Sunday, July 31, 2011

Nuclear Cows In Japan

From Bloomberg News:
The government yesterday imposed a ban on beef shipments from areas near the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant after finding 637 cattle were fed hay containing radioactive cesium.

.Japan’s government said it can’t rule out the possibility beef contaminated with radioactive material has been exported, as consumers and lawmakers accused authorities of negligence on food safety.

The government yesterday imposed a ban on beef shipments from areas near the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant after finding 637 cattle were fed hay containing radioactive cesium. Supermarkets including Japan’s biggest, Aeon Co., said the beef was sold in Tokyo and other cities.

“We cannot completely rule out the possibility” contaminated beef was also sold abroad, Yuichi Imasaki, the deputy director of the farm ministry’s meat and egg division said by phone today. “The chances are very low” because most countries have tightened rules on Japanese beef imports or banned them, he said.

The ban comes more than four months after the earthquake and tsunami wrecked the Fukushima Dai-Ichi power station causing the worst nuclear fallout since Chernobyl. Concerns about food contamination before yesterday’s ban cut beef exports by 16 percent in the last two months, while hotels and restaurants in the region, including Shangri-La Asia’s luxury chain dropped Japanese seafood from their menu.

“There has to be at least an independent investigation regarding the level of contamination to farming,” said Chris Busby, a visiting professor at the University of Ulster’s school of biomedical sciences and scientific secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk, a think-tank....

Japan Won't Rule Out Possibility Radioactive Fukushima Beef Was Exported
Aya Takada and Yuriy Humber
Jul 20, 2011
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-20/japan-won-t-rule-out-possibility-radioactive-fukushima-beef-was-exported.html

Peach contains an almond-like nut containing anti-cancer medicine

Amazing food facts: The seed of a peach contains an almond-like nut containing the anti-cancer medicine laetrile Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com
Monday, July 25, 2011
http://www.naturalnews.com/033123_laetrile_vitamin_B17.html

(NaturalNews) Peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots and almonds are all closely related fruit trees with very similar pits. In all these fruits, the pit must be broken open to reveal the almond-shaped kernel within. In fact, this is what almonds actually are: the kernel within the pit of the fruit of the almond tree!

The kernels of all these species contain high concentrations of a chemical known as laetrile. It's also known as amygdalin or vitamin B-17. Research has shown that laetrile induces programmed cell death in cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone. It's sort of like Mother Nature's chemotherapy except that it doesn't make you suffer the way man-made synthetic chemotherapy does.

Laetrile appears to work because the nutrient is actually composed of four separate molecules: two of glucose, one of benzaldyhide and one of cyanide. The latter two chemicals are toxic, but are bound up in a non-bioavailable form. Cancer cells contain an enzyme that healthy cells do not, known as beta-glucosidase. This enzyme actually breaks apart the component pieces of laetrile, and the cell is poisoned by a combination of benzaldyhide and cyanide. Healthy cells do not undergo this effect, which is why they remain unaffected by laetrile.

The medical establishment, learning about this natural "chemotherapy" that killed cancer cells and didn't even require a prescription, quickly began to attack it by spreading lies about the dangers of laetrile. The FDA, long an enemy of healing through nutrition, banned laetrile in 1971. Highly toxic chemotherapy substances, however, remain perfectly legal and continue to kill hundreds of thousands of people every single year. (Most people who "die from cancer" are actually killed by chemotherapy and radiation, not from the cancer itself. "Cancer survivors" are people who miraculously survive chemotherapy.)

Roswell Turns 64

From HuffPo:
The Roswell UFO controversy may be 64 years old, but it shows no sign of heading into retirement.

One thing we know for sure: On July 8, 1947, the front page of the Roswell Daily Record proclaimed that a flying saucer had been captured by the Roswell Army Air Field.

The U.S. Air Force had issued a press release that day stating that a flying saucer had been "captured," and photos were released of soldiers examining metallic-looking objects, presumably pieces of a crashed balloon.

Then the controversy began. At a press conference later that day in Ft. Worth, Texas, Air Force Brig. Gen. Roger Ramey essentially recanted the entire story, announcing instead that the debris was simply pieces of a fallen weather balloon.

Speculation of what really happened has never truly ended. George Filer, a retired Air Force intelligence officer, told The Huffington Post that he believes Ramey was forced to lie about the Roswell incident.

And, in news that will come as a shock even to ardent UFO researches, he told The Huffington Post in an exclusive interview that Ramey's wife told him he was "embarrassed about having to lie about the weather balloon."

Over his 20-year career, Filer regularly briefed generals and congressmen about a wide range of security issues, including UFO sightings, up through the Vietnam War.

"It is my opinion that President Truman was there [at Fort Worth] and that he made the decision that it should be held at the highest levels," Filer said.

"The reason I believe that is that I had talked with Mrs. Ramey. She would never admit that she knew anything about aliens, but she did say that [her husband] was very embarrassed about having to lie about the weather balloon -- he was very upset about that."

"She also admitted that they became good friends with the Trumans," Filer added. "My point is: How does a one-star general become a good friend with the president of the United States?"

None of this comes as a surprise to former nuclear physicist Stanton T. Friedman. He's the original civilian investigator of the Roswell UFO incident and the most outspoken scientist who believes there is overwhelming evidence that alien spacecrafts are visiting Earth. He, too, has talked with Mrs. Ramey.

"From talking to her, I had no reason to believe A) that she knew intimate details about Roswell or any other such event; or B) that she made up this story because it is consistent with a man of reasonable character who followed orders as one would certainly have expected him to," Friedman said.

Both Filer and Friedman -- the military man and the scientist -- said they believe the Roswell UFO was an alien spacecraft, that Earth is currently visited by extraterrestrials and that only individuals with very specific "need to know" credentials have access to this information...

Roswell UFO Controversy: Former Air Force Officer Says Gen. Ramey Lied To Cover Up Space Ship Crash
Lee Speigel
7-22-11
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/22/roswell-ufo-cover-up_n_904039.html

Planet of the Apes Now

From the Daily Mail:

Scientists have created more than 150 human-animal hybrid embryos in British laboratories.

The hybrids have been produced secretively over the past three years by researchers looking into possible cures for a wide range of diseases.

The revelation comes just a day after a committee of scientists warned of a nightmare ‘Planet of the Apes’ scenario in which work on human-animal creations goes too far...

