Archive for the ‘Appearances are Deceiving’ Category
Saturday, September 4th, 2010
MQ-8B
A renegade U.S. Navy MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Takeoff and Landing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) invade the restricted…and sleeping…airspace of Washington, D.C. last week. Most of us were unaware of the most recent incursion into the highly restricted airspace because most of the major media failed to cover the dangerous invasion. Where was the protection assigned to this critical airspace? Why are we flying drones over densely populated civilian airspace when the FAA has supposedly not yet approved their use? Was this drone able to evade the sleeping radar protecting our capitol’s skies? Where is our Department of Homeland Security? Was the department in bed with the FAA, sound asleep, as the drone approached? Many questions regarding this invasion need to be asked of both Homeland Security and the FAA.
The Navy’s Fire Scout MQ-8B is a Schweitzer 333 helicopter developed by Northrop Grumman-Ryan Aeronautical of San Diego. It is capable of traveling up to 110 nautical miles, remain airborne (up to 20,000 ft) for more than 5 hours, and can carry a payload of up to 270kg (594 lbs). It can take off and land on its own. The MQ-8B is radar and laser equipped and can be armed with two four-packs of 2.75in laser-guided rocket launchers. The UAV is not small enough to easily evade radar systems. It is 31.7 ft long and 9.8 ft tall and weighs 3,150 lbs loaded with fuel. A Rolls-Royce 250C20W heavy fuel turboshaft engine powers the aircraft. The UAV has already undergone extensive testing onboard the USS McInerney. How was an unmanned aerial vehicle of this size able to evade Department of Defense, Homeland Security, NSA, and FAA security measures long enough to get within 40 miles of the capitol?
The invasion of the renegade drone is not expected to delay further testing, development, and integration of the MQ-8B systems into littoral combat ships for operational use. The Navy awarded a $32.9 million dollar second year contract to Northrop Grumman-Ryan to build the systems. The renegade UAV incident was described as “learning experience” by Capt. Tim Dunigan, the Fire Scout’s program manager. The “software anomaly” which allowed the UAV to drift away from the control of its ground station has already been corrected. Rob Murphy, a team leader for the Scout program, said the incident helps people to understand the safeguards that are in place. “The operators did lose communication, but they were able to regain it. The system operated like it was supposed to,” he said. Flights of the MQ-8B, grounded for a couple of weeks, were expected to resume this month.
David Vos, senior director of unmanned aerial systems for Rockwell Collins and a member of AUVSI’s UAV Advocacy Committee, was quoted in DefenseNews.com saying, “I’m pretty confident that despite these little hiccups, that this decade is when unmanned aerial systems really begin to find their way into commercial airspace.” He said the industry needs “all the cultural elements and different groups involved to stop being fearful and start moving along” on the commercial airspace issue.
Our fears are apparently as misguided as are the systems controlling Mr. Vos’ UAV and as misguided as Homeland Security, the NSA, and the FAA in their security protection systems. We should just petition the FAA to approve the use of UAVs in civilian airspace? I have no doubt that President Obama is already on the verge of doing so since he is so enamored by UAVs that he suggested (in jest, of course, at a recent Washington Formal Prom) using them on the Jonas Brothers if they came after any of his daughters. Imagine our commercial civilian skies invaded by UAVs being operated by law enforcement agencies, by weather research agencies, by energy companies tracking pipelines, by businesses spying on their competitors. Randy Babbitt (FAA Administrator), who “brilliantly” stated recently that “landing is one of the most critical phases of flight,” will certainly succumb to the pressures of a President who loves his “predator drones.” His concerns for safe landings and take offs of civilian aircraft in cluttered air space will die in a crash with this President’s arrogance of power.
Civilian safety in the air, the stated mission of the FAA, pales in comparison to the threat of UAVs in the hands of terrorists. Less than two weeks ago, Iran President Ahmadinejad unveiled their first domestically built UAV bomber, the “Karrar,” which Iranian media claims to be capable of “long-range attacks up to 1,000 kilometers carrying a 200-kilogram bomb.” He called it “a symbol of death to Iran’s enemies.” His next words then described the drone as “a messenger of salvation and dignity for humanity.”
Drones over civilian skies in America are nothing more than a threat to our liberty. Jerome Whitehead, in “Drones Over America: Tyranny at Home,” reminds us of James Madison’s words:
“A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty. The means of defence against foreign danger, have always been the instruments of tyranny at home.”
We still have time to launch a defense against this attack on our liberty as well as our safety. Petition our legislators to deny the use of drones in civilian airspace. Do not allow our government another “instrument of tyranny” at home. Drones are not our “messengers of salvation and dignity,” as some would have them take that “role.” Remember our liberty in November.
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Click HERE for a video on the MQ-8B.
See additonal postings for drones:
“Insomniac Spies in the Sky – Friendly or Enemy Eyes Lurking?”
“Sleepless Drones Flying U.S. Skies Pose Threat to Public Safety”
Comments are encouraged below.
Tags: airspace, attack, Babbitt, drone, FAA, Fire Scout, Homeland Security, invasion, liberty, MQ-8B, Navy, NSA, predator drones, radar, renegade, renegade drone, restricted airspace, safety, security, sleeping, tyranny, UAV, Washington
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Frozen in Fear, Sleepless and Tired, Worried and Stressed | No Comments »
Sunday, August 29th, 2010
Awaken Your Sleeping Giant
It’s been almost a year now since I retired from the grinding schedule of retail sales. I’ll never miss the mandatory work on weekends and holidays. I’ll never miss the ten to twelve hour days during the week. The missed ball games, the missed school functions, and the missed quiet free time to just “be there” for my wife and for my three sons will always haunt me. The past week’s joyous celebration of my youngest son’s wedding, the time gifted to me in my retirement, and Glenn Beck’s inspirational “Restore the Honor” gathering in Washington, D.C. today have awakened my sleeping giant. I have, after sixty-two years, done an instant replay of my life. It’s the kind of review that people usually see when they have a near death experience. That sleeping giant, your inner true self, once found, releases an amazing inner calm. The inner calm empowers your mind to focus, to love life, to relax, and to sleep like a baby.
