A Day in the Life: 3/21/8 Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:36:57 -0500 (CDT) GOVERNMENT OF THE USA IN EXILE Free Americans Reaching Out to Amerika's Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free Via March 21, 2008 Dear Friends and Colleagues, Of all the various sorts of good energy news being suppressed by US corporations--and their attendant US Government--those which reveal to us that finally nefarious petroleum is no longer necessary for human surface transportation are the most important for the human future. The engine demonstrated below is only a partial replacement for petroleum but the demonstration itself is so convincing that it can give folks the confidence necessary to go farther out and demand the best total replacements currently available. Yours for zero point, cold fusion and advanced hydrogen, Keith Lampe, Ro-Non-So-Te, Ponderosa Pine, Transition President ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------- From: "THE TRUTH" Date: March 18, 2008 2:38:11 AM EST Subject: CclNews> Fw: Potential Replacement for Gasoline ATTEST: I PERSONALLY ATTENDED THE PUBLIC PRESENTATION AND SAW, HEARD AND SMELT IT WORKING FROM THE FIRST ROW! ----- Original Message ----- From: Matrixx Productions To: contacts@mecfilms.com Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 5:34 PM Subject: Potential Replacement for Gasoline If you feel the price of gasoline is too high, watch this short documentary on a new pre-ignition catalytic converter. WARNING: this film may irritate you because it is probably NOT a fraud. At the very least, this film will inform you how various liquids can be used by internal combustion engines and why the oil and car companies have been suppressing this technology. BUST THE OIL COMPANIES: pass this on. http://www.preignitioncc.com/SMartEnergy/flashPiccHi.htm James Jaeger P.S. If you don't have Flash, click the Home button and scroll to nearly the bottom. There are alternate video formats and resolutions. http://dutman.vo.llnwd.net/o15/piccwin/piccwinhi.wmv ======================================================================== ================================================================ [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type image/gif which had a name of blank1x1.gif] Military veterans to deliver citizen arrest warrants for Bush and Cheney by Kathlyn Stone Global Research, March 20, 2008 OpEdNews - 2008-03-18 Backed by family members and supporters all across the nation, U.S. military veterans will serve citizen arrest warrants for George Bush and Dick Cheney tomorrow in Washington, D.C. The warrants are "for multiple violations of the Constitution and international war crimes," according to a statement issued by Veterans for Peace, a national organization of men and women who served in wars and military conflicts beginning with the Spanish Civil War in 1936 through the present war in Iraq. "It has long been apparent that our Constitution is under attack and has been deliberately and relentlessly undermined by domestic enemies -- indeed, by our highest government officials -- who took the same oath we did and have violated it by waging a war of aggression and committing war crimes in Iraq," according to Veterans for Peace president, Elliott Adams in explaining the warrants. The warrants will be delivered to the National Archives which houses the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. The patriots will also retake their military oath, which includes the words: "I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." The military veterans will hold a rally at the National Mall and lead a march for peace that includes stops at other sites including the Museum of Native Americans, where they will be joined by musician Buffy St. Marie in a ceremony honoring Native Americans, the Peace Monument on the Capitol grounds, and they will protest inadequate health care funding for returning soldiers and veterans at McPherson Square which faces the Veterans' Administration headquarters. Veterans for Peace members follow a responsibility to serve the cause of world peace. To this end we will work with others to increase public awareness of the costs of war...(and) to abolish war as an instrument of national policy," according to the organizations statement of purpose. "This war has cost too many lives and resources that should have been spent on health, education and other needs, said Army Col. (ret) Ann Wright, a member of Veterans for Peace. The war must be stopped before more Iraqis and Americans are killed, and the sooner the better. Our military presence in Iraq must end so Iraqis can begin to rebuild their lives." ***** Author's note: Trade union members, environmentalists, doctors, constitutional scholars, artists, factory and office workers, students, educators and other patriots across the country have their backs. [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of vfpsm-20080319-488.jpg] VFP Chapter 27 protesting the Iraq occupation in 2005. Photo: kayakbiker ) Copyright Kathlyn Stone, OpEdNews, 2008 The url address of this article is: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8401 ======================================================================== ================================================================ From: "Jacob G. Stansbury, Jr." Date: March 17, 2008 11:12:35 PM EST To: Subject: Fwd: [ghosttroop] Fw: [wvns] Letter from an AWOL Soldier Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:18:16 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [ghosttroop] Fw: [wvns] Letter from an AWOL Soldier ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: World View To: wvns@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:00:14 PM Subject: [wvns] Letter from an AWOL Soldier Open Letter to the Government from an AWOL Soldier By James Circello Iraq Veterans Against The War http://afterdowning street.org/ circello To those Businessmen and women holding seats in Congress, To the Highest Court of America, To every Department within the U.S. government, To the President's Cabinet, To the Joint Chiefs of Staff, To the Vice President and President of the United States of America: My name is James Circello. I am sure some of you already know who I am now that wiretaps and spying on American citizens has been approved. Or maybe you've heard of me when you saw my name on a comprehensive list of Anti-War activists. Or maybe you just know of me because I was a Sergeant in the United States Army and served as an Airborne Infantryman for six years, went to Iraq in March 2003 and served until March 2004, remained in the Army a little longer before refusing to take part in the Occupation of the Middle East and went AWOL. I am writing you today, not asking for forgiveness for what I decided to do, but to give you an idea of what brought me to that decision to leave the Army and speak out against the Occupation. Though some will claim I left for other reasons and will try to force the discussion away from the facts and at the same time attempt to assassinate my character with half truths and out right lies, these are the facts. If later we wish to get into more of my personal life, we can do that: I have no fear of it. I will first like to say that I am no longer a member of the United States Armed Forces. When I left the military on Easter morning, April 2007, I have officially resigned from service to that military. There are no ties between myself and an oppressive military regime set on occupying groups of impoverished indigenous people. I am no longer a Sergeant or a paratrooper. I will not respect an organization that can and does, at its own will, change entire enlistment contracts for the purpose of extending soldiers; Gives quarterly sexual harassment courses and still allows roughly 30% of women to be sexually assaulted in some way, shape or form; Openly discriminates against people based on homosexuality, race, gender and ethnic background; Allows crimes against humanity and peace to occur and covers them up with internal investigations; Actively recruits young boys and girls from low level income high schools and communities with false promises of health care, school and job experience and fails on all accounts; Refuses to recognize conscientious objectors (C.O.), and when individuals apply for C.O. status that are administratively "punished" by their chain of command; I refuse to be a part of a military and Administration that continue to abuse and torture, doesn't recognize the rights of detainees and allows them to be shipped to secret detention facilities for "National Security" purposes; a military that is illegally, based on all U.S. as well as International Law, inside of Iraq; a military that is over extended, under funded in a war with no foreseeable end (because time tables give our enemy a "sense of victory", but how can the enemy have victory when "Mission Accomplished" has been declared?); a military that watches billions of government contracts given to private military outfits, while they run through the streets of Iraq unchecked, and allows soldiers to be poorly equipped and the V.A. poorly funded.; the No Child Left Behind Act and it's policy of making it mandatory for schools to send out the information of all students attending the school to military recruiters, or they are threatened with being cut off from Federal funding (I thought school was a place of learning, not a place of turning our youth into the: "(insert Arabic country name here) Veterans Against The War". This and many other reasons are why I tell you today, I do not recognize any of the warrants that may have been placed upon me. These warrants are merely a way to silence any opposition to this criminal war. I do not support the United States foreign policy and will not be the fool that enforces it. The United States has a history of using the poor of this country to massacre and oppress the poor of other countries and I say to everyone that is able to read this - I am no longer a member of the United States Armed Forces. I also say, this by no way makes me Un-American. I love this country and feel very strongly that it can be saved and that it must be saved. I say this without a growing ego, but my acts as of now are what the Founding Fathers envisioned and wrote about. This is what Democracy looks like. Dissent isn't Un-American, it is what Patriotism means. Patriotism is not blindly following a Flag waver, it is Direct