Recommended daily allowance of insanity, under-reported news and uncensored opinion dismantling the propaganda matrix.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Bush Administration Memo Says Fourth Amendment Does Not Apply To Military Operations Within U.S.
ACLU Calls For Immediate Release Of Withheld Legal Memo
A newly disclosed secret memo authored by the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) in March 2003 that asserts President Bush has unlimited power to order brutal interrogations of detainees also reveals a radical interpretation of the Constitution's Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search and seizure. The memo, declassified yesterday as the result of an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit, cites a still-secret DOJ memo from 2001 that found that the "Fourth Amendment had no application to domestic military operations."
The October 2001 memo was almost certainly meant to provide a legal basis for the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program, which President Bush launched the same month the memo was issued. As a component of the Department of Defense, the NSA is a military agency.
"The recent disclosures underscore the Bush administration's extraordinarily sweeping conception of executive power," said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU's National Security Project. "The administration's lawyers believe the president should be permitted to violate statutory law, to violate international treaties, and even to violate the Fourth Amendment inside the U.S. They believe that the president should be above the law."
[ ... ]
The March 2003 memo was declassified in response to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and other organizations in June 2004 to enforce Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for records concerning the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody abroad. The ACLU has been fighting for the release of the March 2003 Yoo memo since filing the lawsuit. A few weeks ago, after the court ordered additional briefing on whether the Defense Department could continue to withhold the memo, the government reluctantly agreed to conduct a declassification review by March 31. The Defense Department released this memo after conducting the review.
The 2003 Department of Justice memo can be found online at:
www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/34745res20030314.html
Documents relating to the ACLU's NSA FOIA lawsuit are available online at:
www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/30022res20060207.html
To date, more than 100,000 pages of government documents have been released in response to the ACLU's FOIA lawsuit related the abuse of prisoner in U.S. custody abroad. These documents are available online at: www.aclu.org/torturefoia
Quote of the day
"A lot o' people don't realize what's really going on. They view life as a bunch o' unconnected incidents 'n things. They don't realize that there's this, like, lattice o' coincidence that lays on top o' everything. Give you an example; show you what I mean: suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconsciousness."
The effect of a faltering global economy on the Mideast peace process
The economic crisis we are currently experiencing internationally appears to be extreme, largely because it really comprises three major simultaneous and interlocking crises. The first is a complex financial crisis in American capital markets. The second is a prolonged macro-economic crisis in the United States that began several years ago and affects global currency exchange rates. And the third is the extreme rise in oil prices.
The War Against Fertility
As Mr. Connelly observes, the dispensers of population-control grants often enjoyed a kind of pasha existence. Frank Notestein, a longtime adviser to John D. Rockefeller 3rd, recalled that wherever he went -- Cairo, Karachi, Seoul -- he faced the prospect of a groaning table, only to face "another day of tremendous eating." Douglas Ensminger, who ran the Ford Foundation's New Delhi office, had a staff of nine people -- gardeners, maids, cooks -- to serve him. At least foundation officers knew how to benefit from the population that already existed.
The eugenicists of the 1920s and 1930s dreamed of a "world eugenics" movement that could regulate global fertility. That movement, Mr. Connelly argues, nearly became a reality in 1970, when population controllers in Washington, New York and London appeared on the verge of creating a new international order. It was around this time that huge government aid programs -- alongside United Nations initiatives -- took over from the foundations the greater burden of the population-control agenda. Mr. Connelly notes that many people had by then become aware of "the dark chapters of eugenics and medical experimentation." Thus the movement shifted its emphasis. It did not give up its eugenicist mission entirely, but it also claimed to be eradicating poverty and saving the environment.
More from the 'laboratory AIDS' hypothesis
In 1948, we know that the United States confirmed the endorsement of "devising a scheme" in which to address the issue of overpopulation in certain racial groups. State Department's George McKennan's memo will forever illuminate the eugenics mendacity necessary for genocide of millions of innocent people.
In 1949, Dr. Bjorn Sigurdsson isolates the VISNA virus. Visna is man made and shares some "unique DNA" with HIV. See, Proceedings of the United States, NAS, Vol. 92, pp. 3283 - 7, (April 11, 1995).
In 1951, we now know American eugenic practitioners conducted its first virus attack on African Americans. Crates in Pennsylvania were tainted to see how many Negro crate handlers in Virginia would acquire the placebo virus.. They were also experimentally infecting sheep and goats. According to author Eva Snead, they also held their first world conference on an AIDS-like virus.
In 1954, Dr. Bjorn Sigurdsson publishes his first paper on Visna virus and establishes himself as the "Grandfather of the AIDS virus." He will encounter competition from Dr. Carlton Gajdusek.
In 1955, they were able to artificially assemble the tobacco mosaic virus. Mycoplasmas will forever be at the heart of the U.S. biological warfare program
In 1957, future U.S. president, Rep Gerald Ford and others gave the U.S. Pentagon permission to aggressively deploy offensive biological agents. There are no recorded cases of AIDS prior to the 1957 creation of "Special Operation-X." (The SOX) program served as the immediate prototype program for the Special Virus program to begin in 1962.
By 1960, Nikita Kruschev had been let in on the biological weapon. His 1960 statement will long reflect the arrogance of the secret blend of communism and democracy. The two countries would go to a November 1972 agreement to cull the Black Population.
