Tuesday, November 30, 2010
The Food Crisis Of 2011
Every month, JPMorgan Chase dispatches a researcher to several supermarkets in Virginia. The task is to comparison shop for 31 items.
In July, the firm’s personal shopper came back with a stunning report: Wal-Mart had raised its prices 5.8% during the previous month. More significantly, its prices were approaching the levels of competing stores run by Kroger and Safeway. The “low-price leader” still holds its title, but by a noticeably slimmer margin.
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Within this tale lie several lessons you can put to work to make money. And it’s best to get started soon, because if you think your grocery bill is already high, you ain’t seen nothing yet. In fact, we could be just one supply shock away from a full-blown food crisis that would make the price spikes of 2008 look like a happy memory.
Fact is, the food crisis of 2008 never really went away.
True, food riots didn’t break out in poor countries during 2009 and warehouse stores like Costco didn’t ration 20-pound bags of rice…but supply remained tight.
Prices for basic foodstuffs like corn and wheat remain below their 2008 highs. But they’re a lot higher than they were before “the food crisis of 2008” took hold. Here’s what’s happened to some key farm commodities so far in 2010…
•Corn: Up 63%
•Wheat: Up 84%
•Soybeans: Up 24%
•Sugar: Up 55%
What was a slow and steady increase much of the year has gone into overdrive since late summer. Blame it on two factors…
•Aug. 5: A failed wheat harvest prompted Russia to ban grain exports through the end of the year. Later in August, the ban was extended through the end of 2011. Drought has wrecked the harvest in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan – home to a quarter of world production
•Oct. 8: For a second month running, the Agriculture Department cut its forecast for US corn production. The USDA predicts a 3.4% decline from last year. Damage done by Midwestern floods in June was made worse by hot, dry weather in August.
America’s been blessed with year after year of “record harvests,” depending on how you measure it. So when crisis hits elsewhere in the world, the burden of keeping the world fed falls on America’s shoulders.
According to Soren Schroder, CEO of the food conglomerate Bunge North America, US grain production has filled critical gaps in world supply three times in the last five years, including this summer…
•In 2010, when drought hit Russian wheat
•In 2009, when drought hit Argentine soybeans
•In 2007–08, when drought hit Australian wheat
So what happens when those “record harvests” no longer materialize?
In September, the US Department of Agriculture estimated that global grain “carryover stocks” – the amount in the world’s silos and stockpiles when the next harvest begins – totaled 432 million tons.
That translates to 70 days of consumption. A month earlier, it was 71 days. The month before that, 72. At this rate, come next spring, we’ll be down to just 64 days – the figure reached in 2007 that touched off the food crisis of 2008.
But what happens if the U.S. scenario is worse than a “nonrecord” harvest? What if there’s a Russia-scale crop failure here at home?
“When we have the first serious crop failure, which will happen,” says farm commodity expert Don Coxe, “we will then have a full-blown food crisis” – one far worse than 2008.
Coxe has studied the sector for more than 35 years as a strategist for BMO Financial Group. He says it didn’t have to come to this. “We’ve got a situation where there has been no incentive to allocate significant new capital to agriculture or to develop new technologies to dramatically expand crop output.”
“We’ve got complacency,” he sums up. “So for those reasons, I believe the next food crisis – when it comes – will be a bigger shock than $150 oil.”
A recent report from HSBC isn’t quite so alarming…unless you read between the lines. “World agricultural markets,” it says, “have become so finely balanced between supply and demand that local disruptions can have a major impact on the global prices of the affected commodities and then reverberate throughout the entire food chain.”
That was the story in 2008. It’s becoming the story again now. It may go away in a few weeks or a few months. But it won’t go away for good. It’ll keep coming back…for decades.
There’s nothing you or I can do to change it. So we might as well “hedge” our rising food costs by investing in the very commodities whose prices are rising now…and will keep rising for years to come.
“While investor eyes are focused on the gold price as it touches new highs,” reads a report from Japan’s Nomura Securities, “the acceleration in global food price is unrestrained. We continue to believe that soft commodities will outperform base and precious metals in the future.”
So how do you do it? As recently as 2006, the only way Main Street investors could play the trend was to buy commodity futures. It was complicated. It involved swimming in the same pool with the trading desks of the big commercial banks. And it usually involved buying on margin – that is, borrowing money from the brokerage. If the market went against you, you’d lose even more than your initial investment.
Nowadays, an exchange-traded fund can do the heavy lifting for you, no margin required. The name of the fund is the PowerShares DB Agriculture ETF (DBA).
There are at least a half-dozen ETFs that aim to profit when grain prices rise. We like DBA the best because it’s easy to understand. It’s based on the performance of the Deutsche Bank Agriculture Index, which is composed of the following:
•Corn 12.5%
•Soybeans 12.5%
•Wheat 12.5%
•Sugar 12.5%
•Cocoa 11.1%
•Coffee 11.1%
•Cotton 2.8%
•Live Cattle 12.5%
•Feeder Cattle 4.2%
•Lean Hogs 8.3%
So you have a mix here of 50% America’s staple crops of corn, beans, wheat and sugar…25% beef and pork…and 25% cocoa, coffee and cotton. It might not be a balanced diet (especially the cotton), but it makes for a good balance of assets within your first foray into “ag” investing.
The meat weighting in here looks especially attractive compared to some of DBA’s competitors, which are more geared to the grains. It takes about six months for higher grain prices to translate to higher cattle and hog prices.
You can capture that potential upside right now…and you’ll be glad you did when you sit down to a good steak dinner a few months down the line. After all, it’s going to cost you more.
http://blogs.forbes.com/greatspeculations/2010/10/27/the-food-crisis-of-2011/
Wikileaks The Tel Aviv Connection
What is Tel Aviv to do now that it's known Israelis and pro-Israelis 'fixed' the intelligence that induced the U.S. to war in Iraq?
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Con me consistently for six decades and the relationship is over, as is Israel's credibility as a legitimate nation state.
Tel Aviv knows this. But what can the Zionist state do about it? Answer: Wikileaks.
Why now? Misdirection. Shine the spotlight on Washington to take it off Tel Aviv. That's good old-fashioned psy-ops. And challenge the credibility of the U.S. That's Wikileaks.
Any credible forensics would start by asking: to whose benefit? Then look to means, motive and opportunity plus the presence of stable nation-state intelligence inside the U.S.
Other than Israel, who else is a credible candidate? Notice how quickly Israel's role in the peace process vanished from the news. Now it's Iran, Iran and more Iran. To whose benefit?
Tel Aviv knows that the phony intelligence on Iraq leads to those skilled at waging war "by way of deception"-the motto of the Israeli Mossad. Wikileaks are noteworthy for what's missing: the absence of any material damaging to Israeli goals.
But still Tel Aviv faces an unprecedented peril: transparency. Americans know they were duped. And Israel rightly fears that Americans will soon realize by whom.
Tepid Support will not Suffice
Obama has behaved as anticipated by those who produced his presidency. Anyone surprised at the lack of change in U.S. policy in the Middle East fails to grasp the power of the Israel lobby.
Did he hesitate to support their latest Israeli strategy for scuttling peace negotiations? Absent peace, the U.S. will continue to be the target of those outraged at America's unflinching support for Israel's thuggish behavior in pursuit of its expansionist goals.
Confirming the lobby's influence, Netanyahu announced he would not agree to halt settlements on Palestinian land until Obama reduced to writing a $3 billion bribe.
In return for a proposed 90-day freeze, what form of bribe will America provide? Twenty F-35 jets at $150 million each plus parts, maintenance, training and armaments.
That's $231 million per week or $1,373,626 per hour. What will the U.S. receive in return? A temporary partial freeze on settlements. How many more times can this ruse work?
