Image via WikipediaUsually I'm able to get up to a week's - I stop at that point - back posts to show up on my Dashboard - which I repost. Today it quit after a few hours...so I picked some out from my personal feeds
U.S. Nuclear Waste Never Sees Its Full Potential
Compared to other countries, America is 40 years behind reprocessing radioactive materials
Gavin Schmidt has been fighting against Judith Curry for some time (on discussion pages of Curry's blog - Part I and Part II - Real Climate, Watts' blog, and other places); see e.g. Climate Progress. The ecoterrorists have even established a special anti-Curry website which is totally incoherent but it is still a testimony how much those folks dislike her, a new heretic.
What has made various Gavin Schmidts upset was Judith Curry's endorsement of Richard Muller's statement that the hockey stick-like graphs were pieces of dishonest science. No doubt, your humble correspondent agrees with this obvious observation and it is more likely than not that you agree with it, too.
What has made various Gavin Schmidts upset was Judith Curry's endorsement of Richard Muller's statement that the hockey stick-like graphs were pieces of dishonest science. No doubt, your humble correspondent agrees with this obvious observation and it is more likely than not that you agree with it, too.
THE "MAINSTREAM" MEDIA TELLS FAR TO LITTLE OF THIS STORY, GIVEN THAT ONE IN SIX AMERICANS ARE IN POVERTY, 20 MILLION ARE UNEMPLOYED, AND 3 TO 4 MILLION HOMES ARE FORECLOSED EACH YEAR...
from Cherchez la VeriteAt Grave Risk
By BOB HERBERTBuried deep beneath the stories about executive bonuses, the stock market surge and the economy’s agonizingly slow road to recovery is the all-but-silent suffering of the many millions of Americans who, economically, are going down for the count.
How bad have things become? According to the National Employment Law Project, a trend is growing among employers to not even consider the applications of the unemployed for jobs that become available.
How bad have things become? According to the National Employment Law Project, a trend is growing among employers to not even consider the applications of the unemployed for jobs that become available.
THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA IS STREAMING PROPAGANDA DISSING THE WISCONSIN UPRISING. IF YOU WANT TO HEAR THE REAL STORY, GO HERE:
Real News
Democracy the Panacea
Before the Egyptian uprisings we were told that we in the West must support tyranny to maintain stability. After the uprisings we were told that our newly discovered duty is to oppose tyranny and support democracy.Our government strove for stability by maintaining a harmonious relationship with “tyrants,” but now they’ve seen that turning a blind eye to tyranny was morally wrong, and universal democracy would be morally right.
Many people suspect that “tyrants” were all that stood between the fragile stability and the dreaded clash of civilisations. However, for the BBC and, it seems, Cameron’s government, democracy is a thing with magical properties. If it comes, lo and behold, it will turn the Islamic street into a secular wonderland.
Meanwhile, (as if we had any choice) we’re plumping for toppling tyrants and keeping our fingers crossed this will bring about liberty, freedom and peace - and abracadabra, turn the Arab World into the West.
No longer must we turn a blind eye to tyranny. Now our blind eyes are turned to the baying mobs chanting “Death to Jews” in Tunis, the stars of David scrawled on Mubarak posters, and the sinister signs of religious bigotry rather than secular liberalism that are emerging from the angry rioting crowd. The BBC’s eyes are the blindest of all.
Did Qaddafi Steal Even More Money From Libya Than Mubarak Did From Egypt? Will We Ever Know?
from DownWithTyranny!Monarchies and family dynasties pretty much always devolve into kleptocracies supported by brutal extra-national forces loyal to the dictator personally rather than the state or the citizens, even if they don't always start that way. A couple of weeks ago we reported on the breathtaking amount of wealth Hosni Mubarak and his family have stolen from Egypt in the last 3 decades. Yesterday Radio Netherlands exposed what few didn't already suspect about Qaddafi.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi keeps part of his billion dollar empire in the Netherlands. Tamoil, the
Image via WikipediaLibyan state oil company, which has around 160 petrol stations in the Netherlands, is located in the town of Ridderkerk.
An investigation by Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant shows that Tamoil is a subsidiary of Oilinvest, which is headquartered in Monaco and is active in other European countries. The company trades in crude oil and refined petroleum products, transport, refineries, storage and distribution of oil. It also markets and sells lubricants.
A company which extracts oil and gas for Colonel Gaddafi in Libya, France and Canada is also registered at the same address. 35 people work in the offices in Ridderkerk. In 2009 Tamoil made a nett profit of 26 million euros on a turnover of 7.7 billion euros.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi keeps part of his billion dollar empire in the Netherlands. Tamoil, the
Image via WikipediaLibyan state oil company, which has around 160 petrol stations in the Netherlands, is located in the town of Ridderkerk.An investigation by Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant shows that Tamoil is a subsidiary of Oilinvest, which is headquartered in Monaco and is active in other European countries. The company trades in crude oil and refined petroleum products, transport, refineries, storage and distribution of oil. It also markets and sells lubricants.
A company which extracts oil and gas for Colonel Gaddafi in Libya, France and Canada is also registered at the same address. 35 people work in the offices in Ridderkerk. In 2009 Tamoil made a nett profit of 26 million euros on a turnover of 7.7 billion euros.
Yesterday the ex-Justice Minister revealed that it was Qaddafi himself who personally ordered the Lockerbie bombing which killed 270 people. And he says he has the proof.
the reactionary kleptocrat monarch of Saudi Arabia is trying to buy off citizens of his country by offering them $37 billion-- of the money his family mafia has stolen from them-- to let them stay on the throne.
King Abdullah, the Saudi ruler, has returned home after a three-month medical absence and unveiled benefits for Saudis worth $37bn (£23bn) in an apparent attempt to insulate the world's leading oil exporter from a wave of Arab uprisings.
State media announced an action plan to help lower- and middle-income people among the 18m Saudi nationals. It includes pay rises to offset inflation, unemployment benefits and affordable family housing.
