Fraud is an issue that concerns citizens in The United States. Unfortunately, greed itself is not considered fraud, nor is it prosecuted by the Justice’s Department Criminal Division. After the bailout of 2008, its is believed that the Criminal Division may have intentionally flack to conduct a serious investigation on Wall Street C.E.O. bankers, for reasons still unclear for many who seek justice. Elizabeth Ann Warren is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Warren was previously a Harvard Law School professor specializing in bankruptcy law. In the video bellow, she raises the important question. Are too big to fail banks, immune to further prosecution restrains? What stops the U.S. Justice Department from investigating fraud at major levels, but positively edict minor felonies without hiding behind a silk curtain? Will elites always be favored as natural winners, even at the cost of greed and economic corruption?
A confidential government report on the unfolding spill disaster in the Gulf makes clear the Coast Guard now fears the well could become an unchecked gusher shooting millions of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf.
“The following is not public,” reads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Emergency Response document dated April 28. “Two additional release points were found today in the tangled riser. If the riser pipe deteriorates further, the flow could become unchecked resulting in a release volume an order of magnitude higher than previously thought.”
Asked Friday to comment on the document, NOAA spokesman Scott Smullen said that the additional leaks described were reported to the public late Wednesday night. Regarding the possibility of the spill becoming an order of magnitude larger, Smullen said, “I’m letting the document you have speak for itself.”
In scientific circles, an order of magnitude means something is 10 times larger. In this case, an order of magnitude higher would mean the volume of oil coming from the well could be 10 times higher than the 5,000 barrels a day coming out now. That would mean 50,000 barrels a day, or 2.1 million gallons a day. It appears the new leaks mentioned in the Wednesday release are the leaks reported to the public late Wednesday night.
“There is no official change in the volume released but the USCG is no longer stating that the release rate is 1,000 barrels a day,” continues the document, referred to as report No. 12. “Instead they are saying that they are preparing for a worst-case release and bringing all assets to bear.”
The emergency document also states that the spill has grown in size so quickly that only 1 to 2 percent of it has been sprayed with dispersants.
The Press-Register obtained the emergency report from a government official. The White House, NOAA, the Coast Guard and BP Plc did not immediately return calls for comment made early this morning.
The worst-case scenario for the broken and leaking well pouring oil into the Gulf of Mexico would be the loss of the wellhead and kinked piping currently restricting the flow to 5,000 barrels — or 210,000 gallons — per day.
* LATER REPORT: Video shows federal officials knew quickly of potential for massive oil flow in Gulf spill
If the wellhead is lost, oil could leave the well at a much greater rate.
“Typically, a very good well in the Gulf can produce 30,000 barrels a day, but that’s under control. I have no idea what an uncontrolled release could be,” said Stephen Sears, chairman of the petroleum engineering department at Louisiana State University.
On Thursday, federal officials said they were preparing for the worst-case scenario but didn’t elaborate.
Kinks in the piping created as the rig sank to the seafloor may be all that is preventing the Deepwater Horizon well from releasing its maximum flow. BP is now drilling a relief well as the ultimate fix. The company said Thursday that process would take up to 3 months. View from above Gulf oil spill See continuing coverage of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill of 2010 on al.com and GulfLive.com.
To keep track of the Gulf of Mexico oil slick, visit www.skytruth.org or follow its Twitter feed.
To see updated projection maps related to the oil spill in the Gulf, visit the Deepwater Horizon Response Web site established by government officials.
How to help: Volunteers eager to help cope with the spill and lessen its impact on the Gulf Coast environment and economy.
“I’m not sure what’s happening down there right now. I have heard there is a kink in what’s called the riser. The riser is a long pipe that connects the wellhead to the rig. I really don’t know if that kink is a big restriction. Is that really a big restriction? There could be another restriction further down,” said LSU’s Sears.
“An analogy would be if you have a kink in a garden hose. You suspect that kink is restricting the flow, but there could be another restriction or kink somewhere else closer to the faucet.
BP Plc executive Doug Suttles said Thursday the company was worried about “erosion” of the pipe at the wellhead.
Sand is an integral part of the formations that hold oil under the Gulf. That sand, carried in the oil as it shoots through the piping, is blamed for the ongoing erosion described by BP.
“The pipe could disintegrate. You’ve got sand getting into the pipe, it’s eroding the pipe all the time, like a sandblaster,” said Ron Gouguet, a former oil spill response coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Gouguet said the loss of a wellhead is totally unprecedented.
“How bad it could get from that, you will have a tremendous volume of oil that is going to be offgassing on the coast. Depending on how much wind is there, and how those gases build up, that’s a significant health concern,” he said.
The formation that was being drilled by Deepwater Horizon when it exploded and sank last week is reported to have tens of millions of barrels of oil. A barrel contains 42 gallons.
Smullen described the NOAA document as a regular daily briefing. “Your report makes it sound pretty dire. It’s a scenario,” he said, “It’s a regular daily briefing sheet that considered different scenarios much like any first responder would.”
(Updated 5:57 p.m. to add response from NOAA spokesman.)”
is an investigator for the Project On Government Oversight.
1) BlackRock Inc. just bought ETF, and its growing larger and larger. Is BlackRock one of those institutions the U.S. Government claims they are “Too big to fail” ?
In the wake of the financial crisis and the bailout, Congress created a new body–the Financial Stability Oversight Council–to keep an eye on firms that pose a systemic risk. As part of this process, we think the Council should take a close look at BlackRock and other large non-bank financial institutions.
2) The big banks and the federal reserve took and still take the responsibility for the recession. But what about investment companies like BlackRock, Fidelity, Vanguard and State Street, where they involved in any way, with the economic bailout in 2008? And if so, why haven’t they been publicly scrutinized?
The bailout meant big business for BlackRock, which played an integral role in the emergency programs run by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department. I think companies like BlackRock and Vanguard haven’t received as much scrutiny because they were not the direct targets of the government’s rescue programs.
3) BlackRocks appears to provide balance sheets and portfolios of Government Agencies. Is there something fishy about that?
In our 2009 letter, we raised concerns that the government wasn’t doing enough to protect taxpayers from potential conflicts of interest when it hired BlackRock and other companies, “many of which have a direct financial interest in the same types of toxic assets that they are managing and valuating for the government.”
History may need to be rewritten. For the past decade all over the world ancient, underwater cities have been discovered. Historians are starting to observe natural patterns that might change teachings of modern day science, which concern origins of civilization.
A faulty agenda that should not be overlooked:
Presently, there has not been enough research conducted to lead us to a definite conclusion as to whether or not underwater cities provide sufficient empirical evidence to confirm the existence of advanced ancient civilizations. Unfortunately, most of the websites that present stories related to underwater cities are not even considered credible by many modern day media networks.