Israel has evaded a peace agreement since it drove Palestinians from their land in 1948 and seized more land in 1967 to shape today's geopolitics.
Should Israel reach an agreement with the Palestinians, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton proposes a "comprehensive security agreement." At what cost no one knows. The U.S. Congress has already budgeted $30 billion for Israel over 10 years. This latest $3 billion is on top of that.
That doesn't include the cost to American credibility posed by an offer to veto U.N. recognition of Palestine as a state. And a pledge Never Again to pressure Israel on settlements. Plus the freeze omits East Jerusalem where Tel Aviv insists on moving ahead with new housing starts.
Timing Is Everything
By scheduling its latest incursion into Gaza between Christmas 2008 and the January 2009 Obama inaugural, Tel Aviv ensured only muted opposition during political down time in the U.S. Thus it came as no surprise to see an agent provocateur operation on Thanksgiving Day 2010 as Israel demolished a West Bank Mosque and a Palestinian village.
After seven hours of nonstop talks, Hillary Clinton praised Netanyahu as a "peacemaker." In return, he agreed only to "continue the process." Meanwhile, U.S. elections marked a major victory for Israel when incoming Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Jewish Zionist, announced that the new majority would "serve as a check on the Obama administration."
The Israel lobby has good reason to gloat. Confirming ongoing duplicity, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman proclaimed: "a permanent agreement is impossible."
Wikileaks' release of confidential diplomatic cables provides Israel an opportunity to undermine U.S. relations worldwide while also inflicting lasting damage on U.S. interests in the Middle East. After this, what nation would trust the U.S. to maintain a confidence?
In October, Turkey asked that the U.S. not share intelligence with Israel. Now who dares share intelligence with the U.S.?
This may signal the beginning of the end for the Obama presidency his domestic policy failures are eclipsed by his failures in foreign policy.
This may also signal pre-staging for the 2012 presidential primary with a weakened Obama forced to name Clinton as his running mate or stepping aside so she can lead the ballot.
Her 2008 presidential campaign promised recognition of Israel as a "Jewish state" and promised an "undivided Jerusalem as the capital." Tel Aviv was elated. A second Clinton presidency would ensure another victory for Israel-and no peace.
Israeli psy-ops typically serve multiple purposes. Wikileaks is no exception.
Jeff Gates is author of Guilt By Association-How Deception and Self-Deceit Took America to War. See www.criminalstate.com
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Quakes And More Quakes
Quakes And More Quakes
There was a minor earthquake in Nebraska that literally shook up residents in this "stable" Midwest state. TRhe tremore occurred along the northern edge of the ancient fault line I have been telling you about for years. It starts in North Texas and ends in Nebraska. Both ends have been moving, especially in Oklahoma.
There also have been tremors increasing in Southeastern Missouri and Western Tennessee along the New Madrid fault line. These rae indications of an event building in that region.
The same is happening along the St. Lawrence Seaway fault line with quakes popping up in New Brunswick, Maine and New York.
Lots of tension building in the Earth's crust right now. There will be a BIG release soon, somewhere. Same tensions are building in people. So, I expect a civil disorder event in a large city as well.
You all know what to do by now. Keep up your protection and release work.
November 19, 2010
Panic Ensues As Strange White Powder Is Sent To DWTS
In a statement, ABC confirmed the envelope was received at the show’s production office and the substance was determined to be talcum powder.
Hazardous materials officials with the city of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI responded to CBS Studios where the hit ABC show is staged, authorities said.
An initial field screening was negative for hazardous substances, but the letter will be transported to a regional lab for further testing, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.
The FBI and LAPD are conducting a joint investigation, Eimiller said.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Shake weight, What kind of shiit is this? This is some nasty shiit!
I saw south park spoof this last night, but I thought the new cooling product was fake. They always making some nasty ass perverted shiit!
Funny picture of the day: Bristol palin dancing with the stars pictures.
With these moves and the Tea party backing her, brandy was no match!
White Man Charged With Murdering Missing Teen, Having Sex With Corpse
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A Louisville man has been charged with murder in connection with the disappearance of an 18-year-old Sullivan University student.
Andrew Compton was last seen Oct. 28. His parents have put up fliers with his picture in store windows, on the Internet and Facebook, hoping someone saw something and can tell them where their son is.
"Most of the time, it's all I think about, nig More..ht and day or I wake up in the middle of the night. Think of, try to think of, some place where he might be, but he had only been here a month," said Compton's mother, Angela Compton. Andrew Compton was a freshman at Sullivan University, studying culinary arts. Classes started in September.
His parents said he often met people online and did so the night he vanished.
Early Tuesday morning, Louisville Metro Police arrested 40-year-old Gregory O'Bryan and charged him with murder.
According to arrest records, a search of Compton's computer found e-mails between Compton and O'Bryan.
Louisville Police have confirmed that Compton and O'Bryan met on a dating website.Police said surveillance video shows Compton meeting up with O'Bryan at Sullivan University on the night he disappeared. Police said O'Bryan originally told them that he picked Compton up on Oct. 28, bought alcohol and took him back to his apartment, where they had sex.
O'Bryan told detectives that Compton left his apartment on foot.
On Monday, police executed a search warrant at O'Bryan's apartment. According to arrest records, O'Bryan admitted to detectives that Compton died during sex. Police said O'Bryan also admitted to having sex with Compton's after his death and to disposing of the body.O'Bryan is charged with murder, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse.
Police said they are searching the landfill in Indiana for Compton's remains.
Compton graduated from Carmel High School, in Carmel, Ind., this year. Tuesday, John Williams, principal of Carmel High School, issued a statement on Compton's death:
“We are deeply saddened to hear of the tragic death of one of our fellow Greyhounds, Andrew Compton, a 2010 graduate of Carmel High School. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this time of great loss. Andrew spoke frequently with his teachers about his passion for the culinary arts. He will be missed by all who knew him.”
O'Bryan's family released a statement Tuesday afternoon that read, "Our sincere thoughts and prayers go out to the Compton family. We ask that the media respect our privacy during this difficult time."
Is there a limit to what white folks will do? SMH or maybe a shorter list would be to write the shiit that they won't do!
Burglary Suspect Found Naked With Mouse Lodged In His Butt
SENECA, SC (WCSC) - A burglary call for Oconee County sheriff's deputies turned bizarre Monday morning when their suspect was found naked with a mouse in his rectum and apparently drugged, an incident report shows.
Authorities responded to Bernwood Circle near the town of Seneca late Monday morning after a resident complained of a burglar. When deputies arrived, they found Noah Smith, 31, lying face down and naked inside the doorway of the victim's home, the report stated.
When the deputy tried to make contact with Smith, he slapped the deputy. In return, the deputy deployed his taser, which had no effect on Smith, the report stated.
With reinforcements, deputies approached Smith again in the victim's bedroom. A deputy managed to handcuff Smith before he jumped off the victim's bed and tried to kick other deputies in the room, the report stated.
Then, according to the report, Smith was pepper sprayed. Undeterred, Smith continued to kick at the officers and otherwise evade capture. He was struck with a police baton several times, and Smith attempted to bite the deputy.
Smith's head and mouth were covered with a blanket to prevent him from biting. He was wrestled down so shackles could be placed on his legs and his arms were hog-tied, the report stated. An EMS crew responded and provided a stretcher to which Smith was also tied.
Deputies and officers from the Seneca Police Department opined that Smith might have been high on mushrooms, and identified equipment that could be used to get high in the victim's home.
During a medical exam at a nearby hospital, medical personnel found a mouse tail hanging from Smith's rectum. An X-ray revealed a mouse lodged inside Smith.
He told emergency room personnel that he could not remember what had happened to him.