Hundreds of people have backed a Facebook call for a Saudi "day of rage" on 11 March to demand an elected ruler, greater freedom for women and the release of political prisoners.
zibwawe activists arrested, charged with capital offence for discussing world events: your help needed
from we move to canadaThe most recent report is that none have been released and that they are being charged with treason. This is a very serious charge that carries the death penalty.
Moss: The Breakfast of Champions
The forest nitrogen cycle begins with 100-year-old trees and the moss that grows on them
GADHAFI FORCES STRIKE BACK AT REVOLT NEAR TRIPOLI
The assaults aimed to push back a rebellion that have moved closer to Gadhafi bastion in the capital, Tripoli. The revolution has already broken away nearly the eastern half of Libya and unraveled parts of Gadhafi regime.
UCSON – On February 23, more than 40 protesters took to the streets – two were arrested – while six people who locked-down and occupied the US Border Patrol Tucson Headquarters on May 21, 2010 stood trial fighting charges of "criminal trespassing" and “disorderly conduct.”
Lawyers William G. Walker and Jeffrey J. Rogers represented the six as the city prosecutor called Border Patrol agents and Tucson Police to testify. The defense argued the trespassing charge was not properly filed and were granted a request to file a memorandum addressing the technicality. The trial is expected to continue on March 22, 2011. Corresponding rallies and actions are being planned.
At 1:30 pm people gathered in downtown Tucson at Library Park for a rally and then took the streets with banners reading, “Indigenous Resistance, Protect Sacred Places”, “Free Movement for People Not Commerce, Tear Down the Wall” and chanting “No Borders, No Border Patrol.”
Lawyers William G. Walker and Jeffrey J. Rogers represented the six as the city prosecutor called Border Patrol agents and Tucson Police to testify. The defense argued the trespassing charge was not properly filed and were granted a request to file a memorandum addressing the technicality. The trial is expected to continue on March 22, 2011. Corresponding rallies and actions are being planned.
At 1:30 pm people gathered in downtown Tucson at Library Park for a rally and then took the streets with banners reading, “Indigenous Resistance, Protect Sacred Places”, “Free Movement for People Not Commerce, Tear Down the Wall” and chanting “No Borders, No Border Patrol.”
The state thrives off of the climate of terror and fear that racist laws like HB2281 and SB1070, and new proposed laws like SB1611, 1308, 1309, 1405, have caused. This terror also manifests with thousands of troops invading indigenous lands, such as the Tohono O’odham, Yaqui, Kickapoo, Lipan Apache, to name a few. Since the creation of the current U.S./Mexico border, 45 O’odham villages on or near the border have been completely depopulated. This terror manifests with the bones of thousands – making the southern Arizona desert a grave yard, where the hopes and dreams of migrant families are stomped into the ground by border patrol agents, National Guard, minute men, and profiteering coyotes.
When the CIA topple Sukarno in 1965 they gave the Indonesian military a list of people to be dealt with.
Up to one million people were then murdered.
CIA Support of Death Squads
It could happen in North Africa.
Watch out people of Libya.
To topple regimes, the CIA uses such organisations as the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
5. Ron Paul wrote "It is particularly Orwellian to call US manipulation of foreign elections 'promoting democracy.'
"How would we Americans feel if for example the Chinese arrived with millions of dollars to support certain candidates deemed friendly to China?"
6. According to Dr. William Robinson, author of Promoting Polyarhcy, "all sectors of civil society will be identified and those that can be brought on board to the US interventionist project will be brought on board and funded."
Up to one million people were then murdered.
CIA Support of Death Squads
It could happen in North Africa.
Watch out people of Libya.
To topple regimes, the CIA uses such organisations as the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).5. Ron Paul wrote "It is particularly Orwellian to call US manipulation of foreign elections 'promoting democracy.'
"How would we Americans feel if for example the Chinese arrived with millions of dollars to support certain candidates deemed friendly to China?"
6. According to Dr. William Robinson, author of Promoting Polyarhcy, "all sectors of civil society will be identified and those that can be brought on board to the US interventionist project will be brought on board and funded."
Blum : "We have a very clear law on the books prohibiting foreign governments from interfering in our elections of supporting any candidates with money.
"So we do exactly abroad what we prohibit here at home."
."So we do exactly abroad what we prohibit here at home."
The Seven Strangest Man-Made Disasters
by Jared Wade on June 16, 2010
Yesterday, Emily did a post recounting Aon’s list of the top five global hotspots for earthquakes. Given the seemingly relentless seismic activity and destruction wrought by shifting tectonic plates just in 2010 alone, such natural disasters should be high on everyone’s watch list.
But as we are seeing right now in the Gulf, man-made disasters can present enormous perils of their own. And it just so happens that I came across Spike’s list of “The Top Seven Most Bizarre Man-Made Disasters” today.
ClimateGate's Gene Wahl: I did delete the e-mails
Steve McIntyre has some interesting news about the famous May 2008 ClimateGate e-mail in which Phil Jones asks Mike to delete any mails he had with Keith (who is undergoing a minor family crisis), while Gene and Caspar will have to do the same thing.On 4 May 1970, at Ohio's Kent State University, US forces murdered 4 students. The students had been protesting about US forces carrying out the mass murder of civilians in Cambodia.
Reportedly, General Petraeus has said that the Afghans may have been burning their own children.
The USA, like Israel, commits mass murder and then, like Israel, blames the victims.
Reportedly, General Petraeus has said that the Afghans may have been burning their own children.
The USA, like Israel, commits mass murder and then, like Israel, blames the victims.
'Air Laser' Could Detect Harmful Chemicals
The device could be useful to both military personnel and environmentalists.