Therefore the question must be posed, “Who is behind the media’s agenda?” as we observe that archaeological discoveries are blatantly passed over which could change our perceptions of history. When archaeological evidence is presented which opposes the “uncontested view” of the modern day theory, will the general public be made aware that new evidence is willingly rejected without scrutiny by a strong, biased agenda?
Modern science’s fear of identifying underwater ruins comes as no surprise and rightly so. Many archaeologists are not keen enough to expose the implications that the existence of ancient cities would actually have in understanding our past.
Without a high-ranking scientist to step forward and allow the gateway for an alternative explanation (other than evolution), it will be impossible to present any data to pass a biased, scientific filter. The information presented to the public sphere supplies an agenda with only one closed-model-system based on a theory that is still far from becoming a universal law.
The argument does not suggest scientist themselves have corrupted the media by banning controversial discoveries or piling up evidence in empty old cabinets, but it raises a question. On what premise, standard or basis should archeology be counted as reliable without evolution branding it as non-historical?
Charles Darwin
” The theory of evolution proposes that man never coexisted with Dinosaurs”
“There was no such thing as a flood”
“I was a young man with uninformed ideas. I threw out queries, suggestions, wondering all the time over everything; and to my astonishment the ideas took like wildfire. People made a religion of them.”
Versus
Ancient History
A.D. 200-A.D. 1000, Gold Tiwanaku zoomorphic figurines
Ancient Rock drawing of Plesiosaur in Australia
Stereosaurus found in Temple in Cambodia
Canaanite ancient Medallion – Snake under what looks like a reptilian creature bigger than the Priest.
Babylonian Figure shows dinosaur-like paws and snake head.
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Ancient Egyptian carving long neck
Boomerang showing what looks to be a sauropod dinosaur
A strange mural from the Greek era showing a monster from the Nile called “Krokodilonardalis” – “Crocodile leopard.”
Greek-Roman wall shows what looks like two sauropods
Inca carved wooden cup
Carving found in Sumatra that many believe is a Corythosaur.
Ruins found of the mysterious Carian culture located in modern turkey
“Arhats (holy men) Ding Yun Peng. Ming dynasty, 1368 – 1644 BC, red and color on paper.” Shanghai Museum
Anasazi petroglyph at the Wupatki National Park – Flagstaff, Arizona
By Dr. Rafael Requena, private secretary to President General Gomez -New York Times June 5, 1932.
Findings that need further analysis overlooked by mainstream journalist:
The Sumerian civilization from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (5,000 BC) was originally thought to be the oldest civilization. With new and controversial discoveries found across the world, Mesopotamia is an overshadow of these ancient, lost civilizations.
Bolivia
Stone carvings at Puma Punku show advanced civilization
Puma Punku, Bolivia is the oldest archaeological site ever found. It dates close to 14,000 BC. It has been suggested by a geologist that hardened mud was found in the site, which could have been produced by an ancient flood. Puma Punku is known for its rock cutting techniques that show a high level of technology. The largest of these stone blocks is 7.81 meters long, 5.17 meters wide, averages 1.07 meters thick, and is estimated to weigh about 131 metric tons. The second largest stone block found within the Puma Punku is 7.90 meters long, 2.50 meters wide, and averages 1.86 meters thick. Its weight has been estimated to be 85.21 metric tons. Both of these stone blocks are part of the Plataforma Lítica composed of red sandstone. Based upon detailed petrographic and chemical analyses of samples from both individual stones and known quarry sites, archaeologists concluded that these and other red sandstone blocks were transported up a steep incline from a quarry roughly 10 km from Lake Titicaca. Smaller andesite blocks that were used for stone facing and carvings came from quarries within the Copacabana Peninsula about 90 km away from and across Lake Titicaca to the Puma Punku and the rest of the Tiwanaku site.
New Guinea
Ancient reconstruction of Nan Madol, By Oregon State University
Underwater Remains of Nan Madol
Nan Madol is located in the southwest side of Pohnpei Island, which lies about (16,000 km) northeast of New Guinea. Next to Nan Madol on the southeast corner of Pohnpei is Madolinihmw Harbor, which contains underwater columns in a straight row and assorted sunken ruins, including a so-called castle (60 m) submerged under murky waters. The ruins are mostly squared and rectangular in shape, all built by gigantic blocks of rock, nearly (10 m) in length and weight close to (50 tons). Carbon dating indicates that the construction of Nan Madol dates back to 12,000 BC, while excavations suggest it might have been occupied as early of 200 BC. Archeologists are unsure how it is that the ancient city flooded. Nan Madol was one of the sites James Churchward identified as being part of the lost continent of Mu, starting in his 1926 book The Lost Continent of Mu Motherland of Man
Black Sea and Aegean Sea
Underground Civilization found in Greek Aegean Sea
Ruins found in the Black Sea by National Geographic
Sept. 13, 2000—Explorers in an undersea discovery craft came upon remnants of human habitation 311-feet below the surface of the Black Sea, approximately 12 miles off the Turkish shoreline, near the port city of Sinop. The well-preserved remnants of a mud and wattle house are thought to be part of a human settlement at the intersection of two great rivers, dating to a time before the flooding of the Black Sea by the waters of the Mediterranean, an event which probably occurred about 7,500 years before present as a result of glacial ice melt. Columbia University geologist Robert Ballard followed an hypothesis that the discovery could suppose the Mesopotamian origin of civilization, the so-called hydraulic society and the datings of civilization’s origin, the “Neolithic Revolution”. (*Origins of Indo-European language: classifications of early man.)
Japan
Yonaguni 3D reconstruction by German newspaper Der Spiegel
Ancient city of Yonaguni
Geological evolutionist, Professor of Boston University, Robert M. Schoch proposed the site was made by “natural causes”
In 1987 while looking for a good place to observe the sharks, diver Kihachiro Aratake, a director of the Yonaguni-Cho Tourism Association, noticed some singular seabed formations resembling architectonic structures. Submerged stone structures lying just below the waters off Yonaguni Jima are actually the ruins of a Japanese Atlantis—an ancient city sunk by an earthquake about 2,000 years ago. That’s the belief of Masaaki Kimura, a marine geologist at the University of the Ryukyus in Japan who has been diving at the site to measure and map its formations for more than 15 years. Each time he returns to the dive boat, Kimura said, he is more convinced than ever that below him rest the remains of a 5,000-year-old city. “The largest structure looks like a complicated, monolithic, stepped pyramid that rises from a depth of (25m),” said Kimura, who presented his latest theories about the site at a scientific conference in June. Some scientists have estimated the site to be closer to a 10,000-year-old city, according to radiometric dating.
