Time 4 Hemp Blog Site

There is now a Time 4 Hemp Channel on YouTube you can surf!

Casper Leitch — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 01:08:39 GMT

There is now a Time 4 Hemp Channel on YouTube you can surf! When you get time, please visit the site, and if you like what you see - become a SUBSCRIBER to the channel. Time 4 Hemp YouTube Channel: http://youtube.com/profile?user=Time4Hemp Upon arrival, you'll notice a lisiting of Videos I've from the Time 4 Hemp Series, along with other contributions, sorted into playlists and located under Favorites. If you are not a member of the YouTube Community, it is free, quick and easy to join. A Time 4 Hemp YouTube group has also been established. Please visit the site. Time 4 Hemp YouTube Group Site: http://youtube.com/group/Time4Hemp I would be very greatful if you were to check out the new sites and tell all your friends about them. With any luck, a lot of people will benefit from the educational value of they offer. Keep Strong! Casper Leitch Host/Author: Time 4 Hemp http://www.Time4Hemp.com Time 4 Hemp Cell Phone Website: http://www.Time4Hemp.com/cell/index.htm Time 4 Hemp YouTube Video Channel: http://youtube.com/profile?user=Time4Hemp Great products can be located in the Time 4 Hemp Gift Shop at: http://www.cafepress.com/time4hemp You can join A Time 4 Hemp Yahoo! Community Group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/atime4hemp/ You can join the Time 4 Hemp YouTube Community Group at: http://youtube.com/group/Time4Hemp Group sites are also found at: My Space and listed as: Time 4 Hemp Group TribeNet and listed as: Time_4_Hemp Group "Politics is the art of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable." - John Galbraith. "The only thing new in the world is the history you do not know" President Harry Truman All information and transactions non-negotiable and private between the parties. Copyright 2006

JURRASIC PARK FOUND - LOST WORLD OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS

Casper Leitch — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 18:41:58 GMT

