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Spanish Military On Way To Recover Booty
The Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes
The Spanish are sending over several C-130 Hercules transport planes to collect the largest discovery of treasure in history. The Civil Guard said that the planes and several agents would be leaving within hours for Florida to secure the coins and other items that an American deep sea exploration group discovered and fought desperately to keep. The Spanish galleon was discovered in the waters off of Portugal and Spain has claimed that they never relinquished ownership of the ship.
Last week a Federal judge ordered Odyssey Marine Exploration, based in Tampa, to give the Spanish access to the 17 tons worth of treasure and ending a legal battle that ensued between the company and the Spanish government when the ship was discovered in 2007. The ship, Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, was allegedly sunk by British warships in the Atlantic ocean off the Straits of Gibraltar after a trip to South America. International treaties generally protect the ships cargo if it was sunk in a military engagement but Odyssey claimed that the ship was on a commercial trade journey and not on official business for the Spanish. The Spanish claimed that they never surrendered claim to the ship and thus everything inside was theirs even though Odyssey spent well over $2 million looking for it, recovering the goods and storing it.
The best part, or worst if you’re Odyssey, is that no one will be making money off of the potential sale. That’s because the Spanish courts have already deemed the loot as a national heritage and as such must stay inside the country and be displayed in one or more Spanish museums. Typically companies who recover such cargo are entitled to roughly a 10% finders fee, but it looks as if Odyssey isn’t even getting a slap on the back. Hopefully they pocketed a few of the 594,000 coins.
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Associated PressFox News: Military Women Should Expect To Get Raped
I’m not sure how anyone can watch Fox News seriously and turn around and call themselves “pro-America” or a supporter of the troops especially after this video. Apparently the United States military shouldn’t have any type of sexual abuse counselors, support centers and services all because women serving in the military should “expect” to be raped according to Liz Trotta. Never mind the fact that she didn’t mention the increasingly alarming amount of male on male rape in the military.
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Mother Jones10 Reasons I Won’t Be Buying An iPad 3
The rumors are starting to fly as we get closer to the release of Apple’s third generation of the hugely successful iPad but as an owner of the original iPad
The ten reasons I won’ t give up my iPad for an iPad 3
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I love the aluminim body and the added heft that comes with it and with each iteration, as seen with the iPhone/iPhone 3G, each iPad seems to feel cheaper. I like the feel of quality.
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The single core processor isn’t struggling to load anything. “If it ain’t broke don’ t fix it.” Sure a few milliseconds faster is noticeable to techies but if my emails and websites load in a timely manner, and they do, then I’m doing just fine.
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I don’t want cameras on my iPad. I have a cellphone with a front facing camera and a laptop with one. I don’t see the appeal of having a camera on everything I own nor do I like the thought of using an iPad to take mediocre pictures. I’ve used the camera at the Apple store and the images are meh at best.
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The screen resolution is just fine for the size of the screen. I have no problems watching movies, Hulu+ or Netflix and the images look fantastic. It’s better than my phone and laptop screen.
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I find the original iPad much easier to hold when compared to the thinner iPad 2. It’s just the right size to fit in my big hands comfortably with out causing any added strain from trying to find a nice place to hold it.
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My battery life is still phenomenal. I use my iPad a great deal and have since I got it and I’m still averaging about 10 hours with normal use. That’s pretty good for a device that is almost 2 years old and doesn’t have a user replaceable battery.
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This one is more cliche but I feel cooler with the original. I don’t feel like an idiot for rushing out and standing in lines with strangers to get a device that is a marginal improvement from the first iteration.
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I’ve already invested in many things for my iPad like screen protectors, cases, stands and other items that wont fit a smaller/thinner iPad. Spending $500 on a device and hundreds on accessories doesn’t make me want to rush out and buy a new one every year.
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iOS 5 gave it a free improvement that adds even more to its functionality without reduced battery life and performance. It runs it perfectly with no sluggishness and made a perfect device an amazing device.
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Lastly, it still works. Maybe I’m old fashioned but if it still works like the day it was purchased I don’t see a reason to get a new one. Maybe if you’ve beat yours to death, dropped it and treated it like a dollar store purchase you’d need a new one every year but I’ve treated mine like an infant the whole way. $500 bucks is a lot to spend on a device every year especially if your “old” device still does the job.
There will be no doubt some who think I’m an Apple hater but the truth is I love their products. They make amazing things but that’s part of the problem. They make such great devices that there are plenty of people like me who use them until they won’t turn on anymore. However a surprising amount of people get sucked into the Apple created hype that revolves around a “new” device. The devices aren’t new as is shown in the product names (iPad 2, iPhone 4). If the iPad 2
Top 5 rumors about the iPad 3
- It will have a retina display that will put its pixels in line with the iPhone 4/4s
- It will support 4G LTE. If that is true those of you who live in a 4G area will have incredible browsing speed. Hope they fixed the battery drain issues.
