The Age of Awakening Series #2: Don't Be in Fear... Just Be Love...
Hello everysoul!
2012 - A Message of Hope - Superb 25 min Video! A real spiritual blast! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_YOG3jMlV4
Please watch this full screen in 480p before going any further into this compilation...
To share this material with others, click HERE and then click on the icon(s) of the place(s) (like Facebook Blogger, etc.) where you want to share it, log on, etc. and it will be automatically posted there. You can also access the archived copy of this compilation (link shown above) and click on the “share” button featured under the Google automatic translation button, near the top, and then follow the same steps just mentioned.
Your feedback is as always welcomed and may be included in a coming compilation - unless you prefer it is not. Circulating this compilation (or any part of it) and personally inviting your correspondents to subscribe to this list would also help enlarge the circle of people who have access to this material. Please include in your forwards the URL address for the archived copy above, so others may have the opportunity to explore the original copy.
To unsubscribe from the Earth Rainbow Network automated listserver, or change your listing on it when you have a new email address, you can do it yourself through sending a blank email at earthrainbownetwork-unsubscribe@lists.riseup.net from the email account you wish to unsubscribe and then you subscribe your new email address - from your new email account - through sending a blank email to earthrainbownetwork-subscribe@lists.riseup.net. Or you can also ask me at globalvisionary@earthrainbownetwork.com to do it for you.
THE QUOTES
"As I write this, my heart is filled with compassion and love for all peoples of Japan, the Middle East, and all those who have ever been impacted by the earth, fire, tornados, hurricanes and physical and spiritual starvation throughout the world that remains unfed. If we cannot be there, or send aid, we can give the radiance of our own growing light into the atmosphere of our world, loving and embracing those near and far. This is an emerging spiritual “crisis” for all. We are all moving through intense life and earth changes together. Perhaps we can individually and collectively speed up the cellular vibration to match that of light so we can live a long and healthy life and thrive spiritually as our hearts expand to hold all peoples everywhere in its petals like a parent embracing a lost child. If we truly believe in our unity with our brothers and sisters of the one humanity, we know that we affect each other just as the butterfly affects the whole world with the flutter of its wings."
"The species on this planet is going through a transformation. Crop circles are a part of that, instilling in the collective mind ancient yet recognizable images, to trigger growth and activate a deep psychic response. Powerful catalysts, they cannot be explained away only experienced, they are a window onto a greater reality that allows a clearer more complex picture to emerge. In other words, asking us to respond to the stirrings deep within…to arise, to come to a greater level of being. (...) It is believed that Crop Circles are templates for a new human reality about to emerge, suggesting that we recognize them on a deep psychic level as a galactic language which invites us to remember our origins and our birthright as co-creators. The expressions in the fields and elsewhere seem to indicate a shift in consciousness to a higher level of being and many subscribe to the theory that we are about to make a quantum leap forward in our evolution as a species. They represent an emerging sacred reality, but more so, the coming of a new level of consciousness - one of light, of spirit, of new design."
"In the wake of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, the pro-democracy uprisings in the Middle East, and the total capitulation of supposedly progressive President Barack Obama to the extreme Right wing agenda of the Republican party, it is fair to say that there is tremendous disappointment among Lightworkers and political progressives alike in the abysmal behavior of the ruling classes on planet Earth. I think we are all a little stunned to find that our political leaders and our most respected, wealthiest citizens around the world are the primary historical obstacle to the birthing of a new human civilization based upon Green Technology, equality of men and women, democracy, and a greater degree of social co-operation and social responsibility that readjusts the balance between the right of the individual to acquire and amass wealth, and the right of the society as a whole to goods held in common such as clean air, clean water, healthy soil, claims on health care, and claims by young people for a good education. (...) And I think also we all have a nagging deep-seated feeling that we each have to bear some responsibility for the current deplorable estate of humanity's affairs, which could be said this last month to resemble in many ways twilight at the nightfall of a New Dark Age rather than the approach of a Dawning Age of Love and Light. We all know the inner narcissist quite well, I'm sure. 'Nuff said. The big question for those of us in the large disappointed audience is "What next?" "What do we do next?" (...) We are being asked to open ourselves up this Full Moon to an increased experience of being constantly connected to the Web of Life. We are being asked to become increasingly more aware of our brothers and sisters, our community, and to expand our awareness of how our own thoughts, words and deeds impact that Web of Life and all our broad human family, and to be considerate and loving in all our relations in the Three Worlds. We are asked to become a Warrior of Love, a courageous Lightworker ready to be active in the world to be of help and service to others in pursuit of the common good. (...) As we celebrate this multi-denominational global Spiritual Festival, the world is engulfed in worry, fear, anxiety and yes, anger. The collective consciousness is well aware at the Soul level that we are approaching the end of industrial civilization, the end of the present World Order and the need to totally restructure our human civilization. Yet our world leaders are focused on one thing – maintaining their power and maintaining the status quo which has been so beneficial to them. We are being asked to rise to the occasion, to ascend beyond our previous limits as individuals and as groups, to assist in the global transformation that is coming, and to guide our leaders toward a compassionate, equitable and sustainable future. We are learning that our leaders will not guide us into the New Aeon, instead in Aquarian fashion, it is the people who will show the way."
(...) We are now facing more tides of change. The danger of radiation spewing into the environment hovers like an invisible shadow over the survivors in Japan as well as other parts of the world. We do not yet know how the cascading effects will take shape. A few days ago, the news broadcasted that traces of radiation were found in California but it has not since been mentioned. There is usually a tendency to downplay its presence and impact for fear of panic. I have received calls from Yoga teachers throughout this country who know of my exposure to radiation and depleted uranium in Chernobyl, Kosovo and Afghanistan. They want to know what I have learned about living with radiation after enduring damage to my health and surviving two near death experiences as a result of this exposure. The greatest piece of knowledge I can share with you I learned from the Soviets during my eight years working in the former Soviet Union.
Some of my Soviet colleagues were working with the children whose lives were shortened since the fallout of Chernobyl. They built salt rooms that looked like crystal caves for the children to remain in for a specified length of time. They used medicinal herbs indigenous to their region. Yoga was a mainstay for strengthening bones, balancing the endocrine system and raising the blood count on those little beings dying of leukemia. Before Chernobyl, the Russian children had strong bones, strong bodies and thick lustrous hair. After Chernobyl, I was shocked to see the children with their wispy hair, weak limbs and alarmingly thin weak bodies. Some children would be fortunate to reach the age of 15, diagnosed with illnesses of many names but all traced to the aftermath of Chernobyl.
A group of doctors and healers were having success with their groups of children. I inquired into what they were doing. They described the environmental conferences they held with their affected neighbors of the Scandinavian countries. They were concerned about contamination to the fish in their seas, to the grass-fed milk cows, to the lands, rivers and lakes. They were concerned about the air they breathed and the earth itself. They shared all of this, and then said they would tell me their secrets of offsetting the effects of radiation. I moved forward in my chair totally attentive to hear of a miraculous substance.
They told me that radiation is light and has a high vibratory frequency. Through their spiritual practices of meditation, prayer, Yoga, eating less dense foods and faith and love of God, they could raise their own cellular vibration to that of radiation to offset the harmful effects. They were smiling and even joyful.
“You see,” one Russian doctor bubbled with excitement, “We are using radiation as our spiritual guide. It forces us to be more fully conscious each moment of every day. If we have a negative thought it reduces the vibratory frequency of our cells and we become more susceptible. If we are angry or critical, our cells vibrate at a slower pace and we can become ill. If we become lighter, we become light and become one with the light of radiation. You see,” they beamed, “radiation is our spiritual practice.”
I was reminded of this profound statement last September in a laser light seminar. I shared the stories of my exposures to radiation with the seminar leader and he responded, “You’ve received the light. Now it is time for you to give it out.” It was a profound moment for me and reminded me of the wisdom of the Russians I had forgotten; it was time to raise the cellular vibration to the speed of light. Renewed health and energy began changing my life from that moment on. After using the laser, I felt energy streaming into my cells creating greater balance and strength. Now I feel better than I have in 30 years...have greater strength, energy and enthusiasm than ever before. Perhaps the greatest gift radiation can give us is a trim tab shift in perception. Instead of seeing radiation as destructive to health we can use it as an opportunity for spiritual evolution.
CLIP
"Love is the greatest power in the Universe, it's the greatest healer and it transcends all the boundaries and all borders we have created with our own self-limitations."
---
Note from Jean: The failure - so far! - of Barack Obama to live up to the groundswell of hope his candidacy and election have spurred around the world is masterfully illuminated below by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick through the light shed by the sound advice from the USSR empire dismantler, a man who truly deserved his Nobel Peace Prize, Mikhail Gorbachev. The United States and the world are at a unique historical crossroad. Despite the smoke screen of his teleprompted lofty rhetoric concocted by his team of speech writers, we can all see clearly where his spineless compromises to appease his opponents and please his corporate sponsors are leading us. Will he be judged by history as the man who squandered a historic opportunity given to him to set his country and the world on a path towards a truly sustainable and peaceful world, or as the man who stood firm in the face of daunting adversity to empower a global revolution through enabling the urgently needed changes of policies and priorities required to do the right thing for the highest good of all?
The film director Oliver Stone and the historian Peter Kuznick on how the US president can learn from precedents for peacemaking set by Mikhail Gorbachev and John F Kennedy.
"Suddenly, a season of peace seems to be warming the world," the New York Times exulted on the last day of July 1988. Protracted and bloody wars were ending in Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia and Nicaragua, and between Iran and Iraq. But the most dramatic development was still to come.
In December 1988, the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, declared the cold war over. "The use or threat of force no longer can or must be an instrument of foreign policy," he said. "This applies above all to nuclear arms."
He proposed cutting offensive strategic arms in half, jointly safeguarding the environment, banning weapons in outer space, ending exploitation of the third world and cancelling third world debt payments. He called for a UN-brokered ceasefire in Afghanistan, acknowledging that, after nine years, the Russians had failed to defeat the Afghan insurgents despite deploying 100,000 troops.
Still, he was not finished. He held out an olive branch to the incoming administration of George H W Bush, offering a "joint effort to put an end to an era of wars".
The New York Times described Gorbachev's riveting, hour-long speech as the greatest act of statesmanship since Roosevelt and Churchill's Atlantic Charter in 1941. The Washington Post called it "a speech as remarkable as any ever delivered at the United Nations".
Gorbachev saw this as a new beginning for America, Russia and the world, but US policymakers had something very different in mind, hailing it as the triumph of the capitalist west after the long decades of the cold war.
In September 1990, Michael Mandelbaum, then director of east-west studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, rejoiced that "for the first time in 40 years we can conduct military operations in the Middle East without worrying about triggering World War III".
The US would soon test that hypothesis, beginning two decades of costly and destructive imperial overreach, particularly, but not exclusively, in the Middle East. It squandered a historic opportunity to make the world a more peaceful and just place, instead declaring itself the global hegemon. After the attacks of 11 September 2001, the entire gaggle of neocons was extolling American power and beneficence. "We are an attractive empire, the one everyone wants to join," crowed the military historian Max Boot.
Buzzsaw of opposition
Fast-forward to 2008, when Barack Obama swept to office on a wave of popular euphoria, mesmerising supporters with his inspiring biography, lofty and exhilarating rhetoric, welcome rejection of unilateralism and strong opposition to the Iraq war - qualities that made him seem the antithesis of George W Bush.
Bush and his empire-building advisers - the sorriest crew ever to run this country - had saddled him and the American people with an incredible mess. After two long and disastrous wars, trillions of dollars in military spending, torture and abuse of prisoners on several continents, an economic collapse and near-depression at home, disparities between rich and poor unheard of in an advanced industrial country, government surveillance on an unprecedented scale, collapsing infrastructure and a global reputation left in tatters, the US did not look all that attractive.
Obama has taken a bad situation and, in many ways, made it worse. He got off to a good start, immediately taking steps to reverse some of Bush's most outlandish policies - pledging to end torture and close the detention facility at Guantanamo as well as the network of CIA-administered secret prisons.
But he ran into a buzzsaw of opposition from opportunistic Republicans and conservative Democrats over these and other progressive measures and has been in retreat ever since. As a result, his first two years in office have been a disappointment.
Instead of modelling himself after Gorbachev and boldly championing deeply felt convictions and transformative policies, Obama has taken a page from the Bill (and Hillary) Clinton playbook and governed as a right-leaning centrist. While trying naively to ingratiate himself with an opposition bent solely on his defeat, he has repeatedly turned his back on those who put him in office.
Surrounding himself with Wall Street-friendly advisers and military hawks, he has sent more than 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan; bailed out Wall Street banks while paying scant attention to the plight of the poor and working class; and enacted a tepid version of health reform that, while expanding coverage, represented a boondoggle for the insurance industry. And he has continued many of Bush's civil rights abuses, secrecy obsessions and neoliberal policies that allow the continued looting of the real economy by those who are obscenely wealthy.
Obama has also endorsed a military/security budget that continues to balloon. Recent accounting by Christopher Hellman of the National Priorities Project found that the US spends over $1.2trn out of its $3trn annual budget on "national security", when all related expenses are factored in.
Still, triumphalist rhetoric abounds. "People are wondering what the future holds, at home and abroad," Hillary Clinton told the Council on Foreign Relations. "So let me say it clearly: the United States can, must and will lead in this new century."
Despite such blather, the US has been relegated to the role of a supporting actor in the extraordinary democratic upheaval sweeping the Middle East. Decades of arming, training and supporting practically every "friendly" dictator in the region and the use of Egyptians as surrogate torturers have stripped the US of all moral authority.
Backbone required
Whatever good may have been done by Obama's Cairo speech in June 2009 has been outweighed by US policy, capped by the indefensible US veto of the UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory as not only illegal, but an obstacle to peace. (The resolution was sponsored by at least 130 nations and supported by all 14 other members of the Security Council.)
Nor can anyone take seriously the US outrage about repressive regimes using force against their citizens after US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have directly or indirectly been responsible for the killing and maiming of hundreds of thousands of civilians and the forced emigration of millions.
Where the foreign policy establishment sees only international peril, Obama should see an opportunity - the chance to reinvent himself - to reconnect with the Barack Obama who marched against nuclear weapons while at college and then promised to abolish them in a speech he gave in Prague in April 2009.
He should look to John F Kennedy for precedent. After two nearly disastrous years in office, Kennedy underwent a stunning reversal, repudiating the reckless cold war militarism that defined his early presidency. The Kennedy who was tragically assassinated in November 1963 was looking to end not only the US invasion of Vietnam, but the cold war.
We know from Bob Woodward that during policy discussions regarding Afghanistan, Obama was often the least bellicose person in the room. He has much to learn from Kennedy's scepticism towards military advisers and intelligence officials. As Kennedy told another celebrated journalist, Ben Bradlee: "The first advice I'm going to give my successor is to watch the generals and to avoid feeling that, just because they are military men, their opinions on military matters are worth a damn."
There are many ways in which Obama can begin overseeing the end of the American empire and the insane militarism that undergirds it. He has been urged to do so by none other than Mikhail Gorbachev, who has pressed Obama to stiffen his spine and pursue bold initiatives. "America needs perestroika right now," Gorba?chev said, "because the problems he has to deal with are not easy ones."
The former Soviet leader's solutions included restructuring the economy to eliminate the kind of unregulated free-market policies that caused the current global economic downturn and perpetuate the unconscionable gap between the world's rich and poor.
But, Gorbachev warned, the US can no longer dictate to the rest of the world: "Everyone is used to America as the shepherd that tells everyone what to do. But this period has already ended." He has condemned the Clinton and Bush administrations' dangerous militarisation of international politics and urged the US to withdraw from Afghanistan.
Obama, having wrapped himself even more tightly of late in his cocoon of Wall Street- and empire-friendly advisers, has shown no inclination to heed Gorbachev's advice. He would be wise to do so, because the older man oversaw the dismantling of the USSR in a smoother and more peaceful way than anyone believed possible, and so knows something about bringing the curtain down on a dysfunctional empire that has long overstayed its welcome.
If Obama would seize the opportunity for peace that the Bushes and Clintons seem so intent on strangling in its cradle, perhaps the vision that Gorbachev so brilliantly articulated in 1988 can finally become a reality.
Filmmaker Oliver Stone and historian Peter Kuznick, Professor of History and Director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University, along with teacher Matt Graham, are finishing a 12-hour documentary "The Forgotten History of the United States," covering the period from 1900 to 2010. This will be premiered later this year in the United States from Showtime. Sky Television is scheduled to premiere the series in the United Kingdom.
LATEST UPDATES ON THE GLOBAL NUCLEAR CRISIS
Note from Jean: While the lamestream media and health authorities remain largely silent about the radioactive contamination of North America, the Internet – thanks to independent global citizen's journalism like what I've been providing for over 12 years now – is once again proving to be an invaluable resource to discover the true extent of this worsening situation which is likely to haunt us and our descendents for generations to come.
6-9 more months to end Japan's nuclear crisis (April 17, 2011) AT LEAST 9 MORE MONTHS OF GLOBAL RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION!!! http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10719983
The operator of the nuclear plant leaking radiation in northern Japan says it aims to bring the crisis under control within six to nine months. Tokyo Electric Power Co. chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata told a news conference Sunday that the company had come up with a phased plan to end the crisis and allow residents who have been evacuated from the area around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant to return home. He said that in the first three months, the company hopes to steadily reduce the level of leaking radiation. Three to six months after that it hopes to get the release of radioactive materials under control. Check also Levels of Radioactive Materials Rise Near Japanese Plant (April 17, 2011)
Melted nuclear fuel likely settled at bottom of crippled reactors (April 15, 2011) http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110415p2g00m0dm106000c.html
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Nuclear fuel inside the crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant has partially melted and settled in granular form at the bottom of pressure vessels, according to an analysis by the Atomic Energy Society of Japan made public by Friday. As the nation's worst nuclear crisis drags on more than a month after it was triggered by the March 11 quake and tsunami, small amounts of plutonium have been detected for the third time in soil samples taken at the complex. Also Friday, the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said it will pay up to 1 million yen to residents of each of the roughly 50,000 households within 30 kilometers of the plant who have been forced to evacuate their homes or remain indoors, as provisional compensation for the damage caused by the crisis.
(...) Meanwhile, small amounts of plutonium believed to have been released as a result of the ongoing disaster have been detected in soil samples taken at the nuclear complex in Fukushima Prefecture, according to TEPCO. It is the third time that traces of plutonium have been found in soil samples taken at the plant. The latest samples were taken on March 31 and April 4. The levels of plutonium in the samples were around the same levels observed in Japan following nuclear bomb tests conducted by other countries, according to the utility. On Friday, workers continued their efforts to bring the reactors under control and stop radioactive leaks from the coastal plant, injecting more nitrogen gas into the No. 1 reactor and installing more steel plates near a seawater intake for the No. 2 reactor. TEPCO said it will throw sandbags containing zeolite, a mineral that absorbs radioactive materials, into the sea near the plant, possibly on Friday, to reduce the levels of contamination in the Pacific Ocean. The nitrogen injection is aimed at preventing a hydrogen explosion at the No. 1 reactor. At a news conference on Friday, spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama said his agency is also considering injecting nitrogen into the two other troubled reactors soon. The agency said, meanwhile, that pressure inside the No. 1 reactor has dropped somewhat, an indication that air inside the reactor has leaked outside, but that no major changes in radiation levels have been detected. The utility has pumped out around 660 tons of highly radioactive water from a tunnel connected to the No. 2 reactor's turbine building into a container inside the building. CLIP
Professor Chris Busby: Fukushima Meltdown Could Trigger Atomic Explosion! - Alex Jones Tv 1/3 (April 12, 2011) PART 2 HERE - PART 3 HERE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0j-FHQGeEY
A British professor and expert on the health effects of ionizing radiation told Alex Jones today evidence points toward a nuclear explosion occurring at the Fukushima Daiichi complex. Two explosions at the plant in March were described as hydrogen gas explosions by Japanese officials and the corporate media. Professor Chris Busby on the Alex Jones Show, April 12, 2011. Citing data collected by two Russian scientists, Professor Chris Busby told Alex Jones and his audience the explosions at Fukushima were nuclear. The Russian scientists, Sergey A. Pakhomov and Yuri V. Dubasov of the VG Khlopin Radium Institute in Saint Petersburg, examined data related to the explosion at Chernobyl. Japanese nuclear safety agency raises crisis level of Fukushima Daiichi power plant accident from 5 to 7. Using ratios of the radionuclides Xenon 133 and Xenon 133m which they measured by gamma spectrometer, the Russians demonstrated that the Chernobyl explosion was a fission criticality explosion and not principally a hydrogen explosion as has been claimed. "I believe that the explosion of the No 3 reactor may have also involved criticality but this must await the release of data on measurements of the Xenon isotope ratios," he writes in a statement on Fukushima and Chernobyl emailed to Infowars.com. Busby further notes that the surface contamination and of dose rates 60 kilometers out from the Fukushima site on March 17 exceeded that released at Chernobyl. He explains in his statement that the damaged reactors at Fukushima "are now continuing to fission. It is hoped that there will be no separation of plutonium and possible nuclear explosion. I feel that this is unlikely now." Short of an actual plutonium explosion, the reactors remain open to the air and will continue to "fission and release radionuclides for years unless something drastic is done." Dr. Busby noted a precedent for the dire scenario now unfolding -- a nuclear explosion at a plutonium production reprocessing plant in the former Soviet Union in 1957. The incident at the Mayak facility was the second-worst nuclear accident in history after the Chernobyl disaster. The explosion released 50-100 tonnes of high-level radioactive waste and contaminated a huge territory in the eastern Urals. The Soviets kept the explosion secret for 30 years. According to a report on the accident, about 400,000 people in the region were irradiated following the explosion and other incidents at the plant.
