RWC Unfiltered 6-6-2011

• Belarus, China, North Korea and Syria Supplying Iran
• Weiner In Battle of the Bulge.
• Syria Aflame Could Mean Attack On Israel
• War on Drugs Over - Dopers Won
• Ford Introduces Pop Bottle Size Engine
• Iran At Nuclear Bombs Threshold
• Iraqis with Al Qaida ties arrested in Kentucky
• One in Seven Get Food Stamps
• More GOP Upset
• Cain: Obama Has Lost Americans- He’s Indecisive
• Blue Angel’s CO Resigns Over Unsafe Maneuver

Actor James Arness died of natural causes Friday at his Los Angeles area home.. The 6′7″ Arness played the iconic Marshall Matt Dillon in 663 episdoes over the 20-years that the tv Gunsmoke western series was broadcast from 1955 to 1975.

Only Dennis Weaver remains of the shows longest involved principals he appeared in 272 episdoes (1955-1964); Amanda Blake (1929-1989) played Kitty in 553 episodes the owner of the Long Branch Saloon and designated girlfriend of Matt Dillon. Milburn Stone  (1904-1980) played Doc Galen Adams in 586 episodes

U.S. intelligence says there is renewed support for Iran’s missile and nuclear programs. from such allies as Belarus, China, North Korea and Syria.

“Iran has not demonstrated a willingness to negotiate seriously on its nuclear program, and so sanctions have been stepped up in the hope that Iran will reconsider what’s in its own best interest.

The two entities from Belarus were identified as Belarusian Optical Mechanical Association and BelTechExport while the sanctions on China were Dalian Sunny Industries, Dalian Zhongbang Chemical Industries Co., Xian Junyun Electronic and a Chinese national Karl Lee. Syria was represented by the state-owned Industrial Establishment of Defense and Scientific Studies and Research Center, known as SSRC.

“There was credible information indicating that they had transferred to or acquired from Iran, North Korea, or Syria equipment and technology listed on multilateral export control lists Australia Group, Chemical Weapons Convention, Missile Technology Control Regime, Nuclear Suppliers Group, Wassenaar Arrangement or otherwise having the potential to make a material contribution to WMD or cruise or ballistic missile systems,” the U. S. said on May 24.

The latest sanctions also included North Korea’s Tangun Trading, the state-owned Venezuela Military Industries Co. and Iran’s Milad Jafari, Defense Industries Organization, Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, SAD Import-Export Company, and Shahid Bakeri Industries Group. Most of these entities have already come under American sanctions and were not believed to have assets in the United States.

Few  have confidence Iran or its allies and suppliers will relent.

A scam called the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation, says annual fireworks show pose an environmental threat to the waters, and noise is also a problem. Further the radical group says the chemicals produced by fireworks can be toxic so they want toe annual Independence Day celebrations stopped and local La Jolla judges may just agree. The grouop has sued to stop this years LaJolla display.

Tony Weiner, the pugnacious 46-year old Democrrat New York City congressman has puit himself in something of a pickle in what has become the “Battle of the Bulge.”

The acerbic Brooklynite says he wants to take Bloomberg’s spot in the NYC Mayor’s chair when it opens up in 2013, says he has aspired to be Big Aoole Mayor since at least 2005.

Weiner has spent his professional political life in the rough-and-tumble of New York City politics, starting as a legislative assistant to then-Rep. Chuck Schumer, now the state’s senior senator. Weiner was elected to the New York City Council before winning Schumer’s House seat in 1998, representing parts of Brooklyn and Queens.

A week ago one of his Twitter followers Genette Cordova, a Washington state college student identified as the intended recipient of a waist-down photo of a man in bulging underpants. Cordova is one of just 198 people Weiner follows in Twitter, and he hasn’t clearly explained why a 21-year-old female student would be on that short list. Both he and Cordova insist they have never met in person or had any inappropriate exchanges. Cordova did say she called Weiner her “boyfriend” once on Twitter.