In 1961, scientist Haldor Thomar publishes that viruses cause cancer. In 1995, he and Carlton Gajdusek informed the National Academy of Sciences that "the study of visna in sheep would be the best test for candidate anti-HIV drugs."
In 1962, under the cover of cancer research, the United States charts a path to commit premeditated murder, the "Special Virus" program begins on February 12th. Dr. Len Hayflick sets up a U.S. mycoplasma laboratory at Stanford University. Many believe the "Special Virus" program began in November 1961 with a Phizer contract.
Beginning in 1963 and for every year thereafter, the "Special Virus" program conducted annual progress reviews at Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA. The annual meetings are representative of the aggressive nature in which the United States pursued the development of AIDS.
In 1964, the United States Congress gave full support for the leukemia/lymphoma (AIDS) virus research.
In 1967, the National Academy of Sciences launched a full scale assault on Africa. The CIA (Technical Services Division) acknowledged its secret inoculator program.
In 1969, Fort Detrick told world scientists and the Pentagon asked for more money, they knew they could make AIDS. Nixon's July 18 secret memo to Congress on "Overpopulation" serves as the start of the paper trail of the AIDS Holocaust.
In 1970, President Nixon signed PL91-213 and nominated a member of America's ruling elite as a "Population Czar." Nixon's August 10 National Security Memo leaves no doubt as to the genocidal nature of depopulation.
In 1971, Progress Report #8 is issued. The flowchart (pg. 61) will forever resolve the true laboratory birth origin of AIDS. Eventually the Special Virus program will issue 15 reports and over 20,000 scientific papers...
Tri-Co Peace Week
'The Darkest Part Of Scotland's History..the Highland Clearances'
I still enjoy the solitude the Highlands offer me.
But as a young boy who had never heard of the Highland clearances I never considered why the most stunning part of Scotland was also the emptiest.
It was only years later on a visit to see a friend in Easter Ross that I was confronted by this dark time in our nation's history.
In the 1800s the Highlands were stripped of their inhabitants, often violently, to make way for sheep farming.
My mate took me to the picturesque Croick Church, where 80 people who had been driven from their land in 1845 sought refuge.
Before they made their way onwards, whether it was to the new world in America or to the mills and factories of Glasgow, some scratched messages on the glass windows of the church.
[ ... ]
Of all I learned on my journey the most shocking to comprehend was the crimes against humanity committed by the victorious leader of the government forces, the man known as Butcher Cumberland. He set about "cleansing" the Highlands of any Jacobite sympathies.
His army became the scourge of the Highlands as it swept through the land.
They hanged people from the nearest tree if they were suspected of even having sympathies with Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Thousands were murdered in what can only be described as ethnic cleansing.
It was a time of retribution. The government wanted revenge for coming so close to being defeated by what they considered a ragtag army of savages from the edge of Britain.
They even attacked Highland culture.
The Act of Proscription in 1747 banned the wearing of tartan, the ownership of a Gaelic Bible, the playing of bagpipes and the ownership or use of any kind of weapon.
Huge military forts were built - Fort William, Fort Augustus and Fort George.
These giant constructions linked one end of the Great Glen to the other.
In each was stationed a large garrison ready to suppress any uprising.
Fort George, the largest garrison in Europe, cost half of Scotland's gross national product in 1750.
This was a British establishment determined to annihilate Jacobitism - indicating how dangerous this political movement was thought to be.
But one thing the government learned from the uprising was that Highland men made excellent warriors.
So to fight their many wars overseas in their expanding empire, the British army very cleverly enlisted as many as possible - not too difficult during the next few decades as most families desperately needed an income.
In many ways they were cannon fodder but their immense courage and awesome fighting skills would defy the odds to win battles in alien lands, creating a vast empire. But, as I learnt while visiting a number of lifeless and ruined villages, while many Highlanders were fighting for their country abroad, the battle was being lost for an ancient way of life back home.
Half of the Scottish population used to live in the Highlands but it's now less than one in five.
[ ... ]
'As I boy I never considered why the Highlands were so empty'
'Tenants faced being burnt out of their home or beaten by thugs'
'Sympathisers of Prince Charlie were hanged by the army'
'Half the Scots population lived in the Highlands ..it's now 1 in 5'
'Many fled to America on boats no better than slave ships'
MAILFILE
THE Highland Clearances were considered necessary "improvements" by landlords. But they were born from greed as sheep were more profitable than people. Admiral John Ross of Balnagowan Castle was the first to kick tenants off his land in 1762. Many had to emigrate and the exodus reached a peak in 1792 - known as the Year of the Sheep to Highlanders.
~ more... ~
Consultation on the European legislation concerning the marketing of seeds
Is it really a democratic consultation?
A private consultancy has been charged to carry out consultations to simplify and draft amendments of the EU rulings on the marketing of seeds. Thus a questionary was put on line in order to "consult" the interested parts.
