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Putin's Speach @ 43rd Munich Conf of Security

Speaker: Putin, Wladimir W. Funktion: President, Russian Federation Nation/ Organisation: Russian Federation Speech at the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy 02/10/2007 (The speech was held in Russian. Find the English translation below.) Thank you very much dear Madam Federal Chancellor, Mr Teltschik, ladies and gentlemen! I am truly grateful to be invited to such a representative conference that has assembled politicians, military officials, entrepreneurs and experts from more than 40 nations. This conference’s structure allows me to avoid excessive politeness and the need to speak in roundabout, pleasant but empty diplomatic terms. This conference’s format will allow me to say what I really think about international security problems. And if my comments seem unduly polemical, pointed or inexact to our colleagues, then I would ask you not to get angry with me. After all, this is only a conference. And I hope that after the first two or three minutes of my speech Mr Teltschik w

Coup for Laos Denied

A total of 10 people are in custody in California, accused of plotting to overthrow the government of Laos. Mike O'Sullivan reports from Los Angeles, the alleged plotters include a former Laotian general and a retired US military officer. A six-month undercover investigation, dubbed "Operation Tarnished Eagle," led to charges against nine people Monday, with charges pending against a tenth. Investigators say the accused met in hotel rooms and restaurants in California's Central Valley, where they plotted to buy hundreds of automatic rifles, antitank missiles, rockets, mines, C-4 explosive and smoke grenades. Authorities say the conspirators were planning to ship the arms by way of safe houses and drop zones in Thailand and Laos. Mercenaries would retrieve the weapons, then blow up government buildings and assassinate officials in Laos in an attempt to overthrow the country's communist government. The accused include Vang Pao, 77, a former Laotian general who is

brain.enters.digital.age

SAN FRANCISCO (Business 2.0 Magazine) - -- Two years ago, a quadriplegic man started playing video games using his brain as a controller. That may just sound like fun and games for the unfortunate, but really, it spells the beginning of a radical change in how we interact with computers - and business will never be the same. Someday, keyboards and computer mice will be remembered only as medieval-style torture devices for the wrists. All work - emails, spreadsheets, and Google searches - will be performed by mind control. Decoding the brain Nagle was able to accomplish all this because the brain has been greatly demystified in laboratories over the last decade or so. Researchers unlocked the brain patterns for thoughts that represent letters of the alphabet as early as 1999. Now, Cyberkinetics and a host of other companies are working on turning those discoveries into real products. Neurodevices - medical devices that compensate for damage to the brain, nerves, and spinal column - are

New Security Procedures for Processing Iraqi Refugees

Release Date: May 29, 2007 For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary Contact: 202-282-8010 The Department of Homeland Security has developed enhanced security screening procedures for Iraqi refugees applying for resettlement in the U.S. As a first step in fulfilling the Administration's commitment to accept up to 7,000 referrals of the most vulnerable Iraqi refugees – such as persons whose lives may be in jeopardy because they worked for coalition forces – the department is poised to approve the applications of nearly 60 Iraqis. The Departments of Homeland Security and State continue to work closely toward this fiscal year 2007 goal, and the new security screening procedures will facilitate our progress while ensuring that terrorists do not enter this country posing as refugees. These new screening procedures supplement the checks conducted for all refugee applicants who are considered for resettlement in this country. Applicants will not be admitted if doubts arise about

Cripple Creek miners' strike of 1894

The strike had an immediate effect. By the end of February, all smelters in Colorado were either closed or running part-time. At the beginning of March, the Gold King and Granite mines gave in and resumed the eight-hour day.[ 5 ] Mine owners still holding out for the 10-hour day soon attempted to re-open their mines. On March 14, they obtained a court injunction ordering the miners not to interfere with the operation of their mines. A limited number of strikebreakers were brought in. The WFM initially attempted to persuade these men to join the union and strike. When they were unsuccessful, the WFM resorted to threats and violence. The strikebreakers were so intimidated that few of them reported for work.[ 6 ] An event on March 16 changed the nature of the strike. An armed group of miners ambushed and captured six sheriff's deputies en route to the Victor mine. Shots were fired, and the miners and deputies engaged in a fistfight. Two of the deputies received minor injuries. An Alt

brain modalities mapped

Brain uses both neural 'teacher' and 'tinkerer' networks in learning. While most people need peace and quiet to cram for a test, the brain itself may need noise to learn, a recent MIT study suggests. In experiments with monkeys, the researchers found that neural activities in the brain gradually change, even when nothing new is being learned. "In the same way, learning in the brain has two components--error-correction and noise--so that even though the neural representation keeps changing, the behavior remains fixed. We think the tinkerer, that is the noise, is not merely a nuisance to the teacher but is actually helping the teacher explore new possibilities it wouldn't have considered otherwise."

Bloomberg To New Yorkers: 'Stop Worrying, Get A Life...lousy fearmongers!'

On Monday, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg finally weighed in on the JFK terror plot, but his response was not what some would have expected."There are lots of threats to you in the world. There's the threat of a heart attack for genetic reasons. You can't sit there and worry about everything. Get a life," he said. read more | digg story

world class quotes

"You have no frame of reference, Donny. You're like a child who walks into the middle of a movie..."

hello world…WAKE UP!

o the rot within… the time of american hegemony is over. the fractured state of american society and bilateral disfunction of the political apparatus are the main contributing factors. collective guilt, bankrupt corporate ethics and the lack of personal accountability fuel the disease that is killing the amerikan republik. the global neighborhood has caught a whiff of the decay and the buzzards are starting to circle. the potential for increased societal control of a mistrustful and mutually fearing population already divided by class and economics is at hand. fears are carefully and repeatedly created and fed by a mass media who wishes to create a culture of fear, often through the manipulation of words, facts, sources or data, in order to induce certain personal behaviors, justify governmental actions or policies (at home or abroad). a few techniques the fearmonger uses to distract the public’s attention from allegedly more urgent social issues like: * careful selection and omission