Society today teaches us to disguise our inner selves. We are taught to hide our true feelings and to mask them with a hardened, defensive body armor. We are taught in our early childhood by our parents and our teachers that the world is a cruel place. The bullies are everywhere. They will make fun of our weaknesses and our mistakes. They will step on us in their efforts to promote themselves as more powerful, more intelligent, or more privileged. The more we expose our inner selves the more vulnerable we become. We are taught that “white lies” are okay as long as they are used to protect ourselves or our loved ones. Once the “white lies” begin, the telling of them becomes easy. The truth is stretched further and further until the “white lies” begin to darken. The magic of the “white lies” grows with the realization of their power. The power of the lie soon darkens its color. We realize quickly that the lie can be used to gain power, to defeat the competition, to hold others in our grasp. The lies told by others soon define us. Their criticism eventually defines us. We identify with and believe the negative feedback. Our true self, our inner soul, tunnels further and further beneath the surface of our increasingly hardened armor.
The cynicism displayed by the electorate today, the tea party movement, and the dissatisfaction with Congress and the President reflected in the polls today are all direct results of the lies we hear coming from their mouths. The electronic age has given us the recording tools we need to hold them accountable for what they have said vs. what they have done. We see now how they have gained their power. We hear them referring to us as the “regular” people or the “general public.” Some have even referred to us as the “little” people. The elite media has joined the people in power in Washington. They try to tell us how we should think. The politicians tell us that they know what is best for us and that they will do it regardless of what we think. Judges are increasingly joining their ranks in defying the referendums approved by the electorate, many of which have been repeatedly approved by the electorate. Our legislators, in Washington and in the states, have forgotten what inspired our Founders to declare our independence from Great Britain. The following phrases from our Declaration of Independence may be worth reading (a skill missing from most legislators today) and remembering:
- “HE (the King of England) has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:”
- “FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.”
- “That to secure these Rights (Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness) Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…”
- “—And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
We have accepted the lies of our legislators for too long. We have accepted their lies for so long that finding the truth has taken way too much time. We are in the process of awakening the sleeping giant of truth. The hundreds of thousands who gathered at the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial reflected upon truth, honor, and the virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. Medals of Honor were awarded to heroes who have exemplified those virtues. The Medal for Faith went to Houston Minister C.L. Jackson. The Medal for Hope went to Albert Pujols whose foundation is dedicated to the victims of Down’s syndrome. The Medal for Charity was given to Jon Huntsman, a billionaire philanthropist who has dedicated himself to the eradication of cancer, to the homeless, to the ill, and to the underprivileged. His lifetime contributions to his causes have well exceeded 1.2 billion. His book, “Winners Never Cheat: Everyday Values We Learned as Children (But May Have Forgotten)” and the second edition, entitled “Winners Never Cheat: Even in Difficult Times,” are both best sellers. Mr. Huntsman’s intention is “to die broke” as he has donated his fortune to cancer research.
Honor was also given by Sarah Palin to military heroes present at the rally. Marcus Luttrell, Navy Cross for Heroism awardee and author of “Lone Survivor” was there. He, along with his fellow Navy Seals decided to release a couple of Afghan goat herders despite fears of Taliban attacks on their observation post. Their “honor” resulted in the largest loss of life in Navy Seal history. Another hero lost his hands in Fallujah and still guided his men to safety. Another had endured five years of torture and imprisonment at the Hanoi Hilton prison.
The time has come for all of us to return to the truth and heroism of “thine own self.” As Shakespeare said in Hamlet:
“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
–Polonius’ last advice to his son, Laertes
In order to accept truth we need to become the masters of our thoughts. We need to recognize our weaknesses and appreciate our strengths. Yes, we will risk the exposure of our vulnerabilities, but truth will bring forth new life and forge new strengths. When we become honest with ourselves, we do not need the approval of others. Our emotions can free their bonds of suppression, releasing a freedom that exhilarates the soul; a freedom that allows us to walk in love, to relax in peace, and to sleep like a baby.
Once we find our own “sleeping giant” we can demand the truth from others. Only then can we restore the honor envisioned by our Founders for our Government.
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: "Restore the Honor", Congress, Declaration of Independence, defensive body armor, electorate, founders, Glenn Beck, government, heroism, inner calm, legislators, lies, Medal of Honor, President, sleep, sleeping, sleeping giant, tea party, true feelings, true self, truth, white lies
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Inspiration, Sleepless and Tired | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Antidepressants/SSRIs
The FAA announced in April ( see previous post) that its pilots could be permitted to fly while under the influence of certain antidepressants and SSRIs. The reversal of its own long established (70 year) ban against their use shocked pilots, passengers, and psychiatrists across the globe. As antidepressant/SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) use has decreased due to negative publicity, the manufacturers of Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, and Lexapro cheered the move by Randy Babbbitt (FAA Administrator). The FAA, despite an increasing flood of calls to reconsider its ruling, appears to be sleeping through the irritating clamor; tired of hearing about their fatigued, sleepless pilots.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International / Mental Health Watchdog recently reprinted an article by Evelyn Pringle who described the FAA’s reversal as a “marketing coup” by the drug manufacturers who are “desperate to find new customers.” Her well documented article details the growing concerns of many experts that the “SSRIs Render Unfriendly Skies.”
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights called on the FAA to rethink its policy based on a recent finding by the NTSB that the February 1, 2008 plane crash in North Carolina, killing all six aboard, was caused by “a crazy acting pilot on Zoloft.” The cockpit voice recorder recorded the pilot singing: “Save my life I’m going down for the last time.” He then told his passengers, “If anybody back there believes in the good Lord, I believe now would be a good time to hit your knees.” The pilot descended below the minimum descent altitude, stalled, and crashed while circling after an aborted landing. The pilot, according to the NTSB report, had been on Zoloft for over a year and had been treated previously by other antidepressants for “anxiety and depression” and a history of “impatience” and “compulsiveness.”