Agent Orange exposed in toxic genocide targeting Indian communities
Agent Orange was used in the US, BC and Ontario, prior to and after the Vietnam War( You can add N.B. to that list )
US sites where Agent Orange was stored and tested, US Department of Veterans Affairs:http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/outside_vietnam_usa.asp#Arizona
Early into the next growing season of 2009, it quickly became apparent that the leaves of young trees an
I began to reluctantly revise my opinion and started instead to read up on air pollution. I quickly found that there is indeed research spanning decades which demonstrates conclusively that ozone formed in the troposphere from fuel emissions, though invisible, is toxic. It is poisonous to people, causing cancer, emphysema, and asthma, and is responsible for killing people in heatwaves, particularly the elderly and ill. Recently it has been linked to the epidemics of autism, diabetes, and Alzheimer's. Another non-controversial finding is that vegetation is even more sensitive to ozone than humans. Ozone causes characteristic damage to foliage, stunts growth, and renders vegetation more vulnerable to attacks by insects, disease, fungus, drought and wind.
... millions of hectares of Eucalyptus trees are decaying and dying at incredible rate across Australia.
A Rude Awakening
I noticed that all - I mean ALL - of the leaves on trees I could see around me, completely wilted, quite abruptly. It hadn't rained in weeks, and suddenly, whether oak or maple or walnut or ash - every leaf was suddenly just hanging limply...and their edges were singed a crispy brown. I had never seen anything like it on living plants before, and as life-long gardener and devoted tree lover, I would have noticed had it occurred in the past. I took it to indicate something was very seriously amiss. In the fall as leaves shriveled and fell prematurely, I began to investigate every possible explanation, and to write dozens of letters to scientists, asking them what was happening, and why.
Early into the next growing season of 2009, it quickly became apparent that the leaves of young trees an
Image via Wikipediad annual plants being grown in nurseries, as well as aquatic plants like water lilies and lotus, had begun to exhibit the same symptoms of wilt and scorching.
I began to reluctantly revise my opinion and started instead to read up on air pollution. I quickly found that there is indeed research spanning decades which demonstrates conclusively that ozone formed in the troposphere from fuel emissions, though invisible, is toxic. It is poisonous to people, causing cancer, emphysema, and asthma, and is responsible for killing people in heatwaves, particularly the elderly and ill. Recently it has been linked to the epidemics of autism, diabetes, and Alzheimer's. Another non-controversial finding is that vegetation is even more sensitive to ozone than humans. Ozone causes characteristic damage to foliage, stunts growth, and renders vegetation more vulnerable to attacks by insects, disease, fungus, drought and wind.
Accordingly, the central premise of this blog is that, as background levels inexorably rise, tropospheric ozone is killing off vegetation at an accelerating rate. There is much published research to indicate the validity of the various components of this conclusion, by academics and government agencies. The problem remains that although many chemists, physicists, biologists, agronomists and foresters understand their own specialized portion of the issue - how ozone is created, or transported, or absorbed - the overarching paradigm is fragmented. Almost no one is synthesizing the overall impacts, let alone following the trend to its inevitable result - massive death of vegetation, leading to food shortages for wild animals, farm animals, and people. Incredibly, many knowledgeable parties vigorously deny that ozone is anything more than a localized nuisance. The reason they deny the seriousness of the threat has myriad possible explanations, from fear to finances. Notable exceptions to this narrow viewpoint can be found here and here.
If anyone is wondering by now, I can safely say without elaborating that yes, realizing all this is a vicious waking nightmare. Feel free to email or leave comments if you need commiseration.
Listed below are some fundamental facts which are not disputed (by any other than fuel industry shills who earn a living suing the EPA to delay regulations of fuel emissions) and are all supported in peer-reviewed, published research linked to on the Basic Premise page at the top of this blog.
1. Ozone is formed from complicated, fast chemical reactions between emissions of volatile organic compounds and UV radiation...and back again
2. Levels of background tropospheric ozone are rising
3. Precursors can travel around the world and form ozone far from source, even in pristine rural areas
4. Ozone is toxic to people
5. Ozone is toxic to plants, causing visible topical lesions on foliage and also long-term internal damage
6. Virtually every species of tree is considered to be threatened (although the universal nature of the cause is almost never understood)
7. Ozone decreases the amount and quality of agricultural yield
8. Even plants without visible damage to foliage can have been harmed
9. The higher the temperature, the more ozone is formed
Here's a list of the standard and what have become rather tediously predictable excuses which are regurgitated by establishment scientists and foresters as to why individual species of trees, or areas of trees, are dying, or crops damaged - without considering that their immunity is compromised by ozone:
1. It's a bug
2. It's a fungus
3. It's warmer temperatures
4. It's too dry
5. It's too wet
6. The trees are too old (nonsense - most should live for centuries and a few, even thousands of years)
7. The trees are crowded
8. It's a disease
9. It's road salt
10. It's leaking natural gas pipelines
11. What dying trees?
Here are some predictions made here at Wit's End over the past two years, that are now coming true:
1. More wildfires as trees and the understory die off and become a tinderbox - we've all heard about the epic fires in Russia and Australia - perhaps we'll pay attention when they rage in North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia, and Alaska.
2. Emaciated, malnourished animals dying because there isn't enough food produced in the wild
3. Global food shortages, leading to rising prices and riots. Some of this is due to extreme weather, but there are many, many reports of failed crops where there was no extreme weather. In most cases farmers have no idea their crop is diminished because of ozone.
4. Falling trees and branches lead to higher insurance costs, damage to property, and unprecedented loss of life
5. More downed power lines from falling branches, causing outages
6. Landslides, because root systems are rotted, especially given record-smashing heavy rains
7. The BALDing syndrom (Bark Atrophy Lichen Decline) will accelerate and no tree will be immune from leaking, splitting, cracking bark.
Over the weekend I went to visit a nearby horse farm, Briarwood, where I once spent countless days with my children when they were young Pony Club riders. It's not very far away, but I just haven't had any reason to go there for many years, and so I was horrified when I saw what has transpired in the interval.
... millions of hectares of Eucalyptus trees are decaying and dying at incredible rate across Australia..
