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Thursday, 21 January 2010

Canadian Olympic organizers to truck in white stuff as warm temperatures wreak havoc on venues -

Reading - Canadian Olympic organizers to truck in white stuff as warm temperatures wreak havoc on venues -

VANCOUVER–VANOC CEO John Furlong put a positive spin on the dastardly weather situation at Cypress Mountain, where organizers are worried about the lack of snow.

After all, there are six outdoor venues where VANOC could be facing the same challenges, Furlong said. But just one – Cypress, where the snowboarding events will take place – is the problem right now.

"Our team is up there working 24/7 dealing with the situation that is unfolding," Furlong said on Wednesday.

He said organizers are optimistic enough snow can be trucked in, moved down the mountain and even helicoptered in to help bolster the snowpack. And some of the thousands of cubic metres of snow safeguarded since November for such a turn in the weather are stockpiled under tarps.

"Of all the tools we have, the technology we have, the ability we have to move snow, to protect and look after it – we feel we're in a good place," Furlong said.

The biggest headache for VANOC 22 days before opening ceremonies is the weather. This is an El Nino winter, where the temperature is expected to be higher than average. In Vancouver, just 30 minutes away from Cypress, it reached 12C Wednesday and, despite closing off the North Shore mountain earlier than planned to preserve the snow, crews are still working around the clock to keep it all from melting.

Last February, a World Cup snowboard event was cancelled at Cypress because mild weather made the terrain unsuitable. And that despite a very cold December and January with record snowfall in the region. Organizers say a winter event has never been cancelled because of snow problems.

"I wouldn't say this kind of temperature is normal but it's not not normal, either," said snowboarder Kasia Jasinowski, a manager at The Boardroom Snowboard Shop in North Vancouver. "It's definitely unfortunate that it's one of those years when the Olympics are coming. The mountain has been closed before because the snow has been a problem."

A bigger worry is the fog situation and visibility at Cypress, she said.

Snowboard ticket-holder Howie Leung, who is attending the women's finals and has two extra tickets he's trying to sell, said it's not looking good.

"I am somewhat worried. They say they're not going to have to cancel it, but there's not much they can do. They can try and make snow but if the temperature doesn't co-operate, there's not much they can do about it," he said.

Cathy Priestner Allinger, executive vice-president of sport and games operations with VANOC, said it looks like the weather is not going to get cold any time soon.

"The forecast is not looking to be in our favour as we head into the next week-and-a-half. We're planning that we will not have snow and temperature may not be agreeable to where we need to make snow," she said Wednesday.

Organizers are resorting to another stage in their contingency plan – bringing in straw and wood to help build up the base of the course.

"We believe there is enough snow on the mountain. Our job is to move it where we need it," Priestner Allinger added.

Trucks are hauling it in and helicopters are flying snow in from the higher elevations, where the trucks can't reach.

Snow preparation for alpine events up in Whistler, north of Vancouver, have not been a problem, organizers said.

Dr. Ron Paul: “The CIA Runs Everything” -

Watching - Dr. Ron Paul: “The CIA Runs Everything” -

The CIA was created at the behest of the bankers on Wall Street. OSS spook and Wall Street lawyer Frank Wisner was recruited by Dean Acheson to work under Charles Saltzman, at the State Department’s Office of Occupied Territories in 1947. The CIA’s first director, Allen Dulles, was a Wall Street lawyer.

The CIA is Wall Street’s finely honed tool for the neoliberal agenda of the banksters. “A considerable proportion of the developed world’s prosperity rests on paying the lowest possible prices for the poor countries’ primary products and on exporting high-cost capital and finished goods to those countries. Continuation of this kind of prosperity requires continuation of the relative gap between developed and underdeveloped countries – it means keeping poor people poor,” former CIA agent Philip Agee wrote. “Increasingly, the impoverished masses are understanding that the prosperity of the developed countries and of the privileged minorities in their own countries is founded on their poverty.”

“Throughout its entire history, the CIA has set up an elaborate shell game of ‘proprietaries’ (front companies), money-laundering operations and off-the-books projects so complex that no outsider — and few insiders — could ever keep track of them. BCCI was neither the first nor the last of these,” writes Mark Zepezauer.

