The Writing on the Wall Series #66: Growing Turmoil Amidst Ever Greater Awareness
Hello everysoul!
As you can see, I've re-arranged a bit the presentation below so you may get right away a quick overview of the content of each new compilation. I've put the titles of the main sections in blue, and to help you zoom in more easily on my usual "Note from Jean" comments, I've put them in green. Plus, as I've started doing recently, I'm highlighting in red some elements that struck me as particularly important to note as I read them - hoping this doesn't annoy you.
As some of you may remember, I had mentioned last year that I would stop preparing those lengthy compilations at the end of 2012, by which time I'll have turned 60. So there is just 2 more years to go of this. I don't know for the moment if I'll continue afterwards to prepare monthly Meditation Focuses as I've been doing for nearly 11 years now, but it is likely that I'll be guided/inspired/called upon to other avenues of expression to contribute in co-creating a Golden Age of Peace, Love and Harmony... by which time we should see the first tangible signs of it worldwide. At least, that's the Plan.
Right now, what I'd love to do, aside from continuing the usual and translating books as a source of regular income (a meager one at best because I can manage to translate just one book per year), is to get seriously going with drafting/manifesting a book that would be a means to retrace the steps taken - at my level and globally - over the past 30 years, using chosen excerpts from all I've written and networked since 1981, weaving it all in a lively storyline, interspersing all kinds of inspirational thoughts as they'll come to me, all of it leading to a prospective envisioning of what Life in the higher dimension might be – as a way to help precipitate what already is in the Continuum. I'd also like to put this online as it forms and allow for interactive inputs from others to help crystallize our collective thinking and enable more souls to participate in the co-creative fun. We will see...
Finally, as for the title of this compilation - Growing Turmoil Amidst Ever Greater Awareness - I think it encapsulates well the overall content of what I've gathered for your review below.
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INSPIRATIONAL SONGS & LYRICS
I Hope Love Wins
Recently families have been coming through our door
Children are hungry
More and more people are poor
The wealth of a nation squandered on war
Seems to me we keep rewarding the thieves
while the rest of us struggle
to make ends meet
and the children play
amidst the travesty
What are we gonna do for the children?
What are we gonna leave behind?
When we as a people
care for the future of our children
Only then can we truly call ourselves humans
When love collides with fear
there's a kind of implosion/explosion
Seems to be happening everywhere
I hope love wins
I hope love wins
There's a chill wind blowing across the lands
Forces are gathering that few can understand
I hope love wins
I hope love wins
Recently I have seen the light of the future
shining through innocent eyes
Can't you see they deserve to inherit a world
where their dreams can be realized
What are we gonna do for the children?
What are we gonna leave behind?
When I get where I'm going
On the far side of the sky
The first thing that I'm gonna do
Is spread my wings and fly
I'm gonna land beside a lion
And run my fingers through his mane
Or I might find out what it‚s like
To ride a drop of rain
[Chorus]
Yeah when I get where I'm going
There'll be only happy tears
I will shed the sins and struggles
I have carried all these years
And I'll leave my heart wide open
I will love and have no fear
Yeah when I get where I'm going
Don't cry for me down here
I'm gonna walk with my Granddaddy
And he'll match me step for step
And I'll tell him how I missed him
Every minute since he left
Then I'll hug his neck
[Repeat Chorus]
So much pain and so much darkness
In this world we stumble through
All these questions I can't answer
So much work to do
But when I get where I'm going
And I see my maker's face
I'll stand forever in the Light
Of his Amazing Grace
Yeah when I get where I'm going
There'll be only happy tears
I will love and have no fear
When I get where I'm going
Don't cry for me down here
Recommended by Patricia Cota-Robles (PattiCR@aol.com). Her son, Joao, who died last December 29 at the age of 42, wanted her to play that moving song at his funerals. Here is what Patricia wrote about her son: "From the time Joao was a little boy he has had a deep-seated relationship with God. He used to talk about God all of the time and he often shared very profound things with me. Once he came to me and said, "Mom this is a very special time and there are thousands of Light Beings being born on Earth who are going help all of us." I said, "How do you know that?‰ He said, "Because I saw them. They are descending from the Higher Realms and when they reach the Earth they are being born as babies all over the world." When we go through the transition that we refer to as death, it is like taking a journey across the ocean. On one shore our Loved Ones are waving good-bye and feeling very sad, but on the other shore our Loved Ones who have crossed over before us are awaiting our arrival with open arms. Joao had many challenges in his life, but everyone who knew him experienced his magnificent Loving heart and his amazing sense of humor. He never entered a room without giving everyone in his family a kiss, no matter where we were. And he never left a room or completed a phone conversation without saying "I Love you." who died on Dec 29, 2010 asked her to play that moving song for his funerals." You may read the whole story HERE
THE QUOTES
"In my every day life I am learning to trust in my true core essence, which is Love, and to release the false created self that is aligned with fear. And I am learning that releasing the fear-based reality requires me to place my trust in Divine order and to let go of the need to control. So I am suggesting that, when we let go and let God and we recognize the sanctity of all life, we come to know our own divine nature, which comes into our conscious awareness relative to our attitude towards (and treatment of) all life. (This must be understood as referring to respect and reverence for all life, realizing that no living thing may be violated).
For me that realization began with a deep love of Nature and appreciation for all things natural, including those that would otherwise be termed supernatural. In my childhood vision (that I could feel as well as see) I learned that no sooner does a person relate with kindness to the little world than one is embraced by the macrocosmic whole where one grows into the conscious state of his/her essential Being. As a child I may not have understood that this refers to one’s Soul Being. To me the vision was simply a sweet love story told by my angel about the enchanted life that unites us with our Beloved, the Divine Presence, and I embraced the story, heart and soul. Though in order to live it, the mind needs to also be on board, yet in time I would learn that the human mind tends to separate body and soul. But I would also learn a simple way to fix that by shifting the thinking from the mind to the heart, which connects to the Mind of God. This is where one recognizes one’s unity with the sacredness of everything and begins to identify with reverence for every form of life."
- Sylvia Bucek (sylvia@flightmanual.net) - Author of "Flight Manual"
"My 2011 predictions, ha! They have already been going on in little ways. Since 1981, I've been working on the inner self and getting to know more about me and it has turned out wonderfully well as I sit here today with a true peace/love running totally through me and a knowing that all will be well and we will all be together in love taking care of this wonderful Earth we have been privileged to be, yes I can't speak for anybody else for that is their story, but I can speak for myself today. Have been able to understand everything of my life, to be able to let it go, and surrender to the only Creator I really know about today, to know that many lessons have been learned, also realize any error we do make is only a lesson and it behooves us to learn from it, and all I can say is thank you, for that is the word that means so much. Sitting here at 81 of which many years ago had no idea what was happening but have within the past 30 years have thusly gone through a metamorphosis for sure in changing and the feelings are for total tranquility and peace for our Earth (Gaia) that she shall be preserved. Thanks for all your wonderful words through these years, a total blessing. With total love."
- Jackie ONeil (aries76@clearwire.net)
"There is always a Divine plan. All that the Earth angel has suffered eases now as you learn to shine your Light. You had to know aloneness, illness, poverty, and/or emotional pain. You asked for this, you begged for it! You wanted to FEEL, but more than anything, you wanted your soul to evolve. With your mission to teach what you remember, the only way to remember was to know the opposite, to know separation. You are the most courageous and strongest of souls to carry out such a mission. And now it is time for the calling. Calling all angels. Call to your soul brothers and sisters. Call from your heart, and like a sonar wave your call will reverberate around the globe. Find each other now. Put out the call. The time for aloneness and suffering has ended. You now understand what the contrast was for. It is time for a world gone mad to receive your message, one that you are now more than qualified to deliver. Calling all angels. Your strength in numbers is now required. Gather in your groups. Build your communities. Form your partnerships. Two or more is all that is required. Know that you cannot teach in isolation. Earth angels, your others are waiting. Call to them. Calling all angels. Use it as a mantra. This is a divine prayer to draw together in greater numbers those who gave up their wings for feet. You are the builders and teachers of the new world. School is out. And the meek shall inherit the Earth."
NOTE from Jean: When I read the following article and made additional searches to better understand this brilliant and most timely grass-root movement in the US to push back the ever-increasing corporate rule and institute true democratic control by and for the people, a flurry of ideas I had recently suddenly came back to mind. Luckily, I had scribbled a few notes to remember the gist of it and this seems to be like the right context to introduce them. These are just some raw "crazy" ideas, but when they came in, it felt like it was the starting point of a global revolution of massive proportions. Being the 'visionary' guy, I cannot resist the thought that perhaps it is worth doing something with this. Here it goes...
The overall vision I had was that in order to get full accountability to the people, locally, nationally and globally, we need to institute by law, in all countries and under an international treaty, an obligation for all corporate entities (for profit, non profit, cooperatives, etc.) and for all governmental institutions a set of detailed, strict and enforceable loophole-proof codes of ethics and conduct based on universally recognized principles. A special, legally mandated and empowered Monitoring Board composed of consultative watchdog experts, and voting citizens and corporate representatives, as well as governmental appointees would ensure the enforcement of these codes of ethics and conduct - under its own set of bylaws. The enforcement would work under a '3 strikes and you're out' system of warnings. For instance, a corporation deemed to be at fault, would have 3 chances to correct its abusive behavior within a relatively short period of time and if, in the opinion of 2/3 of the voting board members, it fails to conform to those 3 warnings, it would face mandatory dissolution - however big or old it may be - and a transfer of its assets to a new corporate entity created to continue its missions which, to be deemed worth continuing, must serve the people and protect/restore the viability and long-term sustainability of the planet's commons, amongst other things.
So that's, in a nutshell, the seed thought-form I received. Now let's see if it will fall of fertile ground to germinate and grow...
Recommended by Ed Elkin (edelkin@gmail.com) - and coming from the Move to Amend website "End Corporate Rule - Legalize Democracy" - "MoveToAmend.org is a coalition dedicated to ending the illegitimate legal doctrines that prevent the American people from governing ourselves." Check also their Facebook page
Mt. Shasta, a small northern California town of 3,500 residents nestled in the foothills of magnificent Mount Shasta, is taking on corporate power through an unusual process—democracy.
The citizens of Mt. Shasta have developed an extraordinary ordinance, set to be voted on in the next special or general election, that would prohibit corporations such as Nestle and Coca-Cola from extracting water from the local aquifer. But this is only the beginning. The ordinance would also ban energy-giant PG&E, and any other corporation, from regional cloud seeding, a process that disrupts weather patterns through the use of toxic chemicals such as silver iodide. More generally, it would refuse to recognize corporate personhood, explicitly place the rights of community and local government above the economic interests of multinational corporations, and recognize the rights of nature to exist, flourish, and evolve.
Mt. Shasta is not alone. Rather, it is part of a (so far) quiet municipal movement making its way across the United States in which communities are directly defying corporate rule and affirming the sovereignty of local government.
Since 1998, more than 125 municipalities have passed ordinances that explicitly put their citizens' rights ahead of corporate interests, despite the existence of state and federal laws to the contrary. These communities have banned corporations from dumping toxic sludge, building factory farms, mining, and extracting water for bottling. Many have explicitly refused to recognize corporate personhood. Over a dozen townships in Pennsylvania, Maine, and New Hampshire have recognized the right of nature to exist and flourish (as Ecuador just did in its new national constitution). Four municipalities, including Halifax in Virginia, and Mahoney, Shrewsbury, and Packer in Pennsylvania, have passed laws imposing penalties on corporations for chemical trespass, the involuntary introduction of toxic chemicals into the human body.
These communities are beginning to band together. When the attorney general of Pennsylvania threatened to sue Packer Township this year for banning sewage sludge within its boundaries, six other Pennsylvania towns adopted similar ordinances and twenty-three others passed resolutions in support of their neighboring community. Many people were outraged when the attorney general proclaimed, "there is no inalienable right to local self-government."
Bigger cities are joining the fray. In Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, council member Doug Shields announced this August that he is about to introduce a bill banning corporations in the city from drilling for natural gas, an environmentally devastating practice known as "fracking." As Shields stated in a press release, "Many people think that this is only about gas drilling. It's not—it's about our authority as a municipal community to say 'no' to corporations that will cause damage to our community. It's about our right to community, [to] local self-government."
What has driven these communities to such radical action? The typical story involves a handful of local citizens deciding to oppose a corporate practice, such as toxic sludge dumping, which has taken a huge toll on the health, economy, and natural surroundings of their town. After years of fighting for regulatory change, these citizens discover a bitter truth: the U.S. environmental regulatory system consists of a set of interlocking state and federal laws designed by industry to serve corporate interests. With the deck utterly stacked against them, communities are powerless to prevent corporations from destroying the local environment for the sake of profit.
Enter the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit public interest law firm that champions a different approach. The firm helps communities draft local ordinances that place the rights of municipalities to govern themselves above corporate rights. Through its Democracy School, which offers seminars across the United States, it provides a detailed analysis of the history of corporate law and environmental regulation that shows a need for a complete overhaul of the system. Armed with this knowledge and with their well-crafted ordinances, citizens are able to return to their communities to begin organizing for the passage of laws such as Mt. Shasta's proposed ordinance.
The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund is collaborating with Global Exchange, an international environmental and workers' rights organization, to help supporters of the Mt. Shasta ordinance organize. In an interview for this article, I asked Shannon Biggs, who directs Global Exchange's Community Rights Program, if she expected ordinances of this type to be upheld in court. Biggs was dubious about judges "seeing the error of their ways" and reversing a centuries-old trend in which courts grant corporations increased power. Rather, she sees these ordinances as powerful educational and organizing tools that can lead to the major changes necessary to reduce corporate power, put decision-making back in the hands of real people rather than corporate "persons," and open up whole new areas of rights, such as those of ecosystems and natural communities. Biggs connects the current municipal defiance of existing state and federal law to a long tradition of civil disobedience in the United States, harkening back to Susan B. Anthony illegally casting her ballot, the Underground Railroad flouting slave laws, and civil rights protesters purposely breaking segregation laws.
But the nascent municipal rights movement offers something new in the way of political action. These communities are adopting laws that, taken together, are forming an alternative structure to the global corporate economy. The principles behind these laws can be applied broadly to any area where corporate rights override local self-government or the well-being of the local ecology. The best place to start, I would suggest, is with banning corporations from making campaign contributions to local elections.
The municipal movement could provide one of the most effective routes to building nationwide support for an Environmental and Social Responsibility Amendment to the U.S. Constitution of the kind proposed by Tikkun (More on this HERE). In fact, the movement is already expanding. In Pennsylvania people are now organizing on the state level. Similar stirrings have been reported in New Hampshire.
What about your community?
Allen D. Kanner, Ph.D., is a cofounder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (commercialfreechildhood.org), co-editor of Psychology and Consumer Culture and Ecopsychology, and a Berkeley, California, child, family, and adult psychologist.
Note from Jean: Among the members of the Steering Committee of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, I noticed the work of Enola Aird is "the founder and director of Mothers for a Human Future, an initiative focused on fighting the forces promoting the commercialization of childhood and the commodification of children." I recommend you check their website at http://www.mothersforahumanfuture.org/ - Their mission "is to build a global, mother-driven movement to preserve our humanity. Our aim is to mobilize mothers to lead in the struggle to save our humanity in an age driven by the values of commerce and technology—values that are hollowing out our conception of what it means to be human. "
ESRA: Environmental and Social Responsibility Amendment to the US Constitution
Please join with people across the country to enact ESRA. If you haven't already done so, please read the current draft of ESRA by clicking here. If you have read it, and want to add your name to the growing number of people working for its passage, please fill out the information below.
The intent of the framers of this Amendment is to:
a. Protect the planet and its inhabitants from environmentally destructive economic arrangements and behavior, and to increase environmental responsibility on the part of all corporations and government bodies.
b. Increase U.S. citizens’ democratic control over American economic and political institutions and ensure that all people, regardless of income, have the same electoral clout and power to shape policies and programs.
c. Promote the well-being of citizens of the United States by recognizing that our well-being depends on the well-being of the planet and all its inhabitants, which in turn requires an end to poverty, wars, and violence, and the rise of a new global ethic of genuine caring and mutual interdependence.
We also support proposed amendments that would simply overturn the Citizens United decision of the Supreme Court. We advance this not as an alternative but an additional campaign for the following reason: when Citizens United is overturned, we will revert to the previous situation in which corporations nevertheless held immense power to shape electoral outcomes and thereby subverted the democratic process. A campaign for an amendment requires a huge expenditure of energy over the course of many, many years. If we are to do that, why not use that energy to put forward an amendment that would actually achieve the goal of enhancing the power of ordinary Americans in elections and would make a substantial advance in protecting the environment? CLIP
Looking to learn more? Here are some good places to begin:
Up in arms about the huge gift the Supreme Court just presented to the powerful and wealthy? Anxious about the future of democracy in the U.S.A.? Worried about how your right to free speech getting drowned in billions of dollars of campaigns ads by the likes of Exxon and the Chamber of Commerce? Don’t just sit there and fume. Go raise a ruckus! We present the following ideas for action, listed in order of commitment-level, from easy to harder. Make a checklist, and see if you can do them all!GET INVOLVED
NUGGETS OF SPECIAL INTEREST
The Awakening Trilogy http://awakeningasone.com/ NOTE from Jean: The first part - The Call (... a call from the heart to inspire people to unite in genuine selfless service of the Earth and all living things) - has been featured for nearly 2 months on the Earth Rainbow Network homepage so you perhaps already watched this and the other videos which I also recommended when they came out. The 2 other parts - The Plan (... shows how Unity, Truth, Compassion and Selflessness may bring balance and healing to the Earth) and The Prophecy (... shines a light, through the fear and confusion surrounding the Mayan December 21st, 2012 date) have been released this past summer. A 19 min addendum to “The Awakening Trilogy” has been released 3 months ago. It is called The Definition (... it is believed that the increasing intensity of world events - leading up to December 21, 2012 - will have an impact on the positive growth of human consciousness; by inspiring people to unite and co-create harmonious new systems, out of love for the Earth and all living things) is also worth watching. Highly recommended by Jan (granitejanet@gmail.com) - These videos are all MUST SEE and MUST SHARE! PLEASE NOTE THAT THE 3 MAIN VIDEOS OF THE TRILOGY ARE NOW AVAILABLE WITH A SUBTITLE OPTION IN 13 LANGUAGES THROUGH http://awakeningasone.com/translations/ AND THE TRANSLATIONS SEEM TO BE EXCELLENT! (The French one certainly is.)
Mysterious hexagon spotted above Saturn (28 March 2007) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-445117/Mysterious-hexagon-spotted-Saturn.html
A mysterious giant hexagon lies above Saturn's north pole, captured by cameras on Nasa's Cassini Orbiter. Spanning 25,000km - equivalent to the width of two planet Earths - the bizarre geometric feature appears to remain virtually still in the atmosphere as clouds swirl around it. The infra-red images show the hexagon - which contains a smaller six-sided formation - extends about 60km down into the clouds. The hexagon is similar to Earth's polar vortex, which has winds blowing in a circular pattern around the polar region. On Saturn, the vortex has a hexagonal shape. The six-sided shape is in stark contrast to the swirling, hurricane-like vortex at Saturn's opposite pole. The feature was first photographed more than 20 years ago by Nasa's Voyager 1 and 2 probes, but this is the first time the hexagon has been seen in one image.The latest pictures were taken at nighttime using infra-red because the pole is currently in darkness and the red colour indicates the amount of heat being generated from inside the planet.Kevin Baines of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said: "This is a very strange feature, lying in a precise geometric fashion with six nearly equally straight sides. "We've never seen anything like this on any other planet. Indeed, Saturn's thick atmosphere where circularly-shaped waves and convective cells dominate is perhaps the last place you'd expect to see such a six-sided geometric figure, yet there it is." See video of the mysterious hexagon in Saturn's atmosphere
2009 UFO Congress Conference http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=032DB69580EA338D
(...) Paola Harris (Italy) The Role of Hollywood and the Media in the Disclosure Process - This presentation will suggest that Hollywood films and TV movies could be part of a slow process of acclimating the general public that we are not alone in the Universe. Ed Grimsley UFO Wars In The Sky - Ed sees what appears to be Delta shaped and Saucer shaped aircraft in space shooting at each other, using what looks to be laser weapons. Using night vision glasses, even skeptics who thought he was seeing things, have now been convinced that what Ed has been trying to tell people is absolutely real. Wendelle Stevens & Ted Loman Watch Part 2 of an interview with a United States Airman who was involved in over six UFO recoveries during the late 70s into the early 80s. He will speak too, at least three of the six recoveries he and his team were involved in and where the recovered craft and body bags were taken. Robert Dean Where Do We Stand? An Overview - A detailed analysis of the current so called UFO/ETI situation and why our government still refuses to disclose anything official about the ET presence on planet earth and throughout the solar system. Glenn Kimball My First UFO - It is one thing to believe in UFOs and quite another to actually see one. Glenns first sighting has caused him to reflect on what he knows about history and physics. Jim Marrs RISE OF THE FOURTH REICH: The Secret Societies that Threaten to Take Over America - Close the approved textbooks, turn off the corporate mass media, and whatever you do, dont believe anything you hear from the government—The Rise of the Fourth Reich reveals the truth about American power. Dr. Michael Salla, PhD. Exposing Government Policies on Extraterrestrial Life Michael will go over the whistleblower evidence that secret agreements are in place, and systematically analyze testimonies in terms of what they tell us of the nature and scope of the secret agreements. (...) Barbara Lamb: Unique Encounters with Extraterrestrial Beings - Barbara Lamb discusses unusual extraterrestrial encounters from her nineteen years of hypnotically regressing nearly 620 people to the details of their real encounters with various kinds of beings from the cosmos. CLIP
Great video by NASA of 2 UFOs emerging from earth and visiting the space http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROIBkKkPkYU
Original footage has just been released of the NASA space shuttle STS-126 mission showing 2 UFOs emerge from earth and take a good look at the space shuttle, they were seen on the 6th day of the mission. Was filmed on the 20th of November 2008
KNOW THYSELF http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is3CPHzCg_w
"This video explores the essentials of self-knowledge as a fundamental means to establish true and lasting change in the world, as well as providing insights into the traps towards awakening. Video based on "Know Thyself" by Bernhard Guenthe." Recommended by Lance White (zanymystic@wildblue.net ). Note from Jean: Although I agree with many of the conclusions and warnings proffered by M. Guenthe, I have some reservations with the tone of "be wary of most everything" that underlies his approach. Although he has obviously done a great deal of research and quotes many interesting spiritual thinkers, and even if he is nearly impossible to put into any kind of labelled box, which I'm not attempting to do, especially after looking at some of his other writings at http://veilofreality.wordpress.com, his purist bent that excludes most everything as unfit of our trust (and often with very good reasons indeed) puts too much emphasis IMHO onto discriminatory rational analyzing and not enough onto actually experiencing for oneself the raw stuff of life, without the filtering influence of loads of deeply rooted prejudices and a holier-than-you attitude on others that transpire through his take on things. Perhaps like me, a part of you will love aspects of his radicalism with thoughts of "it always seemed so to me as well", while being somewhat put off by the other aspects I just described above. It short, we need applying to his view on things the same discernment he is urging us to apply to everything that shines, but which is not necessarily gold. See for yourself! The video blurb recommends the work of other people which is worth a good look such as the book The Secret History of The World and How To Get Out Alive [disponible en français y en español] by Laura Knight-Jadczyk: "Conspiracies have existed since the time of Cain and Abel. Facts of history have been altered to support the illusion. The question today is whether a sufficient number of people will see through the deceptions, thus creating a counter-force for positive change - the gold of humanity - during the upcoming times of Macro-Cosmic Quantum Shift." AND UFOs and the National Security State. A Historical Trilogy
Russian team prepares to penetrate Lake Vostok (7 January 11) http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-01/07/russians-penetrate-lake-vostok
Lake Vostok, which has been sealed off from the world for 14 million years, is about to be penetrated by a Russian drill bit.The lake, which lies four kilometres below the icy surface of Antarctica, is unique in that it's been completely isolated from the other 150 subglacial lakes on the continent for such a long time. It's also oligotropic, meaning that it's supersaturated with oxygen -- levels of the element are 50 times higher than those found in most typical freshwater lakes.Since 1990, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in St Petersberg in Russia has been drilling through the ice to reach the lake, but fears of contamination of the ecosystem in the lake have stopped the process multiple times, most notably in 1998 when the drills were turned off for almost eight years.Now, the team has satisfied the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, which safeguards the continent's environment, that it's come up with a technique to sample the lake without contaminating it.
(...) When the sample can be recovered, however, it's hoped that it'll shed light on extremophiles -- lifeforms that survive in extreme environments. Life in Lake Vostok would need adaptions to the oxygen-rich environment, which could include high concentrations of protective enzymes. The conditions in Lake Vostok are very similar to the conditions on Europa and Enceladus, so could also strengthen the case for extraterrestrial life.
WORLD CRUISE 2010 - A must see in HD (at least 720 P) full screen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iRPWD6imV8
A near-real feel of 15 cities around the world and their inhabitants' daily life in the morning. Check the other city cruises in the right-hand column
A positive consequence of the recession http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/996.html
As you probably know, hundreds of millions of dollars are spent every year to put fluoride in US water supplies. Fluoride is an industrial by-product that cannot be disposed of economically. It's simply too toxic. So what did corporate scientists-for-hire do? They invented science to tell us that "fluoride is good for your teeth, so we'll add it to your water." In the face of the recession, certain enlightened (US) towns and cities are deciding that poisoning its citizens is not good use of limited tax dollars. CHECK ALSO Untested Type of Fluoride Used in the Overwhelming Majority of U.S. Water Supplies - "even though neither the EPA or any other government agency has studied the effects of long-term ingestion of fluorosilicic acid, it is being used instead of sodium fluoride because it is cheaper." CHECK ALSO Why the fluoridation of public water supplies is illegal by Mike Adams
Electromagnetic Railgun world record setting event (Dec 10, 2010) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BfU-wMwL2U
The Office of Naval Research Electromagnetic Railgun located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, fired a world-record setting 33 megajoule shot, breaking the previous record established January, 31, 2008. WHAT BETTER WAY TO WASTE US TAXPAYERS MONEY IN A TIGHT FISCAL ENVIRONMENT...
Re-wiring the financial system (56 min video) http://www.realecontv.com/videos/post-collapse/re-wiring-the-financial-system.html
Catherine Austin Fitts exposes the "tapeworm economy" Do you think the simultaneous collapse of national economies all over the world is a coincidence or accident? If could be. Then again it could be controlled demolition for profit.... "Why not just expel the parasites?" Catherine Austin Fitts was Assistant Secretary of Housing under George H.W. Bush. She has an extremely sophisticated understanding of how the world's financial system works right down to the "inconvenient truth" that revenues from the illegal drug business are essential for propping up the big money market banks. (Not a theory. Proven over and over again in criminal court trials.) Fitts' well thought out ideas about exactly what needs to be done to put the American economy powerfully back on course were not welcome in the crime-friendly Bush administration and she was driven from government. In this fascinating interview, she talks about where things are ultimately headed, the the true nature of the threat we face, and what we can do to turn things around.
Gerald Celente: Internet nuke bomb waiting to go off - MAKE SURE TO LISTEN FROM 8 MIN ON INTO THIS... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO45VBO6Swo
Gerald Celente, the founder of the Trends Research Institute, believes that the Internet will empower the youth of the world to unite to start a revolution that will overthrow the existing deadlocked elitist establishment. He predicts that in 2011 every citizen is going to realize that the Great Recession the world has been living through is actually a Great Depression, because the American establishment is "running out of schemes."
Freedom of expression under attack: Écosociété hit by two SLAPP* http://slapp.ecosociete.org/en/node/22
Canadian mining firms Barrick Gold and Banro Corporation are suing publisher Écosociété and the three authors of the book Noir Canada : Pillage, corruption et criminalité en Afrique for libel. Total amount demanded : 11 million Canadian $. Écosociété asks for all forms of possible support to carry on this David and Goliath struggle.In order to help us, you can: Sign the online petition for an anti-SLAPP law and send it to all your contacts - Send a donation - Buy the book Noir Canada (in french) The two multinationals reproach to the publisher and authors of Noir Canada - Alain Deneault, Delphine Abadie et William Sacher – of citing and analyzing documents issued by authoritative and credible sources already available in the public sphere. This Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP), represents a serious threat to the right to information and freedom of expression and therefore to democracy. We refuse to let ourselves be muzzled and we will carry on our work as a socially committed publisher. Noir Canada. Pillage, corruption et criminalité en Afrique brings together and analyses national and international documents already available to the public (reports, books, documentaries...), concerning various abuses from several Canadian companies working in Africa, in particular in the mining and oil areas. It also deals with the supports these corporations benefit on behalf of the Canadian government. The debate the book wishes to make public is all the more legitimate given that Canadians’ assets (retirement funds, RRSP, public funds) are often indirectly invested in these corporations through the Toronto Stock Exchange. CLIP - More through http://slapp.ecosociete.org/en
Attaque à la liberté d’expression : Écosociété est l’objet de deux SLAPP* http://slapp.ecosociete.org/
Les sociétés minières canadiennes Barrick Gold et Banro poursuivent les Éditions Écosociété ainsi que les trois auteurs de Noir Canada. Pillage, corruption et criminalité en Afrique pour diffamation. Montant total exigé : 11 millions de $ canadiens. Écosociété demande toutes les formes d’appui possible pour mener ce combat de David contre Goliath. Pour nous aider à poursuivre notre lutte, vous pouvez : - Signer la pétition pour une loi anti-SLAPP en ligne et la faire circuler largement - Faire un don au fonds de défense juridique - Acheter le livre Noir Canada - En savoir plus
GLOBAL DEPLETED URANIUM RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION - THE PERPETUAL OMNICIDE
NOTE from Jean: Everyone in their right mind in the US now realizes how stupidly dangerous it is to allow nearly anyone to buy assault weapons solely designed for mass killings - like a semi-automatic Glock pistol loaded with a 30-bullet clip. Yet no one will make the connection in their mind with another kind of weapon of mass killings: the depleted uranium-tipped ammunitions, bombs and rockets the Pentagon terrorists are so fond of. This weapon that kills forever is FAR more lethal, and yet the Western media of mass disinformation never says a peep about it. Their silence about this matter and the near universal lack of opposition to its continued use amount to accepting, supporting and abetting the unimaginable litany of horrors they cause...
Depleted Uranium: The Trojan Horse of Nuclear War - by Leuren Moret - MUCH more from HERE http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/2004/DU-Trojan-Horse1jul04.htm
The use of depleted uranium weaponry by the United States, defying all international treaties, will slowly annihilate all species on earth including the human species, and yet this country continues to do so with full knowledge of its destructive potential.
(...) The fact is that the United States and its military partners have staged four nuclear wars, "slipping nukes under the wire" by using dirty bombs and dirty weapons in countries the US needs to control. Depleted uranium aerosols will permanently contaminate vast regions and slowly destroy the genetic future of populations living in those regions, where there are resources which the US must control, in order to establish and maintain American primacy. Described as the Trojan Horse of nuclear war, depleted uranium is the weapon that keeps killing. The half-life of Uranium-238 is 4.5 billion years, the age of the earth. And, as Uranium-238 decays into daughter radioactive products, in four steps before turning into lead, it continues to release more radiation at each step. There is no way to turn it off, and there is no way to clean it up. It meets the US Government’s own definition of Weapons of Mass Destruction. After forming microscopic and submicroscopic insoluble Uranium oxide particles on the battlefield, they remain suspended in air and travel around the earth as a radioactive component of atmospheric dust, contaminating the environment, indiscriminately killing, maiming and causing disease in all living things where rain, snow and moisture remove it from the atmosphere. Global radioactive contamination from atmospheric testing was the equivalent of 40,000 Hiroshima bombs, and still contaminates the atmosphere and lower orbital space today. The amount of low level radioactive pollution from depleted uranium released since 1991, is many times more (deposited internally in the body), than was released from atmospheric testing fallout. A 2003 independent report for the European Parliament by the European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR), reports that based on Chernobyl studies, low level radiation risk is 100 to 1000 times greater than the International Committee for Radiation Protection models estimate which are based on the flawed Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb Studies conducted by the US Government.
Referring to the extreme killing effects of radiation on biological systems, Dr. Rosalie Bertell, one of the 46 international radiation expert authors of the ECRR report, describes it as:
"The concept of species annihilation means a relatively swift, deliberately induced end to history, culture, science, biological reproduction and memory. It is the ultimate human rejection of the gift of life, an act which requires a new word to describe it: omnicide."
(...) Nearly 700,000 American Gulf War Veterans returned to the US from a war that lasted just a few weeks. Today more than 240,000 of those soldiers are on permanent medical disability, and over 11,000 are dead. In a US Government study on post-Gulf War babies born to 251 veterans, 67 per cent of the babies were reported to have serious illnesses or serious birth defects. They were born without eyes, ears, had missing organs, fused fingers, thyroid or other malfunctions. Depleted uranium in the semen of the soldiers internally contaminated their wives. Severe birth defects have been reported in babies born to contaminated civilians in Iraq, Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan and the incidence and severity of defects is increasing over time. Women in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq are afraid now to have babies, and when they do give birth, instead of asking if it is a girl or a boy, they ask ‘is it normal?’.
