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Showing posts with label Hoax. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hoax. Show all posts

Thursday, March 31, 2016

TRUMP EXPOSES MICHELLE FIELDS-COREY LEWANDOWSKI ASSAULT HOAX






TRUMP EXPOSES MICHELLE FIELDS-COREY LEWANDOWSKI ASSAULT HOAX:

RUINING A MAN'S LIFE & FAMILY FOR DIRTY POLITICS.
MORE ANTI-TRUMP MEDIA THEATRICS

Sources: Daily Mail, WND, Danger & Play, YouTube

Michelle Joann Fields is a very talented, ambitious journalist well-known within the Conservative Media community.
So why did she recently throw Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski under the bus by falsely claiming he assaulted her at a Trump rally when raw uncut video footage shows no clear signs of any assault?

Why did Michelle's story line change after the video footage was released?
Is the Florida Prosecutor (Aronberg) who chose to proceed with charging criminal charges against Corey a Clinton operative?
Has anyone made an offer to Michelle she can't refuse in exchange for helping to stop the Trump Political movement so he can't clinch the GOP nomination in July?

Stay tuned.


 A few years ago, I was punched in the head three times at the British Press Awards in London.
My assailant was a man named Jeremy Clarkson, then presenter of global TV car show Top Gear.
He was severely intoxicated and very, very angry at a story about his personal life which had appeared in the newspaper I ran at the time.
The third flailing blow crashed into my temple, gouging a small hole from which blood flowed profusely.
At this point, I considered my options.
a) Hit him back.
b) Go home.
c) Call the police to press charges, then phone my lawyer to sue Clarkson.
If I’d gone for option c) then I suspect he’d have been convicted of assault and I’d have ended up with a truck load of cash too.
There were, after all, about 1000 witnesses, all of whom were journalists (which is why I didn’t hit him back..).
But I concluded that on balance, I probably deserved my pummelling and so instead, I stumbled outside and caught a taxi home.
(Clarkson, ironically, was fired from Top Gear last year for punching one of his producers in the head after he failed to provide him with hot food)
My point in retelling this anecdote is that journalism’s a rough old game, and the people – male and female - who choose it for a profession tend to be fairly rough too.
‘News,’ as the great press baron Lord Northcliffe once observed, ‘is something someone somewhere doesn’t want printed.’
Gathering news is thus a precarious pursuit which often requires reporters to work in very difficult, dangerous conditions.
This morning I woke in Los Angeles to breaking news that Donald Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski had been arrested and charged with ‘battery’ over an incident with a female reporter, Michelle Fields.
His alleged crime was to assault Ms Fields as she attempted to interview Trump when he walked away from a news conference in Florida.
Helpfully, the police issued new video of the ‘clash’, illustrating very clearly exactly what happened.
The footage lasts just a few seconds and shows Ms Fields displaying commendable bravura as she approaches Trump to fire questions at him.
Crucially, DailyMail.com has now established from a member of Trump’s Secret Service detail that in the process, she touched Trump twice and was warned by agents to stop.
Lewandowski, walking a few steps behind his boss, saw this happening (he may well have heard the warnings too) and raced forward to prevent her asking more questions and put himself between Trump and the reporter.
At this point, let’s forget the gender of the journalist.
In this glorious age of equality, it shouldn’t matter – right?
Battery is battery – regardless of the sex of the victim.
Lewandowski can be seen putting his arm up to block the journalist. In doing so, he also appears to grab her arm for less than a second as he moves on.
This is all rather different from what Ms Fields herself claimed had happened when she wrote about it for her then employer, Breitbart.com: ‘I was jolted backwards. Someone had grabbed me tightly by the arm and yanked me down. I almost fell to the ground but was able to maintain my balance. Nevertheless I was shaken. Campaign managers aren’t supposed to try to forcefully throw reporters to the ground.’
Oh puh-lease.
I’ve watched the video multiple times and cannot conceive any sensible interpretation that he is committing any kind of deliberate assault.
Part of Lewandowski’s job is to protect Trump from nosey journalists, and that’s exactly what he’s doing.
Fields, let me also be very clear, was also doing her job and if I were her editor, I’d congratulate her on getting so close to her prey, especially as repeatedly touching a presidential front-runner in public when he’s surrounded by Secret Service agents is a very risky thing to do.
But my fulsome praise would very rapidly be replaced by utter incredulity if she then informed me she was going to press charges against Lewandowski for battery.
Particularly given that battery, according to the law, means ‘intentionally touching someone without that person’s will’ – the very same thing we now know Fields did to Trump.
This doesn’t mean I take violence against women lightly. But there has to be some kind of harmful intent surely?
Lewandowski wasn’t trying to hurt Michelle Fields, he was trying to stop her getting to Donald Trump. If one of the Secret Service agents had done it, as they had every right to do given her behaviour, they’d have been applauded for doing their job.
Like every journalist I know, I’ve spent much of my career being pushed, shoved, elbowed and barged in crowded places when trying to get near famous people.
It goes with the territory.
Just as for that special breed of journalists who work in war zones, daily life can include dodging bullets, bombs and grenades.
Some of the toughest journalists in America are women.
Would Barbara Walters, Katie Couric or Diane Sawyer have pressed charges if they’d been in Ms Fields’ position?
Of course they wouldn’t.
They’d have all brushed off Lewandowski’s obstruction and chased back after Trump to try and fire more questions at him.
That’s what real reporters do. They don’t take no for an answer.
It’s hard therefore not to escape the sad conclusion that Ms Fields is hell-bent on having her 15 seconds of fame by turning a very innocuous incident into a national scandal to deliberately embarrass and damage a presidential candidate.
After I tweeted about this today, and had the audacity to suggest Ms Fields was being a big wuss, I was instantly bombarded with vicious abuse – notably from other high profile online journalists.
Olivia Nuzzi, a noisy feminist from the Daily Beast led the way with this simple entreaty: ‘Please go f**k yourself.’
Ben Shapiro, a whiny little brat who quit Breitbart over the way they supposedly failed to defend his colleague, was racist: ‘Go screw yourself you prissy sexist Brit.’
Whilst Simon Maloy, an aesthetically displeasing toad from Salon.com, preferred body-shaming me by saying I was a ‘dough-looking, can’t-tell-where-the-neck-stops-and-chin-starts fop.’
Whatever.
Like I said, journalism’s a rough old game. You dish it out, you have to take it.
But this debate boils down to this: if a male reporter cried ‘battery’ after such a trivial incident, he’d be an absolute laughing stock.
Why should a female reporter be taken any more seriously?
By making such a grotesque mountain of such a tiny molehill, Michelle Fields has embarrassed herself and let down her profession.
Toughen up, young lady – or choose a different job.



