Top Scientists and Engineers Question 9/11
Here is a list of a large number of links that question the official story of what actually happened on 9/11.
Disturbing Trends has pointed out before that it is more logical the towers were always rigged to implode and that the reason for that information being suppressed is obvious enough.
How many other buildings are scheduled for demolition in New York in case of a severe fire (a plane crash into a building may have been considered, even as an accident). If it was safer to "pull" the building rather than have it fall like a tree, it could have been rigged against a lynch-pin structure - one that collapses in a controlled fashion. It is a more reasonable theory than the one in which Bush planned the event. Cheney is more belivable in this role,and if so, Kucinich's drive to impeach is brilliant. If Cheney is impeached, it exposes the Bush Adminstration to sunlight and dissection.
It is more logical is that 9/11 was planned for (in a general sense) and both the Bush and Clinton administrations had some plans in place in case of events outside the bounds of reason.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Bali Conference: US Seeks Alliance with China and India to Block Climate Protection
Bali Conference: US Seeks Alliance with China and India to Block Climate Protection - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News
Evil Men do nothing. Real Evil Men do nothing while causing destruction. Nero was the first political Real Evil Man - famously fiddling while Rome burned. Inaction is worse in leadership than mistakes. Real Evil Men do not just make mistakes, they believe in them.
The entire world is at risk from war, from pollution and from inaction. The USA, China and India are causing a large percentage of the pollution. For them to manipulate the "negotiations" at Bali means that they are still putting their economic clout ahead of the health of humanity. Climate change is not the end of the world. It is the destabilization of weather. It is the destruction of the works of nature or God depending on how you think as habitats for creatures are wiped out. It is destruction of humanity as communities suffer terrible droughts and floods.
There is not much we can do to "fix it" so why bother doing anything? It is like letting children play on the roads because each time you ask them to come inside they gang up on you and stick their tongues out at you.
It is a question of greed. Greed means taking something for yourself.
Evil Men do nothing. Real Evil Men do nothing while causing destruction. Nero was the first political Real Evil Man - famously fiddling while Rome burned. Inaction is worse in leadership than mistakes. Real Evil Men do not just make mistakes, they believe in them.
The entire world is at risk from war, from pollution and from inaction. The USA, China and India are causing a large percentage of the pollution. For them to manipulate the "negotiations" at Bali means that they are still putting their economic clout ahead of the health of humanity. Climate change is not the end of the world. It is the destabilization of weather. It is the destruction of the works of nature or God depending on how you think as habitats for creatures are wiped out. It is destruction of humanity as communities suffer terrible droughts and floods.
There is not much we can do to "fix it" so why bother doing anything? It is like letting children play on the roads because each time you ask them to come inside they gang up on you and stick their tongues out at you.
It is a question of greed. Greed means taking something for yourself.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Labor Party wins Australian election
Labor Party wins Australian election - Times Online
Australia lurches left
Mr Howard's End
Rudd does it
These are the predictable headlines of the day. And so the democratic process sweeps Mr Howard into the history box and confines his future to be one of talk show fodder - or ambassadorial appointment - how about ambassador in the USA. It would not be unusual for the man who was able to pull resounding defeat out of the bag. One does wonder, if the chalice full of poison he now hands to his successor was not his final act. Denying Peter Costello the magic carpet on loan to Gordon Brown, hands over a party whisked away from office - it may be sheer bullying? It does give Mr Costello a chance to earn his leadership, unearned leadership is hard to reclaim as Mr Brown has found. It appears that you can take the reigns of power, but when you shake them too hard, the horses will turn on you. So political kamikaze by Mr Howard gives the most dramatic of recoveries available for Mr Costello when they hit the hustings. It gives Kevin Rudd a brief opportunity to impress but restricted by the fact that he has inherited the top of a wave of prosperity partly built on supplying uranium to China does not seem sustainable as a strategy. Or maybe it will not matter. Uranium has to come from somewhere and the USA can't afford to spend more on it.
And thus in defeat, Mr Howard forwards the democratic progress of his successor. It is a brilliant political death worthy of some deathly tome.
It is the end of an era for President Bush. His last cheerleader just retired. This could make the next year even more unpredictable.
It is almost a relief to see a woman voted into power in Australia, the new Deputy Prime Minister is Julia Gillard, a former lawyer.
Bob Hawke - Australia's last long serving Labor PM said that Mr Howard's attempt to reduce workers rights is repeating history in a "delicious irony".
Australia lurches left
Mr Howard's End
Rudd does it
These are the predictable headlines of the day. And so the democratic process sweeps Mr Howard into the history box and confines his future to be one of talk show fodder - or ambassadorial appointment - how about ambassador in the USA. It would not be unusual for the man who was able to pull resounding defeat out of the bag. One does wonder, if the chalice full of poison he now hands to his successor was not his final act. Denying Peter Costello the magic carpet on loan to Gordon Brown, hands over a party whisked away from office - it may be sheer bullying? It does give Mr Costello a chance to earn his leadership, unearned leadership is hard to reclaim as Mr Brown has found. It appears that you can take the reigns of power, but when you shake them too hard, the horses will turn on you. So political kamikaze by Mr Howard gives the most dramatic of recoveries available for Mr Costello when they hit the hustings. It gives Kevin Rudd a brief opportunity to impress but restricted by the fact that he has inherited the top of a wave of prosperity partly built on supplying uranium to China does not seem sustainable as a strategy. Or maybe it will not matter. Uranium has to come from somewhere and the USA can't afford to spend more on it.
And thus in defeat, Mr Howard forwards the democratic progress of his successor. It is a brilliant political death worthy of some deathly tome.
It is the end of an era for President Bush. His last cheerleader just retired. This could make the next year even more unpredictable.
It is almost a relief to see a woman voted into power in Australia, the new Deputy Prime Minister is Julia Gillard, a former lawyer.
Bob Hawke - Australia's last long serving Labor PM said that Mr Howard's attempt to reduce workers rights is repeating history in a "delicious irony".
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Baghdad Security Improves
Baghdad Starts to Exhale as Security Improves - New York Times
"20,000 Iraqis have gone back to their Baghdad homes, a fraction of the more than 4 million who fled nationwide, and the 1.4 million people in Baghdad who are still internally displaced,"
Eventually, you should run out of people to kill and that induces a state of normality. If a smaller number of killings is any measure of a "normality" when we are talking of 4 million displaced residents of Iraq. That is quite a feat in human transportation just to kill a few thousand "terrorist" fighters who appear to be fighting the Americans mainly to keep them there rather than to cause them to leave.
But the human face of the fragmentation of Iraq will go on and on. We hope all the executioners are removed before more people move back with confidence. What a horror. If you are going to fight a war - finish it properly.
"20,000 Iraqis have gone back to their Baghdad homes, a fraction of the more than 4 million who fled nationwide, and the 1.4 million people in Baghdad who are still internally displaced,"
Eventually, you should run out of people to kill and that induces a state of normality. If a smaller number of killings is any measure of a "normality" when we are talking of 4 million displaced residents of Iraq. That is quite a feat in human transportation just to kill a few thousand "terrorist" fighters who appear to be fighting the Americans mainly to keep them there rather than to cause them to leave.
But the human face of the fragmentation of Iraq will go on and on. We hope all the executioners are removed before more people move back with confidence. What a horror. If you are going to fight a war - finish it properly.
Monday, November 12, 2007
The Economic Consequences of Mr. Bush
The Economic Consequences of Mr. Bush: Politics & Power: vanityfair.com
Nice to see the mainstream media starting to recognize what we have been saying for years. President George W. Bush and his administration have run the USA economy into extraordinary debt in an effort to maintain a status quo. If this was a business the opportunity to print more money and lend it to anyone has created the sub-prime mortgage crash disaster. International finances mean that a mistake in the policy of the USA government has indirectly resulted in failures of a large number of banks and financial institutions in other countries.
George W. Bush has over-spent and fought wars he could have avoided but did not. It now appears that our early conjecture was correct, George W. Bush was always going to invade Iraq. Even before 9/11 such plans appear to exist.
The policy of exerting military control over the Middle East is an old story. Britain had control of the area called Iraq until 1920. The defeat of the Ottoman Empire meant new political entities had to establish and the design of Iraq was loaded with conflicts, both between Sunni and Shiite - and of course between the Kurds and Turkey.
And now Pakistan is becoming less stable - with 77% Sunni population and being the home in exile of the Taleban make Pakistan and Iran into potential enemies. If the USA mishandle the Iran issue - or the Pakistan issue - my prediction is a war between Iran and Pakistan.
Nice to see the mainstream media starting to recognize what we have been saying for years. President George W. Bush and his administration have run the USA economy into extraordinary debt in an effort to maintain a status quo. If this was a business the opportunity to print more money and lend it to anyone has created the sub-prime mortgage crash disaster. International finances mean that a mistake in the policy of the USA government has indirectly resulted in failures of a large number of banks and financial institutions in other countries.
George W. Bush has over-spent and fought wars he could have avoided but did not. It now appears that our early conjecture was correct, George W. Bush was always going to invade Iraq. Even before 9/11 such plans appear to exist.
The policy of exerting military control over the Middle East is an old story. Britain had control of the area called Iraq until 1920. The defeat of the Ottoman Empire meant new political entities had to establish and the design of Iraq was loaded with conflicts, both between Sunni and Shiite - and of course between the Kurds and Turkey.
And now Pakistan is becoming less stable - with 77% Sunni population and being the home in exile of the Taleban make Pakistan and Iran into potential enemies. If the USA mishandle the Iran issue - or the Pakistan issue - my prediction is a war between Iran and Pakistan.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
How open is Iran
Amnesty charts how open or honest governments of some of the more repressive states are with their population.
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal's incisive essay of 27 October 2002 reads like it was only written yesterday and sometimes with the hindsight of events that are still unfolding.
"astonished military experts, cannot fathom why the government's automatic `standard order of procedure in the event of a hijacking' was not followed. Once a plane has deviated from its flight-plan, fighter planes are sent up to find out why. That is law and does not require presidential approval, which only needs to be given if there is a decision to shoot down a plane. Goff spells it out: `The planes are all hijacked between 7:45 and 8:10am. . . . Who is notified? This is an event already that is unprecedented. But the President is not notified and going to a Florida elementary school to hear children read.'"
This was the first and most obvious question - how did the US military manage to not respond to a threat? And the primary illogic that supports the hypothesis the USA went to war over oil long before 9/11 - the New American Century people were inventing ways to politically support the abuse of the US economy and military to ensure oil could be pumped across Asia as some grand military chess game and post modern colonial land grab without precedent? And does that somehow include the Democrat Congress now in its thrall - polluted by war spending and appointing to Attorney General an open supporter of water-boarding - an illegal method of interrogation that sounds like torture to me - sort of a being seen to go against your principles. Or will the American people wake up to the simple that they bought into it in the first place by allowing a highjacked Republican party to rule them despite the warnings by writers like Gore Vidal; makes me wonder what the heck I am doing writing about it year after year. Not as if anyone listens.
Wake up - the USA is over investing in ensuring the future does not adopt new values that are less harmful to the environment and the vast population of the Earth. The idea of a super cabal who want to see a world with a population of less than 1 billion who achieve this by one world government and enforcement is becoming mainstream. Conspiracy theory may be a normal reaction to bad government and there is little doubt in the eyes of many that the Bush administration is not performing the actions of a good government.
"astonished military experts, cannot fathom why the government's automatic `standard order of procedure in the event of a hijacking' was not followed. Once a plane has deviated from its flight-plan, fighter planes are sent up to find out why. That is law and does not require presidential approval, which only needs to be given if there is a decision to shoot down a plane. Goff spells it out: `The planes are all hijacked between 7:45 and 8:10am. . . . Who is notified? This is an event already that is unprecedented. But the President is not notified and going to a Florida elementary school to hear children read.'"
This was the first and most obvious question - how did the US military manage to not respond to a threat? And the primary illogic that supports the hypothesis the USA went to war over oil long before 9/11 - the New American Century people were inventing ways to politically support the abuse of the US economy and military to ensure oil could be pumped across Asia as some grand military chess game and post modern colonial land grab without precedent? And does that somehow include the Democrat Congress now in its thrall - polluted by war spending and appointing to Attorney General an open supporter of water-boarding - an illegal method of interrogation that sounds like torture to me - sort of a being seen to go against your principles. Or will the American people wake up to the simple that they bought into it in the first place by allowing a highjacked Republican party to rule them despite the warnings by writers like Gore Vidal; makes me wonder what the heck I am doing writing about it year after year. Not as if anyone listens.
Wake up - the USA is over investing in ensuring the future does not adopt new values that are less harmful to the environment and the vast population of the Earth. The idea of a super cabal who want to see a world with a population of less than 1 billion who achieve this by one world government and enforcement is becoming mainstream. Conspiracy theory may be a normal reaction to bad government and there is little doubt in the eyes of many that the Bush administration is not performing the actions of a good government.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Police have duty to protect public
"The real problem is not that the police acted, it was the premature and unnecessary invocation of the Terrorism law to deliberately make it fail."
The police raided and arrested a number of people and brought charges under gun control laws for illegal weapons and they also tried to lay terrorism charges. That failed. There is a lot of public support for the actions of the police but some of that is based on the generated fear aroused by the T word.
Charges are being brought and if these people are proven guilty of possessing automatic weapons and planning to hurt people - well I guess that is not going to be a walk in the park - but serious charges require a serious case that successfully passes the tests of justice including proper evidence, etc.
We want the law applied properly.
The police raided and arrested a number of people and brought charges under gun control laws for illegal weapons and they also tried to lay terrorism charges. That failed. There is a lot of public support for the actions of the police but some of that is based on the generated fear aroused by the T word.
Charges are being brought and if these people are proven guilty of possessing automatic weapons and planning to hurt people - well I guess that is not going to be a walk in the park - but serious charges require a serious case that successfully passes the tests of justice including proper evidence, etc.
We want the law applied properly.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Barak Obama
This man has a mind to change America. His run for the Presidency is backed with a powerful charisma and ability to infuse a crowd. He sounds like a 180 degree turn around from the ailing wind of the Bush administration. Or will he never catch Hilary? Where the "need" for "equality of gender" is going to make it seem female leadership is required it still makes sense to choose the best leader.
A lot of Americans will be asking similar questions when it comes down to the decision.
And what Republican is an Obama run for presidency likely to have to face? Probably the more popular Mick Romney than the popularist Bushite Rudy G.
Slowdown Fears Rife
Markets and Dollar Sink as Slowdown Fear Increases - New York Times
As predicted when Mr Bush lowered tax rates for the very rich - the US economy devalued itself giving it the impression of a lot of spare cash. But he had gone to war with an already crippled Iraq and has spent hundreds of billions getting American troops in Iraq killed for very little resulting improvement in world safety from terrorism.
When an economy becomes too sanguine (too much blood in it) for too long - idiots start throwing billions about. Weird ideas spring forth like crazed cults and adherents may be expected to invest in companies and ideas that have no real product or effect no real change. (I am not talking about Google - here we have an economy developing its own force from the work of a simple workable idea. Text advertising on the internet is not a new idea that Google suddenly came up with, there was text advertising already. What they did was leverage it against relevance. Effective useful advertising has value. Google did what others were stabbing in the dark trying to make work. They provided motivations for each part of their business to work with other parts of their business).
Instant public perception reveals the turkey - but sometimes not before thousands have thrown millions at it. Too much property investment capital inevitably results in sales that get reversed. Too many mortgagee sales depresses prices. Declining prices could become deflation. That would cause massive problems.
What flooding the market with low value dollars has done is cheapen the US economy. Hence the foolhardy effort to get everyone on the mortgage train we now insidiously refer to as sub-Prime. No-one is talking about how many citizens are losing their homes in the USA as a result of Bush indifference to the needs of real people. It has provided the grass roots market players with a sense of uselessness - or irrelevance.
