2007 Mercury Retrograde Periods
Copyright 2007 Stacey Dean
What is Mercury Retrograde? About every three months, Mercury slows down in its orbit around the Sun and appears to be moving backwards. Astrologers refer to the transit as, "Mercury Retrograde". This phenomenon occurs three times in 2007. During Mercury Retrograde Periods, all communications and transportation are negatively affected, i.e., regrettable decisions, misunderstandings, arguments, delays, and accidents.
While Mercury is Retrograde, it is not the best time for major purchases of new items, i.e., homes, autos, boats, computers, etc., because these items are usually financed and/or require signing a contract. Signing a contract during Mercury Retrograde can bring regrets stemming from something said or written that is misunderstood or misrepresented. It is the best time to purchase antiques, resale homes, or used items.
Because of the increased possibility of accidents, changes in schedules, and lost luggage, it is best not to travel during Mercury Retrograde periods, not to mention the fact that you won't enjoy the trip. For research purposes, I have years of experience traveling during Mercury Retrograde periods. The venture was always a disappointment!
Mercury Retrograde affects everyone in some way. However, the sign that experiences more difficulty than most is the sign that Mercury is moving through during its retrograde period. Also affected are Gemini and Virgo Sun Signs; and people with natal planets in Gemini or Virgo because Mercury is the natural ruler of these two signs.
The best action to take during a Mercury Retrograde period is to spend time reviewing your decisions and actions during the months prior. It is not the time to go forward with new plans or goals. It is the time to "re-view" what is happening in your life and make necessary course corrections or changes. A good rule to remember is, any word you can put "re" in front of and have it make sense, then do it; examples: reevaluate, repair, rethink, rewrite, replace, reschedule, revise, redecorate, review, etc.
Period of Influence: Planetary energy doesn't simply begin at one point in time and abruptly end at another. Be cautious during the entire Period of Influence listed below.
2007 Mercury Retrograde Periods
*Dates and times given below are for Pacific Time Zone. To convert to your time zone.
*Mountain Time + 1 hr. *Central Time + 2 hrs. *Eastern + 3 hrs.
(Daylight Saving Time Begins at 2:00 AM March 11 and Ends at 2:00 AM November 4 )
Begins Sign Ends Period of Influence
02/13/07 08:38 PM 10 PISCES 03/07/07 08:45 PM 02/03/07 - 03/21/07
06/15/07 04:40 PM 11 CANCER 07/09/07 07:16 PM 06/01/07 - 07/22/07
10/11/07 09:00 PM 09 SCORPIO 11/01/07 03:59 PM 10/01/07 - 11/15/07
Stacey Dean, PMAFA. C.H.T.
The Cosmic Reporter
Office: (702)739-7899 * By Appointment Only: (702)739-0981
5035 Celebrity Circle
Las Vegas, NV 89119
E-mail: staceydean@msn.com
Website:
www.staceydean.org
Monday, January 22, 2007
Friday, January 19, 2007
CELL PHONES - BEWARE
Can You Hear Me Now?
December 05, 2006 3:38 PM
Cell phone users, beware. The FBI can listen to everything you say, even when the cell phone is turned off.
A recent court ruling in a case against the Genovese crime family revealed that the FBI has the ability from a remote location to activate a cell phone and turn its microphone into a listening device that transmits to an FBI listening post, a method known as a "roving bug." Experts say the only way to defeat it is to remove the cell phone battery.
"The FBI can access cell phones and modify them remotely without ever having to physically handle them," James Atkinson, a counterintelligence security consultant, told ABC News. "Any recently manufactured cell phone has a built-in tracking device, which can allow eavesdroppers to pinpoint someone's location to within just a few feet," he added.
THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS
According to the recent court ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, "The device functioned whether the phone was powered on or off, intercepting conversations within its range wherever it happened to be."
The court ruling denied motions by 10 defendants to suppress the conversations obtained by "roving bugs" on the phones of John Ardito, a high-ranking member of the family, and Peter Peluso, an attorney and close associate of Ardito, who later cooperated with the government. The "roving bugs" were approved by a judge after the more conventional bugs planted at specified locations were discovered by members of the crime family, who then started to conduct their business dealings in several additional locations, including more restaurants, cars, a doctor's office and public streets.
"The courts have given law enforcement a blank check for surveillance," Richard Rehbock, attorney for defendant John Ardito, told ABC News.
Judge Kaplan's ruling said otherwise. "While a mobile device makes interception easier and less costly to accomplish than a stationary one, this does not mean that it implicated new or different privacy concerns." He continued, "It simply dispenses with the need for repeated installations and surreptitious entries into buildings. It does not invade zones of privacy that the government could not reach by more conventional means."
But Rehbock disagrees. "Big Brother is upon us...1984 happened a long time ago," he said, referring to the George Orwell futuristic novel "1984," which described a society whose members were closely watched by those in power and was published in 1949.
