VANCOUVER — There are two new scarlet letters in academia.
Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., recently introduced a grade called FD to deal with cheaters.

The letters stand for failure with academic dishonesty.
Rob Gordon, the university’s director of criminology, said the FD grade was introduced to catch cheaters who use the Internet and was part of a larger package of reforms “relating to student misconduct issues and honesty.”
“It is a penalty that can only be imposed by department heads, not by individual professors,” Gordon, acting chairman of the university’s senate committee on academic integrity, said Thursday.
“It would be used in egregious cases of academic dishonesty.”
Gordon said while most cheating in the past involved copying essays, it has now evolved into students cheating by using online essay-writing companies as well as high-tech and sometimes low-tech devices during exams.
The new grade, introduced in May, has been considered but not yet given out, Gordon said.
The FD would remain on a student’s transcripts during their time at SFU and for two years after graduation, which could affect the possibility of postgraduate studies or even getting a job if a potential employer asks to see transcripts.
Severity of the offence and incidences of previous cheating would both be considered before handing out an FD.
“If a student thinks they have been unfairly dealt with, they have the opportunity to appeal (to the ombudsman),” said Gordon. “I thought we would have a lot of push-back from students but (student response) has been overwhelmingly favourable.”
Gordon said in one extreme case a few years ago, a student had their degree rescinded after it was learned they plagiarized their thesis almost entirely from six sources. But he said that, overall, cheating seems to be on the decline.
The University of Alberta hands cheaters an F8 or F9 grade, which can be reduced after three years to an F.

temperature changes over the past century have been episodic and modest and there has been no net global warming for over a decade now.1,2 … The computer models forecasting rapid temperature change abjectly fail to explain recent climate behavior.4

My (two) thousand words’ worth:
picture-4

The folks at RealClimate have eviscerated their footnotes, pointing out that the studies and scientists they cite don’t support their statements. (Think: cherry-pick, quote out of context, ignore direct contradictions.)
These guys are more than welcome to ask whether limiting greenhouse gases—at great expense—is the best solution to the problem we’re facing. But instead they’re squeezing their eyes closed, holding their hands over their ears, and humming loudly. LALALALALALALALALALA!

For more info.

Here we go guyz.. another breakthrough…!!!!

“Pakistan has had links with Sri Lanka going back to the early 70s. Recently Sri Lanka stood out on its support for Pakistani membership at the Commonwealth. Pakistani arms have made a difference in the Indian inspired Tamil on sloughs on the peaceful Buddhists of Sri Lanka. Recently Sri Lanka has made huge progress against the Hindu Tamils who come across the Tamil Nadu (India). Tamil Nadu also have their own beef with the Indian government and want to be independent from New Delhi…”

Benjamin Netanyahu, the favorite to win the upcoming Israeli election, says al Qaeda terrorists will destroy Jesus Christ’s burial site. Netanyahu, who claims he had predicted an Islamic extremists attack on the World Trade Center six years before the actual attack, said terrorists will target Church of the Holy Sepulchre also known as the Church of the Resurrection – Christianity’s holiest site.

“This will incur a chain reaction we can’t even envision. We will witness an escalation of religious conflict above and beyond the regional conflict we have now,” Daily Telegraph quoted him as saying. Read full article here

Zionist Israel has very dangerous plans for the world. It is acting like a “mad dog, too dangerous to bother”.  The world recently witnessed cold-blooded Gaza massacre by Israel and the level of atrocities have no examples in the modern world. See Gaza massacre pictures here

Israel’s refusal to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its nuclear weapons program should be the cause of serious concern for the world.  Israel refuses to admit it has nuclear weapons or to describe how it would use them, an official policy of nuclear ambiguity, also known as “nuclear opacity.” This has made it difficult for anyone outside the Israeli government to definitively describe its true nuclear policy, while still allowing Israel to influence the perceptions, strategies and actions of other governments. As early as 1976, the CIA believed that Israel possessed 10 to 20 nuclear weapons. By 2002 it was estimated that the number had increased to between 75 and 200 nuclear weapons. Kenneth S. Brower has estimated as many as 400 nuclear weapons. These can be launched from land, sea and air. This gives Israel a second strike option even if much of the country is destroyed. See “SAMSON OPTION” ISRAELI NUCLEAR THREATS AND BLACKMAIL

Lately an Israeli Professor said in an interview said that Israel had the capability of hitting most European capitals with nuclear weapons. “We possess several hundred atomic warheads and rockets and can launch them at targets in all directions, perhaps even at Rome. Most European capitals are targets of our air force.” Said Professor Martin Van Creveld. Read full article

In the doomsday scenario of Israeli’s Samson Option, Israel would use its nuclear weapons against its enemies in the world, turning the region into irradiated wastelands.

Gerald Celente, the world leader in trend forecasting, forecasts that major trends are brewing that if not quickly corrected or stanched, will lead to disaster, citing fears among Israel’s neighbors that they could be the next victims. An attack on Iran by either Israel or the US will spark the onset of World War III, predicts Celente. Read full article

Majority of the world now believe that 9/11 was an inside job that was created to push forward Zionist Neocons world agenda. Al Qaeda is nothing but a propaganda machine that is being used followed by false flag terror attacks to invade nations, implant puppet governments, sabotage rising world powers, take geo-strategic military controls and capture natural resources. This is the design of the final game plan being executed for One world Government/New World Order.