Weiner is a fan of social media using it to lambast Republicans and to spread his brand of political discourse infamously calling Newt Gingrich the tallest of the pygmies.

The poopy hit the paddles after the often sarcastic Brookynite refuised to say if the off color photo was of him or not; alleging his account had been hacked and saying the whole thing was a prank.

But, he refused to have the cyber break-in investigated saying he didn’t want to be distracted or make a big deal of it thereby making it just the big deal. he says he wanted to avoid.

Weiner Gate is far from over, and he seems intent on pouring gasoline on that fire.

Guy says to his shrink, ” I’m feeling suicidal what should I do?”

“Pay in advance,” says the Doc.

Two unforeseen events Friday, June 3 rekindled Syrian protests with full force - just as Syrian President Bashar Assad was preparing to celebrate his reassertion of authority after suppressing the uprising against his regime with active Iranian and Hizballah help: The leaders of the Syrian opposition-in-exile meeting in Antalya under Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s aegis struck a deal with the Muslim Brotherhood which brought 100,000 Brotherhood loyalists back on the streets in the northern town of Hama.

Military sources disclose: Just as the conference of major Syrian opposition party leaders approached a fruitless ending, the Muslim Brotherhood, consented to introducing a clause in the “National Unity Charter” providing for the separation of religion and state in the guidelines of the post-Assad regime.

The MB made this concession after consulting with the group’s leaders in Cairo and under heavy Turkish pressure.

It means that, even if the Brotherhood, which is banned and persecuted under the Assad regime, does run for election, the regime taking over would not be religious in nature.

This decision is of major significance not only for Syria but also for Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians where the Muslim Brotherhood has a strong presence.

Word of the Antalya accord flashed through Hama, center of the Brotherhood’s revolt against the Assad family since 1982, and brought half the population out on the streets. Syrian security forces were caught unawares. Someone on the spot or along the higher Syrian and Iranian chain of command in Damascus panicked. An order went out to shoot directly into the crowd and break up the demonstration with maximum casualties. The result of up to 150 dead and 350 injured ignited fresh outbreaks in neighboring Homs, a town of more than 1.2 million inhabitants.

Northern Syria was aflame again after the uprising in the North and most other parts of Syria had largely subsided last week.

Fresh disturbances also hit the southern province of Horan and its capital Deraa a month after unrest there had been suppressed by troops shooting dead more than 500 protesters and injuring thousands. Covert Saudi agents operating from Ramtha in neighboring Jordan managed to whip up fresh anti-Assad riots in Deraa and Deir a-Zur among the Shamar, a nomadic tribe which roams across the Syrian, Jordanian and Iraqi borders and whose center is in northern Saudi Arabia.
The new outbreaks confronted President Assad with a fresh challenge at the very moment that he was polishing his victory speech to celebrate the crushing of the revolt against him.

He must now decide between carrying on with his iron-fist crackdown to douse persistent protests, or rely on the new bloodbath in Hama, Deraa and Deir a-Zur to act as a deterrent against the nationwide revival of mass demonstrations.

The third option, which he threatened earlier in the three-month revolt, would be to re-channel the fury directed against his regime into aggression on the Syrian-Israeli border.

Two unforeseen events Friday, June 3 rekindled Syrian protests with full force - just as Syrian President Bashar Assad was preparing to celebrate his reassertion of authority after suppressing the uprising against his regime with active Iranian and Hizballah help: The leaders of the Syrian opposition-in-exile meeting in Antalya under Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s aegis struck a deal with the Muslim Brotherhood which brought 100,000 Brotherhood loyalists back on the streets in the northern town of Hama.
Military sources disclose: Just as the conference of major Syrian opposition party leaders approached a fruitless ending, the Muslim Brotherhood, consented to introducing a clause in the “National Unity Charter” providing for the separation of religion and state in the guidelines of the post-Assad regime.
The MB made this concession after consulting with the group’s leaders in Cairo and under heavy Turkish pressure.

