Roger Knecht

Eye of the Storm

rknecht — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 20:08:03 +0000

I’d ask you to also consider the following passage from a day long gone by. I discovered it in a speech by my favorite central banker, Richard W. Fisher:

Every now and then the world is visited by one of these delusive seasons, when ‘the credit system’ … expands to full luxuriance: everybody trusts everybody; a bad debt is a thing unheard of; the broad way to certain and sudden wealth lies plain and open; and men are tempted to dash forward boldly from the facility of borrowing.

Now is the time for speculative and dreaming or designing men. They relate their dreams and projects to the ignorant and credulous, dazzle them with golden visions, and set them maddening after shadows. The example of one stimulates another; speculation rises on speculation; bubble rises on bubble; every one helps … to swell the windy superstructure….

It renders the [financier] a magician, and the Exchange a region of enchantment…. No ‘operation’ is thought worthy of attention that does not double or treble the investment. No business is worth following that does not promise an immediate fortune…. The subterranean garden of Aladdin is nothing to the realms of wealth that break upon [the] imagination.

“Could this delusion always last, …life …would indeed be a golden dream; but it is as short as it is brilliant.”

Now those last words weren’t written by Fisher or Roosevelt — but by Washington Irving. He was talking about the “Mississippi Bubble” fiasco of 1719. And even though it was penned almost 300 years ago, it reads like it could have been written at the height of the bubble a few years back. Chalk it up to the human condition.

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Venezuela introduces Cuba-like food card

rknecht — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 15:03:15 +0000

Presented by President Hugo Chávez as an instrument to make shopping for groceries easier, the “Good Life Card” is making various segments of the population wary because they see it as a furtive attempt to introduce a rationing card similar to the one in Cuba.

The measure could easily become a mechanism to control the population, according to civil society groups.

“We see that in short-term this could become a rationing card probably similar to the one used in Cuba,” Roberto León Parilli, president of the National Association of Users and Consumers, told El Nuevo Herald. “It would use more advanced technological means [than those used in Cuba], but when they tell you where to buy and what the limits of what you can buy are, they are conditioning your purchases.”

Chávez said Tuesday that the card could be used to buy groceries at the government chain of markets and supplies.

And although the cards were introduced as a mechanism to deal with scarcities, Suchlicki said, they later became an instrument of control.

“People depended on the government to eat, and nothing gives you more power than having people depend on you to get their food quota,” he said.

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How Twins are Made

rknecht — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 04:29:29 +0000

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Solar Roadways: The Prototype

rknecht — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 03:40:02 +0000

***Solar Roadways is currently a top contender for the $200M GE Ecomagination contest. Please vote for them at http://www.solarroadways.com/vote.shtml , and help turn this prototype into reality!***

The Solar Roadways project is working to pave roads with solar panels that you can drive on. Co-founder Scott Brusaw has made some major steps forward since our first visit back in 2007, so we visited him again earlier this year for an exclusive update on the project, including the first ever video recorded of the Solar Roadways prototype! For more information visit http://www.solarroadways.com . This Solar Roadway project will be featured in the upcoming feature film by YERT – Your Environmental Road Trip. To learn more about YERT, visit http://yert.com .

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How to pack a disaster kit

rknecht — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 02:51:20 +0000

By Lauren King

CHECKLIST

Here’s what you need in a good hurricane/disaster kit.

- water – at least 1 gallon daily per person for 3 to 7 days

- food – at least enough for 3 to 7 days

- non-perishable packaged or canned food / juices

- foods for infants or the elderly

- non-electric can opener

- cooking tools and fuel

- paper plates and plastic utensils

- blankets and pillows

- clothing: include rain gear and sturdy shoes

- first aid kit (see list below), medicines and prescription drugs, and a list of your doctors, medications and allergies

- prescription eyewear

- special items for babies and the elderly

- toiletries, hygiene items

- whistle to signal for help

- dust mask, to help filter contaminated air

- flashlight and batteries

- radio (battery-operated)

- household chlorine bleach and medicine dropper (when diluted in water, bleach can be used to kill germs)

- fire extinguisher

- matches in a waterproof container

- phones: fully charged cell phone with an extra battery and a traditional (not cordless) telephone set

- cash (with some small bills) and credit cards (banks and ATMs might not be available)

- keys

- toys, books, games

- paper and pen/pencil

- important documents in a waterproof container or watertight resealable plastic bag: insurance, medical records, bank account numbers, Social Security card(s)

- toolbox

- sunscreen

- pet care items: ID, immunization records, medication, food and water, a carrier or cage, a muzzle and leash

Also, make sure your vehicle’s fuel tank is filled.