India
Fig 5: A long underwater wall, amidst the ruins of the fabled city of Dwarka, off the coast of western India, at a depth of 170 feet below the Arabian Sea. Source: The Lost City of Dvaraka – By S.R. Rao
Fig 5: A prismatic stone anchor, in the underwater ruins of Dwarka. Source: The Lost City of Dvaraka – By S.R. Rao
In May 2001 India’s Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Science and Technology Division, Murli Manohar Joshi, announced that the ruins of an ancient civilization had been discovered off the coast of Gujarat, in the Gulf of Khambhat. According to marine scientists in India, archaeological remains of this lost city have been discovered (36 m) underwater in the Gulf of Cambay off the western coast of India. And carbon dating says that they are 9,500 years old. This news completely contradicts the position of most Western historians and archaeologists, who (because it did not fit their theories) have always rejected, ignored, or suppressed evidence of an older view of mankind’s existence on planet Earth. Human civilization is now probably much more ancient than many have believed. According to the BBC’s Tom Housden reporting on the Cambay find, “The vast city — which is five miles long and two miles wide — is believed to predate the oldest known remains in the subcontinent by more than 5,000 years.” To top the findings, the ancient city of Dwarka was also spotted by a group of marine archeologist off the coastline of present day Dwarka. Dwarka was known as the city of Krishna.
CUBA
Geometric remains of the lost Cuban Civilization.
Professor of Oceanography from Rhode Island University, Robert Ballard was quoted as saying “That’s too deep, I’d be surprised if it was human. You have to ask yourself, how did it get there? I’ve looked at a lot of sonar images in my life, and it can be sort of like looking at an ink blot — people can sometimes see what they want to see. I’ll just wait for a bit more data”
Despite Ballard’s skepticism, he holds, that indeed a flood took place in one point is history. But despite his point of view do the images look like natural formations?
Underwater Structure near Cuba, show geometric shapes
Sonar shows underwater geometric structures beneath the Cuban Gulf
In July 2000, deep ocean engineer, Paulina Zelitzky discovered a possible megalithic site 2,310 feet below the water off the western coast of Cuba. The underwater city encompasses an area about (20 Square Km) in size, near the Guanahacabibes Peninsula. Using sidescan sonar, Zelitzky, owner and operator of a company called Advanced Digital Communications (ADC), found “in the middle of this beautiful white sand … clear man-made large-size architectural designs.” In the summer of 2001 the researchers returned to film the ruins of the underwater city using a Robotic Ocean Vehicle known as an ROV. Upon close examination they saw a large plateau with organized stone structures that appeared to be pyramids, rectangular buildings, and roads. The researchers believe this underwater “city” was built at least 6,000 years ago when the land was above water. Zelitzky hypothesizes that an earthquake or volcanic activity caused the land to sink. Manuel A. Iturralde Vincent, research director of Cuba’s National Museum of Natural History in Old Havana, viewed the underwater city and confirmed that the shapes are similar to pyramids and streets when seen from above. He also confirmed the existence of large faults and an underwater volcano nearby, and indications of “significantly strong seismic activity.”
Florida-Bimini
The underwater Florida-Bimini ruins show what looks like an ancient road
The June 1981 edition of “Marine Geology” authored by Peter Tompkins, Pino Turolla and David Zink (Italian and U.S. archeologists), found what seemed like a civilization underwater close to the gulf of Florida. It contained paved roads and huge stonewalls. Dr. J. Manson, Valentine from Yale University, found a wrecked Phoenician ship that dated 3,000 years ago. The ruins show some radiocarbon dates on mangrove peat, based on the estimate of Broecker and Kulp, listing dates between 5590 and 3680 BC. Most recently the rate of the sea level’s rise has slowed to 4.5 in (114 mm) per century. Prior to that time it was one foot per century. Near Andros Island, underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau found a huge submerged cave 165 ft. beneath the surface. Z.A. Simon offers an “accurate” map of Plato’s rectangular island with its given dimensions as 2,000 by 3,000 stadia, overlaying its outline on the suspected ancient irregular shoreline of that traditional island in the Bahamas region. (An Attic stadium corresponds to 177.6 m.)
Peru
Divers at exploring Lake Titicaca Ruins, elevation of (3,000 m) above sea level (BBC)
April 30, 2003 — International archaeologists have found the ruins of an ancient temple under Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest lake. Dating back 1,000 to 1,500 years ago, the ruins are pre-Incan. The Incas, who built Machu Picchu, believed they originated from the lake, and they regarded the lake as the birthplace of their civilization. In their myth the Children of The Sun emerged out of the waters. Divers went as deep as (30 m) in their exploration. A terrace for crops, a long road and an 800-metre (2,600 feet) long wall was also found under the waters of the lake, sited in the Andes mountains between Bolivia and Peru. They have been attributed to the indigenous Tiwanaku or Tiahuanaco people, said Lorenzo Epis, the Italian scientist leading the Atahuallpa 2000 scientific expedition. The holy temple measures (200m) by (50m) almost twice the size of an average football pitch. More than 200 dives were made into the lake to depths of as much as 30m in order to record the ruins on film. The explorers found the temple after following a submerged road, in an area of the lake not far from Copacabana town. The Machu Picchu civilization, said it originated from another civilization now covered by the lake.
Israel
(Left) 9,000 B.C. old mother found (Right) Ancient underwater well
Ancient temple of worship
Dating to as early as 6900 B.C., Atlit-Yam is a pre-pottery Neolithic settlement covering more than 15 acres of the seafloor just off Israeli coast, some six miles south of Haifa. Working at a depth of (12 m), archaeologists led by the Israeli Antiquities Authority discovered the remains of rectangular houses and several pits, most likely used as wells. A six-foot thick wall running parallel to the channel of an ancient river was probably a levee, indicating increased control over and exploitation of water systems in the Neolithic. A set of seven upright stones discovered around what used to be a freshwater spring may also indicate worship of water sources. Perhaps most importantly, Atlit-Yam has in situ burials, with 15 full skeletons, some showing evidence of tuberculosis (see “Dark History of the White Death,” September/October 2009). Most remains were found either in or near to a dwelling, which may indicate the people practiced some form of ancestor worship. Early evidence of religion, domestication, and fishing make Atlit-Yam a key site to understand the transition in the Neolithic period toward more complex systems of subsistence. The discovery was made by a group of scientist in Tel Aviv University and Prof. of Archeology Israel Hershkotivz.
