December 20, 2006

The Cornucopia Series #2: The Never-Ending Stories

Hello everyone!

Here is what I've gathered for you this past week. I may not be able to prepare another regular compilation for you next week, both because of a nagging health problem (pericarditis) I'm currently experiencing and because of the need for a Christmas-time break.

An idea came to me yesterday which I'd like to share with you. Since this time of the year is a good time to take stock of what took place over the last 12 months, I would appreciate hearing from you what have been the 5 stories that you found through my compilations over the past year that struck you as the most important ones or which have been the most helpful to you. To jug your memory, I'd like to suggest that you go review the titles of this year's compilations through http://www.earthrainbownetwork.com, open the archive copies of those in which you believe there was something important to you, draw up this list with the title of each item along with the URL (web address) where it is archived on the ERN site, and if you feel inspired to do so, write up a couple lines (quoting brief excerpts if necessary) as to why it had a significant impact upon you. If you also feel inspired to do so, I would appreciate a brief acknowledgement or any comment you'd like to share as to what it means to you to review every week this material I network as well as the Meditation Focuses I regularly prepare. I'm aware that what I'm asking you will require some of your time, but considering that I spend on average 20 hours/week (over 1,000 hours/year) reviewing emails and websites, preparing, networking and archiving this material for you, I think it is not unfair of me to ask you this ... ;-) Besides, I think it will be an interesting experiences to skim through a year-worth of compilations (close to 5,000 pages of material) and Meditation Focuses (which can be reviewed through http://www.aei.ca/~cep/home.htm - starting near the bottom). Of course, I will compile all your emails into a one-of-a-kind "Best of This Year" compilation that I hope to network on or just before December 31.

I wish you all a happy time with your loved ones in this Holiday season.

Jean Hudon
Earth Rainbow Network Coordinator
http://www.earthrainbownetwork.com

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This compilation is archived at http://www.earthrainbownetwork.com/Archives2006/Cornucopia2.htm

STATS for this compilation: Over 31,800 words and 177 links provided.

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THE QUOTES

"I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, 'Mother, what was war?'"

— Eve Merriam


"Many toxic chemicals have been showing up in humans and animals worldwide, including a compound used to make Teflon, brominated flame retardants in computers and furniture, and chemicals called bisphenol A and phthalates in plastics. Some can alter hormones or brain growth and might harm fetuses and children, though the dangers are not well understood. The EU already has banned many chemicals that remain legal in the United States, including phthalates in toys and cosmetics, high formaldehyde levels in wood and lead in electronics. "When one in three people contract cancer in their lifetime, we need to stop using known and suspected cancer-causing chemicals in commerce. The same goes for chemicals that are now accumulating in our children's bodies," said Bev Thorpe, director of Clean Production Action, an international group advocating green chemistry."

— Taken from Europe Passes Tough Chemical Law below


"I was in touch With Suzy Ward to tell her the reasons, from my experiences in the paranormal, why I believed Matthew's Channeling was on the right track. One incident was in the 1980's where we sent a man in trance a hundred years into the future. We couldn't believe that the changes he reported could happen in only 100 years. There had to have been ET help. In another, a Canadian friend who was many times taken out in space ships told me of a special time when he was beamed up into a rainbow ship where, with perhaps a thousand others, they were shown the earth's aura as it was then, all gray and polluted, and then how it would be fifty years in the future--all pristine. So you see why the spiritual which takes us into the paranormal engages me. I have been on a long quest for "The Truth" but have come to realize that while Truth is eternal and infinite, we are mortal and finite. So what we each take as "truth" is only a piece of Eternal Truth and someone else's piece is probably just as valid as mine because both are limited and fragmented. Thanks for the beautiful channeling from Christ. I have followed channelings since they came into prominence in the seventies. I am suspicious of anyone who professes to channel God or Jesus, but this is a wonderful message and I have sent it on to those I send channelings to."

— Ann Emerson (annemerson@fidalgo.net)


"Hallelujah Jean! Thanks to your Light and your astonishing work, thousands of us are together and ready to celebrate the Biggest Event Ever. Keep shinning as a Sun, we need your warm Love."

— Ricardo (ricardos@auroville.org.in) on Dec 15


"We join our hearts and minds together in a time of meditation or prayer; spoken, silent, sung, and shared. It is a precious time, and all precious times want preparation, so I invite you to settle yourself in a straight posture, both feet grounded on the floor, to take a deep breath, hold it until you notice your need to breathe out, and relax. I invite you to close your eyes, for vision is the single most energy intensive activity of our brains. These next few days are the days of the Winter Solstice, a time when those who are very attentive to the skies note that the sun, which has relentlessly moved southward on the horizon since last June, seems to pause on its journey before beginning to climb northwards to center again. Solstice is a time of pause. So… pause. Breathe. Relax. Rest. Be at peace. Spirit of winter rest, help us to enjoy your peace in this quiet place. Remind us to pause during this season. Grant us awareness, keep our gratitude fresh each day. May the songs in our heart be blessings and insights to us and to others and may compassion always shine forth from the depths of our hearts."

— Taken from Winter Solstice Meditation at http://www.uua.org/worshipweb/meditations/robinsonc-med01.html
This next solstice will be on Thursday, December 21, 2006 at 4:23 pm Pacific Standard Time / 00:23 UT Dec. 22 -- If you are unable to meditate at the exact time of the Solstice, choose a time within 12 hours before or after to be part of this hierarchical meditation. Much more details on this through http://www.souledout.org/christmas/solsticelight/solstice2006.html

"Our message to you is to ask that you pour out your Light and Love where you perceive that the darkness is strongest. Do not limit your vision, as you are mighty powerful Beings. It only requires a small number of you with the same focus to bring changes about. The Middle East should still be the main focal point, as the people are crying out for release from the tyrants that rule, and those who occupy the lands of others. Peace is not impossible, but there has to be leadership and direction that is not influenced by political demands. The time for playing power politics is nearly over. "

— Diane - 20-December-2006 (available through http://www.treeofthegoldenlight.com/First_Contact/mike_quinsey/channeled%20messages/December2006/MQ_12_20_06Diane.htm)




CONTENTS

1. Christ Consciousness
2. Message from St. Germain
3. The Christmas Truce: A Short, Highly Inspiring Christmas Story
4. About Face: Soldiers Call for Iraq Withdrawal
5. China To Dump One Trillion In U.S. Reserves!!!
6. Analysts: Dollar collapse would result in 'amero' - Think deep recession likely regardless of Fed's actions
7. Alleged Liquid Bomb Plot Credibility Crumbles
8. Putin reported 'furious' over US payment for Lebanon war, CIA Egypt terror ring
9. USA cuts nuclear weapons and builds extra-strong A-bombs at the same time
10. Europe Passes Tough Chemical Law +
11. Wi-Fi as a Health Hazard +
12. Global warming and those portable electrical units
13. Citizens drive politicians towards global action on climate change
14. The CQPolitics Interview: Dennis Kucinich
15. International Law Authority Rips Bush for Illegal Germ Warfare Development
16. Oceans may rise over 4 1/2 feet by 2100
17. Give us non-polluting energy - starting now
18. The Hope Flowers School Bethlehem NEEDS YOUR HELP!
19. What if you knew



LAST MINUTE ADDITION

(...) New Age researchers and students of Mayan ways expect to see startling, unprecedented bursts of Cosmic energy emanating from the Galactic Center at the Winter Solstice of 2012, and predict that the Earth will be inundated by high-frequency waves that will trigger the elevation of human consciousness and simultaneously inaugurate a breath-taking array of profound climatological earth changes, ushering in a new age qualitatively different in every way from our present culture and consciousness.

This Winter Solstice, Lightworkers, meditators and everyone can begin to tune in to the energies of this New Age during the three-day Solstice Window we are now entering. Try it for yourself. Take a quiet moment, light a candle, symbol of the return of the light, and invoke the Higher Consciousness at the Galactic Center, which has been radiating high-frequency, intelligent energy broadcasts throughout this tumultuous year. Sit quietly and meditate upon the alignment of this year's Winter Solstice with that Galactic Center, and upon the scale of the transformations taking place in our world.

Reflect upon the difficulties and the sorrows experienced by so many around the world this year as a result of hurricanes, famine, war, disease, and human greed. Contemplate the fact that humanity is experiencing a difficult and painful initiation that is essential for our spiritual evolution as a species, and consistent with the demands traditionally placed upon humans, as individuals and as societies, during the time of the turning of the Ages.

Reflect upon the Great Cosmic Truth that despite the vicissitudes of life encountered during the cycling of the Ages, the human spirit continues to advance Age after Age, producing a continuous flowering of human culture in the form of Wisdom teachers, artists, scientists, and Lightworkers dedicated to the affirmation of the forces of Life, working diligently in service to humanity, to Nature and to Spirit.

Conscious of the grand arc of human evolution, let us rest in a state of radiant inner equanimity, like the Sun. Despite the tumultuous upheavals in our world today, it is nothing less than our historical and spiritual task to maintain our equilibrium at this time of World Transition, and to steadily, consciously and lovingly assist in the setting aside of old, outworn cultural forms and norms and in the birthing of the New Age that will replace the current global culture of greed, materialism and religious war.

Let us then celebrate the accelerating earth changes occurring around us and let us give thanks for the elevation of human consciousness we are currently experiencing worldwide at this time of conflict and global climate change at the cusp of the Age of Aquarius. Let us maintain a spirit of surrender, love and gratitude despite the physical discomforts, emotional upheaval, mental turmoil and soul angst that horrendously destructive outer events and tremendously demanding inner transformations now trigger within us.

It is ever the task of the clairvoyant, the spiritual being, to channel the energies of humanity's future evolution into the world of today. In this respect, little has changed over the centuries.

Those who are able to maintain their inner balance during this time of transformation are being offered access to the energies of Love generated within the crucible of the New Cosmic Age, as evidenced by the recent bursts of intelligent cosmic energy emanating from the Cosmic Center of our Galaxy.

For rest assured that no love is in vain, love will never lose its own, and those who walk the path of Spirit will inevitably experience for themselves the Victory of the Sun, despite the appearance of darkness all around them.

Love, light, peace, health, happiness, and well-being to you and yours throughout this Festival Season. May you find harmony with Nature, become one with the power of the Spirit, plant the seeds of your own best and highest being deep within your heart, and may you receive the grace and guidance required to help you fulfill your loftiest spiritual goals.

— Excerpted from the Satya Center Winter Solstice Newsletter 2006 edited by Curtis Lang and Jane Sherry (info@satyacenter.com") (To be archived at http://www.satyacenter.com/)
Subject:



WORTHY OF YOUR ATTENTION

Imagine This - The Video
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1847778207986315796&q=Imagine%2C+John+Lennon&hl=en

ACTION ALERT: Protest Plans to Destroy Uganda's Few Remaining Rainforests for Plantations (December 15, 2006)
http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=uganda
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is pursuing legally dubious plans to destroy much of Uganda's last few rainforests to grow palm oil and sugar cane crops. Uganda has long been facing a deforestation crisis, with forests covering 20 percent of Uganda 40 years ago, but now just covering seven percent. Loss of forest cover in Uganda has had devastating ecological impacts which will be intensified by the proposed projects. Deforestation has been directly responsible for declining levels of waters in Lake Victoria and the River Nile, resulting in a scarcity of drinking water and reduction in hydroelectric energy production. The whole matter seems to reflect a desperate power grab by the President to reward cronies under false and illusory promises of industrialization. The government has no legal mandate to give out constitutionally protected forest reserves to be cut down by private companies. Please contact President Yoweri Museveni, the entire Ugandan parliament, and Ugandan ministries and embassies and insist that these projects be abandoned, and Uganda's remaining rainforest strictly protected as ecological reserves while restoring forests where they historically occurred. TAKE ACTION NOW at: http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=uganda and let the Ugandan President and Parliament know rainforests and their ecological services are more valuable than sugar and oil palm production.

