Orbital Suborbital Program ll (OSP-2) Minotaur IV Space Launch Vehicle (SLV) Set for Liftoff on DARPA Mission to Develop Hypersonic Technologies

Courtesy of Orbital Sciences Corporation

The original article may be accessed at The Santa Maria Times:

Minotaur will carry the arrowhead-shaped Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-2, built by Lockheed Martin Corp. for the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency.

“Falcon HTV-2 is a joint effort between DARPA and the U.S. Air Force to develop hypersonic technologies that will provide the U.S. military with the capability to respond, with little or no advanced warning, to threats to our national security anywhere they might occur around the globe,” DARPA officials said in a written statement.

Click here for the full fact sheet on the Minotaur IV. The user guide is below the following picture.

Orbital Suborbital Program ll (OSP-2) Minotaur IV Space Launch Vehicle (SLV) User Guide by Orbital Sciences...

CRS: U.S. Congress Potentially Ends Availability of Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) for Its Current Members

Congressional Research Memo - April 2, 2010 (The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and its Potent...

This whole health care reform story gets stranger and stranger by the day. I am still analyzing the impact of what actually happens if Congress has eliminated Congressional health insurance for its members.

How could that be? Simple, a scaled-down provision of Republic Senator Grassley's “Health Reform Accountability Act” - this one requiring all congress members and their employees, with the exception of Senate committee and leadership staffs, to get their health insurance through the same health insurance exchanges where the general public would get theirs was left in the bill, unopposed, and was signed into law by President Obama.

It appears that the poorly written law is so mangled that “It is unclear whether members of Congress and Congressional staff who are currently participating in F.E.H.B.P. may be able to retain this coverage,” the research service said in an 8,100-word memorandum."

Source: The Examiner

White-Nose Syndrome Fungus Kills Ninety Percent (90%) of Bats in Hibernia Mine (New Jersey's Largest Hibernaculum)

Bats kill a lot of mosquitoes, beetles, moths and other irritating pests, so if the bat's numbers decrease, like the 90% loss being reported in one area of New Jersey, then the numbers of these irritating pests will increase. The article says that the search for the cause is still ongoing.

White-nose syndrome has claimed 90 percent of the bats that hibernate in Hibernia Mine, New Jersey's largest hibernaculum, according to a state Department of Environmental Protection official.

Scientists counted just 1,753 bats in the mine during a Feb. 14 visit, a dramatic drop from the more than 27,000 that typically spend their winter there, said Mick Valent, principal zoologist with the state's Endangered and Non-game Species Program.

Source: DailyRecord.com

Unknown Object Emits Mysterious Radio Waves in M82 Galaxy

I don't know enough about celestial bodies to know if it is common for unknown objects to emit mysterious radio waves. Perhaps it is some type of black hole and these radio waves are nothing. However, the conspiracy theorist in me says that it may be something like the movie Contact where some advanced civilization is sending us mysterious radio messages.

There is something strange in the cosmic neighbourhood. An unknown object in the nearby galaxy M82 has started sending out radio waves, and the emission does not look like anything seen anywhere in the universe before.

"We don't know what it is," says co-discoverer Tom Muxlow of Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics near Macclesfield, UK.

Source: NewScientist

Iran Says It Will Attack American Cities with Nuclear Devices If Attacked!

Check out the original article on DEBKAfile.

This warning, along with an announcement that Iran would join the world's nuclear club within a month, raised the pitch of Iranian anti-US rhetoric to a new high Tuesday, April 13, as 47 world leaders gathered in Washington for President Barack Obama's Nuclear Security Summit. The statement published by Kayhan said: "If the US strikes Iran with nuclear weapons, there are elements which will respond with nuclear blasts in the centers of America's main cities."

Omaha to Stop Requiring People with Concealed-Carry Gun Permits to Register Their Firearms with City (LB817)

Click the following link to read this piece of legislature (LB817). The story from KOTA TV is below.

Omaha [Nebraska] will likely be forced to stop requiring those with concealed-carry gun permits to register their firearms with the city.

On Thursday, lawmakers gave final approval to a bill (LB817) that would stop the practice in Omaha. Gov. Dave Heineman must now decide whether to sign the measure.

Source: KOTA-TV

Rep. Jane Harman Discusses U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) (Iran May Have Nuclear Bomb Within 3-5 Years)

At least Rep. Harman didn't say nookular. Click through to the entire article to read about Iran potentially getting a nuclear bomb within 3-5 years. I have not seen the intelligence, but I would bet that Rep. Harman is pounding the war drums like the Bush administration did back in 2002-2003. More war equals more profit for the military industrial complex.

U.S. intelligence agencies believe Iran won't be capable of producing nuclear weapons for at least a year but that it probably would be technically able to do so if it chooses within 3-to-5 years, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

Jane Harman, chairwoman of the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, told Reuters on Tuesday that a revised U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran was "essentially complete" but that it was unclear if any of it would be made public after going to the president.

Source: Malaysia Star

U.S. Air Force Adds Cyber Training for Recruits & Officers

When man first conquered the sea, there was need for naval training. When man first conquered the air, there was need for aerial training. Now that man is conquering the cyberworld, there is now need for cyber training -- at least the Air Force believes so.

A top general says the Air Force will train all new recruits in the basics of cyberwarfare and add more advanced schooling for others to help combat the growing threat of attacks on U.S. computer networks.

Four-star Gen. Robert Kehler, who heads the Air Force Space Command, said Monday details are still being worked out on a cyberwarfare component for basic training.

Source: CBS-4 Denver

Zbigniew & Mark Brzezinski on MSNBC's Morning Joe Discussing Polish Tragedy - April 12, 2010

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Scores of Dairy Farmers in NY & PA Rally in Support of the Federal Milk Marketing Improvement Act of 2009

Federal Milk Marketing Improvement Act of 2009 (S. 889)

This story is from The Evening Tribune.

A group of more than 150 dairy farmers, their family members, a handful of local officials, farmer union leaders and Congressman Eric Massa, D-29, addressed the audience and talked about the act. The proposed legislation [Federal Milk Marketing Improvement Act of 2009]...would change the amount farmers are paid for milk to the national average cost of production, eliminate reference to the Chicago Mercantile exchange in determining milk prices paid to dairy farmers...

Texas Stadium Controlled Demolition Implosion Video

Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West to Texas Border Town Farmers: 'Arm Yourselves!'

The Sheriff says he would rather be tried by twelve than carried by six.

Colorado Horses Poisoned by Water Fluoridation