In the Mediterranean Sea alone there have been close to 200 discoveries of submerged cities that once were thought as legendary. Recent discoveries on coastal areas in Spain, Italy, England and France suggest that flooding took place at different times in the ancient world. And one major flood that covered all major civilizations in the meltdown of the last Ice Age, more than 100,000 years ago. But radiocarbon dating, the modern technique use for dating, might have to be revalued, as many archaeologist find it problematic in determining the age of certain cities and historical accounts that contradict our modern understanding of age.
In 1948, Frank Wisner was appointed director of the Office of Special Projects (OSP). Soon afterwards OSP was renamed the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC). This became known as the covert action branch of the Central Intelligence Agency. Wisner was told to create an organization that concentrated, based on ” propaganda, economic warfare; preventive direct action, including acts of sabotage, anti-sabotage, demolition and evacuation measures; subversion against hostile states, including assistance to underground resistance groups, and support of indigenous anti-communist elements in threatened countries of the free world. The mission was to infuse an agenda that would influence the media to prevent ideologies that conflicted with capitalism.
In 2003, after the shaky mainstream media coverage to not further investigate the Weapons Of Mass Destruction, issued as evidence by the government, It is unclear if Donald Rumsfeld (the minster of Defense from 2001-06) also manipulated mainstream networks to back up the governments official side of the story under The Patriot Act laws. So it could be that Operation Mockingbird was just one more step issued by the Intelligence Community, to assure democracy, by means of media manipulation. But is it a good idea?
Benedict officially announced resignation as Pope for his “advanced age”.
Here we present the full text of his farewell:
Bellow the resignation of his Pontiff Benedict XVI
‘The force of body and spirit has fallen on me’
“My dear brothers,I have convened this reunion, not only to the three causes of canonization, but also to communicate a decision of great importance for the life of the Church.
After examining my conscience before God repeatedly, I have the certainty that, as an elderly man, I have no strength to adequately perform the Petrine ministry.
I am well aware that this ministry, spiritual in nature, must be carried out not only in words and deeds, but also with suffering and consistent prayer.
However, in today’s world, subject to rapid change and rocketed by high profile topics related with faith, it is necessary vigor of body and spirit.”
in recent months, I have fallen to admit my inability to exercise the good ministry I was entrusted to keep.
I was entrusted by the Cardinals on April 19, 2005, so that in February 28, 2013, at 20.00, the seat of Rome, the seat of San Pedro, will become vacant and shall be called, by whom is competent to elect a new pope.
Dear brothers, I thank you from my heart for all the love and work that you have carried with me in the weight of my ministry, and I apologize for all my shortcomings.
Now, we entrust the care of his Church’s supreme pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and pray to Mary, his Holy Mother, who will attend with her maternal goodness to the Cardinals in helping elect the new Pope.
As far as I’m concerned, in the future, I would like to wholeheartedly serve the Holy Church of God with a life dedicated to prayer. “
The video clip was released and aired by Korean authorities, in Pyongyang. It is expected that nuclear testing will take place in the next few days. The video shows what looks like a militant in his bed dreaming, about North Korea’s space program. In the last minutes of the video, the U.S. flag is shown and a city that looks like New York City, being bombarded by a space craft, with skyscrapers busting in flames. The video also illustrates the North Korean army, celebrating over the destroyed U.S. replica of NYC. Despite the propaganda shown in the video, the clips soundtrack strangely sounds alike the song Michael Jackson’s “we are the world.”
The number of French soldiers in Mali will start to decline “in March, if all goes as planned,” said the head of French diplomacy, Laurent Fabius, in an interview with Metro newspaper to be published on Wednesday.
“We will continue to act in the north, where there are terrorist outbreaks,” and added that, “France does not intend to remain permanently in Mali.”
Fabius acknowledge that Malians, need to be “guarantors of security” and territorial integrity.
“We will gradually move over to the Misma” an African military mission. The African army must ultimately include about 6,000 soldiers, and only 2,000 are already in Mali. A separate quota from the 2,000 Chadians already fully deployed.
Keep your eyes open:
“The first phase of the operation was conducted effectively in order to block terrorist groups and conquer the northern cities,” said Fabius.
“The narco-terrorist groups were stopped by the air strikes., But they can still produce individual actions. And we should be on guard. Everyone should keep in mind that the risk is always present,” Fabius said.
France launched its military operation in Mali, in January 11, to block an attack south of armed Islamist groups who controlled the north of the country for over nine months.
Since then, the major northern cities, Gao and Timbuktu were taken. French soldiers control the airport while the city itself is “secure” by some 1,800 Chadian soldiers, according to sources in Paris.
Dead Islamist:
For the first time, the French authorities gave Tuesday gave an accurate review of air strikes and fights between French troops and Islamists in Mali.
Hundreds of Islamist fighters have been killed in more than three weeks of military intervention. The Ministry of Defence, however, refused to give the exact figure, with some fearing a macabre count.
The defense minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, had previously stated that French troops had inflicted “great damage to jihadist terrorist groups,” citing “several hundred, a significant number” of Islamist fighters killed.
Mr Le Drian also stated that French forces had one fatal casualty. The helicopter pilot killed in the early hours of the intervention, and “two or three wounded without showing critical conditions.”
Prisoners arrested:
“There are some prisoners taken by the Malian army, not many, which will be trialed in Malian courts and international justice,” Fabius said.
When asked if any high ranked prisoners were captured, he said, “Some.”
According to other reliable sources, a senior of Ansar Eddine an Islamist network, who worked for months northern Mali, was arrested last weekend near the Algerian border by an “armed group”.
Recently EU leaders have put David Cameron, Prime minister of England, under scrutiny. David Cameron is obviously zealous about allowing England to pull away under the European Union’s internal financial crisis. The failure of the IMF to secure Greece’s bailout and the recessions in both Ireland and Spain give weight to Cameron’s decision to ‘depart’ from the EU’s constant debacles. If England actually leaves it could affect British imports and exports to EU members.
Economists argue that the EU’s financial system would have better solvency and liquidity if there were no union whatsoever. In part the EU has attempted to copy the U.S. as they have united independent nations under one continent for the greater benefit of all. The problem is that Europe’s cultural diversity among their nations is nothing like comparing any two U.S. states. In other words there is a much greater disparity between two countries like Germany and Portugal than there would be between two U.S. states such as Arizona and New Jersey.
Culture plays a fascist puzzle when it’s down to ‘real Euro pride’. Europe also does not have a standardized army, and it is uncertain as to whether or not countries like England and Spain would support a war started by a fellow EU member.
So the question is simple: Would it be better that the European Union not exist at all, and wouldn’t that be a financial improvement overall for European countries like Germany and France?
Catherine Haig.