The Journal Gazette reports that Fort Wayne's ash borer infestation is killing ash trees at a much faster rate than expected. In 2008, the city expected to lose a peak of 1,500 ash trees a year, but now expects to lose 3,000 ash trees this year. That rate is expected to continue through 2013.
...The defoliated rose apple trees that you've seen are infested with a rust disease (Puccinia psidii), first detected in Hawaii on an ohia plant at a Windward Oahu nursery in April 2005.
The primary Hawaii host for the fungus is the rose apple tree, although an unusually high number of host trees - about 20 - have been found here, according to Rob Hauff, Forest Health Coordinator for DLNR's Division of Forestry and Wildlife.
"The disease just goes crazy on" the rose apple, causing new leaves to die and fall off, he said.
However, the concern is more over the disease's potential impact on native plant species, such as the ohia, rather than on an introduced, invasive species like the rose apple, he said.
The rose apple can be found all over the state, especially in the wetter valleys.
"It's definitely widespread," Hauff said, noting that he's seen aerial images, especially of Maui, where "the die-back is extensive."
..... the US Forest Service will continue to waste taxpayer money and assuage the timber industry by publishing glossy pamphlets that point to bark beetle and spruce bud worm as the sole source of the scourge.
The rising number of dead zones-deoxygenated areas of seas and oceans-is raising concern over already vulnerable and depleted fish stocks. Meanwhile nitrogen compound emissions are also contributing to changes in vegetation and ecosystems as a result of their artificial fertilizing effect.
In the European Union more than 21,000 premature deaths annually are associated with ground level ozone according to the European Environment Agency.
....Another issue that is neglected for the most part is the disruption of the nitrogen cycle, which is of interest because certain lichens that like high levels of nitrogen are proliferating on trees at an aberrantly rapid rate of growth, swarming over entire branches and trunks - and this comprehensive report addresses that:
... excess nitrogen deposition over land areas, even at fairly low deposition rates, may lead to a change of plant community composition and biodiversity loss. This change in the ecosystem can have a potentially huge impact on world biodiversity and may be the third greatest driver of biodiversity loss on the global scale (after land use and climate change). Policy makers seem not to be aware of this, focusing on other urgent topics.
( So Grist was on track with
New tool calculates your nitrogen footprint and explains why you should be ashamed of it )
Fake Silver Bars/Coins in the US, made in China
"US Morgan Silver dollars." Well they have a sense of humour or irony I guess.Just as a synopsis, the fake coins found thus far are old editions mostly from the 1800s. You can tell a fake by its lack of the distinctive 'ring' sound when dropped, or by attraction to a magnet.
"Stacks of ingots, bars, all kinds of stuff - they make everything from pennies all the way up to silver dollars," says Port Angeles police officer Duane Benedict. "China is making these things by the thousands."
**ALERT** FAKE Silver Coins/Bars/Ingots ARE on the market in U.S.!
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/115789384.html
War, Martial Law, and the Economic Crisis
War, Martial Law, and the Economic CrisisExcerpt from ``The Global Economic Crisis: The Great Depression of the XXI Century``
By Peter Dale Scott
Global Research
February 23, 2011
The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Bailout
The financial bailout legislation of September 2008 was only passed after members of both Congressional houses were warned that failure to act would threaten civil unrest and the imposition of martial law.
Speaking on Tulsa Oklahoma’s 1170 KFAQ, when asked who was behind threats of martial law and civil unrest if the bailout bill failed, Senator James Inhofe named Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson as the source
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA 27th District) reported the same threat on the Congressional floor:
The only way they can pass this bill is by creating a panic atmosphere... Many of us were told that the sky would fall... A few of us were even told that there would be martial law in America if we voted no. That’s what I call fear-mongering, unjustified, proven wrong.[6]
Greek Civil Disobedience: "I Won't Pay" Movement
Many see the "I Won't Pay" movement as something much simpler: the people's refusal to pay for the mistakes of a series of governments accused of squandering the nation's future through corruption and cronyism.
"I don't think it's part of the Greek character. Greeks, when they see that the law is being applied in general, they will implement it too," said Nikos Louvros, the 55-year-old chain-smoking owner of an Athens bar that openly flouts the smoking ban.
"But when it isn't being applied to some, such as when there are ministers who have been stealing, ... Well, if the laws aren't implemented at the top, others won't implement them."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41723432/ns/business-world_business/
Dispatch From The Inferno State: The Boys Are Back In Town
from DownWithTyranny!-by Doug Kahn
In news of fresh disasters, the Arizona Legislature is back in session, and State Senate Republican leader Russell Pearce is in charge. But we have good news too: Citizens for a Better Arizona is gathering signatures for Pearce’s recall.
Randy Parraz, a labor organizer who ran in the Democratic Senatorial primary to choose a McCain opponent last year, told me shortly after last November’s election that he was convinced we needed to go directly at Russell Pearce, the author of SB1070. (SB1070 is the new Arizona law that purports to legalize racial profiling.) I wanted to know if he’d run for the U.S. House in 2012, thinking that the essential task in Arizona is to replace racist representatives (state and national) with progressive Latin@s. (Please pardon the designation; many of the Dream organizers I’ve been working with use it in text as a non-gendered adjective for people of Hispanic origin.)
In news of fresh disasters, the Arizona Legislature is back in session, and State Senate Republican leader Russell Pearce is in charge. But we have good news too: Citizens for a Better Arizona is gathering signatures for Pearce’s recall.
