Next year the Air Force will launch atop of an Atlas V rocket an unmanned space plane code named “X-37”.
It will have a 4′ x 7′ cargo bay and extensive improvements that was learned during the space shuttle era.
But the X-37 has a deeper ancestry than the space shuttle that reaches back to the beginnings of the space program:
The X-37 embodies other modifications of shuttle technology. All shuttle-era hydraulics have been eliminated; the new spaceplane’s flight controls will be operated electromechanically, making the X-37 fly-by-wire. Unlike the shuttle, with its one vertical stabilizer, the X-37 has two short diagonal ones, called ruddervators—surfaces that combine the functions of rudders and elevators. These reduce the amount of propellant needed to handle trim and control during the high-speed, high-angle-of-attack reentry, and provide room for a centerline speed brake that manages the vehicle’s glide energy just before landing.
Upon reaching orbit, the craft will deploy a solar array that will power batteries. Those batteries have replaced hydrogen fuel cells, the shuttle’s power source in orbit. The vehicle will maneuver in space powered by a combination of nitrogen tetroxide and hydrazine. Theoretically, the X-37 could rendezvous with other satellites of interest to the Air Force, friendly or otherwise.
If the X-37 is to carry out such national security missions, its roots will extend back beyond the space shuttle, to earlier spaceplanes. Says Mark Lewis: “I would draw a heritage not only to the shuttle, but to my very favorite program that never was: the X-20.”
A follow-on to the X-15 rocketplane, which didn’t have the power to get to orbit, the X-20 Dyna-Soar spaceplane, initiated in 1957, would have ridden a massive Titan III booster all the way to orbit if needed, and carried a pilot. (Neil Armstrong was one NASA test pilot selected to fly it, but in 1962 he transferred to the Apollo program.) Dyna-Soar would have given the Air Force a manned system that could have filled a variety of needs: research, reconnaissance, or even attack. It was designed to reach any target in the world in 45 minutes, deliver a weapon, and glide to a friendly base. Its altitude and hypersonic speed would have made it very difficult to intercept.
While this type of capability sounded like something the Air Force needed, the service had difficulty justifying it. NASA was making progress with blunt-body capsules that reentered the atmosphere without the need for pilot control, and intercontinental ballistic missiles were dominating the nuclear delivery mission. A controlled-reentry spaceplane puzzled Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara; he directed the Air Force to study whether concepts such as NASA’s Gemini could handle some of the roles better. In December 1963, shortly after prime contractor Boeing started building the vehicle and after about $660 million had been spent, McNamara killed the X-20.
I’m not surprised that McNamara killed the Dina-Soar program. Like all short-sighted politico types, he only saw the next war for empire and resources on the horizon.
Not above it.
9/11, bin Laden Dog and Pony show for the benefit of the Empire’s citizens:
A new audio message, directed at the American people – purported to be from al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden – claims the President Barack Obama will find himself powerless to halt the American-led war in Afghanistan.
The latest audio recording, attributed to Bin Laden, again attempts to justify al-Qaeda’s September 11, 2001, terror attack on the United States as being part of the group’s quest for the liberation of Palestine.
The tape was provided by an American-based firm – IntelCenter, which monitors terrorist propaganda. It says the 11-minute video shows a still picture of bin Laden while audio of the address plays.
In the recording, the man identified as Bin Laden reiterates long-standing grievances including American support for Israel and “some other injustices.”
He puts forward a reading list of recent books, including one by a former CIA agent, which the tape says will clarify the “message” of the terrorist attack eight years ago.
The recording notes that the Obama administration includes key figures from the previous Bush administration, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The voice, believed to be that of Bin Laden, thus concludes President Obama is a weakened man and powerless to change course in Afghanistan because of “pressure groups.” And, if he tries, the tape says “his fate will be feared” to be like that of the assassinated President John Kennedy and his brother, Robert.
It is the first message believed to be from the reclusive terrorist leader since one in June, in which bin Laden accused President Obama of sowing new seeds of hatred against America among Muslims.
“President Barack Obama will find himself powerless to halt the American-led war in Afghanistan.”
See, Obama has to continue the war in Afghanistan.
Bin Laden himself said he had to, see.
