Monday, December 21, 2009

Russia surprised by U.S., EU stance on UN anti-Nazi resolution

Russia is concerned over the stance of the United States and the European Union on a UN resolution condemning the glorification of Nazism and the desecration of WWII monuments, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

The UN General Assembly adopted on December 18, 2009 a draft resolution proposed by Russia on combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

The resolution is aimed at condemning attempts to heroize the Nazi movement and former Waffen SS members and desecrate monuments to the fighters against Nazism.

"It is highly bewildering and regrettable that the United States voted against the resolution, supported by an overwhelming majority of UN member states, and a number of states, including all European Union members, abstained in the vote on the draft," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said it was surprised by the position of the former Soviet republics of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova which abstained from the vote, even though their peoples fought against Nazis during World War Two.

"We believe this is disrespect for the heroism of those who glorified these countries by their heroic deeds in the struggle against Nazism," the statement said.

On Saturday, the Georgian authorities demolished a memorial to WWII heroes in the country's second largest city, Kutaisi. The blast, which was used to demolish the monument, killed two people.

Russia has condemned the Georgian war memorial demolition blast as an act of barbarism and state vandalism.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the Georgian authorities "have committed an act of state vandalism, offending the feelings of any civilized person."

Health Insurance Company Stock Prices Say it All

For OpEdNews: background n015e - Writer

Dylan Rattigan on MSNBC recently gave Rep. Wassersman-Schulz (D-Fl) a hard time about the health care package. He disputed her contention the bill was a big win for consumers. He wanted to know why the stock prices for Big Insurers (e.g., Aetna, Cigna, Wellpoint, United Health) shot up if this was such a big loss for them.

Unfortunately, he was so exercised on the point, he didn't give her a chance to address the question. It's an important question. Asked another way, the question is "Why are stocks in this sector at a 52-week high if this legislation is such a blow to their profits?"

That's worth investigating. Follow the money and things get real clear real fast.

The validity of Rattigan's point is clear even with this thumbnail of a stock chart. A lot of stocks are up over the last 52 weeks. This chart covers the last three months. It compares the S&P 500 to stock prices for some large health insurance companies. Each one is represented by a different color as follows:

S&P 500 (brown), Cigna (red), Aetna (blue), Wellpoint (gold), and United Health (green).

TheS&P 500, a broad indicator of the market, fluctuates but is largely unchanged. However, all the health insurers fell towards the end of September, for an average loss of about 12%. They stayed down throughout October. However, they started rising in November to reverse their losses. Last week they all moved again.This time to gain over the S&P. In sum, over the last three months, these stocks have posted an average 10% gain, after making up their losses. That's about a 20% swing in value. That's a big move compared to the overall market.

It's true these stocks are more volatile than the overall index. That's the point of the index, to smooth out volatility. The fact these stocks all move in concert shows they are being affected by the same forces. That's not surprising. Stocks in the same sector should be responding in roughly similar ways to the same news. The interesting point is when they made their moves. That reflects the conversation of the time.

Where were we in mid-September?

On September 9, Obama had made a clear pitch for the public option in his speech on health care. This resonated with the public. A CBS poll from that time showed growing public suport for a public option. The reason people argue for a public option is to provide a competitive break on run away prices. That would not be good for profits. The stocks fell.

Where were we in early November?

Lieberman had become the center of attention. He made it clear he wasn't supporting a public option. Of course, it was not just Joe blowing smoke that moved the stocks. Even if he did support it, the public option was so diluted it wouldn't matter. As Ezra Klien noted, the public option at that point wouldn't be available to 90% of the people in states that allowed it. Nor would it have any pricing leverage over private competitors. Basically it was going to be hollow. Safe in the knowledge their profits weren't going to get hammered, the stocks started to rise.
What happened in early December?

On December 10th, Pelosi caved on the public option. That followed the death of expanded Medicare. That killed any hope the House would force this back on track. In other words, the profits of these companies are going to be just fine. Once again, stock values jumped.

The bottom line: During those different time points a lot of ink got spilled, pixels got burned, and bytes bit it. But for all the noise, one thing is clear. If you want to know how the insurance companies are viewing the legislation, just follow their stock prices. The second image is a comparison for the same stocks over the last year. See the cliff they all fell off towards the end of February? That was their response to Obama's February 24 speech in front of a joint session of congress where he announced health care reform was a central pillar of his recovery strategy. It didn't take the folks at Cigna long to figure out that was just noise. You don't need to believe in conspiracy theories to see that people who buy stocks in this sector are responding to the political kabuki by betting insurers will do just fine.

An observer of the human condition, surprised to see we have such powerful tools but not the wisdom to use them.

Sign stolen from Auschwitz found, police say

WARSAW (AP) — Polish police have recovered the infamous Nazi sign stolen from the former Auschwitz death camp cut into three pieces, and said Monday it appeared to have been taken by common criminals seeking profit.

Five men were arrested late Sunday after the damaged "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work Sets You Free") sign was found near one of their homes in a snowy forest outside Czernikowo, a village near the northern Polish city of Torun, on the other side of the country from the memorial site.

The brazen pre-dawn Friday theft of one of the Holocaust's most chilling symbols sparked outrage from around the world. Polish leaders launched an intensive search for the 16-foot sign that spanned the main gate of the camp in southern Poland where more than 1 million people, mostly Jews, were killed during World War II.

The men's arrest late Sunday came after more than 100 tips, said Andrzej Rokita, the chief police investigator in the case.

Police said it was too soon to say what the motive for the theft was but they are investigating whether the Nazi memorabilia market may have played a part. The suspects do not have known neo-Nazi or other far-right links, Rokita said.

"Robbery and material gain are considered one of the main possible motives, but whether that was done on someone's order will be determined in the process of the investigation," added deputy investigator Marek Wozniczka.

"They are ordinary thieves," Rokita said.

The suspects have not been identified publicly, but Rokita said they were between the ages of 20 and 39 and that their past offenses were "either against property or against health and life," implying that at least one of them has a record for violent crime.

Four of them are unemployed and one owns a small construction company, he said. He would not give any other details.

Four of the five men are believed to have carried out the theft, removing the 65- to 90-pound steel sign from above the Auschwitz gate in the town of Oswiecim, about 30 miles west of Krakow.

"It seems they cut the sign up already in Oswiecim, to make transport easier," Rokita said at a news conference in Krakow. It was "hidden in the woods near the home of one of them."

Police in Krakow released a photograph showing investigators removing the cut-up sign — covered in brown protective paper — from a van. A second photograph showed one of the suspects being pulled from the van, a hooded sweat shirt pulled over his head and hiding his face.

