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Déjà vu vingt-deux: Are Iranian Magnets the New Aluminum Tubes?

2013-02-17 11:57:00 (читать в оригинале)

“You are pointing the gun at Iran and say either negotiate or we will shoot. But you should know that pressure and negotiations are not compatible and our nation will not be intimidated by these threats. Talk is meaningful if it is based on goodwill, equal standing and when both sides do not want to apply tricks. Talk as a tactic, a gesture of superpower, is only a deceptive move.” -Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei

Clearly such goodwill is in short supply between the United States and Iran…! I mean really, folks…? West to Tell Iran: Close Fordow, We’ll Ease the Sanctions…

Now, as FAIR’s Peter Hart asked today…

Are Iranian Magnets the New Aluminum Tubes?

…In the run up to the Iraq War, the New York Times (9/8/02) famously reported on an Iraqi scheme to procure special aluminum tubes that could only have one purpose: Iraq’s secret nuclear weapons program. Saddam Hussein was attempting to “buy thousands of specially designed aluminum tubes,” and the “diameter, thickness and other technical specifications of the aluminum tubes had persuaded American intelligence experts that they were meant for Iraq’s nuclear program.” The claims were false–Iraq, as it turned out, had no nuclear program–but still hugely influential.

Yesterday, on the front page of the Washington Post (2/14/13), reporter Joby Warrick has the scoop on what Iran is evidently up to:

Iran recently sought to acquire tens of thousands of highly specialized magnets used in centrifuge machines, according to experts and diplomats, a sign that the country may be planning a major expansion of its nuclear program that could shorten the path to an atomic weapons capability.

Purchase orders obtained by nuclear researchers show an attempt by Iranian agents to buy 100,000 of the ring-shaped magnets–which are banned from export to Iran under U.N. resolutions–from China about a year ago, those familiar with the effort said.

Warrick explains that this “has fueled Western concerns that Iran is planning a major expansion in its nuclear capacity that would allow it to make atomic weapons quickly if it chooses to do so.” That point was underscored by an anonymous source–identified as “a European diplomat with access to sensitive intelligence on Iran’s nuclear facilities, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.”

Now to be fair, Nima Shirazi, has been leading the charge for years…Iraq, Iran, Redlines and Headlines…

But, I digress… Peter Hart goes on to cite one of my all-time fave bloggers, b at MOA, where he’s screaming… Iran Buys Magnets That DO NOT FIT Its Centrifuges… Fancy that, eh…?

Honestly folks, wtf…?

Hyping Iran Nukes, Again

The neocon-flagship Washington Post and its investigative reporter Joby Warrick are at it again, hyping an account about Iran’s nuclear program pushed by discredited nuclear expert David Albright, who famously gave cover for George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq a decade ago.

The latest Albright/Warrick alarm, which leads Thursday’s Washington Post, cites Iran’s alleged effort to place an Internet order for 100,000 ring-shaped magnets that would work in some of the country’s older centrifuges.

You have to read to the end of the long story to hear a less strident voice, saying that Iran had previously informed inspectors for the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency that it planned to build more of its old and clunkier centrifuges, which use this sort of magnet, and that the enrichment was for civilian energy, not a nuclear bomb…

And the WaPo even doubled down today, with their warmongering, in an ‘interview’ with the UN’s Ban Ki Moon… Iran could use U.N. talks as cover to build bomb, Ban Ki-moon says… Which is being echoed across the Pond…

Iran is taking same path to nuclear weapons as North Korea, says Ban Ki-Moon

Iran is using the same methods as North Korea to develop its nuclear capabilities, requiring “firm, decisive and effective” action by the Security Council, the United Nations secretary general has warned…

Huh…?

Now, as Rachel Maddow is set to unveil her new blockbuster expose on the Iraqi fiasco, ask yourself if we’ve learned anything…?