150 human animal hybrids grown in UK labs: Embryos have been produced secretively for the past three years
Daniel Martin and Simon Caldwell
25th July 2011
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2017818/Embryos-involving-genes-animals-mixed-humans-produced-secretively-past-years.html

Cliff's Notes version of Holiday Dukan Diet

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2017523/The-Dukan-Holiday-Diet-How-stay-slim-good.html
Eat as much protein and vegetables (together) as you want each day;

Add one serving of fruit per day (avoid high sugar bananas, grapes, cherries, dried fruits and high-fat nuts);

Enjoy two slices of wholemeal bread a day spread with fat-reduced butter;

Have one serving (40g or 1.5oz) of hard cheese a day (avoid blue, soft or goat’s cheese);

Factor in one serving of ‘starchy foods’ per week in the first half of your consolidation phase, increasing to two per week in the second half. This includes pasta (225g/8oz serving in tomato, not creamy, sauce and with no oil), couscous/polenta (225g/8oz cooked in stock, not butter), lentils, beans, chick peas, rice (brown) and potatoes (but only occasionally and without butter);

Broaden your choice of meat to include lamb, roast pork and ham (remove all fat from it) once or twice a week;

Enjoy one ‘celebration meal’ a week in the first half of the consolidation phase, increasing to two in the second half. Never eat two celebration meals in a row, and don’t have second helpings of anything you eat at that meal;

Keep one pure protein day per week — this is your insurance policy against gaining weight;

Take two tablespoons of oat bran per day (as a pancake or sprinkled onto your food);

Walk 25 minutes per day (longer if you have time or enjoy it).

Sea Monsters: UK & Alaska



This has been a good summer for sea creature sightings. First off, William Jobes, a dude who's been hunting the Loch Ness Monster for 45 years, claims to have finally captured the creature on camera. It's a pretty good photo, though skeptics may dismiss it as a seal. Even Jobes admits that "I immediately did think it was a seal but it's head was like a sheep."

Just as interesting is the rotting carcass of a 30-foot sea monster discovered on a British beach in Bridge of Don, Aberdeen. The mainstream explanation of the remains is that it's a whale.


Meanwhile, Alaska may have its own Nessie, as cryptozoologist have video of a creature they identify as the Cadborosaurus. The sea serpent has "a long neck, a horse-like head, large eyes, and back bumps that stick out of the water." The video was shown in Hillstranded on the Discovery Channel. Paul LeBlond, co-author of the book Cadborosaurus: Survivor from the Deep, claims it is "the least unlike a plesiosaur." More mainstream explanations label it as either a shark, a giant eel or the remains of Sarah Palin's political career...

Loch Ness Monster? Or a stick...? After a 45-year hunt, walker claims to have photographed elusive creature
22nd July 2011
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2017649/Loch-Ness-Monster-stick-Walker-claims-photographed-creature.html

Loch Ness monster-like beast filmed in Alaska Jennifer Viegas
7/18/2011
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43801173/ns/technology_and_science-science

Iranian media deny slain man was connected to nuclear program

Thomas Erdbrink
July 23
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/iranian-scientist-killed-local-media-report/2011/07/23/gIQAdsSNVI_story.html

TEHRAN — Iran’s semi-official state media denied reports that a man killed Saturday by unknown assailants was a physicist connected to the country’s nuclear program.

Several local Web sites had reported that the man, who was gunned down by assailants on a motorcycle, was connected to Iran’s nuclear program. But the semi-official Fars news agency said the slain man was actually a student of physics.

“During the last hours, some media had mistakenly thought Dariush Rezaienejad was one of Iran’s nuclear scientists while confirmed reports show that he is not a nuclear scientist and is a student at Khajeh Nasir University,” the agency reported.

In November, two scientists were targeted by men on motorcycles who attached explosives to their cars during Tehran’s morning rush hour. One of the scientists, Majid Shahriari, died, while the other, Fereydoun Abbasi, survived the attack and now heads the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.

At the time, Iranian authorities blamed agents of Israel and the United States for those killings, accusing them of wanting to cause chaos in the country. But leading figures in Iran’s opposition accused the government of plotting the attacks in order to spread fear in the capital, where many oppose the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In January 2010, another physicist, Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, was killed when explosives attached to a motorcycle detonated in front of his house.

Kool Websites

MySolarBackup.com
http://www.mysolarbackup.com/

Amazing "Solar Generator" Is Like Having A Secret Power Plant Hidden In Your Home!

Solar Powered Backup System Provides Instant Electrical Power In Any Outage Or Disaster. Even Better…
Backup Kit Produces An Endless Supply Of Electricity For Free!

Are You Ready For Unexpected Power Outages?

If you have ever wanted to have an emergency “backup” system that supplies continuous electrical power, this will be the most important message you will ever read.

Here is why.

There is now a completely portable (and ultra-high efficient) solar power generator which produces up to 1800 watts of household electricity on demand when you need it most. News of this “solar backup generator” (it’s the first “off-the-grid” breakthrough in 50 years) is spreading like wildfire all across the country!

Why?

The answer is easy. You see, this solar generator is extremely powerful and yet very simple to use. It produces continuous electricity and runs with absolutely no noise whatsoever. It emits no fumes. But the best part about the solar generator is that it…

Generates Free Electricity!

The unit then stores the power for your use when you need it. We all face natural disasters, with hurricanes, tornadoes, snow and ice storms cutting off electrical power to millions of Americans each year.

Then there are man-made disasters and outages. Blackouts and rolling brownouts are becoming common in many parts of the United States as our politicians herd us off into third-world status. And never forget the possibility of a terrorist attack directed at a few of our nation’s power plants. Since the nation’s power grids are all “connected,” crippling one plant starts a cascading downward spiral of darkness.

Your neighbors will be clueless when it finally does happen, expecting the government to “do something” to get their precious cable TV back on. The truth is, we are extremely vulnerable to all kinds of meltdowns that can create temporary or even permanent electrical outages. That’s why if you are one of the few Americans that have eyes to see and ears to hear with respect to the hard times ahead. In fact, you can also expect rising electrical rates very soon, as promised by the new administration. That's why you need to…

Have A Backup System In Place!

The Solar generator kit consists of three main components which work together to create a very efficient home power plant. The massive “generator-backup”, the high efficiency solar panel, and the charge controller. In fact, when you compare a solar generator to a gas generator, the difference is pretty remarkable. Here’s why. First, gas generators make an incredible amount of racket… if you can even get them started. I say that because in this part of the country (Northern Illinois), the time of year we are likely to lose our electricity is in the winter, during an ice or snow storm.

Generally the wind breaks the power lines, which get covered with ice and snow. Typically, when you lose power here, you go to the garage, roll out the generator and start pulling the cord. You pull and pull some more, all because your generator has been sitting in the cold and the carburetor is playing hard to get. This is not a lot of fun in the dark.

Another reason to avoid gas generators is that you just can’t run one in your house. The fumes from a gas generator force you to run it outside and rely on a lot of cords coming through windows or doors to bring the power inside. Again, this is assuming you can get your gas generator started in the first place.