(...) In 1990, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) wrote a report warning about the potential health and environmental catastrophe from the use of depleted uranium weapons. The health effects had been known for a long time. The report sent to the UK government warned "in their estimation, if 50 tonnes of residual DU dust remained ‘in the region’ there could be half a million extra cancers by the end of the century [2000]." Estimates of depleted uranium weapons used in 1991, now range from the Pentagon’s admitted 325 tons, to other scientific bodies who put the figure as high as 900 tons. That would make the number of estimated cancers as high as 9,000,000, depending on the amount used in the 1991 Gulf War. In the 2003 Gulf War, estimates of 2200 tons have been given — causing about 22,000,000 new cancer cases. Altogether the total number of cancer patients estimated using the UKAEA data would be 25,250,000. In July of 1998, the CIA estimated the population of Iraq to be approximately 24,683,313. CLIP
Listen to an interview with Leuren Moret - A MUST LISTEN TO! Upsetting, discouraging stuff for sure but playing ostrich won't make this calamity go way... http://www.suesupriano.com/leurenmoret.html
Leuren Moret is an independent scientist. She worked for 5 years for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and 2 years for the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab. She blew the whistle about those laboratories, was harassed for that whistle-blowing, but has not stopped learning about, speaking up and educating others to speak up against the horrible effects of radiation on the health of humans and other animals. In this interview you will hear about the effects of radiation on all of us and especially on the targets of US weapons and the members of the US military itself. -- Jan. 04 Download: LeurenMoret.mp3 - 9.5Mb 48kbps (TRT 27:41) - NOTE from Jean: Here is just a tiny bit of info from this revealing interview, but it says a LOT about the unimaginably horrible crimes against all Life on Earth that continues to be perpetrated right now by the Cabal and under the Obama administration - which once again, has done virtually nothing to stop this infamy, amongst countless others that this country, in league with many other Western powers, is committing: According to a study done by Japanese physicist, Professor Yagasaki Katsuma, who made public his findings during the World Uranium Weapons Conference in Hamburg in 2003, the more than 800 tons of DU that were used during the first Gulf War (which have scattered 36,000 times more radiation than what was released in Hiroshima) are the equivalent of 83,000 Nagasaki nuclear bomb, and all the DU dispersed during this invasion of Iraq is the equivalent of 250,000 Nagasaki bombs... For more details read Prof. Yagasaki's text of his presentation at the conference: Depleted Uranium Shells, The Radioactive Weapons - Perpetuation of War Damage by Radiation Here is a telling excerpt from it: "Over fifty-years of nuclear arms race in the postwar period not only resulted in the huge stockpile of nuclear weapons but also produced enormous amounts of deplete uranium as wastes. In 1991 the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that 10 billion pounds (4.5 million tons) of depleted uranium wastes are in storage at the U.S. Department of Energy. At the same time, in the uranium enrichment plant in Western Europe, 0.3 million tons of DU wastes were preserved. The disposal and storage of this radioactive material that required an extraordinary cost had become a grave issue of concern. The DOE announced that it would offer DU for free for its applied use."
International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan
QUESTION 11. WHAT DOES THE U.S. GOVT. KNOW ABOUT DU? By Leuren Moret (November 25, 2003) http://grassrootspeace.org/moret_25nov03.pdf
11. The US government flatly denies risk of DU officially. World Health Organization published a similar report recently. Please tell us what you think the US government really knows.
(...) 1995 – U.S. ARMY - Environmental Policy Institute (AEPI) Report to Congress“If DU enters the body, it has the potential to generate ‘significant medical consequences’. The risks associated with DU in the body are both chemical and radiological. ““The radiation dose to critical organs depends upon the amount of time that depleted uranium resides in the organs. When this value is known or estimated, cancer and hereditary risk estimates can be determined”“Personnel inside or near vehicles struck by DU penetrators could receive significant internal exposures.”“Very few remediation technologies have actually been used to clean up DU- contaminated sites.”“No available technology can significantly change the inherent chemical and radiological toxicity of DU. These are intrinsic properties of uranium.”“The Army should determine the full life-cycle cost of DU weapon sytems. This analysis must take into account not only production costs, but also demilitarization, disposal andrecycling costs; facility decontamination costs; test range remediation costs; and long- term health and environmental costs.”
(...) 1998 - UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (NRC)According to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission guidelines for occupational exposure, the 186,000,000 grams of depleted uranium released during the Gulf War combat operations is enough to poison every American man, woman, and child 100 times.
(...) 2003 – PENTAGON – U.S. Army Colonel Journalist: “What about the health risks that are associated with D.U.? Or do you deny there are any?”
U.S. Army Colonel: “You are determined to get me to make a statement about the health risks aren’t you?”Journalist: “If you will, I want to see what the behind the scenes view of D.U. is in the Pentagon.”U.S. Army Colonel: “Well....... (long pause, followed by heavy profanity).... Okay, I’ll give you some dirt if that’s what you’re looking for. The Pentagon knows there are huge health risks associated with D.U. They know from years of monitoring our own test ranges and manufacturing facilities. There were parts of Iraq designated as high contamination areas before we ever placed any troops on the ground. The areas around Basra, Jalibah, Talil, most of the southern desert, and various other hot spots were all identified as contaminated before the war. Some of the areas in the southern desert region along the Kuwaiti border are especially radioactive on scans and tests. One of our test ranges in Saudi Arabia shows over 1000 times the normal background level for radiation. We have test ranges in the U.S. that are extremely contaminated, hell they have been since the 80’s and nothing is ever said publicly. Don’t ask don’t tell is not only applied to gays, it is applied to this matter heavily. I know that at one time the theory was developed that any soldier exposed to D.U. shells should have to wear full MOP gear (the chemical protective suit). But they realized that it just wouldn’t be practical and it was never openly discussed again.”Journalist: “So the stories that they know D.U. is harmful are true?” U.S. Army Colonel: “Yes, there is no doubt that most high level commanders who were around during the 80’s know about it.”
- Interview by Jay Shaft, Editor Coalition for Free Thought in Media, “U.S. Colonel Admits That 500 Tons of D.U. Were Just Used in Iraq” (THIS IS A MUST READ!!!) May 5, 2003. CLIP
Depleted Uranium Radioactive Contamination In Iraq: An Overview (August 31, 2006) http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=3116
Abstract: Depleted Uranium (DU) weaponry has been used against Iraq for the first time in the history of recent wars. The magnitude of the complications and damage related to the use of such radioactive and toxic weapons on the environment and the human population mostly results from the intended concealment, denial and misleading information released by the Pentagon about the quantities, characteristics and the area’s in Iraq, in which these weapons have been used. Revelation of information regarding what is called the Gulf War Syndrome among exposed American veterans helped Iraqi researchers and Medical Doctors to understand the nature of the effect of these weapons, and the means required to investigate further into this issue. The synergetic impact on health due to the post Gulf War I economical sanctions and DU related radioactive contamination raised the number of casualties in contaminated areas as in southern Iraq. Continual usage of DU after Gulf War I on other Iraqi territories through the illegal No-Fly Zones and the major DU loaded Cruise Missiles attack of year 1998, all contributed in making the problem increasingly complex. During 2003, military operations conducted in Iraq by the invading forces used additional rounds of DU in heavily populated areas such as Baghdad, Samawa and other provinces. It is only fair to conclude that the environment in Iraq and its population have been exposed continuously to DU weaponry or its contaminating remains, since 1991. Accordingly millions of Iraqi’s have received higher doses of radioactivity than ordinary background levels. As a result a multi-fold increase of low level radiation exposure related diseases have been registered since 1995. An increase of children’s leukemia, congenital malformations, breast cancer etc… The shift of leukemia incidence rates towards younger children during the recent years, and its association with geographically distributed contaminated areas, offers strong evidence of the correlation between LLR exposure and resulted health damages.
(...) All these acts are crimes against humanity because these weapons are causing undifferentiated harm and suffering to civilians in all contaminated areas. Health effects can range from fatigue and muscular pain to genetic disorder, chromosome aberrations, and malignancies. Existence of DU in the environment will maintain continuous exposure to both toxic and radioactive effects which represent continuous systematic attacks on civilians in an armed conflict (Article 4 of the official regulations and article 7 of ICC). In this paper the genuine scientific efforts of the Iraqi scientists and researchers who tried hard to define and prove the (DU) contaminated areas in southern Iraq and its health consequences will be reviewed. Most of these researches couldn’t find their way to international peer-reviewed journals because of the comprehensive sanctions imposed on Iraq, even thought they have been published in Iraqi universities scientific peer-reviewed journals. We feel obligated to let the world know that some of these researches cost the authors their lives CLIP
Invasion of Iraq, the U.N., U.S. Unilateralism and Crimes against Humanity: Perspectives for Accountability http://grassrootspeace.org/scherrer_oct2003.pdf
Abstract: Nuclear warfare is not a thing of the past. In 1991, after 46 years of shame, it was employed again by the same USA in Iraq. Over six weeks in 1991, US aircraft and missiles systematically destroyed lives and life-support systems in Iraq. An equally ferocious assault by the US air force in March-May 2003 was followed by the deployment of ground troops by the world’s mightiest nations against a country that had been thoroughly disarmed of its weapons of mass destruction by UN inspectors over the years! UK and US forces used massive amounts of extremely toxic and radioactive uranium in the heart of Iraqi cities. Uranium remains active for millions of years! Since 1991 the death toll has climbed exponentially and it is feared that it will climb even faster. Uranium kills over generations. It attacks the human DNS. Horrifically deformed babies are born.
Kissinger, Eugenics And Depopulation By Leuren Moret (November 21, 2007) http://earthhopenetwork.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=169&pid=1434#pid1434
(...) "Dr. Henry Kissinger proposed in his memorandum to the NSC that "depopulation should be the highest priority of U.S. foreign policy towards the Third World." He quoted reasons of national security, and because '(t)he U.S. economy will require large and increasing amounts of minerals from abroad, especially from less-developed countries ... Wherever a lessening of population can increase the prospects for such stability, population policy becomes relevant to resources, supplies and to the economic interests of U.S.Depopulation policy became the top priority under the NSC agenda, Club of Rome and U.S. policymakers like Gen. Alexander Haig, Cyrus Vance, Ed Muskie and Kissinger. According to an NSC spokesman at the time, the United States shared the view of former World Bank President Robert McNamara that the "population crisis" is a greater threat to U.S. national security interests than nuclear annihilation.In 1975, Henry Kissinger established a policy-planning group in the U.S. State Department's Office of Population Affairs. The depopulation "GLOBAL 2000" document for President Jimmy Carter was prepared. It is no surprise that this policy was established under President Carter with help from Kissinger and Brzezinski - all with ties to David Rockefeller. The Bush family, the Harriman family - the Wall Street business partners of Bush in financing Hitler - and the Rockefeller family are the elite of the American eugenics movement. Even Prince Philip of Britain, a member of the Bilderberg Group, is in favor of depopulation: "If I were reincarnated I would wish to be returned to earth as a killer virus to lower human population levels"
(...) Population is a political problem. The extreme secrecy surrounding the takeover of nuclear weapons, NASA and the space program and the development of numerous bio-weapons labs is a threat to civil society, especially in the hands of the military and corporations.The fascist application of all three of these programs can be used to achieve established U.S. government depopulation policy goals, which may eliminate 2 billion of the worlds existing population through war, famine, disease and any other methods necessary. Two excellent examples of existing U.S. depopulation policy are, first, the long-term impact on the civilian population from Agent Orange in Vietnam, where the Rockefellers built oil refineries and aluminum plants during the Vietnam War. The second is the permanent contamination of the Middle East and Central Asia with depleted uranium, which, unfortunately, will destroy the genetic future of the populations living in those regions and will also have a global effect already reflected in increases in infant mortality reported in the U.S., Europe, and the UK. CLIP - Check also Henry Kissinger New World Order 2007 AND Henry Kissinger war criminal (YouTube search results) - ESPECIALLY Kissinger: A free war criminal - and Henry Kissinger war criminal (Google search results) - HEINZ KISSINGER IS AMONG THE KEY ARCHITECTS OF THIS GLOBAL RADIOACTIVE HOLOCAUST AND HIS NAME WILL FOREVER LIVE IN INFAMY ALONG WITH ADOLPH HITLER AND MANY OTHER KEY DARK CABAL MEMBERS
HEINZ KISSINGER STILL ACTING AS WHITE HOUSE CAPO FOR DAVID ROCKEFELLER LEADS US BACK TO 911 (OCTOBER 15, 2006) http://thebloodreport.blogspot.com/2006/10/heinz-kissinger-still-acting-as-white.html
According to Bob Woodward’s newest book “State Of Denial” Henry Kissinger has been advising President Bush and Vice President Cheney about Iraq, telling them that "victory is the only meaningful exit strategy,"Of course it is underplayed, and even spun to show how inept the Cheney / Bush Admin are running the War in Iraq. Oh but it says so much more to those of us who have been investigating Kissinger for many, many years now. In fact it leads to 911, and other high crimes and higher crimes by the controlling elite global mafia.It is just incredible how the Lame stream media plays us for suckers who cant remember what happened last week, let alone in the last few decades. Kissinger, who was nearly the head of the CFR Whitewash 911 commission before Zelikow was installed to guard the evidence, and protect the guilty (An embarrassing moment for Heinz came when the 911 “Jersey Girls” questioning the would be Commission head, asked to see his “client List” the implication being that Kissinger was representing the Saudis who indirectly were implicated in the 911 attacks. Heinz was withdrawn quickly thereafter!) … Kissinger has been a Rockefeller attaché for 40 yrs. He has since formed his own “consulting group” called Kissinger Associates with one Brent Scowcroft (Poppy Bush’s bestest pal – and major league “critic” of Iraq and Jr) Here’s what Murry Rothbard had to say about Kissinger, Scowcroft, and the Bush’s in an article he wrote about the 1rst Gulf War:“….The sinister but almost universally Beloved figure of Dr. Henry Kissinger, (is) a lifelong spokesman, counselor, and servitor of the Rockefeller World Empire. Kissinger is so Beloved, in fact, that whenever he appears on Nightline or Crossfire he appears alone, since it seems to be lese-majeste (or even blasphemy) for anyone to contradict the Great One's banal and ponderous Teutonic pronouncements. Only a handful of grumblers and malcontents on the extreme right and extreme left disturb this cozy consensus. In 1954, the 31-year-old Kissinger, a Harvard political scientist and admirer of Metternich, was plucked out of his academic obscurity to become lifelong foreign policy advisor to New York Governor Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller. Doctor K continued in that august role until he assumed the mastery of foreign policy throughout the Nixon and Ford administrations. In that role, Kissinger played a major part in prolonging and extending the Vietnam War, and in the mass murder of civilians entailed by the terror bombings of Vietnam, the secret bombing of Cambodia, and the invasion of Laos. Since leaving office in 1977, Dr. Kissinger has continued to play a highly influential role in U.S. politics, in the U.S. media, and in the Rockefeller world empire. It was Kissinger, along with David Rockefeller, who was decisive in the disastrous decision of President Carter to admit the recently toppled Shah of Iran, old friend and ally of the Rockefellers into the United States, a decision that led directly to the Iranian hostage crisis and to Carter's downfall. Today, Kissinger still continues to serve as a trustee of the powerful Rockefeller Brothers Fund, as a counselor to Rockefellers' Chase Manhattan Bank, and as a member of Chase's International Advisory Committee. Kissinger's media influence is evident from his having served on the board of CBS, Inc., and having been a paid consultant to both NBC News and ABC News. That takes care of all three networks.
(...) So we are right back where we started but ever closer to putting names to who pulled off 911, who scheduled the wars, and who is working to lock us in a Brave New World Order. Kissinger is a simply a messenger, and a CAPO for the Rockefeller power elite, who it should be said still answer to the Rothschild banking family as far as I can tell.And then there is this: A TOP GLOBAL CONSPIRATOR CONFIRMS THE GLOBAL CONSPIRACY 'For more than a century ideological extremists [sic] at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents such as my encounter with Castro, to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and over economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as "internationalists" and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure one world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.’ - David Rockefeller, 'Memoirs', Random House, New York, 2002, page 405 - We may never get these guys to do time for their crimes but by identifying them, and exposing their puppets, and corporations we CAN hurt them. CLIP
WikiLeaks: Israel Plans Total War on Lebanon, Gaza (January 3, 2011) AGAIN DU WILL BE USED MASSIVELY THERE IF NOTHING IS DONE TO STOP YET ANOTHER WHOLESALE MASSACRE PERPETRATED BY ISRAEL! http://www.alternet.org/world/149387/wikileaks%3A_israel_plans_total_war_on_lebanon,_gaza The Israeli military is planning out massive bombings of areas full of innocent civilians. -- The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten has summarized an Israeli military briefing by Israeli Chief of Staff Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi of a US congressional delegation a little over a year ago and concludes that:The memo on the talks between Ashkenazi and [Congressman Ike] Skelton, as well as numerous other documents from the same period of time, to which Aftenposten has gained access, leave a clear message: The Israeli military is forging ahead at full speed with preparations for a new war in the Middle East. The paper says that US cables quote Ashkenazi telling the US congressmen, "I'm preparing the Israeli army for a major war, since it is easier to scale down to a smaller operation than to do the opposite."The general's plans are driven by fear of growing stockpiles of rockets in Hamas-controlled Gaza and in Hizbullah-controlled Southern Lebanon, the likely theaters of the planned major new war. Ashkenazi does not seem capable of considering that, given a number of Israeli invasions and occupations of those regions, the rockets may be primarily defensive.
(...) The memos reveal that none of the goals of Israel's 2006 war on Lebanon and its 2008-9 war on little Gaza were achieved, and that both Hamas and Hizbullah have effectively re-armed. What makes Ashkenazi think things would be different this time? Israel hawks have doomed themselves to the particular hell of Sisyphus, forced to roll the same stone up the hill over and over again with no hope of ever balancing it on the summit. You know, Israel could have a peace treaty with Syria and Lebanon tomorrow by giving back the Golan Heights and the Shebaa Farms, and by accepting a two-state solution. Instead, its Dr. Strangeloves are planning out massive bombings of areas thick with innocent civilians and willing to subject Tel Aviv to two months worth of rocket fire. Nor will the United States be held harmless from the blowback in the region caused by another Israeli war of aggression. Before September 11, Israel hawks used to make fun of Americans who warned that eventually there would be hell to pay for the Israeli strangulation of the Palestinians (for the argument, see this posting). And, imagine what a war would do to gasoline prices and to the world economy. My deepest fear is that US support for Israeli militarism, and the terrorism that support inevitably engenders, will be what finally finishes off the civil liberties enshrined in the American Constitution.
A NEW GLOBAL FLU EPIDEMIC UNDERWAY - POORLY REPORTED THIS TIME - IS THIS A CAUSE FOR CONCERN?
Is this year's flu more dangerous than H1N1? (January 4, 2011) http://www.healthzone.ca/health/newsfeatures/swineflu/article/915407--is-this-year-s-flu-more-dangerous-than-h1n1
Did swine flu cry wolf once too often?The ailment might well have caused more heated headlines than dangerously heated heads in Ontario since it made its global debut in the spring of 2009.But the fizzled H1N1 phenomenon has now helped send vaccination rates in the province plummeting, leaving it open to a completely different and more dangerous influenza strain this winter, infection control experts say. Vaccination rates for seasonal flu are likely down 10 to 15 per cent from normal Ontario levels, leaving the province vulnerable to a virus eight to 10 times more lethal to older people, says Dr. Allison McGeer, head of infection control at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital. “We’re having a very, very big influenza outbreak this year,” McGeer says. “And vaccination rates are lower this year than they have been for quite a while against seasonal flu and we’re paying for it with a lot of hospital admissions,” she says. Known as H3N2, this year’s virus first appeared during the global pandemic of 1968. Since then, it has entered the regular seasonal flu rotation, showing up in slightly mutated form every two to three years, McGeer says. It is especially dangerous to people 65 and older – who are eight to 10 times more likely to die or be hospitalized from the virus than the much-hyped “Swine flu” that made its debut in two stages in the spring and winter of 2009.
(...) Several top infections experts say they feared the unrelenting publicity and public health “fear mongering” over H1N1 would lead to a vaccination drop-off. “A lot of us thought this was going to happen,” says Dr. Michael Gardam, director of infection prevention and control at the University Health Network. Even among UHN staff, vaccination levels have plummeted from more than 90 per cent during the H1N1 scare to around 60 per cent this season. Gardam says the H3N2 has hit the GTA especially hard, with 22 people admitted to his facilities alone in one 48-hour period over the Christmas season. “That’s far more than we ever saw with H1N1 over a similar time,” he says. Luckily, Gardam says, the recent spike arrived at a time when few elective surgeries were being performed at GTA hospitals, leaving holiday beds empty that would otherwise have been occupied. But if the flu crest continues in the coming weeks, Gardam says many hospitals may be hard-pressed to accommodate the influx. McGeer adds “it’s never too late” to get vaccinated. The vaccine also includes an H1N1 component, as that virus is still present in the globe’s perpetually complex flu mix.
Type A influenza subtype H3N2 http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/t/type_a_influenza_subtype_h3n2/intro.htm
Information including symptoms, diagnosis, misdiagnosis, treatment, causes, patient stories, videos, forums.
The H3N2 subtype of influenza is a strain of the type A influenza virus that can cause cause illness in humans. Subtype H3N2 has caused a number of pandemics (e.g. Hong Kong Flu) and tends to occur in a seasonal pattern in many parts of the world. Influenza is viral respiratory infection. The virus is very contagious and can cause severe illness especially in patients who are very young or old or have some other medical condition as well. The severity of symptoms can vary but usually involves respiratory and constitutional (e.g. headache, aching muscles) symptoms. The influenza virus can mutate and produce different strains though the symptoms are the same. The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Type A influenza subtype H3N2 includes the 20 symptoms listed below: - Runny nose - Sore throat - Aching muscles - Headache - Cough - Nasal congestion - Malaise - Fever - Watery eyes - Aching joints - Sore throate - Aching body - Chills - Fatigue - Red eyes - Red skin - Red nose - Red throat - Loss of appetite - Weakness... The list of complications that have been mentioned in various sources for Type A influenza subtype H3N2 includes: - Pneumonia - Febrile seizures children - Exacerbation of pre-existing asthma - Exacerbation of pre-existing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - Exacerbation of pre-existing heart failure - Negative effects on developing fetus in pregnant women - Death - CHECK ALSO Pneumonia Medical Animation
H3N2 Death Cluster In Manitoba Canada (December 3, 2010) http://www.recombinomics.com/News/12031001/H3N2_Manitoba.html
The fatalities are a 35-year-old woman from Garden Hill, and a man around 35 years old who got sick at Garden Hill but was a resident of Red Sucker Lake. The third woman is fighting for her life in hospital in Winnipeg. And Grand Chief David Harper of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak said more than 20 other residents of the northern community are "coughing up blood." The above comments describe an H3N2 outbreak in northern Manitoba. Although the outbreak is being described as seasonal H3N2, the severity of the disease in previously healthy young adults raises concerns that the H3N2 detected is trH3N2. trH3N2 has a seasonal H3 and N2 from the 1990’s but is a triple reassortant with an avian PB2 and PA, and a human PB1 from 1996. The remaining gene segments are swine. WHO recently issued a pager alert on two trH3N2 cases in the United States. The sequences were recently released at GISAID by the CDC and the isolate from Wisconsin (A/Wisconsin/12/2010) and Pennsylvania (A/Pennsylvania/14/2010) are very closely related to each other, raising human transmission concerns since the two patients did not have contact with each other and were infected 6 weeks apart (see CDC update). It is unusual for H3N2 to produce fatalities in previously healthy young adults. However, the trH3N2 sequences have D225N in HA as well as 590S and 591R in PB2, changes that allow for adaptation in humans in the absence of E627K. They also have E618D, which is a change found in virtually all pH1N1 sequences. Thus, the trH3N2 could produce symptoms similar to those described above for the patients in Manitoba. In addition to the outbreak in Manitoba, media reports describe an H3N2 outbreak in Mongolia that is also H3N2 and affecting children. The media reports reference the trH3N2 cases in the US, but it is not clear if the Mongolia cases are seasonal H3N2 or trH3N2. trH3N2 in Canada or Mongolia would signal a swine H3N2 pandemic. More information on these cases as well as the fatal H3N2 outbreak in Akita, Japan would be useful.
Novel H3N2 Cases In United States Raise Pandemic Concerns (November 10, 2010) http://www.recombinomics.com/News/11101003/H3N2_Triple_PA_IL_Pandemic.html
(...) Generation of novel H3N2 viruses would be elevated at this time because pH1N1 readily jumps to humans, as well as from humans to swine. Thus, pH1N1 is now widespread in humans and swine, and human H3N2 in swine or in new seasonal flu cases would increase the frequency of such novel triple reassortants, which would generate a new pandemic if transmission was sustained.
La grippe gagne du terrain (5/01/2011) http://sante-az.aufeminin.com/w/sante/n66752/news/la-grippe-gagne-du-terrain.html
Avec les récentes vagues de grand froid, la population doit maintenant se protéger pour éviter le virus de la grippe. La maladie s’est bien installée en France, et les trois virus qui le composent : A (H1N1) ; A (H3N2) et B, contaminent un nombre de plus en plus grand de personnes. Selon l’Institut de Veille Sanitaire, le Nord et l’Ile-de-France sont les régions les plus touchées. À noter que la population de la région Centre commence à être aussi sérieusement touchée. Une vigilance particulière est nécessaire pour les personnes âgées et les nourrissons, particulièrement fragiles face à cette grippe qui semble plus virulente que les années précédentes. On dénombre depuis le mois de novembre 25 cas graves détectés, dont 5 décès.
KEY INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Flood peak to break 1974 levels http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/11/3110689.htm
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says flood levels in Brisbane and Ipswich are expected to be higher than the 1974 floods. Torrential rain continues to swamp south-east Queensland, with fears up to 6,500 homes could be flooded in the next two days. Ms Bligh says the Brisbane River will continue to rise into Thursday."Ipswich and Brisbane are now facing their greatest test and toughest threat in 35 years," she said. CLIP
Unstoppable tide hits Brisbane (January 11, 2011) http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2011/01/11/Unstoppable_tide_hits_Brisbane_563199.html
The Brisbane River has broken its banks with evacuations underway in the heart of the city amid fears Brisbane will see its worst flooding since the 1974 disaster.Ferry services have been shut down and rising flood waters have cut train services north and west of the city. (...) It's feared Brisbane could be about to experience its worst flood since the catastrophic 1974 event, when at least 6700 homes were partially or totally flooded in the Brisbane metropolitan area. The Wivenhoe Dam was subsequently built to the protect the city. Inflows into the dam are so vast that authorities have no choice but to continue with controlled releases, exacerbating flooding problems downstream. Heavy rain was bucketing down in the city on Tuesday, with the Brisbane City Council saying 32 suburbs are at risk of flooding.The situation in Brisbane, and west at Ipswich, where evacuations are also underway, will worsen in the next two days with hide tides expected amid more rain and increased releases from Wivenhoe Dam.Premier Anna Bligh said releases from Wivenhoe were being ramped up to cope with the enormous volume of water it's holding back. She said the releases were not optional and must happen to safeguard the integrity of the dam, built to protect Brisbane after the devastating 1974 floods. CLIP
Australian Floods Push Coal Price to Two-Year High, Ravage Crops (January 11, 2011) http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-01-11/australian-floods-push-coal-price-to-two-year-high-ravage-crops.html
(Bloomberg) -- Australian thermal coal prices rose to the highest since September 2008 as Queensland’s worst floods in 50 years disrupted mines, cut transport and damaged crops. (...) The rains have inundated an area the size of France and Germany, shutting mines, cutting rail lines and destroying crops, with the latest downpour leaving nine people dead and more than 60 missing. Gladstone Ports Corp. Chief Executive Officer Leo Zussino said today coal stockpiles at the export harbor were “extremely low.” “There is going to be some coal scarcity that’s going to impact the global market for a little while,” Michael Roche, chief executive officer of the Queensland Resources Council, said in a telephone interview. “You’ve got to expect that clearing water from flooded pits will go on into next month. Getting back into full production will be a mine-by-mine proposition.” (...) Rabobank cut its raw sugar output forecast for 2011-2012 by 10 percent to 3.8 million metric tons. Maryborough Sugar Factory Ltd. said today there has been “no material impact” to the company’s infrastructure or crop estimates.Queensland may have lost 200,000 tons of wheat and barley output since the end of November as well as 300,000 tons in sorghum production, Rabobank said. Australia is the fourth largest cotton exporter and the third-biggest shipper of sugar. CLIP
NASA Image Shows La Niña-Caused Woes Down Under (January 07, 2011) http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-006
The current La Niña in the Pacific Ocean, one of the strongest in the past 50 years, continues to exert a powerful influence on weather around the world, affecting rainfall and temperatures in varying ways in different locations. For Australia, La Niña typically means above-average rains, and the current La Niña is no exception. Heavy rains that began in late December led to the continent's worst flooding in nearly a half century, at its peak inundating an area the size of Germany and France combined. The Associated Press reports about 1,200 homes in 40 communities are underwater and about 11,000 others are damaged, resulting in thousands of evacuations and 10 deaths to date. CLIP
The Queensland big wet, big flood and climate change (6 Jan 2011) http://indymedia.org.au/2011/01/06/the-queensland-big-wet-big-flood-and-climate-change
Have you noticed that no-one in the media is discussing Climate Change and the devastating Queensland floods? Floods that are directly affecting over 200,000 people, closing down three quarters of the coal mining industry in the state, plus major highways, rail links and public airports. Estimates of the damage are now running into the billions of dollars with at least 10 people killed so far. The extent of the flooding has been described as a ''disaster of biblical proportions'' affecting an area the size of New South Wales, or of France and Germany combined, with at least 40 towns and cities suffering inundation. The flooding has set new river flood height records, with some saying the flood is the worst in living memory, at least a one in a 100 year event. Widespread flooding of mines has also caused Heavy metals released into flood waters. While Queensland is in the middle of the disastrous floods, one of the world's largest insurers, Munich Re announced that the number of climate related disasters soared in 2010 killing as many as 295,000 people. "The high number of weather-related natural catastrophes and record temperatures both globally and in different regions of the world provide further indications of advancing climate change." said Munich Re in a press statement. Nine tenths of the disasters in 2010 were severe weather-related events. As the atmosphere and oceans continue to warm, the ability for more water vapour to be carried in the atmosphere intensifies leading to more frequent and more intense precipitation events. CLIP
Iraq to buy $26 billion worth of armaments from United States (January 10, 2011) http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22721
Is this a real sale? Who will control these weapons? Developing a proxy Iraqi force controlled by the US-NATO alliance? Building up Iraq's external debt. What is the significance of this transaction? How does it affect the broader geopolitics of Central Asia and the Middle East. Does this constitute a military build-up directed against Iran?
Undercutting Biden, Administration Official Won't Say If Combat Troops Will Be Out Of Afghanistan By 2014 (January 10, 2011) OF COURSE! THEY NEED TO PROTECT THE GOVERNMENT THAT BUYS THEIR WEAPONS http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/01/10-7
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is holding the door open to having combat troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014, undercutting a promise made by the Vice President. Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Monday to meet with President Hamid Karzai. He also met with Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in the conflict, and plans to visit U.S. troops and an Afghan Army training center. En route to Kabul, a senior administration official told reporters aboard Air Force Two that the "goal" is still to have Afghan forces take the lead for security by 2014, but they refused to state that U.S. combat troops will be out of the country by that time: CLIP
Haiti recovery far from over (01/10/2011) http://fsrn.org/audio/haiti-recovery-far-over/7874
Almost one year after the devastating earthquake in Haiti – just a scant percentage of the rubble has been cleared, and bodies are still buried within. Some 3700 people have died from cholera, more than 2 million children remain at risk for the disease. More then one million people are still homeless, most living in dangerous and difficult conditions. Elizabeth Byrs is with the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. She says that a funding shortfall of 420 million dollars has seriously limited the UN's ability to provide necessary aid. “We did a lot to meet our target, but if we had received 100% funding, we could have done better. If you do not have money, you cannot implement humanitarian projects because you do not buy vaccine with a piece of paper, with a pledge, you need cash. It is true with more money we could have done better.” Brys says one main challenge to reconstruction efforts is a shortage of build-able land near the nation's capitol. “The problem is there is a lack of land in and around Port-Au-Prince. And we have this problem of the land tenure which is quite complex to solve and you know that Haiti is a disaster prone area so we have to build with security measure those new housing so the people can live in a better condition.” On top of the original UN appeal for emergency funds, the agency has asked for an additional 174 million to help contain the cholera outbreak. But to date they have received only about a quarter of that amount.