Wozniczka said the suspects will all be charged with theft of an object of special cultural value and could face up to 10 years in prison. He said other charges could possibly be added during the investigation.

Museum authorities welcomed the news with relief despite the damage. Spokesman Pawel Sawicki said authorities hope to restore it to its place as soon as it can be repaired and was working to develop a new security plan.

An exact replica of the sign, produced when the original underwent restoration work years ago, was quickly hung in its place Friday.

In a statement e-mailed to the Associated Press, Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, welcomed the sign's swift recovery.

"Whatever the motivation, it takes warped minds to steal the defining symbol of the Holocaust from the world's most renowned killing field," he said.

The chairman of Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust memorial, expressed relief.

"The theft of the sign, which had become a symbol both of the ultimate evil that found its expression in Auschwitz, and of the memory of the Shoah — Jewish Holocaust, gave pain to Holocaust survivors and people of conscience everywhere," Avner Shalev said in a statement. "The concern expressed by people around the world, illustrates the importance and awareness of Holocaust remembrance today."

Noach Flug, an Auschwitz survivor and chair of a consortium of survivors' groups, welcomed the sign's recovery and called for tighter security.

Security guards patrol the 940-acre site around the clock, but due to its vast size they only pass by any one area at intervals.

After occupying Poland in 1939, the Nazis established the Auschwitz I camp, which initially housed German political prisoners and non-Jewish Polish prisoners. The sign was made in 1940. Two years later, hundreds of thousands of Jews began arriving by cattle trains to the wooden barracks of nearby Birkenau, also called Auschwitz II.

More than 1 million people, mostly Jews, but also Gypsies, Poles and others, died in the gas chambers or from starvation and disease while performing forced labor. The camp was liberated by the Soviet army on Jan. 27, 1945.

The grim slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" was so counter to the actual function of the camp that it has been etched into history. The phrase appeared at the entrances of other Nazi camps, including Dachau and Sachsenhausen, but the long curving sign at Auschwitz was the best known.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

菲律賓‧馬榮火山爆發在即‧菲警戒級別升第4級

(菲律賓‧馬尼拉)菲律賓政府的火山專家表示,馬榮火山將於幾日內爆發,警戒級別由三級升至四級。

火山監測小組主任沙比提週日(12月20日)表示:“們週日下午把警戒級別提昇至第4級,因為火山活動有突然加速活躍的跡象。”

他披露,在週日清晨6時,火山地震的次數增加至463次,火山也噴出更多二氧化硫。

“這個跡象顯示,未來數天內可能發生危險的岩漿爆發”。

他無法估計火山爆發的時間。

較早時,有火山學家指火山可能在兩週內爆發。

民防官員表示,馬榮火山方圓8公里的危險地區共有9000戶家庭,政府已經疏散8600多戶家庭。

尼日利亞‧車撞市集55死

(尼日利亞)尼日利亞官員週日(12月20日)表示,一輛滿載肥料的汽車衝入一個擠滿人的市集,造成至少55人死亡,38人受傷。

事發在中部的科基州。司機表示,在上週五傍晚,他的貨車失控,先撞向3輛車後再撞向一群人。

英國‧警方:孟買屠城案或重演‧倫敦金融城明年初恐襲?

(英國‧倫敦)英國倫敦警方警告,有恐怖組織正密謀在明年初對倫敦金融城發動“孟買式”恐怖襲擊。

《週日泰晤士報》引述倫敦警方反恐指揮部一名高級探員稱,“少數武裝份子將利用手鎗和自製爆炸裝置,對倫敦金融城發動襲擊並挾持人質。”

在他看來,這將是孟買襲擊案的重演;他警告:“孟買屠城正逼近倫敦。”

去年11月26日夜至29日,10名武裝份子在孟買對多個目標發動突擊,包括咖啡館和多家酒店,事件持續近60個小時,造成195人死亡,約300人受傷。

報導指出,這是倫敦警方“最直言不諱的一次警告”,印證了警方此前通過網站“安全論壇”發佈的一份安全評估報告,稱恐怖份子會在明年初伺機對倫敦發動襲擊。

警方掌握明確消息

一名高級安全顧問指出,過去2週內,來自警方的警告已變得更加嚴肅、明確和具體;他說:“以前只是一種猜測,但如今當局已掌握恐怖份子將對倫敦發動武器攻擊的消息,這看起來似乎十分明確。”

倫敦官員報告稱,目前恐怖份子之間的“情報聯絡”更加頻繁,尤其過去2週來,回報聖戰組織網站頻頻出現對倫敦發動襲擊的討論,引發相關部門的不安。

據信,倫敦方面正在加緊制定有效措施來應對可能的恐怖襲擊。

新加坡‧整形醫生拒開刀‧青年想變蛇‧求舌頭開叉

(新加坡)想要長得像蛇,青年竟然要求整形醫生,把他的舌頭整成開叉舌!

整形是為了提昇外表和增加美感,但新加坡整形醫生卻發現,有些顧客卻提出一些奇特的整形要求,例如把舌頭變成像蛇的開叉舌頭,牙齒變成僵屍尖牙等。

雖然這類顧客屬於極少數,但他們的要求有時也讓整形醫生感到納悶,有些甚至直接拒絕操刀。

知名整形醫生吳志良說︰“雖然能接受人們會有特殊的整形要求,但這並不代表必須由我來整形。我不希望偏離主流整形工作。”

兩年前,一名年輕男子為了想長得像蛇而找上吳醫生,要求把舌頭變成蛇型,但醫生不願這麼做。

他說︰“我儘量不去批判……但這樣的要求和我的價值觀不符。我不能接受會損害身體或無法逆轉的要求。”

顧客要求擁僵屍尖牙

曾經也有約8名顧客要求吳醫生把他們的牙齒變成僵屍尖牙,他同樣也拒絕了。“把一個人變成僵屍,讓我感到不舒服。”

有男顧客曾要求整形醫生Kevin Teh為陰睫注入填充劑,讓陰睫增大,但醫生認為陰睫的血管多,植入填充劑可能有出血和淤傷的風險,於是回絕顧客。

醫生說︰“我不想冒險,我也不想以進行這類奇怪的手術而出名。”

男人也要求隆胸

男人也要求把胸部整大!

想要胸部變大的不只是女人,整形醫生發現,有些男人也要求把胸整大,但他們是希望胸部肌肉能看起來較豐滿和有男人味。

一名整形醫生說,這類整形要求只佔了總生意量的1到2%,屬於相當特殊的顧客群。

另外,整形醫生也為女顧客的奶頭注入填充劑,讓奶頭變得比較豐滿而不下垂。

醫生說,這些女顧客主要屬於30至40來歲,通常是擔心丈夫出軌才想到要整形。

不過,也有一些女性認為奶頭太大,反而要求醫生為她們重塑奶頭。吳志良醫生平均每個月都會進行一項這類手術。

顧客要求千奇百怪

新加坡顧客還有哪些奇特整形要求?