Thursday, August 11, 2011

Ames Iowa 2011 Straw Poll: GOP Kiss Of Death, Media Hoax Or Political Necessity?











Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy








Ames is the GOP's Grim Reaper


The Ames Straw Poll is a delightful fraud, an amiable hoax, that most people in Iowa don’t care about, but the national media eat up because the event seems so charmingly “Iowan.”

To its credit, there is no man behind the curtain. Its fraudulence is open and above board: It is organized bribery on a grand scale.

Presidential campaigns buy up large blocks of tickets, hand them out, give Iowans free food, free drinks, free fun rides, free music, free T-shirts and free body-painting to show up at the Hilton Coliseum on the campus of Iowa State University.

All that the people are expected to do in return is listen to speeches by Republican presidential candidates. So you can see why people have to be bribed to show up.

Ideally, people would listen to the speeches and then cast ballots for the Republican of their choice. The term “Straw Poll” comes from the British jurist John Selden (1584-1654), who wrote, “Take a straw and throw it up into the Air – you may see by that which way the Wind is.”

But the Wind at Ames blows. And that is because people can cast their ballots hours before the speeches even begin. The campaigns do not expect people to be swayed by the speeches. They expect that once people are bought, they will stay bought.

But the campaigns do not know Iowans. Iowans are fair-minded and good-hearted, and the Ames Straw Poll, which will be held this Saturday, is good fun to them, not serious politics.

Only the media treat it seriously, and only after writing for weeks and weeks about how meaningless it is.

As The Washington Post put it Tuesday, “The results are not very reliable in predicting who will win the Iowa caucuses, the GOP nomination, or ultimately, the presidency.”

Which is 100 percent correct and which is why about 700 members of the media are expected to show up at Ames on Saturday, why network superstars will be among them and why the press is already doing projected weather reports: 81 degrees, partly cloudy, no locusts.

Why do the media care so much about something that means almost nothing?

Because Ames is a Death Star, that’s why. The media want winners and losers very, very early. They do not want to have to pretend that large numbers of candidates are equally important and equally deserving of coverage or inclusion in debates.

So when the media report who does poorly at Ames, those candidates’ money will dry up, the candidates will drop out and the media will feel justified paying attention to only the top tier. (Unless, of course, some of the top tier wisely choose to skip Ames, which some are doing this year.)

“The Grim Reaper is going to be waiting outside the field house in Ames, Iowa,” Pat Buchanan said in August 1999. “I think it’s going to kill off several people.”

t did, including Buchanan, who came in fourth, and left the Republican Party. “Candor compels us to admit that our vaunted two-party system is a snare and a delusion, a fraud upon the nation,” Buchanan thundered after Ames. “Our two parties have become nothing but two wings on the same bird of prey.”