“I don’t know as much about the EU as I should but what I gather from my British friends; they hate it. Pretty much their money – the Euro – has crumbled to nothing and there is much talk about disbanding the EU because of those problems and with the rotten economy that comes with it.
As an American of Armenian descent I have seen how France; who heads the EU has demanded that Turkey apologize and give reparations to Armenians for their massacre of them in the early 1900s. Turkey not only refuses to admit their aggression against Armenians and tend to twist history by accusing Armenians of being the antagonist.
There are other countries more likely to stay apart from the EU than join because of their animosity towards one or more of the countries already involved.While I do not think our American democracy is a theory that can be easily replicated in other countries, especially those with such long arduous histories, I don’t understand why the EU insists upon existence when it appears t0 just does not work.”
Melissa A. Ortega.
“The European Union is a good idea because it promotes free trade for many countries. This particular trade effort success is second only to the United States exporting. The EU is comprised of 27 other countries that uphold free trade. In 2007 The European Union became the world’s largest economy. “That year, the EU’sGross Domestic Product (GDP) was $14.4 trillion, while the U.S. economy only produced $13.86 trillion in goods and services. Together, the EU and U.S. generated more than 40% of the world’s economic output. This totaled $65.82 trillion in 2007”. (CIA World source Factbook, 2007). The EU has survived many economic disasters worldwide to include the Eurozone Debt Crisis and the Financial Crisis of 2008 i.e. The Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy.
Free trade can help poor people survive. Important imports and exports can feed families and allow the national economy in a growing country the ability to survive. Importing and exporting should be important to everyone. Business people should work to make full use of the global economy by trading goods and services in and out of friendly countries. Thanks to the EU The Euro is successfully competing with the American Dollar and is optimally considered global currency. Today’s business person should work to think in Euros and dollars in an effort to increasing free trading all around the world, this will work to create an economies of scale for more countries. Free trade can help stabilize the most economies in neighboring and peaceful countires; with regard to economic growth by improving results in the area of Gross Domestic Product
Exporting allows a business the opportunity to expand their business potential. However, there are many risks involved. “Risk relates to the instability in the political and economic environment that may impact the company’s business prospects. Generally speaking, the greater the risk factor, the less eager companies are to make major resource commitments to the country (or region) concerned” (Root, 2008, p. 294). A global approach to risk is the understanding that a business will take under advisement the cost of coordination across diverse business units as well as institutional and cultural barriers. A trader needs to monitor problem areas to watch for risks occurring, new risks emerging, or changes in the assessment of existing risks. If a company fails to mitigate risk catastrophe is imminent. Why a company fails to understand risk and study the global economy is wrong and a hit and miss attitude can lead to bankruptcy and financial failure such as the Lehman Brothers scandal here in the United States.”
Defense Advance Research Projects Agency is developed a plane camera that will be used for surveillance. Once again the private industry and the government have join forces to create these technological surveillance devices. The U.S. Army, along with Boeing, has developed and is preparing to deploy a new unmanned aircraft called the “Hummingbird.” It’s is a VTOL-UAS (vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial system). Three of them are being deployed to Afghanistan for a full year to survey and spy on Afghanistan from an altitude of 20,000 feet with the ability to scan 25 square miles of ground surface. Will these technologies also be used against civilians and their rights to advocate privacy? Its soon to the said.
U.S. will supply French aircraft’s during the military operations in Mali, today reported the U.S. Defense Department.
The Pentagon’s decision comes after the telephone conversation today between Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and the French defense minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, following which was yesterday statements.
In the statement, read by Pentagon spokesman, George Little, Panetta indicated that Le Drian informed that the U.S. Command in Africa ” would be supported by the French Army in-flight refueling missions while continuing operations (military) in Mali “.
In the conversation between the two ministers, the statement said, were also addressed by the U.S. plans to “carry troops from African countries, including Chad, Togo, to support international operations in Mali.”
Panetta stressed the “strong leadership” of France in this matter and emphasized the recent “successes” military “that have forced the withdrawal of the terrorists.”
Le Drian, depending on the version of the U.S. Pentagon thanked the “exchange of information, planning and strategic lift” hundreds of soldiers and tons of equipment to the conflict zone.
Panetta and Le Drian, thanked each other and welcomed U.S. support for the efforts of the international community to “prevent terrorists that have a safe havens in Mali.”
The two ministers agreed to stay in close contact as they continue the “aggressive operations against terrorist networks in Mali,” the statement concluded.
A report done by the Associate Press back in 2010, that most channels in U.S. media networks ‘forgot to highlight’ may induce critics to suspect manipulative gatekeeping. Questions arise, to whether the mineral wealth was the main cause of war in Afghanistan. Its quite remarkable, no more reports on this old discovery have been issued since the article was published.
AP foreign,
WASHINGTON (AP) — A team of U.S. geologists and Pentagon officials has discovered vast mineral wealth in Afghanistan, conceivably enough to turn the scarred and impoverished country into one of the world’s most lucrative mining centers, The New York Times reports.
“There is stunning potential here,” Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, told the paper in a report published Monday. “There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.”
Americans discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, including iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium, according to the report. The Times quoted a Pentagon memo as saying Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and cell phones.
During a visit last month to Washington, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his nation’s untapped mineral deposits could be even higher — perhaps as much as $3 trillion.
The mineral resources are a “massive opportunity,” Karzai said at a May 13 event with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton held at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
The report in the Times said the U.S. Geological Survey began aerial surveys of Afghanistan’s mineral resources in 2006, using data that had been collected by Soviet mining experts during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Promising results led to a more sophisticated study the next year.
Then last year, a Pentagon task force that had created business development programs in Iraq arrived in Afghanistan and closely analyzed the geologists’ findings. U.S. mining experts were brought in to validate the survey’s conclusions, and top U.S. and Afghan officials were briefed.
Waheed Omar, Karzai’s spokesman, said at a news conference Monday that the USGS was “contracted by the Afghan government to do a survey, so this is basically an Afghan government initiative.”
“I think it’s very, very big news for the people of Afghanistan and that we hope will bring the Afghan people together for a cause that will benefit everyone,” he said. “This is an economic interest that will benefit all Afghans and will benefit Afghanistan in the long run.”
So far, the biggest mineral deposits discovered are of iron and copper, but finds include large deposits of niobium, a soft metal used in producing superconducting steel, as well as rare earth elements and large gold deposits in Pashtun areas of southern Afghanistan, the report said.
Charles Kernot, a mining analyst with Evolution Securities Ltd. in London, said it typically takes three to five years to get a lithium mining operation up and running. Factors include how close the deposit is to power sources and other infrastructure and the size of the deposit.
And large lithium deposits may not mean an automatic windfall — given competition and the uncertainty of the market.