We, farmers organizations in more than 20 European countries, denounce the undemocratic nature of this consultation process. The issue of conservation, exchange and trade of seeds concerns directly millions of farmers in Europe, as well as millions of men and women who grow their own vegetables. Moreover the preservation of biodiversity concerns all citizens; without it the future of humanity itself is endangered. The way in which the consultation has been carried out (i.e. Online questionary) cannot take into account the reality of all the actors concerned. On the one hand, the large majority of European farmers do not have Internet. In addition, the questionnary is only in English, excluding all the people who speak different languages in Europe. Lastly, the language used in the questionary is very technical, excluding automatically those people who do not have the technical and legal training about European seeds legislation. These people are the most affected by conservation and exchange policies on seeds.
For example, small producers from these Central and Eastern European countries that lately entered the EU grow a great diversity of species. For them, this kind of consultation cannot represent a viable tool for expressing their opinion.
Only industries interested in seeds trade and, to a lesser extent, some NGOs which have enough human and financial resources to follow up European legislative processes can properly express their voice through the « Better regulation » questionary. This shows the biaised nature of this consultation. It is clear that it is not the interest of the people that will be defended, but rather that of a handful of transnational seed companies who impose their rules on the European Union officials.
For these reasons, we have chosen not to answer to this imposed questionary, but rather to express our opinion through an open letter.
The role of legislation is to protect biodiversity and farmers rights
So far, the main objective of the European legislation on seed marketing has been that of strenghtening the monopoly on biodiversity resources held by a very small number of seed breeding industries. This guarantees them a very high income and a total control of the international market.
Taking into account that the world biodiversity is in jeopardy, the European legislation on marketing seeds must be radically revised. The preservation of biodiversity should be the main objective of a European legislation on marketing seeds, as well as the respect of the farmers rights defined by the International Treaty on Plant-Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA).
Biodiversity is essential to increase the adaptability of plants to climate change and therefore guarantee food for future generations. Only seeds naturally preserved in our fields and our gardens and not that in the gene banks freezers are able to adapt to changing conditions.
Biodiversity has been developped and always renewed by farmers for milleniums. Nowadays, it is under threat because of the massive destruction of farmers throughout Europe and in the whole world and because of the increasing privatisation of seeds. Indeed, a small number of transnational companies use intellectual property rights (patents or Plant Breeders Rights) to steal seeds from the rural communities. GMOs and genetic contamination are part of the tools used by the seeds industries to impose their monopoly over seeds and thus create a huge captive market.
Thus it is key to recognize and respect farmers rights as defined by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic ressources for Food and Agriculture, which the EU is a signatory of, in order to maintain biodiversity in Europe. It means: « The right to keep, use, exchange and sell farm seeds » and the right for farmers to take part to the decision-making on all issues related to the preservation of biodiversity (article 9). Moreover, for farmers to be able to keep playing their role in preserving biodiversity, it is essential that farmers rights are not limited to rights concerning seeds, but also include other rights, such as access to other productive ressources (land and water for example), right to sell farm products (often forbidden by sanitary regulations that are made to suit industrial requirements) and an agricultural policy that regulates the markets within the EU (through supply management) and towards third countries (market protection).
Food sovereignty is essential to preserve biodiversity in Europe.
Thus, we demand that the European Union:
* recognizes and respects farmers (and non-professional gardeners) rights to keep, use, exchange and sell seeds produced on the farm (or in gardens), for seeds registered in the catalogue or not, and to take part to the decision-making concerning the preservation of biodiversity for food and agriculture at the national and European levels.
* Creates a catalogue for « varieties of conservation » with flexible registration criterias, opened for free to any variety that is not or not any more registered in the catalogue, adapted to the needs of low inputs sustainable family farming.
* Makes compulsory the information about the origin of varieties and breeding methods for the registration of a Plant Breeders Rights and in the catalogue.
* Implements a moratorium on the marketing and cropping of seeds from genetically modified varieties (GMOs).
Independent Intervention
INDEPENDENT INTERVENTION is an award-winning documentary about the US Media coverage of the war in Iraq. Focusing on the human costs of war, it contrasts the mass media's coverage of the invasion of Iraq with independent reports of the brutal realities on the ground.
INDEPENDENT INTERVENTION features Amy Goodman, Noam Chomsky, Dahr Jamail, Danny Schechter, Norman Solomon, David Barsamian, Kalle Lasn, James Zogby and Jim Hightower. It also includes the voices of Howard Zinn, Michael Moore, Bill Moyers, Arundhati Roy, Jeremy Scahill, US Senators and Iraqi people.
www.independentintervention.com
Arundhati Roy backs students protesting civilian nuclear deal
Protesting under the "Students Against Nuclear Power" banner, the students are demanding that the Union government not sign the nuclear deal, claiming that there was "no merit" in the agreement.
EschaCon '08 - Bloggers demonstrate their depth
Another panel homed in on influencing the mainstream media. The elite DC journalists tend to act as though members of an exclusive club. When politicians grant them access to the "inner sanctum," these reporters are loath to give up that access, making them less willing to hold these politicians accountable.
The bloggers can act as a sort of brake on that system by calling out these reporters when they publish inaccurate stories based on the memes spoon-fed by politicians.
In spite of many in the mainstream media who mischaracterize bloggers as shrill, vitriolic or overly partisan, they truly are performing one of the vital roles of a journalist: sorting through news to get to the truth and doing their best to get that truth heard.