Randy Parraz, a labor organizer who ran in the Democratic Senatorial primary to choose a McCain opponent last year, told me shortly after last November’s election that he was convinced we needed to go directly at Russell Pearce, the author of SB1070. (SB1070 is the new Arizona law that purports to legalize racial profiling.) I wanted to know if he’d run for the U.S. House in 2012, thinking that the essential task in Arizona is to replace racist representatives (state and national) with progressive Latin@s. (Please pardon the designation; many of the Dream organizers I’ve been working with use it in text as a non-gendered adjective for people of Hispanic origin.)
scott walker reveals himself to not-david koch; indiana official reveals his fascism on twitter, calls for protesters to be shot
Scott Walker, the embattled union-busting Governor of Wisconsin, had a little chat with his favourite ultra-rightwing financier, David Koch. Or so he thought. From AMERICAblog:Last night, the Republican Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, delivered an address to the people of his state. But, yesterday, Walker also got on the phone with someone who really matters to him - billionaire GOP activist David Koch, who is behind much of what is happening in Wisconsin, but also funds far-right GOP activism nationwide. Well, that's who Walker thought he was talking to. . . . .
Ian Murphy, a blogger at Buffalo Beast, managed to talk to Governor Scott Walker by pretending to be Koch. . . . [Ed note: the Buffalo Beast site is down. The post, called "Koch Whore", should be here. The call has been confirmed by the governor's office.]
The United States Government Kills Its Own People, Too
People are reacting with horror to reports that the Libyan government is killing its own people. On-the-ground eyewitnesses are describing the government violence as massacres. Many people believe the international community should get involved to help resolve the crisis in Libya, and reduce the bloodletting. Shadi Hamid writes in Slate:This is not just about Libya. The broader region is both coming alive and coming apart. Across the Arab world, governments are using disturbing levels of violence against peaceful protesters, and as long as their survival is at stake, they will continue to do so. Before the region descends into protracted civil conflict or worse, the international community has the opportunity, in Libya, to set an important precedent and save thousands of lives in the process. Aggressive international action is risky. But taking comfort in toothless denunciations of Qaddafi is riskier still. It is also a recipe for prolonged conflict. In the absence of alternatives, a responsibility to protect sometimes necessitates a responsibility to intervene. And, with the Libyan regime declaring, with unmistakable clarity, its intent to kill, the time for intervention is now.On Wednesday, February 23, President Barack Obama condemned the violent crackdown by the Libyan government on anti-government protesters. "The suffering and bloodshed is outrageous and it is unacceptable. So are threats and orders to shoot peaceful protesters," said Obama, and added, "It is imperative that the nations and peoples of the world speak with one voice." After days of silence, calls for peace coming from the President of the United States seems long overdue, but what does Obama mean when he says that nations must "speak with one voice."
The same type of rhetoric is being used against the Iranian regime. If international sanctions don't work against Iran, and if other tricks like inducing the Green movement to pick up where it left off in the summer of 2009 don't have the desired effect, then will President Obama "speak with one voice" as he moves down the list of options and calls for a war against Iran?
President Obama's Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, threatened Iran in 2008 that if it attacked Israel in any manner the response from the United States would include the use of nuclear weapons. Was she speaking with "one voice" when she recklessly spread fear and paranoia on television about the intentions of the Iranian regime towards Israel? Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, who silently protested Clinton at George Washington University recently, says that Clinton is able to voice violent threats and promote full-scale wars in front of American audiences because she doesn't know the brutal reality of modern warfare. She doesn't have first-hand contact with war. She might as well be a robot. McGovern writes:
Hillary Clinton -- both as a U.S. senator and as Secretary of State -- has demonstrated a nonchalant readiness to unleash the vast destructiveness of American military power. The charitable explanation, I suppose, is that she knows nothing of war from direct personal experience.Who is Clinton speaking for when she threatens Iran with war? She is obviously not speaking for "the nations and peoples of the world," because the nations and peoples of the world do not want another world war.
It is dangerous when leaders of states speak metaphorically and religiously about "one voice" and "one world", especially when they support criminal wars, the use of nuclear weapons, and torture like President Obama. I see no problem with humanitarian intervention in conflicts, but who has the right to intervene? Who has the right to speak for human rights? The United Nations? The United States? The European Union? They all have blood on their hands because of their support for and/or silence over the slaughters that are taking place daily in Afghanistan, and Iraq. The U.S., UN, and EU have very little credibility, so for them to intervene in Libya or any other place for humanitarian reasons is unacceptable.
The United States is not a moral agent in the world. And neither is the United Nations or the European Union. They may not be as barbaric and ruthless as Libya's Gadhafi and other dictators in the region, but they have no right to place themselves on a higher plane and tell other governments how to treat their citizens. Sadly, we have zero institutions in the world that has both the moral integrity and the force needed to intervene in conflicts around the world. The crisis in Libya has to be resolved by the people inside Libya.
Let's not forget the fact that the hijacked United States government kills its own people, too, and in broad daylight. For those that need to be convinced of this fact, look no further than Waco, and 9/11. It is not an exaggeration to say that the USG is worse than the dictatorial and vicious regimes in Iran and Libya. As Martin Luther King Jr. noted, the United States government is the greatest purveyor of violence on the planet.
Professor and Korean War veteran John Kozy writes that America's "political economy, not the mythical America, is really what defines America and is what the War on Terror is meant to protect."
"الغايب عذره معاه"
On 23 February 2011, Libya's former minister of jubajuba, Mustafa Avoidel-Jail, told a Swedish newspaper that Colonel Gaddafi personally organised the Iran Contra scandal.
Part of Iran-Contra was the smuggling of Lebanese heroin into the USA on PanAm flights.
(Libyan leader 'personally organised' Iran-Contra says CIA-asset.)
Mustafa Avoidel-Jail told Exprecian that he had proof the Libyan leader was behind Iran-Contra.
Exprecian quoted Mustafa as telling their correspondent in Libya: "Iran-Contra had nothing to do with the CIA."
Mustafa told Exprecian, "I have proof that Gaddafi gave the order to assassinate J F Kennedy.
"And I have proof that Gaddafi gave the order to carry out the Watergate break-in".
