Retired Navy man collects scores of tiny timepieces

Eric Margolis: The North Pacific Is No Longer an American Lake
We are still so steeped in Cold War thinking that the prospect of US naval power no longer having a free run in the North Pacific is causing shock and deep consternation in Washington even though this development was perfectly predictable and inevitable. Ever since 1945, the North Pacific has been pretty much America's "mare nostrum." The powerful US 7th Fleet policed the region's waters, ready to intervene along the coasts of China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. Both the Korean War and Vietnam War...

Frat Boys and Navy Officers
When the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot two weeks ago published on its Internet page three videos made four years ago by the executive officer of the Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. Enterprise, it unleashed a firestorm that would sink the career of a decorated officer. The Navy’s actions to relieve Capt. Owen Honors of command of the Enterprise—he had been twice promoted after the videos were made—appears to be little more than a desperate attempt at damage control. Honors, a Naval Academy gr...

Neighbour describes McRae crash
A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) has heard of the last moments of a Helicopter flight which crashed killing Colin McRae and three other people. A neighbour of the champion rally driver said the Aircraft was not on its normal flight path before it came down. Farmer David Lowrie said he lost sight of the Helicopter before seeing part of its rotor blade spiralling upwards. Mr McRae, 39, was at the controls when the Aircraft crashed near his home in Lanark in September 2007. He died with his five-year...

Copter crew didn't see plane before Va collision
Federal investigators say the crew of a medical Helicopter didn't see a small airplane before the two Aircraft collided in the air near a rural airport in the Shenandoah Valley. The National Transportation Safety Board says in a preliminary report that the helicopter's collision avoidance system displayed two other planes in the area but didn't alert the crew to the third plane. The 1967 Cessna 172's Right Wing was separated in the Dec. 31 collision and the plane crashed. The plane's pilot and a...

Families in Naples, Rota, now may opt for off-base housing
With occupancy rates in family housing units comfortably above 90 percent and holding steady, the Navy on this side of the Atlantic has discontinued a two-year policy that required inbound families to reside on base. The change took effect New Year’s Day and is meant to give incoming families the option of living on or off their assigned installation, according to Navy Region Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia. This gives families “the luxury to choose,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. David...

What Went Wrong at Borders
Let me start with an unequivocal declaration: I hope Borders finds the means to avoid Bankruptcy, or worse, liquidation. The immediate consequence of a Borders default on what it owes publishers would be a cash short-fall of millions of dollars. Even the most profitable publishers have limited leeway to deal with months of unpaid bills. The irony is that the surge in E-book sales across many platforms, the popularity of reading devices and tablets, some effective re-tooling at Barnes & Noble...

Connecting the Crazy Dots: Assange, Recruiting Kids, The Tucson Massacre and General American Bloodthirstiness
No charges were filed. When Julian Assange's Wikileaks, in conjunction with several large media organizations including the New York Times, the UK Guardian and the German magazine Der Spiegel, released leaked cables that showed both the pettiness and the Bullying of the US State Department, there were immediate howls from members of Congress and from the right-wing Talk Radio and TV crowd for his summary execution. The more sedate called for his arrest, trial and execution. Now his lawyer in ...

Faster, deadlier drones are on the way
AeroVironment Inc. Photo An experimental spy plane with a wingspan almost the size of a Boeing 747’s took to the skies over the Mojave Desert last week in a secret test flight that may herald a new era in modern warfare with robotic planes flying higher, faster and with more firepower. The massive Global Observer built by AeroVironment Inc. of Monrovia is capable of flying for days at a stratosphere-skimming 65,000 feet, out of range of most antiaircraft missiles. The plane is built to sur...

China online media say stealth fighter makes first flight
Beijing | Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:55am EST Beijing (Reuters) - China staged a first test-flight of a new stealth fighter jet that could narrow the nation's Military gap with the United States on Tuesday while the U.S. defense chief was in Beijing, Chinese Internet accounts said. The reports on Chinese blog and media sites, including at least one hosted by a state-run newspaper, could not be verified by Reuters. They showed pictures of a fighter plane in flight, and some offered what were cast as r...

Wealthy Treated Themselves During The Holidays
NEW YORK — The rich treated themselves like royalty this Holiday Season. That spun the holidays into gold for Tiffany & Co. and other high-end Retailers. Wealthier shoppers traded up to more expensive gold and diamond jewelry from silver charms at Tiffany. At Saks and Neiman Marcus, designer clothing and handbags were the hot holiday items. The strong reports are a big improvement from six months ago, when wealthy Americans got spooked by a Stock Market slide and cut back spending. It shows ...

Wealthy treated themselves during the holidays
NEW YORK (AP) — The rich treated themselves like royalty this Holiday Season. That spun the holidays into gold for Tiffany & Co. and other high-end Retailers. Wealthier shoppers traded up to more expensive gold and diamond jewelry from silver charms at Tiffany. At Saks and Neiman Marcus designer clothing and handbags were the hot holiday items. The strong reports are a big improvement from six months ago, when wealthy Americans got spooked by a Stock Market slide and cut back spending....

The Case for Social Security Personal Accounts
There are two crises facing Social Security. First the program has a gigantic unfunded liability, largely caused by demographics. Second, the program is a very bad deal for younger workers, making them pay record amounts of tax in exchange for comparatively meager benefits. This video explains how personal accounts can solve both problems, and also notes that nations as varied as Australia, Chile, Sweden, and Hong Kong have implemented this pro-growth reform. Social Security reform received a ...

The Case for Social Security Personal Accounts
There are two crises facing Social Security. First the program has a gigantic unfunded liability, largely caused by demographics. Second, the program is a very bad deal for younger workers, making them pay record amounts of tax in exchange for comparatively meager benefits. This video explains how personal accounts can solve both problems, and also notes that nations as varied as Australia, Chile, Sweden, and Hong Kong have implemented this pro-growth reform. Social Security reform received a go...