- It will have a new faster processor. Rumored to be the A6 which is a step up from the iPad 2′s A5.
- It will have 3D capability. 3D is all the rage for movies but if 3D phones are any indication the 3D iPad might be a flop.
- Lastly and one of the most likely rumors is that the new iPad will have a larger battery and a better camera. The bigger battery could be for the 4G version.
This device isn’t out yet and apparently Apple is going to sell 70 million of them.
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Act Of Valor
Have you longed for an action movie that didn’t have cheesy sound effects and actors who looked like they just learned to shoot yesterday? Do you frequently watch war movies and pay great attention to the errors made by the actors? If you want a war movie to be as real as it can be then Act of Valor is for you. I am admittedly very excited about this movie because not only does it feature active duty Navy SEALs but the SEALs were instrumental in making sure everything looked right and wasn’t faked. Their attention to detail means that you won’t see M4 dust covers in the up position while brass is somehow flying out, slapping of magazines in while being sneaky, looking awkward in body armor and the best part is you’ll know that these guys are capable of or have already done everything you see in the movie.
The movie is no doubt a great recruiting ploy by the Navy, who has given the movie the green light, but no one really cares about that. The only thing we care about is that we are finally going to get an action movie similar to Black Hawk Down except this one will be a little more upbeat than the failed raid and you won’t see Josh Hartnett running around nor Tom Sizemore trying not to have a stroke. The producers of Act of Valor approached the Navy in 2006 and asked to be allowed to shoot a movie about the SEALs and “the Naval Special Warfare community said, ‘Oh my gosh, how do we do this?’” says Army Lt. Col. Jim Gregory, a Pentagon spokesman. The military decided that it would be best to film the movie during training exercises at home that way their SEALs were thousands of miles away from any war zone. That, along with the Navy’s requirement that no training be staged, is why it took 6 years to make the movie. The SEALs would deploy and when they returned they would pick up on filming the movie again.
There will be some who fear that this is far too much publicity for the Navy SEALs who’re meant to be invisible until they snap your neck but for those of us who have cried for a “real” action movie without going through BUD/S this is perfect. The movie comes out next Friday to theaters everywhere and is sure to put a smile on your face if you like macho men, guns and explosions.
Facebook Parenting: For The Troubled Teen
Video of the week
Probably one of the most hotly debated videos on Youtube right now and one that resparks the age old debate on whose parenting style is the correct one. I frankly wasn’t watching the video to get parenting advice, mainly because I don’t have kids, but some find this dads approach to be way over the top and others think it is brilliant. Take a look,
Do you think he was overreacting or do you feel we need more parents like him? Share your opinion below.
Obama To Decide Nuke Strategy
America’s nuclear arsenal is key to our force projection and national defense guidelines and for the first time in his administration President Obama is set to decide just how we employ our nuclear arsenal. He will be deciding what our strategy will be in the event of a nuclear war, where we should aim our nuclear tipped ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles) and how many nuclear submarines we keep at sea. Obama has been set on reducing America’s incredibly large and Earth ending nuclear arsenal but will he choose a path that will no doubt label him as ‘weak on national security’ in an election year?
“It is possible that our deterrence goals can be achieved with a smaller nuclear force,” Obama said, “which would reduce the number of nuclear weapons in our inventory as well as their role in U.S. national security strategy.” Reducing our nuclear arsenal would force the Pentagon to reshape our deterrence options considering most of our military strategy to prevent a war on American soil rests in the tubes of American submarines deployed around the world in secret. Reducing our national nuclear arsenal presents us with the opportunity to develop a 21st century deterrence method with the nuclear arsenal taking a back seat while saving the tax payer billions.
According to Mother Jones the United States Navy argues that it needs a total of 12 nuclear-missile submarines just to be able to keep five in the water at all times, ready to launch their missiles. The extra seven come at an added cost of $350 billion. Those submarines can carry 16 missiles apiece and up to eight nuclear warheads and that is just the submarine fleet. Current deterrence policy dictates that we are able to launch 1,000 nuclear missiles against multiple targets within a 20 minute window (yes you read that right) after the launch order is given. As some of the submarines, missiles and bombers reach their age limits Obama has a very interesting choice to make.
If the President were to just scale back the submarine fleet to 8 subs he could save over $100 billion dollars and he could save hundreds of billions more by delaying the purchase of new bombers and missiles. Both political parties have demanded budget cuts and many turned to controversial expenditures such as Medicare to reduce the budget but Obama now has the opportunity to save even more money that isn’t apart of the current budget cuts. While saving money sounds awesome jeopardizing national security doesn’t and there will be calls for his head if he chooses the path of fiscal security.