It means that, even if the Brotherhood, which is banned and persecuted under the Assad regime, does run for election, the regime taking over would not be religious in nature.

This decision is of major significance not only for Syria but also for Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians where the Muslim Brotherhood has a strong presence.

Word of the Antalya accord flashed through Hama, center of the Brotherhood’s revolt against the Assad family since 1982, and brought half the population out on the streets. Syrian security forces were caught unawares. Someone on the spot or along the higher Syrian and Iranian chain of command in Damascus panicked. An order went out to shoot directly into the crowd and break up the demonstration with maximum casualties. The result of up to 150 dead and 350 injured ignited fresh outbreaks in neighboring Homs, a town of more than 1.2 million inhabitants.

Northern Syria was aflame again after the uprising in the North and most other parts of Syria had largely subsided last week.
Fresh disturbances also hit the southern province of Horan and its capital Deraa a

Luck, fate, kismet — whatever you want to call it, two guys named Joe and Rick got hit by all three on a beach in Hawaii.

It started innocently enough: Joe Parker was walking on the beach one day. He saw a family taking pictures and offered to take a group photo of Rick Hill and his family. Rick and Joe get to talking, one thing leads to another — and voila: Turns out they’re related! And not as 13th cousins twice-removed — the pair discovered they were from the same part of Massachusetts, which led them to find out that they had something else in common: Dad.

Who knew?! Clearly not these two, which means Dad has a LOT of explaining to do when they get home.

The War on Drugs is over the dopers won. Even as illicit drug use is thought to be declining drug abuse is rising fueled by legal drugs and pill mills run by unethical doctors who will prescribe to anyone willing to pay for an cursory office visit to get a prescription. OxyContin, the popular and powerful painkiller, can resold for a dollar a milligram, says Seattle Police.  A bottle of 60 80-milligram pills could bring in close to $5,000.

 Jails and prisons are stuffed to overflowing with “non-violent” dopers convicted of vaious drug abuse laws. Courts have recently ordered prison populations reduced putting may back on the streets.

One group that tracks pharmacy robberies claims 2,000 Pharmacy stick-ups over the last 7-years to steal drugs.Either to use or sell.

Veteran’s groups claim one in five homeless are vetrans and they majrity are substance abuserss preferrinfg alcohol and prescriptions drugs because the latter is provided free through taxpayer paid clinics and doctors. Health insurers seldom question prescriptions and in one California case one pill pushing doctor prescribed $1,000 a day of addictive pain killers to one patients for 30-consecutive days filled by a single pharmacy and reimbursed by a health insurer.

It’s hard to understate who the real drug pushers are.

A  47-year-old SUBWAY Sandwich shop clerk was arrested Thursday and faces several drug charges after she allegedly sold marijuana with the purchase of any sandwich that required “extra meat,” St. Lucie County, Florida Sheriff’s Office said.

“Extra meat” was code word for a bag of weed, investigators claimed. customers wanting a little extra green on the side would place $10 in the tip jar and Hunt would slip the weed in the sandwich bag, a police report said.

Ford is developing its smallest engine ever, a wee little three-cylinder mill with the displacement of a soda bottle.

The tiny engine is part of the automaker’s push to increase the fuel efficiency of its lineup by building smaller, but more powerful, engines. Despite its itty-bitty size, Ford says the turbocharged 1.0-liter Ecoboost engine will provide the torque and power of a 1.6-liter four-cylinder.

The 1.0-liter mill is small for an American automaker, but not unheard of in Europe. Fiat, for example, is offering the adorable Fiat 500 with a tiny 875-cc, two-cylinder engine (smaller than many motorcycles) said to be good for 57.4 mpg. Ford plans to back it up with an 8-speed automatic transmission.

The goal is fuel economy without sacrificing power. Whether this gadget which is the size of a big bottle of Coca Cola can do it remains to be seen.