“Bolivia wants to expand its lithium mining operations dramatically over the next few years so there is a risk of oversupply if demand from electric cars does not meet expectations,” Kernot said.
Ghazni Province, where the lithium deposits are reported to be, is a dangerous place, home to many Taliban.
Throughout the past different cultures have altered and left their stamp on history. We tend to think that human progress is a present day phenomena, but in reality rights seem to have always progressed and declined. Three specific cultures exemplify this behavior:
For example, in its time Greece practiced homosexuality as an establishment, and a law, all the while diminishing the rights of women for procreation. In today’s western democracy it seems to be the opposite. We tend to devalue homosexuality more when compared to women rights! Because we value women’s rights as normal in correlations with the mores of our society, whereas Greece and latter Rome, to be a homosexual was viewed as normal. Seems like we went a few steps down!
The Mayans, despite their latest world ending debunked myth, had extraordinary precision with astronomy, no different than the Sumerians, which curiously also predate the Mayans. Impressively they used no technology to predict planets and even black holes! We used another system to get there thanks to the power of the atom. However, even with our present advancements neither the Mayans nor our generation has traveled to other stars! So it seems science has its limits on both accounts. Fact is: no one is travelling to stars.
Between the 6th and 17th centuries the Roman Catholic Church burned at the stake anyone who confessed to be a non-believer or worshiped magic. They even persecuted and killed Albigensian’s and Waldensian’s in southern France for reading the Bible. The Catholic Church was the dominant force at the time! Today’s world has changed as far as the west goes but from another angle it’s much the same. The science agenda dominates just alike the Catholic Church did at that time, and they also ban those who don’t agree with their agenda and fire them to remain silent! (The good thing is that at least they don’t fire them alive!) Jokes aside! Truth with its bias seems to have evolved from using brute force into simply withholding opportunities or erasing the value of those with opposing views. Nothing new.
So is history repetitive or progressive?
Claude Nougat.
“To say that History repeats itself is a worn-out cliché. We never fail to use it when we see a social pattern echoing one from the past. Much of what happens today seems to be a repeat – and we are quick to exclaim: nothing is new under the sun.
Yet it’s another cliché! But that does not mean we, humans, are stuck. Progress always seems to arrive from unexpected quarters: just ask the young Arab rebels what they think of the Arab Spring and what they hope for! Or ask Silicon Valley denizens about their own brand of technological revolution…”
Alan Caruba.
“History, from my reading of it, is repetitive. Only the technology changes. We have gone from stones to spears to gunpowder to “cyber-war” and it is all just war for conquest, whatever the reason given.
Societies are driven by whatever political system is in place and we still have a world in which there are monarchies, despotism, and a slow effort toward some form of democracy. Greed seems to be the undergirding no matter what the system may be. In a political context, liberals aka progressives, and their systems, communism aka socialism, have since their introduction in the last century, never worked. Have always failed. The effort to impose a global government in the form of the United Nations will fail as well since tribalism and nationalism will ultimately protect individual sovereignty of nations.”
Catherine Haig.
“History is repetitive due to three factors: people’s ignorance, People with agenda’s rewrite history; People with a keen knowledge of history use the bad moments to repeat to twist history to their agenda (site: Pearl Harbor – POTUS knew about Jap attack; World Trade Center – POTUS BUSH Jr knew about attack did not intercede-if he did not know Cheney sure did).
We are never stuck but we choose to repeat because we are not attentive and we have not risen above our potential. One would think by this year (2013) there would be hover cars and transporter machines instead of gas guzzling lemons and planes. With all the technology we have today – the more we have the less we know – sad. “
The ARMY ROTC program, gives students the opportunity to get a higher education. But the cost of war consequently involves casualties and death, and some veteran students come back with psychological scars. Veterans mature faster thanks to their military experience; more so , than civilian students. They have to forget all traumas suffered at war and the video bellow, shows a few of these problems.
Marcus J. Ranum is a world-renowned expert on security system design and implementation.
1) Cyber Security is an issue that worries many people. Do you think companies like Facebook and Google use the information they gather from their users and work alongside the Intelligence Community agencies like Defense Information System Agency or the C.I.A.?
It seems to be fairly well documented that many web businesses have established streamlined processes for servicing user data requests from government agencies. One of the problems with this is that FISA requests include a gag order requiring the target of the request to say nothing about it. The constitutionality of the process is being challenged and, in my opinion, it is obvious that the constitution
is being bypassed and violated. I don’t think that’s going to make much difference, unfortunately.
2) Are private security intelligence agencies like Sierra GK, AEGIS, CRG, CSS Ltd … involved in cyber security operations that might by any chance target civilians?
One thing that gets largely ignored is that anyone targeted is always also a civilian. Suppose I work for a “legitimate military target” (whatever that is); well, I’m also a human being with a private life and rights as an individual. The trend is to erase those rights based on the suspicion of involvement with something that might make an individual a target for surveillance or investigation – and, of course, it affects the families and normal associates of anyone who is targeted. It’s not possible to say you’re only going to tap one member of a family’s communications if that family shares an Internet connection or phone service. And, when you tap one side of a communication, you’re usually also getting the other side, as well.
It seems to me that your question is really whether I think that too much surveillance and investigation is taking place, and whether it has been privatized. The answer to both of those questions is “yes.”
3) Is the Cyber world an unavoidable reality for our generation in regard to privacy issues?
I think so because of the web of association’s problem. Consider this: if your child has a friend who has a friend who deals drugs – what do you estimate is the likelihood that your child is going to wind up in a database, somewhere, as being associated with drug dealers, if that drug dealer is ever caught and their SMS, call records, email and Facebook relationships are analyzed?
Privacy, historically, has only been a “right” of the rich and powerful. We have enjoyed a brief period during the early part of the history of the US, in which privacy was a populist item and it was felt by all that they had a right to live without being scrutinized. Now, the only people who are able to live without being scrutinized are those who go to great lengths to avoid it, or who are powerful enough to avoid the consequences. Take the case of General Petraeus, for example: what was the FBI doing, being able to access someone’s email and hotel records because they were suspected of having an affair? The last time I checked, “Who is cheating on his spouse?” was not the government’s business. But we see that the broad capabilities are there – put in place in the name of “stopping terrorism”; but, really it’s just general
surveillance. Police states expand, and as they do, they leave the wealthy and powerful alone unless it’s part of an internal purge. What we saw happen with the general is that the surveillance state is now being used for political purposes. President Nixon was forced out of office for doing less than what happens every day in Washington, now.
4) Is the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency the front-runner in engineering new techniques and programs to gather a Total Information Awareness program? Could such a program present controversial technologies once adapted to the system?