- SCIENTISTS HAIL DISCOVERY OF HUNDREDS OF NEW SPECIES IN REMOTE NEW GUINEA! – By Terry Kirby, The Independent- February 7, 2006 An astonishing mist-shrouded "lost world" of previously unknown and rare animals and plants high in the mountain rainforests of New Guinea has been uncovered by an international team of scientists. Among the new species of birds, frogs, butterflies and palms discovered in the expedition through this pristine environment, untouched by man, was the spectacular Berlepsch's six-wired bird of paradise. The scientists are the first outsiders to see it. They could only reach the remote mountainous area by helicopter, which they described it as akin to finding a "Garden of Eden." In a jungle camp site, surrounded by giant flowers and unknown plants, the researchers watched rare bowerbirds perform elaborate courtship rituals. The surrounding forest was full of strange mammals, such as tree kangaroos and spiny anteaters, which appeared totally unafraid, suggesting no previous contact with humans. Bruce Beehler, of the American group Conservation International http://www.conservation.org/ who led the month-long expedition last November and December, said: "It is as close to the Garden of Eden as you're going to find on Earth. We found dozens, if not hundreds, of new species in what is probably the most pristine ecosystem in the whole Asian-Pacific region. There were so many new things it was almost overwhelming. And we have only scratched the surface of what is there." The scientists hope to return this year. The area, about 300,000 hectares, lies on the upper slopes of the Foja Mountains, in the easternmost and least explored province of western New Guinea, which is part of Indonesia. The discoveries by the team from Conservation International and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences will enhance the island's reputation as one of the most biodiverse on earth. The mountainous terrain has caused hundreds of distinct species to evolve, often specific to small areas. The Foja Mountains, which reach heights of 2,200 metres, have not been colonised by local tribes, which live closer to sea level. Game is abundant close to villages, so there is little incentive for hunters to penetrate up the slopes. A further 750,000 hectares of ancient forest is also only lightly visited. One previous scientific trip has been made to the uplands -- the evolutionary biologist and ornithologist Professor Jared Diamond visited 25 years ago -- but last year's mission was the first full scientific expedition. The first discovery made by the team, within hours of arrival, was of a bizarre, red-faced, wattled honeyeater that proved to be the first new species of bird discovered in New Guinea -- which has a higher number of bird species for its size than anywhere else in the world -- since 1939. The scientists also found the rare golden-fronted bowerbird, first identified from skins in 1825. Although Professor Diamond located their homeland in 1981, the expedition was able to photograph the bird in its metre-igh "maypole" dance grounds, which the birds construct to attract mates. Male bowerbirds, believed to be the most highly evolved of all birds, build large and extravagant nests to attract females. The most remarkable find was of a creature called Berlepsch's six-wired bird of paradise, named after the six spines on the top of its head, and thought "lost" to science. It had been previously identified only from the feathers of dead birds. Dr Beehler, an expert on birds of paradise, which only live in northern Australia and New Guinea, said: "It was very exciting, when two of these birds, a male and a female, which no one has seen alive before ... came into the camp and the male displayed its plumage to the female in full view of the scientists." Scientists also found more than 20 new species of frogs, four new butterflies, five new species of palm and many other plants yet to be classified, including what may be the world's largest rhododendron flower. Botanists on the team said many plants were completely unlike anything they had encountered before. Tree kangaroos, which are endangered elsewhere in New Guinea, were numerous and the team found one species entirely new to the island. The golden-mantled tree kangaroo is considered the most beautiful but also the rarest of the jungle-dwelling marsupials. There were also other marsupials, such as wallabies and mammals that have been hunted almost to extinction elsewhere. And a rare spiny anteater, the long beaked echidna, about which little is known, allowed itself to be picked up by hand. Dr Beehler said: "What was amazing was the lack of wariness of all the animals. In the wild, all species tend to be shy of humans, but that is learnt behaviour because they have encountered mankind. In Foja they did not appear to mind our presence at all. "This is a place with no roads or trails and never, so far as we know, visited by man ... This proves there are still places to be discovered that man has not touched." INHABITANTS OF NEW GUINEA BIRDS The scientists discovered a new species -- the red faced, wattled honeyeater -- and found the breeding grounds of two birds of almost mythical status -- the golden-fronted bowerbird and Berlepsch's six-wired bird of paradise, long believed to have disappeared as a separate species. The expedition also came across exotic giant-crowned pigeons and giant cassowaries -- a huge flightless bird -- which are among more than 225 species which breed in the area, including 13 species of birds of paradise. One scientist said that the dawn chorus was the most fantastic he had ever heard. MAMMALS Forty species of mammals were recorded. Six species of tree kangeroos, rare elsewhere in New Guinea, were abundant and the scientists also found a species which is new to Indonesia, the golden-mantled tree kangeroo. The rare and almost unknown long-beaked echidna, or spiny anteater, a member of a primitive group of egg-laying mammals called monotremes, was also encountered. Like all the mammals found in the area, it was completely unafraid of humans and could be easily picked up, suggesting its previous contact with man was negligible. PLANTS A total area of about one million hectares of pristine, ancient, tropical, humid forest containing at least 550 plants species, many previously unknown and including five new species of palms. One of the most spectacular discoveries was a so far unidentified species of rhododendron, which has a white scented flower almost six inches across, equalling the largest recorded rhododendron flower. BUTTERFLIES Entomologists among the scientists identified more than 150 different species of butterfly, including four completely new species and several new sub-species, some of which are related to the common English "cabbage white" butterfly. Other butterflies observed included the rare giant birdwing, which is the world's largest butterfly, with a wingspan that stretches up to seven inches. FROGS The Foja is one of the richest sites for frogs in the entire Asia-Pacific region, and the team identified 60 separate species, including 20 previously unknown to science, one of which is only 14mm big. Among their discoveries were healthy populations of the rare and little-known lace-eyed frog and a new population of another frog, the Xenorhina arboricola, which had previously only been known to exist in Papua New Guinea. ------------------------------------------ CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE: http://www.conservation.org/xp/news/press_releases/2006/020706.xml

What you once could read - now you can't!