Wow. Imagine what he would have said if he had come in fifth.

But Ames is capable of surprising, which means surprising the media, since the media are the only people with expectations at this point.

In 2007, Mike Huckabee wowed the crowd by saying, “I can’t buy you, I don’t have the money. I can’t even rent you. The straw poll is not about electing a straw man, but giving the people of Iowa a chance to prove they are mature voters and savvy. They are buying the cereal, not just the box.”

Huckabee lost, of course. Mitt Romney had bought many more voters at Ames that year. In fact, Huckabee, while coming in second, didn’t even come in a close second. Romney got 31.5 percent of the vote and Huckabee 18.1 percent.

But Huckabee was savvy enough to write the reporters’ stories for them. “For me to come in second is the story,” Huckabee told the press when the tally was announced. “For me to hold the front-runner under 50 percent is the story.”

And so it became the story. And Huckabee won the Iowa caucuses and the nomination of his party and became the 44th president of the United States. No. Wait. Huckabee won the Iowa caucuses, but lost the nomination to John McCain, who lost the presidency to Barack Obama, who now wonders why he wanted the job in the first place.

So you can see how important straw polls are.

The Democratic Party bans straw polls, dismissing them as a waste of time and money. I have always suspected the party actually bans them, however, because Democrats are afraid they might hold a political event where fun might break out.

In the past, Ames has featured indoor fireworks, Jack Kemp throwing mini-footballs to the crowd, Pat Robertson supporters wearing revolving red lights on their heads and what Americans love most: shopping. In 1999, the best-selling item was a postcard depicting Hillary Clinton in a black leather bra spanking a nude President Bill Clinton who was sprawled across her lap and smiling.

Ames is a spectacle in a spectacle-driven political process. It will be covered live and analyzed live. Ames tells you much more about the media than about the candidates, which is a good thing.

It means we are keeping our priorities straight.



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Sources: CNN, Huffington Post, MSNBC, Newsweek, NY Times, Politico, Wikipedia, Youtube, Google Maps

Sunday, May 22, 2011

End Of World Predictions A Hoax? Camping Was Wrong Again!





































































How Many People Can Recognize A Money Making Religious HOAX When They See One?

See Its Stuff Like This That Makes REAL Christians Look Stupid.

Crazy Stupid!

Such Movements & Craziness Also Turns Away Sincere People From Seeking God's Help For Their Everyday Lives.

I Beseech You To Please Ignore Warnings Of EXACT Judgment Day Predictions!

According To The Bible Such Warnings Are Considered To Be FALSE!

Yes God's Word Does In Fact Speak Of Signs To Observe Prior To Jesus' Return.

And Yes The Rapture Is Real Just As God, Heaven & Hell Are Real, However No One Knows When Jesus Will Return NOT Even Jesus Christ Himself!

So Beware Of FALSE Prophets Giving FALSE Exact Predictions Of Jesus' Return Or The Rapture.

And Beware Of So-Called Christian Organizations Coming Up With A Media HOAX Possibly Just To Make Money.

NOTE:

NOT Every Preacher/ Pastor/ Spiritual Who Gives So-Called Exact Day Predictions Of The Rapture Is Acting Under A Money Making HOAX.

Some Of Them Simply Have NOT Thoroughly Studied God's Word Properly, Some Have Misinterpreted God's Word & Some Are Just Misguided.

To Be Safe If You Not Sure What God's Word Says About Jesus Christ Or The Rapture, Than Make Time To Sit Down & Read The Holy Bible For Yourself!

Mr. Camping Sir, Once Again You Were WRONG!


2 Timothy 2:15:

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."


Matthew 24:23-24:

"Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."


Matthew 24:35-37:

"Heaven & Earth Shall Pass Away But My Words Shall Not Pass Away. But Of That Day & Hour Knoweth NO Man! Nor The Angels of Heaven But My Father ONLY! But As The Days Of Noah Were, So Shall Also The Coming Of The Son Of Man Be."

Matthew 24:26-31:

"Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."








It's NOT the end of the world as we know it

This just in: Doomsday is doomed. And the world is still here.

After months of warnings and fear, the Day of Rapture, as predicted by apocalyptic Christian broadcaster Harold Camping, passed without apparent calamity. Judgment Day was to have started at 6 p.m., but as darkness fell on many parts of the world, it appeared that heaven could wait.

At this writing, there have been no reports of people soaring upward to the skies, but plenty of folks are talking about it.

Jim Brenneman, a cartoonist and CNN iReporter in Marcellus, New York, said he expects to remain on Earth, but you never know.