The Total Information Awareness program is like a strange zombie – it keeps getting publicly clubbed in the head and killed, but it’s immediately resurrected and starts moving forward again the second public attention turns away from it. What’s important to realize about TIA is not that it’s a programme – it’s not; it’s a destination. (They keep changing its name, and it’s now a many-headed hydra.) The object is to have “total information awareness” and that’s been building … for a long time.
The technologies that are being put in place for such programmes are treason against humanity. And the people who are spending their time developing such things are betraying their own selves and families. Who do they think will be the eventual victims of the surveillance systems that they are building? I hope that they’re wise enough, at least, to be backdooring the systems that they’re building. Because some day we’re going to have to dismantle the police state and it’s not going to go gently.
5) What is your main concern with Private Security in the future?
My concerns are meta-concerns that are mostly to do with what happens when h uman nature expresses itself on technological innovation. The technological innovation side of things doesn’t seem to be likely to stop (which is good, from a standpoint of economics and shiny things) and neither does the tendency of control freaks and militarists to want to surveil, control and weaponize. So, from a high level, my concern is that every useful new thing some clever person comes up with, seems to get tainted by the establishment.
I was on the Internet before there was advertising on it. I was on the Internet before there was spam on it. Now, the biggest and most pressing issues on the Internet appear to involve how to monetize page-views for a billion stupid banner ads. All the big web services have had to build backdoors in to facilitate the surveillance state. This is not progress.
6) What is your main concern with Federal Security in the future?
I’m actually fairly happy about the horrible mistakes that the federal government is making, IT-wise. They have managed to learn absolutely nothing in the last few decades, and the current trend toward outsourcing everything and centralizing data in silos. Since I am concerned about the evolution of the police state, I am happy that Big Brother appears to be getting less competent all the time. I just wish so much money wasn’t being flushed down the toilet in the process.
Arizona’s immigration law had a negative effect on policy making, in states like Ohio, that considered adopting similar measures initially proposed by the Canyon State. The problem with states like Ohio, is that illegal migration is not predominant enough to be considered serious, as Ohio doesn’t border Mexico, but Canada. In this short documentary, some explanations are discussed to address Ohio’s posture on the problem of illegal migration.
Democrat Upton Sinclair, was a pioneer with socialist ideas, who tried to help the working class during the age of the American Great Depression. His campaign was hijacked by Hollywood and other media networks, that opposed, any association with ideals that promoted socialism. His campaign was short lived, and defeated by the republican side.
Israel expanded its air assault on rockets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, striking a Hamas government compound and a Cabinet building where Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh met with Egypt’s prime minister on Friday.
Israel also said it intercepted an incoming projectile Saturday that was bound for Tel Aviv.
The White House says it believes Israel “has the right to defend itself” against attack and that the Israelis will make their own decisions about their “military tactics and operations.”
A top aide to President Barack Obama tells reporters traveling with the president to Asia on Air Force One that the U.S. and Israel both want an end to the rocket fire that’s coming from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes says Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agree that “de-escalation is preferred,” provided that Hamas stops firing into Israel.
Obama has spoken with the leaders of Egypt and Turkey, too.
Rhodes says they “have the ability to play a constructive role in engaging Hamas” and encouraging a de-escalation of the attacks.
Footage from Associated Press Television News shows a plume of smoke emanating from an Iron Dome battery deployed in Tel Aviv followed by a flash of light overhead as the rocket is intercepted.
People huddled along Tel Aviv’s beachfront boardwalk cheered Saturday as the interception took place.
Bombarding the Gaza Strip with nearly 200 airstrikes, the Israeli military targeted the militants’ weapons-storage facilities and underground rocket-launching sites.
Israeli aircraft also bombed a police headquarters building in Gaza City, which set off a huge blaze that engulfed nearby houses and civilian cars parked outside, the Interior Ministry reported. No one was inside the buildings.
A three-story apartment building belonging to a Hamas military commander was also hit, and ambulances ferried out more than 30 inhabitants wounded by the powerful explosion.
Missiles knocked out five electricity transformers, plunging more than 400,000 people in southern Gaza into darkness, according to the Gaza electricity distribution company.
The Israeli military called up thousands of reservists and massed troops, tanks and armored vehicles along the border with Gaza, signaling a ground invasion of the densely populated seaside strip could be imminent.
Israel launched its military campaign Wednesday after days of heavy rocket fire from Gaza and has carried out some 800 airstrikes since, the military said.
Gaza militants, undaunted by the heavy damage the air attacks have inflicted, have unleashed some 500 rockets against the Jewish state, including new, longer-range weapons turned for the first time this week against Jerusalem and Israel’s Tel Aviv heartland.
Two rockets landed in open fields outside of Jerusalem after air raid sirens sounded in the city Friday, sending Israelis running for cover. The strike marked the first time the holy city has been targeted by rockets fired by Gaza militants. There were no immediate reports of damage or causalities.
Israeli media say the rocket fell north of Jerusalem, as witnesses say they saw a stream of smoke in Mevasseret Zion, a suburb.
Israeli police spokeswoman Micky Rosenfeld said the rocket landed in an open area near Gush Ezion, a collection of Jewish settlements in the West Bank southeast of the city.
In Gaza, Hamas militants said they had attacked Jerusalem. The attack marks a major escalation, both for its symbolism and its distance from the Palestinian territory. Jerusalem had been thought to be beyond the range of Gaza rocket squads.
“We are sending a short and simple message: There is no security for any Zionist on any single inch of Palestine and we plan more surprises,” Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Hamas militant wing said.
Militants already have fired rockets into the southern outskirts of Tel Aviv on Thursday. The rocket attacks have not hurt anyone, but have caused panic.
Ten people, including five militants, were killed and dozens were wounded in the various attacks Saturday, according to Gaza officials. In all, 40 Palestinians including 13 civilians and three Israeli civilians have been killed since the Israeli operation began.
Egypt’s prime minister rushed to the aid of the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers Friday in the midst of an Israeli offensive there, calling for an end to the operation, as Palestinian rocket squads aimed at Tel Aviv for a second straight day. The visit served as a boost of solidarity for the Hamas militants who have vowed to resist the Israeli offensive.
Hopes of even a brief cease-fire were dashed after both sides accused the other of violating a proposed cease-fire during a visit by the prime minister of Egypt to Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had told Egypt that Israel was prepared to suspend its military offensive in the Gaza Strip during Prime Minister Hisham Kandil’s three-hour visit there Friday.
However, Israel later said Hamas did not honor the deal, saying rockets fired from Gaza had hit several sites in southern Israel as Kandil was in the enclave.