After the medical exam, he was charged with resisting arrest, 1st and 3rd degree assault a battery charges, and indecent exposure. Smith was transported to the Oconee County Detention Center.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Amazon defends, pulls self-published pedophilia e-book
A disturbing story erupted in the blogosphere yesterday. For a while, Amazon was selling a self-published Kindle e-book entitled The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-Lover’s Code of Conduct, that seems to be pretty much exactly what it sounds like. The author, 47-year-old Philip Greaves, claimed not actually to be a pedophile himself, but wrote from his own pre-teen and teen experiences after having been involuntarily hospitalized for manic depression.
Before the book drew widespread attention, Greaves said he had sold one copy (link probably NSFW). But after enraged commentary hit social networks and blogs, it sold enough copies to reach #80 on Amazon’s top 100 books list before Amazon finally pulled it.
Oddly, only hours before yanking the book, Amazon strongly defended selling it, even though Amazon’s own policies prohibit content that includes “offensive material” or that “may lead to the production of an illegal item or illegal activity.”
Amazon believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable. Amazon does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts, however, we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions.
Apparently thousands of people proclaiming an intent to boycott Amazon over this title, followed by attention from the non-Internet media such as Dr. Phil, were sufficient to cause Amazon to change its mind. Still, I find it more than a little strange that Amazon should have been so quick to defend the right to sell a pedophilia guide when, 18 months ago, it drew widespread “Amazonfail” derision for stripping sales rankings from gay and lesbian books. Hypocritical much, Amazon?
Paul Carr takes a thoughtful look at the controversy surrounding the book and the meaning behind Amazon’s decision to pull it—not a moral decision or even censorship, but a “rational economic decision” based on the likelihood of a boycott.
But what the ban most certainly is not is an anti-pedophile victory of any meaningful kind, any more than YouTube’s decision (under pressure, in part, from the British government) to remove hate speech by Anwar al Awlaki was a particularly meaningful triumph in the war against terror. In fact, if either ban has achieved anything (and it probably hasn’t) it’s simply to drive another vile little man further underground, to join the thousands of other vile little men (and the occasional vile little woman) who ooze far below the surface of the Internet, in private chat rooms and IRC channels and password protected forums. Philip R Greaves’ fetid little fantasies haven’t been destroyed, but rather will now be added to the countless other sick fictions and how-tos – not to mention the far more troubling, and illegal, images and videos of actual criminal acts – that lie in the darkest corners of the web, away from the glare of public derision.
I have little doubt that pedophilia has its own sick subculture sites where people afflicted with pedophilia discuss their common interests. Neither this book being offered for sale, nor it being pulled from Amazon, are likely to change that, and I find it unlikely that many of the people who frequent that kind of site would want to call attention (or leave a paper trail) to themselves by buying this book. (For one thing, they probably know what’s in it already.)
All the same, this kind of book is absolutely disgusting, and I find it hard to argue in favor of making that kind of content available even from a slippery-slope, “then they came for me” perspective. All the same, there are other books casting pedophilia in a positive light that Amazon continues to sell: Firefly by Piers Anthony, for just one example.
As Dianna Dilworth at eBookNewser and Devin Coldewey at TechCrunch observe, this issue points to a dilemma that Amazon and other e-book self-publishing sites will be running into more and more as years go by: the question of how to censor, or at least filter, self-published titles. Amazon seemed to be having trouble straddling the line between “censoring” a controversial book and filtering out offensive material yesterday—boldly declaiming against removing it one moment and then quietly doing just that the next.
I suspect that, early on, some lower-echelon PR flak decided that, in absence of orders to the contrary, the safest thing to do was toe the party line and send out a standard boilerplate “hell no, we won’t censor” response that I imagine they keep handy for complaints about any controversial book. It’s easy to follow orders blindly, because you don’t have to think for yourself—and some corporate structures actually punish initiative in the lower ranks. Then, a couple of hours later, someone higher up took a good look at was actually going on, and sanity prevailed.
It reminds me a little of Amazon’s oddly passive-aggressive “surrender notice” to Macmillan’s agency pricing back in January—that was buried on a Kindle user forum, a week before Amazon actually got around to restating new sales of Macmillan titles. In both cases Amazon produced a strange little statement that seemed to bear little actual relationship to what happened next.
I wonder whether this incident will be quickly forgotten, or whether the issues it stirs up will have repercussions down the road? I would not be surprised to see it lead to more stringent policies concerning what types of books Amazon will and will not publish in the future.
Well, this is a sign of things to come. In 20 or so years, there will be “paedophile rights” just as there are gay rights now. And maybe the world will move on to “bestiality rights” in another 40 or so years. Our parent’s generation all reacted with horror at homosexuals, and look at where we are now. I’m not saying it’s right, i’m not saying it’s wrong. I’m just saying open your eyes and see what is happening to our societies. And ask yourself, “what will i do?”
Reply
Mystery Missile
Cover Story
Well, they finally came up with a clever cover story to "explain" the mystery missile over LA . A defense expert, John Pike, said it was a plane contrail. He also said:
"Why the government is so badly organized that they can't get somebody out there to explain it and make this story go away ... I think that's the real story," Pike added.
Notice the words--" make this story go away." That is a clue. It tells you it is a cover up of what really happened.
If it was a plane contrail, then which flight was it? What airline? Was it on radar? Why don't they have that information?
People on the ground saw it. I think they know what a plane looks like. How stupid do they think people are? Very, apparently. I think most people are accepting this explanation. It is much easier to think it was a plane contrail instead of a missile or something worse.
Mind-controlled people will accept the government story. Just like 911, or Iraq or any Al Qaeda information given on the media. Blind acceptance with no questioning. Perfect robots. Very sad.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Cops being Pigs as usual! Protect and serve my ass!
Woman Says Police Officers Beat Her
Attorney: 2 Police Officers Ambushed Woman In Jail Cell
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. -- A 25-year-old Wayne woman said she was beaten and humiliated by two Westland police officers while she was in custody in August.
Krystal Gardner is suing the male officers and Westland Police Department over the assault she said happened Aug. 18, while she was in custody after being arrested in connection with a domestic dispute involving her sister.
During a news conference Tuesday with her attorney, Arnold Reed, Gardner said she was ambushed in her holding cell by the two officers, who beat her until one of her eyes was swollen shut, her nose bled and she was nearly unconscious.
She said the officers also humiliated her by kicking her between the legs, causing her skirt to lift up and her vaginal area to be exposed.
“It was the most humiliating and most horrible situations I have ever been in,” Gardner said.
Reed said the officers tried to cover up the incident by dropping the original domestic violence against Gardner and charging her with the assault and battering of a police officer.
Gardner admitted she had been banging on the walls of her cell, but it was because she is a diabetic and was being denied her medication and a blanket.
"I'm sitting down and he just comes in and jumps on me. The other officer comes in later and continues to beat me as well," she said. “I was screaming for help.”
Gardner said she spent two days in the hospital recovering from her injuries.
Reed said he has jail video that will support his case.
"They humiliated her. They called her a series of names, including the 'B' word, a whore and animal," Reed said. "This was a complete breakdown of the justice system."
The lawsuit is asking for a monetary reward of $2 million.
Westland's police chief did not return phone calls. But, according to a police report, officers said they used force with Gardner because she was assaulting them. The report states Gardner spit in the officers’ faces. Click link to watch video below.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/video/25688792/index.html
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/25686616/detail.html?taf=det
Another story:
HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (WXYZ) - In any community, police officers are supposed to be the city’s “moral barometer,” exhibiting ethical behavior of the highest standard. But the troubled past of one of the highest ranking cops in a local department is raising questions about whether she’s the right woman for the job.