‧把耳垂分成兩段——但醫生認為不符社會常態,拒絕操刀。

‧除掉耳垂,讓耳朵看起來和頭部合為一體,也能讓臉部顯得較瘦。

‧把陰睫包皮縫成結塊狀,看起來較有“獸性”,有些男人也覺得這樣比較有雄性。多數要求的是20至30來歲的單身潮男。

‧重整陰唇,讓陰唇成為流線型,作出這類要求的女性來自各個年齡層。

台灣‧民進黨遊行‧抗議“陳江會”‧僅3萬人參與

(台灣‧台中)民進黨週日(12月20日)在台中舉行“破黑箱、顧飯碗”大遊行,抗議即將於週一(12月21日)登場的第4次“陳江會”。

民進黨欲動員10萬人參加遊行。據悉,兩路遊行隊伍於下午3時30分集結出發,警方初步估計,兩集結點出發時,參與群眾各超過2、3萬人,沿途陸續有民眾加入;而民進黨內部評估,參與遊行群眾約近10萬人。

警方當天部署了500警力戒備。

隊伍由黨主席蔡英文與民進黨要角共同領軍。蔡英文率領黨內四大天王包括前副總統呂秀蓮,前行政院長游錫堃,謝長廷、蘇貞昌,以及本土社團代表展開遊行,高分貝向馬政府嗆聲。

晚間8時平和落幕

遊行結束後,綠營人馬舉行晚會,蔡英文等人上台演說,大力批判政府;不過,台下群眾卻如同寒流下的氣溫,愈晚愈冷,陸陸續續離開會場,晚會於晚間8時後理性平和落幕。

由於擔心會發生警民暴力衝突,民進黨還特別成立了緊急因應中心,隨時應付一切突發狀況。

台中市警方則加派警力,在陳雲林準備下榻的酒店,四週也已經架起鐵馬,有警員駐守。

針對“陳江會”,蔡英文表示,客人要懂得做客的道理,自克制;而做主人的馬英九政府,亦不應過度屈從大陸的要求。

民進黨也規劃週一在陳雲林抵台時前往機場“接機”,至於海基會、海協會週二正式簽署協議時,也會以車隊遊街的方式,表達心中怒吼。

陳雲林將於週一至週五(12月18日)率領海協會代表團到台灣訪問,進行兩會領導人第4次會談。

陳雲林行程保密
出發前1小時才公開

為了因應民進黨即將在“陳江會”期間發動大規模抗爭,陸委會和台中市政府對長陳雲林的行程採取保密策略,直到出發前1小時才會公開。

陳雲林週一(12月21日)將抵達台中,民進黨已部署綿長戰線,從今日(週日,12月20日)起到週五(12月18日)陳雲林離台,天天都有“活動”。

為了應對民進黨的抗議活動,台灣府院已全面提昇應變層級,陸委會與台中市府建立熱線溝通,“國安會”甚至開設應變中心,由副秘書長鄧振中每天監控最新動態,等於宣告進入紅色警戒。

料考察台灣投資環境

另據透露,今次與陳雲林同行赴台的還有“中國第一大金主”中投公司的領導層,預料他們到考察台灣投資環境。

至於台中兩家肩負江陳會的“基地”任務的酒店,將分別端出台灣特色小吃與得獎招牌菜,互別苗頭。

台中市長胡志強據報也會在裕元酒店宴請陳雲林兩場晚宴。

裕元與福華兩家酒店戒備森嚴,從週一起,裕元地下停車場將全部封鎖。

免衝突事件重演
馬下令保護陳雲林

據報導,為了避免去年“陳江會”期間衝突事件重演,台灣總統馬英九已下達指示,保障陳雲林等海協會代表的人身安全。

台灣當局已經嚴陣以待,警方在“陳江會”會場附近部署警力,必要時會採取行動。

據黨政高層透露,這次“陳江會”,馬政府繃緊神經,馬英九總統週一(12月21日)還將親自主持“擴大輿情會報”掌握情勢。

據透露,馬英九早前在“國安”內部會議下達指示,將保障陳雲林等海協會代表的人身安全,及儘量避免與綠營群眾爆發衝突,作為這次“陳江會”維安作業的最高指導原則。

警政署做好部署

內政部長江宜樺今日(週日,12月20日)表示,警政署已做好最嚴密的警力部署,但會採取比例原則,只有必要時才會動用警力。

江宜樺說,他相信台灣民眾的民主素質絕對可以向來訪的中國大陸談判代表,展現高度成熟的一面。

與此同時,台中市市長胡志強已立軍令狀,並強調,警員已經有經驗,不會執勤過當,如果警員與民眾無故發生暴力事件,他會以去留相許,辭職負責。

海基會:沒安排鄭立中踩線

對於在野黨今日(週日,12月20日)發動大規模抗爭,海基會表示,不會安排正在台中陳雲林探路的海協會副會長鄭立中在當天進行踩線。

鄭立中上週六(12月19日)已先到訪陳雲林將參訪的地點一一勘點,其間走過苗栗、大甲等地。

在走訪苗栗西湖度假村時,在短短半天內,鄭立中經歷了一趟“庶民飲食體驗之旅”,從豆腐乳、蜜蕃薯、草粿、菜包,到商家曬著的蘿蔔乾,鄭立中都一一品嚐過。

另一方面,台灣行政院長吳敦義上週六向反對“陳江會”的民眾柔性喊話,強調過去3次簽的9項協議、一項共識,和這次要簽的,都是對台灣是有幫助的。

吳敦義表示,今次不簽兩岸經濟合作架構協議(ECFA),台灣人沒甚麼好憂慮的,為何不藉此機會展現“泱泱大國”的氣度。

中國‧發現首座隕石坑‧5萬年前形成‧居民長壽

(中國‧北京)全球至今已發現170多個隕石撞擊坑,中國卻沒半個,大陸科學家經3年努力,證實遼寧岫巖坑就是隕石撞擊坑,也是中國第一個被發現且證實的隕石坑。

有趣的是,目前坑內住有64戶人家,村民很少生病,是有名的長壽村。

《北京科技報》曾經報導,“在遼寧省岫岩滿族自治縣蘇子溝鎮古龍村常發生“井裡浮油,黑土能燒”這樣的怪事。

這裡的村民從井裡取上來的水都浮著一層油,且黑土挖出曬乾扔到火裡就能燃燒,但自古以來,古龍村村民對上述現象迷惑不已,卻不知道原因。

古龍村由於地貌是個環形大坑,當地村民稱之為“圈裡”。“圈裡人”祖祖輩輩生活在這,因為交通不便,村民靠上山養蠶和耕種來維持生活。目前,圈裡共有64戶人家,有30戶姓逢,由於村民很少生病,而被稱作長壽村。