"Although I assume that I've lived a sinful life and will probably be here on Sunday, there is a small chance that maybe I was better than I thought and might get sucked up into the heavens on Saturday with all the other self-righteous wing nuts," he said. "If that happens, feel free to have my stuff. But probably not! Let the Looting Begin! HAPPY APOCALYPSE EVERYONE!!"

Many had looked Down Under to find relief. If Australia -- 12 to 14 hours ahead of Eastern daylight time -- survived, then maybe we all had a chance.

"Rapture deadline passes, world still here" screamed a headline in the Sydney Morning Herald.

By Saturday afternoon, Australia had become a trending subject on Twitter.

"Stop worrying about the world ending today. It's already tomorrow in Australia," wrote #EndOfTheWorldConfessions.

No problems reported so far in Asia or Europe, either.

But some were still not completely sure: "Maybe the world did end and Twitter is the only survivor," Simon Plumb said.

The Twitter feed for the U.S. Geological Survey, which records and measures earthquakes around the world, was mum on the topic. The agency's worldwide map showed no major earthquakes.

Had it all been for naught? All those billboards, signs and newspaper ads, the pamphlets blowing in the wind and the RVs plastered with Judgment Day warnings weaving through cities?

Believers had said Saturday would be the day when those who were saved would be taken up to heaven, and those who aren't will endure unspeakable suffering.

Judgment Day was supposed to have started at 6 p.m. and last five long months. Dead bodies were going to be strewn about as earthquakes ravaged the Earth, they said. And come October 21, they said, the entire world would be kaput.

It wasn't immediately clear what the believers thought about Saturday's nonhappenings. But people around the world sure were making jokes like there was no tomorrow.



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Sources: Biblegateway, CNN, NY Daily News, NY Times, Wikipedia, Google Maps

Friday, March 26, 2010

Rep. Issa Says Obama Is Hiding HAMP Failures, Calls It A Hoax













The HAMP Hoax: How the Obama Administration is Hiding the Failures of a Disastrous Program



The centerpiece of the Obama administration's foreclosure mitigation policies is failing. Republicans and Democrats in Congress both readily acknowledge the effort, called the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), is a boondoggle of a government program. The only entity that won't face the facts is the Department of the Treasury, which runs the program and has been desperate to hide the program's poor performance.

HAMP modifications start with a three-month trial, then -- if the program's one-size-fits-all conditions are met -- become permanent. The problem for Treasury is that more than two-thirds of homeowners in the program never make it into permanent modifications. Treasury initially promised that HAMP would "reach up to 3 to 4 million at-risk homeowners" and reduce their monthly payments to "sustainable" levels. But the most recent progress report, released last week, shows only 170,207 permanent modifications. At best, that's six percent of Treasury's goal.

By anyone's standard, a six percent success rate is a pathetic result, and only underscores that the reality of HAMP is far from the promise.

But instead of fixing its program, Treasury is trying to move the goal posts -- by counting the program's 1.3 million offers of temporary modifications as an indicator of success. At last month's hearing before our Committee, the head of Treasury's Homeownership Preservation Office, Phyllis Caldwell told skeptical members of Congress that "the program was designed to offer three to four [million] homeowners an opportunity for a mortgage modification - not a permanent modification, an opportunity."

Treasury's revisionism makes little sense, except as cover for another massively expensive, failing government program. It's clear that the initial promise of 3 to 4 million "sustainable" mortgage modifications was referring to permanent, not temporary, fixes -- to suggest otherwise is an assault on common sense and insults every American facing foreclosure and seeking permanent relief through this program. To pretend that temporary modifications count toward HAMP's target number glosses over the costly toll exacted on those who find false hope in the promise of HAMP.

These cash-strapped homeowners are sending mortgage payments to banks in a desperate effort to avoid foreclosure -- believing that temporary assistance will lead to permanent mortgage modifications to keep them in their homes. The sad fact is that the HAMP mortgage modification plan, in most cases, won't ultimately grant them the permanent modification enrollees believe they're on track to receive. This only delays foreclosure -- but doesn't prevent it -- and these homeowners wind up wasting their mortgage payments. It's cynical for Treasury to log progress toward its goal of preventing "3 to 4 million" foreclosures by counting homeowners who might actually be worse off, thanks to HAMP.

As a program, HAMP has chronically underperformed in almost every metric. The facts are clear, even if Treasury's report is not. The Obama administration needs to focus on helping families find ways to weather troubled times and stay in homes they can afford instead of finding ways to mask the program's failure.