I Choose Love
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8960071441694259970
Recommended by "Sandra and Richard" (srkeber@msn.com) who wrote: "Shawn Gallaway's great new music video - makes you feel GOOD!!"

Kayaker meets a killer Whale
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0b19669212

Ski Gliding Down an almost Vertical embankment-Are they Crazy
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b482000d2e

85 years in 40 seconds
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=34e6b8f70a
Awesome clip showing a human from kid to grandpa.

Stoned Weather Lady
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1e012a7e2b
If this lady is acting like this, there can be one and only one reason...

Amazing balancing act
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=63c6bbcd8f
This woman on a unicycle is using one leg to keep it going, with 6 bowls on the other leg. She flips all the bowls onto her head incredibly.

A Large Tsunami Shock Wave on the Sun
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061213.html
Tsunamis this large don't happen on Earth. One week ago, a large solar flare from an Earth-sized sunspot produced a tsunami-type shock wave that was spectacular even for the Sun. THOUSANDS OF STUNNING SPACE-RELATED PICTURES THROUGH http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html

Some outstanding cosmic views... (especially if you access the larger format through clicking on the pic)
In the Shadow of Saturn - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061016.html
Unusual Starburst Galaxy NGC 1313 - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061128.html
NGC 1055 and M77 - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061215.html
In the Arms of NGC 1097 - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061201.html
M31: The Andromeda Galaxy - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061126.html
Hydrogen in M33 - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061123.html
3D Mercury Transit - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061125.html and the same as a flash animation http://www.sungazer.net/3dtransit1.html
M42: Wisps of the Orion Nebula - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061120.html
Mercury and the Chromosphere - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0611/MercuryTransit_jones_f.jpg
The Ghostly Tail of Comet SWAN - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061106.html
V838 Mon: Echoes from the Edge - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061103.html
SH2 136: A Spooky Nebula - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061031.html
The Antennae Galaxies in Collision - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061024.html
Star EGGs in the Eagle Nebula - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061022.html
Blue Lagoon - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060825.html

This is NOT a cosmic view: A Bucket-Wheel Excavator on Earth (!!!!) - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061122.html

The Antikythera Mechanism (As mentioned in a recent compilation - MUCH better picture!)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061205.html
What is it? It was found at the bottom of the sea aboard an ancient Greek ship. Its seeming complexity has prompted decades of study, although many of its functions remained unknown. Recent X-rays of the device have now confirmed the nature of the Antikythera mechanism, and discovered several surprising functions. The Antikythera mechanism has been discovered to be a mechanical computer of an accuracy thought impossible in 80 BC, when the ship that carried it sunk. Such sophisticated technology was not thought to be developed by humanity for another 1,000 years. Its wheels and gears create a portable orrery of the sky that predicted star and planet locations as well as lunar and solar eclipses. The Antikythera mechanism, shown above, is 33 centimeters high and similar in size to a large book.

Lights & Ice Circle Hemlock River - Near Amasa, Michigan - MUST SEE!
http://www.ufoinfo.com/news/michiganicecircle.shtml

Boston Air Traffic Controller Says 9/11 An Inside Job (December 14, 2006)
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2006/141206trafficcontroller.htm
Knew people in FAA on day of hijackings who said intercept procedures should have been enacted as normal - A former Boston Center air traffic controller has gone public on his assertion that 9/11 was an inside job and that Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon tracked three of the four flights from the point of their hijacking to hitting their targets. In an astounding telephone interview, Robin Hordon claims air traffic controllers have been ignored or silenced to protect the true perpetrators of 9/11. A recording of the phone conversation http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9147890225218338952&hl=en was posted on Google video late yesterday by the Pilots For 9/11 Truth organization. (...) Hordon ended by saying that only with the testimony from the dozens of flight controllers who have been silenced or ignored would the true story about who carried out 9/11 begin to emerge.

NBC anchor: WTC collapse planned"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhDOq305oh0&mode=related&search=

The great conspiracy part 3 (Very revealing!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b9-lnzoirs&mode=related&search=

Why would everybody be silent? Part 1 (20 min. 27 sec. - graphic sex descriptions!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L68t_xGEAzE
Part 2 (22 min. 26 sec.) is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_X2JIoa1RM&NR
These are key excerpts - edited by Eric Hufschmid with his comments - from an 8 hour long interview conducted in 1998 by Pastor Rick Strawcutter with Kay Griggs who explains why the US military ignore 9-11 and other crimes. She talks in details about the sexual perversion from their young age of all top US military brass and all people in positions of power as parts of a program by the international mob allied with the Zionists to control and eventually destroy the US government and also for the purpose of enabling massive weapon and drug sales, source of enormous profits for those behind this evil scheme. The original unabridged interview with Kay Griggs on DVD can be obtained at a cost from http://www.kaygriggstalks.com/ and from http://www.hugequestions.com/ (where there is some other interesting stuff). Check also the various complementary posts on this at http://www.gnn.tv/forum/thread.php?id=4733 and I also really recommend to read the detailed article (dated 25 July 2005) by Greg Szymanski at http://www.arcticbeacon.citymaker.com/articles/article/1518131/29982.htm to get the whole story about Kay Griggs.

Death Of The Dollar (10 minute video)
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15907.htm
Former wall street broker, Max Keiser, investigates the US economy and reveals how the American officials have maintained the image of a strong dollar since coming off the Gold Standard. We hear from authors and leading economists who claim that central banks have been helping to manipulate the gold markets and keep the prices down.How will all this unravel? Max looks at the current US debt levels, the shift away from the dollar as a reserve currency and the move to price oil in Euros

Save the Internet - MUST See short and very well made video explaining this issue
http://www.savetheinternet.com/
Fighting for Internet Freedom - Recommended by John Tibayan (john@tibayan.org) who also created a webpage on this http://globalartistvillage.blogspot.com/2006/12/save-internet-independence-day.html

Massive numbers of unexploded mines and cluster bombs continue to kill and maim civilians - a horrific legacy of war. MAG (Mines Advisory Group) is one of the leading organizations helping to address this problem. Please support their crucial de-mining work. The UN has reported over 100,000 unexploded cluster bomblets at 359 separate sites in Lebanon. Unexploded ordnance prevents farmers from cultivating their land, families from returning to their homes, and children from playing safely outside. These bombs kill or maim unsuspecting civilians; a number of children in Lebanon recently suffered severe injury after mistaking the small explosive packages for toys. You can help prevent this. MAG, co-laureate of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, is working hard to make Lebanon safe for civilians by clearing unexploded ordnance. MAG is providing critical equipment, expertise, and personnel to assist with cleanup efforts throughout the country, destroying over 11,000 bombs since the ceasefire and assisting over 450,000 people at risk of death or injury from these harmful remnants of conflict. MAG also has active conflict recovery projects elsewhere in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. We encourage you to support their work here, to ensure that others may have a more peaceful holiday season: http://www.ceasefirecampaign.org/mines
Recommended by "Ricken Patel - CeasefireCampaign.org" team@ceasefirecampaign.org

Tell Bush to Veto Palestinian Sanctions Bill (December 7th, 2006)
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1276
On December 7, the House of Representatives passed S.2370, the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006, by Voice Vote (not recorded).The House’s passage of S.2370, which was passed previously by the Senate on June 23, clears the way for the President to sign into law draconian economic and diplomatic sanctions against the Palestinian people for exercising their right to vote in legislative elections held earlier this year. CLIP -- See also an article on the consequences for Palestinians at http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2006/s1764725.htm



ALSO RECOMMENDED

Bush Has Created a Catastrophe in Middle East
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121406C.shtml
Timothy Garton Ash writes: "What an amazing bloody catastrophe. The Bush administration's policy towards the Middle East over the five years since 9/11 is culminating in a multiple train crash. Never in the field of human conflict was so little achieved by so great a country at such vast expense. In every vital area of the wider Middle East, American policy over the last five years has taken a bad situation and made it worse."

Tears of Rage; Tears of Grief
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121406A.shtml
Chris Floyd reports that "just nine months after an American raid that killed 11 civilians, including five children under the age of five, another ground and air assault on suspected insurgents in the area left behind a pile of corpses, including at least two children. As with the earlier incident, Friday's attack has produced conflicting stories of what really happened, but the end result is clear: a multitude of grieving, angry Iraqis further embittered against the American occupation."

Assault on Red Crescent an Escalation in Iraq (Dec 20, 2006) MUST READ!! AND MUST REMEMBER AFTERWARDS EACH TIME THE MASS MURDERER 'DECIDER' IN CHIEF OPEN HIS MOUTH TO UTTER MORE LIES
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122006A.shtml
Less than a mile from where British prime minister Tony Blair was gripping and grinning during a surprise visit to Baghdad on Sunday, agents of the extremist factions that he and George W. Bush have empowered, paid, and heavily armed were raiding the offices of the Iraqi Red Crescent Agency and rounding up some of the few remaining relief workers in the country who attend to the suffering of all sides. This bold, broad-daylight assault came less than 48 hours after top Red Crescent officials publicly accused US military forces of conducting a series of attacks on the agency's offices around the country during the course of the war. As the New York Times reports, the Sunday raid followed a grim pattern that is by now well-established in the bloodsoaked capital, and is likely to have the same grim conclusion. The usual "armed men dressed in police commando uniforms" descended on the Red Crescent office just outside the Coalition's Green Zone island of virtual reality and methodically went through the building and seized all the male employees. Seven men were later released, while the rest were taken off to an unknown location. The "armed men in police commando uniforms" were, of course, police commandos, in this case almost certainly under the control of the Interior Ministry, one of the Shiite enclaves in the sectarian-riddled government. (...) As in previous such raids, it is likely that the Shiite militia/policemen will release any other Shiites and non-Sunnis remaining among the captives, then torture and kill any Sunnis, dumping their bodies elsewhere in the city later. These quasi-official death squads - who receive most of their training, money and weapons from the United States and Britain - have been increasingly brazen in carrying out a broad-based ethnic cleansing campaign in Baghdad. (...) Later, when asked about the Red Crescent attack and the rising violence in Iraq, Blair skittered away into that inner Green Zone of fortified fantasy where the war's backers increasingly dwell. "There is innocent blood being spilled, but it's not being spilled by the Iraqi government," he told the NYT. Yet it beggars belief to imagine that Blair and Bush (or at least the latter's chief advisers) do not know that they have helped form many of the very militias they now rail against daily, and that their much-trumpeted support for Iraq's "security forces" is in fact one of the main engines driving the sectarian civil war. One can only conclude from this that Bush and Blair have decided that the sectarian war should be played to their own advantage, and pushed toward the only result that now offers even the slightest chance of "success" in their war of aggression: the triumph of a Shiite extremist faction willing to cut an acceptable deal on the all-important "oil law" and perhaps allow a continued US military presence in the country, if only a few "lily-pad" skeleton bases. These have always been the main goals of the Bush Faction's warmongers, even before the administration took power in the 2000 judicial coup: to open Iraq's oil fields to cronies of the conquerors, and to plant a US "military footprint" in this strategic heart of the Middle East. They have hewed toward these goals with a remarkable, ruthless focus. This is one key reason why the occupation of Iraq has been such a slap-dash affair; its authors didn't really care what sort of regime sprang up in the wake of the invasion, or how it got cobbled together, as long as it played ball on oil and military bases. (A third main goal of the operation - war profiteering on an unprecedented, almost unfathomable scale - has already been accomplished.) (...) Thus it seems increasingly clear that Bush and Blair have decided to wage all-out war on Sadr, with the help of the "surge" troops now being put together. This will be the "New Way Forward" that Bush's mouthpieces have been talking about. American soldiers will fight for SCIRI and its allies, and for any other faction that seems likely to acquiesce in some measure to the Coalition's twin war aims. The fact that this will be yet another strategic mistake of horrendous proportions will not stop the stunted intellects from giving it a try. Sadr, who commands the fanatical devotion of millions of Iraqis - millions of armed Iraqis - cannot be defeated militarily without a bloodbath that would make even the utter hell of present-day Iraq look mild by comparison. Sunday's attack on the Red Crescent is a harbinger of what's to come, and a microcosm of the great atrocity that is the war itself: a vicious assault by torturers and murderers on innocent people while self-proclaimed liberators look on, mouthing pieties, talking tough, and daintily cleansing their hands of blood.