Funny this tape came out on 9/11.
Had to remind the Empire’s sheeple why they had to keep paying taxes to the Military-Industrial-Congressional-Complex.
No-bid contractors’ jobs depend on that y’see.
Not to mention the banksters too!
As this year is getting under way, national and world news offers little in change, yet.
This past Friday (1/2), Wall Street wonks give a positive, though cautious analysis about the new year’s stock markets around the world, giving a boost to Asian and Eurozone exchanges this morning; (Asia)http://www.cnbc.com/id/19832390/ , (Eurozone)http://www.cnbc.com/id/19794221/ .
I’m not buying into this meme, due to the fact that in alot of states, state governments are levying more taxes and cutting services to low, middle income folks and not raising taxes on the rich folk. According to New York State governor, David Paterson, raising taxes on the rich is “unpalatable” and to be used as a last resort; http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/nyregion/21millionaire.html.
Leona Helmsley would approve.
On the world front, Zionist Israel is continuing its pogrom on the Palestinians, killing hundreds of civilians in order to get at Hamas “terrorists”; http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jan2009/gaza-j05.shtml .
World opinion is against Israel, of course, and using civilians as human shields is a shitty way for Hamas to get their message across. And of course, the Israeli government is backed wholeheartedly by Bu$hco, who is raking up mega-monopoly-money via the military-industrial-congressional complex from the slaughter not only in Gaza, but world-wide.
So what’s with a little exit plan profit taking?
The incoming Obama administration’s meme of spreading fiat currency around the country for infrastructure, school and green tech is hitting rough ground as some in Congress say that there’s not enough time to get an economic plan together by the Inauguration, but by the middle of February instead; http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/us/politics/05spend.html?bl&ex=1231304400&en=99a6130dae16eb41&ei=5087%0A .
There’s plenty more news I can comment on, but I still want the focus to remain on science and science-fiction in this ezine.
Have a good week folks and remember to convert to gold!
For all of you US Government junkies who are fascinated with how much of our fiat funny-money is pumped into the military-industrial-congressional complex, here’s a handy-dandy historical chart that in fact traces our change from an isolationist republic during the 1940s into the globe-spanning neo-communist proto-world state we are now.
Wall Stats.com: Death and Taxes
Hat tip to Ignorance Is Futile!
How is everyone doing this week? Still have a bank account? Company retirement? 401K? Stocks? Piles of worthless paper?
To be honest, I haven’t had the balls to check my 401K at work, I think the shock would give me a stroke!
Not that it would matter, with my luck a stroke wouldn’t kill me outright, just paralyze me. And with the US Government printing presses running 24/7 to make enough Monopoly money in order to “bail out” banks and financial institutions, the idea that Social Security will be funded when the Japanese and Chinese start calling in their markers is just ludicrous.
So begging for alms looks like a real possibility for poor, disabled folk in the near future.
Great, isn’t it?
Very real possibility. But, if we keep printing funny money non-stop to keep Wall Street consolidating into ever larger and larger monstrosities, the world might not allow us to drop forever into the blackhole sewer, because we would either start WWIII, or drag the rest of the planet down the economic crapper with us according to Benjamin Fulford in this article.
And because the theory of “decoupling” ( disentanglement from various economies ) is proving to be so much bullshit as the UK and China start to experience the “pain” of the US with its over-inflated values of property and bogus fiat paper floating all over the planet:
Even in the case where the direct effect is small — the decoupling assumption — the U.S. slowdown still can have a substantial net impact on European exports because of its indirect effect on Asian imports from Europe.
So Europeans should not be tempted to think that they are somehow “decoupled” from America’s foibles and woes. Until recently, many Europeans thought they were insulated from the current U.S. housing and mortgage crisis. But in what has been a truly malignant “export” from America to Europe, the U.S. created “garbage debt” in the form of sub-prime mortgages, and Europeans — hungry for extra yield, and as reckless as Americans — bought it. Many European banks’ balance sheets are now as contaminated as those of American banks, and no one is sure who is holding — or hiding — the junk, and how to value it.
This is why European banks are now reluctant to lend to each other. They could be lending to an institution that is in serious financial trouble.