Police officers are supposed protect and serve.. but one local mother says she was victimized by an off duty cop – and now she tells Action News Investigator Heather Catallo that she wants to know why the officer is still carrying a badge. Please be warned: a few of the pictures in this story are pretty graphic.
Flood’s Bar in Downtown Detroit is usually a place to see and be seen. But on a night in November of 2007…the Detroit institution was a crime scene. And the suspect: off-duty Detroit Police Sgt. Lanesha Jones.
“Never would have thought that I would be struck by someone who’s supposed to protect the citizens.. and they’re hurting the citizens,” said Emily.
The woman we’re talking to, who we’ll call Emily, asked that she not be identified. She’s known Sgt. Jones for years, and the two have never gotten along. And on that night in November 2007, things were no different.
Standing near the bar, things got tense…the women argued, and suddenly, wielding a glass, the off-duty Sergeant struck Emily in the head, knocking her to the floor. Emily said the sergeant ground the glass pieces into her head.
When it was all over, this is what the Sgt. had done: leaving deep lacerations in Emily’s head. One witness would later tell officers she saw “blood running down everywhere,” and that she could “see the bone” exposed in Emily’s head. It would take 20 stitches to close the wounds.
“I never saw it coming. I couldn’t see. It was blood all in my eyes and my face,” said Emily.
But that’s just where this story begins. Despite being convicted of assault and despite being terminated by the Detroit Police Department. Sgt. Jones is still a police officer. In fact, she just got a promotion.
http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/cop-assaults-woman%2C-gets-promoted%3F
Volcker Says in China He Remains Concerned About Global Economic Imbalance And Gold Futures Rise to Record on Speculation Dollar Will Decline
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, who is also chairman of President Barack Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, said he continues to be concerned by global economic imbalances.
Developing economies such as China still have a “heavy dependence” on the U.S. as a market for their exports and the U.S. still has an “inability to produce savings,” Volcker said at a financial forum in Beijing today.
“The imbalances remain and those imbalances are particularly categorized with the relationship between the U.S. and China, the two leading countries in the world now,” Volcker said. “Concerns about adjustments that I had five years ago remain.”
Volcker’s comments come as Obama, Chinese President Hu Jintao and other world leaders are to gather this week for the Group of 20 Nation’s meetings in Seoul. South Korean President Lee Myung Bak said Nov. 3 that he expected G-20 leaders to agree on “guidelines” for current-account positions to ease global trade imbalances.
Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan met Volcker in Beijing yesterday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Wang and Volcker discussed economic relations between China and the U.S., Xinhua said.
The Federal Reserve’s plan to buy $600 billion of Treasuries to pump money into the world’s biggest economy has been criticized by Chinese officials including Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai, who said yesterday that so-called quantitative easing may undermine the global economic recovery.
Dai Xianglong, chairman of China’s national pension fund and a former governor of the nation’s central bank, said today at the Beijing forum where Volcker spoke that the world needs a stable dollar. Dai proposed setting a trading range for the dollar.
Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Gold surged to a record $1,119.10 an ounce in New York on speculation a decline in the dollar will spark demand for the precious metal as an alternative asset.
The metal climbed for the eighth straight session, the longest rally since January 2006. Before rebounding today, the dollar extended a slump to a 15-month low against a basket of currencies. India’s central bank bought gold last month to diversify reserves.
“The interest that central banks have shown for gold has really lit a fire under the market,” said Matt Zeman, a metals trader at LaSalle Futures Group Inc. in Chicago. “People are questioning the value of not only the U.S. currency, but all paper currencies. Investors are more comfortable holding gold.”
Gold futures for December delivery climbed $12.10, or 1.1 percent, to $1,114.60 on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division. The price has jumped 7.1 percent this month, while the dollar dropped 1.5 percent against the currency basket. The metal is headed for a ninth straight annual gain.
Gold for immediate delivery jumped to a record $1,118.88.
The dollar has declined more than 7 percent since December, when the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark lending rate close to zero percent to pull the U.S. economy out of recession.
Dollar Outlook
“The dollar is not going to get any firm footing with rates at zero,” Zeman said. “The dollar is going to continue to be the victim of the carry trade. People are selling dollars and putting it in higher-yielding assets. All commodities are going higher.”
The Bank of England’s benchmark rate is 0.5 percent while the European Central Bank’s key rate is 1 percent.
Governments in the U.S. and other nations have cut borrowing costs and boosted spending amid the deepest recession since World War II, spurring some investors to buy bullion as a hedge against inflation.
“What’s the value of paper money?” said John Hathaway, the managing director of New York-based Tocqueville Asset Management LP and the manager of the Tocqueville Gold Fund. “It depends on what happens in the next three years to the efforts of the Federal Reserve and other world central banks to bring about an economic recovery.”
“Would they be able to retract the liquidity they put into place?” Hathaway said today in a Bloomberg Television interview. “If they have a hard time doing it, I think we’ll see inflation, and gold will go much higher.”
India’s central bank last month bought 200 metric tons of gold from the International Monetary Fund for $6.7 billion. Sri Lanka also said it has been buying gold. That prompted analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Societe Generale SA and Barclays Capital to forecast further purchases by central banks, already the biggest holders of gold.
Silver futures for December delivery climbed 31.5 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $17.537 an ounce. The metal has surged 55 percent this year after declining 24 percent in 2008.javascript:void(0)
Palladium futures climbed to a 15-month high today.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aBgS3Dknya9I
What;'s wrong with this picture?
Absolutely nothing, until you look at it from the side… This picture of very phallic pink elephant trunk was inside a harmless looking children’s pop-up book called “The Very Lazy Lion,” written by Jack Tickle.
Pedophilia much? They always planting subliminal messages in children minds. Do you think the elephant was intentionally drawn this way? Do you think this is too much for a kids book or is it innocent enough? And look in the corner of the book and read what it says. With a name like jack "tickle" (author) you have to wonder if this is a drawing of his white, Caucasoid, cock!
Monday, November 8, 2010
One Piece Of Moderately Good Economic News And 14 Pieces Of Bad Economic News That Are So Horrifying You Might Not Want To Read Them Standing Up
Today the financial world was buzzing with excitement because there was one moderately good piece of news for the U.S. economy. U.S. employers added 151,000 jobs during the month of October and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.6%. This is certainly welcome news, but these days it seems as though there are at least ten pieces of bad economic news for every hopeful economic signal. So don't get fooled when the U.S. economy takes one step forward, because it is about to take another dozen or so steps backwards. We are living in the middle of a nightmarish long-term economic decline that has been building for generations. The deindustrialization of the United States, the horrific trade deficit caused by globalization and the skyrocketing national debt are problems that have taken decades to develop. The Federal Reserve has been ripping the guts out of our financial system since 1913. These are not things that are going to be fixed overnight. In fact, there are some statistics that just keep getting worse and worse and worse as time goes by. We are heading straight for a devastating economic collapse and hopefully we can all warn as many people as possible while there is still time.
The more research that you do into our economic situation the more depressing it becomes. We are in big, big, big trouble. The following are 14 pieces of bad economic news that are so horrifying you might not want to read them standing up....
#1 More than 42 million Americans were on food stamps during the month of August. That is a new all-time record, and that number is 17 percent higher than it was one year earlier. In fact, the number of Americans on food stamps is up more than 58 percent since August 2007.
#2 The number of "persons not in the labor force" in the United States has set another new all-time record. The United States has not had such an extended bout of mass unemployment since the Great Depression. The "official" unemployment rate in the United States has been at nine and a half percent or above for 14 consecutive months.
#3 More than 1000 people now live in the 200 miles of flood tunnels that exist under the city of Las Vegas. Once one of the most prosperous cities in the United States, Las Vegas is now little more than a shiny, glittering corpse that it rapidly decaying.