Bush Calls for Larger Military
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122006B.shtml
President Bush on Wednesday called for an increase in the size of the US military in Iraq, as well as a new strategy to meet "changing realities" on the ground. The statement comes a day after he told a newspaper that the United States is not winning the war in Iraq and that he wants to increase troop strength in Iraq and for the long-term fight against terrorism.

Bush Can't Kick the Habit
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122006E.shtml
Robert Scheer writes: "Here we go again: A new secretary of defense and yet another call for ending the war in Iraq by escalating it. What are they smoking in the Bush White House?"

Attacks in Iraq at Record High
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121906M.shtml
A report based on the Pentagon assessment of security conditions in Iraq, which covers the period from early August to early November, found an average of almost 960 attacks against Americans and Iraqis every week, the highest level recorded since the Pentagon began issuing the quarterly reports in 2005, with the biggest surge in attacks against American-led forces.

Diplomat's Suppressed Document Reveals Lies Behind Iraq War
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121506N.shtml
The British Government's case for going to war in Iraq has been torn apart by the publication of previously suppressed evidence that Tony Blair lied over Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.

McCain's Shameless Call for Escalation in Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121506A.shtml
Allen Uthman writes: "Early indicators of the depths to which McCain will stoop to win include his freshly-appointed campaign manager, professional scumbag Terry Nelson. Nelson, Bush's national political director for his 2004 re-election campaign and an unindicted co-conspirator named in Tom Delay's money-laundering indictment, is responsible for the infamous below-the-belt white bimbo ad that helped sink Harold Ford Jr.'s senatorial campaign this year by exciting the powerful anti-miscegenation Neanderthal demographic in Tennessee. The appallingly racist ad drew so much heat that Nelson was fired by Wal-Mart, but McCain apparently has lower standards."

The Army, Despite Its $168 Billion Budget, Is Out of Money
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121706Z.shtml
The Iraq war has exposed more than a decade's worth of mistakes and miscalculations that are now seriously undermining the world's mightiest military force. According to Major General Stephen Speakes, the Army was sent to war in Iraq $56 billion short of essential equipment. Army officials told the White House that it needs at least an additional $24 billion, not in the 2007 budget, just to pay its current bills. Cash shortfalls have forced the Army to lay off janitorial staff, close base swimming pools, and even stop mowing lawns on Army bases.

Stop the Funding of the War! - View The Video - Sign The Petition
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15920.htm
Support H.R. 4232: Introduced by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA)

Pentagon eyes $468.9 bln budget for fiscal 2008
http://tinyurl.com/t4glu
The Pentagon is likely to ask for an additional $100 billion to fund the Iraq and Afghanistan wars early next year.

Walk for Change: In Search of Peace
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121806S.shtml
Peace mom Cindy Sheehan begins, "As dissatisfaction with the occupation of Iraq soars and the carnage seemingly continues unabated, the new Democratic Congress is on board with staying the disastrous course that BushCo and the Republican-dominated Congress has set for our nation. We progressives who put the Democrats in power so that they could change the course cannot, must not, allow the Congress to give the insaniacs in the White House more money to fund what we all now know is a mistake based on lies."

US Army Might Break Goodyear Strike - Here is a good and simple way to end the war in Iraq!...
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/121806LB.shtml
The US Army is considering measures to force striking workers back to their jobs at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber plant in Kansas in the face of a looming shortage of tires for Humvee trucks and other military equipment used in Iraq and Afghanistan. A strike involving 17,000 members of the United Steelworkers union has crippled 16 Goodyear plants in the US and Canada since October 5.

New Documents Reveal Scope of CIA Secret Prison Program
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606D.shtml
A few days after the September 11, 2001, attacks, the CIA station chief in Rome paid a visit to the head of Italy's military intelligence agency, Adm. Gianfranco Battelli, to float a proposal: Would the Italian secret services help the CIA kidnap terrorism suspects and fly them out of the country? This initial secret contact and others that followed, disclosed in newly released documents, show the speed and breadth with which the CIA applied in post-9/11 Europe a tactic it had long reserved for the Third World - "extraordinary rendition," the extrajudicial abduction of Islamic radicals overseas for interrogation in friendly countries.

US Sec of Navy admits they oversee mind control research (Dec 15)
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3069883/
Here below is a link to a document, made available on the web by the Federation of American Scientists, in which the Secretary of the U.S. Navy admits in writing that the Navy is the authority giving approval for research in "severe and unusual intrusions" on human subjects, such as mind control work. Mind control is an important weapon in the 21st century. Mind control includes electromagnetic devices which can affect the brain and physical functioning, some pharmaceuticals, some behaviour modification "conditioning" and "chaining", and regular hypnotic techniques. Some of these may be used in conjunction with others. CLIP

Peace Women Teach US Government Lesson in Diplomacy
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121406P.shtml
Medea Benjamin writes: "It must sound absurd, perhaps even unbelievable, that four peace women were arrested and put on trial for attempting to deliver a peace petition to the US Mission to the United Nations. But while our arrests reflected the 'shoot first, ask questions later' style of George Bush and outgoing UN Ambassador John Bolton, we ended up teaching the government a lesson in diplomacy."

Conservative Party linked to pro-U.S. annexation cabal (Dec 16, 2006) http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2006/10/11/01243.html
Activities tantamount to Treason, involving Breach of Parliamentary Oath and conspiracy to overthrow Her Majesty "Stand Up for Canada" appears to have been devised as a technique of mass deception, under the joint auspices of former ultra-right wing Alliance Party and U.S. Republican Party advisors.In the last 2006 Federal Election, the Conservative Party kept trumpeting its slogan that it would "Stand up for Canada". Then, Opposition Leader Stephen Harper during that elected indicated that he would similarly "Stand Up" for Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic. Mr. Harper portrayed his party, as a party which would govern Canada with integrity and openness in a spirit of renewed democracy, in contrast with the 'corruption' of the Martin Liberals. As it turns out, these assertions by Mr. Harper could not be further from the truth. Mel Hurtig, the founder of the Council of Canadians, and also a variety of other reliable sources including veteran CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, now reveal that senior elected representatives and advisors to the Conservative Party, are currently planning a scheme that would hand over Canada to the Bush regime by 2007. The official name for this scheme, is called "North American Union". Mel Hurtig, a noted Canadian author and publisher who was the elected leader of the National Party of Canada, provided researchers with the agenda and attendee list of the so-called "North American Forum" at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Sept. 12-14, 2006. Mel Hurtig reveals that the Stephen Harper's Government has appointed a Ministerial Team in order to "surrender" Canada to the U.S. by 2007, so that its political-military-industrial complex can fully control oil and other Canadian resources. Alberta "Conservatives", including at least one former Premier, are reportedly among prominent Harper Government operatives of this ultra-right wing effort. CLIP - Numerous comments on this at http://www.blog.agoracosmopolitan.com/?p=31 including this one: "I have read many U.S. sources which further confirms the apparent treason of Harper’s minority government."

Gender Equality and Well-Being of Children Inextricably Linked
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/121406WB.shtml
Millions of children across the world will continue to suffer from lack of food, health care and education as long as their mothers are forced to live with abusive conditions at home and discrimination in the workplace.

U.S. fermenting civil war - U.S. training Fatah in "anti-terror" tactics
http://tinyurl.com/yxegfm
U.S. officials training Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas are emphasizing urban anti-terrorist techniques as part of a systematic effort to bolster Abbas and his Fatah loyalists to counter the political success of Hamas, according to Palestinian analysts and officers receiving the training.

The enemy within
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/6217188.stm
There are hundreds, possibly thousands of Palestinians working covertly for the Israeli intelligence services.

He can't leave the West Bank. She can't get in. (Nov 12, 2006) http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0611120452nov12,1,6508718.story?page=2&ctrack=1&cset=true
Israeli border policy keeps out those with foreign citizenship - Critics of the Israeli policy say it is designed to make it impossible for Palestinians from abroad to come and live with spouses or other relatives in the West Bank.In a recent report on the freeze of family unification permits, the Israeli human-rights group B'Tselem and another rights group, HaMoked, suggested that the policy is part of a deliberate attempt to limit the Palestinian population in the West Bank. (...) Faced with the prospect of being denied entry himself the next time his visa runs out, Bahour has been leading a campaign to reverse the Israeli policy. "The people contributing to economic stability and investment are being kicked out, which means that the part of society that can help build a modern economy is not going to be here," he said. CLIP For a full report on the subject, see
http://www.btselem.org/Download/200607_Perpetual_Limbo_Eng.doc

Congress extends Israel loan guarantees
http://tinyurl.com/yk8ahc
The new aid package comes on top of the annual US aid package for Israel, as well as special packages, such as for the Arrow anti-ballistic missile program.

Jimmy Carter: Revisiting 'Apartheid'
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16240761/site/newsweek/
"You and I both know the powerful influence of AIPAC [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee], which is not designed to promote peace. I'm not criticizing them, they have a perfect right to lobby, but their purpose in life is to protect and defend the policies of the Israeli government and to make sure those policies are approved in the United States"

Duke interview about Zionism on CNN (Dec 13, 2006) MUST WATCH!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v2f-WC4cjo

David Duke Delivers Speech in Tehran, Calls for Free Speech on the Holocaust Issue (Dec 11, 20060
http://www.davidduke.com/?p=1532
(...) The Zionist-influenced media in America and Europe is trying to mislead the U.S. and Iran toward a war that would be catastrophic for your country, for my country and for the world. Here too images of a Holocaust against Jews are used to justify and promote a terrible war against Iran that would constitute a new Holocaust, one against the Iranian people and indeed for all of us in the world.I believe the people of Iran want peace, and I can tell you that the average American also wants peace.