Amid Rioting, Tunisia Closes Universities and Schools (January 10, 2011) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/world/africa/11tunisia.html
CAIRO — The Tunisian government ordered the closing of all schools and universities in the country on Monday until further notice in an attempt to quell escalating riots over poverty and unemployment.At least 14 people have died in the riots, according to the official Tunisian news agency, which also reported the school closings. Opponents of the government contend that riot police officers have shot and killed many more since the riots broke out three weeks ago.President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, in a televised address, promised to create more jobs, but also to stamp out any violence. He blamed unspecified enemies abroad for the rioting. “The events were the work of masked gangs that attacked at night government buildings and even civilians inside their homes in a terrorist act that cannot be overlooked,” he said, according to Al Jazeera. Citing criticism from the State Department for its handling of the riots, the Tunisian government summoned the American ambassador to express its “astonishment,” Tunisian state television reported. A State Department spokesman, Philip J. Crowley, described the meeting as “a follow-up discussion” with the Tunisian government. “We, again, affirmed our concerns not only about the ongoing violence, the importance of respecting freedom of expression, but also the importance of the availability of information,” Mr. Crowley said. The riots began about three weeks ago after a 26-year-old man with a college degree, in despair at his dismal prospects, committed suicide by setting himself on fire. He had been trying to sell a container of fruits and vegetables, and the police confiscated his merchandise because he had no permit.His self-immolation unleashed the pent-up anger of Tunisia’s educated and underemployed youth, and soon that of others as well.On Monday, security forces surrounded a university where hundreds of students were trying to protest, according to Reuters. The rioting showed signs of spreading from provincial towns toward the cities of the Mediterranean coast which are central to the tourist industry, Reuters reported.The riots are believed to have spread in part through social-media Web sites, and the Tunisian government reportedly directed Internet service providers to hack into the accounts of individual users. As the riots mounted over the weekend, the State Department expressed concern about intrusions into the privacy of Tunisian customers of American companies like Facebook, Yahoo and Google. The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, urged restraint and respect for freedom of expression. Since taking power in a bloodless coup more than two decades ago, President Ben Ali has enforced strict censorship and tolerated little dissent. Although Tunis markets itself as a peaceful tourist haven, it earns dismal marks from international human rights groups. Official figures put unemployment at about 14 percent, with much higher levels among young people. MORE RELATED NEWS HERE - CHECK ALSO Algerian youths riot over food prices, unemployment
OTHER RECOMMENDED NEWS AND INFORMATION
Analysis: Rising food prices bring host of political risks (Jan 6, 2011) http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70521L20110106
(Reuters) - Record food prices will hit the world's poorest hardest, raising the risk of riots, export bans, foreign-owned farmland expropriation and further price spikes fueled by short-term investors. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said on Wednesday food prices hit a record high in December and could rise further on erratic global weather patterns. For the first time they outstripped levels reached in early 2008, when spiraling prices prompted riots in countries including Haiti, Egypt and Cameroon and brought demands for tighter commodity market regulation. The potential humanitarian, political and business impact -- particularly in impoverished states where food makes up the largest component of the inflation basket -- is already alarming policymakers and senior officials. "Food price increases impact the poor hardest as food is a higher proportion of their incomes," said James Bond, chief operating officer of the World Bank's political risk insurance arm the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). "It creates significant tension in poorer countries, exacerbates standard of living disparities and is a major source of unrest."The 2008 price spike came to an abrupt end in September that year with the global crash that followed the demise of Lehman Brothers, sucking borrowed money out of markets as lenders called in their debts.But right now, no one expects that to happen again. So far, experts say weather-related supply shocks -- floods in Australia, drought in Argentina, dry weather and fires in Russia and potentially crop damaging frosts in Europe and North America -- were largely to blame. But they worry politics and markets could soon take over to produce a vicious circle."The danger is that what happens now is that you get a second shock as countries can respond by imposing export bans and financial markets investors pile in for short-term investment, pushing prices much higher, as they did in 2008," said Maximo Torero, divisional director for markets, trade and institutions at Washington DC's International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). CLIP
'One poor harvest away from chaos' (Jan 7, 2011) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthcomment/geoffrey-lean/8247029/One-poor-harvest-away-from-chaos.html
Millions of the world’s poorest people and the state of the global economy are threatened by the food price rises, writes Geoffrey Lean. - 'Within a decade," promised the top representative of the world's mightiest country, "no man, woman or child will go to bed hungry." Dr Henry Kissinger, at the height of his powers as US Secretary of State, was speaking to the landmark 1974 World Food Conference. Since then, the number of hungry people worldwide has almost exactly doubled: from 460 million to 925 million. And this week the airwaves have been full of warnings that the formidable figure could be about to increase further, as a new food crisis takes hold. Some experts warned that the world could be on the verge of a "nightmare scenario" of cut?throat competition for the control of shrinking supplies. The cause of such alarm? On Wednesday, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reported that global food prices had hit a record high and were likely to go on rising, entering what Abdolreza Abbassian, its senior grains economist, called "danger territory". That is bad enough for Britain, adding to the inflationary pressures from the soaring cost of oil and other commodities, not to mention the VAT increase. But for the world's poor, who have to spend 80 per cent of their income on food, it could be catastrophic. CLIP
Egypt eyes inflation as Algeria, Tunisia are mired in food riots (10 Jan 2011) http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20110110064809
CAIRO: As rising food prices spur social unrest in neighboring North African countries, concerns that riots could spillover into Egypt remain mild as inflation is expected to rise.The Food and Agriculture Organization, a body of the United Nations, said on Jan. 5 that food prices hit a "record high" in December 2010, topping 2008 levels when riots shook Egypt as well as other countries, Reuters reported.Recently in Tunisia and Algeria, local security forces have been trying to quell unrest resulting from high food prices, bleak job prospects and low investment in their countries.Two were killed and eight wounded in a provincial town in Tunisia, Reuters report on Jan. 9. Concomitantly in Algeria, the government temporarily removed taxes on both sugar and cooking oil in an attempt to stifle discontent, according to French daily Le Monde.According to a Reuters survey of seven analysts, urban inflation in Egypt is likely to creep above 14 percent year-on-year in December, the highest level since January, driven by domestic food price rises and base effects. CLIP
WikiLeaks: Israeli Blockade Meant to Keep Gaza on "Brink of Collapse" - Part of Democracy Now Jan 5 show http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/5/headlines
Newly released classified U.S. diplomatic cables from WikiLeaks reveal that Israeli officials openly told U.S. diplomats that the aim of the blockade of Gaza was to keep Gaza’s economy on the brink of collapse. According to a November 2008 cable, Israel wanted Gaza’s economy to be "functioning at the lowest level possible consistent with avoiding a humanitarian crisis." In addition, the WikiLeaks cables reveal the United States offered to transfer $70 million to Gaza in November 2008 in an attempt to ease the economic situation. However, Israeli Major General Amos Gilad refused to allow the transfer, saying that the Palestinians should not receive anything. The cables were first reported by the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten.
“Humanitarian Minimum” Israel’s Role in Creating Food and Water Insecurity in the Gaza Strip http://www.phr.org.il/uploaded/Humanitarian%20Minimum_eng_webver_H.pdf
In September 2010 I spoke with a trusted friend in Gaza. Our conversation centered on living conditions and the impact of Israel’s siege on peoples’ everyday lives. We spoke for some time and his concluding words echo the central message of PHRI’s compelling and critically important report. My friend said: “We are not allowed to participate in our own lives but must accept our decay. Our horizon is vague. There is no vision, no debate, no critique. The critique that does exist is for the benefit of the individual not society. We are not allowed to plan, even to think of planning and we are rejected if we try. We are denied the right to live as normal [human beings] and there is a growing feeling among people here—despite the fact that some still resist—that this will not change. If there is a plan, we believe it is to insure that our abandonment is total.” The starkness of life in Gaza, which is described in powerful detail in this report, constitutes a form of abandonment that is undeniable. Yet, the pages that follow speak of something far more pernicious: a policy (whether of siege or military attack) deliberately and consciously designed to inflict harm on an innocent and defenseless civilian population and on the Hamas-led government elected to represent it. And while this policy has been imposed by Israel, it has had the explicit support of key members of the international community, notably the United States, the European Union, and Egypt, as well as the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.The outcome has been devastating: not only has Gaza’s formal economy all but collapsed—a clear objective of the siege—and its society weakened, Palestinians there have been rendered invisible and mute, deprived of their agency and dignity, forced to accept their own decay as my friend said. Perhaps the greatest and most damaging aspect of Israeli policy has been the transformation of Palestinians in Gaza especially, from a people entitled to, and capable of, national self-determination and developmental change into a group of aid-dependent paupers worthy only of the humanitarian minimum.Furthermore, the impoverishment of Gazans has become the sole responsibility of a compliant international community unwilling—despite the importance of foreign aid in addressing basic needs—to meaningfully challenge, let alone, defy, Israeli policy. One result, according to a November 2010 internal donor document, is the fact that: “donors are indirectly not following universally accepted humanitarian principles and by [their] inaction allow for the continuation of illegal policies to take place.” These findings, among the many more examined by PHRI, point to a critical but often neglected fact: Gaza (and the profoundly adverse conditions that define it) is not a humanitarian problem but a political one and the solution—if one can be found—must also be political. And as this report makes absolutely clear, in the continued absence of reform and the rights and freedom that must attend it, Gaza’s descent will hasten and bring with it far greater disaster. CLIP
Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth http://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html
(...) Drepung monastery was one of the biggest landowners in the world, with its 185 manors, 25,000 serfs, 300 great pastures, and 16,000 herdsmen. The wealth of the monasteries rested in the hands of small numbers of high-ranking lamas. Most ordinary monks lived modestly and had no direct access to great wealth. The Dalai Lama himself “lived richly in the 1000-room, 14-story Potala Palace.” Secular leaders also did well. A notable example was the commander-in-chief of the Tibetan army, a member of the Dalai Lama’s lay Cabinet, who owned 4,000 square kilometers of land and 3,500 serfs. Old Tibet has been misrepresented by some Western admirers as “a nation that required no police force because its people voluntarily observed the laws of karma.” In fact. it had a professional army, albeit a small one, that served mainly as a gendarmerie for the landlords to keep order, protect their property, and hunt down runaway serfs.Young Tibetan boys were regularly taken from their peasant families and brought into the monasteries to be trained as monks. Once there, they were bonded for life. Tashì-Tsering, a monk, reports that it was common for peasant children to be sexually mistreated in the monasteries. He himself was a victim of repeated rape, beginning at age nine. The monastic estates also conscripted children for lifelong servitude as domestics, dance performers, and soldiers.
(...) In feudal Tibet, torture and mutilation--including eye gouging, the pulling out of tongues, hamstringing, and amputation--were favored punishments inflicted upon thieves, and runaway or resistant serfs. Journeying through Tibet in the 1960s, Stuart and Roma Gelder interviewed a former serf, Tsereh Wang Tuei, who had stolen two sheep belonging to a monastery. For this he had both his eyes gouged out and his hand mutilated beyond use. He explains that he no longer is a Buddhist: “When a holy lama told them to blind me I thought there was no good in religion.”21 Since it was against Buddhist teachings to take human life, some offenders were severely lashed and then “left to God” in the freezing night to die. “The parallels between Tibet and medieval Europe are striking,” concludes Tom Grunfeld in his book on Tibet.
(...) Earlier visitors to Tibet commented on the theocratic despotism. In 1895, an Englishman, Dr. A. L. Waddell, wrote that the populace was under the “intolerable tyranny of monks” and the devil superstitions they had fashioned to terrorize the people. In 1904 Perceval Landon described the Dalai Lama’s rule as “an engine of oppression.” At about that time, another English traveler, Captain W.F.T. O’Connor, observed that “the great landowners and the priests… exercise each in their own dominion a despotic power from which there is no appeal,” while the people are “oppressed by the most monstrous growth of monasticism and priest-craft.” CLIP
Factbox: Issues to watch on Gates' China trip (Jan 7, 2011) http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70662420110107
Defense Secretary Robert Gates will attempt to ease Sino-U.S. military tensions during a visit to China from Sunday to Wednesday, but mistrust runs deep between the U.S. armed forces and the People's Liberation Army. Here are some of the top issues Gates will be grappling with in Beijing, just days before a high-profile visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao to Washington.
TAIWAN
U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are the biggest irritant in U.S.-China military relations. Beijing has used strong language and even threatened sanctions on U.S. firms that sell arms to Taiwan in an attempt to deter them. China cut off ties with the U.S. military for most of 2010 and turned down a proposed fence-mending visit by Gates last summer -- all because of the Obama administration's proposed $6.4 billion arms package to Taiwan, announced a year ago. China considers Taiwan a renegade province.Gates is expected to make another effort to convince the People's Liberation Army that the U.S. and Chinese militaries need to ensure stable communication -- despite differences over Taiwan -- to prevent misunderstandings that could trigger a confrontation. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, and the Pentagon warned last year that Beijing had expanded its military edge over the island. The United States is Taiwan's top arms supplier and is obliged by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to aid the island's defense.
NORTH KOREA
U.S. officials, including Gates, believe China is best positioned to avert a future conflict on the Korean peninsula by using its influence to rein in North Korea's reclusive leader, Kim Jong-il. China is Pyongyang's strongest economic and diplomatic partner.China has opposed U.S. and South Korean military drills which, so far at least, have been the strongest military response Washington and Seoul have mustered following provocative actions by North Korea. Those include North Korea's attack on a South Korean island in November and the sinking of a South Korean warship in March. Beijing wants dialogue.Gates, who travels to South Korea and Japan after China, will likely press Chinese officials about North Korea, including about Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
TERRITORIAL DISPUTES
The Obama administration has made a point of bolstering ties with Asian allies since taking office in 2009, sometimes irritating Beijing in the process.One flashpoint is the South China Sea, where Beijing is wary of perceived meddling by Washington in China's territorial disputes with Southeast Asian nations over an area rich in energy and key to shipping.Beijing has looked warily on U.S. military drills near its waters -- despite South Korean and U.S. insistence they are a response to North Korean provocations.U.S. ally Japan has been involved in a high-profile territorial dispute with China over islands known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Beijing has long accused the U.S. military of illegal trespass into its Exclusive Economic Zones, or EEZs, defined by a U.N. treaty as waters within 200 nautical miles of its coast. The United States says it has the right to conduct intelligence-gathering activities in EEZs.
MILITARY BUILD-UP
With its economy booming, China has significantly increased its military expenditures, developing capabilities that expand its reach and increase the chance of friction with U.S. forces in the Pacific.Already boasting the largest army in the world, China is upgrading its combat aircraft, missile capabilities and naval forces. Photos published on websites and other media in recent weeks appear to show that China has a prototype of a stealth fighter jet. China may be ready to launch its first aircraft carrier in 2011, according to Chinese military and political sources. It has also made advances in its anti-ship ballistic missile program, according to the U.S. military. Also, the Pentagon has been plain-spoken about its belief that many of the cyber attacks on U.S. government computer systems are believed to originate in China. "It remains unclear if these intrusions were conducted by, or with the endorsement of, the (Peoples' Liberation Army) or other elements of the ... government," it warned in a report to Congress. Chinese officials point out their defense spending is still far lower than that of the United States and that China is not seeking confrontation. But U.S. defense officials are openly wary of China's strategic intentions.
RARE EARTHS
The Pentagon is due to release a report in coming weeks on rare earth minerals, vital in a slew of high-tech products that are used in some U.S. weapons systems.China produces about 97 percent of the global supply of rare earths, and at the end of December cut its export quotas by 35 percent for the first half of 2011 versus a year ago, saying it wanted to preserve ample reserves.
MILITARY EXCHANGES
Another longtime irritant in U.S.-China military relations are restrictions, imposed by Congress more than decade ago, on military-to-military exchanges.Current legislation prohibits military exchanges that could "create a national security risk" by exposing PLA representatives to certain U.S. capabilities including nuclear operations, military space operations and reconnaissance operations. The PLA strongly opposes such restrictions. - CHECK ALSO Japan to hold naval drills involving U.S. warships in East China Sea
Report Shows Rollback on Rights in China (Jan 11, 2011) http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54088
NEW YORK (IPS) - A new report released Tuesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) charges that China has largely failed to meet the commitments laid out in its first-ever National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP), introduced in 2009.The 67-page report, "Promises Unfulfilled: An Assessment of China's National Human Rights Action Plan", says the state continues to tolerate abuses such as illegal detention and torture, despite the NHRAP's promises to ramp up civil and political rights. Among the urgent issues highlighted was the imprisonment of high-profile political dissidents, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. Phelim Kine, an Asia researcher at the New York-based HRW, told IPS the action plan failed to mark a real change in the communist government's human rights performance. Kine said the ongoing restrictions in China, particularly the controls on assembly and association, were leading to a "pressure cooker" situation. "China is a state with an extremely politicised judicial system; a country which explicitly subordinates the rule of the law to the interests of the ruling communist party," he said. "When you look at issues such as the death penalty, illegal detention, torture in custody, etc., these issues to a large extent boil down to a lack of implementation of existing laws." (...) While the HRW report focused on the shortcomings in the NHRAP, it did note progress in social and economic rights. This included a reduction in the number of Chinese living in absolute poverty by more than 200 million since 1978. According to Professor Peter Kwong, a specialist in modern Chinese politics at Hunter College, City University of New York, as China reverses its poverty trend, civil rights have become more important to its citizens. CLIP
Products Made in Chinese Prison Camps Illegally Exported to U.S. (March 25, 2010) http://humantrafficking.change.org/blog/view/products_made_in_chinese_prison_camps_illegally_exported_to_us
The government-run forced labor prison camps of China might seem thousands of miles away to most Americans, but they are increasingly the source of some of the products in your home. New research has revealed that the consumer goods made in laogais, the Chinese name for these Soviet gulag-style slave factories, are making their way onto the American market at alarming rates. And many of the prisoners at laogais are political dissenters, religious minorities, and other people practicing free speech, imprisoned without a fair trial. It's currently illegal (according to both China and the U.S.) for China to export any product made in a laogai to America. But the practice is pretty wide-spread, and has been growing unchecked for a number of years. The Chinese NGO the Laogai Research Foundation recently found that more and more laogais were advertising the products made by their prisoners on international export sites, several of which are available in multiple European languages. In total, their research uncovered over 400 listings for laogai-made products on international trade and export sites, waiting to be purchased by an American or European company who might have no way of knowing that product was made by enslaved political prisoners.
You can check out the full text of their report here. Just a quick glance through the names of all the trade sites laogai products were listed on shows the diversity of industries which may be tainted with Chinese forced labor-made goods -- apparel, food, beverages, electronics. There was no label which indicated the goods were made in a laogai, and no indication to U.S. or other companies that importing those goods would be illegal. They even found laogai products being promoted on China Commodity Net, a Chinese government-run website, in direct violation of Chinese, U.S., and international law.Some groups have claimed that using prisoners for labor isn't such a bad thing. After all, prisoners here in the U.S. clean up highways and print license plates, right? Conditions in laogais are much closer to those of Soviet or even Nazi work camps than modern-day prisons. In their investigation, the Laogai Research Foundation found prisoners forced to handle asbestos and battery acid without protective gear and even witnessed prisoners forced to stand naked in a vat of tanning chemicals to tan leather. Is that how you want your leather jacket or shoes made? Not to mention the number of people in laogais who were sent there without a fair trial for actions most of the world would consider protected free speech. I'm not necessarily defending the use of prisoners for forced labor in any country, but the Chinese laogai system is a unique offender, both because if its size and its cruelty. CLIP - CHECK ALSO Chinese prison-made goods enter Canada: report ( January 9, 201)
Overall picture of natural catastrophes in 2010 – Very severe earthquakes and many severe weather events (3 January 2011) http://www.munichre.com/en/media_relations/press_releases/2011/2011_01_03_press_release.aspx
Several major catastrophes in 2010 resulted in substantial losses and an exceptionally high number of fatalities. The overall picture last year was dominated by an accumulation of severe earthquakes to an extent seldom experienced in recent decades. The high number of weather-related natural catastrophes and record temperatures both globally and in different regions of the world provide further indications of advancing climate change. Altogether, a total of 950 natural catastrophes were recorded last year, nine-tenths of which were weather-related events like storms and floods. This total makes 2010 the year with the second-highest number of natural catastrophes since 1980, markedly exceeding the annual average for the last ten years (785 events per year). The overall losses amounted to around US$ 130bn, of which approximately US$ 37bn was insured. This puts 2010 among the six most loss-intensive years for the insurance industry since 1980. The level of overall losses was slightly above the high average of the past ten years.
(...) In the summer, floods following extreme monsoon rainfall had devastating consequences in Pakistan. For weeks, up to one-quarter of the country was flooded. Countless people lost all their worldly possessions. The overall loss totalled US$ 9.5bn – an extremely high amount for Pakistan's emerging economy.A widescale catastrophe also resulted from the heatwave in Russia and neighbouring countries between July and September. Many places, including Moscow, experienced record temperatures. In some regions of central Russia, they exceeded 30°C for two months on end. Forests burned, with the fires threatening nuclear facilities and areas where the ground had been contaminated by radioactive fallout from Chernobyl. At least 56,000 people died as a result of heat and air pollution, making it the most deadly natural disaster in Russia's history.
(...) The hurricane season in the North Atlantic was benign – but only at first glance. Favourable weather patterns meant that the US coast was not hit by a single hurricane. In Mexico, however, a few storms caused substantial damage. Otherwise, the tropical cyclones turned away in a northeasterly direction over the sea, only grazing some islands in the Caribbean.But what appeared benign was, in terms of the number and intensity of the storms, one of the severest hurricane seasons of the past 100 years. Altogether, there were 19 named tropical cyclones, equalling the number recorded in 1995 and putting 2010 in joint third place after 2005 (28) and 1933 (21). Twelve of the storms attained hurricane strength, with five of these falling into the top hurricane categories (wind speeds over 178 km/h). This means the forecasts of various institutes about the number of storms turned out to be very accurate. "The number of storms was indeed well above average.
(...) The global distribution of natural catastrophes in 2010 was comparable to that of previous years. Most catastrophes occurred on the American continent (365) and in Asia (310). 120 natural catastrophes were recorded in Europe, 90 in Africa and 65 in Australia/Oceania. CLIP
Conservationists unveil plans to save coral from extinction (11 January 2011) http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/11/plans-save-coral-extinction
Conservationists have unveiled plans to preserve and protect the world's most important species of coral, in a response to increasing threats that they say will lead to "functional extinction" within decades. Led by scientists at the Zoological Society of London, the Edge Coral Reefs project has identified 10 coral species in most urgent risk of becoming extinct. The scientists say that reefs are under pressure from a variety of threats including rising sea temperatures due to climate change, increased acidity, overfishing and pollution. The Edge plan, which focuses on the most evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species will take a regional approach to conservation. This means focusing on the "coral triangle" around the Philippines, the west Indian ocean around the Mozambique channel, and in the Caribbean channel. "Coral reefs are threatened with functional extinction in the next 20-50 years, due predominantly to global climate change," said Catherine Head, co-ordinator of the reefs project. CLIP
The world’s most important corals in need of conservation - 10 pictures http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2011/jan/11/worlds-most-important-corals
Towering furry pillars, glowing tentacles and species that look like human brains are listed among the 10 most important evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered (Edge) tropical coral species that conservationists say are in most urgent need of saving.
USDA Certified Organic’s Dirty Little Secret: Neotame By Barbara H. Peterson (Dec 31, 2010) http://farmwars.info/?p=4897
Just when we thought that buying “Organic” was safe, we run headlong into the deliberate poisoning of our organic food supply by the FDA in collusion with none other than the folks who brought us Aspartame. NutraSweet, a former Monsanto asset, has developed a new and improved version of this neurotoxin called Neotame. Neotame has similar structure to aspartame — except that, from it’s structure, appears to be even more toxic than aspartame. This potential increase in toxicity will make up for the fact that less will be used in diet drinks. Like aspartame, some of the concerns include gradual neurotoxic and immunotoxic damage from the combination of the formaldehyde metabolite (which is toxic at extremely low doses) and the excitotoxic amino acid. (http://www.holisticmed.com/neotame/toxin.html) But surely, this product would be labeled! NOT SO!!! For this little gem, no labeling required. And it is even included in USDA Certified Organic food. The food labeling requirements required for aspartame have now been dropped for Neotame, and no one is clear why this was allowed to happen. Neotame has been ruled acceptable, and without being included on the list of ingredients, for: USDA Certified Organic food items. Certified Kosher products with the official letter k inside the circle on labels. (Janet Hull) Let me make this perfectly clear. Neotame does not have to be included in ANY list of ingredients! So, if you buy processed food, whether USDA Certified Organic or not, that food most likely will contain Neotame because it is cost-effective, and since no one knows it is there, there is no public backlash similar to what is happening with Aspartame. A win/win situation! But that’s not all. Just love chowing down on that delicious steak? Well, that cow most likely will have been fed with feed containing…..you guessed it…..Neotame! A product called “Sweetos,” which is actually composed of Neotame, is being substituted for molasses in animal feed.
(...) So what is the solution to this problem? Buy local organic food, know your local farmer, and don’t buy processed foods whether they are labeled “Organic” or not. This requires a drastic change in lifestyle that most will not want to make. For those who choose to ride the wheel of chance by succumbing to this genocidal adulteration of our food supply by those who stand to profit from our sickness and early demise, my only comment is….it is your choice. But for those of us who have decided to fight this battle one bite at a time by hitting these sociopaths in the pocketbook where it hurts……viva la revolucion!
Aspartame exposed - GM Bacteria used to create deadly sweetener (January 05, 2011) http://www.naturalnews.com/030918_aspartame_GM_bacteria.html
(NaturalNews) The manufacturers of the most prevalent sweetener in the world have a secret, and it`s not a sweet one. Aspartame, an artificial sweetener found in thousands of products worldwide, has been found to be created using genetically modified (GM) bacteria. What`s even more shocking is how long this information has been known. A 1999 article by The Independent was the first to expose the abominable process in which aspartame was created. Ironically, the discovery was made around the same time as rich leaders around the globe met at the G8 Summit to discuss the safety of GM foods.The 1999 investigation found that Monsanto, the largest biotech corporation in the world, often used GM bacteria to produce aspartame in their US production plants. The end result is a fusion between two of the largest health hazards to ever hit the food industry -- artificial sweeteners and an array of genetically altered organisms. CLIP
Texas Schools are Drilling for Dollars (Nov 1, 2010) http://www.enviroblog.org/2010/11/texas-schools-are-drilling-for-dollars.html
(...) Benzene at school, anyone? Last January tests conducted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) found elevated levels of benzene near a number of drilling operations. Benzene is one of the toxic chemicals used in fracking. Chronic exposure to benzene is known to cause leukemia and other blood diseases. People are primarily exposed through breathing urban air, automobile exhaust and cigarette smoke. Hillwood International Energy appears to be a privately held company. Carizzo is publicly traded, and its 2009 annual report describes the risks of its exploration and drilling operations in disquieting terms: We are subject to various operating and other casualty risks that could result in liability exposure or the loss of production and revenues. The natural gas and oil business involves operating hazards such as: well blowouts; mechanical failures; explosions; uncontrollable flows of oil, natural gas or well fluids; fires; geologic formations with abnormal pressures; pipeline ruptures or spills; releases of toxic gases; and other environmental hazards and risks. Any of these hazards and risks can result in the loss of hydrocarbons, environmental pollution, personal injury claims and other damage to our properties and the property of others. "You can't put a price on keeping our kids healthy," said Susan Knoll, who is a member of the Argyle-Bartonville Communities Alliance fighting the drilling operations. Agreed. Exposing school children to mix of toxic chemicals, or to the slightest possibility of any of these catastrophic events, seems like the height of irresponsibility.
Drinking Water Threatened by Toxic Natural Gas and Oil Drilling Chemicals http://www.ewg.org/drillingaroundthelaw
Executive Summary - Companies that drill for natural gas and oil are skirting federal law and injecting toxic petroleum distillates into thousands of wells, threatening drinking water supplies from Pennsylvania to Wyoming. Federal and state regulators, meanwhile, largely look the other way.These distillates include kerosene, mineral spirits and a number of other petroleum products that often contain high levels of benzene, a known human carcinogen that is toxic in water at minuscule levels. Drillers inject these substances into rock under extremely high pressure in a process called hydraulic fracturing that energy companies use to extract natural gas and oil from underground formations. The process, known as “fracking,” fractures the rock to allow additional gas and oil to flow to the surface. Fracking is currently used in 90 percent of the nation’s oil and natural gas wells and has been instrumental in accessing huge new natural gas deposits trapped in shale formations (Carrillo 2005). In a worst case scenario, the petroleum distillates used in a single well could contain enough benzene to contaminate more than 100 billion gallons of drinking water to unsafe levels, according to drilling company disclosures in New York State and published studies. (NYDEC DSGEIS 2009, Pagnotto 1961) That is more than 10 times as much water as the state of New York uses in a single day. (NYDEC DSGEIS 2009) Fracking has already been linked to drinking water contamination and property damage in Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wyoming and other states. (Lustgarten 2008a, 2008b) CLIP
Tea Party Billionaire David Koch Denies Climate Change, Shrugs Off His Carbon Pollution http://thinkprogress.org/2011/01/07/koch-interview-global-warming/
This week, ThinkProgress conducted an impromptu interview with David Koch — one of the richest men in America, co-owner of the conglomerate Koch Industries, and a top financier of right-wing front groups — after we found him leaving the swearing-in ceremony for Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). In the first part of the interview, Koch said that he “admire[s]” the Tea Party movement, and that “the rank and file are just normal people like us.” As ThinkProgress has detailed, Koch operatives orchestrated the first anti-Obama Tea Party protests, channeled Tea Party groups into increasing the Koch’s personal wealth, and organized Tea Parties for Republican campaigns and lobbying drives.
(...) It is doubtful that Koch, who was educated at MIT, seriously believes that climate simply “fluctuate[s]” from “hot to cold” (although the exhibit Koch funded at the Smithsonian perpetuates this lie). Rather, Koch understands that his entire business model depends on denying the greatest threat facing the planet.
Koch Industries — the largest private corporation in America — thrives on emitting carbon pollution and other forms of pollution for free. Much of Koch Industries’ $120 billion-a-year revenues are derived from burning fossil fuels: oil refineries and pipelines, chemical plants, fertilizer plants, manufacturing factories, and the shipping of coal. Moreover, Koch Industries owns Georgia Pacific, one of the largest timber companies, so Koch also contributes to global warming by decreasing the world’s carbon sink capacity. The National Academy of Sciences, the US Global Change Research Program, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have all come to the same conclusion: “that carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel use and the loss of carbon-sink capacity in heavily timbered forests are increasing temperatures and making oceans more acidic.” Corporate documents revealed by ThinkProgress show that Koch Industries explicitly targeted laws to reduce carbon emissions as a threat to Koch’s bottom line.
To boost their profits, Koch is the largest funder of climate change denying organizations and media outlets in the world. For example, Koch bankrolls denier groups like the CATO Institute, Fraser Institute, Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment, the Manhattan Institute, the Marshall Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the State Policy Network, and dozens of others. Not only have Koch fronts instructed Tea Party groups to kill national legislation to address climate change, but Koch groups have been instrumental in pushing climate change-believers out of the Republican Party. As the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson has detailed, the vast majority of new Republicans in Congress are “climate zombies.” Koch Industries is so fervently anti-climate science that it recently filed a lawsuit claiming that a belief in global warming damages its reputation.
Koch’s active role in Republican politics and multifaceted propaganda campaigns are almost always tied to Koch Industries’ business interests. Koch’s assistance to then-Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS) resulted in special legislation to exempt Koch from prosecution regarding an oil spill, and Koch’s efforts to elect President Bush were rewarded with a virtual pardon of charges related to Koch’s release of carcinogenic chemicals in Texas. Koch groups also worked to derail international climate negotiations in Copenhagen, and Koch-funded groups helped spread the myth that hacked e-mails from the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit somehow disputed the scientific consensus on climate change. Of course, Koch’s current war on climate science is not new. As we first reported, Koch’s current campaign to distort the public’s understanding of global warming is a continuation of its campaign in 1990 to spread skepticism about acid rain. However, Koch’s hidden role in the climate denying machine is beginning to unravel.
Illnesses linked to BP Oil Disaster: Widespread Sickness due to Toxic Chemicals by Dahr Jamail (Jan 5, 2011) http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22652
While there are many examples of acute exposures like Pearcey and Dr. Soto's patient who developed cancer, his concern is that most residents who are being exposed will only show symptoms later. "This latter group develops symptoms over years," he told Al Jazeera. "I'm concerned with the illnesses like cancer and brain degeneration for the future. This is very important because a lot of the population down here may not have symptoms. But people are unaware they are ingesting chemicals that are certainly toxic to humans and have significant effect on the brain and hormonal systems."Dr. Soto is most concerned about the long-term effect of the toxins, because they have "tremendous implications in the human immune system, hormonal function, and brain function." The toxic compounds in the oil and dispersants are "liposoluble," meaning they have a "high affinity for fat," according to Dr. Soto. "The human brain is 70 percent fat," Dr. Soto added, "And these will similarly effect the immune cells, intestinal tract, breast, thyroid, prostate, glands, organs, and systems. This is also why this is so significant for children."His particular concern for children involves toxins which cause "development of the depressed immune system and a resurgence of cancer." Dr. Soto believes that for residents along the area of the Gulf Coast affected by BP's toxic chemicals, the solution is either to relocate or to engage in an intensive, long-term detoxification regime that includes intravenous detoxification programs.