#4 Poverty is absolutely exploding and it is hitting those who are the most vulnerable the hardest. According to one recent study, approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010.
#5 In the past 60 days alone, the price of cotton is up 54%, the price of corn is up 29%, the price of soybeans is up 22%, the price of orange juice is up 17%, and the price of sugar is up 51%.
#6 One out of every six Americans is now enrolled in at least one anti-poverty program run by the federal government.
#7 The American Bankruptcy Institute says that there will be about 1.6 million consumer bankruptcies in 2010. That would represent a huge increase over 2009.
#8 According to one recent survey, 28% of all U.S. households have at least one member that is looking for a full-time job.
#9 The individual U.S. states are mostly flat broke. For example, it is being reported that the 15 largest U.S. states spent on average over 220% of their tax receipts over the past decade. Clearly this is not even close to sustainable.
#10 The U.S. government is completely and totally broke. After analyzing Congressional Budget Office data, Boston University economics professor Laurence J. Kotlikoff concluded that the U.S. government is facing a "fiscal gap" of $202 trillion dollars.
#11 In an attempt to keep our financial system solvent, the U.S. Federal Reserve has announced plans to create $600 billion out of thin air and pump it into the U.S. economy. The Fed is calling this "quantitative easing", but what they should really be calling it is "cheating, debasing and inflating".
#12 Many of the major trading partners of the United States are expressing deep resentment regarding the new quantitative easing policy announced by the Fed. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard recently described the growing animosity this way....
Li Deshui from Beijing's Economic Commission said a string of Asian states share China's "deep bitterness" over dollar debasement, and are examining ways of teaming up to insulate themselves from the tsunami of US liquidity.
#13 For many analysts, the economic collapse of the United States comes down to cold, hard math. For example, the former CEO of the tenth largest bank in the United States says that it is a "mathematical certainty" that the U.S. government will eventually go bankrupt.
#14 According to a recent article on CNBC, the financial world is already buzzing about QE3....
"They're already talking about QE3," said Dave Rovelli, managing director of US equity trading for Canaccord Adams. "Eventually we're going to be printing so much money the dollar is going to really go down and everybody's going to try to deflate their currency against us. I just don't know how this could end well."
So is that all the Federal Reserve has left?
Are they just going to keep pouring bags of money into the economy until things get back to "normal"?
Are we going to have "Quantitative Easing 3", "Quantitative Easing 4", and "Quantitative Easing 5"?
It has been a long-running joke, but perhaps by the end of this thing Ben Bernanke will literally go up in a helicopter and start shoveling out huge piles of cash over the countryside.
The era of great prosperity that we have all enjoyed for so long is coming to an end. It would be advisable to use the remaining period of economic stability that we still have to prepare for what is ahead.
These economic problems could have been fixed decades ago if people would have actually listened and would have followed sound economic principles on an individual and on a corporate level, but that did not happen.
Now we are up to our eyeballs in debt and the greatest economic machine in history is rotting all around us.
We are in deep, deep, deep trouble and denying it is not going to make it go away.
Scientists Turn Skin Cells Directly Into Blood Cells, Bypassing Middle Pluripotent Step
ScienceDaily (Nov. 7, 2010) — In an important breakthrough, scientists at McMaster University have discovered how to make human blood from adult human skin.
The discovery, published Nov. 7 in the journal Nature, could mean that in the foreseeable future people needing blood for surgery, cancer treatment or treatment of other blood conditions like anemia will be able to have blood created from a patch of their own skin to provide transfusions. Clinical trials could begin as soon as 2012.
Mick Bhatia, scientific director of McMaster's Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, and his team of researchers have also shown that the conversion is direct. Making blood from skin does not require the middle step of changing a skin stem cell into a pluripotent stem cell that could make many other types of human cells, then turning it into a blood stem cell.
"We have shown this works using human skin. We know how it works and believe we can even improve on the process," said Bhatia. "We'll now go on to work on developing other types of human cell types from skin, as we already have encouraging evidence."
The discovery was replicated several times over two years using human skin from both young and old people to prove it works for any age of person.
John Kelton, hematologist and dean and vice-president of health sciences for McMaster University said: "I find this discovery personally gratifying for professional reasons. During my 30 years as a practicing blood specialist, my colleagues and I have been pleased to help care for cancer patients whose lives were saved by bone marrow transplants. For all physicians, but especially for the patients and their families, the illness became more frustrating when we were prevented from giving a bone marrow transplant because we could not find a perfect donor match in the family or the community. "Dr. Bhatia's discovery could permit us to help this important group of patients."
"The Bhatia research effort is building on significant findings in recent years, which have shown that human skin cells can be reprogrammed into pluripotent cells that have the potential to become all cell types.
"The pioneering findings published today are the first to demonstrate that human skin cells can be directly converted into blood cells, via a programming process that bypasses the pluripotent stage. Producing blood from a patient's own skin cells, has the potential of making bone marrow transplant HLA matching and paucity of donors a thing of the past."
"Bhatia's convincing demonstration that skin cells can be directly converted to hematopoietic progenitor cells is exciting and will immediately change the paradigms regarding the best way forward for production of hematopoietic cells to be used in regenerative medicine and in the study of human blood diseases," said Cynthia Dunbar, head of the molecular hematopoiesis section of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S.
"Bhatia's approach detours around the pluripotent stem cell stage and thus avoids many safety issues, increases efficiency, and also has the major benefit of producing adult-type l blood cells instead of fetal blood cells, a major advantage compared to the thus far disappointing attempts to produce blood cells from human ESCs or IPSCs."
This research was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute, the Stem Cell Network and the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101107202144.htm
666 the mark of the beast or Carbon?
Carbon: All Living organisms Must contain Carbon to exist on Earth as Physical Life.
The Bulding Blocks of Life.
6 neutrons, 6 protons, 6 electrons.
Once we concider how life started and what the first forms of life looked like, you can ask your self, are mammals so absolute?
OF COURSE NOT!
Reptiles, Insects and mammals all play a roll in our eco system.
All beings are one.........
It's just that simple. Earth chooses which beings will become the majority race, based upon the conditions of a given environment.
Who said Mammals are the highest form of life?
Maybe they are just a Form of Life... that exist in this time especially in other planetary systems. Hence the understanding of what we are is crutial to our future belief & existance. But all is one. And one is All.
Humans seem to look at Reptiles as scaly ugly creatures, however, if you were to have a more open mind about it, you would see remarkable designs in their skeletal structure. Not to mention their exterior design. Visual patterns can be a way to learn more about our own past of existance.
Plants, Flowers, Pine Cones, Trees ...etc... seem to exhibit.. Similar patterns to that of our native creatures here on Earth.
So I ask the question again... Who said Mammals are the highest form of life? ...... All is o1 ! ... Are we not all 1?
Carbon forms the backbone of biology for all life on Earth.
Complex molecules are made up of carbon bonded with other elements, especially oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen. It is these elements that living organisms need, among others, and carbon is able to bond with all of these because of its four valence electrons. Since no life has been observed that is not carbon-based, it is sometimes assumed in astrobiology that life elsewhere in the universe will also be carbon-based. This assumption is referred to by critics as carbon chauvinism, as it may be possible for life to form that is not based on carbon, even though it has never been observed.
In cinematic and literary science fiction, a moment when man-made machines cross from nonliving to living is often posited, this new form being the first example of non-carbon-based life. Since the advent of the microprocessor in the late 1960s, these machines are often classed as computers (or computer-guided robots) and filed under "silicon-based life", even though the silicon backing matrix of these processors is not nearly as fundamental to their operation as carbon is for "wet life".
The two most important characteristics of carbon as a basis for the chemistry of life are that it has four valence bonds and that the energy required to make or break a bond is just at an appropriate level for building molecules which are not only stable but also reactive.