Action. I joined the Army after the towers of New York fell. Swept up in the fervor, I left college to enlist. My country was attacked - I, like many, wanted to defend it. But here is where a majority of Americans, as well as Politicians have made their largest mistake: Defending your country does not mean destroying other Nations out of and/or for Revenge. But the People bought into the outcry that we must kill to feel better, and the Politicians sang their songs and danced their dances, in an attempt to show who was the most Patriotic of them all! America stayed fixed to the lies from Fox News (can it really be called "News"?) and we watched the towers fall so many thousands of times until we were all ready to go kill and die for the Eagle and Red, White and Blue. Though, I will admit, I was angry and young but it didn't take me too long to see that this wasn't about defending America, but creating an entirely new enemy. It was all there. It was almost too perfect. They are of different color. They speak a different language. They are a people that have been made to be poor - not a people that are poor; there is a difference. They follow a strange religion that Americans don't understand! A religion so very similar to Christianity, that - get this - it recognizes almost the same individuals as being Prophets that the Bible does. They "hate us (you) for our (your) freedom". They will come here and kill our women and children if we do not go there and kill their women and children first. The Administration and all of Its men and women sold it and America bought it. How many people got chills when the American flag was placed there at Ground Zero? Remember when there were so many flags outside of houses, and flag stores ran out of them? So I went to Iraq and I saw their faces. People that I thought wanted to kill me, and hated me because I was free, brought me into their homes, offered me food and something to drink. Was the food poisoned? No. Was it a poor family that could barely afford the food they were offering, but offered it to me without charge or regret? You bet. I was quickly disillusioned by the military. Senators and Representatives from Congress would come to visit us - and we would be told to get everything clean for the Dog and Pony Show. We would up the security levels, to make everything look ship-shape. When it was time for the questions and answers portion, we would never be without a question, because the chain of command was always there for us - and thankfully they had come up with the questions we were allowed to ask our Representatives. This is what happens every time someone from D.C. came for a little sight seeing visit. I can only imagine what kinds of shows they put on now. Long story short, I left Iraq feeling really uncomfortable with America's position in this entire conflict. It didn't feel right. It didn't look right. And after much soul searching and researching, I discovered that it plain out just wasn't right. It took me a while to finally decide to leave. I wanted to leave prior to invading Iraq, while witnessing the illegal "Shock and Awe" that killed so many innocent people and destroying the infrastructure of the country that we hadn't destroyed from the first bombings in the Gulf War and what wasn't antiquated and useless from the illegal sanctions held over the heads of the every day Iraqi citizen. I fell for the trap of "don't let your buddies down". And what a well spun web it is. I can not control the conscience of another man. I can only follow mine. And after deciding what I believe in is not consistent with the United States military and learning that "don't let your buddies down" is just a form of domination through guilt, I left my post in Italy to return to America. I began speaking out against this Occupation. I do not fear arrest. I do not stay hidden. I go to all national events and travel the country at my own leisure. I say this to you Congressional Democrats: you have failed us. I delayed my AWOL, because when I learned both Houses of the Congress were controlled by Democrats I was confident that the war was finally over. You ran on the platform of ending the war. I told all of my friends to just hang on, it will be over very soon. You funded the war and you continue to fund it. By no means is my hostility solely directed towards the Republican bench of the government. You lied to the American people, and more so, you failed the American people. We are finally awake and more and more are realizing that we don't have a two party system in America, we have a single party that is not representing the will of the People. The People say end the war. Stop funding the Occupation. The Soldiers want to come home. The insane idea of we must stay in Iraq and Afghanistan so that these thousands of soldiers will not have died in vain should never be said again! We tried saying that in Vietnam! The Iraqi people are strong and can defend themselves. They also want us out. It took years for a G.I. Resistance to begin within the Military during Vietnam, but I am telling you right now - the feeling of resentment is there. The feeling that Politicians and Businesses are profiting off of this Occupation while we suffer through extended