What we hear about is how investors are losing their punts in these non-productive organs of real estate wheel greasing. How many cents in the dollar they can expect. It is a damning and sad story but not half as hard as the young couple expecting who suddenly lose their house and entire life structure. Not to mention to effect on the overall health of the USA economy. How are they going to make productive lives for themselves now?
Some one please tell me how this is a good result of the Bush tax massacre?
Go on - go to the Discussion site and lecture me on the merits of running huge deficits to fight a war that has little economic benefit but heavy costs. Where is the beef?
As predicted when Mr Bush lowered tax rates for the very rich - the US economy devalued itself giving it the impression of a lot of spare cash. But he had gone to war with an already crippled Iraq and has spent hundreds of billions getting American troops in Iraq killed for very little resulting improvement in world safety from terrorism.
When an economy becomes too sanguine (too much blood in it) for too long - idiots start throwing billions about. Weird ideas spring forth like crazed cults and adherents may be expected to invest in companies and ideas that have no real product or effect no real change. (I am not talking about Google - here we have an economy developing its own force from the work of a simple workable idea. Text advertising on the internet is not a new idea that Google suddenly came up with, there was text advertising already. What they did was leverage it against relevance. Effective useful advertising has value. Google did what others were stabbing in the dark trying to make work. They provided motivations for each part of their business to work with other parts of their business).
Instant public perception reveals the turkey - but sometimes not before thousands have thrown millions at it. Too much property investment capital inevitably results in sales that get reversed. Too many mortgagee sales depresses prices. Declining prices could become deflation. That would cause massive problems.
What flooding the market with low value dollars has done is cheapen the US economy. Hence the foolhardy effort to get everyone on the mortgage train we now insidiously refer to as sub-Prime. No-one is talking about how many citizens are losing their homes in the USA as a result of Bush indifference to the needs of real people. It has provided the grass roots market players with a sense of uselessness - or irrelevance.
What we hear about is how investors are losing their punts in these non-productive organs of real estate wheel greasing. How many cents in the dollar they can expect. It is a damning and sad story but not half as hard as the young couple expecting who suddenly lose their house and entire life structure. Not to mention to effect on the overall health of the USA economy. How are they going to make productive lives for themselves now?
Some one please tell me how this is a good result of the Bush tax massacre?
Go on - go to the Discussion site and lecture me on the merits of running huge deficits to fight a war that has little economic benefit but heavy costs. Where is the beef?
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Wes Clark - the truth about Iraq
When did the USA plan to invade Iraq? Disturbing Trends has claimed that Bush planned to invade Iraq before he invaded Afghanistan, and this video is evidence from presidential 2004 hopeful General Wesley Clark.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Never forget
Americans need never forget this expense could have been restricted to a perhaps necessary and by now concluded war in Afghanistan.
The necessity of the war in Iraq is not borne out by the effects of the invasion. Is there some secret logic to causing the forces that offend each other to interact as this invasion seems to have done? There seems not to be. It is merely an overhang of the colonial era when imperial authority controlled peoples who were considered inferior. The world may have changed, perhaps the politics of war will follow.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Musharraf Declares State of Emergency
Musharraf Declares State of Emergency - New York Times
Act II - Pakistan
Pakistan appears to have all the necessary ingredients brewing for a poisoned democracy. Musharraf has declared a State of Emergency to reassert his loosened grip on power in a volatile mix of Islamic extremism, military dictatorship, democratic politics and terrorism. Add to this American support for the military regime - a buffer against the potential for Taleban or al Qaeda gaining strength on one hand, or perpetual military rule on the other.
A loss of democracy may prove hard to recover from, as was made obvious by the predictable slaughter of 143 persons during Benazir Bhutto's less than triumphant return. It is hard to see why a procession seeming to celebrate a 'return to democracy' - actually to celebrate her own return from being booted out - is more important to Bhutto than 143 lives - but that is the very nature of democracy. It ain't all logos and tax cuts in this country that has so many forces at work that it is unclear what its future may hold. It may not be determined by the powers that exist at this time - a new leadership for Pakistan is predicted here - to arise out of the ashes of Musharraf's authority. Although Bhutto may be the popular choice and logical leader to change Pakistan into a more unified Western nation, it is the perverse support of the USA for the military regime that may provide enough conflict ahead of democratic choices that the darker forces at work may make a grab for power.
I hope I am wrong. I believe that Pakistan has taken another step toward the brink and that it would be a far more valuable prize for Talebanisation than Afghanistan. Hence we have Condolezza Rice phoning Mushsharrif at 2am saying emergency rules would endanger the extensive financial support the USA gives the Pakistani military. And there you have it. The USA supports a military dictatorship and clearly attempts to define the terms of history. That is the mistake.
Act II - Pakistan
Pakistan appears to have all the necessary ingredients brewing for a poisoned democracy. Musharraf has declared a State of Emergency to reassert his loosened grip on power in a volatile mix of Islamic extremism, military dictatorship, democratic politics and terrorism. Add to this American support for the military regime - a buffer against the potential for Taleban or al Qaeda gaining strength on one hand, or perpetual military rule on the other.
A loss of democracy may prove hard to recover from, as was made obvious by the predictable slaughter of 143 persons during Benazir Bhutto's less than triumphant return. It is hard to see why a procession seeming to celebrate a 'return to democracy' - actually to celebrate her own return from being booted out - is more important to Bhutto than 143 lives - but that is the very nature of democracy. It ain't all logos and tax cuts in this country that has so many forces at work that it is unclear what its future may hold. It may not be determined by the powers that exist at this time - a new leadership for Pakistan is predicted here - to arise out of the ashes of Musharraf's authority. Although Bhutto may be the popular choice and logical leader to change Pakistan into a more unified Western nation, it is the perverse support of the USA for the military regime that may provide enough conflict ahead of democratic choices that the darker forces at work may make a grab for power.
I hope I am wrong. I believe that Pakistan has taken another step toward the brink and that it would be a far more valuable prize for Talebanisation than Afghanistan. Hence we have Condolezza Rice phoning Mushsharrif at 2am saying emergency rules would endanger the extensive financial support the USA gives the Pakistani military. And there you have it. The USA supports a military dictatorship and clearly attempts to define the terms of history. That is the mistake.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Hezbollah
If Hezbollah does imitate the Sunni radical militia (al Qaeda) and infiltrate socially rather than militarily could evolve as a likely strategy against the USA as they are being convinced by Dick Cheney to expect Iran to be attacked. The children of soldiers are becoming terrorists. It is an ancient story with new nomenclature.
Terror in New Zealand
The recent terrorism raids are being hotly discussed all over New Zealand. We want to provide an open forum for rational discussion without thinking that that issue is terrorism, but that the issue is that of the rights of indigenous people facing the results of colonialism.
Check the NEW discussion section of Disturbing Trends!
Check the NEW discussion section of Disturbing Trends!
I should pay more tax, says US billionaire
I should pay more tax, says US billionaire Warren Buffett | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited
Warren Buffet makes too much money and wants the US Government to take more in tax from him and other extreme income makers. He is pissed that he pays lower tax rates than all of his employees. Republicans fear that hiking tax rates for the very very wealthy will cause a recession.
Ok, when Bush decided that everyone else was wrong and the super rich deserved to keep most of their "hard earned" capital and profit, in New Zealand a left wing Labour government decided to increase the top band of taxes and has run burgeoning surpluses. This government taxes more than it needs to due to the weight of past mistakes that put the country into extreme debt to its trading partners and competitors. Anyone with a credit card knows going into debt to purchase businesses that then do not recover your economy is financial suicide.
Between the USA indebtedness on an extremely costly and failing military strategy to control oil and NZ that buckled down to be successful despite the high tax rate environment - the comparison is stark. Year after year the NZ electorate clamours for a tax cut - but the economics are simple. While the country can not meet debt obligations, tax cuts have been seen as unlikely. But the economy continues to defy the USA logic and grow despite a difficult tax regime.
The disturbing trend is how the American people are being economically fooled by the Bush double handed manouvere. By mortgaging the wealth of American industry against the protection of an economically declining resource and rewarding and building a huge military need - Bush has squandered the enormous strength of the US economy, but for what?
The Iraq war has made terrorism in the "homeland" (a bigotted term, if there ever was one) much more likely than ever. It has made a popular hero of Osama bin Laden as the remaining figurehead in the fight against liberal values. Let's face it. Compared to Osama, Bush is a liberal!
Warren Buffet makes too much money and wants the US Government to take more in tax from him and other extreme income makers. He is pissed that he pays lower tax rates than all of his employees. Republicans fear that hiking tax rates for the very very wealthy will cause a recession.
Ok, when Bush decided that everyone else was wrong and the super rich deserved to keep most of their "hard earned" capital and profit, in New Zealand a left wing Labour government decided to increase the top band of taxes and has run burgeoning surpluses. This government taxes more than it needs to due to the weight of past mistakes that put the country into extreme debt to its trading partners and competitors. Anyone with a credit card knows going into debt to purchase businesses that then do not recover your economy is financial suicide.
Between the USA indebtedness on an extremely costly and failing military strategy to control oil and NZ that buckled down to be successful despite the high tax rate environment - the comparison is stark. Year after year the NZ electorate clamours for a tax cut - but the economics are simple. While the country can not meet debt obligations, tax cuts have been seen as unlikely. But the economy continues to defy the USA logic and grow despite a difficult tax regime.
The disturbing trend is how the American people are being economically fooled by the Bush double handed manouvere. By mortgaging the wealth of American industry against the protection of an economically declining resource and rewarding and building a huge military need - Bush has squandered the enormous strength of the US economy, but for what?
The Iraq war has made terrorism in the "homeland" (a bigotted term, if there ever was one) much more likely than ever. It has made a popular hero of Osama bin Laden as the remaining figurehead in the fight against liberal values. Let's face it. Compared to Osama, Bush is a liberal!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Pakistan
Suicide bombers have threatened the security of political leaders in Pakistan and one must consider that if such attempts were successful that there could be a revolution in Pakistan that would set the knife on edge in Washington. There may be enormous support for Former premier and Leader of the Opposition Benazir Bhutto who seeks reelection - but it appears that al Qaeda have other ideas. The center of al Qaeda and Taliban movements are now in Pakistan and it would be their goal to disrupt democracy and ferment fear with Islamic revolution as their goal. And what a prize Pakistan would be - teetering on the balance between a democratic nation with a large voice internationally and a third world country with a vast population under the bread line. The ability to afford to purchase food is a primary division of freedom between "the West" from people from third world countries.
The Taliban and al Qaeda do not belong in Government. USA centric strategy ignores the fact that it's investment in Iraq is the wrong investment. If they were not so rushed about invading, if they had negotiated with the Saddam Government effectively or simply replaced Saddam with another regime that kept Iraq stable - the US economy would be stronger, and the less expensive military effort in Afghanistan that still has international support would be done and dusted by now. With out al Qaeda and the Taliban - the war would have been won two years ago and Iraq could have been negotiated with if the Shiite militia were not motivated to shoot at Sunni militants.
It is a waste of human resources to take down the Taliban in Afghanistan but so ineffectively that it takes root elsewhere. The real crime is not conducting war properly so that there is a winner and total defeat of the enemy. What other kind of war is there?
If the USA is going to conduct military adventures then it is indeed a waste of American resources to conduct wars according to the whim of a dyslexic president who is so convinced of his "faith" that he justifies every mistake by shaming anyone who says - hey - hold on a minute - this is not right.
GW Bush and his ineffective grasp on history has reduced the USA to potentially losing a war against an army run by old sick men in caves? Well that may be an overstatement today but unfortunately it may be closer to the truth today than before the Iraq invasion.
And now the Kurds and Turkey. Another larger can of worms has started to open.
The Taliban and al Qaeda do not belong in Government. USA centric strategy ignores the fact that it's investment in Iraq is the wrong investment. If they were not so rushed about invading, if they had negotiated with the Saddam Government effectively or simply replaced Saddam with another regime that kept Iraq stable - the US economy would be stronger, and the less expensive military effort in Afghanistan that still has international support would be done and dusted by now. With out al Qaeda and the Taliban - the war would have been won two years ago and Iraq could have been negotiated with if the Shiite militia were not motivated to shoot at Sunni militants.
It is a waste of human resources to take down the Taliban in Afghanistan but so ineffectively that it takes root elsewhere. The real crime is not conducting war properly so that there is a winner and total defeat of the enemy. What other kind of war is there?
If the USA is going to conduct military adventures then it is indeed a waste of American resources to conduct wars according to the whim of a dyslexic president who is so convinced of his "faith" that he justifies every mistake by shaming anyone who says - hey - hold on a minute - this is not right.
GW Bush and his ineffective grasp on history has reduced the USA to potentially losing a war against an army run by old sick men in caves? Well that may be an overstatement today but unfortunately it may be closer to the truth today than before the Iraq invasion.
And now the Kurds and Turkey. Another larger can of worms has started to open.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
State Department rebuked over lack of Oversight in Use of Mercenary Contractors
State Department rebuked over lack of Oversight in Use of Mercenary Contractors « SlowDecline’s Weblog reveals an extraordinary state of affairs in the undermanned State Dept. According to this blog entry, the budget for state dept employees stretches to 17 people to oversee the entire professional military spend for mercenaries or "professional soldiers" working for DynCorp, Blackwater and the like - a 4 billion dollar overspend.
What is truly disturbing is this:
"There are also expenditures by another department called the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. Their contracts worth more than $2.2 billion have gone to training police and the war on drugs. These funds have primarily gone to Iraq, Latin America and Afghanistan (Afghanistan supplies 90% of the world’s heroin production and their production has mushroomed beyond expectations since the US invasion). Approximately 94% of the funds dispersed by the bureau have gone to DynCorp."
So, who is DynCorp? According to their website: DynCorp International is a multifaceted, global enterprise that provides innovative solutions to the diverse technology and professional services needs of government and commercial industry worldwide.
Not so fast, the US State Dept has this to say about Dyncorp.
"A U.S. State Department audit of a Dyncorp International (NYSE:DCP) LLC contract under the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund released Tuesday found that investigators were unable to determine what the company had provided under the contract or how $1.2 billion in funds were spent."
Hmm. Perhaps there is a bit of a problem in the way things are being done over at DynCorp. The Decider is not going to become The Accounts Clerk and sort this mess out. That's Dick's Dept.
To post your own substantial rumours or disturbing trends, don't forget you can now join our new joinable member site inviting new contributors now
What is truly disturbing is this:
"There are also expenditures by another department called the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. Their contracts worth more than $2.2 billion have gone to training police and the war on drugs. These funds have primarily gone to Iraq, Latin America and Afghanistan (Afghanistan supplies 90% of the world’s heroin production and their production has mushroomed beyond expectations since the US invasion). Approximately 94% of the funds dispersed by the bureau have gone to DynCorp."
So, who is DynCorp? According to their website: DynCorp International is a multifaceted, global enterprise that provides innovative solutions to the diverse technology and professional services needs of government and commercial industry worldwide.
Not so fast, the US State Dept has this to say about Dyncorp.
"A U.S. State Department audit of a Dyncorp International (NYSE:DCP) LLC contract under the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund released Tuesday found that investigators were unable to determine what the company had provided under the contract or how $1.2 billion in funds were spent."
Hmm. Perhaps there is a bit of a problem in the way things are being done over at DynCorp. The Decider is not going to become The Accounts Clerk and sort this mess out. That's Dick's Dept.
To post your own substantial rumours or disturbing trends, don't forget you can now join our new joinable member site inviting new contributors now
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Twenty Percent Americans Victims Of Financial Scams.
Interesting Life: Twenty Percent Americans Victims Of Financial Scams.
This blog article on Interesting Life: Trend Watch reveals the extend by which scammers have been successfully phishing bank account numbers from their fake lottery win spam.
If you were to win an international prize in a lottery, I think they would let you know by snail mail or telephone call as well as possibly by email (though I think that unlikely). To reduce temptation to follow-up more "official" or "credible" scams - put it this way, how many lottery tickets do buy before you tend to win a major prize?