Excerpt from the Campaign for Liberty Regional Conference in Atlanta, GA.

As the crowd begins to cheer, Ron Paul states, “We need to take out the CIA”.

“They are a government unto themselves. Their in buisnesses, their in drug buisnesses… and… they take out dictators. We need to take out the CIA.”

Also, the CIA have infiltrated the Ron Paul Presidential Campaign:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOIUWy…

From Raw Story:

US House Rep. Ron Paul says the CIA has has in effect carried out a “coup” against the US government, and the intelligence agency needs to be “taken out.”

Speaking to an audience of like-minded libertarians at a Campaign for Liberty regional conference in Atlanta this past weekend, the Texas Republican said:

There’s been a coup, have you heard? It’s the CIA coup. The CIA runs everything, they run the military. They’re the ones who are over there lobbing missiles and bombs on countries. … And of course the CIA is every bit as secretive as the Federal Reserve. … And yet think of the harm they have done since they were established [after] World War II. They are a government unto themselves. They’re in businesses, in drug businesses, they take out dictators … We need to take out the CIA.

Paul’s comments, made last weekend, were met with a loud round of applause, but they didn’t gather attention until bloggers noticed a clip of the event at YouTube.

Paul appeared to be referring to news reports that the CIA is deeply involved in air strikes against Al Qaeda targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A suicide bombing late last year against Forward Operating Base Chapman in Afghanistan took the lives of seven of CIA operatives, including two contracted from Blackwater. The event highlighted the CIA’s deep involvement in the war effort.

Paul’s reference to the CIA being “in the drug business” refers to long-running allegations that the CIA has funded some of its covert operations with proceeds from drug-running. That claim was most famously made in a 1996 investigative report from the San Jose Mercury-News, which alleged that cocaine from the Contra-Sandinista civil war in Nicaragua was making its way to the streets of L.A. via the CIA.

USDA Designates 5 Counties in Tennessee as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

Reading - USDA Designates 5 Counties in Tennessee as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21, 2010 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated five counties in Tennessee as primary natural disaster areas due to excessive rainfall that began September 1, 2009, and is continuing.

The five counties are: Claiborne, Cocke, Rutherford, Sevier, and Union.

"President Obama and I understand these conditions caused severe damage to the area and serious harm to farms in Tennessee and we want to help," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "This action will provide help to hundreds of farmers who suffered significant production losses to a wide variety of crops, including corn, cotton, forage, soybeans, tobacco, as well as specialty crops such as pumpkins."

Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Tennessee also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:

Anderson	Cannon	Davidson	Knox
Bedford	Coffee	Jefferson	Marshall
Blount	Grainger	Hamblen	Williamson
Campbell	Greene	Hancock	Wilson

Farm operators in the counties listed below in the adjacent states of Kentucky, North Carolina, and Virginia also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.

Kentucky: Bell, Whitley

North Carolina: Haywood, Madison, Swain

Virginia: Lee

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas Jan. 19, 2010, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has a variety of programs, in addition to the EM loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.

USDA also has made other programs available to assist farmers and ranchers, including the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE), which was approved as part of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008; the Emergency Conservation Program; Federal Crop Insurance; and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program. Interested farmers may contact their local USDA Service Centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online athttp://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.

Wednesday, 20 January 2010

Democrats propose $1.9T increase in debt limit - a record increase that would raise National Debt to reach $14.3 T -

Reading - Democrats propose $1.9T increase in debt limit - a record increase that would raise National Debt to reach $14.3 T -

Senate Democrats on Wednesday proposed allowing the federal government to borrow an additional $1.9 trillion to pay its bills, a record increase that would permit the national debt to reach $14.3 trillion.

The unpopular legislation is needed to allow the federal government to issue bonds to fund programs and prevent a first-time default on obligations. It promises to be a challenging debate for Democrats, who, as the party in power, hold the responsibility for passing the legislation.