It is hard to imagine that higher interest rates and reduced credit availability will not lead to distress for Europe’s overall economy. Yet this is exactly the stance of the European Central Bank, which is treating the euro zone as if its financial sector was somehow decoupled from the rest of the economy — and running a different monetary policy for each sector at the same time.
By pumping in whatever liquidity the financial sector needs to alleviate the credit crunch, the ECB is effectively maintaining a deflationary bias for the financial sector, whereas it has announced an inflationary bias for the rest of the economy.
A monetary policy at war with itself cannot long endure…
( link )
Which is exactly what happened in the Eurozone these past two weeks as word of impending financial insolvency of Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae became apparent and word of Lehman Brother’s bankruptcy got around, all of Europe’s markets panicked, not just one or two. As soon as they got word the US government were either directly bailing out or loaning money to these places, the panic eased some.
And so it happened once again this week shortly after Lehman Brothers, AIG started to go belly-up. Thus, the Federal printing presses are cranking up full speed to loan Monopoly money to AIG.
So what can we take from all of this?
1.) Washington ’s Three Stooges:
Greenspan and Bernanke have not been alone in what will surely be remembered as America ’s Financial Apocalypse – the eventful period ushering in a decade-long depression, as predicted in my 2006 book by the same title. Certainly, President Bush did not create these trends. But his financial irresponsibility has accelerated their magnitude. In less than eight years, he has managed to increase the national debt by 90%. As the data shows, not only has he led the worst recovery since the post-WWII era, he has also positioned his successor with budget shortfalls for many years to come due to Part D Medicare, the Iraq War, and his tax cuts for the wealthy.
Combined with the staggering deficits for Medicare and Social Security , America ’s economy will be in the gutter for many years to come even after the banking and real estate troubles cool down. No one else is talking about these issues because they’re wrapped up in the daily drama. But save this article and others I’ve written because I’ve been mentioning the longer-term problems ever since writing my book. In a few years, more people will begin to address these issues once they are transformed into daily drama.
2.) President Bush’s attempts at a recovery:
…have been so horrendous they’ve actually led to the current recession, which will turn out to be the worst in decades. I would venture to guess he is desperately pleading with officials to come up with even more gimmicks to hide the full realities of the economy so the worst will be reported only after he leaves office. But I will guarantee you if Washington and the Fed continue this reckless game of applying band aids instead of letting things play out, we will see a much bigger crisis down the road, similar to what happened after Greenspan tried to mitigate the dotcom collapse. You can bet this is going to happen because Washington does not understand the meaning of preemption.
Altogether, we have had eight years of no gains in real median wages, flat stock market returns, and minimal net new jobs. Despite what you have heard, after adjusting for debt spending, population growth and realistic adjustments to the GDP deflator, there have only been 3 or 4 quarters of GDP growth since 2005. If you adjust for military, government and minimum wage positions – i.e. jobs funded by tax payers and jobs that don’t pay anything – there have been absolutely no net new jobs. Bush’s largest gains have been with inflation, oil and food prices, debt, trade deficits, bankruptcies, foreclosures, and healthcare costs. If an assembly of the world’s leading economic strategists were to design the most destructive economic disaster possible, they could not match the results of Bush’s tenure. Even the most loyal Bush supporters will admit he has been an absolute disaster – that is if they’re being honest. America is now more dependent on foreign nations than ever – not only for oil, but also credit and manufactured goods.
3.) America ’s “Resilient” Economy:
Many of the pundits flood the propaganda networks with repeated denials of the problems, boasting how resilient the U.S. economy is. You know who they are. I’m not quite sure what they’ve been smoking. But it appears to be some sort of hallucinogen because they seem to expect Superman to bend the economy back into shape. Ladies and Gentlemen, in case mommy never told you, there is no Santa Claus and there is no Superman. And if you think Bernanke’s printing presses have an endless supply of ink and paper, just wait until the real crisis appears. So you had better get ready because it’s coming. It is virtually inescapable. And it’s going to cause devastation around the globe. Of course I’m taking about the likely implosion of the CDS market.