The NTSB also blamed a 2003 crash killing two in Kingsport, Tennessee on a flight instructor found with Zoloft in his blood and liver.
Dr. Peter Breggin, a psychiatrist and an SSRI expert, in a Huffington Post article on April 10, 2010 said, “The FAA should reverse its ruling before it’s too late and hundreds of lives are lost when a pilot becomes impulsive, suicidal, or violent – or just loses his sharpness – under the influence of antidepressant medication.”
Bob Fiddaman, author of the website and blog “Seroxat Sufferers,” requested the FAA provide information on its change in policy just after the change in April. In 58 pages of reply the FAA made no mention of any prominent SSRI expert testimony of contrary views. The FAA supported their own views with copies of documents from a variety of sources. One of them actually showed consideration of a 2003 study of aviation accidents where “SSRIs were found in 61 pilot fatalities between 1990 and 2001.” “Psychological condition and/or the drug use was determined to be the cause, or a factor in 16 of the accidents, or 31%.”
Dennis Canfield’s study “Pilot Medical History and Medications Found in Post Mortem Specimens for Aviation Accidents” was totally ignored by the FAA. His study was conducted in 2006 and was published in the “Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine” journal. 4,143 pilots involved in fatal accidents between 1993 and 2003 were toxicologically examined for medications. One hundred of the dead pilots were found “with SSRIs in their systems including forty with Prozac, twenty-six with Zoloft, twenty-one with Paxil, and thirteen with Celexa.”
Matt Thurber, after citing many examples of accidents involving antidepressant usage, suggests that “pilots who use antidepressants without telling their medical examiners are willing to take greater risks when flying.” The FAA believes that SSRIs help “restore the balance of serotonin.” The FAA believes that their approval for use will result in truthful admissions by pilots; more vigilant tracking; and safer use, with fewer side effects than previous generations of antidepressants. The labels on the prescription bottles argue otherwise with warnings of “anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, aggressiveness, impulsivity, and akathisia (psychomotor restlessness).
Dr. Breggin asks why pilots shouldn’t give up their airplanes since doctors are supposed to encourage their depressed patients to give away their guns. How can the FAA expect us to believe that we are safer in planes being piloted by depressed pilots on psychoactive drugs? They are dangerous enough when used alone. When combined with alcohol and benzodiazepines to counteract the insomnia side effects of the antidepressants, the elixir will inevitably cause a disaster.
Millions of innocent lives are at risk every day with sleepless and tired, or medicated and drowsy pilots at the stick. It is time for frequent drug testing of pilots. It is time once again to ground the pilots on antidepressants. A pre-flight test for alertness should also be mandatory. It is time for the FAA to turn off the “machine” and to answer the calls for repeal.
For related posts see:
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: airplanes, antidepressants, calls, Celexa, disaster, FAA, guns, insomnia, Lexapro, medications, NTSB, panic attacks, Prozac, psychoactive drugs, Randy Babbitt, ruling, serotonin, side effects, SSRIs, Zoloft
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Frozen in Fear, Sleepless and Tired, Worried and Stressed | No Comments »
Thursday, August 5th, 2010
Ping Fan Memorial in Manchukuo, China
Rumors were rampant yesterday that President Obama through U.S. Ambassador John Roos was going to apologize to the Japanese for the bombing of Hiroshima. Mr. Roos headed the American delegation sent to the Hiroshima Memorial on its 65th Anniversary. Representatives from 75 countries were scheduled to attend the ceremony. President Obama is expected to visit Japan in November. Terumi Tenaka, a survivor of the 1945 bombing and now Secretary General of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Associations, said “the best thing they (U.S.) could do would be to apologize. But I doubt that is going to happen.” President Clinton today weighed in on the subject saying that the U.S. owed no apology to Japan for dropping the bombs and that President Truman made the right decision to use them. He is absolutely correct in his opinion. No, we should not apologize to Japan. Not in your wildest dreams, Ms. Tenaka and Mr. Tadatoshi Akiba (Mayor of Hiroshima)! We should NEVER apologize nor ever consider doing so until:
- Japan apologizes for the unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor killing 2350 Americans
- Japan apologizes for the Rape of Nanking in 1937 killing 300,000 civilians. The raping of 20,000 to 80,000 women went along with the unconscionable murders.
- Japan apologizes for the vivisections performed on thousands of men, women and children at Zhong Ma Prison Camp and later at Unit 731 in Ping Fan. Unit 731 called their human victims “maruta” or “logs” since the facility was disguised as a lumber mill.
- Japan apologizes for Yoshio Tachibana’s cannibalism and torture of POW’s at Chichi-Jima.
- Japan apologizes for the unrepentant General Shiro Ishii and Dr. Masaji Kitano for their grotesque human experiments on unsuspecting captives.
- Japan apologizes for Dr. Ishiyama Fukujiro, Dr. Hiroko Goichi, Miss Tsutsui Shizuko, and Komori, and their fellow faculty of “medicine” members at Kyushu Imperial University in Fukuoka where in 1945 they practiced vivisections on captured American flyers. Cannibalism was mentioned, but there were no convictions.
- Japan apologizes for the Kempeitai soldiers who brutally raped and sexually tortured their captive “comfort women” at night after torturing their male captives by day.
- Japan apologizes for 400,000 or more Chinese deaths in villages intentionally afflicted by clothing and food drops infected with cholera, anthrax, or the plague.
- Japan apologizes for General Ishii’s plans to use “balloon bombs loaded with biological weapons to carry cattle plague and anthrax on the jet stream to the west coast of America. And for his plan to use a submarine and a light plane carried on board to launch a kamikaze mission against San Diego.