(...) Independent scientists and activist groups have been carrying out their own blood testing of Gulf Coast residents. Recent results released in a report involve a 46-year-old male who lives 100 miles from the coast. The man, who asked to remain anonymous, was not a BP cleanup worker, yet tested as having higher levels of chemicals from BP's oil in his blood than the actual cleanup workers. Dr. Wilma Subra, a chemist and Mcarthur Fellow, analysed his blood and found the highest levels of ethylbenzene than anyone tested to date. Ethylbenzene is a form of benzene present in the body when it begins to break down; it is also present in BP's crude oil. Styrene, a chemical produced in industrial quantities from ethylbenzene was also found, along with Hexane. M,p-Xylene, a clear, colorless, flammable liquid that is refined from crude oil and is used as a solvent, was also present in the man's blood."I've never even seen a tar ball," the man, from Louisiana, told Al Jazeera, "I tried to stay away from all of it. So for me to have the high levels I have, tells me that everyone must have it." CLIP
Endangering nature's GPS (December 28, 2010) http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/endangering-natures-gps/story-e6frg6so-1225976829581
WITHOUT maps or GPS, great white sharks cover thousands of kilometres from Australia to South Africa or California to Hawaii. Sea turtles hatched on the beaches of Florida travel the currents of the North Atlantic Gyre to Europe, Africa and South America before heading home.And in one of the most epic journeys of all, salmon from the streams and rivers of the Pacific Northwest head to sea and swim into the far reaches of the North Pacific before returning to spawn. But as the search for green energy turns to the oceans, there are concerns that water-powered generators, and the cables that bring their electricity to shore, could interfere with the internal compasses of sea creatures. The generators and cables produce electromagnetic fields, and these could interfere with the animals' natural guidance systems. Scientists believe the marine creatures use the earth's magnetic fields to navigate vast distances. And there are worries the low-level hum produced by the machines could interfere with marine mammals such as whales. "Before we put these power-generating devices into the water, we need to know how they will affect the marine environment," said Andrea Copping, an oceanographer with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Marine Sciences Lab in Washington. CLIP - CHECK ALSO Wave-power projects raise concerns about effects on marine life AND Cellphone towers disorient homer pigeons
Calif. County Criminalizes Smart-Meter Installations (January 5, 2011) http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/01/05/05greenwire-calif-county-criminalizes-smart-meter-installa-66649.html
Citing alleged health effects from electromagnetic waves, a county in the North San Francisco Bay Area has criminalized the installation of "smart" electric meters. The Marin County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed an ordinance (pdf) yesterday that deems the installation of smart meters a public nuisance in some areas. (...) A spokesman for Pacific Gas & Electric Co., which dismissed an executive last November after he admitted to monitoring smart-meter opponents online, said the company planed to continue smart-meter installation despite the ordinance (...) Katharina Sandizell, a mother of two who was arrested last week for blocking Wellington trucks on a public road in Inverness Park, noted that San Francisco passed a law last year requiring cell phone retailers to post information on the radiation produced by each type of phone. Smart meters emit more radiation than phones, she said."With cell phones, you can choose not to have them, or to turn it off when you're not using it or you can use a headset," she said. "With the smart meter, it's just constantly on and you can't turn it off." More on this through http://www.buergerwelle.de:8080/helma/twoday/bwnews/stories/2039/ (...) Communities across California are taking direct action against wireless "Smart" Meters. The meters are part of a mesh network, which will saturate our neighborhoods with toxic radiation emissions, unless we stop them. People are already being injured by this technology. Find out more about the dangers, and how to join the resistance, at: http://stopsmartmeters.wordpress.com/ - http://smartmeters.transbay.net/ - http://eon3emfblog.net/ - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/
'Smart' Meters Violate FCC Radiation Exposure Limits Says New Study (Jan 7th, 2011)
WAKE UP PEOPLE! THIS 24/7 MICROWAVE AGGRESSION AGAINST YOUR BODY IS BEING PERPETRATED AROUND THE WORLD WITH LITTLE PROTESTS SO FAR. THANK GOD, PEOPLE IN CALIFORNIA ARE TAKING ACTION TO STOP THIS CRIMINAL INFAMY! ONCE PEOPLE REALIZE WHAT'S HAPPENING I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED THEY'D START SMASHING THE DAMN EMITTERS INTO PIECES AND DECIDE TO GO OFF GRID AND BE ENERGY SELF-SUFFICIENT http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/01/07/18668518.php
San Francisco - A study released today reports that wireless ‘smart’ meters being installed by PG&E and other utilities in California are likely to violate Federal Communications Commission (FCC) safety limits as they are being installed and operated. Further, the study found that excessively elevated radiofrequency radiation levels can be expected throughout homes and businesses where ‘smart’ meters have been installed, comparable to living within 200 - 600 feet of a major cell phone tower in many cases. Health risks have been associated in some published studies to levels commensurate with those of smart meters. The study, carried out by consulting firm Sage and Associates, finds that associated health impacts may include neurological symptoms such as headache, sleep disruption, restlessness, tremors, cognitive impairment, and tinnitus, as well as increased cancer risk and heart problems such as arrythmias, altered heart rhythms, and palpitations. “This study represents an independent refutation of what PG&E and the other utilities claim are insignificant exposures to microwave radiation from their meters,” says Joshua Hart, Director of Stop Smart Meters! “The reality is that ‘smart’ meters emit radiation of a power and frequency that has been linked with DNA disruption, pathological leakage of the blood-brain barrier (which can lead to neuron death), and many other health impacts. This report is the final straw - if the CPUC refuses to act, Governor Brown must order an immediate halt to installation and deactivation of installed meters pending open public hearings on how this debacle could have been approved in the first place.” CLIP
EMF-Omega-News 1. January 2011 http://www.buergerwelle.de/cms/content/view/536/70/
Cell phones health risks debate continues - Dr. Henry Lai Makes Waves in the Cell Phone Industry - Taming the Microwave Dragon - Smart Meter grid and RFID connection - Endangering nature's GPS - Cellphone towers disorient homer pigeons - T-Mobile Tower and Compound - AN EXAMINATION OF THE POTENTIAL HEALTH IMPACTS OF RADIOFREQUENCY ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION - Mobile phone mast planned near homes - Mobile phone plans cause a stir - Government seeks answers to Akhna antenna - Board of adjustment carries over Colfax cell tower proposal - Norwich community wins phone mast battle - Tensen Family Farm v Consumers Energy Company in Progress - Next-up news - News from Mast Sanity
EMF-Omega-News 8. January 2011 http://www.buergerwelle.de/cms/content/view/538/70/
CELLPHONE AND WIRELESS HAZARDS AND RESPONSES - Mass Animal Deaths: Bird and Fish Deaths around the World - Health threat to mobile users: JNU study - Its official now: Radiation from your cell phone may be killing you - Thousands of birds fall from the sky - Over 100 scientists and physicians at Boston and Harvard universities schools of public health have called cell phone towers a radiation hazard - Cell Tower Radiation Report sent to DOT (Department of Telecommunications) - Assessment of Radiofrequency Microwave Radiation Emissions from Smart Meters - Call Today: Comment on Revisions to the Americans with Disabilities Act - December 2010: Science Update - EMF News from Finland - Calif. County Criminalizes Smart-Meter Installations - Are Wireless Schools Safe? - The risks to childrens health from Wi-Fi and mobile phones - Camouflaging human folly - Community fights to block mast plan - Alleged Dangers of Power Towers at Issue - Telford mobile phone mast plan is rejected - Families furious over mast plan - A fourth of telecom towers non-compliant on emission norms: Minister
MAIN ARTICLES SECTION
1.
Note from Jean: The USA is now in the grip of an epic struggle between the progressive forces of change striving to create a better world for all and the regressive forces opposing any change to a situation that is mostly to their sole benefit. There is no point in simply trying to find someone to blame for what happened - which is akin to the terror and wholesale destruction the USA has exported around the world for decades in its drive for world supremacy. It is the whole American society, steeped in a culture of unfettered hatred and violence, that is deeply ill and what happened is simply another Columbine-style symptom of the undercurrents that tear apart the very soul of this nation. Not only is the Second amendment-enabled weaponization of this society in need of a complete reappraisal, given the unimaginable firepower now accessible to almost any psychologically troubled person under the spell of some deviant indoctrination, but there is a precious opportunity to seize here by the forces of good to bring some level-headed and soul/heart-centered thought-forms into the national and global discussion about what kind of future we want for ourselves and our children's children. The same self-centered values that preside over the fast accelerating destruction of the Web of Life upon which our very existence depends are at the root of this violence-based set of behaviors and values that inevitably lead to such horrendous acts of violence. This must be urgently addressed and we all need to seek the higher ground, as guided by our still, small voice within. There is no better teachable moment than this one and it is high time we start thinking, talking and acting according to our clearest, most soul-centered spiritual principles - not those from some religious, dogmatic sects that have infected humanity's psyche for centuries and bred countless wars and drenched countless lands in the blood of innocents, but the principles formed in the heart of Love and Compassion when one is directly attuned to the One in All, the One Who Knows All and IS eternally.
From: Peter Phillips (phillipp@sonoma.edu)
Date: 9 Jan 2011
Subject: IAC on the Arizona shootings
International Action Center statement on the Arizona shootings and the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords
Joint statement from Tucson and New York City offices of the IAC
January 9, 2011
The Jan. 8 shooting of Arizona Congressperson Gabrielle Giffords should rightfully be termed a political assassination attempt. The planned murder attempt, which took the lives of six people, including a 9-year-old child, takes place in a political climate of extreme racism, anti-immigrant terror, and fear-mongering that the right-wing, their politicians and pundits have been stoking for more than a decade.
It is part of the calculation of the ruling elite in this country to fan the flames of division, racism, and reactionary thinking in order to divert people’s attention from the economic crisis. The attempt on the life of a member of Congress is a direct by-product of the economic crisis.
The infamous Sheriff Joe Arpaio, anti-immigrant law SB1070, the outlawing of Ethnic Studies programs in public schools, the escalating militarization of the border -- this is what laid the basis for the events of Jan. 8. “Hate radio” talk-show hosts, like Tucson’s Jon Justice, along with nationally known bigots like Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage and Glenn Beck, in their on-air rants continually use language encouraging violent acts.
The assassination attempt is also directly related to the policy of border militarization. “These senseless deaths are the result of a border policy that has been building since 1994,” stated Isabel Garcia, an immigrant rights activist and community leader with Coalicion de Derechos Humanos in Tucson. “This has propelled the growth of fear, hate and violence. Over 5,000 migrant deaths, shootings and continuing violence are a direct result of this policy.”
The rise of the right-wing rhetoric encouraged by many mainstream government and political forces and incessantly promoted by the media is meant to divert the people of this country from the real problems at hand: unemployment, deepening cuts to education and social services, attacks on public service workers and unions, continuing foreclosures and evictions, and other dire conditions.
The powers that be -- Wall Street, the Pentagon and Washington -- allow and foster this right-wing rhetoric to fan the flames of division in society. They utilize this division to try to keep people's attention away from the real culprits behind the deepening economic catastrophe and budget cuts facing the workers and poor: Wall Street, the Pentagon and Washington.
The increasing number of heavily-armed Border Patrol agents roaming the desert areas adjacent to the border wall has resulted in two fatal shootings within the last two weeks alone. Each of these events involved a large group of Border Patrol agents and a shooting spree. The first incident left a Border Patrol agent dead, while the most recent incident resulted in the death of a 17-year-old Mexican youth who was shot while trying to scale the border wall. Homeland Security will not provide any further details on either shooting.
Shooter was encouraged to commit this act
The militarization of the border and the actions of the racist Minutemen are just two examples of the climate that led to the Jan. 8 massacre. This was not the action of a "mentally unstable" youth "acting alone." It was the action of someone who has been given the signal that these kinds of violent and deadly attacks are needed. It was the action of someone who was encouraged to act as he did.
For example, Giffords retained her seat last November by a narrow margin in a campaign against Tea Party candidate Jesse Kelly. Fundraisers were held by Kelly where he urged supporters to help remove Giffords from office by joining him to shoot a fully-loaded M-16 rifle. He was pictured on his website in military gear holding his automatic weapon and promoting the event.
Giffords was among the candidates that Sarah Palin targeted for removal in the last election. Palin depicted these targets on her website by placing the crosshairs of a gun sight over the congressional district of the “target.”
A town-hall meeting on health care that Giffords hosted in the spring of 2010 was disrupted by Tea Party bigots, one of whom dropped a weapon out of his pants. The night after the health-care vote in Congress, Gifford’s office was vandalized by kicking or shooting out a glass door and window.
Arizona Congressperson Raul Grijalva received death threats after he called for a boycott of Arizona in response to the passage of SB1070. His office also had windows shot out during the fall election campaign.
At about the same time on Jan. 8 as the shooting, the Cesar Chavez building at the University of Arizona was vandalized. This building is home to the university’s Mexican-American Studies program.
Time to step up the struggle
The youth who pulled the trigger, Jared Lee Loughner, is being portrayed by the media as a "mentally unstable lone gunman," solely responsible for this act. According to Paul Teitelbaum of the IAC in Tucson: "The blame lies squarely with the racist, anti-immigrant forces that have been steadily escalating their war against the immigrant and Latino/a communities in Arizona. Billions have been spent to militarize the border, terrorize communities and sow confusion and division among workers, youth and poor people.
"What if the assassin had been Latino/a, a Muslim or another person of color? Martial law would have immediately been imposed in Tucson. The banks, private prison companies and military contractors are raking in millions of dollars off the situation in Arizona, while the people suffer. This must be stopped," concluded Teitelbaum.
Teresa Gutierrez, national co-coordinator of the IAC, stated: "Events in Tucson on Jan. 8 demonstrate that the progressive, union, anti-war and immigrant rights movements must ratchet up the struggle. The media give an enormous amount of time and air waves every time the right-wing sneezes, while progressive events get ignored. This fosters acts like Jan. 8. But history shows that when the people are in motion by the tens of thousands, we can push back the powers-that-be as well as the rightwing. The people can and will prevail."
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Related articles:
Unasked Questions in Tucson Mass Murder (10 January 2011) http://www.truth-out.org/serious-guns-and-white-terrorism-two-unasked-question-tucson-mass-murder66695
Question: How does a mentally unstable man who was kicked out of school and had run-ins with the law buy such a serious weapon? The weapon reportedly used in the mass murders in Tucson was a serious weapon - a Glock 19, semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine. Some weapons like that were illegal to sell in the US from 1994 to 2004 under the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. It is now legal to sell and own them. The National Rifle Association reports there are tens of millions of assault weapons in private hands in the US. The federal background check for people purchasing such weapons only prohibits selling such weapons to people who have been legally determined to be mentally defective or found insane or convicted of crimes. This man had not been found legally mentally defective or convicted, so he was legally entitled to purchase an assault weapon. In Arizona, he was legally entitled to carry the weapon in a concealed manner. The US has well over 250 million guns in private hands according to the National Rifle Association. That is more, according to the BBC, than any country in the world. In one year, guns murdered 17 people in Finland, 35 in Australia, 39 in England and Wales, 60 in Spain, 194 in Germany, 200 in Canada and 9,484 in the United States according to the Brady Campaign. Does the US really need tens of millions of assault weapons and hundreds of millions of other guns? We already put more of our people in prison than any country in the world, and we spend more on our military than all the rest of the world together. How fearful must we be? CLIP
Jared Loughner is a product of Sheriff Dupnik’s office http://thechollajumps.wordpress.com/2011/01/09/jared-loughner-is-a-product-of-sheriff-dupniks-office/
(...) Jared Loughner has been making death threats by phone to many people in Pima County including staff of Pima Community College, radio personalities and local bloggers. When Pima County Sheriff’s Office was informed, his deputies assured the victims that he was being well managed by the mental health system. It was also suggested that further pressing of charges would be unnecessary and probably cause more problems than it solved as Jared Loughner has a family member that works for Pima County. Amy Loughner is a Natural Resource specialist for the Pima County Parks and Recreation. My sympathies and my heart goes out to her and the rest of Mr. Loughner’s family. This tragedy must be tearing them up inside wondering if they had done the right things in trying to manage Jared’s obvious mental instability. Every victim of his threats previously must also be wondering if this tragedy could have been prevented if they had been more aggressive in pursuing charges against Mr. Loughner. Perhaps with a felony conviction he would never have been able to lawfully by the Glock 9mm Model 19 that he used to strike down the lives of six people and decimate 14 more. This was not an act of politics. This was an act of a mentally disturbed young man hell bent on getting his 15 minutes of infamy. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department was aware of his violent nature and they failed to act appropriately. This tragedy leads right back to Sherriff Dupnik and all the spin in the world is not going to change that fact.
A Right to Bear Glocks? (January 9, 2011) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/opinion/10collins.html
(...) Back then, the amazing thing about the incident in the supermarket parking lot was that the guy with a handgun in his armpit was not arrested. Since then, Arizona has completely eliminated the whole concept of requiring a concealed weapon permit. Last year, it got 2 points out of a possible 100 in the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence state score card, avoiding a zero only because its Legislature has not — so far — voted to force colleges to let people bring their guns on campuses. Today, the amazing thing about the reaction to the Giffords shooting is that virtually all the discussion about how to prevent a recurrence has been focusing on improving the tone of our political discourse. That would certainly be great. But you do not hear much about the fact that Jared Loughner came to Giffords’s sweet gathering with a semiautomatic weapon that he was able to buy legally because the law restricting their sale expired in 2004 and Congress did not have the guts to face up to the National Rifle Association and extend it. If Loughner had gone to the Safeway carrying a regular pistol, the kind most Americans think of when they think of the right to bear arms, Giffords would probably still have been shot and we would still be having that conversation about whether it was a sane idea to put her Congressional district in the cross hairs of a rifle on the Internet.But we might not have lost a federal judge, a 76-year-old church volunteer, two elderly women, Giffords’s 30-year-old constituent services director and a 9-year-old girl who had recently been elected to the student council at her school and went to the event because she wanted to see how democracy worked. Loughner’s gun, a 9-millimeter Glock, is extremely easy to fire over and over, and it can carry a 30-bullet clip. It is “not suited for hunting or personal protection,” said Paul Helmke, the president of the Brady Campaign. “What it’s good for is killing and injuring a lot of people quickly.” America has a long, terrible history of political assassinations and attempts at political assassination. What we did not have until now is a history of attempted political assassination that took the lives of a large number of innocent bystanders. The difference is not about the Second Amendment. It’s about a technology the founding fathers could never have imagined. CLIP
Carolyn McCarthy readies gun control bill (Jan 9, 2011) http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47338.html
One of the fiercest gun control advocates in Congress, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), pounced on the shooting massacre in Tucson, Ariz., Sunday, promising to introduce legislation as soon as Monday targeting the high-capacity ammunition clip the gunman used.McCarthy ran for Congress after her husband was gunned down and her son seriously injured in a shooting in 1993 on a Long Island commuter train. “My staff is working on looking at the different legislation fixes that we might be able to do and we might be able to introduce as early as tomorrow,” McCarthy told POLITICO in a Sunday afternoon phone interview.Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) said he’s preparing to introduce a similar bill in the Senate. “The only reason to have 33 bullets loaded in a handgun is to kill a lot of people very quickly,” Lautenberg said in a statement. “These high-capacity clips simply should not be on the market.“ Gun control activists said it was time to reform weapons laws in the United States almost immediately after a gunman killed six and injured 14 more, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, in Arizona on Saturday. Many said that people with a history of mental instability, like the alleged shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, should not be able to buy a gun — and no one should be able to buy stockpiles of the ammunition allegedly used by the 22-year-old assailant. McCarthy said she plans to confer with House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to see “if we can work something through” in the coming week. McCarthy’s spokesman confirmed that the legislation will target the high-capacity ammunition clips the Arizona gunman allegedly used in the shooting, but neither he nor the congresswoman offered any further details. “Again, we need to look at how this is going to work to protect people, certainly citizens, and we have to look at what I can pass,” McCarthy said. “I don’t want to give the National Rifle Association — excuse the pun — the ammunition to come at me, either.” CLIP
Now Arizona Wants to Allow Concealed Guns on Campuses (January 10, 2011) http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/01/10-3
When the Arizona state legislature reconvenes today for the first day of the new session, two gun bills will be on the table for debate.One bill--H2001--will allow faculty members to carry concealed weapons on campus.The other bill--H2014--will prevent educational institutions from stopping a person from carrying a weapon with a valid permit. In the blazing summer of 2009, Gov. Jan Brewer passed a law that allows Arizona residents to carry concealed weapons into bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.Last spring, Brewer took Arizona one step further when she signed the "Firearm Freedom Act" that permits certain weapons and ammunition manufactured in Arizona to be sold without following any federal registration or regulations. Brewer declared: "Politicians in Washington should not attempt to get between Arizonans and their constitutional rights."More infamously, Brewer also signed another bill last April that allows Arizonans to carry concealed guns without a permit.In the case of the tragic Tucson shooting yesterday, alleged assailant Jared Loughner fired 31 shots from a Glock 9-millimeter, a semiautomatic pistol he purchased legally in Tucson. CLIP
Terrifying: Gun Sales Surge in Arizona After Shooting (January 11, 2011) http://www.alternet.org/news/149494/terrifying%3A_gun_sales_surge_in_arizona_after_shooting
The weapon that let Jared Loughner fire 33 shots is flying off the shelves of Arizona gun stores. -- Saturday's horrific shooting rampage in Tucson has, predictably, prompted criticism of the lax gun laws that let a guy with documented mental health problems buy a semiautomatic weapon. The prospect of stricter gun control -- like not letting the mentally ill own assault weapons -- has in turn inspired the state's gun lovers to frantically arm themselves to the teeth.Bloomberg reporter Michael Riley talked to an Arizona gun store owner who reported that gun sales surged after Saturday's shooting. The most popular item? The model of Glock that allowed Jared Loughner to spray 31 bullets into the crowd before being disarmed. FBI data shows gun sales in Arizona jumped 60% on January 10th compared to that day last year, and 5% nationally. Sadly, the store owner foresaw the uptick in business, telling his employees to expect a stampede of customers following the massacre. Apparently the same thing happened after Virginia Tech. CLIP
Climate of Hate By PAUL KRUGMAN (January 9, 2011) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/opinion/10krugman.html?_r=1&hp
When you heard the terrible news from Arizona, were you completely surprised? Or were you, at some level, expecting something like this atrocity to happen? Put me in the latter category. I’ve had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach ever since the final stages of the 2008 campaign. I remembered the upsurge in political hatred after Bill Clinton’s election in 1992 — an upsurge that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing. And you could see, just by watching the crowds at McCain-Palin rallies, that it was ready to happen again. The Department of Homeland Security reached the same conclusion: in April 2009 an internal report warned that right-wing extremism was on the rise, with a growing potential for violence.Conservatives denounced that report. But there has, in fact, been a rising tide of threats and vandalism aimed at elected officials, including both Judge John Roll, who was killed Saturday, and Representative Gabrielle Giffords. One of these days, someone was bound to take it to the next level. And now someone has.It’s true that the shooter in Arizona appears to have been mentally troubled. But that doesn’t mean that his act can or should be treated as an isolated event, having nothing to do with the national climate.
Last spring Politico.com reported on a surge in threats against members of Congress, which were already up by 300 percent. A number of the people making those threats had a history of mental illness — but something about the current state of America has been causing far more disturbed people than before to act out their illness by threatening, or actually engaging in, political violence.And there’s not much question what has changed. As Clarence Dupnik, the sheriff responsible for dealing with the Arizona shootings, put it, it’s “the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business.” The vast majority of those who listen to that toxic rhetoric stop short of actual violence, but some, inevitably, cross that line.It’s important to be clear here about the nature of our sickness. It’s not a general lack of “civility,” the favorite term of pundits who want to wish away fundamental policy disagreements. Politeness may be a virtue, but there’s a big difference between bad manners and calls, explicit or implicit, for violence; insults aren’t the same as incitement.
The point is that there’s room in a democracy for people who ridicule and denounce those who disagree with them; there isn’t any place for eliminationist rhetoric, for suggestions that those on the other side of a debate must be removed from that debate by whatever means necessary.And it’s the saturation of our political discourse — and especially our airwaves — with eliminationist rhetoric that lies behind the rising tide of violence. Where’s that toxic rhetoric coming from? Let’s not make a false pretense of balance: it’s coming, overwhelmingly, from the right. It’s hard to imagine a Democratic member of Congress urging constituents to be “armed and dangerous” without being ostracized; but Representative Michele Bachmann, who did just that, is a rising star in the G.O.P.And there’s a huge contrast in the media. Listen to Rachel Maddow or Keith Olbermann, and you’ll hear a lot of caustic remarks and mockery aimed at Republicans. But you won’t hear jokes about shooting government officials or beheading a journalist at The Washington Post. Listen to Glenn Beck or Bill O’Reilly, and you will. CLIP
Hate Speech, the Right's Magic Bullet (10 January 2011) http://www.truth-out.org/hate-speech-rights-magic-bullet66715
(...) there are just too many damned guns in this country. One in four Americans owns at least one. The National Rifle Association would order gun racks in the cradles of newborn infants if they could. Too many weapons are used not for hunting or target shooting or legitimate protection, but for combating feelings of inadequacy and weakness with fantasies of firepower - fantasies that crazed gunmen too often try to make reality. That someone like Jared Lee Loughner can walk into a store and buy a weapon that fires 30 rounds a clip is probably not what the founding fathers had in mind when they talked about "a well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State."No one can prove that the vitriolic talk from the right was in the killer's mind as he carried out his attack, but no one can prove it wasn't, either. So, in the absence of evidence to support either side, why doesn't the right just volunteer to put an end to all the ballistic language and images it's been employing for many years now? Why not cease and desist if there's any doubt about the impact on lunatics of provocative, violence-saturated words and images? Sarah Palin must have suddenly felt queasy about those crosshairs over Giffords' Congressional district that were still up on her web site, because the mama grizzly, half-term governor took them down soon after the violence (although as of this writing they were still on her Facebook page). CLIP
Jared Lee Loughner obsessed with conspiracy theories, classmates say (January 10th, 2011) http://www.examiner.com/cultural-oddities-in-national/jared-lee-loughner-obsessed-with-conspiracy-theories-classmates-say
According to sources, Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of killing six people and critically wounding Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in Tucson Saturday, Jan. 8, is obsessed with government conspiracy theories.Aside from a string of bizarre YouTube videos, allegedly posted by Loughner, the 22-year-old began showing signs of paranoia and developed an interest in anti-government philosophies as a teen.For the past several years, Loughner, who classmates say was a loner, was engrossed in the New World Order was not happy that the United States has not joined other nations in creating a standard currency. According one of Loughner’s YouTube videos, the one-time Pima Community College student was angered that American money is not backed by silver or gold.“I heard him talk about it at school a few times,” a former classmate said. “He would never elaborate. He would just say how the government is trying to relinquish power to the New World Order and the evil Roman Empire--stuff like that.” In report by AOL News Loughner was also said to be fascinated with lucid dreaming and different planes of reality. Both subject have merit, according to researchers, however, Loughner’s, former friends reported that he took them to the extreme. Leading investigators down even a more bizarre path is Loughner’s reported obsession with what he claims are efforts by the federal government to use mind control by manipulating grammar. Citing other conspiracy theorists, Loughner was vocal about the idea that the government used grammar control and punctuation to control people. Loughner is also said to believe that the education system is skewed to manipulate students and keep them inferior to government leaders.
(...) Others who knew Loughner said he made his interests in extremism, nihilism, pessimism and public anarchy known to anyone who would listen. Reports also say that Loughner was obsessed with the Mayan calendar and how he believed the government was trying to cover up knowledge that the world is going to end in 2012. CLIP
Tucson shooting marks turning point for Sarah Palin (1/10/11) http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47351.html
With a long list of enemies, a taste for incendiary rhetoric and responsibility for a campaign website graphic that placed gun-sight logos on a map of targeted congressional districts, it didn’t take long for Sarah Palin to get pulled into the orbit of Saturday’s massacre in Tucson, Ariz. So far, the former Alaska governor has said little, posting only a brief message on her Facebook page Saturday offering condolences to those affected by the shootings. But the rush on the left to affix some of the blame on her for the assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has suddenly turned the tragedy into a defining moment in Palin’s meteoric political career. Whether she defends, explains or even responds at all to the intense criticism of her brand of confrontational politics could well determine her trajectory on the national scene — and it’s likely to reveal the scope of her ambitions as well. Palin didn’t respond to an e-mail Sunday afternoon. Her advisers are furious that she’s being linked to the tragedy but recognize the delicacy of the situation and are trying to assess how best to halt it from spiraling further without making it any worse. Part of Palin’s quandary is rooted in the unique spot she occupies. Since her resignation from the governorship in the summer of 2009, Palin has played a role that is part talk show personality and part political figure. It’s a positioning that has served her well, creating personal wealth and celebrity appeal while energizing her core supporters. But now, for the first time, Palin is being forced to choose between the public and private spheres she operates in. If she has any intentions of running for the presidency, she must begin to appeal to the country’s broad political center. And in the wake of Tucson, that task just got harder. The other option is to simply remain in the private sector, where she can continue to issue the envelope-pushing jeremiads and employ the overheated rhetoric that appeals to her loyal base, sells her books, draws TV viewers and makes her irresistible to a sound-bite-hungry media. Either way, she’ll have to show her hand, signaling whether she wants to be Ronald Reagan or Rush Limbaugh. CLIP
Memo notes Giffords' Judaism in motives of alleged attacker (January 9th, 2011) http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/news/?p=6219
(JTA) — A U.S. Department of Homeland Security memo reportedly notes that Gabriel Giffords is Jewish in describing the motives of the Arizona congresswoman's alleged assailant. The memo, obtained by Fox News Channel, says that Jared Lee Loughner mentioned American Renaissance, an extremist anti-immigrant group, in some of his own postings. “The group's ideology is anti-government, anti-immigration, anti-ZOG (Zionist Occupational Government), anti-Semitic,” says the memo sent to law enforcement, which also notes that Giffords, a Democrat, was the first Jewish congresswoman from Arizona.Loughner was arrested after Giffords and at least 16 others were shot Saturday at a meet-your-lawmaker event at a Tucson shopping mall. Six people were killed, including a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge, John Roll. Loughner was tackled and arrested. Giffords, a Democrat in her third term, remains in critical condition after being shot in the head.Loughner, who is being held by the FBI and has been described by authorities as “unstable,” reportedly listed “Mein Kampf” and the “Communist Manifesto” as two of his favorite books on his MySpace page. Several hours before the shooting he reportedly left a “Goodbye friends” message, which also said “Please don't be mad at me.”
(...) Giffords' office had been vandalized in March after she voted for health care reform. Friends said she had received threats for her positions on health care and for opposing her state's new law allowing police to arrest undocumented immigrants during routine stops.The National Jewish Democratic Council suggested that the heated rhetoric of the last year contributed to the climate that led to the attack.“One suspect, now in custody, may be directly responsible for this crime,” the group said in a statement. “But it is fair to say — in today's political climate, and given today's political rhetoric — that many have contributed to the building levels of vitriol in our political discourse that have surely contributed to the atmosphere in which this event transpired.”
Gabrielle Giffords shooting: a leadership moment for Obama, Boehner (Jan 10) http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110110/ts_csm/355188_1;_ylt=Av2xnwCpjvfWDVspanRAE2CpR5Z4
Washington – In the face of tragedy, the job of political leaders is to set the moral tone, offer words of comfort, project authority and leave the politics to others. President Obama and Rep. John Boehner, the newly installed Republican speaker of the House, have done just that in the days following the shooting rampage Saturday in Tucson, Ariz., that took the lives of six people and injured 13 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) of Arizona. She remains in critical condition in a Tucson hospital after being shot in the head. When news of the Tucson tragedy broke, Mr. Obama moved swiftly, following perceptions that he had reacted slowly in the "underwear bomber" case on Christmas Day 2009 and with the BP oil spill last summer. Saturday afternoon, he made an in-person statement on the incident and sent FBI director Robert Mueller to Tucson to oversee the federal investigation. On Sunday, he called for a national moment of silence at 11 a.m. Monday, which he and White House staff will observe from the South Lawn. It will be a time for us to come together as a nation in prayer or reflection, keeping the victims and their families closely at heart. The president also signed a proclamation ordering that flags be flown at half-staff, and postponed a Tuesday trip to Schenectady, N.Y. The White House released photos portraying a president in charge, one showing him leading a meeting in the Situation Room (including his new chief of staff, William Daley), another of him talking on the phone with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R). Speaker Boehner and the rest of the congressional leadership of both parties came out with statements of sober concern and no partisanship.“An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve,” Boehner has said more than once since the shootings. He and Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) ordered flags flown at half-staff over the Capitol, in honor of an aide to Congresswoman Giffords, Gabe Zimmerman, who died in the attack. Legislative activity, including consideration of a bill to repeal Obama’s health-care reform, is postponed for the week. In a bipartisan conference call with lawmakers, Boehner announced he has arranged for law enforcement to conduct security overviews for members. But swirling around this island of solemn nonpartisanship is a barrage of charges and countercharges by members of Congress and political activists over what led to this tragedy, including suggestions that the gunman was responding to hyped up rhetoric – some of it from tea partyers – that encouraged violence. CLIP
"Hate Speech" and the Risks of Free Speech - The Wrong Kind of Climate Control (January 11, 2011) http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22730
As sure as rain follows upon dark clouds, the cry has gone up to “do something” about so-called hate speech. Fairly typical of the reactions to the shooting of Congreswoman Gifford and several others by Jared Loughner was ' Tikkun’s' Rabbi Michael Lerner, who rhetorically intoned: “Isn't it time for us to demand that our government investigate the violence-generating discourse of the racists and the haters?” The Constitutional answer is: absolutely not! Lerner and those of like mind need to read -- thrice and slowly -- the words of James Madison on this very issue:"There are ... two methods of removing the causes of [political] faction: the one, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests."It could never be more truly said of the first remedy, than it was worse than the disease. Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency."The second expedient is as impracticable as the first would be unwise. As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed." (Federalist Paper No. 10.)What Lerner is urging, in modern form, is the revival of laws against sedition. The “protected values” (or in modern legal lingo, the “cognized groups”) may be different but the principle is the same: words which have a “tendency” to incite violence and/or threaten the security or wellbeing of ... [insert your cherished value-of choice here]... need to be outlawed and criminally punished.Whether enacted in 1789, 1918 or 2011, laws against sedition are inimicable to a free society; and no amount of spurious sociological “impact studies” (so-called) can change that constitutional fact.What does it actually mean to call for government “investigation” of “violence-generating” speech?The investigation part is fairly easy to answer: it means police and FBI agents keeping tabs of what you say, interviewing your neighbors about what do, getting warrants to poke into your reading habits and ultimately detaining you for further questioning. Such investigations inevitably entail what the Nazis called “block wardens” -- neighbors and other snitches who make it their business to overhear your chat and take note of the books and guests you bring home. Already both the government and various interest groups have set up networks and web pages to recruit security-volunteers to poke around and keep an ear out for terrorism- or racist- generating violence.
(...) The common theme of these and too many like cases is that they sought to punish a “tendency” which is subjectively perceived to “endanger” some asserted good. Just as typically, some untoward event such as a Reichstag Fire, a bombing or the murder of an official, was exploited as the necessity to protect “public safety.”Tyranny always rides to town on the pony of safety.Today’s political correctness mavens may use adjectival gerunds and verbal-burble which has an impressive sociological sounding ring, but the mental paradigm is the same. They either seek to mandate a uniformity of opinion on whatever subject they are obsessing over, or they seek to cast any opposition to their pet-rocks as creating some kind of danger.
(...) Madison's misanthropy is more than justified by the media's screaming rabble-rousers and by Palin's smart-alec thuggishness. But Madison also understood that “the most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property.” (Ibid) Put another way, the human tendency toward disputatious vehemence is increased by inequality and insecurity.Thus, it is a useless, if pretty, piety to urge everyone to be “civil” in their discourse. The reason for the inflamed nature of present political debate in the United States is that the country is in decline and economic inequality and insecurity have destroyed our social and cultural fabric. This creates a terminal downward spiral because the insecurity-generated yelling and accusing prevents the emergence of fair and reasonable solutions to economic and social problems whose very gravitational pull is aggravated by the inflamed rhetoric generated.To make matters even worse, some of the very forces which generate the economic inequality also finance the spewing of inflamed rhetoric which they then assert needs to be controlled in the name of personal or national safety.It is a false consciousness to think that “civility” in discourse can be restored by political correctness or laws against seditious incivility. A greater modicum of civility will be restored to political discourse when and only when our civis itself becomes more fair and just and when we cease chasing after the chimera of militarized security. That will be a hard reversal to manage.
AMONG THE MANY COMMENTS POSTED IN RESPONSE TO Rabbi Michael Lerner's views, I FULLY AGREE WITH THE FOLLOWING ONE FROM MAUREEN: "I think we must be very careful about seeking to lay blame or cause for this horrific tragedy. Yes, there is hate rhetoric but can we really “investigate,” “legislate” or “explore” hate away? The message of love and understanding must become louder and stronger, drowning out hate. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. And as we pray for the victims and all involved I believe we also need to pray equally for the sadly lost and misguided young man who perpetrated the crime. For it is my opinion that those of us who preach love and compassion have failed him as well."