But the number one reason you don’t want to be caught in a time of crisis with a gas generator is…

Gas Stations Can’t Pump Gas Without Electricity!

Yes. It’s true. When the power goes out, you’re left with whatever gas you have on hand because the gas station pumps all run on electricity. A few gallons stored in a gas can means a little electricity for a little while, then it’s quickly back to black.

Look… I could go on and on about life without electricity and what nightmare gas generators can be. But here’s the bottom line. Solutions From Science is offering an amazing power generating system that can provide plenty of electrical power in the event of an outage or emergency. And the best part is that you can have the power safely in your house.

It’s the perfect emergency backup for troubled times at any location.
When the lights do go out at your house…
you’ll be darn glad you didn’t hesitate.

And, Solutions From Science can put one of these “backup” Solar Generators in your hands very quickly and affordably so you’ll be prepared in any crisis that comes down the road.

A True Breakthrough In Home Power Generation!

Here’s the Solar Generator Backup system we have put together for our friends. The system includes:

-- 1800 watt Solar Backup Generator
-- High efficiency – quick charge 90 watt Solar Panel.
-- Sunsaver Charge controller.
-- 50 feet Solar Panel cable.
-- 90 day warranty, (a 2-Year Service Plan can be purchased.) 20 year warranty on Solar Panel.
-- Our solar kits are assembled in America.

That’s $2197.00 worth of components (at retail) in this package. Anyone who wants to be prepared… can be, while we have inventory… your price is just $1697.00, plus only $120.00 shipping anywhere in the continental U.S.

The system is worth much more than that. But since we stumbled onto this amazing backup system, we’ve got to let everyone know about it. Especially folks who believe that life in this country is going to get much more difficult in the not too distant future. Folks who see the critical need for backup “power insurance.”

Solutions From Science
Dept. Solar Backup
815 W. Main St.
P.O. Box 518
Thomson, IL 61285
877-327-0365

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Solutions from Science
http://www.solutionsfromscience.com/

Located in Thomson, Illinois, Solutions From Science was created to help patriotic Americans prepare for potential hard times.

Solutions From Science offers a variety of unique products created specifically for those who would like to take the necessary precautions in protecting themselves and their families; as well as those who are seeking alternative ways to becoming self-sufficient, or as we like to say – getting off the grid.

We are located at 815 W. Main Street in Thomson, Illinois. (Right across from the police station and city hall.)Phone Contact

general inquiries:
815-259-4552

solar inquiries:
815-902-0151

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Kangen Water
http://www.kangenliveh2o.com/

Green Living with Enagic®

A greener lifestyle is a rewarding, fun, and achievable goal with Enagic®.

Enjoy the satisfaction and peace of mind that comes with sustaining a healthy body, a naturally maintained household, and an environmentally responsible way of life.

You can learn to infuse Enagic® Water into your daily green routine, from cleaning to pet care, gardening to cooking, personal care, and so much more! Discover how Enagic® Kangen Water® can help you live a greener, and cleaner life.

Live a balanced life the way Nature intended. Unearth the Enagic® Lifestyle!

What is Kangen Water®?
Kangen Water® is delicious water created from Enagic's innovative water technology. Not only do these devices filter your tap water, but they also produce ionized alkaline and acidic waters through electrolysis. These waters can be used for various purposes, including drinking, cooking, beauty, and cleaning.

Kangen Water® also contains various minerals, such as calcium, sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Unlike other filtration systems that filter out even helpful minerals, your Enagic® filtration machine will keep these minerals intact. This provides a high-quality water that can be used for many different purposes.

The five types of Enagic® water will give you instant access to all-natural solutions for your entire household. With just a push of a button, you can create water that will help enliven your plants, make an aromatic fragrance, cook a delectable meal, or clean a stubborn stain. Now that's versatility! Each state-of-the-art Enagic® water ionizing machine will not only help you stay hydrated, but will also encourage you to maintain a clean, green home. Take some time to discover what these five remarkable waters can do for your household, and uncover a new world of living in harmony with Nature, thanks to healthy Kangen Water®!

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http://www.kacperpostawski.com/watersecret

CONFIDENTIAL: Earth's Deepest Water Cleansing Secret Finally Made Public

This Little Secret Turns The Dirtiest Water on The Planet Into Pristine Water, Pulls Fluoride, Heavy Metals, Lead, Mercury, and other Deadly Toxins Right Out Of Your Body...

Through this free live webinar, you'll discover:

How to turn the worst water on this planet, into pristine clear drinking water that heals your body, within moments, right before your eyes.

How you can use nature's biggest water secret to heal your body from the inside out, remove toxins, heavy metals, fluoride, lead, and mercury, right out of your body.

Turn your tap water into the best water on this planet, which actually heals your body, for pennies of what a filter costs you.

Why our water supply is in more danger today than any other time in history, and what you can do about it.

How to have complete water freedom, feel safe, and be able to drink any water on this planet, no matter what happens.

How this was even used in Chernobyl 30 years ago to clean up nuclear contamination.

Seats to the webinar are free, but are on a first come first serve basis, Hope to see you there,

See you soon,

Sincerely,

~ Kacper

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TopStockAnalysts
http://www.topstockanalysts.com/

3 Buffett Stocks to Buy Now

Frequently Asked Questions

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You'll get the names, ticker symbols, and in-depth analysis of three of Warren Buffett's stocks that we believe every investors should consider buying right now. We'll also send you our TopStockAnalysts Digest daily e-letter -- which features actionable investing ideas from some of the nation's brightest market analysts. If you decide you don't want to hear from us again we make it real easy to opt-out: At the bottom of each communication you'll find either a "cancel" or "unsubscribe" link. Alternatively, you can ask let our Customer Service team know by using our Contact Us form.

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You can reach us in either of these two locations:

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"What are the 3 Buffett Stocks to Buy Now?"
You'll need to enter your email address here to find out.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: TopStockAnalysts is not a registered investment advisor or broker/dealer. Readers are advised that the material contained herein should be used solely for informational purposes.

We do not purport to tell or suggest which investment securities you should buy or sell for yourself. You should always conduct your own research and due diligence and obtain professional advice before making any investment decision. We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information obtained in any of our newsletters, special reports, email correspondence, or on our website. You are solely responsible for your own investment decisions.

The information contained herein does not constitute a representation by TopStockAnalysts or a solicitation for the purchase or sale of securities. Our opinions and analyses are based on sources believed to be reliable and are written in good faith, but no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, is made as to their accuracy or completeness. All information contained in our newsletters or on our website should be independently verified with the companies mentioned. We are not responsible for errors or omissions and owners, employees and writers may hold positions in the securities that are discussed in our newsletters or on our website.