The FBI maintains the methods used in its investigation of the Genovese family are within the law. "The FBI does not discuss sensitive surveillance techniques other than to emphasize that any electronic surveillance is done pursuant to a court order and ongoing judicial scrutiny," Agent Jim Margolin told ABC News.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
WE ARE NOT ALONE
PHOTONETDAILY
Air Force colonel reports lights 'not of this world'
Snaps images above Arkansas: 'I have no idea what they were'
Posted: January 17, 2007
6:37 p.m. Eastern
By Joe Kovacs
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
 Zoomed image of mysterious orange light seen Jan. 9 near Van Buren, Ark. (photo: Col. Brian Fields, USAF, ret.) |
In the wake of reports of unidentified objects flying over Chicago's O'Hare Airport, a retired Air Force pilot has his own mystery with a rash of bright, colorful lights he photographed hovering in skies over western Arkansas last week.
"I believe these lights were not of this world, and I feel a duty and responsibility to come forward," Col. Brian Fields told WND. "I have no idea what they were."
Fields, 61, was cooking chicken at his Van Buren, Ark., home Jan. 9 when just before 7 p.m., he observed two intensely bright lights as he looked to the southeast close to the horizon.
 Zoomed image of mysterious yellow light seen Jan. 9 near Van Buren, Ark. (photo: Col. Brian Fields) |
"At first I thought they were landing lights from an aircraft," he said. "As I continued to observe them they began to slowly disappear, then suddenly one reappeared, followed by two, then three. On at least one occasion four or five appeared. Each time they would slowly fade and eventually disappear. This occurred several times and when they would reappear they might do so in differing numbers and in different positions, sometimes in a triangular shape, sometimes stacked on top of each other, sometimes line abreast, etc. When the objects appeared they might stay illuminated 10 or more minutes."
Fields' wife thought the lights may have been ground-based, but Fields says he's certain they were airborne. The retired colonel spent close to 32 years in the military, flying F-16s as a member of the 188th Fighter Wing of the Arkansas Air National Guard.
"I'm certain it wasn't an aircraft [from Earth]," said Fields, who also ruled out the possibility of flares, saying they didn't descend like flares typically do. "It's not anything I ever had any experience with . ... They were some kind of energy or something."
Fields grabbed his Canon digital camera with 6 megapixel resolution to document what he and his wife were seeing, and snapped numerous images of the mysterious lights, which appeared white, yellow and orange.
He says the phenomenon lasted an hour and 15 minutes, and local news agencies have not published or broadcast any reports of what the couple witnessed. WND surveyed local police and sheriffs agencies, as well as Fort Chaffee, a decommissioned Army base in the region, and no one reported anything out of the ordinary.
"I just can't imagine other people didn't see it," Fields said, noting they appeared at times like a yo-yo at 5 to 10 degrees above the horizon.
 Mysterious yellow lights in triangular formation seen Jan. 9 near Van Buren, Ark. The red lights at right are from a local radio tower (photo: Col. Brian Fields) |
Earlier this month, the Chicago Tribune reported workers for United Air Lines said they saw a flying saucerlike object hovering "low over O'Hare International Airport for several minutes before bolting through thick clouds with such intense energy that it left an eerie hole in overcast skies."
That Nov. 7 sighting took place just before sunset about 4:30 p.m.
According to Tribune columnist Jon Hilkevitch, "All the witnesses said the object was dark gray and well defined in the overcast skies. They said the craft, estimated by different accounts to be 6 feet to 24 feet in diameter, did not display any lights.
"Some said it looked like a rotating Frisbee, while others said it did not appear to be spinning. All agreed the object made no noise and it was at a fixed position in the sky, just below the 1,900-foot cloud deck, until shooting off into the clouds."
When interviewed on National Public Radio about the story, Hilkevitch indicated the event was anything but a hoax.
"That's what impressed me about this. All aviation professionals, very credible sources and they are very serious," Hilkevitch said. "They are not saying what they saw was a, you know, a spaceship from another planet, but it was unidentified, it was in restricted airspace, and they were concerned from a safety standpoint. That if this was something man-made, they needed to get it out of there because they were having busy flight operations in the early evening hours."
Back in Arkansas, Col. Fields, who says he's a Christian who has not been a believer in alien life forms from other planets, speculated what he saw could possibly be related to ancient texts from the Bible.
One of them is Luke 21:11, where Jesus discusses signs of the End Times, stating, "And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven."
Another is even more ancient, going back to the time of Noah's flood.
"That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. ... There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." (Genesis 6:2-4)
These Old Testament verses have been enigmatic for centuries, but many Christians believe they refer to a time in antiquity when spirit beings, perhaps angels in rebellion against God, visited Earth and had sexual relations with human women, producing "giants," which is translated from the Hebrew word "Nephilim," which some scholars say is better translated as "fallen ones."
