November 2009
22 posts
New York to beam disaster alerts to Xbox gamers
Evading terrorists and nuclear attacks on your Xbox 360 looks set to
become a real-world challenge as well as a virtual one. New York State
(NYS) has begun trialling use of the console as an emergency broadcast
system for disasters.
NYS’ Emergency Management Office (EMO) has opted to use the Xbox 360
as a test bed for console-transmitted warnings which may eventually see
the EMO interrupt your...
How to 'unlock' the brains of coma patients
There will be few who didn’t shiver when they heard the story of Rom Houben, a 46-year old Belgian man believed to be in a coma for over 20 years, who it has now emerged was conscious the whole time. How
many other people are out there, imprisoned by their own bodies? How
might we discover more of them? Apart
from avoiding a repeat of Houben’s nightmare, being able to detect
full,...
Support Paul-Grayson AND H.R. 1207
Rep. Ron Paul’s Federal Reserve Transparency Act is making progress …
* The House version of the bill (H.R. 1207) has 313 co-sponsors * The Senate version (H.R. 604) has 30 co-sponsors
And last week, Ron Paul along with Rep. Alan Grayson introduced a version of the bill as an amendment to H.R. 3996, Rep. Barney Frank’s mammoth banking regulation bill.
In spite of Chairman...
Iraq war inquiry: Britain heard US drumbeat for...
Tony Blair’s government knew that prominent members of the Bush administration wanted to topple Saddam Hussein
years before the invasion but initially distanced itself from the
prospect knowing it would be unlawful, it was disclosed at the Iraq inquiry today. British
intelligence also dismissed claims by elements in the US administration
that the Iraqi leader was linked to Osama bin Laden,...
Do you want bureaucrats to rewrite laws?
The Environmental Protection Agency is rewriting
the Clean Air Act, without Congressional involvement! Our Write the
Laws Act would prevent this kind of unconstitutional rule-making by
Executive Branch bureaucrats. Please send Congress a letter telling them to pass the Write the Laws Act.
You can copy or borrow from my letter to Congress …
Here’s a perfect example of why I want you...
1 in 3 laptops die in first three years
So your new laptop computer died in inside of a year. “I’ll never
buy a computer from [insert manufacturer name here] again!” I’ve heard
the protests time and time again. Yeah, maybe you got a lemon,
but no matter which brand you bought, you truly are not alone in this
situation: An analysis of 30,000 new laptops from SquareTrade, which
provides aftermarket warranty...
Climate Change: Do you want Congress to spend $2...
You may not believe global warming is happening. Or, you may not believe humans are responsible for it.
But for the sake of argument, let’s assume
human-caused global warming is indeed happening. Conceding this, it
turns out that …
The effort to curb carbon emissions will be far more harmful than global warming itself!
Please send Congress a letter demanding that they defeat the cap...
Would you rather have a Ferrari, or pay corporate...
Health insurance is cheap in some states. In
others it costs as much as the lease on a Ferrari. This isn’t because
of any flaw in the free market. It’s because we don’t have a free
market! What we have instead are laws that reward corporate welfare
benefits to special interests and insurance companies.
Please send a letter asking Congress to restore free market health...
Congressional leaders are bribing other members of...
Congressional leaders routinely use your tax
money to bribe other members of Congress, buying votes to enact
legislation that couldn’t pass otherwise. The so-called healthcare bill
is the latest example.
Please send Congress a letter using an anti-bribery argument to oppose the cancerous healthcare bill.
You can copy or borrow from my letter to Congress to write your own …
Please...
Tea Party adopts Downsize DC Agenda
Where and when you can meet Jim Babka this Wednesday, plus, another shot at REAL ID
Some good things have resulted from our past efforts …
I spoke at the Williamsport, PA Tea Party on
August 29th. There were over 4,000 people there! The organizing
committee had a scroll full of demands for Congress to move in a
downsizing direction. Hundreds of people signed the scroll. Included
among the...