For most of us all the lottery tickets that we buy are not winners. It is the nature of the game. Now how many multi million dollar prize emails have you received?
Put another way - if someone is offering you "free money" on the internet and they are not addressing you specifically (so it is an email to many) and is from a hotmail or yahoo address - I am 100% certain it is a scam. You can not be one of many winners. You can not be known and most important - there is nothing to hook up your trust with, you can open a hotmail account today without verified address details and cancel it tomorrow.
The problem with scams on the internet is that the people who are conducting them are criminals out to get your money. They are tremendously good at manipulating you because that is how they survive. The way to stop this is to make the method ineffective.
Instead of relying on law enforcement who can not act until a criminal act has occurred, use gmail as a post office and report all phishing attempts.
It is like when the UN places sanctions on an unruly member. Do not do trade with criminals.
The erosion of trust for real business and honest people wanting to make the internet work for their club, organisation or life - is a great shame.
Gullibility is a dirty word. Let undercover cops be the only customers of phishing attempts!
This blog article on Interesting Life: Trend Watch reveals the extend by which scammers have been successfully phishing bank account numbers from their fake lottery win spam.
If you were to win an international prize in a lottery, I think they would let you know by snail mail or telephone call as well as possibly by email (though I think that unlikely). To reduce temptation to follow-up more "official" or "credible" scams - put it this way, how many lottery tickets do buy before you tend to win a major prize?
For most of us all the lottery tickets that we buy are not winners. It is the nature of the game. Now how many multi million dollar prize emails have you received?
Put another way - if someone is offering you "free money" on the internet and they are not addressing you specifically (so it is an email to many) and is from a hotmail or yahoo address - I am 100% certain it is a scam. You can not be one of many winners. You can not be known and most important - there is nothing to hook up your trust with, you can open a hotmail account today without verified address details and cancel it tomorrow.
The problem with scams on the internet is that the people who are conducting them are criminals out to get your money. They are tremendously good at manipulating you because that is how they survive. The way to stop this is to make the method ineffective.
Instead of relying on law enforcement who can not act until a criminal act has occurred, use gmail as a post office and report all phishing attempts.
It is like when the UN places sanctions on an unruly member. Do not do trade with criminals.
The erosion of trust for real business and honest people wanting to make the internet work for their club, organisation or life - is a great shame.
Gullibility is a dirty word. Let undercover cops be the only customers of phishing attempts!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Scoop: Why Thursdays’ anti-terrorism bill is bad
Scoop: Why Thursdays’ anti-terrorism bill is bad
That the bill is "bad" or not may depend on what is one's religious belief about what "terrorism" is.
It makes little sense to include civil protest in the same legal compartment as terrorism, a justification for war. Recent arrests by police of about 17 suspects in New Zealand - charged with gun possession crimes has met with a general outcry at the heavy handed arrest of activist and "known Maori Sovereignty campaigner" Tame Iti who embodies the public ideal of a freedom fighter.
Not that a Maori sovereignty is not a right. No less than the continued accepted international face of the rather successful New Zealand Government. Any approach with AK-47s would not result in any safe form of Government.
Discussion pages
That the bill is "bad" or not may depend on what is one's religious belief about what "terrorism" is.
It makes little sense to include civil protest in the same legal compartment as terrorism, a justification for war. Recent arrests by police of about 17 suspects in New Zealand - charged with gun possession crimes has met with a general outcry at the heavy handed arrest of activist and "known Maori Sovereignty campaigner" Tame Iti who embodies the public ideal of a freedom fighter.
Not that a Maori sovereignty is not a right. No less than the continued accepted international face of the rather successful New Zealand Government. Any approach with AK-47s would not result in any safe form of Government.
Discussion pages
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Contribute your disturbing trends here
Finally I fixed the template columns.
Articles can now be discussed between readers of Disturbing Trends. I am not always right or are my prescriptions for peace necessarily taking everyone into account.
I would like to see if it works better than this site. The design template is under experiment so may change. But the basic idea is that an article on this site is a headline to a longer analysis linked on the discussion site. You can also register to get updates from the discussion site. Or become a CONTRIBUTOR and submit articles for inclusion on Disturbing Trends.
Articles can now be discussed between readers of Disturbing Trends. I am not always right or are my prescriptions for peace necessarily taking everyone into account.
I would like to see if it works better than this site. The design template is under experiment so may change. But the basic idea is that an article on this site is a headline to a longer analysis linked on the discussion site. You can also register to get updates from the discussion site. Or become a CONTRIBUTOR and submit articles for inclusion on Disturbing Trends.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Project Censored Media Democracy in Action
Project Censored Media Democracy in Action
Top 25 Censored
news stories of 2007
#1 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media
#2 Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran
#3 Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger
#4 Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US
#5 High-Tech Genocide in Congo
#6 Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy
# 7 US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq
#8 Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act
#9 The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall
#10 Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians
#11 Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed
#12 Pentagon Plans to Build New Landmines
#13 New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Roundup
#14 Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US
#15 Chemical Industry is EPA’s Primary Research Partner
#16 Ecuador and Mexico Defy US on International Criminal Court
#17 Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC Agenda
#18 Physicist Challenges Official 9-11 Story
#19 Destruction of Rainforests Worst Ever
#20 Bottled Water: A Global Environmental Problem
#21 Gold Mining Threatens Ancient Andean Glaciers
#22 $Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed
#23 US Oil Targets Kyoto in Europe
#24 Cheney’s Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year
#25 US Military in Paraguay Threatens Region
Project Censored documents with some detail each of these suppressed stories. Many of these are independent reasons that the Bush Administration should be taken to task for nepotism, corruption, starting wars for profit and endangering humanity with damage to the environment. It is a little hard to make sense of how a country could become so extreme in its efforts to present one bold face to the electorate while doing something that the rest of the world (and the other half of the USA) perceive as evil, corrupt and dangerous.
Or is this extreme rumour mongering at its worst? We do not think so, and in the case of Mr Cheney and Halliburton - wonder at where this commericial military establishment is going to stop taking liberties that the world can ill afford to support.
In March 1996 Dick Cheney said "Let me make a generalized statement about a trend I see in the U.S. Congress that I find disturbing, that applies not only with respect to the Iranian situation but a number of others as well, I think we Americans sometimes make mistakes . . . There seems to be an assumption that somehow we know what's best for everybody else and that we are going to use our economic clout to get everybody else to live the way we would like."
Yes. Indeed. Project Censored go on to say:
Cheney was the chief executive of Halliburton Corporation at the time he uttered those words. It was Cheney who directed Halliburton toward aggressive business dealings with Iran—in violation of U.S. law—in the mid-1990s, which continued through 2005 and is the reason Iran has the capability to enrich weapons-grade uranium.
It was Halliburton’s secret sale of centrifuges to Iran that helped get the uranium enrichment program off the ground, according to a three-year investigation that includes interviews conducted with more than a dozen current and former Halliburton employees.
Top 25 Censored
news stories of 2007
#1 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media
#2 Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran
#3 Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger
#4 Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US
#5 High-Tech Genocide in Congo
#6 Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy
# 7 US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq
#8 Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act
#9 The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall
#10 Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians
#11 Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed
#12 Pentagon Plans to Build New Landmines
#13 New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Roundup
#14 Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US
#15 Chemical Industry is EPA’s Primary Research Partner
#16 Ecuador and Mexico Defy US on International Criminal Court
#17 Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC Agenda
#18 Physicist Challenges Official 9-11 Story
#19 Destruction of Rainforests Worst Ever
#20 Bottled Water: A Global Environmental Problem
#21 Gold Mining Threatens Ancient Andean Glaciers
#22 $Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed
#23 US Oil Targets Kyoto in Europe
#24 Cheney’s Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year
#25 US Military in Paraguay Threatens Region
Project Censored documents with some detail each of these suppressed stories. Many of these are independent reasons that the Bush Administration should be taken to task for nepotism, corruption, starting wars for profit and endangering humanity with damage to the environment. It is a little hard to make sense of how a country could become so extreme in its efforts to present one bold face to the electorate while doing something that the rest of the world (and the other half of the USA) perceive as evil, corrupt and dangerous.
Or is this extreme rumour mongering at its worst? We do not think so, and in the case of Mr Cheney and Halliburton - wonder at where this commericial military establishment is going to stop taking liberties that the world can ill afford to support.
In March 1996 Dick Cheney said "Let me make a generalized statement about a trend I see in the U.S. Congress that I find disturbing, that applies not only with respect to the Iranian situation but a number of others as well, I think we Americans sometimes make mistakes . . . There seems to be an assumption that somehow we know what's best for everybody else and that we are going to use our economic clout to get everybody else to live the way we would like."
Yes. Indeed. Project Censored go on to say:
Cheney was the chief executive of Halliburton Corporation at the time he uttered those words. It was Cheney who directed Halliburton toward aggressive business dealings with Iran—in violation of U.S. law—in the mid-1990s, which continued through 2005 and is the reason Iran has the capability to enrich weapons-grade uranium.
It was Halliburton’s secret sale of centrifuges to Iran that helped get the uranium enrichment program off the ground, according to a three-year investigation that includes interviews conducted with more than a dozen current and former Halliburton employees.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The Climate Project
The Climate Project
What we can do to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from our own daily lives. If you extrapolate the CO2 per head of polluters over the whole developed world (say 1.5 billion bodies) for avoiding products with lots of packaging (1,200 lbs of CO2 for waste disposal) it becomes clear how it is really partly the responsibility of each inhabitant as well as Governments placing strict regulations on business; it is these regulations that would result from the USA being part of a Carbon trading exchange that prompted President Bush to resist Kyoto and "protect US interests". Of course it does not protect anyone's interest - the damage that man's policies have enacted have brought us much closer to rock bottom with this addiction to waste.
What we can do to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from our own daily lives. If you extrapolate the CO2 per head of polluters over the whole developed world (say 1.5 billion bodies) for avoiding products with lots of packaging (1,200 lbs of CO2 for waste disposal) it becomes clear how it is really partly the responsibility of each inhabitant as well as Governments placing strict regulations on business; it is these regulations that would result from the USA being part of a Carbon trading exchange that prompted President Bush to resist Kyoto and "protect US interests". Of course it does not protect anyone's interest - the damage that man's policies have enacted have brought us much closer to rock bottom with this addiction to waste.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Dennis Kucinich - Presidential Candidate
Dennis Kucinich - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Assume Al Gore is not going to run for President (although his short crop of films on CurrentTV look like the start of a campaign - outlining his positions on issues) - who is the closest candidate to him? It seems that on Iraq, Dennis Kucinich is closer to Al Gore and Barak Obama, than front runner Hilary appears to be. Kucinich includes reparations to the damage to the lives of the Iraqi people. One can be fairly sure that if the Kucinich plan were enacted, that Iraq would remember America as a good influence rather than the increasing acceptance that President Bush had it in for Iraq.
The wide range of issues represented at the Primaries stage of the American "system" is when democratic representation speaks more volumes as raw cash accessibility rather than the smarts of the individuals considered.
Radical change is unlikely in a country driven by vested interest. The United States of America will continue to have corrupted Presidential selection processes so long as they allow Diebold to measure the vote without a paper trail. It makes Watergate seem watertight.
One must admire aspects of conservative politics as it erupts across the world. It is halting progress here in Auckland as a new Right Wing mayor pulls the plug on sharing in the financial participation of the city in upgrading its own stadium for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Conservatives feel a right to their destiny even when morally bankrupt. But they are generally better at scandals. And under Helen Clark (who would also tend to agree with Kucinich on most issues) it has been rare for a juicy scandal to appear quite so often.
The Kucinich Plan For Iraq
On 8 January, 2007 Dennis Kucinich unveiled his comprehensive exit plan to bring the troops home and stabilize Iraq.[45] His plan includes the following steps:[46]
1. Announce that the US will end the occupation, close the military bases, and withdraw.
2. Announce that existing funds will be used to bring the troops and the necessary equipment home.
3. Order a simultaneous return of all U.S. contractors to the United States and turn over the contracting work to the Iraqi government
4. Convene a regional conference for the purpose of developing a security and stabilization force for Iraq.
5. Prepare an international security peacekeeping force to move in, replacing U.S. troops, who then return home.
6. Develop and fund a process of national reconciliation.
7. Restart programs for reconstruction and creating jobs for the Iraqi people.
8. Provide reparations for the damage that has been done to the lives of Iraqis.
9. Assure the political sovereignty of Iraq and ensure that their oil isn't stolen.
10. Repair the Iraqi economy.
11. Guarantee economic sovereignty for Iraq.
12. Commence an international truth and reconciliation process, which establishes a policy of truth and reconciliation between the people of the United States and Iraq.
Assume Al Gore is not going to run for President (although his short crop of films on CurrentTV look like the start of a campaign - outlining his positions on issues) - who is the closest candidate to him? It seems that on Iraq, Dennis Kucinich is closer to Al Gore and Barak Obama, than front runner Hilary appears to be. Kucinich includes reparations to the damage to the lives of the Iraqi people. One can be fairly sure that if the Kucinich plan were enacted, that Iraq would remember America as a good influence rather than the increasing acceptance that President Bush had it in for Iraq.
The wide range of issues represented at the Primaries stage of the American "system" is when democratic representation speaks more volumes as raw cash accessibility rather than the smarts of the individuals considered.
Radical change is unlikely in a country driven by vested interest. The United States of America will continue to have corrupted Presidential selection processes so long as they allow Diebold to measure the vote without a paper trail. It makes Watergate seem watertight.
One must admire aspects of conservative politics as it erupts across the world. It is halting progress here in Auckland as a new Right Wing mayor pulls the plug on sharing in the financial participation of the city in upgrading its own stadium for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Conservatives feel a right to their destiny even when morally bankrupt. But they are generally better at scandals. And under Helen Clark (who would also tend to agree with Kucinich on most issues) it has been rare for a juicy scandal to appear quite so often.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Al Gore - The Ultimate Conservative
With Prize, Gore Is Vindicated Without Having to Add President to Résumé - New York Times
He wants the planet to remain firmly in the creative hands of humans and although he ran as a liberal this is the most conservative of streaks. Al Gore should run for President but in the interests of clarity perhaps he should displace the republican field. A return to real values and actual wealth would be a welcome return to wholesome American values post the distorting Bush legacy of debt and war. Did it not eventually become Bush sandwiched between war and tax reduction resulting in, most likely, huge accumulations of wealth carefully and expertly removed to tax shelters. The American deficit is not just what Bush spends it is what every American (in the USA at least) spends that is not home made. It is the considerably larger slice of the pie than anyone else.
The staggering wealth of America is matched by the scale of its indebtedness. It is not likely to be a poor risk, either. Sharing wealth may open doors you were not bargaining for, who knows. It was not Gore's legacy and for that, the country fair aches for his return. He does not seem to be applying for the job, probably feels vindicated in the position he is already in.
For more comment and discussion check out the new Disturbing Trends over here.
He wants the planet to remain firmly in the creative hands of humans and although he ran as a liberal this is the most conservative of streaks. Al Gore should run for President but in the interests of clarity perhaps he should displace the republican field. A return to real values and actual wealth would be a welcome return to wholesome American values post the distorting Bush legacy of debt and war. Did it not eventually become Bush sandwiched between war and tax reduction resulting in, most likely, huge accumulations of wealth carefully and expertly removed to tax shelters. The American deficit is not just what Bush spends it is what every American (in the USA at least) spends that is not home made. It is the considerably larger slice of the pie than anyone else.
The staggering wealth of America is matched by the scale of its indebtedness. It is not likely to be a poor risk, either. Sharing wealth may open doors you were not bargaining for, who knows. It was not Gore's legacy and for that, the country fair aches for his return. He does not seem to be applying for the job, probably feels vindicated in the position he is already in.
For more comment and discussion check out the new Disturbing Trends over here.
Monday, October 8, 2007
The Republican Experiment
Is the Republican dalliance with empire building any guide as to what may come next in their view of the future of the world?