中科院廣州地球化學研究所陳鳴等人員在經過3年努力,早前終於找到隕石強烈撞擊導致岩石發生變形、碎裂和局部熔融,以及岩石和礦物發生衝擊變質的一系列證據,證實在5萬年前,在中國境內曾發生過一次隕石撞擊地球事件,留下了一個直徑1800米的碗狀大坑。

陳鳴等人已將他們的研究成果發表在《科學通報》上。

英國‧全球首宗‧婦女自給自足‧幹細胞整容找回青春主

(英國‧倫敦)英國倫敦南部一名婦人進行全球首宗幹細胞整容,以自給自足的新方法回復青春。

醫生從婦人的肚腩抽取脂肪提取幹細胞,然後再注射入臉部,達到拉面皮的效果,結果她看起來真的年輕不少。

英國《每日郵報》報導,55歲的威爾斯聽聞友人以幹細胞治療暗瘡疤痕,於是在3個月前決定到這家診所一試。

醫生奧馬‧坎為她進行局部麻醉,再用注射器從肚腩及臀部抽取脂肪,加以處理後,就把脂肪及幹細胞注射到臉部。每次注射後,醫生都會按摩和重塑肌膚,確保不出現腫塊。

威爾斯共花近4萬7000令吉整容,醫生說效果可維持多年。

英國‧歐洲之星無限期停駛‧逾5萬旅客受影響

(英國‧倫敦)受暴雪天氣影響,“歐洲之星”公司週日(12月20日)宣佈,將無限期停駛,直至完成技術改良為止,目前已有5萬5000名旅客受影響。

“歐洲之星”是英國連接歐陸的唯一客運火車,無限期停駛料將導致原本已因暴雪天氣陷入混亂的歐洲交通形勢,雪上加霜。

受停駛影響,過去2日至少已有5萬5000名旅客行程受阻;較早時,5列火車故障,2500名乘客被困英法隧道,列車公司已向受影響的旅客道歉。

初步調查顯示,列車由寒冷的戶外駛入較暖的隧道時,內外溫差太大,導致電路故障。

受到“歐洲之星”停駛影響,加上部份港口因為惡劣天氣,需要暫時關閉,英國部份公路出現大塞車,數百輛貨車於公路大排長龍。

“歐洲之星”公司指出,要確保火車不會再發生類似上週五(12月18日)的故障,才會恢復火車服務,當局已著手改善技術問題,今日(週一,12月21日)會進行連串測試,以便列車更能適應在大雪中行駛。

英國‧黑色週末暴風雪重襲‧歐洲逾40人凍死

(英國‧倫敦)歐洲多國在聖誕節前夕遭受“黑色週末”,在暴風雪襲擊下,不但各國陸空交通癱瘓,令逾10萬遊客在聖誕旺季出門的計劃受阻,連場暴雪更在波蘭、奧地利、法國、德國及芬蘭等地奪走數十條人命。

受“文森特”寒流襲擊,歐洲廣泛地區上週末開始遭暴風雪肆虐,天寒地凍,許多地方出現最低氣溫紀錄,僅波蘭、捷克、德國和奧地利4國上週已至少凍死43人。

其中,單在波蘭最少就有29人凍死,死者都是露宿者和醉倒街頭的人。奧地利部份地區氣溫低至零下20度以下,3人凍死;法國馬賽也有一名露宿者倒斃。

德國的氣溫急跌到零下15至20度,一名露宿人士凍死;芬蘭錄得20厘米降雪量,至少4人死於交通意外。

聖誕行程全打亂

氣象部門預測,未來幾天仍有雨雪天氣,但氣溫會輕微上升,到聖誕節會漸漸好轉。

惡劣天氣適逢遇上聖誕節前的最後一週末,數萬名準備出國或回鄉與家人共度聖誕的陸空乘客行程全被打亂,另外,有數千人滯留火車站及機場,缺衣少食,實實在在過了個聖誕節前的“黑色週末”。

多個城市機場關閉

比利時、英國、法國、德國和荷蘭多個城市的機場已因為大雪,暫時關閉,飛機航班延誤或取消,航空公司損失慘重。

多條公路也因為路面結冰而出現大塞車,鐵路路軌亦因為結冰,列車服務停頓。早前頻頻發生故障的“歐洲之星”也已宣佈,無限期停駛。

在倫敦,通往英吉利海峽隧道M20公路積雪嚴重、交通停滯,汽車在雪中無法前進,有的司機呆在車裡等候救援,有的乾脆棄車而去。

Sick corporate fluff piece compares Rothschild heir to Jesus

The December 2009 issue of Outside magazine, which is on display now at retail outlets, features a front page photo and profile of the purported Prius-driving Rothschild heir.
In a story entitled "Plastics Jesus: David de Rothschild", the magazine notes how the 31 year old is "resurrecting purpose in big-time adventure", by building a boat out of plastic bottles to get attention to the topic of waste. Rothschild is wearing what appears to be a skull & bones belt buckle in the magazine photo.

Described as searching for a "concrete cause" after a series of marginal attempts at notoriety, Rothschild admits that he just recently took his first sailing lessons. He has been promoting his project
"Plastiki" for three years while they build his boat at Pier 31 in San Francisco.

Several friends are mentioned in the article, including actress Karina Deyko, actor Adrian Grenier, Steve Cooper of the band Spirit Animal, and tv host Bruce Parry. Wikipedia describes Parry as speaking "on the importance of raising awareness for indigenous rights. He believes that if people understood the impact that our culture of greed and consumption has on the 'wonderful people' at the other end, they would act differently." (here's a yotube of Parry pushing his enviro agenda)

Also mentioned in the article as a friend of Rothschild's is author Paul Hawken, who writes on his own website that "there's a surplus of people while natural capital... is in decline", and that "most businesses still operate according to a world view that hasn't changed since the start of the industrial revolution."

The profile outlines how another activist beat Rothschild to the punch by building and sailing a plastic bottle boat. Marcus Eriksen of JunkRaft.com sailed "to Hawaii on 15,000 plastic bottles and a Cessna 310, to raise awareness about plastic fouling our oceans".

Deeper into the 3 page online version of the Outside article is the admission that Rothschild's boat will not even be comprised of any actual recycled bottles, but rather "self-reinforced polyethylene terephthalate, or srPET, a new fabric-like derivative of the stuff used in plastic bottles", which Rothschild later intends to hawk to corporate takers. It goes on to explain Rothschild hasn't spent a dime of his own fortune on his project, thanks to a myriad of corporate sponsors which include Hewlett-Packard.
Nickelodeon is set to run programs promoting Rothschild with SpongeBob, "and National Geographic Television will air a documentary" in the future, according to Outside magazine.