*gah*

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Billionaire Spongers and Tax Dodgers Want to Buy Their Own Randian Paradise near Detroit

2013-02-17 11:57:00 (читать в оригинале)

This just makes me laugh:

A group of “free enterprise” activists have hatched an idea to buy an island park nestled on the Detroit River long the U.S.-Canadian border named Belle Isle from the City of Detroit for $1 Billion.  Inspired by the philosophies of Ayn Rand, the chain smoking author who preached the benefits of an anarcho-capitalist free market system while collecting public assistance for her lung cancer, supporters hope to transform the 982 acre island park into a 35,000 person free-market city-state with it’s own laws, currency, customs and tax code.

This idea of a libertarian fantasy island is the brainchild of Ayn Rand enthusiast, Rodney Lockwood, Jr., a developer of  government subsidized housing for seniors.    Supporters of the plan, most of whom made their fortunes as recipients of corporate welfare from either the state of Michigan and/or the federal government want to buy the island for $1 Billion and claim the concept of the Belle Isle Commonwealth, as it is being named, “champions freedom and opportunity”

The backers of this effort to take a longtime public resource and turn it into a plutocrats’ preserve include a who’s who of wealthy right-wing “rugged individualists” and groups who owe their fortunes, in whole or in part, to taxpayers’ generosity. Among them: former Chrysler President Hal Sperlich, who went with Lee Iacocca to Washington, D.C. in 1979 to beg Jimmy Carter’s White House and the U.S. Congress for a government bailout of $1.5 billion, or nearly $4.8 billion in 2013 dollars; and Clark Durant, co-founder of Detroit’s Cornerstone Schools, a charter school system for students of upscale parents that receives lots of Michigan tax money. Groups involved in the plan include the Koch-funded Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the Walmart heirs (who might want to be saving their money instead, as their cash cow has suddenly gone into a tailspin — “total disaster” is the phrase one Walmart VP used in an internal email), Michigan Pyramid Marketing Pioneers, the VanAndel family and of course Lockwood, who is a board member of the Mackinac Center and gets tax subsidies and government loans for his many development projects.

Note, if you will, that these rugged individualists aren’t trying to build a casino-funded paradise from scratch on an old oil rig in international waters, or even take over existing tax-free lawless places like Somalia. Oh, no — they may themselves refuse to pay taxes, but they sure like the developed-world infrastructure that taxes and regulations make possible. So instead, they want to take over an already-existing piece of public property and turn it into their own pleasure dome, no plebians allowed, but with access to existing water, sewer and other public-utility hookups.

But I suspect that even taking over a piece of previously-developed public land may be too much effort for these Galtian demigods, even with Ricky Snyder’s and the Michigan Legislature’s wind filling their sails. These people aren’t innovators, they’re rentiers, and they don’t have the guts or the discipline to follow through on this.

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Asteroids, Dinosaurs, and the History of Physics

2013-02-17 11:57:00 (читать в оригинале)

There is nothing like a “close encounter of the asteroid kind” to captivate the public. The resulting effect is what yields profit for Hollywood studios that make movies of the sort where brave Americans take a space ship to an interloping rock, and plant explosives to blow the thing up just seconds before it reaches dear old Earth. (At least with the old Star Trek series the crew on such death-defying missions was international, if not the Captain.) It is part of why we find it easy to neglect planning for less exotic natural disasters, such as the destruction in Russia caused by a meteor the other day (granted that that one was both big and hard to anticipate).

Stories for another day, those. Here I want to focus on another aspect of the fascination, and one that has been resurrected in recent media coverage such as WaPo’s of the asteroid 2012 DA214 that flew by yesterday: the disappearance of the dinosaurs.

In 1980 the Nobel Laureate physicist Luis Alvarez, his geologist son Walter, and some others announced that there was a high concentration of the element Iridium, rare on earth but plentiful in celestial bodies like meteorites and asteroids, at the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene geological periods in an area of central Italy, which boundary is precisely the time when some paleontologists believed the dinosaurs went extinct. The natural inference from this discovery, suitably buttressed by some peripheral considerations that need not detain us, was that an asteroid hit the earth at that time, some 65 million years ago, in a catastrophic collision that wiped out the giant reptiles and a good deal else. The elder Alvarez then ran with this hypothesis in a big way.

