Missile Launch To Show Our Military Might?

While there is a ton of denial about this actually being a missile, however, if you take a look at the point where there could be an airplane that is making an unusual contrail, there is a flickering that is definitely not that of an aircraft.  Here is the follow-up regarding this event...which screams "really bad cover-up!!!".

Military Says Missile-Like Object Wasn't Missile

But Expert Interviewed by London Newspaper Is Sure It Was; Mystery of California Contrail Continues

By David Martin

(CBS)  More than a day after a CBS camera caught video of anunidentified projectile leaving a condensation trail off the California coast, the situation remains a mystery, with the Defense Department insisting that it was not a missile.

The Pentagon is still not sure what that was in the sky off the coast of California -- except that it was not a missile fired by the U.S. or some other country, reports CBS News Pentagon correspondent David Martin.

The video of what looks for all the world like the contrail of a missile was shot Monday evening by KCBS cameraman Gil Leyvas from a news helicopter over Los Angeles.

"I saw a big plume coming up, rising from looked like beyond the horizon and it continued to grow," Leyvas said.

He zoomed his camera in and stayed on it for about 10 minutes. To him it looked like an incoming missile.

"It was unique. It was moving," he said. "It was growing in the sky."

The Pentagon spends billions of dollars a year making sure it is never surprised by a missile launch - so finding out what the camera saw became a top priority. Both the Navy and the Air Force insisted they had not launched any missiles and the North American Air Defense Command - which is supposed to track incoming missiles - declared it had not been fired by any other military. But nobody could say what it was.

But Doug Richardson, the editor of Jane’s Missiles and Rockets, examined the video for the Times of London and said he was left with little doubt.

"It’s a solid propellant missile," he told the Times. "You can tell from the efflux [smoke]."

Richardson said it could have been a ballistic missile launched from a submarine or an interceptor, the defensive anti-missile weapon used by Navy surface ships. 

The Twitterati had a field day Tuesday, tweeting comments like "Can someone please tell me how our Department of Defense has no idea who launched a missile from California's coast?"; "So nobody in our government or military knows? Scary."; and "If you misplaced a missile off the coast of California, the U.S. government would like to have a few words with you."

The Federal Aviation Administration did not receive any reports of a missile from other pilots in the area or track any unusually fast objects. The Air Defense Command determined the object was not traveling fast enough or have a big enough exhaust plume to be a military missile.

The best guess right now is that it was either an airliner or an amateur rocket, but we may never know for certain. "

International Space Weather Initiative

Here is something that caught my eye.  Not surprising with the solar activity that has been happening recently.  Here yah go...
*********************************************************
The International Space Weather Initiative

Nov. 8, 2010:  Prompted by a recent increase in solar activity, more than a hundred researchers and government officials are converging on Helwan, Egypt, to discuss a matter of global importance: storms from the sun. The “First Workshop of the International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI)” meets Nov. 6^ththrough 10^th and is convened by the United Nations, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

"Strong solar storms can knock out power, disable satellites, and scramble GPS," says meeting organizer and ISWI executive director Joe Davila of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.  "This meeting will help us prepare for the next big event."

A key problem organizers hope to solve is a gap--many gaps, actually---in storm coverage around our planet. When a big storm is underway, waves of ionization ripple through Earth’s upper atmosphere, electric currents flow through the topsoil, and the whole planet's magnetic field begins to shake.

"These are global phenomena," says Davila, "so we need to be able to monitor them all around the world."

Industrialized countries tend to have an abundance of monitoring stations.  They can keep track of local magnetism, ground currents, and ionization, and provide the data to researchers.  Developing countries are where the gaps are, particularly at low latitudes around Earth's magnetic equator.

Although space weather is usually associated with Earth's polar regions--think, "Northern Lights"--the equator can be just as interesting. For example, there is a phenomenon in Earth's upper atmosphere called the "equatorial anomaly."  It is, essentially, a fountain of ionization that circles the globe once a day, always keeping its spout toward the sun. During solar storms, the equatorial anomaly can intensify and shape-shift, bending GPS signals in unexpected ways and making normal radio communications impossible.

"International cooperation is essential for keeping track of the equatorial anomaly," he adds.  “No single country can do it alone.”

It's no coincidence that the inaugural meeting of the ISWI is being held in Egypt, an equatorial country.  Of 30 nations sending representatives to the ISWI, more than two-thirds are clustered around the magnetic equator.  This could lead to a revolution in studies of low-latitude space weather.

There is much to do beyond the equator, too. During the meeting, researchers and students will learn how they can set up monitoring stations for cosmic rays, ground currents, magnetic storms, and auroras.  There’s a phenomenon for every latitude and level of expertise.

"We are offering a whole buffet of research opportunities," says Davila.

Researchers who miss the first meeting will get many more chances.  The International Space Weather Initiative is an ongoing program with get-togethers planned on an annual basis at different spots around the world.  The next meeting will be held in Nigeria in November 2011.

No country is too remote, too small, or too poor to participate.  Indeed, notes Davila, "the smallest most out of the way places are often where data are needed most.  Everyone is invited."

Interested? Details and contact information may be found at the ISWI home page: http://iswi-secretariat.org/

Dollar Redesign Project?

This is directly taken from the Huffington Post.  I didn't believe it until I did some research and found it to be legit.  ...

Amazing New Designs For The Dollar Bill (PHOTOS)

First Posted: 09-17-10 04:13 PM   |   Updated: 09-17-10 05:24 PM

What's Your Reaction:

InspiringGreedyTypicalScaryOutrageousAmazingInnovativeInfuriating

Business News

The American dollar is in bad need of a makeover. Thanks to the Dollar ReDe$ign Project, we may now have some options.

Organized by creative strategy consultant Richard Smith, the Dollar ReDe$ign Project is soliciting ideas for the dollar bill of the future. "Our great 'rival', the Euro, looks so spanky in comparison it seems the only clear way to revive this global recession is to rebrand and redesign," the project notes on its website.

Fisher started the project in with the intent of "trying to find a catalyst to restart our economy" he told Fox News. The recent competition is now closed, and voting ends on September 30. "This has touched people's hearts," Fisher said, and "people feel the dollar touches their lives."

The leading vote-getter for this year's competition (pictured below) was submitted by British duo Dowling Duncan, which features a unique vertical design.

Why a vertical format? "When we researched how notes are used we realized people tend to handle and deal with money vertically rather than horizontally," they note on the Dollar ReDe$ign Project's website. "You tend to hold a wallet or purse vertically when searching for notes. The majority of people hand over notes vertically when making purchases. All machines accept notes vertically. Therefore a vertical note makes more sense."

Mark Gartland submitted the entry below, entitled "America Today." The $50 bill features (pictured below) Sacagawea, the native American Indian who acted as Lewis and Clark's interepreter and guide. Noting the "cosmetic drabness" of the current dollar bill, Gartland selected various historical icons from including Benjamin Franklin, Abrham Lincoln and President Obama to represent the "diverse fabric" of the U.S.

Self-taught web designer Sean Flanagan submitted "Moving Forward, Looking Back," (below) which hews to many of "base color, size and orientation" of the classic dollar bill, but offers more than a few pleasant upgrades. Flanagan also utilized only American-designed typefaces and says his design would require at least "three different layers of solid ink," a preemptive strike against counterfitting.

If these money makeovers weren't enough, The Dollar ReDe$ign Project has even circulated a petition to get the U.S. government to seriously consider their ideas. Which of these designs is your favorite?