I am going to take you on a journey through history to show you why the current battle for Ethnic Studies and other human rights is so important, especially since it is directly related to what happened yesterday. Arizona is now experiencing what Latinos have been experiencing, and it is time to stop the hate! Laine Lawless, minuteman. You could write a whole book on the connections, but we will explore a brief overview of Hate in Arizona today. As a response to yesterday’s tragic events, Laine Lawless, very well known in Tucson as a member of the Minutemen, issued the following on her Facebook page:AZ Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (Dem) assassinated in Safeway store parking lot in Tucson by another Democrat! Too bad Traitor Raul Grijalva wasn’t with her! He won’t be missed!Who cares? I care and let me explain why this matters. The reason many Latinos and Ethnic Studies students know these people, including Lawless, is because they would often show up at our events and cause trouble.Tucson did not care. Most of you reading this perhaps did not care when they did show up. You cannot turn off the hatred. You cannot go out in the desert and hunt Mexicans like it is a sport and just turn that hatred off when you enter the city. Meanwhile, as a Minuteman, who are you out there with, spending days and nights chatting with over future plans? Russell Pearce endorsed and attended neo-Nazi rallies with JT Ready. Neo-Nazis such as JT Ready and Sean Pearce, Russell Pearce’s son, who now works for Sheriff Arpaio.
(...) Giffords district is along the Mexican border, and the rancher that was killed, Robert Krentz, was in her district. They immediately blamed a Mexican for the shooting even though, to this day, there is no suspect.A few weeks ago a border patrol agent was killed just south of Tucson in Rio Rico. JT Ready sent a message to my friend in the Latino media up in Phoenix that “Your people took one of ours today. We WILL get revenge.” The point here is that the same anti-Mexican, anti-Immigrant forces are also neo-Nazis, and Nazis tend to be anti-Jew last I heard. They are filled with hatred of humanity. As I said earlier, it is hard to turn off the hatred. It is hard to go from hating an immigrant, a person living here for 20 years but who doesn’t have papers, and then to look at me and embrace me because I do. If you hate my Mexican brothers and sisters, you will hate me. If you hate any person, you will hate me. If you hate, you hate all of us. Because hate has consumed you. The federal judge that was killed yesterday, Judge Roll, had death threats against him in the past for a case he heard involving illegal immigrants in 2009. Who do you think was sending those death threats? What kind of groups, what kind of people? What kind of people can kill an innocent 9 year old girl? Also in 2009 two minutemen, Shawna Ford and Gunny Bush, invaded a home in Arivaca, in Southern Arizona, and killed 9 year-old Brisenia Flores. The media ignored Brisenia’s murder for the most part. CLIP
NOTE: Jon Stewart had a sensible take on this matter this Monday night (Jan 11) on his Daily Show
Quotations by Michael Parenti http://www.michaelparenti.org/quotes.html
"Conservatives are fond of telling us what a wonderful, happy, prosperous nation this is. The only thing that matches their love of country is the remarkable indifference they show toward the people who live in it."
"The dirty truth is that the rich are the great cause of poverty."
"The dirty truth is that many people find fascism to be not particularly horrible."
"Every ruling class has wanted only this: all the rewards and none of the burdens. The operational code is: we have a lot; we can get more; we want it all."
"Revolutions are not push button affairs; rather, they evolve only if there exists a reservoir of hope and grievance that can be galvanized into popular action."
"The real danger we face is not from terrorism but what is being done under the pretext of fighting it."
"Conservative pundits have a remarkable amount of free speech."
"Conservatives have nothing against incumbency when it is their people who are filling the slots."
"To complain about how the media are dominated by liberals, Limbaugh has an hour a day on network television, an hour on cable, and a radio show syndicated by over 600 stations."
"The mass media are class media."
“Global warming is already acting upon us with an accelerated feedback and compounded effect that may be irreversible! We do not have eons or centuries or many decades. Most of us alive today may not even have the luxury of saying 'Après moi, le déluge' because we will be around to experience it ourselves. And if you think it will be 'interesting' or 'exciting,' ask the tsunami survivors if that’s how they felt. This time the plutocratic drive to 'accumulate, accumulate, accumulate' may take all of us down, once and forever.”
CLIP
2.
AMAZING, WONDERFUL HUMAN SOLIDARITY. A GREAT SIGN OF THINGS TO COME
Thousands Of Egyptian Muslims Show Up As ‘Human Shields’ To Defend Coptic Christians From Terrorism
By Zaid Jilani on Jan 8th, 2011
On New Year’s Day, a devastating terrorist bombing at a Coptic church in Egypt killed 21 people and injured 79 others. Although the identity of the culprits was not known, it was assumed that they were Muslim extremists, intent on targeting those they saw as heretics. Religious tensions immediately rose in the country, and angry Copts stormed streets, battled with police, and even vandalized a nearby mosque. The riots and heightened tensions between the Muslim and Coptic communities was likely what the terrorists wanted — to divide the Egyptian community and create sectarian strife between different religious groups.
Yet by Coptic Christmas Eve, which took place Thursday night in Egypt, things had changed completely. As Egyptian Copts attended mass at churches across the country, “thousands” of Muslims, including “the two sons of President Hosni Mubarak,” joined them, acting as “human shields” to protect from terrorist attacks by extremists. The Muslims organized under the slogan “We either live together, or we die together,” inspired by Mohamed El-Sawy, an Egyptian artist:
Egypt’s majority Muslim population stuck to its word Thursday night. What had been a promise of solidarity to the weary Coptic community, was honoured, when thousands of Muslims showed up at Coptic Christmas eve mass services in churches around the country and at candle light vigils held outside. From the well-known to the unknown, Muslims had offered their bodies as “human shields” for last night’s mass, making a pledge to collectively fight the threat of Islamic militants and towards an Egypt free from sectarian strife.
“We either live together, or we die together,” was the sloganeering genius of Mohamed El-Sawy, a Muslim arts tycoon whose cultural centre distributed flyers at churches in Cairo Thursday night, and who has been credited with first floating the “human shield” idea. Among those shields were movie stars Adel Imam and Yousra, popular preacher Amr Khaled, the two sons of President Hosni Mubarak, and thousands of citizens who have said they consider the attack one on Egypt as a whole. “This is not about us and them,” said Dalia Mustafa, a student who attended mass at Virgin Mary Church on Maraashly. “We are one. This was an attack on Egypt as a whole, and I am standing with the Copts because the only way things will change in this country is if we come together.”
Al Jazeera English covered the attacks and reported from the site of one of the solidarity events where Muslims and Christians stood side by side, protesting discrimination against Copts and calling for an end to violence. Watch it:
It is a frequent complaint among opinion makers in the United States that the global Muslim community does not condemn and prevent terrorism. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has even said that Islam needs a civil war similar to the one the United States fought in order to deal with its extremists. But the truth is that moderate and progressive Muslims all over the world are battling extremism. Here in the United States, one-third of al-Qaeda related terror plots have been broken up thanks to intelligence provided by Muslim Americans. It is up to the press to report these positive stories and not exaggerate the sway that extremists hold over the global Muslim community.
AMONG THE MANY COMMENTS POSTED HERE, 2 STOOD OUT FOR ME:
"There are only two religions: Love and tolerance or war and self righteousness."
- Jim Stahr
"This gave me shivers. To my brothers and sisters out there in the world, regardless of creed or political stance, this is the kind of thinking and acting we should all emulate."
- Jamie Martin
3.
MASSIVE, SUDDEN BIRDS AND FISH KILL... STRANGE BUT USUALLY NOT UNCOMMON PHENOMENON YOU CERTAINLY HEARD ABOUT. BUT THIS TIME, IT LOOKS SUSPICIOUSLY ABNORMAL... MOREOVER, IF YOU'VE WATCHED FLASHFORWARD, YOU'LL NOTICE AN UNCANNY RESEMBLANCE WITH A SIMILAR EVENT IN THIS TV SERIES BUT BEFORE YOU EXPLORE ALL THE RELATED SIMILAR WORLDWIDE MASS-DYING EVENTS I'VE COMPILED FOR YOUR BELOW, PLEASE KEEP THE FOLLOWING IN MIND - WHICH IS, IN SHORT, WE ARE DELIBERATELY DOING FAR WORSE ON A DAILY BASIS AND THIS IS NO ACCIDENT!...
Aflockalypse': Here's Why We Should Really Be Concerned About the Huge Bird and Fish Die-off (January 7, 2011) http://www.alternet.org/environment/149440/%27aflockalypse%27%3A_here%27s_why_we_should_really_be_concerned_about_the_huge_bird_and_fish_die-off/
The massive death toll of dead birds and sea life should draw attention to the countless other species on the brink of extinction. (...) The only upside to these die-offs has been the rapt attention of readers, which is great; however, no offense to jackdaws and dead devil crabs, but there are a whole lot of other species on the brink that could use the publicity.For starters, the World Wide Fund for Nature (also known in the U.S. as the World Wildlife Fund) just released its top 10 list of endangered species: the tiger, polar bear, Pacific walrus, Magellanic penguin, leatherback turtle, Atlantic bluefin tuna, mountain gorilla, monarch butterfly, Javan rhino and the giant panda are the unlucky finalists. While one night of fireworks revelry may have offed a few thousands birds this year, the creatures on WWF's list are teetering on the edge of extinction thanks to decades, and in some cases centuries, of hard work by humans.Loss of habitat and poaching may claim our remaining 3,200 wild tigers, 720 mountain gorillas and 60 Javan rhinos. Polar bears, Pacific walruses and Magellanic penguins are losing out to climate change. We're doing in leatherback turtles, which have managed to survive on this earth for 100 million years, thanks to overfishing (they're often killed as bycatch), and their habitat is endangered by rising sea levels and temperatures. Bluefin look like they will be eaten into extinction in the form of sushi. Treehugger reported that, "A single bluefin tuna just sold at auction for a new record price of 32.49 million yen in Tokyo. That's nearly $400,000 for a single fish," which means there is a pretty big monetary incentive for fishing them until they are wiped off the planet. Monarch butterflies and giant pandas can hang on only so long as we can protect their vital habitat. And these 10 are only the tip of the iceberg. A recent infographic on Mother Nature Network reveals that in the last 500 years, 900 species of plants and animals have gone extinct and 10,000 more are close to making that list. We've done the most damage, however, in the last 100 years. Biologically rich Ecuador has the most to lose, with 2,211 endangered species, but the U.S. is a close second (1,203 endangered species).Honeybees aren't officially designated as endangered, but the population of these essential pollinators is falling thanks to "colony collapse disorder." A recent leaked EPA memo implicates the pesticide clothianidin as a contributor to honeybee die-offs, although sadly the EPA has yet to curb the chemical's use in the U.S.
(...) When you begin to stop and take stock (like here in the IUCN Red List Web site), it can be overwhelming. We may lose tiny, but hugely important creatures like the half-inch long krill -- a fisheries staple -- or the ancient and massive gray whale that migrates 10,000 miles a year. And soon, if we are not careful, we may lose entire ecosystems, like the Great Barrier Reef. And life, really and truly, as we know it, will not be the same.We can do something about this. We can seriously consider what's pushing so much life on this planet toward extinction -- climate change and its myriad manifestations, habitat destruction, pollution, pesticides, poaching, overfishing and hunting, poor management and short-sighted politics.We can take action now, or we can wait until it starts raining dead birds. Oh wait, that's already happening. I guess that only leaves us with one choice. - CHECK ALSO Nature 'dying' at record rate
The 10 Leading Theories For Dead Birds And Fish (MANY EMBEDDED LINKS IN THIS ARTICLE)
Nicholas West and Zen Gardner - January 6, 2011
As the mainstream media attempts to downplay the latest die-off event, which has now gone global, it is worthwhile to keep track of the story lines. Feel free to add your own to the comments section, and we will update accordingly.
Mainstream Explanations: Lightning, hail, mid-air collision, power lines, and New Year fireworks for the birds . . . but disease for the fish. This is even rolling eyes in the mainstream media. Birds are incredibly sensitive to their environment (think canary in the coal mine), and the thought that they were caught by surprise, or that they “fowled” up their flight pattern is patently ridiculous. And where are the roasted birds from this lightning strike? And what about fish dying in the same region? Just a “disease” coincidence. One mainstream headline has to be enshrined as the saddest attempt at sensationalism, while revealing an obvious natural conclusion Falling Birds Likely Died From Massive Trauma. Really?
Meteor showers: We are in a period of intense seasonal meteor showers, and several perennial YouTubers reported hearing sonic booms in the area that could have indicated a local shock wave. This would be one non-conspiratorial, natural cause that actually makes sense, but it is hard to connect to both birds and fish, unless it produced a disabling frequency. There were indeed other sound anomalies according to the report highlighted above.
New Madrid Fault Line: An excellent article by The American Dream collated data about the recent earthquake activity along this fault line that runs along the mid-eastern section of the U.S. Combined with gas fracking, the immense geological activity in the region, and the BP oil drilling disaster, which off-gassed the dispersant, Corexit, into the atmosphere, and we should be wondering about any mass deaths in the region. Nevertheless, this has turned into a global event, so the above could be a side effect of something larger, or a direct contributing factor.
Government testing: The long history of government testing has been exposed by many researchers. The strange component to this die-off is that only certain species have been affected, but within the entire region. And some reports have indicated that the organs of these birds were liquefied, which could indicate a possible virus. Could this implicate species-specific bio-weapons? It is on record that discussions have taken place about race-specific bio-weapons; perhaps this is a test of delivery capability?
GMO mutation: Mike Adams of Natural News sets forth an interesting theory: this latest event is local, but the die-offs are happening across species as bee populations and bats are also declining. Adams points out that Monsanto has a corporate office in Arkansas. Just wondering.
Geoengineering: Could spraying in the area have caused this type of fallout? Perhaps something new added to the mixture? Chemtrails have quickly moved from conspiracy theory to documented fact. So much so, that the powers-that-be have had to admit to the program, but a beneficial one in their view. Between cloud seeding and possible connections to HAARP, chemtrail fallout must be considered, especially as it is being conducted nearly worldwide. Rosalind Peterson has been at the forefront of connecting geoengineering to GMOs as a combined source for oxygen-depleting algae blooms that very well could affect a wide spectrum of natural systems. Furthermore, some believe that the delivery system for chemtrails can also disperse pathogens. If there is a flu or disease outbreak in the coming days or weeks among the human population in areas where the birds have fallen, the chemtrail connection could be made. If this happens, the contagion could be blamed on a new, deadly bird flu. A last possibility connected to chemtrails would be nanoparticles.
HAARP: Birds and fish can be susceptible to subtle frequency alteration. An interesting YouTube post from a long-time fisherman mentioned the “pearl” plate behind the eye of the affected type of drum fish in this event. He made a plea for anyone in the area to look for signs of damage to this plate. Both birds and fish navigate in highly coordinated ways that indicate that they move and communicate via frequencies. Could the HAARP array in Alaska have short-circuited their navigation systems? Or, perhaps this is the beginning of a cascading effect from decades of electromagnetic pollution emanating from EMF and ELF waves shot around the planet via a wide range of modern communications.
Scalar Weapons: These directed energy beam weapons can be deployed via satellite and create a wide range of “natural disasters” that can be tuned to certain frequencies. Their radius is reported to be several miles. Even crazier is that we have been told that the dead birds encountered massive trauma. One of the reported abilities of scalar weapons is to create a Tesla shield of plasma, like a bubble, that could explode anything that enters its airspace. Some have speculated that this technology is in full operation. But what if it truly is still at the testing phase? Remember, this is happening in South America, too.
Project Blue Beam: Were they testing a sound generator for the global theater of alien invasion? This one is “out there” for sure, but NASA itself has announced its preparation for such a scenario. Project Blue Beam, like its counterpart HAARP, uses the natural energy present in the ionosphere as both a visual and acoustical device. Again, perhaps they are not at the ready stage yet, but, like Tesla, have made an unintentional misstep.
Geomagnetic and other Earth changes: As anyone can see from the above range of possibilities, we are facing an array of human tampering. However, the backdrop to this are the anomalies beginning to take form with the apparent wandering of our magnetic pole, as even National Geographic reported that the north magnetic pole is racing toward Russia. Add to this a dwindling magnetosphere and falling oxygen levels, and the deaths among more delicate species might portend a larger problem. Finally, an increase in sun activity and magnetic storms might be weakening our overall natural habitat.
The widespread die-off of nature should lead us to look more intently at the world around us, and to question our relationship to it, and our effect upon it. Perhaps this is what we should have been doing all along.
* Zen Gardner is the Contributing Editor for Alternative News at Before It’s News, and also posts at ZenGardner.com.
MANY OTHER POSSIBILITIES OFFERED IN THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW THIS ARTICLE ABOVE...
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Related articles and videos:
Massive fish kill and 1000s of birds fall from the sky in Arkansas (January 2, 2011) http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/massive-fish-kill-and-1000s-of-birds-fall-from-the-sky-in-arkansas/
New numbers: 100,000 drum fish die along 20 mile corridor of Arkansas River. At least 5,000 re-winged blackbirds have died in Beebe. On Thursday, Dec. 30, the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission reported a massive fish kill in Roseville, along the Arkansas River. But only a single species is involved: drum fish. The next day, AGFC received reports that about two thousand black birds fell from the sky 125 miles east in Beebe. Again, only a single species is involved and only in a one-square mile area. Just before folks in Beebe rang in the New Year, many witnessed an uncanny resemblance to the Hitchcock movie “The Birds.” About 2,000 black birds fell from the sky off Windwood Drive, leaving quite the mess to clean up. Today’s THV spoke with folks who initially thought the birds were poisoned because they are what they call a nuisance around this time every year, but they are surprised to hear it is more of a mystery. Stephen Bryant recalls, “Millions, millions fly over every night. You look up at the sky and it’s just black and then last night at about 10:30 I came out here and saw a bird drop.” In a matter of hours on New Years Eve thousands of birds fell from the sky to their death. (...) Officers estimated that over 1,000 birds had fallen out of the sky over the city before midnight. Most of the birds were dead, but some were still alive when officers arrived. The blackbirds fell over a one-mile area in the city. AGFC wildlife officer Robby King responded to the reports and found hundreds of birds. “Shortly after I arrived there were still birds falling from the sky,” King said. King collected about 65 dead birds that will be sent to the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission lab and the National Wildlife Health Center lab in Madison, Wis. The AGFC has flown over the area to gauge the scope of the event. There were no other birds found outside of the initial area. AGFC ornithologist Karen Rowe said that strange events similar to this one have occurred a number of times across the globe. “Test results usually were inconclusive, but the birds showed physical trauma and that the flock could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail,” Rowe said. CLIP
BIRDS FALLING FROM THE SKY NOT UNUSUAL (Jan 6, 2011) http://news.discovery.com/animals/bird-animal-die-offs-110106.html
Thousands of birds and fish have died in large groups over the last week. Scientists say events like these are normal in the wild and are usually caused by weather or disease. Most mass animal deaths occur far from human eyes, but that might change with development.
(...) Dramatic die-offs are most common in animals that congregate or travel in large groups. Migratory birds, for example, often become disoriented by fog or storms, causing them to run into towers, bridges, wind turbines and trees. On their long journeys, migratory birds may also accidentally ingest pesticides or even poisons that were left specifically for them. Weather can work against them, too, particularly if they migrate too soon in an unseasonably cold year.Records kept by the United States Geological Survey list at least 16 die-offs of more than 1,000 blackbirds or starlings over the past 30 years, said Marisa Lubeck, a spokesperson for the USGS in Denver. But group deaths among animals have been going on for a lot longer than that. In a review study published in 2007 in the journal Ibis, researchers looked through European and North American bird journals and other references dating back to the late 19th century. They found frequent reports of deaths of birds in the hundreds, thousands or more.
(...) In Beebe, on the other hand, thousands of blackbirds had settled for the night in trees near people's homes. After a series of fireworks blasts went off on New Year's Eve, the birds were startled off their roosts. Because blackbirds can't see at night, they ended up flying all over the place, mostly downward.One bird made it into a house, when the homeowner opened the door to see what was causing the racket. Most landed on roofs and the ground, making loud clunking noises as they shattered themselves to death. Necropsies revealed internal hemorrhaging, with no sign of pesticides."They weren't falling as dead carcasses", Meese said. "They didn't fall from the sky. They flew from the sky. That makes it less weird." Another unique aspect of the Beebe incident was that noise played a role, said Paul Slota, a spokesperson for the USGS National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisc. While the Swedish birds also died after a fireworks event, he said, mass die-offs are more likely connected to disease or weather. CLIP
Swedish bird deaths linked to fireworks (Jan. 5, 2011) http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/01/05/Swedish-bird-deaths-linked-to-fireworks/UPI-79051294262353/
FALKOPING, Sweden, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A flock of birds that fell from the sky in central Sweden may have been scared to death by fireworks, a veterinarian said. Just before midnight Tuesday, residents of Falkoping found 50 to 100 jackdaws dead on a street. The bizarre incident echoed similar cases in the United States. Public veterinarian Robert Horst said the birds may have been frightened by fireworks Tuesday night and then run over."We have received information from local residents last night. Our main theory is that the birds were scared away because of the fireworks and landed on the road, but couldn't fly away from the stress and were hit by a car," he told The Local Wednesday. CLIP
Fireworks blamed for Ark. blackbird deaths (Jan. 6, 2011) FIREWORKS! YEAH! SURE! http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/01/06/Fireworks-blamed-for-Ark-blackbird-deaths/UPI-36031294342397/
MADISON, Wis., Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Researchers say 3,000 blackbirds found dead in Arkansas were likely startled by New Year's Eve fireworks and flew into buildings and cars.Investigators at the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., who examined a sample of the dead birds discovered they were killed by blunt force trauma, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Scott Wright, head of disease investigations, said the birds' bodies were bruised and they had been bleeding.Wright said it is probably no coincidence the mass die-off occurred on New Year's Eve. He said they were most likely startled while roosting by fireworks."It's believed that the noise startled them -- they are poor night fliers -- and they were in close proximity to neighborhoods, and they flew into homes and cars," Wright said. CLIP
Louisiana investigates new mass bird kill (Jan. 4, 2011) http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/01/04/Louisiana-investigates-new-mass-bird-kill/UPI-57411294169778/
LABAREE, La., Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Wildlife officials in Louisiana say they will send some of the dead blackbirds found along a highway this week to a federal lab for testing. Some of the estimated 500 birds killed in Pointe Coupee Parish would be sent Tuesday to federal wildlife research centers in Wisconsin and Georgia for necropsies. The blackbirds and starlings apparently fell to earth in Labaree on Monday, a few days after a similar mysterious calamity involving about 3,000 birds was reported in neighboring Arkansas. Speculation into the incidents has included a lightning strike on an in-flight flock or even the concussion and noise caused by New Year's Eve fireworks. CLIP
Second Wave of Dead Birds Falling From the Sky (Jan. 5, 2011) http://www.suite101.com/content/second-wave-of-dead-birds-falling-from-the-sky-a328339
Three days after thousands of birds fell from the sky in Arkansas hundreds of dead and agonizing birds have been found on a Louisiana highway. -- Experts say they may never know for certain what caused the birds to fall from the sky but they do believe that in Arkansas' New Year's Eve celebrations they were shocked by fireworks and flew into homes, trees and each other. Mass bird kills can be caused by starvation, storms, disease, pesticides, collisions with structures or human disturbance, said experts, but there is indication so far that these are isolated incidents that may have been caused by disturbance and disorientation. Although authorities insist such incidents are not unusual what is unusual is that these incidents happened within days of each other. According to the USGS red-winged blackbirds are among North America's most common birds, there are something like 200 million across the country. Among the dead birds there are also common grackles, brown-headed cowbirds and European starlings. The organization has reported at least 90 mass bird kills and other wildlife from June to December.
More than 100 dead birds found off Calif. highway (January 11, 2011) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110111/ap_on_re_us/us_mystery_bird_deaths
GEYSERVILLE, Calif. – California wildlife officials are trying to figure out what caused the death of more than 100 birds found clustered together just off Highway 101.The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports that California Highway Patrol officers found the dead birds near the roadway on Saturday and called in the state Department of Fish and Game to investigate. The officers who found the birds described them as small with brown and black feathers. They were intact and had not been shot.The reports come as other, larger bird deaths have been reported in Arkansas, Louisiana and other states.Scientists say mass die-offs of wildlife happen regularly, and are usually unrelated and unreported.
Major, Bizarre Fish Die-Off Along Lakefront (January 11, 2011) http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/01/11/major-bizarre-fish-die-off-along-lakefront/
CHICAGO (STMW) – A bizarre scene is evolving on the Chicago lakefront, with Canada geese and mallard ducks gulping down dead or dying gizzard shad. A major die-off of what appears to be the 2010 class is happening in Chicago harbors. Thousands, perhaps far more than that, of dead gizzard shad in the 3- to 5-inch range are frozen in the ice of Chicago harbors or floating around in open patches of water. “Gizzard shad are pretty sensitive,’’ Lake Michigan Program biologist Dan Makauskas said. “On the toughness scale, the herrings are pretty soft.’’Gizzard shad, members of the herring family, are more sensitive to drops in oxygen levels than most fish. And thick ice came early to Chicago harbors in December. (...) Makauskas, who speculated that the young shad may not have built up enough reserves to survive the early onslaught of extreme cold, agreed the die-off is abnormal.
Romanian birds drank themselves to death (January 12, 2011) http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/romanian-birds-drank-themselves-to-death/story-e6frf7lf-1225985966999
DOZENS of birds found dead in eastern Romania drank themselves to death, the local sanitary and veterinary authority has revealed. The starlings died after they ate grapes left over from the wine-making process, Romeu Lazar, head of the local DSVSA, told the Agerpres news agency. The cause of death was determined after the contents of the birds' gizzards were analysed, he added. On Saturday, several residents of Constanta, 260 kilometres east of Bucharest, alerted the authorities after they discovered dozens of dead starlings on the outskirts of the city. CLIP
Thousands of Fish Dead in India's Yamuna River (Jan 10, 2011) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT4g35JbYRY
Thousands of fish are found dead in the Yamuna River in India's northern Uttar Pradesh state. Locals say the fish died due to pollution from factories and are demanding the government do something to stop it. CLIP
Dead fish wash ashore on Folly Beach (Jan 06, 2011) http://www.abcnews4.com/Global/story.asp?S=13794888
FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCIV) -- A nationwide scare involving mass deaths of fish and birds has now hit ground locally. Thousands of dead fish washed ashore at Folly Beach on Thursday morning -- an eyesore visible down both sides of the shoreline behind the former Holiday Inn. Officials with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are investigating the incident and say the fish are all of the same species -- Menhaden. CLIP
Weather patterns lead to mass bird deaths (23/12/2010) http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/4490315/Weather-patterns-lead-to-mass-bird-deaths
Thousands of seabirds are expected to die this summer as a result of unusual La Nina weather patterns. The Department of Conservation (DOC) said penguins, petrels and other seabirds were already dying in large numbers and the summer weather was likely to cause the deaths of thousands of birds. The La Nina weather pattern led to a reduction in fish stocks on which they fed, DOC vet Kate McInnes said. Dead penguins had been washing up on northern beaches for several weeks and autopsies had shown they starved to death."Its not just penguins. All seabirds are struggling to feed their chicks or get into breeding condition as a result of the La Nina climate pattern," she said.
Japan on alert after finding dead birds (Jan. 3, 2011) http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/01/03/Japan-on-alert-after-finding-dead-birds/UPI-41861294114121/
TOKYO (UPI) -- Recent discovery of several dead migratory birds in Japan has raised concerns about H5NI avian influenza, avian experts said.Bird sanctuaries, poultry farms and zoos were put on high alert last month after the migratory birds in some region were found dead, The New York Times reported Monday. The Times cited Japanese media reports collected by ProMED, which monitors disease outbreaks. The reports included one that a hooded crane was found dead on the Izumi Plain in Kagoshima Prefecture in southern Japan, the largest wild crane wintering site and the nation's leading poultry-raising area. The reports said 23 birds were found dead following a search in Tottori in the north. The birds were being tested. CLIP
40,000 dead crabs washed up on Kent coastline as UK is latest country to be hit by bizarre animal deaths
(6/01/2011) THE "ALL IS OK, IT IS NORMAL" EXPLANATION STARTS TO WEAR OFF HERE... OR IS IT ONLY BECAUSE WE ARE SUDDENLY PAYING ATTENTION TO SUCH MASS DIE-OFFS? http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-world/2011/01/06/40-000-dead-crabs-washed-up-on-kent-coastline-as-uk-is-latest-country-to-be-hit-by-bizarre-animal-deaths-115875-22830580/
Thousands of dead crabs have washed up along the Kent coast – the latest in a series of bizarre animal deaths sweeping the world.More than 40,000 Devil crabs – also known as Velvet swimming crabs – were found strewn along beaches in Thanet along with dead starfish, lobsters, sponges and anemones.Experts believe the crabs died from hypothermia after the UK’s coldest December in 120 years. The crab deaths are the latest in a series of mass animal deaths all around the world. In Florida thousands of dead fish have been found floating in a creek, while in Texas 200 American Coots were discovered dead on a bridge in Tyler. In Wilson County, Tennessee, 100 blackbirds dropped dead from the sky and in New Zealand, hundreds of Red Snapper fish washed up dead. Brazil scientists have also been left baffled after 100 tons of sardines, catfish and croaker washed up dead near Parangua. Bookies Paddy Power are even taking bets on which country will next fall foul of the global phenomenon ‘Aflockalypse’, which has left people puzzled and some even fearing it’s the end of the world. CLIP- CHECK ALSO It's the Aflockalypse: More mass animal deaths see thousands of fish found floating in Florida and 200 birds dead on Texas bridge (with pictures and a global map)
Mass bird deaths rare, not apocalyptic: experts (Jan 6, 2011) http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70534T20110106?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a49:g43:r5:c0.047619:b40784378:z0
(Reuters) - Birds falling out of the sky in the United States and Sweden are freak examples of the kind of mass animal deaths, from beached whales to deluges of frogs, that have unusual but not apocalyptic causes, experts say.Storms, hail or lightning can kill birds while tornadoes or waterspouts may suck up small fish or frogs and drop them far away. Human causes, such as fireworks, power lines or a collision with a truck, may explain avian deaths. The U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) urged more research into baffling deaths -- ranging from why whales sometimes make the fatal mistake of swimming onto beaches to recent bird deaths, dubbed the "Aflockalypse" by one newspaper. "Science is struggling to explain these things. These are examples of the surprises that nature can still bring," said Nick Nuttall, spokesman of Nairobi-based UNEP. "More research is needed." Modern threats such as pollution or climate change may be adding to background stresses on wildlife. CLIP
What is going on? (05.01.2011) http://english.pravda.ru/science/mysteries/05-01-2011/116435-what_on-0/
What is going on? The bird and fish kills are not, apparently, isolated incidents in the United States of America, nor indeed in the region. In recent days there have been several. What exactly is going on? The sudden plummeting to the ground of thousands of red-winged blackbirds in Beebe, Arkansas on New Year's Eve grabbed the headlines around the world. However, this came after a horrific mass fish kill of 100,000 drum fish in the same State 160 km away on December 30, and another mass bird kill on January 3 just south of Arkansas, 500 more birds. Now we discover than on December 29 in Haiti, scores of fish were found dead in Lake Azuei and since December 24, in the area of Fond Parisien and Malpasse. And today in Volusia County, Florida, thousands of fish found floating dead in Spruce Creek, Port Orange. The fish were ladyfish, catfish and mullet. Conflicting reports point towards the weather (the official line is a reaction to the cold), a hypothesis dashed by locals who say it has been mild. As if that were not enough, further north in Chesapeake Bay, lying between Virginia and Maryland, two million fish are reported dead in another kill. From Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, unconfirmed reports of a cover-up after the authorities were alerted of a mass kill of tens of thousands of birds today, which were taken away by the authorities and the area closed down. So, what is going on?
Mystery of mass animal death epidemic deepens after 8,000 turtle doves fall dead in Italy with strange blue stain on their beak (8th January 2011) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1344913/Animal-death-mystery-Two-MILLION-dead-fish-wash-Maryland-bay.html
Blue stain believed to be sign of poisoning or hypoxia - lack of oxygen that is precursor to altitude sickness - Cold weather and overbreeding blamed for deaths of two 2 million fish in Chesapeake Bay - Disease behind deaths of 100,000 fish in Arkansas River - At least nine incidents of mass animal deaths across the globe - Hundreds of confused birds plummeted to their deaths in multiple locations in the U.S. - Rapid movement of Magnetic North Pole towards Russia may have caused bird deaths
(...) Thousands of Brazilian fishermen have been left struggling to make ends meet after the sale of seafood was temporarily suspended when masses of fish were discovered in Paranaguá, Antonina and Guaraqueçaba Pontal do Paraná. Fish were also discovered rotting and floating in Spruce Creek, Florida, after another period of cold weather. 100,000 drum fish were found strewn along the shore of the Arkansas River. CLIP
10,000s of Birds found dead in Manitoba (January 3, 2011) http://scarletwhore.com/?p=2553
Officials from Health Canada are scrambling to deal with the sudden death of 10's of thousands of wild birds somewhere in the province. Officials dodged local reporters who were removed from outside the Level-4 Canada Science center. This is is the first time in the history of the Level-4 facility that a full mobilization has been initiated. Local reports have circulated that an extremely virulent strain of bird flu has infected both wild and farm birds. At the same time an extremely aggressive winter flu has hit Canada sometime in December and mortality rates are expected to rise alarmingly in vulnerable populations. Health Canada sure went dark quick on this one. CBC radio reporter was escorted off the Winnipeg Canada Science center. I have on email that said it was turkeys and chickens but no further confirmation. CHECK ALSO Bird flu found at Manitoba turkey farm (Nov. 24, 2010) AND Bird flu causes Alzheimer's-like brain damage, study says ... "Survivors of bird flu, and perhaps other influenza viruses, may not be out of the woods once the fever and cough are gone: Animal studies suggest the virus may damage the brain and cause Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.The tests on mice show that the H5N1 virus can get into the brain, causing damage that resembles Parkinson's and Alzheimer's in humans, the researchers wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Our results suggest that a pandemic H5N1 pathogen, or other neurotropic influenza virus, could initiate central nervous system disorders of protein aggregation including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases" CLIP - AMONG THE MANY ALARMING COMMENTS THERE, THIS ONE STANDS OUT: "I live in Kentucky and things are getting really weird. I went outside to feed my cat, and noticed there were no birds chirping. It seems as if they all left. Certain persons in my family are sick with blood clot- like substances coming from their throats. Chemtrails are very thick here in Kentucky. Sometimes it looks like the planes are playing a game of tic-tac-doe. There is a low frequency sound in and around my town. I don’t if it is me or something else. There is definitely something very odd about all these animal wild-life deaths. It will get worse, I am almost certain. This is something worse than a nightmare. God help us all!" THIS ONE MAKES A CONNECTION WITH THE FLU EPIDEMIC THAT IS SPREADING WITHOUT ANY ALARM THIS YEAR - STRANGELY!... - FROM THE AUTHORITIES: "This is down right scary. I am wondering if this is the reason massive amounts of children are being excused from school because they are all sick and staying sick. My home alone stayed sick from Dec. 5th to December 23rd. My children literally missed all of December at school. The school said it was excused even without a doctors note. ( Why is that)…. I substitute and my phone has been ringing off the hook wanting me to come in at multiple schools. Just in one day the school which my son goes to had over 100 children check out before lunch time. The doctors did not really know how to treat it so they just sent us home with antibiotics which did not work. Has anyone heard about fish or bird deaths in Alabama?"