Any opinions expressed are subject to change without notice.

Furthermore, to keep our reports and newsletters FREE, from time to time we may publish paid advertisements from third parties. Rest assured these ads will be labeled as such, whether they appear in one of our emails or on TopStockAnalysts.com. This will help you clearly distinguish between our content and a sponsored ad.

Again, this process allows us to continue publishing high-quality investment ideas at no cost to you whatsoever. If you ever have any questions or concerns about our business or publications, we encourage you to contact us at the address or phone number...

Significa

Rejected: Elizabeth Warren as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Much hand-wringing has been made in the liberal set about this one, yet as far as the crimes of Team Obama, this wouldn't even make the top 50. The actual choice was Richard Cordray, the former attorney general of Ohio, is a surprisingly good one.
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20 Million Google+ fans can't be wrong. That's how many users they already have, and they have Facebook in its sights. For those who despise Facebook's flippant attitude to privacy issues, this is something to click "like" on.

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1,000 wins for Terry Fracona, the manager of the Boston Red Sox...

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Discovered (Maybe): The Large Hadron Collider may have found the sub-atomic Higgs boson particle, AKA the God Particle. What the hell is that, you may ask? Trust me, it's a big deal...

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Farewell: The Pentagon's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy will be history on September 22. Good riddance.

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Farewell: Border Books as their final 399 stores liquidate $700 million in merchandise. How times have changed: once despised as the corporate behemoth out to destroy independent bookstores, it is now missed as a brick & mortar where you could enjoy a good read while sipping on a great cup of coffee.

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Farewell: Entourage may have the rest of its final season to wave goodbye, but a show that has become this increasingly addictive over eight seasons deserves special notice. Hug it out, bitches!

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RIP: Elliot Handler, co-founder of Mattel Toys and thus the father of the Barbie Doll, at 95. Other hits include Fisher Price, Hot Wheels, Matchbox and Masters of the Universe.

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RIP: Linda Christian, former wife of Tyrone Power and the original Bond girl due to appearing in the 1954 TV movie adaptation of Casino Royale...

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“They tried to make me go to rehab, I said no, no, no."

Last (but definitely not least) RIP to the tragically troubled but ludicrously talented Amy Winehouse. Despite being crippled with drug and alcohol addictions, as well as depression and eating disorders, she will always have her 2007 album Back to Black to be remembered by. She won five Grammys in 2008 thanks to it, including Best New Artist and Record of the Year for the more ironic than ever named "Rehab". She joins the curious "27 Club" of talented musicians who die at that age: blues legend Robert Johnson became the first famous member in 1938 and has been followed by Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain.

Konformist Book Club: Good Strategy Bad Strategy


The Difference and Why It Matters
Written by Richard Rumelt
Print Editions
$28.00
http://www.randomhouse.com/book/208668/good-strategy-bad-strategy-by-richard-rumelt

Published by: Crown Business Hardcover
On Sale: July 19, 2011
Pages: 336 | ISBN: 978-0-307-88623-1
More Info...

eBook
List Price: $14.99
On Sale: July 19, 2011
Pages: | ISBN: 978-0-307-88625-5
Published by : Crown Business

Clears out the mumbo jumbo and muddled thinking underlying too many strategies and provides a clear way to create and implement a powerful action-oriented strategy for the real world

Developing and implementing a strategy is the central task of a leader, whether the CEO at a Fortune 100 company, an entrepreneur, a church pastor, the head of a school, or a government official. Richard Rumelt shows that there has been a growing and unfortunate tendency to equate Mom-and-apple-pie values, fluffy packages of buzzwords, motivational slogans, and financial goals with “strategy.” He debunks these elements of “bad strategy” and awakens an understanding of the power of a “good strategy.”

A good strategy is a specific and coherent response to—and approach for overcoming—the obstacles to progress. A good strategy works by harnessing and applying power where it will have the greatest effect in challenges as varied as putting a man on the moon, fighting a war, launching a new product, responding to changing market dynamics, starting a charter school, or setting up a government program. Rumelt’s nine sources of power—ranging from using leverage to effectively focusing on growth—are eye-opening yet pragmatic tools that can be put to work on Monday morning.

Surprisingly, a good strategy is often unexpected because most organizations don’t have one. Instead, they have “visions,” mistake financial goals for strategy, and pursue a “dog’s dinner” of conflicting policies and actions.

Rumelt argues that the heart of a good strategy is insight—into the true nature of the situation, into the hidden power in a situation, and into an appropriate response. He shows you how insight can be cultivated with a wide variety of tools for guiding your own thinking.

Good Strategy/Bad Strategy uses fascinating examples from business, nonprofit, and military affairs to bring its original and pragmatic ideas to life. The detailed examples range from Apple to General Motors, from the two Iraq wars to Afghanistan, from a small local market to Wal-Mart, from Nvidia to Silicon Graphics, from the Getty Trust to the Los Angeles Unified School District, from Cisco Systems to Paccar, and from Global Crossing to the 2007–08 financial crisis.

Reflecting an astonishing grasp and integration of economics, finance, technology, history, and the brilliance and foibles of the human character, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy stems from Rumelt’s decades of digging beyond the superficial to address hard questions with honesty and integrity.

Amazon Links
Hard Cover: http://www.amazon.com/Good-Strategy-Bad-Difference-Matters/dp/0307886239/thekonformist
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004J4WKEC/thekonformist

2011 Comic-Con

With comic book flicks dominating our movie culture, San Diego's Comic-Con is no longer merely a geekfest but a giant pop culture showplace. Besides the bevy of chicks found in our BabeWatch section, here's some of the highlights:


Adam West, Burt Ward & Jule Newmar had a reunion of sorts on a special Batman panel:

http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/comiccon-adam-west-burt-ward-and-julie-newmar-reunite-for-batman-panel--3350


A preview of Frank Miller's upcoming Holy Terror, the comic in the vein of WWII progaganda featuring a superhero battling Al Qaeda. It will be on sale after the 10th anniversary of 9/11:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/8658858/New-comic-superhero-to-take-on-al-Qaeda.html
Steven Spielberg showed up, and with Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame, promoting this winter's The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn. Spielberg also hinted another Jurassic Park movie may be in the works:

http://www.movieweb.com/comic-con/2011/news/sdcc-2011-steven-spielberg-and-peter-jackson-unveil-the-adventures-of-tintin-secret-of-the-unicorn

Mark Hamill of Luke Skywalter and The Joker fame will play a bad guy in the upcoming final season of Chuck:

http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Comic-Con-2011-Mark-Hamill-Play-Villain-Chuck-33710.html