tours and battle Post traumatic Stress Disorder, depleted uranium, losing friends and family, losing our lives through wounds. We come home and barely have time to adjust to being home before we begin training to leave again. Families are falling apart. Iraqis are dying. For what? A red, white and blue flag that says, "I'm a Patriot"? Dissent is Patriotic. Open discussion is Patriotic (this to Speaker of the House Pelosi who refuses to have an open forum with the people of her district. I believe it is going on just over 2 Years now.) And I say to you dissent is filling the ranks of the military and it doesn't even need a charismatic figurehead to come forth and say "Dissent; Desert!". They are doing it and will keep doing it. And the military's attempt to censor free speech will not contain it. Blogs, Youtube, Myspace: these sights, and others, weren't blocked for any reason other than these are the most popular places to find out that the G.I. Resistance Movement is growing daily. So proud Patriots of America, I ask you today for nothing. You are my Employee, never forget that. My tax dollars pay your salary, never forget that. I do however have demands for you: -End the Occupation Now. Not tomorrow. -Bring home all American troops. Replace them with a true international coalition designed specifically for peace keeping operations, NOT military operations. -Remove all U.S. contractors from the Middle East that continue to benefit off of the death of the Iraqi and Afghan people and the destruction of their countries. -Allow the Afghan and Iraq governments the freedom to decide what kind of country they want to be in, not what kind of country we want them to have. -Allow the Afghan and Iraq governments freedom to choose who is given reconstruction contracts - which none should be American companies, for obvious reasons. -Fund in full all reconstruction projects in Afghanistan and Iraq: We destroyed their countries, by International Law we must pay. By Moral virtue we must pay. -Support the Troops means take care of them when they come home, not blindly fund their continued existence in a war zone - Completely fund the V.A. Department! -Fund the Levees; Do NOT allow another Hurricane Katrina or Rita. -Oversight on Gulf Region reconstruction (where is it?) - I was just in New Orleans, it is still a disaster area two years later. Fix it now. -Open Diplomatic negotiations with Iran - Do not allow another war to take place. We have Diplomats that are paid by taxpayers to do just that: to Talk and Discuss. Use Diplomats not Depleted Uranium and Cruise Missiles. I also want to say this before I close, I wrote it in a letter, just yesterday, to the people of Italy that stand up and actively oppose more U.S. military bases in their country. And it says: The Iraq war is a War of Aggression, led by a cry of "We Will Never Forget"; the famous quote from September 11, 2001. Well, I have something to say for the people of the World and to the People of this Administration, as well as to the members of the U.S. Congress. We WILL never forget. We will never forget that the men who hijacked those aircraft on September 11, 2001 were not Iraqi. We will never forget that Iraq had no Weapons of Mass Destruction (W.M.D) when we invaded. We will never forget that the W.M.D's that Iraq did have years before, were sold to them by the U.S. Government. We will never forget the millions of Iraqi men, women and children who have suffered through the Dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, The Iraq-Iran War, The Gulf War, Depleted Uranium, Years of Illegal Sanctions, Shock and Awe, "Liberation" from a Tyrant only to find a new Tyrant take his place. We will never forget the 2 million of Iraqi men, women and children who are now displaced refugees within their own country. We will never forget the 1.5 million refugees in Syria, the 775,000 refugees in Jordan and the nearly 200,000 refugees in Egypt. We will never forget the 1 million dead Iraqi men, women and children since March 2003. We will never forget that nearly 100,000 Iraqis flee the country each month since 2003. We will never forget the widows, widowers and orphans of those dead. We will never forget the effects of depleted uranium in American ammunition that litters the countries of the Middle East. We will never forget the increased infant mortality rate. The sewage on the streets. The sectarian violence that was never in the streets of Iraq until we installed a Pro-U.S. Government. We will never forget the destruction of Shock and Awe that destroyed Iraq's entire infrastructure. We will never forget Abu Ghraib. We will never forget the Lost men and women of Guantanamo Bay and other Secret U.S. Detention facilities. We will never forget the every day Iraqi that is gunned down at a Traffic Control Point by a tired American teenager. We will never forget the sounds of Improvised Explosive Devices (I.E.D) directed not at the American soldier, but at American Policy. We will never forget the Women and Children gunned down at random after an I.E.D. explodes, because they were working the vegetable fields and were frightened and began to run. We will never forget that War is, in fact, Terrorism. And America is the largest State