Europeans warned to avoid drinking milk or eating vegetables due to high radiation levels (April 12, 2011) http://www.naturalnews.com/032050_radioactive_food_nuclear_radiation.html
The radiation risk from Fukushima is "no longer negligible," says CRIIRAD, the French research authority on radioactivity. It is now warning expectant mothers and young children to avoid drinking milk or rainwater. They should also avoid certain types of vegetables and cheese due to the dangerously high levels of radiation they may contain thanks to the radioactive fallout spreading across the globe. CRIIRAD now says that eating these items qualifies as "risky behavior." And yet, in practically the same sentence, the organization claims there is "absolutely no need" for anyone to take iodine tablets. That's right: There's so much radiation in the food that you probably shouldn't eat it. But all that radiation is so harmless that you don't need to protect yourself from it with iodine. It's amazing how these people think they can have it both ways. (...) What I'm beginning to wonder in all this, however, is how high the radioactivity of the entire food supply is going to become. Are we looking toward a day when we have to being Geiger counters to the grocery store?Will we soon have two bins of apples at the store called "Pre-Fukushima" and "Post-Fukushima?"And for all those people who have already stored food, good for you! All the food you stored before Fukushima is obviously not radioactive, and there may come a day when non-radioactive food commands a huge price premium. CLIP
The sheeple sprouts up http://halfpasthuman.com/sprouters.html
So you are European, where at least your governments are nominally scared of you enough to 'warn you' about about eating radioactively contaminated foods. Especially the green leafy veges. But what do you do? Here the gov'mint is both criminal, and incompetent. They (political stooges, and other minions) don't bother to warn the sheeple. After all, why bother? They are there to be shorn...as all religions demonstrate.What's an awake sheep to do then? Well...convert your diet now, while you can.Stand not in the common grazing areas lest you ingest radioactive grass. And go search for cows near fukushima to see what that will get you.Instead, be a bit smarter, and do investigate how easy it is to grow your veges inside in the form of spouts. Protected away from radioactive debris and chemtrail madness.There is a complete garden in my kitchen in less than 3/three cubic feet (one third a cubic meter/yard). It provides clean, parasite free food for my dogs as well. It provides all kinds of nutritious foods that are fresh, and hugely loaded with vitamins, and tasty. At a very small costs. And not radioactive. CLIP
Radiation disease - here are the symptoms and causes (April 15, 2011) http://www.naturalnews.com/032087_radiation_sickness_symptoms.html
What does radiation do to us? It burns the cells, kind of like burning down a house. It is well known that radiation burns our cells by creating too much free radical damage. Now of course this is like talking Greek to medical officials and professors because if they knew this they would be on the bullhorn telling the public what to do to minimize free radical damage.You really do not want to get sick from radiation exposure and that is why the supreme rule in dealing with radiation is to avoid exposure. You want to move as far away from the danger as possible and you surely do not want to eat radioactively-contaminated foods. There is great individual variation in how people respond to radiation and the process is not fully understood. If you are feeling sick from radiation exposures, be assured this is not a figment of your imagination. Radiation syndrome, radiation toxicity, radiation illness and/or radiation damage will make you and your children very ill possibly to the point of causing death in one of a number of different ways.
The New York Times says, "Experts hesitate to predict where the radiation will go. Once harmful radioactive elements are released into the outdoors, their travel patterns are as mercurial as the weather and as complicated as the food chains and biochemical pathways along which they move. When and where radioactive contamination becomes a problem depends on a vast array of factors: the specific element released, which way the wind is blowing, whether rain will bring suspended radioactivity to earth, and what types of crops and animals are in an exposed area. Research related to the 1986 Chernobyl accident makes clear that for decades, scientists will be able to detect the presence of radioactive particles released by the crippled Japanese reactors thousands of miles away."The CDC tells us: The first symptoms of ARS are typically nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. These symptoms will start within minutes to days after the exposure, will last from minutes to up to several days, and may come and go. Then the person usually looks and feels healthy for a short time, after which he or she will become sick again with loss of appetite, fatigue, fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and possibly even seizures and coma. This stage of serious illness may last from a few hours to several months.People with ARS typically also have some skin damage. This damage can start to show within a few hours after exposure and can include swelling, itching, and redness of the skin (like a bad sunburn).
(...) "If you don't heal yourself of the effects of radiation exposure and if you don't bind radioactive particles and flush them out of your body if you've ingested them, then they'll just stay there and slowly work at destroying your health. Eventually you will succumb to unexplained symptoms of fatigue, lethargy, a weakened immune system, tumors, unexplained illnesses, anemia, excessive bleeding, genetic damage, cancer, leukemia, cataracts, or possibly having children with severe birth defects. You can develop all sorts of conditions that just don't seem to respond to medicine ... and for which there doesn't seem to be any explanation," writes William Bodri. CLIP
Radiation Danger Not Reported http://www.bbsradio.com/cgi-bin/webbbs/webbbs_config.pl?md=read;id=14515
Now is when an ounce of prevention - to build a strong immune system - is worth a TON of cancer therapy. It's time to get serious about the radiation folks! As never before, your health is facing an invisible but serious danger. How serious is open to debate, but you and your loved ones ignore the headlines at your own peril. CLIP
How to protect your garden patch or field against radioactive fall-out (2011-04-06) http://crisismaven.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/how-to-protect-your-garden-patch-or-field-against-radioactive-fall-out/
Do you own a garden, a patch of land, a field where you plant, esp. for human food or animal feed? Then you should prepare against letting the radioactive fall-out from Japan into your soil, where it will remain and contaminate your plants and e.g. livestock for probably decades.Here’s the advice I already gave to people back in 1986 after the Chernobyl incident … CLIP
Fukushima Nuclear Crisis - Chronicle of a Disaster Foretold (11/04/11) http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Fukushima_Nuclear_Disaster.php Fukushima is just one among many similar disasters waiting to happen worldwide; governments and regulators have systematically downplayed the risks and hidden the real costs of nuclear power; there is no place for nuclear in a truly green energy portfolio; furthermore, there is a lot we can do to put the nuclear genie back into the bottle (...) According to the Los Angeles Times,TEPCO revealed on 5 April that it had found I-131 at 7.5 million times the legal limit in a seawater sample taken near the stricken Fukushima plant, and government officials instituted a health limit for radioactivity in fish [13]. Other samples contained radioactive caesium at 1.1 million times the legal limit. On 4 April, Japanese officials detected more than 4 000 becquerels of racioactive iodine per kilogram in a fish called sand lance caught less than 3 miles offshore from the town of Kitaibaraki, about 50 miles south of Fukushima Kaiichi, the fish also contained 447 becquerels of Cs-137. On 5 April, Mr. Edano said the government was imposing a standard of 2 000 becquerels of radioactive iodine per kilogram of fish, the same level it allows in vegetables. For comparison, the European Union’s legal limit before Japan’s nuclear crisis was 600 becquerels (cesium 134 and cesium 137) per kilogram; but has since jumped more than 20 fold to 12 500 becquerels per kilogram [14].All three reactors damaged and releasing high levels of radioactivityThe IAEA update on 4 April 2011 [15] stated that full off-site power from the grid has been restored to temporary electric pumps set up to supply water to cool the reactor vessels 1, 2 and 3. It also revealed that all three reactor vessels had been damaged, with reactor 2 “severely damaged”. Highly radioactive water was leaking from a crack in the turbine building of reactor 2 to the sea at 5 million times the legal limit (down from high of 7.5 million times).
(...) The US Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) reported 14-near misses at US nuclear plants in the past year alone [18]. The serious lapses included engineers accidentally switching off safety system, electrical circuits failing and workers not knowing how to activate the system to summon emergency services. The UCS report released 18 March 2011 came as Obama ordered a comprehensive review of US’ 104 active nuclear power plants. The report says the review is much needed, as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has a mixed safety record, catching some problems but overlooking others, or allowing them to be neglected.UK Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said Britain may back away from nuclear energy because of safety fears and a potential rise in costs after the Fukushima disaster
(...) Fukushima should be the last nail in the coffin for the nuclear industry, as so much damning evidence has emerged indicating that it is extremely uneconomical and unsafe as well as highly unsustainable. Nuclear is not a renewable energy. In terms of savings in carbon emissions and energy, it is worse than a gas-fired electricity generating plant when available uranium ore falls below 0.02 percent, as it would in decades, just simply keeping up with existing nuclear facilities [25] (see The Nuclear Black Hole, SiS 40). There are other repercussions.Japan’s nuclear disaster is toxic, not just for the environment - in the huge amounts of radioactive wastes spewed out into the atmosphere, deposited on land, leaked, and indeed flushed out into the sea - it is also toxic for Tokyo Electric Power Company [21]. UK’s Guardian newspaper reports the company facing a financial meltdown while its engineers are struggling to bring the nuclear meltdown under control. TEPCO’s Nikkei stock index plummeted by 18 percent on 4 April to a 60 year low; the Japanese are losing faith in their nuclear industry. CLIP
Quake disaster shakes Japanese economy (15 April 2011) http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/japa-a15.shtml
The full economic consequences of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that officially left more than 28,000 people dead or missing, displaced at least 139,000 and destroyed towns and businesses throughout much of Japan’s northeastern Tohoku region are still being calculated.The Japanese government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week provided upbeat assessments, stressing that recovery is likely later this year or next year. Other economic analysts are not so optimistic, pointing to the potential impact of ongoing electricity shortages and disruptions in supply chains. (...) Even by the most optimistic estimates, the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant owned by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) will take months to stabilise, and four of its six reactors will be scrapped. Thirteen of the company’s 17 nuclear reactors are now offline, along with half of its oil-fired thermal plants and both of its coal-fired plants. TEPCO alone supplies 29 percent of Japan’s electricity to more than 2 million businesses and 26 million households in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Amid widespread public outrage over the nuclear disaster, the government has ordered nuclear power plant operators to ensure emergency power supplies in the event of further aftershocks. Some plants are taking measures to strengthen the quake resistance of structures before coming back on line. While certainly necessary, all of these measures will lead to electricity shortages that are likely to peak at between 20 to 25 percent in the coming summer months.Power problems in Tokyo have also been compounded by Japan’s poorly planned grid that stemmed from the introduction of electricity in the 19th century. In fact, the country has two incompatible power grids: Tokyo and areas to the northeast operate on 50-hertz electricity installed initially by German engineers, whereas Osaka and southwestern Japan use an American 60-hertz system. As a result of limited converter stations, Tokyo and the stricken Tohoku region cannot rely on power from the rest of the country. CLIP
FEAR & LOATHING IN FUKUSHIMA April 6 - With full transcript http://www.ecoshock.info/2011/04/fear-and-loathing-in-fukushima.html
Will there be more explosions at the damaged nuclear reactors in Japan? What is reaching North America, or Europe? The Fukushima site dumps radwaste into the Pacific. Sea food & sea life affected. Japanese government withholds vital information. News plus interviews with Dr. John Large in UK, and Dr. Krzysztof Starosta who measured emissions on Canada's West Coast (as UC Berkeley did in San Francisco).
"Welcome to Radio Ecoshock - where we are all more radio active. It is almost a month since the multiple nuclear disasters in Japan. And still, we hardly know what to expect.Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency assured the world there would be no further explosions. The following Tuesday the Los Angeles Times reported, "Engineers also planned to begin injecting nitrogen gas into reactors Nos. 1,2, and 3 in an attempt to prevent possible explosions from the buildup of hydrogen gas..." By Wednesday, the Japanese announced they were injecting the nitrogen. We have reports of meltdowns in reactors, and possibly spent fuel pools. You will hear two nuclear experts with different points of view. " CLIP
Fukushima: NUCLEAR MUTINY April 13 - Full transcript of THIS AUDIO FILE available at this URL below http://www.ecoshock.info/2011/04/fukushima-nuclear-mutiny.html
In Fukushima Japan, we've passed another week out of eternity. Quakes rocked the damaged reactors, at the accident now rated Level 7, like Chernobyl. The evacuation zone was expanded, massive radiation admitted, and found in milk from Hawaii through California to Vermont and Europe.I'm Alex Smith. This week on Radio Ecoshock we dig to find you the news not heard. In Japan, North America, Australia, all over this world, reconsecrated to the atomic nightmare. We start out with the American nuclear expert, industry insider and whistleblower Arnie Gundersen, with a detailed investigation of each reactor. Where is plutonium coming from, where it going, where is panic only appropriate? Later we'll chat with California activist Ace Hoffman, who told us this was coming, and worries about his own local reactors. All through, you'll get news from Japan, and the world media, from the epicentre of a nuclear sore that will ooze radioactivity for centuries. Fukushima, the name we never knew, the name we can never forget. CLIP
How nuclear apologists mislead the world over radiation BY Helen Caldicott (11 April 2011) http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/11/nuclear-apologists-radiation
Soon after the Fukushima accident last month, I stated publicly that a nuclear event of this size and catastrophic potential could present a medical problem of very large dimensions. Events have proven this observation to be true despite the nuclear industry's campaign about the "minimal" health effects of so-called low-level radiation. That billions of its dollars are at stake if the Fukushima event causes the "nuclear renaissance" to slow down appears to be evident from the industry's attacks on its critics, even in the face of an unresolved and escalating disaster at the reactor complex at Fukushima. Proponents of nuclear power – including George Monbiot, who has had a mysterious road-to-Damascus conversion to its supposedly benign effects – accuse me and others who call attention to the potential serious medical consequences of the accident of "cherry-picking" data and overstating the health effects of radiation from the radioactive fuel in the destroyed reactors and their cooling pools. Yet by reassuring the public that things aren't too bad, Monbiot and others at best misinform, and at worst misrepresent or distort, the scientific evidence of the harmful effects of radiation exposure – and they play a predictable shoot-the-messenger game in the process. CLIP
Japan Disaster Raises Questions About Backup Power at U.S. Nuclear Plants (March 24, 2011) http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/03/24/24greenwire-japan-disaster-raises-questions-about-backup-p-16451.html
The batteries that back up power at most U.S. nuclear plants are required to last about as long as the average cellphone battery -- four hours. (...) Since NRC began monitoring nuclear plants' emergency backup capacity, the number, duration and severity of power outages has steadily decreased. Still, regulators were alarmed by a blackout that hit the northeastern United States in 2003, cutting power to nine reactors and prompting a wide-ranging review (pdf) by NRC. And in 1992, Hurricane Andrew caused the Turkey Point Nuclear Reactor near Miami to lose access to the grid for more than six days. Station blackout at a nuclear facility can account for as much as 88 percent of the chance of reactor core damage in a year, according to NRC records. The average, though, for U.S. plants is about 23 percent.A 2005 NRC report (pdf) shows there were 24 "loss of offsite power" events between 1997 and 2004, including the nine in the Northeast blackout. Some nuclear critics say the situation is even more dangerous with spent fuel -- uranium-bearing rods that no longer produce enough energy to sustain a nuclear reaction in the reactor. In the United States, most spent fuel remains on site at nuclear plants because the country has not developed a facility to store it. The United States has 71,862 tons of the waste, according to a recent analysis by the Associated Press (Greenwire, March 23). Three-quarters of that waste is stored in water-filled cooling pools like those at the Japanese plant, stored outside the thick concrete containment barriers that block the release of radioactive material in an accident. The rest is encased in "dry casks" constructed of steel and thick concrete. "The spent-fuel pools are currently holding, on the average, four times more than their designs intended," said Robert Alvarez of the left-leaning Institute for Policy Studies.By contrast, Japan reprocesses spent nuclear fuel, turning much of it into new fuel. Spent-fuel pools, NRC's Burnell said, must be built to withstand the strongest earthquake at their site and are therefore as robust as any structures at a reactor. "These factors preclude the need for specific containment structures for the pools," he said. The Union of Concerned Scientists' Lochbaum says the federal government should require spent fuel rods to be stored in dry casks. He said it could take a terrorist attack or other catastrophe to expose the danger of keeping so much spent fuel at the plants to get policymakers to act. "Why don't we do it now," he said, "and skip the step where a bunch of Americans get killed?"
Hiding From Shame, Addicted To Optimism: The tyranny of our collective comfort zones (April 11th, 2011) http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2011/04/11/hiding-from-shame-addicted-to-optimism-t
The technologies that inflicted upon the world the ongoing tragedies in both the Gulf of Mexico and Japan serve a dangerous addiction, an addiction to blind optimism, a habituation of mind that allows us to dwell within provisional comfort zones but renders vast spaces of the world into deathrealms.After each catastrophe, there ensues a scramble to contain the damage leveled, as, concurrently, the apologist of the present system explain the anomalous nature of the event. Yet, this much should be obvious: Attempting to clean up the mess, after it occurs, as oppose to altering the way of life that incurs the damage, is analogous to an addict believing a few days in detox will serve as a solution to his addiction. In the same way drug dealers are reliant on an addict's unwillingness to reflect on the carnage created in his life, as well as, the havoc reaped in the lives of those near him, engendered by his addiction, the small group of hyper-wealthy elites who benefit from the current system rely on collective cognitive dissidence (or, as it has been termed, the fear of fear itself) to dissuade the public at large from peering deeply into the pernicious situation. One of an addict's biggest obstacles is his optimism i.e., he is convinced he can figure out somehow, someway to use his drug of choice in a less destructive way…and, by reflex, rebels against the deepening sorrow that he must change.When large, powerful corporations create messes beyond their ability to control the damage wrought by their institutional cupidity, those in charge spare no expense aggressively confronting the problem…that is, of course, by means of public relations blitzes aimed at the general public, while tsunami-sized waves of campaign contributions flood the coffers of elected officials. CLIP
Germany to speed nuclear energy exit (April 15, 2011) IF IT IS POSSIBLE IN JAPAN, IT IS POSSIBLE EVERYWHERE! http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9MK70G01.htm
Chancellor Angela Merkel's government says Germany will replace its reliance on nuclear power by increasing renewable energy sources after Japan's Fukushima disaster. Merkel told reporters that a bill on the overhaul of the energy sector would go before parliament by mid-June. The plan foresees an expansion of the electric grid, investment in renewable energy sources and increased efficiency. A stinging loss in a regional election to the pro-renewable Greens party and calls from utilities companies to abolish nuclear power after the catastrophe at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi plant forced Merkel's government to ditch a plan to extend reliance on nuclear reactors.Merkel met Friday with key ministers and governors to discuss the issue.
Potassium Iodide Replacement Substitute Tincture Of Iodine For Radiation Fallout - IMPORTANT!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57I2dMK5OFs
University Of Pennsylvania have found a substitute for Potassium Iodide. It may be no farther than your medicine cabinet: Tincture of Iodine
Star Dreams - The Crop Circle Phenomena - Trailer (MOST excellent DVD!) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=966639197455233571#
A 77 minute documentary which shows the circles themselves for all to see and presents the top crop circle researchers. Investigating the over-all assumption of hoaxing, balls of light, sacred site connection, media and people's reaction to the phenomena, and outlining the basic understandings arrived at so far. Images of the major crop circles, interviews with top researchers and a narrative line dealing with the mysterious aspects of the phenomenon. More through http://www.stardreams-cropcircles.com/ - Check also Crop circles as oracles
World Meditation Day http://www.worldmeditationday.com/
Meditating for Inner Peace and World Unity - First Sunday of every month. Anytime during the Sunday will be fine, but the core time is 7 – 8 in the evening, local time. New Moon of every month.Anytime during the New Moon day will be fine, but the core hour STARTS at the New Moon global time.
The Age of Stupid (Trailer - Version française ICI) Why didn't we save ourselves when we had the chance? http://www.spannerfilms.net/films/ageofstupid
The Age of Stupid is a 90-minute film about climate change, set in the future. Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite (In The Name of the Father, Brassed Off) stars as a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, looking back at archive footage from 2007 and asking: why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance? - Trailer also available HERE - Check also "The Making of The Age of Stupid" 50 minute documentary following every stage of the epic five year battle to make The Age of Stupid climate blockbuster, from early funding meetings in London to kidnap close-calls in Nigeria and from filming with Pete Postlethwaite to recording the full orchestral score. (Make sure to watch the entire last 13 minutes!) And check also Global Premiere : Full Version Will people in the future call our time the Age of the Stupid? You can watch the whole documentary HERE - Make sure to at least watch the last segment from 2 minute into it to 4 min... Then check http://notstupid.org/ and the Pledge they had designed to put pressure on world leaders who were about to meet in Copenhagen, a global summit which ended in utter failure.