Let’s take a look at America ’s “resilient economy.” Let’s see…the entire financial system is in the process of blowing up. Already there have been over $500 billion in bank losses, with over $1 trillion more to come. Over one dozen banks have failed, with hundreds on deck. A handful of large hedge funds have blown up, with hundreds more on the way. Already, over $1 trillion has been transferred from the Fed to the banking cartel. But I estimate another $1.5 trillion will be needed to maintain liquidity as banks de-leverage over the next few years. Unemployment is now over 6% and inflation is over 5%, even with Washington ’s manipulation of the data. Virtually every metric in the housing market is at multi-decade lows, except for foreclosures which are hitting new highs.
Taxpayers are now on the hook for billions of dollars of potentially worthless debt held by Fannie and Freddie. It’s now official. America ’s free market economy is really a socialist system for corporations. One could argue this to be a form of Fascism. My best estimate for losses due to the Fannie and Freddie taxpayer bailout are between $200 to $500 billion. The worst case scenario would be $800 billion. If this economy is resilient, I can’t wait to see how it magically bounces back. When Superman fails to show up, Washington might consider giving David Copperfield a call. But this would be one illusion he won’t be able to pull off. Get the popcorn ready.
So there you have it. Ain’t too pretty, is it?
I think this is going too fast for the Builderburglers to keep up with, the victim…er…patient has severed an artery instead of a vein and it’s in danger of bleeding to death.
And guess what, China wasn’t ready enough yet to take the reins of world economic super-power.
Too bad, so sad as Highwayman is wont to say.
So you say you don’t believe there’s an NWO, Bilderberger, Trilateral Commission or Council of Foreign Relations or any form of shadow government running anything? That’s your right I suppose.
But unless you’re a billionaire or work for the oil companies and the military-industrial-congressional complex, you’re resigned to a pretty shitty life for the coming decade if you didn’t prepare right.
Had enough yet?
In my ongoing commemoration and celebration of the life of esoteric researcher Kent Daniel Bentkowski ( Kentroversy ) who passed July 30, 2008 by posting some of his past podcasts with some of the big names in the field, none come much bigger than Michael Tsarion.
His research on ancient cultures, the Nephilim, UFOs, symbology, secret societies and their use by the NWO is second to none, except maybe Jordan Maxwell.
So enjoy this Kentroversy Tapes podcast Kent made with Michael on March 2005. The podcast itself was posted by Kent on June 25th, 2007.
On June 5, 1873, in a letter to The Times, Sir Francis Galton, the cousin of Charles Darwin and a distinguished African explorer in his own right, outlined a daring (if by today’s standards utterly offensive) new method to ‘tame’ and colonise what was then known as the Dark Continent.
‘My proposal is to make the encouragement of Chinese settlements of Africa a part of our national policy, in the belief that the Chinese immigrants would not only maintain their position, but that they would multiply and their descendants supplant the inferior Negro race,’ wrote Galton.
‘I should expect that the African seaboard, now sparsely occupied by lazy, palavering savages, might in a few years be tenanted by industrious, order-loving Chinese, living either as a semidetached dependency of China, or else in perfect freedom under their own law.’
Close relations: Chinese President Hu Jintao accompanies Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing
Despite an outcry in Parliament and heated debate in the august salons of the Royal Geographic Society, Galton insisted that ‘the history of the world tells the tale of the continual displacement of populations, each by a worthier successor, and humanity gains thereby’.
A controversial figure, Galton was also the pioneer of eugenics, the theory that was used by Hitler to try to fulfil his mad dreams of a German Master Race.
Eventually, Galton’s grand resettlement plans fizzled out because there were much more exciting things going on in Africa.
But that was more than 100 years ago, and with legendary explorers such as Livingstone, Speke and Burton still battling to find the source of the Nile – and new discoveries of exotic species of birds and animals featuring regularly on newspaper front pages – vast swathes of the continent had not even been ‘discovered’.
Yet Sir Francis Galton, it now appears, was ahead of his time. His vision is coming true – if not in the way he imagined. An astonishing invasion of Africa is now under way.
In the greatest movement of people the world has ever seen, China is secretly working to turn the entire continent into a new colony.
Reminiscent of the West’s imperial push in the 18th and 19th centuries – but on a much more dramatic, determined scale – China’s rulers believe Africa can become a ’satellite’ state, solving its own problems of over-population and shortage of natural resources at a stroke.