96% of bees start to disappear in the US (Jan 07, 2011) http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/7825136-96-of-bees-start-to-disappear-in-the-us
Reports have it that birds and fish "naturally die" by the thousands according to scientists. Does that mean that the public should breathe a sigh of relief and need not panic even if they occur in various continents almost at the same time?Researchers in the University of Illinois said on Monday that four species of bumblebees that were once thickly-populated are now close to extinction. In fact, there was a 96 percent decrease in the four species of bees according to a study conducted in the US university, which confirmed that the agriculturally vital insects are being affected worldwide. The study also said that the bees' range had decreased up to 87 percent. A disease-producing organism may be partly involved for honeybees, however, there is evidence that the diminishing breeding sites are a causative factor for the bees' population decline. Describing the phenomenon as "alarming," researchers said in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, "We provide incontrovertible evidence that multiple Bombus species have experienced sharp population declines at the national level." Principal investigator Sydney Cameron said in a phone interview, "These are one of the most important pollinators of native plants." Cameron added, "The 50 species (of bumblebees) in the United States are traditionally associated with prairies and with high alpine vegetations." The research team pinpointed the causes on many factors such as fungi, parasites and viruses, as well as stress and pesticides. Bumblebees have also been documented to start disappearing in Asia and Europe but a large-scale study have not been conducted in the US. Having conducted the three-year study in 382 sites across 40 states, Cameron concluded, "This is a wake-up call that bumblebee species are declining not only in Europe, not only in Asia, but also in North America." MORE ON THIS IN Bee safe, not sorry IN THE MAIN ARTICLE SECTION BELOW.
Magentic flux in the Earth's atmosphere is causing birds and fish to get disorientated (they navigate using EMF) this magnetic flux is showing the changes worldwide in the Earth's magnetic field and therefore affecting the animals. Trauma is the obvious cause as the birds crash to the ground and fish suffocate after beaching themselves. Cold weather does also have an effect but magnetism affects the birds more. THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS PHENOMENON ARE SHOWN IN THE MOVIE "THE CORE"
Earth's Inconstant Magnetic Field http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/29dec_magneticfield/
(...) Earth's magnetic field is changing in other ways, too: Compass needles in Africa, for instance, are drifting about 1 degree per decade. And globally the magnetic field has weakened 10% since the 19th century. When this was mentioned by researchers at a recent meeting of the American Geophysical Union, many newspapers carried the story. A typical headline: "Is Earth's magnetic field collapsing?" Probably not. As remarkable as these changes sound, "they're mild compared to what Earth's magnetic field has done in the past," says University of California professor Gary Glatzmaier. Sometimes the field completely flips. The north and the south poles swap places. Such reversals, recorded in the magnetism of ancient rocks, are unpredictable. They come at irregular intervals averaging about 300,000 years; the last one was 780,000 years ago. Are we overdue for another? No one knows. According to Glatzmaier, the ongoing 10% decline doesn't mean that a reversal is imminent. "The field is increasing or decreasing all the time," he says. "We know this from studies of the paleomagnetic record." Earth's present-day magnetic field is, in fact, much stronger than normal. The dipole moment, a measure of the intensity of the magnetic field, is now 8 ? 1022 amps ? m2. That's twice the million-year average of 4? 1022 amps ? m2.
(...) They've also learned what happens during a magnetic flip. Reversals take a few thousand years to complete, and during that time--contrary to popular belief--the magnetic field does not vanish. "It just gets more complicated," says Glatzmaier. Magnetic lines of force near Earth's surface become twisted and tangled, and magnetic poles pop up in unaccustomed places. A south magnetic pole might emerge over Africa, for instance, or a north pole over Tahiti. Weird. But it's still a planetary magnetic field, and it still protects us from space radiation and solar storms. CLIP
Sun "Fireworks" Responsible for the Mass Killing of Birds? (January 8, 2011) http://redicecreations.com/article.php?id=13760
I would suggest there could only be two reasonable answers to the recent string of bird and fish deaths. 1) Man-made. This is to say some sort of new military weaponry which emits a form of geo-magnetic pulse. If so, the next question would be ... was it intentional or unintentional? Either way, this is one scary scenario. Either they don't know what the hell they're doing -or- they don't have our best interest in mind. Of the two, I would hope for "idiots-at-work."The second two answer is no less frightening. 2) The deaths were caused by a "natural occurrence". This is to say it was caused by a geo-magnetic flux from the Sun, and its possible chain-reaction with the Earth's core. A recent occurrence could be the explanation to this unusual and sudden chain of events. On December 31st 2010, a vast coronal hole opened up in the Sun's atmosphere. When this occurs, the solar magnetic field opens up and allows solar wind (charged particles) to escape. The initial hit from this pulse could hit Earth within 8 minutes to 24 hours. The following stream of charged particles flowing from this coronal hole reached Earth late January 2nd 2011. This scenario fits perfectly with the string of occurrences beginning on January 1st with the death of some 5,000 birds in Arkansas. Migrant birds follow "magnetic lay-lines" which directs them during seasonal change. Marine mammals such as whales and dolphins also are directed by magnetics.
(...) A personal question which immediately comes to my mind --- is this related to the on-going sequence of events as prophesized in ancient text? If the events we see are proved to be a "natural occurrence" as described by Mark Marraccini of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, then perhaps what we are witness to is an expanded cyclical encounter. If so, then one must take into consideration what the Maya, Hopi, Christian, Sumarian, Dogon, Aztec, Egyptian, Tibetan, Celtic, Druid ancestors have been trying to tell us. - Change is coming, and it is in our time.
Earthquake 'swarm' rattles Arkansas town and its residents (December 13, 2010) http://articles.cnn.com/2010-12-13/us/arkansas.earthquakes_1_earthquake-swarm-new-madrid-arkansas-town?_s=PM:US
The Arkansas Geological Survey is trying to unravel a mystery: What is causing earthquakes in the town of Guy, Arkansas?Since September 20, the community of 549 residents north of Little Rock has experienced an almost constant shaking from 487 measurable earthquakes."We've had 15 today including a 3.1 (magnitude) from this morning," Scott Ausbrooks, geohazards supervisor for the Geological Survey, said Monday. "These are shallow quakes between two and eight kilometers (between one-and-a-quarter and five miles) below the surface."
Oil and Gas Collection: Hydraulic Fracturing, Toxic Chemicals and the Surge of Earthquake Activity in Arkansas (January 6, 2011) http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22667
The last four months of 2010, nearly 500 earthquakes rattled Guy, Arkansas. [1] The entire state experienced 38 quakes in 2009. [2] The spike in quake frequency precedes and coincides with the 100,000 dead fish on a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River that included Roseville Township on December 30. The next night, 5,000 red-winged blackbirds and starlings dropped dead out of the sky in Beebe. [3] Hydraulic fracturing is the most likely culprit for all three events, as it causes earthquakes with a resultant release of toxins into the environment. A close look at Arkansas’ history of earthquakes and drilling reveals a shocking surge in quake frequency following advanced drilling. The number of quakes in 2010 nearly equals all of Arkansas’ quakes for the entire 20th century. The oil and gas industry denies any correlation, but the advent of hydrofracking followed by earthquakes is a story repeated across the nation. It isn’t going to stop any time soon, either. Fracking has gone global.
(...) Red-winged blackbirds roost in clusters up to a million or more birds, often with other species like starlings and cowbirds. (In the 1950s and ’60s, roosts could number 20 million birds.) Blackbirds prefer low, dense vegetative cover in wetlands or near streams. Though some may perch 30 feet above the water, most perch within one to two feet of it, and some will roost with their feet resting in water. Blackbirds can range up to 50 miles a day from roost to feeding sites, but they all settle in for the night before sunset. [11]An earthquake of whatever scale can release a stream or cloud of gas and fracking chemicals which could easily explain why sleeping birds would suddenly take flight, and then quickly die as they succumbed to the toxic fumes. Of note, eight measured quakes within 40 miles of Beebe, and within 75 miles of Roseville, hit the area on December 30 thru several minutes past midnight on January 1st. CLIP
OF COURSE CONSPIRACY THEORISTS HAD A FIELD DAY WITH THIS... COULD THEY BE ON TO SOMETHING THOUGH?...
Is Mass Bird and Fish Die Off Connected to Government Testing? (January 3, 2011) http://www.infowars.com/is-mass-bird-and-fish-die-off-connected-to-government-testing/
1977 Senate Hearing found that U.S. government had infected hundreds of cities with biological agents -- A mass die off of birds and fish in Arkansas which prompted a response by U.S. Environmental Services has residents asking questions about the cause – could secret government testing be responsible for the carnage?
(...) Electromagnetic scalar weapons that can artificially manipulate the environment could be responsible for the mass die offs. We know for a fact that over a decade ago the U.S. Military Industrial Complex was aware of and involved in the testing of such technology.In 1997, Defense Secretary William Cohen stated, “Others [terrorists] are engaging even in an eco-type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves… So there are plenty of ingenious minds out there that are at work finding ways in which they can wreak terror upon other nations…It’s real, and that’s the reason why we have to intensify our [counter terrorism] efforts.” The fact that illness or poisoning has been ruled out points to some form of secret testing being behind the mass die-offs.The U.S. government has been repeatedly caught engaging in illegal bio-weapons tests over American skies that have maimed and killed not just animals, but humans. The history of US government biological testing includes deliberately infecting Americans with syphilis, malaria and other bacteriological agents. CLIP
Alert - (3) Sonic Booms - Fish kill - Birds fall from Sky- Weird Thunder Storm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqilmk5Kmww
Alert Sonic Booms | Fish Kills, Birds fall from the sky. Civilian video uploaded with reported accounts of sonic booms surfacing from the Indiana region and out before birds fell from sky, weird thunderstorms, and fish kills.
Birds Falling From Sky: Bio-weapons testing and Schizophrenic Psychopathic Eugenics loving Controllers? http://thegovernmentrag.wordpress.com/2011/01/03/birds-falling-from-sky-bio-weapons-testing-from-the-schizophrenic-psychopathic-eugenics-loving-controllers/
(...) Just before these bird and fish kills were discovered, civilian reports surfaced of sounds of Sonic Booms or pulses heard from the sky from Indiana, Charlotte N.C., Pensacola Florida?, Michigan to Long Island. Could these incidences be related in some way and should people start worrying about the next governmental move on experimental torture to Americans? Should we start to investigate, as a whole Nation, the possibility that a bunch of psychopathic mentally ill masterminds, that now rule the world, are arranging our funerals as a mass?
(...) “Scalar weapons that can artificially manipulate the environment could be responsible for the mass die offs.
(...) In an interview with Joyce Riley on the Power Hour, A.C. Griffith, an ex-employee for the US government had a top clearance into the Project Cloverleaf (chemtrail) and revealed that there are sonic booms or “pulse booms” associated with these weapons. Recently, in the last decade, people worldwide are discovering their skies are routinely being sprayed by chemtrails emitted from airplanes that turn into clouds or haze. Testing have shown chemicals sprayed on the world are that of Barium and Aluminum, along with many other metals and possible biological agents, according to A.C. Griffith. On the same day, there was also a reported Earthquakes in the Indian area which may, or may not be a result of the use of Scalar technology. Once responder to the YouTube civilian upload on the sonic booms stated that, “just before the earthquake in Indiana, I heard a swoooshing noise.” CLIP
GOVERNMENT CHEMICAL WEAPONS EXPERT ASSASSINATED? (January 5, 2011) http://tdarkcabal.blogspot.com/2011/01/january-5-2011-white-hat-report-7.html
1. What did Wheeler know in his special positions that would have gotten him killed? We have just verified that the Carlyle Group (Bush Seniors boys) has a facility contract for the Pine Bluff Arsenal storage, which contains chemical warfare materials, whose mishandling may have caused the death of 5000 birds and 100,000 fish?
2. What is the connection between Wheeler, Mitre Corporation, Department of Defense and the Carlyle Group?
3. What information did Wheeler, a highly credentialed chemical weapons expert, have on the Pine Bluff Arsenal, and the environmental catastrophe? Did Wheeler have information he was about to reveal and was silenced? CLIP - CHECK ALSO Murdered Bush Aide Was An Expert In Chemical, Biological & Cyber-Warfare, Had Highest Security Clearances (with 2 videos)
Frogs by the Millions Flood Greece, Precursor To a Major Earthquake? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyLBk6Rsy_E
Traffic was paralyzed along a highway in northern Greece for several hours Wednesday after millions of frogs suddenly jumped onto the road, startling drivers. Eye witness's say: "There was a carpet of frogs." Drivers , said the frogs appeared out of nowhere, causing a handful of traffic accidents and paralyzing traffic. Traffic police spent nearly two hours trying to clear the frogs from the highway. May 26, 2010
Hundreds of Thousands of DEAD FISH on NEW JERSEY SHORE AUG 12 2010 - BP Gulf Oil Spill ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag0oQm0dhXs
(...) Could it be that the environmentalists worst fear that the BP spill oil, mixed with the toxic witches brew of Corexit, has made it to the gulf stream conveyor belt? Has the levels of oxygen been depleted in pockets in the Atlantic coast of the US? Or, is there something even more frightening going on? CHECK ALSO BP Gulf Oil Spill: 'Biggest cover-up in US history'
Revisiting Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in a World of Toxic Chemicals (1/10/2011) http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/12200
(...) Today, we live in a country that uses up to 83,000 chemicals. Last May 2010, due to gross negligence on the part of British Petroleum, Halliburton, and the federal government's Mineral Management Service, five million barrels of oil gushed from the explosion of BP's deepwater Horizon, followed by tons of toxic dispersants, a chemical known as Corexit. Thousands of birds were poisoned by BP's criminally negligent oil spill. We can't be sure how many whales, dolphins and turtles were killed because BP quickly bagged and buried the evidence. BP's oil spill is the largest, most toxic oil spill in history. It is also the largest cover-up of mass seabird and animal poisoning in history. Biologists argue that the dispersant Corexit, used to disperse the oil which hides it but does not eliminate it, was far more threatening to wildlife than the oil; one can induce from these facts that the combination of oil and Corexit is a deadly poisonous combination. The cover-up continues on the ongoing damage as reported in "Gulf Oil Spill Still Fouling Louisiana Marshes". Last week, thousands of birds dropped dead in Arkansas, Louisiana and at the same time, thousands of dead fish washed up on a 20 mile stretch along the Arkansas River between Ozark and Clarksville. Dead birds are suddenly showing up in southern regions of the nation. Kentucky wildlife officials say several hundred dead birds were found dead in the western part of the state. The grackles, red wing blackbirds, robins and starlings were found dead. 40,000 crabs washed up dead on English beaches. No one can explain it. (...) Right now university biologists from around the world are examining the dead birds and fish and we'll have to wait for their conclusions before speculating. But no doubt, Rachel Carson is turning over in her grave. Our government sees no evil and hears no evil. No one in mainstream media seems to care as the earth grows louder with pollution and toxic chemicals blighting out the living, vibrant world of birds, fish and nature as we know it faster than we could possibly imagine.
Birds Falling from Sky (January 6, 2010) http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/11_Global/110106.alert.birds.fall.from.sky.html
When my wife and I saw the news over the past couple day of dead birds found in Arkansas and in Lousiana we could hardly believe what we were hearing. About four years ago I was awaken in the middle of the night by these words very loud and clearly: "WHEN YOU SEE THE BIRDS BEGIN TO FALL IN LOUSARK KNOW THAT THE END IN VERY NEAR!" I jumped out of bed and asked my wife if she had heard what I just heard. She said that that she did not. I ran into the kitchen and wrote down what I just heard. For the past four years I have been researching this word, LOUSARK and any word that sounded like it. This sure seems to fit! D.J
Les oiseaux tomberaient aussi à St-Augustin (7 janvier 2011) IT STARTED 3 WEEKS AGO IN QUEBEC! http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/actualites/environnement/201101/06/01-4357829-les-oiseaux-tomberaient-aussi-a-st-augustin.php
(Québec) Il n'y a pas qu'en Arkansas, aux États-Unis, et en Suède qu'on trouve des oiseaux morts tombés au sol de façon inexpliquée. Depuis environ trois semaines, un résidant de Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Sylvain Turmel, dit avoir trouvé à différents endroits sur sa propriété environ 80 pigeons décédés. CLIP
GO HERE, SCROLL DOWN AND CHECK THE DEAD ANIMAL MYSTERY PICTURES
Version française au https://secure.avaaz.org/fr/save_the_bees/ NOTE: AVAAZ sent this today (Jan 10) "Wow! Over the weekend half a million of us have signed up to save the world's bees. Let's get to a million and get the ban now -- send this on to everyone..." and they've added this reference:
Date: 06 Jan 2011
From: Alex Wilks - Avaaz.org (avaaz@avaaz.org)
Subject: Bee safe, not sorry
Dear friends,
Silently, billions of bees are dying off and our entire food chain is in danger. Bees don't just make honey, they are a giant, humble workforce, pollinating 90% of the plants we grow.
Multiple scientific studies fault one group of toxic pesticides for their rapid demise, and bee populations have soared in four European countries that have banned these products. But powerful chemical companies are lobbying hard to keep selling this poison. Our best chance to save bees now is to push the US and EU to ban this deadly product -- their action is critical and will have a ripple effect on the rest of the world.
We have no time to lose -- the debate is raging about what to do. This is not just about saving bumble bees, this is about survival. Let’s build a giant global buzz calling for the EU and US to outlaw these killer chemicals and save our bees and our food. Sign the emergency petition now and send it onto to everyone and we’ll deliver it to key decision makers:
Bees are vital to life on earth -- every year pollinating plants and crops with an estimated $40bn value, over one third of the food supply in many countries. Without immediate action to save bees we could end up with no fruit, no vegetables, no nuts, no oils and no cotton.
Recent years have seen a steep and disturbing global decline in bee populations -- some bee species are now extinct and others are at just 4% of their previous numbers. Scientists have been scrambling for answers. Some studies claim the decline may be due to a combination of factors including disease, habitat loss and toxic chemicals. But leading independent research has produced strong evidence blaming neonicotinoid pesticides. This has led to beekeepers and scientists in France, Italy, Slovenia and even Germany, where the main manufacturer Bayer is based, already pushing successfully for bans of one of these bee killers. Meanwhile, Bayer continues to export its poison across the world.
This issue is now coming to the boil as major new studies have confirmed the scale of this problem. If we can get European and US decision-makers to take action, others will follow. It won’t be easy. A leaked document shows that the US Environmental Protection Agency knew about the pesticide’s dangers, but ignored them. The document says Bayer’s "highly toxic" product is a "major risk concern to non target insects (honey bees)".
We need to make our voices heard to counter Bayer’s very strong influence on policy makers and scientists in both the US and the EU where they fund the studies and sit on policy bodies. The real experts -- the beekeepers and farmers -- want these deadly pesticides prohibited until and unless we have solid, independent studies that show they are safe. Let's support them now. Sign the petition below, then forward this email:
We can no longer leave our delicate food chain in the hands of research run by the chemical companies and the regulators that are in their pockets. Banning this pesticide will move us closer to a world safe for ourselves and the other species we care about and depend on.
This holiday season, Josh, a Kenyan student in the Netherlands, scraped together a year's worth of savings and sent it home to support 10 struggling family members. Shockingly, the giant money transfer company Western Union skimmed off 20% of the cash meant for Josh's family in fees.
Josh’s story is painfully retold every day, the world over, on a staggering scale -- an estimated $44.3 billion worldwide was lost in transfer fees last year! The World Bank recommends that transaction costs not exceed 5% of the total, but Western Union has never faced serious pressure to lower its crippling charges. If we unite in a global outcry now, we can expose its predatory practices when its carefully crafted, family-friendly image is most vulnerable: the giving season.
Josh's generosity -- and that of millions of workers around the world -- shouldn't go to waste! Let's call on Western Union to lower its fees to 5% for the poorest countries, and when the petition reaches 250,000 we’ll deliver it to the company’s image-sensitive board of directors. Sign now and then forward this to friends and family:
Sacrifices like Josh’s dwarf foreign governmental aid every year and provide a vital lifeline to the world’s poorest economies. Slashing the obscene profits of companies like Western Union would dramatically increase assistance flowing into developing countries. Instead, families around the world received far less than they deserved so that Western Union's CEO could take home $8.1 million in 2009.
The World Bank recommends that transfer companies limit fees to 5% of the amount being transferred, but some banks and companies have astronomical hidden charges. Perversely, the neediest countries coming out of war or disaster suffer the greatest losses, because of transfer companies' monopolistic privileges and exclusive deals with local banks.
The yearly savings of men and women laboring in hospitals, construction sites and restaurants end up padding Western Union's profits. The company funds charity projects to improve its corporate image – but these do nothing to hide the massive inequity that their business model perpetrates. Let's raise our voices loudly to support true generosity during the holiday season – and help bring immediate benefits to workers and the relatives they sustain. Together we can make sure that needy families – rather than CEOs – benefit from holiday giving:
When citizens around the world stand together to protest injustice, we can force back unchecked greed and inequality – as we've done together before. Buoyed by the warmth and empathy of the holiday season, let's make sure that generous gifts arrive where they're most needed.
With hope and gratitude,
Luis, Stephanie, Graziela, David, Paula, Ben, and the rest of the Avaaz team
A MUST READ! IT CLEARLY SHOWS THE US IS A MILITARY DICTATORSHIP DISGUISED AS A PSEUDO-DEMOCRACY... ALL TO BETTER SERVE THE AGENDA OF THE CABAL AND FURTHER ENRICH THE MILITARY CORPORATE COMPLEX OLIGARCHY. THANKS TO WIKILEAKS, WE CAN NOW CLEARLY ADD AFGHANISTAN TO THE LONG LIST OF WAR CRIMES (LIKE FALLUJAH) COMMITTED BY THE PENTAGON WAR HAWKS. MAKE SURE TO ALSO READ THE NEXT WIKILEAKS ARTICLE BELOW ABOUT BRADLEY MANNING...
WikiLeaks' Most Terrifying Revelation: Just How Much Our Government Lies to Us
By Fred Branfman
"Try as I may I can not escape the sound of suffering. Perhaps as an old man I will accept suffering with insouciance. But not now; men in their prime, if they have convictions, are tasked to act on them." -- Julian Assange, 2007 blog entry
January 04, 2011 "AlterNet' -- Do you believe that it is in Americans' interest to allow a small group of U.S. leaders to unilaterally murder, maim, imprison and/or torture anyone they choose anywhere in the world, without the knowledge let alone oversight of their citizens or the international community? And, despite their proven record of failure to protect America -- from Indochina to Iran to Iraq -- do you believe they should be permitted to clandestinely expand their war-making without informed public debate? If so, you are betraying the principles upon which America was founded, endangering your nation, and displaying a distinctly "unamerican" subservience to unaccountable authority. But if you oppose autocratic power, you are called to support Wikileaks and others trying to limit U.S. Executive Branch mass murder abroad and failure to protect Americans at home.
These two issues became officially linked for the first time when former U.S. Afghan commander General Stanley McChrystal explicitly stated that the murder of civilians increases rather than decreases the numbers of those committed to killing Americans, and actually implemented policies -- since reversed by General Petraeus -- to reduce U.S. murder of civilians. McChrystal said that “for every innocent person you kill, you create 10 new enemies." By so doing he made it clear that killing civilians is not only a moral and war crimes issue, but -- in today's interdependent world -- also threatens U.S. national security.
As important as is the issue of free speech, it is the question of whether the U.S. Executive is in fact protecting the American people through its mass murder abroad that really lies at the heart of the Wikileaks controversy. Executive Branch officials justify persecuting and threatening to murder Assange on the grounds that he has damaged U.S. "national security." If McChrystal is right, however, it is the past decade of U.S. Executive mass murder in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, now revealed beyond any doubt by Wikileaks, that is the real threat to U.S. national security.
The chilling fact is this: whether you believe that September 11, 2001 was due to incomprehensible fanaticism or genuine grievances (OR TO AN INSIDER JOB WHICH THEY FAIL TO ACKNOWLEDGE!!!), it seems likely that U.S. leaders’ murder of countless Muslims since 2001 will cause the next 9/11 should, God forbid, it occur. The recent suicide-bomber in Sweden who came perilously close to succeeding taped a message saying "so will your children, daughters, brothers, and sisters die, like our brothers, sisters, and children die." Similar sentiments were voiced by the Times Square bomber, and it is likely that those responsible for future American deaths will also be motivated by revenge for the hundreds of thousands of Muslims for whose deaths U.S. leaders are responsible since 2001.
This is not, of course, to justify such attacks. Any attacks on civilians, whether by the Taliban or General Petraeus, are totally unjustified and crimes of war. But if the issue is how best to enhance U.S. national security, it is critical to rationally discuss the most prudent and sensible means of preventing further attacks -- which in this case is to stop creating huge numbers of people who want to kill Americans. If General McChrystal is correct, every American should tremble at the long-term danger to America caused by the last decade of U.S. war-making in the Muslim world. If only 1/100th of 1% of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims are moved to want to attack America because of America's post-9/11 killing of Muslim civilians, for example, the U.S. Executive will have created a pool of 160,000 Muslims devoted to murdering Americans.
Nothing is more emblematic of the service Assange is doing Americans than the July 25 N.Y. Times headline announcing its publication of the Wikileaks "Afghan War Logs": "View Is Bleaker Than Official Portrayal Of War In Afghanistan."
The N.Y. Times thus not only acknowledged that Wikileaks had supplied Americans with vital information about the war that its own government was denying them, but that this information had not been provided by the U.S. mass media. If it had been doing its job, after all, America’s “newspaper of record” not Wikileaks would have long ago revealed that the Afghan war was "bleaker than official portrayal of the war." The Guardian newspaper's headline on the same day drove the point home: "Massive Leak Of Secret Files Exposes Truth Of Occupation," i.e. the truth as opposed to U.S. Executive lies.
These "Afghan War Logs", like the Iraqi war logs after them, and much material in Wikileaks' recent release of diplomatic cables, reveal above all that U.S. Executive war-making is marked by massive deception of the American people -- particularly lying about (1) the enormous civilian casualties the U.S. is causing and (2) its claim to be pursuing a "counter-insurgency strategy" designed to install a democratic Afghan government. The Times and Guardian stories describe how these official U.S. documents reveal constant U.S. Executive Branch lying to the American people.
-- U.S. MURDER OF CIVILIANS: "A huge cache of secret US military files today provides a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents," (Guardian) "Incident by incident, the reports resemble a police blotter of the myriad ways Afghan civilians were killed -- not just in airstrikes but in ones and twos -- in shootings on the roads or in the villages, in misunderstandings or in a cross-fire, or in chaotic moments when Afghan drivers ventured too close to convoys and checkpoints". (N.Y. Times) "The Nato coalition in Afghanistan has been using an undisclosed "black" unit of special forces, Task Force 373, to hunt down targets for death or detention without trial ... The logs reveal that TF 373 has also killed civilian men, women and children and even Afghan police officers who have strayed into its path." (Guardian)
-- REGULAR COVERUPS OF U.S. CIVILIAN MURDER: "The dead, the reports repeatedly indicate, were not suicide bombers or insurgents, and many of the cases were not reported to the public at the time." (N.Y. Times) "War logs show how marines gave cleaned up accounts of an incident in which they killed 19 civilians ... There would be no punishment." (Guardian) "The logs detail how US special forces dropped six 2,000 lb bombs on a compound where they believed a `high-value individual' was hiding, after 'ensuring there were no innocent Afghans in the surrounding area'. A senior US commander reported that 150 Taliban had been killed. Locals, however, reported that up to 300 civilians had died." (Guardian)
-- U.S. AND A CORRUPT AFGHAN GOVERNMENT ARE ALIENATING AFGHAN CIVILIANS AND LOSING THE WAR: "The documents illustrate in mosaic detail why, after the United States has spent almost $300 billion on the war in Afghanistan, the Taliban are stronger than at any time since 2001 ... The reports paint a disheartening picture of the Afghan police (who) are often described as distrusted, even loathed, by Afghan civilians. The reports recount episodes of police brutality, corruption petty and large, extortion and kidnapping ... The toll of the war -- reflected in mounting civilian casualties -- left the Americans seeking cooperation and support from an Afghan population that grew steadily more exhausted, resentful, fearful and alienated ... The expanding (U.S.) special operations have stoked particular resentment among Afghans -- for their lack of coordination with local forces, the civilian casualties they frequently inflicted and the lack of the accountability." (N.Y. Times)
When the Iraqi war logs were published 3 months later, they revealed even more shocking information -- particularly that U.S. soldiers had handed over Iraqi civilians to Iraqi police, knowing they would be hideously tortured employing electric drills, acid and other devices before being savagely murdered. Ellen Knickmeyer, the Washington Post Bureau chief in Baghdad in 2006, wrote that these revelations meant that U.S. officials had been lying daily to the U.S. media-- and American people -- by saying they were not aware of this mass murder. U. S. leaders also lied constantly in claiming they were not tracking civilian casualties, when in fact they were. Since international law made U.S. leaders responsible for providing law and order in occupied Iraq, these Wiklileaks cables thus also revealed that U.S. leaders (BUSH, CHENEY AND co) bear a major responsibility for these warcrimes, among the worst since the end of WWII.
Both the Wikileaks Iraqi and Afghan War Logs, in short, have revealed that the entire U.S. Executive is a "vast lying machine", as journalist David Halberstam described the U.S. military in his affadavit for the CBS vs. Westmoreland trial. It must be understood that “truth” vs. “lies” is not even an operational category within the Executive Branch or military. The purpose of communicating with the public is not to provide them with truthful information but rather to advance “the mission”. People who communicate with the public obtain their jobs and are promoted on the basis of their ability to mislead, deceive, “spin” and lie. There is no recorded case where Executive Branch officials have been rewarded for telling the truth to the American people, and many where they have been punished or lost their jobs for doing so. And nothing so epitomizes the degradation of democracy in America that the fact the public expects Executive Branch officials to lie to them, and that mass media journalists even betray their profession by defending Executive secrecy and excoriating those who reveal their lies like Julian Assange.
It is thus impossible to overstate the importance of the Wikileaks documentation of these lies to the American people. When a journalist reports a U.S. government misdeed, government officials automatically deny it and many Americans are unsure whom to believe. But Wikileaks has revealed official government documents that prove U.S. leaders’ lying and commission of crimes of war. The fact that the U.S. has covered up its mass murder of civilians, and that this is contributing to its losing the war, is thus no longer open to serious question. The callous and careerist politicians and journalists who daily ignore U.S. mass murder, while calling for Assange's arrest or execution, shame themselves, their children, and their profession by their indifference to non-American human suffering and obsequious toadying to illegitimate Executive power.
And the Wikileaks documents reveal something even more important: the entirely bogus nature of U.S. claims that Assange has damaged U.S. "national security", e.g. by revealing information that could help the “enemy.” It is obvious that the "enemy" knows whether those murdered by the U.S. are civilians. The U.S. Executive clearly claims it is only killing “insurgents” to keep its murder of civilians a secret from the American people, fearing it would face protests that could tie its hands if it became known.
The Wikileaks documents, though they date from 2009 and before, also shed important light on what is occurring today under General David Petraeus.
It is important to remember, after all, that the Wikileaks controversy is not primarily about the past or abstract legal issues, but what is happening to actual human beings today. As you read these words countless Afghan and Pakistani villagers are huddling in their homes, terrorized by U.S. war-making, as General Petraeus's brutal offensive into southern Afghanistan, met by an increase in the Taliban's resort to roadside bombs and assassination, has caused the Red Cross to issue an unusual alarm saying that conditions are at their worst for Afghan civilians in 30 years, i.e. as bad as during the Russian invasion. A Canadian press report indicates that Kandahar's main hospital is overflowing with civilian casualties, and that "on some days, the floor is red with blood".
Petraeus (A CHOICE MADE BY BARACK OBAMA TO DO THIS JOB... OR WAS IT FORCED UPON HIM?) has tripled air strikes, brought in 9,000 U.S. assassins who are conducting round-the-clock murder, and introduced an unprecedented number of night-time raids recalling Nazi movies from the 1940s -- as screaming U.S. soldiers break into people's homes, terrorize women and children, and kill, wound, torture or imprison men indefinitely without a trial or any chance to prove their innocence. Even the U.S.-installed Afghan President Hamid Karzai is so appalled that he has begged the U.S. to curtail its airstrikes and night raids, saying, “the raiding homes at night. Terrible. Terrible. A serious cause of the Afghan people's disenchantment with NATO and with the Afghan government … How can you measure the consequences of it in terms of the loss of life of children and women because you have captured Talib A. And who is this Talib A? Is he so important to have 10 more people killed, civilians? Who determines that?”
Petraeus has firmly refused to end what this Afghan leader describes as the General’s responsibility for civilian murder, making a further mockery of his claim to be bringing “democracy” to Afghanistan.
Particularly significant are the many first-person reports in the Wikileaks "Afghan War Logs" of U.S. murder of innocent civilians at U.S. checkpoints -- which flesh out McChrystal's March 2010 admission that "we have shot an amazing number of people, but to my knowledge, none has ever proven to be a threat."