Ishinomaki - Black Water (April 15, 2011) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_8B6cCqtt0o
A documentary film about Ishinomaki in Miyagi prefecture one of the hardest hit areas of the March 11, 2011 tsunami. This documentary deals with the city, the people and relief efforts completed by individuals living in Tokyo to send relief supplies to a center for disabled people in Ishinomaki.
THE WORLD'S FIRST CVT ELECTRIC MOTORBIKE - Created in Quebec http://litogreenmotion.com/index.html
A new generation of electric superbike, with cutting-edge design, unparalleled power and exhilarating performance. CHECK THE SPECS! 300 km on a single charge - 0-200 km/h with zero clutch and phenomenal torque that makes you feel like you're flying on the road. The same system design can be applied to a whole range of electric transportation means like snowmobiles and cars.
John Adams - Declaration of Independence http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrvpZxMfKaU Note from Jean: I've been watching lately this excellent miniseries. This video excerpt shows the crucible moment, after long debates and tortuous negotiations, of the Declaration of Independence. You can read HERE an interesting critical analysis of this series and its cast. Check also the HBO Full Length Trailer. Sadly the United States of America have become today a global empire soaking in far more blood and cruelly imposed sufferings than the British empire of 2 centuries ago could ever achieved. The time has now come for a new planetary r-evolution - based of a global spiritual awakening this time! - to definitely and permanently rid this planet of its current roster of tyrannic/militaristic/corporate despots and unite the whole world under a new federation of free and sovereign souls whose sole supreme allegiance will be towards serving the One Creator Source in all, for the Highest Good of All!
U.S. Supreme Court - SANTA CLARA COUNTY v. SOUTHERN PAC. R. CO.,118 U.S. 394 (1886) http://www.ratical.org/corporations/SCvSPR1886.html
This is the text of the 1886 Supreme Court decision granting corporations the same rights as living persons under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Quoting from David Korten's The Post-Corporate World, Life After Capitalism (pp.185-6): In 1886, . . . in the case of Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that a private corporation is a person and entitled to the legal rights and protections the Constitutions affords to any person. Because the Constitution makes no mention of corporations, it is a fairly clear case of the Court's taking it upon itself to rewrite the Constitution. Far more remarkable, however, is that the doctrine of corporate personhood, which subsequently became a cornerstone of corporate law, was introduced into this 1886 decision without argument. According to the official case record, Supreme Court Justice Morrison Remick Waite simply pronounced before the beginning of argument in the case of Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company that "The court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which forbids a State to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to these corporations. We are all of opinion that it does." The court reporter duly entered into the summary record of the Court's findings that "The defendant Corporations are persons within the intent of the clause in section 1 of the Fourteen Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which forbids a State to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Thus it was that a two-sentence assertion by a single judge elevated corporations to the status of persons under the law, prepared the way for the rise of global corporate rule, and thereby changed the course of history The doctrine of corporate personhood creates an interesting legal contradiction. The corporation is owned by its shareholders and is therefore their property. If it is also a legal person, then it is a person owned by others and thus exists in a condition of slavery -- a status explicitly forbidden by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. So is a corporation a person illegally held in servitude by its shareholders? Or is it a person who enjoys the rights of personhood that take precedence over the presumed ownership rights of its shareholders? So far as I have been able to determine, this contradiction has not been directly addressed by the courts. Note from Jean: Did you know that the US government, the US president, the Canadian and UK rulers, right down to local authorities and police forces, are all registered corporations? Look up Barack Obama and Stephen Harper (for instance) in the Dunn & Bradstreet website (which gives information on all existing corporations and you'll see it is true... The first section of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist which is "Glibness/superficial charm - Grandiose sense of self-worth - Pathological lying - Cunning/manipulative - Lack of remorse or guilt - Shallow affect (genuine emotion is short-lived and egocentric) - Callous/lack of empathy - Failure to accept responsibility for own actions" and, interestingly, which applies very well to most politicians today...
Charlie Chaplin Google Doodle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NGSU2PM9dA
The Google Doodle team stars in an homage to the silent film era's greatest star's 122nd birthday.
Scientists successfully generate electricity using freshwater and saltwater (April 14, 2011) http://www.naturalnews.com/032069_salt_water_electricity.html
By simply utilizing what nature has to offer in terms of water, scientists from Stanford University have developed an effective way to generate electricity naturally and without causing pollution. Yi Cui, associate professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford, and his colleagues have developed a system that generates electricity using electrodes and a combination of freshwater and saltwater -- and nothing more. The process involves the utilization of ions found naturally in saltwater, as well as those generated by electrodes submerged in water. A positive and negative electrode pair are first used to charge freshwater with ions, which is then drained and replaced with saltwater. The saltwater, which is naturally up to 100 times more ionic than the freshwater, increases the voltage causes a net gain in electricity. This electricity is then captured and stored in large batteries. CLIP
Alarming NOAA data, Rapid Pole Shift (15 April 2011) http://modernsurvivalblog.com/pole-shift-2/alarming-noaa-data-rapid-pole-shift/
The present rate of magnetic north pole shift is about 55 kilometers per year. According to the data set, during the year 2000 the magnetic north pole actually shifted more than 70 kilometers.The issue now is, since the pole shift has been at 400 year record high rates during the past 10 to 20 years, the cumulative effect is now beginning to cause real-world issues.Will the effects affect us noticeably or in a bad way? Time will tell I suppose, but at the current rate there will no doubt be direct effects on many systems in the years ahead, many of them nuisance issues such as documentation changes while others will likely be more serious.It is not known if the shift will speed up or slow down in the years ahead. Some say that a pole reversal is overdue, and this phenomenon may be indicators of the beginnings of that process.Note that the earth’s magnetic field is what protects us from radiation. Without it, we would not survive. Could a pole reversal cause a period of time in-between flip-flop such that we would be exposed to deadly radiation? Stay tuned… (...) Take a look at the following graph and see the extreme difference in North versus South Pole Shift speed since about 1930. As they say, a picture’s worth a thousand words… CLIP - Recommended by Barbara Tomczyk (barbarat33@gmail.com) who wrote: "Nothing alarming about it except in relative terms either not understood or not revealed by those doing the reporting...all part of our accelerating photon influence altering space/time--naturally built into closing cycles of experience on planets and we have 2 cycles closing at the same time which accelerates even more, the shifting of realities."
Victory! U.S. Institute of Peace Funded! http://imaginepeace.com/archives/14510
The House and Senate voted to fund the United States Institute of Peace throughout the rest of this fiscal year and the president is expected to sign soon. Despite a February House vote to zero out funding for the USIP, the Institute’s work will carry on. CLIP - Note from Jean: The Republican-dominated US Congress had voted to cut all funding (a mere $42 million) to this little known Institute of Peace - see Save the United States Institute of Peace - House Voted to Cut All Funding - but thanks to citizens' action, this was avoided. Now how about creating the long overdue US Department of Peace!...
About the Campaign for a U.S. Department of Peace http://studentpeacealliance.org/learn/about-dop/dop
History of the Campaign -- For many years Student Peace Alliance along with The Peace Alliance formed the National Campaign for a U.S. Cabinet-level Department of Peace. The Peace Alliance was founded in 2004 with the mission of empowering civic activism for a culture of peace. Since its founding, the organization worked to inspire and empower participation in a grassroots citizen-based campaign to establish a U.S. Department. The founding of The Peace Alliance marked the first time in history that the Department of Peace was supported by a large grassroots movement, and the founding of Student Peace Alliance in 2006 represented the first student activism behind the legislation. The idea and vision of a Department of Peace as we know it has existed for over 70 years. Our goal has been to make this dream a reality through a wave of citizen interest that will rise up from the American people and make itself heard in the halls of Congress. Our Current Strategy -- After evaluating our strategy for a Department of Peace and recognizing our bottom line of creating an infrastructure in our government that makes peace a priority, we have expanded our legislative strategy. We are now actively working with a two-pronged approach of advocacy for short term programmatic change that reduces violence now and research that sets in place the foundation for long term structural change in our government. The Legislation - Supported by 71 members of the U.S. House of Representatives - Supporting resolutions passed by the governing bodies of 35 city, county and other local administrations, including Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco, representing about 12.5 million people - Endorsed by 55 organizations, including Amnesty International, NOW and Physicians for Social Responsibility - Referred to four committees: House Oversight and Government Reform (Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, and Procurement), House Foreign Affairs, House Judiciary, and House Education and Labor (Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education). The concept of a Department of Peace dates back to 1935 with more than 90 pieces of legislation introduced over the years. - THE FOLLOWING MAY EXPLAIN WHY THERE IS SUCH A PERSISTENT AND STRONG RESISTANCE TO A DEPARTMENT OF PEACE...
REPORT FROM IRON MOUNTAIN: ON THE POSSIBILITY AND DESIRABILITY OF PEACE http://www.teachpeace.com/Report_from_Iron_Mountain.pdf
(...) The general idea for it, for this kind of study dates back at least to 1961. It started with some of the new people who came in with the Kennedy administration, mostly, I think, with McNamara, Bundy, and Rusk. They were impatient about many things... One of them was that no really serious work had been done about planning for peace---a long-range peace, that is, with long- rang planning. CLIP - A study group was formed and came to the conclusion that "Lasting peace, while not theoretically impossible, is probably unattainable; even if it could be achieved it would almost certainly not be in the best interests of a stable society to achieve it. That is the gist of what they say. Behind their qualified academic language runs this general argument: War fills certain functions essential to the stability of our society; until other ways of filling them are developed, the war system must be maintained -- and improved in effectiveness." According to the description accompanyingthis video "documentary investigating the little known IRON MOUNTAIN REPORT, leaked to the press in 1967. Purports to be a top-secret government plan to bring in the New World Order and the ultimate plans for American citizens. Declared a hoax, it was later verified by a top Pentagon official as real. The agenda is being carried out right under the noses of the American people. It is all about people control via deception and manipulation. Deep into Eugenics, birth control and hideous plans for a tyrannical slave state. It is all coming true after OKC and 9-11 with the Patriot Act, Homeland Security and the military police operating in America. Airports first, railroads, then highways, and finally a complete LOCKDOWN under the pretense of "security". --- This Wikipedia entry claims that this report is "a satirical book", a "spoof of military think tanks" that "purportedly details the analyses and conclusions of a government panel that states that war, or a credible substitute for war, is necessary for governments to maintain power." There is a good summary at http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/lewin.html of what is recommended in this alleged report. We can also read "The mystery of who had written the report was revealed in 1972 when Lewin declared in an article in the New York Times that he had penned the entire report. (...) Navasky claimed that the purpose of the hoax had been "to provoke thinking about the unthinkable – the conversion to a peacetime economy and the absurdity of the arms race."... Yet to this day, many people still believe this was not a hoax and that Lewin was forced to claim it was one. As Leonard Spade (lspade@msn.com) who brought this to my attention wrote: "How could someone predict events in the future that depend on things not yet in existence? This was not a spoof, it was a desperate cry out from a tortured soul. Someone caught up in a horrible situation that was entirely misrepresented. I feel compassion for Mr. Lewin, he is still having to live the lie." - MAKE SURE TO ALSO READ Don't Cut Entitlements! Cut the Military!!! BELOW...
L’étoile de Jack Layton brille au Québec (15 avril 2011) http://www.lactualite.com/politique/letoile-de-jack-layton-brille-au-quebec
Fort d’une popularité grandissante au Québec, le chef du NPD, Jack Layton, se retrouve devant un défi de taille : transformer son capital sympathie en intentions de vote. -- La bulle orange ne cesse de s'agrandir au Québec, comme l'ont confirmé les membres québécois du panel Canada 20/20 du Groupe de recherche Innovative dans un sondage Web réalisé du 8 au 11 avril. Lorsqu'on leur a demandé quel parti parlait le plus des questions leur tenant à cœur, les participants québécois ont répondu à 27 % en faveur du Nouveau parti démocratique - qui se permet même de devancer légèrement le Bloc québécois (26 %). Au Québec, Jack Layton est d'ailleurs considéré comme le chef ayant le plus l'étoffe d'un premier ministre (31 %), ce qui le place loin devant Stephen Harper (19 %). Les Québécois sont les seuls au Canada à plébisciter ainsi le Montréalais de naissance, puisque les sondés des autres provinces ont tous jugé que Stephen Harper était le mieux taillé pour le poste. CLIP
L’avenir de la centrale de Gentilly se discute à Bécancour (12 avril 2011) http://www2.lactualite.com/valerie-borde/2011-04-12/lavenir-de-la-centrale-de-gentilly-se-discute-demain-a-becancour/
(...) Il m’a fallu un bon bout de temps pour préparer l’article Gentilly, la centrale de tous les soupçons, que vous pouvez lire à ce sujet dans l’édition de L’actualité en kiosque en ce moment. J’ai lu des tonnes de documents et parlé à des dizaines de personnes impliquées dans le dossier… sauf aux spécialistes d’Hydro-Québec, puisque la société d’État m’a refusé toute entrevue! Hydro-Québec n’a de toute évidence pas progressé depuis qu’elle a reçu le Prix de la Noirceur de la FPJQ en 2009. Quand j’ai débuté mes recherches, je n’avais aucun a priori. J’étais prête à écouter les arguments de chacun, en essayer de départager les peurs irrationnelles des craintes fondées, les innombrables opinions à l’emporte-pièce des rares faits avérés et des impératifs techniques. Tout un défi! Mais le constat est clair : pour plusieurs raisons, la remise à neuf de Gentilly est une erreur qui a bien peu de chance de profiter aux Québécois. La perspective d’un démantèlement n’est pas écartée, a déclaré le PDG Thierry Vandal au lendemain de l’accident de Fukushima, sans – évidemment – vouloir élaborer. Une annonce pour calmer le jeu, ou un début de revirement? Tout ce que l’on peut dire, c’est que ce ne serait pas la première volte-face d’Hydro-Québec. Rappelez-vous du Suroît… Note de Jean: Si vous êtes abonné-e à L'Actualité, ne manquez pas de lire cet excellent article de Valérie Borne «Gentilly, la centrale de tous les soupçons».
KEY INTERNATIONAL NEWS
World Bank: Food prices have entered the 'danger zone' (14 Apr 2011) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8451684/World-Bank-Food-prices-have-entered-the-danger-zone.html
Food prices have entered the “danger zone”, threatening to condemn a generation to extreme poverty and malnutrition, the World Bank has warned. -- Robert Zoellick, World Bank president, said food prices are at “a tipping point”, having risen 36pc in the last year to levels close to their 2008 peak. The rising cost of food has been much more dramatic in low-income countries, pushing 44m people into poverty since June last year.Another 10pc rise in food prices would push 10m into extreme poverty, defined as an effective income of less than $1.25 a day. Already, the world’s poor number 1.2bn.Mr Zoellick said he saw no short term reversal in the damaging effect of food inflation, which is felt much more in the developing world as packaging and distribution accounts for a far larger proportion of the cost in the advanced economies.Asked if he thought prices would remain high for a year, Mr Zoellick said: “The general trend lines are ones where we are in a danger zone… because prices have already gone up and stocks are relatively low.”Rising prices have been driven by the changing diet of the ballooning middle classes in the emerging markets. “There is a demand change going on, with the higher incomes in developing countries. People will eat more meat products, for example, that will use more grain. CLIP
Syria's al-Assad: Emergency laws 'to end next week' http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13105414
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says he expects a state of emergency to be lifted next week, after weeks of anti-government protests. He made the comments in a televised speech to his newly formed cabinet. The lifting of the 48-year-old emergency law has been a key demand of the protesters. He made the comments in a televised speech to his newly formed cabinet.The lifting of the 48-year-old emergency law has been a key demand of the protesters. On Friday, tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied in the capital, Damascus, in one of the biggest turnouts since protests began. (...) Friday's protests in Damascus and other cities were among the largest in a month of unrest that has reportedly seen some 200 people killed. The unrest is the biggest challenge to the rule of Mr Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000. Security forces used tear gas and batons to disperse tens of thousands of protesters - some calling for reform, others calling demanding the overthrow of Mr Assad - in Damascus. Thousands of people reportedly demonstrated in a number of other Syrian cities - including Deraa, Latakia, Baniyas and Qamishli - where violence has been previously reported. Mr Assad formed a new government on Thursday and pronounced amnesty for an undisclosed number of people detained in the last month. He has also sacked some local officials and granted Syrian citizenship to thousands of the country's Kurdish minority - satisfying a long-held demand.
Syria's unrest eyed closely by Iran (April 17, 2011) http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/middle-east/syrias-unrest-eyed-closely-by-iran
Demonstrations in Syria are played down by Iran while other Arab-world uprisings and protests are hailed as an 'Islamic awakening'Iran is keeping a nervous eye on the growing unrest in Syria, where the Assad regime has been its staunchest Arab ally through three often-turbulent decades in the Middle East.Tehran's ability to project its power in the Arab world would be greatly reduced if Syria plunges into turmoil or its president is replaced by a less-friendly leader of a Sunni-dominated government."It would be quite a blow to some of the Islamic Republic's strategic interests," said Trita Parsi, president of the Washington-based National Iranian American Council.Iranian officials currently appear confident the Syrian authorities will be able to crush the peaceful unrest which has stirred the country.To ensure that outcome, Iran is sending Damascus material support to crack down on protesters, American officials claimed this week, while Hillary Clinton accused Iran of "hypocrisy".The US Secretary of State said Tehran was trying to align itself with some of the Arab popular uprisings, while trying to thwart democracy movements at home and in Syria. (...) "If you look at the chessboard as a whole, many of the developments are viewed positively by Iran," Mr Parsi said. "But if the Assad regime falls, the picture could change dramatically."Syria has been the portal for Iran to extend its reach into the Middle East and a vital connection to Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hizbollah movement, which gives Tehran a proxy presence on Israel's northern border.Syria and Iran also support the militant Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. And Tehran has billions of dollars worth of investments in Syria. CLIP
Israelis brace for major war with Hamas (April 14, 2011) http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/04/14/Israelis-brace-for-major-war-with-Hamas/UPI-51301302799833/
TEL AVIV, Israel (UPI) -- Israeli military chiefs say a large-scale conflict is inevitable despite a shaky cease-fire since Monday in their current confrontation with Palestinian fundamentalists of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But the consequences of such an operation are likely to be far more perilous for Israel than the torrent of international condemnation it faced over its last offensive against Hamas, a 22-day invasion known as Operation Cast Lead, launched Dec. 27, 2008. A new invasion, which would likely be far more pulverizing than Cast Lead, could stir support for Hamas in Egypt now that Hosni Mubarak is no longer around to back Israel and keep Gaza blockaded. Monday's cease-fire ended three weeks of escalating fighting, including hundreds of rockets and mortar shells fired into southern Israel that drew retaliatory airstrikes. More than a score of Hamas militants, including three senior commanders, were killed. CLIP
Avigdor Lieberman to Be Indicted by Stephen Lendman (April 12th, 2011) POTENTIALLY GOOD NEWS! http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2011/04/12/avigdor-lieberman-to-be-indicted
A previous article profiled him in-depth, accessed through the following link. It explained he represents the worst of Israel's lunatic fringe, sort of a combination Dick Cheney/John McCain/Joe Lieberman, too extremist to be entrusted with power, but he's got it. Robert Fisk once said he "out-Sharons even Ariel Sharon. (He's) talked of drowning Palestinians in the Dead Sea or executing Israeli Palestinians who talked to Hamas. (His) incendiary language (promotes) executions....drownings....hell and loyalty oaths," perfect for the role he assumed, allied with Israel's most extremist ever Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who also out-Sharons Sharon, no easy feat by any means.Israel under Netanyahu/Lieberman institutionalized racism in its worst form - potential expulsion or extermination. Gideon Levy called him a "nightmare (who's) here and now. (Extremist Rabbi Meir) Kahane is alive and kicking - is he ever - in the person of his thuggish successor."He promotes "hatred for Arabs, hatred of democracy and the rule of law, and the stink of nationalism, racism and bloodthirstiness. (He's) the voice of the mob, and the mob craves hatred, vengeance and bloodshed."He's a malignancy on the body politic, a "cancerous growth (throughout) society, (a dangerous, embarrassing) abomination," one step removed from being Prime Minister. An unnamed Meretz party member once said "If you liked Mussolini, if you were missing Stalin, you'll love Lieberman."Others call him offensive to basic ethics and morality, and a threat to the rule of law and democratic freedoms. In a word, he's bad news for Israel, Palestinians, the region, humanity, and Judaic values he defiles with impunity. CLIP - Check also Avigdor Lieberman set to face Israeli corruption charges "Attorney general says foreign minister will be indicted on charges of fraud and money laundering, pending final hearing" AND Lieberman Will Beat The Indictement Against Him
'US drone raids to persist in Pakistan' (April 15, 2011) What filthy arrogance! http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174874.html
CIA director Leon Panetta has told Pakistani intelligence officials that the US has no intention of stopping its unauthorized drone operations in Pakistan, a report says. (...) Though Washington has at times claimed it has an agreement with Islamabad on launching such attacks, Pakistani authorities insist there has never been such a deal and that they view the airstrikes as repeated violations of the country's sovereignty. Moreover, Pakistani lawmakers on Thursday strongly criticized the US drone strikes and urged the government “to review its foreign policy and adopt a strict stance to stop CIA attacks inside Pakistan,” a Press TV correspondent reported.The leader of Pakistan's Muslim League Nawaz, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, has said that the acts of terrorism have increased in Pakistan as a result of the CIA drone attacks. CLIP
Ivory coast: Red Cross: Bodies litter streets of Abidjan http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/04/2011414145856646520.html
"Many who are injured or ill still cannot go to hospital because of the security situation, or because they lack transportation. Medical facilities that are still functioning are overwhelmed, and they lack supplies and personnel.