- Japan apologizes for the “regular injections of infectious diseases, disguised as harmless vaccinations,” which were given by visiting doctors from Unit 731 to POW’s at Mukden. Major Robert Peaty, senior British officer at Mukden, recorded in his diary on January 30, 1943 that “everyone received a 5cc typhoid-paratyphoid A inoculation. On February 23, his entry read: “Funeral service for 142 dead. 186 have died in 5 days, all Americans.” More inoculations followed.
- America apologizes to her WWII veterans for the cover-up of these details as part of the negotiations for the Japanese to surrender. “General MacArthur granted immunity to members of Unit 731 in exchange for research data on biological warfare,” according to an alarming story by Christopher Hudson in dailymail.co.uk. The data disappeared after it was given to President Truman.
- President Obama tells the world that our bombs “saved” the lives of millions of Americans, Brits, Aussies, Russians, Chinese, Filipinos, Mongolians, Koreans, and, yes, even Japanese lives. He needs to do so with the same conviction he displays when talking about the jobs he has “saved.”
Many of the men who committed these crimes escaped punishment. Before fleeing after Japan’s surrender, General Ishii ordered the slaughter of the remaining 150 “logs” at Unit 731. General Ishii died at his home of throat cancer at the age of 67 after a prosperous life. Other members of Ishii’s team, granted immunity by MacArthur, advanced to prominent careers after the war. Masaji Kitano, commander of Unit 731 who succeeded Ishii, became head of Japan’s pharmaceutical giant, Green Cross. Only one building is left at Ping Fan. It serves as a grim reminder of the torture, the vivisection, and the brutal human experimentation that occurred there. The specimen jars are gone, including the six footer which once contained “the naked body of a Western man, cut vertically in two pieces.” The dark memories of those who knew will remain forever. Many Americans, to this very day, are unaware of Japan’s diabolical history. Its history had been locked away in our government vaults until 1993, when U.S. Defense Secretary, William Perry, “under pressure, promised to declassify records of the WWII experiments.” Despite the release of those records, most Americans have never heard the gory details. Will those who now know still support an American apology? I think not.
No, we are not likely to ever hear an apology from Japan. The unrepentant Dr. Ishiyama Fukujiro who committed suicide before facing his war crimes charges went to his grave with the words, “I do not know how to apologize. I bow and pray for the Emperor.”
Wars cost lives, but they should be fought to win. The hands of our military should never be bound by the shackles of politics. No, we should not; and, I hope, will not apologize to the Japanese for winning the war the Emperor provoked. Not now; not ever; at least, not until…
God Bless America! May our heart-felt thanks go to all who have served; and, especially, to those who have suffered or died as a result of Japanese atrocities.
Click here to visit an informative slideshow on the Ping Fan Memorial.
For readers requesting more information on this subject, the following books are suggested:
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: apology, apology for Hiroshima, barbarism, bombs, cannibalism, doctors of depravity, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Hiroshima Memorial, human experiments, Kempaitai, Kyushu Imperial University, maruta, Mukden, Nagasaki, Ping Fan Memorial, Rape of Nanking, Shiro Ishii, torture, Unit 731, vivisection, wildest dreams, Zhong Ma
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
Vaccine: Choice or Mandate for the Future?
Governments worldwide are anxiously awaiting further tests on a new vaccine announced yesterday by Rachel Quigley in her Mail Online article from the UK. Dr. Robert Sapolsky, a professor at Stanford University, is “on the path to a genetically engineered formula that would remove the need for relaxation therapies or prescription drugs.” His studies on glucocorticoids, the hormones chiefly responsible for our fear responses, have led him to the vaccine which works on rats. He admits that human trials are years away. Will the strong-armed governments of the world, seeking to calm the sleepless and sometimes angry public masses controlled by them, allow the tests on humans to wait that long?
Glucocorticoids are essential for life. They are present in the cells of almost all vertebrates. Cortisol is the most important human glucocorticoid. It “regulates or supports a variety of important cardiovascular, metabolic, immunologic, and homeostatic functions.” Cortisol, along with adrenalin, works to assist the brain in remembering stressful and dangerous situations. Those memories stimulate the fear and flight responses to dangerous situations that may confront us in the future. It is vital to the survival of the species.
Dr. Sapolsky thinks that the human species produces too many glucocorticoids and that man cannot turn them off after stressful situations. He claims, according to Quigley’s article, the hormone “becomes toxic both biologically, by destroying brain cells and weakening the immune system, and socially, when people continue to snap at their friends or family hours after the original cause of tension has vanished.”
The “Sapolsky shot” utilizes a herpes virus carrying genetically engineered “neuroprotective “genes to “neutralize the rogue hormones.” The shot supposedly short circuits the brain’s natural response to stress. Claims are that “It would leave you fresher and ready to deal with another threat, so you can maintain your drive, but with more focused calm.”
How will the short-circuited brain remember the stressful situation? Will a future similar threat be ignored by the chemically altered passive brain? Research in this important area must be done before human trials are initiated.
The FDA, with its quick approvals of fluoride additions to water supplies, aspartame and acesulfame potassium addition to foods, drinks, and medicines, despite studies proving their harmful effects, does not inspire confidence. Headlines across the internet already shout the “brain-eating” and “lobotomizing” effects of the “Sapolsky shot” as well as the conspiratorial applications of this vaccine as a secret additive to government required vaccinations worldwide.
Billions of dollars are being donated by the wealthy “elite” of the world in efforts to control population growth through vaccinations. Some nations refuse the donated vaccinations because of an increase in sterility among their female populations following their widespread use. It isn’t much of a stretch to suspect the ever-reaching arms of big governments everywhere to promote the “Sapolsky shot.” They are no doubt dreaming about the future populations of calm and sleepy subjects, no longer stress-filled, sleepless, and angry about the loss of their freedoms. FDA approvals for human testing will be quickly forthcoming. The “Sapolsky shot” is coming to a clinic near you. It will be provided free of charge by your friendly government sponsor. There are no harmful side effects according to the Center for Disease Control, the FDA, and the Administration. The supply will be “unlimited” according to Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius.