Sources: Huffington Post, C-Span, Youtube

Monday, March 15, 2010

Runaway Prius Story A Hoax? Possible Gov't Cover Up





Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy





Federal Government Cannot Explain Runaway Prius Incident



The federal government said Monday it cannot explain a reported incident of sudden, high-speed acceleration in a Toyota Prius on a California freeway last week, a malfunction the driver's lawyer is describing as "the ghost in the machine."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement that it continues to investigate but "we may never know exactly what happened with this car."

Prius owner James Sikes called 911 last week to report losing control of his Prius as the hybrid reached speeds of 94 mph. A highway patrol officer helped bring the vehicle to a safe stop.

On Monday, Sikes' attorney, John Gomez, said it's "not surprising" that investigators have not been able to replicate the incident.

"This problem is sort of a ghost in the machine that is the Toyota system," Gomez said Sunday. "It doesn't leave a fault code, it doesn't leave a footprint and you can't make it happen upon demand."

"They have never been able to replicate an incident of sudden acceleration. Mr. Sikes never had a problem in the three years he owned this vehicle," he added.

The NHTSA said its engineers are reviewing data from Sikes' Prius but have so far not been able to find anything to explain the reported incident. Inspectors in California tried during a two-hour test drive to duplicate the acceleration, but were unable to do so.

Kurt Bardella, a spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said the failure to duplicate the stuck accelerator, along with a vehicle design to prevent such occurrences, raises questions about the driver's story.

"We're not saying Mr. Sikes is wrong or that he lied, we're saying that questions have arisen in the investigation," Bardella said.

Toyota Motor Corp. planned to announce preliminary findings of its investigation at a news conference Monday in San Diego.

NHTSA is looking into claims from more than 60 Toyota owners that their vehicles continue to accelerate unexpectedly despite having their vehicles repaired.

Technicians with the NHTSA and Toyota could not duplicate what Sikes said he experienced March 8 on a mountainous but lightly traveled stretch of Interstate 8 east of San Diego, according to a congressional staffer's memo prepared for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

"Every time the technician placed the gas pedal to the floor and the brake pedal to the floor the engine shut off and the car immediately started to slow down," the memo read.

According to the memo, a Toyota official who was at the two-day inspection last week in suburban San Diego explained that an electric motor would "completely seize" if a system to shut off the gas when the brake is pressed fails, and there was no evidence to support that happened.

"In this case, knowing that we are able to push the car around the shop, it does not appear to be feasibly possible, both electronically and mechanically that his gas pedal was stuck to the floor and he was slamming on the brake at the same time," according to the memo.

Toyota has recalled millions of cars because of floor mats that can snag gas pedals or accelerators that can sometimes stick. Sikes' car was covered by the floor mat recall but not the one for sticky accelerators. He later told reporters that he tried to pull on the gas pedal during his harrowing ride, but it didn't "move at all."

The Prius is powered by two electric motor-generators and a small gasoline engine, all connected by transmission gears. A computer, which Toyota calls the "hybrid control computer" determines what combination of motors is needed and which would be most efficient.

Craig Hoff, a professor of mechanical engineering at Kettering University in Flint, Mich., said that for the Prius to accelerate out of control, at least two systems would have to fail simultaneously. They are the sensor signal that tracks the brake and gas pedal positions when the driver presses on them and the hybrid control computers.

"The chance of them both going wrong, plus the fact that the signal is bad, it just seems very, very, very remote," Hoff said. "Could it happen? Statistically, yes. But it just doesn't seem very likely."

Several events usually combine to cause problems with cars, and it's difficult to reproduce them, Hoff said.

"It's going to make it really hard to find, because you've got to line up the multiple effects," he said.

The congressional memo said both the front and rear brakes were worn and damaged by heat, consistent with Sikes saying that he stood on the brake pedal with both feet and was unable to stop the car. But if the fail-safe system worked properly, the brakes wouldn't have been damaged because power would have been cut to the wheels.

Gomez said the best evidence that his client was frantically slamming the brakes is that a California Highway Patrol officer who was giving Sikes instructions over a loudspeaker smelled burning brakes and saw the lights on.



Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy




Runaway Prius Driver: Brakes Were "Almost Burned"


Before he called 911, James Sikes says he reached down with his hand to loosen the "stuck" accelerator on his 2008 Toyota Prius, his other hand on the steering wheel. The pedal didn't move.

"My car can't slow down," he began when a California Highway Patrol dispatcher answered his call.

Sikes, 61, rolled to a stop 23 harrowing minutes later, he and his blue Prius emerging unscathed but Toyota Motor Corp. suffering another big dent. Toyota has watched its reputation for quality crumble with recalls tied to risks that cars can accelerate uncontrollably or can't brake properly.

Todd Neibert, the CHP officer who gave instructions to Sikes over a loudspeaker as they went east on mountainous Interstate 8 in San Diego County Monday afternoon, said he smelled burning brakes when he caught up with the Prius.

