Science Monitor, March 29, 2010
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/David-R.-Francis/2010/0329/Defense-budget-After-Afghanistan-and-Iraq-withdrawal-a-peace-dividend
3) Christian Science Monitor, June 28, 2010
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/David-R.-Francis/2010/0628/Cuts-to-US-defense-budget-look-inevitable
4) Ibid
5) Robert Higgs, Defense Spending Is Much Greater than You Think
The Independent Institute, April 17, 2010
http://www.independent.org/blog/index.php?p=5827
6) Carl Conetta, Trillions to Burn? A Quick Guide to the Surge in Pentagon
Spending
Project on Defense Alternatives, February 5 2010
http://www.comw.org/pda/1002BudgetSurge.html
7) Associated Press, December 17, 2010

Read more articles at opednews.com

The JP Morgue Whistleblowers Are Back

Promptly after those two cuddly bears explained how the JP Morgue is manipulating the silver market, and the xtranormal video went viral, forcing the FT to release an indemnification that "according to sources" JPM had covered a major portion of its silver short (only to subsequently end up with 90% control of other metals markets), here they are back, explaining in Part 2 of the series just what the next steps in the unwind of the biggest metal manipulation scheme will look like. The kicker: a JPM insider has told one of the bears that there is no commercial silver left, "it's all smoke and mirrors, and the CFTC can do nothing about it other than pray." Other topical items explained: silver backwardation, that there are two commissioners at the CFTC on the JP Morgue's payroll, the BIS' fractional gold system and the usage of side pockets for sovereign gold, and pretty much everything that ties the loose odds and ends in the PM manipulation story.



http://tinyurl.com/29kmekw

« MUST SEE - Walmart Lampooned - Killing Jobs And Country For Everyday Low Prices »

http://tinyurl.com/25cy9j7

This is very-well produced. The price of everyday low prices is NOT cheap...

JibJab Video - Big Box Mart - A factory worker learns the truth about his favorite department store - that there's a very high cost for everyday low prices - unemployment.

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The Seattle Singers for Economic Justice take over WalMart with an entertaining holiday message for workers rights...

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Video - Walmart shoppers lose their freaking minds (and scare children) to save a few bucks and get useless plastic shit from China...

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Doctors sound TSA germ alert. Dangers include syphilis, lice, viruses, ringworm

© 2010 WorldNetDaily
Syphilis, lice, gonorrhea, ringworm, chlamydia, staph, strep, noro and papilloma viruses all are part of the possible fringe benefits when airline passengers next go through a full hands-on pat-down by agents of the federal government's Transportation Security Administration, according to doctors.
WND reported two days ago on alarmed passengers who noted that TSA agents doing the pat-downs that have been described by critics as molestation since they include touching private body parts were not changing gloves between passengers. In fact, some apparently were patting down dozens of passengers or more wearing the same gloves.

But neither the TSA nor federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control
was willing to comment on the possibilities that infections and other loathsome afflictions
could be passed from passenger to passenger.

Now two doctors – and several others – have confirmed that there is the definite possibility that passengers will be able to catch whatever someone in front of them in line was suffering from via the latex gloves TSA workers use.

"There is no doubt that bacteria (staph, strep, v.cholerae etc.) and viruses (noro, enteroviruses, herpes, hepatitis A and papilloma viruses) can be spread by contaminated vinyl or latex gloves," Dr. Thomas Warner of Wisconsin told WND in a letter to the editor.

"If a traveler has diarrhea and is soiled, as can and does happen, the causative agent can be spread by this method since bacteria and viruses in moist environments have greater viability."

He continued. "The traveler readjusting clothes can easily get the infectious agents on their hands and therefore into their mouth, nose or eyes."

Added a pulmonary critical care physician from Connecticut who did not want to be identified by name, "That doesn't make sense that they're not changing gloves."

"Anything can be transmitted. If there are open wounds and they [TSA agents] are not aware, there's syphilis, gonorrhea, herpes, chlamydia, lice, ringworm."

Worse yet would be for people whose immune systems are compromised by treatments they may be having, including cancer patients, she said.

Physicians undergo extensive training, follow strict rules and even have those who watch them to make sure they follow procedures to reduce to an absolute minimum the likelihood of carrying disease from one person to another, she said.

"How come if we as doctors have guidelines, we must wear gloves and have oversight, it's very different [for the TSA]," she said.

Warner told WND some of the infections are "a tough little beast" and easily would be spread through the contact being used by the TSA.

"Staphylococci are also tough and can be spread on fomites (eg . towels, tampons or gloves ) and survive in dry conditions. Methicillin resistant staph creates havoc in hospitals AND in those awaiting surgery (eg. traveling for a transplant ) when the 'carrier' patient must be clear of the bacterium before elective surgery," he said.

"Emerging infectious and tropical agents create another wild scenario," he said.

He said at a minimum gloves should be changed between pat-downs, "especially if the gloved hand is inside clothes or in the genital ... area even if clothed. Travelers should be advised of this and hand-wash and change clothes ASAP after these intimate examinations."