The fact that carbon atoms bond readily to other carbon atoms allows for the building of arbitrarily long and complex molecules.
There are not many other elements which appear to be even promising candidates for supporting life-like behavior, but the most frequent alternative suggested is silicon. This is in the same group in the Periodic Table of elements and therefore also has four valence bonds. It also bonds to itself, but generally in the form of crystal lattices rather than long chains. However, its compounds are generally highly stable and do not support the ability to readily re-combine in different permutations in a manner that would plausibly support life-like processes.
Killer, trigger happy cops murder more innocent people!
A second unarmed man in two weeks lost a face off with one-time in Dallas yesterday. And neither shootings even made national news.
The first shooting happened two days before Halloween, and also involved the shooting of an 11-year-old boy.
On Oct. 29, a sergeant and four officers on foot patrol in the Cedar Garden apartments in east Oak Cliff came upon Tobias Arthur Mackey, 25.
They said Mackey concealed his hands and ignored officers’ instructions to show them, then made sudden movements. One of the officers fired at Mackey several times, killing him and wounding an 11-year-old boy who happened on the scene.
Dallas Police Chief David Brown last week promised a full investigation into Mackey’s shooting. Some have alleged that race was a factor in the killing. Mackey was black and the officer who shot him is white.
Yesterday’s incident is even more tragic because dude called the cops who killed him.
An unarmed man was shot and killed by Dallas police early Sunday morning after he asked people in the 3100 block of West Davis Street in west Oak Cliff to call the police for him.
The 911 call came at 5:58 a.m. and indicated that the man had a firearm, police said.
The man, identified as 32-year-old Tony Menchaca, acted erratically when approached by officers. The street was closed to traffic, and a SWAT team was called during a one-hour standoff.
As the team was assembling, Menchaca made “gestures that the officers deemed threatening, and five officers fired on him” at about 7:20 a.m., said Lt. C.L. Williams, a police spokesman. Menchaca was struck several times and died.
An investigation showed that Menchaca was not armed.
Williams said the department has launched criminal and administrative investigations of the incident.
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2010/11/in_oak_cliff_five_dallas_pd_of.php
When is this type of shiit going to end?
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
COP THAT KILLED OSCAR GRANT MAY ONLY DO SIX MONTHS IN PRISON
Riots in Oakland following Mehserle sentence: 150 arrests
http://www.insidebayarea.com/top-stories/ci_15469933
Live blog: Cops pour in to Oakland to try to stop looting
By Kristin Bender
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 07/08/2010 03:53:29 PM PDT
Updated: 07/08/2010 10:54:33 PM PDT
10:45 p.m. More businesses hit by violence
Graffiti on an empty building on the corner of 22nd and Broadway says "Oakland is our amusement park tonight!" A man at 23rd and Valdez was arrested because he had a gun. Two banks have had their windows smashed at 21st and Broadway. At Ozumo, someone smashed a window and there are broken bottles around the restaurant. )Oakland Acura at 24th and Harrison had its windows broken.
10:20 p.m. More than 60 police officers being brought in from Contra Costa County
Hundreds of police officers from Berkeley, Fremont, Hayward, San Francisco and other departments have been on hand today and tonight helping Oakland police with the protests, violence and looting in downtown. Now, at least 60 police officers from Contra Costa County are being brought in to assist. The crowd of a couple dozen is now at Grand Avenue and Telegraph near a Taco Bell. Oakland police are reporting that BART has closed the 19th Street station because of civil unrest.
10:05 p.m. Stores being looted on Broadway
The crowd just broke into the Oakland Coin and Jewelry Exchange and raided the place, and police are actively moving in. Oaksterdam at 19th and Broadway had its windows broken. Police threw flash bang grenades and are moving in with bean bag guns. JC Jewelry at 19th and Broadway had its metal gate ripped off and there is shattered glass everywhere and all the case inside are broken. People are breaking into the Sears store at 20th and Broadway using the metal bats to break the display window, stripping the mannequins of their clothes. Mannequins were set on fire. More flash grenades went off. All of the windows along Telegraph in the Sears are smashed. They were trying to get through the door, but there are security gates behind it.There was a pretty large mob and one man with a metal pipe smashing the winds.
The crowd is about 100 people now. At 19th and Broadway, police have established a police line and there are at least four fires in Dumpsters in the middle of the street. At times you can see cops with guns facing off with a line of people armed with cameras. The streetlights have been turned on and off sporadically over the last 20 minutes.
9:46 p.m. Garbage can set afire, thrown down 19th Street BART station stairs
Garbage cans have been set afire at 19th Street and thrown down the stairs of the BART station there.
Three Dumpsters are on fire on 19th Street, and they're being pulled out into the middle of the street by people wearing masks. Police have established a perimeter around the area and appear ready to move in on protesters.
9:40 p.m. Problems in downtown continue
Police have used a flash bang grenade, sending dozens of people running at 17th Street and Telegraph Avenue. It lightly charred the hood of a media van. An officer had a bottle thrown at him. Police are still moving the crowd down 17th Street from Broadway. The police are in an organized walk away from the protesters, with people surging forward.
Police are orderly, facing forward, stepping away from people. Protesters are being emboldened by this and have retaken 17th and Broadway.
"I just hope it doesn't get any worse that what it's been so far. This certainly is not peace or justice for Oscar," said Councilmember Larry Reid shortly after police cleared 14th Street and Broadway. "And I was hoping people would pay attention to what Oscar Grant's family asked folks to do — to exercise their constitutional rights but do it in a way that didn't cause property damage or any physical harm to anyone."
The Sheriff's Office is bringing in buses to take away people who've been arrested.
9:25 p.m. Close to 400 people are on downtown streets, crowd is moving up 15th toward Webster
Police have arrested dozens of people for fighting with officers, possession of weapons and on other charges. Prominent Oakland Attorney Walter Riley was one of them. It appeared he didn't comply quickly enough with police orders.
There is a crowd of people shouting "Justice for Oscar Grant" on the street. Police are swarming around the Lionel Wilson building. CHP cars had their windows taped, but people smashed the windows on one car with bricks, breaking the windshield. People are chanting: "Whose street? Our street!"
Police have beanbag shotguns, but they have not used them.
9 p.m. Windows smashed, looting going on in downtown
People are smashing windows and police are not stopping the looting or window smashing in the area of 14th and 15th and Broadway. A massive number of CHP officers are on the scene.
Police are pushing people north on Broadway. Police are forming a line at Broadway and 14th Street facing east. There is a crowd corralled in Frank Ogawa Plaza.
Lauren Whitehead, 26, of Oakland is yelling at people with black masks who are setting fire to shoe boxes in the street. The Foot Locker at 14th and Broadway had its windows smashed earlier and people pulled shoes, T-shirts and other items from the store.
"It's hard for me to watch somebody walk from window to window to window and knock it out with a hammer. It's hard for me to watch someone start a fire in the middle of a street I walk down every day, because it doesn't help," she said.
One man who ran out of the Foot Locker came out with two different size sneakers then ran back and asked someone to get him a size 8.
Stephen Allen, 22, got caught up in a mob that broke through the gate of the Foot Locker, looting the store of shoes and sportswear. Allen was upset.
"Before the sun went down I was happy with everything," the West Oakland resident said. "It's no longer about Oscar Grant. The people who went in there and came out with shoes. That's not about Oscar Grant anymore. What we had before the sun went down, that was justice. This is just pure stupidity."
8:40 p.m. Shoe store being looted, police declare unlawful assembly
Police declared unlawful assembly at 13th and Broadway and are ordering the area cleared. They are going to clear the area with force and are threatening the use of chemical agents.