Sponsor of Terrorism. We will never forget that the Men, Women and Children of the Middle East may be of the same color as Saddam Hussein, but they do not have his face. They are not him. They do not deserve what they have been made to endure. And we will never forget that corporations are profiting off of the death and destruction. We will never forget that Blackwater and other private armies, which are in themselves illegal, are running around the Middle East killing at will - and are left unchecked. We will never forget amazing photo opportunities with the soldiers, whether its walking through a market in Iraq with security all around you and Apaches in the air, or sitting on the deck of a ship under a "Mission Accomplished" banner. We will never forget that a majority of the American population want the Occupations to end and we will keep repeating it until you do what you are paid to do - and that is, Listen to the People. The People are United and I know that attempts will be made to have me appear a fool and soon you will have my grade school photographs, my coloring books, a list of every library book I have ever checked out, and whatever other records these incredibly large and over-funded Secret Agencies compile on Activists in America, but I do not fear you. You have no moral authority over me. Or any authority at all. I do not fear you. Any of you. We The People, United within The Struggle, James Circello; Iraq Veterans Against The War ======================================================================== ================================================================ From: ufka Date: March 19, 2008 6:53:24 AM EST To: "President, USA Exile Govt." Subject: flyingsnail.com : News & Views for Remnants of Paradise dear pine, WINTER SOLDIER INVESTIGATION Washington, D.C. 13-16 March 2008 Slideshow from RainbowPuddle.com http://www.rainbowpuddle.com/ - digg WINTER SOLDIER 2008 Video from RainbowPuddle.com Slideshow Movie: http://www.rainbowpuddle.com/WSIstills.mov YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zOlS58nTQI VETERANS MARCH FOR PEACE ESTABLISH FIELD HOSPITAL IN D.C. March 19, 2008 - 9 a.m. - at 7th Street NW on the Mall http://www.veteransforpeace.org/Veterans_march_for_peace_2008.vp.html As many of you may be aware on March 19th, the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, VFP will be marching throughout Washington, DC. But what you may not realize is that we are also setting up a Field Hospital in McPherson Square. The purpose of this action is twofold. First all of the purpose is to bring attention to the problems of Veterans returning home and the lack of care from the VA. Secondly we hope to alert passersby to the reality of the horrors of war. Everyone is encouraged to join us! I WANT YOU to end the war in Iraq, and to support and defend the Constitution and the country from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Join us in Washington D.C. and make history. VETERANS WORKING TOGETHER FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE THROUGH NON-VIOLENCE. Veterans For Peace, 216 S. Meramec, St. Louis, MO 63105, 314-725-6005 http://www.veteransforpeace.org/ luv, ~@~ ---- http://www.flyingsnail.com/ ======================================================================== ================================================================ Anti-War Grannies Arrested Trying to Enlist by Matthew Cardinale Global Research, March 20, 2008 Inter Press Service - 2008-03-17 As part of actions across the United States to mark the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, 10 "Grandmothers for Peace", ranging in age from 57 to 80, were arrested Monday while trying to enlist in the United States Army. Acts of civil disobedience are planned this week in at least 17 other U.S. cities. As exclusively observed by IPS, the Grandmothers for Peace entered the Army Recruiting Station at the Midtown Place Shopping Centre in Atlanta, Georgia at around 9:30 am. The women broke up into three groups, each approaching a different recruiter's desk to engage them in questions. "When do you get the bonuses? Do you get them right away?" a Grandmother asked. "You guys are on a fishing expedition to catch people in lies," declared one recruiter, who said her name was "Ms. Reed". "What we're doing is, we're very much against the Iraq war. We'd like for you to let us enlist," said Bobbie Paul, 58, executive director of Atlanta Women's Action for New Directions. "We have to make sure people are physically pre-screened," said a recruiter named Kevin Wells. "Could we enlist today? So the youth don't have to go? Can you give us a list of jobs?" Paul persisted. "There are regulations we have to follow, set by the government, as far as entry and recruiting," Wells responded. "Would you take me? I'm 80," said Doris Benit of Kennesaw, Georgia. "Me personally? Absolutely! But as far as the Army, there is a process," Wells answered. "What's the first step?" Benit asked. "The first step is to have a seat," Wells said. Then, the 10 grandmothers all took seats around his desk. Meanwhile, dozens of activists were beating drums and chanting outside under a banner that read, "Take Us, Not Our Grandchildren!" "We need an application," said Gloria