The CDC previously told WND to contact the TSA, which did not respond to inquiries, on the status of policies that would minimize the possibility of passing infections from one passenger to another.

The response today was the same, according to a WND reader who passed along his question to the CDC about the situation and the agency's response.

In response to a question about minimizing the possibility infections could be passed along, the CDC said:
Thank you for your inquiry to CDC-INFO. In response to your comments that Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents are not changing gloves between the travelers that they pat-down, we are pleased to provide you with the following information.

If you are traveling and are going to be searched, you can request that the TSA agent change his or her gloves.
Endorsing the doctors' recommendations was a commentary at Natural News.com.

There, the editorial writer noted the intimacy of the pat-downs by the TSA, procedures which are required for some travelers and offered as an option to those who refuse to go through a full-body image scanner which essentially reveals a nude image of the passenger for TSA workers to review.

"Air travel passengers across America have been complaining of the TSA fingering their genitalia and touching their sex organs. Just this week, an ABC News employee was fingered by a TSA agent who felt around inside her underwear. ... This process of touching traveler's genitals without consistently changing latex gloves means the TSA is involved in extremely risky behavior that could spread disease," the website warned.

"TSA agents are not trained as medical personnel. Just as they don't seem to grasp the Bill of Rights, they also may not understand how infectious disease is spread. They aren't medical personnel; they're Big Brother enforcers who have likely never been taught the principles of how to conduct a sterile body search," the commentary said.

"If an athlete with jock itch (a fungal infection) undergoes a TSA pat-down, that TSA agent could spread the passenger's jock itch from his crotch to his armpits and neck. The same is true for a person suffering from ringworm or other skin fungal infections: Merely touching them and then touching another body part can cause them to spread," the website said. "Even worse, if that same TSA agent does not change his or her gloves between pat-downs, they could be spreading jock itch, ringworm or other infections from traveler to traveler. So traveler #2 could end up with the jock itch picked up from traveler #1."

In WND's original report on the issue of gloves online forum participants said it was clear the gloves are to protect the TSA agents, not provide any protection for passengers.

Martha Donahue in a commentary at Resistnet said she'd spent 30 years in the medical industry.

"For those of you who fly and opt for the 'pat down,' you need to demand the TSA thugs change their gloves. I've been watching on the news how they operate. People are being searched [with] dirty gloves ... gloves that have been in crotches, armpits, touching people who may be ill, people who pick their noses. Do you want those gloves touching you?

"These thugs are protecting themselves from you. You need to be protected from them," she wrote. "In a hospital, nursing home, in-home care, or even labs, that would never even be considered an option."

While the CDC referred questions about health and disease issues to the TSA, in its online writings the organization repeatedly makes clear the importance of maintaining clean hands to avoid such transmission of communicable and contagious afflictions.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, at the time the chief of the CDC, said during a special presentation on hand cleanliness, "We know that hand hygiene is a critical component of safe and healthy health care."

At the same time, Dr. John Boyce, lead author of the organization's hand-washing guidelines and the chairman of the Hand Hygiene Task Force, said, "There's a large study that was conducted at the University of Geneva Hospital in Switzerland where they demonstrated significant improvement in the adherence of health care workers to hand hygiene practices and they also showed that the incidence of antibiotic resistance to staph infections went down and that the overall prevalence of health care-acquired infections went down ... ."

Suggested Gerberding in the context of health care, "Hand hygiene saves lives. We're recommending a comprehensive evidence-based approach in hospitals that consists of handwashing with soap and water when the goal is to remove unsightly debris; hand alcohol preps for enhancing appearance and reducing bacterial counts; and gloving when people have contact with blood or other body fluids in accordance with universal precautions."

She said even in a "community setting," "washing with soap and water remains a very sensible strategy for hand hygiene."

Other health standards across the country routinely warn against hand contact with sores, lesions or other sources of viruses or contamination. The Lincoln, Neb., health site notes, "This includes hand contact."

Officials at the Canadian Center for Occupational Health noted that "hand washing is the single most effective way to prevent the spread of infections.

"You can spread certain 'germs' (a general term for microbes like viruses and bacteria) casually by touching another person. You can also catch germs when you touch contaminated objects or surfaces and then you touch your face (mouth, eyes, and nose)," it said.

On a TSA blog promoting the agency's actions and policies, one screener explained, "Changing gloves is fairly simple ... . When I gate screen I carry about 10-12 pairs in my pockets."

Respondents to the comment were outraged, "That's just plain disgusting and most certainly not acceptable ... procedures as set forth by the CDC for usage of gloves for protection," said one. "Reasoning being is that the bacteria count in your pockets is about the same is your mouth or armpit."

Wrote another forum participant, "Those gloves are soiled if they come out of your pockets and before handling my stuff you will be expected to obtain a clean, from the original container, pair. ... Who knows what filth inhabits your pockets!"