Indian govt forced Bangladesh writer to leave India: publisher
Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen's publisher and supporters accused the Indian government on Thursday of forcing the writer out of the country because of fears of a Muslim backlash.
Nasreen left mainly Hindu but officially secular India on Wednesday after accusing the Indian government of forcing her to quit the country.
"The government is no better than religious fundamentalists," she said.
She said the government refused her timely medical treatment and called the safe house where she was kept under federal protection a "chamber of death."
"It beggars the description meted out to her -- it was inhuman, she developed severe hypertension and as a result severe heart and eye problems," said Shivani Mukherji, publisher of Nasreen's books in India.
"It's shameful for a so-called secular country to behave this way -- they should have stood up to the people who opposed her," she said.
The Congress-led government has made no comment on the departure of Nasreen who was kept under federal protection in New Delhi after being hounded from Kolkata, capital of Marxist-ruled West Bengal, in November by riots and death threats from Islamic radicals who called her writings blasphemous.
~ more... ~
Freegan, millionaire swap wives
When it first emerged people were forgoing the weekly shop to rifle through supermarket skips it seemed like a dirty business.However, committed freegans – who believe paying for goods is the last option – were unmoved and have continued to go quietly about their business, their numbers and their profile growing.
Documentaries have been made about the phenomenon and when a millionaire's wife moved in with a family of freegan Christians on Channel 4's Wife Swap, the movement must have thought it had finally arrived in the mainstream.
Put simply, the premise of freeganism is waste not want not – and while its devotees are often painted as scavengers living below the breadline, it's an unfair portrayal as most are motivated by thrift and environmentally friendly ethics.
The series continues with an ex-pat episode: Marbella socialite Anna Courtenay and her husband Chris swap places with "back-to-nature" Dan and Kara Darby-Dhyan, who live on an eco-friendly boat.Both couples emigrated from England for a better life in Spain but that's where the similarities end.
Anna (42) and her second husband Chris (49) enjoy the kind of lifestyle many would envy: a five-bed villa with a pool, three domestic staff to run the house, a beach close by and the weather to enjoy it all.
The couple run two successful businesses, and make sure their four privately educated children get what they want. But the family rarely spend time together.
Kara (32) and her husband Dan (32) live a completely different life in the sun. When they left the UK, they also turned their back on modern life.
They live a self-sufficient, carbon-neutral existence on their boat Sinbad miles from the nearest town, spending their days tending the land, growing their own food and raising their own cattle for meat.
For the Darby-Dhyans, consumerism is the number one evil. Their three children are home-schooled, and the Darby-Dhyans spend all of their time together as a family.
How does Anna cope with getting her hands dirty tending the land, no modern conveniences and living off a mere six-Euro weekly budget?
How does Kara handle "sleeping with the enemy" as she has to endure everything she has come to despise about modern life, including "frittering" away a mammoth €1,000 weekly budget?
Pakistan rejects Afghan minister's statement on nuclear waste
Afghanistan Parliamentary Affairs Minister Farooq Wardag was quoted as saying that Pakistan had buried nuclear waste in Kandahar and Helmand when Taliban were ruling the areas.
"The Afghan minister regarding dumping of nuclear waste by Pakistan in Afghanistan was baseless," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Muhammad Sadiq said at the weekly news briefing here.
He said disposal of nuclear waste was strictly regulated in accordance with the international standards.
"Our nuclear power stations are under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards which not only keeps an oversight on their operations but also on storage of nuclear waste which has to be fully accounted for," Sadiq said.
'The Wet Dream of Empire Stillborn'
Of Mice and Men (from Robert Burns's poem, To a Mouse, which is often quoted as: "The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry,") becomes Superman's Bizarro/Hitler, but with an even more avaristic, twisted, sadistic, bent.
This version of Hitler, doesn't want the Jews destroyed, far from it, instead he wants to use them as a foil to create WW III in which he destroys everyone who is not a stooge, co-conspirator, ally, or succubus.
The Neo-con plan is to own every bit of real estate in America and eventually on the planet, through bankruptcy caused by high oil prices, toxic waste, ill-advised mortgages to those who can barely afford renting, let alone owning, and medical bills, eviction, murder and accusation of "terrorism" to everyone who opposes their Demonic plots.
To achieve that goal depopulation is a necessary element. The means? By toxifying of everything, food, water, air, land and every intoxicating every living person which cannot endure the toxicity of the planet.
In an effort to distance themselves from the effects of the Toxic America Plan, the Bushites bought properties in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and various parts of South America. Whatever humans survive the toxic attacks, which the fascist National Intoxication Plan Missed, a Civil War would finish.
The Bushites need a few million men and women in each nation to continue to populate their planned mercenary armies and a few more millions to grow their food and other goods. To ensure that those left living would be loyal, they would need a means of verifying said loyalty-a national surveillance plan, of every means of communications, telephone, internet, GPS, systems and more, which, through the brain-dead and hoping to become one of those elite, the Democrats and Republicans in congress, so amiably provided. Now they have used those eavesdropping means to up-end several Democratic Governors.
That American Fascist movement, at which the film The Keeper of the Flame mildly hinted, but did not explain, is becomin obvious to many lately. The nature of fascism, however, has been plainly illuminated to the enlightened for many decades. However, even now as fascism is solidly upon us, it's meaning is still a mystery to the generally brain dead and even to many of its coconspirators themselves, as it was in Germany from 1930-1945.