"I believe it's prophetic, something do with what's happening in the Middle East today," said Fields. "If this is some kind of event with visitation, it's entirely possible. When the anti-Christ comes into power, it's not going to be something we expect. The deception that is going to be attached to it is going to be so powerful, you're gonna have to go against your reason to reject it."
While Fields cannot be certain of what it was he saw, he wants to tell people not to be deceived.
"Be awake, be mindful you can be deceived," he said. "There are things that can shake our world."
America in Decline
| The Danger in China’s Mexican Port Grab | ||
| ||
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| Once the United States begins regularly receiving containers from the Far East by way of Mexico, America will become beholden to its southern neighbor—and China. A Chinese company closely aligned with Beijing is rapidly expanding its Pacific port operations south of the American border. This is yet another example of China’s increasing global stranglehold on strategic ports and sea-trade gateways. For Americans, there are important security and national self-sufficiency implications. The Trumpet has repeatedly warned about China’s long-term strategy to control the world’s most strategic seaways. The U.S.-built Panama Canal, arguably one of the world’s most strategic waterways, is under Chinese control. So too is Freeport in the Bahamas, which China developed into one of the world’s largest shipping terminals. China has also extended its Caribbean sea-gate control in Ecuador, where China owns that nation’s only natural deep-water port. However, amid China’s many overt Latin American takeovers of strategic trade chokepoints and shipping facilities, its rapidly growing presence in Mexico, America’s next-door neighbor, has gone largely unnoticed and underreported. There, Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., the huge Chinese shipping conglomerate (which also controls the ports on both ends of the Panama Canal and the other above-mentioned facilities), controls several major ports, including those in Manzanillo, Veracruz, Michoacan and two ports in Ensenada. Mexican officials, as well as Hutchison Whampoa, are also reportedly studying the feasibility of developing the sparsely populated bay of Punta Colonet, which is 150 miles south of the U.S. border, into a “superport” rivaling those of Los Angeles and Long Beach. But of most immediate interest may be Whampoa’s Pacific port at Lazaro Cardenas, which is undergoing a massive expansion involving a new specialized container terminal, set to become the largest of its kind in Mexico. Lazaro Cardenas is also Mexico’s deepest port and upon completion of its expansion will be capable of handling even the largest of container vessels. In economic terms, China’s Mexican port expansion could benefit U.S. consumers. First, the Mexican ports are much lower-cost import locations than are Long Beach and Los Angeles, which currently handle 80 percent of imports from Asia and 40 percent of all the cargo shipped into the United States. For example, U.S. longshoremen in Long Beach and Los Angeles typically earn over $100,000 per year; their Mexican counterparts may earn only $10,000. Reduced port costs could be passed off to the consumer. (However, some of this benefit probably would be negated eventually by the fact that American-made goods would then have to compete with even less-expensive imports.) Second, expanded Mexican ports would provide alternative shipping routes into the U.S. in case the functioning of any American Pacific port was interrupted (by a terrorist attack, for example). In the future, when the longshoremen decide to strike, expect them to have significantly reduced bargaining power since more imports will be able to be redirected through Mexico. However, though consumers may benefit in the short term, there is a very real negative ramification associated with increased imports entering the U.S. through Mexican ports. By becoming more reliant on Mexico to keep America’s imports flowing, the U.S. subjects itself to the increasing influence of yet another trade partner. Just as Belarus, Poland and the Ukraine control the pipelines that bring much of the oil and gas into the European Union, Mexican ports could increasingly regulate a greater proportion of the goods that flow into the U.S. It is like adding a middleman into the equation whom you now have to keep happy. Moreover, China’s inroads into Mexican port operations are no accident. China has already taken control of vital sea gates through which resources must travel into the U.S.—the Panama Canal and Freeport, Bahamas. The greatest concentration of U.S. oil refineries, terminals and storage facilities is in the Gulf of Mexico region, which means that much of the oil must pass through the Caribbean—a route now significantly controlled by China. In addition, China is establishing a huge deep-water port in Gwadar, Pakistan, at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. Thus, China’s expansion of its Mexican port operations is clearly part of a much larger strategy aimed at gaining control over global trade routes—and giving it the advantage in any future disputes. On the other hand, lack of control over strategic gateways together with over-reliance on foreign nations—especially those not particularly friendly to Washington—puts the U.S. in a vulnerable position. Is it realistic to believe that the U.S. could ever face the possibility of foreign powers, blockading supply lines, shutting the gate on trade? If you believe not, perhaps you also believe that world peace has finally arrived and America will never face another war. At one time, America and Britain owned virtually every strategic sea-lane trade route and chokepoint around the globe. Today, almost all those gates have passed to foreign ownership or control, and most of America’s and Britain’s own domestic port complexes are now foreign-owned. According to biblical prophecy, there is a time coming when America will be blockaded by many of its former trade partners, unless the nation repents and turns to God. Read it for yourself: “They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the Lord your God has given you” (Deuteronomy 28:52; New King James Version). Believe it or not, that prophecy relates directly to the Anglo-American peoples. True superpowers are self-sufficient, not critically reliant on other nations. Trends show that America’s days as the world’s singular superpower are numbered. Biblical prophecy confirms and describes for us how it will occur. |
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
SELLOUT OF AMERICA CONTINUES
| MR. PRESIDENT! Your questions for George W. Bush and his spokesmen  Ever have a great question to ask the president or Tony Snow? Ever been frustrated watching White House press conferences because reporters just "beat around the Bush"? Now's your chance to participate. Post your tough questions for the White House at the MR. PRESIDENT! forum where they will be reviewed by WND editors and our White House correspondent. Who knows? Your question may be asked at the next White House press briefing. |
| Post to this forum! | 419 post(s) | This is page 1 of 42. Go to page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 |
Defend the USA
Posted by TallTexan on Jan 17, 2007 07:56
The Constitution(which you and I swore to defend)prioritizes the defense of our country from 'invasion'.You, and the Senate are obliged to do just that.Why shouldn't you and the Senate be impeachedand Bush I, and Clinton reprimanded for dereliction of dutyfor not 'repelling the invasion' that has taken place?