Not even the Ruth Chris Steak House’s location near Tiffany and Lois Vuitton could keep it from closing after struggling for 4 years in Santa Barbara.

Iran has accumulated a quantity of U-235 that can be enriched in short order to sufficient 90 percent (weapons grade) to fuel four nuclear bombs - and thus attaining “virtual” nuclear weapon state. This was revealed by the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, America’s scientific watchdog on world nuclear weapons production, in its June 2 report.  By breaking the IAEA seal at the Natanz enrichment plant, Iran gained another 6-7 months for concealing the work there.

It is generally accepted that 71 kilograms a little more that 156 pounds of highly enriched uranium U235 at 90% purity would be needed. As little as one kilogram of Plutonium is believed to be sufficient for a nuclear weapon.

These estimates presuppose an Iranian decision to further process low-enriched material to weapons grade - a process taking no more than a couple of months.
Iran, says the Wisconsin Project, is consolidating its status as a “virtual” nuclear weapon state - meaning it can set about building a bomb whenever its rulers so decide.
In its twice-annual report published Thursday, June 2, Wisconsin revealed three further developments in Iran’s nuclear drive:

 

• 1. Since November 2010, when Iran stopped enriching uranium in all cascades at the Natanz plant for about a week (the report does not give the reason for the stoppage - possibly a Stuxnet virus invasion of its computer control system), the enrichment rate has increased. The 5,000 centrifuges spinning in February 2011 increased to nearly 6,000 in May 2011.

debkafile’s Iranian sources add: Prof. Ferei-doon Abbasi Davani has taken over as director of the enrichment complex at Natanz. He was formerly in charge of combating the Stuxflex worm.  Last November, Prof. Abbasi Dayani escaped with light injuries from an attack by a pair of motorcyclists who attached a sticky bomb to his car. It occurred near the Imam Hossein University in Tehran where most of Iran’s secret nuclear labs are located.

 

• 2. Wisconsin quotes the International Atomic Energy Agency’s May 2011 report that one of its seals was broken in the “feed and withdrawal area” of the Natanz enrichment plant.
  This means that Iran took action to conceal the real amount of is enriched uranium stockpile from the nuclear watchdog and the fact, as Wisconsin reports, that it has accumulated enough material forbuilding four nuclear bombs. Its steady progress will go undetected until the next IAEA inventory in October or November.
  debkafile’s intelligence sources point out that Tehran has won a period of six to seven months for keeping its nuclear activities hidden from oversight with no one in the West or in Israel able to find out what is going on at the Natanz enrichment plant.

 

• 3. Wisconsin goes on to state: “Uncertainties about the number of centrifuges operated by Iran make it difficult to draw a conclusion about the performance of individual machines.” More machines may be switched on when IAEA inspectors are not present while less, more advanced centrifuges, may take over after the inspection is over.

Our sources stress that these revelations are highly pertinent to the controversy taking place in Israel over the surprising comments by ex-Mossad Director Meir Dagan.
Dubbed “Mister Stop the Bomb” for reputedly directing covert operations that held off Iran’s nuclear threat for five or six years - though this may an exaggeration - Dagan suddenly began speaking out strongly against any Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear program. Wednesday, June 1, he implicitly warned that such an attack would precipitate a regional war in which Israel would fare badly.

 Israel’s political and defense establishments have always had their doves but Dagan is sounding one like for the first time.

 The controversy around his comments reflects a similar argument afoot in US political and defense circles over whether the time has come to smash Iran’s nuclear capability or stand by and let the Islamic Republic becomes a “virtual nuclear weapon state.”

In the last three years, the two schools of thought for and against military action against Iran have been joined by a third, which affirms that the US and Israel can live with an Iran armed with one or two nuclear bombs because this number would be dwarfed even by Israel’s reputed stock let alone the American arsenal. Therefore, until Iran stockpiles a serous arsenal of weapons, it does not constitute an existential threat to Israel.

