From thinker at xplornet.com Mon Feb 1 07:48:37 2010 From: thinker at xplornet.com (Ed Deak) Date: Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:48:37 -0800 Subject: [Mai-not] what happened? Re: Sustainble Economics Journal Editorial + Index of current issue. In-Reply-To: <201002011201410453.00A46DC0@smtp.totisp.net> References: <4B591138.12506.37742C75@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> <201002011201410453.00A46DC0@smtp.totisp.net> Message-ID: <20100201154854.B87B0159981E@smtprelay03.hostedemail.com> Dave, Any concern would cut into their shopping time now that the "economy is recovering". Canada now has $1.3 trillion in personal debts. And growing. Cheers, Ed. At 09:01 PM 31/01/2010, you wrote: >I have written about most of this from a >Canadian perspective - not sure if many people >saw it, as there was only one response, as I >recall, from Ed - but just in case Cdn readers >might be interested, I'll mention it again now >that the 'hoilday' distractions are past - What >Happened? >http://www.rudemacedon.ca/what-happened.html . >If anyone has any comments on why so very few >people in the country seem concerned with the >massive scam of this monetary system, not to >mention the rather obvious fact that we no >longer have anything that can be called a >'democracy', I would be greatly interested in >hearing them - I am greatly puzzled by how few >people seem to care about these things, and ignore all attempts to inform them. >dave > > > >*********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** > >On 10-01-22 at 2:45 AM Janet M Eaton wrote: > >A link to a very sound, thought-provoking article, on - `WHY THIS >CRISIS MAY BE OUR BEST CHANCE TO BUILD A NEW ECONOMY?, is: >http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/the-new-economy/why-this-crisis-may- >be-our-best-chance-to-build-a-new-economy by David Korten >I also recommend a reading of a copyrighted article by Walden Bello, >The Virtues of Deglobalization, which was published on Friday, >September 4, 2009 by Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF). The URL to the >article is: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/09/04-4 >fyi-janet > >============================================ > >http://sustecweb.co.uk/current/sustec17-6/editorial.htm > >Sustainable Economics 17-6 index Dec 09 > >Editorial: >The ultimate conspiracy - not just `conspiracy theory? - is at last >gaining attention. For decades, mention of the interlinked Bilderberg >Group, Trilateral Commission, European Round Table of Industrialists, >Project or the New American Century - and not least, the Bank of >International Settlements - has been dismissed as `conspiracy >theory?, as though no `conspiracy theory? could be based on >`conspiracy fact?. >The fact gradually becoming generally recognized, because of the >blatantly damaging decisions being made by governments, is that there >is a global elite working toward a corporate world government, and a >world money, controlled by psychopaths prepared to start wars, allow >the devastation of the `First World? economies and the spread of >poverty, starvation and diseases in the poorer parts of the world, >and to spread lies and misinformation through the corporate public >media. >The blatant inconsistencies in the official report on `9/11? gave >rise to many `conspiracy theories?, some or which were indeed far- >fetched; but many facts emerged contradicting the official story, >which give credence to the implication of the US administration as >responsible for it. It is not acceptable to dismiss all these facts >as `conspiracy theory?. >Obama?s election in the USA was seen as a ray of hope, but the >reality is becoming apparent that however sincere he is in his >pronouncements, he is in the hands of the same team of `lieutenants? >as were behind Bush, and the hope of radical change is fast fading. >As a latest example, in the UK: the British government?s recent >decisions on nuclear power, coal-fired power stations, and new >runways at airports, flying in the face of the need to combat global >warming. >The debts generated by the money system as well as its power over >money-creation are a great source of power for this elite, and its >control of the media has in the past made spread of the facts about >this, and alternatives, very difficult. >The main source of hope for reform - before it is too late - is the >Internet. This is spreading debate and enlightenment globally, fast. >(Those in power are seeking ways to control it, but so far, with >little success.) >I hope that at least most of the readers of the paper edition of this >newsletter have access to the Internet, because the `web? is being >flooded with articles which should be read by everyone concerned for >the future. >A link to a very sound, thought-provoking article, on - `WHY THIS >CRISIS MAY BE OUR BEST CHANCE TO BUILD A NEW ECONOMY?, is: >http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/the-new-economy/why-this-crisis-may- >be-our-best-chance-to-build-a-new-economy by David Korten >I also recommend a reading of a copyrighted article by Walden Bello, >The Virtues of Deglobalization, which was published on Friday, >September 4, 2009 by Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF). The URL to the >article is: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/09/04-4 >Also recommended: James RobertsonNewsletter No. 27 - November 2009 - >which contains a range of links worth a look. The full Newsletter can >be viewed at www.jamesrobertson.com/news-nov09.htm >If you have a group seeking in-depth education on the case for >monetary reform, you can download the latest updated version of the >talk Stephen Zarlenga, director of the American Monetary Institute, >gave to the American Green Party?s National Convention in 2007 at >www.monetary.org/greeningthedollar.ppt It uses the history of the USA >from colonial days as the main illustration of the struggle for the >power to create money, and its results for society - as well as >proposing reform of the current money system. >It takes about 1? hours to view and listen to, but is in 3 parts, >which could each be followed by group discussion. >Brian Leslie >Volume 17 - Number 6 - December 2009 >Main Contents >Main Contents > >1 Editorial > >2 The Land Ethic Alanna Hartzok >3 Shifting the Burden From Main Street to Wall Street: Why We Need a >"Tobin Tax" Ellen Hodgson Brown >4 Bailed-out Banks Settling Accounts with the Nation? >W.K. >5 Reforming Economics Robert Needham >6 Book Review -- A Renewable World >by Herbert Girardet & Miguel Mendon?a >7 Canadian Land is Starting to Shine as an Investment When Financial >Instruments are Getting Ever More Iffy W.K. >8 Book Review:The New Economics >by David Boyle and Andrew Simms >9 World to America: We Want Our Gold Back Robert Morley >10 Book Review: Conservation and Biodiversity Banking >Ed. Nathaniel Carroll, Jessica Fox and Ricardo Bayon >11 Language of Deceit on the Tongues of the Mighty W.K. >12 MAKING WALL STREET PAY ITS FAIR SHARE > Ellen Brown >13 As Important as Trade Are Our Human Relations with China >W.K. >14 THE IMF CATAPULTS FROM SHUNNED AGENCY TO GLOBAL CENTRAL BANK >Ellen Brown >15 Inflation: Too much money chasing too few goods? - Hardly! >Robert Poteat >16 Debt-driven Climate Change! >www.MoneyMyths.org.uk >17 Landmark Decision Promises Massive Relief for Homeowners and >Trouble for Banks Ellen Brown >18 The Public Option In Banking: Ellen Brown >19 Cross-currents in Deep Offshore Oil Finds W.K. >20 Have You Wondered? W.K. > >------- End of forwarded message ------- > >_______________________________________________ >Mai-not mailing list >Mai-not at globalproblematique.net >http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not > > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >Version: 8.5.432 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2637 >- Release Date: 01/21/10 19:34:00 > > > > >_______________________________________________ >Mai-not mailing list >Mai-not at globalproblematique.net >http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not > > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2660 >- Release Date: 01/31/10 11:35:00 From thinker at xplornet.com Mon Feb 1 15:00:23 2010 From: thinker at xplornet.com (Ed Deak) Date: Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:00:23 -0800 Subject: [Mai-not] Nuke reactors Message-ID: <20100201230036.83A0E850416@smtprelay02.hostedemail.com> * There's a spirited debate going on on the Tyee over the question of nuclear reactors. Anybody heard of this fantastic system advocated by this faithful ? Frankly, I don't believe it, but would like to hear some unbiased scientific opinions . As far I'm concerned, any system that generates that much power is dangerous and to hell with it. Cheers, Ed. =============================================================== Lets nuke BC A Canwest survey a few months ago showed a 65% support in BC for uranium mining. This conforms to a consistent 65% support for nuclear power in Alberta and Saskatchewan. A worldwide investment in 10000 new mass produced nuclear reactors would be paid for by and would end fossil fuel use, eliminate most air pollution saving millions of lives, end the global warming/peak oil problem with a 100% elimination of GHG's within a ten year time frame, is a great job producing economy boosting investment, requires only a small part of our industrial capacity, and pays for itself in less than three years. If you look at the recent purchases and plans for high cost IPP power, Canwest/Gordo will have contracted for about 12000 Gwh's annual at around 12 cents a Gwh. Thats about 1.3 Gw baseload equivalent for $76B or $58B/Gw. Ontario recently rejected a quote as too expensive from Areva nuclear for $24B for 60 years of 30000 Gwh annually (3.3 Gw,$2.4B/Gw) in nukes all costs considered which works out to 1.5 cents a kwh . AECL completed reactors in China in 2004 in three years for $2B/Gw. Westinghouse is building reactors in China for 2013 service for $1.5B/Gw (2% Canwest/Gordo) and is predicting mass production at less the $1B/Gw (1% Canwest/Gordo). Last year, in a slip of the tongue, BCHydro former exec and and now pirate leader, Dr. Bruce Ripley, P. Eng claimed BC was making a big mistake ruling out nuclear power. http://www.straight.com/article-268649/bc-pushes-private-power Just to give you an idea of what the rest of the world might be paying for power in ten years with 30 years to go on the Canwest/Gordo contracts read these http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-kirsch/climate-bill-ignores-our_b_221796.html http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/ff_new_nukes/ Gen IV reactors like the LFR and thorium LFTR's at $.5B/Gw would supply all the worlds energy needs for the next several centuries burning old nuclear waste at a cost of less than a half cent a kwh for high value baseload power less than 4% of the Canwest/Gordo commitment for low value intermittent power.The tiny amount of low level waste from IFR's is safe enough to put back in the mine. They cannot meltdown, are safe from terrorists and have almost a zero GHG footprint. Gen IV reactors have worked for many years in the past before Big Coal/Oil got them shut them down in the west, but are working now in India and Russia, and several more are under construction for service within two years As the best solution to nuclear waste disposal Obama in his state of the union has committed to building these nukes. Reasoning Liberals, all Cons and Deniers will go along with some sort of a nuclear plan. Its politically and financially doable. The extremely costly renewable option by delaying solution indefinitely kills a million people every year from toxic coal emissions and eventually drags us over that civilization ending climate/peak oil precipice. From papadop at peak.org Mon Feb 1 18:11:16 2010 From: papadop at peak.org (MichaelP) Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2010 18:11:16 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Mai-not] (no subject) Message-ID: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/01/blair-arrest-crime-national-memory THE GUARDIAN (LONDON) Monday 1 February 2010 22.00 GMT by GEORGE MONBIOT What else can you do? When the entire administration is engaged in a criminal act, when there is no clear separation of powers between the government and the judiciary, when those appointed to hold the government to account are as scary as a litter of kittens, where do you turn? Do you appeal to the attorney general's office to prosecute itself? The forensic failure of the Chilcot inquiry illustrates what we learnt from the banking scandals: self-regulation doesn't work. The independence of the inquiry is as stark a lie as any of the claims made by its star witness. In truth this panel of pussycats is a quango appointed and instructed by the prime minister, who will himself appear as a witness. If ever you needed more evidence that the power of the prime minister's office is insufficiently defined in the United Kingdom, here it is. So you can mock our feeble attempts to hold Tony Blair to account, but only if you propose an alternative. Last Friday's hearings show that there will be no justice, no reckoning from the organs of the state. Encouraging citizen's arrests of Tony Blair for the crime of aggression is perhaps the only remaining option we have, and the astonishing response to the campaign I launched last week shows that many people understand this. In 30 hours, before Paypal blocked the account without notice, the bounty fund at www.arrestblair.org, which rewards people trying to arrest the former prime minister for crimes against peace, cleared 9,000. Brit pounds Since then it has been harder to produce a running total, but further pledges, electronic transfers and Tipit contributions amount to several thousand pounds more, and are still coming in at the rate of hundreds of pounds a day. The volume of correspondence has been overwhelming too: it will take weeks to reply to all the pledges and letters of support. There is a massive public appetite to see justice done. Already the campaign has borne fruit. Outside the Chilcot inquiry a woman called Grace McCann, inspired by the website, tried to apprehend Mr Blair, before she was restrained and removed by the police. She qualifies for the first bounty: one quarter of the total pot at the time of her attempt. She has pledged to give the money to relevant charities. The fund will remain open until Blair is officially prosecuted, and we will keep paying out to those who follow Grace's example. Two main arguments have been deployed against this campaign. The most surprising was produced by Polly Toynbee in her column on Saturday: "Calling in judges to override the decisions of a democratically elected government backed by parliament is a dangerous road, leading to the demise of politics --- there is no other authority and we undermine it at our peril. Politics is already at a low ebb: sending political decisions to be over-ridden by the courts would do nothing to restore credibility." This is a weird form of liberal exceptionalism. Because enthusiasm for politics has declined, she argues, there should be no limits to state power, except those ordained by the state. It is precisely because we no longer believe that the government can be held to account that we have become so disillusioned with politics. In a country like the United Kingdom -- where executive power is constitutionally unlimited; the prime minister can bully, mislead and lie to parliament; the attorney general is both overseer of the legal system and a minister of the Crown; media scrutiny is feeble and partisan; and citizens have come to expect nothing better -- judicial review is even more important than it is elsewhere. But in any nation, equality before the law is fundamental to democracy. Its absence leaves the door wide open to elective dictatorship. Except in Italy, this is the first time I have seen anyone in a democratic country argue that judges should not be able either to review the decisions of government or to try its ministers. I agree with Polly that the legal issue must not obscure the moral issues. But it doesn't: it highlights them. Wars of aggression are illegal for a good moral reason: they kill people without justification. Most of Blair's apologists -- William Shawcross, Nick Cohen, David Blunkett, John Rentoul and others -- argue that Iraq is a better place now than it was before the war, and therefore the war was retrospectively both just and legal. On the same grounds -- the ends justify the means -- any number of wars could be excused. The first world war secured votes for women, allowed the young to challenge a corrupt gerontocracy and began to crack the class system, but you would be hard put to argue that this justified the slaughter in the trenches. Europe has been a safer and more prosperous place since the conclusion of the second world war: this doesn't mean that the Axis powers were right to launch it. To suggest that the murder of somewhere between 100,000 and a million people in Iraq, the wounding and mutilation of many more, the collapse of infrastructure and public services, and the misrule of the occupying powers are justified by subsequent partial improvements in the lives of surviving Iraqis is to maintain that the massive tally of death and destruction was a price worth paying. It is part of the same psychopathic mindset -- which reduced human lives to nothing but figures in a political equation -- that launched the war. Nick Cohen's argument -- that Saddam was a monster and his reign was illegitimate, therefore it was legitimate and legal to remove him -- is facile and deeply confused. He deliberately conflates two meanings of the word legitimate. I can see that there's a case for updating international law to examine the issue of humanitarian intervention, and to decide if countries might be justified in attacking another to relieve the suffering of its citizens. But to maintain that states have a right to disregard current law at their convenience and unilaterally punish another country invites the collapse of an international system that, though flawed, seeks to defend weaker nations from perpetual attack. This doctrine would permit states to invent justifications for wars of self-interest, just as King Leopold claimed to be liberating the Congo from Arab slavers so he could enslave it himself, or Saddam Hussein claimed to be saving the region from Shia fundamentalism by bombarding Iran with poison gas. If you want to invade another country, a humanitarian reason can always be found. The arrest campaign cannot right the wrongs of the Iraq war, or even guarantee that Blair is prosecuted for his gigantic crime, but it makes sure that the issue cannot be shuffled away into the dark corners of the national memory. While Blair can brush off the Chilcot panel, this bounty fund ensures that he will never rid himself of accountability for his actions. It shows governments that they may no longer destroy people's lives and expect us to forget. From papadop at peak.org Mon Feb 1 22:00:17 2010 From: papadop at peak.org (MichaelP) Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2010 22:00:17 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Mai-not] NPR Finds Right-Wing Crank to speak ill of Howard Zinn Message-ID: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4009 NPR Finds Right-Wing Crank to Spit on Zinn's Grave David Horowitz in "All Things Considered" obituary with substance-free attack 1/29/10 When progressive historian Howard Zinn died on January 27, NPR's All Things Considered (1/28/10) marked his passing with something you don't often see in an obituary: a rebuttal. After quoting Noam Chomsky and Julian Bond, NPR's Allison Keyes turned to far-right activist David Horowitz to symbolically spit on Zinn's grave. "There is absolutely nothing in Howard Zinn's intellectual output that is worthy of any kind of respect," Horowitz declared. "Zinn represents a fringe mentality which has unfortunately seduced millions of people at this point in time. So he did certainly alter the consciousness of millions of younger people for the worse." Horowitz's substance-free attack contributed nothing to an understanding of Zinn's life or work, other than conveying that he's disliked by cranky right-wingers. (Horowitz has been best known in recent years for his race-baiting and Muslim-bashing--Extra!, 5-6/02; FAIR report, 10/1/08.) He seems to have been included merely to demonstrate that NPR will not allow praise for a leftist to go unaccompanied by conservative contempt. Needless to say, it is not the case that NPR has a consistent principle that all its obituaries be thus "balanced." Take its coverage of the death of William F. Buckley, a figure as admired by the right as much as Zinn was on the left. Upon his death in February 2008, NPR aired six segments commemorating him, none of which included a non-admiring guest. In two segments, All Things Considered (2/27/08) presented the remembrances of Rich Lowry (Buckley's successor at National Review), his son Christopher and his biographer Sam Tanenhaus. One of the All Things Considered segments did include a soundbite of Noam Chomsky debating with Buckley: "No, I don't believe that.... In fact I think that..." But what Chomsky did not believe was unclear, let alone what he actually thought. Talk of the Nation (2/27/08) featured admirer William Kristol, while Day by Day (2/27/08) had an extended interview with protegee David Brooks. Morning Edition (2/28/08) just quoted Buckley himself. The celebration of Buckley culminated with Weekend Edition host Scott Simon (2/29/08), who turned the cause of death into a eulogy: "Emphysema, such an unseemly thing for a man who was so often a breath of fresh air." In fact, there was much to criticize about Buckley, who was a supporter of, among other things, white supremacism in the U.S. South and South Africa, McCarthyism, nuclear war against China and the tattooing of AIDS patients' buttocks (Extra!, 5-6/08). Reporting his death, however, NPR didn't think it was worth bringing on a critic who would take a negative view. Why the same outlet took a different approach when the subject was an intellectual on the left rather than the right is perhaps something the NPR ombud could answer. ACTION: Please ask the NPR ombud why All Things Considered brought on David Horowitz to trash the late Howard Zinn when NPR's extensive coverage of William F. Buckley included no critical guests. CONTACT: You can contact NPR ombud Alicia Shepard through this web form: http://help.npr.org/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=5670&task=ticket Or call 202-513-3245. You can post a copy of your message to NPR here: http://www.fair.org/blog/2010/01/29/action-alert-npr-brings-on-david-horowit z-to-trash-howard-zinn/ From papadop at peak.org Mon Feb 1 22:56:52 2010 From: papadop at peak.org (MichaelP) Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2010 22:56:52 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Mai-not] Why does Washington care about small countries in Americas Message-ID: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/jan/29/us-latin-america-haiti-honduras#start-of-comments * The Guardian (London) Mark Weisbrot , Friday 29 January 2010 19.00 GMT When I write about US foreign policy in places such as Haiti or Honduras, I often get responses from people who find it difficult to believe that the US government would care enough about these countries to try and control or topple their governments. These are small, poor countries with little in the way of resources or markets. Why should Washington policymakers care who runs them? Unfortunately they do care. A lot. They care enough about Haiti to have overthrown the elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide not once, but twice. The first time, in 1991, it was done covertly. We only found out after the fact that the people who led the coup were paid by the US Central Intelligence Agency. And then Emmanuel Constant, the leader of the most notorious death squad there -- which killed thousands of Aristide's supporters after the coup -- told CBS News that he, too, was funded by the CIA. In 2004, the US involvement in the coup was much more open. Washington led a cut-off of almost all international aid for four years, making the government's collapse inevitable. As the New York Times reported, while the US state department was telling Aristide that he had to reach an agreement with the political opposition (funded with millions of US taxpayers' dollars), the International Republican Institute was telling the opposition not to settle. In Honduras last summer and autumn, the US government did everything it could to prevent the rest of the hemisphere from mounting an effective political opposition to the coup government in Honduras. For example, they blocked the Organisation of American States from taking the position that it would not recognise elections that took place under the dictatorship. At the same time, the Obama administration publicly pretended that it was against the coup. This was only partly successful, from a public relations point of view. Most of the US public thinks that the Obama administration was against the Honduran coup, although by November of last year there were numerous press reports and even editorial criticisms that Obama had caved to Republican pressure and not done enough. But this was a misreading of what actually happened: the Republican pressure in support of the Honduran coup changed the administration's public relations strategy, but not its political strategy. Those who followed events closely from the beginning could see that the political strategy was to blunt and delay any efforts to restore the elected president, while pretending that a return to democracy was actually the goal. Among those who understood this were the governments of Latin America, including such heavyweights as Brazil. This is important because it shows that the State Department was willing to pay a significant political cost in order to help the right in Honduras. It convinced the vast majority of Latin American governments that it was no different from the Bush administration in its goals for the hemisphere, which is not a pleasant outcome from a diplomatic point of view. Why do they care so much about who runs these poor countries? As any good chess player knows, pawns matter. The loss of a couple of pawns at the beginning of the game can often make a difference between a win or a loss. They are looking at these countries mostly in straight power terms. Governments that are in agreement with maximising US power in the world, they like. Those who have other goals -- not necessarily antagonistic to the United States -- they don't like. Not surprisingly, the Obama administration's closest allies in the hemisphere are rightwing governments such as those of Colombia or Panama, even though Obama himself is not a rightwing politician. This highlights the continuity of the politics of control. The victory of the right in Chile, the first time that it has won an election in half a century, was a significant victory for the US government. If Lula de Silva's Workers' party were to lose the presidential election in Brazil this autumn, that would be another win for the state department. While US officials under both Bush and Obama have maintained a friendly posture toward Brazil, it is obvious that they deeply resent the changes in Brazilian foreign policy that have allied it with other social democratic governments in the hemisphere, and its independent foreign policy stances with regard to the Middle East, Iran, and elsewhere. The US actually intervened in Brazilian politics as recently as 2005, organising a conference to promote a legal change that would make it more difficult for legislators to switch parties. This would have strengthened the opposition to Lula's Workers' party (PT) government, since the PT has party discipline but many opposition politicians do not. This intervention by the US government was only discovered last year through a Freedom of Information Act request filed in Washington. There are many other interventions taking place throughout the hemisphere that we do not know about. The United States has been heavily involved in Chilean politics since the 1960s, long before they organised the overthrow of Chilean democracy in 1973. In October 1970, President Richard Nixon was cursing in the Oval Office about the Social Democratic president of Chile, Salvador Allende. "That son of a bitch!" said Richard Nixon on 15 October. "That son of a bitch Allende -- we're going to smash him." A few weeks later he explained why: "The main concern in Chile is that [Allende] can consolidate himself, and the picture projected to the world will be his success ... If we let the potential leaders in South America think they can move like Chile and have it both ways, we will be in trouble." That is another reason that pawns matter, and Nixon's nightmare did in fact come true a quarter-century later, as one country after another elected independent left governments that Washington did not want. The United States ended up "losing" most of the region. But they are trying to get it back, one country at a time. The smaller, poorer countries that are closer to the United States are the most at risk. Honduras and Haiti will have democratic elections some day, but only when Washington's influence over their politics is further reduced. From glparramatta at greenleft.org.au Tue Feb 2 00:03:16 2010 From: glparramatta at greenleft.org.au (glparramatta) Date: Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:03:16 +1100 Subject: [Mai-not] What's new at Links: Haiti, population and environment, RIP Howard Zinn & Alistair Hulett, Indonesia, Cuba and S. Africa, Obama, Honduras Message-ID: <4B67DC44.9010801@greenleft.org.au> What's new at Links: Haiti; population and environment; RIP Howard Zinn & Alistair Hulett; Indonesia; Cuba and S. Africa; Obama; Honduras * * * Subscribe free to Links - International Journal of Socialist Renewal - at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373 You can also follow Links on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LinksSocialism Visit and bookmark http://links.org.au and add it to your RSS feed (http://links.org.au/rss.xml). If you would like us to consider an article, please send it to links at dsp.org.au *Please pass on to anybody you think will be interested in Links. * * * Howard Zinn, 1922-2010: Howard Zinn interviewed by Dave Zirin On May 2, 2009, the US International Socialist Organization invited Dave Zirin to sitdown and interview renowned historian Howard Zinn. * Watch here People are not pollution -- Why climate activists should not support limits on immigration By Ian Angus and Simon Butler January 25, 2010 -- Immigrants to the developed world have frequently been blamed for unemployment, crime and other social ills. Attempts to reduce or block immigration have been justified as necessary measures to protect "our way of life" from alien influences. Today, some environmentalists go farther, arguing that sharp cuts in immigration are needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate change. However sincere and well-meaning such activists may be, their arguments are wrong and dangerous, and should be rejected by the climate emergency movement. * Read more Peter Hallward: Securing disaster in Haiti By Peter Hallward January 21, 2010 -- Nine days after the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, it's now clear that the initial phase of the US-led relief operation has conformed to the three fundamental tendencies that have shaped the more general course of the island's recent history.[1] It has adopted military priorities and strategies. It has sidelined Haiti's own leaders and government, and ignored the needs of the majority of its people. And it has proceeded in ways that reinforce the already harrowing gap between rich and poor. All three tendencies aren't just connected, they are mutually reinforcing. These same tendencies will continue to govern the imminent reconstruction effort as well, unless determined political action is taken to counteract them. * Read more Indonesia: Thousands protest Yudhoyono's 100th day in office Photos by Ulfa Ilyas and PRP International Jakarta, Indonesia -- January 28, 2010 -- Thousands of Indonesians staged a mass protest in front of the presidential palace. The protesters criticised the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's neoliberal policies and corruption on its 100th day in office. * Read more Cuba and the South African anti-apartheid struggle Twenty years ago, Nelson Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison in Paarl, South Africa, on February 11, 1990. That historic victory was the product of the long and courageous struggle of the oppressed people of South Africa. It was also a victory for the international movement against apartheid. Revolutionary Cuba played a vital role in the international movement against white minority rule in South Africa, as the following article describes. * Read more Alistair Hulett: `A truly great singer, songwriter, activist and socialist' January 29, 2010 -- Alistair Hulett died at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow on Thursday evening, January 28, 2010. Alistair, a truly great singer, songwriter, activist and socialist, will be greatly missed by us all. * Read more Obama's State of the Union: Year one of a corporate presidency By Billy Wharton January 27, 2010 -- From the start, Barack Obama's presidency has seemed like one big public relations campaign. Tonight's State of the Union address did little to dissuade one from this view. Sagging under the weight of depressed dreams of hope and change, he desperately needed to appear as though he was doing something to address the growing needs of the US people. Emphasis was on "appearances", since Obama's speech delivered more of the same from his first year in office: high rhetoric with little substance. * Read more Haiti: `Cancel the debt!' -- Joint statement by Asian left organisations in solidarity with the people of Haiti [To add your organisation's support, email: Ign Mahendra K at international at prp-indonesia.org .] January 27, 2010 -- On January 12, 2010, a 7.3 Richter scale earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. The earthquake caused great destruction and 200,000 people are thought to be dead. Further, 3 million Haitians have been rendered homeless by the quake, which also damaged many public service buildings, such as hospitals and schools. * Read more Honduras: Obama's new puppets on display; Massive demonstration as Lobo takes power By Felipe Stuart Cournoyer, Managua January 26, 2010 -- During the dubious Honduran election process leading up to voting day on November 27, 2009, the people would chant "Santos[1] de santo no tiene nada. Lobo de lobo lo tiene todo" ["(Elvin) Santos gets nothing from the saints; Lobo's taken it all from the wolf."] * Read more Haiti: A history of struggle and exploitation By Amanda Zivcic January 23, 2010 -- Since the earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, there has been a global outpouring of support. Many people, horrified by the scenes of sheer devastation, the astronomical death toll and the struggle of survivors to gain access to medicines, food and shelter, are left wondering: why so many? The oft-repeated tag of Haiti being "the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere" is true but this did not just happen. It is the result of a history of colonialism, slavery, imperialism, foreign military intervention, foreign-imposed dictatorships and unjust debt. * Read more * * * Links seeks to promote the international exchange of information, experience of struggle, theoretical analysis and views of political strategy and tactics within the international left. It is a forum for open and constructive dialogue between active socialists coming from different political traditions. It seeks to bring together those in the international left who are opposed to neoliberal economic and social policies. It aims to promote the renewal of the socialist movement in the wake of the collapse of the bureaucratic model of "actually existing socialism" in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. ATTENTION: Sign up for regular ``what's new'' announcement emails at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373 Follow Links on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LinksSocialism -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca Tue Feb 2 06:03:31 2010 From: jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca (Janet M Eaton) Date: Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:03:31 -0400 Subject: [Mai-not] Raj Patel author "Capitalism needs a rewrite: on flaws of free market economy & social movements changing the paradigm Message-ID: <4B67F873.8642.24A11D42@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> "The flaw at the heart of markets is essentially the idea that profit and corporations should govern the valuation of things and that everyone else should stand aside. The trouble is that modern capitalism is the anti-market. . . . It enables a few people to concentrate a great deal of power and to shove onto the rest of the world not only the consequences of their ill-advised risks but also the certainties of the ways in which they exploit nature, exploit labour - and in particular women?s labour - and kick into the future questions around environmental sustainability that our children are going to have to suffer." - Raj Patel, author, academic and social activist who wrote the best selling "Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World?s Food System, and "Capitalism needs a rewrite" who has also worked for the World Bank and consulted for the United Nations, will speak at Saint Mary?s University on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. "FOOD Security: From Feast to Famine" http://internationalcentre.smu.ca/int-week.html fyi-janet p.s Patel draws examples of the dominant paradigm shifting citing what is happening in Canada re the no-prorogation movement and what is happening with the localization of food all over the world. He says the way to correct that situation [ i,e the flaw at the heart free markets which serve corporate interests before people and planet], and the ills it has visited upon the world, is to exercise more democratic control over markets by regulating, constraining and debating what it is that should be markets in the first place and allowing markets to proceed only after we?ve figured ways of living within our economic means and living with the consequences of our actions," Patel points to North American exaxmples to rethink markets as well: "In North America now, there are nearly 100 food policy councils where city officials and community activists and farmers and small businesses are getting together... He sees in this network of social movements happening around the world real constructive solutions and the real force of organizing that he finds quite exciting. __________________________________ http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1165432.html When greed trumps need Author: Capitalism needs a rewrite By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter Tue. Feb 2 - 4:53 AM Raj Patel: `Modern capitalism is the anti-market.? (ANDREA ISMERT) RAJ PATEL, author of The Value of Nothing, a critique of the market- driven capitalist system that came crashing down in 2008, is all for markets. "I love markets," said the author, academic and social activist who wrote the best selling Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World?s Food System, in an interview from Toronto on Monday. "We need venues for exchange and co-operation and trust," he said. "The trouble is that modern capitalism is the anti-market. . . . It enables a few people to concentrate a great deal of power and to shove onto the rest of the world not only the consequences of their ill-advised risks but also the certainties of the ways in which they exploit nature, exploit labour - and in particular women?s labour - and kick into the future questions around environmental sustainability that our children are going to have to suffer." A London, England, native who recently became a U.S. citizen, Mr. Patel, 38, holds a master?s degree from the London School of Economics and a doctorate in development sociology from Cornell University. A visiting scholar in the Center for African Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, who has worked for the World Bank and consulted for the United Nations, Mr. Patel will speak at Saint Mary?s University on Thursday as part of the university?s annual International Week, which is focusing this year on food security. Through a wealth of historical data, some familiar and some obscure, The Value of Nothing traces the development of a capitalist system characterized by markets that are driven by profit rather than by need. "The flaw at the heart of markets is essentially the idea that profit and corporations should govern the valuation of things and that everyone else should stand aside," he said. Mr. Patel said the way to correct that situation, and the ills it has visited upon the world, is through more democratic control of markets as has been practised by La Via Campesina, an international peasant movement founded in 1993 by a number of American and European farmer groups that he cites at length in his book. "The solution is to exercise more democratic control over markets by regulating, constraining and debating what it is that should be markets in the first place and allowing markets to proceed only after we?ve figured ways of living within our economic means and living with the consequences of our actions," he said. Mr. Patel acknowledged that changing the current entrenched paradigm won?t be easy, but he sees encouraging examples of new market thinking all around. "I?m certainly seeing a distrust of authority," he said, citing the anger in Canada about Stephen Harper?s unilateral decision to suspend Parliament. He pointed to grassroots efforts to deal with the issue of hunger in North America as an example of new market thinking. "In North America now, there are nearly 100 food policy councils where city officials and community activists and farmers and small businesses are getting together to figure out how to banish hunger," said Mr. Patel, who noted that one in six Americans goes hungry despite that country?s wealth. "I?m realistic about the balance of power right now but I also see in this network of social movements that?s happening around the world real constructive solutions and the real force of organizing that I think is quite exciting." ( berskine at herald.ca) `The flaw at the heart of markets is essentially the idea that profit and corporations should govern the valuation of things and that everyone else should stand aside.? RAJ PATELAuthor ------- End of forwarded message ------- Attachments: C:\DOCUME~1\JANETM~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WPM$6873.PM$ ------- End of forwarded message ------- Attachments: C:\DOCUME~1\JANETM~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WPM$2F89.PM$ ------- End of forwarded message ------- -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: WPM$0460.PM$ Type: application/octet-stream Size: 6477 bytes Desc: Mail message body URL: From thinker at xplornet.com Tue Feb 2 07:56:33 2010 From: thinker at xplornet.com (Ed Deak) Date: Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:56:33 -0800 Subject: [Mai-not] Ignoble Prize for Economics Message-ID: <20100202155648.68223B4ABED@smtprelay02.hostedemail.com> From: real-world economics review Voting is now open for the Ignoble Prize for Economics The Ignoble Prize for Economics is to be awarded to the three economists who contributed most to enabling the Global Financial Collapse (GFC) Voting is ultra quick and easy. Click here http://rwer.wordpress.com/poll-procedures-for-the-ignoble-prize-for-economics/vote-for-the-ignoble-prize-for-economics/ or go to http://rwer.wordpress.com/ and you will see the ballot. Click on your three choices and then the big yellow "vote" button. 22 economists were nominated for the prize. Through consultation with contributors to the Real-World Economics Review Blog, the following short list of ten, including two pairs of economists, has been selected for the ballot. Dossiers of short-listed of nominees for the Ignoble Prize for Economics Fischer Black and Myron Scholes They jointly developed the Black-Scholes model which led to the explosive growth of financial derivatives. The importance given to their hypothetical calculation of derivative prices was baneful not just because it was bogus, but also because it meant that relevant and often urgent real-world economic research was widely neglected by the profession. Eugene Fama His "efficient market theory" provided the moral umbrella for all sorts of greed, predatory behaviour and incompetent corporate management. It also provided the rationale for deregulation. And his theory's widespread acceptance meant that "discussion of investor irrationality, of bubbles, of destructive speculation had virtually disappeared from academic discourse." In these three ways Fama's work created the environment which made possible the GFC. Milton Friedman He propagated the delusion, through his misunderstanding of the scientific method, that an economy can be accurately modeled using counterfactual propositions about its nature. This, together with his simplistic model of money, encouraged the development of the financial theories with unrealistic assumptions that facilitated the GFC. In short, he opened the door for everyone subsequently to theorize without fear of having to be attached to reality. Alan Greenspan As Chairman of the Federal Reserve System from 1987 to 2006, he both led the over expansion of money and credit that created the bubble that burst and aggressively promoted the view that financial markets are naturally efficient and in no need of regulation. Before a Congressional committee on 28 October 2008 Greenspan confessed that his theoretical beliefs of 40 years were now proven to be without foundation, hence his total confusion and failure at his job. Assar Lindbeck By working to make the Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences ("Nobel Prize in Economics") almost exclusively a prize for neoclassical economists, this Swedish economist has contributed significantly to the conversion of the economics profession and of world public opinion to market fundamentalism. Robert Lucas His development of the rational expectations hypothesis, which defined rationality as the capacity to accurately predict the future, both served to maintain Friedman's proposition that monetary factors do not affect the real economy and, in the name of "rigor", distanced economics even further from reality than Friedman had thought possible. Richard Portes As Secretary-General of the Royal Economic Society from 1992-2008, he helped suppress worries expressed by non-mainstream economists about developments in the financial sector. In 2007 he wrote a Report for the Icelandic Chamber of Commerce giving a clean bill of health to Icelandic banks only a few months before they collapsed. When investigators called attention to the real state of Icelandic banking, he wrote a series of letters to the Financial Times defending the soundness of Icelandic banks and imputing professional incompetence to those who doubted it. Edward Prescott and Finn Kydland For jointly developing and popularizing "Real Business Cycle" theory, which by omitting the role of credit greatly diminished the economics profession's understanding of dynamic macroeconomic processes. Paul Samuelson Through his textbook Economics: An Introductory Analysis (19 English language editions and translated into 40 languages), he popularized neoclassical economics, contributing more than any other economist to its diffusion and thereby to the deregulation of financial markets which made possible the GFC. Larry Summers As US Secretary of the Treasury (formerly an economist at Harvard and the World Bank), he worked successfully for the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which since the Great Crash of 1929 had kept deposit banking separate from casino banking. He also worked with Greenspan and Wall Street interests to torpedo efforts to regulate derivatives. Procedures The voting is being conducted using PollDaddy. Its system uses cookies to prevent repeat voting. A voting box showing the short-listed candidates and a link to their dossiers will remain till voting closes near the top of the right-hand column on the home page of the Real-World Economics Review Blog . Voting is open to all interested parties. Each voter can vote for up to three of the listed candidates. The ballots are secret. Voting will remain open for several weeks. No results will be announced before closing the poll. ---------- Click here to safely unsubscribe now from "real-world economics review" or change your subscription or subscribe ---------- Your requested content delivery powered by FeedBlitz, LLC, 9 Thoreau Way, Sudbury, MA 01776, USA. +1.978.776.9498 From thinker at xplornet.com Tue Feb 2 08:05:44 2010 From: thinker at xplornet.com (Ed Deak) Date: Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:05:44 -0800 Subject: [Mai-not] Raj Patel author "Capitalism needs a rewrite: on flaws of free market economy & social movements changing the paradigm In-Reply-To: <4B67F873.8642.24A11D42@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> References: <4B67F873.8642.24A11D42@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> Message-ID: <20100202160600.DC1D51F202D6@smtprelay03.hostedemail.com> I seem to remember that I've been writing on this subject for over 20 years, some 13 years on this list alone. Of course, I'm only a highschool dropout and tradesman/rancher, hick in the sticks, so what the hell do I know ? Perhaps I should buy one of those doctorates I keep getting offered all the time ? In any case, this gradual awakening is very much welcome, but also really funny from here in the backwoods. Cheers, Ed. At 06:03 AM 02/02/2010, Janet M Eaton wrote: >"The flaw at the heart of markets is essentially the idea that profit >and corporations should govern the valuation of things and that >everyone else should stand aside. The trouble is that modern >capitalism is the anti-market. . . . It enables a few people to >concentrate a great deal of power and to shove onto the rest of the >world not only the consequences of their ill-advised risks but also >the certainties of the ways in which they exploit nature, exploit >labour - and in particular women?s labour - and kick into the future >questions around environmental sustainability that our children are >going to have to suffer." > - Raj Patel, author, academic and social activist who wrote the >best selling "Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden >Battle for the World?s Food System, and "Capitalism needs a rewrite" >who has also worked for the World Bank and consulted for the >United Nations, will speak at Saint Mary?s University on Thursday at >7:00 p.m. "FOOD Security: From Feast to Famine" >http://internationalcentre.smu.ca/int-week.html >fyi-janet > >p.s >Patel draws examples of the dominant paradigm shifting citing what >is happening in Canada re the no-prorogation movement and what is >happening with the localization of food all over the world. >He says the way to correct that situation [ i,e the flaw at the heart >free markets which serve corporate interests before people and >planet], and the ills it has visited upon the world, is to exercise >more democratic control over markets by regulating, constraining and >debating what it is that should be markets in the first place and >allowing markets to proceed only after we?ve figured ways of living >within our economic means and living with the consequences of our >actions," >Patel points to North American exaxmples to rethink markets as well: >"In North America now, there are nearly 100 food policy councils >where city officials and community activists and farmers and small >businesses are getting together... He sees in this network of social >movements happening around the world real constructive solutions and >the real force of organizing that he finds quite exciting. > >__________________________________ > >http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1165432.html >When greed trumps need >Author: Capitalism needs a rewrite >By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter >Tue. Feb 2 - 4:53 AM > >Raj Patel: `Modern capitalism is the anti-market.? (ANDREA ISMERT) > >RAJ PATEL, author of The Value of Nothing, a critique of the market- >driven capitalist system that came crashing down in 2008, is all for >markets. > >"I love markets," said the author, academic and social activist who >wrote the best selling Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the >Hidden Battle for the World?s Food System, in an interview from >Toronto on Monday. > >"We need venues for exchange and co-operation and trust," he said. >"The trouble is that modern capitalism is the anti-market. . . . It >enables a few people to concentrate a great deal of power and to >shove onto the rest of the world not only the consequences of their >ill-advised risks but also the certainties of the ways in which they >exploit nature, exploit labour - and in particular women?s labour - >and kick into the future questions around environmental >sustainability that our children are going to have to suffer." > >A London, England, native who recently became a U.S. citizen, Mr. >Patel, 38, holds a master?s degree from the London School of >Economics and a doctorate in development sociology from Cornell >University. > >A visiting scholar in the Center for African Studies at the >University of California, Berkeley, who has worked for the World Bank > > >and consulted for the United Nations, Mr. Patel will speak at Saint >Mary?s University on Thursday as part of the university?s annual >International Week, which is focusing this year on food security. > >Through a wealth of historical data, some familiar and some obscure, >The Value of Nothing traces the development of a capitalist system >characterized by markets that are driven by profit rather than by >need. > >"The flaw at the heart of markets is essentially the idea that profit > > >and corporations should govern the valuation of things and that >everyone else should stand aside," he said. >Mr. Patel said the way to correct that situation, and the ills it has > > >visited upon the world, is through more democratic control of markets > > >as has been practised by La Via Campesina, an international peasant >movement founded in 1993 by a number of American and European farmer >groups that he cites at length in his book. > >"The solution is to exercise more democratic control over markets by >regulating, constraining and debating what it is that should be >markets in the first place and allowing markets to proceed only after > > >we?ve figured ways of living within our economic means and living >with the consequences of our actions," he said. > >Mr. Patel acknowledged that changing the current entrenched paradigm >won?t be easy, but he sees encouraging examples of new market >thinking all around. > >"I?m certainly seeing a distrust of authority," he said, citing the >anger in Canada about Stephen Harper?s unilateral decision to suspend > > >Parliament. > >He pointed to grassroots efforts to deal with the issue of hunger in >North America as an example of new market thinking. >"In North America now, there are nearly 100 food policy councils >where city officials and community activists and farmers and small >businesses are getting together to figure out how to banish hunger," >said Mr. Patel, who noted that one in six Americans goes hungry >despite that country?s wealth. > >"I?m realistic about the balance of power right now but I also see in > > >this network of social movements that?s happening around the world >real constructive solutions and the real force of organizing that I >think is quite exciting." > >( berskine at herald.ca) > >`The flaw at the heart of markets is essentially the idea that profit > > > >and corporations should govern the valuation of things and that >everyone else should stand aside.? > >RAJ PATELAuthor > >------- End of forwarded message ------- > >Attachments: > C:\DOCUME~1\JANETM~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WPM$6873.PM$ >------- End of forwarded message ------- > >Attachments: > C:\DOCUME~1\JANETM~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WPM$2F89.PM$ >------- End of forwarded message ------- > >Content-type: Application/Octet-stream; name="WPM$0460.PM$"; type=Plain text >Content-description: Mail message body >Content-disposition: attachment; filename="WPM$0460.PM$" > >_______________________________________________ >Mai-not mailing list >Mai-not at globalproblematique.net >http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not > > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2662 >- Release Date: 02/01/10 04:37:00 From siamdave at yahoo.ca Tue Feb 2 09:05:01 2010 From: siamdave at yahoo.ca (Dave Patterson) Date: Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:05:01 +0700 Subject: [Mai-not] Raj Patel author "Capitalism needs a rewrite: on flaws of free market economy & social movements changing the paradigm In-Reply-To: <20100202160600.DC1D51F202D6@smtprelay03.hostedemail.com> References: <4B67F873.8642.24A11D42@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> <20100202160600.DC1D51F202D6@smtprelay03.hostedemail.com> Message-ID: <201002030005010375.03BDE271@smtp.totisp.net> I grok that one Ed - I wrote my first piece on the amazing national debt scam in the late 80s - and I'm still not sure if it would take more than two hands to count the number of people who seem to understand this, or care what I've been trying to say. As we read stories in the paper every day about the great financial hardships everybody is facing, I wonder if I'm invisible or something as I point out the basis of the problem and the solution - I've been trying to tell people the answer to it all for years, and it's like talking to - well, I better not start. Maybe we can start a club - we obviously wouldn't need a big place to hold meetings. *********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** On 10-02-02 at 8:05 AM Ed Deak wrote: I seem to remember that I've been writing on this subject for over 20 years, some 13 years on this list alone. Of course, I'm only a highschool dropout and tradesman/rancher, hick in the sticks, so what the hell do I know ? Perhaps I should buy one of those doctorates I keep getting offered all the time ? In any case, this gradual awakening is very much welcome, but also really funny from here in the backwoods. Cheers, Ed. At 06:03 AM 02/02/2010, Janet M Eaton wrote: >"The flaw at the heart of markets is essentially the idea that profit >and corporations should govern the valuation of things and that >everyone else should stand aside. The trouble is that modern >capitalism is the anti-market. . . . It enables a few people to >concentrate a great deal of power and to shove onto the rest of the >world not only the consequences of their ill-advised risks but also >the certainties of the ways in which they exploit nature, exploit >labour - and in particular women?s labour - and kick into the future >questions around environmental sustainability that our children are >going to have to suffer." > - Raj Patel, author, academic and social activist who wrote the >best selling "Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden >Battle for the World?s Food System, and "Capitalism needs a rewrite" >who has also worked for the World Bank and consulted for the >United Nations, will speak at Saint Mary?s University on Thursday at >7:00 p.m. "FOOD Security: From Feast to Famine" >http://internationalcentre.smu.ca/int-week.html >fyi-janet > >p.s >Patel draws examples of the dominant paradigm shifting citing what >is happening in Canada re the no-prorogation movement and what is >happening with the localization of food all over the world. >He says the way to correct that situation [ i,e the flaw at the heart >free markets which serve corporate interests before people and >planet], and the ills it has visited upon the world, is to exercise >more democratic control over markets by regulating, constraining and >debating what it is that should be markets in the first place and >allowing markets to proceed only after we?ve figured ways of living >within our economic means and living with the consequences of our >actions," >Patel points to North American exaxmples to rethink markets as well: >"In North America now, there are nearly 100 food policy councils >where city officials and community activists and farmers and small >businesses are getting together... He sees in this network of social >movements happening around the world real constructive solutions and >the real force of organizing that he finds quite exciting. > >__________________________________ > >http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1165432.html >When greed trumps need >Author: Capitalism needs a rewrite >By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter >Tue. Feb 2 - 4:53 AM > >Raj Patel: `Modern capitalism is the anti-market.? (ANDREA ISMERT) > >RAJ PATEL, author of The Value of Nothing, a critique of the market- >driven capitalist system that came crashing down in 2008, is all for >markets. > >"I love markets," said the author, academic and social activist who >wrote the best selling Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the >Hidden Battle for the World?s Food System, in an interview from >Toronto on Monday. > >"We need venues for exchange and co-operation and trust," he said. >"The trouble is that modern capitalism is the anti-market. . . . It >enables a few people to concentrate a great deal of power and to >shove onto the rest of the world not only the consequences of their >ill-advised risks but also the certainties of the ways in which they >exploit nature, exploit labour - and in particular women?s labour - >and kick into the future questions around environmental >sustainability that our children are going to have to suffer." > >A London, England, native who recently became a U.S. citizen, Mr. >Patel, 38, holds a master?s degree from the London School of >Economics and a doctorate in development sociology from Cornell >University. > >A visiting scholar in the Center for African Studies at the >University of California, Berkeley, who has worked for the World Bank > > >and consulted for the United Nations, Mr. Patel will speak at Saint >Mary?s University on Thursday as part of the university?s annual >International Week, which is focusing this year on food security. > >Through a wealth of historical data, some familiar and some obscure, >The Value of Nothing traces the development of a capitalist system >characterized by markets that are driven by profit rather than by >need. > >"The flaw at the heart of markets is essentially the idea that profit > > >and corporations should govern the valuation of things and that >everyone else should stand aside," he said. >Mr. Patel said the way to correct that situation, and the ills it has > > >visited upon the world, is through more democratic control of markets > > >as has been practised by La Via Campesina, an international peasant >movement founded in 1993 by a number of American and European farmer >groups that he cites at length in his book. > >"The solution is to exercise more democratic control over markets by >regulating, constraining and debating what it is that should be >markets in the first place and allowing markets to proceed only after > > >we?ve figured ways of living within our economic means and living >with the consequences of our actions," he said. > >Mr. Patel acknowledged that changing the current entrenched paradigm >won?t be easy, but he sees encouraging examples of new market >thinking all around. > >"I?m certainly seeing a distrust of authority," he said, citing the >anger in Canada about Stephen Harper?s unilateral decision to suspend > > >Parliament. > >He pointed to grassroots efforts to deal with the issue of hunger in >North America as an example of new market thinking. >"In North America now, there are nearly 100 food policy councils >where city officials and community activists and farmers and small >businesses are getting together to figure out how to banish hunger," >said Mr. Patel, who noted that one in six Americans goes hungry >despite that country?s wealth. > >"I?m realistic about the balance of power right now but I also see in > > >this network of social movements that?s happening around the world >real constructive solutions and the real force of organizing that I >think is quite exciting." > >( berskine at herald.ca) > >`The flaw at the heart of markets is essentially the idea that profit > > > >and corporations should govern the valuation of things and that >everyone else should stand aside.? > >RAJ PATELAuthor > >------- End of forwarded message ------- > >Attachments: > C:\DOCUME~1\JANETM~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WPM$6873.PM$ >------- End of forwarded message ------- > >Attachments: > C:\DOCUME~1\JANETM~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WPM$2F89.PM$ >------- End of forwarded message ------- > >Content-type: Application/Octet-stream; name="WPM$0460.PM$"; type=Plain text >Content-description: Mail message body >Content-disposition: attachment; filename="WPM$0460.PM$" > >_______________________________________________ >Mai-not mailing list >Mai-not at globalproblematique.net >http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not > > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2662 >- Release Date: 02/01/10 04:37:00 _______________________________________________ Mai-not mailing list Mai-not at globalproblematique.net http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.432 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2663 - Release Date: 02/02/10 07:35:00 From thinker at xplornet.com Tue Feb 2 10:04:54 2010 From: thinker at xplornet.com (Ed Deak) Date: Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:04:54 -0800 Subject: [Mai-not] Raj Patel author "Capitalism needs a rewrite: on flaws of free market economy & social movements changing the paradigm In-Reply-To: <201002030005010375.03BDE271@smtp.totisp.net> References: <4B67F873.8642.24A11D42@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> <20100202160600.DC1D51F202D6@smtprelay03.hostedemail.com> <201002030005010375.03BDE271@smtp.totisp.net> Message-ID: <20100202180514.9C673258F3EF@smtprelay01.hostedemail.com> Dave, If there's anything I've learned in life , it is that there's no point in getting emotionally involved in any subject. Put it down the best we can and then, as the say it in PR, "run it up the flagpole and see who salutes?" If nobody does, don't lose any sleep over it , just enjoy life. Or as they say "you can lead a horse to the trough , but you can't make him drink" When I first discovered that neoclassical economics are a fraud, back in 1985, I was terrified and didn't dare to talk about it for years, fearing that I may be wrong and how could I dare to question what most people believe in, etc. Now I just don't give a damn. Research things to the best of my knowledge and capability and then waste no more time and effort in trying to persuade anybody. All empires of history self destructed and so will this "globalized" crime wave. What we should concentrate on is to have the answers to save people after the collapse. At least on a