Helicopter lost over Libya is new US drone: officials

An unmanned MQ-8B Fire Scout
© AFP/File Jim Watson

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A drone helicopter that lost radar contact with NATO over Libya is a Fire Scout, an unmanned US chopper, defense officials said Tuesday, revealing the use of the new robotic aircraft in the war.

"We don't know yet" why NATO's command center in Naples, Italy lost contact with the MQ-8B Fire Scout, a US defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

© AFP -- Published at Activist Post with license

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A McDonald Economy

Tesha Miller
Seismologik

The Golden Age of the American working class is over and McDonald's Golden Arches provides a glimpse of what lay directly ahead for many working Americans. McDonald's will be adding as many as 50,000 new hires on April 19. The newly disenfranchised who were unfortunate enough to be swept away by the housing bubble collapse had to penny pinch on shoestring budgets. Those no longer able to afford Starbucks coffee, instead sipped on the newly developed McDonald's McCafe line and the restaurant chain financially exploded despite the tanked economy. While the entrepreneurial spirit of McDonald's is certainly noteworthy there is a more important element to this story to be considered. The poor substitute for coffee is symbolic of a far greater crisis to the American people then just a preference for coffee beans.

The average wage for McDonald's employees in 2011 is exactly what one might expect for a chain that can offer $1 menu items; about $7.50 -$10 an hour. During the peak of the economic recession nearly 700,000 jobs were being lost monthly to US workers and with it an entire way of life. Millions of homes were abandoned and foreclosed upon while small businesses ended and community banks closed doors for the final time. Some of the worst hit metropolitan areas suffered employment declines ranging from 9.8% to 17% according to a Brookings Institution report in 2010. Entire communities were devastated from the severity of the economic blow and this in turn lead to deficit increases and budgetary shortfalls.