Speaking of The Joker, mental health experts had a panel titled "Detecting Deviants in the Dark Night: Profiling Gotham City’s Serial Killers." Of particular note was Joker, unsurprisingly, with one participant noting that he is not psychotic, but rather psychopathic:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/21/batman-villains-psychoanalyzed_n_901913.html

"I felt like TV was getting too smart!" So says Mike Judge, the mastermind behind King of the Hill, Office Space and Idiocracy, about the reason behind the upcoming return of his most famous work of art, Beavis & Butthead:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2017900/Beavis-Butthead-set-return-creator-Mike-Judge-jokes-television-getting-smart.html


A cool promo for the holiday season's upcoming Kinect Star Wars for the Xbox 360, which will include a podracing campaign:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2011/07/kinect-star-wars-will-bring-podracing-to-living-rooms-/1

A red carpet movie premiere of Cowboys & Aliens, featuring the badass talents of Harrison Ford (who still has it) and Daniel Craig, with an assist from Olivia Wilde. When dudes playing Indiana Jones and James Bond get together, great things tend to follow:

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b254126_sneak_peek_daniel_craig_harrison_ford.html

BabeWatch

Thanks to DailyMail.co.uk for these pics...







Kim Kardashian



Kim's sis Kourtney


Leighton Meester




Rihanna




Penelope Cruz


Jennifer Lopez in Miami


Demi Lovato



Victoria Silvstedt






Comic-Con Babe Collection: Charlize Theron, Anna Paquin, Kate Beckinsale, Olivia Wilde & Olivia Munn


Lily Collins (Phil Collins' extremely hot daughter) as Snow White







Katy Perry, Sofia Vergara & Jayma Mays at The Smurfs premiere


Lady Gaga - for her latest video, The Edge of Glory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeWBS0JBNzQ

Awesome Quotes: Bob Hope

"A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it."

YouTube Song of the Week: Show Me Your Genitals

Jon Lajoie:
http://www.jonlajoie.com/

As the rock band Whitesnake has shown us, sometimes it's okay for musicians to show their sensitive side with a tender love ballad, because chicks really dig it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqXi8WmQ_WM

Lyrics:

Women are stupid, and I don't respect them,
That's right, I just have sex with them,

Show me your genitals, your genitals,
(What!)
Show me your genitals,
(Your genitalia!)
Show me your genitals, your genitals,
(What!)
Show me your genitals,
(Your genitalia!)

You're talking to me about stuff, why?
I'd rather see your titties,
Now you're talking to me about other stuff, why?
I'd much rather see your titties,

I can't have sex with your personality,
And I can't put my penis in your college degree,
And I can't shove my fist in your childhood dreams,
So why're you sharing all this information with me?

It's not sexist 'cause I'm saying it in a song,
That's right bitch, now take off your thong, and...

Show me your genitals, your genitals,
(What!)
Show me your genitals,
(Your genitalia!)
Show me your genitals, your genitals,
(What!)
Show me your genitals,
(Your genitalia!)

Knock knock, who's there?
It's me, wondering why you're not naked,
Knock knock, who's there?
Me again, still wondering why you're not naked,

I wanna see your bum, I don't care what you say,
No I don't have feelings, 'cause feelings are gay,
Something something in the month of May,
Bitches love my penis 'cause it's really big,

Girl's brains are much stupider than men's are,
So they should always listen to us, 'cause we're smart,
Women are only good for three things,
Cooking, cleaning, and vaginas,

Show me your genitals, your genitals,
(What!)
Show me your genitals,
(Your genitalia!)
Show me your genitals, your genitals,
(What!)
Show me your genitals,
(Your genitalia!)

I can give good sex to you,
'Cause I'm really good at sex,
I can give good sex to you,
'Cause I'm really good at sex,

Aww yeah, that's right,
Shake your... bums,
I'm out of here,
I gotta... go have sex with a lot of girls.

Against All Odds

Against All Odds: NFL Players Association Emerges From Lockout as Bruised, Battered Victors
Dave Zirin
http://www.thenation.com/blog/162260/against-all-odds-nfl-players-association-emerges-lockout-bruised-battered-victors

A sports media consensus on the end of the NFL lockout has already emerged. Like six year old kids getting trophies after soccer practice, everyone’s a winner. As Don Banks at Sports Illustrated, assessed, thrilled that the golden goose will lay eggs another day, “Neither side got everything they wanted, but good negotiations are like that. Now that this CBA fight is almost over, and labor peace seems finally at hand, both the players and the owners have the right to claim success.”

These parroted assessments, by focusing on the final score, miss the true, overarching story of the longest work stoppage in NFL history: at the opening kickoff, the sides weren’t close to evenly matched. I think that what the NFLPA has done is the equivalent of the Bad News Bears squeaking out a victory against the 1927 New York Yankees. It’s The Haiti Kid taking down King Kong Bundy. It’s workers, in an age of austerity, beating back the bosses and showing that solidarity is the only way to win.

When the lockout began, NFL’s owners had, in their judgment, and frankly mine as well, every possible advantage. They had a promise from their television partners of four billion dollars in “lockout insurance” even if the games didn’t air. They had a workforce with a career shelf-life of 3.4 years, understandably skittish about missing a single paycheck. And most critically, they had what they thought was overwhelming public opinion. After all, in past labor disputes, fans sided against those who “get paid to play a game.” Owners wanted more money and longer seasons and approached negotiations with an arrogance that would shame a Murdoch spawn.

I remember talking to NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith at the start of this process, and hearing his optimism in the face of these odds, as he spoke of the bravery of workers in Wisconsin and the people of Egypt who he said were inspiring him to fight the good fight. He mentioned the books he was reading like the classic Civil Rights history Parting the Waters: America in the King Years by Taylor Branch. I remember smiling politely at De Smith and thinking, “This guy is going to get creamed.”

I was very wrong. I didn’t count on Judge David Doty, a Reagan appointee, putting an injunction on that four billion dollar lockout slush fund, taking away the owner’s financial upper hand. I didn’t count on the way that health and safety issues would bond the players together, making defections among the 1,900 players nonexistent. I didn’t count on the way many fans, upset at the lockout and well-educated on the after-effects of the brutality of the sport, would side with the players. I lastly didn’t count on the way that reservoirs of bitterness felt by NFL players and the union would bind them together against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and an ownership group that had just lied to them once too often.

They stuck it out and now, the end results of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, look quite good for players. We are looking at a 10 year CBA in which minimum salaries will go up 10% a year for the life of the agreement. Players get a slightly lower % of revenues (about 46% down from 50%), but they will receive 55% of future national media revenue, which, will mushroom in the years ahead. Teams also will now have to spend at least 90% of the salary cap on actual salaries. In other words, there won’t just be a salary cap there will be a salary floor. In return, rookies will need to sign four year contracts that are scaled at a lower rate. The net affect of all of this, is that veteran salaries will go up perhaps quite dramatically, and if players can stay healthy beyond that fourth year, they will be very well compensated.