small, local scale. Cheers, Ed. At 09:05 AM 02/02/2010, you wrote: >I grok that one Ed - I wrote my first piece on >the amazing national debt scam in the late 80s - >and I'm still not sure if it would take more >than two hands to count the number of people who >seem to understand this, or care what I've been >trying to say. As we read stories in the paper >every day about the great financial hardships >everybody is facing, I wonder if I'm invisible >or something as I point out the basis of the >problem and the solution - I've been trying to >tell people the answer to it all for years, and >it's like talking to - well, I better not start. >Maybe we can start a club - we obviously >wouldn't need a big place to hold meetings. > >*********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** > >On 10-02-02 at 8:05 AM Ed Deak wrote: > >I seem to remember that I've been writing on this >subject for over 20 years, some 13 years on this >list alone. Of course, I'm only a highschool >dropout and tradesman/rancher, hick in the >sticks, so what the hell do I know ? Perhaps I >should buy one of those doctorates I keep getting offered all the time ? > >In any case, this gradual awakening is very much >welcome, but also really funny from here in the backwoods. > >Cheers, Ed. > > > > >At 06:03 AM 02/02/2010, Janet M Eaton wrote: > >"The flaw at the heart of markets is essentially the idea that profit > >and corporations should govern the valuation of things and that > >everyone else should stand aside. The trouble is that modern > >capitalism is the anti-market. . . . It enables a few people to > >concentrate a great deal of power and to shove onto the rest of the > >world not only the consequences of their ill-advised risks but also > >the certainties of the ways in which they exploit nature, exploit > >labour - and in particular women?s labour - and kick into the future > >questions around environmental sustainability that our children are > >going to have to suffer." > > - Raj Patel, author, academic and social activist who wrote the > >best selling "Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden > >Battle for the World?s Food System, and "Capitalism needs a rewrite" > >who has also worked for the World Bank and consulted for the > >United Nations, will speak at Saint Mary?s University on Thursday at > >7:00 p.m. "FOOD Security: From Feast to Famine" > >http://internationalcentre.smu.ca/int-week.html > >fyi-janet > > > >p.s > >Patel draws examples of the dominant paradigm shifting citing what > >is happening in Canada re the no-prorogation movement and what is > >happening with the localization of food all over the world. > >He says the way to correct that situation [ i,e the flaw at the heart > >free markets which serve corporate interests before people and > >planet], and the ills it has visited upon the world, is to exercise > >more democratic control over markets by regulating, constraining and > >debating what it is that should be markets in the first place and > >allowing markets to proceed only after we?ve figured ways of living > >within our economic means and living with the consequences of our > >actions," > >Patel points to North American exaxmples to rethink markets as well: > >"In North America now, there are nearly 100 food policy councils > >where city officials and community activists and farmers and small > >businesses are getting together... He sees in this network of social > >movements happening around the world real constructive solutions and > >the real force of organizing that he finds quite exciting. > > > >__________________________________ > > > >http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1165432.html > >When greed trumps need > >Author: Capitalism needs a rewrite > >By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter > >Tue. Feb 2 - 4:53 AM > > > >Raj Patel: `Modern capitalism is the anti-market.? (ANDREA ISMERT) > > > >RAJ PATEL, author of The Value of Nothing, a critique of the market- > >driven capitalist system that came crashing down in 2008, is all for > >markets. > > > >"I love markets," said the author, academic and social activist who > >wrote the best selling Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the > >Hidden Battle for the World?s Food System, in an interview from > >Toronto on Monday. > > > >"We need venues for exchange and co-operation and trust," he said. > >"The trouble is that modern capitalism is the anti-market. . . . It > >enables a few people to concentrate a great deal of power and to > >shove onto the rest of the world not only the consequences of their > >ill-advised risks but also the certainties of the ways in which they > >exploit nature, exploit labour - and in particular women?s labour - > >and kick into the future questions around environmental > >sustainability that our children are going to have to suffer." > > > >A London, England, native who recently became a U.S. citizen, Mr. > >Patel, 38, holds a master?s degree from the London School of > >Economics and a doctorate in development sociology from Cornell > >University. > > > >A visiting scholar in the Center for African Studies at the > >University of California, Berkeley, who has worked for the World Bank > > > > > >and consulted for the United Nations, Mr. Patel will speak at Saint > >Mary?s University on Thursday as part of the university?s annual > >International Week, which is focusing this year on food security. > > > >Through a wealth of historical data, some familiar and some obscure, > >The Value of Nothing traces the development of a capitalist system > >characterized by markets that are driven by profit rather than by > >need. > > > >"The flaw at the heart of markets is essentially the idea that profit > > > > > >and corporations should govern the valuation of things and that > >everyone else should stand aside," he said. > >Mr. Patel said the way to correct that situation, and the ills it has > > > > > >visited upon the world, is through more democratic control of markets > > > > > >as has been practised by La Via Campesina, an international peasant > >movement founded in 1993 by a number of American and European farmer > >groups that he cites at length in his book. > > > >"The solution is to exercise more democratic control over markets by > >regulating, constraining and debating what it is that should be > >markets in the first place and allowing markets to proceed only after > > > > > >we?ve figured ways of living within our economic means and living > >with the consequences of our actions," he said. > > > >Mr. Patel acknowledged that changing the current entrenched paradigm > >won?t be easy, but he sees encouraging examples of new market > >thinking all around. > > > >"I?m certainly seeing a distrust of authority," he said, citing the > >anger in Canada about Stephen Harper?s unilateral decision to suspend > > > > > >Parliament. > > > >He pointed to grassroots efforts to deal with the issue of hunger in > >North America as an example of new market thinking. > >"In North America now, there are nearly 100 food policy councils > >where city officials and community activists and farmers and small > >businesses are getting together to figure out how to banish hunger," > >said Mr. Patel, who noted that one in six Americans goes hungry > >despite that country?s wealth. > > > >"I?m realistic about the balance of power right now but I also see in > > > > > >this network of social movements that?s happening around the world > >real constructive solutions and the real force of organizing that I > >think is quite exciting." > > > >( berskine at herald.ca) > > > >`The flaw at the heart of markets is essentially the idea that profit > > > > > > > >and corporations should govern the valuation of things and that > >everyone else should stand aside.? > > > >RAJ PATELAuthor > > > >------- End of forwarded message ------- > > > >Attachments: > > C:\DOCUME~1\JANETM~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WPM$6873.PM$ > >------- End of forwarded message ------- > > > >Attachments: > > C:\DOCUME~1\JANETM~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WPM$2F89.PM$ > >------- End of forwarded message ------- > > > >Content-type: Application/Octet-stream; name="WPM$0460.PM$"; type=Plain >text > >Content-description: Mail message body > >Content-disposition: attachment; filename="WPM$0460.PM$" > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Mai-not mailing list > >Mai-not at globalproblematique.net > >http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not > > > > > >No virus found in this incoming message. > >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > >Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2662 > >- Release Date: 02/01/10 04:37:00 > >_______________________________________________ >Mai-not mailing list >Mai-not at globalproblematique.net >http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >Version: 8.5.432 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2663 >- Release Date: 02/02/10 07:35:00 > > > > >_______________________________________________ >Mai-not mailing list >Mai-not at globalproblematique.net >http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not > > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2663 >- Release Date: 02/01/10 23:35:00 From jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca Tue Feb 2 10:15:25 2010 From: jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca (Janet M Eaton) Date: Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:15:25 -0400 Subject: [Mai-not] Prorogation - Please respond to poll - take 30 seconds & Fwd Message-ID: <4B68337D.10705.2587BE85@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> Please respond to the online poll on this right-wing newstalk radio station website in Ottawa and forward. Left hand side of the page - half way down. http://www.cfra.com/ fyi-janet p.s I just did and would say the gap is closing ======================= According to the latest Harris-Decima poll women are abandoning the Conservatives & going back to the Liberals. The pollster Allan Gregg claims it is because proroguing Parliament has reinforced the perception Mr. Harper presses his advantage like a bully. (Please vote first. To comment, email mornings at cfra.com) I think Mr. Harper prorogued Parliament to silence the opposition .. acting like a bully 45.5% I think Mr. Harper did the right thing to manage a minority government. He is showing he is a strong effective leader 52.2% Other 2.20% ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:10:00 -0800 From: Murray Dobbin To: undisclosed-recipients:; Subject: Please take 30" to respond to this poll Please respond to the online poll on this right-wing newstalk radio station in Ottawa. Left hand side of the page - half way down. http://www.cfra.com/ ------- End of forwarded message ------- Attachments: C:\DOCUME~1\JANETM~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WPM$59E7.PM$ C:\DOCUME~1\JANETM~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WPM$29BE.PM$ C:\DOCUME~1\JANETM~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WPM$4C92.PM$ ------- End of forwarded message ------- -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: WPM$3C79.PM$ Type: application/octet-stream Size: 1425 bytes Desc: Mail message body URL: From papadop at peak.org Tue Feb 2 11:03:43 2010 From: papadop at peak.org (MichaelP) Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 11:03:43 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Mai-not] Brit inquiry into iraq war Message-ID: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/02/clare-short-chilcot-iraq-blair The Guardian (London) February 2 '10 SHORT SHRIFT FOR BLAIR AT CHILCOT Clare Short may be wrong about Blair's media motive, but her account of cabinet government subverted by No 10 is compelling Clare Short at Chilcot Iraq inquiry Cabinet critic: former international development secretary Clare Short Perhaps we should have guessed it, but it took Clare Short's characteristically blunt comments to the Iraq inquiry to spell it out to us. Who was to blame for the strange death of cabinet government under Tony Blair? What was the threat so grave that life-and-death decisions had to be made in tight-knit groups and revealed to nobody else. THE MEDIA. OF COURSE. According to Clare Short, Blair refused to allow any substantive discussion of the build-up to war around the cabinet table because "it might leak to the press." The attorney general's uncertainty about the war's legality was translated into a simple "yes" for the same reason. Both Short and Gordon Brown were marginalised because they couldn't be trusted with the truth about what was really going on. It will be for the prime minister to tell us at a later hearing whether his relations with his predecessor were then so bad that the then chancellor had to be cut out of the loop. Clare Short's evidence is damning enough on its own. Even as war loomed, all the key decisions were taken by Blair and "his mates". The cabinet and parliament were wilfully misled. It was, she said, "partly the 24-hour news thing". Everything was "for the media". There was no imminent threat to peace but the media and, through them, the public had to be convinced that there was. Dissenting voices could not be allowed to undermine the message. It says something about the balance of power between the media and politicians these days if the prime minister really was so terrified of what might get into the press that he suspended the normal business of government. The alternative and more credible view is that Blair was less concerned than he claimed about criticism of his policy appearing in print. There was no shortage of it, in any case. Rather, he used the threat of leaks and stories of cabinet splits as another means of getting his own way. It's a common trick, used by leaders down the ages. Find a common enemy and use it to unite your own people behind you. For Blair, the existence of a hostile media ready and able to destroy this Labour government, as it had others in the past, was the perfect way to silence his own party critics. It worked. Whatever they thought of him, they hated the media more. Alastair Campbell told the inquiry that Clare Short was difficult to handle at times. From what we heard today, she had good reason to be. Unlike Jack Straw and Lord Goldsmith, she didn't claim that she could have stopped the war if she had tried. That is a realistic assessment of her own power at the time. But we do now know that there was enough uncertainty around the cabinet table that, had it been expressed, it would have made the case for war all but impossible to sell. Instead, the "what Tony wants, Tony gets" mentality prevailed. The media may be fairly blamed for many things, but the responsibility for suspending cabinet government as a nation prepared for war surely lies elsewhere. From thinker at xplornet.com Tue Feb 2 14:52:56 2010 From: thinker at xplornet.com (Ed Deak) Date: Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:52:56 -0800 Subject: [Mai-not] test Message-ID: <20100202225303.E6203C608BA@smtprelay03.hostedemail.com> Now all of a sudden I'm a "non-member" Ed From thinker at xplornet.com Tue Feb 2 15:39:47 2010 From: thinker at xplornet.com (Ed Deak) Date: Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:39:47 -0800 Subject: [Mai-not] Try again: Border agent Message-ID: <20100202233957.B146729DEB5@smtprelay02.hostedemail.com> To: mai-not at globalproblematique.net Subject: Border agent Border Agent A guy was traveling through the United States on vacation when, lo and behold, he lost his wallet and all identification.. Cutting his trip short, he attempts to make his way home but is stopped by the Customs Agent at the Peace Arch Bridge in Niagara Falls. "May I see your identification, please?" asks the agent. "I'm sorry, but I lost my wallet," replies the guy. "Sure, buddy, I hear that every day. No ID, no crossing the border", says the agent. "But I can prove that I'm a Canadian!" he said. I have a picture of Stephen Harper tattooed on one butt cheek and a picture of Michael Ignatieff on the other".. "This I gotta see..." replies the agent. With that, Joe drops his pants and bends over in front of the agent. "By golly, you're right!" exclaims the agent. "Go on home to British Columbia". "Thanks!" he says. "But how did you know I was from British Columbia?" The agent replies, "I recognized Gordon Campbell in the middle". ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In case anybody doesn't know, Gordon Campbell is the Premier of BC. Ed. From thinker at thelakebc.ca Tue Feb 2 14:41:34 2010 From: thinker at thelakebc.ca (Ed Deak) Date: Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:41:34 -0800 Subject: [Mai-not] Border agent Message-ID: <201002022241.o12MfgKY002069@renu.siraza.net> Border Agent A guy was traveling through the United States on vacation when, lo and behold, he lost his wallet and all identification.. Cutting his trip short, he attempts to make his way home but is stopped by the Customs Agent at the Peace Arch Bridge in Niagara Falls. "May I see your identification, please?" asks the agent. "I'm sorry, but I lost my wallet," replies the guy. "Sure, buddy, I hear that every day. No ID, no crossing the border", says the agent. "But I can prove that I'm a Canadian!" he said. I have a picture of Stephen Harper tattooed on one butt cheek and a picture of Michael Ignatieff on the other".. "This I gotta see..." replies the agent. With that, Joe drops his pants and bends over in front of the agent. "By golly, you're right!" exclaims the agent. "Go on home to British Columbia". "Thanks!" he says. "But how did you know I was from British Columbia?" The agent replies, "I recognized Gordon Campbell in the middle". ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In case anybody doesn't know, Gordon Campbell is the Premier of BC. Ed. From netcfs at shaw.ca Tue Feb 2 17:03:19 2010 From: netcfs at shaw.ca (Yves Bajard) Date: Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:03:19 -0800 Subject: [Mai-not] test In-Reply-To: <20100202225303.E6203C608BA@smtprelay03.hostedemail.com> References: <20100202225303.E6203C608BA@smtprelay03.hostedemail.com> Message-ID: <4B68CB57.5070104@shaw.ca> Ed Deak wrote: > Now all of a sudden I'm a "non-member" > > Ed > > _______________________________________________ > Mai-not mailing list > Mai-not at globalproblematique.net > http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not > No Ed. Did you change e-mail address? Yves From thinker at xplornet.com Tue Feb 2 17:10:25 2010 From: thinker at xplornet.com (Ed Deak) Date: Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:10:25 -0800 Subject: [Mai-not] test In-Reply-To: <4B68CB57.5070104@shaw.ca> References: <20100202225303.E6203C608BA@smtprelay03.hostedemail.com> <4B68CB57.5070104@shaw.ca> Message-ID: <20100203011038.CBAB01D01A4A@smtprelay03.hostedemail.com> No Yves, haven't changed anything, but sometimes I get "you're not permitted to post on this list". Must be some mechanical glitch, but a bit annoying. Cheers, Ed. At 05:03 PM 02/02/2010, Yves Bajard wrote: >Ed Deak wrote: >>Now all of a sudden I'm a "non-member" >> >>Ed >> >>_______________________________________________ >>Mai-not mailing list >>Mai-not at globalproblematique.net >>http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not >No Ed. Did you change e-mail address? > >Yves >_______________________________________________ >Mai-not mailing list >Mai-not at globalproblematique.net >http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not > > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2664 - Release Date: >02/02/10 11:35:00 From dnevrghm at powerup.com.au Tue Feb 2 23:58:59 2010 From: dnevrghm at powerup.com.au (Doug Everingham) Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 17:58:59 +1000 Subject: [Mai-not] Fwd: (no subject) References: Message-ID: <33810E76-D52E-4DC2-AAD9-4F7BE0F201BF@powerup.com.au> I agree that a DEMOCRATICALLY ESTABLISHED tribunal should be empowered to try, restrain and penalize offenders against national and/or multilateral (EU, UN etc.) law / ratified conventions / treaties / protocols BUT widely upheld (and simplistic) legal cultural principles should be modified by popular consensus to favor public judicial inquiry, rehabilitation, "corrective" education, and counselling ahead of negative punishment. I think indictment of war criminals might gain wider public support if those organizing / campaigning for it admitted that often the offenders are also victims of a one-eyed cultural stance towards disputants and that most of us are guilty of at least acquiescing in war due to cultural (religious, nationalist etc.) bias - and if they proclaimed the apology and reconciliation principles applied by Bishop Tutu in S. Africa and by Timor Leste authorities in national and international healing processes.. ""Humanity first" is a healthier slogan than "Death to tyrants" etc. - Doug Everingham ==== Begin forwarded message: From: MichaelP Date: 2 February 2010 12:11:16 PM To: unlikely_suspects: ; Subject: [Mai-not] (no subject) Reply-To: A renewed Mai-Not http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/01/blair-arrest- crime-national-memory THE GUARDIAN (LONDON) Monday 1 February 2010 22.00 GMT by GEORGE MONBIOT What else can you do? When the entire administration is engaged in a criminal act, when there is no clear separation of powers between the government and the judiciary, when those appointed to hold the government to account are as scary as a litter of kittens, where do you turn? Do you appeal to the attorney general's office to prosecute itself? The forensic failure of the Chilcot inquiry illustrates what we learnt from the banking scandals: self-regulation doesn't work. The independence of the inquiry is as stark a lie as any of the claims made by its star witness. In truth this panel of pussycats is a quango appointed and instructed by the prime minister, who will himself appear as a witness. If ever you needed more evidence that the power of the prime minister's office is insufficiently defined in the United Kingdom, here it is. So you can mock our feeble attempts to hold Tony Blair to account, but only if you propose an alternative. Last Friday's hearings show that there will be no justice, no reckoning from the organs of the state. Encouraging citizen's arrests of Tony Blair for the crime of aggression is perhaps the only remaining option we have, and the astonishing response to the campaign I launched last week shows that many people understand this. In 30 hours, before Paypal blocked the account without notice, the bounty fund at www.arrestblair.org, which rewards people trying to arrest the former prime minister for crimes against peace, cleared 9,000. Brit pounds Since then it has been harder to produce a running total, but further pledges, electronic transfers and Tipit contributions amount to several thousand pounds more, and are still coming in at the rate of hundreds of pounds a day. The volume of correspondence has been overwhelming too: it will take weeks to reply to all the pledges and letters of support. There is a massive public appetite to see justice done. Already the campaign has borne fruit. Outside the Chilcot inquiry a woman called Grace McCann, inspired by the website, tried to apprehend Mr Blair, before she was restrained and removed by the police. She qualifies for the first bounty: one quarter of the total pot at the time of her attempt. She has pledged to give the money to relevant charities. The fund will remain open until Blair is officially prosecuted, and we will keep paying out to those who follow Grace's example. Two main arguments have been deployed against this campaign. The most surprising was produced by Polly Toynbee in her column on Saturday: "Calling in judges to override the decisions of a democratically elected government backed by parliament is a dangerous road, leading to the demise of politics --- there is no other authority and we undermine it at our peril. Politics is already at a low ebb: sending political decisions to be over-ridden by the courts would do nothing to restore credibility." This is a weird form of liberal exceptionalism. Because enthusiasm for politics has declined, she argues, there should be no limits to state power, except those ordained by the state. It is precisely because we no longer believe that the government can be held to account that we have become so disillusioned with politics. In a country like the United Kingdom -- where executive power is constitutionally unlimited; the prime minister can bully, mislead and lie to parliament; the attorney general is both overseer of the legal system and a minister of the Crown; media scrutiny is feeble and partisan; and citizens have come to expect nothing better -- judicial review is even more important than it is elsewhere. But in any nation, equality before the law is fundamental to democracy. Its absence leaves the door wide open to elective dictatorship. Except in Italy, this is the first time I have seen anyone in a democratic country argue that judges should not be able either to review the decisions of government or to try its ministers. I agree with Polly that the legal issue must not obscure the moral issues. But it doesn't: it highlights them. Wars of aggression are illegal for a good moral reason: they kill people without justification. Most of Blair's apologists -- William Shawcross, Nick Cohen, David Blunkett, John Rentoul and others -- argue that Iraq is a better place now than it was before the war, and therefore the war was retrospectively both just and legal. On the same grounds -- the ends justify the means -- any number of wars could be excused. The first world war secured votes for women, allowed the young to challenge a corrupt gerontocracy and began to crack the class system, but you would be hard put to argue that this justified the slaughter in the trenches. Europe has been a safer and more prosperous place since the conclusion of the second world war: this doesn't mean that the Axis powers were right to launch it. To suggest that the murder of somewhere between 100,000 and a million people in Iraq, the wounding and mutilation of many more, the collapse of infrastructure and public services, and the misrule of the occupying powers are justified by subsequent partial improvements in the lives of surviving Iraqis is to maintain that the massive tally of death and destruction was a price worth paying. It is part of the same psychopathic mindset -- which reduced human lives to nothing but figures in a political equation -- that launched the war. Nick Cohen's argument -- that Saddam was a monster and his reign was illegitimate, therefore it was legitimate and legal to remove him -- is facile and deeply confused. He deliberately conflates two meanings of the word legitimate. I can see that there's a case for updating international law to examine the issue of humanitarian intervention, and to decide if countries might be justified in attacking another to relieve the suffering of its citizens. But to maintain that states have a right to disregard current law at their convenience and unilaterally punish another country invites the collapse of an international system that, though flawed, seeks to defend weaker nations from perpetual attack. This doctrine would permit states to invent justifications for wars of self-interest, just as King Leopold claimed to be liberating the Congo from Arab slavers so he could enslave it himself, or Saddam Hussein claimed to be saving the region from Shia fundamentalism by bombarding Iran with poison gas. If you want to invade another country, a humanitarian reason can always be found. The arrest campaign cannot right the wrongs of the Iraq war, or even guarantee that Blair is prosecuted for his gigantic crime, but it makes sure that the issue cannot be shuffled away into the dark corners of the national memory. While Blair can brush off the Chilcot panel, this bounty fund ensures that he will never rid himself of accountability for his actions. It shows governments that they may no longer destroy people's lives and expect us to forget. _______________________________________________ Mai-not mailing list Mai-not at globalproblematique.net http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dnevrghm at powerup.com.au Wed Feb 3 00:06:46 2010 From: dnevrghm at powerup.com.au (Doug Everingham) Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 18:06:46 +1000 Subject: [Mai-not] Humanity first in prosecuting (war & other) crimes In-Reply-To: <33810E76-D52E-4DC2-AAD9-4F7BE0F201BF@powerup.com.au> References: <33810E76-D52E-4DC2-AAD9-4F7BE0F201BF@powerup.com.au> Message-ID: I agree that a DEMOCRATICALLY ESTABLISHED tribunal should be empowered to try, restrain and penalize offenders against national and/or multilateral (EU, UN etc.) law / ratified conventions / treaties / protocols BUT widely upheld (and simplistic) legal cultural principles should be modified by popular consensus to favor public judicial inquiry, rehabilitation, "corrective" education, and counselling ahead of negative punishment. I think indictment of war criminals might gain wider public support if those organizing / campaigning for it admitted that often the offenders are also victims of a one-eyed cultural stance towards disputants and that most of us are guilty of at least acquiescing in war due to cultural (religious, nationalist etc.) bias - and if they proclaimed the apology and reconciliation principles applied by Bishop Tutu in S. Africa and by Timor Leste authorities in national and international healing processes.. ""Humanity first" is a healthier slogan than "Death to tyrants" etc. - Doug Everingham ==== Begin forwarded message: From: MichaelP Date: 2 February 2010 12:11:16 PM To: unlikely_suspects: ; Subject: [Mai-not] (no subject) Reply-To: A renewed Mai-Not http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/01/blair-arrest- crime-national-memory THE GUARDIAN (LONDON) Monday 1 February 2010 22.00 GMT by GEORGE MONBIOT What else can you do? When the entire administration is engaged in a criminal act, when there is no clear separation of powers between the government and the judiciary, when those appointed to hold the government to account are as scary as a litter of kittens, where do you turn? Do you appeal to the attorney general's office to prosecute itself? The forensic failure of the Chilcot inquiry illustrates what we learnt from the banking scandals: self-regulation doesn't work. The independence of the inquiry is as stark a lie as any of the claims made by its star witness. In truth this panel of pussycats is a quango appointed and instructed by the prime minister, who will himself appear as a witness. If ever you needed more evidence that the power of the prime minister's office is insufficiently defined in the United Kingdom, here it is. So you can mock our feeble attempts to hold Tony Blair to account, but only if you propose an alternative. Last Friday's hearings show that there will be no justice, no reckoning from the organs of the state. Encouraging citizen's arrests of Tony Blair for the crime of aggression is perhaps the only remaining option we have, and the astonishing response to the campaign I launched last week shows that many people understand this. In 30 hours, before Paypal blocked the account without notice, the bounty fund at www.arrestblair.org, which rewards people trying to arrest the former prime minister for crimes against peace, cleared 9,000. Brit pounds Since then it has been harder to produce a running total, but further pledges, electronic transfers and Tipit contributions amount to several thousand pounds more, and are still coming in at the rate of hundreds of pounds a day. The volume of correspondence has been overwhelming too: it will take weeks to reply to all the pledges and letters of support. There is a massive public appetite to see justice done. Already the campaign has borne fruit. Outside the Chilcot inquiry a woman called Grace McCann, inspired by the website, tried to apprehend Mr Blair, before she was restrained and removed by the police. She qualifies for the first bounty: one quarter of the total pot at the time of her attempt. She has pledged to give the money to relevant charities. The fund will remain open until Blair is officially prosecuted, and we will keep paying out to those who follow Grace's example. Two main arguments have been deployed against this campaign. The most surprising was produced by Polly Toynbee in her column on Saturday: "Calling in judges to override the decisions of a democratically elected government backed by parliament is a dangerous road, leading to the demise of politics --- there is no other authority and we undermine it at our peril. Politics is already at a low ebb: sending political decisions to be over-ridden by the courts would do nothing to restore credibility." This is a weird form of liberal exceptionalism. Because enthusiasm for politics has declined, she argues, there should be no limits to state power, except those ordained by the state. It is precisely because we no longer believe that the government can be held to account that we have become so disillusioned with politics. In a country like the United Kingdom -- where executive power is constitutionally unlimited; the prime minister can bully, mislead and lie to parliament; the attorney general is both overseer of the legal system and a minister of the Crown; media scrutiny is feeble and partisan; and citizens have come to expect nothing better -- judicial review is even more important than it is elsewhere. But in any nation, equality before the law is fundamental to democracy. Its absence leaves the door wide open to elective dictatorship. Except in Italy, this is the first time I have seen anyone in a democratic country argue that judges should not be able either to review the decisions of government or to try its ministers. I agree with Polly that the legal issue must not obscure the moral issues. But it doesn't: it highlights them. Wars of aggression are illegal for a good moral reason: they kill people without justification. Most of Blair's apologists -- William Shawcross, Nick Cohen, David Blunkett, John Rentoul and others -- argue that Iraq is a better place now than it was before the war, and therefore the war was retrospectively both just and legal. On the same grounds -- the ends justify the means -- any number of wars could be excused. The first world war secured votes for women, allowed the young to challenge a corrupt gerontocracy and began to crack the class system, but you would be hard put to argue that this justified the slaughter in the trenches. Europe has been a safer and more prosperous place since the conclusion of the second world war: this doesn't mean that the Axis powers were right to launch it. To suggest that the murder of somewhere between 100,000 and a million people in Iraq, the wounding and mutilation of many more, the collapse of infrastructure and public services, and the misrule of the occupying powers are justified by subsequent partial improvements in the lives of surviving Iraqis is to maintain that the massive tally of death and destruction was a price worth paying. It is part of the same psychopathic mindset -- which reduced human lives to nothing but figures in a political equation -- that launched the war. Nick Cohen's argument -- that Saddam was a monster and his reign was illegitimate, therefore it was legitimate and legal to remove him -- is facile and deeply confused. He deliberately conflates two meanings of the word legitimate. I can see that there's a case for updating international law to examine the issue of humanitarian intervention, and to decide if countries might be justified in attacking another to relieve the suffering of its citizens. But to maintain that states have a right to disregard current law at their convenience and unilaterally punish another country invites the collapse of an international system that, though flawed, seeks to defend weaker nations from perpetual attack. This doctrine would permit states to invent justifications for wars of self-interest, just as King Leopold claimed to be liberating the Congo from Arab slavers so he could enslave it himself, or Saddam Hussein claimed to be saving the region from Shia fundamentalism by bombarding Iran with poison gas. If you want to invade another country, a humanitarian reason can always be found. The arrest campaign cannot right the wrongs of the Iraq war, or even guarantee that Blair is prosecuted for his gigantic crime, but it makes sure that the issue cannot be shuffled away into the dark corners of the national memory. While Blair can brush off the Chilcot panel, this bounty fund ensures that he will never rid himself of accountability for his actions. It shows governments that they may no longer destroy people's lives and expect us to forget. _______________________________________________ Mai-not mailing list Mai-not at globalproblematique.net http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jfos at vic.australis.com.au Wed Feb 3 14:56:28 2010 From: jfos at vic.australis.com.au (john foster) Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 09:56:28 +1100 Subject: [Mai-not] Fwd: The Fateful Geological Prize Called Haiti: Now we know Message-ID: <011601caa524$303a1900$69ad57ca@jfos> Excerpt: " ... former head of the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (REFIDOMSA) stated, "there is a multinational conspiracy to illegally take the mineral resources of the Haitian people." [15] Haiti's minerals include gold, the valuable strategic metal iridium and oil, apparently lots of it. (snip) Now, in the wake of the devastating earthquake of January 12, the United States military has taken control of Haiti's four airports and presently has some 20,000 troops in the country. Journalists and international aid organizations have accused the US military of being more concerned with imposing military control, which it prefers to call "security," than with bringing urgently needed water, food and medicine from the airport sites to the population." So now we know what the militarists and warmongers are up to in Haiti. Why the aid is being withheld? Why the land mass is being militarized. The world must reject this crime. Return hope to Haiti. Spread the truth of the cynical western takeover and theft of until now unknown Haitian riches - except for US, French and Canadian corporate executives who have known about Haiti's vast natural resource riches but have remained silent, waiting for a suitable opportunity to grab control of what belongs to the Hiatian people. Spread this article all over the earth and press it's discussion widely. ################################## The Fateful Geological Prize Called Haiti: Now we know F. William Engdahl with General Joe | 02.02.2010 | Analysis | Anti-militarism | Social Struggles | "A US military occupation of Haiti under the guise of earthquake disaster 'relief' would give Washington and private business interests tied to it a geopolitical prize of the first order. Prior to the January 12 quake, the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince was the fifth largest US embassy in the world, comparable to its embassies in such geopolitically strategic places as Berlin and Beijing.[17] With huge new oil finds off Cuba being exploited by Russian companies, with clear indications that Haiti contains similar vast untapped oil as well as gold, copper, uranium and iridium, with Hugo Chavez' Venezuela as a neighbor to the south of Haiti, a return of Aristide or any popular leader committed to developing the resources for the people of Haiti, -- the poorest nation in the Americas -- would constitute a devastating blow to the world's sole Superpower. The fact that in the aftermath of the earthquake, UN Haiti Special Envoy Bill Clinton joined forces with Aristide foe George W. Bush to create something called the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund ought to give everyone pause. According to Marguerite Laurent of the Haitian Lawyers' Leadership Network, under the guise of emergency relief work, the US, France and Canada are engaged in a balkanization of the island for future mineral control. She reports rumors that Canada wants the North of Haiti where Canadian mining interests are already present. The US wants Port-au-Prince and the island of La Gonaive just offshore - an area identified in Aristide's development book as having vast oil resources, and which is bitterly contested by France. She further states that China, with UN veto power over the de facto UN-occupied country, may have something to say against such a US-France-Canada carve up of the vast wealth of the nation." The Fateful Geological Prize Called Haiti: Now we know by F. William Engdahl President becomes UN Special Envoy to earthquake-stricken Haiti. A born-again neo-conservative US business wheeler-dealer preacher claims Haitians are condemned for making a literal 'pact with the Devil.' Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, Bolivian, French and Swiss rescue organizations accuse the US military of refusing landing rights to planes bearing necessary medicines and urgently needed potable water to the millions of Haitians stricken, injured and homeless. Behind the smoke, rubble and unending drama of human tragedy in the hapless Caribbean country, a drama is in full play for control of what geophysicists believe may be one of the world's richest zones for hydrocarbons-oil and gas outside the Middle East, possibly orders of magnitude greater than that of nearby Venezuela. Haiti, and the larger island of Hispaniola of which it is a part, has the geological fate that it straddles one of the world's most active geological zones, where the deepwater plates of three huge structures relentlessly rub against one another-the intersection of the North American, South American and Caribbean tectonic plates. Below the ocean and the waters of the Caribbean, these plates consist of an oceanic crust some 3 to 6 miles thick, floating atop an adjacent mantle. Haiti also lies at the edge of the region known as the Bermuda Triangle, a vast area in the Caribbean subject to bizarre and unexplained disturbances. This vast mass of underwater plates are in constant motion, rubbing against each other along lines analogous to cracks in a broken porcelain vase that has been reglued. The earth's tectonic plates typically move at a rate 50 to 100 mm annually in relation to one another, and are the origin of earthquakes and of volcanoes. The regions of convergence of such plates are also areas where vast volumes of oil and gas can be pushed upwards from the Earth's mantle. The geophysics surrounding the convergence of the three plates that run more or less directly beneath Port-au-Prince make the region prone to earthquakes such as the one that struck Haiti with devastating ferocity on January 12. A relevant Texas geological project Leaving aside the relevant question of how well in advance the Pentagon and US scientists knew the quake was about to occur, and what Pentagon plans were being laid before January 12, another issue emerges around the events in Haiti that might help explain the bizarre behavior to date of the major 'rescue' players-the United States, France and Canada. Aside from being prone to violent earthquakes, Haiti also happens to lie in a zone that, due to the unusual geographical intersection of its three tectonic plates, might well be straddling one of the world's largest unexplored zones of oil and gas, as well as of valuable rare strategic minerals. The vast oil reserves of the Persian Gulf and of the region from the Red Sea into the Gulf of Aden are at a similar convergence zone of large tectonic plates, as are such oil-rich zones as Indonesia and the waters off the coast of California. In short, in terms of the physics of the earth, precisely such intersections of tectonic masses as run directly beneath Haiti have a remarkable tendency to be the sites of vast treasures of minerals, as well as oil and gas, throughout the world. Notably, in 2005, a year after the Bush-Cheney Administration de facto deposed the democratically elected President of Haiti, Jean-Baptiste Aristide, a team of geologists from the Institute for Geophysics at the University of Texas began an ambitious and thorough two-phase mapping of all geological data of the Caribbean Basins. The project is due to be completed in 2011. Directed by Dr. Paul Mann, it is called "Caribbean Basins, Tectonics and Hydrocarbons." It is all about determining as precisely as possible the relation between tectonic plates in the Caribbean and the potential for hydrocarbons-oil and gas. Notably, the sponsors of the multi-million dollar research project under Mann are the world's largest oil companies, including Chevron, ExxonMobil, the Anglo-Dutch Shell and BHP Billiton.[1] Curiously enough, the project is the first comprehensive geological mapping of a region that, one would have thought, would have been a priority decades ago for the US oil majors. Given the immense, existing oil production off Mexico, Louisiana, and the entire Caribbean, as well as its proximity to the United States - not to mention the US focus on its own energy security - it is surprising that the region had not been mapped earlier. Now it emerges that major oil companies were at least generally aware of the huge oil potential of the region long ago, but apparently decided to keep it quiet. Cuba's Super-giant find Evidence that the US Administration may well have more in mind for Haiti than the improvement of the lot of the devastated Haitian people can be found in nearby waters off Cuba, directly across from Port-au-Prince. In October 2008 a consortium of oil companies led by Spain's Repsol, together with Cuba's state oil company, Cubapetroleo, announced discovery of one of the world's largest oilfields in the deep water off Cuba. It is what oil geologists call a 'Super-giant' field. Estimates are that the Cuban field contains as much as 20 billion barrels of oil, making it the twelfth Super-giant oilfield discovered since 1996. The discovery also likely makes Cuba a new high-priority target for Pentagon destabilization and other nasty operations. No doubt to the dismay of Washington, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev flew to Havana one month after the Cuban giant oil find to sign an agreement with acting-President Raul Castro for Russian oil companies to explore and develop Cuban oil.[2] Medvedev's Russia-Cuba oil agreements came only a week after the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to meet the recuperating Fidel Castro and his brother Raul. The Chinese President signed an agreement to modernize Cuban ports and discussed Chinese purchase of Cuban raw materials. No doubt the mammoth new Cuban oil discovery was high on the Chinese agenda with Cuba.[3] On November 5, 2008, just prior to the Chinese President's trip to Cuba and other Latin American countries, the Chinese government issued their first ever policy paper on the future of China's relations with Latin America and Caribbean nations, elevating these bilateral relations to a new level of strategic importance. [4] The Cuba Super-giant oil find also leaves the advocates of 'Peak Oil' theory with more egg on the face. Shortly before the Bush-Blair decision to invade and occupy Iraq, a theory made the rounds of cyberspace, that sometime after 2010, the world would reach an absolute "peak" in world oil production, initiating a period of decline with drastic social and economic implications. Its prominent spokesmen, including retired oil geologist Colin Campbell and Texas oil banker Matt Simmons, claimed that there had not been a single new Super-giant oil discovery since 1976, or thereabouts, and that new fields found over the past two decades had been "tiny" compared with the earlier giant discoveries in Saudi Arabia, Prudhoe Bay, Daquing in China and elsewhere. [5] It is critical to note that, more than half a century ago, a group of Russian and Ukrainian geophysicists, working in state secrecy, confirmed that hydrocarbons originated deep in the earth's mantle under conditions similar to a giant burning cauldron at extreme temperature and pressure. They demonstrated that, contrary to US and accepted Western 'mainstream' geology, hydrocarbons were not the result of dead dinosaur detritus concentrated and compressed and somehow transformed into oil and gas millions of years ago, nor of algae or other biological material.[6] The Russian and Ukrainian geophysicists then proved that the oil or gas produced in the earth's mantle was pushed upwards along faults or cracks in the earth as close to the surface as pressures permitted. The process was analogous to the production of molten lava in volcanoes. It means that the ability to find oil is limited, relatively speaking, only by the ability to identify deep fissures and complex geological activity conducive to bringing the oil out from deep in the earth. It seems that the waters of the Caribbean, especially those off Cuba and its neighbor Haiti, are just such a region of concentrated hydrocarbons (oil and gas) that have found their way upwards close to the surface, perhaps in a magnitude comparable to a new Saudi Arabia.[7] Haiti, a new Saudi Arabia? The remarkable geography of Haiti and Cuba and the discovery of world-class oil reserves in the waters off Cuba lend credence to anecdotal accounts of major oil discoveries in several parts of Haitian territory. It also could explain why two Bush Presidents and now special UN Haiti Envoy Bill Clinton have made Haiti such a priority. As well, it could explain why Washington and its NGOs moved so quickly to remove-- twice-- the democratically elected President Aristide, whose economic program for Haiti included, among other items, proposals for developing Haitian natural resources for the benefit of the Haitian people. In March 2004, some months before the University of Texas and American Big Oil launched their ambitious mapping of the hydrocarbon potentials of the Caribbean, a Haitian writer, Dr. Georges Michel, published online an article titled 'Oil in Haiti.' In it, Michel wrote, . .[I]t has been no secret that deep in the earthy bowels of the two states that share the island of Haiti and the surrounding waters that there are significant, still untapped deposits of oil. One knows not why they are still untapped. Since the early twentieth century, the physical and political map of the island of Haiti, erected in 1908 by Messrs. Alexander Poujol and Henry Thomasset, reported a major oil reservoir in Haiti near the source of the Rio Todo El Mondo, Tributary Right Artibonite River, better known today as the River Thomonde. [8] According to a June 2008 article by Roberson Alphonse in the Haitian paper, Le Nouvelliste en Haiti, "The signs, (indicators), justifying the explorations of oil (black gold) in Haiti are encouraging. In the middle of the oil shock, some 4 companies want official licenses from the Haitian State to drill for oil." At the time, oil prices were climbing above $140 a barrel -- on manipulations by various Wall Street banks. Alphonse's article quoted Dieusuel Anglade, the Haitian State Director of the Office of Mining and Energy, telling the Haitian press: "We've received four requests for oil exploration permits.We have had encouraging indicators to justify the pursuit of the exploration of black gold (oil), which had stopped in 1979."[9] Alphonse reported the findings from a 1979 geological study in Haiti of 11 exploratory oil wells drilled at the Plaine du Cul-de-sac on the Plateau Central and at L'ile de La Gonaive: "Surface (tentative) indicators for oil were found at the Southern peninsula and on the North coast, explained the engineer Anglade, who strongly believes in the immediate commercial viability of these explorations."[10] Journalist Alphonse cites an August 16, 1979 memo by Haitian attorney Francois Lamothe, in which he noted that "five big wells were drilled" down to depths of 9000 feet and that a sample that "underwent a physical-chemical analysis in Munich, Germany" had "revealed tracks of oil." [11] Despite the promising 1979 results in Haiti, Dr. Georges Michel reported that, "the big multinational oil companies operating in Haiti pushed for the discovered deposits not to be exploited." [12] Oil exploration in and offshore Haiti ground to a sudden halt as a result. Similar if less precise reports claiming that Haitian oil reserves could be vastly larger than those of Venezuela have appeared in Haitian websites. [13] Then in 2010 the financial news site Bloomberg News carried the following: The Jan. 12 earthquake was on a fault line that passes near potential gas reserves, said Stephen Pierce, a geologist who worked in the region for 30 years for companies that included the former Mobil Corp. The quake may have cracked rock formations along the fault, allowing gas or oil to temporarily seep toward the surface, he said Monday in a telephone interview. 'A geologist, callous as it may seem, tracing that fault zone from Port-au-Prince to the border looking for gas and oil seeps, may find a structure that hasn't been drilled,' said Pierce, exploration manager at Zion Oil & Gas Inc., a Dallas-based company that's drilling in Israel. [14] In an interview with a Santo Domingo online paper, Leopoldo Espaillat Nanita, former head of the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (REFIDOMSA) stated, "there is a multinational conspiracy to illegally take the mineral resources of the Haitian people." [15] Haiti's minerals include gold, the valuable strategic metal iridium and oil, apparently lots of it. Aristide's development plans Marguerite Laurent ('Ezili Dant?'), president of the Haitian Lawyers' Leadership Network (HLLN) who served as attorney for the deposed Aristide, notes that when Aristide was President -- up until his US-backed ouster during the Bush era in 2004 -- he had developed and published in book form his national development plans. These plans included, for the first time, a detailed list of known sites where the resources of Haiti were located. The publication of the plan sparked a national debate over Haitian radio and in the media about the future of the country. Aristide's plan was to implement a public-private partnership to ensure that the development of Haiti's oil, gold and other valuable resources would benefit the national economy and the broader population, and not merely the five Haitian oligarchic families and their US backers, the so-called Chimeres or gangsters. [16] Since the ouster of Aristide in 2004, Haiti has been an occupied country, with a dubiously-elected President, Rene Preval, a controversial follower of IMF privatization mandates and reportedly tied to the Chimeres or Haitian oligarchs who backed the removal of Aristide. Notably, the US State Department refuses to permit the return of Aristide from South African exile. Now, in the wake of the devastating earthquake of January 12, the United States military has taken control of Haiti's four airports and presently has some 20,000 troops in the country. Journalists and international aid organizations have accused the US military of being more concerned with imposing military control, which it prefers to call "security," than with bringing urgently needed water, food and medicine from the airport sites to the population. A US military occupation of Haiti under the guise of earthquake disaster 'relief' would give Washington and private business interests tied to it a geopolitical prize of the first order. Prior to the January 12 quake, the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince was the fifth largest US embassy in the world, comparable to its embassies in such geopolitically strategic places as Berlin and Beijing.[17] With huge new oil finds off Cuba being exploited by Russian companies, with clear indications that Haiti contains similar vast untapped oil as well as gold, copper, uranium and iridium, with Hugo Chavez' Venezuela as a neighbor to the south of Haiti, a return of Aristide or any popular leader committed to developing the resources for the people of Haiti, -- the poorest nation in the Americas -- would constitute a devastating blow to the world's sole Superpower. The fact that in the aftermath of the earthquake, UN Haiti Special Envoy Bill Clinton joined forces with Aristide foe George W. Bush to create something called the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund ought to give everyone pause. According to Marguerite Laurent ('Ezili Dant?') of the Haitian Lawyers' Leadership Network, under the guise of emergency relief work, the US, France and Canada are engaged in a balkanization of the island for future mineral control. She reports rumors that Canada wants the North of Haiti where Canadian mining interests are already present. The US wants Port-au-Prince and the island of La Gonaive just offshore - an area identified in Aristide's development book as having vast oil resources, and which is bitterly contested by France. She further states that China, with UN veto power over the de facto UN-occupied country, may have something to say against such a US-France-Canada carve up of the vast wealth of the nation. [18] Notes: 1 Paul Mann, Caribbean Basins, Tectonic Plates & Hydrocarbons, Institute for Geophysics, The University of Texas at Austin, accessed in www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/cbth/.../ProposalCaribbean.pdf . 2 Rory Carroll, Medvedev and Castro meet to rebuild Russia-Cuba relations, London Guardian, November 28, 2008 accessed in http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/28/cuba-russia. 3 Julian Gavaghan, Comrades in arms: When China's President Hu met a frail Fidel Castro, London Daily Mail, November 19, 2008, accessed in http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1087485/Comrades-arms-When-Chinas-President-Hu-met-frail-Fidel-Castro.html. 4 Peoples' Daily Online, China issues first policy paper on Latin America, Caribbean region, November 5, 2008, accessed in http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6527888.html . 5 Matthew R. Simmons, The World's Giant Oilfields, Simmons & Co. International, Houston, accessed in http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/files/giantoilfields.pdf . 6 Anton Kolesnikov, et al, Methane-derived hydrocarbons produced under upper-mantle conditions, Nature Geoscience, July 26, 2009. 7 F. William Engdahl, War and Peak Oil-Confessions of an 'ex' Peak Oil believer, Global Research, September 26, 2007, accessed in http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6880 . 8 Dr. Georges Michel, Oil in Haiti, English translation from French, P?trole en Haiti, March 27, 2004, accessed in http://www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/oil_sites.html#oil_GeorgesMichelEnglish . 9 Roberson Alphonse, Drill, and then pump the oil of Haiti! 4 oil companies request oil drilling permits, translated from the original French, June 27, 2008, accessed in http://www.bnvillage.co.uk/caribbean-news-village-beta/99691-drill-then-pump-oil-haiti-4-oil-companies-request-oil-drilling-permits.html 10 Ibid. 11 Ibid. The full text indicated that, "five big wells were drilled at Porto Suel (Maissade) of a depth of 9000 feet, at Bebernal, 9000 feet, at Bois-Carradeux (Ouest), at Dumornay, on the road Route Frare and close to the Chemin de Fer of Saint-Marc. A sample, a 'carrot' (oil reservoir) drilled up from the well of Saint-Marc in the Artibonite underwent a physical-chemical analysis in Munich, Germany, at the request of Mr. Broth. 'The result of the analysis was returned on October 11, 1979 and revealed tracks of oil,' confided the engineer, Willy Clemens, who had gone to Germany." 12 Dr. Georges Michel, op. cit. 13 Marguerite Laurent, Haiti is full of oil, say Ginette and Daniel Mathurin, Radio Metropole, Jan 28, 2008, accessed in http://www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/oil_sites.html#full_of_oil. 14 Jim Polson, Haiti earthquake may have exposed gas, aiding economy, Bloomberg News, January 26, 2010. 15 Espaillat Nanita revela en Haiti existen grandes recursos de oro y otros minerals, Espacinsular.org, 17 November, 2009, accessed in http://www.espacinsular.org/spip.php?article8942 . 16 The Aristide development plan was contained in the book published in Haiti in 2000, Investir dans l'Human. Livre Blanc de Fanmi Lavalas sous la Direction de Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Port-au-Prince, Imprimerie Henri Deschamps, 2000. It contained detailed maps, tables, graphics, and a national development plan for 2004 "covering agriculture, environment, commerce and industry, the financial sector, infrastructure, education, culture, health, women's issues, and issues in the public sector." In 2004, using NGOs and the UN and a vicious propaganda campaign to vilify Aristide, the Bush administration got rid of the elected President. 17 Cynthia McKinney, Haiti: An Unwelcome Katrina Redux, Global Research, January 19, 2010, accessed in http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17063. 18 Marguerite Laurent (Ezili Danto), Did mining and oil drilling trigger the Haiti earthquake?, OpEd News.com, January 23, 2010, accessed in http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/Did-mining-and-oil-drillin-by-Ezili-Danto-100123-329.html. F. William Engdahl is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by F. William Engdahl ------------------------------------------------------ Provided by Australis http://www.australis.com.au/ From jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca Wed Feb 3 20:23:52 2010 From: jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca (Janet M Eaton) Date: Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:23:52 -0400 Subject: [Mai-not] "Rights & Democracy" latest Harper victim / No-Prorogation groups must continue to rally and seek alternatives ! Message-ID: <4B6A1398.27510.2CDB25E9@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> Dear All: Prorogation was the tip of the iceberg of Harper's dismantling of democracy in this country. Prorogation should be viewed within context of Harpers on-going destructive agenda which is documented to a limited extent by the media and moreso by some national NGOs among others. The latest issue which has occurred with the " Rights and Democracy" agency is a further example of the harm Harper is doing to this country, our democratic traditions, and our international reputation. Let's look at some of his attacks on democracy that proceeded proroguing: (a) gagging of MP?s (b) gagging of senior bureaucrats, (c) muzzling the media - cancelling press conferences in the parliamentary press gallery, (d) shutting down essential 'access to information' registry and database, (e) cancelling funding for all manner of civil society groups (social justice, anti-poverty,environmental, feminist ) that recommend sound policy options for a principle centred society (f) threatening to cut funding for political parties (g) Conservative Party chairpersons walking out on and thereby shutting down parliamentary committees, (g) Harper's manual of "dirty tricks" for his MPs on how to block the function of Parliamentary committees, (h) consulting with corporate sector and not rest of civil society groups as with the National Advisory Council on Competitiveness (NACC) and the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) (i) producing aggressive attack ads on the opposition between election periods etc. j) failing to implement legislation passed by Parliament with which he disagrees. k) ongoing interference in so-called independent agencies such as the RCMP review, the firing of Linda Keen from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and now this Rights and Democracy incursion. According to Ed Broadbent, Founding president of Rights and Democracy, formally known as the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, this agency that promotes democracy internationally and in Canada, is the latest victim of the Harper government's drive to stamp extreme conservative views on everything it can. He calls recent developments there an "extraordinarily serious scandal." "You have a government that has put people there not for their commitment to make independent judgments about human rights but to have a specific political agenda. There has been an incredibly vicious assassination of the integrity of an institution established to be independent of the government of the day," said Broadbent. So we see that along w ith all that has gone before and continues to unfold, prorogation is part of a pattern of abuse of power wherein Harper has shown his disdain for Parliamentary process, for good governance and for responsible, accountable and transparent democratic process. These are major reasons why the Canadians Citizen's Against Pro- rogation must be continued. All groups that rallied across the country should consider forming ongoing citizen's assemblies to work towards the reform of dysfunctional parliamentary and electoral process. In Wolfville, Nova Scotia we have formed a citizen's assembly to keep this disturbing issue and ominous behavior of a prime minister to out of touch with reality from further detroying all we hold dear on the front burner until the next election. See following overview of Wolfville's intentions [insert below] http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-424660-Wolfville-hosts-crossCanada- rally-all-about-good-government.html all the best, janet =============== http://www.publicvalues.