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Dust clouds transport bacteria from Africa around the world Ian Sample Thursday May 25, 2006 Giant clouds of dust whipped up by desert storms in Africa can carry infectious organisms to other continents, scientists claim today. Despite being blown more than three miles high and exposed to radiation from the sun, strains of bacteria and fungi survived and were able to grow when they returned to Earth, researchers found. Among 40 tests of air samples taken in the mid-Atlantic, 24 revealed living microbes, including 26 colonies of bacteria and 83 fungi. They included strains capable of causing disease in humans,...

USA Citizens Day - July 1st Immigration Control Rally Nationwide Rally on Saturday, July 1st, at noon, at your City HallMay 1st - Million of Illegal Aliens Marched in our StreetsTwelve million illegal aliens demonstrated their political power, and declared May 1st to be A Day Without Undocumented Workers ( illegal aliens ). They boycotted the USA, all US businesses and institutions. Millions of them marched in our streets, carried Mexican flags, shouted "Si se puede!", and demanded new laws from our Congress. July 1st - U.S. Citizens Nationwide Rally for Immigration ControlRally to stop our continuous invasion by...

PERSIAN GULF (NNS) -- USS Ogden (LPD 5), the Navy’s oldest active amphibious ship, is currently serving as the Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB) for the multinational maritime coalition operating in the North Persian Gulf. As the AFSB for Commander, Task Group (CTG) 158.1, the 41-year-old amphibious transport dock is providing logistical support for the various forces that are protecting Iraq’s territorial waters and oil platforms, as well as serving as a training platform for Iraqi sailors and marines. “The crew is having a wonderful time,” said Cmdr. James Hruska, Ogden’s commanding officer. “Everyone understands the importance of keeping these...

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- Family and friends greeted the arrival of the Navy’s newest ship, the amphibious transport dock USS San Antonio (LPD 17), as it arrived to its homeport of Naval Station Norfolk, Jan. 25. San Antonio was commissioned Jan. 14 at Naval Station Ingleside, Texas, and will be permanently homeported in Norfolk. “After a magnificent commissioning in Ingleside (Texas), it will feel good for the Sailors on San Antonio to get home,” said San Antonio’s Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Bradley Lee. The San Antonio-class will functionally replace more than 41 ships (LPD 4, LSD 36, LKA 113, and LST...

The U.S. Navy will commission the USS San Antonio, lead ship of the latest class of amphibious ships, at 11 a.m. CDT, Jan. 14, 2006, at Naval Station Ingleside, Texas. Former President George H. W. Bush will deliver the ceremony’s principal address. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison will serve as the ship’s sponsor and will give the first order to "Man our ship and bring her to life!" Capt. Jonathan M. Padfield of Salt Lake City, Utah, is the ship’s first commanding officer and will lead a crew of 360 officers and enlisted personnel. The ship is capable of embarking a...

ABOARD USS CLEVELAND, Arabian Sea (NNS) -- Members of Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 1 are currently leading a group of six coalition ships conducting maritime security operations (MSO) in the North Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman. The strike group’s flagship, USS Tarawa (LHA 1) and the amphibious transport dock USS Cleveland (LPD 7) are joined by the guided-missile destroyer USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79). The French ships Var (FS 608) and Lafayette (FS 710), and the Pakistani frigate Badr (PNS 181) round out the coalition task group. MSO are part of ESG-1’s regularly scheduled deployment to the U.S. 5th...

CHICAGO - A former Chicago transportation foreman was sentenced to a year in prison for taking $15,000 in bribes to divert city-owned asphalt to private construction projects. "I really do understand how wrong this all was," Patrick Stillo, 51, told U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo during his sentencing Tuesday. Stillo is the 18th person sentenced and one of 24 who have pleaded guilty to charges in the federal investigation into Chicago's scandal-plagued Hired Truck Program. The program spent millions to outsource hauling jobs to private truckers. Stillo, who had pleaded guilty to mail fraud and bribery, was one of five...

The global oil market environment of very strong demand and very little spare capacity offers a huge opportunity to the radical jihadists. The terrorists believe that the best way to hurt the global Western economy is to go after oil. Since the end of the major hostilities in Iraq, there have been close to 300 attacks on pipelines, refineries, and other facilities, and there have been attacks on oil installations in many other parts of the world, including Chechnya, Pakistan, India, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Nigeria. The cumulative impact of those attacks amounts to about 1 million barrels a day that...

Today President George W. Bush signs the Transportation Equity Act, at the Caterpillar facility in Montgomery, Ill. Former first lady Barbra Bush throws the first pitch before the start of a game between the Texas Rangers and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

KSL News) – A tanker truck carrying some sort of explosive material overturned and exploded this afternoon on Highway 6, up Spanish Fork Canyon. It caught fire and exploded. Highway 6 is shut down in both directions and is expected to remain so for up to eight hours. The accident was reported about 1:30. It's about 10 miles up Spanish Fork Canyon, just east of the Thistle Fork Junction. Doug McCleve of the Utah Department of Public Safety confirmed there was an explosion and there were some injuries, including two burn victims. There's apparently a crater now in the middle...