The Foot Locker on Broadway has had its windows smashed, and looters are pulling shoes, T-shirts and other items from the store. Hangers and shoe boxes are all over the ground at 14th and Broadway.
Windows at the Rite-Aid store at 14th and Broadway have been cracked. The Far East National Bank has also had its window broken.
About 100 police officers are coming up Broadway to help quell the situation. Police are donning masks and helmets. and saying that people who stay are risking serious injuries. People in the crowd are donning tear gas masks.
There is a man on ground with a video camera. Witnesses say at least four police officers swarmed around him and pressed his face to the ground before handcuffing him and dragging him away.
There are people out with signs that say "killer cops." Demonstrators are taking cell phone pictures and video.
Police have re-established a line at 14th and Broadway, as five protesters have lined up and are locking arms as if they're not going to move. Police are redeploying a riot line.
Two men who started a game of chess nearly three hours ago are still playing the game in the middle of a crosswalk.
8:30 p.m. Bottles, cans being thrown, three arrested
Police have now arrested three people, including two for fighting with police and one for throwing a Molotov cocktail. Police have started taking away cans and bottles from people who were tossing them at officers at the intersection of 13th and Broadway.
Someone has broken a window at the Subway shop at 1312 Broadway.
People fled up Broadway toward 14th, but calm was restored.
8:20 p.m. Protesters and police begin to clash
At 12th Street, south of Broadway there are a handful of people wearing bandannas on their faces. There are protesters approaching police skirmish lines in that area. One officer gently shoved back a protester who was getting too close to the line. They are chanting "no justice, no peace.'' There are about 200 protesters up against the line, which includes about 60 police officers.
8:05 p.m. Police make some arrests in downtown as official event ends peacefully
Police have arrested two people for fighting with officers and they also detained a handful of others for being on roof near 12th and Broadway. Police thought they might drop items onto the street. A few people have thrown bottles at police. Meanwhile, the music has ended and many people are leaving the area.
7:45 p.m. Mayor Dellums thanks people for peaceful protests- so far
Mayor Ron Dellums and Chief Anthony Batts commended Oakland residents for what have been overwhelmingly peaceful protests.
''Up to this moment, while passionate and very aggressively talking about the need for justice, people have done so in a manner that is peaceful,' Dellums said. He added, "I want to compliment people for their passion for justice but also their passion for peace."
7:40 p.m. Department of Justice to do independent review
Alejandro Miyar, a spokesman for the Department of Justice (DOJ) said the office has been closely monitoring the state's investigation and prosecution. "The Civil Rights Division, the U.S. attorney's office, and the FBI have an open investigation into the fatal shooting and, at the conclusion of the state prosecution, will conduct an independent review of the facts and circumstances to determine whether the evidence warrants federal prosecution."
Congresswoman Barbara Lee, (D-Oakland) said her office has been in touch with the DOJ and has been "reassured that they are moving forward and conducting a thorough and independent review of the verdict." "No verdict can ever replace the loss of a son, a father and a friend. Our condolences continue to go out to the family of Oscar Grant during this trying time,'' she said in a statement.
7:30 p.m. People react differently in downtown
On Broadway between 13th and 14th there are still 500 to 800 people gathered. When one young man started shouting that the crowd should riot he was quickly quieted by Oakland resident Brenda Appleby. "Maybe the verdict is wrong,'' Appleby said. "But this is my community and my town. We have to stop talking about (the shooting) like it just hurt us black people. We need to stop looking at just color. This is about what happened to human being."
Meanwhile, an officer with the Alameda County probation department, who asked that his name not be printed for fear of losing his job, was not pleased with the verdict. I feel like (the verdict) was a slap on the wrist (for Mehserle). I don't trust the system and I work for the system."
7 p.m. Oscar Grant's grandfather speaks out for peace, update on public transit
Police are blocking Broadway at 12th Street; 12th Street at Telegraph Avenue; 13th and Broadway; and 14th and Franklin. Meanwhile, people are playing music about 20 feet from the police line at 12th and Broadway.
Oscar Grant Sr., 64, of Hayward, the grandfather of Oscar Grant III, is downtown. He urged the crowd to stay peaceful no matter how angry they are.
"Don't come out here to fight," he said. "Don't dishonor my grandson's death by coming out here and tearing up Oakland. ... I know the verdict was wrong, but let's not tear up Oakland for it."
Meanwhile, the Broadway entrance to the 12th Street/Oakland City Center BART station is closed, according to BART officials. The other entrances are still open. That particular entrance has been closed at the recommendation of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office because of crowding, BART spokesman Jim Allison said. Trains are running on time, he said.
AC Transit has diverted buses around downtown Oakland, but AC Transit spokesman Clarence Johnson said they are still running full service.
The Fruitvale BART station is quiet. About 20 Alameda County sheriff's deputies have relieved Oakland police officers who were guarding the station. The station is largely empty. A rider getting off a train at the Fruitvale station complimented the efforts to keep protests calm.
"The leadership of young people of color has worked very hard for a peaceful demonstration," said Lea Arellano, a resident of the Fruitvale district. "I want to celebrate the discipline, the commitment and the illustration of peace that is present here at the BART station. We disagree with the verdict, but still there is peace."
6:45 p.m. Stage set up, at least 1,000 gathered in downtown
At 14th and Broadway, demonstrators have set up a stage blocking the intersection. There are 500 to 800 people in downtown. People are holding signs that say "Justice for Oscar Grant," "Jail all racist cops" and "All lives are worthy, no to police brutality and murder."
Lauren Sage is down there and said: "Police brutality affects all of us, and when we stand up for it, it's for all of us."
6:40 p.m. BART reports no delays
No delays reported, and ridership is relatively light. Police Chief Anthony Batts will update the media about the situation downtown at 7 p.m.
6:35 p.m. Banner hung in downtown
Protesters strung a huge banner from a light pole at 14th and Broadway that reads "Oakland says guilty" and "Murder (expletive) the police" in large block letters.
6:30 p.m. Places to speak out peacefully
Looking for a place to speak out? Five community centers are open for people to express themselves. Go to www.oaklandnet.com to learn more.
6:25 p.m. Groups with bandannas over their faces gathering in downtown
There are 300 to 500 people in downtown.
At least four groups of four to five people are at 14th Street and Broadway with bandannas over their faces. They are sending text messages with the bandannas over their faces and then removing them. A few minutes ago, there was a tense standoff between police in riot gear and protesters at 12th Street and Broadway. Then some Oakland women got between the protesters and police and calmed down the crowd, telling them violence is not an appropriate form of protest.
"As parents we have got to get out here and show our children how to do this the right way," said Sheila Rischer, a 40-year-old longshoreman from Oakland. "This is my responsibility," she said of why she got between the police and protesters. "Let's do it the right way and be positive." Her efforts worked, at least for the moment, as the crowd dispersed and moved back toward 14th Street and Broadway where the peaceful rally continued.
6:15 p.m. Men set down chess board in crosswalk to promote peace
Oakland residents Yafeu K. Tyhimba, 41, and Keba Konte, 43, put down a chess board in the crosswalk at 14th Street and Broadway and began playing a game against each other. "It's a thinking man's game,'' Konte said. "And that's what we need to be doing tonight."
6:10 p.m. Streets closed but no arrests so far, reporters monitoring the situation
Broadway is shut down in both directions from 6th to 19th streets. The following streets are also closed to traffic: 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th streets. Police Chief Anthony Batts said that "we don't have any arrests, we don't have any indications of any problems," adding that a rally downtown has been peaceful.
"We're respecting everybody's right to assemble. We're respecting freedom of speech," City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said. In reaction to the verdict, she said: "I'm grateful for a guilty verdict. Now, the magnitude of what that verdict means depends on the
sentence."