The stress-filled, sleep deprived masses are already lining up for their calm inducing injections. Yoga and meditation will become a relic of the past as our minds and bodies slumber into a passive stupor of paralytic responses. As our self-preserving survival responses to stress are neutralized the pandemic of sleep deprivation will probably disappear. At risk will be our doubting responses to the threats of government theft of our liberties.
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: brain, brain eating, Cortisol, FDA, future populations, glucocorticoids, governments, hormones, liberties, lobotomizing, memory, pandemic, paralytic, passive, public, Sapolsky shot, side effects, sleep deprivation, sleep deprived, sleepless, stress reduction, strong-armed, stupor, survival, tension, theft, threat, vaccinations, vaccine
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Dazed and Confused, Frozen in Fear, Our Amazing Brain, Sleep Deprived | No Comments »
Monday, August 2nd, 2010
Reaper Drone art, original source unknown
Though the FAA continues to fly cover for the administration, “holding back” on approvals for expanded use of spying drones in U.S. skies, the flack from public concern for safety continues to grow. The sleepless drones have been flying our skies since 2006 despite reports of “frequent system failures, computer glitches, and human error.” David Zucchino, in his recent article in the Los Angeles Times, reports that “Air Force investigators continue to cite pilot mistakes, coordination snafus, software failures, outdated technology and inadequate flight manuals” for the increasing numbers of crashes. Accident rates are down due to the exponential increase in the use of drones both overseas and at home. The flight time of U.S. drones overseas to provide intelligence and to protect our military’s lives has grown to over 20,000 hours a month according to retired Rear Admiral Thomas J. Cassidy Jr. The Air Force expects more than 300,000 hours to be flown this year, compared to 185,000 last year.
Insitu, Inc., a small Boeing subsidiary in Bingen, WA was granted a $43.7 million dollar contract to build “the military’s next generation of remote-controlled spy craft,” according to the AP in a Seattle PI article on July 31, 2010. The drone industry worldwide has already soared beyond the multi-billion dollar mark. Drones protecting our forces and interests overseas as well as those protecting our international borders are indispensable to our national security. The sleepless drones flying our civilian skies, however, pose a serious threat to public safety. The expanded use of drones, after the FAA’s almost certain “approval,” will endanger commercial pilots, civilian pilots, their passengers, and life on the ground.
The accident reports for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are alarming. In April of 2006 a Predator B, the size of a regional jet, crashed near homes thirty miles from Nogales, Arizona. The NTSB attributed the crash to the drone’s operator who “accidentally shut down the plane’s engine while attempting to deal with a locked up computer console.” The NTSB described the crash as “a wake-up call to hopefully everyone.” In August of 2006 an unmanned QF-4E crashed on take-off from Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. The QF-4E is a modified F-4 Phantom II capable of Mach 2 speed (1600 mph) and a range of 1300 miles. It can be flown totally by computer or can be controlled manually using a mobile control station. Holloman, in 2006 was operating 30 QF-4E drones at the time. Smoke from the crash of the large drone could be seen for miles. No one was injured, thankfully. In November of 2006 a UAV crashed in Negev on the Gaza border in close proximity to the populated community of Netiv HaAsarah. A second IDF drone crashed near the town of Beit Hanoun following a technical malfunction. Several hours later a Hamas website released photos of a masked gunman with an apparent IDF drone. In May, 2009 newsherald.com reported that a 20 foot BQM-167 drone washed ashore near Okaloosa Island condominiums. It had been launched by Tyndall AFB and was shot down nearly three months prior to its discovery on the beach. The same article documented two others washed ashore the prior spring. “In February of 2004 another drone crashed onto U.S. 98 near Tyndall.” Bepj.org.uk reported in September 2009 the crash of a UAV at Parc Aberporth Airport in West Wales. The airport is increasingly being used to test civilian and military UAVs while domestic flights continue to take off and land. Military.com reported on March 15, 2010 the crash of an MQ-1 Predator while taking off in southern Afghanistan. Afghanistan.blogs.cnn.com reported on July 28, 2010 the crash of a Luna UAV into the Taliban stronghold of Kunduz province. Because the aircraft went down in an area “littered with IEDs” there were no plans to try to recover it. NATO’s International Security Assistance Force claimed the small 7 foot long craft, weighing about 80 pounds, would have “no benefit to the enemy.” The Calgary Sun, on July 16, 2010, reported the crash of a Heron UAV being used for training exercises at Canadian Forces Base Suffield. It knocked out power in the surrounding area and traffic was shut down on a section of Hwy. 884 (250km southeast of Calgary), but no injuries were reported. These reports are a sampling of the crashes that are reported. Many more have gone unreported. It is inevitable that our future will bring reports of catastrophic loss of life caused by an errant, or an accurately aimed drone.
Two disturbing thoughts confront us as we watch for the FAA’s inevitable approval to expand drone use over civilian skies. The most obvious threat is the risk of interference with normal air traffic patterns and the possibility of communication interference or, even worse, mid-air collisions. The second, and most sinister threat, is the use of drone aircraft by our enemies here at home…or from remote locations abroad. How will we distinguish the friendly drone from the enemy drone? They’ll certainly be flying below our radar.
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: drones, FAA, public safety, sleepless, sleepless drones, spy craft, spying drones, threat, UAVs
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Frozen in Fear, Sleepless and Tired, Worried and Stressed | No Comments »
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Smoking Hole in Pakistan. Courtesy of AP.
Yet another deadly “smoking hole in the ground” adds to the continuing trail of death left by sleepless and tired pilots being stretched beyond their limits by schedules designed to maximize profits for their employers.