Fed Up!
Posted by Fed Up in Illinois on Jan 17, 2007 07:55
It is my understanding that the President does not have to seek the advise and consent of the congress regarding the North America Union. You do not need consent to make an agreement and that is what he is doing, just like NAFTA and CAFTA, two more programs that allow for an imbalance of American trade.
If Americans do not wake up to what is really happening in this country and start speaking up, we deserve what we get. Bend over America.
Why Support Drug Smugglers and Terrorists
Posted by Bonnie, Texas on Jan 17, 2007 07:51
Why President Bush do you support drug smugglers by refusing to pardon our Border Officers Compean and Ramos? Why President Bush do you support terrorists by giving palestinians 87.4 million dollars of our tax money to buy weapons that you know very well will be used against Israel?
Why did you imprison the two border guards?
Posted by prasnsrinivara on Jan 17, 2007 07:33
This reminds me of India's charging of Central Reserve Policemen for firing at Muslim rioters (who had STARTED the riots in the first place) in 1987.
Imprisoning the people who protect your country's security--for actually DOING THEIR JOB in the first place--is absolutely insane!
As a naturalised (2005-04-25) American, I ask that you pardon and release the two border guards immediately!
Bush Country
Posted by cattyjoan on Jan 17, 2007 07:18
just goes to prove this is Bush Country and damn "We the People" to have a voice in how its being run.
and who said Crime doesnt pay???
and the North American Union--just one more step to the One World Order.
read Revelations and open your eyes
Your Belief
Posted by desideratum on Jan 17, 2007 07:03
You professed Islam to be a peaceful religion. You have also professed Jesus as the person you most admire during your 1st election campaign. We all cannot be correct in our beliefs, there can only be one God. Do you believe Jesus Christ to be the only way to eternal life after you breathe your last breath or is Islam the only way to eternal life?
If you verily profess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior answering the above question does not pose a dilema for you.
US Supporting/training TERRORISTS!
Posted by KC on Jan 17, 2007 06:18
1~~ We are supposed to be supporting isreal in the US? Why are we backing financially, training and givng 86 mil. of money we dont have to the terrorists?
Remember this with the next BinLaden or Saddam!
2~~ Why are you NOT closing the Border in the US? If you are so worried about Terrorism shouldn't you be securing your perimeter?
3~~ Do you NOT think there will be a revolution in this country if you join the borders forming a NAU?
4 When are you going to do something about the SOUTHERN INVASION????!!!!
RE: RE: So much for a "government of the people, by the people..."
Posted by Concerned_citizen on Jan 17, 2007 05:58
And I thought the Clinton White House was the worse on record for being bought out. How can President Bush seriouly look the American people in the eye and tell them how "serious" he is with the "war on terror" while he keeps our borders wide open? This is not making any sense to me. Just think about it. I took 40+ years for the Republicans to win controll of both houses,and it took only a short 6 years for the Karl Rove team to lose them back to the Democrats. What a legacy for Bush! This country can't afford any more of the Bush family to occupy the Oval Office!
Reply to: familyman41
Well said, However I do not believe the president a coward. Treasonous? without question. Worthless? I will say obtuse. Everyone has worth.
Mr. President the question on all AMERICAN'S minds?
Yep. How much is enough? How much money is enough to sell out our country? our freedom? our very lives? North American "Union", "Security and Prosperity Protection Act"
Again I quote Sam Adams
How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words!
social security
Posted by dave on Jan 17, 2007 05:23
my question is a simply one.
there are umpteen million of illegals in the country receiveing social security and medicare benifits.
my wife who has worked for years has come to the point she can work no longer. when she applied for assistance through social security she was denighed..... my question is this........