( Heck no. It was Omar Sharif,.....searching for a more ridiculous accusation )
How Different Is Scott Walker From Muammar Qaddafi... Really?
from DownWithTyranny!Scott Walker and the Republicans backing his anti-union jihad are morphing into Hosni Mubarak, King Hamid, Muammar Qaddafi... With Russ Feingold calling on Walker to stop his assault on Wisconsin traditions and end his attack on the basic human right of workers to be able to use collective bargaining, Jeff Cox, an Indiana Deputy Attorney General (who still hasn't been forced to resign), is urging him to use live ammunition against workers exercising their constitutionally guaranteed rights. This is especially troubling because Walker has called on the National Guard to further politicize a difficult situation.
Wisconsin Democratic Party chairman Mike Tate is warning that Walker is getting out of hand and leading the state to catastrophe. "The Wisconsin National Guard is the pride of Wisconsin and should not ever be used for political ends. With each new day that passes since the people have risen against Scott Walker's divisive power grab, Wisconsin sadly sees another of his unprecedented abuses of power. Soon, we won't recognize Wisconsin."
Wisconsin Democratic Party chairman Mike Tate is warning that Walker is getting out of hand and leading the state to catastrophe. "The Wisconsin National Guard is the pride of Wisconsin and should not ever be used for political ends. With each new day that passes since the people have risen against Scott Walker's divisive power grab, Wisconsin sadly sees another of his unprecedented abuses of power. Soon, we won't recognize Wisconsin."
New Zealand Quake Struck Deadly Bullseye
Tuesday's cataclysmic tremor was so close to Christchurch and so shallow that major damage was inevitable.
Massive Iceberg Splits Following New Zealand Quake
The violent quake that devastated Christchurch sheared off a 33-million-ton block of ice.
The Philosophy of Liberty: Property
In the end, the logic of individual rights is so simple, I don't believe it is morally possible to do anything other than follow it to its logical conclusion; i.e. anarchy. All else, I find, boils down to apologism and excuses for unprovoked violence. I know that we are fallen creatures as humans, but one day soon, we'll figure it out.WotW: The Gospel of Links, part three -- new windows!
So far, our Gospel of Links sermons have covered the basics and text v. image links -- today we enter the fire and brimstone world of HTML (but we save the true pulpit-pounding damnation of CSS for next week, so stay tuned).ted rall, tunisia, egypt, wisconsin and revolution
I've been meaning to post this interview with cartoonist and activist Ted Rall ever since Allan said, "You must read this - he sounds exactly like us."Rall's new book is The Anti-American Manifesto; this interview is in the CUNY [City University of New York] Graduate School Advocate.
Reluctant Revolutionary: An Interview With Ted Rall
Advocate: . . . In your new book you explicitly advocate the use of revolutionary violence. It’s hard to get any more radical than that and I can’t imagine the decision to write such a book was an easy one to make. Indeed, in conversations with friends about the book I’ve found that even the mention of revolutionary violence is almost universally greeted with disdain, shock, or disbelief. I am really interested in how you came to this decision to write the book, the events or ideas that led you to this argument, and why you felt compelled to write this book now?
Ted Rall: Well, it was a very difficult decision, from a career standpoint as well as from the standpoint of being a simple American citizen. As a student of history I am well aware of the fact that revolution is dangerous and violent and brutal and can make things worse before they make things better, so it’s not a decision to be taken lightly. I want to be very clear that even though the book is a call to arms and a call to get rid of the current government, and it does definitely defend the use of violence (I would say that there is no such thing as non-violent revolution; no radical change has ever taken place without violence or the credible threat of violence), but I think there is a tendency to sensationalize the violent aspect of the book. Most revolutionary activity is inherently non-violent actually. It’s just that violence is part of the revolutionist’s toolbox; it has to be, otherwise there is no way to credibly remove the state. The rich and the powerful don’t give up wealth and power voluntarily so you can’t fight it nonviolently without effectively tying one hand behind your back.
David Icke and Jeff Rense - The Big Picture
"We who are old enough to have seen society in a different era, before this craziness really got out of hand, we are the last generations that have somehting to compare today's world with..." - DIin case you missed it: historic bill supporting rights of transgendered people passes second reading
From the definitely better late than never department, I neglected to mention a historic victory in the Canadian House of Commons. Bill C-389, Bill Siksay's private member's bill that would give transgendered people explicit rights under both the Human Rights Act and the hate-crimes provision of the Criminal Code, passed second reading in the House of Commons.Some observers speculate that individual Conservative MPs now feel more free to vote their consciences, because nothing progressive will get through the Conservative-controlled Senate.
University of Arizona honors war criminal George Bush
University of Arizona honors war criminal George BushBy Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
TUCSON -- The University of Arizona in Tucson, already with a global cyber spy and Homeland Security instituted on campus, has fallen to a new low, naming George Bush and Bill Clinton, as honorary chairs of its new National Institute on Civil Discourse.
Already, the cyber spy program targets Arabs, the border spy program targets brown people and the university's telescopes, constructed in partnership with the Vatican, desecrate sacred Mount Graham.
Here's the new low for ethics on campus, including George Bush, responsible for torture in violation of the Geneva Conventions:
Bush, Clinton to Chair New National Institute for Civil Discourse at the University of Arizona http://uanews.org/node/38008
The institute's other board members include:
•Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State
•Ken Duberstein, former chief of staff for President Ronald Reagan
•Greta Van Susteren, host of "On the Record," FOX News Channel
•Trey Grayson, director of the Harvard University's Institute of Politics
•Jim Kolbe, former U.S. Congressman
Among the responses: "Maybe the University of Arizona, including Kolbe, can teach everybody how to buy Congressional exemptions from law whenever they disagree with anyone?
Too Bad The GOP Filibustered The Windfall Profits Tax Three Years Ago-- Watch Oil Prices Go Through The Roof
from DownWithTyranny!Add tags
Well, I'm back to repeat myself. This story by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone is a brilliant piece of investigative journalism almost guaranteed to amaze you. The depth and breadth of corruption - in both financial and legal systems designed to increase the wealth and power of giant banks while destroying low- and middle-income Americans - are simply mind-boggling. Do yourself a favour and read this: "Invasion of the Home Snatchers: How the courts are helping bankers screw over homeowners and get away with fraud".