U.S., allies see Libyan rebels in hopeless disarray http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/14/us-libya-usa-rebels-idUSTRE73D68S20110414
Too little is known about Libya's rebels and they remain too fragmented for the United States to get seriously involved in organizing or training them, let alone arming them, U.S. and European officials say.
World leaders slam West war in Libya (April 14, 2011) http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174742.html
In their summit meeting in southern China, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa unanimously condemned the Libya bombings, AFP reported Thursday. The group rejected the use of force in the Middle East and North Africa in a draft statement. "We share the principle that the use of force should be avoided. We maintain that the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of each nation should be respected," the countries which represent more than 40 percent of the world's population said in the statement. They also expressed concern that the NATO-led campaign on crisis-hit Libya is causing civilian casualties. CLIP
Syria's al-Assad announces cabinet, releases protesters http://en.trend.az/regions/met/arabicr/1861615.html
Bashar al-Assad announced the formation of a new cabinet on Thursday, following the release of hundreds of detained protesters, dpa reported.
U.S. Keeps Quiet over Repression (April 13, 2011) http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55248
WASHINGTON (IPS) - If President Barack Obama wanted to place Washington "on the right side of history" during the ongoing "Arab Spring", his reaction to recent events in Bahrain will likely make that far more difficult, according to a growing number of analysts and commentators here. While his administration has become ever more outspoken against repression in Syria and Yemen - not to mention Libya, where Obama has called for regime change - it has remained remarkably restrained about the escalating crackdown by the Sunni monarchy against the majority Shia population and prominent pro-democracy figures.
Egyptian junta steps up violence as protests and strikes continue (14 April 2011) http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/cair-a14.shtml
On Tuesday, the Egyptian military once again stormed Tahrir Square and violently dispersed a peaceful sit-in by demonstrators. At 17:00, the military drove onto the square with armoured vehicles, forcing protesters from the centre, and then occupied the area with heavily armed soldiers. The military then proceeded to hunt down demonstrators and activists who had fled into downtown Cairo, carrying out numerous arrests. Among the special forces used in the attack was the notorious Unit 777, an "anti-terrorist" unit that regularly exercises with US units such as the Delta Force. The special forces stormed houses in downtown Cairo and combed cafes for protesters and activists.The military had already begun to brutally clear demonstrators from Tahrir Square on Saturday morning, employing stun guns, batons and also live ammunition. Eye witnesses told the World Socialist Web Site that soldiers had fired directly at protesters and seven people had been killed. One of the victims was a young officer who had sided with protesters during mass protests on Friday.Despite the deadly assault, the military were unable to vacate the square. The protesters refused to back down and barricaded themselves against the army and security forces.
(...) The unconditional support of the Egyptian bourgeoisie for the military junta after weeks of deadly violence by the military speaks volumes about the real nature of these self-proclaimed democratic forces.On Sunday, the Egyptian blogger Mikael Nabil was sentenced by a military court to three years in prison. Nabil had demonstrated in an article that the military had never been on the side of the revolution, but had rather arrested and tortured protesters before putting them before military courts. None of the self-appointed “democrats” has criticised his conviction and transfer to the notorious Tora prison. CLIP
OTHER RECOMMENDED NEWS AND INFORMATION
60 Minutes - The Next Housing Shock - A must see 14 minute video!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdeFyPC5MNI
CBS News—April 3, 2011—As more and more Americans face mortgage foreclosure, banks' crucial ownership documents for the properties are often unclear and are sometimes even bogus, a condition that's causing lawsuits and hampering an already weak housing market. Scott Pelley reports. More details HERE
"What in the World are They Spraying?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDEfBNs2sKc
MUCH more on this through http://www.truthmediaproductions.us/ such as "Mengels brought me to several other locations around the town of Mt. Shasta where he tested the soil, rain, water and snow that also yielded tests that revealed the pH to be over ten times the normal alkalinity. He went on to say that these types of changes in soil, water and snow are very uncommon except in other areas around the world where people have been witnessing what many believe to be spraying from SAG (Stratospheric Aerosol Geo-engineering) programs. Mengels also stated that these changes have produced an “ecological crisis” and will have horrible consequences if continued. Mengels said, “Losses to our economy will be incredible and are on their way as we speak. Tree growth will be decreased which will result in the loss of logging jobs. It is also causing the decline of naturally occurring plant and grass growth that occurs in the normally acidic soils of grazing pastures, resulting in the demise of our grazing industry, fishing industry, and worst of all, basic agriculture in Northern California.” What is amazing is that these tests and many others throughout the world are largely being ignored by the very governmental entities that are required to address them." Check also Ending Stratospheric Aerosol Geoengineering
Environment drops off campaign agenda (Apr 2, 2011) http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/04/02/environment-drops-off-campaign-agenda/
When Jack Layton visited Alberta during the last federal election, his campaign plane swooped low over the oil sands as Mr. Layton declared — over Darth Vader’s theme song from Star Wars — that “big oil and gas companies can’t be trusted.”Last week, Mr. Layton kicked off his campaign in Edmonton, where the NDP holds Alberta’s lone non-Tory seat. He didn’t mention the oil sands.Less than three years after the environment served as the ballot question for the first time in a federal election, public appetite for a green political agenda seems to have all but evaporated. Even the parties that have traditionally championed the environment have so far focused their campaigns this time on other issues, or framed their environmental platform around support for clean-energy projects, rather than punishments for fossil fuels. “You can’t run an election campaign nowadays on the environment,” said John Wright, senior vice-president of polling firm Ipsos-Reid. “It’s not seen as a crisis in this country. It hasn’t affected people directly in many ways.”In 2008, the Liberals’ Green Shift ads issued a rallying cry for the environment over photos of smoking oil refineries and dew-covered leaves, and Green Party leader Elizabeth May rode a groundswell of popular support into the leaders debate. This time, Ms. May, excluded from the leaders debate thus far, is running a campaign that emphasizes economy, families and democracy.
(...) “The issue itself has now turned into a motherhood issue,” he added. “It was always somewhat of one, but now it’s the type of thing where its socially unacceptable not to be an environmentalist, or not to be environmentally conscious and as such we tend to take the issue for granted.”Another factor is Canadians’ apparent ambivalence to the Alberta oil sands and other natural-resource-based industries that are largely recognized as having insulated Canada from the worst of the global recession. That has been aided by a successful public relations push by the petroleum industry and high-profile endorsements from Hollywood eco-activist James Cameron, who toured the oil sands last year, and U.S. President Barack Obama, who last week highlighted Canada as a “stable and steady and reliable” source of foreign oil. “There’s a lot of confusion on the issue and that’s probably been driven by what has been a very good public relations strategy and certainly the James Cameron visit and all that type of thing,” said Mr. Marzolini. “Basically, Canadians do not know whether this is an issue or not, but they know that economically it’s a very vital part of what keeps the country running.”
(...) More recently, environmental awareness peaked again right before the United Nations summit on climate change in Copenhagen in late 2009. “The focus on global warming seemed to gather great steam until then,” he said. “In the post-Copenhagen period, it has just drifted away. It was almost as if the activists took over the summit at that stage to push it along and it just kind of fell apart. And the rest of the world kind of shrugged its shoulders.” It’s no coincidence that the environment has drifted off the public opinion polls at a time when gasoline prices have skyrocketed, said Kathryn Harrison, a University of British Columbia political scientist who studies environmental policy. “I think we have a chicken-and-egg situation where politicians think, yes, Canadians care about the environment, but they’re not really willing to put their money where their mouth is.” Even beyond Canada, there is no global appetite for a major political campaign on the environment as U.S. and European countries struggle with weak economies and high unemployment. “I think some of the purists would say none of that matters if we’re all going to perish with the Earth not doing very well,” Mr. Wright said. “But I guess people also look at this and say it’s kind of hard to put all your eggs into the environmental protest basket when you actually need a job.”
Google to build ultra high-speed broadband networks (February 10, 2010) http://www.physorg.com/news185025548.html
Google announced plans Wednesday to build experimental ultra high-speed broadband networks that would deliver Internet speeds 100 times faster than those of today to up to half a million Americans. -- The Web search and advertising giant said the envisioned one gigabit per second speeds would allow to stream 3-D medical imaging over the Web or download a high-definition, full-length movie in less than five minutes.Google's project complements US President Barack Obama's pledge to bring broadband to every US home as part of the Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Plan.Google product managers Minnie Ingersoll and James Kelly said the Mountain View, California-based company was planning to "build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations" in the United States."We'll deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with one gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections," they said in a blog post.Google said it planned to offer service to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people. (...) "We think that ultra high-speed bandwidth will lead to many new innovations -- including streaming high-definition video content, remote data storage, distance learning, real-time multimedia collaboration and others that we simply can't imagine yet." (...) "We in the US are still lagging behind the rest of the world," he added, noting that some countries have 100 megabit per second home connections. (...) The United States was ranked 20th in broadband penetration in a survey of 58 countries released last year by Boston-based Strategy Analytics.Median US broadband speeds are less than 5.0 megabits per second (Mbps) -- capable of moving five million bits of data per second -- according to the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, far slower than those of Japan (63 Mbps) and South Korea (49 Mbps). CLIP - CHECK ALSO Ultra high-speed broadband is coming to Kansas City, Kansas (3/30/2011)
Kingdom Tower will make the Burj Khalifa look short, reach one mile up (April 7, 2011) http://dvice.com/archives/2011/04/kingdom-tower-w.php
How high does a tower need to reach before it's considered too high? If you think relaxing up on top of the Burj Khalifa's Atmosphere won't give you vertigo, try Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Tower - a structure that will extend one mile upwards - almost twice the height of Dubai's tallest.Those Middle Eastern princes just can't get enough of those insanely tall skyscrapers. Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal, head of Kingdom Holding Company recently gave his approval for construction of what will be billed as the world's tallest man-made structure - the Kingdom Tower.Designed by Adrian Smith, the Kingdom Tower will be built in Saudi Arabia's city of Jeddah. The tower will stretch one mile up into heavens and include 12 million cubic feet of space, several stories of office space, several stories for a hotel and four tiers of residential space, with the upper most tier reserved for "alternative energy generation" solutions (perhaps including a pendulum to keep the entire tower from collapsing). The Kingdom Tower project is so large that it'll cost $30 billion to construct. To get to the top from the ground floor, an elevator ride would take an estimated 12 minutes to ascend. That's quite a journey for a view that is sure to be mostly sand and clouds. As if it wasn't already hard enough to keep the glass on the Burj Khalifa squeaky clean, think how much more difficult it'll be to clean the dirt off windows twice as high up. No matter how you look at it, the Kingdom Tower reeks of excess, but who cares when you're rolling in money? CHECK THIS PICTURE!
Climate change affects tectonic plate movement, causing earthquakes: study (April 13th, 2011) http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/13/climate-can-drive-seismic-shifts-study/
SYDNEY (AFP) – Scientists have for the first time shown a link between intensifying climate events and tectonic plate movement in findings that could provide a valuable insight into why huge tremors occur. Understanding why plates change direction and speed is key to unlocking huge seismic events such as last month's Japan earthquake, which shifted the Earth's axis by several inches, or February's New Zealand quake. An Australian-led team of researchers from France and Germany found that the strengthening Indian monsoon had accelerated movement of the Indian plate over the past 10 million years by a factor of about 20 percent. Lead researcher Giampiero Iaffaldano said Wednesday that although scientists have long known that tectonic movements influence climate by creating new mountains and sea trenches, his study was the first to show the reverse. "The closure or opening of new ocean basins or the build of large mountain bands like the Andes or Tibet itself, those are geological processes that affect the pattern of climate," said Iaffaldano, an earth scientist with the Australian National University."We are showing for the first time that the opposite also is true, that the pattern of climate is then able to affect back in a feedback mechanism the motion of tectonic plates." Iaffaldano stressed that his study did not mean that global warming would translate to stronger earthquakes happening more often, with the relevant patterns developing over "the order of millions of years." "Of course earthquakes do occur at the boundaries between plates because of plate motions, but our work doesn't imply at all that we will see an increase in these types of events," he told AFP. CLIP
KFC to stop using palm oil (7 April 2011) KUDOS TO KFC! http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/kfc-to-stop-using-palm-oil-2264326.html
Fast food chain KFC is to stop frying chicken in palm oil. The company says it is removing the vegetable oil from deep fat friers to gain a "double benefit" by reducing climate change and heart disease. Used widely as a cooking oil, palm oil employs hundreds of thousands of people in developing countries but has a poor health and environmental record. Forests in Indonesia and Malaysia have been cut down to make way for plantations and the oil is high in artery-clogging saturated fat.From this month KFC will use high oleic rapeseed oil at its 800 outlets in UK and Ireland, at an estimated cost of £1m a year.The move will cut levels of saturated fat in its chicken by 25 per cent, according to the company. Mark Bristow, head of KFC food assurance said: "Switching to high oleic rapeseed oil means not only can we offer our customers the benefit of reduced saturated fats, but the assurance we're doing everything we can to lessen our impact on the environment."KFC added: "The global expansion of the palm oil industry has been a contributor to the destruction of tropical rainforests and peat lands to make way for palm oil plantations, which has inadvertently caused large amounts of greenhouse gases being pushed into the atmosphere." KFC will still use palm oil in fries, buns, tortillas and hash browns, but said it had begun talks with suppliers aimed at getting them to switch to alternatives or source only sustainably-certified palm oil. Since the The Independent disclosed palm oil's role in deforestation two years ago, many retailers and manufacturers have agreed to buy supplies certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Campaigners want the European Union to force food firms to list palm oil as an ingredient because it is often listed as ‘vegetable oil' on packs. Click here to read about Call4.org's campaign to press for palm oil legislation
Cambodian prime minister cancels titanium mine project citing impact on biodiversity and local people (April 11, 2011) VERY GOOD NEWS! http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0410-hance_titanium_cambodia.html
In a surprise move, the Cambodian Prime Minister, Sandech Hun Sen, has cancelled a titanium strip mine project in one of Southeast Asia’s last great intact forest ecosystems, the Cardamom Mountains. According to a press release sent out by the Cambodian government the mine was canceled due to "concerns of the impact on the environment, biodiversity and local livelihoods" of villagers. The mine, which was planned to sit directly in the migration route for the largest population of Asian elephants in Cambodia, had been largely opposed by locals in the region who spent years developing eco-tourism in the region. "We were under the impression the battle was lost. We are very pleased that the prime minister has weighed the environmental impact," Wildlife Alliance Communications Officer John Maloy told AFP. Wildlife Alliance, a conservation NGO, has worked extensively in Cambodia for nearly a decade, including with the village of Chi Phat near the area slated to be strip-mined. Many local had residents given up logging and poaching to focus on tourism efforts; for its part, Wildlife Alliance invested over half a million US dollars to build infrastructure. "We are elated by the decision of Prime Minister Hun Sen. It is incredibly encouraging to see that the prime minister has looked so deeply into this proposed titanium mine and taken the effort to weigh the consequences that this project would have on the rainforest and the local people," said Wildlife Alliance CEO Suwanna Gauntlett in a statement. "[Mining company] United Khmer Group had promised staggering revenues for the government, and we applaud the courageous decision of the prime minister to see the greater value of the forest as it currently stands." United Khmer Group publically projected that the mine would bring in $1.3 billion dollars a year, but Wildlife Alliance and the Cambodian newspaper Phnom Penh Post questioned the company's projections. According to the Phnom Penh Post, the company was citing prices for titanium that were three times current market price and was projecting a big haul of titanium without ever conducting a comprehensive study of the ore deposit. Incredibly rich in wildlife, the Cardamom Mountains is home to Indochinese tigers, Malayan sun bears, and pileated gibbons, in addition to 250 species of birds. According to Wildlife Alliance 70 threatened species live in the area, including the Siamese crocodile, which is listed as Critically Endangered.
Greenpeace says McKinsey's REDD+ work could encourage deforestation (April 07, 2011) http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0407-mckinsey_vs_greenpeace.html
One of the world's top consultancies, McKinsey & Co., is providing advice to governments developing "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation" (REDD+) programs that could increase risks to tropical forests, claims a new report published by Greenpeace. The report, Bad Influence – how McKinsey-inspired plans lead to rainforest destruction, says that McKinsey’s REDD+ cost curve and baseline scenarios are being used to justify expansion of industrial capacity in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Guyana. CLIP
Opposition rises against Mekong dam as governments ponder decision (April 13, 2011) http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0413-hance_mekong_dam.html
As the governments of Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam ready to meet on April 19th to decide whether or not to move forward on the Xayaburi Dam, critics of Mekong River hydroelectric project have warned that the dam will devastate freshwater biodiversity and impact the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands, if not more. Last month a coalition of 263 organizations from 51 countries released a letter in opposition of the dam’s construction. "As a river of global significance, we are urging the Governments of Laos and Thailand to call a stop to the destructive Xayaburi Dam,” said Pieter Jansen of Both ENDS, an international NGO and member of the coalition. “If the project proceeds, the [Mekong River Commission's] regional decision-making process will lose all public credibility. " The $3.5 billion Xayaburi dam would be built in Laos, but largely bring power to Thailand. In total 2,100 people will have to be moved to make way for the dam, but according to critics the dam will impact nearly a quarter of a million people. Local fisheries are likely to be hard hit while environmentalists warn that the dam could lead to the extinction of dozens of species of fish, including the Critically Endangered Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas). A rare giant, specimens have been caught weighing up to 600 pounds (270 kilograms). The river may also block essential nutrients for farming from making their way downstream. "The Xayaburi Dam will trigger an ecological crisis of tremendous proportions. We urge the Prime Ministers of Laos and Thailand to show leadership by cancelling this project," said Shalmali Guttal of Focus on the Global South, another member of the 253 coalition against the dam. For its part, the Laos government, which is pushing the project, has said the dam will be the "first environmentally friendly hydroelectric project on the Mekong" and would "not have any significant impact" on the river. Researchers and environmentalists have asked for a ten-year delay to conduct better studies on the dam's impact, a view that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shared when visiting the region. Cambodia, whose people stand to lose the most in fisheries, has also recommended a delay, while Vietnam has come out against the project, essentially splitting the four deciding nations. CLIP
Noise in oceans leads to 'severe acoustic trauma' in octopus, squid (April 12, 2011) http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0411-hance_noise_cephalopods.html
Researchers have documented for years how noise pollution impacts dolphins in whales, but a new study in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment finds that even low intensity noise can severely injure cephalopods, which include octopus, squid, and cuttlefish. The injuries are bad enough to possibly lead to stranding and death, thereby providing a feasible explanation for a number of recent strandings, including giant squid washing ashore in Spain. "This is the first study indicating a severe impact on invertebrates, an extended group of marine species that are not known to rely on sound for living," says Michel André, Technical University of Catalonia in Barcelona, in a press release.
(...) "The impact of continuous, high intensity noise pollution in the oceans could be considerable. For example, we can predict that, since the statocyst is responsible for balance and spatial orientation, noise-induced damage to this structure would likely affect the cephalopod's ability to hunt, evade predators and even reproduce; in other words, this would not be compatible with life," André explains. Underwater noise pollution is caused by offshore drilling—and other excavation activities that use seismic surveys to locate deposits—cargo transportation, industrial fishing, and even recreational boating. Studies have shown that some marine animals actually become louder to be heard when confronted with deafening sounds in their environment. "It left us with several questions," André says, "is noise pollution capable of impacting the entire web of ocean life? What other effects is noise having on marine life, beyond damage to auditory reception systems? And just how widespread and invasive is sound pollution in the marine environment?"