It's hardly the debate Democrats want or need in the wake of Sen.-elect Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts. Arguing over the debt limit provides a forum for Republicans to blame Democrats for rising deficits and spiraling debt, even though responsibility for the government's financial straits can be shared by both political parties.

The measure came to the floor under rules requiring 60 votes to pass. That's an unprecedented step that could mean that every Democrat, no matter how politically endangered, may have to vote for it next week before Brown takes office and Democrats lose their 60-vote majority.

Democratic leaders are also worried that Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., who opposed the debt limit increase approved last month, will vote against the measure.

The record increase in the so-called debt limit is required because the budget deficit has spiraled out of control in the wake of a recession that cut tax revenues, theWall Street bailout, and increased spending by the Democratic-controlled Congress. Last year's deficit hit a phenomenal $1.4 trillion, and the current year's deficit promises to be as high or higher.

Congress has never failed to increase the borrowing limit.

"We have gone to the restaurant. We have eaten the meal. Now the only question is whether we will pay the check," said Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. "We simply must do so."

A White House policy statement said the increase "is critically important to make sure that financing of federal government operations can continue without interruption and that the creditworthiness of the United States is not called into question."

Less than a decade ago, $1.9 trillion would have been enough to finance the operations and programs of the federal government for an entire year. Now, it's only enough to make sure Democrats can avoid another vote before Election Day.

Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota immediately offered an amendment to end the bank and Wall Street bailout, officially known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Thune would prohibit further expenditure of TARP funds and would require that all funds paid back be used to retire debt.

The latest increase comes on top of a stopgap $290 billion measure that cleared the Senate on Christmas Eve. Given the country's finances, that measure would last only about six weeks, lawmakers said, requiring the far larger measure that's pending.

Russia diversifies into Canadian dollars -buying CDN in a bid to diversify its foreign exchange reserve -

Reading - Russia diversifies into Canadian dollars -buying CDN in a bid to diversify its foreign exchange reserve -

Canadian Money to be injected in to the Banking System

Russia’s central bank announced on Wednesday that it had started buying Canadian dollars and securities in a bid to diversify its foreign exchange reserves.

Analysts said the move could be a sign of increased diversification of emerging market central bank assets away from the dollar and into investments denominated in other commodity-linked currencies, such as the Australian dollar.

Adam Cole at RBC Capital Markets said if taken in isolation, Russia’s announcement that it was buying Canadian dollars was not significant, but if it was part of a broader trend, then it was an important step.

“If it is a barometer for the activity of other central banks, then its is structurally positive for the currencies of countries like Canada and Australia that have a commodity bias in their economies,” he said.

Although not officially confirmed, traders said that other emerging market central banks, including some in Asia which hold large foreign exchange reserves, have also been active in the foreign exchange market in recent weeks buying both Canadian dollars and Australian dollars.

Alexei Ulyukayev, first deputy chairman of Russia’s central bank, said that it would invest in Canadian dollar-denominated deposits and bonds.

“The Canadian financial market is not very deep, so we can invest in deposits in significant volumes, while the bond market is limited,” he said.

Although the central bank did not specify how much of its reserves it was allocating to assets denominated in the Canadian dollar, analysts estimated that the central bank could put up to $9bn, or 2 per cent, of its foreign exchange reserves into the currency.

Russia’s foreign exchange reserves, the world’s third largest, stood at $439bn at the end of December. These stockpiles have grown by 14 per cent since the start of the rally on global asset markets in March as rising commodity prices have boosted mineral-rich Russia’s coffers.

Ahead of Wednesday’s announcement, Russia’s foreign exchange reserves were evenly split between dollar and euros.

Alarmed at the plummeting value of the dollars in its holdings, Russia has been at the vanguard of countries calling for the US authorities to stem the fall of its currency. Last year, along with China, Russia urged the creation of a new supra-national currency to replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

The dollar has fallen more than 12 per cent on a trade-weighted basis since March. Commodity-linked currencies have rallied strongly, however, with the Canadian dollar up 24 per cent against the US dollar over that period and the Australian dollar 40 per cent higher.