Tehran's Holocaust Conference: No Matter What Ahmadinejad Does He'll be Portrayed as the New Hitler (Dec 15, 2006)
http://www.counterpunch.org/gowans12162006.html
Was the two-day conference on the Holocaust held earlier this month by the Iranian government intended to cast "doubt on the Nazi Holocaust during the Second World War," (1) or was it Iran's rejoinder to the Jyllands-Posten affair, an attempt "to embarrass the West and say, 'Look, we are practicing what you preach. We are allowing freedom of discussion of just about any issue, including the Holocaust'"? (2) It's pretty clear how Western journalists summed up the event. The point of the conference was to assemble the world's most notorious Holocaust-deniers and Jew haters, among them KKK kook David Duke, to lend support to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claims that the Holocaust is a myth and to cheer on the Iranian president as he prepares to perpetrate a genocide against the Jews and 'wipe out' Israel. The problem is, matters aren't quite as black and white as all that. Not even close.Let's start with the claim that Ahmadinejad "has referred to the Holocaust as a 'myth'" (3), a claim made by almost every major media outlet in North America. CLIP

Iran: Ahmadinejad Loses as Political Rivals Win Key Seats - Good example of a Muslim country where democracy seems to work just fine...
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121906E.shtml
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was facing electoral embarrassment yesterday after his supporters apparently failed to win control of key councils in elections and his most powerful opponent enjoyed a political comeback.

US Plans Military Buildup to Warn Iran
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121906T.shtml
The Pentagon is planning to bolster its presence in the Persian Gulf as a warning to Iran's continuously defiant government.

Darfur: Genocide Without Borders (Dec 20, 2006)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122006P.shtml
As anarchy spreads, rampaging militias bring death and carnage to refugees in neighbouring Chad. (...) About 90,000 Chadians have fled their villages to find shelter in nearby towns, with many of them arriving in camps already crowded with 232,000 refugees who fled the violence in Darfur. The wave of ethnic cleansing began in eastern Chad at the end of last month. But the most recent attacks around the small town of Koukou-Angarana have raised the stakes. For the first time, the Arab militia have targeted camps for refugees and internally displaced people. And for the first time the Chadian army, which until last week was engaged in a campaign against several rebel groups in the Abeche region, 250 miles north of here, took on the militia.

Darfur no-fly zone to be considered
http://tinyurl.com/shshu
The US and Britain are considering enforcing a no-fly zone over Darfur if the Sudanese government does not allow UN-led forces to deploy in the region.

Zimbabwe President Extends His Stay in Office for Two More Years
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-12-14-voa29.cfm
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, who is 82, says he wants to stay in office two years beyond his present term. Some observers believe he will stay in power for the rest of his life.

Somalis brace for war, troops test weapons
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061215/wl_nm/somalia_conflict_baidoa_dc
Residents of the town housing Somalia's interim government stocked up with provisions on Friday as troops tested weaponry ahead of a feared attack by rival Islamists in the Horn of Africa nation.

SOMALIA: Residents flee fighting near Baidoa (20 December , 2006)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/63f763ff61716254b4609b59d57c3d5a.htm
NAIROBI (IRIN) - Scores of people were fleeing their homes near the southern Somali town of Baidoa on Wednesday after fighting broke out between forces of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), officials from both sides said.The fighting, which began on Tuesday, coincided with the arrival on Wednesday of the European Commissioner (EC) for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel, who is in the country to mediate between the two sides. (...) Humanitarian agencies have warned that an all-out war in Somalia would have disastrous consequences, especially when the country is facing the impact of flooding. Up to 454,500 people are estimated to have been displaced by floods countrywide, particularly in the Juba and Shabelle riverine regions, after heavy rains in September-November in Somalia and Ethiopia.The TFG was installed in late 2004 in an effort to bring peace and security to the Horn of Africa country, which has not had an effective government for 16 years. In June this year, the UIC defeated the warlords who had controlled Mogadishu since 1991, after the collapse of the regime led by Muhammad Siyad Barre. The UIC has since extended its authority to large areas in the south and central regions of the country.

Rival groups in Somalia agree to peace talks (Dec 20)
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/12/20/somalia-fighting.html
Somali government officials and Islamic militia leaders agreed Wednesday to resume peace talks, a European Union envoy said as fighting between the two rival groups broke out in a government-controlled town."I am very happy the Islamic courts have accepted to engage in political dialogue with the transitional government," said Louis Michel, European commissioner for development and aid. "For me this is very significant."Michel met government officials in the town of Baidoa before heading to the capital, Mogadishu, for talks with leaders of the Union of Islamic Courts.Clashes between forces for the rival groups were reported in the villages of Moode Moode and Daynunay, both near Baidoa, after the meeting began. But Michel said he was pleased with the outcome of the last-ditch peace mission.Leaders of the Islamic movement said they would return to peace negotiations without any conditions. They had demanded that Ethiopia, which supports the interim government, pull its troops from the country.

Mayors: More Americans Hungry, Homeless in 2006
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121506P.shtml
More Americans went homeless and hungry in 2006 than the year before, and children made up almost a quarter of those in emergency shelters, said a report released on Thursday by the US Conference of Mayors.

Comet dust yields surprises about universe (19 Dec 2006)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003480694_comet16m.html
University of Washington astronomer Don Brownlee expected surprises from the pinch of comet dust collected by the Stardust spacecraft. But he didn't foresee such a shake-up. The tiny specks have changed ideas about the birth of our solar system and offered hints about the origin of life on Earth. "We're learning incredible things," said Brownlee, principal investigator for the $212 million National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) mission. Since the capsule parachuted to the Utah desert in January, nearly 200 researchers have employed some of the world's most powerful scientific tools to probe the particles. Their findings are laid out in seven reports in Friday's issue of the journal Science.Among them is the discovery of organic molecules, very similar to the amino acids that are the building blocks of proteins. The compounds contain a biologically useful form of nitrogen, which would have been important to early microbes. "The fact that we see these suggests that the presence of amino acids is not an insane idea ... though we haven't detected them yet," said Scott Sandford of NASA's Ames Research Center in California. The comet dust also contains bits of organic material similar to tar or soot, Sandford said. The organic molecules bolster the theory that a rain of comet dust may have delivered the basic ingredients of life to the early Earth. CLIP



ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS SECTION - PLUS MUCH MORE NEAR THE END OF THIS COMPILATION

US Scientists Reject Interference
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121406N.shtml
10,000 US researchers have signed a statement protesting political interference in the scientific process. The statement, which includes the backing of 52 Nobel Laureates, demands a restoration of scientific integrity in government policy. According to the American Union of Concerned Scientists, data is being misrepresented for political reasons. It claims scientists working for federal agencies have been asked to change data to fit policy initiatives.

Female Troubles for Wildlife Raise Human Worries
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/121906HB.shtml
Across the US, female animals exposed to toxic chemicals are suffering from a flurry of health problems. As scientists examine the impact of environmental pollution, some are pondering what the results may mean to female humans.

The Hereditary Consequences of Environmental Pollutants
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/122006HA.shtml
It starts in the first weeks of life. As the umbilical cord sends nutrients to the fetus, pumping 300 quarts of blood per day, it also delivers what nature never intended: synthetic chemicals that may wreak havoc with development and cause health problems later in life.

Unusual Weather We're Having, Ain't It?
http://www.grist.org/news/daily/2006/12/15/1/
Number-crunchers say 2006 on track to be the sixth-hottest on record - As 2006 limps to a close, it's measuring in as the world's sixth-hottest year on record. It's the warmest Britain has seen since wenches were hoisting tankards of grog (er, since records began in 1659), and the third-warmest in the U.S.'s Lower 48 since 1880. Weird weather has gripped the globe this year, from rainy Africa to droughty Australia and China. According to the U.K. Meteorological Office, the 10 hottest years on record have been in the last 12 years, and scientists say it ain't no coincidence. Yes, the globe has warmed and cooled over time, but the last 50 years don't fit natural patterns, and most say human behavior is to blame. "I cannot see how else this can be explained," said U.K. climate researcher Phil Jones, who noted that changing weather patterns fit climate-model forecasts. Adding to the grim vibe, a study published in Science says sea level rise due to global warming could be 59 percent higher than previously thought. Oh, waiter! Another pint of grog, please.

2006 was Earth's sixth warmest year on record (Dec 14, 2006)
http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn10800-2006-was-earths-sixth-warmest-year-on-record.html
(...) The report also finds that virtually no corner of the planet was spared from extreme weather events in 2006, many of which were record-breaking.The US experienced its warmest January to September on record, and July in Europe was also the warmest on record, nearly 3°C above the norm. In the southern hemisphere, Brazil and Australia also experienced heat waves between January and March. The town of Bom Jesus in Brazil recorded 44.6°C on 31 January – one of the highest temperatures ever in the country. Nor was Africa spared. Having suffered its worst drought in a decade this summer, Somalia is now undergoing its worst flooding in recent history. The extreme rainfall is affecting the entire Great Horn of Africa, where some regions have received more than six times their average monthly rainfall and hundreds of thousands of people have been affected.Even the Sahara desert got rare heavy rainfall in February, which damaged 70% of food production and displaced 600,000 people. Back in Europe, the River Danube rose to its highest level in more than a century because of heavy rainfall and snow melt. And in the US, New England and the north-east suffered exceptional rainfall which forced some 200,000 people to evacuate. Vancouver, in Canada, received nearly twice its monthly average rainfall in November. In China, millions of hectares of crops were damaged by drought in Sichuan province during the summer and in eastern China during the autumn. China also suffered its worst tropical cyclone season in a decade: more than 1000 people died and the storms cost China $10 billion in economic losses.In the Philippines, typhoon Durian affected some 1.5 million people in November and December, claiming more than 500 lives with hundreds still missing. As for Arctic ice, researchers have noted that it is continuing to melt faster than ever. The WMO estimates that sea ice is now declining by 8.6% every decade, equivalent to 60,421 square kilometres a year.Most climate researchers agree that rising greenhouse gas emissions from human activities will lead to global warming of between 1.4°C and 5.8°C, the range of predictions made by in the last IPCC report.

Environmental Group Offers Road Map to Curb Global Warming
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/121906EA.shtml
A regional environmental group Monday released a comprehensive "climate change road map" to reduce pollution linked to global warming by 75 percent in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. Environment Northeast said the proposals included in the 275-page plan draw from many of the best practices already found within the region, including Massachusetts's use of low-emission, hybrid buses and Maine's requirement that new state buildings exceed energy codes by 20 percent.

Carmakers Fight Global Warming Lawsuit
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/121806EA.shtml
The six largest automakers asked a federal judge to toss out a lawsuit by California that accuses them of harming human health and the environment by producing vehicles that contribute to global warming. The American and Japanese auto companies filed a motion Friday to dismiss the state's suit, and an attorney for the carmakers said Saturday that state officials who want to reduce auto emissions should do it through regulation, not litigation.

Lawsuits Call Air Pollution Standards Deadly, Arbitrary
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/122006EB.shtml
As the government rolls out new pollution standards this week, critics are charging federal regulators with ignoring science and arbitrarily allowing toxins into the air.

It Takes a Village to Cool the Planet
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121506R.shtml
Kelpie Wilson describes the controversial issue of carbon storage: "Non-governmental organizations that advocate for forests and indigenous people have worked hard to exclude the use of forestry credits to offset fossil fuel burning, and with good reason," writes Wilson. "The rural poor pay twice - once by suffering the effects of climate change caused by affluent countries, and again by having their land taken to offset the guilt of affluent people," says Wilson.