Do we want the Democrats "reasonable" vision of tomorrow - where every child is educated and given adequate health care and thus not "held back" by poverty.
Or is it better for nature and economics to pick the winners, even when one winner may make enough for doing nothing to feed 10,000 mouths? There is that school of thought, that nature has its competitive elements set against each other so naturally via a process of elinimation
the best survival techniques are forwarded.
It is a little like arguing that without death life becomes unattractive. We need the limit to enable the engine to accelerate with any urgency. Vitality is not earned via force. Invasion of foreign will blunts the engagement of purpose. Authorship of ideas extends credibility.
Where is the Republican Experiement leading?
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Ending War
It strikes me as odd how the Right Wing debate is not so much "why are we fighting" as "those dirty Democrats caused all this!". Blaming the opposition is a necessity of our political philosophy - from the cradle of conflict we believe truth will emerge.
The Democrats want to withdraw the troops - at least Barak Obama does. In fact he wants to end all war everywhere if I read him right. Compare this with the most Right wing candidates like Fred Thompson, riding on his popular appeal certainly - but not short of a policy or two. His is one of the more popular candidate websites but then again so is Denis Kucinich.
The Republicans want everyone to swallow hard and accept that the Bush strategy is the correct strategy. Right wing talk boards resound with the justification that Islamofascism is "evil" and must be "destroyed". How many Republicans know one thing about Islam beyond framing it as "evil"? This type of thinking is masked racism.
Masked - as it is framed by ideology - but one could rephrase this and call it anti-semitism. This entire hatred and fear campaign against Islam is just plain wrong. The demonisation of an enemy is necessary in the comic book reality of the American media mind. He is a bad guy because he is a dictator. He is a fascist. He is an evil dictator. He is Evil.
So, Mr Bush - who is good? Those who agree with you that killing hundreds of thousands of people is ridding the world of terrorism? What do you think about the government of Burma? They seem to be copying your example.
The Democrats want to withdraw the troops - at least Barak Obama does. In fact he wants to end all war everywhere if I read him right. Compare this with the most Right wing candidates like Fred Thompson, riding on his popular appeal certainly - but not short of a policy or two. His is one of the more popular candidate websites but then again so is Denis Kucinich.
The Republicans want everyone to swallow hard and accept that the Bush strategy is the correct strategy. Right wing talk boards resound with the justification that Islamofascism is "evil" and must be "destroyed". How many Republicans know one thing about Islam beyond framing it as "evil"? This type of thinking is masked racism.
Masked - as it is framed by ideology - but one could rephrase this and call it anti-semitism. This entire hatred and fear campaign against Islam is just plain wrong. The demonisation of an enemy is necessary in the comic book reality of the American media mind. He is a bad guy because he is a dictator. He is a fascist. He is an evil dictator. He is Evil.
So, Mr Bush - who is good? Those who agree with you that killing hundreds of thousands of people is ridding the world of terrorism? What do you think about the government of Burma? They seem to be copying your example.
Left vs Right
Sister Toldjah » Tom Friedman: We need a 9/10 president in a post-9/11 world
Sister Toldjah won't take no nonsense from this lefty diatribe emiting - lefty...
Sister - someone is going to say you are feeling paranoid about your safety inside the barricades of protected USA soil. Protected by international loans financing a huge internal monitoring machine of people employed to detect a flicker of an eyelid out of place on the concourse, or the wrong person at the wrong place at the wrong time - whatever that may mean.
The true cost of terrorism is the reaction of grief and anger. The USA is well known for its most excessive citizens - it is just that they have rather a lot of them can afford plastic surgery to cure their minds of eternal boredom. The super-super wealthy worry about the dynamic placement of the decimal point at the end of a day or week more than the hunger of the children of their lowliest employee. It is unfortunate that the values that were borne of the New Deal (post Depression egalitarian recovery) did not survive the years of excess, nor was that generation exposed to building leaping poverty in quite the same way.
The last fifty years or so have been a success story in so far as wealth creation in the USA is concerned. Unquestionably. But how much of that wealth is being corroded by military adventures such as Iraq and Vietnam, that America would have been better off to avoid, perhaps.
What is being protected is the sense of success and empowerment over the rest of the world. Is that a good thing? Probably not. The USA needs to come out of this adolescent need for self adoration and obsession with appearances. Real wealth is not dependent upon attacking the rest of the world. It is reliant on the good faith of your friends and neighbours.
Also, as a comment on the Sistertoldjah.com site:
I think Friedman has a point - there is little point in America spending hundreds of billions of dollars on paranoid security if it stops investment that would a) stop bin Laden and b) encourage democracy and free trade everywhere.
The mistake is to think that war will achieve either goal. The left and right are both guilty of attacking each other for being what they are. Both sides of a political view are right and wrong. The war on terror has not achieved its basic objectives and seems to be feeding terror rather than destroying it. The US Government has no result for this war and that is why Friedman does have a point.
"Let's fight terrorism until we win, we will prevail!" is not reasonable strategic planning. Neither is sudden withdrawal, neither is continuing to fight. Americans need to stop criticizing each other and think more carefully about their country's strategy and direction.
Sister Toldjah won't take no nonsense from this lefty diatribe emiting - lefty...
another 9/10 lefty, still doesn’t understand is that those barriers weren’t meant to keep the good people out - they’re there to keep people who aim to do us harm from getting in
Sister - someone is going to say you are feeling paranoid about your safety inside the barricades of protected USA soil. Protected by international loans financing a huge internal monitoring machine of people employed to detect a flicker of an eyelid out of place on the concourse, or the wrong person at the wrong place at the wrong time - whatever that may mean.
The true cost of terrorism is the reaction of grief and anger. The USA is well known for its most excessive citizens - it is just that they have rather a lot of them can afford plastic surgery to cure their minds of eternal boredom. The super-super wealthy worry about the dynamic placement of the decimal point at the end of a day or week more than the hunger of the children of their lowliest employee. It is unfortunate that the values that were borne of the New Deal (post Depression egalitarian recovery) did not survive the years of excess, nor was that generation exposed to building leaping poverty in quite the same way.
The last fifty years or so have been a success story in so far as wealth creation in the USA is concerned. Unquestionably. But how much of that wealth is being corroded by military adventures such as Iraq and Vietnam, that America would have been better off to avoid, perhaps.
What is being protected is the sense of success and empowerment over the rest of the world. Is that a good thing? Probably not. The USA needs to come out of this adolescent need for self adoration and obsession with appearances. Real wealth is not dependent upon attacking the rest of the world. It is reliant on the good faith of your friends and neighbours.
Also, as a comment on the Sistertoldjah.com site:
I think Friedman has a point - there is little point in America spending hundreds of billions of dollars on paranoid security if it stops investment that would a) stop bin Laden and b) encourage democracy and free trade everywhere.
The mistake is to think that war will achieve either goal. The left and right are both guilty of attacking each other for being what they are. Both sides of a political view are right and wrong. The war on terror has not achieved its basic objectives and seems to be feeding terror rather than destroying it. The US Government has no result for this war and that is why Friedman does have a point.
"Let's fight terrorism until we win, we will prevail!" is not reasonable strategic planning. Neither is sudden withdrawal, neither is continuing to fight. Americans need to stop criticizing each other and think more carefully about their country's strategy and direction.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Stanislav Petrov saved the world
Stanislav Petrov - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On this day, in 1983, the end of the world was almost accidentally triggered.
Stanislav Petrov chose to consider that it was highly illogical that just 5 missiles should be detected by new satellite detection systems when ground radar picked up nothing (in tense ensuing minutes). Instead of triggering a Soviet attack based on false readings (it was in fact sunlight at a particular angle setting off the alarms) Petrov considered it quite implausible that the USA would attack with a handful of missiles.
He was disciplined for not reporting the false alarm and thus prevented a possible triggering of a nuclear war of the worst kind.
On this day, in 1983, the end of the world was almost accidentally triggered.
Stanislav Petrov chose to consider that it was highly illogical that just 5 missiles should be detected by new satellite detection systems when ground radar picked up nothing (in tense ensuing minutes). Instead of triggering a Soviet attack based on false readings (it was in fact sunlight at a particular angle setting off the alarms) Petrov considered it quite implausible that the USA would attack with a handful of missiles.
He was disciplined for not reporting the false alarm and thus prevented a possible triggering of a nuclear war of the worst kind.
Burma's poverty
China makes contingency plans for junta's fall - International Herald Tribune
What is the point of calling the Myanmar government "a communist regime" if a country becomes an "economically embattled nation" when it is sitting on massive "estimated reserves of three trillion cubic meters of natural gas and three billion barrels of crude oil"?
Myanmar is ruled by Military Junta, that does not sound very "communist" but their actions of coming down hard on protests once again, to the disgust of the rest of the world reveals that they are fascists - not communists. Force of will over a population is not communal - it is civil war being conducted by the military government to conquer the will of the people.
China is doing what it can to develop Myanmar as an important trading partner and the difference now is that China is doing this with capitalism. It is hard to decide which is better or worse for the USA or the global balance of power - but China's reawakening under authoritarian rule is, in its own way, no different to the democracy by design that has ruled the USA under Diebold sponsored Republican victories (if indeed that is what happened). It is hard to decide if China - a real politic "threat to democracy" in the 1950s is now less of a threat than the USA who has invaded and interfered with far more intimacy and with many more countries than China.
Yes, China overran Tibet. For that it is hard to forgive - having mixed with the happy go lucky spiritual people of Tibet - I would prefer to visit Tibet under China than Iraq under American control. Yes, it is because the Tibetans are not fighting the Chinese army - that is not to be seen as a sign of acceptance by Tibetans - because the Dali Lama was deported. The same saffron robed troublesome monks are now a problem in Burma. Buddhism used to be the greatest religion on Earth, but its model of measured behavior is no match for a gun. So, Buddhism is being reduced by the slow controlled acts of a nation bursting at the seams from its liberal use of the greatest weapon of all - over population.
The military junta in Burma/Myanmar is afraid of losing control of its population to democracy. Now would that be a problem to China?
What is the point of calling the Myanmar government "a communist regime" if a country becomes an "economically embattled nation" when it is sitting on massive "estimated reserves of three trillion cubic meters of natural gas and three billion barrels of crude oil"?
Myanmar is ruled by Military Junta, that does not sound very "communist" but their actions of coming down hard on protests once again, to the disgust of the rest of the world reveals that they are fascists - not communists. Force of will over a population is not communal - it is civil war being conducted by the military government to conquer the will of the people.
China is doing what it can to develop Myanmar as an important trading partner and the difference now is that China is doing this with capitalism. It is hard to decide which is better or worse for the USA or the global balance of power - but China's reawakening under authoritarian rule is, in its own way, no different to the democracy by design that has ruled the USA under Diebold sponsored Republican victories (if indeed that is what happened). It is hard to decide if China - a real politic "threat to democracy" in the 1950s is now less of a threat than the USA who has invaded and interfered with far more intimacy and with many more countries than China.
Yes, China overran Tibet. For that it is hard to forgive - having mixed with the happy go lucky spiritual people of Tibet - I would prefer to visit Tibet under China than Iraq under American control. Yes, it is because the Tibetans are not fighting the Chinese army - that is not to be seen as a sign of acceptance by Tibetans - because the Dali Lama was deported. The same saffron robed troublesome monks are now a problem in Burma. Buddhism used to be the greatest religion on Earth, but its model of measured behavior is no match for a gun. So, Buddhism is being reduced by the slow controlled acts of a nation bursting at the seams from its liberal use of the greatest weapon of all - over population.
The military junta in Burma/Myanmar is afraid of losing control of its population to democracy. Now would that be a problem to China?
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
No love lost
Perhaps President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a little taken aback to be diminished by a university chancellor, no matter how qualified. It was an extraordinary snub on the face of it, a foreign President visits and instead of finding a path to resolve differences it appears that the Iranian President was reduced, by diplomatic snub. It was not however delivered by the US Government (well, not visibly).
It is the aggressive stance made by Lee Bollinger, Chancellor of the University of Columbia (within the diplomatic 25 mile circle) the man who invited President Ahmadinejad to speak, and opened by calling him no less than an uneducated and dangerous tin pot leader, or words to that effect. In the eyes of the Iranian people, this is seen as bullying - and that meme should extend into accepting that it was the very intention of it, that the snub not be delivered by anyone of rank like the President, but it be delivered by a man of letters on the day before the UN address by both Presidents Ahmadinejad and Bush.
Constitutional freedom of speech is not a blood-right of Americans but the Constitution of the land. Think of it like this, the Forefathers believed it was necessary to not so much limit speech but to ensure the opportunity to listen to it. The Constitutional Amendments also ensure the right to bear arms, and thus the implicit acceptance that a certain percentage (of the American people) will be shot as a result. The Second Amendment is not the specific cause of shootings but guns are there to be fired as a result of it. They may of course be fired by American citizens or foreigners. The risks of free speech should not be realistically limited to American mouthed ideas only. That is small minded.
The staged event appears to be a precursor to further attacks by the Bush administration upon American Freedom and Democracy. The President of Iran may have his own political agenda, that is accepted as fact. But exactly what elements of life in Iran are so oppressive as to warrant war?
Iran is quite a different kettle of fish than either Iraq or Afghanistan. How much intelligence is there that genuinely supports the theory that Iran is developing nuclear weapons? America can not be pulled into war just because die-hard Bush fans think it should.
Has the U.S tabled significant evidence at the UN of the need to upset Iran again, or does it plan to do more extending the "war on terror" to include Iran with ground forces facing military engagement with the US or worse, something much worse.
And if President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could consider this - if the West believes Iran is developing the potential for carrying out your words that Israel would be knocked off the map - it may eventually form a coalition to fight Iran, and that would be stupid and tragic. Nobody objects to you having enough power for your people, but why make an example and consider other options than oil or coal or nuclear - for the sake of your people.
Nuclear energy has many hidden costs. Solar Energy is an investment and the wind is free.
It is the aggressive stance made by Lee Bollinger, Chancellor of the University of Columbia (within the diplomatic 25 mile circle) the man who invited President Ahmadinejad to speak, and opened by calling him no less than an uneducated and dangerous tin pot leader, or words to that effect. In the eyes of the Iranian people, this is seen as bullying - and that meme should extend into accepting that it was the very intention of it, that the snub not be delivered by anyone of rank like the President, but it be delivered by a man of letters on the day before the UN address by both Presidents Ahmadinejad and Bush.
Constitutional freedom of speech is not a blood-right of Americans but the Constitution of the land. Think of it like this, the Forefathers believed it was necessary to not so much limit speech but to ensure the opportunity to listen to it. The Constitutional Amendments also ensure the right to bear arms, and thus the implicit acceptance that a certain percentage (of the American people) will be shot as a result. The Second Amendment is not the specific cause of shootings but guns are there to be fired as a result of it. They may of course be fired by American citizens or foreigners. The risks of free speech should not be realistically limited to American mouthed ideas only. That is small minded.
The staged event appears to be a precursor to further attacks by the Bush administration upon American Freedom and Democracy. The President of Iran may have his own political agenda, that is accepted as fact. But exactly what elements of life in Iran are so oppressive as to warrant war?
Iran is quite a different kettle of fish than either Iraq or Afghanistan. How much intelligence is there that genuinely supports the theory that Iran is developing nuclear weapons? America can not be pulled into war just because die-hard Bush fans think it should.
Has the U.S tabled significant evidence at the UN of the need to upset Iran again, or does it plan to do more extending the "war on terror" to include Iran with ground forces facing military engagement with the US or worse, something much worse.
And if President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could consider this - if the West believes Iran is developing the potential for carrying out your words that Israel would be knocked off the map - it may eventually form a coalition to fight Iran, and that would be stupid and tragic. Nobody objects to you having enough power for your people, but why make an example and consider other options than oil or coal or nuclear - for the sake of your people.
Nuclear energy has many hidden costs. Solar Energy is an investment and the wind is free.