Now Alvarez was a big shot well before 1980, and even before his Nobel in 1968. I was familiar with his presence as a graduate student working at Berkeley’s Lawrence Radiation Laboratory in the late 1950s, where he was a leading figure, indeed, a person with a reputation in the back corridors as an “operator.” He led the group of physicists associated with the 72 inch liquid hydrogen bubble chamber, the sexiest of elementary particle detectors of the era, which leadership is what would get him (never mind the other physicists) his Nobel. That is to say, he was a pioneer in the development of Big Physics, where experiments are now carried out by dozens of people (so many that sometimes the Physical Review articles that report their results list their names in a footnote rather than in the byline).

I worked in the Lofgren group, which was responsible for operating the lab’s then principal atom smasher, the Bevatron machine (pictures), which supplied beams of particles for the benefit of the bubble chamber and the apparati of other groups. My mentors were William Wenzel and Bruce Cork, who had recently been part of the team that isolated the antineutron, and I also got to work with the eventual Nobel winner James Cronin for a time, while he was visiting from Princeton. Apart from physics proper, in the area of instrumentation we worked on developing the elementary particle detection device called the spark chamber, and constructed some of the first of such devices. [cont'd.]

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These Martial Arts Exercises Will Improve Strength, Power, Speed, Quickness And Jumping Ability.

2013-02-17 11:56:00 (читать в оригинале)

 

 

These Martial Arts Exercises Will Improve Strength, Power, Speed, Quickness And Jumping Ability.

Submitted by: Yoshi Kundagawa

When thinking of exercising you need to think about Martial Arts exercises, in specific, Hapkido Training. These Exercises help to improve Martial Arts. The benefits of doing this exercise is the fact you are working out and you do not get out breath doing these. You will also learn, as I did, self-defense in the process. Knowing how to protect you and your loved ones is an excellent motivator; I know it was for me. These exercises will increase your cardiovascular and help tone your muscles to where you can increase your strength, power, speed, quickness and jumping abilities.


I noticed that my flexibility was greatly improved which lessened the over all discomfort and stiffness associated with many other exercises. The kickboxing itself will help improve your mobility.


I also noticed that my overall outlook on life was greatly improved, which made my days more enjoyable and pleasurable. Many people comment that their anger is increased by not feeling well, or due to a lack of energy.


As a parent of a child who takes martial arts, you might notice that his or her attitude about everything is better along with improved schoolwork. You might even notice that his or her other sports activities improved and he or she will want to participate.


These following exercises are design with specifics parts of the body and will help your Exercises to improve Martial Arts. The first exercise we will go over is the Basic Squat. To do the Basic Squat properly, you need to face directly forward, while placing your feet a little farther apart than your shoulders. Keep your upper body and back straight, with your hands in the forward fighting positions. Once you are in this position, slowly bend your knees while keeping everywhere else still. Keep your head and eyes straightforward. Once you have lowered yourself to where your thighs are parallel with the ground slowly raise back up.


Remember to start out slowly, and once you and your body get comfortable doing them, you can increase your pace and repetitions.


Next is kicking. With kicking, you should start out slowly, going to the basic first and working your way into more advanced kicks. I do not recommend jumping or round house kicks until you and your legs have adjusted properly. Also be sure to alternate from one leg to another.


Once you have mastered kicking, you can move onto Squat Kicking. To Squat Kick, you need to start out in a basic squat position and this time, when you raise up, carry out your kick starting out with your right leg first. Repeat this until you are confident enough and your legs is used to the action and then move onto your left leg.


As with any exercise, I warn you to use caution. You will also want to wear the appropriate clothing, these need to be loose enough to move around in but not too loose to where you trip over them. Each of these Exercises helps to improve Martial Arts.


About the Author: Yoshi I Kundagawa is a freelance journalist. He covers the mixed martial arts industry. For a free report on Exercises to improve Martial Arts visit his blog.


Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=147499&ca=Sports 

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Martial Arts Training ? Discovering What?s Best For You!

2013-02-17 11:56:00 (читать в оригинале)