Why is it so easy for illegals to get benefits designed for U.S. citizens and so hard for deserving U.S. citizens to get benifits?????????
david tucker
270 cr 2118
longview tx 75603
I Feel Betrayed!
Posted by republican grandma on Jan 17, 2007 04:42
We worked very hard for the president, going against our family, friends, and standing up for him as a true Republican Conservative who would bring good values and preserve our constitution. We did the same thing in the last election, hoping that he would return to his earlier values and save our country.
Instead, he became the confused, wishy washy, trying to please everyone, yielding to the democrats in order to be everything to everyone and continued to lose his backbone.
He seems willing to woo Mexico at the expense of our safety.He is allowing our soldiers to be punished for killing the enemy, and he is allowing our border agents who are doing their jobs to be put in jail for shooting an illegal, dope carrying criminal.
I am grieving for our constitution, our country, and our lost dream of a president that would be a man and stand up for what made our country great.
| Post to this forum! | 419 post(s) | This is page 1 of 42. Go to page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 |
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Showdown Looms In Persian Gulf
| Defense/Middle East |
| Showdown Looms in Persian Gulf as US Sends 2nd Aircraft Carrier 15:00 Jan 16, '07 / 26 Tevet 5767 by Gil Zohar |
 | Is the United States gearing up for an attack on Iran? |
The deployment of a second U.S. aircraft carrier to the region has analysts speculating that President Bush means to stop Tehran's nuclear ambitions by force if necessary.
The USS John C. Stennis is scheduled to sail Tuesday from its homeport of
Bremerton, Washington. When the second carrrier arrives in the Middle East next month, this will be the first time since the U.S.-led Iraq invasion in 2003 that the United States will have two carrier battle groups in the region, according to a U.S. Navy official.
The increase in U.S. forces is a show of strength by Washington in the face of Iran's growing regional assertiveness and a perception among U.S. adversaries that the United States is vulnerable in Iraq, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday.
The Stennis is a Nimitz-class carrier, with approximately 3,200 sailors. It will stop off in San Diego to pick an air wing of more than 80 planes, including F/A-18 Hornet and Superhornet fighter-bombers.
After a monthlong voyage across the Pacific and Indian oceans, the Stennis will join the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which is already tasked to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, based in the Gulf sheikhdom of Bahrain, said Cmdr. Kevin Aandahl of the Fifth Fleet.
Once in Middle East waters, the second aircraft carrier will significantly boost U.S. air power in the region and serve as a reminder of U.S. firepower to Iran.
"This demonstrates our resolve to do what we can to bring security and stability to the region," Aandahl said. "That's obviously to dissuade others from acting counter to our national interest."
Washington will maintain two carriers in the Middle East "as long as the
situation demands it," Aandahl said. A typical carrier deployment lasts six months.
In a related matter, the U.S. recently deployed a Patriot air defense missile battalion to the Middle East.
As well, at least 16 US F-16 fighter aircraft arrived January 12 in Turkey's strategic Incirlink air base for the first time in three years. According to local Cihan News Agency, the F-16s were accompanied by an early warning system AWACS airplane and tanker airplanes from an American base in Germany. An official at the US embassy in Ankara said the planes had arrived for joint exercises with the Turkish military.
On Thursday, US forces in Iraq detained five suspected members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards operating out of the northern Iraq town of Irbil in Kurdistan.
Monday, January 15, 2007
TICK TOCK TICK TOCK
Doomsday Clock To Move Closer To Nuclear Armageddon
by Staff Writers
Chicago (AFP) Jan 12, 2007
The world is inching closer to nuclear Armageddon, a group of prominent scientists and security experts said Friday. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has kept a Doomsday clock since 1947 as a reminder of the dangers of nuclear proliferation. The clock will be moved forward Wednesday at simultaneous events in Washington and London whose speakers will include physicist Stephen Hawking, the Chicago-based periodical said in a statement.
 The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clockface maintained since 1947 by the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. It uses the analogy of the human race being at a time that is a 'few minutes to midnight' where midnight represents destruction by nuclear war. |
Chicago (AFP) Jan 12, 2007
The world is inching closer to nuclear Armageddon, a group of prominent scientists and security experts said Friday. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has kept a Doomsday clock since 1947 as a reminder of the dangers of nuclear proliferation. The clock will be moved forward Wednesday at simultaneous events in Washington and London whose speakers will include physicist Stephen Hawking, the Chicago-based periodical said in a statement.
The Bulletin warned that the world had entered a "Second Nuclear Age marked by grave threats."
It cited the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea; escalating terrorism; unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing "launch-ready" status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the United States and Russia, and "new pressure from climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power that could increase proliferation risks."
First set at seven minutes to midnight -- a phrase that has become part of pop culture -- the clock has been moved 17 times in response to global events. The most recent shift was in 2002 when it moved two minutes forward because the United States withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and terrorists were known to be seeking nuclear and biological weapons. It currently stands once again at seven minutes to midnight, the closest to danger since the end of the Cold War.