FIRST-AID KIT

Must-haves:

- two pairs of Latex or other sterile gloves

- sterile dressings

- soap and antibiotic towelettes

- antibiotic ointment

- burn ointment

- adhesive bandages (variety of sizes)

- eye wash solution

- thermometer

Additional items you might want:

- scissors

- tweezers

- petroleum jelly or other lubricant

- aspirin or other pain reliever

- anti-diarrhea medication

- antacid

- laxative

Source: ReadyVirginia.gov

SHOPPING LIST

To make creating a hurricane kit economical, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management has broken down a suggested supply list to purchase the basics in steps over four weeks. After this, you can add to the kit as needed.

Week One – Hardware store:

- containers to hold supplies (large plastic tub with lid, backpack, etc.)

- flashlights

- portable tool kit

- roll of duct tape

- utility knife

- tarp (to cover a leaky roof)

- battery-operated radio

- batteries for flashlights and radio

Purchase or gather from existing household supply:

- blanket or sleeping bag and pillow for each member of the household

- towels

- books or games for entertainment

- local road map

- set of extra clothing and shoes for each member of the household

Week Two – Grocery store:

- cans of meat, ready-to-eat soup, vegetables and fruit

- box of heavy-duty garbage bags with ties

- box of resealable food storage bags for important papers and small items

- hand-operated can opener

Week Three – Drugstore:

- toothbrushes and toothpaste

- over-the-counter and prescription medications

- sanitary wipes or liquid hand sanitizer

- feminine hygiene supplies

- bottle of shampoo

- family-size first aid kit

Week Four – Grocery store:

- gallons of water for each member of the household, including pets (at least one gallon per person per day)

- quick energy snacks (granola bars, nuts, raisins, trail mix)

- peanut butter

- cans of juice (not concentrate)

- rolls of paper towels

- six-roll pack of toilet paper

If needed, purchase extra items for:

- pets (food, leashes, toys, etc.)

- children (baby food, formula, diapers, coloring books, etc.)

- elderly or special needs family members (hearing aid batteries, special food, etc.)

Sources: National Hurricane Center, Virginia Department of Transportation, Virginia Department of Emergency Management

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Amazing Historical Photos Of 1939-40 Germany

rknecht — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 23:41:03 +0000

http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/uabXdT

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Hang On

rknecht — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:25:05 +0000

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SHOTS ACROSS THE BORDER

rknecht — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 00:19:07 +0000

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Trophy – Active defence developed in Israel

rknecht — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:42:53 +0000

The Trophy active protection system creates a hemispheric protected zone around the vehicle where incoming threats are intercepted and defeated. It has three elements providing — Threat Detection and Tracking, Launching and Intercept functions. The Threat Detection and Warning subsystem consists of several sensors, including flat-panel radars, placed at strategic locations around the protected vehicle, to provide full hemispherical coverage. Once an incoming threat is detected identified and verified, the Countermeasure Assembly is opened, the countermeasure device is positioned in the direction where it can effectively intercept the threat. Then, it is launched automatically into a ballistic trajectory to intercept the incoming threat at a relatively long distance.

The Trophy system is simply awesome. It protects vehicles like tanks 360 degree and above. This video demonstrates this Israeli developed system.
Trophy system will change the battlefield in a major way. The system has been installed in over 70% of the IDF’s main battle tanks and other important armored vehicles. The balance of approximately 30% will be completed in very short order. Numerous armies have indicated a very serious interest in the Trophy system, but so far, the IDF is not prepared to share the technology with anyone.