Every nuclear nation other than the United States and Russia deploys less than 300 nuclear weapons. Current guidelines for the U.S dictate that we are able to hit every factory in every factory city within enemy territory that has a population of 250,000 or more. As a result we have over 5,000 nuclear warheads on tap which is more than enough to destroy the world. Russia has a similar policy and also has several thousand warheads on tap and China is gaining ground. Nuclear bombs have become so powerful that it becomes horrifying to think of just a few dropped not to mention 1,000 or 5,000 which is why the deterrence has worked. No one wants to end the world. However if we were to reduce our nuclear arsenal to 300 we would still be in position to obliterate any hostile country without the costs of maintaining 5,000 warheads and delivery vehicles.
Nuclear weapons are an aging deterrence as is proven by the 1970s era rules that dictate the targeting of enemy cities. Reducing the nuclear arsenal would not affect national security and most experts feel that our nuclear arsenal has surpassed our national security needs for a long time. Threats such as terrorism cannot be defeated by dropping a nuclear bomb and for the large conventional armies that have a nuclear arsenal, 300 is more than enough to ruin them. Why aren’t we shutting the doors to the silos then? A nasty Presidential election looms on the horizon with virtually every candidate painting Obama as weak on defense.
Can Obama reduce the nuclear arsenal? He certainly can and he’s certainly said that he wants to see a nuclear free world but Obama tends to meet resistance to his policies, with the exception of health care, with a white flag. The nuclear strategy comes up for review every 4 years so this might be Obama’s last chance to act but it could also be the nail in his campaigns coffin. This would be the one area where they could paint Obama as weak on national defense without going against what the rest of the country feels. I believe he should take the risk and reduce the amount of nukes we have on standby and save us all a little money. Remember it took 2 nuclear bombs which are very weak in comparison to today’s bomb to end WWII; not 5,000. We need to start taking a realistic approach to defense rather than an outdated bluff.
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Mother Jones Wikipedia: List of states with nuclear weaponsMother Jones
Obama’s Mexican Problem
Pepe Rojas-Cardona (left) and Vernon McKinley on the University of Iowa campus in 1990.
As the race for President hits the home stretch more attention is going to be paid to the Obama administrations blunders and shady endeavors that have yet to garner much attention from the press or the ire of the candidates. This administrations true one true scandal isn’t health care. It involved running guns across the border to Mexico where thousands of firearms were sold to people and taken over the border while the ATF dropped the ball. The operation goes all the way to the top and the cover up has only just begun but now a new scandal looms.
Operation Fast and Furious in itself was doomed from the start. Anyone who has seen the movie knows that the car thieves end up getting all of the cars, grant it they beat up the Shelby 500, and that they all got away in the end. The same can be said for this operation. The cartels got thousands of assault rifles and some .50 caliber sniper rifles bought in American gun stores, walked them over the border and got away. The ATF thought that they could track the guns all the way back to the cartel leaders but it never materialized. The guns however did end up killing an American Border Patrol agent in a firefight along the border. The scandal is currently being pinned on the Attorney General but it screams Washington cover up to save the presidency and there is no doubt that the Republican candidates who are gun loving but not illegal gun loving will seize the opportunity to attack.
The next potential hiccup for the administration regards who is funding his re-election campaign. It isn’t a full blown scandal but it certainly has all of the ingredients to be explosive, it just needs the catalyst. Two American brothers are pouring money into Obama’s campaign coffers and have dumped money into Iowa’s Democratic party. That all sounds pretty common in politics until you find out that the brothers are the sons of a Mexican casino mogul who fled the United States on fraud charges and now wants a pardon.
Juan Jose Rojas, Pepe, skipped bail in Iowa in 1994 and dropped off the grid. When he popped back up on the State Departments radar he was tied to corruption and, not surprisingly, fraud in Mexico. He was also suspected of assassinating a business rival and making illegal campaign donations to Mexican officials. A confidential State Department cable made public by Wikileaks detailed that he funneled $5 million to Mexican political campaigns in 2006 and is involved in organized crime. In January of 2011 Mr. Cardona’s brother in Chicago, Carlos Rojas Cardona, arranged for the former chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party to seek a pardon from the governor for Pepe Cardona, according to prosecutors in that state.
While seeking said pardon the Cardona family with the exception of the fugitive donated a total of $56,400 with Ablerto in the top tier of donations with over $30,000. The pardon however hasn’t been signed nor do the hopes look good of ever getting one. Even though both brothers live and work in Chicago they still hold close ties to their father, Pepe Cardona, in Mexico. According to the New York Times Alberto Cardona operates an advertising agency in Mexico that has worked for political candidates backed by his brother, according to public records and Mexican news reports. Public records also show that the domain name for the Web site of a restaurant Pepe Cardona owns is registered to Alberto Cardona.
The Obama administration is doing the right thing and getting out in front of the scandal. They have been very forthright with information regarding the donations and have even begun refunding around $200,000 from the brothers and $100,000 in total from lesser individuals tied to the brothers.
While Obama has jumped out in front of this problem one has to wonder if another scandal that lies South of the border will pop up to torpedo the Obama administration or if Fast and Furious will be the term used to describe how quickly Obama’s re-election hopes died?