Casper Leitch — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 18:15:57 GMT

New York Times - WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2006 — In a seven-year-old secret program at the National Archives, intelligence agencies have been removing from public access thousands of historical documents that were available for years, including some already published by the State Department and others photocopied years ago by private historians. The restoration of classified status to more than 55,000 previously declassified pages began in 1999, when the Central Intelligence Agency and five other agencies objected to what they saw as a hasty release of sensitive information after a 1995 declassification order signed by President Bill Clinton. It accelerated after the Bush administration took office and especially after the 2001 terrorist attacks, according to archives records. But because THE RECLASSIFICATION PROGRAM IS ITSELF SHROUDED IN SECRECY — governed by a still-classified memorandum that prohibits the National Archives even from saying which agencies are involved — it continued virtually without outside notice until December. That was when an intelligence historian, Matthew M. Aid, noticed that dozens of documents he had copied years ago had been withdrawn from the archives' open shelves. Mr. Aid was struck by what seemed to him the innocuous contents of the documents — mostly decades-old State Department reports from the Korean War and the early cold war. He found that eight reclassified documents had been previously published in the State Department's history series, "Foreign Relations of the United States." "The stuff they pulled should never have been removed," he said. "Some of it is mundane, and some of it IS OUTRIGHT RIDICULOUS." After Mr. Aid and other historians complained, the archives' Information Security Oversight Office, which oversees government classification, began an audit of the reclassification program, said J. William Leonard, director of the office. Mr. Leonard said he ordered the audit after reviewing 16 withdrawn documents and concluding that none should be secret. "If those sample records were removed because somebody thought they were classified, I'm shocked and disappointed," Mr. Leonard said in an interview. "IT JUST BOGGLES THE MIND." If Mr. Leonard finds that documents are being wrongly reclassified, his office could not unilaterally release them. But as the chief adviser to the White House on classification, he could urge a reversal or a revision of the reclassification program. A group of historians, including representatives of the National Coalition for History and the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations, wrote to Mr. Leonard on Friday to express concern about the reclassification program, which they believe has blocked access to some material at the presidential libraries as well as at the archives. Among the 50 withdrawn documents that Mr. Aid found in his own files is a 1948 memorandum on a C.I.A. scheme to float balloons over countries behind the Iron Curtain and drop propaganda leaflets. It was reclassified in 2001 even though it had been published by the State Department in 1996. Another historian, William Burr, found a dozen documents he had copied years ago whose reclassification he considers "silly," including a 1962 telegram from George F. Kennan, then ambassador to Yugoslavia, containing an English translation of a Belgrade newspaper article on China's nuclear weapons program. Under existing guidelines, government documents are supposed to be declassified after 25 years unless there is particular reason to keep them secret. While some of the choices made by the security reviewers at the archives are baffling, others seem guided by an old bureaucratic reflex: to cover up embarrassments, even if they occurred a half-century ago. One reclassified document in Mr. Aid's files, for instance, gives the C.I.A.'s assessment on Oct. 12, 1950, that Chinese intervention in the Korean War was "not probable in 1950." Just two weeks later, on Oct. 27, some 300,000 Chinese troops crossed into Korea. Mr. Aid said he believed that because of the reclassification program, some of the contents of his 22 file cabinets might technically place him in violation of the Espionage Act, a circumstance that could be shared by scores of other historians. But no effort has been made to retrieve copies of reclassified documents, and it is not clear how they all could even be located. "It doesn't make sense to create a category of documents that are classified but that everyone already has," said Meredith Fuchs, general counsel of the National Security Archive, a research group at George Washington University. "These documents were on open shelves for years." The group plans to post Mr. Aid's reclassified documents and his account of the secret program on its Web site: www.nsarchive.org/ on Tuesday. The program's critics do not question the notion that wrongly declassified material should be withdrawn. Mr. Aid said he had been dismayed to see "scary" documents in open files at the National Archives, including detailed instructions on the use of high explosives. But the historians say the program is removing material that can do no conceivable harm to national security. They say it is part of a marked trend toward greater secrecy under the Bush administration, which has increased the pace of classifying documents, slowed declassification and discouraged the release of some material under the Freedom of Information Act. Experts on government secrecy believe the C.I.A. and other spy agencies, not the White House, are THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE RECLASSIFICATION PROGRAM. "I think it's driven by the individual agencies, which have bureaucratic sensitivities to protect," said Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists, editor of the online weekly Secrecy News. "But it was clearly encouraged by the administration's overall embrace of secrecy." National Archives officials said the program had revoked access to 9,500 documents, more than 8,000 of them since President Bush took office.About 30 reviewers — employees and contractors of the intelligence and defense agencies — are at work each weekday at the archives complex in College Park, Md., the officials said. Archives officials could not provide a cost for the program but said it was certainly in the millions of dollars, including more than $1 million to build and equip a secure room where the reviewers work. Michael J. Kurtz, assistant archivist for record services, said the National Archives sought to expand public access to documents whenever possible but had no power over the reclassifications. "The decisions agencies make are those agencies' decisions," Mr. Kurtz said. Though the National Archives are not allowed to reveal which agencies are involved in the reclassification, one archivist said on condition of anonymity that the C.I.A. and the DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY were major participants. A spokesman for the C.I.A., Paul Gimigliano, said that the agency had released 26 million pages of documents to the National Archives since 1998 and that it was "committed to the highest quality process" for deciding what should be secret. "Though the process typically works well, there will always be the anomaly, given the tremendous amount of material and multiple players involved," Mr. Gimigliano said. A spokesman for the DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY said he was unable to comment on whether his agency was involved in the program. Anna K. Nelson, a foreign policy historian at American University, said she and other researchers had been puzzled in recent years by the number of documents pulled from the archives with little explanation. "I think this is a travesty," said Dr. Nelson, who said she believed that some reclassified material was in her files. "I think the public is being deprived of what history is really about: facts." The document removals have not been reported to the Information Security Oversight Office, as the law has required for formal reclassifications since 2003.The explanation, said Mr. Leonard, the head of the office, is a bureaucratic quirk. The intelligence agencies take the position that the reclassified documents were never properly declassified, even though they were reviewed, stamped "declassified," freely given to researchers and even published, he said. Thus, the agencies argue, the documents remain classified — and pulling them from public access is not really reclassification. Mr. Leonard said he believed that while that logic might seem strained, the agencies were technically correct. But he said the complaints about the secret program, which prompted his decision to conduct an audit, showed that the government's system for deciding what should be secret is deeply flawed. "This is not a very efficient way of doing business," Mr. Leonard said. "There's got to be a better way." ------------------------------------------ © Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