The Wisconsin Project’s latest report explodes this argument because it exposes the steady accumulation of materials for four bombs in two-and-a-half years and Iran’s dogged advance toward a serious arsenal unless it is stopped.

That is the reason why the military option is back on the table in Jerusalem.

In the 1990’s a 17-year old Detroit Boy Scout went way beyond working on a nuclear energy merit badge necessary for the Eagle Scout Award to built a breeder reactor in his backyard sending local authorities into orbit and requiring a Super Fund Cleanup of the backyard shed. The episode generated a book “THE RADIOACTIVE BOY SCOUT” exposing the Whiz Kid’s misadventures and illustrating how easy it can be done.

The United States has arrested Iraqi nationals on charges of trying to help Al Qaida.

Two Iraqis deemed refugees were detained in mid-May in Bowling Green, Ky. on charges of helping Al Qaida and planning attacks on the U.S. military in Iraq from 2003 to 2006. The Iraqis were also said to have agreed to a plan to acquire U.S.-origin Stinger surface-to-air missiles operations in Iraq.

“Let me be clear that this is not an indictment against a particular religious community or religion,” U.S. federal prosecutor David Hale said. “Instead, this indictment charges two individuals with federal terrorism offenses.”

The Iraqis, arrested on May 25, were identified as Waad Ramadan Alwan, 30, and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 23. A 23-count federal grand jury indictment asserted that Alwan conspired to bomb Americans in Iraq and help the Al Qaida network. He was also said to have sought to export Stinger missiles to insurgents.

“Over the course of roughly eight years, Waad Ramadan Alwan allegedly supported efforts to kill U.S. troops in Iraq, first by participating in the construction and placement of improvised explosive devices in Iraq and, more recently, by attempting to ship money and weapons from the United States to insurgents in Iraq,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Hinnen said.

Hamadi was accused of similar offenses. Both defendants, who entered the United States in 2009 and were not charged with plots inside the country, face life sentences.

Alwan was said to have been drawn into an FBI sting in which he boasted of attacking the U.S. Army in Iraq. Later, a fingerprint was recovered from an unexploded bomb near Beiji, Iraq.

In September 2010, Alwan was said to have shipped money and weapons to Sunni insurgents in Iraq. In the sting, Alwan agreed to also acquire machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, Stinger missiles and C4 plastic explosives for Al Qaida elements.

“Neither the Stinger missiles nor any of the other weapons or money delivered by Alwan or Hammadi in connection with the CHS [confidential human source] in the United States were provided to Al Qaida in Iraq, but instead were carefully controlled by law enforcement as part of the undercover operation,” the Justice Department said.

46% of everyone in Detroit, Michigan are functionally illiterate unable to read or write at a 6th grade level. The teacher’s union there says they are overworked and underpaid

Roughly 46 million Americans, 14 percent of the U.S. population, rely on the federal government’s food stamps program.

This is an 11 percent increase from one year ago and nearly 61 percent higher than the same time four years ago.

More than half of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s budget is nutrition assistance programs.

Despite the fact that the government is having to support more people than ever before on its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and the possibility of a cut fiscal year 2012 budget by Congress, the Department of Ag is revamping an old marketing symbol.

The price tag on this symbol’s makeover at an adsrud cost tom taxpayers of $2 million.

It has been decided that after two decades the food pyramid has not done its job.  The new symbol, designed to resemble a dinner plate, contains wedges representing each food group.  Much of the plate is taken up by food groups consisting of vegetables and fruits.  A small round circle off to the side of the plate is said to represent dairy-a glass of low-fat milk possibly.

The New York Times writes that the food pyramid was dismissed because it was “too confusing and deeply flawed.” Maybe this is why Americans continue to eat fast food and other wallet-friendly items-they couldn’t follow the logic of the food pyramid.