The officer said he told Sikes to push the brake pedal to the floor and apply the emergency brakes as the Prius neared 85 mph. The car slowed to about 55 mph, at which time Sikes says he turned off the ignition and the car came to a stop.

"The brakes were definitely down to hardly any material," Neibert told reporters Tuesday. "There was a bunch of brake material on the ground and inside the wheels."

The officer found the floor mat properly placed and the accelerator and brake pedals in correct resting position.

The freeway incident happened at the worst possible time for Toyota - just hours after it invited reporters to hear experts insist that electronic flaws could not cause cars to speed out of control under real driving conditions.

Another driver in suburban New York told police Tuesday that her 2005 Toyota Prius accelerated on its own, then lurched down a driveway, across a road and into a stone wall. The driver, a 56-year-old woman, escaped serious injury. Police said the floor mat did not appear to be a factor; Toyota said it's not yet known whether the company will investigate.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has sent two investigators to examine Sikes' car. Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons said the automaker is sending three of its own technicians to investigate.

Another Toyota spokesman, John Hanson, said the company wanted to talk to the driver.

Sikes' car was covered by Toyota's floor mat recall, but the driver said the pedal jammed and was not trapped under the mat.

Sikes, a real estate agent, said he was passing another car when the accelerator stuck and eventually reached 94 mph.

During the two 911 calls, Sikes ignored many of the dispatcher's questions, saying later that he had to put his phone on the seat to keep his hands on the wheel.

Leighann Parks, a 24-year-old dispatcher, repeatedly told him to throw the car into neutral but got no answers.

"He was very emotional, you could tell on the line he was panicked," Parks told reporters outside the CHP's El Cajon office. "I could only imagine being in his shoes and being that stressed."

Neibert told Sikes after the CHP caught up with him to shift to neutral but the driver shook his head no. Sikes told reporters he didn't go into neutral because he worried the car would flip.

The driver rolled down the window and Neibert told him to apply both brakes. Sikes said he lifted his buttocks from the seat to press the floor brake, an account backed by the officer.

The cars maneuvered around two trucks going uphill to a "clear, wide-open road," Neibert said. The officer had only about 15 miles to stop the vehicle before a steep downgrade and was considering spike strips to puncture the tires as a last resort.

In the final minutes of the 911 call, Sikes tells the dispatcher, "My brakes are almost burned out."

After the car stops, Sikes sighs with relief.

Neibert, a 14-year CHP veteran, worked with Officer Mark Saylor, who was killed in August along with his wife, her brother and the couple's daughter after their Lexus' accelerator became trapped by a wrong-size floor mat on a freeway in nearby La Mesa. The loaner car hit a sport utility vehicle and burst into flames.

Toyota has since recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide - more than 6 million in the United States - because of acceleration problems in multiple models and braking issues in the Prius. Regulators have linked 52 deaths to crashes allegedly caused by accelerator problems. Still, there have been more than 60 reports of sudden acceleration in cars that have been fixed under the recall.



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Sources: MSNBC, CBS News, Fox News, Google Maps

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

ADE651 & GT200 Bomb Scanners Totally Useless! Hoax






Tests Show Bomb Scanner Ineffective, Thailand Says

A bomb scanner sold to dozens of countries around the world has been shown to be useless at detecting explosives, the Thai government said, raising the possibility that thousands of lives have been lost to bomb attacks because of ineffective screenings.

The Thai government announced Tuesday that the GT200 failed rigorous tests carried out by scientists and the army in Thailand, after concerns were raised that the device was an elaborate hoax.

"We've done a double-blind test where the equipment was only successful in discovering in 20 percent of the cases, when just a random choice would give you 25 percent -- so there's no statistical significance to having the equipment," Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told CNN.

The device's manufacturer, Britain-based Global Technical, disputed the tests' results.

Thailand has spent more than $20 million for about 700 of the devices, which are supposed to indicate the presence of explosives. Thailand also has paid for the manufacturer's eight days of training for device operators.

After the test results, the Thai government said it was looking into the possibility of legal action against Global Technical.

The Thai army has been using GT200 for six years in the country's troubled south, where insurgents have been waging a years-long secessionist movement, and where bomb attacks occur weekly.

The device also has been sold to Thailand's forensic scientists, navy, air force, narcotics control board and police.

Global Technical said in an e-mail it was "surprised and disappointed by the reported outcome of tests carried out by the Thai government."

It said the results were "completely at odds with other tests carried out by independent bodies" and with "the experience of the large number of users of this product all over the world.

"We shall not be commenting further until we have seen the report and have had the opportunity to study it and, in particular, to understand the testing methodology employed."