Be tracked from birth to death - by a computer!

Casper Leitch — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 07:44:26 GMT

IS THIS THE FIRST STEP IN A WORLD ID CARD AND A MICROCHIPPED POPULATION?! TERRORISM OBSESSED, PARANOID AND CONTROL FREAKS IN THE U.S. GOVERNMENT WANT TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS BRITON's ID CARDS AND NEED THEM TO BE COMPATIBLE / WILL THE EUROPEAN UNION FOLLOW SUIT FOLLOWED BY THE REST OF THE WORLD UNDER THE PRETEXT OF FIGHTING "GLOBAL TERRORISM?!" – By Kim Sengupta, Staff Writer, The Independent News, UK, Friday, 27 May 2005 The United States wants Britain's proposed identity cards to have THE SAME MICROCHIP AND TECHNOLOGY as the ones used on American documents. The aim of getting the same microchip is to ensure compatability in screening terrorist suspects. But it will also mean that information contained in the British cards can be accessed across the Atlantic. Michael Chertoff, the newly appointed U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security, has already had talks with the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, and the Transport Secretary, Alistair Darling, to discuss the matter. Mr Chertoff said yesterday that it was vital to seek compatibility, holding up the example of the "video war" of 25 years ago, when VHS and Betamax were in fierce competition to win the status of industry standard for video recording systems. "I certainly hope we have the same chip... It would be very bad if we all invested huge amounts of money in biometric systems and they didn't work with each other.Hopefully, we are not going to do VHS and Betamax with our chips. I was one of the ones who bought Betamax, and that's now in the garbage," he said. Mr Chertoff also proposed that British citizens wishing to visit the US should consider entering a "Trusted Traveller" scheme. Under this, they would forward their details to the U.S. embassy to be vetted. If successful, they would receive a document allowing "fast- tracking" through the U.S. immigration system. A pilot scheme will start within a few months between the U.S. and the Netherlands, allowing Dutch visitors to use a Trusted Traveller card to enter the U.S. without being subjected to further questioning or screening. Britain is one of 27 countries whose citizens do not need visas to enter the U.S. if they intend to stay less than 90 days. The American government has said it wants 27 to issue new passports by 26 October this year containing a computer chip and a digital photograph. Mr Chertoff said compatability and the checking system was intended purely to track down "terrorists and criminals" and the main aim was to provide a "fair and reasonable system." U.S. diplomatic sources stated later that Washington did not wish to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries. "When we screen based on names, we're screening on the most primitive and least technological basis of identification - it's the most susceptible to misspelling, or people changing their identity, or fraud," he said. The scheme will also, say diplomats, ease confusion over who exactly constitutes a suspect. The most high-profile case was that of Yusuf Islam, the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, who was barred from entering the U.S. because his activities "could be potentially linked to terrorism". The British government is insistent that Mr Islam had no such links. However, this is the latest controversy to surround Britain's proposed combined identity card and passport due to be introduced in three years' time. Rising costs have pushed the cost up to £93 each after the overall estimated 10-year cost of the project grew from £3.1bn to £5.8 bn. There have also been problems over the effectiveness of the biometric technology which is supposed to safeguard the security of the cards. There were also verification problems with 30 per cent of those whose fingerprint was taken during an enrolment trial of 10,000 volunteers. --------------------------------------- © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