Never mind that those dependent upon the government’s food stamp program could feed a family of four for less than $20 at any fast-food restaurant.  With the rising costs of fuel and food and a deepening recession, this is a more viable option for many Americans on a tight budget.

The government’s focus should be getting the 14 percent of Americans dependent on food stamps off the program and providing for themselves.

Americans know how to eat. No diagram, whether a pyramid or dinner plate, is going to make a difference in eating habits.

What will make a difference is a healthy economy, giving people the means to shop and cook a healthy meal at home

When an alligator was spotted near a suburban Kansas City pond, local police decided they were taking no chances: They would shoot the fearsome creature from a distance with a rifle.

But the alligator took the first shot to the head without batting an eyelid, and then the second one bounced off.

At that point, the officers realized the animal was not a bulletproof beast; rather, it was just a concrete lawn ornament,

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee foresees a “broke and battered” nominee emerging from the 2012 Republican presidential sweepstakes but says his recent exit from the race is not etched in stone. He explained he might accept a VP nod from the right person or run in 2016 for the top job.

Donald Trump kinda said similar things except for the VO part. Few think either man will reenter the 2012 Presidential race.

A miserable economic report has kicked the legs out from under the DOW this week as unemployment went back above 9% and the unofficial underemployment number hit 16%.

The bugaboo hanging over the whole magila is what to do about the ginormous federal debt limit. Moody’s the credit rating outfit warned that it could downgrade the U. S, credit rating from perfect to something less.

The greenback tumbled to an all-time low against the safe-haven Swiss franc and hit a one-month trough versus the yen. While the greenback remains vulnerable to cheapening on economic weakness, the euro took out a key resistance level that could result in further gains for the single currency.

Consumer confidence has plummeted to new lows but almost inexplicably Obama continues to lead all challengers

Romney officially entered at the head of the GOP field.

American pathologist, Jack Kevorkian, dubbed “Doctor Death” for helping dozens of terminally-ill people to commit suicide, died Friday at the age of 83 in a Michigan hospital of natural causes, After being acquitted fopur time he was convicted and jailed for 2^nd degree murder. Served 8-years and was released for good behavior.

Plain talking former Godfather Pizza CEO and fast-rising GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain blasted President Barack Obama’s leadership abilities on domestic and foreign policy.

Obama “could not run one Godfather’s Pizza restaurant,” says Cain, former CEO of the pizza chain. He called the president an indecisive leader who has “lost of the confidence” of most Americans, especially on the economy. “He’s not decisive. He dithers.”

Even though Cain is not being taken seriously by the inside-the-beltway crowd a new poll that was released Friday today by Public Policy Polling that shows Herman Cain moving up into a tie for second place in Iowa with Sarah Palin at 15% support. Mitt Romney leads   

Some say that Obama is purposefully savaging America’s economy to advance his revolutionist New Left agenda.

More than 150 economists back House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner’s call to match any increase in the debt limit with spending cuts of equal size, according to a letter released by the Republican leader’s office on Wednesday.

The letter will give Boehner an important talking point as he and his fellow House Republicans meet with President Barack Obama at 10 a.m. to discuss the debt limit and other fiscal issues.

“An increase in the national debt limit that is not accompanied by significant spending cuts and budget reforms to address our government’s spending addiction will harm private-sector job creation in America,” the letter said.

Signatories include Nobel laureate Robert Mundell of Columbia University and economists from schools like New York University and Georgetown University, as well as conservative think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute.

The Treasury Department has warned that the country could face a default that could push it back into recession and roil markets across the globe if it does not raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit by Aug 2. Treasury has been tapping federal employee pensions and other funds to pay the nation’s bills since it reached the current debt limit on May 16.

Many believe the nation is already slidding into that double dip and this is a precursor to a political indictment of Republicans as they struggle with the debt limit and deficit.

A nincompoop Texas  judge ordered a high school student not to pray including even saying Amen or asking ceremony attendees to bow heads or mention God in her valedictory acceptance address at her graduation. The 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned t e Texas judge on Friday.