Tatum, 65, of the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition, Atlanta. "I believe in action. You're doing what you can. I'm doing what I can. We're in the same direction. This country is the greatest in the world. There's many ways to do things. I'm very passionate about this country and worry where it's going. It needs you. It needs me. It needs that young man over there [IPS reporter]. It needs that kind of passion," Wells said. Then, "I want everybody outside!" Reed shouted, after calling for backup and talking with her supervisor. Finally, the Atlanta Police Department showed up. "People have 10 seconds to get off the property because it's private property or else you'll be arrested immediately," one police officer said through a loudspeaker. "We're grandmothers -- it takes us 10 seconds just to get our bones coordinated," commented Rev. Sylvia Carroll of the First Iconium Baptist Church, who was one of the 16 "support grandmothers" who did not get arrested. "I feel great. I think we made a statement this war needs to end now. [President George W. Bush and Congress] have broken international law... [and] trashed the Constitution," Tatum told IPS before getting arrested. "The police officer told me, you should take care of yourself. I've lived a full life. I want these young men to be able to do the same. We have nothing against these young people. We don't want them to die," Benit said. "I think it was a great success, in the sense we were able to stay in there as long as we were and having an exchange. We kept 'em occupied, to draw attention to ourselves. We refused to leave until they told us we were arrested," added Dot Shaw, 73, of Snellville, Georgia. "Anyone in charge?" the police asked as the women stood downstairs chanting, waiting for a police van to take them away. "We're not a battalion," Paul responded. "We insist! We enlist! Grandmothers for Peace!" they chanted. "We protest! We're under arrest!" "We're cold out here, so take us in," Benit told Officer "C. Mac." "What's jail like? Is it warm?" "Okay, hello everyone... I'm against this war as much as you. However, we still have to conduct business as usual. We have to restore a level of normalcy. We have received complaints," Officer Mac told the Grandmothers. Betsey Miklethun, 74, of Norcross, Georgia, read a letter she had written to her grandchildren before getting arrested. "This week marks the fifth anniversary... I'm gonna cry because I love them so much... of the war and occupation of Iraq. Much could be said about this, from me to you. Today I plan to participate in a nonviolent act of civil disobedience. I've never done this before," Miklethun said. "Somebody's got to stand up and say, I care." IPS asked an Army spokesperson why the Grandmothers for Peace were not allowed to enlist. "They were turned away because they were disrupting business," said Tim Humphreys, public relations for the Atlanta Recruiting Battalion. "Anyone who is serious about enlisting in the Army can go to Army.com to fill out the paperwork and can schedule an appointment. These ladies apparently were not interested in that," Humphreys said, adding the age limit is 42. Susan Keith, a board member of Atlanta Progressive News, did bring an application with her to the Recruiting Centre. "You're trying to ask a loaded question," Humphreys said. Humphreys did not return a phone call from IPS seeking additional comment. The Atlanta Police Department confirmed the arrest of the 10 Grandmothers for Peace. The women were charged with criminal trespassing, and taken to Fulton County Jail. They are expected to post bond by this evening. The crime, a misdemeanor, could carry a maximum of one year in jail, although a judge could use his or her discretion, Officer Eric Schwartz said. "They didn't say anything about them being disruptive," Schwartz said. "The owner of the property has the right to tell them they do not want them there. We don't determine whether the reason the owner is asking them to leave is valid or not." Others arrested were Ella Ruth Hunnicutt, 79, Roswell, Georgia; Minnie Ruffin, 66, Atlanta; Ann Mauney, 65, Atlanta; and Judy "Artemis" Conder, 60. Grandmothers for Peace International was founded in 1981 when Barbara Wiender, the first Grandmother for Peace, was arrested protesting the presence of nuclear weapons near her home in Sacramento, California. Today, the group conducts a variety of protests and other actions, including civil disobedience, around issues of nuclear disarmament, peace, and justice. It has offices in the U.S., Germany, Romania, South Africa, and Britain. About the author: Matthew Cardinale is the News Editor for Atlanta Progressive News. He may be reached at matthew@atlantaprogressivenews.com. ) Copyright Matthew Cardinale, Inter Press Service, 2008 The url address of this article is: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8400 ======================================================================== ================================================================= From: Scott Legere Date: March 17, 2008 9:27:38 PM EST To: 911truthaction@yahoogroups.com Subject: [911TruthAction] Inspiration For Truthers Everywhere Reply-To: 911TruthAction@yahoogroups.com As we enter