But there’s the rub. If the average career is only 3.4 years, how can players be ensured to stay healthy enough to get the big payday? Here is where I think the NFLPA made the most headway. Not only did they beat back the owner’s dream of an 18 game season, they also negotiated a much less arduous off-season regimen. The off-season program will now be five weeks shorter. There will be more days off. Full-contact practices are going to be greatly curtailed. This matters because it will limit not just the wear and tear on players bodies, but also concussions and other brain injuries which are far more likely to happen in repetitive drills than in games.

Also when careers finally do end, players can now be a part of the NFL’s health plan for life. This is a mammoth deal for players who previously were kicked off of all plans five years after retirement. Getting private insurance after playing in the NFL is a nightmare, as your body is a spiderweb of pre-existing conditions. Retirees also will now receive up to a $1 billion increase in benefits, with $620 million going to increasing pensions for those who retired before 1993.

Yes, owners received a bigger piece of the pie, and yes they received their rookie pay scale. Yes, I agree with Brian Frederick, director of the Sports Fans Coalition, who commented today, that it’s a problem that “Fans were forced to sit on the sidelines during these negotiations, despite the massive public subsidies and antitrust exemptions we grant the league.” This is especially true given the fact that, as SFC reported, “Thirty-one of the 32 NFL stadiums have received direct public subsidies. Ten of those have been publicly financed and at least 19 are 75% publicly financed.”

But in the end, this deal – against all odds - is a victory for players, their families, their health, and their long-term financial solvency. It’s also an example for workers across the country. There is power in labor and there is power in solidarity.

Dave Zirin is the author of “Bad Sports: How Owners are Ruining the Games we Love” (Scribner) and just made the new documentary “Not Just a Game.” Receive his column every week by emailing dave@edgeofsports.com. Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com.

Steamshovel Press Update

Kenn Thomas
SteamshovelPress.com

Steamshovel Press is spending this week trying to get out to more people everything it produced last week. This includes the following web site/blog editorials/blogs:

At Silver Screen Saucers:
http://silverscreensaucers.blogspot.com/

At Skylaire Alfvegren’s LOWFI Fortean site:
http://forteanswest.com/lowfiguesteditorial-KennThomas0711.php

Recent audio interviews with Steamshovel’s Kenn Thomas appear here:

Two with Whitley Strieber:
http://www.unknowncountry.com/dreamland/jfk-ufo-connection
http://www.unknowncountry.com/special/kennedy-ufos-and-masters-deception

On Greg Bishops’s Radio Misterioso:
http://radiomisterioso.com/tag/kenn-thomas/

On The Paracast:
http://www.theparacast.com/?s=Kenn+Thomas

And “Long Overdue Book Reviews” have been appearing at steamshovelpress.com, along with the “Parapolitics Offhand”.
The current “product line” includes: the flagship book, JFK & UFO; the new PDF offering, Popular Parapolitics; the DVD of Tim Leary w/Kenn Thomas, Café Chaos; and a back issue special. Plus a new intro by Kenn Thomas appears in the recent re-issue of Jim Keith’s Casebook on the Men in Black and an article on Nazis UFOs by Kenn appears in Tim Beckley’s Round Trip to Hell In A Flying Saucer.

Steamshovel also has a new facebook account and a facebook page. Go check it out, “like” it and recommend it to others.

So have fun with all that! Direct any feedback to Steamshovel’s new gmail addy:

SteamshovelPress@gmail.com

Drivers can disregard red-light camera tickets in L.A.

City officials debating the future of the photo-enforcement system recommend that citations stop being issued at the end of the month and that the program be phased out.
Ari Bloomekatz, Los Angeles Times
July 26, 2011
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-red-light-cameras-20110727,0,6729565.story

Motorists who get tickets under the city's controversial red-light camera program can shrug them off, Los Angeles officials agreed Monday.

That was one of the few points of consensus to emerge from a three-hour City Council committee hearing on the future of the much-debated photo enforcement system. The session ended with a recommendation to stop issuing citations at the end of the month and "phase out" the program.

Richard M. Tefank, executive director of the city's Board of Police Commissioners, told the Budget and Finance Committee that the tickets are part of a "voluntary payment program" without sanctions for those who fail to submit fines.

"The consequence is somebody calling you from one of these collection agencies and saying 'pay up.' And that's it," said committee member and Councilman Bill Rosendahl. "There's no real penalty in terms of your driver's license or any other consequences if you don't pay."

The five-member committee recommended that the full City Council endorse an earlier decision by the Los Angeles Police Commission to terminate the camera program at the end of the month.

The committee also recommended that city agencies work to resolve issues with the system contractor, American Traffic Solutions, including removing equipment from 32 intersections and attempting to collect on about 65,000 outstanding tickets. Officials said it was unclear how long it could take to completely end the program.

About 45,000 citations are issued annually with a collection rate of about 60%, according to a report from the city's chief legislative analyst. But that collection rate could fall drastically as more motorists realize the current penalty collection program lacks teeth, officials said.

Whether the full City Council will go along with the recommendation remains unclear. The City Council previously deadlocked over the fate of the program after the Police Commission voted to kill the program in June.

That decision put Los Angeles in the center of a national debate over the effectiveness of the cameras. Many major cities, including Anaheim, and smaller areas such as Loma Linda have banned them.

An audit by City Controller Wendy Greuel last year found that the cameras cost the city more than it receives in revenue, and that the program has not "conclusively shown to have increased public safety."

Critics of the cameras also say the program is flawed because the vast majority of the 180,000-plus camera-issued tickets since 2004 have been for illegal right-hand turns. But advocates say the cameras pay for themselves and the LAPD says they have improved safety.

Another council committee — Audits and Governmental Efficiency — is scheduled to take up the issue Tuesday. The full City Council could reconsider the matter as early as Wednesday.

If the council accepts the recommendation from the budget committee, the last camera-issued ticket in Los Angeles would be July 31.

ari.bloomekatz@latimes.com

Was Sinking the Titanic an Insurance Scam?

The Olympic, damaged in a collision and destined for the scrapyard, may have been disguised as its sister ship, the Titanic.
by John Hamer
(henrymakow.com)
July 23, 2011
http://www.henrymakow.com/was_sinking_the_titanic.html

In 1908, financier J.P. Morgan planned a brand new class of luxury liners that would enable the wealthy to cross the Atlantic in previously undreamed-of opulence. The construction of the giant vessels, the 'Olympic', the 'Titanic' and the 'Britannic,' began in 1909 at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland.