Founded in 1945 by scientists who had helped develop the atomic bomb and were deeply concerned about the use of nuclear weapons, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists counts 17 Nobel laureates among its boards of directors and sponsors.
Here are the dates and reasons for previous changes:
- 2002: Seven minutes to midnight
The United States rejects a series of arms control treaties and announces it will withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Terrorists seek to acquire and use nuclear and biological weapons.
- 1998: Nine minutes to midnight
India and Pakistan "go public" with nuclear tests. The United States and Russia cannot agree on further deep reductions in their nuclear stockpiles.
- 1995: Fourteen minutes to midnight
Further arms reductions stall while global military spending continues at Cold War levels. Risks of nuclear "leakage" from poorly guarded former Soviet facilities increase.
- 1991: Seventeen minutes to midnight
The United States and the Soviet Union sign the long-stalled Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and announce further unilateral cuts in tactical and strategic nuclear weapons.
- 1990: Ten minutes to midnight
The Cold War ends as the Iron Curtain falls.
- 1988: Six minutes to midnight
The United States and the Soviet Union sign a treaty to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear forces; superpower relations improve; more nations actively oppose nuclear weapons.
- 1984: Three minutes to midnight
The arms race accelerates.
- 1981: Four minutes to midnight
Both superpowers develop more weapons for fighting a nuclear war. Terrorist actions, repression of human rights, and conflicts in Afghanistan, Poland and South Africa add to world tension.
- 1980: Seven minutes to midnight
The deadlock in US-Soviet arms talks continues; nationalistic wars and terrorist actions increase; the gulf between rich and poor nations grows wider.
- 1974: Nine minutes to midnight
SALT talks reach an impasse; India develops a nuclear weapon.
- 1972: Twelve minutes to midnight
The United States and the Soviet Union sign the first Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
- 1969: Ten minutes to midnight
The US Senate ratifies the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
- 1968: Seven minutes to midnight
France and China acquire nuclear weapons; wars rage in the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and Vietnam; world military spending increases while development funds shrink.
- 1963: Twelve minutes to midnight
The US and Soviet signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty "provides the first tangible confirmation of what has been the Bulletin's conviction in recent years -- that a new cohesive force has entered the interplay of forces shaping the fate of mankind."
- 1960: Seven minutes to midnight
Growing public understanding that nuclear weapons made war between the major powers irrational amid greater international scientific cooperation and efforts to aid poor nations.
- 1953: Two minutes to midnight
The United States and the Soviet Union test thermonuclear devices within nine months of one another.
- 1949: Three minutes to midnight
The Soviet Union explodes its first atomic bomb.
- 1947: Seven minutes to midnight
The clock first appears on the Bulletin cover as a symbol of nuclear danger.
Source: Agence France-Presse
Friday, January 12, 2007
AL-QAEDA 'REBUILDING' IN PAKISTAN
Al-Qaeda 'rebuilding' in Pakistan
 Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri, left, are on the top of the wanted list |
National Intelligence Director John Negroponte said al-Qaeda was strengthening its ties across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.
Pakistan rejected the comments, which are the most specific on the issue yet.
This week, the US carried out air strikes in Somalia targeting what it believed to be members of al-Qaeda.
The BBC's James Westhead in Washington says that until now the US has not been so specific about where it believes al-Qaeda's leaders are hiding.
Such a claim will be embarrassing for Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who Mr Negroponte described as a key partner in America's war on terror, our correspondent says.
Afghanistan has welcomed the comments. President Hamid Karzai's chief-of-staff, Jawed Ludin, told the BBC that Afghanistan had long maintained that the Islamic militants operated from within Pakistan, and that Mr Negroponte's statement was refreshing in its honesty.
'Secure hide-out'
Mr Negroponte told a Senate committee that al-Qaeda was still the militant organisation that "poses the greatest threat to US interests".
"They are cultivating stronger operational connections and relationships that radiate outward from their leaders' secure hideout in Pakistan to affiliates throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Europe," he said.
"We have captured or killed numerous senior al-Qaeda operatives, but al-Qaeda's core elements are resilient. They continue to plot attacks against our homeland and other targets with the objective of inflicting mass casualties," Mr Negroponte added. 
We have captured or killed numerous senior al-Qaeda operatives, but al-Qaeda's core elements are resilient 
John Negroponte
He did not say where in Pakistan the group's leadership was hiding, or refer to its chief, Osama Bin Laden, or his second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who are wanted for masterminding the 11 September attacks on Washington and New York.
New job
But the unusually forthright statement by Mr Negroponte appears to be the first time the US has publicly singled out Pakistan, one of its key allies, as the current home of al-Qaeda's high command.
Previously, officials had spoken more vaguely about the group having bases in the mountainous border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"Pakistan is our partner in the war on terror and has captured several al-Qaeda leaders. However, it is also a major source of Islamic extremism," Mr Negroponte said in written testimony submitted to the Senate committee. 