Rothschild, who hosted a short-lived outdoor program on a cable channel , is profiled as someone searching for a mission and message in order to reach younger generations, "raising awareness" for "tangible solutions". In reality the propaganda Rothschild is spreading is nothing more than claptrap to enslave the planet with regulatory tyranny based on lies.

In 2007, Rothschild appeared on the Alex Jones show and claimed that Mars, Saturn and Jupiter were closer to the sun than Earth.

See also:

David De Mayer Rothschild's Global Population Reduction Ideology

Cold hard truth: Meet The Rothschilds

Corporate press covers Yale's secret society skull & bones

Clearchannel host covers the history of eugenics in America

Mike Wallace questions Margaret Sanger on her opposition to the Catholic Church, 1957

Wicked government mandate forces immigrants to accept deadly vaccine

Why I carry a gun.

I don't carry a gun to kill people...
I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don't carry a gun to scare people.
I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.

I don't carry a gun because I'm paranoid.
I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.

I don't carry a gun because I'm evil.
I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the
world.


I don't carry a gun because I hate the government.
I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.


I don't carry a gun because I'm angry.
I carry a gun so that I don't have to spend the rest of my life hating
myself for failing to be prepared.


I don't carry a gun because I want to shoot someone.
I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and
not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.


I don't carry a gun because I'm a cowboy.
I carry a gun because, when I die and go to heaven, I want to be a
cowboy.


I don't carry a gun to make me feel like a man.
I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the
ones they love.


I don't carry a gun because I feel inadequate.
I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am
inadequate.


I don't carry a gun because I love it.
I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful
to me.

Police Protection is an oxymoron. Free citizens must protect themselves.
Police do not protect you from crime, they usually just investigate the
crime after it happens and then call someone in to clean up the mess.

Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to
take an ass whoopin'.

A winter's worth of snow in 24 hours

With an official 23.2 inches – the second biggest snowfall ever in Philadelphia – the area incredibly has exceeded the amount of snow it ordinarily gets in an entire winter.

And winter is still 24 hours away.

It was far and away the biggest December storm – surpassing the 21.0 inches of Dec. 25-26 in 1909 – and second all-time only to the 30.7 of Jan. 6-8, 1996. On average, the city gets about 20 inches a season at the official airport measuring system.

“We have pretty well assured ourselves a White Christmas,” said Tony Gigi, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly.

Another storm is due Christmas and it is expected to be wetter than whiter, said his colleague, Bob Wanton, but by Christmas morning plenty of snow should still be on the ground.

Other accumulation totals include 24 inches in Medford and Atco in South Jersey, 15.4 inches in West Chester and 11.4 inches in Newtown. It was only 5.6 inches in Allentown.

The sounds of silence that accompanied the falling snow yesterday will now be replaced today by the noise of the big-dig out as residents turn to shovels and snow blowers to clear buried sidewalks and driveways.

The high will be about 30, but northwest winds of between 14 and 18 mph will make it feel even colder when you’re digging out.

Crews were busy all night clearing snow at Lincoln Financial Field in an effort to get ready for today’s delayed 4:15 p.m. start for the game between the Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers.

Snow from the stadium and its surrounding parking lots is being trucked to the former Naval Ship Yard.

Malls around the region -- who lost one of the busiest Christmas shopping days yesterday -- also are busy clearing snow in the hopes shoppers will return today.

Officials say major thoroughfares should be cleared by noon, but urge motorist to drive with caution or not at all, if possible. Airports up and down the East Coast have been affected by the storm and travellers should expect cancellations and delays until the airlines can resume normal service.

Mayor Nutter says the city plans to have major roads cleared so that schools will be able to open tomorrow.

Read this morning’s Inquirer story about the storm here.

Record-breaking snowfalls paralyse US cities

Firefighters rescue a driver beside an icy highway in Delaware.

Firefighters rescue a driver beside an icy highway in Delaware. Photo: AP

A SNOWSTORM described as one of the worst in a decade has blanketed much of the eastern United States, grounding flights and bringing traffic to a standstill on the last weekend of the holiday shopping season.

In the eye of the storm, the cities of Baltimore and Washington set a December snowfall record of 40 centimetres, shattering a 1932 record.

And with more snow forecast to fall on Washington today, the enormous snowstorm stretching some 800 kilometres across a dozen states is set to become one of the biggest in the capital since record-keeping began in 1885.

Local authorities have suspended public transport, declared a state of emergency and pleaded with residents to stay home.

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled and shopping malls closed early because few customers could navigate the treacherous roads.

The storm began in the Gulf of Mexico and swept north-east, growing most intense over the Washington area.

At a time of year notable for its bustle, much of the region was in cancellation mode. The Smithsonian closed its museums.

The Washington Ballet called off its performance of The Nutcracker and Ford's Theatre shut down two performances of A Christmas Carol. Washington DC police cancelled their Toys for Tots distribution. The archdioceses of Baltimore and Washington reminded Catholics that church law excused them from Sunday Mass if it was unsafe to travel, and urged them to watch Mass on television instead.

In some spheres, life went on as normal, with a twist. True to its credo, the US Postal Service delivered mail, though several post offices closed early.

President Barack Obama flew into Andrews Air Force Base, returning from climate talks in Copenhagen, but weather conditions forced him to ride back to the White House in a motorcade instead of a helicopter.

One other thing may take a few days to figure out - whether the storm was officially a blizzard. The designation is reserved for storms with winds over 56 km/h and visibility under 400 metres.

An official at the Weather Service said the criteria needed to be confirmed.

''Even if it doesn't officially meet the criteria for a blizzard,'' he said, ''it's doggone close.''

WASHINGTON POST, AFP

Gerald Celente - 2010 Prepare for the Worse - Goldseekradio.com

Click this link ........ http://eclipptv.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=9060

Tarpley-Hyperinflation Just Around The Corner

Click this link ....... http://eclipptv.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=9059

Lenders reject homeowners who apply for Obama plan

Ten months after the Obama administration began pressing lenders to do more to prevent foreclosures, many struggling homeowners are holding up their end of the bargain but still find themselves rejected, and some are even having their homes sold out from under them without notice.

These borrowers, rich and poor, completed trial modifications of their distressed mortgage, and made all the payments, only to learn, often indirectly, that they won't get help after all.

How many is hard to tell. Lenders participating in the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, still don't provide the government with information about who's rejected and why.

To date, more than 759,000 trial loan modifications have been started, but just 31,382 have been converted to permanent new loans. That averages out to 4 percent, far below the 75 percent conversion rate President Barack Obama has said he seeks.