Unfortunately for Morgan and his personal bank balance, this money-making venture went a little awry. The Olympic, the first one of the three sister-ships to be completed was involved in a serious collision with the British Royal Navy cruiser, HMS Hawke in September 1911 in Southampton a few weeks after its maiden voyage and had to be 'patched-up' before returning to Belfast to undergo proper repair work.

In hindsight, it does seem strange that although the Olympic, the first of the 'sisters' to enter service, was never given the publicity her younger sister, the Titanic, enjoyed the following year Why would that be?

In the meantime a Royal Navy inquiry into the accident found the Olympic at fault for the collision and this meant that the owner, White Star Line's insurance was null and void. The White Star Line was out of pocket to the tune of at least £800,000 (around $90m today) for repairs and lost revenues.

However, for Morgan and the White Star Line, there was even worse news.
It is believed that the keel of the ship was actually twisted and therefore damaged beyond economic repair, which would have effectively meant the scrapyard. The White Star Line would have been bankrupted, given its precarious financial situation..

According to Robin Gardner's book, 'Titanic, the Ship that Never Sank?'
the seeds were sown for an audacious insurance scam - the surreptitious switching of the identities of the two ships, Olympic and Titanic.

In his well-documented work, Gardner presents a long series of credible testimonies, indisputable facts and evidence, both written and photographic, that suggest that the two ships were indeed switched with a view to staging an iceberg collision or other unknown fatal event.

According to Gardner, "Almost two months after the Hawke/Olympic collision, the reconverted Titanic, now superficially identical to her sister except for the C deck portholes, quietly left Belfast for Southampton to begin a very successful 25-year career as the Olympic. Back in the builders' yard, work progressed steadily on transforming the battered hulk of the Olympic into the Titanic. The decision to dispose of the damaged vessel would already have been taken. ... Instead of replacing the damaged section of keel, longitudinal bulkheads were installed to brace it".

How significant then in the light of this statement, that when the wreck of the Titanic was first investigated by Robert Ballard and his crew after its discovery in 1987, the first explorations of the wreckage reportedly showed (completely undocumented in the ships original blueprints) iron support structures in place which appeared to be supporting and bracing the keel.

This was never satisfactorily explained either at the time or subsequently but would certainly be significant if correct and there is absolutely no reason to believe that it is not correct, as it was reported by the puzzled Ballard himself who of course at that time knew nothing (and probably still does not even now) about the alleged switching of the two ships' identities.
---
John Hamer, 59, has a horse-racing business in Yorkshire. This is an excerpt from his book, 'The Falsification of History - Our Distorted Reality' which will be published in mid 2012. John can be contacted at john@pegasusracingclub.com

The Lesser Depression

PAUL KRUGMAN
July 21, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/22/opinion/22krugman.html

These are interesting times — and I mean that in the worst way. Right now we’re looking at not one but two looming crises, either of which could produce a global disaster. In the United States, right-wing fanatics in Congress may block a necessary rise in the debt ceiling, potentially wreaking havoc in world financial markets. Meanwhile, if the plan just agreed to by European heads of state fails to calm markets, we could see falling dominoes all across southern Europe — which would also wreak havoc in world financial markets.

We can only hope that the politicians huddled in Washington and Brussels succeed in averting these threats. But here’s the thing: Even if we manage to avoid immediate catastrophe, the deals being struck on both sides of the Atlantic are almost guaranteed to make the broader economic slump worse.

In fact, policy makers seem determined to perpetuate what I’ve taken to calling the Lesser Depression, the prolonged era of high unemployment that began with the Great Recession of 2007-2009 and continues to this day, more than two years after the recession supposedly ended.

Let’s talk for a moment about why our economies are (still) so depressed.

The great housing bubble of the last decade, which was both an American and a European phenomenon, was accompanied by a huge rise in household debt. When the bubble burst, home construction plunged, and so did consumer spending as debt-burdened families cut back.

Everything might still have been O.K. if other major economic players had stepped up their spending, filling the gap left by the housing plunge and the consumer pullback. But nobody did. In particular, cash-rich corporations see no reason to invest that cash in the face of weak consumer demand.

Nor did governments do much to help. Some governments — those of weaker nations in Europe, and state and local governments here — were actually forced to slash spending in the face of falling revenues. And the modest efforts of stronger governments — including, yes, the Obama stimulus plan — were, at best, barely enough to offset this forced austerity.

So we have depressed economies. What are policy makers proposing to do about it? Less than nothing.

The disappearance of unemployment from elite policy discourse and its replacement by deficit panic has been truly remarkable. It’s not a response to public opinion. In a recent CBS News/New York Times poll, 53 percent of the public named the economy and jobs as the most important problem we face, while only 7 percent named the deficit. Nor is it a response to market pressure. Interest rates on U.S. debt remain near historic lows.

Yet the conversations in Washington and Brussels are all about spending cuts (and maybe tax increases, I mean revisions). That’s obviously true about the various proposals being floated to resolve the debt-ceiling crisis here. But it’s equally true in Europe.

On Thursday, the “heads of state or government of the euro area and the E.U. institutions” — that mouthful tells you, all by itself, how messy European governance has become — issued their big statement. It wasn’t reassuring.

For one thing, it’s hard to believe that the Rube Goldberg financial engineering the statement proposes can really resolve the Greek crisis, let alone the wider European crisis.

But, even if it does, then what? The statement calls for sharp deficit reductions “in all countries except those under a programme” to take place “by 2013 at the latest.” Since those countries “under a programme” are being forced into drastic fiscal austerity, this amounts to a plan to have all of Europe slash spending at the same time. And there is nothing in the European data suggesting that the private sector will be ready to take up the slack in less than two years.

For those who know their 1930s history, this is all too familiar. If either of the current debt negotiations fails, we could be about to replay 1931, the global banking collapse that made the Great Depression great. But, if the negotiations succeed, we will be set to replay the great mistake of 1937: the premature turn to fiscal contraction that derailed economic recovery and ensured that the Depression would last until World War II finally provided the boost the economy needed.

Did I mention that the European Central Bank — although not, thankfully, the Federal Reserve — seems determined to make things even worse by raising interest rates?

There’s an old quotation, attributed to various people, that always comes to mind when I look at public policy: “You do not know, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed.” Now that lack of wisdom is on full display, as policy elites on both sides of the Atlantic bungle the response to economic trauma, ignoring all the lessons of history. And the Lesser Depression goes on.

A version of this op-ed appeared in print on July 22, 2011, on page A21 of the New York edition with the headline: The Lesser Depression.