The worst air crash in Pakistan’s history of Airblue’s flight ED-202 from Karachi to Islamabad killing all 152 aboard may be attributed to pilot fatigue according to the President of Pakistan Air Lines Pilots Association (PALPA). Captain Sohail Baloch told a private news channel “The pilot may be suffering from accumulated fatigue because they are not given adequate leaves.” He added that the pilot was not in a no-fly zone and speculated that the plane was off course due to bad weather. The pilot had to ”resort to visual queues for landing” because communication with the control tower had been lost due to the weather.
The Hindu.com reports that the pilot , Pervez Iqbal Chaudhry, “had 35 years of experience and had logged over 25,000 flying hours.” Airblue official Raheel Ahmed was quoted in the same article explaining that the Airbus A321 was ten years old, had been used by them for the past four years, and was fully serviceable with no technical faults. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that the aircraft at 2600 feet was cleared to land when it rose up to 3000 feet for no apparent reason and then disappeared from the radar. “The (control) tower did not receive any SOS message or report of a technical problem before the crash,” Malik said.
Only nine weeks ago the world was mourning the loss of 158 people in an Air India crash in the Mangalore hills. That “smoking hole” left eight survivors. The experienced British pilot of that flight misjudged his landing so badly (2000 feet) that “senior pilots, including the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (IPCA) are already blaming pilot fatigue for being responsible for the major accident,” as reported in a China Post article. Two years before that “an Air India Express flight from Mumbai to Dubai overshot its destination by 350 miles after its pilots apparently fell asleep due to fatigue.” The ICPA in response to the Mangalore crash sent a letter to the Prime Minister complaining that “up to 78 percent of crashes were caused by fatigue-related human error.” Flight and Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) in India have not been changed since 1992 when they had no scientific basis for the regulations. Attempts were made in 2005 to change the FDTL but the rule changes were withdrawn under pressure from the “private operators.”
The flight and duty time restrictions worldwide reflect the lack of response from the FAA to the plethora of data now available regarding the effects of sleep deprivation upon mental and physical performance. Our rule changes were dropped in 1995 in response the airline industry’s complaints. Even the unions, strongly supported by then President Bill Clinton, wanted to drop the duty time hours from 16 to 14 hours. Andy Pasztor, in a Wall Street Journal article titled “Dispute Over Cost Delays Pilot Rules,” blames the delay in the rule changes on a dispute between the FAA and the White House Office of Management and Budget. Budget officials have told the FAA informally that “the proposal’s projected cost to airlines wasn’t justified by the anticipated safety benefits.” Since the FAA is controlled by former air line executives and Washington is still held in the firm grip of powerful airline lobbyists like Linda Daschle we cannot expect the “change” promised by our President in the flowered oratory of his campaign.
The European Cockpit Association, a group of pilots unions with over 38,000 members, accuses the European Union (EU) of “ “endangering air safety by failing to act on the recommendations of experts who say cuts in flying hours are needed to curb pilot fatigue.” The Air Canada Pilots Association, with over 7,000 members, has been asking for changes to Transport Canada’s regulations for years. Dave Ross, of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, representing pilot unions at six regional airlines, says, “It’s money. If you can’t fly as long as you do today, then that increases your cost.”
The world continues to scream the alarms to the FAA. The FAA’s mission statement is “to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world.” The FAA’s vision statement is “ to reach the next level of safety, efficiency, environmental responsibility and global leadership. We are accountable to the American public and our stakeholders.” The world waits, awake to the ever increasing danger of sleepless and tired pilots threatening our lives. The FAA, Congress, and the Administration continue to hit the snooze button while confined to the bedroom of the airline industry’s sleep inducing lobbyists.
The “smoking holes” of death and the smells of burning flesh are permeating the atmosphere of Obama’s flowery campaign rhetoric about cleaning up the halls of Washington. In 2007 newsmax.com reported on Mr. Obama’s lamenting the fact that “the disproportionate influence of lobbyists and special interest is a problem in Washington (and) in state capitals.” He admitted then that he was “swimming in the same muddy water” and that he knows the waters are muddy. He said “I want to clean it up.” The world is waiting for Mr. Obama, Mr. Babbitt (FAA Administrator), and Mr. LaHood (Transportation Secretary) to exit the bedroom of the airline industry’s sleep inducing lobbyists and go to work on new pilot fatigue regulations. The safety of millions flying the skies continue to see the smoke and to smell the burning flesh. The time has come for you to douse the flames.
Here’s a link to a very sad slide show of crash site photos, courtesy of AP and thehindu.com: http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article538554.ece
Another link to a related article from thehindu.com: http://www.thehindu.com/news/article540335.ece
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: air crash, Air India, Airblue, Babbitt, FAA, fatigue, LaHood, lobbyists, Obama, paralysis, pilot fatigue, regulations, sleep deprivation, sleep deprived, sleepless and tired, smoking hole
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Dazed and Confused, Frozen in Fear, Sleep Deprived, Sleepless and Tired, Worried and Stressed | No Comments »
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
The Insomniac Eye in the Sky
Our insomniac spies have been operating for years in the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army recently surpassed the one millionth hour of flight mark for its unmanned aerial systems. The highly sophisticated eyes in the sky have revolutionized the battlefield. They have saved many lives by keeping pilots out of high risk “hot” enemy territories. They have provided sensitive intelligence for enemy movements. They have increased communication capabilities in areas previously blacked out by mountainous terrain. They even engage the enemy with high tech weaponry from their clandestine high altitude cover. Their insomniac eyes are able to see 24 hours a day and they are able to stay up for days at a time. They are friends while seeking our enemies on foreign soil, but now they threaten our friendly skies, our freedom, and the privacy protected by the US Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. The Fourth Amendment guarantees “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.” The insomniac eyes of the drones in our skies may guide the “friendly fire” that mortally wounds our freedom.