Turkey to increase arms spending in 2011
ISTANBUL, Turkey, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Turkey will spend nearly $4.5 billion on arms procurement this year. A senior official in the Turkish Military involved in armaments purchases, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the amount represents a 10 percent increase from 2010 figures, Hurriyet reported Tuesday. This stands in stark contrast to Turkey's European NATO partners, nearly all of whom are scaling back armaments purchases in light of fiscal stringencies. The official told Hurriyet: "This y...

Weeping witnesses
Emotional people have flocked to testify before the president-appointed Sri Lankan commission looking into the final years of its war, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). Many of those who bore witness in the former war zone said their close relatives had disappeared, mostly towards the end of the conflict. Charles Haviland attended the hearings in the north-western town of Mannar - the panel's fourth visit to the north. In a crowded room in a government building there ...

All for one, and one for all!?
All for one, and one for all!? Japan joins China to form their own Two Musketeers in saying they will help Europe in bailing out troubled countries. Japan is approaching this indirectly and is certainly not doing this out of the goodness of their heart. They are more attracted to the AAA rating of the European Financial Stability Facility that will be the financing vehicle right now for Ireland and likely soon Portugal. In terms of this week’s sovereign fund raising, the easy part is ove...

CMA Issues Its Q4 Global Sovereign Debt Credit Risk Report
All you wanted to know about why the world is bankrupt in many pretty charts. Some findings. Greece, widening 32% in Q4, tips Venezuela off the top spot as the world’s most risky sovereign. Concerns that Spain has some similarities to Ireland – a Debt-driven property boom bust – helped drive the cost of protection wider by 50% and into the top 10 most risky. China’s support for Spain both in terms of long-term debt holding and imports will help support one of the most im...

Satyajit Das: European Death Spiral Communicable Diseases
By Satyajit Das, the author of “Traders, Guns & Money: Knowns and Unknowns in the Dazzling World of Derivatives” Communicable Diseases European politicians and central Bankers have provided useful geographical clarifications. Prior to succumbing to the inevitable, the Ireland told everyone that they were not Greece. Portugal is now telling everyone that it is not Greece or Ireland. Spain insists that it is not Greece, Ireland or Portugal. Italy says it is not in the “P...

Europe launches new era of economic coordination
Europe on Wednesday opens a crucial chapter in its efforts to end the Deficits and Debts plaguing the euro, with national budgets in the future to come under EU scrutiny before coming into effect. Drawing from the costly lessons of the Eurozone debt crisis, now endangering Portugal and Spain, the European Union agreed on a series of steps in the past several months to reassure nervous markets. Among them is the first ever "European semester," a programme kicking off Wednesday to coordinate econo...

LEAD: Stocks end mixed amid eurozone debt woes+
TOKYO, Jan. 11 (AP) - (Kyodo)—(EDS: ADDING DETAILS AND PRICES) Tokyo stocks ended mixed Tuesday as worries about Eurozone Debt hung over the market, but the recent Bullish sentiment toward equities continued to give support. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 30.36 points, or 0.29 percent, from Friday to 10,510.68. Financial Markets in Japan were closed Monday for a national holiday. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange erased earlier losse...

Euro slips against dollar on Portugal bailout fears
The euro fell against The Dollar here on Tuesday on rising fears that Portugal will be the latest Eurozone nation to need an international Bailout because of its high level of Debt, analysts said. In early deals, the European single currency dropped to $1.2921 from $1.2950 in New York late on Monday. The dollar rose to 83.14 yen from 82.67 yen on Monday. "The Eurozone debt and banking crisis continues to rumble on. Portugal looks like the next Candidate for access to the EU/IMF rescue facilit...

European stocks rise as Japan pledges help
Europe's main Stock Markets advanced on Tuesday after Japan said it would buy European bonds to help finance a Bailout for crisis-hit Ireland, but concerns lingered over Debt-laden Portugal. London's FTSE 100 index advanced 1.09 percent to 6,021.33 points in late morning trading. Frankfurt's DAX 30 index added 0.53 percent to 6,893.67 points and the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.77 percent to 3,831.65. The Stoxx 50 index of leading Eurozone companies increased by 0.71 percent to stand at 2,780.95 poin...

Pressure on Portugal rises amid debt fears (AP)
LISBON, Portugal – Borrowing rates for Portugal briefly spiked Monday after reports over the weekend that Germany and France are pushing it to accept outside help to keep the Debt crisis in Europe from spreading. The yield on Portuguese 10-year bonds, a key gauge of investor sentiment, rose to 7.18 percent at one point, its highest since the adoption of the euro and a potentially unsustainable level, before falling back to 6.94 percent. Portuguese officials have sought the help of China,...

Stocks end mixed amid eurozone debt woes+
TOKYO, Jan. 11 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Tokyo stocks ended mixed Tuesday as worries about Eurozone Debt hung over the market, but the recent Bullish sentiment toward equities continued to give support. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 30.36 points, or 0.29 percent, from Friday to 10,510.68. Financial Markets in Japan were closed Monday for a national holiday. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange erased earlier losses to end the day up 0.52 point, or...

Man of Steel visits Des Moines in latest 'Superman' comic
VIP visits to Des Moines are commonplace in the state that hosts the first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses, but Wednesday, one of fiction’s biggest heroes is scheduled to stroll through the capital city. In the pages of the 707th issue of his self-titled ongoing comic book series, which hits stores today, Superman visits Des Moines. The story has the Man of Steel walking — not flying — across America to get back in touch with humanity. City Officials had no plans to greet Superman. Howe