Antarctic penguins losing to climate change through 80% krill decline (April 11, 2011) http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0411-hance_penguin_krill.html
Climate change has hit species of Antarctic penguins by causing a staggering decline in their prey: krill. A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) has found that both chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarcticus) and Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) have seen their populations decline likely do to less krill, instead of habitat changes. Since 1970 krill populations have fallen by 80% in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. Because krill require sea ice to reproduce, shrinking sea ice from climate change has made it more difficult for them to breed. "As warming continues, the loss of krill will have a profound effect throughout the Antarctic ecosystem," says Dr. Wayne Trivelpiece, lead author of the paper with NOAA's Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division, in a press release. CLIP
Scientists warn of link between dangerous new pathogen and Monsanto’s Roundup (February 20th, 2011) http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2011/02/20/scientists-warn-of-link-between-dangerou
A plant pathologist experienced in protecting against biological warfare recently warned the USDA of a new, self-replicating, micro-fungal virus-sized organism which may be causing spontaneous abortions in livestock, sudden death syndrome in Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soy, and wilt in Monsanto’s RR corn. Dr. Don M. Huber, who coordinates the Emergent Diseases and Pathogens committee of the American Phytopathological Society, as part of the USDA National Plant Disease Recovery System, warned Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that this pathogen threatens the US food and feed supply and can lead to the collapse of the US corn and soy export markets. Likewise, deregulation of GE alfalfa “could be a calamity,” he noted in his letter (reproduced in full below). On January 27, Vilsack gave blanket approval to all genetically modified alfalfa. Following orders from President Obama, he also removed buffer zone requirements. This is seen as a deliberate move to contaminate natural crops and destroy the organic meat and dairy industry which relies on GM-free alfalfa. Such genetic contamination will give the biotech industry complete control over the nation's fourth largest crop. It will also ease the transition to using GE-alfalfa as a biofuel. CLIP - CHECK ALSO Pathogen in Roundup Ready Soy and Corn Could Lead to Calamity, Scientist Warns AND The Complete text of Dr. Don M. Huber's Letter to USDA Secretary Vilsak
Roundup, GMOs linked to emergence of deadly new pathogen causing spontaneous abortions among animals by Mike Adams (February 23, 2011) http://www.naturalnews.com/031473_GMOs_pathogens.html
In a shocking warning letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, a highly experienced, ex-military pathogen researcher warns that the use of Roundup via GMO crops is resulting in the emergence of a deadly new pathogen -- previously unknown to science -- that's causing widespread spontaneous abortions among cattle. The pathogen appears in high concentrations among even non-GMO crops that are "managed" through the use of glyphosate (Roundup) for weed control.The letter is authored by COL (Retired) Don M. Huber, a former Emeritus Professor at Purdue University. Huber was also the coordinator at the American Phytopathological Society, an organization that studies plant diseases and pathogens. Huber also sat on the committee for Emerging Diseases and Pathogens, chaired by an Agriculture Research Service (USDA) employee from Fort Detrick, Maryland. Fort Detrick, you may remember, is also where the U.S. military conducts much of its biological warfare research through its United States Army Biological Warfare Laboratories. A few years ago, deadly pathogens "went missing" from this lab. Huber, in other words, is not just some ranting civilian. He's someone who has worked around pathogens for many decades and whose warnings about pathogenic threats must be taken seriously. CLIP
The radiation fall-out (April 12, 2011) http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/entertainment/a/-/entertainment/9181075/the-radiation-fall-out/
Cigarette manufacturers fought a PR war against regulators and public opinion for decades until the overwhelming evidence made them admit their products were bad for us. To a growing number of scientists, educators and advocates it's a battle we should be having again very soon about a far more pervasive danger to our collective health - electromagnetic radiation. Not the kind we're all worried about from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Every time you flick a switch the device generates an electromagnetic field whether it's a blender, TV or lightbulb. In generations past it wasn't as much of a concern - we sat across the room from the TV and the lights were out of the way on the ceiling. But today we work, relax and even sleep in close proximity to devices that emit powerful electromagnetic signals, many of them wireless (which means they broadcast far stronger fields to connect with various base stations or receivers). Two books out now are part of a quiet but building movement asking hard questions about electromagnetism's effects on human health and demanding answers from apathetic and commercially conflicted policymakers. The Force, from consumer advocate Lyn McLean (director of research body EMR Australia), investigates whether we can live safely in a world blanketed in electromagnetic fields. Disconnect, from US-based epidemiologist Devra Davis, wonders how the mobile phone has conquered the world in the face of the all-but-proven risks. Health problems from electromagnetic radiation might end up a far bigger problem than smoking ever was. 72 per cent of Australian males smoked in 1945 versus 17 per cent in 2007 according to the NSW Cancer Council, whereas the federal Department of Broadband said an average of 84 percent of Australians over 14 had a mobile phone, and that was in 2006. Clearly, far more of us are going to be affected.But in The Force, McLean points out that we should be careful not just of new technologies. The electrical wires in your walls generate an electromagnetic field. Position a bed or living area badly in relation to wires or the meter box and you might increase the risk of anything from skin lesions to miscarriage and depression to cancer. CLIP
EMF-Omega-News 16. April 2011 http://www.buergerwelle.de/cms/content/view/574/95/
Biological Effects and Health Implications of Microwave Radiation - Research on Biological Effects of Radio Frequency Radiation in Eurasian Communist Countries - The depth of penetration of radiation into tissue is a function of frequency with greater penetration at lower frequencies - The radiation fall-out - Can Cell Phones Fry Your Brain? - On Biological Effects of Cell Phones and Wireless Technologies - Environmental Health Trust Charges Federal Communications Commission with Stonewalling Freedom Of Information Act Request - Mandatory SAR labeling on French cell phones this April 15 - Submit your Comment to the FCC to preserve landline telephone service - Canadian Citizen Groups Launch Wi-Fi, Cell Phone Safety Initiatives - One-woman campaign against Surbiton phone mast - BWCA cellphone tower lawsuit heads to trial - Bid for 15 metre phone mast near healthy hub and school prompts protest - Mobile towers in Mohali's housing areas stay put - Poor reception for phone mast go ahead - Vodafones masts plan for Lymington and Pennington rejected - Mixed reception for phone mast proposals - Objection to mobile phone masts - TRAIs green telecom efforts not sufficient, say experts
1.
Note from Jean: Contrary to what Judge Denny Chin alleged last March 15th, 2010 when he dismissed with prejudice the case of Gallop v. Cheney, et. al., ruling that the Complaint was frivolous and based on “cynical delusion and fantasy”, we have here the perfect opportunity to finally bring to justice the true perpetrators of the 9/11 false flag operation and the ensuing neocon wars responsible for the death of millions of people. In fact, the whole facade of legitimacy that has allowed the dark cabal of megalomaniac murderers to rule and plunder this planet is finally crumbling and would need just a little push from defenders of the truth around the world to collapse for good, with the entire Mafia-like racket that directly and indirectly controls governments around the world to be dismantled soon after, thus opening the way to a new era of true freedom for all, social justice and environmental sustainability. Please do your part in bringing this matter to the attention of as many Earth citizens as possible and please donate to the Center For 9/11 Justice which urgently needs everyone's support to succeed.
Breaking News: Update on case as of March 26th, 2011: All of the papers on our appeal from the District Court’s order dismissing the case have been submitted, and the Circuit Court has given us an oral argument date of April 5th at 11 AM in New Haven, Connecticut, at the Courthouse at 141 Church Street. The Court has allotted each side five minutes to present whatever arguments they have.
If our appeal fails, we will file a petition to the US Supreme Court. If our appeal is successful, the Defendants may be required to answer the Complaint, but there are other possible orders that the Circuit Court could make as part of its decision.
On March 15th, 2010, Judge Denny Chin dismissed with prejudice the case of Gallop v. Cheney, et. al., ruling that the Complaint was frivolous and based on “cynical delusion and fantasy.” The full text is posted under “News” on this site. Anyone who has followed the case and supported the Center's efforts in this matter deserves a response to Judge Chin's decision. It follows. Read here...
The Center for 9/11 Justice is a base for cooperative efforts to expose what its members and board believe are critical, strong, self-evident truths and un-truths about the attacks of 9/11: We believe they were in their essence an inside job supported by a vast, highly sophisticated and elaborate cover-up. Our aim is to expose the facts and evidence that we have learned, and demonstrate, to the extent we can, who was involved. The purpose of the Center is to help gather, formulate, and promulgate accurate and reliable survey, analysis, and marshalling of the evidence showing or tending to prove the great-grand-daddy conspiracy theory, maybe of all time.
In particular, the Center is supporting the efforts of a victim and survivor of the attack on the Pentagon, April Gallop, who is the plaintiff in a civil suit against high U.S. officials who appear responsible for the atrocities of that day, particularly the then Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, and Vice President Dick Cheney. April Gallop was a soldier assigned to the Pentagon on September 11th, her first day back from maternity leave. She and her two month old baby, Elisha, suffered serious head injuries as a result of the explosions that occurred at the Pentagon that morning. Ms. Gallop filed a lawsuit in the federal court in New York City against Rumsfeld, Cheney, General Richard Myers and others unknown. With its initiation comes the possibility of justice.
There will be enormous hurdles to overcome, not least the possibility that the suit will be judicially repressed in some way; squashed or stunted down to near meaninglessness. The defendants are men of power, with resources, financial, legal, and political, beyond most people's ability to comprehend. The Center and the plaintiff's lawyers will have to rely on support and donations from citizens of the world to finance the prosecution of the case.
Were an inquiry into a crime of this magnitude to be properly conducted, by an arm of government or special prosecutor, it would require legions of lawyers and investigators, not to mention the support those people would have to rely on. Our aim is to conduct the lawsuit as our resources permit, appealing to the public to help us to replicate what a similarly disposed arm of government would bring to the task.
The attacks of September 11th were part of a complex and elaborate psychological operation that created in each citizen to a greater or lesser degree a fortress of denial, which has prevented many from any forthright attempt to investigate the truth about 9/11. Before justice will be allowed to breathe, that fortress must be destroyed. The Center for 9/11 Justice is dedicated to its demise. April Gallop's lawsuit is an effort in that direction. We will be reporting on it here.
A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan Monday charges Vice President Dick Cheney, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and ex-Air Force General Richard Myers, acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs on September 11th with “broad complicity” in the attacks of that horrific day. The suit seeks damages, triple damages and punitive damages for an ex-U.S.Army member who, along with her two-month-old baby, was injured in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon on 9/11.
The ex-G.I. plaintiff alleges she has been denied government support since then, because she raised “painful questions” about the inexplicable failure of military defenses at the Pentagon that day, and especially the failure of officials to warn and evacuate the occupants of the building when they knew the attack was imminent..
The complaint alleges the three leaders and other “unknown, named” U.S. military and civilian officials engaged in a conspiracy to “facilitate and enable” the Attack on America; because they wished to bring about a “frightening catastrophe of terrorism”, “a new Pearl Harbor”, which would create “a powerful reaction of fear and anger in the public and in Washington”. This would generate an “atmosphere of acceptance” which would allow the longed-for neo-conservative political and military program to go forward: invade Afghanistan, pass the Patriot Act, invade Iraq, tap phones, etc; torture, lie, intimidate, etc.
The plaintiff AG was a career soldier, holding top secret clearance, who had an agreeable assignment in Germany until she was abruptly transferred to the Pentagon in 2000. On September 11, 2001, she had a new baby boy, Elisha, with her on her first day back from a two-month maternity leave. She was told by her supervisor to hurry to her desk that morning, for an urgent document-clearing job, and to drop the baby off at child care later. She got to her office, turned on her computer, and the place blew up. There were at least two big explosions that she heard and felt.
The walls collapsed, the ceiling fell in, she was hit in the head and knocked unconscious; she came to, grabbed the baby (who was also hit in the head), and picked her way out to where daylight was showing, where the front of the first floor had been blown off. The insides of the building were also blown out; but there was no sign of any wrecked airliner, and no burning jet fuel splashed anywhere.
There is also no sign of airliner wreckage in any photograph that has been published so far; and there are many photographs that show a clear absence of wreckage, and plain evidence of blast damage. Many internet sites carry the pictures. See, e.g,
Meanwhile, there are said to be some 85 videotapes from various surveillance cameras on and around the Pentagon, which the U.S. Department of Justice is withholding from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. What do they show, or not show?
The Pentagon has released two video clips from cameras showing the side of the Pentagon that was hit. In the first, at about 1:07, just after a car passes in front, a white or silver projectile-shaped object appears at the right edge of the picture, opposite the building; and the next frames show an explosion beginning at the front of the building, followed by a fireball. The object is indistinct, and definitely not recognizable as an airliner.
In the second tape, from a camera a little further away but with the same general view, you see the car pass, and then at 25 seconds, a plume of white smoke shows on the right side, where the shape was in the first tape. A parking lot entry ticket device in the foreground hides the object emitting the smoke, and the explosion begins in the next frame; but plainly there is no giant airliner hidden behind the parking device, about to strike the building. Both tapes, obtained by Judicial Watch in 2006 are at:
The official report suggests the plane disintegrated on impact, but also that parts of it plowed all the way through to the back wall of the “C-ring”, some 300 feet from where it hit on the outside; but there are no pictures of airplane wreckage inside the building either. See
The plaintiff alleges her belief that no airliner crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11, although it appears that one swooped low over the building just when bombs went off inside, or a missile hit, or both. These may have been controlled from E-4B, the Air Force “doomsday plane” which was shown live on CNN, circling over Washington at the time of the attack.
But whether a plane hit the building or something else did, certainly there was no warning of a plane's approach; which might have saved the plaintiff and her child, many others who were hurt, and the 125 people, members of the military and civilian employees, who died in the attack that morning. Yet flight controllers broadcast an emergency warning about the plane more than a half-four before the Pentagon was hit.
The explosion(s) destroyed the interior of the building where plaintiff's office was. When she could gather herself from the blast, with help from other survivors, they made their way out through rubble, smoke and dust. She got to the outside, holding her baby, collapsed on the grass, and woke up later in the hospital.
Officials came to the hospital and asked her what she thought happened. She told them a bomb went off; but they said no, in fact, an airplane crashed into the building. She asked, and has continued to ask: where were the fighter planes, that have protected America's skies for so long; that normally go up once or twice a week, at a moment's notice, to check on off-course airliners? Where were the Pentagon's defenses? Where was the alarm, to get the people out of harm's way?
These are painful questions, indeed, and Rumsfeld and Cheney have not given good or even decent answers. Their multiple stories, especially as embodied in the duplicitous Report of the Official 9/11 Commission, controlled by Bush Administration insider Phillip Zelikow, do not hold water and can be proven false. The Report is full of errors, omissions and distortions, and has been thoroughly discredited, in the writings of David Ray Griffin and numerous others.
AG went to a special Commission hearing in 2004, open only to survivors, and watched as Donald Rumsfeld gave rambling, evasive answers about the failure of the Pentagon defenses, particularly the fighter planes. The Commissioners failed to confront his non-responsiveness, and never pinned him down. Cheney was observed in the White House bunker that morning by Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, apparently giving orders that the plane headed towards Washington be allowed to continue. Cheney has never testified or been reasonably questioned about his actions.
We brought this lawsuit for AG and her son to hold them to account...
Dennis Cunningham
William W. Veale
Centerfor911Justice@gmail.com
---
Videos of interest:
Center for 9/11 Justice sues Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and General Richard Myers (April 9, 2009) AMAZINGLY ONLY 870 PEOPLE WATCHED THIS HERO WHO DARES TRYING TO TAKE TO COURT THE 9/11 EVIL DOERS http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lLvzvUpik50#at=21
William Veale describes the Center for 9/11 Justice, his representation of April Gallop and their lawsuit against Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and General Richard Myers. For further information please go to http://www.centerfor9/11justice.org
At exactly 1 min 26 sec into this video, you can clearly see appearing the nose of the missile that in the next frame explodes when hitting the Pentagon building... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L75Gga92WO8
And at 26 sec into this other video (from another camera) you can clearly see the fume trail of this same missile before it hits the Pentagon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAaP4Z3zls8
The hole it punched into the building is clearly visible HERE
From: Michael Dean (mikhailovich@me.com)
Date: April 12, 2011
Subject: Everything matters
Jean!
Sofia Aldunate’s piece on matter and our relationship with it has reminded me that I have often snapped on a light-switch while in a foul temper - and the light-bulb concerned has blown, sometimes even blowing the fuse of several lights in my flat. . .
Once, many years ago, I left the actor’s studio in Knightsbridge late one evening with some of my students, and as we entered Hans Crescent, just behind Harrods, we approached a very tall lamp post. I recklessly said, “Watch this!” to my companions, ran up to the lamp-post, jumped into the air, threw my arms wide and, as I landed, shouted: “Off!” And as you-know-Who is my witness, the lamp went out. My friends shook their heads at my lunacy, and we all walked on. . .
Quite the opposite happened one night several years later. Having spent the evening with friends who lived south of the Thames, I began to walk home. While crossing Chelsea Bridge, thinking about my friend Rosie, who had unexpectedly died a few days before, I noticed that one of the street lights on Chelsea Embankment was unlit.
I mentally said: “Rose, if you’re here, turn that street light on.” The said street light immediately lit up.
My heartfelt thanks to Sofia and those who instructed her - and to you, for having published her article. I shall never again snap a light on while in a bad temper; nor shall I blame ‘inanimate’ objects such as plates and knives and the sharp corners of desks and tables for being sullen and stupid and malevolent, when I’m the one being sullen and stupid and careless and malevolent...
With love and thoughts and thanks, as ever, from London
Michael
3.
Forwarded by Barbara Tomczyk (barbarat33@gmail.com)
UN resolution looks to give "Mother Earth" same rights as humans
Bolivia is preparing a draft treaty to present to the United Nations giving “Mother Earth” the same rights as humans. The bid mirrors a law passed in that country in January
Steven Edwards -- April 11, 2011
UNITED NATIONS — Bolivia will this month table a draft United Nations treaty giving “Mother Earth” the same rights as humans — having just passed a domestic law that does the same for bugs, trees and all other natural things in the South American country.
The bid aims to have the UN recognize the Earth as a living entity that humans have sought to “dominate and exploit” — to the point that the “wellbeing and existence of many beings” is now threatened.
The wording may yet evolve, but the general structure is meant to mirror Bolivia’s Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, which Bolivian President Evo Morales enacted in January.
That document speaks of the country’s natural resources as “blessings,” and grants the Earth a series of specific rights that include rights to life, water and clean air; the right to repair livelihoods affected by human activities, and the right to be free from pollution.
It also establishes a Ministry of Mother Earth, and provides the planet with an ombudsman whose job is to hear nature’s complaints as voiced by activist and other groups, including the state.
“If you want to have balance, and you think that the only [entities] who have rights are humans or companies, then how can you reach balance?” said Pablo Salon, Bolivia’s ambassador to the UN. “But if you recognize that nature too has rights, and [if you provide] legal forms to protect and preserve those rights, then you can achieve balance.”
The application of the law appears destined to pose new challenges for companies operating in the country, which is rich in natural resources, including natural gas and lithium, but remains one of the poorest in Latin America.
But while Mr. Salon said his country just seeks to achieve “harmony” with nature, he signalled that mining and other companies may come under greater scrutiny.
“We’re not saying, for example, you cannot eat meat because you know you are going to go against the rights of a cow,” he said. “But when human activity develops at a certain scale that you [cause to] disappear a species, then you are really altering the vital cycles of nature or of Mother Earth. Of course, you need a mine to extract iron or zinc, but there are limits.”
Bolivia is a country with a large indigenous population, whose traditional belief systems took on greater resonance following the election of Mr. Morales, Latin America’s first indigenous president.
In a 2008 pamphlet his entourage distributed at the UN as he attended a summit there, ten “commandments” are set out as Bolivia’s plan to “save the planet” — beginning with the need “to end with capitalism.”
Reflecting indigenous traditional beliefs, the proposed global treaty says humans have caused “severe destruction … that is offensive to the many faiths, wisdom traditions and indigenous cultures for whom Mother Earth is sacred.”
It also says that “Mother Earth has the right to exist, to persist and to continue the vital cycles, structures, functions and processes that sustain all human beings.”
In indigenous Andean culture, the earth deity known as Pachamama is the centre of all life, and humans are considered equal to all other entities.
The UN debate begins two days before the UN’s recognition April 22 of the second International Mother Earth Day — another Morales-led initiative.
Canadian activist Maude Barlow is among global environmentalists backing the drive with a book the group will launch in New York during the UN debate: Nature Has Rights.
“It’s going to have huge resonance around the world,” Ms. Barlow said of the campaign. “It’s going to start first with these southern countries trying to protect their land and their people from exploitation, but I think it will be grabbed onto by communities in our countries, for example, fighting the tar sands in Alberta.”
4.
Forwarded by Doug Ogilvie (dogilvie@alphernet.com.au)
From: NaturalNews (insider@naturalnews.com)
Sent: April 12, 2011
Subject: Radiation levels in U.S. milk now 300% of EPA maximum
NaturalNews Insider Alert email newsletter
Dear NaturalNews readers,
With the Fukushima fallout continuing to spread across North America, radiation levels in U.S. foods keep rising. Now, radiation has been detected in U.S. milk products at nearly 300% of EPA maximums.
This is important because milk is produced by cows eating grass, of course, and milk is an indicator of how radiation can get concentrated up the food chain. If the milk is radioactive, then what about the beef?