In the fine print of the form homeowners fill out to apply for Obama's program, which lowers monthly payments for three months while the lender decides whether to provide permanent relief, borrowers must waive important notification rights.

This clause allows banks to reject borrowers without any written notification and move straight to auctioning off their homes without any warning.

That's what happened to Evangelina Flores, the owner of a modest 902-square-foot home in Fontana, Calif. She completed a three-month trial modification, and made the last of the agreed upon monthly payments of $1,134.60 on Nov. 1. Her lawyer said that in late November, Central Mortgage Company told her that it would void her adjustable-rate mortgage, which had risen to a monthly sum above $2,000, and replace it with a fixed-rate mortgage.

"The information they had given us is that she had qualified and that she would be getting her notice of modification in the first week of December," said George Bosch, the legal administrator for the law firm of Edward Lopez and Rick Gaxiola, which is handling Flores' case for free.

Flores, 58, a self-employed child care worker, wired her December payment to Central Mortgage Company on Nov. 30, thinking that her prayers had been answered. A day later, there was a loud, aggressive knock on her door.

Thinking a relative was playing a prank, she opened her front door to find two strangers handing her an eviction notice.

"They arrived real demanding, saying that they were the owners," recalled Flores. "I have high blood pressure, and I felt awful."

Court documents show that her house had been sold that very morning to a recently created company, Shark Investments. The men told Flores she had to be out within three days. The eviction notice had a scribbled signature, and under the signature was the name of attorney John Bouzane.

A representative in his office denied that Bouzane's law firm was involved in Flores' eviction, and said the eviction notice was obtained from Bouzane's Web site, www.fastevictionservice.com.

Why would a lawyer provide for free a document that gives the impression that his law firm is behind an eviction?

"We hope to get the eviction business," said the woman, who didn't identify herself.

Flores bought her home in 2006 for $352,000. Records show that it has a current fair-market value of $99,000. The new owner bought it for $78,000 at an auction Flores didn't even know about.

"I had my dream, but now I feel awful," said Flores, who remains in the house while her lawyers fight her eviction. "I still can't believe it."

How could Flores go so quickly from getting government help to having her home owned by Shark Investments? The answer is in the fine print of standard HAMP documents.

The Aug. 25 cover letter from Central Mortgage Company, the servicer that collects Flores' mortgage payments, offered Flores a trial modification with this comforting language:

"If you do not qualify for a loan modification, we will work with you to explore other options available to help you keep your home or ease your transition into a new home."

CMC is owned by Arkansas regional Arvest Bank, itself controlled by Jim Walton, the youngest son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.

A glance past CMC's hopeful promise finds a different story in the fine print of HAMP document, which contains standardized language drafted by the Obama Treasury Department and is used uniformly by lenders.

The document warns that foreclosure "may be immediately resumed from the point at which it was suspended if this plan terminates, and no new notice of default, notice of intent to accelerate, notice of acceleration, or similar notice will be necessary to continue the foreclosure action, all rights to such notices being hereby waived to the extent permitted by applicable law."

This means that even when a borrower makes all the trial payments, a lender can put the house up for auction if it decides that the homeowner doesn't qualify - assuming that foreclosure proceedings had been started before the trial period - without telling the homeowner.

Until now, lenders haven't even had to notify borrowers in writing that they'd been rejected for permanent modifications.

In January, 11 months after Obama's plan was announced, homeowners will begin receiving written rejection notices, and the Treasury Department finally will begin receiving data on rejection rates and reasons for rejections.

The controversial clause notwithstanding, the handling of Flores' loan raises questions.

"Foreclosure actions may not be initiated or restarted until the borrower has failed the trial period and the borrower has been considered and found ineligible for other available foreclosure prevention options," said Meg Reilly, a Treasury spokeswoman. "Servicers who continue with foreclosure sales are considered non-compliant."

CMC officials declined to comment and hung up when they learned that a reporter was listening in with permission from Flores' legal team. Arvest officials also declined comment.

McClatchy Newspapers did hear from Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance agency seized by the Bush administration in September 2008. Freddie owns Flores' loan, and spokesman Brad German insisted that Flores was reviewed three times for loan modification.

"In each instance, there was a lack of documentation verifying that she had the income required for a permanent modification," German said.

That response is ironic, said Michael Calhoun, the president of the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonpartisan group in Durham, N.C., that works on behalf of borrowers.

"These lenders gave loans with no documentation and charged them a penalty interest rate for doing so. And now when the people ask for help, they are using extravagant demands for documentation to give them the back of their hand and continue to foreclosure," Calhoun said.

German said that Flores was sent a letter on Nov. 24, which would have arrived several days later, given the Thanksgiving holiday, informing her that she'd been rejected for a permanent modification. Flores and her attorney said she never got a letter, and neither Freddie Mac nor CMC provided proof of that letter.

Exactly one week after the letter supposedly was sent, Flores' home was sold to Shark Investments. That company was formed on Aug. 19, according to records on the California Secretary of State's Web site. Shark Investments, apparently an unsuspecting beneficiary of Flores' woes, has no phone listing. The Riverside, Calif., address on the company's filing as a limited liability company traces to a five-bedroom, four-bath house with a swimming pool.

German didn't comment on whether Flores received sufficient notice under Freddie Mac rules, or how the home could move to sale so quickly.

Flores' legal team, which specializes in foreclosure prevention, thinks that lenders and servicers are gaming Obama's housing effort.

"It seems servicers are giving people false hopes by sending them a plan, and they are using the program as a collection method, getting people to pay them with no intention of modifying the loan," said Bosch. "I believe they are using this as a tool to suck people dry."

Dashed hopes aren't exclusive to the working poor such as Flores.

David Smith owns a beautiful home in San Clemente, Calif. Smith purchased his five-bedroom home four years ago for $1.3 million. Today, the real estate Web site Zillow.com estimates the value of Smith's home at $981,000, slightly below the $1 million he still owes on it.

Smith said he went from "making a lot of money to making hardly any" as the national and California economies plunged into deep recession. He's a salesman serving the hard-hit residential and commercial construction sector. On top of his hardship, Smith's mortgage exceeds the limits for the HAMP plan.

In late August, Smith signed and returned paperwork in a prepaid FedEx envelope to Bank of America that said it had received the contract needed to modify the adjustable-rate mortgage he originally took out with the disgraced lender Countrywide Financial, which Bank of America bought last year.

The modification agreement shows that Bank of America agreed to give Smith a 3.375 percent mortgage rate through September 2014, and everything Smith paid between now and through 2019 would count as paying off interest. He'd begin paying principal and interest in October 2019, with the loan maturing in 2037.