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=00570 Rights and Democracy shake-up an "extraordinarily serious scandal" - Broadbent Public appointments process is used to pursue ultra-conservative political agenda. by Ish Theilheimer OTTAWA, February 1, 2010, PublicValues.ca: Rights and Democracy, the agency that promotes democracy internationally and in Canada, is the latest victim of the Harper government's drive to stamp extreme conservative views on everything it can, says its founding president. Ed Broadbent, founding president of the Montreal-based organization formally known as the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, calls recent developments there an "extraordinarily serious scandal." Troubles there became public in early January. Rights and Democracy's president, R?my Beauregard, died of a heart attack immediately after a turbulent board meeting in which he and the Centre's staff were viciously attacked by recent political appointees over grants to organizations working on social justice issues in the Middle East. Harper's recent appointees charged the grants were going to anti- Israeli organizations with terrorist connections, despite extensive vetting with Canadian and international authorities. "You have a government that has put people there not for their commitment to make independent judgments about human rights but to have a specific political agenda." "This is a situation in which the government is using the appointment process to pursue a very specific political agenda that has resulted in an attack on the very integrity of Rights and Democracy," Broadbent told PublicValues.ca in a phone interview. Until now, the organization has always had political appointments, he said, "but it has never been subject to direct political influence." Broadbent specifically requested people with political experience from all political parties to staff the organization. "I wanted people with political experience. The mandate was human rights and democratic development. There's nothing wrong with that. But never once did any cast a vote that had any political connection." Now, he says, "you have a government that has put people there not for their commitment to make independent judgments about human rights but to have a specific political agenda, specifically about the Middle East. It's incredible." The entire 47-member staff of Rights and Democracy has demanded that three board members, all recent political appointees, resign. They include David Matas, a lawyer with the pro-Israel B'nai Brith Canada; evangelist Michael Van Pelt of the think tank Cardus, and Jacques Gauthier, "who spent 20 years working on a doctoral thesis in which he argues that Jerusalem belongs to the Jews by international law" according to Paul Wells of Macleans, the reporter who has followed this story best and most closely. "There has been an incredibly vicious assassination of the integrity of an institution established to be independent of the government of the day," said Broadbent. "It an attack on the internal work of the Centre's staff that has immense international credibility." "What this does is it reflects on the ongoing interference of this government in so-called independent agencies." He cited the RCMP review, the firing of Linda Keen from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and the recent attacks on diplomat Richard Colvin over detainee abuse as further examples. "This government either repudiates advice and attacks personally the people who give it, or they don't reappoint people who demonstrated ability and commitment to human rights and democracy." Broadbent is alarmed by the ban that Gauthier, now President of Rights and Democracy, has put on staff talking to media, the confiscation of cell phones from top staff, and the suspicious disappearance, in a reported "break-in", of three laptop computers from top staff's offices, all located in an 11th floor office building. "It's pretty appalling for an organization dedicated to human rights," he said. Some news articles of interest include: How the Harperites ambushed the rights agency, Haroon Siddiqui, Toronto Star http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/757981--how-the-harperites- ambushed-the-rights-agency Rights and Democracy: Did the right hand know what the right hand was doing?, by Paul Wells, Macleans http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/01/31/rights-and-democracy-did-the-right- hand-know-what-the-right-hand-was-doing/ Rights and Democracy rips itself apart, Paul Wells, Macleans Posted: February 01, 2010 Public Values (PublicValues.ca) is a project of the Golden Lake Institute and the online publication StraightGoods.ca ---------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-424660-Wolfville-hosts-crossCanada- rally-all-about-good-government.html Wolfville hosts cross-Canada rally all about good government by Wendy Elliott/The Advertiser View all articles from Wendy Elliott/The Advertiser Article online since January 26th 2010, 4:16 Dozens of locals turned out to add their voice in Wolfville to anti- proroguement rallies across Canada January 23. M.Slipp View all pictures Wolfville hosts cross-Canada rally all about good government BY WENDY ELLIOTT Kings County Register Almost 100 people gathered inside a Wolfville hall January 23 to express their concerns about the Harper government?s prorogation of Parliament. Billed as a public discussion and "speak out for democracy," the session was designed to allow all citizens, sitting in a circle, to share their concerns and offer suggestions for change. Co-organizer Janet Eaton said the protest wasn?t just about proroguation, but to set in context "what?s been happening for the last four years." Eighteen-year-old university student Jennifer Parlee said, "young Canadians know what democracy is and the country wants it." She stated the government had descended to petty and personal political ploys. "Some politicians need to put their differences aside and make the country better," she added. Ninety-three-year-old Mary Ganong said she?d lived through many governments, and remembers especially the Duplessis regime in Quebec. "We need to meet more often and let them know how we feel," she added. Evoking padlocks against unions and police goons, she said, Harper?s tactics are requiring Canadians to get up on their hind legs and scream lest they lose their rights. Brennan Vogel called for electoral reform, since only 37 per cent of voters elected the Conservatives; and boosted the notion of proportional representation. Kings-Hants MP Scott Brison told the gathering Prime Minister Stephen Harper had cynically gambled Canadians would not respond to his decision to shut down parliament. "He gambled wrong. Canadians want a Parliament that works, one that works for Canadians. When Harper shows disrespect for Parliament, he shows disrespect for the Canadians who chose it." Brison noted Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has proposed a parliamentary reform package that will prevent a prime minister from abusing the proroguation tool in the future. "Liberal MPs are working," he said later, January 25. "I am in Ottawa today with Liberal MPs from across Canada with economic experts to develop policy ideas to address unemployment, youth unemployment and to create the jobs of tomorrow." The Wolfville Raging Grannies performed three songs about Harper?s prorogation. "It was clear from the beginning that citizens had come prepared to talk not only about immediate problem of prorogation, but long-term concerns and solutions as well," noted Eaton. All recommendations were recorded, as organizers compiled a list of actions for possible follow up. At the end of the more than two-and-one-half-hour session, the group decided it would continue meeting as a kind of "citizens? assembly," possibly every two weeks until the next election at least. February. 6, 1 p.m., was selected for the next event. Wolfville was one of approximately 60 communities across Canada where citizens gathered to protest the prorogation of Parliament. The anti- prorogation movement gained momentum after a Facebook group formed to oppose Harper's decision to prorogue Parliament - for the second time. More than 210,000 people have joined the site. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: - Type: application/octet-stream Size: 10206 bytes Desc: Mail message body URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: - Type: application/octet-stream Size: 5926 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: - Type: application/octet-stream Size: 8105 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: - Type: application/octet-stream Size: 159 bytes Desc: "AVG certification" URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: - Type: application/octet-stream Size: 160 bytes Desc: "AVG certification" URL: From diongiles1 at aapt.net.au Wed Feb 3 22:45:56 2010 From: diongiles1 at aapt.net.au (diongiles1 at aapt.net.au) Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 01:45:56 -0500 Subject: [Mai-not] AIPAC told to get lost Message-ID: <380-220102446455612@M2W119.mail2web.com> This was on my screen when I managed to make wiereless contact from England this morning. I won't have much to say till I've gone in to Plymouth to buy a USB keyboard. The laptop keyboard sets the cursor jumping about in mid-sentence like a flea on a hot plate. Dion Giles PRESS RELEASE February 2010 For Immediate Release info at americanradicalthefilm.com DOCUMENTARY ON ISRAEL'S CRITIC BANNED FROM ISRAEL TO OPEN IN NEW YORK SOON American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein by David Ridgen & Nicolas Rossier FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE "AMERICAN RADICAL: THE TRIALS OF NORMAN FINKELSTEIN" TO MAKE ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE AT ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES CINEMA. New York, February 10, 2010 Ridgen and Rossier's new compelling documentary about controversial Jewish-American academic Norman Finkelstein is to open soon at Anthology Film Archives. The film has already played in prominent festivals around the world including the Sheffield Doc/Fest documentary festival, IDFA in Amsterdam and the Jewish Film Festival in Jerusalem. American Radical is the definitive film about controversial Jewish-American academic Norman Finkelstein. A devoted son of holocaust survivors, staunch critic of Israeli and US Mid-East policies and author of six provocative books including The Holocaust Industry, Beyond Chutzpah and the upcoming title, This Time We Went to Far: Truth and Consequences of the Gaza Invasion. Finkelstein has been at the center of many intractable controversies. Called a lunatic and a self-hating Jew by some and an inspirational, street-fighting revolutionary by others, Finkelstein is a deeply polarizing figure whose struggles arise from core questions about freedom, identity and nationhood. The film provides an intimate portrait of the man behind the controversy, giving voice to both his many critics and his supporters, while following him around the globe as he labors to change peoples' minds. American Radical is produced and directed by accomplished documentary filmmakers David Ridgen (Mississippi Cold Case) and Nicolas Rossier (Aristide and the Endless Revolution). Say Ridgen and Rossier, "We were fascinated by the idea of fighting fire with fire. Strong offense. Eye for an eye. Polarizing forces that create understanding in their collision, like filmmaker Eisenstein's cells. That it takes a radical to tame radicalism, or perhaps to end it. Norman Finkelstein embodies this duality. For us, he is a case study for it in fact. Some important voices say he is full of sound and fury signifying nothing. Others say he is a street fighter for the downtrodden. But what is the real politick of his words and actions and existence? These are the questions we wanted to answer. The more one considers Norman and those in his realm, the more one recognizes that no radical is without sin or innocence. There is worth in being a modern firebrand, and there are great costs. And both may lie where you least expect to discover them. Completed in 2009, American Radical was picked up for US distribution by Typecast Releasing. Typecast will make American Radical available for broadcast, theaters, festival screenings, DVD and digital distribution in the USA. Uk based Mercury Media will take care of the foreign rights. For more information contact: Nic Rossier and David Ridgen info at americanradicalthefilm.com www.americanradicalthefilm.com Typecast Releasing info at typecastreleasing.com www.typecastfilms.com For Information on Tickets and Venue click here Forward email This email was sent to diongiles1 at aapt.net.au by info at americanradicalthefilm.com. Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe? | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by Baraka Productions | 68 Jay Street | Brooklyn | NY | 11201 -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://link.mail2web.com/mail2web From diongiles1 at aapt.net.au Wed Feb 3 22:52:13 2010 From: diongiles1 at aapt.net.au (diongiles1 at aapt.net.au) Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 01:52:13 -0500 Subject: [Mai-not] AIPAC told to get lost Message-ID: <380-22010244652131@M2W132.mail2web.com> This was on my screen when I managed to make wiereless contact from England this morning. I won't have much to say till I've gone in to Plymouth to buy a USB keyboard. The laptop keyboard sets the cursor jumping about in mid-sentence like a flea on a hot plate. Dion Giles PRESS RELEASE February 2010 For Immediate Release info at americanradicalthefilm.com DOCUMENTARY ON ISRAEL'S CRITIC BANNED FROM ISRAEL TO OPEN IN NEW YORK SOON American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein by David Ridgen & Nicolas Rossier FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE "AMERICAN RADICAL: THE TRIALS OF NORMAN FINKELSTEIN" TO MAKE ITS NEW YORK PREMIERE AT ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES CINEMA. New York, February 10, 2010 Ridgen and Rossier's new compelling documentary about controversial Jewish-American academic Norman Finkelstein is to open soon at Anthology Film Archives. The film has already played in prominent festivals around the world including the Sheffield Doc/Fest documentary festival, IDFA in Amsterdam and the Jewish Film Festival in Jerusalem. American Radical is the definitive film about controversial Jewish-American academic Norman Finkelstein. A devoted son of holocaust survivors, staunch critic of Israeli and US Mid-East policies and author of six provocative books including The Holocaust Industry, Beyond Chutzpah and the upcoming title, This Time We Went to Far: Truth and Consequences of the Gaza Invasion. Finkelstein has been at the center of many intractable controversies. Called a lunatic and a self-hating Jew by some and an inspirational, street-fighting revolutionary by others, Finkelstein is a deeply polarizing figure whose struggles arise from core questions about freedom, identity and nationhood. The film provides an intimate portrait of the man behind the controversy, giving voice to both his many critics and his supporters, while following him around the globe as he labors to change peoples' minds. American Radical is produced and directed by accomplished documentary filmmakers David Ridgen (Mississippi Cold Case) and Nicolas Rossier (Aristide and the Endless Revolution). Say Ridgen and Rossier, "We were fascinated by the idea of fighting fire with fire. Strong offense. Eye for an eye. Polarizing forces that create understanding in their collision, like filmmaker Eisenstein's cells. That it takes a radical to tame radicalism, or perhaps to end it. Norman Finkelstein embodies this duality. For us, he is a case study for it in fact. Some important voices say he is full of sound and fury signifying nothing. Others say he is a street fighter for the downtrodden. But what is the real politick of his words and actions and existence? These are the questions we wanted to answer. The more one considers Norman and those in his realm, the more one recognizes that no radical is without sin or innocence. There is worth in being a modern firebrand, and there are great costs. And both may lie where you least expect to discover them. Completed in 2009, American Radical was picked up for US distribution by Typecast Releasing. Typecast will make American Radical available for broadcast, theaters, festival screenings, DVD and digital distribution in the USA. Uk based Mercury Media will take care of the foreign rights. For more information contact: Nic Rossier and David Ridgen info at americanradicalthefilm.com www.americanradicalthefilm.com Typecast Releasing info at typecastreleasing.com www.typecastfilms.com For Information on Tickets and Venue click here Forward email This email was sent to diongiles1 at aapt.net.au by info at americanradicalthefilm.com. Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe? | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by Baraka Productions | 68 Jay Street | Brooklyn | NY | 11201 -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://link.mail2web.com/mail2web From dnevrghm at powerup.com.au Wed Feb 3 23:45:14 2010 From: dnevrghm at powerup.com.au (Doug Everingham) Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 17:45:14 +1000 Subject: [Mai-not] Fwd: Haiti might well be straddling one of the worlds largest unexplored zones of oil and gas References: <32241.596.qm@web110809.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <8C8F91AC-CC15-41A5-A075-77E34A0ED817@powerup.com.au> Relayed by Doug Everinham. ==== Begin forwarded message: > From: jack loel > Date: 2 February 2010 5:06:18 PM > To: david.bloom at gccisd.net, david.savage at latimes.com, > david at mediachannel.org, dbanker at sun-sentinel.com, > dbnred at dieburger.com, debate at euobs.com, delhidesk at asianage.com, > demarco at northjersey.com, despacho at embavenez-us.org, > dfowler at hastingstribune.com, dgceditor at dailygate.com, > dialog at canalplus.no, diario.digital at mail.telepac.pt, > dick.satran at reuters.com, dir-info at tf1.fr, direzione at quotidiano.net, > dispatchnews at yahoo.com, dkoller at dallesnews.com, > dlauricella at capitalgazette.com, dledford at delawareonline.com, > dlindorff at yahoo.com, dmendros at gwi.net, dmi at drummajorinstitute.org, > dmitry at pravda-team.ru, dmu-mags at internet.dk, > dnevrghm at powerup.com.au, dominicp at pressgazette.co.uk, > donald at mecotrucking.com, dpalmer at jcfloridan.com, dpioneer at aol.com, > drgerrylower at jeffersonseyes.com, dsa at dsausa.org, > dscottdailyreg at ntin.net, dub-info at minbuza.nl, > dub.vertretung at eda.admin.ch, dubamb at um.dk, dubgremb at eircom.net, > dublin-ob at bmaa.gv.at, dublin at embassy.mzv.cz, duconsul at indigo.ie, > duhoux2 at tds.net, dw-tv at dw-world.de, dwfed at dwfed.org, > dy at yomiuri.com, e.polivanova at imedia.ru, e.popova at rian.ru, > easyreader at easyreader.info, ebu at ebu.ch, echo.news at glosmedia.co.uk, > echonews at expressandecho.co.uk, edit at mspmag.com, > editman1000 at yahoo.com, editoped at asianage.com, editor-in-chief at y- > i.co.il, editor-mc at thesentinel.com, editor-pg at thesentinel.com, > editor at abcnews.com, editor at adbusters.org, > editor at americanthinker.com, editor at amperspective.com, > editor at aswataliraq.info, editor at atlanticfreepress.com, > editor at azstarnet.com, editor at baghdadbulletin.com, > editor at baltimorechronicle.com, editor at bcn-news.com, > editor at bctelegraph.com, editor at beachesleader.com, > editor at bocanews.com, editor at borgernewsherald.com, editor at bpsun.hu, > editor at british-weekly.com, editor at capecourier.com, > editor at cedarkeybeacon.com, editor at cedarvalleydailytimes.com, > editor at charlescitypress.com, editor at charlestoncitypaper.com, > editor at chickashanews.com, editor at coastnewsgroup.com, > editor at collegiatetimes.com, editor at commercialappeal.com, > editor at commondreams.org, editor at countercurrents.org, > editor at cphpost.dk, editor at cursor.org, editor at cyprus-mail.com, > editor at dailycomet.com, editor at dailydem.com, editor at delcotimes.com, > editor at dominionpost.com, editor at dundalkeagle.net, > editor at egypttoday.com, editor at ekathimerini.com, > editor at elkodaily.com, editor at elpasotimes.com, editor at examiner.ie, > editor at expressindia.com, editor at fbnewsleader.com, > editor at foreignpolicy.ie, editor at free-times.com > Subject: Haiti might well be straddling one of the worlds largest > unexplored zones of oil and gas > > The Fateful Geological Prize Called Haiti > > By F. William Engdahl > > URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? > context=va&aid=17287 > > Global Research, January 30, 2010 > > President becomes UN Special Envoy to earthquake-stricken Haiti. > > A born-again neo-conservative US business wheeler-dealer preacher > claims Haitians are condemned for making a literal pact with the > Devil. > > Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, Bolivian, French and Swiss rescue > organizations accuse the US military of refusing landing rights to > planes bearing necessary medicines and urgently needed potable > water to the millions of Haitians stricken, injured and homeless. > Behind the smoke, rubble and unending drama of human tragedy in the > hapless Caribbean country, a drama is in full play for control of > what geophysicists believe may be one of the worlds richest zones > for hydrocarbons-oil and gas outside the Middle East, possibly > orders of magnitude greater than that of nearby Venezuela. > Haiti, and the larger island of Hispaniola of which it is a part, > has the geological fate that it straddles one of the worlds most > active geological zones, where the deepwater plates of three huge > structures relentlessly rub against one anotherthe intersection of > the North American, South American and Caribbean tectonic plates. > Below the ocean and the waters of the Caribbean, these plates > consist of an oceanic crust some 3 to 6 miles thick, floating atop > an adjacent mantle. Haiti also lies at the edge of the region known > as the Bermuda Triangle, a vast area in the Caribbean subject to > bizarre and unexplained disturbances. > This vast mass of underwater plates are in constant motion, rubbing > against each other along lines analogous to cracks in a broken > porcelain vase that has been reglued. The earths tectonic plates > typically move at a rate 50 to 100 mm annually in relation to one > another, and are the origin of earthquakes and of volcanoes. The > regions of convergence of such plates are also areas where vast > volumes of oil and gas can be pushed upwards from the Earths > mantle. The geophysics surrounding the convergence of the three > plates that run more or less directly beneath Port-au-Prince make > the region prone to earthquakes such as the one that struck Haiti > with devastating ferocity on January 12. > A relevant Texas geological project > Leaving aside the relevant question of how well in advance the > Pentagon and US scientists knew the quake was about to occur, and > what Pentagon plans were being laid before January 12, another > issue emerges around the events in Haiti that might help explain > the bizarre behavior to date of the major rescue playersthe United > States, France and Canada. Aside from being prone to violent > earthquakes, Haiti also happens to lie in a zone that, due to the > unusual geographical intersection of its three tectonic plates, > might well be straddling one of the worlds largest unexplored zones > of oil and gas, as well as of valuable rare strategic minerals. > The vast oil reserves of the Persian Gulf and of the region from > the Red Sea into the Gulf of Aden are at a similar convergence zone > of large tectonic plates, as are such oil-rich zones as Indonesia > and the waters off the coast of California. In short, in terms of > the physics of the earth, precisely such intersections of tectonic > masses as run directly beneath Haiti have a remarkable tendency to > be the sites of vast treasures of minerals, as well as oil and gas, > throughout the world. > Notably, in 2005, a year after the Bush-Cheney Administration de > facto deposed the democratically elected President of Haiti, Jean- > Baptiste Aristide, a team of geologists from the Institute for > Geophysics at the University of Texas began an ambitious and > thorough two-phase mapping of all geological data of the Caribbean > Basins. The project is due to be completed in 2011. Directed by Dr. > Paul Mann, it is called Caribbean Basins, Tectonics and > Hydrocarbons. It is all about determining as precisely as possible > the relation between tectonic plates in the Caribbean and the > potential for hydrocarbonsoil and gas. > Notably, the sponsors of the multi-million dollar research project > under Mann are the worlds largest oil companies, including Chevron, > ExxonMobil, the Anglo-Dutch Shell and BHP Billiton.[1] Curiously > enough, the project is the first comprehensive geological mapping > of a region that, one would have thought, would have been a > priority decades ago for the US oil majors. Given the immense, > existing oil production off Mexico, Louisiana, and the entire > Caribbean, as well as its proximity to the United States not to > mention the US focus on its own energy security it is surprising > that the region had not been mapped earlier. Now it emerges that > major oil companies were at least generally aware of the huge oil > potential of the region long ago, but apparently decided to keep it > quiet. > > Cubas Super-giant find > Evidence that the US Administration may well have more in mind for > Haiti than the improvement of the lot of the devastated Haitian > people can be found in nearby waters off Cuba, directly across from > Port-au-Prince. In October 2008 a consortium of oil companies led > by Spains Repsol, together with Cuba's state oil company, > Cubapetroleo, announced discovery of one of the worlds largest > oilfields in the deep water off Cuba. It is what oil geologists > call a Super-giant field. Estimates are that the Cuban field > contains as much as 20 billion barrels of oil, making it the > twelfth Super-giant oilfield discovered since 1996. The discovery > also likely makes Cuba a new high-priority target for Pentagon > destabilization and other nasty operations. > No doubt to the dismay of Washington, Russian President Dmitry > Medvedev flew to Havana one month after the Cuban giant oil find to > sign an agreement with acting-President Raul Castro for Russian oil > companies to explore and develop Cuban oil.[2] > Medvedevs Russia-Cuba oil agreements came only a week after the > visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to meet the recuperating Fidel > Castro and his brother Raul. The Chinese President signed an > agreement to modernize Cuban ports and discussed Chinese purchase > of Cuban raw materials. No doubt the mammoth new Cuban oil > discovery was high on the Chinese agenda with Cuba.[3] On November > 5, 2008, just prior to the Chinese Presidents trip to Cuba and > other Latin American countries, the Chinese government issued their > first ever policy paper on the future of Chinas relations with > Latin America and Caribbean nations, elevating these bilateral > relations to a new level of strategic importance. [4] > The Cuba Super-giant oil find also leaves the advocates of Peak Oil > theory with more egg on the face. Shortly before the Bush-Blair > decision to invade and occupy Iraq, a theory made the rounds of > cyberspace, that sometime after 2010, the world would reach an > absolute peak in world oil production, initiating a period of > decline with drastic social and economic implications. Its > prominent spokesmen, including retired oil geologist Colin Campbell > and Texas oil banker Matt Simmons, claimed that there had not been > a single new Super-giant oil discovery since 1976, or thereabouts, > and that new fields found over the past two decades had been tiny > compared with the earlier giant discoveries in Saudi Arabia, > Prudhoe Bay, Daquing in China and elsewhere. [5] > It is critical to note that, more than half a century ago, a group > of Russian and Ukrainian geophysicists, working in state secrecy, > confirmed that hydrocarbons originated deep in the earths mantle > under conditions similar to a giant burning cauldron at extreme > temperature and pressure. They demonstrated that, contrary to US > and accepted Western mainstream geology, hydrocarbons were not the > result of dead dinosaur detritus concentrated and compressed and > somehow transformed into oil and gas millions of years ago, nor of > algae or other biological material.[6] > The Russian and Ukrainian geophysicists then proved that the oil or > gas produced in the earths mantle was pushed upwards along faults > or cracks in the earth as close to the surface as pressures > permitted. The process was analogous to the production of molten > lava in volcanoes. It means that the ability to find oil is > limited, relatively speaking, only by the ability to identify deep > fissures and complex geological activity conducive to bringing the > oil out from deep in the earth. It seems that the waters of the > Caribbean, especially those off Cuba and its neighbor Haiti, are > just such a region of concentrated hydrocarbons (oil and gas) that > have found their way upwards close to the surface, perhaps in a > magnitude comparable to a new Saudi Arabia.[7] > Haiti, a new Saudi Arabia? > The remarkable geography of Haiti and Cuba and the discovery of > world-class oil reserves in the waters off Cuba lend credence to > anecdotal accounts of major oil discoveries in several parts of > Haitian territory. It also could explain why two Bush Presidents > and now special UN Haiti Envoy Bill Clinton have made Haiti such a > priority. As well, it could explain why Washington and its NGOs > moved so quickly to remove-- twice-- the democratically elected > President Aristide, whose economic program for Haiti included, > among other items, proposals for developing Haitian natural > resources for the benefit of the Haitian people. > In March 2004, some months before the University of Texas and > American Big Oil launched their ambitious mapping of the > hydrocarbon potentials of the Caribbean, a Haitian writer, Dr. > Georges Michel, published online an article titled Oil in Haiti. In > it, Michel wrote, > .[I]t has been no secret that deep in the earthy bowels of the two > states that share the island of Haiti and the surrounding waters > that there are significant, still untapped deposits of oil. One > knows not why they are still untapped. Since the early twentieth > century, the physical and political map of the island of Haiti, > erected in 1908 by Messrs. Alexander Poujol and Henry Thomasset, > reported a major oil reservoir in Haiti near the source of the Rio > Todo El Mondo, Tributary Right Artibonite River, better known today > as the River Thomonde. [8] > According to a June 2008 article by Roberson Alphonse in the > Haitian paper, Le Nouvelliste en Haiti, The signs, (indicators), > justifying the explorations of oil (black gold) in Haiti are > encouraging. In the middle of the oil shock, some 4 companies want > official licenses from the Haitian State to drill for oil. > At the time, oil prices were climbing above $140 a barrel -- on > manipulations by various Wall Street banks. Alphonses article > quoted Dieusuel Anglade, the Haitian State Director of the Office > of Mining and Energy, telling the Haitian press: "We've received > four requests for oil exploration permitsWe have had encouraging > indicators to justify the pursuit of the exploration of black gold > (oil), which had stopped in 1979."[9] > Alphonse reported the findings from a 1979 geological study in > Haiti of 11 exploratory oil wells drilled at the Plaine du Cul-de- > sac on the Plateau Central and at L'ile de La Gonaive: Surface > (tentative) indicators for oil were found at the Southern peninsula > and on the North coast, explained the engineer Anglade, who > strongly believes in the immediate commercial viability of these > explorations.[10] > Journalist Alphonse cites an August 16, 1979 memo by Haitian > attorney Francois Lamothe, in which he noted that five big wells > were drilled down to depths of 9000 feet and that a sample that > underwent a physical-chemical analysis in Munich, Germany had > revealed tracks of oil. [11] > Despite the promising 1979 results in Haiti, Dr. Georges Michel > reported that, the big multinational oil companies operating in > Haiti pushed for the discovered deposits not to be exploited. [12] > Oil exploration in and offshore Haiti ground to a sudden halt as a > result. > Similar if less precise reports claiming that Haitian oil reserves > could be vastly larger than those of Venezuela have appeared in > Haitian websites. [13] Then in 2010 the financial news site > Bloomberg News carried the following: > The Jan. 12 earthquake was on a fault line that passes near > potential gas reserves, said Stephen Pierce, a geologist who worked > in the region for 30 years for companies that included the former > Mobil Corp. The quake may have cracked rock formations along the > fault, allowing gas or oil to temporarily seep toward the surface, > he said Monday in a telephone interview. A geologist, callous as it > may seem, tracing that fault zone from Port-au-Prince to the border > looking for gas and oil seeps, may find a structure that hasn't > been drilled, said Pierce, exploration manager at Zion Oil & Gas > Inc., a Dallas-based company that's drilling in Israel. [14] > In an interview with a Santo Domingo online paper, Leopoldo > Espaillat Nanita, former head of the Dominican Petroleum Refinery > (REFIDOMSA) stated, there is a multinational conspiracy to > illegally take the mineral resources of the Haitian people. [15] > Haitis minerals include gold, the valuable strategic metal iridium > and oil, apparently lots of it. > Aristides development plans > Marguerite Laurent ('Ezili Dant?'), president of the Haitian > Lawyers Leadership Network (HLLN) who served as attorney for the > deposed Aristide, notes that when Aristide was President -- up > until his US-backed ouster during the Bush era in 2004 -- he had > developed and published in book form his national development > plans. These plans included, for the first time, a detailed list of > known sites where the resources of Haiti were located. The > publication of the plan sparked a national debate over Haitian > radio and in the media about the future of the country. Aristides > plan was to implement a public-private partnership to ensure that > the development of Haitis oil, gold and other valuable resources > would benefit the national economy and the broader population, and > not merely the five Haitian oligarchic families and their US > backers, the so-called Chimeres or gangsters. [16] > Since the ouster of Aristide in 2004, Haiti has been an occupied > country, with a dubiously-elected President, Rene Preval, a > controversial follower of IMF privatization mandates and reportedly > tied to the Chimeres or Haitian oligarchs who backed the removal of > Aristide. Notably, the US State Department refuses to permit the > return of Aristide from South African exile. > Now, in the wake of the devastating earthquake of January 12, the > United States military has taken control of Haitis four airports > and presently has some 20,000 troops in the country. Journalists > and international aid organizations have accused the US military of > being more concerned with imposing military control, which it > prefers to call security, than with bringing urgently needed water, > food and medicine from the airport sites to the population. > A US military occupation of Haiti under the guise of earthquake > disaster relief would give Washington and private business > interests tied to it a geopolitical prize of the first order. Prior > to the January 12 quake, the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince was the > fifth largest US embassy in the world, comparable to its embassies > in such geopolitically strategic places as Berlin and Beijing.[17] > With huge new oil finds off Cuba being exploited by Russian > companies, with clear indications that Haiti contains similar vast > untapped oil as well as gold, copper, uranium and iridium, with > Hugo Chavez Venezuela as a neighbor to the south of Haiti, a return > of Aristide or any popular leader committed to developing the > resources for the people of Haiti, -- the poorest nation in the > Americas -- would constitute a devastating blow to the worlds sole > Superpower. The fact that in the aftermath of the earthquake, UN > Haiti Special Envoy Bill Clinton joined forces with Aristide foe > George W. Bush to create something called the Clinton-Bush Haiti > Fund ought to give everyone pause. > According to Marguerite Laurent ('Ezili Dant?') of the Haitian > Lawyers Leadership Network, under the guise of emergency relief > work, the US, France and Canada are engaged in a balkanization of > the island for future mineral control. She reports rumors that > Canada wants the North of Haiti where Canadian mining interests are > already present. The US wants Port-au-Prince and the island of La > Gonaive just offshore an area identified in Aristides development > book as having vast oil resources, and which is bitterly contested > by France. She further states that China, with UN veto power over > the de facto UN-occupied country, may have something to say against > such a US-France-Canada carve up of the vast wealth of the nation. > [18] > Notes: > 1 Paul Mann, Caribbean Basins, Tectonic Plates & Hydrocarbons, > Institute for Geophysics, The University of Texas at Austin, > accessed in > www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/cbth/.../ProposalCaribbean.pdf . > > 2 Rory Carroll, Medvedev and Castro meet to rebuild Russia-Cuba > relations, London Guardian, November 28, 2008 accessed in http:// > www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/28/cuba-russia. > > > 3 Julian Gavaghan, Comrades in arms: When Chinas President Hu met a > frail Fidel Castro, London Daily Mail, November 19, 2008, accessed > in http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1087485/Comrades-arms- > When-Chinas-President-Hu-met-frail-Fidel-Castro.html. > > > 4 Peoples Daily Online, China issues first policy paper on Latin > America, Caribbean region, November 5, 2008, accessed in http:// > english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6527888.html . > > > 5 Matthew R. Simmons, The Worlds Giant Oilfields, Simmons & Co. > International, Houston, accessed in http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/ > files/giantoilfields.pdf . > > > 6 Anton Kolesnikov, et al, Methane-derived hydrocarbons produced > under upper-mantle conditions, Nature Geoscience, July 26, 2009. > > > 7 F. William Engdahl, War and Peak OilConfessions of an ex Peak Oil > believer, Global Research, September 26, 2007, accessed in http:// > www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6880 . > > > 8 Dr. Georges Michel, Oil in Haiti, English translation from > French, P?trole en Haiti, March 27, 2004, accessed in http:// > www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/ > oil_sites.html#oil_GeorgesMichelEnglish . > > > 9 Roberson Alphonse, Drill, and then pump the oil of Haiti! 4 oil > companies request oil drilling permits, translated from the > original French, June 27, 2008, accessed in > http://www.bnvillage.co.uk/caribbean-news-village-beta/99691-drill- > then-pump-oil-haiti-4-oil-companies-request-oil-drilling-permits.html > > > 10 Ibid. > > > 11 Ibid. The full text indicated that, five big wells were drilled > at Porto Suel (Maissade) of a depth of 9000 feet, at Bebernal, 9000 > feet, at Bois-Carradeux (Ouest), at Dumornay, on the road Route > Frare and close to the Chemin de Fer of Saint-Marc. A sample, a > carrot (oil reservoir) drilled up from the well of Saint-Marc in > the Artibonite underwent a physical-chemical analysis in Munich, > Germany, at the request of Mr. Broth. The result of the analysis > was returned on October 11, 1979 and revealed tracks of oil, > confided the engineer, Willy Clemens, who had gone to Germany. > > > 12 Dr. Georges Michel, op. cit. > > > 13 Marguerite Laurent, Haiti is full of oil, say Ginette and Daniel > Mathurin, Radio Metropole, Jan 28, 2008, accessed in > http://www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/ > oil_sites.html#full_of_oil. > > > 14 Jim Polson, Haiti earthquake may have exposed gas, aiding > economy, Bloomberg News, January 26, 2010. > > > 15 Espaillat Nanita revela en Haiti existen grandes recursos de oro > y otros minerals, Espacinsular.org, 17 November, 2009, accessed in > http://www.espacinsular.org/spip.php?article8942 . > > > 16 The Aristide development plan was contained in the book > published in Haiti in 2000, Investir dans lHuman. Livre Blanc de > Fanmi Lavalas sous la Direction de Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Port-au- > Prince, Imprimerie Henri Deschamps, 2000. It contained detailed > maps, tables, graphics, and a national development plan for 2004 > covering agriculture, environment, commerce and industry, the > financial sector, infrastructure, education, culture, health, > women's issues, and issues in the public sector. In 2004, using > NGOs and the UN and a vicious propaganda campaign to vilify > Aristide, the Bush administration got rid of the elected President. > > > 17 Cynthia McKinney, Haiti: An Unwelcome Katrina Redux, Global > Research, January 19, 2010, accessed in > http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17063. > > > 18 Marguerite Laurent (Ezili Danto), Did mining and oil drilling > trigger the Haiti earthquake?, OpEd News.com, January 23, 2010, > accessed in > http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/Did-mining-and-oil-drillin-by- > Ezili-Danto-100123-329.html. > > > > Please support Global Research > Global Research relies on the financial support of its readers. > > > Your endorsement is greatly appreciated > > Subscribe to the Global Research e-newsletter -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From siamdave at yahoo.ca Thu Feb 4 01:27:41 2010 From: siamdave at yahoo.ca (Dave Patterson) Date: Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:27:41 +0700 Subject: [Mai-not] a bit deeper .... (Re: "Rights & Democracy" latest Harper victim / No-Prorogation groups must continue to rally and seek alternatives ! In-Reply-To: <4B6A1398.27510.2CDB25E9@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> References: <4B6A1398.27510.2CDB25E9@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> Message-ID: <201002041627410296.017FECF9@smtp.totisp.net> This Harper stuff is not the 'tip of the iceberg', it's more the final coup de grace, although the overtones of 'mercy' in that phrase aren't particularly evident in the current case. Perhaps the chess analogy of the beginning of the end game would be better - they've been dismantling our 'democracy' since the 70s, along with slowly dumbing people down so they are both too childish to understand the deep Machiavellian manoeverings going on, and too apathetic to do anything about it even when they dimly realise something is going seriously wrong, and the final revalation of what we have allowed to happen cannot be that far away (for those who care or are paying attention). Holding up Harper as the sole enemy is dangerous, as he can be sacrificed easily by the behind-the-scenes rulers (the Bay St Boys), and replaced with someone else who will be given a few years free ride until people tire of him (or her), and on and on and on we go, as we have been doing for the last 30+ years in every western English almost-democracy. We need to understand the history a little deeper than pretending our demise only started yesterday if we are serious about getting back in control of our country. As I try to explain in What Happened? http://www.rudemacedon.ca/what-happened.html ( and I hope Yves doesn't scold me for 'spamming' the list by daring to mention something I wrote more than once, as Rabble did, apparently not wishing their deck-chair rearranging and demonstration-organising to be interrupted by something useful .. I think I am talking about something important here that very people seem to understand, and will try to get people to listen any way I can) *********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** On 10-02-04 at 12:23 AM Janet M Eaton wrote: Dear All: Prorogation was the tip of the iceberg of Harper's dismantling of democracy in this country. Prorogation should be viewed within context of Harpers on-going destructive agenda which is documented to a limited extent by the media and moreso by some national NGOs among others. The latest issue which has occurred with the " Rights and Democracy" agency is a further example of the harm Harper is doing to this country, our democratic traditions, and our international reputation. Let's look at some of his attacks on democracy that proceeded proroguing: (a) gagging of MP?s (b) gagging of senior bureaucrats, (c) muzzling the media - cancelling press conferences in the parliamentary press gallery, (d) shutting down essential 'access to information' registry and database, (e) cancelling funding for all manner of civil society groups (social justice, anti-poverty,environmental, feminist ) that recommend sound policy options for a principle centred society (f) threatening to cut funding for political parties (g) Conservative Party chairpersons walking out on and thereby shutting down parliamentary committees, (g) Harper's manual of "dirty tricks" for his MPs on how to block the function of Parliamentary committees, (h) consulting with corporate sector and not rest of civil society groups as with the National Advisory Council on Competitiveness (NACC) and the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) (i) producing aggressive attack ads on the opposition between election periods etc. j) failing to implement legislation passed by Parliament with which he disagrees. k) ongoing interference in so-called independent agencies such as the RCMP review, the firing of Linda Keen from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and now this Rights and Democracy incursion. According to Ed Broadbent, Founding president of Rights and Democracy, formally known as the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, this agency that promotes democracy internationally and in Canada, is the latest victim of the Harper government's drive to stamp extreme conservative views on everything it can. He calls recent developments there an "extraordinarily serious scandal." "You have a government that has put people there not for their commitment to make independent judgments about human rights but to have a specific political agenda. There has been an incredibly vicious assassination of the integrity of an institution established to be independent of the government of the day," said Broadbent. So we see that along w ith all that has gone before and continues to unfold, prorogation is part of a pattern of abuse of power wherein Harper has shown his disdain for Parliamentary process, for good governance and for responsible, accountable and transparent democratic process. These are major reasons why the Canadians Citizen's Against Pro- rogation must be continued. All groups that rallied across the country should consider forming ongoing citizen's assemblies to work towards the reform of dysfunctional parliamentary and electoral process. In Wolfville, Nova Scotia we have formed a citizen's assembly to keep this disturbing issue and ominous behavior of a prime minister to out of touch with reality from further detroying all we hold dear on the front burner until the next election. See following overview of Wolfville's intentions [insert below] http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-424660-Wolfville-hosts-crossCanada- rally-all-about-good-government.html all the best, janet =============== http://www.publicvalues.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=00570 Rights and Democracy shake-up an "extraordinarily serious scandal" - Broadbent Public appointments process is used to pursue ultra-conservative political agenda. by Ish Theilheimer OTTAWA, February 1, 2010, PublicValues.ca: Rights and Democracy, the agency that promotes democracy internationally and in Canada, is the latest victim of the Harper government's drive to stamp extreme conservative views on everything it can, says its founding president. Ed Broadbent, founding president of the Montreal-based organization formally known as the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, calls recent developments there an "extraordinarily serious scandal." Troubles there became public in early January. Rights and Democracy's president, R?my Beauregard, died of a heart attack immediately after a turbulent board meeting in which he and the Centre's staff were viciously attacked by recent political appointees over grants to organizations working on social justice issues in the Middle East. Harper's recent appointees charged the grants were going to anti- Israeli organizations with terrorist connections, despite extensive vetting with Canadian and international authorities. "You have a government that has put people there not for their commitment to make independent judgments about human rights but to have a specific political agenda." "This is a situation in which the government is using the appointment process to pursue a very specific political agenda that has resulted in an attack on the very integrity of Rights and Democracy," Broadbent told PublicValues.ca in a phone interview. Until now, the organization has always had political appointments, he said, "but it has never been subject to direct political influence." Broadbent specifically requested people with political experience from all political parties to staff the organization. "I wanted people with political experience. The mandate was human rights and democratic development. There's nothing wrong with that. But never once did any cast a vote that had any political connection." Now, he says, "you have a government that has put people there not for their commitment to make independent judgments about human rights but to have a specific political agenda, specifically about the Middle East. It's incredible." The entire 47-member staff of Rights and Democracy has demanded that three board members, all recent political appointees, resign. They include David Matas, a lawyer with the pro-Israel B'nai Brith Canada; evangelist Michael Van Pelt of the think tank Cardus, and Jacques Gauthier, "who spent 20 years working on a doctoral thesis in which he argues that Jerusalem belongs to the Jews by international law" according to Paul Wells of Macleans, the reporter who has followed this story best and most closely. "There has been an incredibly vicious assassination of the integrity of an institution established to be independent of the government of the day," said Broadbent. "It an attack on the internal work of the Centre's staff that has immense international credibility." "What this does is it reflects on the ongoing interference of this government in so-called independent agencies." He cited the RCMP review, the firing of Linda Keen from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and the recent attacks on diplomat Richard Colvin over detainee abuse as further examples. "This government either repudiates advice and attacks personally the people who give it, or they don't reappoint people who demonstrated ability and commitment to human rights and democracy." Broadbent is alarmed by the ban that Gauthier, now President of Rights and Democracy, has put on staff talking to media, the confiscation of cell phones from top staff, and the suspicious disappearance, in a reported "break-in", of three laptop computers from top staff's offices, all located in an 11th floor office building. "It's pretty appalling for an organization dedicated to human rights," he said. Some news articles of interest include: How the Harperites ambushed the rights agency, Haroon Siddiqui, Toronto Star http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/757981--how-the-harperites- ambushed-the-rights-agency Rights and Democracy: Did the right hand know what the right hand was doing?, by Paul Wells, Macleans http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/01/31/rights-and-democracy-did-the-right- hand-know-what-the-right-hand-was-doing/ Rights and Democracy rips itself apart, Paul Wells, Macleans Posted: February 01, 2010 Public Values (PublicValues.ca) is a project of the Golden Lake Institute and the online publication StraightGoods.ca ---------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-424660-Wolfville-hosts-crossCanada- rally-all-about-good-government.html Wolfville hosts cross-Canada rally all about good government by Wendy Elliott/The Advertiser View all articles from Wendy Elliott/The Advertiser Article online since January 26th 2010, 4:16 Dozens of locals turned out to add their voice in Wolfville to anti- proroguement rallies across Canada January 23. M.Slipp View all pictures Wolfville hosts cross-Canada rally all about good government BY WENDY ELLIOTT Kings County Register Almost 100 people gathered inside a Wolfville hall January 23 to express their concerns about the Harper government?s prorogation of Parliament. Billed as a public discussion and "speak out for democracy," the session was designed to allow all citizens, sitting in a circle, to share their concerns and offer suggestions for change. Co-organizer Janet Eaton said the protest wasn?t just about proroguation, but to set in context "what?s been happening for the last four years." Eighteen-year-old university student Jennifer Parlee said, "young Canadians know what democracy is and the country wants it." She stated the government had descended to petty and personal political ploys. "Some politicians need to put their differences aside and make the country better," she added. Ninety-three-year-old Mary Ganong said she?d lived through many governments, and remembers especially the Duplessis regime in Quebec. "We need to meet more often and let them know how we feel," she added. Evoking padlocks against unions and police goons, she said, Harper?s tactics are requiring Canadians to get up on their hind legs and scream lest they lose their rights. Brennan Vogel called for electoral reform, since only 37 per cent of voters elected the Conservatives; and boosted the notion of proportional representation. Kings-Hants MP Scott Brison told the gathering Prime Minister Stephen Harper had cynically gambled Canadians would not respond to his decision to shut down parliament. "He gambled wrong. Canadians want a Parliament that works, one that works for Canadians. When Harper shows disrespect for Parliament, he shows disrespect for the Canadians who chose it." Brison noted Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has proposed a parliamentary reform package that will prevent a prime minister from abusing the proroguation tool in the future. "Liberal MPs are working," he said later, January 25. "I am in Ottawa today with Liberal MPs from across Canada with economic experts to develop policy ideas to address unemployment, youth unemployment and to create the jobs of tomorrow." The Wolfville Raging Grannies performed three songs about Harper?s prorogation. "It was clear from the beginning that citizens had come prepared to talk not only about immediate problem of prorogation, but long-term concerns and solutions as well," noted Eaton. All recommendations were recorded, as organizers compiled a list of actions for possible follow up. At the end of the more than two-and-one-half-hour session, the group decided it would continue meeting as a kind of "citizens? assembly," possibly every two weeks until the next election at least. February. 6, 1 p.m., was selected for the next event. Wolfville was one of approximately 60 communities across Canada where citizens gathered to protest the prorogation of Parliament. The anti- prorogation movement gained momentum after a Facebook group formed to oppose Harper's decision to prorogue Parliament - for the second time. More than 210,000 people have joined the site. _______________________________________________ Mai-not mailing list Mai-not at globalproblematique.net http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.435 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2666 - Release Date: 02/03/10 19:35:00 From thinker at xplornet.com Thu Feb 4 06:59:10 2010 From: thinker at xplornet.com (Ed Deak) Date: Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:59:10 -0800 Subject: [Mai-not] a bit deeper .... (Re: "Rights & Democracy" latest Harper victim / No-Prorogation groups must continue to rally and seek alternatives ! In-Reply-To: <201002041627410296.017FECF9@smtp.totisp.net> References: <4B6A1398.27510.2CDB25E9@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> <201002041627410296.017FECF9@smtp.totisp.net> Message-ID: <20100204145931.3F72B13BF84B@smtprelay02.hostedemail.com> This is going on all over the world, thanks to the teachings of the neoclassical market economy crap in our and the world's universities. Harper is only one of the brainwashed puppets in its service. As long as we have a monetary economy, where a certain class is permitted to "create" the weapons for colonization and enslavement from the air, there's no hope in hell. The EU is rapidly becoming a colony and that's only one of the first steps of world dictatorship under the guise of " globalization" and "world government". killing all vestiges and chances for democracy. Stalin and Mao must be rolling in their graves for not having thought of this beautiful racket , while singing the Internationale. Cheers, Ed. At 01:27 AM 04/02/2010, you wrote: >This Harper stuff is not the 'tip of the >iceberg', it's more the final coup de grace, >although the overtones of 'mercy' in that phrase >aren't particularly evident in the current case. >Perhaps the chess analogy of the beginning of >the end game would be better - they've been >dismantling our 'democracy' since the 70s, along >with slowly dumbing people down so they are both >too childish to understand the deep >Machiavellian manoeverings going on, and too >apathetic to do anything about it even when they >dimly realise something is going seriously >wrong, and the final revalation of what we have >allowed to happen cannot be that far away (for >those who care or are paying attention). Holding >up Harper as the sole enemy is dangerous, as he >can be sacrificed easily by the >behind-the-scenes rulers (the Bay St Boys), and >replaced with someone else who will be given a >few years free ride until people tire of him (or >her), and on and on and on we go, as we have >been doing for the last 30+ years in every >western English almost-democracy. We need to >understand the history a little deeper than >pretending our demise only started yesterday if >we are serious about getting back in control of >our country. As I try to explain in What >Happened? >http://www.rudemacedon.ca/what-happened.html ( >and I hope Yves doesn't scold me for 'spamming' >the list by daring to mention something I wrote >more than once, as Rabble did, apparently not >wishing their deck-chair rearranging and >demonstration-organising to be interrupted by >something useful .. I think I am talking about >something important here that very people seem >to understand, and will try to get people to listen any way I can) > >*********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** > >On 10-02-04 at 12:23 AM Janet M Eaton wrote: > >Dear All: > >Prorogation was the tip of the iceberg of Harper's dismantling of >democracy in this country. Prorogation should be viewed within >context of Harpers on-going destructive agenda which is documented to >a limited extent by the media and moreso by some national NGOs among >others. The latest issue which has occurred with the " Rights and >Democracy" agency is a further example of the harm Harper is doing >to this country, our democratic traditions, and our international >reputation. Let's look at some of his attacks on democracy that >proceeded proroguing: > (a) gagging of MP?s (b) gagging of senior bureaucrats, (c) muzzling >the media - cancelling press conferences in the parliamentary press >gallery, (d) shutting down essential 'access to information' >registry and database, (e) cancelling funding for all manner of >civil society groups (social justice, anti-poverty,environmental, >feminist ) that recommend sound policy options for a principle >centred society (f) threatening to cut funding for political parties >(g) Conservative Party chairpersons walking out on and thereby >shutting down parliamentary committees, (g) Harper's manual of "dirty >tricks" for his MPs on how to block the function of Parliamentary >committees, (h) consulting with corporate sector and not rest of >civil society groups as with the National Advisory Council on >Competitiveness (NACC) and the Security and Prosperity Partnership of >North America (SPP) (i) producing aggressive attack ads on the >opposition between election periods etc. j) failing to implement >legislation passed by Parliament with which he disagrees. >k) ongoing interference in so-called independent agencies such as the >RCMP review, the firing of Linda Keen from the Canadian Nuclear >Safety Commission, and now this Rights and Democracy incursion. > >According to Ed Broadbent, Founding president of Rights and >Democracy, formally known as the International Centre for Human >Rights and Democratic Development, this agency that promotes >democracy internationally and in Canada, is the latest victim of the >Harper government's drive to stamp extreme conservative views on >everything it can. He calls recent developments there an >"extraordinarily serious scandal." > "You have a government that has put people there not for their >commitment to make independent judgments about human rights but to >have a specific political agenda. There has been an incredibly >vicious assassination of the integrity of an institution established >to be independent of the government of the day," said Broadbent. > >So we see that along w ith all that has gone before and continues to >unfold, prorogation is part of a pattern of abuse of power wherein >Harper has shown his disdain for Parliamentary process, for good >governance and for responsible, accountable and transparent >democratic process. > >These are major reasons why the Canadians Citizen's Against Pro- >rogation must be continued. All groups that rallied across the >country should consider forming ongoing citizen's assemblies to work >towards the reform of dysfunctional parliamentary and electoral >process. In Wolfville, Nova Scotia we have formed a citizen's >assembly to keep this disturbing issue and ominous behavior of a >prime minister to out of touch with reality from further detroying >all we hold dear on the front burner until the next election. See >following overview of Wolfville's intentions [insert below] >http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-424660-Wolfville-hosts-crossCanada- >rally-all-about-good-government.html > >all the best, >janet > >=============== > > >http://www.publicvalues.