And what does this mean for the coming summer harvests across North America? Will all the crops be contaminated with radiation, too?
(...) No safe level of radiation from nuclear fallout
Background and airplane radiation is an external emitter of radiation, while Fukushima-induced radiation in food and water is an internal emitter. The former, which is considered "normal" radiation, hits your body from the outside, while the latter goes directly inside your body and into your digestive tract. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the immense difference between the two, and the much more severe consequences associated with literally ingesting radiation verses having it hit your skin. In reality, there really is no safe level of radiation. No matter how many times the EPA and others repeat the lie that radiation levels are too low to have any significant impact, the statement itself is patently false. Many experts, including Jeff Patterson, DO, former President of Physicians for Social Responsibility, have stated that radiation exposure at any level is unsafe, and they are correct. "There is no safe level of radionuclide exposure, whether from food, water or other sources. Period," said Patterson. "Exposure to radionuclides, such as Iodine-131 and Cesium-137, increases the incidence of cancer. For this reason, every effort must be taken to minimize the radionuclide content in food and water." And now that radioactive levels in some areas have actually exceeded EPA maximums, Patterson's statement is even more chilling. So while the mainstream media continues its near-total blackout on Fukushima, the situation is actually becoming more severe than it has ever been. Time will tell how severe the long-term effects of this disaster will be, but one thing is for sure -- Fukushima radiation cannot and should not be taken lightly.. Read more in this groundbreaking article by Ethan Huff: http://www.naturalnews.com/032048_radiation_milk.html
[Check also Massive cargo plane transports $2m remote-controlled concrete pump to stricken Japanese nuclear plant]
Here something bizarre: A public school in the USA has banned students from bringing bagged lunches from home, claiming that their institutionalized school food (essentially prison food) is healthier than food kids bring from home! http://www.naturalnews.com/032047_public_schools_cafeteria_food.html
P.S. We have a significant new special report on Fukushima coming out this week. This report will knock your sock off in its depth of knowledge about the holistic, holographic nature of our consciousness and apparent reality. Watch for this report to be announced here on NaturalNews.com.
More news continues below on eliminating bruises (naturally), how to reduce stress and increase longevity, the latest on cancer-sniffing dogs and much more (see below)...
Public school bans students from bringing lunches from home, forces them to eat cafeteria food
Individual responsibility and personal freedom are becoming a thing of the past in the nation's public schools, as strict control over what students can and cannot eat -- or bring to school to eat -- escalates to near-dictatorial levels...
Radiation protocols and detoxification
I was having a bowl of miso and dulse soup the other night with my friend, Susan. We were talking about all of the other protocols that we, as West Coasters, were practicing to protect ourselves from any potential radiation toxicity that...
How solar flares affect people and the Earth
What is a solar flare? According to www.spaceweather.com, the definition of a solar flare is "an explosion on the Sun that happens when energy stored in twisted magnetic fields (usually above sunspots) ... is suddenly released." The explosions...
Doctors don't tell patients the truth about the treatments they'd use themselves
Hopefully, this will never happen to you, but consider this scene: you've been diagnosed with a life threatening condition like colon cancer. So you sit down in your doctor's office to discuss your medical options with your physician and...
CoQ10 improves hypertension and can prevent congestive heart failure
Reporting in the journal Biofactors, researchers found that patients with congestive heart failure that were supplemented with the active form of coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinol) improved ejection fraction by 39%. Ejection fraction is a critical...
Real health care begins with you
For a good number of years now, there has been a lot of talk and debate concerning the effects of our political, financial and social situations. The world economy, environment, wars and health issues are all jockeying for the top positions...
Three simple tips - How to live a longer life with less stress
Sometimes it may seem like the strains and demands of modern society exceed human abilities. However, that is usually far from the truth. This article outlines how you can take things down a notch with three simple tips that will help you...
How to naturally prevent, relieve and eliminate bruises
Virtually all of us have the occasional bumps and knocks which lead to bruises, and some of us are more prone to bruising than others. Bruises, sometimes referred to as contusions, are a type of relatively minor tissue hematoma where ruptures...
Three ways to enjoy healthy, natural peanut butter
Creamy, delicious peanut butter is filled with the same nutrients as peanuts. These nutrients include antioxidants and healthy fats that reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and colon cancer. Concern about gaining weight from eating nuts...
Cancer-detecting dogs could be coming to a hospital near you
Emerging cancer screening methods could soon be as simple as asking your best furry friend if you have the disease. Japanese researchers have published a study in the British Medical Journal which claims that cancer cells actually...
No end in sight for Fukushima disaster as bureaucrats battle the laws of physics
As the famous physicist Dr. Michio Kaku said on April 4th, "The situation at Fukushima is relatively stable now... in the same way that you are stable if you hang by your fingernails off a cliff, and your fingernails begin to break one by...
Fukushima: A Nuclear Threat to Japan, the U.S. and the World (April 6, 2011) http://abcnews.go.com/Health/fukushima-leak-threat-japan-us-world/story?id=13303513
Japan Disaster Could Have Far-Reaching Consequences -- For several weeks, radioactive leaks from the Fukushima nuclear power plants have been incapacitating a large part of Japan. Information from the Japanese government and TEPCO, the power company that operates the site, has been sparse, often incomplete and sometimes contradictory. A confidential assessment by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission obtained by The New York Times suggests that the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant is far from stable. The report concludes that the Fukushima plant is facing a wide array of fresh threats that could persist indefinitely. The Fukushima disaster has become more than a local, regional or national Japanese event. The worldwide implications of the event are becoming apparent: though a major leak in a maintenance pit of the plant has been plugged, there is still a great likelihood that significant amounts of radioactive water will continue to be released into the Pacific Ocean; the worldwide Just-In-Time manufacturing cycle has been interrupted; and increased levels of radiation have been detected on the U.S. East Coast. Though the amount of radiation to reach the U.S. is small and poses no present danger, its presence demonstrates that the Fukushima event has global impact. Circumstances are still evolving too fast and too out-of-control for the consequences to be fully appreciated in real time. Every day brings new revelations of failure and growing frustration in Japan and elsewhere. It has become obvious that not all the facts about the Fukushima tragedy will be known until the danger is long past.
(...) It will take the equivalent of billions of dollars for the Japanese to recover from these disasters and the U.S. economy is closely linked to theirs. The Japanese government and Japanese investors comprise the second largest holders of U.S. Treasuries, at $885 billion. The Bank of Japan also is reported to hold $493 billion in its reserve balance to avert credit problems. Some financial observers have speculated that the earthquake and tsunami may force Japan's government and investors to liquidate much of the U.S. debt they hold. This possibility doesn't even consider that there is no transparency as to what plans exist for using these funds. The wholesomeness of much of Japan's food supply has come under question. Farmers have been forced to destroy crops and dispose of dairy products. Because of continuing contamination of seawater, the healthfulness of seafood from the Pacific Ocean is in question. Japan is already a net food importer. In response to a continuing shortage of Japanese home-grown food, the Japanese government may encourage importation of even more foreign food, which is likely to increase the price of food in a nation where food is already an extremely expensive commodity. Worldwide, increased competition for food is likely to affect prices, causing some people in marginal economies to go hungry.
(...) Though the aftermath of Fukushima will be with us for decades, and perhaps generations, immediate attention to this matter is imperative to save lives, provide knowledge that will avert a similar disaster elsewhere, and minimize domestic and worldwide economic impact. After almost a month, there continue to be more questions than answers. There has been marginal success in cooling the at-risk reactors and little success stemming the flow of radioactive waste water. We have no credible estimate of the impact this disaster will have on the Japanese economy in particular or the world economy in general. There have been no credible steps in the U.S. or by the International Atomic Energy Agency to begin learning from this event and its aftermath and to apply those lessons to avert or minimize future tragedies.
(...) Looking to the future, as fossil fuels are depleted and become more costly, the world inevitably will become more dependent on nuclear power. It is likely that another nuclear disaster will occur sooner or later. Depending on ad-hoc solutions to disasters of this magnitude is shortsighted at best. In the U.S., we have seen no concerted response by U.S. regulators and nuclear power operators to re-examine safety standards in the 104 nuclear plants in this country. Most of them are decades old, some are based on the same design as Fukushima, and some sit on or near fault lines as unstable as those in Japan. CLIP
Aborigines to block uranium mining after Japan disaster (14 April 2011) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/aborigines-to-block-uranium-mining-after-japan-disaster-2267467.html
Since Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant began leaking radiation after last month's earthquake and tsunami, those watching with consternation have included the Mirarr Aboriginal people of Australia's Northern Territory, who are determined to limit uranium mining on their land despite the promise of vast riches. The Mirarr are the traditional owners of land where uranium has been mined for more than 30 years and exported all over the world. Tepco, which operates the Fukushima plant, is a long-standing customer of Ranger, the principal mine.The senior traditional elder in the area, Yvonne Margarula, has written to the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, expressing her people's sorrow about Japan's suffering, and their concern about the nuclear emergency. "Given the long history between Japanese nuclear companies and Australian uranium miners, it is likely that the radiation problems at Fukushima are, at least in part, being fuelled by uranium derived from our traditional lands," she said. "This makes us feel very sad."Ms Margarula also told Mr Ban that events in Japan had strengthened the Mirarr's resolve to oppose work at a second mine, named Jabiluka - the world's largest known undeveloped uranium deposit. Instead, they want to see Jabiluka incorporated into Kakadu, the World Heritage-listed national park where Ranger is also located.Uranium mining has a troubled history in the area. The Ranger deposit - now operated by Energy Resources of Australia (ERA), a subsidiary of the Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto - was developed against the Mirarr's wishes. Jabiluka, also leased by ERA, has been in limbo since 1998, when thousands of people staged an eight-month blockade there at the Mirarr's urging. CLIP
Dear Friends and Residents of this interdependent global home,
I cannot give magical answers to everyone’s needs at this time of crisis with the Japanese nuclear disaster. However, I can give you a few tips on how to listen to the official "expert" statements given on CNN or NHK or other networks, plus some tips on what to eat or not eat.
First, there is a great difference between medical use of radiation, with direct risk and benefit to a patient and the random distribution of a comparable dose to a large population. In the latter case the risk is magnified and the benefit goes to filling some general society benefit. Hence the individual harm may be sacrificed for the military or economic good of a country. How or why we must make this trade off has never been well understood by the public or well explained and agreed to by reasonable civil society.
There is also a significant difference between internal contamination with radioactive debris from a nuclear disaster and direct irradiation from an external medical devise under the control of a professional who can ask for your consent, limit the exposure and take care of any problems which might unwittingly occur. When internal radioactive tracers are used in medicine they have short half lives (both biologically and physically) and are not similar to plutonium, uranium or thorium or other debris found in nuclear disasters.
Nevertheless, both exposures can be significant, and require some consent by those at risk. Unfortunately, this prior consent is absent in a disaster!
Persons with good general health and good basic nutritional health will fare better when the food, air or water is contaminated since the body normally chooses uncontaminated food when it is available to it. Avoid eating salads if you are suspicious of it being contaminated by fallout or contaminated water, and always wash carefully fruits and vegetables to remove any surface contamination. Do not take Potassium Iodide without medical supervision. The iodine 131 has a short half life, and probably will not travel very far from the source unless the release from the reactor is explosive. If there is radioactive iodine in milk then there probably also is cobalt 60, a very dangerous gamma radiation emitter. The inorganic cobalt is incorporated into organic vitamin B 12 in the udder of the cow and becomes much more dangerous to the liver when ingested in milk. Be careful to get sufficient rest so that the body can undertake efficient repair of any damage. Keep hydrated with the best water available to you!
Although it is true that alpha radiation, the primary radiation in early fallout, can be stopped by paper, when this same radioactivity is released inside the body it does about 20 times the cellular damage as the equivalent dose of X-ray.
I like to hold the food in my hands and thank it for its goodness. Then I ask that it protect me from any harmful contaminants it holds. I think this a sort of modern Prayer before Meals, and not irrelevant under the circumstances.
I wish you well, and especially hold in prayer the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and all the other radiation victims/survivors of our world, for they are terrified by this massive threat which they hoped no one would ever have to suffer again!
Peace!
Rosalie Bertell, Ph.D., GNSH
6.
POWERFUL MESSAGE!
Sent by Peter Phillips (peter.phillips@sonoma.edu) on 12 April 2011
Beyond Boston and Media Reform for 2012: Supposed “End of Times” Should Marshal a New Beginning for Media Democracy in Action
By Mickey Huff
As we approach the prophetic and supposed media hyped end-of-times year of 2012, hysterical speculation will abound. But the ubiquitous corporate media don’t seem to notice that We the People of these United States already stand at our own precipice– the potential end of what has been deemed the Great American Experiment, the institutional embodiment of human freedom protected by government of, by, and for the people.
“Reformers who are always compromising, have not yet grasped the idea that truth is the only safe ground to stand upon.”
–Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Of course, for many, the promises of equality and democracy that lie therein may never have existed in the history of the United States.
Certainly, racism, sexism, classism, and imperialism, have all played the role of antagonist to said promises. However, America’s founding documents were particularly rife with rhetorical flourishes that were supportive of liberty, freedom of expression, the pursuit of happiness– all of which actually sprouted many social and political movements that changed American culture by striving toward those founding principles, achieving them in varying degrees. In this regard, America has succeeded in realizing the essence of some of its promises. But in reality, the US, in historical terms, has fallen short in myriad ways across the demographic spectrum and that trend is not abating. This is in large part due to American’s reliance on reform over revolutionary ideals and action as tools for change.
Arguably, the root of these aforementioned problems within democracy, beyond exclusion or manipulation of the franchise, chiefly resides in the controlling of public information and education, and access to it. Thomas Jefferson once offered a possible solution to these issues when he wrote, “The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves, nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.”
The focus then is to achieve a truly free press and a literate citizenry in maintenance of democratic government. More timely, this was purportedly the focus of the organizers and A-list participants of the National Conference on Media Reform this past weekend in the historic (once revolutionary?) city of Boston. However, these reformers have also fallen short of achieving this goal.
We the people should go straight to the root of our problems with media, which means taking a radical approach in dealing with the current problems of our supposed free press to ensure that all are, as Jefferson put it, safe. For starters, we should move well beyond reformist calls for attenuating institutional dials, changing a few metaphorical channels, or appointing new FCC commissioners. This has not worked. The root of democracy is with the people, in education, in literacy, in media awareness, and the path to change comes from the people, not the president. That we move beyond a reform ethos concentrated on elite media control must be agreed upon by all those aware of the problem in order for real change to take place. And while moving beyond reform, we cannot succumb to “hope and change we can believe in,” which was promised, yet never delivered after the 2008 election where many reformers focused great efforts to no avail. These eventual outcomes of reform serve to create a subculture of acceptance in defeat, living to fight again…in another four years.
That is a long game. And we have played it for a long time.
It is true that reforms play a role in radical changes, though they are stepladders to paradigmatic changes. The time to unite, face reality, and act to rebuild a new and relevant democracy on the foundation of a truly free press is upon us as we are in dire straights as a country, as a world.
Like falling empires of old, the US today is mired in multi-front, unilateral wars and is engaging in new ones ongoing while living well beyond its means at home; ignoring domestic affairs when not outright waging internal wars against those who actually expect elected and appointed officials to live up to our founding Enlightenment principles.
These current so-called “wars on terror” have cost over $3 trillion to date and occupy a great deal of time of political leaders. All the while, the US boasts record declines in middle and working class incomes and opportunities; a jobless “recovery” in the wake of the economic collapse of 2008 (caused in large part by the biggest banks on Wall Street which subsequently were not held accountable and instead bailed out at taxpayer expense); a crumbling infrastructure; failing schools (including public and private charter); abysmal records on access and quality of healthcare given the overall wealth and technological prowess of the country; rising infant mortality rates; increasing homelessness; skyrocketing foreclosures; collapse of community development and non-profit support systems; faulty elections procedures; the use of torture abroad and at home; the list goes on and on.
Last but not least, we suffer a hyperreal condition as a society, spurred on by fearful, factless, and feckless news programming by the nation’s supposed leading journalistic outlets. This is why most people in America do not seem to notice the inevitable descent.
America is so disconnected that even while individuals may suffer in large numbers they lack a collective adhesive in a modern media landscape. They erroneously believe they suffer alone, and thanks to corporate media propaganda, are often afraid of the wrong things.
Yet, a truly free press should help build and protect democracy for the people, not destroy it.
All this is taking place in what appears to be absolute decline across the board for most Americans as the upper few percent of the population control most of the nation’s wealth. A real free press would tell us to forget the GDP and focus on community building and works programs, not abstract market fluctuations. America is a debtor nation and has not made much outside of weapons and related technologies accompanied by military industrial media complex propaganda/advertising for years– all masquerading as official foreign policy and the “news.” The US government, along with this massive military industrial complex, has now armed the world to the teeth to justify a permanent warfare state.
America, its government of and by corporations over the people, is now locked in a self-created, last-ditch effort to occupy the nether regions of oil, industrial capitalism’s dwindling lifeblood. The US forces the rest of the world to trade on the dollar to maintain global hegemony, funding its expansion of over a thousand military bases in over 130 countries. Meanwhile, China, Russia, and several South American countries, are already operating outside this monetary imposition, which as the late scholar and author of the Blowback trilogy Chalmers Johnson argued, is what would spell the end of American empire – fiscal bankruptcy. The collapse of the dollar would hasten that. Indeed, that time draws nigh as the cry for austerity from ostentatious leaders rings hollow across the land.
But again, don’t expect the so-called mainstream media to explain all this to the public. After all, according to the mainstream media in the US (in actuality, it is the corporate media, but the term “mainstream” is used so often people tend to forget it is not so mainstream) there are teachers to blame and public workers to vilify, and there is an ever ready supply of immigrant populations to enslave or deport as well as exotic lands Americans can’t find on a map to invade in efforts to rout evildoers that supposedly cause our current calamities. And if that’s too much to handle, big media in the US can intersperse a steady diet of junk food news where Americans can vicariously feast on celebrity gossip and sport spectacles ranging from Charlie Sheen and Dancing With the Stars to the Super Bowl and March Madness in hopes that the problems we all face in the real world will simply just go away.
These are the same issues many in the media reform movement also decry, and rightfully so. Reform efforts have been laudable. But the solutions reformers offer mostly seem to involve “fixing the system” by focusing on influence of advertisers or regulating ownership (which to date have not achieved reformer objectives). Other reformers want the government to step in to “fix the system” by creating a public media, without noting government has played a big role in the current problem and even while public media is under attack by Congress, PBS and NPR have hardly stood out in major ways to challenge the plutocracy in the name of the people.
These reform notions do not go to the root of the problem, they do not map out a radical solution. And, despite reformers’ benevolent instincts and intentions, don’t always expect reformers that criticize the big media messengers’ behaviors to realize that the system they spend so much time trying to repair is now defunct, if it ever existed in any democratically functional means in the first place. This is why we, the media literate citizens of this dying republic, must now move beyond reform to create a new way.
We need to be the media in word and deed, not lobby those in power to reform their own current establishment megaphones for their own power elite agendas, as that will not happen, and indeed, it has not in the past. In order to achieve real change, we need not have elaborate conferences that rely on power elite voices, their foundation monies, and their apologetic reformist rhetoric. In the words of 19th century American activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, we need to embody the true change she channeled when she said, “Reformers who are always compromising have not yet grasped the idea that truth is the only safe ground to stand upon.” Indeed.
The time to speak truth to power, to media power elites and their political allies, is now. Media reform is an important movement, but it should not be seen as the only path to create a more just and democratic media system. More radical approaches are needed at this point. So just say no to reform driven agendas delivered as so much managed news propaganda and embrace the possibilities of a radical media democracy in action, of, by, and for the people. Show it with actions through citizen journalism and support of local and independent, non-corporate, community media. Do it after the reform spectacle of vicarious deference to power and celebrity is over in Boston this year, as the real change only begins with true, radical action at home. That’s the only way a truly free press can be created, preserved, and grown to be a tool of the people and not the reformers with their unrequited overtures to the media power elite.
The time to act is now. We may not have time enough for the next reform conference to save us.
Mickey Huff is Director of Project Censored, on the board of directors for the Media Freedom Foundation, and Associate Professor of History at Diablo Valley College in the San Francisco Bay Area. Contact: Mickey [at] projectcensored.org and Peter [at] projectcensored.org
7.
Date: 14 Apr 2011
From: "Emma Ruby-Sachs - Avaaz.org" (avaaz@avaaz.org)
Subject: Harper's G8-Gate: Demand the truth
Dear friends across Canada,
This week, a leaked report alleged that the Harper Government illegally handed 50 million taxpayer dollars to a single Conservative riding – and then covered it up as G8 summit spending. With Canadians heading to the polls in mere weeks, we need to know the truth about Harper and his loose-fisted ministers.