The commander of the Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration team has been relieved of command at his own request after the team performed a flight maneuver at a low, unsafe altitude, according to the Navy.

Officials offered no details in a brief statement just released, but it is doubtless linked to the Blue Angels’ May 22 performance at the Lynchburg Regional Air Show in Virginia. Jets flying a so-called Barrel Roll Break maneuver reportedly came in too low before climbing again.

“This maneuver, combined with other instances of not meeting the airborne standard that makes the Blue Angels the exceptional organization that it is, led to my decision to step down,” Cmdr. Dave Koss, the team’s commanding officer, said in today’s statement.

The Navy did not indicate if any pilots would face disciplinary action over the maneuver.

Koss ordered a safety stand-down immediately after the Lynchburg show, forcing the cancellation of several shows, including one at the U.S. Naval Academy and at least two performances.

No one was injured as a result of the flying maneuver over Lynchburg. The Blue Angels will remain in Pensacola for additional training and air show demonstration practice.

Koss will be replaced for the rest of the season by Capt. Greg McWherter, the team’s previous commanding officer.

In the statement released by the Navy, Koss expressed his “utmost respect for the Sailors and Marines of the Blue Angels.”

“The reason this team is so successful, brings thrills to millions of fans across America, and represents the U.S. Navy so superbly is because of the absolute commitment to safety and perfection by every member of the team,” he said.

The Blue Angels have experienced numerous accidents, some involving loss of life, over the previous decade.

In 2007 Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Davis died when his Hornet crashed near Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C. Three years earlier another pilot suffered minor injuries after being forced to eject from his Hornet when it struck the water off Perdido Key in Florida. 

In 1999 both pilots flying in a two-seat Hornet died when their plane crashed during a landing in Georgia.

No one was injured in the incident,

A 100 year-old Ohio woman has taken customer loyalty to the extreme: She’s still using a bank savings account that’s been around almost since the year before World War I.

Her father opened it for her in January 1913, with a $6.11 deposit when she wasn’t even a year-and-a-half old. At what is now now a Huntington National Bank branch this community, 45 miles south of Columbus. Ms. Gregg still has the little blue passbook from when the account was opened

“That’s what he always taught us: to stay out of debt and save our money and not buy anything until we had the money to pay for it,” Gregg said in an interview.

“Saudi princes and princesses, of whom there are thousands, are known for the stories of their fabulous wealth, and tendency to squander it,”

says a report, titled “Saudi Royal Wealth: Where Do They Get All That Money?”

Saudi princes were siphoning billions of dollars in revenues from the kingdom. In a report, the department detailed such scams as fictitious programs, stealing from foreign laborers and borrowing money from banks without repayment.

The report, released by WikiLeaks, detailed decades of U.S. monitoring of the estimated 6,000 Saudi princes, many of whom were believed to be billionaires. The State Department said the opulent behavior of the princes could spark a backlash against the royal family.

“Getting a grip on royal family excesses is at the top [of required Saudi reforms],” the report, drafted in 1996, said.

A friend who owned a casino on a Caribbean Island used to talk about Middle Eastern princes with enormous yachts anchoring off shore and losing millions of dollars repeatedly.

Even with the Saudi Royals paying for and owning their nations religious leaders it is that greed that is driving dissatisfaction against the Saud Royal family. The core question is not if but when that reaches critical mass and erupts and with what consequence.

The Sauds has just agreed to purchase nuclear power reactors from South Korea and/or Russia. Ironically the German uber eft has just decided to scrao all its nuclear power that progide nearly a quarter of that nation’s electricity.

The Chinese military’s growing anti-American sentiment was spotlighted last week when the PLA produced a video game that uses U.S. soldiers as targets, highlighting growing Cold War relations.

The game called “Glorious Revolution” has Chinese troops shooting at “enemy” U.S. forces and is used as a training tool for PLA soldiers.