This has prompted Russia to diversify its holdings. Indeed, in addition to its plans to buy Canadian dollars, Sergei Ignatiev, chairman of the Russia’s central bank, said last month that its was “discussing the possibility” of buying Australian dollars.

But some analysts warned that emerging market central banks might be in danger of buying commodity-linked currencies at the top of the market.

“In the long run it makes perfect sense for emerging market countries to diversify into commodity linked currencies,” said Simon Derrick at Bank of New York Mellon.

“But in the short-term, I would urge caution given that many commodity-linked currencies currently stand at extremely high levels on a historical basis.”

How Did School Staffers Get Insulin Instead of Flu Vaccine? - Nurse has been temporarily relieved of duty

Reading - How Did School Staffers Get Insulin Instead of Flu Vaccine? - Nurse has been temporarily relieved of duty -

When staff members at a Wellesley, Mass., school went to the nurse last Friday, they expected to be injected with a vaccine for theH1N1 flu. What they received instead was a shot of insulin resulting in a bout with low blood sugar.

While the staffers seem to be suffering no long-term damage from mistakenly receiving the insulin injections, investigations are ongoing to determine what caused the medical error. Indications thus far have been that a school nurse was responsible. The nurse has been temporarily relieved of duty.

While ABC News contacted people at the departments of health for the town of Wellesley and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the Wellesley School District, it remains unclear how the flu vaccine, which can be distributed in pre-filled syringes or vials, was mistaken for insulin, which is drawn from a vial because each dose needs to be calibrated when it is given.

Such errors have happened before. This past fall, a number of people in the neighboring town of Needham received a seasonal flu vaccine in place of the H1N1 vaccines they were supposed to receive. And in 2007, a teacher in the nearby town of Attleboro also received an injection of insulin instead of the intended flu shot.

"Mistakes can always be made," said Lisa Lowery, a registered nurse and immunizations program manager for the Visiting Nurse Service in Indianapolis. While she is reluctant to blame the nurse, she said other steps can be taken to avoid such a problem.

The benefit of having a nurse specifically performing a vaccination clinic, according to Lowery, is that it allows the nurse to be more focused. "You're in a habit of doing what you're doing. You're doing one vaccine and only one vaccine," she said.

"In practices, you're taught to take the bottle to another nurse and have her double-check what you're about to give," she said -- a situation that isn't possible when a school nurse alone is administering vaccine.

"That nurse is not used to injecting vaccines as a school nurse," said Lowery. "It would have been her habit to pick up insulin. Having someone to back them up and check them out would have prevented some more errors. If you're holding a vaccination clinic, use someone who's used to doing that."

Kay Renny, a registered nurse and manager of community programs for the Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Michigan in Detroit said other steps are typically taken to avoid such a problem.

She said when her nurses are giving out both seasonal and swine flu vaccines, they do so in two separate lines with two separate forms, which do not look alike, so that nurses -- who are only administering one shot -- will notice. "This is the first year where we're administering two flu vaccines at the same time," she said, explaining it presented a new challenge.

When a mistake happens, "It doesn't hurt them, but it doesn't help them. What they want is what they're there for," said Renny. "You try to put steps in place to avoid that happening."

She noted that the vials for insulin and flu vaccine are similar but the syringes are different, with those for insulin being smaller. "Whenever administering any kind of medication, you have to double check when you have multiple kinds of medication in front of you. You really need to double check your double check."

Possible Fallout

While no one seems to be suffering long-term consequences from the medical error, adverse events are always possible with insulin being needlessly injected, since it drops the blood-sugar levels.

"It's basically going to make them hypoglycemic," said Dr. Sue Kirkman, senior vice president for medical affairs for the American Diabetes Association. "That might cause anything from just feeling shaky and jittery and hungry all the way down to making it difficult to think."

Kirkman explained that a person can become unconscious if their blood-sugar drops too low, but noted that this type of error could be corrected by certain injections or "you can have the person eat carbohydrates to bring the blood sugar back up," depending on the severity.

It remains unclear what, if any, impact this incident will have on public demand for flu vaccine.