Why did I group Ron Paul as a future FDR, as Elliot Spitzer certainly was? I was exaggerating for effect, but in a sense, although many of his followers see him as the prophet of Libertarianism and although many behold Libertarians as ultraconservatives, in their zeal to purify national intentions, they would eliminate many of the same evils, as would a new FDR, or a Spitzer.
As I have said in the past, under Spitzer, the Military (Medical) Industrial Complex might have been nationalized and all necessities removed from the world of profit making, necessities like water, fuel, medicine and medical care, a housing program for the poor and neglected, ending the death penalty, a New Deal for all Americans and the return of the CCC and National Arts Program of the Once and Future, returning, MAJOR DEPRESSION. They would also eliminate the FED, Avarice, fascism would be prosecuted, and human sexual behavior would no longer be the business of news hounds, government or lawmakers.
Under Ron Paul, at least half of the above would also have been relegated to the trash heap of history, the outhouse of time. If you placed Ron Paul and Elliot Spitzer in a Food Blender, you would have the ultimate political Messiah. One man with all the qualities of Superman and Jesus-but the real Jesus not the made-up out of whole-cloth Jesus of the illiterates of the (FBICA)- The Fictional Biblical Interpretation Clubs Of America. What we would have if Ronald Elliot Spitzer Paul were elected in 2012 would be what humankind has always needed and wanted a blend of Libertarianism and Jesus-like Progressiveness.
What we would have had was the best of both worlds. Instead, we have more Bushite Eunuchs and ding-dongs waiting breathlessly in the wings.
For some to live in comfort, others must pay with their lives
Some kind of necessity: we must not be allowed to see the costs of the American way of life. It would not be appropriate. Like no sex organs on dolls or blacked out genitalia of classical art statues. So, starving the residue, the wastage, the human detritus out or beating them to death is not a crime. It is a social and ethical necessity. Nobody likes to owe their existence to another; it's a constant reminder that they couldn't do it on their own.
The Spoof: Wicca Finally Proven to Be a Hoax
Taking a first initiative, President George Bush, in a new faith based initiative, located the resting place in Tunisia of the reputed cult's leader, and had his body exhumed last month in an effort to settle the question of the would-be cultist's death. "These Wickers are a threat to the security of the United States, and intelligence reports that they may have weapons of mass destruction." Bush said at a White House press conference. "They have been using spells and fortune-casting to reveal national security secrets to the Islamic Jihad. Just like Helen Duncan, who in 1944 was using séances to spy on allied troops, we need to stop this threat before we have another 9/11.
Local authorities were happy to cooperate with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying, "If it will keep those Satan worshippers away from Allah's followers, it is a good thing." What Mrs. Rice and her taskforce found was a surprise, even to faithful Wiccans.
Gardner died of a supposed heart attack while at sea in February of 1964. Wiccans have speculated that his death was actually the result of an FBI 'religious cleansing operation' initiated by J. Edgar Hoover some years before. FBI Director Robert Mueller denied these allegations, but many still believe. Mueller said, "Gardner was small potatoes. The FBI has never had in interest in him, or his religion."
15 Great Movies You Didn't Know Were Science Fiction
The greatest science fiction movies sometimes aren't labeled as science fiction at all. As with literary novels like The Road and The Confessions of Max Tivoli, some classic movies explore alternate or futuristic worlds, even as they slip under the radar of mainstream (or alternative) audiences. Call them slipstream, or "stealth science fiction." Here's our list of 15 great movies you may be familiar with, but didn't know were science fiction.
Methods: We compiled a list of 35 or so movies that we believed were unsung science fiction classics. And then we winnowed it down, eliminating movies that weren't great, or which everybody already acknowledges as science fiction. And here's what we ended up with...
...Confederate States of America (CSA). This is possibly the greatest alternate history movie ever, because it does such a great job of reworking our media-saturated culture to a very different timeline. It's yet another "South won the Civil War" narrative, but with a sharp satirical edge to it. In the early 21st century, large swathes of America still own slaves — and drugs like Prozac are used to keep the slaves under control, as we see in fake ads. CSA is not just alternate history, it also pays tribute to Brave New World...
...Modern Times. The original movie about human alienation from technology is also, arguably, the first cyborg movie. Charlie Chaplin becomes so ingrained in his dehumanizing factory work, he actually becomes part of the machine he works with. And then, in a famous scene, he's literally swallowed up by the gears of his machine...
...W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism. Half documentary, half bizarre sexual-psychological drama, Dušan Makavejev's strangest film explores the weird science of Wilhelm Reich, who believed you could collect orgasmic energy in "orgone boxes." It ties that science in with the sexual (and social) repression of Communism, culminating in a representative of Communism having sex with a woman and then beheading her with her own ice skate...
~ more... ~
Nuremberg trials revisited
From The Law Explored: the Nuremberg trials :
Before these trials it was possible to bring legal proceedings against military people for conventional war crimes (such as torturing prisoners of war) but what had not been done was arraigning the leaders of a nation for crimes against peace and humanity. Four crimes were alleged: conspiracy to wage aggressive war, crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The justification for these newly framed crimes was based on reasoning like that of Robert H. Jackson, the American prosecutor, that they have been "regarded as criminal since the time of Cain".