Mayor Ron Dellums said at a news conference that the Oakland community had "waited with baited breath" for the verdict. "They've come to this moment with pain, with passion, with anger with fear and also with hope."
At 13th and Broadway, many gathered to express their opinions.
"So many community groups have made the point that violence is not justice," said the Rev. Dr. H. James Hopkins, Lakeshore Avenue Baptist. "So justice needs to have nonviolent measures. It's hard to see those videos and to think that today's verdict was justice. So we agree with the mayor when he said that the journey to justice doesn't end here."
Oakland Voices Community Correspondents are on the streets getting Mehserle verdict reaction:
http://www.oaklandvoices.us/2010/07/oaklands-strong-reaction-to-mehserle-verdict.
6 p.m. BART releases statement
BART released a statement with Board President James Fang noting how BART's response to the Grant shooting included revamping transit police training, doing audits of the Police Department, and getting a state law passed to allow BART to establish a police auditor position to investigate complaints against transit police officers.
5:40 p.m. Sitution heating up in downtown Oakland
A girl was either run over by a police car or hit by a bottle at 11th and Broadway. She declined medical attention. The incident happened when an AC Transit bus was trapped by a crowd and police were attempting to free the bus. Police in riot gear have blocked off the intersection of 11th and Broadway.
The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary is calling for a rally at 14th an Broadway to ask:
1. for the maximum sentence for Mehserle,
2. that former BART officers Tony Pirone and Marysol Domenici be jailed,
3. that the BART police are disarmed and disbanded,
4. that massive funding is provided to Oakland for education and jobs for Oakland's black, Latino, Asian, and poor and working-class white youth,
5. police and immigration officials to stop racial profiling of Latino, black, Asian, and other minority youth with and without papers,
6. Oakland Mayor Dellums and other governmental authorities in Oakland to declare that this verdict does not render justice to Oscar Grant and to act on the demands of the movement.
5:30 p.m. Oakland mayor speaks, small fire started at police station
Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums spoke to the media after the verdict. He said he would stand with the family of Oscar Grant III if they were not satisfied with the verdict and wanted to explore other options for getting justice for their son, such as through federal channels. Dellums said people have a constitutional right to express themselves, their anger, their pain, but he hoped they would do it in a manner that is respectful to Oscar Grant III, his family and to the community and would "show the nation that we can handle adversity."
Meanwhile, someone set a fire in a shrub in front of the Oakland Police Department at 7th and Broadway. Flames shot seven feet into the air before it was put out by authorities. No one has been arrested.
5:20 p.m. Mother of Oscar Grant and family attorney speak, governor issues statement
It was peaceful outside the Los Angeles courthouse after the verdict was read. There was a strong police presence inside and outside the courthouse before and after the verdict was read.
Wanda Johnson, Oscar Grant III's mother, was not going to speak after the verdict but changed her mind. "My son was murdered, and the laws did not hold the officer accountable. He was murdered. He was murdered. He was murdered," said an emotional and crying Johnson. "God will not fail us or let us down, and I will trust in Him."
John Burris, attorney for the family, said he is disappointed with the verdict.
"The verdict is not a true representation of what happened to Oscar Grant or what the officers' actions were that night," he said. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a statement regarding the verdict, saying "I encourage Californians to remain calm in light of the verdict and not to resort to violence. I have spoken to Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and have assured him we are well prepared to assist in maintaining order."
5 p.m. Grant's sister-in-law reacts
Yolanda Nesa, who identifies herself as Oscar Grant's sister-in-law, is outside Oakland City Hall. "This is not justice, they rushed everything," she said of the jury's decision. The mood at Frank H. Ogawa plaza is calm, but it seems as though people are waiting for something to happen.
4:50 p.m. Mehserle could face up to 14 years in prison
The jury has convicted Mehserle of involuntary manslaughter and found that he used a gun during the shooting of Oscar Grant III. He could face two to four years in prison for the involuntary manslaughter conviction and an additional 10 years for the gun enhancement. He will be sentenced Aug. 6. He will not be ineligible for probation. Mehserle will also be forced to serve 85 percent of his eventual sentence, a much higher standard than most crimes.
4:30 p.m. At Fruitvale BART and in front of Oakland City Hall
At Fruitvale BART, it is crowded but calm. Four Oakland police officers are stationed at the entrances and metal gates are up. People reacted to the verdict. "Ah, so he's doing time? He should be doing time. If it was someone else on the street we wouldn't have to wait for this verdict. Justice is served,'' said Pe'i Sevaaetasi of Oakland.
Nicholas Kleeb of Alameda said "All and all I believe the jury did their job,'' he said.
At Frank O'gawa Plaza there is calm as well, though shortly after the conviction was announced, one woman screamed about the injustice of the verdict, while another woman had a more optimistic response, noting the jury brought back a rare verdict against a police officer for shooting a black man.
4:20 p.m. Mehserle being taken into custody
Former BART officer has been free on $3 million bail. Will be sentenced Aug. 6.
All quiet at BART headquarters in downtown Oakland.
4:05 p.m. Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter
Verdict in the Johanne Mehserle case just announced in Los Angeles. Could get two to 14 years in prison.
3:55 p.m. Grant's mother arrives
Oscar Grant's mother, Wanda Grant, has arrived in the courtroom.
3:45 p.m. Media, family and friends of Mehserle in courtroom
Relatives, friends and news reporters have been allowed in the courtroom.
3:30 p.m. City asks residents/merchants to prepare for possible violence
Police are advising residents to park cars in garages or a secure location if possible. Many streets in downtown are being closed off.
Residents and merchants should remove or secure large trash cans that are on the street. To report crimes in process, call 911 or 510-777-3211 from a cell phone. To report any suspicious activity to Oakland police by calling the nonemergency number: 510-777-3333. Updates will be posted on Oaklandnet.com and on twitter: Oaklandpoliceca. Check back at www.insidebayarea.com for updates.
PG&E has temporarily closed two customer service offices, at 1919 Webster St. and 6537 Foothill Blvd. in Oakland. Customers who do business at these locations should call 1-800-PGE-5000 with questions.
3:15 p.m. Verdict in Mehserle case reached
After 6 1/2 hours of deliberations Wednesday and today, the Los Angeles jury of eight women and four men have reached a verdict in the murder case against Johannes Mehserle in the Jan. 1, 2009, shooting death of Oscar Grant III. The verdict is expected to be read about 4 p.m.
At least 200 and as many as 300 Oakland police officers, Alameda County Sheriff's deputies and other law enforcement have been called to the streets of Oakland in case of protests, riots and violence, police said. Metal barriers are going up around the Eastmont substation on MacArthur as a precaution, police said. City hall, Alameda County Superior Court, University of California and major downtown employers, including Kaiser in downtown, have sent employees home early for their own safety. Freeways out of Oakland are jammed as people rush to pick up children and get home before the commute rush begins.
Oakland police will only be responding to violent crimes and crimes in progress as officers will be focused on keep calm in the city. The jury reached a verdict after deliberating part of Wednesday and today.
Mehserle faces one of the following:
Second-degree murder: Mehserle knew the actions he was taking could cause a death but took those actions any way.
Voluntary manslaughter: Mehserle acted in the heat of passion or Mehserle believed his life was in danger but used too much force in defending himself.
Involuntary manslaughter: Mehserle committed an act that posed a high risk of death or great injury because of the way the act was committed. Or, Mehserle's actions could be found by a reasonable person to be reckless.
The 28-year-old former BART police officer was facing first-degree murder, but last week a judge declared that jurors would not be allowed to consider that option.
The unarmed Grant was shot and killed while he was facedown on the Fruitvale BART platform.
http://www.examiner.com/headlines-in-stockton/riots-oakland-following-mehserle-sentence-150-arrests
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