Both nurses seemed to think, however, that the incident, while unfortunate, would likely improve safety in people still getting vaccinated without reducing the number of people willing to get the shot.

"When you have stories out there, then people are going to be asking the person administering -- the nurse -- what are you giving me?" said Renny. "What I think it does is help the administrator administer the right vaccine, because it's forefront in their mind."

"I do think people who are actively going to seek a shot are going to be proactive about asking the nurse, which is a good thing," said Lowery. At the same time, she said, "We still need to encourage the public to get both their H1N1 vaccination," noting that it remains unclear if H1N1 will return and the traditional peak of seasonal flu has not yet arrived.

"Don't let an incident as isolated as this affect your choice," she said. "Make sure you get vaccinated and prepare for the flu season."

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

Gillian Cooke Female UK Bobsleigh team splits her spandex pants live on TV -

Watching - Gillian Cooke Female UK Bobsleigh team splits her spandex pants live on TV - Nice Bum! -

Weight Watchers Sues Jenny Craig Over 'Deceptive' Ads -

Reading - Weight Watchers Sues Jenny Craig Over 'Deceptive' Ads -

Weight Watchers International is suing rival weight-loss company Jenny Craig over ads it says are misleading and deceptive.

Weight Watchers, based in New York, says in the suit that Jenny Craig is running ads that refer to a study comparing Weight Watchers current weight-loss program and Jenny Craig's pre-packaged meals system.

But Weight Watchers says no such study has been done and the claims in the ads are not supported by fact or science.

"It is outrageous that Jenny Craig is trying to trick and fool consumers through this blatantly misleading advertising campaign, which makes clearly false and unsupported claims,” David Kirchhoff, Weight Watchers president and CEO said in a news release “The fact that Jenny Craig chose to deceptively try to compare themselves to Weight Watchers in a manner that is clearly unsupported by fact or science suggests to us a lack of confidence in their own current offerings.”

The lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court in New York City. It asks for an injunction and damages along with a ban of the ads.

A call to Jenny Craig Inc., based in Carlsbad, Calif., was not immediately returned.

Amazed Border guards discover a 15-year-old Afghan boy hiding inside luggage -

Reading - Amazed Border guards discover a 15-year-old Afghan boy hiding inside luggage -

This was the amazing sight that greeted Italian immigration police during routine spot check - a teenage boy hidden in a suitcase as he tried to illegally enter the country.

The 15-year-old Afghan boy was discovered curled into foetal position inside the case while his 17-year-old brother was hidden in the foot well covered with blankets.

Officers immediately arrested the Greek driver of the car, Alexandros Lepesiotis, 42, and charged him with illegally smuggling people into the country.

Desperate: This Afghan illegal immigrant, 15, was discovered hiding in a zipped suitcase in the boot of a Peugeot 207 by Italian border guards

The discovery was made at the Adriatic port of Bari, a well known entry point for people smugglers, on a ferry which had just arrived from Greece, the Sea Trade.

Officers pulled over Lepesiotis for a spot check in his Peugeot 207 and became suspicious of him as he reacted nervously when they began examining the car.

The boys told police they had paid €2600 to be smuggled into the country, raising the money by doing waiting jobs in Greece when they were told Lepesiotis would be willing to smuggle them into Italy.

Yesterday the teenagers were in care in the care of Bari social services while investigators tried to track their parents or decide whether they should be given asylum.

People smuggling: Police arrested the Greek driver of the car, Alexandros Lepesiotis

A Bari police police spokesman said:'We get thousands of people passing through the part every day and like any other immigration authority we do spot checks.

'We have found in the past people hiding in the boot or hiding in the foot well but we have never found anyone curled up and hidden in a suitcase. The poor boy looked so frightened when we found him.

'It just goes to show the desperate measures and the high prices people are willing to pay to be smuggled into Italy.

'This is just one success story but for this there are probably dozens who get through.'

Thursday, 21 January 2010

Wednesday, 20 January 2010

Possible Fallout

More Answers Needed

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

Watching - Gillian Cooke Female UK Bobsleigh team splits her spandex pants live on TV - Nice Bum! -