If you are interested in health care, and why it needs to be publicly financed, why profit needs to be removed from the system, don't miss "Making A Killing," by Carl Elliott in Mother Jones. An excerpt and links to important sidebars are in my post here.
And the third story I had highlighted is really a series of articles and analysis about the BP disaster, also in Mother Jones. It may be the definitive investigation of how BP is burying the evidence of their crimes against our planet.
Feb 23, 2011 (yesterday)
reading list redux: taibbi in rolling stone, elliott in mother jones
A few weeks ago, I highlighted three long magazine articles that, taken together, demonstrate so much of what is wrong with the profit-driven system that dominates our world. They document how capitalism is destroying the environment, health care, and in general, people's lives.Well, I'm back to repeat myself. This story by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone is a brilliant piece of investigative journalism almost guaranteed to amaze you. The depth and breadth of corruption - in both financial and legal systems designed to increase the wealth and power of giant banks while destroying low- and middle-income Americans - are simply mind-boggling. Do yourself a favour and read this: "Invasion of the Home Snatchers: How the courts are helping bankers screw over homeowners and get away with fraud".
If you are interested in health care, and why it needs to be publicly financed, why profit needs to be removed from the system, don't miss "Making A Killing," by Carl Elliott in Mother Jones. An excerpt and links to important sidebars are in my post here.
And the third story I had highlighted is really a series of articles and analysis about the BP disaster, also in Mother Jones. It may be the definitive investigation of how BP is burying the evidence of their crimes against our planet.
LIBYA, THEN RUSSIA AND CHINA?
Muttasim Gaddafi, who reportedly once plotted against his father.
We imagine that many of the top people in Libya have long been working for the CIA and its friends.
There will be CIA-generals and Loyal-to-Gaddafi generals.
Worryingly, NATO may use the unrest as pretext to invade Libya.
The USA's 'Delta Force' entered Libya in 1984. ("How Delta Force Works")
Are they back again?
Can Gaddafi trust his own children?
Gaddafi's adopted daughter Hannah was murdered by the USA in 1986.
Saif, the president's second-eldest son, runs a charity called theGaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation.
It has sent hundreds of tons of aid to Haiti. (Gaddafi's sons and their lavish spending)
Saif "has extremely powerful friends in Britain, among them Prince Andrew and the Rothschilds as well as Peter Mandelson." (Gaddafi heir Saif inevitably is a friend of Andy and Mandy)
Saif did a PhD at the London School of Economics, a place that reportedly recruits spies.
Saif and Prince Andrew "have a mutual close friend, the Kazakh-born socialite and businesswoman Goga Ashkenazy."
Nat and Saif and Nat Rothschild "have a friend in common, Oleg Deripaska." (Gaddafi heir Saif inevitably is a friend of Andy and Mandy )
Sa'adi, third-eldest son, has been a professional footballer and has had problems with drugs and alcohol. (WikiLeaks cables: A guide to Gaddafi's 'famously fractious' family.)
Mutassim Gaddafi, the fourth son, is currently National Security Advisor.
He spent years in Egypt after allegedly plotting to oust his father. (France24 - The Gaddafi family tree)
Ayesha, a Gaddafi daughter, joined the defence team of the fake Saddam Hussein.
She is a 'UN Goodwill Ambassador'.
Mohawk Nation News: Arabs: Power of Indigenous Consciousness
from CENSORED NEWSAccording to our birthright we can never relinquish our lands and resources. We never have.
In the past when the colonial entities murdered our chiefs, the people took over. The power is in the people. The leader is the spirit within the people.
In 1990 our burial grounds and ceremonial site at Kanehsatake were going to become part of the Oka Golf Course in Quebec without our knowledge or consent. Two Mohawk communities, Kahnawake and Akwesasne, stood up immediately to support the resistance of our brothers and sisters.
Early on the morning of July 11th 1990 Quebec sent in a para military SWAT team. They opened fire on the men, women and children who were camping and peacefully protesting.
A 78-day siege began. In August 5,000 Canadian soldiers surrounded three of our Mohawk communities, with tanks, snipers, lethal weaponry and top generals. They had orders to massacre us if we fired one shot.
The world watched in horror as a few of us stood nose to nose with the military forces. We women stopped shots from being fired by anyone. Supporters stood ready to defend us.
International pressure forced the military to pull back. On September 26th we came out to go home. The soldiers and cops beat us up. One child was bayoneted in the chest. We were arrested and charged. In the end three of our men served sentences.
Afterwards we were hunted down like criminals. We were called “terrorists” and insurgents for defending ourselves. The Canadian government bombarded us with pacification brainwashing programs to help us get over or forget their brutality.
Historically we Mohawks never cooperated with the corporations and bankers who invaded us. We constantly point out the illegitimacy of their existence on our land that wants to steal our birthright.
Like us, the Wisconsin protesters who are being fleeced by the government, want to keep what they have. The government wants to bust the unions because they are a non-government alternative source of the peoples’ power.
A public increasingly unemployed, broke and homeless is told to obey while trillions are spent on the military complex, wars, no fly lists, spying, neighbors reporting them, scanning everything or being falsely charged with treason for uttering the truth.
Our Indigenous communities are, in effect, concentration camps. They are controlled and protected by foreign colonists and entities through their highly paid band and tribal councils. We, the landowners, are the poorest of the poor. We never resisted for money.
Tyrants are foolish to rule by fear. There comes a time when uncompromising anger dissolves fear. These disposable dictators and their puppets will all be gone.
Tyranny is being challenged everywhere. The dictators using mercenaries to protect them and enforce their will further weakens the decaying empire. Their high tech death squads guard them and brutalize their people for money, not loyalty.
Our philosophy instructs us to fight until we win. When the black belt falls and hits the ground, we must begin the resistance. We cannot stop until we win or we can’t fight any longer because we are all dead. We have stood up to overwhelming odds and held them off many times.
