XIAM007 - Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World: 07/12/11

Tuesday, 12 July 2011

Radiation Data From Aerial Radiological Survey In Washington State May Be Classified For National Security Purposes -

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Remote Sensing Laboratory Aerial Measurement System, overseen by The Department Of Homeland Security, will be used during aerial radiation readings in Washington State that may be classified for national security purposes.
A helicopter will be flying through both King and Pierce Counties carrying the radiation detection equipment that can record gamma radiation readings. If the readings are normal they could be used as baseline levels in the event of a future emergency.

Washington State Department Of Health
The helicopter will fly a grid pattern spaced about 600 feet apart at an altitude of 300 feet, flying at 70 mph.
The results will be provided to local agencies from the surveyed area by year-end. Some of the data may be withheld for national security purposes.

Interestingly enough, this aerial radiological survey is taking place just as the real extent of the damage at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan has become public
Local governments officials have claimed that the survey was planned since 2009 and is not a direct response to Fukushima.

Read more - http://theintelhub.com/2011/07/11/radiation-data-from-aerial-radiological-survey-in-washington-state-may-be-classified-for-national-security-purposes/

Obama says he cannot guarantee Social Security checks will go out on August 3 -

President Obama on Tuesday said he cannot guarantee that retirees will receive their Social Security checks August 3 if Democrats and Republicans in Washington do not reach an agreement on reducing the deficit in the coming weeks.
"I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it," Mr. Obama said in an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley, according to excerpts released by CBS News.
The Obama administration and many economists have warned of economic catastrophe if the United States does not raise the amount it is legally allowed to borrow by August 2.
Lawmakers from both parties want to use the threat of that deadline to work out a broader package on long-term deficit reduction, with Republicans looking to cut trillions of dollars in federal spending, while Democrats are pushing for a more "balanced approach," which would include both spending cuts and increased revenue through taxes.

Read more - http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20078789-503544.html

Woman drugs husband, ties him to bed, cuts off penis, throws it in disposal... - told officers that he "deserved it" -

A woman was in custody Tuesday for allegedly poisoning her estranged husband, cutting off his penis and throwing it in the garbage disposal.

Lt. Jeff. Nightengale said the crime occurred Monday night at the man's Garden Grove home.

Catherine Kieu Becker, 48, was booked for aggravated mayhem, false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon, administering a drug with intent to commit a felony, poisoning, and spousal abuse. She was being held at the Orange County Jail.

The woman, who was later identified as the suspect, called 911 to report a medical emergency at about 10 p.m.

"The suspect called 911 and told responding officers that he 'deserved it,'" Nightengale said.

When officers arrived, they found the man tied to a bed and bleeding from the groin area. He told officers the woman had given him a drug in the dinner she had made for him.

Investigators said she tied him to the bed after he fell asleep. When he awoke, the woman grabbed his penis, cut it off with a knife, threw it in the garbage disposal and turned on the disposal,

Read more - http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Woman-Accused-of-Cutting-Off-Husbands-Penis-125423033.html

Fan Who Caught Jeter's 3,000th Hit May Owe IRS Thousands -

The tax man may be on the hunt for the super fan who caught Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit.

Christian Lopez, 23, recovered the prized ball his father fumbled after The Captain hammered it into their section of the stands in the third inning of the Yankees' win over Tampa Bay on Saturday.

The Verizon salesman from Highland Mills, N.Y., gave the ball back to Jeter, whom he called an "icon," and the Yankees lavished a slew of prizes, including luxury box seats for every remaining home game this season and post-season and some signed memorabilia, upon him.

Now the IRS wants a piece. The prizes Lopez received are estimated to be worth more than $32,000 -- and, like game show contestants, Lopez may have to pay taxes on the gifts and prizes because the IRS considers them income.

Some estimate the IRS will put Lopez on the hook for anywhere between $5,000 and $13,000, reports the Daily News.

If it comes down to that, Lopez says he'll pay the tax man because he's not about to relinquish his seats. The young government major says his family and friends will help him out.

"The IRS has a job to do, so I'm not going to hold it against them, but it would be cool if they helped me out a little on this," Lopez told the News.

Read more - http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Fan-Who-Caught-Jeters-3000th-Hit-May-Owe-IRS-Thousands-125406723.html

An Addition to the List of Tax Loopholes - Day traders and speculators who buy and sell futures contracts -

As the White House and Congress wrangle over raising the debt ceiling and reducing the federal deficit, tax loopholes would seem to be an easy target for compromise.

President Obama has talked about eliminating breaks for partners at hedge funds and private equity firms — along with corporate jet owners, oil companies and others taking advantage of quirks in the tax codes.

Here’s another little-known group of tax code beneficiaries that he might want to add to the list: day traders and speculators who buy and sell futures contracts.

For years, futures contracts, which are essentially bets on the price of commodities, stock indexes and the like, have received a more favorable tax treatment than stocks. A trader who buys and sells an oil contract in less than a year — even in a matter of minutes — pays no more than a 23 percent tax on the profits.

Compare that with the bill for flipping shares of Google, General Electric or even a diversified mutual fund in the same time period. Those short-term investment gains are treated like ordinary income, meaning the rate can run as high as 35 percent.

“There are so many ways to attack the logic of it,” Warren E. Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, said in an interview on Monday about of the futures tax break. “It doesn’t make sense.”

Read more - http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/an-addition-to-the-list-of-tax-loopholes/?emc=eta1

Salt: How Bad Is It, Really? -

Much like cell phones and eggs, salt is one of those things that studies say is bad for you one day, but O.K. the next.
Just last year, an article in the New England Journal of Medicine estimated (using previous studies' numbers) that the U.S. could prevent 44,000 deaths annually if Americans reduced their salt intake by 3 grams per day.
Then, early this month, a review of seven real-life interventions to reduce salt consumption found nothing of the sort. The review, from the Cochrane Collaboration, found only ambiguity, with no evidence to suggest that salt reduction did the trial participants any good or any harm.
"It's Time to End the War on Salt," a headline in Scientific American proclaimed last week. "For every study that suggests that salt is unhealthy, another does not," the article said. As if to prove that point, a new paper this week in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine now argues, again, that too much salt is bad.
The latest study used national U.S. survey data linked to mortality files to show that the more salt people ate, the higher their death rates from all causes combined. The study looked further at salt intake in relation to potassium intake, and found that the lower people's potassium and the higher their sodium, the more likely they were to develop heart disease or die of a heart-related cause.
So just how bad is salt for us exactly — and why is there so much disagreement on the issue?

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/07/12/salt-how-bad-is-it-really/

Area 51 as seen from the air, circa 1964. This rare photograph has never been published before." -

"Yucca Flat, which spans several areas at the Nevada Test Site, is one of the most bombed-out places on Earth," writes Jacobsen. "In this photo taken during the winter months from a helicopter above Area 10, the Sedan Crater can be seen in the forefront. A 104-kiloton bomb was buried at a depth of 635 feet, and its detonation produced a crater 1,280 feet wide and a 320 feet deep, moving 12 million tons of radioactive dirt in an instant and creating a hole that can be seen from space."
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