Mr Negroponte is soon to take up a new role at the state department
Pakistani foreign office spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam rejected the comments.
"Pakistan does not provide a secure hideout to al-Qaeda or any terrorist group," she said. "In fact the only country that has been instrumental in breaking the back of al-Qaeda is Pakistan."
Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao also played down Mr Negroponte's comments as "too general", saying that Pakistan responded to specific information about al-Qaeda members and claiming that the movement was totally marginalised.
Difficult border
The head of the US Defence Intelligence Agency, Lt-Gen Michael Maples, said Pakistan's border with Afghanistan remained a haven for al-Qaeda and other militants.
The tribal areas on the border are thought to be where al-Qaeda leader Bin Laden and his deputy Zawahiri could be hiding.
Pakistan and Afghanistan share a 1,400-mile (2,250km) mountainous border which is extremely difficult to patrol.
Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters are thought to be operating on both sides.
The two countries regularly exchange charge and counter-charge over who is to blame for the violence.
Recently, Pakistan reiterated its intention to fence and mine sections of the troubled border.
Kabul particularly opposes the idea of mining stretches of the frontier, saying it will endanger civilian lives.
An Islamist insurgency spearheaded by the resurgent Taleban militia is at its strongest in the southern Afghan provinces bordering Pakistan.
Mr Negroponte took charge of the 16 US intelligence agencies in April 2005, but is shortly due to move to the state department where he will become Condoleezza Rice's deputy.
President George W Bush last week named retired Navy Vice Admiral Michael McConnell as the new US national intelligence director.
Mr Negroponte made the claims about Pakistan in his annual assessment of worldwide threats against the US and its interests.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
AMERICAN WEAPONS - DOES ANYONE REALLY CARE ??
FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
'American weapons
to be used on Jews'
U.S. providing arms to bolster Abbas
in conflict with rival Hamas factions
Posted: January 11, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
RAMALLAH – The United States, aided by Israel, over the last few weeks has provided 7,000 assault rifles and more than 1 million rounds of ammunition to militias associated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, senior Fatah militants told WND.
The arms were provided to bolster Fatah against rival Hamas factions, the Fatah militants said.
Fatah and Hamas have engaged in weeks of deadly firefights since Abbas last month called for new Palestinian elections in a move widely seen as an attempt to dismantle the Hamas-led PA.
Abu Yousuf, a Fatah militant from Abba's Force 17 security forces, told WND while some of the weapons may be used in confrontations against Hamas, the bulk of the American arms would be utilized to "hit the Zionists."
He said if there is a major conflict with Israel, U.S. weapons provided to Fatah may be shared with other "Palestinian resistance organizations."
According to documents revealed Friday, the Bush administration will provide $86.4 million to strengthen security forces loyal to Abbas, including Force 17, Abbas' security detail, which also serves as de facto police units in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Some members of Force 17 also are openly members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror organization, Fatah's declared "military wing."
U.S. officials confirmed the financial aid is set to be transferred to Fatah.
The multi-million-dollar grant will be used to "assist the Palestinian Authority presidency in fulfilling PA commitments under the Road Map (peace plan) to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism and establish law and order in the West Bank and Gaza," a U.S. government document said.
Force 17 members told WND ammunition and 7,000 assault rifles they say were delivered the past few weeks reached Fatah security forces in the Gaza Strip and in Ramallah in the West Bank. It was unclear if the arms were part of the $86 million in U.S. aid.
Like other recent confirmed arms transfers from Egypt and the U.S., the latest American weapons shipments were driven through Israeli checkpoints by convoys protected by the Israeli Defense Forces, according to sources familiar with the transfers. In Gaza, the weapons were accepted by Fatah strongman Mahmoud Dahlan, the sources said.
A spokeswoman for the IDF refused to deny the latest purported U.S. weapons shipments.
"This is a matter for the state (of Israel) and the prime minister's office," the IDF spokeswoman said.
Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, could not immediately provide confirmation or denial of the American weapons shipment, saying Olmert's visit today to China is "keeping the staff fully busy."
The U.S. State Department did not return a request for comment before press time.
In an interview with WND, Fatah Force 17 security officer Abu Yousuf said some of the U.S. weapons his group received would be used against Hamas.
"The first place of these U.S. weapons will be to defend the Palestinian national project, which is reflected by the foundation of the Palestinian Authority. If Hamas or any other group under the influence of Iran and Syria wants to make a coup de tat against our institution, these weapons are there to defend the PA," said Abu Yousuf.
"We don't want to go to civil war with Hamas, because this is what both the U.S. and Israel want. This is our last option. We hope our brothers in Hamas won't oblige us to find ourselves in confrontation," Abu Yousuf said.
But the Fatah militant said the new American weapons may also be used to target Israelis. He admitted previous American arms supplied to Fatah were used in "resistance operations" against the Jewish state.