Global Technical and its Thai distributor, Avia Satcom, both declined CNN's request for an interview.

The company's Web site says the device has been sold to 30 countries around the world. Some of the countries thought to have purchased the units are the Philippines, Mexico and Kenya.

The British government has banned a similar device, the AED651, made by British firm ATSC, from being exported.

The managing director of ATSC, Jim McCormick, has been arrested and questioned by police, who alleged "suspicion of fraud." The company declined to comment, citing ongoing legal action.

The AED651 has been sold in Iraq and Afghanistan, although the Iraqi army has stopped using it.

Both the AED651 and the GT200 use technology that some scientists dismiss as little more than a car antenna mounted on a plastic box that is designed to act much the way a dowsing rod is used to find water.

"I can see no mechanism of a detecting nature whatsoever, except for the brain of the person who is holding it," said Sidney Alford, an explosives engineer.

"There is no electronic [component]," he said. "I would expect there to be some sort of electronic device if a person had told me this works. I would expect to see electronic components here."



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Sources: CNN, Wikipedia, Google Maps

Friday, January 29, 2010

UFO Sighting In Dublin, Ireland Another Hoax Or Real Aircraft?





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(Anomaly Magazine) Another "Dublin UFO" Hoax Underway Against The Media?

Who’s Pranking Whom? Why Ireland and Why Triangular UFOs?

It’s like déjà vu all over again … remember back in October 2008 when we broke the story of how someone in Ireland’s media had been convinced that a then recent UFO sighting flap (which featured an apparent triangle ufo with a red laser caught with cellphone video footage) was connected to this amazing footage of a triangle ufo with red laser darting about but which turned out to be reused footage of an award winning model from a UFO hoax contest? Well it appears that someone has yet again pulled the wool over the media’s eyes.

I was just made aware of some “dramatic new triangular ufo footage” and as soon as I saw it I recognized it as something I’d seen just a few months ago in October 2009 when I was researching the ufo videos of Ed Grimsley who claims to witness ufo battles complete with lasers and explosions using only a pair of expensive nightvision goggles. Yet none of his footage is anywhere near as interesting as this “new” triangular footage which happens to apparently use this same type of green-tinting night vision tech

The video I saw in October of last year was allegedly “filmed 12/5/08 in fremont, ca.” and uploaded to YouTube the same day by someone who appears to own a pair of the goggles and/or collects footage of nightvision anomalies. Yet the online news reports and bits of information offerred so far contradict that stating…

A triangular formation of lights was filmed flying at night at “incredible speed”.
Sighting near the River Liffey in Dublin.

One has to wonder, who got this misrepresentation of the footage started? Was it deliberate or could it just be a simple case of a news editor / web manager posting an interesting accompanying video that looks like what was described but which apparently has absolutely nothing to do with the “new” alleged Dublin sighting?

So far a handful of newsites has been taken in by this “hoax” or misidentification / miscommunication. But the list is growing everytime I check:

Liffey on Mars

The Sun – Vince Soodin – Jan 21, 2010
EXPERT Nick Pope says it’s vital for our security to log sightings – and he will review yours. Among the most mysterious include a UFO over Parliament in …

www.thesun.co.uk

UFO spotted above Ireland

Daily Contributor - 11 hours ago
A strange triangular formation of lights moving at an “incredible speed” has been filmed flying near the River Liffey in Dublin. …

Dailycontributor.com

Triangular light formation UFO seen in Dublin
NewsLite – 17 hours ago
Witnesses say the lights moves at an “incredible speed” as they sped over the River Liffey. In the footage – which seems to have been taken via a night …

newslite.tv

Footage of "UFO" taken in Ireland
Oneindia – 21 hours ago

news.oneindia.in

UFO spotted above Dublin as Ireland turns X-Files
Metro – 13 hours ago

www.metro.co.uk

Footage of ‘UFO’ taken in Ireland
Newstrack India (blog) – 22 hours ago
London, Jan 22 (ANI): The footage of a UFO flying near the River Liffey in Dublin has left experts thinking it could either be a secret aircraft or …

www.newstrackindia.com

Footage of UFO taken in Ireland
Little About (blog) – Jan 21, 2010
London, Jan 22 : The footage of a UFO flying near the River Liffey in Dublin has left experts thinking it could either be a secret aircraft or spacecraft. …

www.littleabout.com

We’ll keep you posted with updates as we receive them.

SMiles Lewis



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Sources: MSNBC, Anomaly Magazine, Youtube, Google Maps

Friday, January 8, 2010

Richard Heene's Pre-Jail Interview With Larry King




























Larry King, Richard Heene Interview Part I




Larry King, Richard Heene Interview Part II




New "Balloon Boy" Home video footage.