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=00570 > >Rights and Democracy shake-up an "extraordinarily serious scandal" - >Broadbent > >Public appointments process is used to pursue ultra-conservative >political agenda. > >by Ish Theilheimer > >OTTAWA, February 1, 2010, PublicValues.ca: >Rights and Democracy, the agency that promotes democracy >internationally and in Canada, is the latest victim of the Harper >government's drive to stamp extreme conservative views on everything >it can, says its founding president. > >Ed Broadbent, founding president of the Montreal-based organization >formally known as the International Centre for Human Rights and >Democratic Development, calls recent developments there an >"extraordinarily serious scandal." > >Troubles there became public in early January. Rights and Democracy's > >president, R?my Beauregard, died of a heart attack immediately after >a turbulent board meeting in which he and the Centre's staff were >viciously attacked by recent political appointees over grants to >organizations working on social justice issues in the Middle East. >Harper's recent appointees charged the grants were going to anti- >Israeli organizations with terrorist connections, despite extensive >vetting with Canadian and international authorities. > > "You have a government that has put people there not for their >commitment to make independent judgments about human rights but to >have a specific political agenda." > >"This is a situation in which the government is using the appointment >process to pursue a very specific political agenda that has resulted >in an attack on the very integrity of Rights and Democracy," >Broadbent told PublicValues.ca in a phone interview. Until now, the >organization has always had political appointments, he said, "but it >has never been subject to direct political influence." > >Broadbent specifically requested people with political experience >from all political parties to staff the organization. "I wanted >people with political experience. The mandate was human rights and >democratic development. There's nothing wrong with that. But never >once did any cast a vote that had any political connection." > >Now, he says, "you have a government that has put people there not >for their commitment to make independent judgments about human rights >but to have a specific political agenda, specifically about the >Middle East. It's incredible." > >The entire 47-member staff of Rights and Democracy has demanded that >three board members, all recent political appointees, resign. They >include David Matas, a lawyer with the pro-Israel B'nai Brith Canada; >evangelist Michael Van Pelt of the think tank Cardus, and Jacques >Gauthier, "who spent 20 years working on a doctoral thesis in which >he argues that Jerusalem belongs to the Jews by international law" >according to Paul Wells of Macleans, the reporter who has followed >this story best and most closely. > >"There has been an incredibly vicious assassination of the integrity >of an institution established to be independent of the government of >the day," said Broadbent. "It an attack on the internal work of the >Centre's staff that has immense international credibility." > >"What this does is it reflects on the ongoing interference of this >government in so-called independent agencies." He cited the RCMP >review, the firing of Linda Keen from the Canadian Nuclear Safety >Commission, and the recent attacks on diplomat Richard Colvin over >detainee abuse as further examples. "This government either >repudiates advice and attacks personally the people who give it, or >they don't reappoint people who demonstrated ability and commitment >to human rights and democracy." > >Broadbent is alarmed by the ban that Gauthier, now President of >Rights and Democracy, has put on staff talking to media, the >confiscation of cell phones from top staff, and the suspicious >disappearance, in a reported "break-in", of three laptop computers >from top staff's offices, all located in an 11th floor office >building. > >"It's pretty appalling for an organization dedicated to human >rights," he said. > >Some news articles of interest include: > >How the Harperites ambushed the rights agency, Haroon Siddiqui, >Toronto Star >http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/757981--how-the-harperites- >ambushed-the-rights-agency > >Rights and Democracy: Did the right hand know what the right hand was >doing?, by Paul Wells, Macleans >http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/01/31/rights-and-democracy-did-the-right- >hand-know-what-the-right-hand-was-doing/ > >Rights and Democracy rips itself apart, Paul Wells, Macleans >Posted: February 01, 2010 > >Public Values (PublicValues.ca) is a project of the Golden Lake >Institute and the online publication StraightGoods.ca > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-424660-Wolfville-hosts-crossCanada- >rally-all-about-good-government.html >Wolfville hosts cross-Canada rally all about good government >by Wendy Elliott/The Advertiser >View all articles from Wendy Elliott/The Advertiser >Article online since January 26th 2010, 4:16 > > >Dozens of locals turned out to add their voice in Wolfville to anti- >proroguement rallies across Canada January 23. M.Slipp View all >pictures Wolfville hosts cross-Canada rally all about good government > >BY WENDY ELLIOTT > >Kings County Register > >Almost 100 people gathered inside a Wolfville hall January 23 to >express their concerns about the Harper government?s prorogation of >Parliament. > >Billed as a public discussion and "speak out for democracy," the >session was designed to allow all citizens, sitting in a circle, to >share their concerns and offer suggestions for change. > >Co-organizer Janet Eaton said the protest wasn?t just about >proroguation, but to set in context "what?s been happening for the >last four years." > >Eighteen-year-old university student Jennifer Parlee said, "young >Canadians know what democracy is and the country wants it." > >She stated the government had descended to petty and personal >political ploys. > >"Some politicians need to put their differences aside and make the >country better," she added. > >Ninety-three-year-old Mary Ganong said she?d lived through many >governments, and remembers especially the Duplessis regime in Quebec. > > >"We need to meet more often and let them know how we feel," she >added. > >Evoking padlocks against unions and police goons, she said, Harper?s >tactics are requiring Canadians to get up on their hind legs and >scream lest they lose their rights. > >Brennan Vogel called for electoral reform, since only 37 per cent of >voters elected the Conservatives; and boosted the notion of >proportional representation. > >Kings-Hants MP Scott Brison told the gathering Prime Minister Stephen >Harper had cynically gambled Canadians would not respond to his >decision to shut down parliament. > >"He gambled wrong. Canadians want a Parliament that works, one that >works for Canadians. When Harper shows disrespect for Parliament, he >shows disrespect for the Canadians who chose it." > >Brison noted Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has proposed a >parliamentary reform package that will prevent a prime minister from >abusing the proroguation tool in the future. > >"Liberal MPs are working," he said later, January 25. > >"I am in Ottawa today with Liberal MPs from across Canada with >economic experts to develop policy ideas to address unemployment, >youth unemployment and to create the jobs of tomorrow." > >The Wolfville Raging Grannies performed three songs about Harper?s >prorogation. > >"It was clear from the beginning that citizens had come prepared to >talk not only about immediate problem of prorogation, but long-term >concerns and solutions as well," noted Eaton. > >All recommendations were recorded, as organizers compiled a list of >actions for possible follow up. > >At the end of the more than two-and-one-half-hour session, the group >decided it would continue meeting as a kind of "citizens? assembly," >possibly every two weeks until the next election at least. February. >6, 1 p.m., was selected for the next event. > >Wolfville was one of approximately 60 communities across Canada where >citizens gathered to protest the prorogation of Parliament. The anti- >prorogation movement gained momentum after a Facebook group formed to >oppose Harper's decision to prorogue Parliament - for the second >time. More than 210,000 people have joined the site. > > >_______________________________________________ >Mai-not mailing list >Mai-not at globalproblematique.net >http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not > > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >Version: 8.5.435 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2666 >- Release Date: 02/03/10 19:35:00 > > > > >_______________________________________________ >Mai-not mailing list >Mai-not at globalproblematique.net >http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not > > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2666 >- Release Date: 02/03/10 11:35:00 From siamdave at yahoo.ca Thu Feb 4 08:57:30 2010 From: siamdave at yahoo.ca (Dave Patterson) Date: Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:57:30 +0700 Subject: [Mai-not] a bit deeper .... (Re: "Rights & Democracy" latest Harper victim / No-Prorogation groups must continue to rally and seek alternatives ! In-Reply-To: <20100204145931.3F72B13BF84B@smtprelay02.hostedemail.com> References: <4B6A1398.27510.2CDB25E9@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> <201002041627410296.017FECF9@smtp.totisp.net> <20100204145931.3F72B13BF84B@smtprelay02.hostedemail.com> Message-ID: <201002042357300546.031BBFBB@smtp.totisp.net> "..As long as we have a monetary economy, where a certain class is permitted to "create" the weapons for colonization and enslavement from the air, there's no hope in hell.." - that's it exactly, and it is such an obvious thing, such a blatant scam, at least when somebody points it out to you, that it's impossible for me to understand why it continues, why people refuse to think about it when told about it ..... maybe there's a similar process going on - they don't want to have to face what it would mean if they acknowledged this, and I don't want to face what their refusal means .... I'm such an innocent in so many ways still .... *********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** On 10-02-04 at 6:59 AM Ed Deak wrote: This is going on all over the world, thanks to the teachings of the neoclassical market economy crap in our and the world's universities. Harper is only one of the brainwashed puppets in its service. As long as we have a monetary economy, where a certain class is permitted to "create" the weapons for colonization and enslavement from the air, there's no hope in hell. The EU is rapidly becoming a colony and that's only one of the first steps of world dictatorship under the guise of " globalization" and "world government". killing all vestiges and chances for democracy. Stalin and Mao must be rolling in their graves for not having thought of this beautiful racket , while singing the Internationale. Cheers, Ed. At 01:27 AM 04/02/2010, you wrote: >This Harper stuff is not the 'tip of the >iceberg', it's more the final coup de grace, >although the overtones of 'mercy' in that phrase >aren't particularly evident in the current case. >Perhaps the chess analogy of the beginning of >the end game would be better - they've been >dismantling our 'democracy' since the 70s, along >with slowly dumbing people down so they are both >too childish to understand the deep >Machiavellian manoeverings going on, and too >apathetic to do anything about it even when they >dimly realise something is going seriously >wrong, and the final revalation of what we have >allowed to happen cannot be that far away (for >those who care or are paying attention). Holding >up Harper as the sole enemy is dangerous, as he >can be sacrificed easily by the >behind-the-scenes rulers (the Bay St Boys), and >replaced with someone else who will be given a >few years free ride until people tire of him (or >her), and on and on and on we go, as we have >been doing for the last 30+ years in every >western English almost-democracy. We need to >understand the history a little deeper than >pretending our demise only started yesterday if >we are serious about getting back in control of >our country. As I try to explain in What >Happened? >http://www.rudemacedon.ca/what-happened.html ( >and I hope Yves doesn't scold me for 'spamming' >the list by daring to mention something I wrote >more than once, as Rabble did, apparently not >wishing their deck-chair rearranging and >demonstration-organising to be interrupted by >something useful .. I think I am talking about >something important here that very people seem >to understand, and will try to get people to listen any way I can) > >*********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** > >On 10-02-04 at 12:23 AM Janet M Eaton wrote: > >Dear All: > >Prorogation was the tip of the iceberg of Harper's dismantling of >democracy in this country. Prorogation should be viewed within >context of Harpers on-going destructive agenda which is documented to >a limited extent by the media and moreso by some national NGOs among >others. The latest issue which has occurred with the " Rights and >Democracy" agency is a further example of the harm Harper is doing >to this country, our democratic traditions, and our international >reputation. Let's look at some of his attacks on democracy that >proceeded proroguing: > (a) gagging of MP?s (b) gagging of senior bureaucrats, (c) muzzling >the media - cancelling press conferences in the parliamentary press >gallery, (d) shutting down essential 'access to information' >registry and database, (e) cancelling funding for all manner of >civil society groups (social justice, anti-poverty,environmental, >feminist ) that recommend sound policy options for a principle >centred society (f) threatening to cut funding for political parties >(g) Conservative Party chairpersons walking out on and thereby >shutting down parliamentary committees, (g) Harper's manual of "dirty >tricks" for his MPs on how to block the function of Parliamentary >committees, (h) consulting with corporate sector and not rest of >civil society groups as with the National Advisory Council on >Competitiveness (NACC) and the Security and Prosperity Partnership of >North America (SPP) (i) producing aggressive attack ads on the >opposition between election periods etc. j) failing to implement >legislation passed by Parliament with which he disagrees. >k) ongoing interference in so-called independent agencies such as the >RCMP review, the firing of Linda Keen from the Canadian Nuclear >Safety Commission, and now this Rights and Democracy incursion. > >According to Ed Broadbent, Founding president of Rights and >Democracy, formally known as the International Centre for Human >Rights and Democratic Development, this agency that promotes >democracy internationally and in Canada, is the latest victim of the >Harper government's drive to stamp extreme conservative views on >everything it can. He calls recent developments there an >"extraordinarily serious scandal." > "You have a government that has put people there not for their >commitment to make independent judgments about human rights but to >have a specific political agenda. There has been an incredibly >vicious assassination of the integrity of an institution established >to be independent of the government of the day," said Broadbent. > >So we see that along w ith all that has gone before and continues to >unfold, prorogation is part of a pattern of abuse of power wherein >Harper has shown his disdain for Parliamentary process, for good >governance and for responsible, accountable and transparent >democratic process. > >These are major reasons why the Canadians Citizen's Against Pro- >rogation must be continued. All groups that rallied across the >country should consider forming ongoing citizen's assemblies to work >towards the reform of dysfunctional parliamentary and electoral >process. In Wolfville, Nova Scotia we have formed a citizen's >assembly to keep this disturbing issue and ominous behavior of a >prime minister to out of touch with reality from further detroying >all we hold dear on the front burner until the next election. See >following overview of Wolfville's intentions [insert below] >http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-424660-Wolfville-hosts-crossCanada- >rally-all-about-good-government.html > >all the best, >janet > >=============== > > >http://www.publicvalues.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=00570 > >Rights and Democracy shake-up an "extraordinarily serious scandal" - >Broadbent > >Public appointments process is used to pursue ultra-conservative >political agenda. > >by Ish Theilheimer > >OTTAWA, February 1, 2010, PublicValues.ca: >Rights and Democracy, the agency that promotes democracy >internationally and in Canada, is the latest victim of the Harper >government's drive to stamp extreme conservative views on everything >it can, says its founding president. > >Ed Broadbent, founding president of the Montreal-based organization >formally known as the International Centre for Human Rights and >Democratic Development, calls recent developments there an >"extraordinarily serious scandal." > >Troubles there became public in early January. Rights and Democracy's > >president, R?my Beauregard, died of a heart attack immediately after >a turbulent board meeting in which he and the Centre's staff were >viciously attacked by recent political appointees over grants to >organizations working on social justice issues in the Middle East. >Harper's recent appointees charged the grants were going to anti- >Israeli organizations with terrorist connections, despite extensive >vetting with Canadian and international authorities. > > "You have a government that has put people there not for their >commitment to make independent judgments about human rights but to >have a specific political agenda." > >"This is a situation in which the government is using the appointment >process to pursue a very specific political agenda that has resulted >in an attack on the very integrity of Rights and Democracy," >Broadbent told PublicValues.ca in a phone interview. Until now, the >organization has always had political appointments, he said, "but it >has never been subject to direct political influence." > >Broadbent specifically requested people with political experience >from all political parties to staff the organization. "I wanted >people with political experience. The mandate was human rights and >democratic development. There's nothing wrong with that. But never >once did any cast a vote that had any political connection." > >Now, he says, "you have a government that has put people there not >for their commitment to make independent judgments about human rights >but to have a specific political agenda, specifically about the >Middle East. It's incredible." > >The entire 47-member staff of Rights and Democracy has demanded that >three board members, all recent political appointees, resign. They >include David Matas, a lawyer with the pro-Israel B'nai Brith Canada; >evangelist Michael Van Pelt of the think tank Cardus, and Jacques >Gauthier, "who spent 20 years working on a doctoral thesis in which >he argues that Jerusalem belongs to the Jews by international law" >according to Paul Wells of Macleans, the reporter who has followed >this story best and most closely. > >"There has been an incredibly vicious assassination of the integrity >of an institution established to be independent of the government of >the day," said Broadbent. "It an attack on the internal work of the >Centre's staff that has immense international credibility." > >"What this does is it reflects on the ongoing interference of this >government in so-called independent agencies." He cited the RCMP >review, the firing of Linda Keen from the Canadian Nuclear Safety >Commission, and the recent attacks on diplomat Richard Colvin over >detainee abuse as further examples. "This government either >repudiates advice and attacks personally the people who give it, or >they don't reappoint people who demonstrated ability and commitment >to human rights and democracy." > >Broadbent is alarmed by the ban that Gauthier, now President of >Rights and Democracy, has put on staff talking to media, the >confiscation of cell phones from top staff, and the suspicious >disappearance, in a reported "break-in", of three laptop computers >from top staff's offices, all located in an 11th floor office >building. > >"It's pretty appalling for an organization dedicated to human >rights," he said. > >Some news articles of interest include: > >How the Harperites ambushed the rights agency, Haroon Siddiqui, >Toronto Star >http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/757981--how-the-harperites- >ambushed-the-rights-agency > >Rights and Democracy: Did the right hand know what the right hand was >doing?, by Paul Wells, Macleans >http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/01/31/rights-and-democracy-did-the-right- >hand-know-what-the-right-hand-was-doing/ > >Rights and Democracy rips itself apart, Paul Wells, Macleans >Posted: February 01, 2010 > >Public Values (PublicValues.ca) is a project of the Golden Lake >Institute and the online publication StraightGoods.ca > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >http://www.novanewsnow.com/article-424660-Wolfville-hosts-crossCanada- >rally-all-about-good-government.html >Wolfville hosts cross-Canada rally all about good government >by Wendy Elliott/The Advertiser >View all articles from Wendy Elliott/The Advertiser >Article online since January 26th 2010, 4:16 > > >Dozens of locals turned out to add their voice in Wolfville to anti- >proroguement rallies across Canada January 23. M.Slipp View all >pictures Wolfville hosts cross-Canada rally all about good government > >BY WENDY ELLIOTT > >Kings County Register > >Almost 100 people gathered inside a Wolfville hall January 23 to >express their concerns about the Harper government?s prorogation of >Parliament. > >Billed as a public discussion and "speak out for democracy," the >session was designed to allow all citizens, sitting in a circle, to >share their concerns and offer suggestions for change. > >Co-organizer Janet Eaton said the protest wasn?t just about >proroguation, but to set in context "what?s been happening for the >last four years." > >Eighteen-year-old university student Jennifer Parlee said, "young >Canadians know what democracy is and the country wants it." > >She stated the government had descended to petty and personal >political ploys. > >"Some politicians need to put their differences aside and make the >country better," she added. > >Ninety-three-year-old Mary Ganong said she?d lived through many >governments, and remembers especially the Duplessis regime in Quebec. > > >"We need to meet more often and let them know how we feel," she >added. > >Evoking padlocks against unions and police goons, she said, Harper?s >tactics are requiring Canadians to get up on their hind legs and >scream lest they lose their rights. > >Brennan Vogel called for electoral reform, since only 37 per cent of >voters elected the Conservatives; and boosted the notion of >proportional representation. > >Kings-Hants MP Scott Brison told the gathering Prime Minister Stephen >Harper had cynically gambled Canadians would not respond to his >decision to shut down parliament. > >"He gambled wrong. Canadians want a Parliament that works, one that >works for Canadians. When Harper shows disrespect for Parliament, he >shows disrespect for the Canadians who chose it." > >Brison noted Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has proposed a >parliamentary reform package that will prevent a prime minister from >abusing the proroguation tool in the future. > >"Liberal MPs are working," he said later, January 25. > >"I am in Ottawa today with Liberal MPs from across Canada with >economic experts to develop policy ideas to address unemployment, >youth unemployment and to create the jobs of tomorrow." > >The Wolfville Raging Grannies performed three songs about Harper?s >prorogation. > >"It was clear from the beginning that citizens had come prepared to >talk not only about immediate problem of prorogation, but long-term >concerns and solutions as well," noted Eaton. > >All recommendations were recorded, as organizers compiled a list of >actions for possible follow up. > >At the end of the more than two-and-one-half-hour session, the group >decided it would continue meeting as a kind of "citizens? assembly," >possibly every two weeks until the next election at least. February. >6, 1 p.m., was selected for the next event. > >Wolfville was one of approximately 60 communities across Canada where >citizens gathered to protest the prorogation of Parliament. The anti- >prorogation movement gained momentum after a Facebook group formed to >oppose Harper's decision to prorogue Parliament - for the second >time. More than 210,000 people have joined the site. > > >_______________________________________________ >Mai-not mailing list >Mai-not at globalproblematique.net >http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not > > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >Version: 8.5.435 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2666 >- Release Date: 02/03/10 19:35:00 > > > > >_______________________________________________ >Mai-not mailing list >Mai-not at globalproblematique.net >http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not > > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2666 >- Release Date: 02/03/10 11:35:00 _______________________________________________ Mai-not mailing list Mai-not at globalproblematique.net http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.435 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2667 - Release Date: 02/04/10 07:35:00 From papadop at peak.org Thu Feb 4 09:18:18 2010 From: papadop at peak.org (MichaelP) Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 09:18:18 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Mai-not] torture-memo-Bybee impeachment moves intensify Message-ID: http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/enhanced_investigation/8391/ DOJ report opens door for Congress to probe judge's role in condoning torture, activists say By Jake Armstrong 02/04/2010 Activists on Thursday will demand that Congress call federal Judge Jay Bybee on the carpet for his part in authorizing harsh interrogation tactics as an attorney for the Bush administration, even if the US Department of Justice appears ready to sweep the matter under one. At demonstrations planned at the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals courthouses in Pasadena and San Francisco, protesters are expected to call for an impeachment inquiry into Bybee, who authored memos giving legal cover for waterboarding and harsh interrogation tactics many say are tantamount to torture. Nominated by Bush, Bybee was confirmed for a lifetime appointment to the appeals court in 2003. Demands for Bybee's impeachment began in April. Thursday's events mark a redoubling of the impeachment effort, following reports last week that the US Department of Justice's ethics watchdog, the Office of Professional Responsibility, had watered down a report on Bybee's professional conduct that initially could have prompted impeachment proceedings in Congress. Kevin Zeese, attorney and spokesman for Velvet Revolution, a network of progressive organizations, said Congress needs to step up and start hearings that could remove Bybee from the bench. "Having someone who approved torture on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is an embarrassment Congress can correct" Zeese said. Newsweek reported last Friday that the OPR would be releasing a revised report dropping allegations of professional misconduct leveled against Bybee and John Yoo, another Bush Justice Department staffer who is now a law professor at UC Berkeley. A previous draft of that report found that Bybee and Yoo trampled their professional obligations in approving "enhanced" interrogation tactics. That finding could have led state bar associations to discipline the attorneys, even disbar them, and could have launched an impeachment investigation on Bybee, according to Newsweek. Instead, the new version of the report concludes Bybee merely exercised "poor judgment" which does not run afoul of the law. From jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca Fri Feb 5 12:41:11 2010 From: jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca (Janet M Eaton) Date: Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:41:11 -0400 Subject: [Mai-not] 'No Shock Doctrine for Haiti Petition' [IMF backs down - unprecendented move] Message-ID: <4B6C4A27.6590.35804760@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> In the middle of the Haitian people's nightmare, a system that has kept hundreds of millions like them poor and broken might just have shown its first fracture. To understand what has happened, you have to delve into a long-suppressed history - one you are not supposed to hear. Since the 1970s, we have been told that the gospel of the Free Market has rolled out across the world because the People demand it. We have been informed that free elections will lead ineluctably to people choosing to roll back the state, privatise the essentials of life, and leave the rich to work their magic for us all. We have seen these trends wash across the world because ordinary people believe they offer the best possible system. But something new and startling happened this month. For the first time, the IMF was stopped from shafting a poor country - by a rebellion here in the rich world. Hours after the quake, a Facebook group called "No Shock Doctrine For Haiti" had tens of thousands of members, and orchestrated a petition to the IMF of over 150,000 signatures demanding the loan become a no-strings grant. And it worked. The IMF backed down. It publicly renounced its conditions - and even said it would work to cancel Haiti's entire debt. ..Of course, the IMF needs to be watched vigilantly....But thanks to all the ordinary Europeans and Americans who pushed back, Haiti will not be IMF-ed up now, in its darkest hour. Not this time. Not these people. Not again. These should be the first baby-steps of a campaign to finally stop the IMF's poverty-promoting machine steam- rolling across continents. On the political Richter scale, that would mark a 7.0 - for the causes of democracy and justice. -- The Independent Feb 5th fyi-janet http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann- hari/johann- hari-theres-real-hope-from-haiti-and-its-not- what-you-expect- 1889958.html The Independent ~ London ~ Friday February 5, 2010, page 33 Johann Hari: There's real hope from Haiti and it's not what you expect When people live so close to the edge, even small price increases can break them ILLUSTRATION When people live so close to the edge, even small price increases can break them (CHRIS COADY /NB) In the weeks after a disaster like the Haiti earthquake, journalists always search for an upbeat twist to the tale. You know it by now - the baby found alive after a week under wreckage. But this time, a shaft of light has parted the rubble and the corpses and the unshakeable grief that could last for years. In the middle of the Haitian people's nightmare, a system that has kept hundreds of millions like them poor and broken might just have shown its first fracture. To understand what has happened, you have to delve into a long-suppressed history - one you are not supposed to hear. Since the 1970s, we have been told that the gospel of the Free Market has rolled out across the world because the People demand it. We have been informed that free elections will lead ineluctably to people choosing to roll back the state, privatise the essentials of life, and leave the rich to work their magic for us all. We have seen these trends wash across the world because ordinary people believe they offer the best possible system. There's just one snag: it's not true. In reality, this gospel has proved impossible to impose in any democracy. Few politicians have believed in its core tenets more than Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher - yet at the end of their long terms, after bitter battles, the proportion of GDP spent by the state remained the same. Why? Because these doctrines are extremely unpopular, and wherever they are tried, they are fiercely resisted. There are majorities in every free country for a mixed economy, where markets are counter-balanced by a strong and active state. The gospel spread across the poor world because their governments were given no choice. In her masterpiece The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein shows how these policies were forced on the world's poor against their will. Sometimes rich governments did it simply by killing the elected leaders and installing a servile dictator, as in Chile. Usually the methods were more subtle. One of the most marked came in the form of "loans" from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The IMF would approach poor countries and offer them desperately needed cash. But from the 1970s on, they would, in return, require the countries to introduce "structural adjustments" to their economy. The medicine was always the same: end all subsidies for the poor, slash state spending on health and education, deregulate your financial sector, throw your markets open. Here's a typical example of what happened next. In Malawi, the country's soil had become badly depleted, so the government decided to subsidise fertiliser for farmers. When the IMF and World Bank came in, they called this "a market distortion", and ordered Malawi to stop at once. They did. So the country's crops failed, and famine scythed through the population. Tens of thousands starved to death. The Malawian government eventually listened to the cries of its people, kicked out the IMF, and reintroduced the subsidies - and the famine stopped that year. The country is now an exporter of food again. When people are living so close to the edge, even small increases in prices can break them. The IMF systematically disregards the fact that every country that has lifted itself out of poverty has done the opposite of its commands. For example, South Korea went from poverty to plenty in just two generations by protecting and heavily subsiding its industries and jacking up state subsidies - to the IMF's horror. Even Professor Jeffrey Sachs - one of their former lackeys - calls the IMF "the Typhoid Mary of emerging markets, spreading recessions in country after country". So why do they carry on like this? Primarily, it is because IMF programmes work very well - for the rich. They ensure that we get access to the cheapest possible labour and can help ourselves to the glistening resources that inexplicably ended up under their soil. The serve-the-rich ideology that caused our economy to crash in 2008 has been crashing poor countries for a long time. But there's a sting. After decades of ordering poor countries to slash subsidies and state spending, the IMF reacted to the recession by urging rich countries ... to spend a fortune subsidising the banks, and to increase state spending. They wouldn't dream of drinking the medicine they have been serving out to the poor for so long. It's not as if the IMF has learned from its mistakes: it has just forced countries from El Salvador to Ukraine to Pakistan to sign deals committing themselves to leave the state inert in the face of severe external shocks to their economies. No: the IMF only imposes its deadly prescriptions on those too weak and too distant to matter. Here's where Haiti comes in. The IMF agenda has often been forced on populations when they are least able to resist - after a military coup, a massacre, or a natural disaster. For example, the people of Thailand fought for years against clearing their locals off their beaches to make way for holiday resorts, and voted against the privatisation of water and electricity. But immediately after the tsunami, both were pushed through. After the earthquake, something similar was poised to happen to Haiti. The IMF announced a $100m loan, stapled on to an earlier loan, which requires Haiti to raise electricity prices, and freeze wages for the public-sector workers who are needed to rebuild the country. So when people emerged from the rubble, they would find an economy rigged even more heavily against them. There is no doubt about what the Haitian people would think: they know the IMF. Until 1994, the country at least grew its own staple crop: rice. But the IMF came in and ordered the government to cut its rice tariff from 35 per cent to 3 per cent. Suddenly the market was flooded with rice grown in the US by hugely subsidised farmers, and Haiti's rice farmers went bust. Hundreds of thousands swelled to the slum-cities and sweat shops of Port-au-Prince, where they built mud huts - and were buried in 2010. The IMF reduced the country from self-sufficiency to dependency, in a move known locally as "the Plan of Death". It was one of the external political earthquakes that made this natural earthquake far more deadly. But something new and startling happened this month. For the first time, the IMF was stopped from shafting a poor country - by a rebellion here in the rich world. Hours after the quake, a Facebook group called "No Shock Doctrine For Haiti" had tens of thousands of members, and orchestrated a petition to the IMF of over 150,000 signatures demanding the loan become a no-strings grant. After Naomi Klein's mega-selling expos?, there was a vigilant public who wanted to see that the money they were donating to charity was not going to be cancelled out by the IMF. And it worked. The IMF backed down. It publicly renounced its conditions - and even said it would work to cancel Haiti's entire debt. This is the first sign that exposing and opposing the IMF's agenda works. Klein says it is "unprecedented in my experience, and shows that public pressure in moments of disaster can seriously subvert shock doctrine tactics." Of course, the IMF needs to be watched vigilantly. Already it seems to be rolling back some of its panicked initial rhetoric and saying that "beyond the emergency phase" it may go back to business as usual. Very powerful interests want the IMF to continue to dance to their tune. But thanks to all the ordinary Europeans and Americans who pushed back, Haiti will not be IMF-ed up now, in its darkest hour. Not this time. Not these people. Not again. These should be the first baby-steps of a campaign to finally stop the IMF's poverty-promoting machine steam-rolling across continents. On the political Richter scale, that would mark a 7.0 - for the causes of democracy and justice. From McPogo at aol.com Sat Feb 6 14:44:34 2010 From: McPogo at aol.com (McPogo at aol.com) Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 17:44:34 EST Subject: [Mai-not] Test Message-ID: <2d234.62d590dc.389f4ad2@aol.com> I've had similar problems like Ed's. Testing Paul -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From d_a_d at telusplanet.net Sat Feb 6 15:54:07 2010 From: d_a_d at telusplanet.net (David Davidson) Date: Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:54:07 -0700 Subject: [Mai-not] Test In-Reply-To: <2d234.62d590dc.389f4ad2@aol.com> References: <2d234.62d590dc.389f4ad2@aol.com> Message-ID: <4B6E011F.4020301@telusplanet.net> On 06/02/2010 3:44 PM, McPogo at aol.com wrote: > I've had similar problems like Ed's. > Testing > Paul > > > _______________________________________________ > Mai-not mailing list > Mai-not at globalproblematique.net > http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not > Your test was received, david -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From papadop at peak.org Sat Feb 6 20:03:55 2010 From: papadop at peak.org (MichaelP) Date: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 20:03:55 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Mai-not] NPR ombudsman view of Zinn obituary Message-ID: http://www.npr.org/ombudsman/2010/02/howard_zinns_obit.html NPR Ombudsman Activist Historian Howard Zinn's Obit Causes a Firestorm February 4, 2010 comments There's a taboo not to speak ill of the dead. Or if you are going to, then at least be nuanced and even-handed about it. And that's what hundreds said about a Jan. 28 [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123081519] remembrance of Howard Zinn, the activist historian who died Jan. 27. Zinn was decidedly left of the American political spectrum and the first to say he was biased. His best-known book, "A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present," was a surprise best-seller. It told history from the point of view of those who had been vanquished or oppressed by the powerful. Zinn, 87, died of a heart attack last Wednesday while on a speaking tour in California. NPR scrambled to get something on the air for All Things Considered (ATC) the next night. The four-minute piece by Allison Keyes quoted three sources: two who praised Zinn and one, David Horowitz, who was harshly critical. It was the commentary by Horowitz that led Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), a left-leaning media watchdog group, to initiate a campaign that resulted in over 1,600 emails, over 100 phone calls and 108 comments on npr.org. Others complained on air. Horowitz, 71, is a former leftist radical who morphed into a right-wing author and commentator in the early 1980s. He is also founder of Students for Academic Freedom, a national watchdog group that promotes tolerance of conservatives on college campuses. Not surprisingly, he was no fan of Zinn's. "There is absolutely nothing in Howard Zinn's intellectual output that is worthy of any kind of respect," Horowitz declared in the NPR story. "Zinn represents a fringe mentality which has unfortunately seduced millions of people at this point in time. So he did certainly alter the consciousness of millions of younger people for the worse." Ouch. "I thought it was not only disrespectful, but ridiculous--and so typical of the 'liberal' media's desire to seek legitimacy by giving credence to hateful right-wingers," wrote Laura Paskus, from Paonia, CO. "I was one of those young people Zinn influenced; he didn't expect people to blindly accept his version of history. Rather, he taught us to question, probe, seek out alternative perspectives and to always be fair." Victor Tishop of Kent Cliffs, NY added this: "You don't alter the minds of millions if you are a fringe mentality," he said. "That's a contradiction in terms. Horowitz's whole commentary was specious and designed to destroy the works of Dr. Zinn. Many right-wing spokespeople on NPR are allowed latitude that doesn't seem to be accorded to quote unquote liberals on the left." Many critics pointed to NPR's even-handed coverage of William F. Buckley, "a figure as admired by the right as much as Zinn was on the left," according to FAIR, which gave its members talking points and urged them to contact the Ombudsman. NPR was complimentary and respectful in memorializing Buckley, who died in 2008. The network was equally nuanced in remembering pioneering televangelist Oral Roberts (who died in December) and Robert Novak, a conservative columnist who played a key role in the Valerie Plame debacle and who died last August. NPR's obituaries of these men did not contain mean-spirited, Horowitz-like comments. It should be noted that Talk of the Nation did a segment on Zinn that discussed all aspects of his life that FAIR overlooked. Obituaries are news stories that place a person in time and history -- not tributes. For this reason, Zinn's obituary did need to mention that he was controversial and that some historians were dismissive of his work. But, several professional obituary writers said, Horowitz's harsh comments about Zinn were not appropriate. "Obviously the deceased has no ability to refute or discuss or explain the accusation," said Carolyn Gilbert, founder of the International Association of Obituarists. "To pick a fight in the obit is not in the guidelines. It is a little too over the top and begins to open doors that shouldn't be open in an obituary." Adam Bernstein, the Washington Post's obituaries editor, also heard the Zinn obit. "I think the Zinn story misses the mark for two reasons," said Bernstein. "It quotes people with a vested interest in celebrating the man and then quotes a man who vividly despises what Zinn represents." Neither works well. The Horowitz quote "seems a low blow that doesn't add much insight to the reader or listener," said Bernstein. "It seems to me your story would have been better to get a more-neutral authority who expresses why Zinn was influential and helps the reader/listener understand why many scholars -- not just conservative firebombers like Horowitz -- felt Zinn was not a force for good in academia." NPR doesn't have a full-time obit reporter. Last year, the network ran 317 obits and the year before 327. So when someone dies, pieces are often crafted at the time of death. [NPR does prepare advance obituaries of many prominent people. For example, Neda Ulaby had already done a piece on J.D. Salinger, who also died last week, in anticipation of the 91-year-old author's death.] The Zinn obit was assigned to Karen Grigsby-Bates late on the day he died but she had difficulty getting callbacks that day. Keyes got the assignment the next day to do the story for ATC that night. "She reached out to as many voices on both sides about Mr. Zinn as she could," said managing editor David Sweeney. "Some were not available or refused to talk." Keyes reached Horowitz, who was willing to talk. Keyes declined to be interviewed. After the flood of emails, I asked Sweeney to take another listen. He agreed the Horowitz quote is harsh in tone. "That doesn't undermine the legitimacy of using his point of view," said Sweeney. "If there is a problem with what Horowitz has to say, it's that he's allowed to wield a sharp tongue without providing any justification or evidence to support his words: more heat than light." I also asked Alana Baranick, author of "Life on the Death Beat: A Handbook for Obituary Writers," to listen to the story. She wrote obits for the Cleveland Plain Dealer for 16 years. She thought it was fair to use Horowitz to balance out leftist academic Noam Chomsky, who said "Zinn had changed the conscience of a generation." "If I had been doing that NPR obit, I would not have cited Horowitz or Chomsky," said Baranick. "I would have looked to less controversial figures for comments. [Quoting] historians, who are not considered political activists, would have been more appropriate." Writing an obituary can be a challenging assignment because it is often the last thing that will be said about someone, and the subject can no longer speak on his own behalf. It must be fair. It must provide context and it must tell warts and all -- all in a limited space. Critics are right that NPR was not respectful of Zinn. It would have been better to wait a day and find a more nuanced critic -- as the Washington Post did two days after Zinn died --than rushing a flawed obituary on air. [NOTE: (2-5-10) Note: I said that Allison Keyes declined to comment on her story. In fairness to Keyes, I should have said that David Sweeney, managing editor of NPR News, told me he would respond on behalf of the news department. It should also be noted that journalism is done collaboratively, and Keyes alone did not make the decision to put the story on the air. This is why Sweeney responded.] From jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca Sat Feb 6 21:23:14 2010 From: jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca (Janet M Eaton) Date: Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:23:14 -0400 Subject: [Mai-not] Zinn, Haiti & terrorism's purpose - US media's silencing of realities [Anti-Empire Report, February 6, 2010 ] Message-ID: <4B6E1602.8980.1EE95E4@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> "Progressive activists and writers continually be moan the fact that the news they generate and the opinions they express are consistently ignored by the mainstream media, and thus kept from the masses of the American people. This disregard of progressive thought is tantamount to a definition of the mainstream media....So it was with Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States." "It's a good thing the Haitian government did virtually nothing to help its people following the earthquake; otherwise it would have been condemned as "socialist" by Fox News, Sarah Palin, the teabaggers, and other right-thinking Americans. The last/only Haitian leader strongly committed to putting the welfare of the Haitian people before that of the domestic and international financial mafia was President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Being of a socialist persuasion, Aristide was, naturally, kept from power by the United States - twice; first by Bill Clinton, then by George W. Bush, the two men appointed by President Obama to head the earthquake relief effort. Naturally." "There are numerous examples of terrorists citing American policies as the prime motivation behind their acts [14], so many that American officials, when discussing the newest terrorist attack, have to tread carefully to avoid mentioning the role of US foreign policy; and journalists typically fail to bring this point home to their reader's consciousness. The US bombing, invasion, occupation and torture in Iraq and Afghanistan, the bombing of Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, and the continuing Israeli-US genocide against the Palestinians have created an army of new anti-American terrorists. We'll be hearing from them for a terribly long time. And we'll be hearing American officials twist themselves into intellectual and moral knots as they try to avoid confronting these facts." --- Bill Blum, author of Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War 2 ; Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower and more at www.killinghope.org fyi-janet ------- Forwarded message follows ------- From: BBlum6 at aol.com Date sent: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 14:05:31 EST Subject: Anti-Empire Report, February 6, 2010 To: bblum6 at aol.com Anti-Empire Report, February 6, 2010 http://www.killinghope.org/bblum6/aer78.html The Anti-Empire Report February 6th, 2010 by William Blum www.killinghope.org "In America you can say anything you want - as long as it doesn't have any effect." - Paul Goodman Progressive activists and writers continually bemoan the fact that the news they generate and the opinions they express are consistently ignored by the mainstream media, and thus kept from the masses of the American people. This disregard of progressive thought is tantamount to a definition of the mainstream media. It doesn't have to be a conspiracy; it's a matter of who owns the mainstream media and the type of journalists they hire - men and women who would like to keep their jobs; so it's more insidious than a conspiracy, it's what's built into the system, it's how the system works. The disregard of the progressive world is of course not total; at times some of that world makes too good copy to ignore, and, on rare occasions, progressive ideas, when they threaten to become very popular, have to be countered. So it was with Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. Here's Barry Gewen an editor at the New York Times Book Review, June 5, 2005 writing of Zinn's book and others like it: There was a unifying vision, but it was simplistic. Since the victims and losers were good, it followed that the winners were bad. From the point of view of downtrodden blacks, America was racist; from the point of view of oppressed workers, it was exploitative; from the point of view of conquered Hispanics and Indians, it was imperialistic. There was much to condemn in American history, little or nothing to praise. ... Whereas the Europeans who arrived in the New World were genocidal predators, the Indians who were already there believed in sharing and hospitality (never mind the profound cultural differences that existed among them), and raped Africa was a continent overflowing with kindness and communalism (never mind the profound cultural differences that existed there). One has to wonder whether Mr. Gewen thought that all the victims of the Holocaust were saintly and without profound cultural differences. Prominent American historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. once said of Zinn: "I know he regards me as a dangerous reactionary. And I don't take him very seriously. He's a polemicist, not a historian." In the obituaries that followed Zinn's death, this particular defamation was picked up around the world, from the New York Times, Washington Post, and the leading American wire services to the New Zealand Herald and Korea Times. Regarding reactionaries and polemicists, it is worth noting that Mr. Schlesinger, as a top advisor to President John F. Kennedy, played a key role in the overthrow of Cheddi Jagan, the democratically-elected progressive prime minister of British Guiana (now Guyana). In 1990, at a conference in New York City, Schlesinger publicly apologized to Jagan, saying: "I felt badly about my role thirty years ago. I think a great injustice was done to Cheddi Jagan." 1 This is to Schlesinger's credit, although the fact that Jagan was present at the conference may have awakened his conscience after 30 years. Like virtually all the American historians of the period who were granted attention and respect by the mainstream media, Schlesinger was a cold warrior. Those like Zinn who questioned the basic suppositions of the Cold War abroad, and capitalism at home, were regarded as polemicists. One of my favorite Howard Zinn quotes: "The chief problem in historical honesty is not outright lying. It is omission or de- emphasis of important data. The definition of 'important', of course, depends on one's values." 2 A People's History and his other writings can be seen as an attempt to make up for the omissions and under- emphases of America's dark side in American history books and media. Haiti, Aristide, and ideology It's a good thing the Haitian government did virtually nothing to help its people following the earthquake; otherwise it would have been condemned as "socialist" by Fox News, Sarah Palin, the teabaggers, and other right-thinking Americans. The last/only Haitian leader strongly committed to putting the welfare of the Haitian people before that of the domestic and international financial mafia was President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Being of a socialist persuasion, Aristide was, naturally, kept from power by the United States - twice; first by Bill Clinton, then by George W. Bush, the two men appointed by President Obama to head the earthquake relief effort. Naturally. Aristide, a reformist priest, was elected to the presidency, then ousted in a military coup eight months later in 1991 by men on the CIA payroll. Ironically, the ousted president wound up in exile in the United States. In 1994 the Clinton White House found itself in the awkward position of having to pretend - because of all their rhetoric about "democracy" - that they supported the democratically- elected Aristide's return to power. After delaying his return for more than two years, Washington finally had its military restore Aristide to office, but only after obliging the priest to guarantee that after his term ended he would not remain in office to make up the time lost because of the coup; that he would not seek to help the poor at the expense of the rich, literally; and that he would stick closely to free-market economics. This meant that Haiti would continue to be the assembly plant of the Western Hemisphere, with its workers receiving starvation wages, literally. If Aristide had thoughts about breaking the agreement forced upon him, he had only to look out his window - US troops were stationed in Haiti for the remainder of his term. 3 On February 28, 2004, during the Bush administration, American military and diplomatic personnel arrived at the home of Aristide, who had been elected to the presidency once again in 2002, to inform him that his private American security agents must either leave immediately to return to the United States or fight and die; that the remaining 25 of the American security agents hired by the Haitian government, who were to arrive the next day, had been blocked by the United States from coming; that foreign and Haitian rebels were nearby, heavily armed, determined and ready to kill thousands of people in a bloodbath. Aristide was then pressured into signing a "letter of resignation" before being kidnaped and flown to exile in Africa by the United States. 4 The leaders and politicians of the world who pontificate endlessly about "democracy" and "self- determination" had virtually nothing to say about this breathtaking act of international thuggery. Indeed, France and Canada were active allies of the United States in pressing Aristide to leave. 5 And then US Secretary of State Colin Powell, in the sincerest voice he could muster, told the world that Aristide "was not kidnaped. We did not force him onto the airplane. He went onto the airplane willingly. And that's the truth." 6 Powell sounded as sincere as he had sounded a year earlier when he gave the UN his now-famous detailed inventory of the chemical, biological and nuclear weapons that Saddam Hussein was preparing to use. Howard Zinn is quoted above saying "The chief problem in historical honesty is not outright lying. It is omission or de-emphasis of important data." However, that doesn't mean the American mainstream media don't create or perpetuate myths. Here's the New York Times two months ago: "Mr. Aristide, who was overthrown during a 2004 rebellion ..." 7 Now what image does the word "rebellion" conjure up in your mind? The Haitian people rising up to throw off the shackles put on them by a dictatorship? Or something staged by the United States? Aristide has stated that he was able to determine at that crucial moment that the "rebels" were white and foreign. 8 But even if they had been natives, why did Colin Powell not explain why the United States disbanded Aristide's personal security forces? Why did he not explain why the United States was not protecting Aristide from the rebels, which the US could have done with the greatest of ease, without so much as firing a single shot? Nor did he explain why Aristide would "willingly" give up his presidency. The massive US military deployment to Haiti in the wake of the earthquake has been criticized in various quarters as more of an occupation than a relief mission, with the airport in the capital city now an American military base, and with American forces blocking various aid missions from entering the country in order, apparently, to serve Washington's own logistical agenda. But the large military presence can also serve to facilitate two items on Washington's political agenda - preventing Haitians from trying to emigrate by sea to the United States and keeping a lid on the numerous supporters of Aristide lest they threaten to take power once again. That which can not be spoken "The purpose of terrorism is to provoke an overreaction," writes Fareed Zakaria, a leading American foreign-policy pundit, editor of Newsweek magazine's international edition, and Washington Post columnist, referring to the "underwear bomber", Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and his failed attempt to blow up a US airliner on Christmas day. "Its real aim is not to kill the hundreds of people directly targeted but to sow fear in the rest of the population. Terrorism is an unusual military tactic in that it depends on the response of the onlookers. If we are not terrorized, then the attack didn't work. Alas, this one worked very well." 9 Is that not odd? That an individual would try to take the lives of hundreds of people, including his own, primarily to "provoke an overreaction", or to "sow fear"? Was there not any kind of deep- seated grievance or resentment with anything or anyone American being expressed? No perceived wrong he wished to make right? Nothing he sought to obtain revenge for? Why is the United States the most common target of terrorists? Such questions were not even hinted at in Zakaria's article. At a White House press briefing concerning the same failed terrorist attack, conducted by Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security John Brennan, veteran reporter Helen Thomas raised a question: Thomas: "What is really lacking always for us is you don't give the motivation of why they want to do us harm. ... What is the motivation? We never hear what you find out on why." Brennan: "Al Qaeda is an organization that is dedicated to murder and wanton slaughter of innocents. ... [They] attract individuals like Mr. Abdulmutallab and use them for these types of attacks. He was motivated by a sense of religious sort of drive. Unfortunately, al Qaeda has perverted Islam, and has corrupted the concept of Islam, so that [they're] able to attract these individuals. But al Qaeda has the agenda of destruction and death." Thomas: "And you're saying it's because of religion?" Brennan: "I'm saying it's because of an al Qaeda organization that uses the banner of religion in a very perverse and corrupt way." Thomas: "Why?" Brennan: "I think ... this is a long issue, but al Qaeda is just determined to carry out attacks here against the homeland." Thomas: "But you haven't explained why." 10 American officials rarely even make the attempt to explain why. And American journalists rarely press them to explain why; certainly not like Helen Thomas does. And just what is it that has such difficulty crossing the lips of these officials? It is the idea that anti-American terrorists become anti-American terrorists to retaliate for what the United States has done to countries or people close to them or what Israel has done to them with unequivocal American support. Osama bin Laden, in an audiotape, also commented about Abdulmutallab: "The message we wanted you to receive through him is that America shall not dream about security until we witness it in Palestine." 11 We have as well the recent case of Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, a Jordanian doctor-turned-suicide bomber, who killed seven CIA employees at a base in Afghanistan December 30. His widow later declared: "I am proud of him. ... My husband did this against the U.S. invasion." Balawi himself had written on the Internet: "I have never wished to be in Gaza, but now I wish to be a ... car bomb that takes the lives of the biggest number of Jews to hell." 12 It should be noted that the CIA base attacked by Balawi was heavily involved in the selection of targets for the Agency's remote- controlled aircraft along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, a program that killed more than 300 people in the previous year. 13 There are numerous examples of terrorists citing American policies as the prime motivation behind their acts 14, so many that American officials, when discussing the newest terrorist attack, have to tread carefully to avoid mentioning the role of US foreign policy; and journalists typically fail to bring this point home to their reader's consciousness. It works the same all over the world. In the period of the 1950s to the 1980s in Latin America, in response to a long string of hateful Washington policies, there were countless acts of terrorism against US diplomatic and military targets as well as the offices of US corporations. The US bombing, invasion, occupation and torture in Iraq and Afghanistan, the bombing of Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, and the continuing Israeli-US genocide against the Palestinians have created an army of new anti-American terrorists. We'll be hearing from them for a terribly long time. And we'll be hearing American officials twist themselves into intellectual and moral knots as they try to avoid confronting these facts. In his "State of the Union" address on January 27, President Obama said: "But if anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know." Well, ending America's many wars would free up enough money to do anything a rational, humane society would want to do. Eliminating the military budget would pay for free medical care for everyone. Free university education for everyone. Creating a government public works project that could provide millions of decently-paid jobs, like repairing the decrepit infrastructure and healing the environment to the best of our ability. You can add your own favorite projects. All covered, just by ending the damn wars. Imagine that. Notes 1. The Nation, June 4, 1990, pp.763-4 2. "Failure to Quit: Reflections of an Optimistic Historian" (1993), p.30 3. http://killinghope.org/bblum6/haiti2.htm 4. Statement of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, March 5, 2004, from exile in the Central African Republic, Pacific News Service (San Francisco); David Swanson, "What Bush Did to Haiti", January 18, 2010; William Blum, "Rogue State", pp.219-20) 5. Miami Herald, March 1, 2004 6.. CNN, March 1, 2004 7.. New York Times, November 27, 2009 8. Aristide statement, op. cit. 9. Newsweek, January 18, 2010, online January 9 10. White House press briefing, January 7, 2010 11. ABC News, January 25, 2010 12. Associated Press, January 7, 2010 13. Washington Post, January 1, 2010 14. Rogue State, chapter 1, "Why do terrorists keep picking on the United States?"; this chapter ends in 2005; some later examples can be provided by the author. William Blum is the author of: Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War 2 Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower West-Bloc Dissident: A Cold War Memoir Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire Portions of the books can be read, and signed copies purchased, at www.killinghope.org Previous Anti-Empire Reports can be read at this website. To add yourself to this mailing list simply send an email to bblum6 [at] aol.com with "add" in the subject line. I'd like your name and city in the message, but that's optional. I ask for your city only in case I'll be speaking in your area. (Or put "remove" in the subject line to do the opposite.) Any part of this report may be disseminated without permission. I'd appreciate it if the website were mentioned. Home -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: - Type: application/octet-stream Size: 139 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: - Type: application/octet-stream Size: 677 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: - Type: application/octet-stream Size: 160 bytes Desc: "AVG certification" URL: From dnevrghm at powerup.com.au Sat Feb 6 21:29:54 2010 From: dnevrghm at powerup.com.au (Doug Everingham) Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 15:29:54 +1000 Subject: [Mai-not] Fwd: Your payment file. References: <4B6BA7BA.000029.18991@coremail> Message-ID: <2DE49DE8-D6A0-48CD-8D79-5329F9CB8F0B@powerup.com.au> I have not responded to the message forwarded below but pass it on as a possible warning to others of a new sort of hoax. - Doug Everingham. ==== Begin forwarded message: > From: "Info" > Date: 5 February 2010 3:08:10 PM > To: mssa at mail.com > Subject: Your payment file. > > > > Financial Services Supervision Commission, > United Kingdom District Office, > Whitehall Court, London, Sw1a 2el > Email: michaelbrown_100 at yahoo.co.jp > > Attention: , > > I am Dr. Michael Brown, Director General, Funds Reconciliation and > Payment Department, Financial Services Supervision Commission. > > In accordance with The International Board for Funds Reconciliation > and Payment, in conjunction with The World Bank Financial Services > Regulatory Program, we are officially mandated to recover and > reconcile all genuine payments due to local and foreign > beneficiaries and effect payments without further delay. > > I wish to officially confirm that your file is on my desk > reflecting an over-due payment in your favor. Available data > indicated that your over-due payment resulted from irregularities > in your payment file occasioned by fraudulent misrepresentation and > deliberate breach of financial procedures by your Attorney and > contact person(s). > > You are required to submit documented evidence of beneficiary of > fund for official verification and immediate payment via our > accredited banks. More importantly, you are strictly required to > stop further communications with your Attorney and contact person > (s) for avoidance of possible complications. Kindly reply to my > direct email address:michaelbrown_100 at yahoo.co.jp > > Yours faithfully, > > Dr. Michael Brown > > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca Sat Feb 6 21:50:29 2010 From: jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca (Janet M Eaton) Date: Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:50:29 -0400 Subject: [Mai-not] "AIG-Gate: The World's Greatest Insurance Heist" [Ellen Hodgson Brown: new article] Message-ID: <4B6E1C65.2906.20789F4@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, said Joseph Goebbels, people will eventually come to believe it. The bailout of Wall Street initiated in September 2008 was premised on the dire prediction that if major counterparties in the massive edifice of derivative contracts were allowed to fall, the whole interlocking house of cards would collapse and take the economy with it. A hijacked Congress dutifully protected the derivatives game with taxpayer money while the real economy proceeded to collapse, the financial sector choosing to put their money into this protected form of speculative betting rather than into the more mundane and risky business of making loans to struggling businesses and homeowners. In the end, $170 billion of federal funds went to AIG and the banks feeding at its trough. Meanwhile, a survey of state finances by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities think tank found that state governments face a collective $168 billion budget shortfall for fiscal 2010. If the money used to bail out AIG and the banks had been used to bail out the states instead, the states would not be facing insolvency today. There is no law against gambling, but there is a law against fraud. In Watergate, a special prosecutor was appointed to bring criminal charges; but times seem to have changed. --Ellen Brown, Author, "Web of Debt" [Exploding the myths about money] http://www.webofdebt.com/ fyi-janeat ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 20:17:10 -0800 (PST) Subject: new article -- "AIG-Gate: The World's Greatest Insurance Heist" From: Ellen Brown To: Webofdebt- articles Send reply to: webofdebt--articles at googlegroups.com Hi, here is my latest article, posted on Huffington Post -- "AIG-Gate: The World's Greatest Insurance Heist" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-brown/aig-gate-the-worlds- great_b_451445.html Best wishes, Ellen ------- End of forwarded message ------- 2 5 1 Ellen BrownAuthor, "Web of Debt" Posted: February 6, 2010 09:15 PM AIG-Gate: The World's Greatest Insurance Heist Each day brings more revelations of efforts of the NY Fed and Goldman Sachs to hide the details of the criminal conspiracy of the AIG bailout ... This is a real crisis on the scale of Watergate. Corruption at its finest. But unlike the perpetrators of the Watergate scandal, who wound up facing jail time, Geithner evidently has a golden parachute waiting at Goldman Sachs, not coincidentally the largest recipient of the AIG bailout. At least that is the rumor sparked by an article by Caroline Baum on Bloomberg News, titled "Goldman Parachute Awaits Geithner to Ease Fall." Hank Paulson, Geithner's predecessor, was CEO of Goldman Sachs before coming to the Treasury. Geithner, who has come up through the ranks of government, could be walking through the revolving door in the other direction. Geithner has been under the House microscope for the decision of the New York Fed, made while he headed it, to buy out about $30 billion in credit default swaps (over-the-counter derivative insurance contracts) that AIG sold on toxic debt securities. The chief recipients of this payout were Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Societe Generale, and Deutsche Bank. Goldman got $13 billion, roughly equivalent to its bonus pool for the first 9 months of 2009. Critics are calling the New York Fed's decision a back-door bailout for the banks, which received 100 cents on the dollar for contracts that would have been worth far less had AIG been put through bankruptcy proceedings in the ordinary way. In a Bloomberg article provocatively titled "Secret Banking Cabal Emerges from AIG Shadows," David Reilly writes: [T]he New York Fed is a quasi-governmental institution that isn't subject to citizen intrusions such as freedom of information requests, unlike the Federal Reserve. This impenetrability comes in handy since the bank is the preferred vehicle for many of the Fed's bailout programs. It's as though the New York Fed was a black-ops outfit for the nation's central bank. The beneficiaries of the New York Fed's largesse got paid in full although they had agreed to take much less. In a November 2009 article titled "It's Time to Fire Tim Geithner," Dylan Ratigan wrote: [L]ast November . . . New York Federal Reserve Governor Tim Geithner decided to deliver 100 cents on the dollar, in secret no less, to pay off the counter parties to the world's largest (and still un- investigated) insurance fraud -- AIG. This full payoff with taxpayer dollars was carried out by Geithner after AIG's bank customers, such as Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale, had already previously agreed to taking as little as 40 cents on the dollar. Even after the GM autoworkers, bondholders and vendors all received a government-enforced haircut on their contracts, he still had the audacity to claim the "sanctity of contracts" in the dealings with these companies like AIG. Geithner testified that the Fed's hands were tied and that the bank could not "selectively default on contractual obligations without courting collapse." But if it was all on the up and up, why all the secrecy? The contention that the Fed had no choice is also belied by a recent holding in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, in which New York Bankruptcy Judge James Peck set aside the same type of investment contracts that Secretaries Paulson and Geithner repeatedly swore under oath had to be paid in full in the case of AIG. The judge declared that clauses in those contracts subordinating other claims to the holders' claims were null and void in bankruptcy. "And notice," comments bank analyst Chris Whalen, "that the world has not ended when the holders of [derivative] contracts are treated like everyone else." He calls the AIG bailout "a hideous political contrivance that ranks with the great acts of political corruption and thievery in the history of the United States." If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, said Joseph Goebbels, people will eventually come to believe it. The bailout of Wall Street initiated in September 2008 was premised on the dire prediction that if major counterparties in the massive edifice of derivative contracts were allowed to fall, the whole interlocking house of cards would collapse and take the economy with it. A hijacked Congress dutifully protected the derivatives game with taxpayer money while the real economy proceeded to collapse, the financial sector choosing to put their money into this protected form of speculative betting rather than into the more mundane and risky business of making loans to struggling businesses and homeowners. In the end, $170 billion of federal funds went to AIG and the banks feeding at its trough. Meanwhile, a survey of state finances by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities think tank found that state governments face a collective $168 billion budget shortfall for fiscal 2010. If the money used to bail out AIG and the banks had been used to bail out the states instead, the states would not be facing insolvency today. There is no law against gambling, but there is a law against fraud. In Watergate, a special prosecutor was appointed to bring criminal charges; but times seem to have changed. Follow Ellen Brown on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ellenhbrown http://www.webofdebt.com/ Web of Debt unravels the deceptions in our money scheme and presents a crystal clear picture of the financial abyss towards which we are heading. Then it explores a workable alternative, one that was tested in colonial America and is grounded in the best of American economic thought, including the writings of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. If you care about financial security, your own or the nation's, you should read this book. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: - Type: application/octet-stream Size: 218 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: - Type: application/octet-stream Size: 160 bytes Desc: "AVG certification" URL: From ptuffley at xtra.co.nz Sat Feb 6 22:53:36 2010 From: ptuffley at xtra.co.nz (Peter Tuffley) Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 19:53:36 +1300 Subject: [Mai-not] Zinn, Haiti & terrorism's purpose - US media's silencing of realities [Anti-Empire Report, February 6, 2010 ] In-Reply-To: <4B6E1602.8980.1EE95E4@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> References: <4B6E1602.8980.1EE95E4@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> Message-ID: > > > The US bombing, invasion, occupation and torture in Iraq and > Afghanistan, the bombing of Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, and the > continuing Israeli-US genocide against the Palestinians have created > an army of new anti-American terrorists. We'll be hearing from them > for a terribly long time. Unfortunately it will not only be Americans who hear from them. Otherwise, who else would need to care? Peter -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca Sun Feb 7 08:24:10 2010 From: jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca (Janet M Eaton) Date: Sun, 07 Feb 2010 12:24:10 -0400 Subject: [Mai-not] Independent media reporter en route to Olympics rejected at border Feb 6th Message-ID: <4B6EB0EA.12838.C576D7@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> Recall Amy Goodman was detained and interrogated en route to a book launch November 2009 because they feared she was there to talk about or investigate the Olympics which was not even on her radar screen at the time. When asked about it she thought they were referring to Chicage and the lost US bid for the Olympics. http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/30/amy_goodman_detained_at_canadia n_border Amy Goodman Detained at Canadian Border, Questioned About Speech...and 2010 Olympics Preamble to Trancript: While traveling to Vancouver, Canada to speak at the Vancouver Public Library at a benefit for community radio stations, Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and her two colleagues were detained by Canadian authorities. Amy was questioned extensively about the speech she intended to give; their car was gone through by armed border guards, and their papers and laptop computers were scoured. The armed interrogators were particularly interested in whether she would be speaking about the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.[includes rush transcript] FROM TRASNCRIPT AMY GOODMAN: Yeah, this was, to say the least, extremely jarring. I felt completely violated, I mean, personally and professionally. You know, and for journalism overall. Because this is not only a violation of freedom of the press, you know, the idea that, you know, the state is going into your papers, your documents, your sources, everything-but also a violation of the public?s right to know. Because if journalists feel there are things they can?t report on, that they?ll be detained, that they?ll be arrested, or they?ll be questioned, they?ll be interrogated; this is a threat to the free flow of information. And that?s the public?s loss, that?s democracy?s loss. Now an independent media reporter from Chicago travelling to cover the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver BC, has been rejected by Canadian border agents and held without outside contact for at least 7 hours (as of 9pm) Saturday Feb 6th Read on ! fyi-janet ====================== --- On Sat, 2/6/10, 2010welcoming at resist.ca <2010welcoming at resist.ca> wrote: From: 2010welcoming at resist.ca <2010welcoming at resist.ca> Subject: Independent media for Olympics rejected at border, held without contact To: Received: Saturday, February 6, 2010, 9:00 PM For immediate release - Saturday, February 6, 2010 Independent media reporter rejected at border, detained by border agents and denied outside contact Martin Macias Jr., an independent media reporter from Chicago travelling to cover the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver BC, has been rejected by Canadian border agents and held without outside contact for at least 7 hours (as of 9pm) today. Macias arrived in Vancouver from Chicago (via Minneapolis) on a 11:30am Delta Airlines flight on Saturday, February 6, 2010.? He was detained for hours by Canada Border Services agents in the Vancouver International Airport and questioned about his plans during the Olympics.? Ultimately he was refused entry to Canada.? He was then put on an Alaskan Airlines flight to the Seattle / Tacoma Airport (departing at 2:40pm).? As of 9pm he had not been able to contact legal counsel or his travelling companion since before his rejection at the border.? The information on his rejection was only made available through the US Consulate.? It is routine for people rejected at the border to be interrogated by both Canadian and US border agents; he may well still be detained for questioning in the USA at this point.? Although he is entitled to a phone call and legal counsel, nothing has been heard from Macias since about 2pm when he still expected to be able to enter Canada as planned. Martin was travelling to Vancouver for political events during the Olympic Resistance Network anti-Olympic convergence and to document the effects of the Winter Olympics on the communities of Vancouver.? He was to leave Vancouver for the USA on Feb. 11.? He was travelling with political organizer Bob Quellos of No Games Chicago, who was allowed to enter Canada.? They were both to be picked up by Chris Shaw, a member of the Olympic Resistance Network, local Olympic critic, and author of `The Five Ring Circus? who himself has been questioned and detained when travelling to a sports conference in the UK and repeatedly approached by members of the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit (Olympic policing body) regarding his political activities.? Canadian border agents, police, and intelligence units have been actively surveilling, questioning and harassing opponents of the Olympic Games (and their associates and families) for years.? Media, such as Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, have been subject to questioning and increased scrutiny as well. Macias (20 years old) was a leading member of No Games Chicago - which successfully opposed Chicago's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.? He is a youth organizer for the Chicago Environmental Justice Coalition, and Comite 10 de marzo, an immigrant rights organization.? He is also a media reform activist with community radio station Radio Arte where he serves as the host/producer of First Voice, a radio news zine. He has covered the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Power Shift 2009 in Washington D.C., and local social justice issues in his community.? He currently chairs the Peace Committee at the National Museum of Mexican Art.? Macias can normally be reached through reclaimtheearth at gmail.com. Independent media, activists and opponents of the Olympics are gathering in Vancouver for the Feb. 10-15 anti-Olympic convergence organized by the Olympic Resistance Network.? It begins with a two- day conference (Feb. 10-11) and a mass protest and march on the day of the opening ceremonies (`Take Back Our City,? 3pm Friday, Feb. 12 beginning at the Vancouver Art Gallery) organized by the 2010 Welcoming Committee, and continues with three days of political events and demonstrations.? Visitors have been subject to interrogations, detention, and rejection at the Canadian border repeatedly and members of the Olympic Resistance Network have been interrogated at the US border and denied entry to the USA for speaking tours. Media Contacts: Bob Quellos:? 773-531-2341 Chris Shaw:? 604-710-8291 - 30 - From thinker at xplornet.com Sun Feb 7 10:38:55 2010 From: thinker at xplornet.com (Ed Deak) Date: Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:38:55 -0800 Subject: [Mai-not] Fiat lux 250 Message-ID: <20100207183910.B81011D537AF@smtprelay03.hostedemail.com> To: thinker at Xplornet.com From: Ed Deak Subject: Correct. Fiat lux 250 Fiat lux # 250 Feb. 5, 2010 Well this is the 250th in these series and so far nobody came to shoot me for writing, or the editor for publishing these irreverent and iconoclastic offerings. The way I look at it, if I was lucky enough and did manage to survive the nazis and the communists, I think I can handle the capitalists. Not to mention my long held dream to survive them too and see a world where the biggest criminals are not praised, revered and kowtowed to, but sit in jails. Before we get into the more serious subjects, I may be in the minority, but am getting fed up to the gills with this Olympic hysteria flashing their "Made in China" paraphernalia all over, decorated with the logos and symbols of some of the worst kiddie and slave labour exploiters. Even many of the sponsoring companies of this racket are not Canadian, apart from the "free trade" baloney giving them "national status" the minute they step a foot into this country. If the nazis had survived with their concentration camps, I'm certain our governments would break their necks in efforts to invite their products into this country. For the sake of "economic efficiency" of course, making the local middlemen rich, as they do now with the mittens flashing the maple leaf, selling for $10/pair that probably cost .50 cents from the communist slave labour factories of China. I wonder if they'll invite the PM of China to light the Olympic cauldron ? . As a goodwill gesture, of course. After all, China has an accumulated stash of $2 to 3 trillion worthless American dollars, "earned" with the elimination of 6 million North American jobs, so the least we can do is to show our appreciation for the "cheap" junk flooding our markets, and garbage dumps, by selling them our resources and country for a few meaningless monetary computer figures that mean nothing on the long run, before people wake up and realize that they've been taken . Now let's get into economics , a subject I hate with a passion, at about the same level as I hate all ideologies an politicians who push them, without the slightest idea, or care, of what they are doing, the incredible damage they cause and the lives they ruin on the screwball advice of their long dead, or should be dead prophets. Why do I waste my life to read and write on these subjects if I hate them so much ? Basically for the same reason doctors are doing their best to help and cure their patients. Not because they happen to love their illnesses, but as their duty as human beings to help and save lives. The way I look at it, if I survived, by a series of miracles, time after time, the worst and most murderous dictatorships, the least I can do is to pass on my experience and lifelong studies with the hope that some who read it may wake up and start asking questions. Why have all the horrors of history happened and why has humanity never learned the obvious lessons to avoid the constant repetitions of incredible tragedies, now endangering not only certain societies, but the survival of the human race and of Earth? Why does history keep on repeating itself, and always for the same reasons ? This is the question that has baffled me ever since I was a teen lying and starving in a military hospital, and now also good many others who take the time to read history with open minds. The reasons are very simple and have been staring into humanity's face since the first of our ancestors stood up on his, or her, hind legs: "You can't break physical laws and get away with it!" That's all! Hundreds of past civilizations have been destroyed by this simple fact, yet people always keep on trying, in the hope to get away with the impossible, urged on by phony prophets pushing faith in screwball religions and ideologies, then always ending up with their faces, or dead bodies, in the dirt. Yes, the most destructive cause for self destruction, through the ages has always been faith. Yes, "Faith conquers all!". Especially logical thought and the results of blind faith in the impossible have always been disastrous and disgusting. As I wrote many times in the past, the definition of economics, usually on the first pages of textbooks, is :"The science for the management and distribution of scarce resources". Then students are brainwashed through the following years, so they can get their diplomas and letters behind their names, that this definition is wrong and the real purpose is "wealth creation", or some similar, usually criminal nonsense ending up with the establishment of ruling classes with powers over life and death, legalized by the imaginary the orders of deities and prophets who claim divine enlightenment to overrule logical thought and unbreakable physical laws. I often wonder what all the fuss is about school bullying, when it should be praised for the preparation of children for their bright futures under the present economic system, built on legalized violence and bullying to strip people of their most elementary human and democratic rights, and properties, on the altar of the Money God who has no physical presence, but lives in and gives his sacred advice to his anointed priesthood with imaginary computer figures. After all, the purpose of schools is education and the more bullying, the more the children will get used to the fact that they have no other rights and duties, but to follow the whims and orders of their betters when they grow up. For the sake of the greatest degree of "economic efficiency":, of course. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2673 - Release Date: 02/06/10 23:22:00 From diongiles1 at aapt.net.au Sun Feb 7 12:44:59 2010 From: diongiles1 at aapt.net.au (diongiles1 at aapt.net.au) Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 15:44:59 -0500 Subject: [Mai-not] Trade Message-ID: <380-22010207204459431@M2W132.mail2web.com> Just heard a great example of the true meaning of international trade. Chinese ships have for years carried goods made in Chinese prisons and sweatshops for sale in Britain. Problem was the ships were returning empty. Then a Chinese woman had a brainwave. Britain produces recyclable waste much faster than the country's plants can process it. Why not ship it to China in the empty ships? So now the woman is a multimillionaire, Chinese rubbish is shipped to Britain, British rubbish is shipped to China, British wages and conditions are suppressed, productive British career opportunities are lost, and lots of the world's fuel oil is burnt. Win win win for everyone! That's trade. Dion Giles -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web.com - Microsoft? Exchange solutions from a leading provider - http://link.mail2web.com/Business/Exchange From thinker at xplornet.com Sun Feb 7 14:56:19 2010 From: thinker at xplornet.com (Ed Deak) Date: Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:56:19 -0800 Subject: [Mai-not] Trade In-Reply-To: <380-22010207204459431@M2W132.mail2web.com> References: <380-22010207204459431@M2W132.mail2web.com> Message-ID: <20100207225630.698C1142A283@smtprelay02.hostedemail.com> Of course, much of that "recyclable waste" is originating in China in the form of shoddy goods, to begin with, so what happening is that the same materials are traveling back and forth. Cheers, Ed. . At 12:44 PM 07/02/2010, you wrote: >Just heard a great example of the true meaning of international trade. > >Chinese ships have for years carried goods made in Chinese prisons and >sweatshops for sale in Britain. Problem was the ships were returning empty. >Then a Chinese woman had a brainwave. Britain produces recyclable waste >much faster than the country's plants can process it. Why not ship it to >China in the empty ships? So now the woman is a multimillionaire, Chinese >rubbish is shipped to Britain, British rubbish is shipped to China, British >wages and conditions are suppressed, productive British career >opportunities are lost, and lots of the world's fuel oil is burnt. Win win >win for everyone! That's trade. > >Dion Giles > >-------------------------------------------------------------------- >mail2web.com - Microsoft? Exchange solutions from a leading provider - >http://link.mail2web.com/Business/Exchange > > >_______________________________________________ >Mai-not mailing list >Mai-not at globalproblematique.net >http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2673 >- Release Date: 02/06/10 23:22:00 From jfos at vic.australis.com.au Sun Feb 7 15:15:45 2010 From: jfos at vic.australis.com.au (john foster) Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 10:15:45 +1100 Subject: [Mai-not] Fiat lux 250 References: <20100207183910.B81011D537AF@smtprelay03.hostedemail.com> Message-ID: <016a01caa84b$7a8b8d20$0cad57ca@jfos> " the least I can do is to pass on my experience and lifelong studies with the hope that some who read it may wake up and start asking questions." That is all any of us this list can do at present Ed. The sheeple are not hurting bad enough yet to rise up and overthrow their oppressors! john foster Victoria, Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ed Deak" To: Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 5:38 AM Subject: [Mai-not] Fiat lux 250 > To: thinker at Xplornet.com > From: Ed Deak > Subject: Correct. Fiat lux 250 > > Fiat lux # 250 Feb. 5, 2010 > > > Well this is the 250th in these series and so far nobody came to > shoot me for writing, or the editor for publishing these irreverent > and iconoclastic offerings. The way I look at it, if I was lucky > enough and did manage to survive the nazis and the communists, I > think I can handle the capitalists. Not to mention my long held dream > to survive them too and see a world where the biggest criminals are > not praised, revered and kowtowed to, but sit in jails. > > Before we get into the more serious subjects, I may be in the > minority, but am getting fed up to the gills with this Olympic > hysteria flashing their "Made in China" paraphernalia all over, > decorated with the logos and symbols of some of the worst kiddie and > slave labour exploiters. Even many of the sponsoring companies of > this racket are not Canadian, apart from the "free trade" baloney > giving them "national status" the minute they step a foot into this > country. If the nazis had survived with their concentration camps, > I'm certain our governments would break their necks in efforts to > invite their products into this country. For the sake of "economic > efficiency" of course, making the local middlemen rich, as they do > now with the mittens flashing the maple leaf, selling for $10/pair > that probably cost .50 cents from the communist slave labour > factories of China. I wonder if they'll invite the PM of China to > light the Olympic cauldron ? . As a goodwill gesture, of course. > After all, China has an accumulated stash of $2 to 3 trillion > worthless American dollars, "earned" with the elimination of 6 > million North American jobs, so the least we can do is to show our > appreciation for the "cheap" junk flooding our markets, and garbage > dumps, by selling them our resources and country for a few > meaningless monetary computer figures that mean nothing on the long > run, before people wake up and realize that they've been taken . > > Now let's get into economics , a subject I hate with a passion, at > about the same level as I hate all ideologies an politicians who push > them, without the slightest idea, or care, of what they are doing, > the incredible damage they cause and the lives they ruin on the > screwball advice of their long dead, or should be dead prophets. Why > do I waste my life to read and write on these subjects if I hate > them so much ? Basically for the same reason doctors are doing their > best to help and cure their patients. Not because they happen to love > their illnesses, but as their duty as human beings to help and save > lives. The way I look at it, if I survived, by a series of miracles, > time after time, the worst and most murderous dictatorships, the > least I can do is to pass on my experience and lifelong studies with > the hope that some who read it may wake up and start asking > questions. Why have all the horrors of history happened and why has > humanity never learned the obvious lessons to avoid the constant > repetitions of incredible tragedies, now endangering not only > certain societies, but the survival of the human race and of > Earth? Why does history keep on repeating itself, and always for the > same reasons ? This is the question that has baffled me ever since I > was a teen lying and starving in a military hospital, and now also > good many others who take the time to read history with open minds. > > The reasons are very simple and have been staring into humanity's > face since the first of our ancestors stood up on his, or her, hind > legs: "You can't break physical laws and get away with it!" That's > all! Hundreds of past civilizations have been destroyed by this > simple fact, yet people always keep on trying, in the hope to get > away with the impossible, urged on by phony prophets pushing faith in > screwball religions and ideologies, then always ending up with their > faces, or dead bodies, in the dirt. > > Yes, the most destructive cause for self destruction, through the > ages has always been faith. Yes, "Faith conquers all!". Especially > logical thought and the results of blind faith in the impossible have > always been disastrous and disgusting. > > As I wrote many times in the past, the definition of economics, > usually on the first pages of textbooks, is :"The science for the > management and distribution of scarce resources". Then students are > brainwashed through the following years, so they can get their > diplomas and letters behind their names, that this definition is > wrong and the real purpose is "wealth creation", or some similar, > usually criminal nonsense ending up with the establishment of ruling > classes with powers over life and death, legalized by the imaginary > the orders of deities and prophets who claim divine enlightenment to > overrule logical thought and unbreakable physical laws. > > > I often wonder what all the fuss is about school bullying, when it > should be praised for the preparation of children for their bright > futures under the present economic system, built on legalized > violence and bullying to strip people of their most elementary human > and democratic rights, and properties, on the altar of the Money God > who has no physical presence, but lives in and gives his sacred > advice to his anointed priesthood with imaginary computer figures. > After all, the purpose of schools is education and the more bullying, > the more the children will get used to the fact that they have no > other rights and duties, but to follow the whims and orders of their > betters when they grow up. For the sake of the greatest degree of > "economic efficiency":, of course. > > > > > > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2673 - Release Date: > 02/06/10 23:22:00 > > _______________________________________________ > Mai-not mailing list > Mai-not at globalproblematique.net > http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2672 - Release Date: 02/07/10 06:35:00 From papadop at peak.org Sun Feb 7 22:11:53 2010 From: papadop at peak.org (MichaelP) Date: Sun, 7 Feb 2010 22:11:53 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Mai-not] The Dawn of Civilization: Writing, Urban Life, and Warfare Message-ID: http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/03-dawn-of-civilization-writing-urban-life-warfare The Dawn of Civilization: Writing, Urban Life, and Warfare An extraordinary ancient Syrian settlement shines a light on one of the most important moments in human history. by Andrew Lawler Discover Magazine >From the December 2009 issue published online February 3, 2010 Joan Oates's sharp blue eyes spotted something that was not right. Standing on the windy summit of a vast, human-made mound in northeastern Syria, the wiry 81- year-old archaeologist noticed an ugly scar that had been left by a backhoe on one of the smaller mounds ringing the ancient city of Nagar, where she has excavated for a quarter century. Oates had just arrived to begin her latest season at the site, and this blemish on her cherished landscape annoyed her. Two young men on her team volunteered to investigate the damage. They returned, shaken. Jumping into the trench, one of them had come face-to-face with a skull. "Everywhere we looked, there were human bones," one recalls. "There were an enormous number of dead people." More than 100, it turned out, and their remains had rested there undisturbed for nearly six millennia. What Oates's team found that hot autumn day in 2006 were the remnants of a ferocious battle or a brutal mass murder on a scale unprecedented for such an early date. And the inadvertent discovery lay within sight of what is currently our best and oldest evidence of early urban life. Digging just a few hundred yards away on the main mound of what today is called Tell Brak, the archaeologists recently uncovered large buildings and extensive workshops from the same period-around 3800 B.C.-as well as imported material and fancy tableware. The dual finds make Brak a unique window into the time when humans first began to live in cities, trade over long distances, and, apparently, organize warfare on a mass scale. The conventional wisdom holds that urban living began nearly 1,000 years later and nearly 1,000 miles to the southeast in the so-called cradle of civilization once known as Sumer, located in today's Iraq. When civilization arrived in this northern edge of the Mesopotamian plain, the story goes, it was bestowed by the Sumerians from fabled cities like Ur, Uruk, Eridu. But this hulking mound in a remote corner of Syria (tell means "hill") offers a radical new view of just how, where, and why our globalized lifestyle may have gotten its start. Like hundreds of other mounds in this region, Brak was built up over millennia as homeowners knocked down their decaying mud-brick houses and erected new structures on top of the remains. This tell towers over all others in the region, rising about 130 feet above the plain. The site contains a mini-mountain range of eroded hills and valleys covering more than 120 acres, surrounded by a sprawl of smaller mounds circling the central core like satellites. People lived here for at least 3,000 years, and probably much longer. Brak was abandoned around 1200 B.C. during the chaotic time when the Hittite empire collapsed and the Bronze Age ended. The Sumerians seem benevolent in many of the images that they left behind, which depict feathered skirts, round faces, and shaved heads. Some artifacts had hinted at violence, but the new evidence from Brak shows that conflict at the time of urbanization was at times appallingly brutal. When forensic scientists pieced together what took place during that bloody event, it was gruesome by any standard. The corpses of the losers in the conflict were left for weeks to rot in the sun, then dragged and shoved into shallow pits. The winners carved pointed sticks out of some of their enemies' bones, slaughtered prize cows, feasted on roast beef, and tossed the scraps and plates on top of the decaying bodies. "There was a big party of people feasting," says Oates matter-of-factly, passing cookies around the table during afternoon tea in Brak's cramped mud-brick dining hall. At first glance, Oates seems an unlikely figure to revolutionize our understanding of the ancient world. She spent most of her middle years raising three children while assisting her husband, David, who directed excavations in Iraq and Syria for several decades. A self-described "dutiful wife," Oates says she was left to draw potsherds-"the boring stuff." These bits of broken pottery are both the bane and the backbone of Middle Eastern archaeology, providing crucial data on how, when, and who lived in a particular place. They are also as ubiquitous as sand on a beach. As I approach the campsite at Brak, nestled in a small hollow within the massive hill, my taxi's tires crunch with the sound of ancient pot pieces being pulverized. Oates quickly emerged as an expert not only in identifying the many varieties of potsherds but also in interpreting them with remarkable precision. "When it comes to a mastery of pottery, there is no equal to Joan in Syria," says New York University archaeologist Rita Wright. "She's a very powerful and informed archaeologist with enormous experience." And as a Western woman excavating in Iraq during the 1950s, the woman then named Joan Lines was a pioneer. At the ancient Assyrian capital of Nimrud, she dug under the direction of Max Mallowan, the British archaeologist married to mystery writer Agatha Christie. Christie, who spent much of her time writing in the quiet of the Iraq countryside, took the young Joan under her wing, and the two would troll the souks for bargains, practicing their Arabic. At Nimrud, Joan also met David Oates. "The most important things in my life have all seemed to be just a series of coincidences," she says in a rare private reflection. "Falling on my feet, as it were." That is a vital quality in the complicated and sometimes dangerous world of Middle Eastern archaeology. When the Baath Party of Saddam Hussein took over in Iraq in 1968, "heads and bodies were displayed in the square near our home, and we had to make detours so the children wouldn't see them," Oates recalls. The family moved the next year from Baghdad to London so David could take a professorship at an archaeology institute. In the mid-1970s, David decided that he wanted to tackle Brak, which lay just across the Iraqi border in Syria but was nevertheless part of Mesopotamia-the storied lands around and between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The dramatic site of Brak had been briefly excavated by Mallowan in the 1930s, but Christie found it not to her liking, since rainfall was too sparse for the flowers she loved to grow; they split their time with another ancient mound farther north with a slightly wetter climate. Brak was in the archaeological boondocks. Virtually all the action during previous decades had focused on southern Iraq, in the low-lying alluvial plain that merges with the Persian Gulf. Work there had uncovered enormous ancient cities dating back to 3000 B.C. and even earlier. Mallowan worked at Ur, the legendary birthplace of Abraham, where he met Christie and helped his mentor Leonard Woolley excavate royal tombs dating to 2500 B.C. German archaeologists found the fabled metropolis of Uruk, celebrated as the place where writing originated and where the famous King Gilgamesh reigned; Uruk appears to have been a bustling metropolis by 3500 B.C. Nearby were the ruins of Eridu, viewed by the Sumerians themselves as the world's oldest city. These ruins yielded evidence of a small building, possibly a temple, dating to 5500 B.C. The silt laid down by thousands of years of floods coupled with the frequent rebuilding of these sites in ancient times made it difficult to penetrate down to their origins. So we know precious little about how Sumerian cities began to evolve. By contrast, much if not all of Brak sits above the floodplain. That makes its earlier levels more accessible, theoretically. In the course of his dig here, Mallowan had uncovered a mysterious building he called the Eye Temple, for its thousands of unique votive objects with flat, trapezoidal bodies and thick necks topped with pairs of huge eyes. He also found evidence of richly decorated copper and gold work as well as small clay cones painted on their ends to adorn walls. This was a style popular in distant Uruk in the centuries after 3500 B.C., so Mallowan assumed the edifice was a southern concoction. He did not suspect that under his feet was evidence of an urban society independent of ancient Sumer, and at least as old. Arriving at Brak in 1976, Joan Oates wanted to explore the period before 3500 B.C. to see if settlement there predated the influx of southern influence. But her husband vetoed the plan as too risky. A huge mound like Brak is no simple wedding cake, with early layers below and later layers above; rather, it is a mind-bogglingly complicated mass of jumbled history. Wind and rain have had their way with the site in the 3,000 years since it was completely abandoned. Broken pottery bits have drifted down slopes, mixing with earlier potsherds. Foundations have vanished in sudden flash floods. A stone throne sits overturned in a deep gully, far from where its royal occupant once sat. Try to reach an early layer, David Oates knew, and you might find yourself exhausting both your time and money before you hit pay dirt. And money has been a perpetual source of anxiety at Brak. The British School of Archaeology in Iraq and, later, the McDonald Institute at Cambridge University have supported the dig, but the Oates team has had to be frugal. Team members live in canvas tents during the spring and fall seasons-stifling on the frequent hot days, and uncomfortable at night when temperatures can plunge to near freezing. Only this year did electricity arrive. So Joan patiently bided her time as she and her husband excavated the rich upper layers of the high mound. Then one day in 1981, her son spotted signs of a thick-walled building just below the surface on the northeast end of Brak, and her husband began to dig along what proved to be a fortification from the second millennium B.C. But in one corner of the excavation, Joan discovered bits of pottery dating back a thousand years farther. "I said, `This is where we can get at the fourth millennium B.C.,'" she recalls. This time her husband agreed. It took a decade of arduous work on a steep section of the hillside to carve back through the centuries. Even the 2004 death of her husband did not halt Oates's efforts. One morning, as if we are setting out for a stroll through the English countryside, she takes me on a walk across the mound to the massive wedge-shaped hole she and a generation of archaeologists and local workers have carefully made, its back wall soaring more than 30 feet. A slight woman in an off-white windbreaker, Oates pauses in the trench and peers around. She looks annoyed. "You are seeing here only a fraction of what's going on, a little window on the economy of the past," she says. "It's terribly frustrating." But even that small fraction that she and her team-made up largely of Syrian, American, and British excavators-have found is nothing short of revolutionary. One of the most dramatic discoveries at Tell Brak is a large building with massive redbrick walls and ovens nearly 10 feet across. The types of pottery found, along with radiocarbon analysis of ash deposits, date the building to about 3800 B.C. By contrast, few large structures have been found from a time before 3500 B.C. in southern Iraq. Scattered across the building's floor was a varied collection of objects, from large piles of raw flint and obsidian from Turkey to finished blades. All about lay an array of beautiful stones collected and stored for making beads: jasper, marble, serpentine, diorite. The site also contained a large chunk of bitumen, a valuable tarlike substance used to bind stone or wood, which had to have been imported from eastern Iraq or Turkey. Mother-of-pearl inlays lay cut and ready to be placed in jewelry. The remains of sheep and goats abounded, as did spindle whorls, probably used to make yarn, and simple looms-all clear signs of weaving activity. Among the most notable artifacts unearthed was a lavish, black-and-white chalice, its cup made of obsidian and its base of white marble, the two held together with bitumen. The rim of the cup showed evidence that it had been overlaid with a valuable metal such as gold, long since removed. Whoever owned the chalice clearly held great power. Nearby was a piece of clay bearing a large impression of a beautifully carved striding lion, a symbol of royalty even today. Amid a pile of mass- produced bowls were potsherds with marks similar to the pictographs that show up more than half a millennium later in the first writing system, cuneiform. Those marks may be the earliest evidence of writing anywhere in the world. "The development of symbols may have a long history in southern Mesopotamia too," Oates says. "But we just don't have the evidence there." Tell Brak was a place of impressive wealth and sophistication, an important trading center and a major player in the early game of civilization. Beneath the redbrick building, Oates and her team found a more modest one dating to about 4000 B.C. This earlier structure was a center of craft production on a large scale and was also a busy site of communal cooking, judging from its huge ovens set next to plastered basins and bins. Just outside ran a street paved with pottery shards, headed for what Oates believes was a north gate facing the resource-rich mountains of Turkey. Next door, Oates uncovered a large edifice with a massive basalt threshold and thick walls, entered by passing through two small rooms, perhaps guardhouses. She believes this is the oldest administrative center yet known. Nearby, the excavators found bits of clay stamped with lion and snake motifs, seals that signified ownership of property, and a statuette with large eyes. At the Eye Temple, the site of an earlier dig on the southern side of the mound, Oates found signs that the earliest structure here dates back to about 3800 B.C. And nearby, in another trench, her team found traces of a brick platform and a wall built 1,000 years before that. These excavations prove that Tell Brak was a place of impressive wealth and sophistication, an important trading center and a major (and previously unappreciated) player in the early game of civilization. It even had suburbs. Oates invited a team of American archaeologists to examine the area beyond the high mound, which covers only about one-fifth of the site's nearly 750 acres. The remainder lies within the halo of smaller mounds circling the site. By methodically sampling the area inside and outside this halo-a laborious task of mapping, examining pottery, and digging small test pits-the researchers concluded that Brak covered 320 acres in the period between 3900 and 3400 B.C. Some 20,000 people may have lived within the city limits, and dozens of smaller sites lay within a 10-mile radius. And this large population-only Uruk in southern Mesopotamia is thought to have been as large in this era-was supported without any irrigation. So is Brak the world's earliest well-documented city? There is no accepted definition of what constitutes a city, Oates points out. But the size and elaborate nature of the site certainly put it on or near a par with its southern rivals. "I would never say Brak is larger than Uruk," she says. "But there is clearly a complex society developing in the north that is independent of the south." Jason Ur, a Harvard archaeologist who participated in the suburban survey, adds that all the evidence "surely qualifies Brak as urban, if that term is to have any meaning." Ur (coincidentally sharing the name of the famed southern Mesopotamian city) was the first to jump into the trench made by that backhoe in 2006 at the small mound just north of Brak's central hill. But it was left to Arkadiusz Soltysiak, a Polish bioarchaeologist, to sort through the human bones. He found no infants and few elderly and determined that some of the victims had suffered traumatic injuries, as might come from a blow by club or mace, that had already healed before they were killed. The incomplete, scattered skeletons made it hard for him to establish the gender of the victims, but surviving teeth hinted at a population of adolescents and young adults. Some of them also appear to have suffered from malnutrition. Soltysiak leans toward the theory that this event at what locals call Tell Majnuna was a massacre, noting that some of the bones are from people not of warrior age. If so, it could have been an inside job. Others think the dead might have been locals who rebelled or otherwise offended the city's elite, were put to death, and then were denied decent burial. But Augusta McMahon, who is the Brak dig's field director, argues that the scene more closely resembles an attack. "The age profile, the piles of bodies, and the rubbish context says battlefield cleanup," she tells me as we trudge through green wheat fields from the high mound to Majnuna. "And the corpse abuse-the way they were haphazardly piled up, the way femurs were made into tools-says the victims were enemies of whoever buried them." One possible scenario, she says, is that Brak's enemies attacked from the outside and managed to kill some civilians in the melee before being routed. In either case, nabbing food or finished goods may have been a motive for the bloodshed. (Two years ago, grain shortages during a drought led to riots in this part of modern-day Syria.) Brak's obvious concentration of wealth would pose a temptation to outsiders. Soltysiak and McMahon agree on what happened next. The victors or perpetrators left their victims on the field for weeks or even months. The rotting corpses were eventually hauled to the shallow depression at Majnuna and unceremoniously dumped. The total body count is clearly in the hundreds, though for now excavations there have ceased. About 10 yards from the mass grave, the team found another cache of bones that are probably the result of the same incident: mostly skulls and femurs, stacked in relatively neat piles. Two dozen of the femurs were whittled at one end to a point, perhaps to dig around in the skulls of the dead, but for what purpose is unknown. Soltysiak recalls being startled to discover the human bones that had been made into tools here. Then came a massive feast. Mixed on top of the death pit were the bones of cows, sheep, and goats along with broken plates. "The animals were cut in about the same place on a large scale, in an industrialized way," says Jill Weber, the team's zooarchaeologist. "Not necessarily by the same person, but in the same way." In her mud-brick laboratory on the mound, she pulls out massive scarred cow bones. Such wholesale slaughter would have been unusual, she says, particularly the slaughter of cows, which were typically considered too valuable to kill because of milk production and plowing. "No expense was spared," Weber says. "This was an important event." And it was just the start of a series of violent acts that shook ancient Brak. Back at Majnuna, McMahon points out another mass grave, dating to a century or so later, adjacent to the first pit. One clump of bones looks as if it had been piled into a bag that decayed. Just a few yards away is another mass of human bones, dating to about 3600 B.C. The victims in both slaughters appear to be young, the skeletons are jumbled, and there are no grave goods, which would have been typical in a formal burial. Along with the bones are all manner of refuse, such as broken pottery and flint tools. Majnuna seems to have been one of Brak's main dumps. One possibility is that the waves of enemies who threatened the city-whether rebellious locals or foreign raiders-were treated like garbage. As we step off the mound, the man who owns the area containing the mass graves pulls up in his new GM pickup. "Come for breakfast!" he insists with typical Arab hospitality. As we walk down the dusty road to his home, he pulls a gun from his holster to admire it. Violence at the dawn of civilization was not unique to Brak. An hour's drive to the east is Hamoukar, which was a thriving settlement during the early and mid-fourth millennium B.C., around the time that Brak arose. Echoing the sophistication of its neighbor, Hamoukar had well-planned houses with courtyards, large ovens, seal impressions in the form of lions killing deer (a style seen at Brak as well). Recently a joint Syrian and American team found evidence of a battle around 3500 B.C. in which Hamoukar buildings were destroyed. This attack may have been more than an incursion by marauders looking for food or goods. At that time, the southern city of Uruk began to expand its influence, and Uruk-style pottery appears throughout the Middle East. Possibly those southerners ran into opposition from the formidable northern settlements of Hamoukar and Brak, whose inhabitants may have resented the growing power of Uruk and its allies. Brak and Hamoukar were burned around the same time, but "evidence of both northern and southern material suggests a peaceful coexistence afterward," Oates says. "The `destroyers' could well have come from Anatolia or anywhere else." By 3400 B.C., pottery typical of Uruk predominated, and Brak's Eye Temple had been renovated in a southern Mesopotamian style. When Brak appears in the historical record in the third millennium, it is as the important city of Nagar. Overwhelmed by superior technology, better military organization, or a persuasive new ideology, the pioneering civilization at Brak and its environs became an adjunct of the south, which went on to create even grander city-states, bureaucracies, and empires. Violence and cultural sophistication may in fact have gone hand in hand in creating the first urban societies. "Tell Brak is not just another archaeological site but a place where new aspects of humanity emerged, and our work has the potential to explain them," Ur says. Finding answers in Iraq may not be possible for a very long time, given the political troubles there. This gives the exploratory digs in Syria a special urgency. Brak's independent advances in the north came to an abrupt end, but perhaps not a dead end. Maybe the interaction between the two competing visions, whether through trade or warfare (or both), helped spur the innovations that changed our world. "Civilization spreads like a virus. It happens in clusters and not in isolation," says Guillermo Algaze, an archaeologist at the University of California at San Diego. In the past decade, excavators have begun to find evidence to support this idea around the globe. A thousand years after Brak lost its independence, an astonishing array of urban sites sprang up across the Iranian plateau, central Asia, and the Arabian Peninsula. In the following 1,000 years, a host of interacting cultures contributed to what emerged as Chinese civilization. In exposing one of the world's earliest experiments in urban living, Oates and her team are illuminating both the creative and violent tendencies of humanity and painting a much richer picture of how our species left the country for life in the city, a process that is still in full swing today. "In textbooks you learn that civilization starts with Sumer, and everything else is peripheral," says Algaze, who was once an outspoken advocate of the dominance of the south. "But Brak shows a picture more complex than that. It has forced us to think differently." Eyes peeled, Oates continues her push to dig even deeper into Brak's past. "She's brilliant-and she's changed the field," Algaze says. "And she'll get to those earlier levels." Unlike her old friend Agatha Christie, Oates is after bigger game than a single murderer. In the ultimate whodunit of civilization, the ancient people of Tell Brak were, at the very least, important accomplices. From jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca Tue Feb 9 06:49:03 2010 From: jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca (Janet M Eaton) Date: Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:49:03 -0400 Subject: [Mai-not] Buy American Deal: This agreement isn't worth the cost [Jim Stanford G&M Feb 9th] Message-ID: <4B713D9F.18866.ABB1BB4@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> What's the cost of this one-time access to the Recovery Act's crumbs? Far too high. Through the World Trade Organization system, Canada opens up access to public purchasing in all provinces, and all cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. Where the Buy American exemption is time-limited, Canada's offer is mostly permanent. Our provincial and municipal procurement is worth tens of billions of dollars every year - and this is the first time these immense purchases will be subject to the provisions of international trade law. Worse yet, we're doing this right when many struggling Canadian manufacturers - from public transit to pharmaceuticals to windmills - could benefit mightily from the strategic leveraging of a home-field advantage. Perhaps the greatest irony is that the real macroeconomic impact of President Barack Obama's Buy American preferences on our actual exports has never been demonstrated. Canada's sales to Americans have been hammered, but by the recession, not by protectionism. --Jim Stanford, economist with the Canadian Auto Workers union fyi-janet ==================== http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/this-agreement-isnt- worth-the-cost/article1460624/ Jim Stanford This agreement isn't worth the cost The impact of Buy American on our aggregate exports has been statistically invisible >From Tuesday's Globe and Mail Published on Monday, Feb. 08, 2010 6:43PM EST Last updated on Tuesday, Feb. 09, 2010 9:02AM EST It's a clear case of d?j? vu all over again. Back in the '80s, Brian Mulroney raised the spectre of U.S. protectionism, then set out to win guaranteed access for our exports. He didn't succeed: We got a "dispute panel" system, instead, and even that doesn't work. But his government was publicly committed to guaranteed access, so Mr. Mulroney put a brave face on his 1988 deal - spinning it as essential insurance and worth the steep price (control over our energy). The rest, of course, is history. From softwood to beef to steel, U.S. trade policy (driven by the nitty-gritty of U.S. politics) has been as active and arbitrary as ever. "Guaranteed access" was always a fiction. Now, instead of learning from that experience, we're seeing a near-exact reprise with last week's "agreement in principle" on government procurement. The Harper government has been playing catch-up since the Buy American controversy blew up a year ago. Stephen Harper's stated goal, as it was for Mr. Mulroney in 1988, was to negotiate Canadian exemption from U.S. trade laws. The talks dragged on, and now most of the Recovery Act money has been spent. But, as in 1988, the optics of coming home empty-handed were abhorrent. So negotiators unveiled a "breakthrough" last week: Canadian companies get a temporary right to bid on whatever contracts have not yet been finalized, but only for seven of the specific programs funded by the Recovery Act. Based on U.S. Trade Representative data, those remaining contracts might total $4-billion to $5-billion worth of business, or half of 1 per cent of the total $800-billion Recovery Act budget. And there's no guarantee Canadian companies will win a dime of that business - especially since they're so late to the game. What's the cost of this one-time access to the Recovery Act's crumbs? Far too high. Through the World Trade Organization system, Canada opens up access to public purchasing in all provinces, and all cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. Where the Buy American exemption is time-limited, Canada's offer is mostly permanent. Our provincial and municipal procurement is worth tens of billions of dollars every year - and this is the first time these immense purchases will be subject to the provisions of international trade law. Worse yet, we're doing this right when many struggling Canadian manufacturers - from public transit to pharmaceuticals to windmills - could benefit mightily from the strategic leveraging of a home-field advantage. Perhaps the greatest irony is that the real macroeconomic impact of President Barack Obama's Buy American preferences on our actual exports has never been demonstrated. Canada's sales to Americans have been hammered, but by the recession, not by protectionism. Most recent statistics (covering the first 11 months of 2009) indicate that total Canadian exports to the United States declined by 30 per cent from the same period in 2008. Consumer industries (such as auto, where exports fell 32 per cent) led the decline, as Americans endured their worst downturn since the 1930s. Curiously, many industries that depend on public works spending (and hence should have been most vulnerable to Buy American) actually experienced stronger performance than industries where government purchasing is irrelevant. For example, Canada's exports of cement and concrete, ventilation equipment, turbine and power machinery, and even plastic pipe (the stuff rabid U.S. protectionists were ripping out of the ground) all held up better last year than our overall U.S. exports. Our best hope, therefore, is to quickly get America back to work. Mr. Obama is trying to do exactly that, with government-spending injections seven times larger (proportionately) than Ottawa's. That's why the U.S. GDP grew three times faster than ours over the last half of 2009. Only that gathering U.S. recovery can resuscitate our exports, not another optics-driven trade deal. Video clips of U.S. contractors ripping up Canadian pipe sparked righteous indignation in Canada. But the impact of Buy American on our aggregate exports has been statistically invisible; for individual companies genuinely harmed, this deal won't make any difference. Yet, our politicians want to permanently tie our hands governing a major additional chunk of our economy - just so they can prove (like in 1988) they did something. Doctors take an oath to "do no harm." But, in this case, the "cure" is definitely worse than the disease. Jim Stanford is an economist with the Canadian Auto Workers union. From papadop at peak.org Tue Feb 9 20:02:05 2010 From: papadop at peak.org (MichaelP) Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2010 20:02:05 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Mai-not] Ethically eating shrimp Message-ID: http://www.alternet.org/food/145369/shrimp%27s_dirty_secrets%3A_why_america%27s_favorite_seafood_is_a_health_and_environmental_nightmare FOOD AlterNet / By Jill Richardson ######## Jill Richardson is the founder of the blog La Vida Locavore and a member of the Organic Consumers Association policy advisory board. She is the author of Recipe for America: Why Our Food System Is Broken and What We Can Do to Fix It.. ########### Shrimp's Dirty Secrets: Why America's Favorite Seafood Is a Health and Environmental Nightmare The environmental impact of shrimp can be horrific. But most Americans don't know where their shrimp comes from or what's in it. January 25, 2010 Americans love their shrimp. It's the most popular seafood in the country, but unfortunately much of the shrimp we eat are a cocktail of chemicals, harvested at the expense of one of the world's productive ecosystems. Worse, guidelines for finding some kind of "sustainable shrimp" are so far nonexistent. In his book, Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood, Taras Grescoe paints a repulsive picture of how shrimp are farmed in one region of India. The shrimp pond preparation begins with urea, superphosphate, and diesel, then progresses to the use of piscicides (fish-killing chemicals like chlorine and rotenone), pesticides and antibiotics (including some that are banned in the U.S.), and ends by treating the shrimp with sodium tripolyphosphate (a suspected neurotoxicant), Borax, and occasionally caustic soda. Upon arrival in the U.S., few if any, are inspected by the FDA, and when researchers have examined imported ready-to-eat shrimp, they found 162 separate species of bacteria with resistance to 10 different antibiotics. And yet, as of 2008, Americans are eating 4.1 pounds of shrimp apiece each year -- significantly more than the 2.8 pounds per year we each ate of the second most popular seafood, canned tuna. But what are we actually eating without knowing it? And is it worth the price -- both to our health and the environment? Understanding the shrimp that supplies our nation's voracious appetite is quite complex. Overall, the shrimp industry represents a dismantling of the marine ecosystem, piece by piece. Farming methods range from those described above to some that are more benign. Problems with irresponsible methods of farming don't end at the "yuck," factor as shrimp farming is credited with destroying 38 percent of the world's mangroves, some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on earth. Mangroves sequester vast amounts of carbon and serve as valuable buffers against hurricanes and tsunamis. Some compare shrimp farming methods that demolish mangroves to slash-and-burn agriculture. A shrimp farmer will clear a section of mangroves and close it off to ensure that the shrimp cannot escape. Then the farmer relies on the tides to refresh the water, carrying shrimp excrement and disease out to sea. In this scenario, the entire mangrove ecosystem is destroyed and turned into a small dead zone for short-term gain. Even after the shrimp farm leaves, the mangroves do not come back. A more responsible farming system involves closed, inland ponds that use their wastewater for agricultural irrigation instead of allowing it to pollute oceans or other waterways. According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program, when a farm has good disease management protocols, it does not need to use so many antibiotics or other chemicals. One more consideration, even in these cleaner systems, is the wild fish used to feed farmed shrimp. An estimated average of 1.4 pounds of wild fish are used to produce every pound of farmed shrimp. Sometimes the wild fish used is bycatch -- fish that would be dumped into the ocean to rot if they weren't fed to shrimp -- but other times farmed shrimp dine on species like anchovies, herring, sardines and menhaden. These fish are important foods for seabirds, big commercial fish and whales, so removing them from the ecosystem to feed farmed shrimp is problematic. Additionally, some shrimp are wild-caught, and while they aren't raised in a chemical cocktail, the vast majority is caught using trawling, a highly destructive fishing method. Football field-sized nets are dragged along the ocean floor, scooping up and killing several pounds of marine life for every pound of shrimp they catch and demolishing the ocean floor ecosystem as they go. Where they don't clear-cut coral reefs or other rich ocean floor habitats, they drag their nets through the mud, leaving plumes of sediment so large they are visible from outer space. After trawling destroys an ocean floor, the ecosystem often cannot recover for decades, if not centuries or millennia. This is particularly significant because 98 percent of ocean life lives on or around the seabed. Depending on the fishery, the amount of bycatch (the term used for unwanted species scooped up and killed by trawlers) ranges from five to 20 pounds per pound of shrimp. These include sharks, rays, starfish, juvenile red snapper, sea turtles and more. While shrimp trawl fisheries only represent 2 percent of the global fish catch, they are responsible for over one-third of the world's bycatch. Trawling is comparable to bulldozing an entire section of rainforest in order to catch one species of bird. Given this disturbing picture, how can an American know how to find responsibly farmed or fished shrimp? Currently, it's near impossible. Only 15 percent of our total shrimp consumption comes from the U.S. (both farmed and wild sources). The U.S. has good regulations on shrimp farming, so purchasing shrimp farmed in the U.S. is not a bad way to go. Wild shrimp, with a few exceptions, is typically obtained via trawling and should be avoided. The notable exceptions are spot prawns from British Columbia, caught in traps similar to those used for catching lobster, and the small salad shrimp like the Northern shrimp from the East Coast or pink shrimp from Oregon, both of which are certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. However, neither are true substitutes for the large white and tiger shrimp American consumers are used to. The remaining 85 percent came from other countries and about two-thirds of our imports are farmed with the balance caught in the wild, mostly via trawling. China is the world's top shrimp producer -- both farmed and wild -- but only 2 percent of China's shrimp are imported to the U.S. The world's number two producer, Thailand, is our top foreign source of shrimp. Fully one third of the shrimp the U.S. imports comes from Thailand, and over 80 percent of those shrimp are farmed. The next biggest sources of U.S. shrimp are Ecuador, Indonesia, China, Mexico, Vietnam, Malaysia and India. Together, those countries provide nearly 90 percent of America's imported shrimp. Interestingly, Ecuador's shrimp industry exists almost entirely to supply U.S. demand, with over 93 percent of its shrimp coming up north to the U.S. The vast majority of those shrimp (almost 90 percent) are farmed. Sadly, shrimp production is responsible for the destruction of 70 percent of Ecuador's mangroves. Farming practices in other countries range from decent to awful, but there's currently no real way for a consumer to tell whether shrimp from any particular country was farmed sustainably or not. Geoff Shester, senior science manager of Monterey Bay's Seafood Watch, says that ethical shrimp consumption is a chicken and egg problem. On one hand, the solution is for consumers to show demand for responsibly farmed and wild shrimp by eating it but on the other hand, ethical shrimp choices are not yet widely available. Seafood Watch is working with some of the largest seafood buyers in the U.S. to help them buy better shrimp, but it's currently a major challenge. The first challenge is that labeling and certification programs do not yet exist to identify which farmed shrimp meet sustainable production standards. The second challenge is that even when such programs are in place, the U.S. demand will likely greatly exceed their supply. Shester's advice to consumers right now is "only buy shrimp that you know comes from a sustainable source. If you can't tell for sure, try something else from the Seafood Watch yellow or green lists." Knowing that many will be unwilling to give up America's favorite seafood, he advocates simply eating less of it and keeping an eye on future updates to the Seafood Watch guide to eating sustainable seafood. From papadop at peak.org Tue Feb 9 20:21:12 2010 From: papadop at peak.org (MichaelP) Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2010 20:21:12 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Mai-not] BIG FOOD will try stopping talk about industrial agriculture Message-ID: http://www.theecologist.org/Interviews/413109/robert_kenner_big_food_will_do_everything_to_stop_you_talking_about_this.html Interviews Robert Kenner: Big Food will do everything to stop you talking about this Laura Sevier 9th February, 2010 Filmmaker Robert Kenner's documentary Food Inc has shocked audiences across the US with its stark portrayal of industrial agriculture. And that's just the bits the lawyers let you see... This is not a film about food: it's a film about rights LAURA SEVIER: What inspired you to make the film about the food industry? ROBERT KENNER: I had read Eric Schlosser's book Fast Food Nation and Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma. I realised I knew so little about where food comes from and how much our food systems had been changed. The illusion is that food comes from a farm with a white picket fence and barns but it's not. It's from huge mega factories where tens of thousands of animals are confined in one space. Waste used to be fertiliser - now it's a pollutant. The pieces of the system no longer make sense. LS: Did you set out to listen to all sides of the story - from organic farmers to Monsanto? RK: I thought it would be interesting to talk to everyone - food companies, industrial and organic farmers and have a conversation about how we can feed the world. Little did I know how off-limits the food world would become and how much industry does not want you talking about this subject. I went from one company to the other - in the film you only see ten or so but actually there were dozens that did not want to talk to us. I realised the system was off limits. Ultimately in the US food products have started to have more rights than we as individuals. There are laws in place to protect companies - known as 'veggie libel' laws - that stop you from insulting a product or endangering profits of a corporation. [Food libel laws or food disparagement laws exist in 13 US states] LS: Can you tell me about the legal challenges you faced with this film? RK: The irony is that it's more frightening to talk about it here than in the States. I didn't realise what we faced until we talked to Barbara Kowalcyck, a food safety advocate whose son died having contracted E-coli from a tainted hamburger. She mentioned what happened to Oprah Winfrey who, on a program about BSE in 1996, expressed concern about the safety of eating hamburgers. [Texas ranchers sued Winfrey under a food libel law, although in 