The Year the World Woke Up
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/122006EC.shtml
None too soon, the West awoke in 2006 to the vast economic, political and social implications of climate change. As temperature and rainfall records tumbled and unseasonal, intense heat waves, droughts and floods struck many countries, local and national politicians scrambled to beef up their green policies and credentials. Some businesses found they could make a packet from trading carbon, and a broad-based global social and ecological movement emerged, linking climate change to social justice, as well as to poverty and lifestyles.

Vast African Lake Levels Dropping Fast (December 14, 2006) http://www.truthwinds.com/NewsServer/ArticleFunctions/ArticleDetails.php?ArticleID=12355
(...) At 27,000 square miles, the size of Ireland, Victoria is the greatest of Africa's Great Lakes -- the biggest freshwater body after Lake Superior. And it has dropped fast, at least six feet in the past three years, and by as much as a half-inch a day this year before November rains stabilized things.The outflow through two hydroelectric dams at Jinja is part of the problem -- a tiny part, says the Uganda government, or half the problem, say environmentalists. But much of what is happening to Victoria and other lakes across the heart of Africa is attributable to years of drought and rising temperatures, conditions that starve the lakes of inflowing water and evaporate more of the water they have.An extreme example lies 1,500 miles northwest of here, deeper in the drought zone, where Lake Chad, once the world's sixth-largest, has shrunk to 2 percent of its 1960s size. And the African map abounds with other, less startling examples, from Lake Turkana in northern Kenya, getting half the inflow it once did, to the great Lake Tanganyika south of here, whose level dropped over five feet in five years.“All these lakes are extremely sensitive to climate change,'' the U.N. Environment Program warned in a global water assessment two years ago.Now, in a yet unpublished report obtained by The Associated Press, an international consulting firm advises the Ugandan government that supercomputer models of global-warming scenarios for Lake Victoria “raise alarming concerns'' about its future and that of the Nile River, which begins its 4,100-mile northward journey here at Jinja. The report, by U.S.-based Water Resources and Energy Management International, says rising temperatures may evaporate up to half the lake's normal inflow from rainfall and rivers, with “severe consequences for the lake and its ability to meet the region's water resources needs.'' A further dramatic drop in Victoria's water levels might even turn off this spigot for the Nile, a lifeline for more than 100 million Egyptians, Sudanese and others. “People talk about the snows of Kilimanjaro,'' said Aris P. Georgakakos, the study's chief author, speaking of that African mountain's melting glaciers. “We have something much bigger to worry about, and that's Lake Victoria." CLIP

One in five species of livestock endangered: FAO (Dec 15, 2006)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061215/sc_afp/faolivestock_061215173836
ROME (AFP) - Some 20 percent of the world's livestock species -- cattle, pigs and poultry -- are threatened with extinction, with one breed disappearing each month, the Food and Agriculture Organization warned.Over the past five years alone, some 60 breeds of cattle, goats, pigs, horses and poultry have become extinct, the Rome-based UN agency said in a draft document, blaming globalization as the "biggest single factor" in the erosion of livestock biodiversity."Of the more than 7,600 breeds in FAO's global database of farm animal genetic resources, 190 have become extinct in the past 15 years and a further 1,500 are considered at risk of extinction," the draft says.Some 150 experts from 90 countries met in Rome this week to review the findings, the first of their kind on a global scale.

Two-Thirds of Congo Basin Forests Could Disappear (December 18, 2006) http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/39523/story.htm
YAOUNDE - Two-thirds of the forests in the Congo River Basin could disappear within 50 years if logging and mineral exploitation continues at current rates, environmental group WWF said in a report.The Congo Basin, the world's second largest tropical forest after the Amazon, loses some 3.7 million acres a year to agriculture, logging, road development, oil exploitation and mining, WWF's Central African regional office (CARPO) said in a report published late on Thursday."Tropical forest is vanishing at a rate of 5 percent a decade, wrecking habitats and releasing 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, which is a fifth of global greenhouse emissions," CARPO director Laurent Som said in the report.About 400 mammal species live in the Congo Basin, including the world's largest populations of lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and forest elephants, all under threat as their habitat is destroyed.More than 655 bird species fly under its dense canopy and over 10,000 plant species take root in the forest floor, many of them unique to the region and containing medicinal properties."The region is blanketed by a patchwork quilt of logging concessions. While the logging itself is usually selective and does little damage, the associated roads, infrastructure and migration degrade surrounding landscape and result in massive wildlife depletion," the report said."Studies show that if current trends continue, two-thirds of the Congo's forests could be lost within 50 years." CLIP

NASA overwhelmed by climate data (15 December 2006) http://www.raidersnewsupdate.com:80/articles/defensetech-org-archives-003031-html
NASA's climatologists have an enormous problem: when it comes to data on the atmosphere, they have too much of it.To help understand climate change, NASA has created its Earth Observing System (EOS), made up of a dozen satellites plus a host of weather balloons and ground-based sensors that collect data such as air temperatures, water-vapour densities and aerosol concentrations. Terabytes of such measurements have been streaming in each day, and the agency was quickly swamped with so much data that all it could do was dump it on disc drives. Now it has hit on a simple way to make that data accessible: software that superimposes it on the global 3D maps provided by Google Earth.Called iEarth, the NASA software scours EOS databanks for information and converts it into a file that can be viewed via Google Earth. Choosing a spot on the planet's surface will prompt iEarth to display ground-based measurements for that location, as well as data relating to the atmosphere and space above it."This is the first time we've been able to do multi-instrument atmospheric science," says Brian Wilson of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, who demonstrated a prototype of iEarth at this week's meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. "You can pick a specific spot on the planet and, starting with the surface, move up in altitude through the troposphere and stratosphere," he says.The iEarth system will be available for anyone to use in April, NASA says.

Plastic Trash Vortex Menaces Pacific Sealife: Study (Nov 6, 2006)
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1106-01.htm
Old toothbrushes, beach toys and used condoms are part of a vast vortex of plastic trash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, threatening sea creatures that get tangled in it, eat it or ride on it, a new report says. The contents of the 'Yellow Thing' after a trawl in the high seas of the Central North Pacific Ocean, October 30, 2006. The environmental group Greenpeace is highlighting the threat plastic poses to the world's oceans. Old toothbrushes, beach toys and used condoms are part of a vast vortex of plastic trash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, threatening sea creatures that get tangled in it, eat it or ride on it, a new report says. Because plastic doesn't break down the way organic material does, ocean currents and tides have carried it thousands of miles (kms) to an area between Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast, according to the study by the international environmental group Greenpeace. This swirling vortex, which can grow to be about the size of Texas, is not far from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, designated as a protected U.S. national monument in June by President George W. Bush.The Greenpeace report, "Plastic Debris in the World's Oceans" said at least 267 species -- including seabirds, turtles, seals, sea lions, whales and fish -- are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of marine debris. Some 80 percent of this debris comes from land and 20 percent from the oceans, the report said, with four main sources: tourism, sewage, fishing and waste from ships and boats. The new report comes days after the journal Science projected that Earth's stocks of fish and seafood would collapse by 2048 if trends in overfishing and pollution continue. CLIP

Disposable Oceans? (09.12.2006)
http://www.sonnenseite.com/index.php?pageID=80&news:oid=n6410&template=news_detail.html&flash=true
(...) Today, we're continuing to move through the Trash Vortex, an area of the North Pacific where currents and winds gather plastic pollution from both sides of this peaceful ocean. We're watching in awe as pieces of trash large and small pass us by, and with our sampling and discovery efforts, we can even see how this garbage is becoming one with ocean creatures. The problem is much worse than we could have thought. We had thought that the large bits of plastic floating by were a significant problem, but we had no idea just how many tiny pieces of plastic would turn up in our daily sampling efforts. CLIP

The Solution to Global Warming Is Us (Dec 15, 2006) http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/121506EB.shtml
It is time to shift from personal denial to personal responsibility when it comes to climate change. (...) The truth is, humans can change, and change fast. Our hallmark is adaptability. Long ago, we looked out from the trees and saw the savannas. Beyond the savannas we glimpsed further frontiers. History proves that when we behold a better world, we move toward it - one person at a time - leaving behind what no longer works. We know what to do. We know how to do it. We know the timeline. We are our own tipping point.

Wartime values to save the planet (December 15, 2006)
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20930396-30417,00.html
LONDON: David Attenborough, the elder statesman of the natural world, called yesterday for a return to wartime values to save the planet from global warming.He hit out at four-wheel-drives, electrical standby facilities and lights that were left on unnecessarily as he demanded a change in moral and intellectual attitudes towards climate change.He said that even tiny amounts of wasted electricity were immoral because they put "our grandchildren's lives in danger". (...) For the northern hemisphere, this year was the fourth hottest since records began in 1850, while for the southern hemisphere it was the seventh warmest.Sir David, who was giving evidence to the Commons Environment Select Committee, said it was not all doom and gloom. He was convinced the public's attitude was changing."I'm hopeful that there's real change taking place in moral attitudes, which isn't to do with saving a penny here and there. The moral drive is there," he said."It can only be done by changing the moral and intellectual climate."

Omega-News Collection 16. December 2006
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3073100/

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1.

NOTE FROM JEAN: On Dec 14, I wrote the following to Suzy Ward:

Dear Suzy

As a follow up to my recent recommendation of the exceptional Christ's Letters, and knowing how precious little time you have to explore websites, I thought you would like to have for your review an excellent sample of the VERY highly spiritual material this woman from South Africa has channelled from Christ in the last few years. There will be in my next compilation another such excerpt from what she received last years - look for it under "Consciousness Energy".

If you could take a couple minutes to assert this short document from Christ below (to be included in a coming compilation), you will see how well it meshes with Matthew's own high quality descriptions of how each soul is able to access, once in Nirvana, only the layer of consciousness that is in synch with the evolutionary and vibrational status of each soul.

The clarity and extremely insightful quality of the soul's consciousness at the origin of these thoughts below is indicative, to me, of just Who the actual Source is. Once again, I feel it would be a great service on the part of you and Matthew to lend a helping hand through commenting on this material and recommending it in some form, if you both sense, like me, that only good can come from doing so.

With much Love and Light

Jean

AND HER REPLY WAS:

Dear Jean....

How right you are about "precious little time" -- I had none at the computer yesterday. I'll ask Matthew to comment on the excerpt you sent.

With love like always...

Suzy 

"Dear soul Jean, what a JOY to read these words that you sent to my mother! From this excerpt of a greatly larger body of transmitted messages, I would say that 'Christ's Letters' is a most appropriate name -- this is clearly expressed TRUTH about the soul's stages of conscious awareness and spiritual growth. That LOVE is the key to knowing all souls' Oneness was the essence of Christed souls' teachings; this and other truths were expunged from the authentic records by self-serving early religious leaders whose own ideas set the beliefs of the masses and kept them in the lower planes of human characteristics and understanding. Now the guidance of ones from the Christed realm is re-emerging through highly evolved souls who went to Earth specifically to nurture the truth-seekers during this unique opportunity to ascend with the planet into the higher planes of enlightenment. This is Matthew conveying the gratitude of all at this station to our beloved soul sister who agreed to receive and disseminate the information that is so essential for all of you to know in these unprecedented times."

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HERE IS THE ENLIGHTENING COMMUNICATION FROM CHRIST I MENTIONED ABOVE...

From: http://christsway.co.za/blog/christ-consciousness/

Christ Consciousness

CHRIST says:

It is not enough to be concerned about your life on earth. You should be equally concerned about your life and well-being when you move into the next dimensions.