Big Brother Can Even See Through Walls!

Casper Leitch — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 07:38:49 GMT

By Donna Miles - American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2006 – Troops conducting urban operations soon will have the capabilities of superheroes, being able to sense through 12 inches of concrete to determine if someone is inside a building. The new "Radar Scope" will give warfighters searching a building the ability to tell within seconds if someone is in the next room, Edward Baranoski from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Special Projects Office, told the American Forces Press Service. By simply holding the portable, handheld device up to a wall, users will be able to detect movements as small as breathing, he said. The Radar Scope, developed by DARPA, is expected to be fielded to troops in Iraq as soon as this spring, Baranoski said. The device is likely to be fielded to the squad level, for use by troops going door to door in search of terrorists. The Radar Scope will give warfighters the capability to sense through a foot of concrete and 50 feet beyond that into a room, Baranoski explained. It will bring to the fight what larger, commercially available motion detectors couldn't, he said. Weighing just a pound and a half, the Radar Scope will be about the size of a telephone handset and cost just about $1,000, making it light enough for a soldier to carry and inexpensive enough to be fielded widely. The Radar Scope will be waterproof and rugged, and will run on AA batteries, he said. "It may not change how four-man stacks go into a room (during clearing operations)," Baranoski said. "But as they go into a building, it can help them prioritize what rooms they go into. It will give them an extra degree of knowledge so they know if someone is inside." Even as the organization hurries to get the devices to combat forces, DARPA already is laying groundwork for bigger plans that build on this technology. Proposals are expected this week for the new "Visi Building" technology that's more than a motion detector. It will actually "see" through multiple walls, penetrating entire buildings to show floor plans, locations of occupants and placement of materials such as weapons caches, Baranoski said. "It will give (troops) a lot of opportunity to stake out buildings and really see inside," he said. "It will go a long way in extending their surveillance capabilities." The device is expected to take several years to develop. Ultimately, servicemembers will be able to use it simply by driving or flying by the structure under surveillance, Baranoski said. http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jan2006/20060103_3822.html

E-Weapons: Directed Energy Warfare In The 21st Century

Casper Leitch — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 07:35:43 GMT