With little fanfare, a staggering 750,000 Chinese have settled in Africa over the past decade. More are on the way.
The strategy has been carefully devised by officials in Beijing, where one expert has estimated that China will eventually need to send 300 million people to Africa to solve the problems of over-population and pollution.
The plans appear on track. Across Africa, the red flag of China is flying. ( Link )
It seems that China has been busy doing things other than financing Bu$hco’s little escapade in the Middle East. It looks like it’s been very, very profitable for them too.
The African continent has been raped, pillaged and plundered for over two hundred years and it looks like there’s no end in sight. The ongoing genocide of black Africans and other groups is appalling and history will condemn us for condoning it.
And we’ll deserve every bit of it.
“There are several curious things about these Pilgrims functions. In the first place there is present at these dinners an array of notables such as it would be difficult to bring together under one roof for any other purpose and by any other society… Among the guests were John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan, Thomas W. Lamont and other members of the House of Morgan… We are entitled to know what the Pilgrim Society is, what it stands for, and who these powerful Pilgrims are that can call out the great to hear a British Ambassador expound to Americans the virtues of a united democratic front.”
– John T. Whiteford asking very reasonable questions in his 1940 pamphlet ‘Sir Uncle Sam: Knight of the British Empire’.
“[The aim of the international bankers was] nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent private meetings and conferences.”
– Professor Carroll Quigley, ‘Tragedy & Hope’, p. 324. Can the Pilgrims, which Quigley never mentioned, verify his story of an Anglo-American Establishment?
Official Pilgrims logo. “Hic et Ubique” means “here and everywhere”, apparently a reference to the idea that the United States and Great Britain should stand together side by side everywhere. The eagle represents the United States; the lion Great Britain.
by Joël van der Reijden
Most people have at least vaguely heard of the “Eastern Establishment”. This is a reference to a group of people in the Northeast of the United States which to many appears to wield a disproportionate amount of influence over the nation’s politics. This influence, which goes back even further than the days of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. and J. P. Morgan, Sr. has been illustrated by the fact that a great number of individuals working in the senior positions of government have come from a number of New York-based banks, insurance companies and law firms, only to return to this group of banks and businesses after their public term came to an end. Often these individuals served in more than one administration, and together with a number of other peculiarities – think of controversial policies, suspected cover ups, ignored conflicts of interest, lack of media attention, etc. – some people have become suspicious of what at times appears to be almost like a permanent government. A 1962 newspaper column voiced these suspicions best:
“There is an establishment in the United States. The word “establishment” is a general term for the power elite in international finance, business, the professions largely from the Northeast, who wield most of the power regardless of who is in the White House.
“Most people are unaware of the existence of this “legitimate Mafia.” Yet the power of the establishment makes itself felt from the professor who seeks a foundation grant, to the candidate for a cabinet post or State Department job. It affects the nation’s policies in almost every area.
“For example, the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, subsidized by Rockefeller interests since 1927 boasts a membership of at least 90 per cent establishment figures.”
This isn’t any different than what’s been put out there before, only more proof that there’s been a ruling elite of banking interests running the political scene for quite a long while. It’s also very natural for a child ( US ) to be like its parent ( UK ), so a relationship like this should come as no surprise.
This little idea was confirmed to me a couple of weeks ago when I was watching CNBC2’s World Wide Exchange program while getting ready for work and the British financial analyst made an offhand remark to the American analyst about the US taking up the “family business” and that the UK was proud of its “child”.
The American didn’t disagree. Which family business were they talking about? The world financial system, empire building or both?
Here are YouTube recordings of Prison Planet’s Jason Bermas interviewing American Free Press‘ Big Jim Tucker Jr. and Alex Jones who were on site during the latest criminal Bilderberg Conference in Chantilly, Virginia (DC) June 5-8.
Part of the discussion is about the blatant abuse and disrespect given to the hotel employees and ordinary working people in general.
Folks, this is the unbridled arrogance that is destroying our country right here, right now. Stick your head in the sand all you want, but eventually you’ll have to come up for air.
Either that, or the jackboots will come by and bury your body along with it!