Monday, September 24, 2007
The Agenda Setting Edge
On a MB (Message Board) on The Agonist - one of the best blogs in the business:
"I meant Trade Center Bombing 1993, first year of Clinton in office same as 2001 for Bush. I think Al Qaeda likes first term Presidents, a point of weakness before they get their bearings."
Perhaps that is the pattern and why the USA developed a pattern of inevitability on election day every two cycles - GW Bush should not have won the last two elections on merit alone. Greeting a President with a potentially life changing act of terror gives Al Qaeda an agenda setting edge. How can the incumbent ignore the taint? It is this understanding of the political behaviour of their enemy - that is a concern as it has created a sense of preordained destiny in the political narrative of "America" (I think George Bush calls the U.S.A. "America" over and over and it leaks into the media, but Bush is the President of the U.S.A. - and referring to it as "America" is just winding Hugo Chavas up).
It is too late to save the Bush Administration from itself. "America" will suffer terribly as a result, and economically, if you read between the lines.
"I meant Trade Center Bombing 1993, first year of Clinton in office same as 2001 for Bush. I think Al Qaeda likes first term Presidents, a point of weakness before they get their bearings."
Perhaps that is the pattern and why the USA developed a pattern of inevitability on election day every two cycles - GW Bush should not have won the last two elections on merit alone. Greeting a President with a potentially life changing act of terror gives Al Qaeda an agenda setting edge. How can the incumbent ignore the taint? It is this understanding of the political behaviour of their enemy - that is a concern as it has created a sense of preordained destiny in the political narrative of "America" (I think George Bush calls the U.S.A. "America" over and over and it leaks into the media, but Bush is the President of the U.S.A. - and referring to it as "America" is just winding Hugo Chavas up).
It is too late to save the Bush Administration from itself. "America" will suffer terribly as a result, and economically, if you read between the lines.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Bill Clinton on the Daily Show
Clinton's main point toward the end of this friendly interview is how pork barrel politics - election fundraising activity is depriving the future leaders of sleep - and makes a case for public funding of campaigns.
It would make sense - where the Republicans have huge contributions from Halliburton and Diebold to their election efforts - the Democrats have moveon.org and Michael Moore (not as rich or influential to the final vote count).
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
The Rise of Private Armies
Making a killing: how private armies became a $120bn global industry - Independent Online Edition > Middle East
The evil side of war is the people who profit from it, and mercenaries are increasingly taking on this role with some enthusiasm. So much so, that the private armies of the world have created a massive $120bn industry. Labels like Blackwater and Halliburton are mentioned alongside political factions like the US Army, or the Iraqi Government or religious labels like Sunni or Jihad - these labels are the Trademarks of professional killers. Not content with being able to virtually print money by declaring a war, we now make killing into a commodity - death now belongs on balance sheets. The colonial war on the third world and control of its assets is not justice, it is government sanctioned piracy. It is the unfinished work of our grandparents fighting the Ottoman threat, fighting the Fascist threat, then the Communist threat, now its the threat from Islam.
When companies like Blackwater erupt in the news as responsible for a massacre of civilians one must wonder if the Allies (US and UK) are in fact the "good guys" or if we are carrying on with a tradition of evil towards the third world and indulging in apologetic "aid" as an appeasement to the marginalized.
The scandal is that the US taxpayer is funding these shadowy organisations that send in the thugs and charge clients Governments billions to employ professional soldiers who then shoot at the citizenry. Rather than expel Blackwater, the Government of Iraq should ask for a refund of US$100M for each citizen killed - make them commercially responsible for their job - that is primarily to bring safety to the citizens while protecting officials - a hard job to achieve considering suicide bombers, the "private army" on the other side of the equation.
One could compare the economic reasons for both the Blackwater contractor and the suicide bomber as motivated contractors, outside of the normal rules of war. The contractors are there because modern democratic Governments can not openly run huge military complexes the way they used to, the Vietnam war and 50,000 body bags of "our boys" is replaced by a fee. The death of professionals does not have the same political value as a tax payer funded soldier and private armies tend to invest heavily to protect their people where tax pay funded soldiers have wider priorities. So it seems like an attractive proposition - quietly sell the silver and fund the war by taking control of foreign assets. Then setup a puppet Government that administers the assets. Do private armies thus distort the picture?
Of course they do. But war is not justice. Quite the opposite. Conventions like Geneva prevent "inhumanity" on the battlefield and for POWs. These conventions have been torn up by the Bush bungled "war on terror". It make the acts of Al Qaeda seem historically pale, the fact that we return to the colonial invention, Iraq, and do everything possible to stir up a civil war. Makes me wonder if that was always going to be the plan, if there is a darker story at work in this post colonial world. The western powers are holding onto their power by any means and that has a lot to do with the scare mongering that has painted Iran as evil, painted North Korea as a misguided and introverted (evil) regime, painted Iraq as on the verge of launching nuclear weapons against European cities, maintained Al Qaeda by not decapitating it, a terrible mistake as Osama bin Laden invites more chaos in Pakistan and no doubt another large "staged event" like 9/11 is brewing.
The use of private armies is a direct result of the insane politics that ended the "Cold war". Instead of a USSR that would keep China busy for decades, we now have a Russia privately funding Iran, Iran funding Syria, a proxy war in Iraq between the US and Iran, Israel bombing Syria, North Korea providing nuclear materials to Syria and Iran, a dead duck in the White House. The vacuum in security following the collapse of the USSR created a fragmentation of the "forces of evil". It is no longer efficient to have a huge lumbering army - but as Israel is demonstrating to America, it is possible for limited airstrikes to work. To win so conclusively and instantly that nobody can argue. It is like when Clinton was in office and spent a few hundred million sending in cruise missiles to get Bin Laden instead of a few trillion sending in the troops to take control of the Middle East.
The evil side of war is the people who profit from it, and mercenaries are increasingly taking on this role with some enthusiasm. So much so, that the private armies of the world have created a massive $120bn industry. Labels like Blackwater and Halliburton are mentioned alongside political factions like the US Army, or the Iraqi Government or religious labels like Sunni or Jihad - these labels are the Trademarks of professional killers. Not content with being able to virtually print money by declaring a war, we now make killing into a commodity - death now belongs on balance sheets. The colonial war on the third world and control of its assets is not justice, it is government sanctioned piracy. It is the unfinished work of our grandparents fighting the Ottoman threat, fighting the Fascist threat, then the Communist threat, now its the threat from Islam.
When companies like Blackwater erupt in the news as responsible for a massacre of civilians one must wonder if the Allies (US and UK) are in fact the "good guys" or if we are carrying on with a tradition of evil towards the third world and indulging in apologetic "aid" as an appeasement to the marginalized.
The scandal is that the US taxpayer is funding these shadowy organisations that send in the thugs and charge clients Governments billions to employ professional soldiers who then shoot at the citizenry. Rather than expel Blackwater, the Government of Iraq should ask for a refund of US$100M for each citizen killed - make them commercially responsible for their job - that is primarily to bring safety to the citizens while protecting officials - a hard job to achieve considering suicide bombers, the "private army" on the other side of the equation.
One could compare the economic reasons for both the Blackwater contractor and the suicide bomber as motivated contractors, outside of the normal rules of war. The contractors are there because modern democratic Governments can not openly run huge military complexes the way they used to, the Vietnam war and 50,000 body bags of "our boys" is replaced by a fee. The death of professionals does not have the same political value as a tax payer funded soldier and private armies tend to invest heavily to protect their people where tax pay funded soldiers have wider priorities. So it seems like an attractive proposition - quietly sell the silver and fund the war by taking control of foreign assets. Then setup a puppet Government that administers the assets. Do private armies thus distort the picture?
Of course they do. But war is not justice. Quite the opposite. Conventions like Geneva prevent "inhumanity" on the battlefield and for POWs. These conventions have been torn up by the Bush bungled "war on terror". It make the acts of Al Qaeda seem historically pale, the fact that we return to the colonial invention, Iraq, and do everything possible to stir up a civil war. Makes me wonder if that was always going to be the plan, if there is a darker story at work in this post colonial world. The western powers are holding onto their power by any means and that has a lot to do with the scare mongering that has painted Iran as evil, painted North Korea as a misguided and introverted (evil) regime, painted Iraq as on the verge of launching nuclear weapons against European cities, maintained Al Qaeda by not decapitating it, a terrible mistake as Osama bin Laden invites more chaos in Pakistan and no doubt another large "staged event" like 9/11 is brewing.
The use of private armies is a direct result of the insane politics that ended the "Cold war". Instead of a USSR that would keep China busy for decades, we now have a Russia privately funding Iran, Iran funding Syria, a proxy war in Iraq between the US and Iran, Israel bombing Syria, North Korea providing nuclear materials to Syria and Iran, a dead duck in the White House. The vacuum in security following the collapse of the USSR created a fragmentation of the "forces of evil". It is no longer efficient to have a huge lumbering army - but as Israel is demonstrating to America, it is possible for limited airstrikes to work. To win so conclusively and instantly that nobody can argue. It is like when Clinton was in office and spent a few hundred million sending in cruise missiles to get Bin Laden instead of a few trillion sending in the troops to take control of the Middle East.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Iraq Expels Blackwater Security
Iraq Expels American Security Firm | World Latest | Guardian Unlimited
The Iraqi government sits up and pays attention. A military contractor Blackwater is in Iraq on protection detail to protect diplomatic personnel in Iraq. In one operation, eight Iraqi were shot after a car bomb attack. This presents a major problem to American negotiation efforts. How to ferry diplomats around without security? The army will have to do it, and that means more diplomatic attacks. Perhaps peace envoys from the UN would be less prone to be attacked.
This could spell the beginning of the actual end of US occupation in Iraq. One hopes that the Iraqi Government knows what it is going to do, but sometimes removing the viper from the nest makes for happier children, it certainly adds to the responsibility of the Al-Maliki government.
The use of mercenaries or professional soldiers and security in Iraq has a different set of accountability rules than soldiers. If they kill, they are civilians and could be held to account. Their firm will have to compensate victim families. This event is horrific, however the Iraqi response is the response any sane government would take to protect their sovereign rights.
You can't have a bunch of cowboys wreaking havoc in the street.
Now, what the heck is the US going to do about it?
The Iraqi government sits up and pays attention. A military contractor Blackwater is in Iraq on protection detail to protect diplomatic personnel in Iraq. In one operation, eight Iraqi were shot after a car bomb attack. This presents a major problem to American negotiation efforts. How to ferry diplomats around without security? The army will have to do it, and that means more diplomatic attacks. Perhaps peace envoys from the UN would be less prone to be attacked.
This could spell the beginning of the actual end of US occupation in Iraq. One hopes that the Iraqi Government knows what it is going to do, but sometimes removing the viper from the nest makes for happier children, it certainly adds to the responsibility of the Al-Maliki government.
The use of mercenaries or professional soldiers and security in Iraq has a different set of accountability rules than soldiers. If they kill, they are civilians and could be held to account. Their firm will have to compensate victim families. This event is horrific, however the Iraqi response is the response any sane government would take to protect their sovereign rights.
You can't have a bunch of cowboys wreaking havoc in the street.
Now, what the heck is the US going to do about it?
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Ahmed Zaoui Free - Is New Zealand a soft touch
Ahmed Zaoui has been accepted as a refugee in New Zealand and - finally - given clearance as not a security risk.
Letters to the Editor seem to be very divided about this. On one hand (the Left) there are those who see this as a victory over paranoia, and for human rights. On the other we have the paranoid murmurings that NZ is opening the doors to terrorists. They claim this precident means Osama bin Laden would have to be protected by our soft border security which they describe as a "soft touch".
More like a deadly fly trap, if you ever manage to catch one of those Australian or New Zealand border control fly on the wall documentary reality shows. Our customs service is quite ferocious and will put you on a plane back to where you came from if your documents are not in order. Ahmed Zaoui traveled on a false passport and destroyed it and declared refugee status on his arrival in 2002. He was placed into solitary confinement for 1 - 2 years. Until lawyer Deborah Manning started to help prove that the charges against Zaoui were at best generalised and possibly concocted which is hardly surprising as he was escaping the brutal military dictatorship that ousted the government he was a part of ... Ahmed Zaoui is Algerian. He has no history of terrorism, but being a politician had many contacts at various levels of the ousted opposition. He claims to be a man of peace, and his behaviour in this affair befits such a label.
I am fairly sure if Osama bin Laden were to arrive seeking shelter - the left wing liberal bleeding heart conspiracy would also hold him in jail, just as anyone would, and happily hand him over to the USA for his crimes and collect some healthy foreign exchange.
There is such a difference between a politician/professor/refugee of a brutal military coup and a billionaire/pendant/mass murderer. For some, it's like if they have beard or something. We have no right to jail people without reason. The War on Terror will only be won if we respect the human rights and democracy we pledge to defend.
Letters to the Editor seem to be very divided about this. On one hand (the Left) there are those who see this as a victory over paranoia, and for human rights. On the other we have the paranoid murmurings that NZ is opening the doors to terrorists. They claim this precident means Osama bin Laden would have to be protected by our soft border security which they describe as a "soft touch".
More like a deadly fly trap, if you ever manage to catch one of those Australian or New Zealand border control fly on the wall documentary reality shows. Our customs service is quite ferocious and will put you on a plane back to where you came from if your documents are not in order. Ahmed Zaoui traveled on a false passport and destroyed it and declared refugee status on his arrival in 2002. He was placed into solitary confinement for 1 - 2 years. Until lawyer Deborah Manning started to help prove that the charges against Zaoui were at best generalised and possibly concocted which is hardly surprising as he was escaping the brutal military dictatorship that ousted the government he was a part of ... Ahmed Zaoui is Algerian. He has no history of terrorism, but being a politician had many contacts at various levels of the ousted opposition. He claims to be a man of peace, and his behaviour in this affair befits such a label.
I am fairly sure if Osama bin Laden were to arrive seeking shelter - the left wing liberal bleeding heart conspiracy would also hold him in jail, just as anyone would, and happily hand him over to the USA for his crimes and collect some healthy foreign exchange.
There is such a difference between a politician/professor/refugee of a brutal military coup and a billionaire/pendant/mass murderer. For some, it's like if they have beard or something. We have no right to jail people without reason. The War on Terror will only be won if we respect the human rights and democracy we pledge to defend.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Challenge to Scientific Consensus on Global Warming
Challenge to Scientific Consensus on Global Warming: Analysis Finds Hundreds of Scientists Have Published Evidence Countering Man-Made Global Warming Fears - Press Release
"Global Warming" (and cooling) has always been a natural process! So are the natural processes that excessive pollution threaten to upset. What about the scale of extinctions since the industrial age started to poison rivers and air? These scientists correctly say an ice age would be worse that "global warming". Tell that to land owners who are affected by a sea level rise. If we abate pollution, it will not stop "global warming", but it may allow the trend to, one day, revert. If its a cycle, then its either naturally getting warmer or colder.
It seems a little irrelevant to worry about if its going to become warmer or colder if our risky activity could be projected into an outcome of life extinction. Sure the Earth may recover, but the dinosaurs did not.
Climate change is the present and real danger that we are causing. And poisoning our environment is just a crime against nature. It will pay us back. But we have already buried the worst culprits, the giants of pollution, until GW Bush came along and tried to keep America on top of the tables, but Asia will out-pollute them as they compete to try to catch up.
The world does not need another billion SUVs badly maintained in a Chinese economy that is collapsing in 2060 as their economic sunshine fades. One possible future.
"Global Warming" is the wrong target. The melting ice will not stop to examine tree rings. Change will occur with or without us, but we are contributing more than dinosaur flatulence and we should spend more on research into reducing our energy footprint. It is just responsible!
Harnessing free energy supports moderate growth. Burning all the oil competitively does not. It is time for the great nations of the world to stop competing for control of the Earth's resources and paid the true cost to this and future humanity, (as well as repair nature).
War is redundant if you can not support a decent quality of life for all citizens.