These “search dogs” are being used by U.S. Border Patrol agents to watch the areas near the Mexican border. The Predator B can remain airborne for up to 20 hours without refueling. A helicopter averages only two hours of flight time. The Department of Homeland Security and other agencies, as well as state governments, are pressing the FAA to clear them for expanded use along the Canadian and U.S. borders to spot drug smuggling. The X-ray, infrared, and laser equipped eyes in the sky are being proposed to support weather research to track tornadoes and storms, to aid energy companies wanting to monitor oil and gas pipelines, and to support U.S. Coast Guard and local law enforcement agencies in search-and-rescue operations. These operations paint a friendly shadow on the suspicious eyes, but the friendly shadow is already becoming dark.
As early as 2006 a North Carolina county began using an unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with low-light and infrared cameras to spy on its citizens. The aircraft was used by law enforcement to track gatherings of motorcycle riders from just a few feet in the air. The drone was close enough to identify faces. In 2007 insect-like drones were seen hovering over political rallies in New York and Washington. The UPI.com in a January article reported that the United Kingdom is set to use drones developed by its military to spy on their citizens. Kent and Essex police plan on using them in 2012 “for routine monitoring of motorists, protesters, agricultural thieves and illegal dumping.” The drones the Brits will use are capable of up to 15 hours in the sky, but the technology by then will have been advanced exponentially.
QinetiQ's Zephyr
On July 20, 2010 Defencetalk.com reported QinetiQ’s announcement that their Zephyr solar powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) smashed a long-standing world record flight of 82 hours and 37 minutes set in 2008. The Zephyr had been flying for the past week over the Yuma, Arizona skies, has logged 168 hours, and is still flying. The goal for the Zephyr is to fly for another week and to prove that it is a “truly eternal” plane. The Zephyr is launched by hand. It weighs only 50kg. Its solar arrays covering its wings are no thicker than sheets of paper. They power the aircraft by day and transfer power to lithium-sulfur batteries that supply its power at night. It will be capable of spying for weeks or months at a time over set locations.Defencetalk.com
The RQ-11B from AeroVironment, Inc.
In April of 2009 Defencetalk.com reported that the U.S. Army and AeroVironment, Inc. (AV) conducted a 30-hour surveillance demonstration using the RQ-11B Raven, a small unmanned aircraft system (SUAS) consisting of three aircraft and two ground control stations. The system can be carried in a rucksack and is capable of flying in high winds, turbulence, and rain. The 4.2 pound aircraft is powered by lithium-ion batteries. The Raven carries a daytime color electro-optical camera as well as a nighttime infrared camera. AV has delivered thousands of unmanned aircraft internationally.
The Phantom Eye from Boeing
Boeing, according to Defencetalk.com, buoyed by its success with the piston-powered Condor in the late 80s, is currently in production of its Phantom Eye. The Phantom Eye is a liquid-hydrogen powered high altitude long endurance (HALE) aircraft. It will have a capability of more than four days at altitudes of up to 65,000 feet carrying a payload of up to 450 pounds. They are also developing a larger HALE capable of 10 days and payloads of more than 2,000 pounds. The Phantom Eye is scheduled for its first flight in December.
While the FAA provides cover for our government by citing safety concerns in the sky as a reason to slow the approval “process” for expanded UAV use in the U.S. we can safely assume that we are already being watched by an omnivorous, data collecting federal government. Their insomniac spies in the sky make no distinction between criminal and law-abiding citizens. Jerome Whitehead, in “Drones Over America: Tyranny at Home,” reminds us of a famous quote from James Madison:
“A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty. The means of defence against foreign danger, have always been the instruments of tyranny at home.”
It is time for us to cast our doubting eyes on the ever-expanding surveillance and control of our federal government. It may be too late to ground her insomniac spies in our skies, but we still have the time to launch the defense of our liberty. Remember come November.
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: defense, drones, enemy, eyes, freedom, friendly fire, Hale, high altitude long endurance aircraft, infrared, insomniac, laser, liberty, Phantom Eye, Raven, RQ-11B, sky, small unmanned aircraft system, spies, SUAS, UAV, unmanned aerial system, X-ray, Zephyr
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Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
The bedtime cell phone calls
A recent survey found that 82% of Americans don’t leave home without their cell phones and 50% of Americans sleep with their phones nearby. 56% of Americans regularly use the alarm clock feature. Globally 67% use the alarm clock feature requiring them to have their cell phones in close proximity to their beds. Texting has become the focus of communication for teens today. 87% of the texting teens admitted to sleeping with, or next to, their phones. With a third of US teen cell phone owners texting more than a 100 texts a day, many of these are occurring at night while in bed. Cell phone use has been found to reduce sleep. Its use at bedtime, according to research detailed by Geoffrey Lean in The Independent, increases the time it takes to reach the deeper stages of sleep and decreases the time spent in those valuable stages of sleep. Deep sleep deprivation “can lead to mood and personality changes, ADHD-like symptoms, depression, lack of concentration and poor academic performance.”
The study, funded by the Mobile Manufacturer’s Forum, embarrassed themselves with the scientists’ findings that “components of sleep believed to be important for recovery from daily wear and tear are adversely affected by exposure to 884 MHz wireless signals.” The researchers believed that the radiation was activating the brain’s stress system making the subjects “more alert and more focused, and decreasing their ability to wind down and fall asleep.” Almost half of the people in the study also reported to be “electrosensitive” experiencing headaches and impaired cognitive functions.
A much larger study followed 1656 Belgian teenagers for a year. The research found that most of them used their phones after going to bed. Those that did so once a week were three times more likely to report feeling “very tired” than those who did not use them in bed. Those who used them in bed more than once were five times more likely to report feeling “very tired.” Dr. William Kohler of the Florida Sleep Institute said “Anything that disrupts the integrity of your sleep will potentially have adverse consequences in functioning during the day, such as grouchiness, difficulty concentrating, and in children hyperactivity and behavior problems.”
James Horne and his colleagues at the Loughborough University Sleep Research Center in England found that cell phone signals disrupted brain wave patterns “long after” the cell phones were turned off. The subjects in his study, as described by Douglas Field in Scientific American, also had difficulties falling asleep. They found that delta wave patterns characteristic of stage two sleep (50% of total sleep) were negatively affected for nearly an hour after the phone was shut off. His findings and those of others are stimulating additional research into electromagnetic radiation and its affect on mental behaviors. Sensitivity to such low level radiation raises concerns of mind control.