1998 the jurors rejected the $11 million dollar defamation lawsuit.] I ended up spending more legal fees on this film than the past 15 films combined - times three! The world of corporate food is a very litigious world. They will do everything to stop you from getting people to think about this subject. It made my life very frightening. If I'd known all this before I started out, I might have had second thoughts about making this film. We went through the film and thoroughly fact-checked every single statement. I took things out of Food Inc that I thought were true but [over which] I didn't want to spend time in court. LS: Did legal opposition from various companies force you to edit out parts of the film? RK: No-one forced me to but there was always the inherent threat. In our attempt to reach companies we'd call and say, 'We're talking about so and so. Don't you want to comment?' With Carole Morison, the chicken farmer who worked for Perdue Farms - she said she's immune to antibiotics and that she had been feeding her chickens a feed additive made from arsenic (as requested by Perdue). We spoke to Perdue who said: 'we stopped doing that [arsenic] a day or two ago so Carole is incorrect.' They defended the practice in the recent past! I took out that bit from the film to err on the side of caution. LS: What was the most shocking aspect of making the film? RK: There were two things. One was early on when we went to a hearing about whether to label cloned meat. A representative from the meat industry said it would be 'too confusing for the consumer'. I realised I had entered an Orwellian world where people are being 'protected' by not being told. Then when I asked food safety advocate Barbara Kowalcyck what food she eats and she couldn't answer me or she'd be sued. I realised it was not a film about food: it was a film about rights. Seeing how food products now have more rights than individuals - that was more frightening than seeing how the food was produced. LS: In the film there is a focus on the food system in the US - does the situation apply to the rest of the world? RK: This is not a film about the US. I thought of filming in other countries and you could have been told the exact same story. It might have started in the US, but it is spreading. It's starting to happen here and it happens in Asia. Food Inc LS: How was Food Inc received in the US when it was released last year in June? RK: It became one of the most successful documentaries of all time. The amount of press we got was really incredible. For a while we were the number one selling DVD on Amazon ahead of all the Hollywood movies. It's very gratifying to see how much it played into growing food movements and how passionate people are and how it cuts across ideological lines. There is something about food that does cut across ideological lines - we all have to eat! LS: In the film you tell people to 'vote with their fork'. Is consumer power enough to change this system? Obviously it's a matter for the regulatory agencies too but as Food Inc reveals, the FDA and USDA are somewhat toothless... RK: It's a two-pronged battle. Consumers do have the power to vote three times a day. But you've also got to create a level playing field. Unfortunately if you're subsidising food that's not good for us it means that poor people are having to buy cheaper calories and these cheaper calories are making us sick. It also takes consumer consciousness to infringe this group. It's never going to change unless we have a movement to help us change it. As a common movement gains strength it's able to put pressure on governments all over the world. Entrenched corporate power is only concerned with the very short term, in looking after its own bottom line. You can still make money selling healthy food too. We need to know how to put pressure on and pay the real costs of food. We all love cheap food - but we're beginning to see the hidden cost of it. LS: What do you hope people will take away from the film? RK: That the system is unsustainable. We've created a world where we're using up our natural resources and, in doing so, robbing our children and our grandchildren. We have to think about growing and producing food in a fairer way. We have to return the balance of power towards individuals and away from the corporations. The film does show Walmart in a good light for helping to ban a growth hormone given to cattle to produce more milk. We also need to figure out how to create another system. The current food system is all based on oil. If you believe in peak oil we're going to run out at some point. We need to think about how to feed the world and what's sustainable. People should have the right to know the consequences and the cost of the industrial food system. From jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca Tue Feb 9 21:35:01 2010 From: jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca (Janet M Eaton) Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:35:01 -0400 Subject: [Mai-not] CCPA Buy American Basics Report says deal gives away Cdn procurement sovereignty & should be rejected [ Feb 9, 2010 ] Message-ID: <4B720D45.22153.DE63AAD@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> [1] Buy American deal gives away Canadian procurement sovereignty CCPA National Office | News Release February 9, 2010 http://www.policyalternatives.ca/newsroom/news-releases/buy-american- deal-gives-away-canadian-procurement-sovereignty [2] Buy American deal should be rejected by Scott Sinclair CCPA National Office | Commentary and Fact Sheets February 9, 2010 http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/buy-american- deal-should-be-rejected [3] Report Buy American Basics by Scott Sinclair National Office | Reports & Studies February 9, 2010 Download Now 118 KB PDF | 10 pages http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publicati ons/reports/docs/Buy_American_Basics.pdf 10 page report fyi-janet See also: CAW Economist, Jim Stanford's "This agreement isn't worth the cost The impact of Buy American on our aggregate exports has been statistically invisible" Globe and Mail, Feb. 08, 2010 6:43PM EST http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/this-agreement-isnt- worth-the-cost/article1460624/ "What's the cost of this one-time access to the Recovery Act's crumbs? Far too high. Through the World Trade Organization system, Canada opens up access to public purchasing in all provinces, and all cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. Where the Buy American exemption is time-limited, Canada's offer is mostly permanent. Our provincial and municipal procurement is worth tens of billions of dollars every year - and this is the first time these immense purchases will be subject to the provisions of international trade law. Worse yet, we're doing this right when many struggling Canadian manufacturers - from public transit to pharmaceuticals to windmills - could benefit mightily from the strategic leveraging of a home-field advantage." fyi-janet ============================== [1] Buy American deal gives away Canadian procurement sovereignty CCPA National Office | News Release February 9, 2010 http://www.policyalternatives.ca/newsroom/news-releases/buy-american- deal-gives-away-canadian-procurement-sovereignty Buy American deal gives away Canadian procurement sovereignty CCPA National Office | News Release February 9, 2010 OTTAWA-The tentative Buy American deal fails to gain a meaningful exemption for Canadian suppliers from provisions in the U.S. stimulus package while permanently curtailing provincial and municipal procurement sovereignty, says a new analysis of the deal from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). "The agreement is highly unbalanced and provides significantly better access for U.S. suppliers to the Canadian procurement market than for Canadian suppliers to U.S. stimulus projects," says senior CCPA trade researcher Scott Sinclair. According to the analysis, Canadian suppliers have a brief opportunity to compete for an estimated $4 to 5 billion US of federally funded stimulus projects, representing less than 2% of the approximately $275 billion US of procurement funded under the Recovery Act. In return, Canada has guaranteed U.S. suppliers access to a range of provincial and municipal infrastructure spending projects until September 2011, estimated to be valued at more than $25 billion Cdn. "Most significantly, Canada has bowed to U.S. pressure to permanently bind purchasing by Canadian provincial and municipal governments under the WTO agreement on Government Procurement," says Sinclair. "This proposed deal will prevent Canadian provincial and municipal governments from preferring local goods or suppliers while leaving Buy American policies almost fully intact." "The Harper government has taken advantage of the economic crisis to justify what it has wanted for a long time-more private access to public sector resources and further restrictions on the ability of all levels of governments in Canada to negotiate local benefits when the procure goods and services." -30- Buy American Basics is available on the CCPA website: http://policyalternatives.ca For more information contact Kerri-Anne Finn, CCPA Senior Communications Officer, at 613-563-1341 x306. Related Reports & Studies Buy American Basics February 9, 2010 | National Office Read the full Report <><><><><><><><><><><><><> [2] Buy American deal should be rejected by Scott Sinclair CCPA National Office | Commentary and Fact Sheets IFebruary 9, 2010 http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/buy-american- deal-should-be-rejected Government ministers and Canadian trade officials have avoided saying just how much the tentative deal on Buy American preferences is worth to Canadian suppliers. As the details of the agreement begin to emerge, the reasons for this reticence are becoming clear. The agreement gives Canada fleeting access to a sliver of the U.S. stimulus package. Canadian businesses will get to compete for $US 3- 4 billion worth of projects. This amounts to less than 2% of the $275 billion of procurement funded under the Recovery Act. The rest falls outside the scope of this agreement. Over three-quarters of the stimulus funds have already been spent and the remainder must be allocated by February 17, though there may be subcontracts beyond that date. Given the late hour, and the fact that these projects have already been designed to comply with the Buy American provisions, Canadian suppliers can expect to see very little practical benefit from the deal announced last week. In return for these meagre scraps, the provinces and municipalities have offered up temporary access to U.S. suppliers worth an estimated $CAD 25 billion. More ominously, Canada has bowed to U.S. pressure to permanently bind purchasing by Canadian provincial governments under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (the GPA). Contrary to some reports, the deal does not even provide Canadian suppliers with the ability to compete for what?s left of the stimulus funds. The U.S. has only agreed to exempt Canada from Buy American preferences for the remaining projects under seven specific federally funded programs. The negative effects on Canadians will far outweigh any small export boost that this agreement might provide. This is the first time that Canadian provincial procurement has been covered under an international trade deal. As trade officials have been exclaiming south of the border, this opens up tens of billions of dollars annually to U.S. businesses. Meanwhile, the U.S. has excluded its Buy American preference policies from its own WTO commitments. Most big-ticket items remain off- limits to Canadian suppliers. The 37 states bound by the WTO agreement have numerous exemptions, such as purchases of motor vehicles, coal, printing and construction- grade steel. Federally funded mass transit and highway construction are fully excluded, as are public utilities. In addition, federal and state government laws commit upwards of 20 per cent of total procurement to small and minority-owned American businesses. U.S. municipalities are not covered by its GPA commitments. Despite the glaring defects, it is easy to understand why some would favour such a deal. For ideological reasons, the Harper government opposes the use of procurement as an economic development policy tool. They are happy to tie the hands of provincial and local governments even if Canada gets little in return. It is harder to understand why provincial governments have gone along. Preferential government purchasing is becoming an important policy tool in Canada. In order to qualify for generous public subsidies, wind- and solar-energy producers in Quebec and Ontario must use local goods and services, creating green jobs while encouraging the local development of renewable energy technologies. Buy-local food policies are increasingly popular across the country, supporting local farmers while reducing greenhouse gases. Toronto's new subway cars are being manufactured in Northern Ontario, providing hundreds of high-skilled, well-paid jobs. While these popular programs are not immediately threatened, provinces and municipalities are now on a slippery slope. Further negotiations with the U.S. and the European Union will mean more concessions and further restrictions on the use of public purchasing as a policy tool. When they signed up to Ottawa?s negotiations last summer, the provinces were promised an exemption from U.S. Buy American laws. Predictably, this has failed to materialize. Through sleight of hand, and with Ottawa?s consent, Washington managed to pocket the provincial governments? offers, while leaving the Buy American preferences almost fully intact. It is not too late to reverse this course, as the tentative deal is contingent on approval in both countries. A strong case can be made for parliamentary scrutiny and approval. The federal opposition parties are already signalling that this is a bad deal. Provincial governments must also ensure that their citizens get a voice. With the details now emerging, it is clear that the deal is unfair and detrimental to Canadians and they should reject it. Scott Sinclair is the director of the Trade and Investment Research Project at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. His "Buy- American Basics" report is available at policyalternatives.ca. <><><><><><><><> [3] Report Buy American Basics by Scott Sinclair National Office | Reports & Studies February 9, 2010 Download Now 118 KB PDF | 10 pages http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publicati ons/reports/docs/Buy_American_Basics.pdf 10 page report Excerpt Pages 6-10 Spin vs. Reality The Spin The Harper government says this is a deal that shows Canada?s leadership in fighting protectionism in a time of global economic crisis. The government also asserts that the deal will provide significant new market access to Canadian suppliers, although it refuses to provide any estimates of the value of these new opportunities. The Reality: The Interim Arrangement The interim arrangement, lasting until September 2011, is highly unbalanced. It provides significantly better access for U.S. suppliers to the Canadian procurement market than for Canadian suppliers to U.S. stimulus projects. Most of the overall U.S. stimulus spending has already been allocated. As of December 31, 2009, $US 200 billion of contracts, loans, and grants (76%) under the Recovery Act had already been allocated. Today, the percentage of already allocated funds is even higher. Under the interim arrangement, Canadian suppliers get the opportunity to bid on the remaining contracts under seven U.S. stimulus programs, administered by the U.S. federal departments of Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Transport and the Environmental Protection Agency. While spending under these seven programs totals $US 18 billion, over three-quarters of this money has already been awarded and the remainder must be allocated by February 17.2 This means Canadian suppliers will have a brief opportunity to access approximately $US 4-5 billion in stimulus spending (although some sub-contracts will be awarded as the remaining stimulus projects proceed). In return, Canada has guaranteed U.S. suppliers interim access to a range of provincial and municipal infrastructure spending projects until September 2011, when the U.S. stimulus package expires. U.S. suppliers will have an opportunity to bid on the full amount of these contracts right up until the September 2011 deadline. Procurement by provincial and territorial governments and Canadian municipalities with a population over 50,000 is covered under the proposed interim arrangements. A rough estimate of the value of this procurement is $CAD 25-30 billion. The Ontario government estimates that approximately $10 million of Ontario procurement is covered under the tentative deal. (Since Ontario rep resents 37% of Canadian GDP, the total amount of Canadian procurement covered under the deal can be estimated at $27 billion.) The Reality: The WTO GPA Commitments Thirty-seven U.S., states have varying levels of commitments under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). U.S. municipal government procurement is not covered under the GPA. Until now, Canadian suppliers have not had the right to challenge decisions to exclude them from bidding on routine contracts tendered by the 37 U.S. states which have signed on to the GPA If Canada commits its provincial government procurement under the GPA, the U.S. will drop these restrictions only. The U.S. has exceptions to its WTO GPA commitments that allow it to continue to apply buy-local procurement preferences including Buy America, small-business and minority set-asides and sectoral exclusions. Under the deal just announced, the U.S. will not make any new GPA commitments at the sub-federal level or remove or dilute any of its exceptions or exclusions. Canadian suppliers will not have access to federally-funded mass transit, or highway construction projects, which the U.S. has exempted from its WTO commitments. Canadians cannot bid on public utility contracts, such as electricity or telecommunications. Canada will not have access to contracts by the 13 states which have made no commitments at the WTO. Even in many of the 37 states that have signed on to the GPA, Canadian suppliers will not be allowed to supply construction-grade steel, vehicles, coal or printing services. Canada will not have access to the 23% of U.S. federal procurement dollars set-aside for small businesses and minority-owned businesses. Comparable programs at the state level are also exempted from the U.S. WTO GPA commitments. Municipal governments are not covered by U.S. GPA commitments and, except for the temporary arrangements discussed above, will not be required to consider bids from Canadian companies for infrastructure projects. Municipal procurement funded by transfers from state or federal governments to U.S. municipalities is also excluded from the U.S. GPA commitments. Canadian suppliers will be able to compete on U.S. state contracts on the same basis as other foreign suppliers from countries that have signed on to the GPA. But suppliers from these countries also face the same raft of Buy American preferences. Canadian provincial governments have also excluded a range of procurement programs, entities (such as crown corporations) and sectors (such as renewable energy and mass transit) from Canada?s proposed GPA offer. Reportedly, Canadian municipal government procurement will not be covered under the GPA offer. Initially, Canada?s new commitments under the GPA would only apply to American suppliers. But Canada will be expected, in due course, to make the same commitments available to suppliers from all WTO GPA signatories. GPA rules prohibit governments from negotiating any form of local content, even if the procurement contract is open on a non- discriminatory basis to bidders from all WTO GPA member countries The Reality: Further Negotiations and Consultations A key demand of Canadian governments when they first entered negotiations with the U.S. in the summer of 2009 was that any deal should protect Canada against Buy American rules in future U.S. legislation. The just-announced deal fails to achieve this objective. Instead, it provides for a "fast-track consultation process" to alert the Canadian government to Buy American preferences in impending U.S. federal legislation. Several pending U.S. bills, including the $US 100 billion "Jobs for Main Street" legislation, contain Buy American preferences. Other legislation now before the Congress would make it more difficult for the executive branch to grant waivers from Buy American rules to foreign suppliers, including Canadian ones. The tentative deal provides for future bilateral negotiations (to begin within one year) to negotiate additional government procurement commitments. From jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca Tue Feb 9 22:27:03 2010 From: jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca (Janet M Eaton) Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:27:03 -0400 Subject: [Mai-not] The Buy American deal and implications for Can-EU Deal [4 items COC Feb 5] Message-ID: <4B721977.22090.E15DCB5@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> INDEX of ITEMS: [1] Don't celebrate this deal. Canada has given up too much and received too little in its negotiations over Buy American http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/celebrate+this+deal/2531335/stor y.html [ Ottawa Citizen ] February 6, 2010 By Maude Barlow, and Stuart Trew, Citizen Special StoryPhotos ( 1 ) [2] Harper says Bye to Buy Local http://canadians.org/media/trade/2010/05-Feb-10.html Council of Canadians Media Release February 5th [3] [ACTIVlist] NEWS: Buy American 'deal' to be signed by February 16 From: Sent: Saturday, February 06, 2010 4:33 AM Subject [4] UPDATE: Council hosts trade roundtable discussion todayFriday, February 5th, 2010 http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/ ============================= [1] Don't celebrate this deal. Canada has given up too much and received too little in its negotiations over Buy American http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/celebrate+this+deal/2531335/stor y.html [ Ottawa Citizen ] By Maude Barlow, and Stuart Trew, Citizen SpecialFebruary 6, 2010 StoryPhotos ( 1 ) A large 'Buy American' sign, in support of Detroit's auto industry, is seen in the back of an auto scrap yard in Detroit. Photograph by: Rebecca Cook, Reuters, Citizen SpecialThe Buy American breakthrough announced by the Harper government yesterday is anything but. Canadian companies have secured very little new access to U.S. public infrastructure spending and at a large cost to public policy space for Canadian provinces and cities. It is an ideological rather than an economic coup for a government whose real goals are weakening public services and reducing the role of government across the country. "Buy American" policies are entrenched in U.S. history, dating back 75 years. President Barack Obama's most recent conditions, which require that the steel and other materials used in infrastructure projects funded by federal recovery money be made in the United States, are only the latest example of spending preferences that show up in highly popular state and municipal procurement rules. They are a rational, and from most accounts successful, economic development strategy that Harper would have been wise to promote in Canada if his goal truly was creating jobs and wealth. Instead, we get a blindly ideological adherence to "open markets" at all costs. Stephen Harper is trying to convince Canadians that by including the provinces in the World Trade Organization's government procurement agreement, as trade minister Peter Van Loan announced yesterday, Canadian suppliers will get sweeping new access to contracts to which they were previously excluded by these Buy American conditions. Nothing could be further from the truth. A recent Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives report explains that this will not get Canadian businesses access to federally-funded mass transit or highway construction projects, which the U.S. has exempted from its WTO commitments. They cannot supply public utility services such as telecommunications, nor will they have access to contracts by the 13 states which have made no commitments at the WTO. Even in the 37 states that have signed on, the report states, Canadian suppliers will not be allowed to supply construction-grade steel, vehicles, coal, or printing. And municipal governments in the U.S. are exempt completely. There is no way for Obama to force U.S. states or cities to accept Canadian bids as equal to American bids even if the U.S. president wanted to. Such a move would be fought tooth and nail by U.S. Congress, which retains much more power than the Canadian Parliament over trade deals. Harper, being much more dictatorial, has instead negotiated a secret deal with the provinces and once again excluded Canadians from the debate. We should be outraged by this deal, not impressed. Of course there's the glaring problem with Harper's "breakthrough" -- that the $780 billion of U.S. stimulus cash announced by Obama in 2008 will have all been allocated in the next two weeks. We're scraping up crumbs here, and with big consequences for democratic governance. The provinces have been loath to sign the WTO's Government Procurement Agreement and did not agree to include subnational procurement in NAFTA because they could lose too much say in how public money is spent without getting any new access to the U.S. market. So why have they agreed now? And what is Harper playing at with this lopsided agreement? We believe the Buy American controversy provided Harper and the provinces, who are actively engaged in ambitious free-trade talks with Europe, with an opportunity to restructure the Canadian economy to reduce the role of our communities in setting spending priorities. Subnational procurement -- public spending by our local governments and their utilities -- represents up to $200 billion in Canada. Much of that goes toward services delivered publicly, such as water and electricity. Ceding control over how our governments spend public money makes it all the easier for companies to push privatization. This deal is not a breakthrough, just another assault on democracy by the Harper government. Maude Barlow is national chairwoman and Stuart Trew is a trade campaigner with the Council of Canadians. -------------------------------------------------- [2] Harper says Bye to Buy Local http://canadians.org/media/trade/2010/05-Feb-10.html Media Release Feb 5th Ottawa - The Harper government is escalating its attack on democracy with the deals announced today on Buy American and Canada signing up the provinces to the WTO procurement agreement.More than 25 organizations are meeting today in Ottawa to launch efforts to counter this and other trade deals whose aim is to destroy local democratic control over public spending. "This deal is an attack on the democratic institutions capacity to govern," says Steven Shrybman, international trade lawyer and Council of Canadians board member. "Canada appears to have given away the store for very little access to US procurement, so we need to ask why the Harper government is agreeing to it." "This is the first bad step in a perfect storm of so-called trade agreements, which are designed to open up local procurement that was left out of NAFTA," says Council of Canadians Chairperson Maude Barlow. "There is absolutely no need to put health care, water, and other public services on the chopping block and indeed doing so with this deal runs counter to the priorities of Canadians." "This is really ideologically driven by the Harper government which is using the economic crisis as a pretext to get what they want, namely expanding private access to the public sector resources, which are valued at $100-200 billion," says Council of Canadians Trade Campaigner Stuart Trew. "The attack on local procurement is really about the demands of the EU in the ongoing Canada-EU free trade negotiations." "The majority of US stimulus money has already been spent and US contracts for mass transit, utilities, and municipal infrastructure are not even included," notes Trew. "The reality is that Canada's suppliers will never be permitted to compete on the same terms as US suppliers for government contracts funded by stimulus money." The Council of Canadians is criticizing the deal for being thoroughly unbalanced, as it commits Canada more and permanently, while not providing a real exemption from Buy American for Canada. Trew, Barlow, and Shrybman are available for comment. -30- ****************************************** [3] [ACTIVlist] NEWS: Buy American 'deal' to be signed by February 16 From: Sent: Saturday, February 06, 2010 4:33 AM Subject The Financial Post reports today that, "Canadian and US officials hope to have a final deal signed by February 16." The Toronto Star adds that, "The deal apparently does not have to be ratified by Parliament and the legislatures." It also notes, "More details on the deal are to be released next week." SOLD A BILL OF GOODS Columnist Thomas Walkom writes in the Toronto Star that, "In the newest Canada-US trade deal... Canadian exporters are being given partial access to Washington's Buy American program, which, unless it is extended, will end on February 17. ...To put it another way, we've promised to open our so-called sub-national government procurement markets permanently in exchange for partial access to a US program that is due to expire in 11 days." "About $200 billion of the $275 billion in contracts authorized by the (US Recovery and Investment Act of 2009) have already been allocated." He adds that even if the US Congress passes another stimulus package with Buy American provisions, "Washington has agreed only to talk again." BUY AMERICAN DEAL PAVES WAY FOR EU TRADE PACT The Globe and Mail reports that, "A Canada-US deal on Buy American trade restrictions opens the door for more sweeping liberalization of provincial and territorial procurement policies, including momentum for a proposed trade deal with the European Union." "Under the deal announced Friday, the provinces and territories will, for the first time, provide commitments under the World Trade Organization's Government Procurement Agreement, to provide access to foreign companies for procurement markets - everything from construction contracts to managing health records." "The European Union is keen to win access to the sub-national procurement markets as part of a Canada-EU agreement, particularly from provincial Crown agencies in health and energy sectors, (John Manley of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives) said." But "under the trade deals, provinces and territories, as well as their municipalities and Crown corporations, will be locked into a market-based approach to procurement, at the expense of social, environmental and employment-related goals, said Maude Barlow, chairwoman of the Council of Canadians." "'Canada has committed way more and in a more permanent way than it is getting in this deal,' she said. The sub-nation procurement market 'is the motherlode for corporations ... and you can say bye to buy local.'" A BROADER DEAL TO COME? The National Post also reports that,"The two sides have also agreed to continue negotiations on a broader deal governing procurement, which would go beyond what is contained in the rules established by the World Trade Organization." WEB-LINKS http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/buy- american-deal-paves-way-for-eu-trade-pact/article1458062/ http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/761399---buy- america-questions Brent Patterson The Council of Canadians www.canadians.org/campaignblog --------------------------------------------- [4] UPDATE: Council hosts trade roundtable discussion todayFriday, February 5th, 2010 http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/ The Council of Canadians has convened a roundtable meeting of more than 25 organizations this morning in Ottawa to discuss ways to counter the Canada-European Union free trade agreement and Canada signing the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement. Organizations participating at this roundtable include the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, National Union of Public and General Employees, Canadian Energy and Paperworkers, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Public Service Alliance of Canada, Canadian Auto Workers, CUPE Ontario, Canadian Council for the Arts, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, Rideau Institute, and Common Frontiers. Council of Canadians trade campaigner Stuart Trew is chairing today?s meeting. Maude Barlow has just completed her presentation to the group. The CCPA?s Scott Sinclair will be presenting shortly. For more, please see http://canadians.org/media/trade/2010/05-Feb- 10.html From jfos at vic.australis.com.au Tue Feb 9 17:17:27 2010 From: jfos at vic.australis.com.au (john foster) Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:17:27 +1100 Subject: [Mai-not] Contemporary Iran and The History of the Undefeated Message-ID: <001801caaaa1$3d3f5de0$1fad57ca@jfos> February 11 or 22 Bahman is the anniversary of the 1979 Iranian revolution - a left-leaning revolution against the Shah and for freedom and prosperity, which was crushed by the Islamic movement. But since history is written by the victors, this failed revolution is often called an 'Islamic' one. And every year, on this day, the Islamic regime of Iran holds commemorative rallies to mark 'its' day. But not this time. This time, the tide has turned and on Thursday 11 February 2010 the people in Iran and those standing in solidarity with them across the globe will come out in their millions to reclaim history and push forward the present-day revolutionary movement that aims to end 30 years of Islamic medievalism and drag Iran into the 21st century. '.If history is the story of change, then real history is the history of the undefeated - the history of the movement and people who still want and are struggling for change, the history of those who are not willing to bury their ideals and hopes of a human society, the history of people and movements that are not at liberty of choosing their principles and aims and have no choice but to strive for improvements.' (Mansoor Hekmat, The History of the Undefeated, http://hekmat.public-archive.net/en/0910en.html). ------------------------------------------------------ Provided by Australis http://www.australis.com.au/ From papadop at peak.org Wed Feb 10 16:32:24 2010 From: papadop at peak.org (MichaelP) Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:32:24 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Mai-not] Monsanto plans to unleash its latest Frankenfood ... Message-ID: http://snardfarker.ning.com/profiles/blogs/monsanto-plans-to-unleash-its Monsanto plans to unleash its latest Frankenfood experiment on the American and Canadian public * Posted by Greg aka Sonatadude on February 8, 2010 at 12:02pm * Monsanto's GMO perversion of food In the 2010 growing season Monsanto plans to unleash its latest Frankenfood experiment on the American and Canadian public, a new version of genetically mutated corn with eight abnormal gene traits called Genuity SmartStax corn. It is the culmination of an astonishing scandal that has been steadily building over the past decade. During this time Monsanto's mutated seeds have grown to 90% of the U.S. soy crop and 85% of the corn crop -- and wheat is next on their agenda. Their efforts have been marked by corporate bullying and have drawn the attention of the Justice Department who is conducting an antitrust investigation. All the while they have been spending millions on lobbying to fast track their agenda before the American public even realizes what hit them. Monsanto is making an ominous power play to corner the worldwide market on food and seeds. In the process they are adversely altering the very nature of food itself. Few people would eat Monsanto's "food" if they understood what it was or knew that they were eating it. President Obama and his family won't eat it. Neither did the Bush family. Even a Monsanto employee cafeteria rejects it. This is no laughing matter. Your health and the health of your children and grandchildren are at stake. It seems more like a scene from a horror flick than something happening in modern day America. Imagine your digestive tract turned into a Roundup Ready herbicide factory and other warped genetic signals slowly and progressively rotting away your health. Unlike acute food poisoning from infectious E.coli, it is a slow and insidious poisoning. WHY GMO FOOD IS DANGEROUS Monsanto's GMO (genetically modified organism) (GM = genetically manipulated) technology inserts non-food genes, genes from other species, into the DNA of food, altering the very nature of food itself. In some cases these genes make the crops more tolerant to the Roundup Ready herbicide made by Monsanto and in other cases the genes abnormally cause the DNA of food cells to produce toxic proteins that act as pesticides. Most people are not comfortable with the concept of altering the nature of food in a grand genetic experiment with unknown consequences. The idea of food producing its own internal toxin is equally abhorrent. After all, who wants to eat toxic food? Even fewer trust this technology in the hands of Monsanto, a company with a history of blatant disregard for human health. It was Monsanto that knowingly poisoned the planet with toxic PCBs. The process of making GMO seeds also poses health risks. Viral promoter genes are used during this production process and become part of the DNA mix, posing a risk for new types of viral disease. An unintended side-effect of this production technology is chronic activation or suppression of normal genes in the modified plants. This alters the actual nutrient structure of food and the function of the proteins within that food -- a very serious matter. The entire process of producing GMO seeds is also unpredictable. It creates multiple random genetic events in every food cell invaded by the mutant genes. Because each gene doesn't just do one thing and is highly interactive with other genes, the production of GMO food is not consistent and therefore safety cannot be guaranteed -- especially when you understand that our scientific knowledge of gene interdependencies is in its infancy. Eating food that is mutated by other non-food species is a grand experiment to say the least. GMO mutants can transfer to the living bacteria in your digestive tract, as has been shown in animal experiments. This can adversely change the way your gut bacteria behave so that they create pesticides and become more resistant to your immune system and medical treatments. If the GMO mutants were to transfer to an existing infection in your digestive tract then it could create your own superbug. Because the proteins in GMO food are structurally different than normal food they significantly increase the risk for allergy. Allergy is one form of inflammation that is likely to result from GMO food, but there are many other potential sources. These include the mis-metabolism of the food, the inherent toxicity of the food, and the pesticide residues on the food. These inflammatory problems of GMO food will additively contribute to other forms of inflammation such as pollution and stress and add to the total inflammation burden sets the stage for many diseases. It is likely that GMO food will have a significant impact on pregnancy problems and developmental problems in children. At this time nobody can rule out GMO as a possible causative factor in Autism, as the rates of both have risen together. A recent re-evaluation of data provided by Monsanto showed that various types of GMO corn caused significant inflammatory organ damage to rats. It has now been shown that the health consequence of eating high amounts of Roundup Ready residue that is being sprayed in ever-higher amounts on GMO crops is the disruption of your endocrine system. A recent study shows that these residues of Roundup Ready are highly interactive with sex hormones and significantly disrupt their function. A 2008 Austrian government study showed that feeding GMO corn to mice for multiple generations resulted in fertility issues and weakened kidneys, as well as changes in metabolic pathways involved with inflammation, cholesterol, and protein. Here is a link to the 105 page report. GMO crops are also drastically and adversely altering soil quality. In fact, soil animals such as earthworms are now found to have incorporated GMO mutant corn genes into their cells. This finding is of extreme importance to potential human health problems. There is certainly nothing preventing this from happening to humans. For more information on the devastating health consequences of consuming GMO foods read Jeffrey Smith's books, Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette. You may be wondering the obvious; if GMOs are so dangerous to eat then why are they allowed in the food supply? Corporate Cronyism - A Corrupt FDA Places the Public in Danger We now know that FDA scientists originally working on the issue of the safety of GMO food had considerable concerns that included allergies, toxins, adverse nutritional effects, and new diseases. They urged long-term studies but were ignored by FDA management who instead decided that GMO food was "substantially equivalent" to normal food. In 1992 these managers iss ued the following policy statement in the Federal Register, "The agency is not aware of any information showing that foods derived by these new methods differ from other foods in any meaningful or uniform way." In retrospect, that policy, which stands to this day, was a flat out lie and a treasonous betrayal of the public trust. Court cases have forced into public view the documents expressing the concerns of the FDA scientists. You can read them all at this link to the BioIntegrity.Org website. In fact, rushing GMO foods to market also represents a serious breach of scientific integrity by the overall research community. Today, the FDA is a world leader in proteomic technology, the advanced analysis of protein structure and function. Italian researchers using proteomics have already proven beyond any question that GMO food is so genetically different from normal food that it cannot possibly be considered substantially equivalent. Certainly the FDA could discover this fact for themselves in a matter of hours. Why are FDA scientists in handcuffs and not taking action? Part of the FDA management team's culture of corruption is a revolving door with the various companies they are supposed to be regulating, the very definition of corporate cronyism. These shenanigans have had the net effect of the FDA acting primarily as a police force bully representing various powerful lobbies that buy protection and marketing favors, while stomping on the rights of the little guys like organic family farms and consumers. In the case of food, Monsanto wins the gold medal for influence pedaling at the expense of human health. One of the more egregious examples of cronyism is Michael Taylor. He was an FDA staff lawyer and Executive Assistant to the FDA Commissioner from 1976 to 1981. From 1981 to 1991 he worked at the law firm of King and Spaulding, acting as Monsanto's lawyer and lobbyist. He was a major proponent for overturning the Delaney Clause, a 1958 law prohibiting the introduction of known carcinogens to processed foods, a law Monsanto hated and which was eventually overturned by Clinton in 1996. His main responsibility during this time was gaining regulatory approval of Monsanto's genetically modifie d cancer-causing bovine growth hormone (rBGH). To complete his efforts on the bovine growth hormone issue Taylor went back to work for the FDA in 1991 with the title Deputy Commissioner for Policy at the Food and Drug Administration. He was directly responsible for writing the FDA policy on "substantial equivalence" which initially ushered in th e rBGH era and to this day enables Monsanto to market its GMO mutated food with no appropriate oversight by the FDA as to safety. He also formulated policy that prevented milk producers from informing consumers that their milk was free of bovine growth hormone -- intentionally preventing consumers from being able to tell what was in the milk product they were consuming. After accomplishing his dirty work, he left the FDA in 1994 and went to work for Monsanto as Vice President for Public Policy, working on Monsanto's lon g range plans. More recently, he became a Senior Fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF) and Director of the Risk, Resources and Environmental Management division. In this role, he strategized how to get Monsanto's GMO crops into Africa, working closely with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. He also worked closely with the Bush Administration, and is the point man in helping an elite agenda to spread GMO seeds and biotech dependence around the world. You guessed it -- now he is back at the FDA in a new position the Obama Administration created -- Senior Advisor to the Commissioner, working primarily on issues of food safety! "I am pleased to welcome Mike Taylor back to the FDA," Commissioner of Food and Drugs Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., said in announcing Taylor's appointment. "His expertise and leadership on food safety issues will help the agency to develop and implement the prevention based strategy we need to ensure the safety of the food we eat." As Monsanto, in anti-competitive collusion with Dow, takes their new GMO toxic and mutated corn to market, stacked with eight genes, it should come as no surprise that absolutely no safety testing is being required by the FDA. Never before have there been eight genes altered simultaneously within the cells of food. One gene is bad enough. Three is horrendous. But eight? The fact that the FDA is not requiring extensive safety testing by independent sources of this highly unpredictable and dangerous technology is unthinkable. It is a grim day when the fox is in charge of the henhouse. THERE IS NO GOOD REASON FOR MONSANTO'S GMOS If you listen to Monsanto and their business cohorts such as Cargill, they state they are trying to feed the world. In reality, the world could eliminate Monsanto's mutated food tomorrow and it would be a better place. It could also do without Cargill acting as an unregulated food banker, profiting on the manipulation of food sales at the expense of farmers in a way that is every bit as bad as the worst of Wall Street. There is no need for Monsanto's GMO mutated seeds. They offer no advantages. It is an industry being propped up by unelected bureaucrats and elected officials on the receiving end of Monsanto's multi-million dollar lobbying operation. Michael Taylor is one example of corporate crony influence, there are many others. The USDA is profiting from Monsanto's seeds that cannot be used the next growing season (the Terminator aspect of the problem). The EPA's failure to regulate the amounts of Roundup Ready used on food is yet another scandal. It's all about profits and control -- while undermining the world's farmers and the biodiversity and sustainability of crops. Contrary to the Monsanto and Cargill propaganda, GMO technology does not increase crop yields, as has been fully documented in the Union of Concerned Scientists report titled Failure to Yield. And GMO crops are very bad for the carbon footprint. The fact that the Obama administration is actively forwarding Monsanto's efforts should be a grave concern to every American. Of course, the last 16 years of Clinton and Bush also did everything in their power to help Monsanto. No wonder Americans are fed up. Politicians in both parties are beholden to the golden idol, not the best health interests of its citizens. TAKE BACK OUR FOOD -- JOIN THE FIGHT We the people can have a huge impact and we can change this serious threat to human health. Don't buy GMOs food. GMOs permeate corn and soy products, beet sugar is now mutated, and wheat is next in line. If you aren't sure how to avoid GMO foods and brands then follow the advice given on Jeffrey Smith's Non-GMO shopping guide. Demand from your political representatives that all GMO food be labeled as containing GMOs. This isn't just a political issue -- this is about your personal health and the future of food. Source: http://gnosis474.blogspot.com/2010/01/monsantos-gmo-perversion-of-f... From papadop at peak.org Wed Feb 10 18:07:54 2010 From: papadop at peak.org (MichaelP) Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:07:54 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Mai-not] Ancient Man In Greenland Has Genome Decoded Message-ID: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/science/11genome.html By NICHOLAS WADE NY Times February 10, 2010 The genome of a man who lived on the western coast of Greenland some 4,000 years ago has been decoded, thanks to the surprisingly good preservation of DNA in a swatch of his hair so thick it was originally thought to be from a bear. This is the first time the whole genome of an ancient human has been analyzed, and it joins the list of just eight whole genomes of living people that have been decoded so far. It also sheds new light on the settlement of North America by showing there was a hitherto unsuspected migration of people across the continent, from Siberia to Greenland, some 5,500 years ago. The Greenlander belonged to a Paleo-Eskimo culture called the Saqqaq by archaeologists. Using his genome as a basis, a team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen determined that the Saqqaq man's closest living relatives were the Chukchis, people who live at the easternmost tip of Siberia. His ancestors split apart from Chukchis some 5,500 years ago, according to genetic calculations, implying that the Saqqaq people'sancestors must have traveled across the northern edges of North America until they reached Greenland. The team, led by Morten Rasmussen and Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen, decoded the genome from four tufts of hair dug out of the permafrost at Qeqertasussuk, on the west coast of Greenland. The hair was excavated in 1986 and kept in a plastic bag in the National Museum of Denmark. It was found with other waste, and the scientists speculate that it was the result of a haircut. There it moldered, unfrozen, until discovered by Dr. Willerslev, an expert on ancient DNA. Having spent two months digging for ancient human DNA in Greenland without finding any human remains, he concluded that ancient Greenlanders must have disposed of their dead by laying them on the sea ice. Only on complaining of his bad luck to a friend did he learn that the friend's father had found the hair sample 20 years earlier. No traces of the Saqqaq people have been found in North America, said Michael H. Crawford, an expert on circumpolar populations at the University of Kansas and a co-author of the report. Because the land bridge that once connected Siberia and Alaska had long since foundered, the Saqqaq people might have crossed to Alaska on the winter ice or could have used the boats on which they hunted fish and seals. They evidently kept to Arctic latitudes, perhaps because more southerly regions were already occupied by the Inuit, or because they were better adapted to life in the Arctic, Dr. Rasmussen said. The Saqqaq man's genome is so complete that the Danish researchers have bee n able to reconstruct his probable appearance and susceptibility to disease from the genetic information in his genome. They conclude that he would have had brown eyes because of variations, at four positions along his DNA, that are associated with brown eye color in East Asians. He has the East Asian version of a gene known as EDAR, which endows people with hair that is thicker than that of most Europeans and Africans. Another gene suggests that he would have had dry earwax, as do Asians and Native Americans, not the wet earwax of other ethnic groups. Perhaps reflecting the so far somewhat limited reach of personal genomics, the researchers note that the ancient Greenlander was at risk for baldness, a surprising assessment given that all that remains of him is his hair. Dr. Rasmussen said he assumed the man died young. Biologists used to think that DNA would be found only in the cells at the roots of the hair, not in the keratin of which the hair shaft is made. But it now seems that the cells become incorporated into the growing shaft and their DNA is sealed in by the keratin, protecting it from attack by bacteria and fungi. The Danish researchers, using an advanced DNA sequencing technology developed by Illumina of San Diego, reported that they were able to decode 80 percent of the ancient Greenlander's genome to a high degree of accuracy . Their findings appear in the journal Nature. An ever present danger in analyzing ancient human DNA is contamination, particularly from modern human DNA from all the archeologists and curators who have touched the samples. The Danish researchers said they took precautions to exclude this and other contaminants, and they seem to have succeeded. From thinker at xplornet.com Thu Feb 11 09:58:39 2010 From: thinker at xplornet.com (Ed Deak) Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:58:39 -0800 Subject: [Mai-not] Drunk driving Message-ID: <20100211175845.E62981D5326D@smtprelay02.hostedemail.com> >I don't know how they did this, but it is >fantastic . Luckily, I've never said it in my >life "I need a drink!", can't see how and why >anybody should, and my yearly consumption is >about a half bottle of wine in very small >quantities and about a half dozen beers, but NEVER before I'm driving. Cheers, Ed; > > Australian drunk driving ad. Send this along to anyone who still hasn?t got > > the message. > > > > >> http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Z2mf8DtWWd8 > >> From creuss at bluewin.ch Thu Feb 11 10:29:48 2010 From: creuss at bluewin.ch (Christoph Reuss) Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:29:48 +0100 Subject: [Mai-not] Drunk driving Message-ID: Brevity is the soul of wit! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd-QG-Yx_Ho Cheers (without alcohol), Chris ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SpamWall: Mail to this addy is deleted unread unless it contains the keyword "igve". From jfos at vic.australis.com.au Sat Feb 13 15:59:32 2010 From: jfos at vic.australis.com.au (john foster) Date: Sun, 14 Feb 2010 10:59:32 +1100 Subject: [Mai-not] Fwd: U$ to launch Fallujah-style attack in Afghanistan Message-ID: <031a01caad08$c2efa7b0$5aad57ca@jfos> US to launch Fallujah-style attack in Afghanistan 6 February 2010 As US and British troops prepare to attack the town of Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, military commanders and the media are openly comparing the operation to the November 2004 siege of Fallujah, one of the bloodiest war crimes of the Iraq war. The operation in central Helmand province, long an area of intense resistance to the US-led occupation, will constitute the largest military offensive since Washington invaded the country in October 2001. At least 15,000 troops are expected to lay siege to the Helmand river valley town, which has 80,000 inhabitants and is said by the US military to be a stronghold of the Taliban. A total of 125,000 people live in the district around Marjah, which is an agricultural center 350 miles west of Kabul. The population has been swelled by Afghans fleeing villages occupied by US Marines last summer, following President Barack Obama's order shortly after he took office to send 21,000 more troops into Afghanistan. US Marines, frustrated and enraged over casualties suffered at the hands of an unseen enemy who is able to attack and then blend back into the local population, will be unleashed against the town in a violent military assault, with predictable results. Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, commander of the US Marines in southern Afghanistan, spelled out the character of the upcoming offensive. Those found in Marjah would have three options. "One is to stay and fight and probably die," he said. "The second one is to make peace with his government and reintegrate." The third would be to attempt to escape, "In which case we'll probably have some people out there waiting on them as well." "We're going to go in big," said Nicholson, commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. "I'm not looking for a fair fight," he added. In a highly unusual move, the US command has publicly announced plans for the offensive. "It's a little unconventional to do it this way, but it gives everybody a chance to think through what they're going to do before suddenly in the dark of night they're hit with an offensive," said General Stanley McChrystal, the senior US commander in Afghanistan. The stated intention of revealing the target of the upcoming offensive is to allow civilians to flee before the Marines move in. It also provides a preemptive alibi for the US offensive by painting those who fail to heed the warning as die-hard Taliban who deserve to be killed. Stratfor, a military-intelligence web site with close ties to the US state apparatus, reported Thursday that "the assault is likely to include the cordoning off of the area, so many of the fighters dedicated to its defense will probably be forced to fight to the death or surrender." The article continued: "With assaults on Fallujah and Ramadi in Iraq under their belts, the Marines are experienced with this sort of urban assault." What is the record of urban assaults of "this sort"? The Marine assault on Fallujah in November 2004 reduced most of the city of 300,000 people to rubble, as warplanes dropped thousands of tons of explosives and helicopter gunships and battle tanks fired missiles into buildings and strafed the area with cannon fire. The US military command claimed to have killed 2,000 "insurgents," but the real death toll remains unknown. Civilians who remained in the town were subjected to the same bombardment. Some were shot to death during the door-to-door raids that followed, and others were killed while fleeing. Wounded fighters were summarily executed, and medical facilities were targeted for military attack. All those in the city were denied food, water and electricity for more than 10 days. The operation was a vicious exercise in collective punishment against the population of Fallujah for the killing there of four Blackwater mercenaries and the city's protracted resistance to foreign occupation. It embodied the criminality of the entire war and was characterized by multiple and gross violations of the laws of war. If American military commanders are to be believed, a similar operation is being prepared in Afghanistan, and for similar reasons. The town of Marjah is to be turned into a killing field. As in Fallujah, vengeance plays a role. US military forces have seen a steady escalation in casualties over the past year, while the CIA suffered a humiliating attack at the end of December that left seven of its operatives dead on the Afghan border. In Afghanistan, as in Iraq, the US military command sees value in making an example of a population center known as a center of resistance to occupation, sending a message to the entire country that such resistance is futile and will be met with slaughter and destruction. This bloodletting is officially justified in the name of a never-ending struggle against terrorism. Behind the propaganda, the driving force of the war in Afghanistan, like the war in Iraq, is the attempt by America's ruling elite to counter the crisis of US capitalism through the use of force and the seizure of strategic positions in the Persian Gulf and Central Asia, both centers of vast energy reserves. A year ago, when Barack Obama entered the White House, there existed hope among broad layers of the American people that his inauguration would turn such words as Fallujah, Abu Ghraib, Guant?namo, Blackwater, torture and rendition into the lexicon of a dark and shameful, but closed, chapter in US history. The preparation of the Marjah offensive only underscores that, far from being ended, the crimes of the Bush administration are continuing and escalating under the Democratic president. Today there are more US troops deployed abroad in colonial-style wars and occupations than under Bush, and the killing has spread from Iraq and Afghanistan to Pakistan and Yemen. The Obama administration is seeking $322 billion for the two ongoing wars and occupations, a figure that will doubtless be swelled by further demands for "supplemental" funding. The supposed candidate of "hope" and "change" has emerged ever more clearly as the hand-picked agent of sections of the political establishment and military-intelligence complex that wanted to effect certain tactical changes in policy, while continuing to employ militarism abroad and wage a relentless assault on the working class at home. American working people cannot accept a new round of war crimes carried out in their name. The demand for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all US and other foreign troops from Afghanistan must be joined with a political offensive against the Obama administration and the financial oligarchy that it defends. Bill Van Auken The author also recommends: The siege of Fallujah: America on a killing spree [18 November, 2004] New Today a.. US pushes for new sanctions against Iran b.. The class divide between US auto workers and the UAW c.. Goldman Sachs made billions by pushing AIG to bankruptcy d.. Spain: Government and unions conspire to impose austerity measures e.. EU moves to end preferential imports from Sri Lanka more articles ? US Militarism a.. US intelligence chief claims right to assassinate Americans overseas b.. Obama's guilty silence on Haiti c.. Troops fire on starving crowds in Haiti d.. US Marines in Haiti: Back to colonialism WSWS Chairman David North addresses Sydney book launch The Crisis in American Filmmaking and Cultural Life WSWS Arts Editor David Walsh to speak at public meeting Sunday, February 21 New York City History a.. Historians in the Service of the "Big Lie": An Examination of Professor Robert Service's Biography of Trotsky b.. Seventy years since the outbreak of World War II: Causes, Consequences and Lessons c.. World War Two: Lessons and Warnings Mehring Books Winter Recommended Reading Series David Walsh: Reading Voronsky on art today is to breathe fresh air Tom Eley: The Revolution Betrayed is among the greatest political works of the 20th century Important Documents a.. SEP manifesto for the 2010 Sri Lankan presidential election The world economic crisis, the failure of capitalism and the case for socialism Resolution of the SEP/WSWS/ISSE regional conferences a.. The economic crisis and the resurgence of class conflict in the United States by David North b.. Internationalism and the struggle for socialism by Nick Beams c.. The future of art in an age of crisis by David Walsh d.. The capitalist crisis and the return of history by David North e.. Nick Beams opening report to SEP summer school The crash of 2008 and its revolutionary implications f.. Notes on the political and economic crisis of the world capitalist system Perspective and tasks of the Socialist Equality Party in 2009 David North and Joe Kishore, 13 January 2009 Copyright ? 1998-2010 World Socialist Web Site - All rights reserved ------------------------------------------------------ Provided by Australis http://www.australis.com.au/ From dnevrghm at powerup.com.au Fri Feb 12 23:43:57 2010 From: dnevrghm at powerup.com.au (Doug Everingham) Date: Sat, 13 Feb 2010 17:43:57 +1000 Subject: [Mai-not] Democratic World Government Email List In-Reply-To: <8D8D5BDCD7D54459B42775A19382B0E6@valueda9fab36a> References: <8D8D5BDCD7D54459B42775A19382B0E6@valueda9fab36a> Message-ID: <6FB69F12-0FA3-4044-9761-70713FE1651A@powerup.com.au> Dear Hank, I've inserted a few alfabetically, adding *** to each. Sadly I could not edit to place entries consistently in columns. I copy this message to each address I've added and ask each to confirm his/her inclusion. - Doug Everingham. ==== On 12/02/2010, at 9:37 AM, Hank Stone wrote: Dear Friends, The attached list is of people we believe are working to bring about a world without war. Please help us refine the list by letting us know current emails, and names of people in the movement for democratic world government. Many thanks! Hank Stone hstone at rochester.rr.com For Coalition for Democratic World Government Titus Alexander titus at gci.org.uk Eugenia Almand Govt_rules at yahoo.com R. Ananthanarayanan ananthaqua2006 at yahoo.co.in John B. Anderson jbafed at aol.com Paul Anderson paulanderson606 at comcast.net Peter Bailey phb888 at aol.com *** Mildred Ball-Wilson mildredballw ilson at hawaii.rr.com Dominique Balouki baloukidiplo at yahoo.fr Joseph Baratta joseph.baratta at worcester.edu Tim Barner *** Derm Barrett derm.barrett at sympatico.ca *** Yves Bayard mai-not at globalproblematique.net Byron Belitsos byron at originpress.com Harold Bidmead fce-hsb at altern.org Ramadan Breki rambreki at hotmail.com John Bunzl jbunzl at simpol.org Simon Burall s.burall at odi.org.uk Dick Burkhart dickburkhart at comcast.net Naushard Cader naushard.cader at gmail.com E.T. Carrington dihr65 at gmail.com Santinath Chattopadhyay cal_isiar at hotmail.com David Christensen davechris at mchsi.com Urs Cipulat cipulat at yahoo.com Didier Coernelle didiercoeurnelle at gmail.com Carl Coon ccoon at mindspring.com Howard Cort howard at empireone.net Tad Daley onedaleyplanet at gmail.com Troy Davis troydavis at post.harvard.edu Garry Davis worldlaw at globalnetisp.net Paul deLespinasse Vince della Penna federalist at vincedp.net Carmo D'Souza carmodsouza at gmail.com Fred Dupperault fredd at freeshell.org Daniel Durand dan.cdm at recim.org Robin Eagle robineagle at worldcitizen.org Dr. Michael Ellis mindquest at ozemail.com.au Amos ElRoy aelroy at gmail.com Robert Enholm renholm at globalsolutions.org Ryan Eure ryaneure1010 at hotmail.com Doug Everingham dnevrghm at powerup.com.au John Ewbank decentralist at comcast.net John Ewbank info at homeruleglobally.org Marjorie Ewbank marewb at verizon.net Prof. Richard A. Falk rfalk at princeton.edu Evelyn Falkowski evefalkowski at gmail.com Juan Federer federer at cwps.org John Feffer fpif at ips-dc.org Ben Ferencz Wolfgang Fischer global at mensch-sein.de Tony Fleming tfleming at wfa.org Secure World Foundation info at swfound.org Esther Franklin franklin80 at comcast.net Bob Frantz Howard Fuller hjf273744 at prodigy.net One Earth Future director at oneearthfuture.org David Gallup worldcitizen at atlantech.net Thomas Gambino umano at mac.com Jagdish Gandhi info at cmseducation.org Marc Garcet enquiries at worldpeoplescongress.com Celina Garcia Celina at ceppacr.org Bob Gauntt bob.gauntt at comcast.net Ron Glossop rglossop at mindspring.com Duncan Graham duncang at aol.com Mike Gravel Dauji Gupta daujigupta at hotmail.com John Hallam foesyd4 at ihug.com.au Prof. Chris Hamer vicepresident at worldpeoplescongress.com Mary Harris Deiter Heinrich Jay Higgenbotham archives at ci.mobile.al.us Scott Hoffman shoffman at globalsolutions.org Walter Hoffman Eli Isely eliisely at hotmail.com Eli Isely Mahbubul Islam mahbub225 at yahoo.com Nalin Jayasuriya nalin at rensj.com Carl Jodrey foundationletters at yahoo.com Prof. Robert Johansen Alfred Kaplan akap70 at juno.com Prof. Shunsaku Kato shunkato at pis.bekkoame.ne.jp Crandall Kline peacedefense at worldnet.att.net Ken Kostyo kjkostyo at hotmail.com Dr. Roger Kotila earthstarradio at aol.com Don Kraus dkraus at globalsolutions.org Chandra Krishnaratne chandra.krishnaratne at bt.com Myron Kronisch mwkronisch at aol.com Arnaud Kurze arnaud.kurze at gmail.com Mona Lee Mona_lee at comcast.net Prof. Lucio Levi levil at cisi.unito.it *** Harry Lerner drlerner at erols.com Tom Liggett worldpeacenews at earthlink.net Tony Macel ton at macel.com David MacLeod macleodmd at prodigy.net Prof Glen T. Martin gmartin at radford.edu Douglas Mattern info at worldcitizens.org Alexander McDonell alexander.mcd at gmail.com Bryan McPherson Prof. Saul Mendlovitz Debbie Metke dmetke at gmail.com Liliane Metz-Krencker lilianemk at aol.com Cleo Michelsen oneworld at vincedp.net Richard Mochelle mochelle at acenet.net.au Thesil Morlan thesil at midcoast.com Jan Mortier jan at civitatis.org Sylvanus Murray founder at yedem.org Hugh Myers hmyers at securenet.net Bob Neuman bobeneum at aol.com Andreas Olsson andreas at peoplesassembly.org Shola Olumola skol_nigeria at yahoo.com Josep Ortega jllortega at gmail.com William Pace Pace at wfm-igp.org Prof. Joe Pear pear at cc.umanitoba.ca Francisco Plancarte pacoplancarte at gmail.com *** Jiri Polak jiri.polak at swipnet.se Mujibur Rahman wiser at dhaka.net Jim Ranney jamestranney at comcast.net James Ranney jamestranney at post.harvard.edu Edward Rawson worldfeded at aol.com Marielle Reiss info at ashburninstitute.org Martin Resick John Roberts jrmundialist at btinternet.org Menko Rose menko at comcast.net Felix Rosenthal sigsep at cox.net Hal Schaffer haldpd93 at aol.com Daniel Schaubacher Claudius Schauffler Klaus Schlichtmann kschlichtmann at law.email.ne.jp Otfried Schrot Eric Schultz ericrobertschultz at gmail.com Prof. Joe Schwartzberg schwa004 at umn.edu *** Jeffrey Segall jsegall at uniworld.demon.co.uk Preeti Shankar daminirani at yahoo.co.in Shahriar Sharei msSharei at yahoo.com Gary K. Shepherd gshepher at lib.siu.edu Jane Shevtsov jaia at ucla.edu Prof. Andy Shoenberg Phil Simon Jim Stark jimstark at webrunner.com Hugh Steadman hugh at sapiens.org.nz Max Steele wcparliament at uswest.net Tiziana Stella tizistella at aol.com Mikael Stenborg jmstenborg at gmail.com Hank Stone hstone at rochester.rr.com Ira Straus irastraus at aol.com Prof. Andy Strauss andstrauss at aol.com David Allen Stringer uni.alli at btinternet.com Keith Suter keith.suter at bigpond.com John O. Sutter dwfed at dwfed.org Jerry Tetalman jtetalman at adelphia.com Jerry Tetalman jtetalman at roadrunner.com Dorothy Tilson tilson.ny at netzero.net Dr. Phichi` Tovivich office_wpe at email.com Barbara Walker bwalker at igc.org Fergus Watt wfcat at web.apc.org Sarah Webb Lucy Webster lucywebster at lvistas.net Robert Wheeler robwheeler22 at gmail.com Rick Wicks rick.wicks at economics.gu.se Chuck Woolery chuck at igc.org Susan Zipp suezipp at worldcitizen.