Parliamentary experts say that no law bars the Auditor General from immediately releasing this report to the public. In fact, it would serve our bruised democracy to reveal the facts about G8 spending before Canadians are asked to choose the next government. We need to know if Harper illegally doled out public money to his supporters before we cast our votes.
Let's raise a massive public call to the AG and all 5 parties to agree immediately to release this report. If enough us join, our outcry will compel the AG to protect democracy by revealing the truth before the vote. Sign the petition below - we'll deliver it when we hit 75,000 signatures:
This is the first time in Canadian history that an AG draft report has been leaked. Members of Parliament knew that the alleged illegal conduct documented in this report was outrageous - they had no choice but to violate the tradition of confidentiality surrounding draft AG reports.
Since the scandal broke, the AG has been “sent” to Nunavut. But she cannot escape a public outcry – nor an official request from all political leaders demanding that the truth be revealed before election day.
A fair and informed vote depends on exposing the truth about Harper and his G8 spending to the Canadian public. Let’s send a flood of messages to the leaders of all five major political parties calling on them to file an official – and immediate – request with the Auditor General for the release of the G8 spending report. Then we'll bring our call directly to the AG:
The Harper Government fell because it was the first in Canadian history to be found in contempt of Parliament for refusing to tell the truth about public spending. This election is in large part about accountability, and if there is yet another massive misappropriation of taxpayer money, we have a right to know. Let’s fight for the chance to make an informed choice at the polls.
With hope,
Emma, Ricken, Janet and the rest of the Avaaz. team
Forwarded by Janneke Monshouwer (monshouwer@xmsnet.nl)
OBAMA'S DEFICIT REDUCTION PLAN 'SEEMS' TO BE A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION... BUT HE COULD CERTAINLY AX MUCH MORE BLOATED DEFENSE SPENDING! LET'S HOPE NOW THIS IS NOT JUST POLITICAL HOT AIR AND MEDIA POSTURING... HERE IS FIRST THE SPIN FROM A PRO-OBAMA OUTLET AND THEN (in the related articles and videos and in the next 2 items below) THE EVIDENCE THAT HIS PLAN WON'T CHANGE ANYTHING TO THE DOMINANCE OF THE MILITARY-CORPORATE COMPLEX AND PERPETUATE THE COZY SITUATION OF THE WEALTHIEST CLASS WHILE MAKING EVERYONE ELSE SUFFER DEEPLY...
From: Jim Messina (info@barackobama.com)
Date: 14 April 2011
Subject: The view from outside Washington on Obama's deficit reduction plan
Friend
The President's speech today began a new conversation in Washington about how to reduce the deficit while protecting crucial investments in our country's future.
But as we seek to build an organization based outside of Washington, President Obama's speech also provides an unusually stark contrast -- one all of us can use to start conversations with our friends and neighbors about what's at stake in this election.
He spoke about things you don't generally hear in Washington conversations too often dominated by special interests: He'll cut waste and excess at the Pentagon -- particularly spending that is requested not by our military, but by politicians and corporate interests.
He'll eliminate tax cuts for Americans in the highest tax brackets who don't need them, including himself -- and he will reform the individual tax code so that it's fair and simple and so that the amount of taxes you pay isn't determined by what kind of accountant you can afford.
Some cuts he proposed are tough. But they're also smart and surgical -- helping us balance our books while still doing the right things to win the future. President Obama's plan would protect the middle class, invest in our kids' education, and make sure we don't protect the wealthiest Americans from the costs of reform at the expense of the most vulnerable.
The other side has presented a very clear alternative: End Medicare as we know it, privatizing the program that millions of seniors rely on for health care. Make deep cuts to education. Slash investments in clean energy and infrastructure. All to pay for tax cuts for people making over $250,000 a year, and all while actually raising our national debt.
In short, their plan will please a special interest donor base and those who put ideology before results rather than reduce deficits over the long term. And let's be clear: They think they can get away with it because, fundamentally, they don't think you'll do anything about it.
That's where I know we can prove them wrong. Because we can respond right now by building an organization that will stop them -- not just in this deficit battle, but in the next election so they never have the chance to enact these proposals.
Here's the first step. Join our fight for a deficit reduction plan that will actually reduce the deficit -- with a goal of shared prosperity through shared responsibility. Add your name to support President Obama's plan -- and then help bring more people into the conversation:
President Obama made a promise in his speech today. He said that we won't have to sacrifice programs like Medicaid and Social Security -- programs that millions of Americans rely on -- as long as he's President. He's committed to seeking serious solutions to the problems we face while still upholding the larger responsibilities we have to one another. So it's our job to build the organization that's going to keep him in the White House.
Please add your name in this crucial moment -- and then reach out to your friends and neighbors.
More soon,
Messina
Jim Messina
Campaign Manager
Obama for America
P.S. -- If you missed President Obama's speech earlier today, some excerpts are below:
1. "Our approach lowers the government's health care bills by reducing the cost of health care itself.
"Already, the reforms we passed in the health care law will reduce our deficit by $1 trillion. My approach would build on these reforms. We will reduce wasteful subsidies and erroneous payments. We will cut spending on prescription drugs by using Medicare's purchasing power to drive greater efficiency and speed generic brands of medicine onto the market. We will work with governors of both parties to demand more efficiency and accountability from Medicaid. We will change the way we pay for health care -- not by procedure or the number of days spent in a hospital, but with new incentives for doctors and hospitals to prevent injuries and improve results. And we will slow the growth of Medicare costs by strengthening an independent commission of doctors, nurses, medical experts and consumers who will look at all the evidence and recommend the best ways to reduce unnecessary spending while protecting access to the services seniors need."
2. "But let me be absolutely clear: I will preserve these health care programs as a promise we make to each other in this society. I will not allow Medicare to become a voucher program that leaves seniors at the mercy of the insurance industry, with a shrinking benefit to pay for rising costs. I will not tell families with children who have disabilities that they have to fend for themselves. We will reform these programs, but we will not abandon the fundamental commitment this country has kept for generations."
3. "In December, I agreed to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans because it was the only way I could prevent a tax hike on middle-class Americans. But we cannot afford $1 trillion worth of tax cuts for every millionaire and billionaire in our society. And I refuse to renew them again."
4. "This is my approach to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the next twelve years. It's an approach that achieves about $2 trillion in spending cuts across the budget. It will lower our interest payments on the debt by $1 trillion. It calls for tax reform to cut about $1 trillion in spending from the tax code. And it achieves these goals while protecting the middle class, our commitment to seniors, and our investments in the future.
"So this is our vision for America -- a vision where we live within our means while still investing in our future; where everyone makes sacrifices but no one bears all the burden; where we provide a basic measure of security for our citizens and rising opportunity for our children."
5. "But no matter what we argue or where we stand, we've always held certain beliefs as Americans. We believe that in order to preserve our own freedoms and pursue our own happiness, we can't just think about ourselves. We have to think about the country that made those liberties possible. We have to think about our fellow citizens with whom we share a community. And we have to think about what's required to preserve the American Dream for future generations.
"This sense of responsibility -- to each other and to our country -- this isn't a partisan feeling. It isn't a Democratic or Republican idea. It's patriotism."
---
Related articles and videos:
Obama’s Deficit Plan Starts at the Center Right; Where Will He End Up? (April 14th, 2011) http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2011/04/14/obama-s-deficit-plan-starts-at-the-cente
President Obama announced the outlines of his deficit plan, leaving a lot up for negotiation. He planted his poll at the center right and where he ends up, with his history of compromising to bring right wing Republicans and Democratic corporatists together, can only be worse. I was pleasantly surprised to see groups that usually side with Obama even criticizing him. True Majority/US Action wrote “Obama wants to cut $4 trillion, but not $1 from the Pentagon,” in their headline. They go on to point out that “President Obama today proposed reducing the deficit through almost $800 billion in cuts.” They correctly point out that the country needs jobs not deficit cuts, and if cuts are going to be made they should not be made in domestic programs where funds are needed but in the military writing: “Over half of the money Congress makes decisions on goes directly into the Pentagon’s pocket, and that doesn't count the money for actual wars. But instead of cutting the Pentagon budget, Obama is proposing over $700 billion in cuts to programs that benefit the poor, seniors and children, while only trying to save $400 billion on war and weapons.” When there are no real cuts for the Pentagon, just slower growth, it means that the rest of discretionary spending will face real cuts. Everything from education to the environment, health care to safety will be cut and every American will feel it. When it comes to taxes, the president is seeking small increases on the wealthiest. A critical part of solving the economic problems in the United States, not just the deficit problems, is fixing the dramatic upward shift of income and wealth to the economic elite. The corporate cronyism of the last three decades has left the middle class, working class and poor with few resources, but the wealthiest have become gluttonously rich. The vast majority of the income gains in the United States over the last three decades have gone to the richest 5% of the population with the greatest gains in the top 0.5%. CLIP
Fight Economic Oppression, Target the Top One Percent (April 11th, 2011) http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2011/04/11/fight-economic-oppression-target-the-top
Massive economic inequality is killing America and we the people. It has already killed American democracy. The rich have captured the political system so they could manipulate the economy and benefit unfairly. Economic freedom and opportunity are gone. Greed among the top one percent has succeeded so well that a true uprising and revolt by Americans, like that seen in Egypt, may be needed to restore America. US society is riddled through and through with constant lies and political propaganda to keep Americans stupid and distracted. The truth is here, hidden from easy view for most citizens by an epidemic of dishonesty and irresponsibility among elected officials, corporate leaders, cowardly, corporate controlled mass media, and especially right-wing pundits, many of whom are in the top one percent. The truth, of course, is often revealed, but only in venues that relatively few people with sufficient intelligence and critical thinking skills access. Two recent articles should be required reading in every classroom and home. First, some key numbers tell the true story about the decline of America in recent decades as revealed by acclaimed economist Joseph E. Stiglitz in Vanity Fair. Upper one percent Americans are now taking in nearly a quarter of the nation’s annual income and own 40 percent of the nation’s wealth. Twenty-five years ago, the corresponding figures were 12 percent and 33 percent. The top one percent’s incomes rose 18 percent over the past decade as those in the middle have actually seen their incomes fall. As the recession still hurts most Americans, especially the unemployed, hungry and foreclosed, the top one percent, many of whom created the economic meltdown, keeps their tax cuts and riches. “Most citizens are doing worse year after year,” correctly observes Stiglitz. Also, in our delusional democracy run by a bipartisan corporate dictatorship: “Virtually all U.S. senators, and most of the representatives in the House, are members of the top 1 percent when they arrive, are kept in office by money from the top 1 percent, and know that if they serve the top 1 percent well they will be rewarded by the top 1 percent when they leave office. By and large, the key executive-branch policymakers on trade and economic policy also come from the top 1 percent.” No surprise that those who poisoned the economy have not been prosecuted. CLIP
The Budget Deal Turns Out To Be A Gigantic Fraud (April 13, 2011) http://www.businessinsider.com/cbo-on-the-budget-deal-2011-4
Originally the deal between The White House and Congressional Republicans was touted for delivering $38 billion in cost savings. Then, yesterday's analysis showed that the savings were probably just half that, since a lot of the savings came from not spending money that was never going to be spent. Turns out, the spending cuts are even more minimal than that. According to the CBO, via National Journal, the total savings come to a whopping... $352 million. With an M: A comparison prepared by the CBO shows that the omnibus spending bill, advertised as containing some $38.5 billion in cuts, will only reduce federal outlays by $352 million below 2010 spending rates. The nonpartisan budget agency also projects that total outlays are actually some $3.3 billion more than in 2010, if emergency spending is included in the total. The astonishing result, according to CBO, is the result of several factors: increases in spending, especially at the Defense Department; decisions to draw over half of the savings from recessions; and cuts to reserve funds and and money for mandatory-spending programs that might never have been spent. So yeah, total joke. This certainly doesn't make it any easier for Tea Partiers to vote for the deal, or for Boehner to come up with another compromise when debt ceiling time comes.
Gov't orders 14 lenders to reimburse homeowners (April 14, 2011) http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hSFMq7DWtFhXgOnpyIbWM7q86LKA?docId=d4aef7b66d134820a7c43a9768f3bde3
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government on Wednesday ordered 16 of the nation's largest mortgage lenders and servicers to reimburse homeowners who were improperly foreclosed upon. Government regulators also directed the financial firms to hire auditors to determine how many homeowners could have avoided foreclosure in 2009 and 2010. Citibank, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, the nation's four largest banks, were among the financial firms cited in the joint report by the Federal Reserve, Office of Thrift Supervision and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, The Fed said it believed financial penalties were "appropriate" and that it planned to levy fines in the future. All three regulators said they would review the foreclosure audits. In the four years since the housing bust, about 5 million homes have been foreclosed upon. About 2.4 million primary mortgages were in foreclosure at the end of last year. Another 2 million were 90 days or more past due, putting them at serious risk of foreclosure. Critics, including Democratic lawmakers in Congress, say the order is too lenient on the lenders. House Democrats introduced legislation Wednesday that would require lenders to perform a series of steps, including an appeals process, before starting foreclosures.
(...) John Taylor, chief executive of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a consumer housing watchdog, said the government's action is a year too late. It does little to help those who are just now wrestling with a foreclosure and those who have already been displaced, he said. Rather than moving swiftly to seize people's homes, the banks should have done a better job helping people lower their mortgage payments through modification programs, he said. "This should have happened a long time ago," he said. "There are so many people who, if they had received a meaningful modification, could have stayed in their homes."
Major banks sanctioned over mortgage practices - Action doesn’t levy fines, even with evidence of wrongdoing (April 13, 2011) http://www.marketwatch.com/story/major-banks-sanctioned-over-mortgage-practices-2011-04-13
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Without assessing fines, federal banking regulators on Wednesday sanctioned the country’s largest banks over “a pattern of misconduct and negligence” in residential mortgage-loan servicing and foreclosure processing. CLIP
Max Keiser bravely fends off the financial trolls - Ten O'clock live (April 14, 2011) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktmWeynsd-Y
"Let's start hanging some bankers" - Max Keiser
It seems that this President has turned his back on everything he touted during his campaign. Yet, as mature individuals we should have expected it…after all he’s a politician and most politicians lie through their teeth, right? You must remember, closing Guantanamo, having a more “transparent” government, working for peace in the Mid-East, talking to Iran, etc., etc., etc.
I hate to shatter anyone’s bubble, but he hasn’t done anything except reward the perpetrators of the Wall Street crash, expand the War in Afghanistan and move it over to Pakistan to boot. We still have troops in Iraq and we are considering putting troops in Libya where we have no national interests at all. Funny what that “Commander-in-Chief” title can lead you to do.
Yes, since the Congress declared “The Global War on Terror”, the executive branch has almost unlimited resources and power. “Hail Caesar!” I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a little bit tired of him moving our military around the World like he’s playing some kind of chess game. You can bet that the military personnel are getting a little sick of it too.
I found out that the reason we are so down on Iran is because they are the sworn enemy of Saudi Arabia. Gee, I didn’t know that. I should have figured it out. When the Saudi’s sent troops into Bahrain to put down a popular movement against the princes of the oilfields, it became quite clear that America is certainly for freedom in the Mid-East, but only in certain parts. We supply Saudi Arabia with 3.5 Billion dollars of military equipment every year. Do they pay for it? Let me guess…no. Between Egypt, Israel, and Saudi Arabia we give them more that 10.5 Billions of dollars in military hardware.
We have a situation where we spend more on our military than all the other nations on Earth combined. We are doing it today, and what are our fearless leaders talking about in Congress? How to reduce the average Americans entitlements! They have absolutely no qualms about spending more than half the tax dollars they get, but want to cut programs that American taxpayers put money into! If what I heard tonight is true, 40 cents of every tax dollar received goes to finance the debt. If that’s true, between financing the debt and paying for our military, that only leaves 10 cents of every dollar to actually spend. Is it any wonder why we are going bankrupt?
How about Libya? Who the F**K authorized us into that war? Just what are the people of the U.S. going to gain from it? The U.S. has a new toy called AFRICOM and they want to use it. Some say that Somalia, Yemen and Sudan will be next. Just what is going on and why aren’t Americans screaming their fool heads off?
Look, I didn’t use any big words and everything I’ve said here can be easily verified. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this nation is in a fatal spiral of debt that will eventually have us go the way of the Soviet Union. Where are all the lefties? Where are the people that don’t want Medicare and Social Security cut? Why isn’t there uproar over our out of control military spending? Do you realize the two largest air forces are the U.S.Airforce and secondly the U.S. Navy? Did you know that it takes approximately 50 Billion dollars to operate one nuclear powered aircraft carrier and we have eleven of them? There are two nations; Italy and Spain the closest to us in numbers have 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_carriers_by_country
So why do we have so many carriers? Just what real good are they doing? Off the coast of Somalia American and other nations ships are routinely captured by pirates in fast boats. How do you hide a two football field long tanker from an aircraft carrier? Doesn’t this make you sit up and say WTF?
We’re fighting a war in Afghanistan to root out what the U.S. admits are only 50-100 al Qaida. The average cost of having one set of boots on the ground there for a year is One Million Dollars http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114294746, just what are we doing? Opium production there has risen 400% since the U.S. landed troops there. Some sources say it is now over 6000 metric tons yearly. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6239734.stm There are entire families addicted to the stuff. War is hell and opium makes it less so. If we gave them a democracy (which isn’t the real mission there) they wouldn’t know what to do with it. Between depleted uranium and opium, the Afghani’s will never forget us.
Forget about the class war here in America where the top 1% of the population owns almost 40% of the wealth and the other 19% together with the1% hold 83% of the nation’s wealth, leaving the bottom 80% of us with a whopping 7% of the total wealth. Never mind that the middle class has seen wages fall steadily over the last two decades while the upper 10% have had a 13% increase. Don’t tax the rich! According to the GOP that will mean that they can’t hire anyone. (What …like an extra maid or butler?)
So when are we going to do something about it? Obama, with his minions from Goldman Sacks aren’t going to break the status quo. Anyway, he’s Commander-in-Chief! I say do something. If things progress the way they are, we will have the largest armed forces in the world, but they will all be mothballed. (And maybe that’s a good thing). The government wants to cut everything under the sun, but the military is sacrosanct. It’s about time we brought the subject up loud enough for these cowards in Washington to hear us. Don’t you think?
---
Related video:
'War lobby won $700 billion budget boost, wants MORE as collapse looms' (April 16, 2011) MUST WATCH! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9VFIMTDfTDg
The U.S. budget may include $38 billion of spending cuts, but there will be a financial boost for the military. This year's planned military spending is $700 billion, while other areas including healthcare, education, and infrastructure are on the chopping block. The decision came after a long struggle between lawmakers and the Pentagon saying military cuts will threaten national security. Journalist Chris Hedges says the decision was made under severe pressure from some lobbying circles.
In Washington, the environment is under attack. The cost-cutting deal that the House passed yesterday stripped the Environmental Protection Agency of $1.6 billion, which made up 16% of the agency’s budget. Funds for clean energy were cut. Republicans put in a provision that would keep the Department of the Interior from putting aside public lands for conservation and one that killed the nascent climate center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
These choices represent a deeper antipathy toward nature and environmental health than the run-of-the-mill climate denialism that’s become au courant among congressional Republicans. They show that plenty of leaders in Congress do not care about basic protections that ensure clean air and clean water or that keep even small stretches of the planet safe from mining, drilling and other human interventions.
Greenlining
One idea driving these decisions is that, economically, the country can’t afford to protect the environment right now. But as Monica Potts argues at The American Prospect, in a review of two new books that cover the economy and the environment, green policies are good for business. In reviewing Climate Capitalism by L. Hunter Lovins and Boyd Cohen, Potts notes that “$2.8 billion a year is wasted because employees don’t turn off their computers when they leave work; comprehensive clean-energy and climate legislation could create 1.9 million jobs; improving indoor air quality could save businesses $200 billion annually in energy costs.”
Almost 2 million jobs! The country could use that boost right now. But those jobs depend, of course, on government action. As Potts points out, businesses won’t necessarily adopt these solutions on their own. The other book she reviews, Seth Fletcher’s Bottled Lightning, explains why electric cars weren’t developed sooner.
In short, “oil has stayed so remarkably cheap,” Potts writes. And, as she says, “The market doesn’t capture all of the costs that fossil fuels and other industrial-era processes impose on society.” Environmentally friendly policies might be good for business, but sometimes business doesn’t know it. The private sector won’t learn that lesson, either, if Washington is willing to sacrifice its administrative infrastructure for handling environmental issues.
New energy, new decisions
The country’s going to want its government to have some environmental experts left around for another reason, too. As oil and gas get more expensive, alternative energy sources are going to look more appealing. But while they might have lower carbon emissions, they raise new issues about clean air and water and about their impact on ecosystems. The EPA, for example, is currently studying the water and air impacts of natural gas, which has been widely touted as a fuel source that emits less carbon than coal.