The cell phone, while exhibiting negative influences on deep sleep, is soon to become a critical tool to the sleep deprived. Dr. Phillip Low has found the way to link a single channel EEG to a SPEARS algorithm which is capable of mapping an entire night’s worth of brain activity. His company, NeuroVigil, uses an adhesive, wireless sensor or a head strap to monitor the brainwave activity. “NeuroVigil’s sleep monitoring solution streams and records the patient’s EEG data through their cell phone or smartphone.” Dr. Low, a 30-year-old neuroscientist is about to market his iBrain device (the size of two pennies) which, according to Daniel Heimpel of the Huffington Post, will “revolutionize the study of sleep, speed the diagnosis of disease, and tap into the multibillion dollar sleep and neurodiagnostics markets.” Until now, sleep tests have averaged more than $3,000. The cost has been prohibitive for the more than seventy million Americans suffering from sleep disorders. The sleep tests have previously required hook-ups to multiple electrode systems and overnight stays in uncomfortable strange laboratory environments not at all conducive to regular sleep patterns.
The data from the iBrain may unlock keys to cures and/or medications for sleep apnea, insomnia, and other sleep disorders. It will assist in the pre-market testing of pharmaceuticals of the future. The pharmaceutical companies, the Defense Departments, and the transportation industries are all knocking on Dr. Low’s door. They would all like a piece of Dr. Low’s brain as well as his company but he has decided to run his company on his own terms.
Dr. Low’s brain, the iBrain, and your cell phone may provide the keys to the gateway of your brain…and the solution to your sleep problems. A dream comes true?
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: brain, cell phones, deep sleep, depression, electromagnetic radiation, iBrain, medications, mind control, sleep, sleep apnea, sleep deprivation, sleep deprived, sleep disorders, sleep problems, sleepless and tired
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Our Amazing Brain, Sleep Deprived, Sleepless and Tired | No Comments »
Monday, June 14th, 2010
One of the dead victims of the spill. Kemp's Ridley sea turtle was already endangered.
Now that their “messiah” from Chicago has been elected to the nation’s highest office, Hollywood is hypocritically silent. When Bush was in office, nary a week passed without our hearing passionate cries for his impeachment or vile insults upon his intelligence. Concerts, benefits, songs, commercials, and appeals for donations almost immediately followed worldwide disasters. The tribute to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack, only ten days later, raised more than $100 million. The concert telethon for the 2004 tsunami victims raised millions more. The “Shelter from the Storm” concert raised $30 million for Hurricane Katrina victims. “Hope for Haiti” raised $66 million for Haiti’s earthquake victims. Eight weeks after America’s worst ever environmental disaster, one which Obama compared to 9/11 (to the consternation of more than 2000 victims’ families), we have not heard from our Hollywood celebrities. They appear to be resting comfortably in the arms of their “messianic” President, fearing to breathe a word that might bring harm to his already tanking numbers.
The environment has been a favorite topic for our Hollywood celebs. They love to espouse the global warming theme popularized by Al Gore, another of their political heroes. The BP oil spill will go down in the record books as the biggest environmental disaster in our history. Approximately 100,000 barrels of oil have been spewing into the gulf every day. That’s the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez spill every 2.4 to 3.5 days, according to Steven Wereley of Purdue University. Patrick Szabo says the oil is “destroying the Gulf of Mexico and its beautiful ecosystem.” Tons of species will be affected by this disaster. Some may soon be in danger of extinction. North Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, famous for the sushi our Hollywood friends are fond of, may be in danger since their spawning in the Gulf of Mexico occurs from mid-April to mid-June. “Five of the world’s seven sea turtle species live, migrate, and breed in the Gulf region,” says Julia Kumari Drapkin, writing for Global Post. Sharks, marine mammals (whales, porpoises, dolphins), brown pelicans, oysters, shrimp, blue crab, marsh dwelling fish, beach nesting and migratory shorebirds, and migratory songbirds are all in jeopardy. Where are the pictures of our Hollywood celebrities cleaning off the oil-coated brown pelicans dying on the beaches?
Fishing in the gulf accounts for a billion dollars of our nation’s GDP, with $13 billion more in tourism, and $11 billion in oil, according to Charles Colgan of the National Ocean Economics Program. Florida has no state income tax and its economy depends on tourism. Many of the Gulf States are suffering the loss of thousands of jobs as a result of Obama’s suspension of all drilling operations in the gulf. The Department of Economic Development in Louisiana estimates losing “3,000 to 6,000 jobs in the next two to three weeks, and as many as 10,000 Louisiana jobs within six months,” as reported in mcclatchydc.com. Even the fishing industries, devastated as they are by the BP spill, support the oil industry. Many boats tie to the rigs while dropping their lines. Grand Isle’s Dean Blanchard, one of the largest shrimp distributors in the country says, “We’re suffering enough without others suffering.” Governor Bobby Jindal is urging Obama to move quickly to remove the moratorium. Jeff Landry, running for congress calls the moratorium “nothing short of a domestic attack on our economy.”
People in the Gulf states are suffering and our President is not helping. Our Hollywood “friends” are hopelessly asleep in the comfort of his golf and basketball toned arms. Hollywood’s fundraising capabilities are unquestioned. Their successes have been well documented in the past. Today they dare not speak against their “messiah” …even if it means denying the screams of our American victims in the Gulf. The silence of Hollywood is deafening.
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved to Ronald Czarnecki.
Tags: BP, celebrities, disaster, drilling, drilling moratorium, economy, Gulf, Hollywood, Hollywood sleeps, Obama, oil spill, screams, silence, victims
Posted in Appearances are Deceiving, Dazed and Confused, Worried and Stressed | 2 Comments »