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dnevrghm at powerup.com.au Sat Feb 13 22:21:16 2010 From: dnevrghm at powerup.com.au (Doug Everingham) Date: Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:21:16 +1000 Subject: [Mai-not] Fwd: Europe's Five "Undeclared Nuclear Weapons States" References: <906145.87852.qm@web110806.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <64564A30-4264-46A6-991D-8AF39AD1672E@powerup.com.au> USA and consenting allies breach undertakings to develop nuclear disarmament. They breach Geneva Accords on rules of war by continuing to put on trial whole regimes and towns without due legal process to confirm guilt, then executing the civilian inhabitants. The allies have set up, upheld and lethally empowered war crimes tribunals condemning defeated leaders of world war 2 and in the former Yugoslavia, but refused to put on trial invaders defeated by Vietnam as proposed by the Bertrand Russell war crimes tribunal. Public support may help Garry Davis and others pushing for impeachment of recent US authorities (whose wars are illegal by the Kellogg-Briand Pact of Paris and defy the UN Charter requirement to use all non- military alternatives first.. - Doug Everingham. ==== Begin forwarded message: > From: jack loel > Date: 14 February 2010 3:18:21 PM > To: david.bloom at gccisd.net, david.savage at latimes.com, > david at mediachannel.org, dbanker at sun-sentinel.com, > dbnred at dieburger.com, debate at euobs.com, delhidesk at asianage.com, > demarco at northjersey.com, despacho at embavenez-us.org, > dfowler at hastingstribune.com, dgceditor at dailygate.com, > dialog at canalplus.no, diario.digital at mail.telepac.pt, > dick.satran at reuters.com, dir-info at tf1.fr, direzione at quotidiano.net, > dispatchnews at yahoo.com, dkoller at dallesnews.com, > dlauricella at capitalgazette.com, dledford at delawareonline.com, > dlindorff at yahoo.com, dmendros at gwi.net, dmi at drummajorinstitute.org, > dmitry at pravda-team.ru, dmu-mags at internet.dk, > dnevrghm at powerup.com.au, dominicp at pressgazette.co.uk, > donald at mecotrucking.com, dpalmer at jcfloridan.com, dpioneer at aol.com, > drgerrylower at jeffersonseyes.com, dsa at dsausa.org, > dscottdailyreg at ntin.net, dub-info at minbuza.nl, > dub.vertretung at eda.admin.ch, dubamb at um.dk, dubgremb at eircom.net, > dublin-ob at bmaa.gv.at, dublin at embassy.mzv.cz, duconsul at indigo.ie, > duhoux2 at tds.net, dw-tv at dw-world.de, dwfed at dwfed.org, > dy at yomiuri.com, e.polivanova at imedia.ru, e.popova at rian.ru, > easyreader at easyreader.info, ebu at ebu.ch, echo.news at glosmedia.co.uk, > echonews at expressandecho.co.uk, edit at mspmag.com, > editman1000 at yahoo.com, editoped at asianage.com, editor-in-chief at y- > i.co.il, editor-mc at thesentinel.com, editor-pg at thesentinel.com, > editor at abcnews.com, editor at adbusters.org, > editor at americanthinker.com, editor at amperspective.com, > editor at aswataliraq.info, editor at atlanticfreepress.com, > editor at azstarnet.com, editor at baghdadbulletin.com, > editor at baltimorechronicle.com, editor at bcn-news.com, > editor at bctelegraph.com, editor at beachesleader.com, > editor at bocanews.com, editor at borgernewsherald.com, editor at bpsun.hu, > editor at british-weekly.com, editor at capecourier.com, > editor at cedarkeybeacon.com, editor at cedarvalleydailytimes.com, > editor at charlescitypress.com, editor at charlestoncitypaper.com, > editor at chickashanews.com, editor at coastnewsgroup.com, > editor at collegiatetimes.com, editor at commercialappeal.com, > editor at commondreams.org, editor at countercurrents.org, > editor at cphpost.dk, editor at cursor.org, editor at cyprus-mail.com, > editor at dailycomet.com, editor at dailydem.com, editor at delcotimes.com, > editor at dominionpost.com, editor at dundalkeagle.net, > editor at egypttoday.com, editor at ekathimerini.com, > editor at elkodaily.com, editor at elpasotimes.com, editor at examiner.ie, > editor at expressindia.com, editor at fbnewsleader.com, > editor at foreignpolicy.ie, editor at free-times.com > Subject: Europe's Five "Undeclared Nuclear Weapons States" > > Europe's Five "Undeclared Nuclear Weapons States" > Are Turkey, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and Italy Nuclear > Powers? > > By Michel Chossudovsky > > URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? > context=va&aid=17550 > > Global Research, February 12, 2010 > > According to a recent report, former NATO Secretary-General George > Robertson confirmed that Turkey possesses 40-90 "Made in America" > nuclear weapons at the Incirlik military base.(en.trend.az/) > > Does this mean that Turkey is a nuclear power? > > "Far from making Europe safer, and far from producing a less > nuclear dependent Europe, [the policy] may well end up bringing > more nuclear weapons into the European continent, and frustrating > some of the attempts that are being made to get multilateral > nuclear disarmament," (Former NATO Secretary-General George > Robertson quoted in Global Security, February 10, 2010) > > "'Is Italy capable of delivering a thermonuclear strike?... > > Could the Belgians and the Dutch drop hydrogen bombs on enemy > targets?... > > Germany's air force couldn't possibly be training to deliver bombs > 13 times more powerful than the one that destroyed Hiroshima, could > it?... > > Nuclear bombs are stored on air-force bases in Italy, Belgium, > Germany and the Netherlands and planes from each of those countries > are capable of delivering them." ("What to Do About Europe's Secret > Nukes." Time Magazine, December 2, 2009) > > The "Official" Nuclear Weapons States > > Five countries, the US, UK, France, China and Russia are considered > to be "nuclear weapons states" (NWS), "an internationally > recognized status conferred by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty > (NPT)". Three other "Non NPT countries" (i.e. non-signatory states > of the NPT) including India, Pakistan and North Korea, have > recognized possessing nuclear weapons. > > Israel: "Undeclared Nuclear State" > > Israel is identified as an "undeclared nuclear state". It produces > and deploys nuclear warheads directed against military and civilian > targets in the Middle East including Tehran. > Iran > > There has been much hype, supported by scanty evidence, that Iran > might at some future date become a nuclear weapons state. And, > therefore, a pre-emptive defensive nuclear attack on Iran to > annihilate its non-existent nuclear weapons program should be > seriously contemplated "to make the World a safer place". The > mainstream media abounds with makeshift opinion on the Iran nuclear > threat. > But what about the five European "undeclared nuclear states" > including Belgium, Germany, Turkey, the Netherlands and Italy. Do > they constitute a threat? > > Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy and Turkey: "Undeclared > Nuclear Weapons States" > > While Iran's nuclear weapons capabilities are unconfirmed, the > nuclear weapons capabilities of these five countries including > delivery procedures are formally acknowledged. > > The US has supplied some 480 B61 thermonuclear bombs to five non- > nuclear NATO countries including Belgium, Germany, Italy, the > Netherlands and Turkey. Casually disregarded by the Vienna based UN > Nuclear Watchdog (IAEA), the US has actively contributed to the > proliferation of nuclear weapons in Western Europe. > > As part of this European stockpiling, Turkey, which is a partner of > the US-led coalition against Iran along with Israel, possesses some > 90 thermonuclear B61 bunker buster bombs at the Incirlik nuclear > air base. (National Resources Defense Council, Nuclear Weapons in > Europe , February 2005) > By the recognised definition, these five countries are "undeclared > nuclear weapons states". > > The stockpiling and deployment of tactical B61 in these five "non- > nuclear states" are intended for targets in the Middle East. > Moreover, in accordance with "NATO strike plans", these > thermonuclear B61 bunker buster bombs (stockpiled by the "non- > nuclear States") could be launched "against targets in Russia or > countries in the Middle East such as Syria and Iran" ( quoted in > National Resources Defense Council, Nuclear Weapons in Europe , > February 2005) > > Does this mean that Iran or Russia, which are potential targets of > a nuclear attack originating from one or other of these five so- > called non-nuclear states should contemplate defensive preemptive > nuclear attacks against Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands > and Turkey? The answer is no, by any stretch of the imagination. > > While these "undeclared nuclear states" casually accuse Tehran of > developing nuclear weapons, without documentary evidence, they > themselves have capabilities of delivering nuclear warheads, which > are targeted at Iran. To say that this is a clear case of "double > standards" by the IAEA and the "international community" is a > understatement. > > > > Click to See Details and Map of Nuclear Facilities located in 5 > European Non-Nuclear States > > The stockpiled weapons are B61 thermonuclear bombs. All the > weapons are gravity bombs of the B61-3, -4, and -10 types.2 . > > Those estimates were based on private and public statements by a > number of government sources and assumptions about the weapon > storage capacity at each base > > .(National Resources Defense Council, Nuclear Weapons in Europe , > February 2005) > > Germany: Nuclear Weapons Producer > Among the five "undeclared nuclear states", "Germany remains the > most heavily nuclearized country with three nuclear bases (two of > which are fully operational) and may store as many as 150 [B61 > bunker buster ] bombs" (Ibid). In accordance with "NATO strike > plans" (mentioned above) these tactical nuclear weapons are also > targeted at the Middle East. > While Germany is not categorized officially as a nuclear power, it > produces nuclear warheads for the French Navy. It stockpiles > nuclear warheads (made in America) and it has the capabilities of > delivering nuclear weapons. Moreover, The European Aeronautic > Defense and Space Company - EADS , a Franco-German-Spanish joint > venture, controlled by Deutsche Aerospace and the powerful Daimler > Group is Europe's second largest military producer, > supplying .France's M51 nuclear missile. > Related Article > > Rick Rozoff, NATO's Secret Transatlantic Bond: Nuclear Weapons In > Europe, Global Research, December 4, 2009 > > AMERICA'S "WAR ON TERRORISM" > by Michel Chossudovsky > > CLICK TO ORDER > > America's "War on Terrorism" > In this new and expanded edition of Michel Chossudovsky's 2002 > best seller, the author blows away the smokescreen put up by the > mainstream media, that 9/11 was an attack on America by "Islamic > terrorists". Through meticulous research, the author uncovers a > military-intelligence ploy behind the September 11 attacks, and the > cover-up and complicity of key members of the Bush Administration. > The expanded edition, which includes twelve new chapters focuses on > the use of 9/11 as a pretext for the invasion and illegal > occupation of Iraq, the militarisation of justice and law > enforcement and the repeal of democracy. > According to Chossudovsky, the "war on terrorism" is a complete > fabrication based on the illusion that one man, Osama bin Laden, > outwitted the $40 billion-a-year American intelligence apparatus. > The "war on terrorism" is a war of conquest. Globalisation is the > final march to the "New World Order", dominated by Wall Street and > the U.S. military-industrial complex. > September 11, 2001 provides a justification for waging a war > without borders. Washington's agenda consists in extending the > frontiers of the American Empire to facilitate complete U.S. > corporate control, while installing within America the institutions > of the Homeland Security State. > > > Chossudovsky peels back layers of rhetoric to reveal a complex web > of deceit aimed at luring the American people and the rest of the > world into accepting a military solution which threatens the future > of humanity. > The last chapter includes an analysis of the London 7/7 Bomb Attacks. > > CLICK TO ORDER (mail order or online order) > > America's "War on Terrorism" > > > Please support Global Research > Global Research relies on the financial support of its readers. > > > Your endorsement is greatly appreciated > > Subscribe to the Global Research e-newsletter > Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole > responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those > of the Centre for Research on Globalization. The contents of this > article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for > Research on Globalization will not be responsible or liable for any > inaccurate or incorrect statements contained in this article. > > To become a Member of Global Research > > The CRG grants permission to cross-post original Global Research > articles on community internet sites as long as the text & title > are not modified. The source and the author's copyright must be > displayed. For publication of Global Research articles in print or > other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: > crgeditor at yahoo.com > > www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of > which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright > owner. We are making such material available to our readers under > the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better > understanding of political, economic and social issues. The > material on this site is distributed without profit to those who > have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and > educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for > purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the > copyright owner. > > For media inquiries: crgeditor at yahoo.com > > ? Copyright Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 2010 > > The url address of this article is: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? > context=va&aid=17550 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jfos at vic.australis.com.au Sun Feb 14 14:34:58 2010 From: jfos at vic.australis.com.au (john foster) Date: Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:34:58 +1100 Subject: [Mai-not] Fw: [S] Nuclear Does Not Make Economic Sense (for capitalists) Say Studies Message-ID: <011a01caadc5$f7e56910$64ad57ca@jfos> ENERGY: Nuclear Does Not Make Economic Sense (for capitalists) Say Studies By Julio Godoy http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50308 BERLIN, Feb 12, 2010 (IPS) - The enormous technical and financial risks involved in the construction and operation of new nuclear power plants make them prohibitive for private investors, rebutting the thesis of a renaissance in nuclear energy, say several independent European studies. The risks include high construction costs, likely long delays in building, extended periods of depreciation of equipment inherent to the construction and operation of new power plants and the lack of guarantees for prices of electricity. Adding to these is the global meltdown and the consequent cautious behaviour of investors as also fiscal and revenue difficulties of governments in the industrialised countries, say the studies. In the most recent analysis on the feasibility of new nuclear power plants, the Citibank group concludes that some of "the risks faced by developers ? are so large and variable that individually they could each bring even the largest utility company to its knees financially." The Citibank paper, titled ?New Nuclear - The Economics Say No?, lists five major risks developers and operators of new nuclear power plants must confront. These risks are planning, construction, power price, operational, and decommissioning. According to the study, most governments in industrialised countries today have only "sought to limit the planning risk" for investors. New Nuclear ? The Economics Say No - Citigroup-Research https://www.citigroupgeo.com/pdf/SEU27102.pdf But, while it is "important for encouraging developers to bring forward projects, [planning] is the least important risk financially," the survey goes on. According to the Citibank group, the most important risks are construction, power price, and operational. The paper dubs these risks "the corporate killers." Environmental activists would add safety issues as another major risk ? both the handling of highly radioactive nuclear waste and the likelihood of accidents at nuclear power stations. The Citibank bases its conclusions on estimated costs of construction and operation and in the necessity of setting too high electricity prices for consumers, and which have seldom been reached in the past. According to the paper, the costs of constructing a new nuclear power plant range between 2,500 to 3,500 euros (3,420 US dollars) per kilowatt hour. For an average 1,600 megawatt (Mw) unit, such a range leads to construction costs of up to 5.6 billion euros (7.6 billion dollars). "We see very little prospect of these costs falling and every likelihood of them rising further," the study says. To meet such costs, the operator would need a guarantee of constant electricity prices around 65 euros (88.9 dollars) per Mw/hour for a long period of time. The Citibank paper cites the British case where prices at that level on a sustained basis have occurred only 20 months during the last 115 months. "It was a sudden drop in power prices that drove British Energy to the brink of bankruptcy in 2003," the survey recalls. Another survey of the so-called renaissance of nuclear power, carried out by physicist Christoph Pistner for the German Institute for applied ecology, comes to similar conclusions. In the paper ?Renaissance of nuclear energy?, Pistner argues that developers "must finance in advance and for an unusual long period of time the huge construction costs of a new nuclear power plant." In an interview with IPS, Pistner said that most power plants have to be running for at least 20 years to reach the operation period free of depreciation and impairments costs. Only after this period, a nuclear power plant starts yielding returns. In addition, Pistner said, developers of nuclear power plants are confronted with yet another risk: "The industry disposes of little references on the buildings costs of new nuclear power plants because there are very few units in construction." Actually, there is a new nuclear power plant that serves as a warning example of the risks involved in such a project: the nuclear power plant of Olkiluoto 3 in Finland, under construction since 2004. Although the plant was supposed to have started delivering electricity in May 2009, its completion was postponed several times in the past two years. On Feb. 11, the Olkiluoto 3 project manager Jouni Silvennoinen announced in Helsinki that the plant's start "may be pushed back further than June 2012, which is the current deadline confirmed by the equipment manufacturer." The manufacturer is the French state-owned company AREVA. The plant was ordered by the Finnish company TVO. Olkiluoto 3 is also facing an explosion of construction costs. Initially, it was estimated that the plant's construction would cost three billion euros (4.1) ? but now the bills amount to well over 5.3 billion euros (7.2 billion dollars). How much the plant is actually going to cost remains unclear. These costs must be added to the revenues losses TVO had budgeted as electricity sales, but which were never realised due to the non operation of the plant. The delays in completion and the explosion of costs have led to litigation between the Finnish operator TVO and the manufacturer AREVA. In yet another critical appraisal of the feasibility of new nuclear power plants, French energy expert Thibaut Madelin says that the uncertainties linked to the construction costs of such plants have been magnified by the global financial crisis, which makes such huge investments unlikely. Madelin said that construction delays of nuclear power plants constitute the central argument against them. "You can build a combined cycle gas turbine with a capacity of 800 Mw in four years, for a construction cost of some 550 million euros (752.4 million dollars)," Madelin told IPS. "But for a nuclear power plant of 1,600 Mw, you need at least eight years, and a construction budget of up to six billion euros (8.2 billion dollars)," Madelin added. "That means that the investor of a new nuclear power plant would start seeing some money only eight years after she invested a huge amount of money." According to Madelin, "if the construction of a nuclear power plant lasts more than 10 years, the project becomes a financial catastrophe." Figures by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) say that construction delays jumped from 64 months (more than five years) to 146 months (more than 12 years) between 1976 and 2008. In a recent commentary published by the IAEA, Sharon Squassoni, researcher at the U.S. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, also concluded that the financial crisis and the construction costs constitute almost insurmountable obstacles to the renaissance of nuclear power. "The current economic crisis could make financing nuclear power plants particularly difficult," Squassoni wrote. "Financing costs account for between 25 and 80 percent of the total cost of construction because nuclear power plants take much longer to build than alternatives." For example, wind plants require 18 months to build, combined cycle gas turbines need 36 months, but nuclear power plants take at least 60 months, Squassoni noted. Squassoni warned that the global tightening of risk management standards in the wake of the current economic crisis could imperil the nuclear industry, "in particular, because a reactor entails such a large investment (between five billion and 10 billion dollars per plant) relative to the typical financial resources of electric utilities." The Citibank paper, referring to the Olkiluoto 3 plant, points out that cost overruns and time slippages of even a fraction seen by TVO and AREVA would be more than enough to destroy the equity value of a developer?s investment "unless these costs can be passed through somehow", an euphemism for state subsidies. "Given the scale of these costs, a construction programme that goes badly wrong could seriously damage the finances of even the largest utility companies," the Citibank survey says. The Citibank survey concludes that without taxpayers money there is "little if any prospect that new nuclear stations will be built ? by the private sector unless developers can lay off substantial elements of the three major risks. Financing guarantees, minimum power prices, and/or government-backed power off-take agreements may all be needed if stations are to be built." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jfos at vic.australis.com.au Sun Feb 14 14:35:37 2010 From: jfos at vic.australis.com.au (john foster) Date: Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:35:37 +1100 Subject: [Mai-not] Fw: Greece - General Strike (occupations next?) - Pension age 63 ! (In oz is 65 planned to go up to 68) Message-ID: <017801caadc6$1ba8af10$64ad57ca@jfos> Excerpt: " ... taxi drivers have called a 24h strike for tomorrow protesting against the austerity measures. The austerity measure's class character has been revealed beyond reparation today when after meeting with President Sarkozy, the Greek PM announced that Greece is buying 6 warship costing a total of 2,5 billion euros from France...The outrageous deal comes as more and more government spending outrages are made public: it has been revealed today that the Foresty Department has spent 1,6 million euros to construct...its website.(snip) Despite continuing pleas for "national unity", today middle-education teachers followed their primary-education colleagues in calling a strike for the 24th of February. More worrying for the capitalists, customs officers have announced a 3-day long strike for next week which will see a complete freeze on all exports and imports. At the same time a 4-day strike for next week has been announced by employees of the Ministry of Economics, and of the Central Chemistry Lab of the State, the State's Accounting Service, the State Loans Office, the National Statistic Service and the State Legal Council. The strike is expected to paralise all state-economic functions." Greece hikes pension age, calls for bonus cuts By John Hadoulis (AFP) ATHENS - Greece's government Labour Minister Andreas Loverdos said men and women will retire at 63 on average in a bid to save Greece's cash-strapped pensions system, as other ministers met for a second day to finalise the country's new tax policy. The maximum retirement rate is currently 65 for men and 60 for women, and Greece is under pressure by the European Union to bridge the gap. ___________________________ GENERAL STRIKE The 24h public sector general strike supplemented by private sector strikes has brought Greece to a standstill with no airplanes flying in or out the country. It is the first big strike in Greece since the announcement of the austerity measures by the socialist government last week. And it has managed to bring the country to a standstill: the 24h strike of the public sector under the union umbrella of ADEDY has seen a complete freeze in the following fronts - all civil servants, including tax offices, social security, municipal and county workers; all doctors and nurses (except emergency personnel); all teachers at all school grades and all university teaching staff and personnel; all archeological sites (Acropolis shut); all air traffic control (no flights in or out of the country). Also in the means of mass transport, rolling stoppages of work are being performed in the National Railway System, and the suburban railway system of Athens. The public sector strike has been further supplemented by strikes in the private sector. PAME the Communist Party umbrella union has called a 24h strike affecting large sections of the private sector, while at the same time several Autonomous unions have call a strike further hampering the private sector. The latter include: the books and printed material workers of Athens and the workers of Wind Telecom. The PAME strike is affecting a big range of private business that cannot be accurately reproduced here but include: Carrefur-Dia workers, elevator maintenance workers and construction builders. It is worth noting that all hydrofoil transport from Peiraeus and Igoumenitsa to the islands has frozen due to the strike. At the time of writing different demos and strike related protest marches are unfolding in various cities of the country. In Athens, tension built up between protesters and the riot police forces (MAT) when the former tried to break trough police lines with the help of a garbage collecting vehicle (see picture, above). Lat Monday, in relation to the austerity measures, anarchists broke in the central conference of the industrialists association of north greece on whose panel sat the Minister of National Economy. The protesters held banners against the sold out union bosses and soiled the conference with the help of "rotten-potato bombs" and other foul smelling devices, disrupting its procedures. Reactions to the austerity measures are expected to augment after the announcement of the new tax scheme and in expectation of the social security reforms, a front that has in the past caused mass and massively dynamic protests in the country. Update: ADEDY has announced its participation in the 24h strike of the private sector called by GSEE for the 24th of February. Meanwhile taxi drivers have called a 24h strike for tomorrow protesting against the austerity measures. The austerity measure's class character has been revealed beyond reparation today when after meeting with President Sarkozy, the Greek PM announced that Greece is buying 6 warship costing a total of 2,5 billion euros from France...The outrageous deal comes as more and more government spending outrages are made public: it has been revealed today that the Foresty Department has spent 1,6 million euros to construct...its website. The taxi drivers have announced another national 24h strike for the 19th of February. The bail-out agreement in Brussels has done nothing to relieve fears of the greek workers who seem even more suspicious of what might follow. The government has come under intense criticism over its arms deal with France, while bourgeois media do not talk of a "bail-out" but simply of "help from Europe" in an effort to appease the population. Meanwhile in Athens policemen of the Z-team (motorised force) have come under attack in what the media claim was an ambush. The cops were piled with rocks and marbles and one of them is hospitalised in a serious condition. The national union of teachers has announced its participation in the strike of the 24th of February, making the latter look like it is approaching the volume of a general strike. Also kiosks and corner shops have warned of rolling 24h strikes that would create great daily problems for consumers, demanding a reversal on extra tax imposed on tobacco as part of the austerity measures. At the same time, only hours after the bail-out, the greek government has been embarrassed by a long banner unfolded in front of the parliament by senior left-wing figures. The banner wrote: "No to the Stability Pact, European Workers Unite in Solidarity and Subversion"; the group was led by the highly influential ex-President of the Coalition of Radical Left, Mr Alavanos, who called Greece "the shit-hole of the Stability Pact". Today despite sustained bourgeois media efforts to hide the failure of the talks in Brussels and Germany's veto on any direct economic help towards the greek state, the PM vented his anger against EU power-holders who "have transformed greece into a guinea-pig". Despite continuing pleas for "national unity", today middle-education teachers followed their primary-education colleagues in calling a strike for the 24th of February. More worrying for the capitalists, customs officers have announced a 3-day long strike for next week which will see a complete freeze on all exports and imports. At the same time a 4-day strike for next week has been announced by employees of the Ministry of Economics, and of the Central Chemistry Lab of the State, the State's Accounting Service, the State Loans Office, the National Statistic Service and the State Legal Council. The strike is expected to paralise all state-economic functions. Discussion taking place about the Greek bailout here: http://libcom.org/forums/news/greece-itself-nothing-09022010 UPPING THE ANTIs ....But there are predictions Vancouver could be the scene of demonstrations encompassing a broader coalition of 'antis' than ever before. Anti-poverty, anti-global, anti-capitalist - they're presenting themselves as the biggest ever opposition to the Olympics themselves. It's a loose coalition going by the name Olympic Resistance Network..... OR It's like the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane in the 80s or Sydney in 2000. We hold these events to the world, show everyone how egalitarian we are while simultaneously bus-ing our homeless and destitute out of town to save face. That's what they're doing in Vancouver, that's what they did in Brisbane. Get real we live in a prosperous society, where some miss out and appear fogotten about (until the next big event rolls in, then we remember to displace them). And I couldn't care about the olympic games. The less money spent on a gratuitous display of faux humanity through sport the better. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/10/2815025.htm?site=thedrum ------------------------------------------------------ Provided by Australis http://www.australis.com.au/ From jfos at vic.australis.com.au Sun Feb 14 18:29:35 2010 From: jfos at vic.australis.com.au (john foster) Date: Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:29:35 +1100 Subject: [Mai-not] Fw: More Pain for Devastated Haiti: Under the Pretense of Disaster Relief, U.S. Running a Military Occupation Message-ID: <00bb01caade6$b7cf9b40$14ad57ca@jfos> AlterNet / By Arun Gupta More Pain for Devastated Haiti: Under the Pretense of Disaster Relief, U.S. Running a Military Occupation The rapid mobilization of U.S troops in Haiti was not primarily done for humanitarian reasons; we're likely to see a neoliberal economic plan imposed, at gunpoint if necessary. February 12, 2010 | Official denials aside, the United States has embarked on a new military occupation of Haiti thinly cloaked as disaster relief. While both the Pentagon and the United Nations claimed more troops were needed to provide "security and stability" to bring in aid, according to nearly all independent observers in the field, violence was never an issue. Instead, there appears to be cruder motives for the military response. With Haiti's government "all but invisible" and its repressive security forces collapsed, popular organizations were starting to fill the void. But the Western powers rushing in envision sweatshops and tourism as the foundation of a rebuilt Haiti. This is opposed by the popular organizations, which draw their strength from Haiti's overwhelmingly poor majority. Thus, if a neoliberal plan is going to be imposed on a devastated Haiti it will be done at gunpoint. The rapid mobilization of thousands of U.S troops was not for humanitarian reasons; in fact it crowded out much of the arriving aid into the Port-au-Prince airport, forcing lengthy delays. Doctors Without Borders said five of its cargo flights carrying 85 tons of medical and relief supplies were turned away during the first week while flights from the World Food Program were delayed up to two days. One WFP official said of the 200 flights going in and out of Haiti daily "most . are for the U.S. military." Nineteen days into the crisis, only 32 percent of Haitians in need had received any food (even if just a single meal), three-quarters were without clean water, the government had received only two percent of the tents it had requested and hospitals in the capital reported they were running "dangerously low" on basic medical supplies like antibiotics and painkillers. On Feb. 9, the Washington Post reported that food aid was little more than rice, and "Every day, tens of thousands of Haitians face a grueling quest to find food, any food. A nutritious diet is out of the question." At the same time, the United States had assumed control of Haiti's airspace, landed 6,500 soldiers on the ground, with another 15,000 troops offshore at one point, dispatched an armada of naval vessels and nine coast guard cutters to patrol the waters, and the U.S. embassy was issuing orders on behalf of the Haitian government. In a telling account, the New York Times described a press conference in Haiti at which "the American ambassador and the American general in charge of the United States troops deployed here" were "seated at center stage," while Haitian President Ren? Pr?val stood in the back "half-listening" and eventually "wandered away without a word." In the first week, the U.S. commander, Lt. Gen. Ken Keen, said the presence of the Haitian police was "limited" because they had been "devastated" by the earthquake. The real powers in Haiti right now are Keen, U.S. ambassador Louis Lucke, Bill Clinton (who has been tapped by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to lead recovery efforts) and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. When asked at the press conference how long U.S. forces were planning to stay, Keen said, "I'm not going to put a time frame on it" while Lucke added, "We're not really planning in terms of weeks or months or years. We're planning basically to see this job through to the end." While much of the corporate media fixated on "looters," virtually every independent observer in Haiti after the earthquake noted the lack of violence. Even Lt. Gen. Keen described the security situation as "relatively calm." One aid worker in Haiti, Leisa Faulkner, said, "There is no security threat from the Haitian people. Aid workers do not need to fear them. I would really like for the guys with the rifles to put them down and pick up shovels to help find people still buried in the rubble of collapsed buildings and homes. It just makes me furious to see multiple truckloads of fellows with automatic rifles." Veteran Haiti reporter Kim Ives concurred, explaining to "Democracy Now!": "Security is not the issue. We see throughout Haiti the population themselves organizing themselves into popular committees to clean up, to pull out the bodies from the rubble, to build refugee camps, to set up their security for the refugee camps. This is a population which is self-sufficient, and it has been self-sufficient for all these years." In one instance, Ives continued, a truckload of food showed up in a neighborhood in the middle of the night unannounced. "It could have been a melee. The local popular organization.was contacted. They immediately mobilized their members. They came out. They set up a perimeter. They set up a cordon. They lined up about 600 people who were staying on the soccer field behind the house, which is also a hospital, and they distributed the food in an orderly, equitable fashion.. They didn't need Marines. They didn't need the UN." Traveling with an armored UN convoy on the streets of the capital, Al Jazeera reported that the soldiers "aren't here to help pull people out of the rubble. They're here, they say, to enforce the law." One Haitian told the news outlet, "These weapons they bring, they are instruments of death. We don't want them. We don't need them. We are a traumatized people. What we want from the international community is technical help. Action, not words." A New Invasion That help, however, is coming in the form of neoliberal shock. With the collapse of the Haitian government, popular organizations of the poor, precisely the ones that propelled Jean-Bertrand Aristide to the presidency twice on a platform of social and economic justice, know that the detailed U.S. and UN plans in the works for "recovery" - sweatshops, land grabs and privatization - are part of the same system of economic slavery they've been fighting against for more than 200 years. A new occupation of Haiti -- the third in the last 16 years -- fits within the U.S. doctrine of rollback in Latin America: support for the coup in Honduras, seven new military bases in Colombia, hostility toward Bolivia and Venezuela. Related to that, the United States wants to ensure that Haiti not pose the "threat of a good example" by pursuing an independent path, as it tried to under President Aristide -- which is why he was toppled twice, in 1991 and 2004, in U.S.-backed coups. With the government and its repressive security forces now in shambles, neoliberal reconstruction will happen at the barrel of the gun. In this light, the impetus of a new occupation may be to reconstitute the Haitian Army (or similar entity) as a force "to fight the people." This is the crux of the situation. Despite all the terror inflicted on Haiti by the United States, particularly in the last 20 years -- two coups followed each time by the slaughter of thousands of activists and innocents by U.S.-armed death squads -- the strongest social and political force in Haiti today is probably the organisations populaires (OPs) that are the backbone of the Fanmi Lavalas party of deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Twice last year, after legislative elections were scheduled that banned Fanmi Lavalas, boycotts were organized by the party. In the April and June polls the abstention rate each time was reported to be at least 89 percent. It is the OPs, while devastated and destitute, that are filling the void and remain the strongest voice against economic colonization. Thus, all the concern about "security and stability." With no functioning government, calm prevailing, and people self-organizing, "security" does not mean safeguarding the population; it means securing the country against the population. "Stability" does not mean social harmony; it means stability for capital: low wages, no unions, no environmental laws, and the ability to repatriate profits easily. Sweatshop Solution In a March 2009 New York Times op-ed, Ban Ki-moon outlined his development plan for Haiti, involving lower port fees, "dramatically expanding the country's export zones," and emphasizing "the garment industry and agriculture." Ban's neoliberal plan was drawn up Oxford University economist Paul Collier. (Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff admitted, in promoting Collier's plan, that those garment factories are "sweatshops.") Collier is blunt, writing (PDF), "Due to its poverty and relatively unregulated labor market, Haiti has labor costs that are fully competitive with China." His scheme calls for agricultural exports, such as mangoes, that involve pushing farmers off the land so they can be employed in garment manufacturing in export processing zones. To facilitate these zones Collier calls on Haiti and donors to provide them with private ports and electricity, "clear and rapid rights to land," outsourced customs, "roads, water and sewage," and the involvement of the Clinton Global Initiative to bring in garment manufacturers. Revealing the connection between neoliberalism and military occupation in Haiti, Collier credits the Brazilian-led United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) with establishing "credible security," but laments that its remaining mandate is "too short for investor confidence." In fact, MINUSTAH has been involved in numerous massacres in Port-au-Prince slums that are strongholds for Lavalas and Aristide. But that is probably what Collier means by "credible security." He also notes MINUSTAH will cost some $5 billion overall; compare that to the $379 million the U.S. government has designated for spending on Haiti in response to the earthquake. It's worth noting that one-third of the U.S. funding is for "military aid" and another 42 percent is for disaster assistance, such as $23.5 million for "search and rescue" operations that prioritized combing through luxury hotels for survivors. As for the "U.N. Special Envoy to Haiti," speaking at an October 2009 investors' conference in Port-au-Prince that attracted do-gooders like Gap, Levi Strauss and Citibank, Bill Clinton claimed a revitalized garment industry could create 100,000 jobs. The reason some 200 companies, half of them garment manufacturers, attended the conference was because "Haiti's extremely low labor costs, comparable to those in Bangladesh, make it so appealing," the New York Times reported. Those costs are often less than the official daily minimum wage of $1.75. (The Haitian Parliament approved an increase last May 4 to about $5 an hour, but it was opposed by the business elite and President Ren? Pr?val refused to sign the bill, effectively killing it. The refusal to increase the minimum wage sparked numerous student protests starting last June, which were repressed by Haitian police and MINUSTAH.) Roots of Repression Some historical perspective is in order. In his work Haiti State Against Nation: The Origins & Legacy of Duvalierism, Michel-Rolph Trouillot writes, "Haiti's first army saw itself as the offspring of the struggle against slavery and colonialism." That changed during the U.S. occupation of Haiti from 1915 to 1934. Under the tutelage of the U.S. Marines, "the Haitian Garde was specifically created to fight against other Haitians. It received its baptism of fire in combat against its countrymen." Its brutal legacy led Aristide to disband the army in 1995. Yet prior to the army's disbandment, in the wake of the U.S. invasion that returned a politically handcuffed Aristide to the presidency in 1994, "CIA agents accompanying U.S. troops began a new recruitment drive for the agency" that included leaders of the death squad known as FRAPH, according to Peter Hallward, author of Damning the Flood: Haiti, Aristide and the Politics of Containment. It's worth recalling how the Clinton administration played a double game under the cover of humanitarian intervention. Investigative reporter Allan Nairn revealed that in 1993 "five to ten thousand" small arms were shipped from Florida, past the U.S. naval blockade, to the coup leaders. These weapons enabled FRAPH to multiply and terrorize the popular movements. Then, pointing to intensifying FRAPH violence in 1994, the Clinton administration pressured Aristide into acquiescing to a U.S. invasion because FRAPH was becoming "the only game in town." After 20,000 U.S. troops landed in Haiti, they set about protecting FRAPH members, freeing them from jail, and refusing to disarm them or seize their weapons caches. FRAPH leader Emmanual Constant told Nairn that after the invasion the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) was using FRAPH to counter "subversive activities." Meanwhile, the State Department and CIA went about stacking the Haitian National Police with former army soldiers, many of whom were on the U.S. payroll. By 1996, according to one report, Haitian Army and "FRAPH forces remain armed and present in virtually every community across the country," and paramilitaries were "inciting street violence in an effort to undermine social order." During the early 1990s, a separate group of Haitian soldiers, including Guy Philippe who led the 2004 coup against Aristide, were spirited away to Ecuador where they allegedly trained at a "U.S. military facility." Hallward describes the second coup as beginning in 2001 as a "Contra war" in the Dominican Republic with Philippe and former FRAPH commander Jodel Chamblain as leaders. A "Democracy Now!" report from April 7, 2004 claimed that the U.S.-government funded International Republican Institute provided arms and technical training to the anti-Aristide force in the Dominican Republic, while "200 members of the special forces of the United States were there in the area training these so-called rebels." A key component of the campaign against Aristide after he was inaugurated in 2001 was economic destabilization that cut off much of the funding for "road construction, AIDs programs, water works and health care." A likely factor in the coup was Aristide's highly public campaign demanding that France repay the money it extorted from Haiti in 1825 for the former slave colony to buy its freedom, estimated in 2003 at $21 billion, or that Aristide was working with Venezuela, Bolivia and Cuba to create alternatives to U.S. economic domination of the region. When Aristide was finally ousted in February 2004, another round of slaughter ensued, with 800 bodies dumped in just one week in March. A 2006 study by the British medical journal Lancet (PDF) determined that 8,000 people were murdered in the capital region during the first 22 months of the U.S.-backed coup government and 35,000 women and girls raped or sexually assaulted. The OPs and Lavalas militants were decimated, in part by a UN war against the main Lavalas strongholds in Port-au-Prince's neighborhoods of Bel Air and Cite Soleil, the latter a densely packed slum of some 300,000. (Hallward claims U.S. Marines were involved in a number of massacres in areas such as Bel Air in 2004.) 'More Free Trade' Less than four months after the 2004 coup, reporter Jane Regan described a draft economic plan, the "Interim Cooperation Framework," that "calls for more free trade zones (FTZs), stresses tourism and export agriculture, and hints at the eventual privatization of the country's state enterprises." Regan wrote that the plan was "drawn up by people nobody elected," mainly "foreign technicians" and "institutions like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank." Much of this plan was implemented under Pr?val, who announced in 2007 plans to privatize the public telephone company, T?l?co, and is being promoted by Bill Clinton and Ban Ki-moon as Haiti's path out of poverty. The Wall Street Journal touted such achievements as "10,000 new garment industry jobs," in 2009 a "luxury hotel complex" in the upper-crust neighborhood of P?tionville, and a $55 million investment by Royal Caribbean International at its "private Haitian beach paradise," surrounded by "a ten-foot-high iron wall, watched by armed guards," just north of the capital. (That "investment," according to the cruise line operator, included "a new 800-foot pier, a Barefoot Beach Club with private cabanas, an alpine roller coaster with individual controls for each car, new dining facilities and a new, larger Artisan's Market.") Haiti, of course, has been here before when the U.S. Agency for International Development spoke of turning it into the "Taiwan of the Caribbean." In the 1980s, under Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, it shifted one third of cultivated land to export crops while "there were some 240 multinational corporations, employing between 40,000 and 60,000 predominantly female workers," sewing garments, baseballs for Major League Baseball and Disney merchandise, according to scholar Yasmine Shamsie. Those jobs, paying as little as 11 cents an hour, coincided with a decline in per capita income and living standards. (Ban Ki-moon wants Haiti to emulate Bangladesh, where sweatshops pay as little as 6 cents an hour.) At such low pay, workers had little left after purchasing food and transportation to and from the factories. These self-contained export-processing zones, often funded by USAID and the World Bank, also add little to the national economy, importing tax free virtually all the materials used. The elite use the tax-free import structure to smuggle in luxury goods. In response, the government taxed consumption-based items more, hitting the poor the hardest. U.S.-promoted agricultural policies, such as forcing Haitian rice farmers to compete against U.S.-subsidized agribusiness, cost an estimated 830,000 rural jobs according to Oxfam, while exacerbating malnourishment. This and the decimation of the invaluable Creole pig (because of fears of an outbreak of African swine fever), led to displacement of the peasantry into urban areas, along with the promise of urban jobs, fueled rural migration into flimsy shantytowns. It's hard not to conclude that these development schemes played a major role in the horrific death toll in Port-au-Prince. The latest scheme, on hold for now because of the earthquake, is a $50 million "industrial park that would house roughly 40 manufacturing facilities and warehouses," bankrolled by the Soros Economic Development Fund (yes, that Soros). The planned location is Cite Soleil. James Dobbins, former special envoy to Haiti under President Bill Clinton, outlined other measures in a New York Times op-ed: "This disaster is an opportunity to accelerate oft-delayed reforms" including "breaking up or at least reorganizing the government-controlled telephone monopoly. The same goes with the Education Ministry, the electric company, the Health Ministry and the courts." It's clear that the Shock Doctrine is alive and well in Haiti. But given the strength of the organisations populaires and weakness of the government, it will have to be imposed through force. For those who wonder why the United States is so obsessed with controlling a country so impoverished, devastated and seemingly inconsequential as Haiti, Noam Chomsky sums it up best. "Why was the U.S. so intent on destroying northern Laos, so poor that peasants hardly even knew they were in Laos? Or Indochina? Or Guatemala? Or Maurice Bishop in Grenada, the nutmeg capital of the world? The reasons are about the same, and are explained in the internal record. These are 'viruses' that might 'infect others' with the dangerous idea of pursuing similar paths to independent development. The smaller and weaker they are, the more dangerous they tend to be. If they can do it, why can't we? Does the Godfather allow a small storekeeper to get away with not paying protection money?" Arun Gupta is a founding editor of The Indypendent newspaper. He is writing a book on the decline of American Empire for Haymarket Books. http://www.alternet.org/story/145647/more_pain_for_devastated_haiti%3A_under_the_pretense_of_disaster_relief%2C_u.s._running_a_military_occupation_ ------------------------------------------------------ Provided by Australis http://www.australis.com.au/ From papadop at peak.org Mon Feb 15 17:19:29 2010 From: papadop at peak.org (MichaelP) Date: Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:19:29 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Mai-not] We've not yet mobilized to give Obama proper support for what WE want Message-ID: Mon Feb 15 16:04:22 2010 http://www.guardian.co.uk/ Forwarded From: Clancy Sigal Message-ID: <38C274E8-3FC2-477F-B936-C61DBAC44309@powerup.com.au> Relayed by Doug Everingham. ==== Begin forwarded message: > From: jack loel > Date: 15 February 2010 8:29:54 PM > To: dasson at globalsolutions.org, datebook at tennessean.com, > david.bloom at gccisd.net, david.savage at latimes.com, > david at mediachannel.org, dbanker at sun-sentinel.com, > dbnred at dieburger.com, debate at euobs.com, delhidesk at asianage.com, > demarco at northjersey.com, despacho at embavenez-us.org, > dfowler at hastingstribune.com, dgceditor at dailygate.com, > dialog at canalplus.no, diario.digital at mail.telepac.pt, > dick.satran at reuters.com, dir-info at tf1.fr, direzione at quotidiano.net, > dispatchnews at yahoo.com, dkoller at dallesnews.com, > dlauricella at capitalgazette.com, dledford at delawareonline.com, > dlindorff at yahoo.com, dmendros at gwi.net, dmi at drummajorinstitute.org, > dmitry at pravda-team.ru, dmu-mags at internet.dk, > dnevrghm at powerup.com.au, dominicp at pressgazette.co.uk, > donald at mecotrucking.com, dpalmer at jcfloridan.com, dpioneer at aol.com, > drgerrylower at jeffersonseyes.com, dsa at dsausa.org, > dscottdailyreg at ntin.net, dub-info at minbuza.nl, > dub.vertretung at eda.admin.ch, dubamb at um.dk, dubgremb at eircom.net, > dublin-ob at bmaa.gv.at, dublin at embassy.mzv.cz, duconsul at indigo.ie, > duhoux2 at tds.net, dw-tv at dw-world.de, dwfed at dwfed.org, > dy at yomiuri.com, e.polivanova at imedia.ru, e.popova at rian.ru, > easyreader at easyreader.info, ebu at ebu.ch, echo.news at glosmedia.co.uk, > echonews at expressandecho.co.uk, edit at mspmag.com, > editman1000 at yahoo.com, editoped at asianage.com, editor-in-chief at y- > i.co.il, editor-mc at thesentinel.com, editor-pg at thesentinel.com, > editor at abcnews.com, editor at adbusters.org, > editor at americanthinker.com, editor at amperspective.com, > editor at aswataliraq.info, editor at atlanticfreepress.com, > editor at azstarnet.com, editor at baghdadbulletin.com, > editor at baltimorechronicle.com, editor at bcn-news.com, > editor at bctelegraph.com, editor at beachesleader.com, > editor at bocanews.com, editor at borgernewsherald.com, editor at bpsun.hu, > editor at british-weekly.com, editor at capecourier.com, > editor at cedarkeybeacon.com, editor at cedarvalleydailytimes.com, > editor at charlescitypress.com, editor at charlestoncitypaper.com, > editor at chickashanews.com, editor at coastnewsgroup.com, > editor at collegiatetimes.com, editor at commercialappeal.com, > editor at commondreams.org, editor at countercurrents.org, > editor at cphpost.dk, editor at cursor.org, editor at cyprus-mail.com, > editor at dailycomet.com, editor at dailydem.com, editor at delcotimes.com, > editor at dominionpost.com, editor at dundalkeagle.net, > editor at egypttoday.com, editor at ekathimerini.com, > editor at elkodaily.com, editor at elpasotimes.com, editor at examiner.ie, > editor at expressindia.com, editor at fbnewsleader.com > Subject: Dick Cheney Admits To Torture Conspiracy...He Should Be > Arrested And Tried At The Hague > > Consortium News / By Robert Parry > COMMENTS: 0 > Dick Cheney Admits to Torture Conspiracy > > If the U.S. had a functioning criminal justice system for the > powerful, former Vice President Dick Cheney would have just > convicted himself with his Sunday comments. > February 15, 2010 | > > > > > > > > > > > On Sunday, Cheney pronounced himself "a big supporter of > waterboarding," a near-drowning technique that has been regarded as > torture back to the Spanish Inquisition and that has long been > treated by U.S. authorities as a serious war crime, such as when > Japanese commanders were prosecuted for using it on American > prisoners during World War II. > Cheney was unrepentant about his support for the technique. He > answered with an emphatic "yes" when asked if he had opposed the > Bush administration?s decision to suspend the use of waterboarding > ? after it was employed against three "high-value detainees" > sometimes in repetitive sequences. He added that waterboarding > should still be "on the table" today. > Cheney then went further. Speaking with a sense of impunity, he > casually negated a key line of defense that senior Bush officials > had hidden behind for years ? that the brutal interrogations were > approved by independent Justice Department legal experts who thus > gave the administration a legitimate reason to believe the actions > were within the law. > However, on Sunday, Cheney acknowledged that the White House had > told the Justice Department lawyers what legal opinions to render. > In other words, the opinions amounted to ordered-up lawyering to > permit the administration to do whatever it wanted. > In responding to a question about why he had so aggressively > attacked President Barack Obama?s counter-terrorism policies, > Cheney explained that he had been concerned about the new > administration prosecuting some CIA operatives who had handled the > interrogations and "disbarring lawyers with the Justice Department > who had helped us put those policies together. ? > "I thought it was important for some senior person in the > administration to stand up and defend those people who?d done what > we asked them to do." > Cheney?s comment about the Justice lawyers who had "done what we > asked them to do" was an apparent reference to John Yoo and his > boss, Jay Bybee, at the Office of Legal Council (OLC), a powerful > agency that advises the President on the limits of his power. > In 2002, Yoo ? while working closely with White House officials ? > drafted legal memos that permitted waterboarding and other brutal > techniques by narrowly defining torture. He also authored legal > opinions that asserted virtual dictatorial powers for a President > during war, even one as vaguely defined as the "war on terror." > Yoo?s key memos were then signed by Bybee. > In 2003, after Yoo left to be a law professor at the University of > California at Berkeley and Bybee was elevated to a federal appeals > court judgeship in San Francisco, their successors withdrew the > memos because of the sloppy scholarship. However, in 2005, > President George W. Bush appointed a new acting chief of the OLC, > Steven Bradbury, who restored many of the Yoo-Bybee opinions. > Legal Fig Leaf > In the years that followed, Bush administration officials > repeatedly cited the Yoo-Bybee-Bradbury legal guidance when > insisting that the "enhanced interrogation" of "war on terror" > detainees ? as well as prisoners from the Iraq and Afghan wars ? > did not cross the line into torture. > In essence, the Bush-Cheney defense was that the OLC lawyers > offered honest opinions and that everyone from the President and > Vice President, who approved use of the interrogation techniques, > down to the CIA interrogators, who conducted the torture, operated > in good faith. > If, however, that narrative proved to be false ? if the lawyers had > colluded with the policymakers to create legal excuses for criminal > acts ? then the Bush-Cheney defense would collapse. Rather than > diligent lawyers providing professional advice, the picture would > be of Mob consiglieres counseling crime bosses how to evade the law. > Though Bush administration defenders have long denied that the > legal opinions were cooked, the evidence has long supported the > conspiratorial interpretation. For instance, in his 2006 book War > by Other Means, Yoo himself described his involvement in frequent > White House meetings regarding what "other means" should receive a > legal stamp of approval. Yoo wrote: > "As the White House held its procession of Christmas parties and > receptions in December 2001, senior lawyers from the Attorney > General?s office, the White House counsel?s office, the Departments > of State and Defense and the NSC [National Security Council] met a > few floors away to discuss the work on our opinion. ? > "This group of lawyers would meet repeatedly over the next months > to develop policy on the war on terrorism. " > Yoo said meetings were usually chaired by Alberto Gonzales, who was > then White House counsel and later became Bush?s second Attorney > General. Yoo identified other key players as Timothy Flanigan, > Gonzales?s deputy; William Howard Taft IV from State; John > Bellinger from the NSC; William "Jim" Haynes from the Pentagon; and > David Addington, counsel to Cheney. > Yoo?s Account > In his book, Yoo described a give-and-take among participants at > the meeting with the State Department?s Taft challenging Yoo?s OLC > view that Bush could waive the Geneva Conventions regarding the > invasion of Afghanistan (by labeling it a "failed state"). Taft > noted that the Taliban was the recognized government of the country. > "We thought Taft?s memo represented the typically conservative > thinking of foreign ministries, which places a priority on > stabilizing relations with other states ? even if it means creating > or maintaining fictions ? rather than adapting to new > circumstances," Yoo wrote. > Regarding objections from the Pentagon?s judge advocate generals ? > who feared that waiving the Geneva Conventions would endanger > American soldiers ? Yoo again stressed policy concerns, not legal > logic. > "It was far from obvious that following the Geneva Conventions in > the war against al-Qaeda would be wise," Yoo wrote. "Our policy > makers had to ask whether [compliance] would yield any benefit or > act as a hindrance." > What Yoo?s book and other evidence make clear is that the lawyers > from the Justice Department?s OLC weren?t just legal scholars > handing down opinions from an ivory tower; they were participants > in how to make Bush?s desired actions "legal." > They were the lawyerly equivalents of those U.S. intelligence > analysts, who ? in the words of the British "Downing Street Memo" ? > "fixed" the facts around Bush?s desire to justify invading Iraq. > The importance of this question ? whether the OLC lawyers were > honest brokers or criminal conspirators ? was not missed by some of > the congressional leaders who pressed for a serious investigation > of Bush?s use of torture and other war crimes. > Two years ago, Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, and Sheldon > Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, wrote a letter to the Justice > Department?s watchdog agencies requesting an investigation into the > role that "Justice Department officials [played] in authorizing and/ > or overseeing the use of waterboarding by the Central Intelligence > Agency... and whether those who authorized it violated the law." > In the Feb. 12, 2008, letter, the senators questioned whether the > OLC lawyers were "insulated from outside pressure to reach a > particular conclusion" and whether Bush?s White House and the CIA > played any role in influencing "deliberations about the lawfulness > of waterboarding," a technique that creates the sensation of drowning. > Whitehouse, a former federal prosecutor, said those questions were > designed to get to the point that having in-house lawyers dream up > a legal argument doesn?t make an action legal, especially if the > lawyers were somehow induced to produce the opinion. > Defining Torture > In the case of waterboarding and other abusive interrogation > tactics, Yoo and Bybee generated a memo, dated Aug. 1, 2002, that > came up with a novel and narrow definition of torture, essentially > lifting the language from an unrelated law regarding health benefits. > The Yoo-Bybee legal opinion stated that unless the amount of pain > administered to a detainee led to injuries that might result in > "death, organ failure, or serious impairment of body functions" > then the interrogation technique could not be defined as torture. > Since waterboarding is not intended to cause death or organ failure > ? only the panicked gag reflex associated with drowning ? it was > deemed not to be torture. > The "torture memo" and related legal opinions were considered so > unprofessional that Bybee?s replacement to head the OLC, Jack > Goldsmith, himself a conservative Republican, took the > extraordinary step of withdrawing them after he was appointed in > October 2003. > However, Goldsmith was pushed out of his job after a confrontation > with Cheney?s