Here, more than ever, you find yourself within the dimension of ‘Being’ which is the outer manifestation of your own consciousness but to an even greater extent than when you are on earth.

When on earth, you do create your own unique environment from the fabric of your overall consciousness, but you can also partake of your neighbour’s environment when you meet or live together. This means that when you are on earth, you can move into a more pleasant environment, meet more pleasant people than your own consciousness normally creates or attracts towards you. But this incompatibility leads to friction and discomfort.

People either feel out of their comfort zone or stifled by the higher consciousness they encounter and can’t wait to get back to the lower consciousness environment in which they feel at ease. Some people are drawn and born into a consciousness stratum in which they feel they are aliens and spontaneously begin working, even in childhood, to move away into the stratum of consciousness in which they will be able to thrive.

The level of CONSCIOUSNESS you die with, is the level you will bring back.

Sometimes, a person with a high level of spiritual perception may be drawn, at birth, into a family of lower spiritual levels because the environment will strengthen their awareness and increase their spiritual stamina as they struggle in their early years to return to their rightful consciousness ‘home’ in the spiritual strata on earth—and later, in the next world.

Just as you experience your undeveloped consciousness when you pass over, so do you go into the higher dimensions which reflects your own consciousness when you have re-incarnated several times and worked on gaining spiritual insight. You find that you and everyone else you encounter, is of the same consciousness. You will be magnetised into the conditions which are compatible and by reason of your own creativity, you can perfectly contribute to.

If, on passing over, the consciousness has been ego-oriented and vicious, the individual will quickly reincarnate, since the feeling of discomfort will be intolerable. Gladly, such a person returns to earth in another identity. At this level of existence, earth conditions seem to be preferable to those in the astral world. It takes many lifetimes before the soul awakens to the fact that escape is only possible when the human mind sets itself to try to lift the perceptions and consciousness to a more endurable comfort zone.

The more spiritual the consciousness of a person before they pass over, the more that they have looked back over their lives, gained insight into the ego control of their minds and feelings, the damage they have done to other people’s lives, the unhappiness they have caused, the greater the spiritual progress will they make.

As they experience burning remorse, so does the pain of the remorse eradicate the ego-domination in their minds and hearts, until, little by little, they eventually leave this life fully aware that the PATH of UNCONDITIONAL LOVE is the only way to follow.

Such people fully understand, acknowledge and are clearly aware that all misery, sickness, deprivations, lack of success, unhappiness are derived from lack of LOVE in one’s approach to life, people, environment. CRITICISM is the biggest obstruction of all to inner happiness because it is highly destructive. It is reflected in the person’s life because when you judge, judgement comes home to roost, as the saying goes.

Criticism of others interferes with their well-being and consequently, as we damage others even in the slightest, again, the damage will return with interest.

Therefore, when you undertake to walk Christ’s Way, you must understand that it is a path of relentless self-analysis and finding the courage to look at your actions in the light of LOVE, willing to see the truth about your thought and emotions.

As you move forward along the path, it becomes easier to move into a perception of the truth of others, of what drives them, motivates them, causes them to make mistakes in their relationships, in their workplace and close family.

The more you can empathise with others, understand what motivates them, perceive the difficulties which push them into ill-considered actions, the higher becomes your own spirituality, your own sense of compassion and love towards those who—you now realise—are really doing the very best they can in the environment and circumstances they have created for themselves.

From this standpoint, it becomes easier and easier to apologise, until the time comes when, seeing the truth of the other person so clearly, you cannot wait to forgive and erase all tension and criticism of them from your thinking.

When it comes your time to pass over, such an illumined person, living in peace and harmony with the entire world, will move into a stratum of utter blessedness and joy. They move into Light and there is no looking back at earth. At last, they find that they have moved into that dimension of Being where they are content and fully at peace.

After a while, they begin to notice that there are even higher dimensions of existence and they set about preparing, enlarging, expanding their consciousness to absorb even higher vibrations of Divine Consciousness and they become ever more creative and radiant transmitters of UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.

Such people are truly the CHRIST CONSCIOUSNESS.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 9th, 2005

Much more such wisdom from Christ at http://christsway.co.za

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2.

Forwarded by "Ricardos" ricardos@auroville.org.in">

Message from St. Germain 11-December-2006

People sometimes wonder at a time when the earthly vibrations are increasing, why there is so much discord upon Earth. Why when there are so many enlightened souls upon it, that their presence does not seem to have any noticeable effect. I will tell you that this situation is not through the design or intention of those in charge of your progress, but is quite natural. The Light works quietly and magically transforms the dark energies without drawing attention to itself, but nevertheless relentlessly marches onwards and continues to become firmly established upon Earth.

For millennia of time, the level of a souls vibration has determined which dimension they go to after each lifetime. Those who have developed a reasonable vibration of Light, would find themselves in or near the dimension often referred to as the Summerland and also Nirvana. The name defines exactly what it is like, and it is from where spiritual contact is often made resulting in much knowledge being conveyed to you about these levels. Beautiful ones that are akin to those that exist above them, but not quite so refined. Nevertheless, they are idyllic and extremely pleasant where there are none of the chores or worries of Earth.

What exists in the Summerland is a creation of Man’s, inasmuch that it reflects known or subconscious desires of a higher nature. Their expression in the higher realms is to a degree of perfection that you would rarely experience upon Earth, where you have obvious difficulties in creating what you have in mind. Artistic work such as painting or sculpture would be such examples, where the artist cannot always find the means to illustrate exactly what is envisaged in the mind.

Close to the Summerland are levels of lower vibrations, and as they drop so does the possible degree of manifestation. Collectively they are also known as the Astral Regions, and the lower you go the more they can aptly be described as ones where there is a gradual loss of light. It is where colors are not as vivid, and the souls have less ability to create for their needs. In the absolute lowest regions there is virtually a complete loss of light, and darkness prevails. Yet regardless of what level souls exist in, it would to them seem to have some degree of normality. They would be blinded by greater levels of light such as would be found in the higher dimensions, and are therefore more at ease with vibrations consistent with their own development.

Some teachings or religions promise an afterlife similar to the Summerland, with rewards and everlasting pleasure. However, they fail to understand that it is you alone who through your actions, deeds and thoughts, determine the level you go to. Many of you will already be aware of the Astral Dimensions, and upon your transition you will automatically be drawn into them. By the Law of Attraction you will find yourself at the correct level, therefore one in which you will feel comfortable. In fact, regardless of any personal desires for something different, you can but go to the correct one.

I am now coming to the point of this lesson, and it is to tell you that now we are at the end-times of this cycle a different scenario is being created. The lower Astral regions have opened up, and over the last 50 years or so have gradually been emptied of their occupants. They have incarnated upon Earth for the last time, to have the experience of standing alongside those who have raised their light vibrations. They may not consciously be aware of absorbing the light, but it will have a marked affect upon them and help their own evolution. It also presents an intended challenge to those who have left the lower levels behind and now exist in the Light, testing their resolve to continue rising above the negative energies.

The Astral Regions will continue to serve those now passing over, but will not be carried forward with the new Earth into the higher dimensions. There will be no further need for them, although they will continue to exist around the new 3D Earth. It has been created to enable non-ascending souls to continue their experiences, and the cycle of rebirth will commence yet again.  

What you now see around you is a constant battle between the Light and dark, as it escalates to levels not experienced for thousands of years. The dark ones are unable to appreciably raise their vibrations, and sometimes as a way of expressing their frustration they cause mayhem and destruction. They are not helped by condemnation and punishment, but instead love and understanding. For those who are at the receiving end it is a salutary lesson in self-control. Better still, it will promote their understanding and tolerance for those who have lost their way.

You have God given abilities, and they are coming out from behind the veil as you begin to understand your true Self. You all have latent powers to reclaim, which will come to you as you increase your vibrations. Healing and psychic powers are beginning to return and they should be developed and not ignored. These are quite natural attributes that will become commonplace to those on the path to Ascension.

The lessons of duality are meant to give you experience of both sides, and for certain over millennia of time you have touched both the heights and depths in the course of your many lifetimes. Recognize that all souls including those of the dark, have every right to take a physical incarnation when it will best benefit their evolution. Currently all people are plotting their own path even if they are unaware of it, and in this present period it is creating a natural division between the two realities.

Knowledge is a valuable asset and it will help you go forward with a firmer focus on your goal. There is no need to get too involved with the antics of those who create discord and destroy what is the foundation of your societies. The dark souls who struggle to find their Light, will be helped by your compassion and love for them. Never forget that when this cycle commenced all of you were exalted Beings, graciously and bravely accepting the challenge presented to you by Duality. Each one of you were initiated in the presence of Heavenly Beings, who avowed to ensure your full return to the Light.

It is time to ride on the crest of the waves of higher vibrations coming to Earth. Never have you had such opportunities as now exist, take them and ignite your passion and determination to rise above all that does not serve your purpose. Heavenly Beings continue to watch over you, and many personally accompany you through these last vital experiences to ensure your success. As you have been told many times, you are never alone in your experiences and are constantly given the attention that such courageous and beautiful souls deserve.

I am St.Germain, and seeing everything in the Now, I see your successful progress through the remaining years of this cycle. The year 2007 beckons and will be one of great cleansing and immense changes. It will also see many of you having your personal proof of the intense Light being sent to Earth. Prepare yourselves for a measure of upliftment, that will leave you in no doubt as to the power of the incoming energies. You are in for pleasant surprises, and the satisfaction of seeing your grand work for the Light come to fruition. We of the higher dimensions bless you all, and our love continues to go with you on your never-ending journey into the Light.

Thank you St.Germain.

Mike Quinsey

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3.

A VERY MOVING AND ABSOLUTELY TRUE STORY - CHECK AT http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce TO VERIFY AS I DID. AMAZING!

Date: 16 Dec 2006
From: "PEERS: WantToKnow.info List" noreply2@wanttoknow.info
Subject: The Christmas Truce: A Short, Highly Inspiring Christmas Story

This message is available online at http://www.WantToKnow.info/christmastruce

The Christmas Truce
by David G. Stratman

From his book We Can Change the World

It was December 25, 1914, only 5 months into World War I. German, British, and French soldiers, already sick and tired of the senseless killing, disobeyed their superiors and fraternized with "the enemy" along two-thirds of the Western Front (a crime punishable by death in times of war). German troops held Christmas trees up out of the trenches with signs, "Merry Christmas."

"You no shoot, we no shoot." Thousands of troops streamed across a no-man's land strewn with rotting corpses. They sang Christmas carols, exchanged photographs of loved ones back home, shared rations, played football, even roasted some pigs. Soldiers embraced men they had been trying to kill a few short hours before. They agreed to warn each other if the top brass forced them to fire their weapons, and to aim high.

A shudder ran through the high command on either side. Here was disaster in the making: soldiers declaring their brotherhood with each other and refusing to fight. Generals on both sides declared this spontaneous peacemaking to be treasonous and subject to court martial. By March 1915 the fraternization movement had been eradicated and the killing machine put back in full operation. By the time of the armistice in 1918, fifteen million would be slaughtered.

