March 11 -- Will Middle-Eastern Oil Production Crash?

As we approach the March 11, so-called "Day of Rage" some activists have planned for Saudi Arabia, an uncomfortable question emerges. Given that two governments in that region have already fallen, a third appears to be toppling and massive protests are supposedly planned in Saudi cities for the 11th, one has to ask: Will the Saudi government fall? Will overall oil exports from the Middle East crash, potentially down to nothing?

Given the rapid pace at which events are moving in the Mideast, having a contingency plan in place for an energy crash -- for your country, your business or just your family -- seems like a very wise idea.

Clearly, I'm working something a bit more extensive than my previous Southeastern Fuel Shortage disaster plan. But however far along my book is in the next few days, I'm looking at releasing an early, rough draft so that anyone who wants to include it in their planning can do so.

But in the meantime, even that simple discussion of a much more limited crisis covers some important points, and prudent strategists will want to consider what vulnerabilities they have to contend with and what resources they could bring to bear in the event of fossil fuels, in particular oil, suddenly becoming much harder to come by.

X-37B: Second Launch

As I write this the Atlas 5 rocket is rolling out to Launch Complex 41 for tomorrow’s launch attempt of the X-37B. This will be the second launch for the secret spy platform. As usual the details and information about the mission is classified. Whereas the first mission was probably more a test of the X-37B I suspect this flight will have  more complex test payload. This is only speculation and the flight is still designated as Test Vehicle-2 after all this is an X-plane.  This test vehicle is expected to remain in orbit around 270 days, the first vehicle stayed in orbit 224 days.

You can visit Spaceflight Now’s Mission Status center for updates

Posted by rocketry

Dr. Boyce: Fifth Grader Made into a “Slave” in Classroom Slave Auction

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action

A black fifth grader in Gahanna, Ohio was used as a slave in a social studies class in order to teach a lesson to the children.  Since that time, the mother of the boy, Aneka Burton, has demanded an apology, citing the psychological damage that was being done to her child.  The principal at the school, Scott Schmidt of Chapelfield Elementary, called the mother to offer his most sincere apologies for the incident, stating that no harm was intended. 

According to 10-year old Nikko Burton, the students were divided into two groups:  “Slaves” and “masters,” with the other black student in class being made into a master.  The teacher then had the audacity to do a simulated slave auction, which the boy refused to be a part of.   At that point, he was sent back to his desk.
Click to read.

Alien Life May Have Been Found in Meteorite

We are not alone in the universe -- and alien life forms may have a lot more in common with life on Earth than we had previously thought. That's the stunning conclusion one NASA scientist has come to, releasing his groundbreaking revelations in a new study in the March edition of the Journal of Cosmology.

Dr. Richard B. Hoover, an astrobiologist with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, gave FoxNews.com early access to the out-of-this-world research, published late Friday evening in the March edition of the Journal of Cosmology. In it, Hoover describes the latest findings in his study of an extremely rare class of meteorites, called CI1 carbonaceous chondrites -- only nine such meteorites are known to exist on Earth.

Hoover has become convinced that his findings reveal fossil evidence of bacterial life within such meteorites -- and by extension, suggest we are not alone in the universe, reports FoxNews. Readers may expect to hear more about the scientific conclusions in the days ahead.

Lakers Win Ugly, Beat Bobcats 92-84

This game is not going to be one the Los Angeles Lakers bring up if they end up getting their third consecutive NBA Title this June as the Lakers defeated the Charlotte Bobcats Friday night 92-84. Los Angeles would blow out their opponents in the opening period and then did just enough to maintain their advantage for the rest of the contest. Kobe Bryant had a game high 27 points while Pau Gasol racked up a double and added another 20 points in the win. D.J. Augustin would lead the way for the B-Cats as he knocked down 22 points in the loss.

Libyan Forces Counter Attack near Tripoli

Pro-Gadhafi Forces Move to Retake Rebel-Held Towns

VoA News: Fierce battles are raging in Libya, where forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi are trying to retake key towns held by rebels.

Opposition forces were trying to hold on to the western town of Zawiyah Saturday. It is the closest rebel-held town to the capital, Tripoli.

Western news reports quote witnesses who say the opposition appears to have maintained control of the center of the town but pro-Gadhafi forces have surrounded its outskirts, where they have set up checkpoints. The reports say at least seven people were killed in clashes on Saturday.

Pro-Gadhafi forces moved on the eastern oil port of Ras Lanuf Friday, but the rebels claim they still control the town.

Mourners chanted anti-Gadhafi slogans on Saturday at a funeral for some of the victims of an explosion Friday in Benghazi. At least 17 people were reported killed, following a blast at an arms depot on the outskirts of the eastern city. Rebels said Mr. Gadhafi's forces bombed the facility.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has launched an appeal for nearly $2
6 million to assist more than 200,000 people affected by the the crisis in Libya.