Senior Space Writer posted: 11 January 2006 07:01 am ET LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico -- There is a new breed of weaponry fast approaching—and at the speed of light no less. They are labeled "directed-energy weapons" and may well signal a revolution in military hardware—perhaps more so than the atomic bomb. Directed-energy weapons take the form of lasers, high-powered microwaves, and particle beams. Their adoption for ground, air, sea, and space warfare depends not only on using the electromagnetic spectrum, but also upon favorable political and budgetary wavelengths too. That’s the outlook of J. Douglas Beason, author of the recently published book: The E-Bomb: How America’s New Directed Energy Weapons Will Change the Way Wars Will Be Fought in the Future (Da Capo Press, October 2005).Beason previously served on the White House staff working for the President’s Science Advisor (Office of Science and Technology Policy) under both the Bush and Clinton Administrations. After more than two decades of research, the United States is on the verge of deploying a new generation of weapons that discharge beams of energy, such as the Airborne Laser, the Active Denial System, as well as the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL). "History has shown that, without investment in high-technology, fighting the next war will be done using the last war type of technique," Beason told SPACE.com. Putting money into basic and long-range research is critical, Beason said, adding: "You can’t always schedule breakthroughs." A leading expert in directed-energy research for some 26 years, Beason is also Director of Threat Reduction here at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) – noting that his views are his own and do not represent LANL, the Department of the Defense, nor the Department of Energy. Ripe for transformation? Though considerable work has been done in lasers, high-power microwaves, and other directed-energy technologies, weaponization is still an ongoing process. For example, work is on-going in the military’s Airborne Laser program. It utilizes a megawatt-class, high-energy chemical oxygen iodine laser toted skyward aboard a modified Boeing 747-400 aircraft. Purpose of the program is to enable the detection, tracking and destruction of ballistic missiles in the boost phase, or powered part of their flight. Similarly, testing of the U.S. Army’s Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) in White Sands, New Mexico has shown the ability of heating high-flying rocket warheads, blasting them with enough energy that causes them to self-detonate. THEL uses a high-energy, deuterium fluoride chemical laser. A mobile THEL also demonstrated the ability to kill multiple mortar rounds. Then there’s Active Denial Technology—a non-lethal way to use millimeter-wave electromagnetic energy to stop, deter, and turn back an advancing adversary. This technology, supported by the U.S. Marines, uses a beam of millimeter waves to heat a foe’s skin, causing severe pain without damage, and making the adversary flee the scene. Beason also pointed to new exciting research areas underway at the Los Alamos National Laboratory: Free-electron laser work with the Navy and a new type of directed-energy that operates in the terahertz region. Niche for new technology While progress in directed-energy is appreciable, Beason sees two upfront problems in moving the technology forward. First of all, "convincing the warfighter that there’s a niche for this new type of weapon," and secondly making sure these new systems are not viewed as a panacea to solve all problems. "They are only another tool," he added. Looming even larger is the role of those that acquire new weapons. "The U.S. could put ourselves in a very disastrous position if we allow our acquisition officials to be non-technically competent," Beason explained. Over the decades, Beason said that the field of directed-energy has had its share of "snakeoil salesmen", as well as those advocates that over-promised. "It wasn’t ready for prime time." At present, directed-energy systems "are barely limping along with enough money just to prove that they can work," Beason pointed out. Meanwhile, huge slugs of money are being put into legacy-type systems to keep them going. "It’s a matter of priority," Beason said. The time is now to identify high-payoff, directed-energy projects for the smallest amounts of money, he said. Unknown unknowns In Beason’s view, Active Denial Technology, the Airborne Laser program, the THEL, as well as supporting technologies, such as relay mirrors—are all works in progress that give reason for added support and priority funding. "I truly believe that as the airborne laser goes, so goes the rest of the nation’s directed-energy programs. Right now, it’s working on the margin. I believe that there are still ‘unknown unknowns’ out there that are going to occur in science and technology. We think we have the physics defined. We think we have the engineering defined. But something always goes wrong…and we’re working too close at the margin," Beason said. Step-wise, demonstration programs that spotlight directed-energy weapon systems are needed, Beason noted. Such in-the-field displays could show off greater beam distance-to-target runs, mobility of hardware, ease-of-operation, battlefield utility, and other attributes. Directed-energy technologies can offer a range of applications, from botching up an enemy’s electronics to performing "dial up" surgical, destructive strikes at the speed of light with little or no collateral damage. Beason said that one blue sky idea of his own he tagged "the voice from heaven". By tuning the resonance of a laser onto the Earth’s ionosphere, you can create audible frequencies. Like some boom box in the sky, the laser-produced voice could bellow from above down to the target below: "Put down your weapons." Relay mirrors Regarding use of directed-energy space weapons, Beason advised that "we’ll eventually see it." However, present-day systems are far too messy. Most high-powered chemical lasers -- in the megawatt-class -- require onboard fuels and oxidizers to crank out the amount of energy useful for strategic applications. Stability of such a laser system rooted in space is also wanting. On the other hand, look to advances in more efficient lasers—especially solid state laser systems—Beason advised. "What breakthroughs are needed…I’m not sure. But, eventually, I think it’s going to happen, but it is going to be a generation after the battlefield lasers." Yet, having the directed-energy source "in space" contrasted to shooting beams "through space" is another matter, Beason quickly added. Space-based relay mirrors—even high-altitude airships equipped with relay mirrors—can direct ground-based or air-based laser beams nearly around the world, he said. "So you’re using space…exploiting it. But you are going through space to attack anywhere on Earth," Beason said. History lesson Late last year, speaking before the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., Beason told his audience that laser energy, the power sources, beam control, as well as knowledge about how laser beams interact with Earth’s atmosphere are quite mature. The technology is ready to shift into front line warfare status. "The good news is that directed-energy exists. Directed-energy is being tested and within a few years directed-energy is going to be deployed upon the battlefield," Beason reported. "But the bad news is that acquisition policies right now in this nation are one more gear toward evolutionary practices rather than revolutionary practices."