Not many people have heard the story of the Christmas Truce. On Christmas Day, 1988, a story in the Boston Globe mentioned that a local FM radio host played "Christmas in the Trenches," a ballad about the Christmas Truce, several times and was startled by the effect. The song became the most requested recording during the holidays in Boston on several FM stations. "Even more startling than the number of requests I get is the reaction to the ballad afterward by callers who hadn't heard it before," said the radio host. "They telephone me deeply moved, sometimes in tears, asking, `What the hell did I just hear?' "

I think I know why the callers were in tears. The Christmas Truce story goes against most of what we have been taught about people. It gives us a glimpse of the world as we wish it could be and says, "This really happened once." It reminds us of those thoughts we keep hidden away, out of range of the TV and newspaper stories that tell us how trivial and mean human life is. It is like hearing that our deepest wishes really are true: the world really could be different.

Christmas in The Trenches - Song

To listen to this inspirational Christmas story in song: click here (free RealPlayer required)
Words & Music by John McCutcheon, c. 1984, John McCutcheon / Appalsong


This song is based on a true story from the front lines of World War I that I've heard many times. Ian Calhoun, a Scot, was the commanding officer of the British forces involved in the story. He was subsequently court-martialed for 'consorting with the enemy' and sentenced to death. Only George V spared him from that fate. -- John McCutcheon


My name is Francis Toliver, I come from Liverpool.
Two years ago the war was waiting for me after school.
To Belgium and to Flanders, to Germany to here,
I fought for King and country I love dear.

'Twas Christmas in the trenches, where the frost so bitter hung.
The frozen fields of France were still, no Christmas song was sung.
Our families back in England were toasting us that day,
Their brave and glorious lads so far away.

I was lying with my messmate on the cold and rocky ground,
When across the lines of battle came a most peculiar sound.
Says I, "Now listen up, me boys!" each soldier strained to hear,
As one young German voice sang out so clear.

"He's singing bloody well, you know!" my partner says to me.
Soon, one by one, each German voice joined in harmony.
The cannons rested silent, the gas clouds rolled no more,
As Christmas brought us respite from the war.

As soon as they were finished and a reverent pause was spent,
"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" struck up some lads from Kent.
The next they sang was "Stille Nacht," "'Tis 'Silent Night,'" says I,
And in two tongues one song filled up that sky.

"There's someone coming towards us!" the front line sentry cried.
All sights were fixed on one lone figure trudging from their side.
His truce flag, like a Christmas star, shone on that plain so bright,
As he, bravely, strode unarmed into the night.

Soon one by one on either side walked into No Man's Land,
With neither gun nor bayonet we met there hand to hand.
We shared some secret brandy and wished each other well,
And in a flare lit soccer game we gave 'em hell.

We traded chocolates, cigarettes, and photographs from home.
These sons and fathers far away from families of their own.
Young Sanders played his squeezebox and they had a violin,
This curious and unlikely band of men.

Soon daylight stole upon us and France was France once more.
With sad farewells we each prepared to settle back to war.
But the question haunted every heart that lived that wondrous night:
"Whose family have I fixed within my sights?"

'Twas Christmas in the trenches where the frost, so bitter hung.
The frozen fields of France were warmed as songs of peace were sung.
For the walls they'd kept between us to exact the work of war,
Had been crumbled and were gone forevermore.

My name is Francis Toliver, in Liverpool I dwell,
Each Christmas come since World War I, I've learned its lessons well,
That the ones who call the shots won't be among the dead and lame,
And on each end of the rifle we're the same.


Note: For an engaging movie based on this inspirational Christmas story, click here. For an article in a leading U.K. newspaper on one of the last survivors of the Christmas Truce, click here. For more on the history of the Christmas Truce, click here and here. For a highly decorated U.S. general describing how wars are waged largely to fill corporate coffers, click here. For another, even shorter inspirational Christmas story, click here.

See our collection of inspirational resources at http://www.WantToKnow.info/inspirational

Explore these empowering websites coordinated by the nonprofit PEERS network:
http://www.momentoflove.org - Every person in the world has a heart
http://www.WantToKnow.info - Reliable, verifiable information on major cover-ups
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http://www.weboflove.org - Strengthening the Web of Love that interconnects us all
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4.

A GREAT SIGN OF HOPE. WHEN THE SOLDIERS THEMSELVES WILL NO LONGER WANT TO FIGHT IN ANY WAR, AND INSTEAD TURN AWAY ENTIRELY FROM ALL THE BRAINWASHING THAT BROUGHT THEM TO BEAR ARMS AND KILL FOR A PAY, WAR WILL BE NO MORE ON EARTH.

From: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070101/cooperweb

Also from http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606Z.shtml

About Face: Soldiers Call for Iraq Withdrawal

By Marc Cooper - The Nation

16 December 2006

For the first time since Vietnam, an organized, robust movement of active-duty US military personnel has publicly surfaced to oppose a war in which they are serving. Those involved plan to petition Congress to withdraw American troops from Iraq. (Note: A complete version of this report will appear next week in the print and online editions of The Nation.)

After appearing only seven weeks ago on the Internet, the Appeal for Redress, brainchild of 29-year-old Navy seaman Jonathan Hutto, has already been signed by nearly 1,000 US soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen, including dozens of officers - most of whom are on active duty. Not since 1969, when some 1,300 active-duty military personnel signed an open letter in the New York Times opposing the war in Vietnam, has there been such a dramatic barometer of rising military dissent.

Interviews with two dozen signers of the Appeal reveal a mix of motives for opposing the war: ideological, practical, strategic and moral. But all those interviewed agree that it is time to start withdrawing the troops. Coming from an all-volunteer military, the Appeal was called "unprecedented" by Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice.

The Nation spoke with rank-and-file personnel as well as high-ranking officers - some on the Iraqi front lines, others at domestic and offshore US military bases - who have signed the Appeal. All of their names will be made available to Congress when the Appeal is presented in mid-January. Signers have been assured they are sending a communication to Congress protected under the Military Whistleblower Protection Act. The Pentagon is powerless to take official reprisals and has said that as long as active-duty personnel are not in uniform or on duty, they are free to express their views to Congress.

There are of course other, subtler risks involved. The military command exercises enormous power through individual reviews, promotions and assignments. But that hasn't kept a number of signers from going public with their dissent.

Navy Lieut. Cmdr. Mark Dearden of San Diego, for example, enlisted in 1997 and is still pondering the possibility of a lifetime career. "So this was a very difficult decision for me to come to. I don't take this decision lightly," he says. But after two "tough" deployments in Iraq, Dearden says signing the Appeal was not only the right thing to do but also gave him personal "closure."

"I'm expressing a right of people in the military to contact their elected representatives, and I have done nothing illegal or disrespectful," Dearden adds.

Other interviews with active-duty soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen who have signed the Appeal for Redress reveal an array of motivations. Here are excerpts:

"Lisa" - 20 years old, E-4, USAF, Stationed at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii:

I joined up two weeks after I turned 17 because I wanted to save American lives. I wanted to be a hero like any American child.

I supported the war when I joined because I thought it was justified. Only after my own research and the truth coming out did I learn how wrong I was, how - for lack of a better word - how brainwashed I was.

Now I know the war is illegal, unjustified and that our troops have no reason for being there.

When I saw an article about the Appeal in the Air Force Times I went online right away and signed it and have encouraged others to do the same.

"Sgt. Gary" - 21 years old. US Army. Deployed with 20th Infantry Regiment, near Mosul, Iraq:

I joined up in 2001, still a junior in high school. I felt very patriotic at the end of my US History class. My idea of the Army was that you signed up, they gave you a rifle and you ran off into battle like in some 1950s war movie. The whole idea of boot camp never really entered my head.

I supported the war in the beginning. I bought everything Bush said about how Saddam had WMDs, how he was working with Al Qaeda, how he was a threat to America. Of course, this all turned out to be false.

This is my second tour, and as of a few days ago it's half-over. Before I deployed with my unit for the second time I already had feelings of not wanting to go. When in late September a buddy in my platoon died from a bullet in the head, I really took a long hard look at this war, this Administration, and the reasons why.

After months of research on the Internet, I came to the conclusion that this war was based on lies and deception. I started to break free of all the propaganda that the Bush Administration and the Army puts out on a daily basis.

So far in three years we have succeeded in toppling a dictator and replacing him with puppets. Outlawing the old government and its standing army and replacing them with an unreliable and poorly trained crew of paycheck collectors. The well is so poisoned by what we have done here that nothing can fix it.

"Lt. Smith" - 24 years old, 1st Lieutenant, US Army. Deployed near Baghdad:

I cannot, from Iraq, attend an antiwar protest. Nor could I attend one in the States and represent myself as a soldier. What I can do is send a protest communication to my Congressional delegate outlining grievances I feel I have suffered. Appeal for Redress gives me that outlet.

I am encouraged by the November elections, but still wary. We rushed into the war on false assumptions, and now we might rush out just as falsely. What troops need now is a light at the end of the tunnel, not just for this deployment but for all deployments. Bringing everyone out this summer is too fast to be supported by our Army's infrastructure. We would hemorrhage lives if we do so. But so would we if we stay the course.

I am encouraged by politicians who call for a withdrawal by the conclusion of President Bush's term in office. That seems a realistic timetable for me.

Mark Mackoviak - 24 years old. US Army. Recently returned from Iraq. Stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina:

I joined the Army on September 23, 2001. I had been out of school for a year when September 11 came around, and I was supportive of our action in Afghanistan. I wound up there a year later, and it was pretty eye-opening to see how people live.

I was also in Iraq for about a year, deployed near the International Airport, west of Baghdad. I was never that supportive of the invasion. I thought the media coverage of it was horrendous, really disgusting.

Just about everything I saw in Iraq reinforced my views that it was wrong. The point that really hit me was when the Asmara Mosque got blown up. I said, Wow, this is really a civil war.

I really enjoy being in the Army, enjoy the experience. I just happen to not support this war. I'm very open about that. My buddies either disagree with me or just pay no attention. But I get absolutely no hostility. None.

"Rebecca" - 26 years old. 101st Airborne, US Army. Just returned from Iraq. Stationed at Fort Hood, Texas:

I joined in 2004. I was trying to go into the human rights field, but it was very competitive. I was in need of health insurance, and the Army seemed feasible. Now it looks like I will be stop-lossed until 2010.

I had strong feelings about the war, against it, but I'm the type of person that wants to fully understand both sides of the argument.

My experience in Iraq confirmed my views, but it also gave me a more multifaceted view of things. I did see some of the good things being done, but it seemed like a Band-Aid on a gushing wound. Mostly I saw the frivolity of the missions, the lack of direction, the absurdity of the mission. You go out in your Humvee, you drive around, and you wait to be blown up and get killed by an IED.

About 40 percent of my unit were stop-lossed. Their first mission was to take down Saddam and his regime, and they seemed to understand that and agree with the mission to take down a ruthless dictator. Now they can't seem to understand why they are there, caught in the cross hairs of a civil war.

I think it is safe to say that the majority of soldiers are wondering what this grand scheme is that we keep hearing about from those above us but that is never translating down to the ground level.

Some politicians are starting to see that not only a majority of Americans oppose to this war. Now they see this very powerful statement of soldiers who have already been on the front line and who are still in uniform and are also opposed. None of them have been where we have been, none of them have seen what we have seen. It's time they do.

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Related article:

Up to 50,000 Troops May Soon Be Sent to Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606Y.shtml
Military planners and White House budget analysts have been asked to provide President Bush with options for increasing American forces in Iraq. Officials said that the options being considered included the deployment of upwards of 50,000 additional troops, but that the political, training and recruiting obstacles to an increase larger than 20,000 to 30,000 troops would be prohibitive.