"Global Warming" (and cooling) has always been a natural process! So are the natural processes that excessive pollution threaten to upset. What about the scale of extinctions since the industrial age started to poison rivers and air? These scientists correctly say an ice age would be worse that "global warming". Tell that to land owners who are affected by a sea level rise. If we abate pollution, it will not stop "global warming", but it may allow the trend to, one day, revert. If its a cycle, then its either naturally getting warmer or colder.
It seems a little irrelevant to worry about if its going to become warmer or colder if our risky activity could be projected into an outcome of life extinction. Sure the Earth may recover, but the dinosaurs did not.
Climate change is the present and real danger that we are causing. And poisoning our environment is just a crime against nature. It will pay us back. But we have already buried the worst culprits, the giants of pollution, until GW Bush came along and tried to keep America on top of the tables, but Asia will out-pollute them as they compete to try to catch up.
The world does not need another billion SUVs badly maintained in a Chinese economy that is collapsing in 2060 as their economic sunshine fades. One possible future.
"Global Warming" is the wrong target. The melting ice will not stop to examine tree rings. Change will occur with or without us, but we are contributing more than dinosaur flatulence and we should spend more on research into reducing our energy footprint. It is just responsible!
Harnessing free energy supports moderate growth. Burning all the oil competitively does not. It is time for the great nations of the world to stop competing for control of the Earth's resources and paid the true cost to this and future humanity, (as well as repair nature).
War is redundant if you can not support a decent quality of life for all citizens.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Homegrown Terrorists in Germany
Muslim converts target Germany - Times Online - Home grown dissent exists in every country - but for dissenters to execute terror campaigns against their neighbors for the sole purpose of killing them - only encourages militant leaders to emerge. (For example: will Islam force another Bush upon the world by scaring the votors)?
Western Governments are becoming increasingly sensitive to the issue as perhaps ideological in nature. Nazi-ism was also idealogical in nature and witness the support its heartless faith acquired as its iron glove crushed freedom. But it was the reaction, by the allies - that burnt European cities. It is the reaction of Governments that raises the ante for the forces that reproduce terrorists. Breeding terror is the real cause for alarm.
When words like "surgical" are applied to acts of war, you can be fairly sure that civilians are still dying - why? Because they have.
Wars are not won or lost. People are lost. War becomes its own inevitability and should always be avoided unless the cancer is worse. Rebirth from utter destruction is expensive. There is no human condition, however desperate that requires annihilation. Even from despair, we find a way to reform ourselves, hence the wounds of war never heal, they are inherited.
...this one has shocked Germans more than any other: it has exposed the existence of a home-grown terrorist potential.
Home grown Islamic and other forms of terrorism existed before 9/11. Why it still shocks us is the same reason Bush gave for invading Iraq. Acts of war based on what ifs and profound logic have proven to breed terrorism, as totalitarianism will, also. It is up to people to turn the tide away from American interference, away from nuclear weapons, away from environmental damage, away from terror threat and back to putting our spare resources into understanding each other.
Rapid fundamentalism is the result of no education.
Western Governments are becoming increasingly sensitive to the issue as perhaps ideological in nature. Nazi-ism was also idealogical in nature and witness the support its heartless faith acquired as its iron glove crushed freedom. But it was the reaction, by the allies - that burnt European cities. It is the reaction of Governments that raises the ante for the forces that reproduce terrorists. Breeding terror is the real cause for alarm.
When words like "surgical" are applied to acts of war, you can be fairly sure that civilians are still dying - why? Because they have.
Wars are not won or lost. People are lost. War becomes its own inevitability and should always be avoided unless the cancer is worse. Rebirth from utter destruction is expensive. There is no human condition, however desperate that requires annihilation. Even from despair, we find a way to reform ourselves, hence the wounds of war never heal, they are inherited.
...this one has shocked Germans more than any other: it has exposed the existence of a home-grown terrorist potential.
Home grown Islamic and other forms of terrorism existed before 9/11. Why it still shocks us is the same reason Bush gave for invading Iraq. Acts of war based on what ifs and profound logic have proven to breed terrorism, as totalitarianism will, also. It is up to people to turn the tide away from American interference, away from nuclear weapons, away from environmental damage, away from terror threat and back to putting our spare resources into understanding each other.
Rapid fundamentalism is the result of no education.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Impeachment
This comment shows why America needs to impeach its President and Vice-President. Aside from the issue of poor war planning, and huge waste of strategic advantage that the Iraq war has been - the wire tapping issue - the hiding behind legislation brought specifically to hide the actions of the Bush Presidency from International law courts - war crimes committed with weapons of inhumane dimensions and extraordinary tactics - are enough to try, without getting into conspiracy theories however plausible.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes - New York Times
As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes - New York Times
As predicted, pollution is going to be more terrifying than war. Suffocation is not a nice way to kill off growth, but abuse of nature is not easy to recover from. Terrorism is a problem, but pollution is gathering steam, so to speak.
As predicted, pollution is going to be more terrifying than war. Suffocation is not a nice way to kill off growth, but abuse of nature is not easy to recover from. Terrorism is a problem, but pollution is gathering steam, so to speak.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Clinton's actions against Osama bin Laden.
Clinton's measured act of war against Osama bin Laden was documented in news media all over the world at the time as an attempt to get Osama bin Laden and a distraction from his legal problems.
One can not believe much of the ridiculously partisan and utter non-objective "Fox News" broadcasts as anything less than partisan propaganda.
The interview on Fox by Chris Wallace with Clinton was remarkable in that it shows how Fox operates. Not only do they attempt to trick and deceive an ex President into a false premise for interview but they drive Right Wing thinking. Fox appears to spread delusion. Now they are trying to curry up favor for a more insane war against Iran.
Perhaps the CIA report is also politicized. President HW Bush and President Regan also set the CIA on corrupt tasks like the Iran Contra debacle not to mention arming Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. But it is history, like the Cold War, like the Vietnam war - we can learn from it, but can do nothing much about it. But if we tell each other lies about it, and base our democratic choices based on emotions spirited up by Fox propaganda, then our future is defined.
We are fooling ourselves. Blaming Bill Clinton is just plain silly.
One can not believe much of the ridiculously partisan and utter non-objective "Fox News" broadcasts as anything less than partisan propaganda.
The interview on Fox by Chris Wallace with Clinton was remarkable in that it shows how Fox operates. Not only do they attempt to trick and deceive an ex President into a false premise for interview but they drive Right Wing thinking. Fox appears to spread delusion. Now they are trying to curry up favor for a more insane war against Iran.
Perhaps the CIA report is also politicized. President HW Bush and President Regan also set the CIA on corrupt tasks like the Iran Contra debacle not to mention arming Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. But it is history, like the Cold War, like the Vietnam war - we can learn from it, but can do nothing much about it. But if we tell each other lies about it, and base our democratic choices based on emotions spirited up by Fox propaganda, then our future is defined.
We are fooling ourselves. Blaming Bill Clinton is just plain silly.
To Withdraw or not?
Reading the full Bush commentary rather than just sound bites - makes one appreciate how good his speech writers are to be able to frame American war involvement only against the "end game" risk factors.
It is revealing that the Bush logic is based on a novel. America walked into Iraq and created havoc. Why? The Democrats can not answer for that, but they do expect to be able to take over the end game. How?
The Republicans will blame them for folding early. But the Bush policy to wipe out the insurgency requires killing every insurgent or removing their motivation.
Withdrawal is not the best solution. The current strategy is even worse. Polling public opinion does not inform, but restricts.
It is revealing that the Bush logic is based on a novel. America walked into Iraq and created havoc. Why? The Democrats can not answer for that, but they do expect to be able to take over the end game. How?
The Republicans will blame them for folding early. But the Bush policy to wipe out the insurgency requires killing every insurgent or removing their motivation.
Withdrawal is not the best solution. The current strategy is even worse. Polling public opinion does not inform, but restricts.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Nuclear terrorist deterrence
WorldNetDaily: Nuclear terrorist deterrence
MAD only worked because the Government of foreign entities are leaders of people who live and work together and identify under the banner of nationality. The language of the day before MAD - the decade of denial - the 1950s, when the US Government went to work on its people - brainwashing perhaps - or just the politics of denial. The US Government had stepped into the destructive WWII and won in Japan by dropping two small nuclear bombs. This act of surgery on a scale was more cruel, evil, brutal and decisive than any justification or demonisation of the Japanese that followed. No matter the reasoning - this was an act of a terrible god.
The "detente" and the Cold War it followed were a period of radical arming up by the USSR and America that defies belief. Why the world's wealth is squandered on war? Is our leadership irrational? They point to their opposition and say - we should threaten their holy sites and wonder why they want nuclear weapons as well? Compare the Bush doctrine at work with North Korea vs Iraq. Why invade one without pretext and give aid to the other who's "crazy" leaders invested in WMD when the brutal Saddam did not?
Because "time" changes everything. More to the point - the longer that you lie to the population, the larger the group of people who believe you.
The linked article is the danger. It reflects the end game belief in the Bush administration. The trouble is that the American military machine is in the hands of one man who could go off the rails and target the list of cities in the linked article.
The idea that the Muslim world - 20 or so countries like Indonesia - have just cause to arm themselves against a demonstrably unwise and agressive USA is the problem. The Bush-Cheney crimes against humanity so far may pale on what is to follow. This is the reason for impeachment - remove the insanity before large parts of the Middle East look like Iraq. Politically, America can now afford to not so much rely upon the body bag equation.
It is that Cheney wants to project to the Arab world that it must reform because America has the opportunity and ability to destroy the Arab world? The flexing of this muscle is only going to inspire support for a belligerent leadership.
It is the generalisation of death - the underlying threat of mass extermination that is the common concern. Is this evidence of George Bush manufacturing hatred so Americans feel compelled to direct hatred at "enemy" population centres due to the actions of this one evil organisation? That would be a war crime of such a scale it is not worth arguing about.
Consider also, America is doing what the linked article suggests - by trying to control the wealth generated by oil - they stand over the well being of a billion "others". Muslims assumed this stand after 9/11. America has not learned that it is not possible to fight a politically sustainable war - unless the purpose of it is nebulous. They have learned that to retain the power the bomb is rather necessary.
Bush started the the war in Iraq. He does not know how to stop it. This just not justify using an atom bomb, but an election. Impeach him before he does it.
MAD only worked because the Government of foreign entities are leaders of people who live and work together and identify under the banner of nationality. The language of the day before MAD - the decade of denial - the 1950s, when the US Government went to work on its people - brainwashing perhaps - or just the politics of denial. The US Government had stepped into the destructive WWII and won in Japan by dropping two small nuclear bombs. This act of surgery on a scale was more cruel, evil, brutal and decisive than any justification or demonisation of the Japanese that followed. No matter the reasoning - this was an act of a terrible god.
The "detente" and the Cold War it followed were a period of radical arming up by the USSR and America that defies belief. Why the world's wealth is squandered on war? Is our leadership irrational? They point to their opposition and say - we should threaten their holy sites and wonder why they want nuclear weapons as well? Compare the Bush doctrine at work with North Korea vs Iraq. Why invade one without pretext and give aid to the other who's "crazy" leaders invested in WMD when the brutal Saddam did not?
Because "time" changes everything. More to the point - the longer that you lie to the population, the larger the group of people who believe you.
The linked article is the danger. It reflects the end game belief in the Bush administration. The trouble is that the American military machine is in the hands of one man who could go off the rails and target the list of cities in the linked article.
The idea that the Muslim world - 20 or so countries like Indonesia - have just cause to arm themselves against a demonstrably unwise and agressive USA is the problem. The Bush-Cheney crimes against humanity so far may pale on what is to follow. This is the reason for impeachment - remove the insanity before large parts of the Middle East look like Iraq. Politically, America can now afford to not so much rely upon the body bag equation.
It is that Cheney wants to project to the Arab world that it must reform because America has the opportunity and ability to destroy the Arab world? The flexing of this muscle is only going to inspire support for a belligerent leadership.
It is the generalisation of death - the underlying threat of mass extermination that is the common concern. Is this evidence of George Bush manufacturing hatred so Americans feel compelled to direct hatred at "enemy" population centres due to the actions of this one evil organisation? That would be a war crime of such a scale it is not worth arguing about.
Consider also, America is doing what the linked article suggests - by trying to control the wealth generated by oil - they stand over the well being of a billion "others". Muslims assumed this stand after 9/11. America has not learned that it is not possible to fight a politically sustainable war - unless the purpose of it is nebulous. They have learned that to retain the power the bomb is rather necessary.
Bush started the the war in Iraq. He does not know how to stop it. This just not justify using an atom bomb, but an election. Impeach him before he does it.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
SCO Leaders Send a Message to U.S.
SCO Leaders Send a Message to U.S.
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Isaac Newton's principle applies to the real world politic in a whole new way due to George Bush and Dick Cheney and their false idea that American power bestows authority upon it even on the other side of the world.
It was not a fatal mistake, but a fatal philosophy that divided that world into "with America or with the Terrorists". It was a mistake as half the world can not subscribe to agreeing with America. So instead they have to disagree? And they do.
Newton's finite universe was superceded by Einstein's more slippery relativity. Bush still thinks that it is simply a matter of a tough reaction. Relations between the USA and the rest of the world have been reduced to "us and them" by these cowboys. Their fruitless policy has diminished America in the eyes of the world. They exposed their intention to dominate world policy and resources to the benefit of the "new American century". Benefits not based on improved trading relations sounds like the spoils of war.
Unfortunately for the American economy, there are no spoils of war but a massive debt, lots of death and a vastly more dangerous situation in Iraq and now Pakistan, with Bush having no authority is only able to point big guns and imply threat.
Dangerous and fruitless. The old imagined enemy and the new imagined enemy have got together with their thinking caps. In reality, however, the leaders of Russia and China have a lot to gain by preventing war.
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Isaac Newton's principle applies to the real world politic in a whole new way due to George Bush and Dick Cheney and their false idea that American power bestows authority upon it even on the other side of the world.
It was not a fatal mistake, but a fatal philosophy that divided that world into "with America or with the Terrorists". It was a mistake as half the world can not subscribe to agreeing with America. So instead they have to disagree? And they do.
Newton's finite universe was superceded by Einstein's more slippery relativity. Bush still thinks that it is simply a matter of a tough reaction. Relations between the USA and the rest of the world have been reduced to "us and them" by these cowboys. Their fruitless policy has diminished America in the eyes of the world. They exposed their intention to dominate world policy and resources to the benefit of the "new American century". Benefits not based on improved trading relations sounds like the spoils of war.
Unfortunately for the American economy, there are no spoils of war but a massive debt, lots of death and a vastly more dangerous situation in Iraq and now Pakistan, with Bush having no authority is only able to point big guns and imply threat.
Dangerous and fruitless. The old imagined enemy and the new imagined enemy have got together with their thinking caps. In reality, however, the leaders of Russia and China have a lot to gain by preventing war.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
CNNMoney.com Market Report - Aug. 15, 2007
CNNMoney.com Market Report - Aug. 15, 2007
As predicted when George Bush lowered taxes on the most wealthy and thus effectively increased the effect of tax and indirect tax on the average American; the share market is now diving to the levels its was at five years ago - when the Dow dips below 11,000 - it means that the confidence in the Bush presidency is not just low in the polls, but in the minds of investors. The economy is not growing, but the debts of the average American is out of control while investment in American industry and wealth creation falters.
Sad, but a real effect of betting on Texas snake oil.
As predicted when George Bush lowered taxes on the most wealthy and thus effectively increased the effect of tax and indirect tax on the average American; the share market is now diving to the levels its was at five years ago - when the Dow dips below 11,000 - it means that the confidence in the Bush presidency is not just low in the polls, but in the minds of investors. The economy is not growing, but the debts of the average American is out of control while investment in American industry and wealth creation falters.
Sad, but a real effect of betting on Texas snake oil.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Thursday, August 9, 2007
The 11th Hour
The most severe criminal act is destroying the world, the current leadership seem to think its the end of the world so why not burn everything up...