The deal favors the lender, but Smith, 55, jumped on it because it kept him in the home.

Armed with what he thought was "a permanent modification," Smith returned a notarized copy of the agreement and made subsequent payments on time.

In return, he got a surprising notice from Bank of America saying that his house would be auctioned off on Dec. 18.

"It looks like they're trying to sell this out from underneath me," Smith said. "My wife cries all the time."

After a Dec. 16 call from McClatchy asking why Bank of America wasn't honoring its own modification, the lender backed off.

"The case has been returned to a workout status and a Home Retention Division associate will be contacting Mr. Smith for further discussions," said Rick Simon, a Bank of America spokesman. "The scheduled foreclosure sale will be postponed for at least 30 days to allow for review of the account in hope of completing a home retention solution for Mr. Smith."

The Center for Responsible Lending says such problems are common.

"Everyone acknowledges that the system is not working well," Calhoun said.

Deep South calls in Iran to cure its health blues

In ground-breaking project, one of America’s poorest communities is turning to the Middle East to try to resolve its crisis


AS Marie Pryor shuffles along a Mississippi roadside collecting discarded drink cans to sell for a few cents, her breath comes in short puffs caused by a congenital heart defect. The same condition caused her granddaughter’s death earlier this year.

The last place on earth she would look for help is Iran, a country widely regarded in America as the enemy. The US and Iran have not had diplomatic relations for 30 years and the two governments trade daily insults over Iran’s nuclear programme. Last week Tehran charged three American hikers with espionage after they apparently strayed across the border.

But with Congress acrimoniously debating the reform of healthcare, it is to Iran that one of America’s poorest communities is turning to try to resolve its own health crisis.

A US doctor and a development consultant visited Iran in May to study a primary healthcare system that has cut infant mortality by more than two-thirds since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

Then, in October, five top Iranian doctors, including a senior official at the health ministry in Tehran, were quietly brought to Mississippi to advise on how the system could be implemented there.

The Mississippi Delta has some of the worst health statistics in the country, including infant mortality rates for non-whites at Third World levels.

“It’s time to look for a new model,” said Dr Aaron Shirley, one of the state’s leading health campaigners.

“Forty years ago, when I was a resident at Jackson hospital, I was in charge of admitting sick babies and was astonished at all the children coming in from the delta with diarrhoea, meningitis, pneumonia.

“After years of health research and expenditure of millions of dollars, nothing much has changed.”

As the House of Representatives and Senate weigh the cost of President Barack Obama’s health reforms, Shirley points out that good primary care prevents people from ending up in hospital in the first place.

Besides, nowhere is the need for reform more acute than in Mississippi. The southern state has the highest levels of child obesity, hypertension and teenage pregnancy in the US. More than 20% of its people have no health insurance.

Baptist Town, where Pryor lives, is typical. A rundown suburb of Greenwood, the collapse of the cotton industry has led to massive unemployment. The local stores are a pawn shop, Juanita’s Beauty Salon and Bail Bonding, and an office offering “payday and title loans”.

Pryor’s son Kenneth and daughter-in-law Lizzie, who live with her, are both out of work and their only daughter died from her heart condition at the age of 26. With no local clinics or transport, they go to the hospital’s accident and emergency department if they need a doctor.

The idea of looking for solutions in Iran emerged when James Miller, a consultant based in Mississippi, was called in to advise a rural hospital in financial difficulty. He was shocked to find that the state had the third highest medical expenditure per capita, but came last in terms of outcome.

Miller, managing director of Oxford International Development Group, remembered a conference in Europe where Iranian officials had explained how their country had revolutionised its healthcare system.

Facing shortages of money and trained doctors at the start of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980, the new government launched a system based on community “health houses”, each serving about 1,500 people.

Locals were trained as health workers known as behvarz, who would travel their area, dispensing advice about healthy eating, sanitation and contraception as well as monitoring blood pressure and conditions such as diabetes.

It was a stunning success, reducing child mortality rates by 69% and maternal mortality in rural areas from 300 per 100,000 births to 30. There are now 17,000 health houses in Iran, covering more than 90% of its rural population of 23m.

Miller contacted Shirley, who is seen as a community health pioneer in Mississippi and had recently converted a deserted shopping centre in Jackson into a “medical mall” for the poor.

“I thought if the Iranians could do it with a fraction of resources we have, then why shouldn’t we?” said Shirley.

An Iranian doctor helped them make contact with Shiraz University, which manages more than 1,000 health houses and trains healthcare workers.

Shirley and Miller visited Iran in May and were astonished to be welcomed with open arms. When they went to remote villages to see the health houses, the Iranians were equally amazed.

“They told us this is a miracle,” said Miller. “Not only were Americans coming here, but also they were learning from us rather than telling us what to do.”

One villager exclaimed: “We always knew rain fell down but never knew it could fall up.”

They signed an agreement with Shiraz University to form the Mississippi/Islamic Republic of Iran rural health project and applied to the US Treasury for a special licence for “Iranian transactions”.

The next step was to win over communities in Mississippi. They started with Greenwood, where Shirley had already been in talks about setting up a local clinic.

Community leaders were shocked when he advised using Iran as a model. “To be honest, I wasn’t overwhelmed with the idea of copying Iran,” said Larry Griggs, the local fire chief. “It’s not exactly one of the most favourable countries to the US.”

They also had to overcome the legacy of distrust between blacks in the American south and public health officials after a series of scandals over medical experiments. The most notorious was the Tuskegee experiment between 1932 and 1972, in which 399 impoverished, black, illiterate farmers were left to suffer from syphilis even though penicillin was available. More than 100 died.

To sell the Iranian idea, Miller promoted it as “a healthcare model just like the Beetle”, pointing out that the popular Volkswagen Beetle had been conceived by the Nazi regime to show “good things can come out of somewhere not very popular in the world right now”.

The Iranian experts who came to Mississippi included two of the programme’s architects, Dr Hossein Malekafzali, a former minister who is professor of public health at Tehran University, and Dr Kamal Shadpour, the initiative’s co-ordinator in the health ministry.

The Greenwood community was convinced and leased a defunct car showroom for $1 a month for the first Mississippi health house, which is due to open next month. Fifteen Delta communities have expressed interest and Harvard’s School of Public Health will monitor the project.

Paula Gutlove, deputy director of the Institute for Resource and Security Studies, a US think tank, said there was a positive shock value to using an Iranian model. “The exotic nature of working with Iran makes it intriguing to potential funders and sponsors,” she said.

The first candidates from the Mississippi Delta are expected to be trained as health assistants in Iran this spring. If it works, Shirley hopes to extend the programme to the rest of the US. “Just as Mississippi was ground zero in the civil rights movement, so it can be for health,” he said.