The term genocide was coined by Dr Rafael Lemkin, the Jewish-Polish lawyer, in 1943. It means the deliberate attempt to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. His efforts to have it recognised as a crime were successful as it is now against international law and national law such as that of the UK's Genocide Act 1969. It was not, though, one of the charges levelled against the defendants at Nuremberg because those prosecutions were aimed at crimes against humanity at large.
As is vividly recounted by Professor Richard Overy (in a paper in From Nuremberg to The Hague), the British Government was originally against the idea of trying the Nazis for crimes. Churchill wanted enemy leaders shot after the war and Anthony Eden,the Foreign Secretary, said that the Nazis were so evil "they fall outside and go beyond the scope of any judicial process". But the Americans and Russians both pressed for a legal "due process" set of trials, and that approach prevailed. The victors would be as bad as the defeated Nazis if they simply relied on a "might is right" principle and shot the losers. It was therefore necessary to have the defendants given the full details of the charges against them and the right to be represented. The trial had to be conducted according to set procedures and for charges to be backed with evidence.
You can fault the trial in many ways. The defendants were being tried for charges that while they were chillingly savage, were not crimes in international law at the time they were committed. The trouble with saying something is a crime after the event is that, in Richard Overy's great phrase, this "required international law to be written backwards". Certain crimes, such as bombing civilians, did not make it on to the final charge sheet because the Allies were just as guilty. And while the Soviet judge was sitting in trial at Nuremberg and hearing about the German concentration camps, the Soviet authorities were establishing concentration camps such as the one at Mühlberg to which 122,000 were sent without trial and more than 43,000 were killed or died.
Sex trafficking of minors grows in U.S.
"The figures we use say between 100,000 and 300,000 American children are at risk of trafficking," said Karrie Delaney, director of communications for the Vancouver, Wash.-based organization that seeks not only to prevent sex trafficking but to rescue and restore women and children trapped in it.
"At least 100,000 American children are trafficked each year," Delaney said.
Based on these numbers, domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) has become a serious problem in many locations across the United States. A fact sheet on the Shared Hope International (SHI) website reports age 12 as the average age of entry into illegal pornography and prostitution.
Many of these girls are taken off the street. The SHI website says a third of the 2.8 million children living on the streets are lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home.
-- The sale of child pornography is a $3 billion annual industry in the U.S.
-- 55 percent of child pornography on the Internet comes from the U.S.
-- One in five pornographic images on the Internet is of a child.
-- One in five American youth who regularly use the Internet has been sexually solicited.
US attack against Iran scheduled for 4 am on the morning of April 6th
From The Apocalypse :
This brings us to the leaked news of the next US attack that is still pending against Iran, scheduled for 4 am on the morning of April 6th that is scheduled to last until 4 pm of that same day. "The first reactor at the Bushehr nuclear plant, where Russian engineers are working, is supposed to be spared from destruction. The US attack plan reportedly calls for the Iranian air defense system to be degraded, for numerous Iranian warships to be sunk in the Persian Gulf, and for the most important headquarters of the Iranian armed forces to be wiped out.
The attacks will be mounted from a number of bases, including the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Diego Garcia is currently home to B-52 bombers equipped with standoff missiles. Also participating in the air strikes will be US naval aviation from aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, as well as from those of the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. Additional cruise missiles will be fired from submarines in the Indian Ocean and off the coast of the Arabian peninsula. The goal is allegedly to set back Iran's nuclear program by several years, writes Uglanov, whose article was reissued by RIA-Novosti in various languages, but apparently not English, several days ago. The story is the top item on numerous Italian and German blogs, but so far appears to have been ignored by US websites.
Observers comment that this dispatch represents a high-level orchestrated leak from the Kremlin, in effect a war warning, which draws on the formidable resources of the Russian intelligence services, and which deserves to be taken with the utmost seriousness by pro-peace forces around the world."
Global Johnny Appleseed: Masanobu Fukuoka
From The Fundamental Reality that Underlies Fukuoka's Principles :
Soil is created by living plants working with microorganisms, and by the plants' residues and the microorganisms' corpses after their death.
Soil is drained of nutrients by cultivation, NOT by plants.
Tilling and cultivation of any sort diminishes the natural fertility of the soil...
From Masanobu Fukuoka's Natural Farming and Permaculture :
The idea for natural farming came to Fukuoka when he was about twenty five years old. One morning, as he sat at sunrise on a bluff overlooking Yokohama Bay, a flash of inspiration occurred. He saw that nature was perfect just as it is. Problems arise when people try to improve upon nature and use nature strictly for human benefit. He tried to explain this understanding to others, but when they could not understand he made a decision to return to his family farm. He decided to create a concrete example of his understanding by applying it to agriculture.
But where to begin? Fukuoka had no model to go by. "'How about trying this? How about trying that?' That is the usual way of developing agricultural technique. My way was different. 'How about not doing this, and How about not doing that?' - this was the path I followed. Now my rice growing is simply sowing seed and spreading straw, but it has taken me more than thirty years to reach this simplicity."