"If Israel will deliver what it promised to Abu Mazen (Abbas), [meaning a] withdrawal from Palestinian lands, including east Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, remove all the checkpoints in the West Bank, release our prisoners, and find a clear solution for our refugees, we'll control our forces and the distribution of weapons
"But if Israel doesn't deliver, and we find ourselves manipulated by Israel, we cannot guarantee members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Force 17 will not use these weapons against Israel. Our goal is to change the occupation," said Abu Yousuf.
" Its unnatural to think these American weapons won't be used against the Israelis," he said.
Like some other Force 17 members, Abu Yousuf is openly also a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
The Brigades, together with Islamic Jihad, has taken responsibility for every suicide bombing in Israel the past two years, including an attack in Tel Aviv in April that killed American teenager Daniel Wultz and nine Israelis. The Brigades also has carried out scores of deadly shooting and rocket attacks against Israeli civilians in recent months.
All Brigades leaders are also members of Fatah. Abbas last June appointed senior Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader Mahmoud Damra as commander of Force 17. Damra, who was arrested by Israel in November, was on the Jewish state's most-wanted list of terrorists.
Abu Yousuf said the American weapons shipments may be shared with other Palestinian terror groups. He said that during large confrontations with Israel, such as the Jewish state's 2002 anti-terror raid in Jenin, Fatah distributed weapons to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
"We don't look where this piece or that piece of weapon came from when fighting the Israelis," Abu Yousuf said.
He also pointed to what he said was Hamas' infiltration of some of Fatah's security forces as a possible mechanism Hamas can use to obtain Fatah's American-supplied weapons.
"Our organizations are infiltrated (by Hamas). In the last elections campaign, our Fatah party was astonished at how many of our security members votes for Hamas – we thought our own forces would vote 95 percent vote for us, but it was 70 percent for Fatah and 30 percent for Hamas," Abu Yousuf said.
A senior Fatah security official, speaking yesterday to WND on condition his name be withheld, says Fatah has a "significant problem" of its militia members in Gaza joining Hamas.
Sources close to Hamas said the Fatah militants, including members of Force 17, worked with Hamas after receiving larger paychecks from the terror group.
"When they join Hamas, they bring along their new weapons," said a Hamas source.
During a WND interview earlier this week, Hamas spokesman Abu Oubaida told WND his terror group will obtain any American weapons transferred to Fatah militias or purchased by Fatah using the incoming $86.4 million in U.S. aid.
"I am sure that like in the past, this $86 million from America will find its way to the Hamas resistance via the honorable persons in the Fatah security organizations, including in Force 17. I can confirm 100 percent that this money and purchased weapons will find its way to Hamas," said Abu Oubaida.
The last confirmed American arms shipment to Fatah took place in May. At first, it was denied by the U.S. and Israel, but Olmert in June admitted the transfer took place, telling reporters, "I needed to approve the shipment to help bolster Abbas."
The U.S. weapons were delivered to Gaza and Ramallah by the IDF, according to reports.
U.S. weapons prompting Palestinian arms race?
Meanwhile, Abu Abdullah, considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' so-called military wing, told WND the U.S. aid and weapons shipments have prompted a Palestinian arms race.
The Hamas leader said weapons procured as a result of the U.S. shipment will be used against Israel.
"The more the Americans give Abu Mazen (Abbas) weapons, the more we will have in the future weapons to use against the Israelis, because it incites the different organizations to intensify their own supply of weapons," said Abu Abdullah of Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' declared "resistance" department.
According to Palestinian security sources, the increased drive by Hamas to obtain new weapons has raised the price of arms in Egypt and Jordan.
"An M-16 that sold for 6,000 Jordanian Dinar now is worth 10,000 Dinar because Hamas is trying to get more weapons," a Palestinian security source told WND.
Like Hamas spokesman Abu Oubaida, Hamas' Abu Abdullah said U.S. weapons to Fatah would eventually fall into the hands of Hamas:
"These American weapons will be one day the property of all the Palestinian people and its resistance, including Hamas," Abu Abdullah said. "The U.S. gives weapons to Fatah during internal Palestinian clashes, but one day when we go back to carrying out operations together, these [weapons] will be shared."
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
OLMERT TO FACE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
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| Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. (Archives) | |||||||||||||||||
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| Olmert expected to face criminal investigation in Bank Leumi sale | |||||
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| By Yuval Yoaz and Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondents | |||||
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The Justice Ministry is expected to announce the opening of a criminal investigation against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert next week. The probe will focus on the state's sale of a controlling interest in Bank Leumi. | |||||
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| In a statement issued Tuesday, a ministry spokesman said: "We wish to make it clear that we have no intention of commenting on any report, news item or speculation regarding affairs involving the prime minister. When the decision-making process on these sensitive and complex matters, which is still ongoing, has ended, an orderly announcement will be made to the public. | |||||
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