Real faith is shown by those who take the long term view. The one where their grandchildren have some air to breath, clean rivers and streams, abundant fish in the sea.
The film The 11th Hour by Leonardo Dicaprio addresses these issues. It looks inspiring and full of the kind of hope that drives people to do something positive.
I have been raving on about climate change for years here on disturbingtrends.org and agree - it is late in the game to be making a change to the way we behave - but act we must - and the sooner the easier - we must act politically and change the underlying philosophy. The philosophy must be revised because it is exactly our need to compete to survive that is the fire underlying our outstanding success in dominating all life on Earth.
Humans have quickly evolved intellect in order to see how we can reduce our impact. It requires less greedy and criminal motives. It requires a different motive for competitive behavior. We should moderate our population growth.
If we could reduce our footprint with technology it also requires us to retreat somewhat and let nature recover. Or we will bring another Great Flood upon ourselves, this time it will be for very clear scientific reasons.
From an article about Mikhail Gorbachev
GORBACHEV | All of us, but particularly in America, consume too much for the planet's well being. Americans are less than 5 percent of the world population, but use 30 percent of all the energy. Gradually, we need to abandon the model of consumer society. If we continue with this model, we will surely undermine nature. And that, in turn, will undermine the stability of our societies.
Real faith is shown by those who take the long term view. The one where their grandchildren have some air to breath, clean rivers and streams, abundant fish in the sea.
The film The 11th Hour by Leonardo Dicaprio addresses these issues. It looks inspiring and full of the kind of hope that drives people to do something positive.
I have been raving on about climate change for years here on disturbingtrends.org and agree - it is late in the game to be making a change to the way we behave - but act we must - and the sooner the easier - we must act politically and change the underlying philosophy. The philosophy must be revised because it is exactly our need to compete to survive that is the fire underlying our outstanding success in dominating all life on Earth.
Humans have quickly evolved intellect in order to see how we can reduce our impact. It requires less greedy and criminal motives. It requires a different motive for competitive behavior. We should moderate our population growth.
If we could reduce our footprint with technology it also requires us to retreat somewhat and let nature recover. Or we will bring another Great Flood upon ourselves, this time it will be for very clear scientific reasons.
From an article about Mikhail Gorbachev
GORBACHEV | All of us, but particularly in America, consume too much for the planet's well being. Americans are less than 5 percent of the world population, but use 30 percent of all the energy. Gradually, we need to abandon the model of consumer society. If we continue with this model, we will surely undermine nature. And that, in turn, will undermine the stability of our societies.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Corpse Bridges
The war on terror and the 77,000 unrepaired bridges across the USA are coming from the same basic problem. Infrastructure maintenance in the case of the bridges, and attention to detail with diplomacy both require strategic forward planning that was immature but advancing in the Clinton years and stopped without reason during the early Bush years.
In this article, Bush vetoes Democrat efforts to spend an additional $US631 million on road maintenance due to several hundred billion being spent on an expensive wasteful war in Iraq. It seems evident that maintenance has been inadequate and not budgetting for the maintenance of infrastructure could only be explained by considering this man genuinely belives the end is neigh - at least it appears to underlie and drive the blind directionless war logic. I think I compared Bush to Nero some years back. Bush is burning Iraq while fiddling the budget? I see a book called American Nero - the name is copyrighted right here.
It is not a good situation (unless you are a bridge builder or consultant engineer).
Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate, said that domestic programmes, such as replacing ageing infrastructure, had been short-changed because of the billions being spent on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"Since 9/11 we have taken our eye off the ball," he said.
The Democrats had proposed spending $631m (£309m) more on federal highway safety than Mr Bush budgeted for but he had threatened to veto the proposal.
William Wilkins, of Trip, a transport thinktank, estimated that $65bn would be needed to replace the ageing bridges.
In this article, Bush vetoes Democrat efforts to spend an additional $US631 million on road maintenance due to several hundred billion being spent on an expensive wasteful war in Iraq. It seems evident that maintenance has been inadequate and not budgetting for the maintenance of infrastructure could only be explained by considering this man genuinely belives the end is neigh - at least it appears to underlie and drive the blind directionless war logic. I think I compared Bush to Nero some years back. Bush is burning Iraq while fiddling the budget? I see a book called American Nero - the name is copyrighted right here.
It is not a good situation (unless you are a bridge builder or consultant engineer).
Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate, said that domestic programmes, such as replacing ageing infrastructure, had been short-changed because of the billions being spent on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"Since 9/11 we have taken our eye off the ball," he said.
The Democrats had proposed spending $631m (£309m) more on federal highway safety than Mr Bush budgeted for but he had threatened to veto the proposal.
William Wilkins, of Trip, a transport thinktank, estimated that $65bn would be needed to replace the ageing bridges.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Sustained Economy for Housing
Economic sustainability does not require endless growth of humanity. Should we continue to accept that greed as prime motivator of capitalistic instincts is actually "civilising"?
Locking up the rich and famous into gated virtual worlds makes a lot of sense. If they can not win the hearts and minds of the unrewarded/uncivilised - then the wealthy can at least hide from them.
The reason housing estates became ghettos is the lack of any economic rationale to improve them. The 21st century mega tower must be self contained as that provides an internal economy. Add solar panels and we are seeing a model of energy sustainability.
Upward expansion is also limited but the ability to control environmental impact with an economic impetus to maintain it makes a whole lot of sense. A housing estate that could maintain its own medical facility, other common facilities, common security and agreed rules is a small village.
If we stop growing, towering communities becomes a logical way to withdraw our footprint on nature.
Locking up the rich and famous into gated virtual worlds makes a lot of sense. If they can not win the hearts and minds of the unrewarded/uncivilised - then the wealthy can at least hide from them.
The reason housing estates became ghettos is the lack of any economic rationale to improve them. The 21st century mega tower must be self contained as that provides an internal economy. Add solar panels and we are seeing a model of energy sustainability.
Upward expansion is also limited but the ability to control environmental impact with an economic impetus to maintain it makes a whole lot of sense. A housing estate that could maintain its own medical facility, other common facilities, common security and agreed rules is a small village.
If we stop growing, towering communities becomes a logical way to withdraw our footprint on nature.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
The Energy of Progress
Al Gore may be right that ultimately it is up to every individual to believe that change is possible, in order that politically we choose leaders who advance progress in priority to growth. On the 07/07/2007 we all swung away from unrestrained capitalism as the only panacea necessary to allow us to thrive in harmony most successfully.
It is really only the political consideration that matters, for, ultimately we may care how many plastic bags make poisonous pits out of landfills but that does not stop the factory down the road from making the local river murky and lifeless.
It has only been political change that has allowed us to control our impact upon the environment. And for America this provides an alternative impetus for progress. What is progress? It is invention, finding a better way to do it. And these days cleaner and environmentally friendly is going to become something as important and enforceable as any other law.
US Industry is growing at 1% per annum. It is already a substantial contributor to global warming because it requires so much energy. If we draw the energy from burning coal, as seems "politically realistic" it will be with advantages in air filtration and clean burning technologies that do not emit excessive CO2 or other gases that poison the environment.
Understanding the problem is hard enough for the scientific community so one can not expect political change unless the addiction to growth is not curbed. Political change needs to encompass stronger motivations for choosing to advance the case for free power generation using large batteries of wind farms.
Taking the energy from the air seems logical as a counter measure to climate change. Scientific analysis of this effect may well prove important if the religion of growth is continued. Our climate is like the Earth's circulatory system. We got to learn to stop screwing with it to get our energy.
Free passive energy can obtained with solar cells. If every rooftop in America was covered with power generating solar cells, power would be free.
If the environmental cost was assessed and taxed to every business in the world, we could make progress to ensure our safety.
It is political for the same reason that it would be very hard to stop someone competing in a race, for example, after they had prepared for it. You would have to have a very good reason.
The most convincing commercial argument to prevent climate change is that there is rather a lot of money to be made.
It is really only the political consideration that matters, for, ultimately we may care how many plastic bags make poisonous pits out of landfills but that does not stop the factory down the road from making the local river murky and lifeless.
It has only been political change that has allowed us to control our impact upon the environment. And for America this provides an alternative impetus for progress. What is progress? It is invention, finding a better way to do it. And these days cleaner and environmentally friendly is going to become something as important and enforceable as any other law.
US Industry is growing at 1% per annum. It is already a substantial contributor to global warming because it requires so much energy. If we draw the energy from burning coal, as seems "politically realistic" it will be with advantages in air filtration and clean burning technologies that do not emit excessive CO2 or other gases that poison the environment.
Understanding the problem is hard enough for the scientific community so one can not expect political change unless the addiction to growth is not curbed. Political change needs to encompass stronger motivations for choosing to advance the case for free power generation using large batteries of wind farms.
Taking the energy from the air seems logical as a counter measure to climate change. Scientific analysis of this effect may well prove important if the religion of growth is continued. Our climate is like the Earth's circulatory system. We got to learn to stop screwing with it to get our energy.
Free passive energy can obtained with solar cells. If every rooftop in America was covered with power generating solar cells, power would be free.
If the environmental cost was assessed and taxed to every business in the world, we could make progress to ensure our safety.
It is political for the same reason that it would be very hard to stop someone competing in a race, for example, after they had prepared for it. You would have to have a very good reason.
The most convincing commercial argument to prevent climate change is that there is rather a lot of money to be made.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Out of Reach
The rhetoric inside America is that of bring back our boys and girls. This film shows what they are doing, how effective they are occupying a foreign land that seems embarressed by the stupidity of their invaders, when asked if he was scared, the quietly seated local shakes his head.
The trouble with fighting an unjust war is there can be no logic behind the actions of on the ground operators. How can their actions be seen as anything but brutal and out of sync with reality by the cowed populations over which the terms of life are dictated and their lives bruised by the use of force without real intent.
When asked about what they are doing, the American soldier says "I am just doing my job."
If American forces are going to be in Iraq, they at least need to know their purpose. They need to earn respect rather than the disgust and fear that seems to welcome them.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Pollution shortens human life
It is the obvious things that kill us. Standing on a street corner - if you wait long enough - you are probably bound to be hit by a speeding or drunk motorist as one Auckland homeless woman sadly was quite recently. But do not despair, just standing there and breathing in the particles from the exhaust of cars is fairly likely to knock a whole lot of years from your lifetime, here on Earth.
Breathing excess particle pollutants causes damage to arteries and lungs. As if someone had to discover this... Hey everyone - get this - pollution is not just bad for the environment, it is shortening the time you have to pay off your mortgage, time left to save up for that car, that boat or holiday. No wonder sales suffer!
Each diesil powered SUV stuck in traffic is a community attached to a smoking cigarette. So much to do, so little time - no - the lastest just in is rush a little faster as the pollution caused by everyone competing for "wealth" will remove several years from your life.
If we all just treated life as the sane tortoise - one bit to the next - rather than competing to become super consumers - insanely rushing from one thing to the next without so much as breath - we may live to enjoy the fruits of our labours.
The numbers killed in war are too small to affect most, but - do not be concerned - pollution is going to get every one who lives in a city and breaths. There should be a warning on the borders: warning, city, breathing can cause sudden death.
Breathing excess particle pollutants causes damage to arteries and lungs. As if someone had to discover this... Hey everyone - get this - pollution is not just bad for the environment, it is shortening the time you have to pay off your mortgage, time left to save up for that car, that boat or holiday. No wonder sales suffer!
Each diesil powered SUV stuck in traffic is a community attached to a smoking cigarette. So much to do, so little time - no - the lastest just in is rush a little faster as the pollution caused by everyone competing for "wealth" will remove several years from your life.
If we all just treated life as the sane tortoise - one bit to the next - rather than competing to become super consumers - insanely rushing from one thing to the next without so much as breath - we may live to enjoy the fruits of our labours.
The numbers killed in war are too small to affect most, but - do not be concerned - pollution is going to get every one who lives in a city and breaths. There should be a warning on the borders: warning, city, breathing can cause sudden death.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
The End Game
While George Bush is under general anesthetic - if Cheney had a medical emergency with one of his quadruple bypasses or Lipitor scheduling error, and Bush did not wake up for a while, we would have an America firmly out of the control of Republicans. Would that mean that any change of direction may occur - perhaps a rush to file papers for impeachment could be a good idea, and get in before the anesthetic wears off. It is what they would do.
Seriously, long shots like medical error on the President while Cheney is cleaning his rifle may change the nature of this crop of Democrats but if an election were to be held today how could a Republican win? The advance media for Hilary is replacing good press day for the President. She is seen as articulate where Bush is heard bumbling. Obama is seen as relevant, alive - where Cheney is only kept alive by modern medical miracles.
Bush is faced with the cost of his primary error. Invading Iraq when he did not absolutely have to, he lost the extraordinary morale high ground granted by the obscenity on the American psyche; and yet as Osama bin Laden is walking free, even if only in their thoughts, the bulk of their military muscle is being exposed to a civil war it started by undoing the chain letter of death threats that was Saddam's rule.
What it such a good idea? Right-minded Americans find rationales to believe it is of course a good thing - but will American democracy sustain the attack long enough to do any good? These are just excuses to keep the war going indefinitely and are no longer ringing true to the electorate.
Bush will run out of time before ending this war. He will leave it to the next President to sort out, because his domestic agenda will take over. He will suddenly be having to make making handsome gestures to maintain his office.
There is no end game in the foreseeable future unless Mr Bush just cuts and runs from Iraq.
Site back to normal
One of the uses of domain names and blog sites is to trial out new or possibly better hosting services before recommending them to clients. There are certain criteria we examine carefully to try to ensure that client websites are not suddenly made unavilable through intervention for whatever reason by the hosting company. This means that we offer a remote DNS service as well as very fast hosting with lots of capability.
We are pleased to have regained control of both disturbingtrends.org and dtrends.org.
Now to get on with predicting the most exciting part of George Bush as President. The end game.
We are pleased to have regained control of both disturbingtrends.org and dtrends.org.
Now to get on with predicting the most exciting part of George Bush as President. The end game.
Monday, July 2, 2007
U.S. Ties Iran to Deadly Iraq Attack
U.S. Ties Iran to Deadly Iraq Attack - New York Times
America accuses Iran of war involvement. A Shiite country trying to affect change for Shiite dominance seems fairly natural, as natural as, say, a coalition of countries that was formed to invade Iraq - under the auspices of the UN. Naturally, aid to the "enemy" is seen as an "act of war" by America - but America must define who their enemy is. I thought it was al Qaida and America probably thought so too.
It is probably more true to say that it is a flawed philosophy behind this war rather than bring peace to the region. America should just take over the administration of Iraq and declare itself the winner. All this fluffing about with a defective Iraqi government seems like the right thing to do, but why does America need to be seen as a savior, rather than the exhibit greed or insecurity behind this Texan invasion of an oil rich jewel of the East?
Or is that what American intelligence wants is to think. Invade! Kill! Destroy! as a philosophy is not achieving much. Heck, if Australia invaded Canada, guess which side America would give military aid to?
America accuses Iran of war involvement. A Shiite country trying to affect change for Shiite dominance seems fairly natural, as natural as, say, a coalition of countries that was formed to invade Iraq - under the auspices of the UN. Naturally, aid to the "enemy" is seen as an "act of war" by America - but America must define who their enemy is. I thought it was al Qaida and America probably thought so too.
It is probably more true to say that it is a flawed philosophy behind this war rather than bring peace to the region. America should just take over the administration of Iraq and declare itself the winner. All this fluffing about with a defective Iraqi government seems like the right thing to do, but why does America need to be seen as a savior, rather than the exhibit greed or insecurity behind this Texan invasion of an oil rich jewel of the East?
Or is that what American intelligence wants is to think. Invade! Kill! Destroy! as a philosophy is not achieving much. Heck, if Australia invaded Canada, guess which side America would give military aid to?