Interpol has issued a global alert against Mr. Gadhafi and 15 other Libyan nationals, including some of his family members and close associates.

The alert was issued after the International Criminal Court announced it had opened a probe against Mr. Gadhafi and some of his associates in possible crimes against humanity.

Posted by WOTN Editor

Is ATF gun-running operation a ploy to demonize U.S. gun rights?

Has to be, because the rationale that ATF higher-ups gave to the operators makes no sense at all:

Agent Dodson and other sources say the gun walking strategy was approved all the way up to the Justice Department. The idea was to see where the guns ended up, build a big case and take down a cartel. And it was all kept secret from Mexico.

How could it possibly matter where criminal Mexican drug gangs get their illegal weapons? ALL their guns are illegal under Mexican law. If the illegality of their weapons could bring them down, there would be no need for their guns to come from America.

Unlike our sweepingly stated Second Amendment, the Mexican constitution only enumerates a highly qualified right to possess arms, and as in my state of California, enumerated gun rights in Mexico are not enforced. Thus Mexico’s armed-to-the-teeth criminal gangs could in theory be taken down by gun prosecutions (if Mexico had the wherewithal to do it) by enforcing MEXICAN law. Evidence of violations of AMERICAN law is completely irrelevant, never mind its being tainted by U.S. government complicity.

The only actual reason the ATF would have to let American-sourced guns “walk” into Mexico is to provide facts in support of the Obama administration’s ongoing effort to blame Mexican gun violence on American arms dealers, as justification for further infringing the constitutionally protected gun rights of American citizens. They have been putting out trumped up charges of U.S. blame for Mexican drug violence since they got into office, but their weak evidence hasn’t stood up to scrutiny. So they decided to manufacture some hard evidence. It is the only logical explanation.

Where do Mexican drug-war weapons actually come from? This from James G. Conway Jr., “a former FBI special agent and program manager of FBI counterterrorism operations in Latin America”:

On the surface, a cursory review of the high-powered military-grade seized weaponry — grenades, RPGs, .50-caliber machine guns — clearly indicates this weaponry is not purchased at gun shows in the United States and can’t even be found commercially available to consumers in the United States. The vast majority of the weaponry used in this “drug war” comes into Mexico through the black market and the wide-open, porous southern border of Mexico and Guatemala. This black market emanates from a variety of global gunrunners with ties to Russian organized crime and terror groups with a firm foothold in Latin America such as the FARC, as well as to factions leftover from the civil wars in Central America during the 1980′s. Chinese arms traffickers have managed to disperse weapons, particularly grenades, on the streets of Mexico. In addition, many of the Mexican military-issued, Belgian-made automatic M-16s currently in the hands of traffickers have been pilfered from military depots and the thousands who have deserted the Mexican army in recent years.

The exception would be those few thousands of semi-automatic M-16′s and AK-47′s let into Mexico by the AFT, along with however many Barret-50′s. Yeah, those are serious weapons. Obama’s minions definitely added to the murder spree, all in pursuit of their unconstitutional war against gun rights here at home.

Mexico getting guns from America?
For those leftists who have trouble with this language, no, Mexico is NOT part of America. It is part of North America (the continent) and is part of The Americas (the two continents), but the only country with America in its name is The United States of America. We, and only we, are “America.”


Wrong and wrong, pea brains.

Hillary Clinton: Al Jazeera is real news

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday.

HILLARY CLINTON: "Viewership of Al Jazeera is going up in the United States because it's real news. You may not agree with it, but you feel like you're getting real news around the clock instead of a million commercials and, you know, arguments between talking heads and the kind of stuff that we do on our news which, you know, is not particularly informative to us, let alone foreigners."

Al Jazeera's english language channel streams live on YouTube and on it's own site. Ratings are up 2500% since the uprisings in the Middle East began.

Michigan High School Player Dies After Scoring Winning Basket in Overtime

Published 1, March 4, 2011 Bizarre , Society 10 Comments

This is one of the saddest stores of the year. Wes Leonard, 16, had just achieved the dream of a basketball player — scoring the winning basket in overtime for his high school. He then collapsed and died.

The Fennville High School player in Michigan had just scored and the crowd erupted in joy when he collapsed on the court. The team had won 57-55 over Bridgman in a remarkable 20-0 season.

It was a wonderful moment for Leonard who was also a quarterback on the football team.
I can only imagine the shock and pain for his parents and friends. The cause of death is not known at this time.

This is the second death of an athlete at the school this year, though there appears to be no relation in the tragedies. It is, however, a horrific double loss for this school and its community.
Source: Washington Post

BYJONATHAN TURLEY

Tea Party: A New Birth of Freedom