But that may not be accurate, either. In a study obtained this week by The Hill, Robert Howarth, a Cornell University scientist, found that the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions related to natural gas production may actually far outstrip the amount coal produces. Mother Jones’ Kate Sheppard explains:
While burning natural gas may emit less carbon dioxide, its extraction releases quite a bit of methane, a more potent greenhouse gas. Gas from shale—a fine-grained layer of rock below the earth’s surface—is also responsible for 30 percent more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional natural gas. The study found that up to 7.9 percent of the methane escapes directly from the wells, leaks from pipelines, or is released in venting and flaring. While the leaks may be relatively small, methane is such a potent greenhouse gas that those leaks have a major impact, Howarth tells Mother Jones.
Fighting back against fracking
If Howarth’s study is correct, that means even worse news for communities in the gas fields that have been fighting against new natural gas drilling, only to be told that it’s for the greater good. For instance, in New York this week, Public News Service’s Mike Clifford reports that “Dozens of environmental and health groups are asking [Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers] to put the longer-term issues of air and water quality ahead of any short-term gas profits.”
The Sierra Club’s Roger Downs tells Clifford, “We’ve seen in places like Wyoming, where the oil and gas industry has been booming, children on certain days cannot go out and play; they get nosebleeds from the air quality. It’s serious stuff, and we don’t want that in New York.”
The Spencers’ house, once valued at $150,000, is now worth $29,000. They have a methane monitor in their basement, a methane water filtration system in a backyard shed. They leave the door open when they take showers because with no bathroom windows they are afraid the house could blow up. Their neighbors were forced to evacuate once already because of high methane levels. In the middle of their yard, a shaft resembling a shrunken flagpole vents gas from their wellhead.
Right now, the EPA is studying the effects that natural gas drilling have on public health. Their findings could, at the very least, strengthen the case for putting restrictions on drilling companies to prevent pollution. But if anti-environmentalists in Washington keep cutting into the bottom line of environmental programs, families like the Spencers will have an even harder time fighting against the conditions they’re facing now.
Interview with Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, former assistant secretary of US Treasury, Panama City.
Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi has made two mistakes: It blocked the US Africa Command by not joining it and let China into Libya with major energy investments instead, says a former US official.
Press TV has interviewed Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, former assistant secretary of US Treasury from Panama City, who gives his insight on the revolution in Libya and why US President Barack Obama needs to overthrow Qaddafi when no other US presidents did.
Press TV: Russia has criticized NATO for going far beyond its UN mandate. In other news a joint Op Ed is going to be written by Obama, Cameron and Sarkozy who have said that “leaving Qaddafi in power would be an unconscionable betrayal to the Libyan people”.
We do know that the mandate does not call for regime change; the Obama administration has been saying they are not in there for regime change; but things seem a little different now don't they?
Roberts: Yes they do. First of all, notice that the protests in Libya are different from the ones in Egypt or Yemen or Bahrain or Tunisia and the difference is that this is an armed rebellion.
There are more differences: another is that these protests originated in the eastern part of Libya where the oil is - they did not originate in the capital cities. And we have heard from the beginning, credible reports that the CIA is involved in the protests and there have been a large number of press reports that the CIA has sent back to Libya its Libyan asset to head up the Libyan rebellion.
In my opinion, what this is about is to eliminate China from the Mediterranean. China has extensive energy investments and construction investments in Libya. They are looking to Africa as a future energy source.
The US is countering this by organizing the United States African Command (USAC), which Qaddafi refused to join. So that's the second reason for the Americans to want Qaddafi out.
And the third reason is that Libya controls part of the Mediterranean coast and it's not in American hands.
Press TV: Who are the revolutionaries. The US say they don't know who they're dealing with, but considering the CIA is on the ground in contact with revolutionaries - Who are the people under whom Libya will function in any post-Qaddafi era?
Roberts: Whether or not Libya functions under revolutionaries depends if the CIA wins - we don't know that yet. As you said earlier, the UN resolution puts constraints on what the European and American forces can achieve in Libya. They can have a no fly zone, but they are not supposed to be in there fighting together with the rebels.
But of course the CIA is. So we do have these violations of the UN resolution. If NATO, which is now the cover for the world community, succeeds in overthrowing Qaddafi the next target will be Syria because Syria has already been demonized.
Why are they targeting Syria? - Because the Russians have a very large naval base in Syria. And it gives the Russian navy a presence in the Mediterranean; the US and NATO do not want that. If there is success in overthrowing Qaddafi, Syria is next.
Already, they are blaming Iran for Syria and Libya. Iran is a major target because it is an independent state that is not a puppet of the Western colonialists.
Press TV: With regards to the expansionist agenda of the West, when the UN mandate on Libya was debated in the UN Security Council, Russia did not veto it. Surely Russia must see this expansionist policy of the US, France and Britain.
Roberts: Yes they must see that; and the same for China. It's a much greater threat to China because it has 50 major investment projects in eastern Libya. So the question is why did Russia and China abstain rather than veto and block? We don't know the answer.
Possibly the countries are thinking let the Americans get further over extended or they may not have wanted to confront them with a military or diplomatic position and have an onslaught of Western propaganda against them. We don't know the reasons, but we know they did abstain because they did not agree with the policy and they continue to criticize it.
Press TV: A sizeable portion of Qaddafi's assets have been frozen in the US as well as some other countries. We also know that the Libyan revolutionaries have set up a central bank and that they have started limited production of oil and they are dealing with American and other Western firms. It begs the question that we've never seen something like this happen in the middle of a revolution. Don't you find that bizarre?
Roberts: Yes it's very bizarre and very suggestive. It brings back the fact of all the reports that the CIA is the originator of this so-called revolt and protest and is fomenting it and controlling it in a way that excludes China from its own Libyan oil investments.
In my opinion, what is going on is comparable to what the US and Britain did to Japan in the 1930s. When they cut Japan off from oil, from rubber, from minerals like ore; that was the origin of World War II in the pacific. And now the Americans and the British are doing the same thing to China.
The difference is that China has nuclear weapons and it also has a stronger economy than do the Americans. And so the Americans are taking a very high risk not only with themselves, but with the rest of the world. The entire world is now at stake on American over-reach; American huberus - the drive for American hegemony over the world is driving the rest of the world into a World War.
Press TV: In the context of America's expansionist policies, how far do you think the US will stretch beyond the UN mandate? Are we going to see boots on the ground?
Roberts: Most likely - unless they can find some way of defeating Qaddafi without that. Ever since we've had Bill Clinton, George W Bush and now Obama, what we've learned is law means nothing to the executive branch in the US. They don't obey our own laws; they don't obey international law; they violate all the civil liberties and buried the principal of habeas corpus - no crime without intent; of the ability for a defendant to be legally represented.
They don't pay any attention to law so they're not going to pay any attention to the UN. The UN is an American puppet organization and they will use it as a cover. So yes if they cannot run Qaddafi out they will put troops on the ground - that's why we have the French and the British involved. We're using the French elsewhere in Africa also; we use the British in Afghanistan - they're puppets.
These countries are not independent. Sarkozy doesn't report to the French people - he reports to Washington. The British PM doesn't report to the English people he reports to Washington. These are puppet rulers of an empire; they have nothing to do with their own people and we put them in office.
Press TV: So these other countries would welcome having NATO troops on the ground?
Roberts: Of course. They are in the CIAs pocket. It's a CIA operation, not a legitimate protest of the Libyan people. It's an armed rebellion that has no support in the capital city. It's taking place in the east where the oil is and is directed at China.
Press TV: Where do you see the situation headed? There seems to be a rift between NATO countries with Britain and France wanting to increase the momentum of these air strikes, but the US saying no, there is no need.
Roberts: The rift is not real. The rift is just part of the cover, just part of the propaganda. Qaddafi has been ruling for 40 years - he goes back to Gamal Abdel Nasser (before Anwar Sadat) who wanted to give independence to Egypt.
He (Qaddafi) was never before called a brutal dictator that has to be removed. No other president has ever said Qaddafi has to go. Not even Ronald Reagan who actually bombed Qaddafi's compound and tried to kill him. But all of a sudden he has to go. Why?
Because he's blocking the US African Command, he controls part of the Mediterranean and he has let China in to find its energy needs for the future. We (the US) are trying to cripple our main rival, China by denying it energy. That's what this is really about; a reaction by the US.
If the US was concerned about humanitarianism, it wouldn't be killing all these people in Afghanistan and Pakistan with their drones and military strikes. Almost always it's civilians that are killed. And the US is reluctant to issue apologies about any of it. They say we thought we were killing Taliban or some other made-up enemy.
Press TV: Who will benefit from all of this other than the US? The other countries that comply with US wishes- What do they stand to gain from this?
Roberts: We are only talking about NATO countries, the American puppet states. Britain, France, Italy, Germany, all belong to the American empire. We've had troops stationed in Germany since 1945. You're talking about 66 years of American occupation of Germany. The Americans have military bases in Italy - how is that an independent country? France was somewhat independent until we put Sarkozy in power. So they all do what they're told.
America wants to rule Russia, China, Iran, and Africa, all of South America. They want hegemony over the world. That's what the word hegemony means. And they will pursue it at all costs.
---
Related articles:
Libyan rebels in renewed push for Brega (16 Apr 2011) http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/04/20114162049630822.html
Libyan rebels are in a renewed effort to push towards the oil port of Brega while Muammar Gaddafi's forces pounded besieged Misurata to the west with rockets and mortars, a rebel spokesman said.The rebels' attempt to fight their way into western Libya on Saturday, which would allow them to link up with comrades in Misurata, has ground to a halt along the eastern coastal stretch from Ajdabiyah to Brega, despite NATO air strikes.Rebels said some fighters had set up positions on the outskirts of Brega, but with their forces exposed to attacks on the highway they were unable to send more men forward to dislodge Gaddafi loyalists in the town centre.In Misurata, besieged for seven weeks, Gaddafi's forces pounded the town with rockets and mortars.At least 100 Grad rockets were fired, a rebel spokesman said.The barrage came a day after thousands of residents in the coastal city took to the streets calling on Gaddafi to step down and immediately stop attacks on their city."They fired Grads at an industrial area this morning; at least one hundred rockets were fired. No casualties are reported," Abdelbasset Abu Mzereiq told the Reuters news agency on Saturday."We know that the dairy factory there has been damaged." CLIP - More related news HERE
Mission Transformation in Libya By Glenn Greenwald (April 15, 2011) http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/04/15/libya
(...) Whatever one thinks about this war - limited humanitarian intervention on the merits, this is not the mission that Obama cited when justifying America's involvement. It's the opposite.
Another Shocking UN cover up about Libya (22.03.2011) http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/crimes/22-03-2011/117288-Another_Shocking_UN_cover_up_about_Libya-0/
(...) Now comes to light another utter embarrasment for them and the UN, this one they can NEVER LIVE DOWN. It just so happens that the United Nations Human Rights Council was scheduled to take another important vote. What was that vote? The Council was about to vote on a report that affirmed and praised Libya and Colonel Ghaddafi for THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD. The report said that the Ghaddafi government protected "not only political rights, but also economic, educational, social and cultural rights," and praised it for the nation's treatment of religious minorities, and the "human rights training" received by security forces.It was to be approved at a vote later this month. Did something suddenly happen over night? If you believe it did, I have a bridge to sell you. No less than 46 delegations to the controversial Human Rights Council made positive comments, with rare criticism from, who else, the United States. They have moved to postpone the vote. Anyone wonder why? Let everyone, particularly those in positions of power, take notice. We know why. How embarrassing for the dogs of war that vote would be if it were held honestly, no pressure, no blackmail, no bribes. How embarrassing...first the best standard of living in Africa and now a commendation for human rights practices. What a terrible dictator Colonel Ghaddafi is! NOTE: To better understand this above, read Libya’s Late, Great Rights Record... (in the New York Times)
Obama acknowledges 'stalemate' in Libya http://gulfnews.com/obama-acknowledges-stalemate-on-ground-in-libya-1.793484
"You now have a stalemate on the ground militarily, but Gaddafi is still getting squeezed in all kinds of other ways. He is running out of money, he is running out of supplies. The noose is tightening and he is becoming more and more isolated."
Libya denies using cluster bombs http://bit.ly/gm7RSc
Libya categorically denied claims on Saturday by a rights watchdog that Muammar Gaddafi's forces are using "illegal" cluster bombs against rebel fighters in Misrata, as the long-besieged rebel-held town came under heavy fire once again.
Cluster bomb producers U.S., Israel, & China refuse to sign landmark cluster munitions treaty http://bit.ly/dEVwup
Major cluster bomb producing nations such as the U.S., China, Russia, and Israel refused to sign. India, Pakistan, both Koreas, and Brazil also have not signed.
Manning peer sheds light on WikiLeaks: Former military intel analyst shares his thoughts on the motive of alleged leaks
WRITTEN BY WILL GRAFF - 15 APRIL 2011
Last year, WikiLeaks shocked the world with the release of hundreds of thousands of classified documents from governments around the world, including the United States. The documents showed atrocities committed by the U.S. government, as well as the dark underbelly of U.S. foreign policy. The latest leak of diplomatic cables is the largest leak in the history of U.S. intelligence and caused an uproar from government officials — some calling for the assassination of WikiLeaks co-founder and editor, Julian Assange.
The alleged leaker, intelligence specialist Private First Class Bradley Manning, is now in Quantico military prison in Virginia, where he has been held in solitary confinement since his arrest in July 2010. On April 10, nearly 300 top legal scholars, authors and experts signed a letter condemning his treatment as torture.
Evan Knappenberger, an Iraq War veteran and former intelligence specialist in the Army, graduated from the same intelligence school as Bradley Manning in May 2004 and was given secret clearance.
Knappenberger is now a junior at Western majoring in mathematics.
He was interviewed last week for a PBS Frontline documentary about WikiLeaks, Manning and military information security.
The Western Front interviewed Knappenberger about his experience in the military and his connection to WikiLeaks.
What is your connection to Bradley Manning?
Well, I have a couple connections to Bradley. The first is that we both went to the same intelligence school. We went to the same basic training company, pretty much an identical track all the way through.
They have (Manning’s) chat logs with the guy who turned him in. He talks about why he (leaked the documents). He says on those chat logs that it’s out of principle. He didn’t like what he saw in Iraq. He talks about the collateral murder video, watching civilians get killed by American soldiers pretty much unprovoked. He had a change of heart, I think, that’s why he says he decided to release all these documents — if in fact, it was him that did it.
I was involved in torture in Iraq. Part of an intel analyst’s job is ‘targeting.’You take a human being and put him on a piece of paper, distill his life into one piece of paper. You’ve got a grid coordinate of where he lives and a little box that says what to do with him: kill, capture, detain, exploit, source — you know, there’s different things you can do with him. When I worked in targeting, it was having people killed.
The thing that gets me about that is I don’t think anybody who’s aware of what’s going on can do that work for very long without having a major problem come up. Most of the guys I went through intel school with, who went to Iraq with me, are either dead, killed themselves, are in a long-term care institution or completely disabled. I’m actually 50 percent disabled via PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), mostly because of the stuff that happened.
What kind of access did you have here and in Iraq?
Army security is like a Band-Aid on a sunken chest wound. I remember when I was training, before I had my clearance even, they were talking about diplomatic cables. It was a big scandal at Fort Huachuca (Arizona), with all these kids from analyst school. Somebody said (in the cables) Sadaam wanted to negotiate and was willing to agree to peace terms before we invaded, and Bush said no. And this wasn’t very widely known. Somehow it came across on a cable at Fort Huachuca, and everybody at the fort knew about it.
It’s interesting the access we had. I did the briefing for a two-star general every morning for a year. So I had secret and top-secret information readily available. The funny thing is, Western’s password system they have here on all these computers is better security than the Army had on their secret computers.
There are 2 million people, many of them not U.S. citizens, with access to SIPRNet (Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, the Department of Defense’s largest network for the exchange of classified information and messages). There are 1,400 government agencies with SIPR websites. It’s not that secret.
Do you think private military contractors play a role in this?
Oh yeah. I worked in a place called a SCIF (Secret Compartmentalized Information Facility) and almost anybody, if they spoke English, could get in there. It wasn’t hard at all.
Every military base has (a SCIF). There’s one in Bellingham, too. It’s by the airport. The only security they have at the SCIFs I worked at was one guy on duty at a desk. They had barbed wire you could literally step right over.
We basically gave (the Iraqi army) SIPRNet. It’s not official, but if you’ve got a secret Internet computer sitting there with a wire running across from the American side of the base, with no guard, you’re basically giving them access.
Then in every Iraqi division command post, you have a SIPRNet computer, with all the stuff Bradley Manning leaked and massive amounts more.
I could look up FBI files on the SIPRNet. In fact, I was reading Hunter Thompson’s “Hell’s Angels” book, and I was like “this sounds cool,” and I looked up all the Hell’s Angels.
We looked up the JFK assassination, I couldn’t find anything on that. It was kind of a game, but, yeah, that’s the SIPRNet. You’ve got access to every so-called sensitive piece of information.
You’ve basically got us sitting there in an Iraqi division command post, and to make it all better, the U.S. Army put one guard guy there to guard it. They would switch us off every 12 hours with another guy. If he gets up to go to the bathroom, the SIPRNet is just sitting there. All you need is knowledge of the English language and knowledge of how to use Internet Explorer.
Is all the information Bradley Manning leaked on those computers, under the same security?
He has top-secret clearance, and it’s a little better. It’s like there’s one more door you have to go through to get to the top-secret computers, maybe. Sometimes there is and sometimes there isn’t.
What do you think the release of these documents and WikiLeaks have accomplished?
I think it has raised consciousness quite a bit of the true nature of what’s going on. Anybody now can go see the daily incident log of what happened in Iraq. What WikiLeaks did, what all of this did, is give real credibility to people who want to tell the truth. You can corroborate stories.
What do you think the attacks on WikiLeaks and Manning’s imprisonment say about freedom in the United States?
The fact we think we can classify everything that goes on in a war is ridiculous. And the fact that the press really doesn’t have the freedom to report on the military is ridiculous.
The second part of it is Bradley Manning and his treatment. If he was in any other government agency or private agency, he’d be considered a whistleblower. He’d have protections, but he’s not. It shows the gap of human rights in our military.
If he was anybody else, he’d be covered under the whistleblower protections or the freedom of speech. If a reporter gets classified information and publishes it, it’s not a crime. WikiLeaks is a reporting agency, so they should be covered under that. And anybody that works for them, i.e. Bradley Manning, should be covered under that, too.
What should people know about Bradley Manning and why should they care about this issue?
This is an American citizen. He’s an all-American kid. Born and raised in Oklahoma. If the constitutional rights don’t apply to him, it should scare everybody. Even if you don’t agree with what he allegedly did, you still have the obligation to care about the fact that he hasn’t been afforded his trial and he’s been treated with cruel and unusual punishment. Even if you’re against freedom of the press in this case, you still have the obligation to care about the kid. He’s being tortured.
It has been almost a year. They wake him up every five minutes. He’s stripped naked every day. The lights have been on in his cell 24/7 for a year. He gets one visitor a week. He can’t exercise in his cell, gets an hour a day to walk around a larger cell with no bed in it for exercise. Every human rights organization in the world has condemned his treatment as torture. That should scare the shit out of us because he’s not some Islamic fundamentalist who talks about Jihad, he’s an American kid, modern guy, who listens to pop music and happens to be gay.
---
Among the many comments posted there, the following ones stood out for me:
"Manning is being tortured and denied due process with the full knowledge of the Obama administration. This president has betrayed everything he claimed he stood for. Those of us who were foolish enough to believe him, and vote for him, won't be making that mistake again."
"For the life of me, I don't understand how it is that he's still being treated this way. It's almost a year! Barack Obama should be ashamed of himself -- with one little move of his pinky he can better Bradley's treatment. But he decided to look away. A spineless president. Blah!!"
"I don't usually comment on political stuff but this case has really shocked me. How can it be right that a man is kept in solitary confinement and treated in such a brutal manner. The fact that it's the American government doing this makes it all the worse - they love to take the moral highground and see themselves as superior to the rest of the world. The reality, however, is much different. I thought Barack Obama was a champion of human rights but I was wrong and I'm deeply disappointed."
"He is more than just an American kid, he is a modern day hero. The rest of the world know this. The continued evil punishment (pre-trial) is doing unrepairable damage to the US. Even China has told them that they no longer have the rights to judge other countries. When Toner was pressed for an explanation it became quickly clear that Washington are unable to even come up with a spin on this whole thing - video of this can be found here: http://wlcentral.org/node/1649 (Is The US Press Waking up? State Dept Grilled About Bradley Manning! WATCH THIS!)
SUBSCRIPTION TO THE EARTH RAINBOW NETWORK E-LIST
If you are not yet a subcriber to the Earth Rainbow Network emailing list and would like to subscribe to its automated listserver and regularly receive similar compilations covering a broad range of subjects, including each new Meditation Focus issued on a regular basis, simply send a blank email at earthrainbownetwork-subscribe@lists.riseup.net from the email account to which you want to receive the material compiled and networked by the Earth Rainbow Network Coordinator. Subscription is FREE!