The basic idea for his rice growing came to him one day when he happened to pass an old field which had been left unused and unplowed for many years. There he saw healthy rice seedlings sprouting through a tangle of grasses and weeds. From that time on he stopped sowing rice seed in the spring and, instead, put the seed out in the fall when it would naturally have fallen to the ground. Instead of plowing to get rid of weeds he learned to control them with a ground cover of white clover and a mulch of barley straw. Once he has tilted the balance slightly in favor of his crops Fukuoka interferes as little as possible with the plant and animal communities in his fields.
This is not to say that Fukuoka did not experiment. For example, he tried more than twenty different ground covers before noticing that white clover was the only one which held back weeds effectively. It also fixes nitrogen so it improves the soil. He tried spreading the straw neatly over the fields but found the rice seeds could not make their way through. In one corner of the field, however, where the straw had scattered every which way, the seedlings emerged. The next year he scattered the straw across the entire field. There were years when his experiments resulted in almost a total crop loss, but in small areas things worked out well. He closely observed what was different in that part of the field and next year the results were better. The point is, he had no preconceived idea of what would work the best. He tried many things and took the direction nature revealed. As far as possible, Fukuoka was trying to take the human intellect out of the decision making process.
His vegetable growing also reflects this idea. He grows vegetables in the spaces between the citrus trees in the orchard. Instead of deciding which vegetables would do well in which locations he mixes all the seeds together and scatters them everywhere. He lets the vegetables find their own location, often in areas he would have least have expected. The vegetables reseed themselves and move around the orchard from year to year. Vegetables grown this way stronger and gradually revert to the form of their semi-wild ancestors.
From South-european Greenbelt Initiative :
In spring '98 Masanobu Fukuoka and his longtime scholar Panaiotis Manikis initiated the "Greenbelt for southern Europe"initiative . The goal is to create a green belt in Europe - to stop desertification and recreate fertile soils . A first largescale sowing (10.000 ha) took place at Lake Vegoritida in Northern Greece . Fukuoka led the project .
European volunteers, several hundred pupils, students and farmers sowed out completely 7 tons of seed pellets with 60 tons of alumina and on 2.500 hectars . Ministers, scientists, journalists and the local population showed active interest and supported the action .
This was the first of further planned sowings in deforested areas in southern Europe. Resumed in the autumn 1998 sowing internal message it north Greece. Further action will take place in southern Greece, Italy and Portugal.
From Farmer from Kollegal shows the way :
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Kailashmurthy says that the book, One Straw Revolution, written by the Japanese farmer, Masanobu Fukuoka, inspired him to try natural farming. Natural farming does not require ploughing, chemical fertilizers, or insecticides. On the contrary, insects and pests are welcome as they help restore balance naturally, he adds.
"Insects are to be welcomed as eight out of 10 varieties are helpful to the environment. And when pests raid crops, nature controls it with predators. But this harmony is being disturbed by the use of pesticides and chemicals, which only destroy biodiversity," Mr. Kailashmurthy says.
He notes that farmers in and around Kollegal, as in the rest of the State, have been using chemical fertilizers indiscreetly. But the only input he provides to his farm is water. Even the "artificial" input of water will be stopped in due course, he says.
In the wake of a water crisis, as witnessed since the past three years in the State, crops tend to wilt and farmers sustain heavy crop losses and end up in debt. But in contrast, Mr. Kailashmurthy's land is full of biomass, and the holding capacity of the soil is more as the plot is fully covered by vegetation. This, he says, results in less evaporation of water. Water is retained for a longer period and since the soil is very loose and naturally fertile, water easily percolates into the ground. "The vegetation that grows under natural conditions penetrates deep into the earth as the roots tend to move towards the water points. The deeper they go, the barriers in the form of rocks and the like in the earth's crust are broken and this generates topsoil. So even when there is less water available, the crop output is not affected. And since we work by the laws of nature, even drought is naturally resisted," Mr. Kailashmurthy says.
So how do farmers view natural farming as practiced by Kailashmurthy? The ones who earlier used to laugh now look to him for guidance.
From Greening The Desert :
I talked to the head of the desert department at the United Nations about my natural farming. He asked me if my natural farming could change the desert of Iraq. He told me to develop the way of changing the desert to green. At that point I thought that I was a poor farmer and I had no power and no knowledge, so I told him that I couldn't. But from then I started thinking that my task is working on the desert.
Several years ago, I travelled around Europe. It seemed to me that Europe was very nice and beautiful, with lots of nature preserved. But three feet under the surface I felt desert slowly coming in. I kept wondering why. I realized it was the mistake they made in agriculture. The beginning of the mistake is from growing meat for the king and wine for the church. All around, cow, cow, cow, grape, grape, grape. European and American agriculture started with grazing cows and growing grapes for the king and the church. They changed nature by doing this, especially on the hill slopes. Then soil erosion occurs. Only the 20% of the soil in the valleys remains healthy, and 80% of the land is depleted. Because the land is depleted, they need chemical fertilizers and pesticides. United States, Europe, even in Japan, their agriculture started by tilling the land. Cultivation is also related to civilization, and that is the beginning of the mistake. True natural farming uses no cultivation, no plow. Using tractors and tools destroys the true nature. Trees' biggest enemies are the saw and ax. Soil's biggest enemies are cultivation and plowing. If people don't have those tools, it will be a better life for everything.