White House OKs Massive Pentagon Budget Increase
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606A.shtml
The White House has approved a $468.9 billion budget for the Pentagon in fiscal year 2008, a six percent increase over last year's request, according to a Defense Department document obtained by Reuters. It is also asking the Pentagon to cover some Army and Marine Corps war costs in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the regular budget, rather than through emergency budget requests. The 2008 budget request is $4.7 billion more than the level the Pentagon forecast in its 2007 budget documents.

Kucinich Says He Can "Save Presidency for Democratic Party"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606B.shtml
Speaking to a reporter about the Iraq war and his run for the White House in 2008, Democratic senator Dennis Kucinich said, "People aren't looking for the Democrats to be better managers of the war, they want the Democrats to end the war and to bring our troops home."

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5.

EVEN IF HAL TURNER - FALSE RUMORS' CHAMPION - IS DEFINITELY NOT A RELIABLE SOURCE, IT IS STILL AN INTERESTING "NEWS" TO CONSIDER IN LIGHT OF THE OTHER POST AFTER THIS ON THE AMERO.

Forwarded by "Mark Graffis" mgraffis@gmail.com">

From: http://fourwinds10.com/NewsServer/ArticleFunctions/ArticleDetails.php?ArticleID=12395

China To Dump One Trillion In U.S. Reserves!!!

December 15, 2006

Tells visiting Bush administration officials they will not sit back and lose their shirts as U.S. Dollar collapses; they are getting out fast and large!!!!!!

BEIJING, CHINA -- Sources with a U.S. Delegation in Beijing have told The Hal Turner Show the Chinese government has informed visiting Bush Administration officials they intend to dump One TRILLION U.S. Dollars from China's Currency Reserves and convert those funds into Euros!

China was allegedly asked to withhold the announcement until Bullion Markets closed for the weekend to prevent an instant spike in gold and silver prices. This delay will give the world the weekend to consider appropriate actions rather than have a knee-jerk reaction which could see the U.S. Dollar totally collapse in value Monday.

According to this Senior source, China told the U.S. delegation they no longer have faith in U.S. Currency for several reasons:

1) The Federal Reserve Bank ceased publishing "M3" data in March, making it nearly impossible for anyone to know how much cash is being printed. China said this act made it impossible to tell how much a Dollar is worth.

2) The U.S. Dollar has lost upwards of thirty percent (30%) of its value against other foreign currencies in the recent past, meaning China has lost almost $300 Billion simply by holding U.S. Dollars in its reserves.

3) The U.S. has no plans whatsoever to reduce deficit spending or pay down any of its existing debt without printing money to pay it off.

For these reasons China has decided to implement an aggressive sell-off of U.S. Dollars before the rest of the world does so. China reportedly told the US delegation; "we are the largest holder of U.S. Currency and if the rest of the world unloads theirs before we unload ours, we will lose our shirts."

Early this week, in an unusual move, the Bush administration sent virtually the entire economic "A-team" to visit China for a "strategic economic dialogue" in Beijing Dec. 14 and 15.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke lead the delegation, along with five other cabinet-level officials, including Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez. Also in the delegation is Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, Energy Secretary Sam Bodman, and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab.

The Bush administration wanted to get China's cooperation in preventing a dollar collapse. The Hal Turner Show has been told the effort failed.

According to the source, Fed Chairman Bernanke left the meeting "pale and in a cold sweat" as the implications of China's decision seemed to sink in.

The implications are enormous: The U.S. Dollar is likely to collapse in value against all other major currencies as early as Monday, December 18.

This would cause a worldwide sell-off of dollars, create almost immediate "hyper-inflation" in the US and also impact world markets at a level "worse than the Great Depression of 1929."

Arabs to the rescue?

In a strange twist of fate, Arabs and OPEC may come to the rescue of the U.S.!

Senior officials in OPEC made clear that they too would be severely harmed if the U.S. Dollar collapsed, and hinted they "would not be inclined to sell oil to any particular nation that intentionally caused such a collapse."

This was a thinly veiled threat to China, which depends heavily on OPEC oil for its rapidly developing energy needs.

The OPEC officials even went so far as to say "Since China lacks the ability to project their military power, OPEC nations need not worry about any Chinese military response to an oil cut-off."

Such brutally candid remarks will not sit well with China; and signal ominous things for the U.S. .

Arabs and OPEC will want something in return for saving the U.S. from economic collapse and it is already widely speculated what they want will be a complete change in U.S. backing of Israel in the Middle East.

If such demands are made by the oil-rich Arabs, the U.S. would be left with little choice but to virtually abandon the Jewish state to preserve itself.

More details will be reported here as they become available.

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Related article:

US sends the A team for key Beijing talks (Dec 14, 2006)
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2006-12/14/content_758547.htm
Nearly half of the Bush administration is in Beijing for the first Sino-US strategic economic dialogue scheduled for today and tomorrow.The two sides will focus on wide-ranging issues, including the bilateral trade imbalance, the renminbi exchange rate, further opening-up of China's financial sector to foreign competition and the ongoing poser of intellectual property rights protection. CLIP

China-U.S. Trade: The Real Issues (Dec 15)
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/dec2006/gb20061215_420725.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_businessweek+exclusives
As the two nations talk trade in Beijing, the yuan is front and center, but radically different savings and spending rates are more to the point - There is shadow play aplenty at the U.S.-Chinese "strategic economic dialogue" taking place in Beijing. A Team America of policy bigwigs led by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, including Bush Administration Cabinet officials and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, are in China to show U.S. displeasure over the country's swelling global trade surplus and reluctance to let the yuan trade more freely against other currencies.Right on cue, both sides are making nice in front of reporters and television cameras. Paulson told reporters in Beijing on Dec. 15 after emerging from a meeting with Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi that "we agreed on many principles" and that Beijing is open to more currency flexibility. At the same time, the yuan, which is carefully managed by Chinese financial authorities, has been trading at its highest levels against the dollar since Beijing abandoned a decade-long fixed exchange rate of roughly 8.3 back in July of 2005. It's up about 3% this year and nearly 6% since the dollar peg gave way to a new system in which the yuan fluctuates against a basket of currencies including the yen and euro in a tight trading band. So another mission accomplished for the Bush team? Not quite. The reality is that Washington is going to have to live with supersized bilateral Chinese trade deficits for many years to come. The colossal U.S. trade imbalance with China has less to do with currency rates than most people assume—and is far more driven by the radically different savings and spending behavior of both countries. Fixing this will take a lot more than trade missions to Beijing and jawboning with the Chinese about their currency. Here is a guide to the real issues involved.Well, how much stuff is China actually exporting around the globe and what's the outlook for the sensitive bilateral numbers with the U.S.?China's export machine is white hot. The mainland is now the world's No. 3 trading nation, exporting and importing about $1.5 trillion worth of goods and services a year. The country is on track to record a global surplus of $208 billion in 2006, predicts Standard Chartered Bank, more than double last's year $102 billion figure.China's mind-boggling bilateral surplus with the U.S. is expected to finish the year in the $230 billion range, vs. $202 billion in 2005. That will be one for the record books. CLIP

China and Darfur: The genocide Olympics?
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/commentary/commentaryother.asp?file=decembercommentary622006.xml
NEWSPAPERS have been running harrowing ads on the genocide in Darfur. They feature images of suffering coupled with appeals to President Bush to halt it. But the key to this tragedy lies not in the killing fields of western Sudan nor even in the White House. It is to be found instead in Khartoum, Sudan’s booming capital. The sleek new office towers sprouting up in the commercial district explain why Sudan’s government has resisted American and European pressure to end the genocide. But they also show why Arabs and Asians – and especially the Chinese – have the power to influence Sudan and the responsibility to use it. Sudan has been subject to US sanctions since the 1990s. It has been condemned in numerous United Nations resolutions, and Western firms that do business there risk alienating customers and investors. And yet a $4bn complex of offices, parks and hotels is rising at the confluence of the White and Blue Niles, complete with the new sail-shaped headquarters of Petrodar, a Chinese-Malaysian-United Arab Emirates oil partnership.Thanks to these investors, along with Kuwaitis, Saudis, Indians and Pakistanis, Sudan’s petro-economy is flourishing. This year the economy is expected to grow 13 per cent on the back of oil exports, most of which go to China. So Sudan’s government feels it can ignore Western revulsion at genocide because it has no need of Western money. But the bigger question is why China, along with Sudan’s other Arab and Asian partners, feels free to trample on basic standards of decency. China’s economic model rests on access to Western markets – access that can’t be assured given popular resentment of China’s growing trade surplus. Equally, China seeks acceptance at the world’s diplomatic top table – and this cause is unlikely to be advanced if China is perceived to be complicit in genocide.Imagine the newspaper ads leading up to the Beijing Games in 2008: Human rights campaigners will call on the world to boycott the Genocide Olympics. China recently demonstrated its leverage over Sudan, prevailing upon the regime to allow the embattled African Union force in Darfur to be supplied with better equipment. But China should join with the United States and others to broker a cease-fire in Darfur, without which even a beefed-up peace monitoring force cannot save civilians. In recent weeks, fighting has intensified in the region and spilled into neighbouring Chad; refugees are fleeing to the Central African Republic, which is embroiled in its own internal conflict.A regional catastrophe is brewing that could be worse even than the past three years of killing. This crisis isn’t going to fix itself. Sudan’s President Omar Hassan Al Bashir rivals Iran’s leader in genocide denial: He recently accused aid workers of exaggerating Darfur’s crisis to preserve their jobs. Doesn’t China feel qualms about propping up this ogre?Perhaps Treasury Secretary Henry M Paulson Jr, who is in China along with a team of Cabinet officials and the Fed chairman this week, might trouble to ask that question.

Iran shifts its foreign currency reserves from dollars to euros (Dec 19)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/business/6190865.stm
Dollar dropped in Iran asset move - Iran is to shift its foreign currency reserves from dollars to euros and use the euro for oil deals in response to US-led pressure on its economy.In a widely expected move, Tehran said it would use the euro for all future commercial transactions overseas.T he US, which accuses Tehran of supporting terrorism and trying to obtain nuclear weapons, has sought to limit the flow of dollars into Iran.It wants the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran. Analysts said Tehran had been steadily shifting its foreign-held assets out of dollars since 2003 and that Monday's announcement was unlikely to affect the value of the dollar, which has weakened significantly in recent months. CLIP

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Forwarded by "Mark Graffis" mgraffis@gmail.com

From: http://tinyurl.com/y95nvj">http://tinyurl.com/y95nvj

Analysts: Dollar collapse would result in 'amero' - Think deep recession likely regardless of Fed's actions

December 13, 2006

Jerome R. Corsi

Two analysts who have reconstructed money supply data after the Fed stopped publishing it argue a coming dollar collapse will set the stage for creating the amero as a North American currency to replace the dollar.
The reconstructed M3 data – the broadest measure of money – published on econometrician Gary Kuever's website, NowAndFutures.com , shows M3 increased at a rate of 11 percent in May, compared to 9 percent when the Federal Reserve quit publishing M3 data earlier this year.

Asked why the Fed decided to stop publishing M3 data, Kuever told WND, "The Fed probably wants to hide how much liquidity is being pumped into the market, and I expect the trend to keep pumping liquidity into the market will continue, especially since the economy is slowing down."

Why is this important?

"The trend line in my M3-plus-debt chart is staggering," Kuever said. "There has been a straight, long-term trend line of M3-plus-credit in