"You guys said we did this for the show".





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Sources: CNN, E!Online, Youtube, Google Maps

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

"Balloon Boy" Hoax Co-Conspirator Richard Heene Gets 90 Days In Jail





























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"Balloon Boy" Parents Sentenced To Jail Time


The parents who carried out the balloon boy hoax were sentenced to jail Wednesday and given strict probation conditions that forbid them from earning any money from the spectacle for four years.

Richard Heene was sentenced to 90 days in jail, including 60 days of work release that will let him pursue his job as a construction contractor while serving his time. His wife, Mayumi, was sentenced to 20 days in jail.

Richard Heene choked back tears as he said he was sorry, especially to the rescue workers who chased down false reports that his 6-year-old son had floated away in a balloon on Oct. 15. It was a stunt designed to generate attention for a reality TV show.

“I do want to reiterate that I’m very, very sorry. And I want to apologize to all the rescue workers out there and the people that got involved in the community. That’s it,” said Richard Heene, whose wife did not speak at the hearing.

Larimer County District Judge Stephen Schapanski then ordered Heene to begin a 30-day jail term on Jan. 11, delaying the start of the sentence for two weeks so he can spend the holidays with his family. Schapanski allowed Heene to serve the remaining 60 days of his jail term under work release, meaning he can work during the day but spend his nights in jail.

No profits allowed

The Heenes’ probation will be revoked if they are found to be profiting from any book, TV, movie or other deals related to the stunt.

“This, in simple terms, was an elaborate hoax that was devised by Mr. and Mrs. Heene,” the judge said.


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The Heenes pleaded guilty to charges that they carried out the balloon hoax, with deals that called for up to 90 days in jail for the husband and 60 days for his wife.

Schapanski ordered Mayumi Heene to serve 20 days in jail after her husband completes his sentence. Her time served is flexible — she can report to jail on 10 weekends, for example — so the children are cared for, the judge said.

Prosecutors asked for the maximum sentence for the husband, saying that a message needs to be sent to promoters who attempt to carry out hoaxes to generate publicity. Chief Deputy District Attorney Andrew Lewis also asked for full restitution to reimburse authorities for the cost of investigating the hoax — an amount that could exceed $50,000.

“People around the world were watching this unfold,” he said. “Mr. Heene wasted a lot of manpower and a lot of money in wanting to get himself some publicity.”

Argument to stop copycats

He added, “Jay Leno said it best when he said, ’This is a copycat game.’ And people will copycat this event. (The Heenes) need to go to jail so people don’t do that.”

He portrayed the Heenes as growing increasingly desperate as their pitches for a reality TV show kept getting turned down by networks — and the family fell deeper into a financial hole. Lewis said the Heenes set in motion the balloon hoax in early October as a way to jumpstart the effort and get some attention.

They chose Oct. 15 because the weather was cooperating and the kids were home for school with parent-teacher conferences, allowing the Heenes to report that 6-year-old Falcon had floated away, Lewis said.

Once the parents were brought in for questioning, Richard Heene feigned sleep during the lie-detector test, claiming it was some sort of diabetic episode, Lewis said.

David Lane, Richard Heene’s attorney, pleaded for leniency with the judge and said that the couple “have learned a lesson they will never forget for the rest of their lives.” He also said that if someone has to go to jail, let it be Richard Heene and not his wife.

“That is his plea. That would be something of a Christmas miracle if that can occur,” he said.

On Monday, sheriff's officials said the two adult Heenes had acted alone.

Police examined three laptop computers, several hard drives, video cameras and tapes seized from the Heene home in Fort Collins in their investigation.

Some of the costs broken down

Sheriff's officials are also tabulating the costs of the search, with the expectation of getting reimbursed from the Heenes, and so far the total is more than $40,000.

They estimate their department spent about $8,000 in overtime. Some $13,500 more was spent by law enforcement agencies from the nearby communities of Greeley and Weld County, along with Colorado State University and the U.S. Forest Service.

Two National Guard helicopters launched to track the craft and possibly attempt to rescue the couple's 6-year-old son, reportedly inside the balloon, cost about $16,000.

Also included in the estimate are $8,500 in damage to the field where the craft landed. Emergency vehicles rushed onto the field, and a police officer sprinted through it trying to catch up with the balloon.

The Federal Aviation Administration, for its part, recently said it conducted its own civil investigation and determined the Heenes launched an unauthorized aircraft and are subject to an $11,000 fine.

Officials rerouted planes around the balloon's flight path and briefly forced some planes to switch to a different runway for takeoff from Denver International Airport.




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Sources: MSNBC, Today Show, CNN, Google Maps