[ ... ]
Robert: How have you applied your method to the deserts?
Masanobu: Chemical agriculture can't change the desert. Even if they have a tractor and a big irrigation system, they are not able to do it. I came to the realization that to make the desert green requires natural farming. The method is very simple. You just need to sow seeds in the desert. Here is a picture of experimentation in Ethiopia. This area was beautiful 90 years ago, and now it looks like the desert in Colorado. I gave seeds for 100 varieties of plants to people in Ethiopia and Somalia. Children planted seeds, and watered them for three days. Because of high temperature and not having water, the root goes down quickly. Now the large Daikon radishes are growing there. People think there isn't any water in the desert, but even in Somalia and Ethiopia, they have a big river. It is not that they do not have water; the water just stays underneath the earth. They find the water under 6 to 12 feet.
Diane: Do you just use water to germinate the seeds, and then the plants are on their own?
Masanobu: They still need water, like after ten days and after a month, but you should not water too much, so that the root grows deep. People have home gardens in Somalia these days.
Diane: Why do these governments do this?
Masanobu: The African governments and the United States government want people to grow coffee, tea, cotton, peanuts, sugar - only five or six varieties to export and make money. Vegetables are just food, they don't bring in any money. They say they will provide corn and grain, so people don't have to grow their own vegetables.
Fukuoka quotes from Wikipedia :
"If we throw mother nature out the window, she comes back in the door with a pitchfork."
"When a decision is made to cope with the symptoms of a problem, it is generally assumed that the corrective measures will solve the problem itself. They seldom do. Engineers cannot seem to get this through their heads. These countermeasures are all based on too narrow a definition of what is wrong. Human measures and countermeasures proceed from limited scientific truth and judgment. A true solution can never come about in this way."
"Natural farming is not just for growing crops, it is for the cultivation and perfection of human beings."
Throw nature out with a pitchfork; she'll soon be back. - 'naturam expellas furca tamen usque recurret' - is a quotation from the Roman Poet Horace. And, as it happens,a favourite of the psychoanalyst C. G. Jung.
'Imagine a world with more sexually open, sensual, happily libidinous politicians'
I want a smart, slutty senator.
I want an effective, confident, sex-positive congressman or woman who, if
asked, speaks openly and blamelessly and even happily about her
proclivities, with a wink and a smile and maybe a bit of cleavage before
Labor Day. Married, single, somewhere in between? Doesn't matter.
And, dare I say it, I want president who not only freely discusses and
shrugs off his or her loves and sexual desires and even affairs, but dares
to enjoy sex and thrives because of it and makes his behavior a part of his
perspective and attitude on life and love and leadership and the general
sticky messy beautiful evolution of the human soul. Is that too much to ask?
Let me answer that for you: Oh my sweet baby Jesus with a Hitachi Magic Wand
and some leather chaps, you're damn right it is.
Here's the thing: Given all the scandals and threesomes and gay gropings in
airport restrooms, sometimes I can't help but wonder what it might be like
to have a leader or three who not only enjoys women, or men, or both, but
does so shamelessly, enthusiastically, talks it up in the media, all with
discretion and a bit of class, but also with full knowledge and pleasure and
openness about his/her appreciation for sex and the physical form...
Oil for War
The U.S. military and the new Baghdad government have failed, however, to secure Iraq's tattered oil sector. As A.F. Alhajji, energy economist and professor at Ohio Northern University, has said, "whoever controls Iraq's oil, controls Iraq." For the last five years, it's never been exactly clear who controls Iraq's oil. That said, the country's leading industry is slowly increasing output. In January, daily production hit 2.4 million barrels per day, the highest level since the U.S. invasion.
But America's presence in Iraq isn't making use of the local riches. Indeed, little, if any, Iraqi oil is being used by the American military. Instead, the bulk of the fuel needed by the U.S. military is being trucked in from the sprawling Mina Abdulla refinery complex, which lies a few dozen kilometers south of Kuwait City. In 2006 alone, the Defense Energy Support Center purchased $909.3 million in motor fuel from the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. In addition to the Kuwaiti fuel, the U.S. military is trucking in fuel from Turkey. But some of that Turkish fuel actually originates in refineries as far away as Greece.
In 2007 alone, the U.S. military in Iraq burned more than 1.1 billion gallons of fuel. (American Armed Forces generally use a blend of jet fuel known as JP-8 to propel both aircraft and automobiles.) About 5,500 tanker trucks are involved in the Iraqi fuel-hauling effort. That fleet of trucks is enormously costly. In November 2006, a study produced by the U.S. Military Academy estimated that delivering one gallon of fuel to U.S. soldiers in Iraq cost American taxpayers $42—and that didn't include the cost of the fuel itself. At that rate, each U.S. soldier in Iraq is costing $840 per day in fuel delivery costs, and the U.S. is spending $923 million per week on fuel-related logistics in order to keep 157,000 G.I.s in Iraq. Given that the Iraq War is now costing about $2.5 billion per week, petroleum costs alone currently account for about one-third of all U.S. military expenditure in Iraq...
Helter Skelter X
This is a cover of Helter Skelter, aka Electro Skeletor, featuring Senator Mike Gravel, Libertarian candidate for president.