Forget Anonymous: Evidence Suggests GOP Hacked, Stole 2004 Election

John Thorpe Benzinga Staff Writer
July 21, 2011
http://www.benzinga.com/news/11/07/1789905/forget-anonymous-evidence-suggests-gop-hacked-stole-2004-election

Three generations from now, when our great-grandchildren are sitting barefoot in their shanties and wondering how in the hell America turned from the high-point of civilization to a third-world banana republic, they will shake their fists and mutter one name: George Effin' Bush.

Ironically, it won't be for any of the things that liberals have been harping on the Bush Administration, either during or after his term in office. Sure, misguided tax cuts that destroyed the surplus, and lax regulations that doomed the economy, and two amazingly awful wars in deserts half a world away are all terrible, empire-sapping events. But they pale in comparison to what it appears the Republican Party did to get President Bush re-elected in 2004.

"A new filing in the King Lincoln Bronzeville v. Blackwell case includes a copy of the Ohio Secretary of State election production system configuration that was in use in Ohio's 2004 presidential election when there was a sudden and unexpected shift in votes for George W. Bush," according to Bob Fitrakis, columnist at http://www.freepress.org and co-counsel in the litigation and investigation.

If you recall, Ohio was the battleground state that provided George Bush with the electoral votes needed to win re-election. Had Senator John Kerry won Ohio's electoral votes, he would have been elected instead.

Evidence from the filing suggests that Republican operatives — including the private computer firms hired to manage the electronic voting data — were compromised.

Fitrakis isn't the only attorney involved in pursuing the truth in this matter. Cliff Arnebeck, the lead attorney in the King Lincoln case, exchanged emails with IT security expert Stephen Spoonamore. He asked Spoonamore whether or not SmarTech had the capability to "input data" and thus alter the results of Ohio's 2004 election. His response sent a chill up my spine.

"Yes. They would have had data input capacities. The system might have been set up to log which source generated the data but probably did not," Spoonamore said. In case that seems a bit too technical and "big deal" for you, consider what he was saying. SmarTech, a private company, had the ability in the 2004 election to add or subtract votes without anyone knowing they did so.

The filing today shows how, detailing the computer network system's design structure, including a map of how the data moved from one unit to the next. Right smack in the middle of that structure? Inexplicably, it was SmarTech.

Spoonamore (keep in mind, he is the IT expert here) concluded from the architectural maps of the Ohio 2004 election reporting system that, "SmarTech was a man in the middle. In my opinion they were not designed as a mirror, they were designed specifically to be a man in the middle."

A "man in the middle" is not just an accidental happenstance of computing. It is a deliberate computer hacking setup, one where the hacker sits, literally, in the middle of the communication stream, intercepting and (when desired, as in this case) altering the data. It's how hackers swipe your credit card number or other banking information. This is bad.

A mirror site, which SmarTech was allegedly supposed to be, is simply a backup site on the chance that the main configuration crashes. Mirrors are a good thing.

Until now, the architectural maps and contracts from the Ohio 2004 election were never made public, which may indicate that the entire system was designed for fraud. In a previous sworn affidavit to the court, Spoonamore declared: "The SmarTech system was set up precisely as a King Pin computer used in criminal acts against banking or credit card processes and had the needed level of access to both county tabulators and Secretary of State computers to allow whoever was running SmarTech computers to decide the output of the county tabulators under its control."

Spoonamore also swore that "...the architecture further confirms how this election was stolen. The computer system and SmarTech had the correct placement, connectivity, and computer experts necessary to change the election in any manner desired by the controllers of the SmarTech computers."

SmarTech was part of three computer companies brought in to manage the elections process for Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, a Republican. The other two were Triad and GovTech Solutions. All three companies have extensive ties to the Republican party and Republican causes.

In fact, GovTech was run by Mike Connell, who was a fiercely religious conservative who got involved in politics to push a right-wing social agenda. He was Karl Rove's IT go-to guy, and was alleged to be the IT brains behind the series of stolen elections between 2000 and 2004.

Connell was outed as the one who stole the 2004 election by Spoonamore, who, despite being a conservative Republican himself, came forward to blow the whistle on the stolen election scandal. Connell gave a deposition on the matter, but stonewalled. After the deposition, and fearing perjury/obstruction charges for withholding information, Connell expressed an interest in testifying further as to the extent of the scandal.

"He made it known to the lawyers, he made it known to reporter Larisa Alexandrovna of Raw Story, that he wanted to talk. He was scared. He wanted to talk. And I say that he had pretty good reason to be scared," said Mark Crispin Miller, who wrote a book on the scandal.

Connell was so scared for his security that he asked for protection from the attorney general, then Attorney General Michael Mukasey. Connell told close friends that he was expecting to get thrown under the bus by the Rove team, because Connell had evidence linking the GOP operative to the scandal and the stolen election, including knowledge of where Rove's missing emails disappeared to.

Before he could testify, Connell died in a plane crash.

Harvey Wasserman, who wrote a book on the stolen 2004 election, explained that the combination of computer hacking, ballot destruction, and the discrepancy between exit polling (which showed a big Kerry win in Ohio) and the "real" vote tabulation, all point to one answer: the Republicans stole the 2004 election.

"The 2004 election was stolen. There is absolutely no doubt about it. A 6.7% shift in exit polls does not happen by chance. And, you know, so finally, we have irrefutable confirmation that what we were saying was true and that every piece of the puzzle in the Ohio 2004 election was flawed," Wasserman said.

Mark Crispin Miller also wrote a book on the subject of stolen elections, and focused on the 2004 Ohio presidential election. Here is what he had to say about it.

There were three phases of chicanery. First, there was a pre-election period, during which the Secretary of State in Ohio, Ken Blackwell, was also co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio, which is in itself mind-boggling, engaged in all sorts of bureaucratic and legal tricks to cut down on the number of people who could register, to limit the usability of provisional ballots. It was really a kind of classic case of using the letter of the law or the seeming letter of the law just to disenfranchise as many people as possible.

On Election Day, there was clearly a systematic undersupply of working voting machines in Democratic areas, primarily inner city and student towns, you know, college towns. And the Conyers people found that in some of the most undersupplied places, there were scores of perfectly good voting machines held back and kept in warehouses, you know, and there are many similar stories to this. And other things happened that day.

After Election Day, there is explicit evidence that a company called Triad, which manufactures all of the tabulators, the vote-counting tabulators that were used in Ohio in the last election, was systematically going around from county to county in Ohio and subverting the recount, which was court ordered and which never did take place. The Republicans will say to this day, 'There was a recount in Ohio, and we won that.' That's a lie, one of many, many staggering lies. There was never a recount.

And now, it seems, there never will be.

You can reach the author by email john@benzinga.com or on twitter @johndthorpe.