HALIFAX -- Canada will create its own version of a no-fly list as part of a security program critics say is coming far too late and will do little to shield it from terrorist attacks like those last month in London. Federal Transport Minister Jean Lapierre said Friday that officials will begin devising criteria that would identify people who pose "an immediate threat to aviation security," and will work with airlines to stop those people from flying. Lapierre insisted the new program, called Passenger Protect, will not violate the Charter of Rights or the Constitution. But he wouldn't spell out...

According to Transport Ministry of Ukraine, introduction of 20% VAT for transport cervices and for cargo-handling works has led to sharp decrease of Ukrainian ports competitiveness on the international freight market. According to the estimate of Pavel Ryabikin, Deputy Minister of Transport, since the moment of VAT introduction (Apr.1, 2005) vessel costs in ports of Ukraine increase those of Baltic Sea ports by 18-20%. According to Minister of Transport, Yevgeniy Chervonenko, this is the most urgent problem of Ukrainian transport sector. The dramatic situation is intensified by the problem of VAT non-refund to non-residents. Taking into account these issues, Ministry...

Washington Post intelligence reporter Dana Priest will be online Wednesday, Jan. 5, at Noon ET to discuss reports that the administration has long-range plans for indefinitely imprisoning suspected terrorists plus the CIA's secret plane allegedly used to transport terrorists for detention and interrogation.

S. Korea: Iri Station Explosion in '77 The Aftermath of Iri Explosion, which occurred on Nov.11, 1977 Around 9:15pm on Nov. 11, 1977, 30 tons of dynamite(1,214 boxes) and 280kg of detonators(36 boxes) went off in a huge explosion, which were in the 11th box car of the freight train No. 1,011. It was parked at the 4th track in Iri Train Station located at 2nd St., Chang-in Dong, Iri City, N. Cholla Province(, S. Korea) (my note: the train was a munition transport train for the military.) As of afternoon of Nov. 12, 51 were killed and 1,215 were...

The Air-Maneuver and Transport Concept: Can it Transform the Nature of Rapid Contingency Operations? January 2004 By Lt. Gen. H. Thomas Fields Jr., U.S. Army retired In the year 2020 a Middle East dictator attacked and occupied an oil-rich neighboring state. Other neighboring states were intimidated and reluctant to provide basing or overflight rights to a U.S.-led coalition. The United States initially responded with long-range strike and naval aviation to achieve air superiority and destroy the enemy's integrated air defense system. The enemy countered by dispersing ground forces, including mobile gun-missile air defense artillery (ADA) systems, into urban areas. The...

Inter-world life transport argued By Dr David Whitehouse BBC News Online science editor Life could quickly spread throughout the galaxy Astronomers may have shown how microbes from Earth could be spread throughout the galaxy taking life to other worlds. Scientists at Armagh Observatory and Cardiff University say bacteria could get into space on rocks blasted off the planet by an asteroid or comet impact. Their calculations then indicate the microbes would eventually leak out of our Solar System to seed other regions. The work is reported in two independent papers published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society....

TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) - Sgt. John Davies' face was soaked with sweat as he climbed aboard a truck Monday and poked the cargo of hay with a wooden stick. Iraqi women in full-length veils watched from atop the truck as he listened for the thunk of wood against a missile tube or the rattle of hidden assault rifles. Davies and his fellow soldiers from the 720th Military Police Battalion were searching for contraband weapons that could be used by guerrillas, a routine operation that has taken on added urgency since insurgents shot down a Chinook helicopter with a missile, killing...

Anyone else see the barge sinking in the Hudson river? CNBC had a quick clip of it, doesn't look like there's any action in terms of tugs nearby. Can't find a URL for it yet.

It has been confirmed that one of the largest carriers of US troops through Shannon airport is to cut back its flights severely. World Airways is to cut back on its flights following the latest security breaches. It is known that the civilian carriers used by the US military have been dismayed by the spotlight recent events have thrown on their operations. World Airways is the second largest US charter carrier using Shannon for military transports flights. The company has a $175 million contract with the Pentagon to move troops and equipment. Shannon peace camp to be dismantled Meanwhile a...

V-44 The Pentagon’s next transport flies like a plane, lands like a helicopterand unloads enough firepower to start—or stop—a war. BY SCOTT R. GOURLEY Illustrations by Mark McCandlish and John Batchelor (cutaway) Some planes are so beautiful they could hang in art museums even if they couldn't fly. Others--the Wart Hog tank-killer comes to mind--are as homely as their names. And then there is the Pentagon's next wonder-plane, the V-44. It's ugly, coyote ugly, with wings. Four wings to be exact. Each is tipped with a tilting nacelle that converts the V-44 from a helicopter that can land or...