Israel strongly denied it had carried out any attacks from the time Kandil entered Gaza, though Gaza militants claimed Israel had continued strikes during the visit.
Along the border Friday, Israeli tanks, armored vehicles and military bulldozers were parked in neat rows. Leibovich said all options are open, “including a ground operation.”
Netanyahu said the army was hitting Hamas hard with what he called surgical strikes, and warned of a “significant widening” of the Gaza operation. Israel will “continue to take whatever action is necessary to defend our people,” said Netanyahu, who is up for re-election in January.
“We will continue the attacks and we will increase the attacks, and I believe we will obtain our objectives,” said Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, Israel’s military chief.
An Israeli ground offensive could be costly to both sides. In the last Gaza war, Israel devastated large areas of the territory, setting back Hamas’ fighting capabilities but also paying the price of increasing diplomatic isolation because of a civilian death toll numbering in the hundreds.
The current round of fighting is reminiscent of the first days of that three-week offensive against Hamas. Israel also caught Hamas off-guard then with a barrage of missile strikes and threatened to follow up with a ground offensive.
Israel has improved its missile defense systems, but is facing a more heavily armed Hamas. Israel estimates militants possess 12,000 rockets, including more sophisticated weapons from Iran and from Libyan stockpiles plundered after the fall of Muammar Qaddafi’s regime there last year.
Netanyahu, who has clashed even with his allies over the deadlock in Mideast peace efforts, appears to have less diplomatic leeway than his predecessor, Ehud Olmert, making a lengthy military offensive harder to sustain.
What’s more, regional alignments have changed dramatically since the last Gaza war. Hamas has emerged from its political isolation as its parent movement, the region-wide Muslim Brotherhood, rose to power in several countries in the wake of last year’s Arab uprisings, particularly in Egypt.
Egypt recalled its ambassador to protest the Israeli offensive and has ordered his prime minister to lead a senior delegation to Gaza on Friday in a show of support for Hamas.
At the same time, while relations with Israel have cooled since the toppling of longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, Morsi has not brought a radical change in Egypt’s policy toward Israel.
He has promised to abide by Egypt’s 1979 peace deal with Israel and his government has continued contacts with Israel through its non-Brotherhood members.
Associate press and Reuters
1) Is there something wrong with the system and education in the U.S.?
Yes. School is standardized to the multi-billion dollar testing industry rather than customized to student needs.
High SchoolsMost High Schools are not taking responsibility for helping students find their passions, grow their talents, or explore their interests. This leaves students unprepared to pursue a livelihood or college major that would best suit them.
CollegesMost colleges take no responsibility for helping students secure meaningful internships / apprenticeships while in college and jobs afterwards. Colleges should be directly responsible for this and their success assessed by the employment of their graduates. The payback of student loans should also be connected to this and should never have to exceed a set percentage of their monthly salary.
2) Are high school students in the U.S. unprepared and surprisingly unaware of the hardness college presents to them, once they decide to get a higher education? Is the transition from high school to college to harsh?
High Schools like The MET Big Picture Learning School don’t have such problems because their students leave high school fully aware of the passions they want to pursue and they understand what is required to get there. Additionally, if this includes college, these schools have strong partnerships with colleges so there are few surprises.Unfortunately for some other schools the transition becomes difficult only because schools today provide so little opportunity for independence and choice as well as the fact that they often ban technology or block online resources that students will need for success. If high schools started providing access to real-world resources, more choice, independence and more options as they do in college, there could be a smoother transition.
3) Does college increase creativity or does it diminish it?
Unfortunately, like high school, most of college consists of reading and writing about doing things rather than actually doing things. This stifles creativity. Another problem is that college has not kept up with all the new, exciting, and creative careers that are out there today. As a result students are often kept prisoners of their teacher’s pasts and more and more are realizing that college isn’t able to prepare them for success. There are movements like Dale Stephen’s Uncollege and books like Blake Bole’s “Better than College” that appeal to those who realize that college will not help them achieve success.
4) What is your main concern about education in the future for kids all across the U.S.?
My main concern about education is that it is disconnected from what is important for real life success. (You can hear me talk about that here.) There are few companies that are looking for employees who excel at the memorization and regurgitation that our current education system places such a high value on. Instead, we need to have students spend less time with teachers, textbooks, and tests and more time out in the world discovering and learning about what matters to them.
5) It is said that in today’s generation, Facebook and Youtube are much more powerful tools than Video Games were in the 80’s and 90’s for high school students. Perhaps because the newer generation has not only access to Facebook but also to video games as well. Is Facebook and Youtube helping kids get better grades, compared to latter generations?
Grades today are generally acquired by a student’s ability to comply, memorize and regurgitate. These are not actions and behaviors that Facebook and YouTube were designed for. If schools graded and placed value on development of learning networks and connecting to experts and those who share your passion, these tools would help increase grades. Unfortunately that is not what our system values.Even if it did, despite the fact that Facebook and YouTube happen to be two of the world’s most powerful learning tools, these sites are banned in many schools.
6) Are kids going to forget what a library is in the next decade?
The role of the librarian is certainly evolving, but there will always be a place for libraries. It may be known under a different name i.e. Learning Commons, librarians may be known under a different title i.e. curator, and patrons may not be required to go to a particular space i.e. digital access anytime, anywhere. Regardless of semantics or whether it is a physical or virtual it will always be important that there is a space for people to come where they can find information, share, and discuss ideas with the help of expert curators.Libraries also are places that provide equitable access to information and technology for any citizen which is quite important for those who don’t have access otherwise.Additionally, thriving schools have libraries as that hub where students can come to learn, think, consume, a create independently which is of utmost importance for developing successful citizens.
7) What ought to be done to increase kids awareness to become more educated?
We don’t need to increase kids awareness to become more educated. Humans are born learners that appreciate success. They just don’t see schools as providing that. Many students are bored and feel disconnected in school. They don’t see how what they are learning in school matters. In many cases they are rightWhat we need is to help educate kids in areas they find interesting and important in ways that are engaging and relevant. Kids will do hard work if they feel it’s worth doing. Schools have to do a better job of providing students those type of experiences.
8) Is the government doing its job right, when It comes down to education?
No. The government is not doing the right job when it comes to education. We have let the multi-billion dollar testing industry drive education even against the wishes of parents, teachers, and students. Many of our students are leaving high school and college unprepared for the jobs of today or success in life. This is because in many cases our students are receiving an outdated education that is disconnected from world and learning that happens in the world oddly is often not considered education.To change this we must stop valuing the drill, kill, and bubble fill that our politicians are pushing, and take back the right to learn by providing students with a choice to pursue meaningful and authentic learning opportunities that will help them achieve personal success.
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