Nonetheless, the Iranian connection poses a problem. Knowing that many Americans might be outraged, they have not spoken about the project. Even the governor of Mississippi is unaware of it. “We’ve been deliberately working under the radar,” said Shirley.

The programme chimes with Obama’s policy of engagement and his support of so-called “smart diplomacy”, using links between scientists as a way of breaking down barriers between countries. Following his speech in Cairo last June, aimed at reaching out to the Islamic world, the president has appointed three science envoys who will head to the Middle East next month.

“The Iranians are a proud people with 5,000 years of history and huge contributions to science and medicine,” said a State Department official.

“A project like the Mississippi one is incredibly powerful as it appeals to that Iranian concept of history. It’s a great way to keep the door open between the two countries.”

Gutlove points out that similar meetings between American and Soviet scientists in the 1980s helped pave the way for the end of the cold war. “What we did in the 1980s created lasting relationships which cut across the divide,” she said.

“It’s a win-win project,” said Shirley. “Not only do we finally have a way of addressing disparities in Mississippi, but also building relations between peoples.”

There may be a long way to go. Tehran has refused to co-operate on granting access to its nuclear programme and last week, in a clear act of provocation, test-fired a missile capable of reaching Israel and Europe.

Iran ‘arrests MI6 nuclear informant’

An informant who is said to have told British intelligence about Iran’s secret nuclear facility at Qom has been arrested, Israeli news organisations claim.

The alleged MI6 source, whose name and nationality have not been disclosed, was taken prisoner after he discovered firm evidence that the plant was enriching uranium for Tehran’s secret nuclear weapons programme, according to the reports.

His fate is being kept secret and the Iranian authorities have made no mention of the arrest.

Israel’s television network, TV2, announced on its main evening news programme last week that “a spy for western intelligence has been caught by the Iranians”.

The internet news site, Ynet, went further and pointed to MI6 involvement, saying: “A British agent exposed the true purpose of the Qom reactor. Iran revealed the construction of a secret plant to the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] only after learning that an MI6 agent had told operatives that it was designed for uranium enrichment.”

News of the arrest appears to have been leaked by Israeli intelligence in a briefing to trusted journalists. Whitehall officials declined to comment.

Moody's Warns U.S. Could Lose Triple-A Rating

Credit rating agency Moody's (MCO) said Tuesday that the United States, along with 16 other countries, could lose their Triple-A credit rating if fiscal deficits and heavy debts are not effectively managed.

While Moody's analysts emphasized that the United States' Aaa rating is not under immediate threat, it did say the rating could be downgraded in 2013 if the fiscal position does not improve.

"Aaa governments with stretched balance sheets will find themselves under pressure to announce credible fiscal plans and -- if markets start losing patience -- to start implementing them," said Pierre Cailleteau, managing director of Moody's Sovereign Risk Group, in a statement.

The Triple-A credit rating of the United States is both a point of pride and financial importance. If the U.S. were to lose its credit rating, even by one notch, it would significantly increase the government's cost of borrowing.

Moody's said that the biggest issues for the U.S. and other Aaa-rated countries will be the ability to have sustained economic growth coming out of this recession while also reducing fiscal deficits. The U.S recorded a record $1.42 trillion annual deficit for 2009, which raised the total amount of debt held as a percentage of the nation's GDP to 53.8%, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The U.S.'s deficit as a percentage of GDP is expected to rise to 67% by 2018, the CBO said.

According to Moody's, the U.S. and other major Aaa-rated countries are not at risk and retain the "characteristics necessary for a Aaa rating," but have "lost altitude" in the Aaa space.

Austan Goolsbee, a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, disputed Moody's report, saying that "it’s rather obvious that the U.S. government is not in danger of default."

"The deficit in the short run is big because we confront the worst economic crisis since 1929," he said. "In the medium run, the fiscal situation is dramatically better and we need to have fiscal responsibility, but the argument that we’re going to be a higher risk of default I find close to absurd.”

Moody's Puts U.S., U.K. on Chopping Block

Moody's Investors Service says the U.S. and U.K. must prove they can whittle down their ballooning deficits to avoid threats to their triple-A credit ratings.

In a report released on Tuesday, Moody's set the two countries apart from other top-rated sovereign borrowers, calling them merely "resilient" rather than "resistant," a label it applied to Canada, France and Germany, where public finances are in better shape.

Moody's released the report as part of an effort, spurred by investor demand, to examine the creditworthiness of the world's most highly rated countries. There are 17 such "triple-A"-rated countries, ranging from the U.S. to Australia.

In both the U.K. and the U.S., Moody's said, much will depend on the vigor of the economic recovery and the willingness of governments to shrink the deficits.

Under the most pessimistic scenario put forward by Moody's, the U.S. would lose its top rating in 2013 if economic growth proves anemic, interest rates rise and the government fails to dent the deficit or recover most of its assistance to the financial sector.

Unlike several years ago, "now the question of a potential downgrade of the U.S. is not inconceivable," says Pierre Cailleteau, chief international economist at Moody's. "In a world that has lost its compass a bit, people want to understand what happens to risk-free assets."

The report noted that in a situation of moderate growth and deficit reduction—the path Moody's considers most likely—"the trajectory of the debt metrics, while unfavorable in the near term, does not currently threaten the ratings" of countries like the U.S. and the U.K.

In the U.S., a "credible fiscal consolidation strategy" is necessary to prevent the debt load and associated interest costs from tipping into the ratings agency's most pessimistic scenario, the report said.

The U.S. has advantages too, Moody's added. Despite registering a sharp increase in the amount of federal government debt outstanding in the year to September, interest payments as a percentage of government revenue actually declined, to 8.4% from 10%. That is a sign of strong investor demand for U.S. Treasury bonds and bills, which has allowed the country to borrow cheaply.

However, Moody expects the interest-to-revenue ratio to climb to 13% by 2012 in its most likely outcome. In its worst-case scenario, the figure could spike to 18%, a level only seen in the 1980s.

Buying insurance to protect €10 million ($15 million) worth of U.S. government debt currently costs €32,000 a year, according to data from credit-information firm Markit. That is down from a high of €100,000 in March, but well above the €8,000 it cost in the summer of 2008 before the worst of the financial crisis.

Moody's noted that the major political parties in the U.K. have acknowledged the need to improve the state of public finances. Such discussions "will have to be validated by actions in the not-too-distant future to continue to provide support for the rating," it said.

The rating rests less on the quality of public finances at the moment and "more on the ability of the government to repair its balance sheet in the future," said Arnaud Mares, Moody's lead analyst for the U.K. and France.

Moody's plans to update the report, called its "Aaa Sovereign Monitor," every quarter.