stage 3, of what is really a world wide truth movement, not just 9/11, but social justice in general, let's not forget that the entire world is waking up and claiming it's true power over tyranny. In Tibet, the Chinese attempt once again to crush the spirit of the Lama's people...they will never succeed. So I wanted to pass along a wonderful documentary, that you should watch and share with others of good will. It will inspire you :) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3739500579629840148 Our countries ruling elite have been crushing the wills of others for DECADES. We must speak truth to that power, if we ever hope to create a balanced and prosperous world. The things that are done in our name MUST STOP. God Bless Ledge ======================================================================== ================================================================ http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19560.htm The Illusion of Democracy If We Can Keep It By Peter Chamberlin 18/03/08 "ICH' -- -- In the name of patriotism, we have participated in a planned deception to create a state of permanent war. In the name of profit, America has been sacrificed on the altar of the god of war, to create a global empire based on the mass-marketing of death. "We are opposed...by a ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence--on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. It conducts the [war] with a war-time discipline no democracy would ever hope or wish to match..." JFK, 1961 http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/ Speeches/JFK/003POF03NewspaperPublishers04271961.htm The official version of this speech, is that Kennedy was describing an international communist conspiracy in this address, but then, the official version of the conspiracy that later killed him was that it was the work of a "lone assassin," firing magic bullets. The alternative view is that Kennedy was giving us a hidden warning of the secret "power behind the throne," otherwise known as the "military/industrial complex." Over the many decades since President Kennedy uttered this warning, "the conspiracy" has undermined American society. In the process it corrupted three major religions and killed millions worldwide, in order to bring us to the precipice of permanent perpetual war. The next war will take us over that threshold. As citizens in the last remaining bastion of democracy on the face of the earth, we have a responsibility to prevent that final war from beginning. All we have to do now is figure out how to do it. Kennedy always knew that this dreadful day would come, that one day Americans would have to choose between freedom and the illusion of security. He had heard his predecessor President Dwight D. Eisenhower, prophetically warn of the inevitable future danger that would arise from the military/industrial complex and "the disastrous rise of misplaced power." "We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together...avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow." http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html It was as though Ike had personally met the future idiot-in-chief and his vice-idiot-in-chief and psychically sensed the future death and destruction that they would sow throughout the world. In Bush and Cheney, Eisenhower's nightmare vision is now being realized. We, along with the rest of the human race, have been set-up in a monumental con job beyond anything the world has ever seen. The "war on terror" is the biggest con of all, being the product of decades of covert actions, utilizing an engineered "terrorist" entity to bring about a state of permanent war. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7787 (Unraveling the Myth of Al Qaida). Another part of the con is the belief that we are helpless to stop the disaster we see building around us and before us. If we were really powerless to stop them, then why has it proved so difficult for them to start the war upon Iran? The human race is held hostage to the desires and the plots of American war profiteers. There is no available cash to fund the eradication of human suffering, but there is an endless sea of cash flowing into the dead-end production of weapons, all in the name of "protecting democracy." A way must be found to interrupt the machinery of war, so that the long-neglected machinery of life can be rediscovered. How many tractors could be made from one tank? People ask, what democratic action can be taken to stop the runaway military industrial complex from creating a state of perpetual war, to maintain and extend its unjust control over everyman? It seems at first that a clear cut answer would be a massive antiwar movement, but the problem, and therefore the answer, is much broader than that. The ongoing militarization of life is an assault upon all life. The reality is that we are in a fight for all life over the salesmen of corporate death. Understanding this fact ought to make it obvious that our fight should be every sane person's fight. The plan being followed is pure evil. The mission of everyman standing for truth, at some point, will bring him into direct contact with some element of this unmitigated form of evil. If