For this raises a basic question about Petraeus's vast escalation of U.S. airstrikes. If U.S. forces have murdered countless innocent civilians at checkpoints, where they can at least see those they are killing face-to-face, how many more innocent civilians is Petraeus killing from from the air, in bombing raids where those below can barely be seen?
And these Wikileaks documents also shed important light on how Petraeus's massive escalation into both southern Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he has dramatically escalated both U.S. drone and ground assassination, is weakening rather than strengthening long-term U.S. national security. Just as the Taliban is far stronger today after the U.S. has wasted $300 billion and thousands of American lives over the last 10 years, Petraeus's tactics are strengthening not weakening America's enemies over the long run. If he murders enough people in southern Afghanistan, the General may be able to claim some short-term successes there. But there is no serious question that his tactics are sowing a long-term whirlwind which not only threatens the stability of the Afghan and Pakistani governments, but pose a long-term threat to Americans at home.
A U.N. map just published by the Wall Street Journal has revealed that the Taliban, using classic guerrilla tactics, has moved into northern and western Afghanistan as Petraeus has moved south, giving them control of more territory than ever. “Internal United Nations maps show a marked deterioration of the security situation in Afghanistan during this year's fighting season, countering the Obama administration's optimistic assessments of military progress since the surge of additional American forces began a year ago”, the Journal reported.
The N.Y. Times has reported how various insurgent groups in Pakistan have responded to Petraeus's tactics by coordinating and cooperating for the first time, vastly increasing the threat they pose to the Pakistani state. It is also obvious that Petraeus cannot possibley kill more "insurgents" than he is creating if he continues to provoke the 41 million Pashtuns on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to want to fight America. The population of North and South Vietnam combined during the Vietnam war was only 31 million, after all, and provided a manpower pool large enough to outlast 500,000 Americans.
In the end, however, the most profound questions for Americans raised by the Wikileaks documents go far beyond the Muslim world. If we can free our minds of a lifetime of official propaganda identifying the U.S. Executive with the American people, the evidence is overwhelming that in foreign and military policy the U.S. Executive Branch is an undemocratic institution that does not represent its own citizens. It operates largely independent of Congress, the Judiciary or a mass media which has largely become an arm of Executive power, broadcasting its lies far more often than it exposes them.
A few months before President Obama's December 2009 decision to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, for example, only 24% of Americans wanted to send more and 43% wanted to decrease the number. Their wishes were ignored, as are the opinions of Americans today who, by a margin of 63 to 32, oppose U.S. war-making in Afghanistan. And, Bob Woodward’s Obama’s Wars revealed, even the President is largely a figurehead when it comes to Executive war-making. Woodward documents how the military thwarted Obama’s clear desire to begin a major pullout from Afghanistan in the summer of 2011. Last month, Obama was humiliated by being forced to endorse a hypothetical 2014 pullout date.
Most Americans would agree with the statement in the Declaration of Independence that governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed." But the governed can only give their consent if they are informed as to what they are agreeing to. This is obvious in our daily life. I cannot be said to have "consented" to buy your laptop if you deceived me by not telling me it was broken. One of our most basic legal principles is that a contract is null and void if it was obtained under false pretenses. By revealing massive U.S. Executive deceit Wikileaks has thus revealed that it does not legitimately represent the American people.
These Wikileaks documents thus raise the most fundamental question citizens can ask themselves: to what extent to citizens of a democracy owe their allegiance to autocratic leaders who obtain the consent of their citizens through massive duplicity? And to what extent can they trust either their judgement or their decency?
Americans may find themselves increasingly pondering such questions in coming years, as economic decline and future terrorist attacks cause U.S. elites to bring home the authoritarian mindset that has caused so much damage abroad. It seems certain that American democracy will face greater challenges than at any time since the country's founding.
But that is a long-term question. The key question now is whether Americans can hear the sound of suffering their leaders are causing abroad, as at this very moment innocent men, women and children are being murdered and maimed in what the Red Cross describes as the greatest civilian carnage since the Russians invaded 30 years ago.
Julian Assange should be applauded not persecuted for hearing the sound of their suffering.
Do we?
Fred Branfman exposed the U.S. Executive's Secret Air War in Laos, which illegally and savagely murdered tens of thousands of innocent Laotian peasants. He has written frequently on Executive war-making for Alternet in recent years. See www.trulyalive.org for more information on his activities.
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Related articles:
WikiLeaks: Secret whaling deal plotted by US and Japan (6 January 2011) http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/06/wikileaks-secret-whaling-deal
American diplomats proposed Japan reduce whaling in exchange for US help cracking down on the anti-whaling activists Sea Shepherd, leaked cables reveal -- Japan and the US proposed to investigate and act against international anti-whaling activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as part of a political deal to reduce whaling in Antarctic waters.Four confidential cables from the US embassy in Tokyo and the state department in Washington, released by WikiLeaks, show US and Japanese diplomats secretly negotiating a compromise agreement ahead of a key meeting last year of the International Whaling Commission, the body that regulates international whaling.The American proposal would have forced Japan to reduce the number of whales that Japan killed each year in the Antarctic whale sanctuary in return for the legal right to hunt other whales off its own coasts. In addition, the US proposed to ratify laws that would "guarantee security in the seas" – a reference to acting against groups such as Sea Shepherd that have tried to physically stop whaling. The US proposal was eventually shot down by Britain and the EU in June 2010, but the cables show that the Sea Shepherd group had become a political embarrassment to Japan after stopping its whaling fleet reaching its annual quota of whale killed for several years.
Julian Assange claims to be desperate for cash (January 12, 2011) http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/julian-assange-claims-to-be-desperate-for-cash/story-e6frg6nf-1225985884977
He says it has cost $620,000 a week to keep the organisation going since it began publishing its vast trove of leaked diplomatic cables.Amid growing signs that US law enforcement agencies are actively preparing a criminal case against the embattled Queenslander, Mr Assange has also flagged the possibility of moving his team to Australia, citing the "radically changed" attitude of the Australian government.As he prepared to face court to contest Sweden's attempts to extradite him to face sexual assault allegations, Mr Assange outlined the financial burden imposed on WikiLeaks since it began publishing more than 250,000 leaked US cables late last year."We have been losing more than 600,000 (Swiss) francs a week since the start of the publication of the diplomatic cables," Mr Assange told a Swiss newspaper. "To continue our business, we would need to find a way or other to get this money back." Meanwhile, US prosecutors are seeking access to the Twitter details of Mr Assange and a number of other people affiliated with WikiLeaks, including Bradley Manning, the 23-year-old US military analyst thought to be the primary source of the leaks.A subpoena was issued by the US Attorney for the eastern district of Virginia.The subpoena represents the clearest sign yet that US investigators are actively exploring a case against Mr Assange, who has been attacked from both sides of the US political divide.
U.S. journalists back away from WikiLeaks founder (01.09.11) http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/09/2007863/us-journalists-back-away-from.html
(...) With a few notable exceptions, it's been left to foreign journalism organizations to offer the loudest calls for the U.S. to recognize WikiLeaks' and Assange's right to publish under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.Assange supporters see U.S. journalists' ambivalence as inviting other government efforts that could lead one day to the prosecution of journalists for doing something that happens fairly routinely now - writing news stories based on leaked government documents."Bob Woodward has probably become one of the richest journalists in history by publishing classified documents in book after book. And yet no one would suggest that Bob Woodward be prosecuted because Woodward is accepted in the halls of Washington," said Glenn Greenwald, a lawyer and media critic who writes for the online journal Salon.com. "There is no way of prosecuting Julian Assange without harming investigative journalism."Woodward, who rose to fame by exposing the Watergate conspiracy in the Nixon administration, told a Yale University law school audience in November that WikiLeaks' "willy-nilly" release of documents was "madness" and would be "fuel for those who oppose disclosure." But that appearance came before U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder launched a criminal investigation of Assange. Woodward didn't respond to e-mails seeking comment.Woodward's newspaper, The Washington Post, however, is one of the few that's editorialized against prosecuting Assange. "The government has no business indicting someone who is not a spy and who is not legally bound to keep its secret," the Post said. CLIP
Assange: WikiLeaks to speed release of doc (01.11.11) http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/11/2010231/wikileaks-founder-back-in-court.html
LONDON -- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange vowed Tuesday to step up his site's release of secret documents while he fights extradition to Sweden, as his lawyers argued that sending him to Stockholm could land him in Guantánamo Bay or even on U.S. death row. (...) But the flow of leaks, published in The New York Times, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Le Monde and El Pais, has slowed recently amid a barrage of online attacks, financial difficulties and the Swedish case against Assange.Assange, who is on bail and living under curfew at a supporter's mansion in eastern England, vowed Tuesday to speed up the release of secret documents."We are stepping up our publishing for matters related to Cablegate and other materials," Assange said outside the high-security Belmarsh Magistrates' Court in London. "Those will shortly be occurring through our newspaper partners around the world - big and small newspapers and some human rights organizations."
7.
A MUST READ! ESSENTIAL REVELATIONS ABOUT A TRUE - AND STILL VERY MUCH UNSUNG - HERO WHO FOUND THE COURAGE TO LISTEN TO HIS CONSCIENCE - HIS SOUL, IN FACT - RATHER THAT TO HIS FEARS...
Put aside Bradley Manning's guilt or innocence and ask -- what should Bradley Manning have done when he saw evidence of war crimes, other crimes and constant deception of the American people and others? Should he have hidden the evidence? Taken it up a chain of command that was complicit? Or, expose it? Manning exposed it not because he is a traitor but because he is a patriot that wants to make the United States a more perfect union.
The case of Private Bradley Manning raises legal issues about his pre-trial detention, freedom of speech and the press, as well as proving his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Putting aside Manning’s guilt or innocence, if Bradley Manning saw the Afghan and Iraq war diaries as well as the diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks what should he have done? And, what should be the proper response of government to their publication?
A high point in the application of the rule of law to war came in the Nuremberg trials where leaders in Germany were held accountable for World War II atrocities. Justice Robert Jackson, who served as the chief prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials while on leave from the U.S. Supreme Court, said “If certain acts of violation of treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them, and we are not prepared to lay down a rule of criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us.”
One of the key outcomes of the Nuremberg trials was that people who commit war crimes or crimes against humanity will be held accountable even if they were following orders. This is known as Nuremberg Principle IV which states: “The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him.” The Nuremberg principles were enshrined in a series of treaties.
How do the Nuremberg Principles and other laws of war apply to Bradley Manning?
What is a person who does not want to participate in war crimes or hiding war crimes supposed to do when he sees evidence of them? If Manning hid the evidence would he not be complicit in the crimes he was covering up and potentially liable as a co-conspirator? These were questions that Bradley Manning allegedly wrestled with. According to unverified chat logs Manning, talking with Adrian Lamo on email, asks: “Hypothetical question, if you had free reign over classified networks for long periods of time… say, 8-9 months… and you saw incredible things, awful things… things that belonged in the public domain, and not on some server stored in a dark room in Washington DC… what would you do?”
In Iraq, Manning was ordered “to round up and hand over Iraqi civilians to America’s new Iraqi allies, who he could see were then torturing them with electrical drills and other implements.” Manning questioned the orders he was being given to help round up Iraqis and brought his concerns to the chain of command. He pointed to a specific instance where 15 detainees were arrested and tortured for printing “anti-Iraqi literature” he found that the paper in question was merely a scholarly critique of corruption in the government asking “Where did the money go?” He brought this to his commander, who told him to “shut up” and keep working to find more detainees. Manning realized he “was actively involved in something that i was completely against…”
He wrestled with the question of what to do. According to the unverified chat logs with Lamo Manning told Lamo that he hoped the publication of the documents and videos would spur “worldwide discussion, debates, and reform.” He went on to say, “I want people to see the truth… regardless of who they are… because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.” The command structure would not listen, so Manning went beyond them to the people who are supposed to control the military in our democratic republic. He wanted Americans to know the truth.
In the chat logs, Lamo asked Manning why he did not sell the documents to a foreign power. Manning realized he could have made a lot of money doing so, but he did not take that path. He explained: “it belongs in the public domain - information should be free - it belongs in the public domain - because another state would just take advantage of the information… try and get some edge - if its out in the open… it should be a public good.” These are not the words of a traitor, of someone out to hurt the United States, these are the words of someone trying to improve the United States, trying to get the country to live up to its highest ideals.
Manning is charged so far with three counts of unlawfully transferring confidential material to a non-secure computer, i.e. leaking state secrets. Manning faces up to 52 years if convicted of these crimes and it is likely that he will be charged with additional offenses. The charges against Manning end stating that Manning’s “conduct being prejudicial to good order and discipline in the armed forces and being of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.”
Well, what exactly did the materials Manning allegedly leak show?
The video that is the focus of these initial charges is known as the Collateral Murder video. The video shows American soldiers in an Apache helicopter gunning down a group of innocent men, including two Reuters employees, a photojournalist and his driver, killing 16 and sending two children to the hospital. The video, which has been viewed by millions, shows initial blasts at the group killing and wounding people. U.S. forces watch as a van pulls up to evacuate the wounded. The soldiers again open fire from the helicopter, killing more people. A crew member is heard saying, “Oh yeah, look at those dead bastards.” But, that was not the end, journalist Rick Rowley reported that the man who they drove over had crawled out of the van and was still alive when the tank drove over him, cutting him in half.
Marjorie Cohn, who teaches criminal law and procedure, evidence, and international human rights law at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, describes multiple war crimes from this single video. First, targeting and killing civilians who do not pose a threat violated the Geneva Conventions. Second, when soldiers attacked the van attempting to rescue the wounded they violate the Geneva Conventions which allows the rescue of wounded. Third, the tank rolling over the wounded man, splitting him in two, is a war crime and even if he were already dead disrespecting a body violates the Geneva Conventions.
The Collateral Murder video documents war crimes according to this legal expert on human rights law. When Manning saw these war crimes, what should he have done? Should he have covered up the evidence of potential war crimes? Should he try to go up the chain of command – a strategy that he had already unsuccessfully tried? If Manning did what he is accused of, he did the only thing that could stop these crimes from continuing.
Other documents Manning allegedly provided to WikiLeaks showed the 2009 Granai airstrike in Afghanistan, in which as many as 140 civilians, including women and children, were killed in a U.S. attack. The Australian reported that the airstrike resulted in “one of the highest civilian death tolls from Western military action since foreign forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001.” The Afghan government has said that around 140 civilians were killed, of which 93 were children – the youngest 8 days old – 25 were women and 22 were adult males. The U.S. military had said that 20-30 civilians were killed along with 60-65 insurgents.
Allegedly, Manning released hundreds of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks who, working with traditional media outlets has released a small percentage of them. He left it to journalists to decide what was appropriate for release. The small percentage of documents released show widespread and systemic abuses in U.S. foreign policy and in the conduct of wars. WikiLeaks documents including the Iraq and Afghanistan War Logs and the diplomatic cables show:
These are a few examples among many. The documents published by WikiLeaks, allegedly provided to them by Manning, are of critical importance to understanding that U.S. foreign and military policy is not what Americans are told. No doubt historians, human rights lawyers, academics and others will be reviewing these documents and reporting in greater detail the systemic nature of the unethical and often illegal behavior of U.S. foreign policy. This already has the world looking at the United States with new eyes.
Experience inside the U.S. military turned a young man from Oklahoma who believed in America into someone who doubted it. Manning believed in American freedom, especially economic freedom and believed the United States played a positive role in the world. He wanted to serve his country. In doing so he became someone who questioned the leadership of the nation, its foreign policy and its conduct of wars. He saw war crimes, violations of law and constant deception. After much soul searching he decided that the quest for a more perfect union required him to share this information.
Justice Robert Jackson, during his Opening Address at the Nuremberg Trials, said: “If we can cultivate in the world the idea that aggressive war-making is the way to the prisoner's dock rather than the way to honors, we will have accomplished something toward making the peace more secure.” Bradley Manning joins in this enlightened viewpoint and is working to make peace more secure and the United States a better nation.
A mature American leadership, rather than prosecuting Manning, would encourage an honest debate about U.S. foreign policy. Thomas Jefferson warned that “oppressions are many” and that for the people to govern we should “leave open . . . all the avenues to truth.” Manning has provided an avenue to truth where we can look honestly at our government and dramatically change direction. Enlightened leadership would renounce blackmail, threats and spying of foreign officials, as well as torture and war.
Instead Manning is suffering a fate Thomas Jefferson warned about: “Most codes extend their definitions of treason to acts not really against one's country. They do not distinguish between acts against the government and acts against the oppressions of the government.” Manning has been sitting in solitary confinement for seven months awaiting trial. He is suffering this fate for the betterment of the nation. People who care about the United States and our impact on the world should stand with Bradley and work to transform American foreign policy away from militarism and toward one where we work cooperatively with nations for the advancement of all.
Press Realizing That Treatment Of Bradley Manning Is Indefensible (Jan 11, 2011) http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110110/16493012599/press-realizing-that-treatment-bradley-manning-is-indefensible.shtml
The mainstream press has had a bit of a love-hate affair with Wikileaks over the past few months, often conflating some of the issues with Julian Assange with the overall operation itself. But what's been really troubling is how quiet the press has mainly been about the treatment of Bradley Manning, which is so severe that many people consider it to qualify as torture. Even the UN is now investigating whether the treatment qualifies as torture. Of course, even if you don't consider it torture, it's pretty clear that the treatment is designed to punish Manning, despite no trial and no conviction (or, perhaps, it's being used to pressure him to implicate Julian Assange in a potential conspiracy that might not actually exist). However, it's nice to see at least some in the press realize this is a serious problem. The LA Times has an editorial suggesting that this treatment of Manning is clearly indefensible, and should be stopped. It does not come out and say he's being tortured and says that it's fine to punish Manning (within the limits of the law) if he's convicted, but that to do so prior to any conviction is immensely problematic: "Some see Manning as a whistle-blower who deserves leniency for exposing official duplicity; others believe that, like anyone who engages in civil disobedience, Manning, if guilty, should accept punishment for his actions. But regardless of one's view of his alleged conduct, the conditions under which he is being held are indefensible." There's no reason that Manning can't be held under more reasonable conditions. It's sad that our government appears to not be willing to allow that to happen.
Assange: Manning “a political prisoner” - with a video http://www.bradleymanning.org/15884/assange-manning-a-political-prisoner/
In a December 22, 2010 interview with MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan Show, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange called Bradley Manning a political prisoner:“If we are to believe the allegations, then this man acted for political reasons. He is a political prisoner in the United States.” CLIP
Bradley Manning: One Soldier Who Really Did “Defend Our Freedom” (2010-12-30) http://www.bradleymanning.org/15918/bradley-manning-one-soldier-who-really-did-defend-our-freedom/
When I hear someone say that soldiers “defend our freedom,” my immediate response is to gag. I think the last time American soldiers actually fought for the freedom of Americans was probably the Revolutionary War — or maybe the War of 1812, if you want to be generous. Every war since then has been for nothing but to uphold a system of power, and to make the rich folks even richer. But I can think of one exception. If there’s a soldier anywhere in the world who’s fought and suffered for my freedom, it’s Pfc. Bradley Manning.Manning is frequently portrayed, among the knuckle-draggers on right-wing message boards, as some sort of spoiled brat or ingrate, acting on an adolescent whim. But that’s not quite what happened, according to Johann Hari (“The under-appreciated heroes of 2010,” The Independent, Dec. 24). CLIP
8.
NOTE from Jean: After reading this, please consider sending Bradley your thoughts and Love-filled feelings of loving support in the hope he can feel that he is NOT left alone to endure this extreme punishment meted to him by his tormentors. I did so and Boy, does he need it! You may also wish to try to lovingly reach Barack Obama's soul to prod it - if that is possible - into speaking more forcefully to its human personage so he finally puts an end to Bradley inhumane solitary confinement - idem for the 1000's of other souls similarly tortured daily in the US prisons! - and starts truly taming the Pentagon Beast as he is supposed to be doing...
Then, please consider whatever other action you might be able to take in this physical plane of existence to help put an end - QUICKLY! - to his excruciatingly cruel torments... such as sending a $5 donation through Stand With Brad to support the organization defending him outside of the Pentagon Gulag and writing a personal appeal to the Secretary and Chief of the Army.
WikiLeaks: Locking Up Whistleblower Bradley Manning in Solitary Confinement Puts America's Depravity on Full Display
We as American citizens should not accept torture by our government, and that's what the military is doing to Bradley Manning.
By Lynn Parramore - January 4, 2011
The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons. ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky
In the earliest days of our Republic, a group of well-meaning Philadelphia Quakers set out to reform the prison system. The idea was to remove convicts from the mayhem and corruption of overcrowded jails to solitary cells where sinners would return to mental and spiritual health through reflection. In the Walnut Street Jail, no windows would distract the prisoners with street life; no conversation would disturb their penitence. Alone with God, they would be rehabilitated.
There was a small problem. Many of the prisoners went insane. The Walnut Street Jail was shut down in 1835.
But the word penitentiary became part of the language, and the idea of placing prisoners in solitary confinement did not die. It seemed so reasonable - so much better than chain gangs or public stocks. New prisons opened to test the theory that solitude might bring salvation to criminals.
Charles Dickens had a keen interest in prison conditions, having witnessed his father’s detention in a Victorian debtor’s prison. When he heard about the latest American innovation in housing convicts, he came to see for himself. At Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary, the wretches he found in solitary confinement were barely human spectres who picked their flesh raw and stared blankly at walls. His on-the-spot conclusion: Solitary confinement is torture. Dickens wrote:
I believe that very few men are capable of estimating the immense amount of torture and agony which this dreadful punishment, prolonged for years, inflicts upon the sufferers…I hold this slow and daily tampering with the mysteries of the brain, to be immeasurably worse than any torture of the body: and because its ghastly signs and tokens are not so palpable to the eye and sense of touch as scars upon the flesh; because its wounds are not upon the surface, and it extorts few cries that human ears can hear; therefore I the more denounce it, as a secret punishment which slumbering humanity is not roused up to stay.
A man who had seen his share of inhumanities, Dickens pronounced solitary confinement to be “rigid, strict, and hopeless…cruel and wrong.”
That was 1842. Since then, piles of scientific studies, along with the vivid accounts of victims, have confirmed what was obvious to Dickens. Solitary confinement is worse than smashed bones and torn flesh. When human beings are deprived of social contact for even a few weeks, concentration breaks down, memory fades and disorientation sets in. Eventually, many prisoners experience explosive rages, hallucinations, catatonia, and self-mutilation. Some become irretrievably insane. Far from promoting safety, the most commonly cited justification, solitary confinement often amplifies violent impulses, turning prisoners into ticking time bombs who are far more dangerous to human society upon release than they ever were to begin with (see National Geographic’s documentary on the subject, available on Netflix).
Human beings need social contact for normal brain function. Solitary confinement is thus a method of inflicting traumatic injury upon the human mind. “It’s an awful thing, solitary,” wrote former Vietnam prisoner John McCain in Faith of My Fathers. “It crushes your spirit and weakens your resistance more effectively than any other form of mistreatment.” Among its legion perversities, solitary confinement turns medical doctors into torturers; renders violent criminals more aggressive, and makes prisoners cut off from human society incapable of functioning in it.
In 1890, the United States Supreme Court nearly declared the punishment unconstitutional. It is banned by the Geneva Convention, condemned by the United Nations, and either prohibited or restricted in most civilized countries. And yet today, as Atul Gawande showed in his revealing 2009 New Yorker article, tens of thousands of Americans are tortured in this fashion every day, out of sight, in the “Supermax” prisons that have popped up like poisoned mushrooms on the American landscape since the 1980s. Some prisoners are consigned to these Houses of Unholiness for violations - both major and minor — of prison rules. Some for gang activity. Others for trying to escape. Or for violent behavior. Some are placed there because they are mentally ill and there is nowhere else to put them - the equivalent of casting a sufferer of pneumonia onto an Arctic tundra.
Save for the death penalty, solitary confinement is the most extreme sanction allowed by law. Like slavery and every other form of institutionalized inhumanity, it should be banished to the dark annals of American history as an example of what happens when our humanity slumbers.
Instead, it is being used as a method of terror and coercion by the United States government upon a citizen who has not even been convicted of a crime.
As Salon’s Glenn Greenwald and several other courageous journalists have documented, Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old U.S. Army Private accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, has been detained in solitary confinement for the last seven months, despite not having been convicted of any crime, having been a model detainee, and having evidenced no signs of violence or even disciplinary misdemeanors. Manning has been kept alone in a cell for 23 hours a day, barred from exercising in that cell, deprived of sleep, and denied even a pillow or sheets for his bed. As Greenwald reports, “the brig’s medical personnel now administer regular doses of anti-depressants to Manning to prevent his brain from snapping from the effects of this isolation.” A court hearing has not been set.
The message of the U.S. government to its citizens in this activity is clear: blow the whistle and your brain will be mutilated before you even have a trial.
But it may be that much to the shame of the U.S. government, our slumbering humanity is awakening. The solitary confinement - the torture, for we must call it that - of Bradley Manning is ironically shining a light on this brutality and tipping us off to the danger of authoritarianism. A United Nations probe is now investigating the Bradley case, and the drumbeat of outrage in the blogosphere grows louder every day. Protesters are organizing. Whatever one thinks of Manning and his involvement in the WikiLeaks release of classified information, there can never be any justification for torture. As Greenwald argues, such practices weaken the position of the United States government, both abroad and at home. Other countries will think twice before accepting extradition requests to a place where inhumane treatment of prisoners is sanctioned. Our moral standing in the world suffers, while the American citizenry, already suspicious of post-9/11 governmental abuses of power, grows even more alarmed. What kind of legitimacy adheres to a judicial hearing when the accused has been subject to sanity-threatening conditions? Even exposing the accused to duress is a violation of justice and of the U.S. Constitution — which applies to both civilians and soldiers. Trust and faith in American justice will deteriorate as long as such damaging practices continue.
As we spend time and rejoice with our friends and family in the new year — enjoying the social interaction that human beings require - let us pause for a moment to remember the thousands of people being tortured in American prisons, including Bradley Manning, and let us send our own message back to our government: We are Americans. We will not accept the intimidation and coercion of our fellow citizens, even from the Pentagon. Most assuredly, we will not accept torture in our name. Not of the accused. Not of the mentally ill. Not even of convicted criminals. When our civilized society is attacked, no matter what the justification, we will rise up to defend it.
The placement of human beings in solitary confinement is not a measure of their depravity. It is a measure of our own.
Is the Obama Administration Turning America Into a Police State?
By: RogerShuler - January 11, 2011
The Obama administration’s efforts to obtain Twitter-account information about key individuals connected to WikiLeaks amounts to a declaration of war on those who would reveal government wrongdoing, according to a prominent whistleblower in Alabama.
Dana Jill Simpson, an attorney who revealed wrongdoing in the Bush-era prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, said Obama’s actions are a first step toward limiting the First Amendment rights of journalists to protect their sources.
Simpson also decried reports that Obama is considering an Internet ID system for all Americans. Said Simpson:
“Whistleblowers have known for a long time that the Obama administration doesn’t respect the desire of whistleblowers to bring truth to our nation’s shores. The Obama Administration would rather hide the lies our government tells our citizens and prosecute the whistleblowers. It is easier, they think, than admitting the truth. The fact is that that our government has been lying to us about wars and other foreign affairs. I guess this is Obama’s way of “looking forward.” He wants to ignore the lies our government and its officials told the citizens for the last 10 years.
Simpson noted the irony that Obama’s “look forward, not backwards” approach to the apparent crimes of Bush-administration officials does not apply to WikiLeaks. In fact, the government seems to be going overboard in its efforts to build a case against Julian Assange and others associated with WikiLeaks:
[Obama] won’t prosecute the people who illegally tortured people and politically prosecuted folks all over our country. Now it appears his administration prefers to prosecute the truth-telling whistleblowers who show the lies of the White House and Pentagon. This says something about our current government when admitted water-boarding torturers are protected and truth tellers like Assange are prosecuted for exposing the lies of our government.
Turning whistleblowers into targets could have dire consequences for our country, Simpson says:
We are getting dangerously close to becoming a “Dictator Democracy,” where even our thoughts can get us in trouble–and anything we do to bring truth to our citizens can get us thrown in jail. All whistleblowers in our country are in danger as the U.S. government starts to shut out the truth from the people by serving secret subpoenas on the WikiLeaks accounts.
Simpson especially is alarmed about reports of a possible Internet-ID system:
Just when I thought it could not get worse, now Obama and the U.S. government want to give us an Internet license, just like a driver’s license. Then, it will be a privilege to be on the Internet–and if we misbehave or authorities deem our remarks are not good for the government–well they can take away our license.
Gone will be our right to free speech on the Internet; our license could be pulled if someone doesn’t like the content of our speech.
It seems Obama is afraid of the Internet. I have been attacked about as much as anyone on the Internet, but I still believe people have the right to say what they think. This idea of a license is the beginning of the end for our freedom to express the truth about what our government is doing. We now live, it appears, in a nation that is moving toward being a police state.
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10 Responses to... Is the Obama Administration Turning America Into a Police State?
Yes.
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Absolutely YES, the regime is continuing the Nixon-Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush-Cheney process of turning America into a fascist police state. Why do you even need to ask the question?
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The Embryonic corpo-fascist state? Abort it now!
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The idea of net neutrality is going away. The government also wants to be able to shut down the internet which would keep us from contact with others of our political outlook. The emergency would be determined by the government.
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Is the Obama Administration Turning American Into a Police State?
Yes. As fast it can.
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“This idea of a license is the beginning of the end for our freedom to express the truth about what our government is doing. We now live, it appears, in a nation that is moving toward being a police state.”
Certainly not the beginning of the end, as we’ve traveled quite some distance down that road, but Obama is more determined and brazen than any other president before him to destroy the First Amendment and blanket the government in secrecy. Not just to protect the Bush Administration war criminals and torturers, but to protect himself and the war criminals and torturers in his administration.
Investigative journalists in Russia are constantly at risk for assassination, and given Obama’s claim of god-like unrestrained power to order the assassination of anyone in the world whom he deems to have materially supported terrorism, I think the whistleblowers in this country and the investigative journalists who publish their stories will soon be at risk to suffer the same end as their Russian counterparts.
Anyone who believes that we are living in a free country protected against government overreach by the Bill of Rights hasn’t been paying attention. That sorry situation didn’t start yesterday. It started an inch at a time after World War II.
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Since 1913 when the Fed was established the U.S. dollar has lost 94% of its purchasing power. The U.S. government is insolvent and the dollar is fast approaching zero.
On the other side of the impending collapse of the dollar, the economy and the empire, Washington will not have what it takes to control its own people.
The U.S. Military, even if it has the will, will not have the means to enslave three hundred million people. It can’t even work it’s will on fourth world Afghanistan.
The Oligarchy has way too much confidence in its money and it’s Technology. Hardship and trouble lie ahead for the American people. But in the end, the Fascists will be defeated.
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You are right about the military. I just read they are expending 250,000 shells for every “insurgent” they kill. Yes, you read that right. 250,000/1. And, as a kicker, we are now having to buy the extra munitions from Israel who likely got the money to manufacture them from “aid” paid for by American taxpayers.
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Put this together with the, Tomgram: William Hartung, Lockheed Martin’s Shadow Government, diary up earlier today and just try to sleep soundly tonight.
A TIME OF RECKONING IS COMING REAL SOON FOR THE AMERICAN EMPIRE AND THE WHOLE PLANET CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER FOR ITS UTTER AND COMPLETE DEMISE. IT MUST GO - JUST LIKE THE SOVIET EMPIRE DID - OR WE MIGHT LITERALLY LOSE THIS PLANET'S LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM... OR AT LEAST WHAT'S LEFT OF IT...
Spinning Unemployment Figures in a Collapsing Empire
By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts - January 10, 2011
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday that the economy gained only 103,000 new jobs in December--not enough to keep up with population growth--but the rate of unemployment (U.3) fell from 9.8% to 9.4%. If you are confused by the report, you are among the many.
In truth, what fell was not the number of unemployed people but the number of unemployed people who are actively looking for work. Those who have become discouraged and have ceased looking for work are not considered to be in the work force and are not counted as unemployed in the U.3 measure. The unemployment rate fell because discouraged workers increased, not because employment rose.
The BLS counts short-term discouraged workers (less than one year) in its U.6 measure of unemployment. That unemployment rate is 16.7%. When statistician John Williams (shadowstats.com) adds the long-term discouraged, the US unemployment rate as of December 2010 was 22.4%.
The question to ask yourself is: why does the media focus on the unemployment measure that does not count any discouraged workers? The answer is that the U.3 measurement only counts 42% of the unemployed and makes the situation appear to be a lot better than it is.
Where are the 103,000 new jobs? As I have reported for years, the jobs are in non-tradable domestic services: waitresses and bar tenders, health care and social assistance (primarily ambulatory health care services), and retail and wholesale trade.
Today the United States has only 11,670,000 manufacturing jobs, less than 9% of total jobs. Yet, despite America‚s heavy dependence on foreign manufactures and foreign creditors, the idiots in Washington think that they are a superpower standing astride the world like a colossus.
John Williams reports that "the level of payroll employment still stands below where it was a decade ago, despite the U.S.population growing by more than 10% in the same period. The structural impairments to U.S. economic activity continue to constrain normal commercial activity, preventing any meaningful recovery in business activity."
Another way of saying this is that American corporations have taken American jobs offshore and given them to the Chinese. So much for big business patriotism.
Williams also reports that, unless it is finagled, next month's BLS benchmark revision of payroll employment data will lower the level of previously reported employment by more than 500,000.
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke used his testimony before the Senate Budget Committee last Friday to warn that the U.S. government must get its budget deficit under control or "the economic and financial effects would be severe." Here Bernanke is acknowledging that the Federal Reserve cannot indefinitely print money in order to finance wars and bailouts of the mega-rich.
But how is the government to get its budget under control? The U.S. government, regardless of political party or president, is committed to American hegemony over the world. The Congress has just passed the largest military budget in history, and there is no indication that any of America‚s wars and military occupations are near an end.
The financial crisis is not over, with more foreclosures and more losses for the financial sector that will result in more taxpayer bailouts for those "too big to fail." John Williams says that the double-dip is already happening, just disguised by faulty statistics, and that the deficit implications are horrendous and are likely to result in hyperinflation as the Federal Reserve will have to monetize the otherwise un-financeable deficits.