Facebook Status Update Clears Teen From Criminal...
This is Rodney Bradford.
A few days ago, Facebook saved his 19-yo life. Facebook, and his status
plea demanding the immediate consumption of one of the basic food
groups every human being needs to properly function in the morning:
Pancakes.
Rodney was arrested on October 18 as a suspect in two crimes. He
declared himself innocent and Robert Reuland—his defense...
Key oil figures were distorted by US pressure,...
The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency who claims it has been deliberately underplaying a looming shortage for fear of triggering panic buying. The
senior official claims the US has played an influential role in
encouraging the watchdog to underplay the rate of decline from existing
oil fields...
Report: 237 millionaires in Congress
Talk about bad timing.
As Washington reels from the news of 10.2 percent unemployment, the
Center for Responsive Politics is out with a new report describing the
wealth of members of Congress.
Among the highlights: Two-hundred-and-thirty-seven members of Congress
are millionaires. That’s 44 percent of the body – compared to about 1
percent of Americans overall.
CRP says California...
Overspending: Blame It On Your ‘Debt Gene’?
When you apply for a mortgage in 10 years, you may be asked for your bank statements, your pay stubs… and a cheek swab. At least that’s one possible implication of a new study, which reports a groundbreaking finding: that whether you carry a specific gene variant can predict your propensity to rack up credit card debt. Specifically, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, of the London School of Economics, and...
Achtung baby! German babies say 'wäh', French say...
It can be easy to “catch” an accent if you spend enough time in a
foreign country - now it seems fetuses start grappling with the
specifics of their mother tongue even when cocooned inside the womb. That’s the conclusion of a new study in Current Biology that compared the cries of 30 healthy French and 30 German newborns aged just two to five days old. We
already knew that from...
We want to speak truth to the Supreme Court
We need your help to join an amicus brief to the
Supreme Court arguing that the right to keep and bear arms is not only a
right to self-defense against criminals, but also against tyrannical
government.
If you
want the Supreme Court to hear this argument please make a
tax-deductible contribution for this purpose to the Downsize DC
Foundation.
Why this is important
Statism is the belief...
Don't panic over the secret copyright treaty
Secret gatherings of the world’s governments are usually the stuff of fevered imaginings, but just one such gathering is this week generating its own fair share of paranoia.
Some of the world’s biggest economies are gathered in South Korea this week to discuss copyright law in secret. The plans they are coming up with are still under wraps, but that has allowed hyperbole to...
How Biofuel Leaked Into the House Health Bill
By David M.
Herszenhorn
At first glance, it might seem as if House Democrats were so
overwhelmed by their ambitious legislative agenda that they confused
their big climate change legislation with their big health care bill.
A package of last-minute changes to the Democrats’
health care bill made public on Wednesday night included a
curious tax provision related to the production...
URGENT Audit the Fed "Gutted" Unless We Act Now
Meet Rep. Mel Watt of North Carolina’s 12th
District. Rep. Watt chairs the House Financial Services monetary policy
subcommittee. Commercial
banks have been his largest career donor, giving a total of $319,822
over the past ten years.
That’s just a little over $30,000 per year.
Clearly the banking lobby is satisfied with Mr.
Watt’s performance.
Last Friday, Rep. Ron Paul...
On the eve of a new EU constitution, Poland...
Just hours ago, Czech President Vaclav Klaus was the last to add his
signature to a list of 25 others, effectively ratifying sweeping
amendments to the Treaty of Lisbon — effectively, the constitution of
the European Union. A new centralized executive authority will be
created, dramatically expanding the roles of the EU’s President and
formalizing the role of its own,...
Will you survive the 1,900 page tumor?
It seems like the more the American people demand
that Congress slow down and read its bills, the more Congressional
leaders arrogantly counter with mammoth legislation they want to pass in
a hurry.
The latest example is the 1,900 page healthcare
monstrosity the House leadership unveiled last week. They want a
vote on it this week!
I believe they’re overreaching, and helping to...