Prior to 1913, there was no federal income tax. The states had rights and representation in Washington, D.C., there was no Federal Reserve Bank, and the federal government lived under the enumerated powers afforded within the U.S. Constitution. What a difference one year can make...Read the rest of this sordid tale of woe here. The disaster that is our nation was almost 100 years in the making. Fixing it, assuming it can be fixed, will require concentrated effort and much pain and suffering -- penance for profligacy, and punishment for the irresponsibility of past generations, and our own.
Almost a hundred years later, it's clear that the policies established in 1913 must be revoked in order to restore power to the people and the states. But can the American people stuff the genie back in to the bottle? ...
For the last few years, federal agencies have defended body scanning by insisting that all images will be discarded as soon as they're viewed. The Transportation Security Administration claimed last summer, for instance, that "scanned images cannot be stored or recorded."Read the rest here. It's probably only a matter of time before body scans of the traveling public turn up on the Internet. Give up your privacy, mere subjects. After all, it's "for your own good."
Now it turns out that some police agencies are storing the controversial images after all. The U.S. Marshals Service admitted this week that it had surreptitiously saved tens of thousands of images recorded with a millimeter wave system at the security checkpoint of a single Florida courthouse.
This follows an earlier disclosure (PDF) by the TSA that it requires all airport body scanners it purchases to be able to store and transmit images for "testing, training, and evaluation purposes." The agency says, however, that those capabilities are not normally activated when the devices are installed at airports.
Body scanners penetrate clothing to provide a highly detailed image so accurate that critics have likened it to a virtual strip search. Technologies vary, with millimeter wave systems capturing fuzzier images, and backscatter X-ray machines able to show precise anatomical detail. The U.S. government likes the idea because body scanners can detect concealed weapons better than traditional magnetometers. ...
I have *never* read an official government document that is this bitter and contemptuous of the Federal level – I never thought I would! This is damn close to a new Declaration of Independance.Read the rest here.
I’ll reprint a few excerpts, because William Travis himself would be proud of these words:
“In order to deter challenges to your plan for centralized control of industrial development through the issuance of permits for greenhouse gases, you have called upon each state to declare its allegiance to the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently enacted greenhouse gas regulations — regulations that are plainly contrary to United States law.”
“On behalf of the state of Texas, we write to inform you that Texas has neither the authority nor the intention of interpreting, ignoring, or amending its laws in order to compel the permitting of greenhouse gas emissions.
The vuvuzela (pronunciation: /vuːvuːˈzɛlə/), also known as lepatata (its Tswana name), is typically a 65-centimetre (2 ft) plastic device that requires the flow of air to produce a loud monotone note, typically around B♭3[1] (the B♭ below middle C).[2] A similar device, known as the corneta, is used in Brazil and other Latin American countries. Many types of vuvuzela, made by several manufacturers, may produce varying intensity and frequency outputs.[3] The intensity of these outputs depends on the blowing technique and pressure exerted.[3]
Traditionally made and inspired from a kudu horn, the vuvuzela was used to summon distant villagers to attend community gatherings.[4][dubious – discuss] The vuvuzela is most used at soccer matches in South Africa,[5] and it has become a symbol of South African soccer as the stadiums are filled with its loud and raucous sound that reflects the exhilaration of supporters.[4] The intensity of the sound caught the attention of the global soccer community during the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in anticipation of South Africa hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[4] ...
A non-Newtonian fluid is a fluid whose flow properties are not described by a single constant value of viscosity. Many polymer solutions and molten polymers are non-Newtonian fluids, as are many commonly found substances such as ketchup, starch suspensions, paint, blood and shampoo. In a Newtonian fluid, the relation between the shear stress and the strain rate is linear (and if one were to plot this relationship, it would pass through the origin), the constant of proportionality being the coefficient of viscosity. In a non-Newtonian fluid, the relation between the shear stress and the strain rate is nonlinear, and can even be time-dependent. Therefore a constant coefficient of viscosity cannot be defined.
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An inexpensive, non-toxic example of a non-Newtonian fluid is a suspension of starch (e.g. cornflour) in water, sometimes called "oobleck" or "ooze" (2 parts corn starch to 1 part water). ...
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