counsel Addington, and the later appointment of > Bradbury enabled the Bush White House to reinstate many of the Yoo- > Bybee opinions. > Last month, Newsweek reported that Yoo and Bybee had avoided any > disciplinary recommendations because a draft report by the Justice > Department?s Office of Professional Responsibility had been > rewritten to remove harsh criticism that the two lawyers had > violated professional standards, softening the language to simple > criticism of their judgment. > The weaker language meant that the Justice Department would not > refer the cases to state bar associations for possible disbarment > proceedings. > Cheney?s frank comments on "This Week" ? corroborating that Yoo and > Bybee "had done what we asked them to do" ? suggest that former > Bush administration officials are confident that they will face no > accountability from the Obama administration for war crimes. > Though the ABC News interviewer Jonathan Karl deserves some credit > for posing the waterboarding question to Cheney, it was notable > that Karl didn?t react with any shock or even a follow-up when > Cheney pronounced himself a fan of the torture practice. Cheney?s > waterboarding endorsement was only a footnote in ABC?s online > account of the interview. > Surely, if a leader of another country had called himself "a big > supporter of waterboarding," there would have been a clamor for his > immediate arrest and trial at The Hague. > That Cheney feels he can operate with such impunity is a damning > commentary on the rule of law in the United States, at least when > it comes to the nation?s elites. > > Robert Parry's new book is Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush > Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dnevrghm at powerup.com.au Mon Feb 15 23:54:01 2010 From: dnevrghm at powerup.com.au (Doug Everingham) Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:54:01 +1000 Subject: [Mai-not] Fwd: [CAHS] Fwd: Dick Cheney Admits To Torture Conspiracy...He Should Be Arrested References: <1043774115-1463747838-1266301143@boing.topica.com> Message-ID: <6B7D52DF-A8B9-412F-8AAB-FF139EED5A81@powerup.com.au> Extracts by Doug Everingham. ==== Begin forwarded message: > From: Milton David Fisher > Date: 16 February 2010 4:19:10 PM > To: humanist at topica.com > Subject: Re: [CAHS] Fwd: Dick Cheney Admits To Torture > Conspiracy...He Should Be Arrested > Reply-To: humanist at topica.com > > Dear Doug, > > Blair and Howard were no better. They should be arrested, too. If > Australia and the UK had a functioning criminal justice system for > the powerful, Blair and Howard would join Cheney in the dock. > > Howard lied about Australian forces being in Iraq. The SAS was > there two months before the war. Howard will not be called to account. > > Howard also lied about the children thrown overboard and probably > won an election based on that lie. > > Howard also let an Australian, David Hicks, who had committed no > crime under either Australian or US law to languish in Guantanamo. > He apparently pled guilty to get out. > > Howard was complicit to US torture of Australian citizens. > > from http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/online/ > Australians_GuantanamoBay.htm > Both Mr Hicks and Mr Habib have alleged they were subjected to > torture and humiliation during their detention in US facilities. It > has also been claimed that in a practice that has become known as > ?extraordinary rendition?, Mr Habib was secretly transferred by > US authorities to Egypt, where he alleges he suffered maltreatment > during his six months detention. The Australian Government has > stated that it remains confident of the US Government?s assurances > that detainees were treated humanely, despite allegations by the > International Red Cross to the contrary. A report by the UN > Commission on Human Rights, released in February 2006, also > concludes that detention practices at Guantanamo Bay amount to > torture. > > Blair lied about Hussein having WMDs which will be brought into > action within 45 minutes after an attack. > > I remember being enthusiastic about Blair because he promised to do > something about the UK arms trade before he was elected for the > first time. After he was elected he made a trip to Saudi Arabia to > sell arms. > > He not only went to Saudi Arabia to sell arms but also blocked an > investigation of the deal. > > http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2010/02/ > mil-100206-irna01.htm > > UK urged to reopen corruption investigation into Saudi arms deal > IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency > > London, Feb 6, IRNA -- The UK is being urged to reopen corruption > investigations into the country?s largest defence manufacturer > after BAE Systems agreed a plea bargain to pay a record criminal > corporate fine to close US inquiries. > > ?The company's admission obviously calls into question its > repeated denials of any wrong doing,? said Nicholas Hildyard for > the social justice campaign group, The Corner House. > > ?Far from drawing a line under the allegations, today?s > announcement simply raises far more questions and creates yet > further demands for justice,? Hildyard said. > > He called for the reopening of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) > investigation into bribery allegations surrounding BAE?s multi- > billion al-Yamamah contract with Saudi Arabia?, Britain?s > biggest-ever arms deal. > > To end the US inquiry, BAE Friday admitted two criminal charges and > agreed to pay fines of ?286m ($447m) over its worldwide conduct > after refusing for 20 years to admit any wrongdoings. > > In the UK, investigations were abruptly halted by former prime > minister Tony Blair in 2006 citing it was in the interests of > national security after Saudi Arabia was reported to have > threatened to withdraw cooperation with Britain. > > The settlement was also criticised by former defence minister Peter > Kilfoyle, saying that it raises ?serious questions? on what > Blair's motivation was in intervening and what influences were > brought to bear on him. > > "I certainly think there is now an argument to be made for an > independent judicial inquiry into the whole affair,? Kilfoyle said. > > Liberal Democrat deputy leader Vince Cable, said that BAE Systems > had succeeded in ensuring that key details of its arms deals would > remain hidden. > > "The British government was up to its neck in this whole business. > Government ministers were almost certainly fully aware of what was > happening," Cable said. > > The al-Yamamah deal, based around supplying Saudi Arabia with its > fleet of Tornado? fighters, dates back to the 1980s and was > reportedly worth more than ?40 billion. > > 2220**345**1416 > > End News / IRNA / News Code 945435 > > David > > On 16/02/2010, at 3:49 PM, Doug Everingham wrote: > >>> >>> Consortium News / By Robert Parry ... [snip by D E ] ... >> -------------------------------------------------------------------- >> Discussion list of the Council of Australian Humanist Societies -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: mag-glass_10x10.gif Type: image/gif Size: 97 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: mag-glass_10x10.gif Type: image/gif Size: 97 bytes Desc: not available URL: From glparramatta at greenleft.org.au Tue Feb 16 00:54:14 2010 From: glparramatta at greenleft.org.au (glparramatta) Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:54:14 +1100 Subject: [Mai-not] What's new at Links: HRW & Cuba, Olympics, NT Indigenous struggle, Lars T. Lin on Lenin, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, NZ, Burma, WSF or 5th International? Message-ID: <4B7A5D36.6040709@greenleft.org.au> What's new at Links: HRW & Cuba, Olympics, NT Indigenous struggle, Lars T. Lin on Lenin, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, NZ, Burma, WSF or 5th International? * * * Subscribe free to Links - International Journal of Socialist Renewal - at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373 You can also follow Links on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LinksSocialism Visit and bookmark http://links.org.au and add it to your RSS feed (http://links.org.au/rss.xml). If you would like us to consider an article, please send it to links at dsp.org.au *Please pass on to anybody you think will be interested in Links. * * * How credible is Human Rights Watch on Cuba? By Tim Anderson February 11, 2010 -- In late 2009 the New York-based group Human Rights Watch published a report titled New Castro Same Cuba. Based on the testimony of former prisoners, the report systematically condemns the Cuban government as an "abusive" regime that uses its "repressive machinery ... draconian laws and sham trials to incarcerate scores more who have dared to exercise their fundamental freedoms". So how credible is this scathing report on Cuba? And who does Human Rights Watch represent? * Read more Vancouver Winter Olympics: A festival of corporate greed By Roger Annis Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada -- On February 12, 2010, the corporate sporting behemoth known as the 21st Winter Olympic Games opened to great fanfare here. In a time of economic hardship and government cuts to social programs across Canada, huge sums of public money have been spent to stage this uber spectacle. * Read more Australia: Trade union solidarity with NT Aboriginal struggle By Emma Murphy, Ampilatwatja, Northern Territory February 12, 2010 -- From February 1-14, in a remote part of Australia's Northern Territory (NT), a group of trade unionists and Aboriginal rights activists from Victoria, New South Wales and the NT joined forces with the Alyawarr people from Ampilatwatja community to help make history. Many people around Australia have already been inspired by the Alyawarr people's walk-off. On July 14, 2009, following a great tradition from Aboriginal struggles of the past century, they walked off their community and set up a protest camp. * Read more Lars T. Lih's contribution to a Leninism for the 21st century Lenin Rediscovered: What Is To Be Done? In Context By Lars T. Lih, Haymarket Books, Chicago 2008, 840 pages Review by Barry Healy If a spectre haunted 19th century Europe, as Marx said of the embryonic communist movement, then the name of Lenin was no ghost for the 20th century bourgeoisie, it was a terrifying reality. For the capitalists, with Leninism the communist phantom came howling out of the underworld, beginning with the 1917 Russian Revolution, sweeping whole continents clean of capitalist rule. * Read more Malaysia: Two-party system - and a 'third force'? By Jeyakumar Devaraj February 11, 2010 -- Malaysia has only known one ruling coalition in the past 52 years since independence. But the result of the March 2008 election has led to rising hope among many Malaysians that an enormous change might be around the corner - a two-party system under which the people are free to choose between two coalitions, which are both capable of governing the country. The purpose of this paper is to locate the institution of a two-coalition system against a wider historical perspective. * Read more Burma: Regional left support for workers' struggle February 13, 2010 -- The statement below has been signed by the Working People's Association (Indonesia); Confederation Congress of Indonesia Union Alliance; the Singapore Democratic Party; the Socialist Party of Malaysia; Socialist Alternative (Australia); Socialist Alliance (Australia); Socialist Worker New Zealand; Young Democrats (Singapore); Partido ng Manggangawa (Philippines); Congress of South African Trade Unions; Partido Lakas ng Masa (Philippines). * Read more Beyond the World Social Forum ... the Fifth International Eric Toussaint interviewed by Igor Ojeda for the Brazilian weekly paper Brasil de Fato. Translated from French by Judith Harris and Christine Pagnoulle. February 2010 -- According to Eric Toussaint, a doctor in political science and one of the ideologists of the World Social Forum, now in its tenth edition, effective political action calls for the creation of a permanent national front of parties, social movements and international networks. * Read more LPP fifth congress: Bravura expression of growing left influence in Pakistan By Farooq Tariq February 8, 2010 -- The two-day Labour Party Pakistan fifth congress [held on on January 27-28] helped to advance the revolutionary process in Pakistan. It brought together comrades from different traditions and trends to discuss the central topic: "Building a mass working-class party independent of the influence of the capitalists and feudal elements." The congress was a bravura expression of the growing influence and strength of emerging left-wing politics in Pakistan. * Read more Who is really avoiding justice in Thailand? By Giles Ji Ungpakorn February 6, 2010, is the first anniversary of the day I had to leave Thailand and seek political exile in Britain. I left Thailand because it had become a dictatorship with no regard to international standards of justice, democracy or human rights. I was charged with lese majeste for writing a book which criticised the illegal military coup in 2006. * Read more New Zealand socialists target bad banks and low wages Representatives of New Zealand left organisations attended the Australian Socialist Alliance's recent national conference. In the following interviews, conducted by the Australian socialist newspaper Green Left Weekly, they explain the political situation in New Zealand and talk about the key campaigns they are involved in. * Read more New Zealand: What has happened to real wages since1982? By Mike Treen Official data on wage movements in New Zealand point to a real wage decline of around 25% between 1982 and the mid-1990s that has never been recovered. * Read more * * * Links seeks to promote the international exchange of information, experience of struggle, theoretical analysis and views of political strategy and tactics within the international left. It is a forum for open and constructive dialogue between active socialists coming from different political traditions. It seeks to bring together those in the international left who are opposed to neoliberal economic and social policies. It aims to promote the renewal of the socialist movement in the wake of the collapse of the bureaucratic model of "actually existing socialism" in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. ATTENTION: Sign up for regular ``what's new'' announcement emails at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373 Follow Links on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LinksSocialism -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca Tue Feb 16 06:15:20 2010 From: jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca (Janet M Eaton) Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:15:20 -0400 Subject: [Mai-not] Bork, Baxter & the Monopolization of America [re destruction of anti-trust legislation] Message-ID: <4B7A7038.32117.2EA8C5F0@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> "It will take more than a lawsuit or two to overthrow America's corporatist oligarchy and restore a model of capitalism that protects our rights as property holders and citizens," Lynn argues in his new book - Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of Destruction (Wiley, 2010). Antitrust law was developed to protect the political economy from extreme concentrations of corporate power. Then came Reagan and Bork. In 1978. Bork said we should have a consumer welfare test. If economic concentration is good for the consumer - think Wal-Mart - and let it be. In 1981, William Baxter, head of Reagan's Antitrust Division, announced that he would be guided by "an efficiency test." ... It was only a little bit later that they framed it as a consumer welfare test which helped to bring consumers along.. Baxter did not understand why the socialists did not oppose him on this. 1981 .. marked a revolutionary change in how we applied our anti- monopoly laws. No longer was the primary consideration political. The primary consideration was prices and consumer welfare. "In this country, the group that tends to point its finger and calls the other people socialists most effectively tends to win," said Lynn " And when they win - they get to socialize their own risks as was laid bare to us in September 2008". Larry Summers put it best - what the bankers did, he said, was they privatized all of their profits and socialized all of their risks." fyi-janet =========================== http://corporatecrimereporter.com/ Corporate Crime Reporter Robert Bork, William Baxter and the Monopolization of America 24 Corporate Crime Reporter 7(12), February 13, 2010 You walk into your local convenience store and head to the cold walk- in beer room in the back. The choice is overwhelming. Budweiser, Michelob, Bud Light, Busch Light, Stella Artois, Grolsch, Kirin,Tsingtao, Corona, Negra Modelo, Rolling Rock, Widmer, Miller and Coors. In fact, all of these beers are controlled by two companies. MillerCoors under the direction of South African Breweries (SAB) and AnheuserBusch In Bev. Two multinational corporations controlling the beer choices of 300 million Americans. And it's not just beer. One single multinational corporation dominates the world supply of eyeglass stores. One dominates the milk supply. Barry Lynn goes down the list of industries. And he finds a similar story across the board. A handful of multinational corporations controlling each industry - or the supply chains of each industry. Such dominant monopolies were illegal just thirty years ago. But that all changed with Ronald Reagan and Robert Bork. A corporatist oligarchy took hold. President Obama has promised aggressive antitrust enforcement. But Lynn says it's pie in the sky. "It will take more than a lawsuit or two to overthrow America's corporatist oligarchy and restore a model of capitalism that protects our rights as property holders and citizens," Lynn argues in his new book - Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of Destruction (Wiley, 2010). Antitrust law was developed to protect the political economy from extreme concentrations of corporate power. Then came Reagan and Bork. In 1978, Bork said we should have a consumer welfare test. If economic concentration is good for the consumer - think Wal-Mart - then let it be. Never mind the citizen. In 1981, William Baxter, head of Reagan's Antitrust Division, announced that he would be guided by "an efficiency test." "When Baxter first talked to the press in 1981, he said - we are going to impose an efficiency test," Lynn told Corporate Crime Reporter last week. "Those were the words he used. It was only a little bit later that they framed it as a consumer welfare test. And Robert Bork came up with that. Bork's book - The Antitrust Paradox - came out in 1978 and he floated this idea of a consumer welfare test." "It took Baxter a couple of years to get the messaging together. They locked into the consumer welfare test. And it helped to bring along so many folks in the consumer movement. And for some reason, after focusing on safety, which is a fantastic thing that Ralph Nader did, they began fixating on prices. And there is a whole political analysis as to why they began fixating on prices. What groups were they targeting with that fixation?" "In 1981, that marked a revolutionary change in how we applied our anti-monopoly laws. No longer was the primary consideration political. The primary consideration was prices and consumer welfare." Lynn says that Bork didn't understand why the consumer movement didn't come after him on the consumer welfare test. "In 1993, Bork put out a second edition of the Antitrust Paradox," Lynn said. "And in the introduction, he says - I don't understand what happened here. I thought the socialists were doing to come out and fight us tooth and nail on this. And they never did. We didn't think we were going to get this through. And we did." Mention the word "socialist" in this context, and Lynn sees red. "In this country, the group that tends to point its finger and calls the other people socialists most effectively tends to win," Lynn said. "And when they win - they get to socialize their own risks." "So, you have this elite in this country that for a generation has been raving about socialism." "And what were they doing in the meantime? They were socializing all of their risks." "As was laid bare to us in September 2008. Larry Summers put it best - what the bankers did, he said, was they privatized all of their profits and socialized all of their risks." "You really have to target the other people and call them socialists." "We have just seen the most massive era of socialization in this country that we've ever seen." (For a complete transcript of the Interview with Barry Lynn, see 24 Corporate Crime Reporter 7(12), February 15, 2010, print edition only.) Corporate Crime Reporter 1209 National Press Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20045 202.737.1680 From thinker at xplornet.com Tue Feb 16 06:51:57 2010 From: thinker at xplornet.com (Ed Deak) Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2010 06:51:57 -0800 Subject: [Mai-not] Bork, Baxter & the Monopolization of America [re destruction of anti-trust legislation] In-Reply-To: <4B7A7038.32117.2EA8C5F0@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> References: <4B7A7038.32117.2EA8C5F0@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> Message-ID: <20100216145212.2C593A5941E@smtprelay02.hostedemail.com> Stalinist collectivization in other form. Not by bayonets, but with the perceived power of imaginary capital . We now have a huge Walmart store here in Williams Lake. Obviously designed to put the whole town out of business. This is called "free enterprise". We've never been to a Walmart before and so, some years ago we walked around their Kamloops store for a half hour, without buying anything. We have absolutely no wish to buy anything from Walmart, ever, but we wanted to see what's all about, so yesterday we walked abound the store for 15 mins. just to see what it was like and we hope we never have to go through that door again. Unless there won't be anybody else left, and we have no other choice. Cheers, Ed. At 06:15 AM 16/02/2010, you wrote: >"It will take more than a lawsuit or two to overthrow America's >corporatist oligarchy and restore a model of capitalism that protects >our rights as property holders and citizens," Lynn argues in his new >book - Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of >Destruction (Wiley, 2010). >Antitrust law was developed to protect the political economy from >extreme concentrations of corporate power. Then came Reagan and Bork. >In 1978. Bork said we should have a consumer welfare test. If >economic concentration is good for the consumer - think Wal-Mart - >and let it be. In 1981, William Baxter, head of Reagan's Antitrust >Division, announced that he would be guided by "an efficiency test." >... It was only a little bit later that they framed it as a consumer >welfare test which helped to bring consumers along.. Baxter did not >understand why the socialists did not oppose him on this. >1981 .. marked a revolutionary change in how we applied our anti- >monopoly laws. No longer was the primary consideration political. The >primary consideration was prices and consumer welfare. >"In this country, the group that tends to point its finger and calls >the other people socialists most effectively tends to win," said Lynn >" And when they win - they get to socialize their own risks as was >laid bare to us in September 2008". Larry Summers put it best - what >the bankers did, he said, was they privatized all of their profits >and socialized all of their risks." fyi-janet > >=========================== > >http://corporatecrimereporter.com/ > >Corporate Crime Reporter > >Robert Bork, William Baxter and the Monopolization of America >24 Corporate Crime Reporter 7(12), February 13, 2010 > >You walk into your local convenience store and head to the cold walk- >in beer room in the back. > >The choice is overwhelming. > >Budweiser, Michelob, Bud Light, Busch Light, Stella Artois, Grolsch, >Kirin,Tsingtao, Corona, Negra Modelo, Rolling Rock, Widmer, Miller >and Coors. > >In fact, all of these beers are controlled by two companies. > >MillerCoors under the direction of South African Breweries (SAB) and >AnheuserBusch In Bev. > >Two multinational corporations controlling the beer choices of 300 >million Americans. > >And it's not just beer. > >One single multinational corporation dominates the world supply of >eyeglass stores. > >One dominates the milk supply. > >Barry Lynn goes down the list of industries. > >And he finds a similar story across the board. > >A handful of multinational corporations controlling each industry - >or the supply chains of each industry. > >Such dominant monopolies were illegal just thirty years ago. > >But that all changed with Ronald Reagan and Robert Bork. > >A corporatist oligarchy took hold. > >President Obama has promised aggressive antitrust enforcement. > >But Lynn says it's pie in the sky. > >"It will take more than a lawsuit or two to overthrow America's >corporatist oligarchy and restore a model of capitalism that protects > > >our rights as property holders and citizens," Lynn argues in his new >book - Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of >Destruction (Wiley, 2010). > >Antitrust law was developed to protect the political economy from >extreme concentrations of corporate power. > >Then came Reagan and Bork. > >In 1978, Bork said we should have a consumer welfare test. > >If economic concentration is good for the consumer - think Wal-Mart - > > >then let it be. > >Never mind the citizen. > >In 1981, William Baxter, head of Reagan's Antitrust Division, >announced that he would be guided by "an efficiency test." > >"When Baxter first talked to the press in 1981, he said - we are >going to impose an efficiency test," Lynn told Corporate Crime >Reporter last week. "Those were the words he used. It was only a >little bit later that they framed it as a consumer welfare test. And >Robert Bork came up with that. Bork's book - The Antitrust Paradox - >came out in 1978 and he floated this idea of a consumer welfare >test." > >"It took Baxter a couple of years to get the messaging together. They > >locked into the consumer welfare test. And it helped to bring along >so many folks in the consumer movement. And for some reason, after >focusing on safety, which is a fantastic thing that Ralph Nader did, >they began fixating on prices. And there is a whole political >analysis as to why they began fixating on prices. What groups were >they targeting with that fixation?" > >"In 1981, that marked a revolutionary change in how we applied our >anti-monopoly laws. No longer was the primary consideration >political. The primary consideration was prices and consumer >welfare." > >Lynn says that Bork didn't understand why the consumer movement >didn't come after him on the consumer welfare test. > >"In 1993, Bork put out a second edition of the Antitrust Paradox," >Lynn said. "And in the introduction, he says - I don't understand >what happened here. I thought the socialists were doing to come out >and fight us tooth and nail on this. And they never did. We didn't >think we were going to get this through. And we did." >Mention the word "socialist" in this context, and Lynn sees red. > >"In this country, the group that tends to point its finger and calls >the other people socialists most effectively tends to win," Lynn >said. > >"And when they win - they get to socialize their own risks." > >"So, you have this elite in this country that for a generation has >been raving about socialism." > >"And what were they doing in the meantime? They were socializing all >of their risks." > >"As was laid bare to us in September 2008. Larry Summers put it best - > > > what the bankers did, he said, was they privatized all of their >profits and socialized all of their risks." > >"You really have to target the other people and call them >socialists." > >"We have just seen the most massive era of socialization in this >country that we've ever seen." > >(For a complete transcript of the Interview with Barry Lynn, see 24 >Corporate Crime Reporter 7(12), February 15, 2010, print edition >only.) > >Corporate Crime Reporter >1209 National Press Bldg. >Washington, D.C. 20045 >202.737.1680 > > > > >_______________________________________________ >Mai-not mailing list >Mai-not at globalproblematique.net >http://www.globalproblematique.net/mailman/listinfo/mai-not > >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2690 - Release Date: >02/15/10 11:35:00 From jfos at vic.australis.com.au Tue Feb 16 15:58:14 2010 From: jfos at vic.australis.com.au (john foster) Date: Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:58:14 +1100 Subject: [Mai-not] Shorter working week soon inevitable Message-ID: <015901caaf63$ea7b6960$2cad57ca@jfos> Shorter working week soon inevitable, forecasts nef 13 February 2010 A shorter working week is set to become the new norm, according to a report out this week from nef (the new economics foundation), the UK's leading independent think tank. Published today (Saturday, 13 February, 2010) the study, 21 hours, forecasts a major shift in the length of the formal working week as a consequence of dealing with key economic, social and environmental problems. And this can be seen as a positive opportunity, say the researchers, rather than a threat. According to nef, there are several forces pushing us towards a shorter working week: lasting damage to the economy caused by the banking crisis, an increasingly divided society with too much over-work alongside too much unemployment, and an urgent need for deep cuts in environmentally damaging over-consumption. These combine with a growing interest in people spending more time producing and delivering a share of their own goods and services - from co-produced care and neighbourhood-based activities, to food, clothing and other necessities. "So many of us live to work, work to earn, and earn to consume. And our consumption habits are squandering the earth's natural resources", says Anna Coote, co-author of the report and Head of Social Policy at nef. "Spending less time in paid work could help us to break this pattern. We'd have more time to be better parents, better citizens, better carers and better neighbours. And we could even become better employees: less stressed, more in control, happier in our jobs and more productive. It is time to break the power of the old industrial clock, take back our lives and work for a sustainable future." more at http://neweconomics.org/press-releases/shorter-working-week-soon-inevitable-forecasts-think-tank130210 ------------------------------------------------------ Provided by Australis http://www.australis.com.au/ ------------------------------------------------------ Provided by Australis http://www.australis.com.au/ From jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca Wed Feb 17 08:28:43 2010 From: jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca (Janet M Eaton) Date: Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:28:43 -0400 Subject: [Mai-not] =?utf-8?q?Stop_Uganda=E2=80=99s_gay_death_law_=5BPlease?= =?utf-8?q?_sign_petition_=26_forward_this_e-mail=5D?= Message-ID: <4B7BE0FB.30185.3449416D@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> Stop Uganda?s gay death law I've just signed a petition [from avaaz.org] calling on the Ugandan government to withdraw a proposed anti-gay law that would punish gay people with prison -- or even death. I thought that you would want to join me. Hundreds of thousands have signed and pressure is mounting, but there are only a few days left. Avaaz advocates say the petition will be delivered to President Museveni and the parliament at the end of this week by top Ugandan civil society and Church leaders. Pro-death penalty advocates have also planned a march this week, so our voices need to be louder than theirs! Read more below, and sign the petition here: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/uganda_rights_3/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK Thanks! Janet ------ Dear friends, Uganda?s parliament is preparing to pass a brutal new law that would punish gay people with prison -- even death. Initial international criticism drove the President to call for a review. But after a well-funded and vicious lobbying effort by extremists, the bill looks set to be passed -- threatening widespread persecution and bloodshed. Opposition to the bill is rising, including from the Anglican church. Ugandan gay rights advocate Frank Mugisha writes, "This law will put us in serious danger. Please, sign the petition and tell others to stand with us - if there?s a huge global response, our government will see that Uganda will be internationally isolated by the proposed law, and strike it down." With the decision expected in days, only an irresistible wave of worldwide pressure will be enough to save Frank's life and many others. Let?s build a huge petition to stop the gay death law -- click here to take action, then forward this email: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/uganda_rights_3/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK The petition will be delivered to President Museveni and the parliament at the end of this week by top Ugandan civil society and Church leaders. Pro-death penalty advocates have also planned a march this week, so our voices need to be louder than theirs! The bill proposes life imprisonment for anyone convicted of having same-sex relations and imposes the death penalty for "serial offenders". NGOs working to prevent the spread of HIV could be imprisoned for up to 7 years for "promoting homosexuality". Even members of the public face up to three years in jail if they fail to report homosexual activity to the police within 24 hours! The bill?s advocates claim that it defends national culture, but its strongest critics come from within Uganda. The Reverend Canon Gideon Byamugisha is one of many who?s written to us - he says, "It is violating our cultures, traditions and religious values that teach against intolerance, injustice, hatred and violence. We need laws to protect people -- not ones that will humiliate, ridicule, persecute and kill them en masse." By rejecting this dangerous bill and supporting the breadth of opposition to it, we can help set a crucial precedent. Let?s build massive support for Uganda?s human rights defenders, and save lives by stopping this bill -- sign now here, then tell friends and family: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/uganda_rights_3/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK With hope and determination, Alice, Ricken, Ben, Paul, Benjamin, Pascal, Raluca, Graziela and the whole Avaaz team SOURCES African letter to Ugandan President to throw out Anti-Homosexual Bill: http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=22761 Ugandan church leader brands anti-gay bill 'genocide': http://www.guardian.co.uk/katine/2009/dec/04/gideon-byamugisha- homosexuality-bill Human Rights Impact Assessment of Uganda's Anti-homosexuality Bill By Sylvia Tamale, The Dean of Law at Uganda's Makerere University: http://www.zeleza.com/blogging/african-affairs/human-rights-impact- assessment-ugandas-anti-homosexuality-bill-sylvia-tamal From dnevrghm at powerup.com.au Wed Feb 17 23:48:51 2010 From: dnevrghm at powerup.com.au (Doug Everingham) Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:48:51 +1000 Subject: [Mai-not] Fwd: The Media Response to the Growing Influence of the 9/11 Truth Movement. References: <142163.82392.qm@web110806.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <756EA003-53F9-4BB5-95CA-4FBAC99AE3B7@powerup.com.au> Extracts by Doug Everingham from much longer messag: ...... > From: jack loel > Date: 17 February 2010 9:09:59 PM > To: dasson at globalsolutions.org, ... ... editor at fbnewsleader.com ... > > The Media Response to the Growing Influence of the 9/11 Truth > Movement. > > A Survey of Attitude Change in 2009-2010 > > By Elizabeth Woodworth > ... ... > > Observations on the Analysis > > While carrying out my analysis, I observed five new features in the > media treatment of the 9/11 issue that developed as 2009 > progressed. They are listed here, so that readers might look for > them in the case studies that follow below: > 1. The 9/11 issue is increasingly framed not as conspiracy theories > versus hard science, but as a legitimate controversy resting on > unanswered questions and a search for truth. > > 2. News reports and television programs examining these > controversies have become longer and more balanced. > > 3. Major media outlets have begun to present the claims of the > truth movement first, followed by counter-arguments from defenders > of the official story. > > 4. Major media outlets have begun to include, and even to > introduce, extensive evidence to support the claims of the 9/11 > truth community. > > 5. The media treatments increasingly suggest the possibility of a > re-investigation into the events of September 11, 2001. > ... > ... > > II. Scientific Paper Finds Nano-thermite Explosives in World Trade > Center Dust, April 3, 2009 > ... > .. > > Reported Evidence that Nano-thermite is a Military Substance > ... > > Case Study 1: The Dutch TV Mock Trial of Osama bin Laden, April > 25, 2009 > ... > Case Study 5: The National Geographic Documentary, "9/11: Science > and Conspiracy", August 31, 2009 > ... > > Case Study 7: Two California Newspapers Review the Role of > Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, September 2009 > ...... > > Case Study 9 : London's "Daily Mail" asks whether Osama bin Laden > is Dead, September 11, 2009 > ...... > > Case Study 10. The New Statesman announces Dr. David Ray Griffin > as No. 41 in "The Fifty People who Matter Today," September 24, 2009 > > .... > ... > Case Study 13: New Zealand TV's "Close Up" hosts Architect Richard > Gage, November 27, 2009 > ...... > > Case Study 15: German Federal Judge Dieter Deiseroth Questions the > Official 9/11 Investigation, December 15, 2009 > ...... > > Case Study 17: Televised documentary, "The BBC's Conspiracy > Files: Osama bin Laden ? Dead or Alive?" January 10, 2010 > ... > > IV. Summary and Concluding Observations > 1. In the past year, in response to emerging independent science on > the 9/11 attacks, nine corporate, seven public, and two independent > media outlets aired examinations of the issue, which were all ? > with the exception of the National Geographic special ? reasonably > objective, examining the issue as a legitimate scientific > controversy worthy of debate (not as "conspiracy theorists" vs. > science and common sense). > > 2. Eight countries ? Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, the > Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Russia ? have allowed their > publicly-owned broadcasting stations to air the full spectrum of > evidence challenging the truth of the official account of 9/11. > > 3. These developments may reflect a relaxation in the international > media following the change in the US and British leaderships. > > 4. These developments definitely reflect, in any case, the fact > that scientists in the 9/11 Truth Movement have recently succeeded > in getting papers, such as the nano-thermite paper, published in > peer-reviewed journals. > > 5. These developments surely also reflect the general > professionalism of the 9/11 Truth Movement, as exemplified by the > emergence of not only Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth but > also Firefighters, Intelligence Officers, Lawyers, Medical > Professionals, Pilots, Political Leaders, Religious Leaders, > Scholars, and Veterans for 9/11 Truth. > > 6. These developments seem to reflect, moreover, an increased > recognition of the importance of the 9/11 Truth Movement, which is > demonstrated by two honors given to its most influential member, > Dr. David Ray Griffin, that would have been unthinkable only a few > years ago: the choice by Publishers Weekly of one of his books as > a "Pick of the Week," and his inclusion in the New Statesman's list > of the most important people in the world today. > > This more open approach taken in the international media ? I could > also have included the Japanese media ? might be a sign that > worldwide public and corporate media organizations are positioning > themselves, and preparing their audiences, for a possible > revelation of the truth of the claim that forces within the US > government were complicit in the attacks ? a revelation that would > call into question the publicly given rationale for the military > operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. > > The evidence now being explored in the international media may pave > the way for the US media to take an in-depth look at the > implications of what is now known about 9/11, and to re-examine the > country's foreign and domestic policies in the light of this > knowledge. > > > Elizabeth Woodworth is a retired professional health sciences > librarian, and a freelance writer. She is the author of two > published books and many articles on political and social justice > issues. > > Notes > > 1 "The 50 People Who Matter Today," New Statesman, September 24, > 2009 (http://www.newstatesman.com/global-issues/2009/09/world- > fashion-gay-india-church ). Note that Part I of this series, > entitled "The Media Response to the Growing Influence of the 9 /11 > Truth Movement: Reflections on a Recent Evaluation of Dr. David Ray > Griffin," was published by Global Research, December 12, 2009 > (http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16505) > ...... > > 58 Beth Lamontagne Hall, "NH group cites need for new 9/11 probe," > New Hampshire Union Leader, February 1, 2010 (http:// > www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=c2822a9b-f0c3-4f03- > b8c3-09c3e0765b2f&headline=NH+group+cites+need+for+new+9%2f11+probe ) > ? Copyright Elizabeth Woodworth, Global Research, 2010 > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca Thu Feb 18 06:26:45 2010 From: jmeaton at ns.sympatico.ca (Janet M Eaton) Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:26:45 -0400 Subject: [Mai-not] Large majority of Americans oppose Supreme Court's decision on campaign financing [WP F17] Message-ID: <4B7D15E5.14245.38FFF300@jmeaton.ns.sympatico.ca> ...Americans of both parties overwhelmingly oppose a Supreme Court ruling that allows corporations and unions to spend as much as they want on political campaigns, and most favor new limits on such spending, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Eight in 10 poll respondents say they oppose the high court's Jan. 21 decision to allow unfettered corporate political spending, with 65 percent "strongly" opposed. Nearly as many backed congressional action to curb the ruling, with 72 percent in favor of reinstating limits....Indeed, the poll shows remarkably strong agreement about the ruling across all demographic groups... Under legislation being drafted by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), companies with foreign ownership or federal contracting ties would be limited in their ability to spend corporate money on elections. The lawmakers also want to require companies to inform shareholders about political spending; to mandate special "political activities" accounts for corporations, unions and advocacy groups; and to require that corporate executives appear in political advertising funded by their companies. fyi-janet ================== http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/ 02/17/AR2010021701151_pf.html Poll: Large majority opposes Supreme Court's decision on campaign financing By Dan Eggen Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, February 17, 2010; 4:38 PM Americans of both parties overwhelmingly oppose a Supreme Court ruling that allows corporations and unions to spend as much as they want on political campaigns, and most favor new limits on such spending, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Eight in 10 poll respondents say they oppose the high court's Jan. 21 decision to allow unfettered corporate political spending, with 65 percent "strongly" opposed. Nearly as many backed congressional action to curb the ruling, with 72 percent in favor of reinstating limits. The poll reveals relatively little difference of opinion on the issue among Democrats (85 percent opposed to the ruling), Republicans (76 percent) and independents (81 percent). The results suggest a strong reservoir of bipartisan support on the issue for President Obama and congressional Democrats, who are in the midst of crafting legislation aimed at limiting the impact of the high court's decision. "If there's one thing that Americans from the left, right and center can all agree on, it's that they don't want more special interests in our politics," Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is spearheading the legislative effort, said in a statement after the poll was released Wednesday. "We hope we can get strong and quick bipartisan support for our legislation, which passes constitutional muster but will still effectively limit the influence of special interests." Under legislation being drafted by Schumer and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), companies with foreign ownership or federal contracting ties would be limited in their ability to spend corporate money on elections. The lawmakers also want to require companies to inform shareholders about political spending; to mandate special "political activities" accounts for corporations, unions and advocacy groups; and to require that corporate executives appear in political advertising funded by their companies. Other likely proposals include banning participation in U.S. elections by bank bailout recipients. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and other Republican lawmakers have praised the high court ruling as a victory for free speech, however, and have signaled their intent to oppose any legislation intended to blunt the impact of the court's decision. In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the high court ruled 5-4 that corporations have the same rights as individuals when it comes to political speech and can therefore use their profits to support or oppose individual candidates. The decision appears to open the door to unlimited spending by corporations, trade groups and unions in the weeks leading up to an election, which has been explicitly banned for decades. Democrats have seized on the ruling as an example of judicial overreach and vowed to enact new limits on political spending by corporations, which have traditionally favored Republicans in their contribution patterns. Obama said in his State of the Union address that the ruling will "open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections." Republicans and business groups have rallied around the ruling, arguing that the decision merely levels the playing field with free-spending unions and other liberal interest groups. Jeff Patch, communications director for the Center for Competitive Politics, which supports the court's decision, said the ruling's potential impact has been distorted by Obama and other Democratic critics. "Campaign finance is an incredibly complex legal framework, and most Americans have an incentive to remain rationally ignorant about the laws and regulations at issue," Patch wrote in a news release. The poll, however, suggests there may be political risks for the GOP in opposing limits that appear to be favored by the party's base. Nearly three-quarters of self-identified conservative Republicans say they oppose the Supreme Court ruling, with most of them strongly opposed. Some two-thirds of conservative Republicans favor congressional efforts to limit corporate and union spending, though with less enthusiasm than liberal Democrats. Indeed, the poll shows remarkably strong agreement about the ruling across all demographic groups, and big majorities of those with household incomes above and below $50,000 alike oppose the decision. Age, race and education levels also appeared to have little relative bearing on the answers. The questions on corporate political spending were included as part of a poll conducted Feb. 4 to 8 by conventional and cellular telephone. The margin of sampling error for the for the full poll of 1,004 randomly selected adults is plus or minus three percentage points. Polling director Jon Cohen contributed to this report. ------- End of forwarded message ------- -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: - Type: application/octet-stream Size: 6090 bytes Desc: Mail message body URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: - Type: application/octet-stream Size: 160 bytes Desc: "AVG certification" URL: From jfos at vic.australis.com.au Thu Feb 18 16:47:06 2010 From: jfos at vic.australis.com.au (john foster) Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:47:06 +1100 Subject: [Mai-not] Fw: "Royal" Dutch Shell Exploiting The Irish at County Mayo Message-ID: <006d01cab0ff$aeb188e0$77ad57ca@jfos> Ireland: The Arrest of Pat O'Donnell In a country with the kind of tumultuous history that Ireland has it's not surprising that a man being arrested and jailed for seven months would escape the notice of the media, at least outside of Ireland. What should hopefully pique some interest is that this is a man with a long history of being bullied, intimidated, arrested and treated roughly by the authorities for his nonviolent resistance against Shell Oil's construction of a gas pipeline, and now the judge is calling him a bully and jailing him for seven months on the extremely dubious charge of intimidating an officer. To be sure, this is not Nigeria, where Shell regularly massacres those opposed to the oil drilling which is destroying the environment and the livelihoods of so much of the population. Shell doesn't run Ireland in the way it controls Nigeria. But at the same time, much like my own country, the Irish government has proven itself to be far from free of corruption. When I arrived in Dublin last June, on the other side of the country from where Pat O'Donnell's family has fished the bay for the past five generations, the Shell to Sea campaign was a subject that came up regularly in conversation. There was, and is, a buzz around it because, especially for those of us the authorities like to denounce as ?professional activists,? the Shell to Sea campaign in County Mayo is inspiring as an example of an effort that has brought together people from all walks of life. To be sure, there are many scruffy young activists involved of all sorts, from Dublin, Cork and Galway, with and without dreadlocks, along with scruffy environmentalists from England, France and elsewhere. But the backbone of the campaign are local school teachers and fishermen. Despite my GPS it was difficult to find the tiny town of Rossport in Mayo because, well, it didn't seem to exist. Occasionally there was a cell phone signal and I was able to make contact with a very patient volunteer, but between the two of us we couldn't figure out where I was or how to get to Rossport from there. My traveling partner, fellow US musician Shawnee Kilgore and I resorted to asking for directions, which we ended up doing frequently. Once in a pub full of three generations of locals enjoying the craic, then at a little grocery store. The woman in the grocery store was the last little town we came to, then it was all narrow dead-end streets that ended at someone's farm. At one such farm we were met by a very nice but completely unintelligible elderly farmer whose border collie herded us into submission when we got back in the car and wouldn't let us leave for a good couple minutes. Like everyone else we had met in Ireland, people seemed to have a positive view of the campaign in Rossport. Until now our sample had been fairly self-selecting, the types of folks who come to leftwing folk music shows, but here in Mayo it was a decidedly random sample. The next person from whom we asked for directions was a young man with a wheelbarrow full of shit, a physique that suddenly made me question my heterosexuality, and the humble, friendly manner that gives the Irish countryside its reputation. Once we crossed into County Mayo, and increasingly as we neared our destination, there were home-made signs of all sorts on the sides and roofs of barns, perched in front of haystacks and all kinds of other places making clear in no uncertain terms that Shell and its pipeline were not welcome here. Finally, getting tantalizingly close to our destination, we stopped in front of the house of a transplant from England, yet another sympathizer, who was the last person from whom we required assistance that day. (After that, finding our way around got a bit easier because I could at least find our way back to the camp by saving our coordinates on my GPS. The GPS had the road in there marked as ?road,? which was better than nothing...) First we found the B&B where we were booked in for the next couple nights, couple miles down the road where the Shell to Sea camp was now set up. The woman running the B&B was another strong supporter of the campaign. She also had probably the only wifi signal to be found for a hundred miles. We asked her where to find the camp, and she explained that now that we had gotten this far it was easy ? just drive down the road a bit further and you'll see all the police vehicles. The ranks of the police as well as of the campaigners were swelled that weekend for the planned events, which were many-fold ? an introduction to the campaign for newcomers, a workshop on how to do civil disobedience, a workshop on how to talk to the media and workshops on other subjects, a mini-festival with an impressive roster of punk, hiphop and acoustic performers from several different countries, and an attempt to scale the formidable steel fence surrounding the nearby Shell base of operations for this stage of the pipeline-building operation. Within a couple hours of our arrival I found myself sitting around a fire on a field that sloped down to the water fifty meters away. Sitting on logs and chairs around the fire with people from County Mayo and others from England, Lithuania and elsewhere in Ireland, a man sat down and introduced himself to us one by one. This was Pat O'Donnell. He thanked us for coming and joked that a few years ago people in the town would cross the road in fear if they saw someone looking like some of these unwashed feral types, but now they were all good friends. Around the fire there Pat gave us an informal course on why this community had mobilized against Shell. Although the circumstances are always different wherever you go, I was reminded sitting around that fire of other small gatherings around a firepit where I have heard other people say the same things. Sometimes the phrases are identical. I heard elderly Dineh women around a firepit in Arizona talking about the uranium mines and middle-aged farmers from the Wendlandt area of Germany talking about the nuclear waste transports. I imagined Pat O'Donnell had never been to Arizona, but he'd sure find the discussions familiar there in Black Mesa. Some people are cynical and just accept that ?progress? is inevitable, he said. Some make money from selling property to the corporation. Others talk about the jobs the pipeline will bring in. But what about those whose livelihoods will be lost when the fish becomes toxic? What about the drinking water they're going to poison? They say their operations are safe but we know that's not true, we know their safety record, it's disastrous. It's when people like Pat start talking about ?generations? that I feel like I'm in a David and Goliath type movie ? the Milagro Beanfield War or Civil Action or something ? my family has been fishing here for five generations and I want to make sure we can fish here for the next five generations. Certainly the only people visible in Rossport who supported Shell were the police, and there were a lot of them, from all over Ireland. Pat and others from the community gave speeches to those police that would make a fascist cry, one would think, but the police were studiously unmoved. Others protesting were a bit more confrontational at least in their chants, if not in their actions ? ?Whose cops? Shell's cops! Whose cops? Shell's cops!? Attempts to scale the fence were beaten back, literally. One young Lithuanian man (a different Lithuanian than the one around the fire the day before) suffered a badly sprained ankle from being shoved down the hill by the police. It seemed like it might be broken. I drove him to the nearest hospital an hour away. Except for the local folks I was one of the few at the camp who knew I could find my way back. (Oddly enough it seemed that half the other people there at that emergency room that day were there for injuries below the knee.) While some local people will profit from Shell's operations, the company itself stands to make hundreds of billions of dollars from this vast untapped resource off the west coast of Ireland, but these profits will clearly come from the poisoning of the air, land and water of County Mayo and the region. Moreover, the Irish people, ostensibly the owners of this vast resource, are virtually giving it away. In 1987 and again in 1992 laws were passed that decreased the share of profit from such operations tremendously for the Irish public. One government minister was jailed for corruption as a result of the 1987 law but it remains on the books. Most of the people arrested on the day of the protest that I participated in were released later that day. I found out later that a few days after I visited the Shell to Sea camp Pat O'Donnell's fishing boat was boarded by four masked men who held Pat and a colleague in a room while the four men sank their fishing boat. Pat and his friend only survived because they were quick with getting on an inflatable raft, from which they were eventually rescued. And now, eight months after the sinking of his ship by these mysterious masked men, Pat is in jail. Coinciding with Pat's imprisonment, Shell is making plans to get a lot of work done in his enforced absence. As Shawnee and I headed towards Belfast for the next gig we had after our weekend in Rossport we were pulled over by the Gardai. They asked to see my license and the ID of the other three people in the car (we were giving a ride to a couple folks who had come down from Belfast for the festivities). They took notes. They didn't say why we had been pulled over. They told me my American driver's license wasn't valid in Ireland (untrue) and that they could take my car from me. They said the car may be legal in Belfast (where it was rented) but not in the Irish Republic (where I had rented cars on many occasions with the same license). Then, out of the goodness of his heart, he decided to let us go ? this time. No, Ireland isn't Nigeria. The outside agitators get harassed, not shot. The community organizers have their boats sunk by thugs and are regularly imprisoned, they're not hanged. But in Ireland as in Nigeria, Royal lies about their safety record, lies about their intentions, while making obscene profits off of the poisoning of the environment while most of the local people have less than nothing to show for any of it. David Rovics is a singer-songwriter based in Portland, Oregon. For more information about the Shell to Sea campaign go to www.shelltosea.com. From papadop at peak.org Fri Feb 19 15:53:36 2010 From: papadop at peak.org (MichaelP) Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:53:36 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Mai-not] FISK- The Dubai assasination Message-ID: http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/robert-fisk-not-one-of-the-nations-spoken-to-has-notified-interpol-of-the-passports-used-in-their-name-2068444.html The Independent Friday, February 19 2010 Robert Fisk: Not one of the nations spoken to has notified Interpol of the passports used in their name * Diplomat quizzed over passport row By Robert Fisk in Beirut Thursday February 18 2010 Collusion. That's what it is all about. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) suspect -- only suspect, mark you -- that Europe's 'security collaboration' with Israel has crossed a line into illegality, where British passports (and those of other EU nations) can be used to send Israeli agents into the Gulf to kill Israel's enemies. At 3.49pm yesterday (Beirut time, 1.49pm in London), my Lebanese phone rang. It was a source -- impeccable, I know him, he spoke with the authority I know he has in Abu Dhabi -- to say that "the British passports are real. They are hologram pictures with the biometric stamp. They are not forged or fake. The names were really there. If you can fake a hologram or biometric stamp, what does this mean?" The voice -- I know the man and his origins well -- wants to talk. "There are 18 people involved in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Besides the 11 already named, there are two Palestinians who are being interrogated and five others, including a woman. She was part of the team that staked out the hotel lobby." Two hours later, an SMS arrives on my Beirut phone from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It is the same source. "ONE MORE THING," it says in capital letters, then continues in lower case: "The command room of the operation was in Austria, meaning the suspects when here did not talk to each other but through the command room on separate lines to avoid detection or linking themselves to one another, but it was detected and identified." My source is both angry and insistent. "We have sent out details of the 11 named people to Interpol. Interpol has circulated them to 188 countries -- but why hasn't Britain warned foreign nations that these people are using passports in these names?" There was more to come. "We have identified five credit cards belonging to these people, all issued in the US." The man will not give the EU nationalities of the extra five -- this would make two women involved in Mr al-Mabhouh's murder. He said that EU countries were co-operating with the UAE, including Britain. But "not one of the countries we have been speaking to has notified Interpol of the passports used in their name. Why not?" The source insisted that one of the names on a passport -- the name of a man who denies any knowledge of its use -- has travelled on it in Asia (probably Indonesia) and EU countries over the past year. The Emirates have proof an American entered their country in June 2006 on a British passport issued in the name of a British citizen who was already in prison in the Emirates. The Emirates claim the passport of an Israeli agent sent to kill a Hamas leader in Jordan was a genuine Canadian passport issued to a dual-national of Israel. Intelligence agencies -- who in the view of this correspondent are often very unintelligent -- have long used false passports. Oliver North and Robert McFarlane travelled to Iran to seek the release of US hostages in Lebanon on passports that were previously stolen from the Irish embassy in Athens. But the Emirates' new information may make some European governments draw in their breath -- and they had better have good replies to the questions. Intelligence services -- Arab, Israeli, European or American -- often adopt an arrogant attitude towards those from whom they wish to hide. How could the Arabs pick up on a Mossad killing, if that is what it was? Well, we shall see. Collusion is a word the Arabs understand. It speaks of the 1956 Suez War, when Britain and France co-operated with Israel to invade Egypt. Both London and Paris denied the plot. They were lying. But for an Arab Gulf country which suspects its former masters (the UK, by name) may have connived in the murder of a visiting Hamas official, this is apparently too much. There is much more to come out of this story. We will wait to see if there are any replies in Europe. From papadop at peak.org Fri Feb 19 16:48:05 2010 From: papadop at peak.org (MichaelP) Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:48:05 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Mai-not] several Dubai assasination stories Message-ID: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3851390,00.html Germany: Will demand clarification from Israel on Dubai assassination Published: 02.18.10, 19:13 / Israel News Germany on Thursday urged the Israeli embassy in Berlin to explain the murder of the senior Hamas figure in Dubai, according to a statement issued by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. British Foreign Minister David Miliband said that he expects to receive clarifications in the forged passports affair during his meeting next week with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. (AFP) ############## http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1534608.php/Possible-Austria-link-to-Dubai-assassination-probed Possible Austria link to Dubai assassination probed Feb 18, 2010, 12:02 GMT Vienna - Austria is investigating a possible link in the assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai, following indications that the killers used Austrian mobile phones, the interior ministry's spokesman confirmed Thursday. The murder of Palestinian militant Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in January has reverberated across Europe, as the 11 suspects used passports from various European countries including Britain. Israel has denied allegations that its intelligence agency Mossad was involved. 'Austrian mobile phones were allegedly used in the preparation of the crime,' said spokesman Rudolf Gollia. There had been contact with Dubai authorities, and Austrian authorities started investigating on Monday. However, police have not yet come up with any findings, Gollia said. The Austrian investigation echoed the aftermath of the alleged Pakistani terrorist attacks in the Indian port city Mumbai in 2008, when the attackers were found to have used an Austrian mobile phone card purchased abroad. In that case, a package of Austrian SIM cards had been sold to a vendor in a third country. 'That could also have have happened in this case,' Gollia said. ############## http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/dubai/7258082 /Six-more-hunted-in-Dubai-assassination.html Number of lines: 485 Number of pages: 8 pages (approximately) Print options: Save to a local file Mail the file Print to the screen Print out on a printer attached to your vt100 terminal Press to begin: #RSS Feed for Dubai articles - Telegraph.co.uk DCSIMG Accessibility links * Skip to article * Skip to navigation Saturday 20 February 2010 | Dubai feed Advertisement Advertisement Website of the Telegraph Media Group with breaking news, sport, business, latest UK and world news. Content from the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph newspapers and video from Telegraph TV. ____________________ Search Enhanced by Google * Home * News * Sport * Finance * Lifestyle * Comment * Travel * Culture * Technology * Fashion * Jobs * Dating * Games * Offers * UK * World * UK Politics * Celebrities * Obituaries * Weird * Earth * Science * Health News * Education * Topics * News Blogs * News Video * USA * Barack Obama * Europe * Asia * China * Middle East * Africa and Indian Ocean * Australia and the Pacific 1. Home 2. News 3. World News 4. Middle East 5. Dubai Six more hunted in Dubai assassination At least six more people - including another woman - are being hunted by Dubai police in connection with the killing of Hamas chief Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, it was disclosed last night. By Martin Evans Published: 8:00AM GMT 18 Feb 2010 Six more hunted in Dubai assassination