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Digital Armageddon: Could foreign hackers execute a crippling attack on American shores?

rknecht — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:48:18 +0000

A key Department of Defense network goes down. Air-traffic control collapses. Trains collide. Financial data systems are in ruins. Lethal clouds of chlorine gas drift from plants in New Jersey and Delaware.Thousands of Americans are dead — and the looting and food shortages haven’t even begun.

READ: “An electronic Pearl Harbor?,” by David Scharfenberg

“In all the wars America has fought, no nation has ever done this kind of damage to our cities,” writes Richard A. Clarke in his recently published book Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What To Do About It. “A sophisticated cyber-war attack by one of several nation-states could do that today, in 15 minutes.”Coming from the man who waged an often lonely pre-9/11 campaign to warn his superiors in the Clinton and Bush White Houses of the threat posed by Al Qaeda, the admonition is difficult to ignore.

But could a handful of hackers really cripple the world’s sole superpower? Could we truly be 15 minutes from calamity?

It is a question as difficult as it is chilling. But one thing is clear: we’re vulnerable.

Wired to death?

Our financial, health, and national-defense systems are heavily wired. Our power grid and telecommunications systems, too. And protecting that giant digital architecture is extraordinarily difficult. However vigilant our defense — and it is sorely lacking — hackers need find only one vulnerability to break in and wreak havoc.

That havoc can come in the form of direct, material harm: the so-called “denial of service” attacks that shut down individual Web sites and large swaths of the Internet, or the multi-million-dollar bank robberies currently occupying the FBI and dozens of other law-enforcement agencies around the world.

But it can also come in the form of espionage: a 2008 infiltration of the United States Central Command that a high-ranking Pentagon official called “the most significant breach of US military computers ever,” last year’s mining of Google’s computers for trade secrets and information on Chinese dissidents, or WikiLeaks’ disclosure of huge troves of classified documents on the Afghanistan war effort.

Foreign hackers have already probed our power grid for weaknesses and some in the intelligence community worry Russian and Chinese cyber snoops have left behind “logic bombs” that could be set off in the event of a conflict, plunging New York, Washington, or Los Angeles into darkness.

There is also heavy concern about a hardware and software supply chain that stretches overseas — providing ample opportunity for foreign agents to plant “trap doors” in weapons and other vital systems that can be kicked open when the time is right.

That sort of tampering is one theory behind how Israeli intelligence seemingly disabled Syrian radar in advance of a 2007 bombing raid on an apparent North Korean–built nuclear weapons facility.

And all these threats — “trap doors,” “logic bombs,” theft — are only what we know about. “It’s also the things we don’t know,” says Rhode Island Representative James Langevin, co-chairman of the House Cyber Security Caucus. “What is the threat out there tomorrow that we haven’t anticipated, can’t anticipate?”

Take, for instance, the “denial of service” strike on Estonia.

Tensions between Russia and the former Soviet satellite flared in the spring of 2007 over a giant bronze statue of a Red Army soldier in the Estonian capital of Tallinn. And after ethnic Russians clashed with nationalists on what became known as Bronze Night, authorities moved the statue to a more protected spot.

That, of course, only set off waves of outrage in the Russian media and political circles. And before long, hackers were knitting together tens of thousands of “zombie” computers — their owners unaware — in a massive “botnet” attack on Estonia’s digital infrastructure, cutting off access to online banking, media, and government services.

The Estonians, after some cyber sleuthing, claimed the code behind the attack had been written on Cyrillic-language keyboards traced back to Russia. But who, precisely, in Russia was to blame?

Some Russian officials suggested that “patriotic hackers” independent of the government may have been responsible. Observers speculated that organized crime — with its phalanx of high-level hackers — might have played a role. Either, of course, could have operated with the tacit support of the government. But the Kremlin denied involvement and stonewalled on the investigation.

Three years later, the origins of what may be the highest profile cyber attack in history remain a mystery.

‘One of the most serious . . . challenges we face’
Washington is hardly blind to the danger.

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