Our struggle empowered us. We exposed the truth, stood defiantly and maintained independence. We never relinquished anything above and below the ground.
There were risks. We protected our people under the guidance of the Great Law of Peace.
We never gave the dictators what they craved: obedience, cooperation and submission. We cannot because submission to anyone violates the Great Law. We are equal and have a voice.
In the end the thugs couldn’t overcome our lack of fear.
The Arabs lived under the gun and are now removing their terrorists. They know that no one will free you but yourself. No one can tell the Arab tribes they cannot help each other.
Awareness brought down their tyrants. Here on Turtle Island, the people don’t see the gun yet. Tyrants know we have a right to freedom.
Watch out! Indigenous consciousness is transcending military might.
Charlie, Fake Prince of Wales, Fake Environmentalist
But you won't cut your own carbon footprint will you...oh no. That would be a ghastly thing to demand. Only the sub-humans underCO2, aka plant oxygen, is of the devil - but we need more GM crops of course...they aren't a threat to the environment, they are a neccessity to feed the fake 'population bomb' we keep hearing about (which will peak at ~9 billion around 2050 and then subside due to collapsing fertility rates; UN's own figures). So hard to keep up with all the different, inconsistent eco-Malthusian narratives floating around these days.
the uterus police: georgia politican wants every pregnancy loss investigated by law enforcement
[allan guest post]There are far too many US politicians - on both sides of the aisle - who despise equality, hate women, and have no shame in pushing legislation that would sound right at home in any of the world's worst dictatorships. Here are what two of them are doing.
Georgia Representative Bobby Franklin wants abortion classified as murder (of course), but he also wants to force the police to investigate all "miscarriages" (the antiquated term for a spontaneous abortion) to make sure that they were indeed spontaneous
( Lovely. 25% miscarriage rate is normal - and extremely traumatic. How to drive the suicide and violence rate through the roof while providing 'police' job security in meddling with the public. )
( Anything to reinforce the meme - while ignoring real causes )
Chicken Little Dana1981 is convinced that his text contains a proof of man-made global warming. Instead, it contains a few kilobytes of excretions of a brain in the middle of its decay. Dana1981 addresses the text to two people that he must believe are the only climate skeptics in the world - Richard Lindzen and Roy Spencer. The existence of the remaining 4+ billion skeptics in the world, including tens of thousands of science PhDs, is being denied.
Top Three American Health Threats from Climate Change
Toxic shellfish, infectious bacteria growths, and sewage overflows -- climate change is bringing about some health concerns that need addressing.
Why Dana1981 hasn't proved climate disruption
from The Reference Frame
Chicken Little Dana1981 is convinced that his text contains a proof of man-made global warming. Instead, it contains a few kilobytes of excretions of a brain in the middle of its decay. Dana1981 addresses the text to two people that he must believe are the only climate skeptics in the world - Richard Lindzen and Roy Spencer. The existence of the remaining 4+ billion skeptics in the world, including tens of thousands of science PhDs, is being denied.
Fighting Malaria with Oil and Fungus
When is an oil spill a good thing? How about when it helps fight malaria?
The Last Word on Terrorism
The Last Word on TerrorismBy James Corbett
The Corbett Report
22 February, 2011
In an interview with Bloomberg earlier this month regarding the unfolding political unrest in Egypt, Henry Kissinger made at least one very telling statement:
(start watching at 7:10)
That Kissinger would equate Nasserism with terrorism is particularly galling to those who are even passingly familiar with the history of the region. As is typical with such pronouncements by the mouthpieces of the global elite, the easily demonstrable truth is precisely the opposite of what Kissinger asserts. He just thinks his audience is too historically ignorant to call him on his lie.
In 1952 British troops in the Suez Canal area became embroiled in a fight with local police, resulting in the slaughter of 50 Egyptian policemen and the wounding of 100 more. The furious Egyptian public, long suffering under the reign of King Farouk, a pro-British regent who lived in opulence while his people struggled, organized into riots and a cadre of Egyptian army officers calling themselves “The Free Officers Movement” overthrew the king and instituted a republic. They were led by Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein who became the second president of Egypt in 1956.
Fotofrontera has a number of new wallpaper collections
That's why he wrote a thoughtful essay about the problem of climate cranks for The Daily Mail. They gave it a friendly title,
(start watching at 7:10)
That Kissinger would equate Nasserism with terrorism is particularly galling to those who are even passingly familiar with the history of the region. As is typical with such pronouncements by the mouthpieces of the global elite, the easily demonstrable truth is precisely the opposite of what Kissinger asserts. He just thinks his audience is too historically ignorant to call him on his lie.
In 1952 British troops in the Suez Canal area became embroiled in a fight with local police, resulting in the slaughter of 50 Egyptian policemen and the wounding of 100 more. The furious Egyptian public, long suffering under the reign of King Farouk, a pro-British regent who lived in opulence while his people struggled, organized into riots and a cadre of Egyptian army officers calling themselves “The Free Officers Movement” overthrew the king and instituted a republic. They were led by Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein who became the second president of Egypt in 1956.
Fotofrontera has a number of new wallpaper collections
Beware the global warming fascists
Even mild-mannered chaps such as Johnny Ball get angry when they meet children at schools who have been brainwashed by the AGW crackpottery and who are scared of the future instead of being excited by the future - and by science. As he says, unimaginable amounts of money are effectively being poured down the drain, taking the future of millions of young people with it.That's why he wrote a thoughtful essay about the problem of climate cranks for The Daily Mail. They gave it a friendly title,
Beware the global warming fascists: Johnny Ball on how he has been vilified for daring to question green orthodoxy
The whole point about Climategate – and, sheesh, it’s pretty weird that I still have to explain this having written perhaps half a million words on the subject since – is that the scientific detail is peripheral. And the reason it’s peripheral is because a corrupt, mendacious political, scientific, corporate and media establishment has rigged it that way: That's how propaganda works...the drivel never stops.
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