View The World In Real Time!

Casper Leitch — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 07:33:47 GMT

At the links below, you can check out what's going on in almost any city in the world - on almost any corner - in Real Time. Enjoy your trip! http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Earth/action?opt=-p http://www.webwinds.com/special.htm http://www.rt66.com/~ozone/west.htm http://www.cincystreet.com/travel_webcams1.html http://www.joson.com/gen-infor/cams-usa-west-.htm http://www.cambrosia.com/USAWest.php http://www.weatherdesk.org/cams.shtml http://www.surfline.com/home/index.cfm http://dsc.discovery.com/cams/cams.html http://www.livesights.com/index.htm http://www.reputable.com/repcam.php http://www.liketelevision.com/livecam/index.shtml http://www.wildweb.de/cameras/ http://nightskylive.net/ http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/gallery_np.html http://www9.nationalgeographic. http://www.bhsu.edu/education/edfaculty/lturner/Live%20Web%20Cameras.htm http://www.millville.org/rwebsite/AVA%20Sites/livewebcamslist.htm http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/9487/cam.htm http://www.leonardsworlds.com/camera.html http://www.arvada.com/spider/webcams/ http://www.webwinds.com/eastus.htm http://www.cmdl.noaa.gov/obop/spo/livecamera.html http://www.globaldesktop.be/webcams_people.html http://roswell.fortunecity.com/jodrell/253/livevideo.htm http://forums.hypography.com/earth-science/1267-mt-st-helens-live-cam-7.html#po... http://www.leonardsworlds.com/tour/tour_frame.html http://cirrus.sprl.umich.edu/wxnet/wxcam.html http://www.volcanolive.com/contents.html http://www.kron4.com/Global/category.asp?C=21304 http://www.emartialarts.com/livecam.html http://dsc.discovery.com/cams/pvolcano.html http://www.siue.edu/~ddegarm/global_web_cams.html http://www.globalhome.com/participate/webcams.html http://webweevers.com/1home.htm http://www.dezert-rose.com/webcams.html http://www.globalhome.com/participate/greens.html http://weather.org/global_warming.htm http://www.radiofreeworld.com/page7.html http://www.mageesci.com/Antarctic/2002/WebcamsInAntarctica.htm

Search engines are going too far!

Casper Leitch — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 07:32:05 GMT