Sunday, July 1, 2007
4 Held in Scottish Attack as British See Broader Plot
4 Held in Scottish Attack as British See Broader Plot - New York Times
The terror that hit the shores of Manhattan and thus the whole USA were the stuff of monster movies. Lurching large and with lots of dust, smoke, death and mayhem.
It was no wonder America, indeed the world was scarred by this dirty simple act of extraordinary horror. Invading Iraq did not exorcise the demon from the simple determination of an oilman, waiting for this one to blow?
Now the terrorism in the UK is from the disaffected sons of criminal dissidents who do not understand their religion. Like George Bush, they take their sacred words as some kind of political imperative, and for that both sides of this war may be best understood as following false goals.
More commonly put, they are making God awful mistakes with their power. One hopes that Gordon Brown's brief stab at running things will make a difference. It may be the best chance he has as an incumbent against the Tories. Perhaps that is the reason for the timing.
The terror that hit the shores of Manhattan and thus the whole USA were the stuff of monster movies. Lurching large and with lots of dust, smoke, death and mayhem.
It was no wonder America, indeed the world was scarred by this dirty simple act of extraordinary horror. Invading Iraq did not exorcise the demon from the simple determination of an oilman, waiting for this one to blow?
Now the terrorism in the UK is from the disaffected sons of criminal dissidents who do not understand their religion. Like George Bush, they take their sacred words as some kind of political imperative, and for that both sides of this war may be best understood as following false goals.
More commonly put, they are making God awful mistakes with their power. One hopes that Gordon Brown's brief stab at running things will make a difference. It may be the best chance he has as an incumbent against the Tories. Perhaps that is the reason for the timing.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Iran 'unable to take Australians'
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iran 'unable to take Australians'
The SECRET is out! All this colonisation and cricket was not for nought. Indeed. Her Majesty's forces went quietly were the Australians resisted. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards were unable to to capture and ransom for political capital these intrepid Australian sailors.
That "political capital" is an illusion. The UK had 15 sailors taken prisoner by a country who's president had to be seen releasing the prisoners before a serious standoff with Her Majesty's Naval Forces. Now we can understand it was due to a brewing fear of the Aussies who really take this kind of thing seriously. One can imagine their earnest roughness all bruising into action at the clanging sounds of ships alarm battlestations, smoke, fire and explosions all about to erupt - but because its sort of "local" we (in New Zealand) remain unshocked - as though by a cloud of non-reality. The "war games in the Gulf" sneaking into recent news items and the mad scientists sponsored by a Persian sheikdom play shadows in our fear.
The hardest and most worthwhile battle of all is to solve things without weapons and soldiers. The West has a tendancy to view itself as the "civil" side of the equation. The side that is the "natural winner" that has convinced its populace of its right and legitimacy.
Germany was high jacked by an evil, authoritarian, insane war monger given confidence of the fear he could engender by killing people. And American fears of a sponsored repeat of this in Saddam Hussein justifies a war that will soon justify more skirmishes.
The point is not who is right or wrong. America is in a foreign land and establishing itself as a viable military force permanently. One of these days it will simply be able to react anywhere in the world. No wonder Putin gets a little edgy. America has beaten the Soviet dream into insignificance.
The SECRET is out! All this colonisation and cricket was not for nought. Indeed. Her Majesty's forces went quietly were the Australians resisted. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards were unable to to capture and ransom for political capital these intrepid Australian sailors.
That "political capital" is an illusion. The UK had 15 sailors taken prisoner by a country who's president had to be seen releasing the prisoners before a serious standoff with Her Majesty's Naval Forces. Now we can understand it was due to a brewing fear of the Aussies who really take this kind of thing seriously. One can imagine their earnest roughness all bruising into action at the clanging sounds of ships alarm battlestations, smoke, fire and explosions all about to erupt - but because its sort of "local" we (in New Zealand) remain unshocked - as though by a cloud of non-reality. The "war games in the Gulf" sneaking into recent news items and the mad scientists sponsored by a Persian sheikdom play shadows in our fear.
The hardest and most worthwhile battle of all is to solve things without weapons and soldiers. The West has a tendancy to view itself as the "civil" side of the equation. The side that is the "natural winner" that has convinced its populace of its right and legitimacy.
Germany was high jacked by an evil, authoritarian, insane war monger given confidence of the fear he could engender by killing people. And American fears of a sponsored repeat of this in Saddam Hussein justifies a war that will soon justify more skirmishes.
The point is not who is right or wrong. America is in a foreign land and establishing itself as a viable military force permanently. One of these days it will simply be able to react anywhere in the world. No wonder Putin gets a little edgy. America has beaten the Soviet dream into insignificance.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Hamas - entitlement to power?
Do Hamas have a right to power despite them perhaps being destructive to the future of a settled Palestine? They were voted in by the popular vote. Democratic action by the people and their election set the scene for more potential grief for Palestine. Things are getting worse before they improve. Much worse it seems.
Democracy is not perfect. It is an evolutionary system - meaning that it is self correcting. If the Palestinians need a stupid terrorist Government in control - they are facing the unbalanced Israeli control regime with fire. Bad choice. But it was a choice, was it not?
The entry of militia into politics is unfortunate and really the same thing as a military dictatorship. It is the mandate of an oppressed, excluded and therefore angry people.
Without damage to Israel, a solution that causes progress may be more tenable after Hamas has convinced the poor of Palestine that the struggle is not the solution. Until they hit rock bottom, how will they disclaim their addiction to violence?
Democracy is not perfect. It is an evolutionary system - meaning that it is self correcting. If the Palestinians need a stupid terrorist Government in control - they are facing the unbalanced Israeli control regime with fire. Bad choice. But it was a choice, was it not?
The entry of militia into politics is unfortunate and really the same thing as a military dictatorship. It is the mandate of an oppressed, excluded and therefore angry people.
Without damage to Israel, a solution that causes progress may be more tenable after Hamas has convinced the poor of Palestine that the struggle is not the solution. Until they hit rock bottom, how will they disclaim their addiction to violence?
Thursday, June 14, 2007
7/7/07
The concert to save the world. I remember the Concert for Bangladesh - put on by George Harrison - while Bono was still a schoolkid. Joe Cocker, Leon Russell. Yes - remember it. 7/7/07 signals the age of terror is going to have to make way for saving the world.
The actual world. It coming down with a fever and it will cost humanity more than money, it will change nearly everything - health, commerce, trade, the value of commodities, most of all, water. If parts of the world become less and less habitable then what will we be able to do about it? We need habitats to support life. We need to be alive to do anything about it. So 7/7/07 seems the time for the world to wake up to the fact that the addiction to oil, SUVs and pollution will murder their own grandchildren.
Technorati Profile
The actual world. It coming down with a fever and it will cost humanity more than money, it will change nearly everything - health, commerce, trade, the value of commodities, most of all, water. If parts of the world become less and less habitable then what will we be able to do about it? We need habitats to support life. We need to be alive to do anything about it. So 7/7/07 seems the time for the world to wake up to the fact that the addiction to oil, SUVs and pollution will murder their own grandchildren.
Technorati Profile
Monday, June 4, 2007
The Green Bush
So, George Bush, having polluted the world with wars over oil wants us to suddenly believe that his heart is in it when he suddenly proclaims that China, India, Russia and the major pollution culprit America will respond to his sudden "decision" that they will somehow control the forces that affect our world?
It's a horrible sham, and a very dangerous one at that.
It's a horrible sham, and a very dangerous one at that.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Bush predicts bloody summer in Iraq
Bush predicts bloody summer in Iraq - New Zealand's source for World News on Stuff.co.nz
George Bush finally looks like he has fallen over the edge - the edge when a president no longer wants makeup artists fussing before a camera explores ones frailty. As he predicts a bloody summer of violence in Iraq he does not seem to realise that his actions are not inspiring peace. "Modern war" is still a barbaric excuse for not communicating.
Yes, it is going to be a bloody summer.
Just imagine if George Bush had conceded to Al Gore all those years ago. Al would have been able to do some sums and would have sent 100,000 troops plus into Afghanistan and followed this up with 100,000 civilians to rebuild the country after isolating the Taliban. Iraq was in need of attention, yes, but invasion may be seen as a breach of trust by the citizens.
What gets me is that George Bush has said nothing about how to make things better in Iraq, only how he will wage war on Iraq - and why? To kill terrorists. Where do they keep coming from? They grow up hating those that impose upon their country. It is generally accepted by invading Iraq created more terrorists. Bush is the grand executioner of fools drawn to the battle for reasons of religious zealotry.
What is transpiring is nothing less than a huge waste of humanity and is a great tragedy and a terrible sin, on both sides.
George Bush finally looks like he has fallen over the edge - the edge when a president no longer wants makeup artists fussing before a camera explores ones frailty. As he predicts a bloody summer of violence in Iraq he does not seem to realise that his actions are not inspiring peace. "Modern war" is still a barbaric excuse for not communicating.
Yes, it is going to be a bloody summer.
Just imagine if George Bush had conceded to Al Gore all those years ago. Al would have been able to do some sums and would have sent 100,000 troops plus into Afghanistan and followed this up with 100,000 civilians to rebuild the country after isolating the Taliban. Iraq was in need of attention, yes, but invasion may be seen as a breach of trust by the citizens.
What gets me is that George Bush has said nothing about how to make things better in Iraq, only how he will wage war on Iraq - and why? To kill terrorists. Where do they keep coming from? They grow up hating those that impose upon their country. It is generally accepted by invading Iraq created more terrorists. Bush is the grand executioner of fools drawn to the battle for reasons of religious zealotry.
What is transpiring is nothing less than a huge waste of humanity and is a great tragedy and a terrible sin, on both sides.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
The Assault on Reason - Al Gore
The Assault on Reason - Al Gore - Book - Review - New York Times
Al Gore has published a book that agrees with pretty much everything written on this blog over the years. Basically it takes George W Bush's presidency to pieces. It criticizes the inaction preceding 9/11, the fruitless war waged on Islam that wastes massive resources and for what?
He criticizes the secret authorization of the National Security Agency to eavesdrop without a court order on telephone calls and e-mail messages between the United States and other countries, and its suspension of the rights of due process for “enemy combatants”. He says these acts demonstrate “a disrespect for America’s Constitution that has now brought our republic to the brink of a dangerous breach in the fabric of democracy.”
This is not a polite criticism. No, like Disturbing Trends, Al Gore has taken a harsher approach to the actions of the man who stole his job.
Al Gore has published a book that agrees with pretty much everything written on this blog over the years. Basically it takes George W Bush's presidency to pieces. It criticizes the inaction preceding 9/11, the fruitless war waged on Islam that wastes massive resources and for what?
He criticizes the secret authorization of the National Security Agency to eavesdrop without a court order on telephone calls and e-mail messages between the United States and other countries, and its suspension of the rights of due process for “enemy combatants”. He says these acts demonstrate “a disrespect for America’s Constitution that has now brought our republic to the brink of a dangerous breach in the fabric of democracy.”
This is not a polite criticism. No, like Disturbing Trends, Al Gore has taken a harsher approach to the actions of the man who stole his job.
Monday, May 21, 2007
More Al Gore
Will Al Gore run for president?
Maybe. But there is a nice sub ed article in the New York Times.
Maybe. But there is a nice sub ed article in the New York Times.
US Embassy in Iraq
It's a city within a city. A citidal housing the American Embassey, larger than the Vatican. Does this seem like some kind of cruel hoax to the Iraqi on the street? How could it be seen as anything other than the Americans snuggling up too closely? Actually, it is better to build am embassey than a fortress, diplomacy may create a pathway to peace now that roadmaps all seem to lead to more war. It seems a typically domainant and agreesive stance that is all to familiar by this Bush administration.
The strict insistence on continuing the war in Iraq is the Cheney doctrine. Do not let one day go by when his frat buddies who run Halliburton could be amassing more cash from "facilitating" Iraq oil distribution.
The strict insistence on continuing the war in Iraq is the Cheney doctrine. Do not let one day go by when his frat buddies who run Halliburton could be amassing more cash from "facilitating" Iraq oil distribution.
Friday, May 18, 2007
New Climate Change Danger
Rapid rise in global warming is forecast-News-UK-Science-TimesOnline
Scientists have identified a new danger in the Climate Change box of tricks. It seems that the Southern Seas are starting to not absorb as much CO2 as before. This could mean a precipitous rise in the degree of CO2 in the atmosphere and therefore sudden changes to the conditions that produce our relatively mild climate.
We have been predicting that Climate Change would be precipitous and unpredictable and a far worse problem than we believe it will be.
But we had hoped this was not just around the corner. If they do not stop the burning of the rain forests then it will be far worse.
How are we going to act, before its too late?
Scientists have identified a new danger in the Climate Change box of tricks. It seems that the Southern Seas are starting to not absorb as much CO2 as before. This could mean a precipitous rise in the degree of CO2 in the atmosphere and therefore sudden changes to the conditions that produce our relatively mild climate.
We have been predicting that Climate Change would be precipitous and unpredictable and a far worse problem than we believe it will be.
But we had hoped this was not just around the corner. If they do not stop the burning of the rain forests then it will be far worse.
How are we going to act, before its too late?
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Wolfowitz to resign as World Bank
Wolfowitz to resign as World Bank president | Business | Guardian Unlimited Business
Wolfowitz has to resign as the head of the World Bank because of his intransigent nepotism.
Wolfowitz has to resign as the head of the World Bank because of his intransigent nepotism.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
Al Qaeda tactics expand in Gaza
Al Qaeda tactics expand in Gaza | csmonitor.com
WW III ALERT
Disturbing Trends has defined Al Qaeda as a "cult". It leaches adherents from the fringes of a very large pool of disaffected young people who see the West as the puppet masters that keeps them poor. The West is still reeling from its colonial guilt, those reigns and the passing of control of oil wealth to these countries have resulted in a capitalism so strong and confined that over 95% of Saudi Arabia do not share in the oil wealth but live in poverty.
The only way to unlight this fuse is to develop alternative means of propulsion and now. That would reduce the incomes of the ruling class and force them to invest the currently unvalued communities and only by investing their wealth in others should they maintain relevance.
Of course democracy is the answer, but war destroys democracy, if you are fighting civilians drawn from the encroaching fringes of madness fueled by the very conflict America and Mr Bush are seeking to douse.
The "madness fueled from the encroaching fringes" is a cult - it is a way of thinking and drawing your rash young zealots into a war they do not belong in. They deserve gainful employment in their own country due to the investment by their leaders. Look at Dubai and compare its prosperity with the Saudi street.
Cult is one of those words that makes people distance themselves, unless they are rebelling against the mold in which it becomes a focus of identity.
That Al Qaeda becomes the locus of Arab identity is the real danger. That is grows as a movement is a reason to alert your leaders that WW III is a risk now faced if war continues to manufacture terrorists.
WW III ALERT
Disturbing Trends has defined Al Qaeda as a "cult". It leaches adherents from the fringes of a very large pool of disaffected young people who see the West as the puppet masters that keeps them poor. The West is still reeling from its colonial guilt, those reigns and the passing of control of oil wealth to these countries have resulted in a capitalism so strong and confined that over 95% of Saudi Arabia do not share in the oil wealth but live in poverty.
The only way to unlight this fuse is to develop alternative means of propulsion and now. That would reduce the incomes of the ruling class and force them to invest the currently unvalued communities and only by investing their wealth in others should they maintain relevance.
Of course democracy is the answer, but war destroys democracy, if you are fighting civilians drawn from the encroaching fringes of madness fueled by the very conflict America and Mr Bush are seeking to douse.
The "madness fueled from the encroaching fringes" is a cult - it is a way of thinking and drawing your rash young zealots into a war they do not belong in. They deserve gainful employment in their own country due to the investment by their leaders. Look at Dubai and compare its prosperity with the Saudi street.
Cult is one of those words that makes people distance themselves, unless they are rebelling against the mold in which it becomes a focus of identity.
That Al Qaeda becomes the locus of Arab identity is the real danger. That is grows as a movement is a reason to alert your leaders that WW III is a risk now faced if war continues to manufacture terrorists.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)