In addition to the on going wars in Middle East and Asia, the 21st Century’s economic decline is under process and the ripple effects are yet to be seen. The economy gurus are forecasting blockage of global cash flow cycles, food crises, riots and world wide civil anguish by the end of 2009.

It is not hard to see that we are heading towards toughest times, we all should be prepared for the worst to come!

Hong Kong, China — “Anti-piracy operations” have given China’s PLA Navy the best excuse to penetrate the Indian Ocean and station forces there permanently.

As fighting piracy around the Gulf of Aden becomes a long-term mission, the PLA Navy South Sea Fleet is likely to set up a sub-fleet to handle that task – perhaps the “Indian Ocean Sub-fleet of the South Sea Fleet” – and the PLA Navy will become the new owner of the Indian Ocean.

In recent months, Chinese military publications have carried a number of articles stating that “the Indian Ocean does not belong to India.” The intent of these articles is increasingly clear.

While carrying out anti-piracy operations, the PLA Navy’s battleships will gain experience in long-distance maritime combat operations in preparation for the establishment of an ocean-going aircraft carrier fleet. The navy may dispatch other battleships, such as its 054A FFG, on similar missions in the future.

China has a key military objective in dispatching battleships to the Gulf of Aden. The “Chinese Aegis” class DDG it has sent to the region has the most advanced radar detection and C4IRS capabilities, and therefore can conduct effective battlefield monitoring exercises in this region. The Gulf of Aden provides the best geographical environment for the PLA Navy to conduct surveillance on the activities of the U.S. 5th Fleet.

The powerful detection capability of the Chinese Aegis DDG relies on the “Sea Lion” active phased array radar installed on the battleship.

China received some of the sub-systems and technological advice from the Ukrainian Kvant Design Bureau in developing this radar system. This is the bureau that participated in the research and development of almost all major Soviet surface battleship radar systems. This includes the Fregat 2EM 3-D radar, which China imitated from the Russian system, working from a blueprint provided by Kvant.

China redesigned and reconfigured the Sea Lion radar system on its own, however, particularly the electric circuits, according to an authoritative source from the Ukrainian Administration of Arms Import and Export.

The development from passive to active phased array radar means huge technological progress, as the problem of the large radiator covering the antenna must be solved. The Chinese system uses the radiator cover designed by Ukraine; it regularly cools the antennas with a coolant to which a small amount of desiccant is added.

The technical perimeters of the radar system on the Chinese Aegis class DDG have never been officially released. Western observers generally believe that the Russian and Chinese “Aegis” DDGs’ data-processing systems lag far behind that of the U.S. Aegis class DDGs. The chief designer of the Chinese ship has also made similar comments.

The basic measurements of the Chinese Sea Lion radar system give some clues as to its performance features. It is a sea-to-air search radar capable of simultaneously searching for and tracking targets while constantly changing the beam indexes. It can search for more than 100 targets at once and track 50 of them.

Its search range for combat aircraft appears to be around 500-550 kilometers (roughly 300-340 miles). The design requirements for both Russian and Japanese phased array radar systems are such that even if 10 percent of the elements are lost, the radar system can continue to function.

China has built only two 052C DDGs outfitted with this advanced radar system; its purpose is to test the effectiveness of the Sea Lion for future installation on Chinese aircraft carriers.

This radar system on the No. 171 DDG currently deployed in the Gulf of Aden makes it possible for the PLA Navy to monitor most of the airspace above Yemen, Oman and the Strait of Hormuz.

Tankers carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia would have to go through this strait. In addition, the 5th Fleet of the United States Pacific Fleet based in Bahrain, the Command Headquarters of the United States Central Military Command located in Qatar, and the activities of the combat aircraft of the Saudi Arabian Air Force could all come under the surveillance of the Chinese Aegis radar system.

Of course, while en route to the Indian Ocean – past the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and through the Strait of Malacca – the Chinese Aegis can conduct surveillance, including the airspace above southern India. The activities of the air forces in the above countries and voice communication signals may also be monitored and intercepted. A number of these countries have territorial disputes with China on land or sea.

Moreover, the No. 171 and No. 169 DDGs are equipped with China’s best electronic intelligence acquisition and countermeasure systems, and their antenna arrays are very similar to the electronic intelligence acquisition and support systems developed by Israel. These systems can effectively detect and acquire the radar signals of the U.S. 5th Fleet and record the data.

Naturally, the equipment can also monitor the radar signals and frequencies of the naval battleships of the countries along this route. The No. 171 DDG is equipped with the NRJ6A ESM/ESM system; according to at least one military source, this microelectronic system is imported from Israel.

Any navy ship formation requires the support of a powerful underwater outpost force and reinforced anti-submarine capability to be able to engage in effective three-dimensional warfare. The best anti-submarine measure is of course using submarines to undertake anti-tracking operations. Consequently, the possibility cannot be excluded that new generation 093 SSN or other diesel-powered submarines may have played the role of underwater outpost during recent anti-piracy actions of the PLA Navy in the Gulf of Aden.

Behind the curtain of the anti-piracy operations is in fact the rivalry of the naval forces of the major powers in establishing their new “national interest frontiers.”