The dollar is also in danger, its role as reserve currency undermined by the Federal Reserve's creation of more and more dollars. Temporarily, the dollar is buttressed by the grief that Wall Street's sale of fraudulent derivative financial instruments to Europe
has caused the euro.
The Republicans will try to destroy Social Security and Medicare in order to pay for wars and bailouts. If Americans are capable of realizing that they are threatened on a much greater level by the Republicans‚ evisceration of the social safety net than they are by terrorists, the Republican assault on what they call "the welfare state" will fail.
The fallback target will be private pensions, assuming any survive plunder by the Wall Street investment banks. Pension funds could be required to invest in Treasury debt or they could face a levy. In the Clinton administration, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Alicia Munnell proposed confiscating 15% of all pension assets on the grounds that they had accumulated tax free. Certainly Washington will steal Americans‚ pensions, just as Washington has stolen Americans' civil liberties, in order to continue the empire's wars of hegemony.
Increasingly, the rest of the world views America as the single source of its financial and political woes. While the superpower massacres Muslims in the Middle East and Central Asia, people in the rest of the world have learned from WikiLeaks that the U.S. government manipulates, bribes, threatens, and deceives other governments in order to have those governments serve the U.S. government's interest at the expense of the interests of their own peoples.
The American Imperial Empire rests on puppet governments that are increasingly distrusted and hated by the peoples under their rule. Like the Soviet Union's Eastern European empire, the American Empire is ruled not directly but through puppet states.
Puppet governments are caught between the empire's power and the power of the local population. To the extent that Europeans have a moral conscience, they will find America's foreign policy increasingly repugnant. To the extent that Muslim solidarity grows, the Muslim puppet governments that support America's and Israel's massacres of Muslims will find themselves threatened from within.
The American Empire is on the rocks, despite its vast arsenal of nuclear weapons and its control over the foreign and domestic policies of its subservient puppet states in Western and Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, parts of Africa, the Middle East, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, the Baltic states, Georgia, Kosovo, Mexico, Central America, Columbia, and, no doubt, others.
A country that is the font of war and oppression, whose dominance rests on the weak reed of puppet states, and whose economy is collapsing will not long remain dominant.
Power rests with corporations. And corporations gain very lucrative profits from war.
By Chris Hedges - January 10, 2011
Power does not rest with the electorate. It does not reside with either of the two major political parties. It is not represented by the press. It is not arbitrated by a judiciary that protects us from predators. Power rests with corporations. And corporations gain very lucrative profits from war, even wars we have no chance of winning. All polite appeals to the formal systems of power will not end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We must physically obstruct the war machine or accept a role as its accomplice.
The moratorium on anti-war protests in 2004 was designed to help elect the Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. John Kerry. It was a foolish and humiliating concession. Kerry snapped to salute like a windup doll when he was nominated. He talked endlessly about victory in Iraq. He assured the country that he would not have withdrawn from Fallujah. And by the time George W. Bush was elected for another term the anti-war movement had lost its momentum. The effort to return Congress to Democratic control in 2006 and end the war in Iraq became another sad lesson in incredulity. The Democratic Party, once in the majority, funded and expanded the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And Barack Obama in 2008 proved to be yet another advertising gimmick for the corporate and military elite. All our efforts to work within the political process to stop these wars have been abject and miserable failures. And while we wasted our time, tens of thousands of Iraqi, Afghan and Pakistani civilians, as well as U.S. soldiers and Marines, were traumatized, maimed and killed.
Either you are against war or you are not. Either you use your bodies to defy the war makers and weapons manufacturers until the wars end or you do not. Either you have the dignity and strength of character to denounce those who ridicule or ignore your core moral beliefs -- including Obama -- or you do not. Either you stand for something or you do not. And because so many in the anti-war movement proved to be weak and naive in 2004, 2006 and 2008 we will have to start over. This time we must build an anti-war movement that will hold fast. We must defy the entire system. We must acknowledge that it is not our job to help Democrats win elections. The Democratic Party has amply proved, by its failure to stand up for working men and women, its slavishness to Wall Street and its refusal to end these wars, that it cannot be trusted. We must trust only ourselves. And we must disrupt the system. The next chance, in case you missed the last one, to protest these wars will come Saturday, March 19, the eighth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Street demonstrations are scheduled in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. You can find details on http://www.answercoalition.org/national/index.html
We are spending, much of it through the accumulation of debt, nearly a trillion dollars a year to pay for these wars. We drive up the deficits to wage war while we have more than 30 million people unemployed, some 40 million people living in poverty and tens of millions more in a category euphemistically called "near poverty." The profits of weapons manufacturers and private contractors have quadrupled since the invasion of Afghanistan. But the cost for corporate greed has been chronic and long-term unemployment and underemployment and the slashing of federal and state services. The corporations, no matter how badly the wars are going, make huge profits from the conflicts. They have no interest in turning off their money-making machine. Let Iraqis die. Let Afghans die. Let Pakistanis die. Let our own die. And the mandarins in Congress and the White House, along with their court jesters on the television news shows, cynically "feel our pain" and sell us out for bundles of corporate cash.
Michael Prysner, a veteran of the Iraq War and one of the co-founders of March Forward!, gets it. His group is one of those organizing the March 19 protests.
"We supposedlysupposedly elected the most progressive president we have seen in a long time and the Democrats took control of the House and the Senate, but the wars have only expanded and intensified," Prysner said. "The wars are now going into other countries, especially Pakistan and Yemen. The Democrats had a filibuster-proof majority in Congress. We had a seemingly progressive president. But all we got was more war, more military spending, more bombing of innocent people abroad and more U.S. troops coming home in coffins. This should eradicate and shatter the idea that convincing the Democrats to be on our side will accomplish anything. Left to its own devices Washington will continue its war drive. It will continue to dominate these countries and use them for staging grounds to invade other countries. There has been no real change in our foreign policy. If we are hurting the Democrats at this point, then fine. We need to build an independent political movement that is outside of the Establishment. This is the only way we have ever won real victories in our history."
By 2045 global population is projected to reach nine billion. Can the planet take the strain?
(...) Many people are justifiably worried that Malthus will finally be proved right on a global scale—that the planet won’t be able to feed nine billion people. Lester Brown, founder of Worldwatch Institute and now head of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington, believes food shortages could cause a collapse of global civilization. Human beings are living off natural capital, Brown argues, eroding soil and depleting groundwater faster than they can be replenished. All of that will soon be cramping food production. Brown’s Plan B to save civilization would put the whole world on a wartime footing, like the U.S. after Pearl Harbor, to stabilize climate and repair the ecological damage. “Filling the family planning gap may be the most urgent item on the global agenda,” he writes, so if we don’t hold the world’s population to eight billion by reducing fertility, the death rate may increase instead.
Eight billion corresponds to the UN’s lowest projection for 2050. In that optimistic scenario, Bangladesh has a fertility rate of 1.35 in 2050, but it still has 25 million more people than it does today. Rwanda’s fertility rate also falls below the replacement level, but its population still rises to well over twice what it was before the genocide. If that’s the optimistic scenario, one might argue, the future is indeed bleak.
But one can also draw a different conclusion—that fixating on population numbers is not the best way to confront the future. People packed into slums need help, but the problem that needs solving is poverty and lack of infrastructure, not overpopulation. Giving every woman access to family planning services is a good idea—“the one strategy that can make the biggest difference to women’s lives,” Chandra calls it. But the most aggressive population control program imaginable will not save Bangladesh from sea level rise, Rwanda from another genocide, or all of us from our enormous environmental problems.
Global warming is a good example. Carbon emissions from fossil fuels are growing fastest in China, thanks to its prolonged economic boom, but fertility there is already below replacement; not much more can be done to control population. Where population is growing fastest, in sub-Saharan Africa, emissions per person are only a few percent of what they are in the U.S.—so population control would have little effect on climate. Brian O’Neill of the National Center for Atmospheric Research has calculated that if the population were to reach 7.4 billion in 2050 instead of 8.9 billion, it would reduce emissions by 15 percent. “Those who say the whole problem is population are wrong,” Joel Cohen says. “It’s not even the dominant factor.” To stop global warming we’ll have to switch from fossil fuels to alternative energy—regardless of how big the population gets.
The number of people does matter, of course. But how people consume resources matters a lot more. Some of us leave much bigger footprints than others. The central challenge for the future of people and the planet is how to raise more of us out of poverty—the slum dwellers in Delhi, the subsistence farmers in Rwanda—while reducing the impact each of us has on the planet.
The World Bank has predicted that by 2030 more than a billion people in the developing world will belong to the “global middle class,” up from just 400 million in 2005. That’s a good thing. But it will be a hard thing for the planet if those people are eating meat and driving gasoline-powered cars at the same rate as Americans now do. It’s too late to keep the new middle class of 2030 from being born; it’s not too late to change how they and the rest of us will produce and consume food and energy. “Eating less meat seems more reasonable to me than saying, ‘Have fewer children!’?” Le Bras says.
How many people can the Earth support? Cohen spent years reviewing all the research, from Leeuwenhoek on. “I wrote the book thinking I would answer the question,” he says. “I found out it’s unanswerable in the present state of knowledge.” What he found instead was an enormous range of? “political numbers, intended to persuade people” one way or the other.
For centuries population pessimists have hurled apocalyptic warnings at the congenital optimists, who believe in their bones that humanity will find ways to cope and even improve its lot. History, on the whole, has so far favored the optimists, but history is no certain guide to the future. Neither is science. It cannot predict the outcome of People v. Planet, because all the facts of the case—how many of us there will be and how we will live—depend on choices we have yet to make and ideas we have yet to have. We may, for example, says Cohen, “see to it that all children are nourished well enough to learn in school and are educated well enough to solve the problems they will face as adults.” That would change the future significantly.
The debate was present at the creation of population alarmism, in the person of Rev. Thomas Malthus himself. Toward the end of the book in which he formulated the iron law by which unchecked population growth leads to famine, he declared that law a good thing: It gets us off our duffs. It leads us to conquer the world. Man, Malthus wrote, and he must have meant woman too, is “inert, sluggish, and averse from labour, unless compelled by necessity.” But necessity, he added, gives hope:
“The exertions that men find it necessary to make, in order to support themselves or families, frequently awaken faculties that might otherwise have lain for ever dormant, and it has been commonly remarked that new and extraordinary situations generally create minds adequate to grapple with the difficulties in which they are involved.”
Seven billion of us soon, nine billion in 2045. Let’s hope that Malthus was right about our ingenuity.
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Note from Jean: In light of the above, and especially concerning the absolute need to quickly wean ourselves from fossil fuels, the outrageously short-sighted statement this past week by Peter Kent, the new Canadian Minister of the Environment - or protector of the oil companies exploiting the dirty tar sands of Alberta with $1.4 billion in subsidies from the Harper government - highlights just out of touch with reality this man and the current Canadian government are. [See Minister vows not to let emissions rules hamper oil-sands investment]
For new minister Kent, it's a hostile environment (JANUARY 5, 2011) http://www.vancouversun.com/business/minister+Kent+hostile+environment/4060850/story.html
(...) Green Party leader Elizabeth May, in an interview from Victoria, followed by offering an implied nod to Kent's smooth-talking, telegenic ways and then a direct shot at his scanty credentials on environment issues."If Stephen Harper was looking at what it is about Peter Kent that he needs right now," May said, "it's probably his communications skills to skate around Canada's continuing sabotage of the climate process."Greenpeace spokesman Keith Stewart echoed the sentiment with reported comments that Canada needed a new climate policy, not a new, slicker "salesman" for the government's current policies. (...) May said that, "if anything," Kent would be "as hard-line as Harper" in defending Canada's oilsands and resisting serious progress on combating climate change."We've been an extremely negative force in the world on the climate issue," she said. "I don't expect any change with this appointment." (...) With major oil and gas resources and aspirations to become an "energy superpower," Canada is under considerable international pressure to restrict its development of the carbon-intensive oilsands and to curb its overall greenhouse gas emissions. CLIP
Military v. Climate Security: U.S. and China Worlds Apart
The Chinese are spending 1/6th as much as the U.S. on their military and investing twice as much on clean energy technology
By Elizabeth McGowan - Jan 11, 2011
WASHINGTON—While China is already boasting “All aboard!” on a network of sleek passenger trains that zip 200 mph and beyond between major urban centers, the United States is still fussing about where to install a single high-speed rail line for a proposed California project.
That’s just a snapshot of how this country continues to lag behind its Asian competitor on the clean technology front.
Can America ever catch up? Yes, says Washington research fellow Miriam Pemberton. But it means taking a $100 billion-dollar bite out of the defense budget annually.
But prospects for that look dim. Many key leaders in a Republican-majority House have declared the Department of Defense off limits—even as they claim to be wielding hatchets for slicing away “waste” to lift the country out of economic doldrums.
An inside-the-Beltway defense contractor who asked to speak off the record told SolveClimate News in an interview that Congress won’t be lopping significant amounts from the defense budget anytime soon. And even if it did, that money would not be redirected toward a clean technology deficit.
“The idea that we will whack the Department of Defense to make the Department of Energy robust is a fantasy,” he said. “DOD might be cut some. The question is, what happens to that money? I can’t see those resources going toward DOE. That shift will not occur.”
Chasing China’s Investment Numbers
But Pemberton, who researches demilitarization issues for the Institute for Policy Studies’ Foreign Policy in Focus project, says Congress is missing the big picture.
If the effects of climate change are indeed so dire, she asks, then why shouldn’t defense dollars be redistributed toward DOE and other federal outlets such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Labor, the Department of Transportation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that can play integral roles in avoiding these impending disasters?
Endowing those agencies with more cash to shrink carbon footprints, launch green jobs and advance clean technologies could mitigate the chaos of severe floods, droughts, heat waves and rising sea levels that climate scientists are predicting and witnessing. That could lessen the U.S. military’s concerns about having to tamp down unrest caused by climatic events worldwide.
“By cutting the defense budget we would be substituting the green (technology) race for the arms race started by Sputnik,” Pemberton said in an interview. “It’s a way of keeping up with the Chinese and saving the planet.”
Pemberton isn’t just speaking off the cuff. Her intensive research has compared U.S.-China expenditures—and her arithmetic is jarring.
Calculations she cites in an October report titled “Military vs. Climate Security: The 2011 Budgets Compared,” reveal that the U.S. climate change budget has more than doubled—from $7 billion to $18 billion—since 2008. Military spending in that same time period has risen from $696 billion to $739 billion. For every dollar spent on climate in 2008, the U.S. spent $94 on the military. That will drop to a $41: $1 ratio this year.
“Obviously, this is progress,” Pemberton said, but it isn’t enough to stay competitive. The Chinese are spending one-sixth as much as the United States on their military and investing twice as much on clean energy technology. For every dollar China spends on climate, between $2 and $3 goes toward its military.
“The extreme tilt in our budget toward military spending is leaving us way behind in two of the major growth markets of the global economy,” she said, referring to solar and wind technologies. “For the sake of our economic health and competitiveness … (and) security, we need to tilt the other way.”
No Robbing Peter to Pay Paul
As the country’s most prolific energy user, U.S. military leaders know it’s incumbent on them to innovate to contribute to national security by lowering their massive emissions profile.
“I agree with the secretary of energy (Steven Chu) that this is a Sputnik moment,” former deputy undersecretary of defense Sherri Goodman said in an interview. “I have no doubt that the military will be part of leading the revolution that allows us to rise to this challenge.”
Federal Government and Military to Reduce Own Emissions 28% by 2020 (Jan 29, 2010) http://solveclimatenews.com/news/20100129/federal-government-and-military-reduce-own-emissions-28-2020
President's Announcement Leads the Charge in the Face of Congressional Gridlock -- After formally committing the nation as a whole to a 17 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2020 via the Copenhagen Accord, President Barack Obama announced Friday morning that the federal government itself would seek to cut its emissions even more — by 28 percent over that same time period. CLIP
TransCanada Takes Oil Sands Heat In Stride (Jan 11, 2011) http://solveclimatenews.com/news/20110111/transcanada-takes-oil-sands-heat-stride
TransCanada's first big advertising program drums up support for planned Keystone XL oil sands pipeline -- Sailing smoothly toward approval just last spring, TransCanada's major new pipeline that would carry Alberta oil sands crude into the U.S. encountered unexpected delays. Storms of controversy generated by two oil industry disasters suddenly created heavy going. One was BP's catastrophic Gulf oil well blowout. The other hit closer to home. Enbridge, another Alberta-based energy firm, suffered a breach in an oil sands pipeline that gushed more than 800,000 gallons of crude into Michigan's Kalamazoo River system.Environmental groups and legislators pointed to the high-profile accidents to question the wisdom of TransCanada's 1,959-mile planned Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport as many as 510,000 barrels of bitumen per day across six U.S. states and over a vital underground aquifer to the Gulf of Mexico.Concern over the environmental security of the proposed pipeline created a backlash in America's generally oil-friendly heartland, delaying approval by the State Department of a presidential permit needed by TransCanada to break ground for the international oil artery. So for a week in mid-December, 60-year-old TransCanada launched its first-ever big advertising campaign to drum up support for a single project. TV and radio spots ran in Washington, D.C. to tout the line's safety technology and jobs potential. The firm says it was intended to directly combat the No Tar Sands Oil Coalition, whose ads protesting the line ran from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 in the same market. Has the mounting opposition diminished the pipeline's odds, or is it rallying Big Oil's base? The powerful American Petroleum Institute has joined with TransCanada to protect Canadian crude imports with a unified front in Washington, while indigenous peoples from Canada and the U.S. have made the rounds on Capitol Hill, voicing their concerns to lawmakers. SolveClimate News spoke with James Millar, spokesperson for TransCanada, to get his perspective on the scrutiny and heightened opposition the pipeline has attracted.
Will President Obama prevent the NEXT oil spill disaster? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T24FfkziVo
President Obama pledged to learn the lessons of the BP Gulf oil spill disaster -- and prevent future spills. The dirty tar sands oil Keystone XL pipeline is his chance to put his money where his mouth is. You can urge Obama to stop the pipeline here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjxAGNsCNW0
High levels of toxic pollutants in Alberta's Athabasca River system are linked to oilsands mining, researchers have found. The findings counter the reports by a joint industry-government panel that the pollutant levels are due to natural sources rather than human development. Mercury, thallium and other pollutants accumulated in higher concentrations in snowpacks and waterways near and downstream from oilsands development than in more remote areas, said a study to be published Monday afternoon in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Upstream and undeveloped sites exposed directly to the McMurray Geologic Formation, the natural source of the oilsands, did not show high levels of pollutants. The study led by Erin Kelly and David Schindler of the University of Alberta also found that levels of the pollutants cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, silver and zinc exceeded federal and provincial guidelines for the protection of aquatic life in melted snow or water collected near or downstream from oilsands mining. CLIP
As a scientist, who has been studying the biological and health effects of environmental contaminants since 1975, I am deeply disturbed with what I read in the scientific literature and what my own studies are showing about the harmful effects of electrosmog-a form of electromagnetic pollution generated by both wired and wireless devices.
My concern is for the health of future generations and for the quality of life of the current generation. My passion is to help those who have become ill and to protect those who are still healthy. This is a monumental task that relies on many like-minded, committed, truth-seeking individuals who are not willing to accept lies and are not willing to be victims of bullying tactics no matter who perpetrates them.
Do I believe that world governments are trying to destroy the human race? No. I think people in positions of authority are simply ignorant of the facts or are aware of the facts but have no idea what to do about them or have been advised to do nothing for fear of legal repercussions. They are-at the very least-fools or cowards and-at the worst-criminals perpetrating crimes against humanity.
One fact is that microwave radiation is killing people! In the long run-if we don’t change our ways-microwave radiation is likely to kill many more people than both cigarettes and asbestos combined. Is this fear-mongering or is it the truth? Time will tell.
We have evolved into a culture that worships money. We have industrial giants who do not care about the health and well-being of their customers or their workers and care only about making profit quickly. These industries are profit-junkies that give no thought to their destructive tendencies.
Scientists who speak out about the harmful effects of electrosmog are ridiculed and attempts are made to discredit them by self-appointed skeptics who are NOT experts in the field. Industry meddling causes some scientists to lose their research funding or their jobs.
Industry scientists infiltrate health organizations and ensure that decisions are made to protect the health and profit of their industry.
Physicists and engineers are making pronouncements about the safety of microwave technology as though they were medical doctors or experts in life sciences.
Teachers who speak out about having WiFi in schools are reprimanded and ostracized. Those on limited-term appointments find their teaching contracts are not renewed.
School boards threaten to expel students and to fine parents who want to protect their children against microwave radiation in the classroom. Is this anyway for a school board to act?
People who are sick have few places to turn. They need to figure out how to regain their health. Ill informed doctors recommend psychiatric treatment and ply their patients with painkillers, antidepressants, sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication rather than getting to the route of their problems, which is often related to some source of electrosmog exposure at home or at work.
Trial lawyers seldom have a background in science and their attempts to understand complexities that only a few scientists understand is challenging. Industries hire the best lawyers money can buy who become experts in certain areas. They often out number and out wit the single lawyer and the law student who are trying to help someone living near a cell tower or near a power line, someone who can no longer work and cannot afford to pay legal fees.
Corporate lawyers are concerned about the long-term financial health of their corporations and may advise against producing products that generate lower emissions for fear of legal action against the earlier higher emitting devices.
Journalists are trained to give balanced reporting. They seldom have the time to investigate a story in detail and what appears on TV or in newspapers are sound bites that pit experts against each other claiming opposite effects and leaving the public baffled.
Investigative journalists who begin to understand the scale of what is happening may be moved to a different assignment if they become too passionate about uncovering the truth especially if the wireless industry is paying for advertising.
Workers who become concerned about their exposure in the work place find their union bosses are more interested in their own careers and keeping well in with management. These union bosses won’t rock the boat. If monitoring of the workplace is permitted, a “specially selected” industry expert is hired to support the company line.
So who is left? Who will speak out and do the right thing? Where are the heroes and heroines to tame the microwave dragon threatening the global village?
Whether you use wireless technology or not; whether you protest or not; whether you care or not . . . you are being exposed to radio frequency radiation and your exposure levels are increasing. You can move to the country and live with like-minded souls but antennas and smart meters are likely to follow you.
Whether you become ill or not will depend on many things but once you become ill your quality of life will deteriorate and, if you live with others, their quality of life will be adversely affected as well.
Leaving the sanctuary of your home, if indeed you can make your home into a sanctuary, will be painful. Shopping, dining at restaurants, vacationing with family and friends will become a distant memory. No matter how much you enjoyed using your smart phone and your ipad, no matter how much you enjoyed surfing on the web, and no matter how much you enjoyed communicating with friends on facebook or skype these will no longer be possible . . . the pain, the confusion, the fatigue, the skin rashes, the dizziness and nausea, the ringing in the ears will become unbearable. You will find yourself in self-imposed exile with an ever-diminishing connection to the world.
Is the above a fairy tale? Not at all!
I know of politicians who are asking that warnings be placed on cell phones and that a moratorium be placed on deployment of smart meters until we learn more about the safety of this technology. They do this despite strong political pressure and industry lobbying.
I know of scientists who have lost their funding and their jobs. Many of them continue to do excellent work despite the threats and penalties.
I know of teachers who have been told not to publically oppose school policy about WiFi. Many continue their fight to remove WiFi from schools and some continue to speak out in public ignoring the threats.
I know of principals who have removed WiFi or won’t allow it in their school because their top priority is the health and safety of their students and staff.
I know of parents whose concerns for their child’s safety have been ignored. So they are now organizing other like-minded parents to make certain that their concerns are heard.
I know of many, many people who are sick because of their exposure to electrosmog, who feel better when they are not exposed and are trying to design safer sanctuaries for themselves at home and at work. Many of those who are beginning to recover are devoting time and using their experience to helping others.
I know of doctors who are successfully treating their electrically sensitive patients. Instead of prescribing pharmaceuticals, they advise their patients on how to reduce their exposure and build up the immune system and detoxify their bodies. Some keep a low profile because neither the medical association nor big Pharma support non-pharmaceutical interventions that interfere with profit. A few of these doctors are beginning to speak out publicly.
I know of a few exceptional lawyers who are now specializing in this field and are dedicated to helping the under privileged.
I know of a growing number of journalists who are doing excellent reporting on issues dealing with compact fluorescent light bulbs, WiFi, mobile phones, smart meters, ground current, antennas and power lines.
I know of union representatives who, despite a tough management, are responding to concerns about electrosmog exposure in the workplace.
I know of firefighters, brave men and women who rush into burning buildings to save strangers, who voted to prevent antennas on fire halls until they are shown to be safe.
The tide is turning but it will take time before we have changes in policy and manufacturing guidelines . . . in the meantime individuals can make changes in their own environment. They can reduce their exposure before they become ill and they can learn and share information with others.
The microwave dragon will be tamed and the village will become safe once more or, at least, safer than it is right now. How quickly that will happen depends on the heroes and heroines, on those who place health and the quality of life above profit and greed.
If we are lucky, captains of industry, government scientists and policy makers, as well as the engineers who design these devices will recognize that optimizing profit and health (of the workforce, of the public and of the environment) makes more sense than maximize profit alone.
When that day comes we will have earned the name Homo sapiens sapiens.
Note this is about “taming” not “slaying” the microwave dragon. Microwave technology can be used wisely and the sooner we use it wisely the less it will damage the global village.
Obama announcing the Recovery Act - Smart Meter Grid (Dec 10, 2010) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYgM33u7rtU
It all sounds great and sweet - and it IS in many respects! - BUT check The Dark Side of 'Smart' Meters (Sept 2010) and The Truth about Smart Meters (ENLIGHTENING EXPOSÉ!) and MAKE SURE to watch Stratford Smart Meter Killing Shrub - These Smart killers emit intense bursts of microwaves every few seconds 24/7/365- "Three shrubs have been growing against the brick wall of this home for several years. They had such healthy and thick growth that a robin built her nest above the old electrical meter that had been here for years. About three months ago, the old but perfectly serviceable electric meter was removed and replaced with a 'smart meter' which sends information to the electrical utility company by microwave radiation signals. This meter sends signals almost continuously, as can be seen and heard by the radio frequency meter readings. The damage caused by the radiation can be seen very clearly in this video. The harm to the shrub is much worse close to the meter and the damage decreases with the distance. At about three metres away, the shrub is quite healthy with bright green leaves. The leaves closest to the meter appear to be dried and diseased. According to Health Canada, microwave radiation at this level, which is below their safety standards, does not cause biological harm. The resident of this home has suffered sleep problems since the meter was installed." More through http://stopsmartmeters.wordpress.com/ - http://emfsafetynetwork.org/ - http://eon3emfblog.net/
15.
Michael Dean (mikhailovich@me.com) wrote: "Jean! Thank you so much for the latest newsletter - packed, as ever, with treasure. I particularly liked Suzanne Sogren's dream, and your own inner vision of what is to come. . . :-) And thank you for including my short piece about 2010. I'm surprised that so few people responded to your invitation to let us know what the outgoing year has meant to them... As today's date is one one one one [01.01.2011] I am enclosing a New Year's gift which you might wish to share with your readers. I know many of them are already familiar with most of this material [which I have revised, shortened and amended] but it is so inspiring and encouraging that I think it deserves another showing, if only for the sake of those who haven't done the kind of research that we have during the last 30 or 40 years, and are wondering what the future holds for us all. With love and thoughts and thanks, as ever, from London."
Final call
Take-off is now only moments away. The homeward journey we have all been waiting for, praying for, is about to begin. As the following quotes will confirm, this is the best news the human race has ever received. Please share it with everyone who you think will be glad to hear it.
"Every year Earth and Heaven draw closer together, in preparation for the great coming fusion..."
- Vera Stanley Alder - The Initiation of the World - 1939
"Please understand that for various reasons, Earth was set aside for the special task of being the purifier for a time - like a kidney in the body of the solar system, so to speak, removing impurities and returning to the body of the whole only what is harmonious and integrated. In this fashion your planet has performed a tremendous service to all lifestreams and all planetary systems within the solar family, enabling them to continue their patterns of development with greater ease. No planet or being is asked to perform such a sacrificial task endlessly, nor is it allowed to do so. The time must come when it resumes its own pattern of growth, new service and development. We who have associated with Earth since her inception now look upon this time as one of beauty without measure, joy without comparison. A vast work of purification is upon us to cleanse and beautify Earth as one would beautify and enrobe a bride before her marriage. We recognise that you are still in the outworking of this great event - while to us it is already accomplished."
- David Spangler - Links With Space - 1977
"As the door leading to the future swings open, you are sensing that the game is up, that your obsession with matter is an illusion, and that you are about to undergo a head-on collision with ultimate reality. When the breakthrough comes - and it is only moments away, on the hands of the cosmic clock - all the man-made laws and mechanisms that have held you in their thrall for so many centuries - the politics of confrontation,secrecy, espionage, dogma, suspicion, the military machine, social hierarchies and the like - will no longer apply, because that breakthrough, by its very nature, will reveal such systems to be irrelevant. It will finally be proved that you belong to the planet, and not the planet to you; that the human race is a single organism; that all energies, terrestrial and cosmic alike, are free, having been placed at your disposal for a purpose - and can no longer be hoarded, withheld, and charged at so much per unit! When you wake from your long and troubled sleep, you will see that there is a Plan for humankind. These discoveries will trigger an explosion of creativity such as the world has never seen. Technology will never be the same again. When the door is fully open, it will be as if a vast treasure-chest has been flung open and all its wonders are being poured over your heads. Never forget, these treasures are not external, bestowed on you from on high, but aspects of yourselves, released at last from the wellsprings of your being. This great moment will signal the beginning of yet another chapter in the drama. You will rediscover your real identity, your inner powers, and the purpose of your tenancy of this lovely world:
You will discover what the atom really is.
You will learn who you really are.
You will harness Light, and you will decipher the secrets of sound.
You will diagnose and heal as if by magic.
You will light and heat and power your lives, virtually without cost.
You will communicate not only with each other, but with beings
from other worlds, other dimensions.
You will release the Creator in yourselves.
'Ordinary' people, will daily perform what you now call 'miracles'.
All this will unleash a tidal wave of joy, relief and goodwill that will sweep away much of your pain, your suffering and your guilt. And when that happens, listen hard, my friends - and you will hear the whole Creation singing: 'Halleluiah! They are coming home!'"
- Merlin - 1977
"A great miracle is coming for planet Earth, and the time is now. A new consciousness will be created by the children of the Sun as they ascend with the Earth to a new place among the stars. A new harmonic of light and sound, a golden octave, is being heard on Earth, ringing in the frequencies of ecstasy, union and unconditional love. Child of the Sun, why did you come to Earth? You came to Earth with a purpose, a plan, a master blueprint encoded in your feelings. Open your world to the Great Mystery. From now on, there are no more road maps, no more creeds, no more philosophies. From here on, your inspiration comes straight from the Universe, moment by moment. This is the path of innocence, the path of trust. Here, each step is walked only once, and the Universe speaks in the voice of the present. By simply embodying love, you are living the new myth that will create the wave home."
- Ariel Spillsbury & Michael Bryner - The Mayan Oracle: Return Path to the Stars
"We know that this mission is not easy. We also know that many tears have been shed in the awesome process of its unfoldment. Be consoled in the knowing that all tears are soon to be wiped from your eyes and all your pain dismissed and forgotten. The glory and joy of what is about to transpire will render all you have endured a minor expense, a price you would be more than willing to pay again. Your task is almost over. This carbon-based planet will shortly burst into a diamond, a gem in the crown of this solar system's skies. The celebration will then begin. This is Mission Control. Over and out."
"In this quarter century, your dream produces its harvest. The bridge between Creator and Creation appears..."
-Ken Carey - Starseed: The Third Millennium - 1991
"Before long, all the threads will converge like countless filaments of light, and when they do, the flashpoint will trigger everything that we carry within our hearts and minds and memories. Fight on, give heart to your fellow soldiers, and remember that the night before the battle is and ever was the coldest, longest, most desolate of nights. We and our companions have all tasted despair, endured delay, borne injustice, perfidy, betrayal. Now rejoice that we are soon to savour the long-awaited banquet of accomplishment, the wine of victory."
- Archangel Michael - Regent's Park, London - 1995
"Travelling on the new road is like being in the eyes of the storm: you can feel the vast changes swirling and churning around you, yet you remain in a state of timelessness and serenity. Although we each contain the hologram of the new map within our cellular memory-banks, none of us has yet been given total access to it - most likely because of its unimaginable vastness. The process is irreversible. We can wait for countless aeons, or we can do it now. And right now, the Doorway stands open. The pathway is clearly before us. The old road draws to an end. Why wait any longer?! The Great Work has just begun. This is what we came here to do, so long, long ago..."
Solara - Montana USA
"You know, I feel the whole of humankind is poised for a mass awakening..."
Antares 21 (magickriver@gmail.com) August 2001
"The pendulum that has been swinging for aeons away from the vertical will pause for a fraction of a second
before beginning its counter-swing. To put it another way: having sunk deeper and deeper into matter - so deep that we have all but forgotten who we really are, where we came from and what we are supposed to be doing here - we're about to hit the bottom of the U - and sheer momentum is going to send us rocketing away on our inevitable return path - upward. Our long climb back towards the Light is about to begin.”
- The Project - HeartWorks - 2010
"The planetary awakening will occur in but a single moment. It is the event that is central to all of human history. More energy will be released in a very few moments than is typically released upon the surface of the Earth in many years.
- Ken Carey - Starseed: The Third Millennium - 1991
"The heightening of energies is allowing you to take an enormous step in evolution, because you will be comparable to and like the angels. Imagine for a moment the difference between what you are now and what early man, the cave man was. We do not exaggerate when we tell you that it is an even greater step you are now coming to. This will enable you to soar to greater heights on all levels of existence. You are nearly there."
Julie Soskin - The Wind of Change - 1991
"May Light explode all round the Earth, like the biggest fireworks display of all time, filling the hearts and minds of everyone alive. May a moment of indescribable joy and love and revelation hit the Earth like an asteroid - now! And if not now - soon! May the nightmare end, and may the party begin... There, I've said it. Happy?!"
Diana - Heaven calling Earth: Dialogues with Diana - 2011
See you in the departure lounge!
Michael Dean (mikhailovich@me.com) - 01.01.2011
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