By ALLISON LINN, AP Business Writer - Jan 15, 2006 SEATTLE - The images are so detailed you can tell whether a neighbor's hedge was recently trimmed or whether the car parked in front of a favorite local eatery might belong to a friend. Such views are available online for anyone to see from some of the biggest names on the Internet, including Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. The companies' newly evolving local search and mapping services, where the photographic images are typically rendered as search results, make it easier than ever to scout out everything from vacation destinations to a new hairdresser. Never before have searchable databases of detailed pictures covering wide swaths of urban areas been readily available like this to the public. And that has privacy advocates worried about the risks of such picture perfect exposure to vulnerable citizens such as women in domestic violence shelters. "I think there are going to be privacy issues, no doubt about it — somebody's going to feel uncomfortable with it," said Charlene Li of Forrester Research. "So the question becomes, `What are the tradeoffs? Is the value worth it?'" Yes, according to research by Forrester. Li said she's already seeing consumer interest, and she expects companies to continue to develop such tools because they see the potential for online advertising from local businesses who may not want to buy national online ads. Microsoft, which late last year began offering detailed images of metropolitan areas taken from airplanes, said last week that it would team with Verizon Communications Inc. to distribute local business advertisements from Verizon's superpages.com on Microsoft's local search pages. And Amazon, whose A9 subsidiary has since August offered street-level images taken from vans, says the main goal of its site is to help people find local businesses. The company's site currently lists images from two dozen U.S. cities. The most detailed images available from Microsoft's service are currently only for some U.S. cities, and there are some satellite images of international locations. Google offers images from all over the world, but the amount of detail varies greatly depending on the location. For example, users scouting out urban areas like Seattle or New York City can make out individual houses and buildings, while those living in Lander, Wyo., see a much less detailed view with Google and only get a graphic map with Microsoft's service. Google's service mostly gets its images from satellites, and while they're not nearly as detailed as those of Amazon or Microsoft, they are nevertheless good enough to recognize one's home. John Hanke, a product director at Google, says the technology is popular for figuring out whether a vacation spot is all it's cracked up to be — Is that "beachfront" hotel really on the beach, or across the highway from the beach? — and for househunting. Daniel DeConinck, an engineer and entrepreuner living in Toronto, used Google's site to find an accountant close to his house, and has since used it to scout out nearby bicycle shops and computer retailers. He thinks it has the potential to one day replace the local yellow pages. "Anyone who I've shown Google Maps to, their jaw just drops when they see that," he said. For her part, Li is somewhat skeptical that mom-and-pop shops will quickly get on board and make photo-enriched local search a big money-maker. "I think it's going to be really slow to take off, just knowing small businesses," she said. "You're talking about a fundamental change in how they do business." For now, however, many people appear to be visiting the fledgling offerings simply to satisfy their curiosity. Users who visit Microsoft's "Windows Live Local" often first type in a street address — presumably their own house — and then go searching for a landmark, like Seattle's Space Needle, said Justin Osmer, a Microsoft product manager. A9's street-level views of some U.S. cities, meanwhile, include clear pictures of people and cars when they happen to be in the frame. The aim is to give people what A9 Vice President Barnaby Dorfman calls "a very human experience," similar to what you would see walking or driving down a street. Pam Dixon of the World Privacy Forum says such images can potentially be used to track people who are vulnerable. She said A9 removed images of shelters upon her request and now gives people the option to removing their personal information from its directories. She's hoping that such policies will become widespread. "I really think you should have the option to say, 'No. No, thanks,'" she said. But the companies say that, so far, they have received few complaints. Hanke argues that some images available on Google's site are already available through local and federal government data, such as from the U.S. Geological Survey. But the government-supplied images aren't as well organized or easily accessible as those available commercially. He also said that someone could learn much more by just walking down a street than by looking at Google's images. Some foreign governments have complained of security concerns raised by the Google images. Hanke said the company has fielded concerns raised by some governments, but has not altered any images. Osmer said Microsoft has altered some of its images, such as those of the White House, to address security concerns. None, he said, is close enough that you can recognize faces. Lt. Paul Vernon with the Los Angeles Police Department said he hasn't heard of any law enforcement officials expressing concern about such online images. In fact Vernon said, some police officers in Los Angeles have even found the sites to be helpful for quickly mapping out a location or scouting out an area where a crime has been suspected. Amazon, Google and Microsoft all say they are working to expand their offerings, and perhaps even add other image-based search tools. Osmer said Microsoft wouldn't rule out showing live aerial images — instead of the static ones, often months old, that currently populate the sites — for things like the Super Bowl or traffic navigation. He also said it's hard to say whether Microsoft would offer more detailed views later on. "I don't think we'll get to the point where you can zoom in and see the shoelaces on someone's shoe, but maybe it would make sense to get a close view to read a sign or navigate a space," he said. ___ On the Net: http://www.local.live.com http://www.a9.com http://maps.google.com/