stopping this malevolence is not reason enough to risk everything, then nothing is. If we had access to ultimate truth then we might find that this monstrous system is indeed "the Beast" of Revelations. It comes as close to the dark system of total control that is described in that honored book as anything I can imagine. As far as I can tell, the only thing lacking is the "mark" or the chip required to buy and sell. In order to salvage democracy from the ravages of the military industrial complex, then everyone has to take a personal stand, risking something, in order to contribute personally to saving everything. The solution is for everyone to take a stand for truth, one person at a time, until so many of us rise to our feet that we become a wave. If the masses will not peaceably assemble to preserve their rights, then they will be eaten en masse, by the machine. We must become a force that cannot be ignored. It is important for individuals in positions of trust, such as newsman to honor their commitments to truth. Anyone who wants to serve as a "watchdog for the people" must be willing to risk his career in defense of the truth, whenever the time comes for him to make his personal stand. When the dust settles, disinformation sources that masquerade as news will be a thing of the past. For the military man, whenever he is given the order to kill, based on reasons which he knows are lies, he must refuse to order his men to do the killing. For the policeman, when his time comes, he must refuse to "taze the bro," for daring to question the official conspiracy theory of events. The "war on terrorism" is a euphemism for a war on democracy. The purpose of the entire production is to use democracy, to eliminate democracy. Whether it be here in America, or in England, or in any other country where we have relations, American foreign policy is to use democracy as a tool for burying freedom. The war was created by us (manipulating many foreign players to do our will), to propel a fascist vision of perpetual world war, which will forever justify the militarization of our society and every democracy within reach. The US war on terror has been, in reality, a machine for sowing terror, intended to force the people who are inclined to self-defense, to [defend themselves] become terrorists. Kidnappings, targeted assassinations, military attacks, and the making of entire populations into refugees, are tactics intended to alienate individuals and drive them to vigilantism. Terrorists are defined as those who take up arms to defend against US attacks and occupation. The driving purpose of the war on terrorism has been to uncover would-be terrorists (those who would resist America), by forcing radicalized men to violently act upon their beliefs. The use of "death squads" and militias to instigate conflicts is a plot to flush-out the hidden commitments to family and country that would drive angry young men to oppose America's violent designs upon their property. It is the same wherever this covert foreign policy of fomenting civil war is being implemented. http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/cgi-bin/blogs/voices.php/2008/01/21/ the_american_war_upon_the_world This policy has been adapted towards every nation, friends and enemies alike http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=24805 (Gladio Death Plan for Democracy). The plan is implemented by fomenting division among the targeted people http://uruknet.info/?p=m41134&hd=&size=1&l=e (Warfare of the Whisper dividing the people and keeping them ignorant). At the heart of the plan is the elimination of a billion or more poor people. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7975 (Unimaginable Intentional Human Suffering). The truth about the great plan for our enslavement is that at least three of the major world religions have been corrupted in the process. According to plan, American Christianity has been corrupted by a contrived false doctrine known as Christian-Zionism, which embraces terrorism and genocide as the "will of God." This repeats the corruption of Judaism by secular (atheist) and Talmudic Jews, who have promoted their plan as "God's will" to "restore the land to God's chosen people," even though expressed Zionist intentions have always been to kill all those who stood in the way of them stealing another people's homeland. The "war on terrorism" which emerged from this unholy "judeo-Christian" union was centered around the creation of a false violent offshoot of Islam, termed "Islamo-fascism," to serve as an elusive permanent enemy in the grand charade. The configuration of the power structure that we face, intending to bring it down, is centered on (once again) achieving the next war without the consent of the American people. It is necessary that the "powers that be" are freed from restraints upon their actions, so that they might use all the weapons in their arsenal to reshape the world, by first reshaping the Middle East region. These realignment plans are centered on strengthening Israel's hand, by undermining or destroying its enemies (all of its neighbors). Stopping the conspiracy requires that we derail these plans at every potential juncture. This requires that we confront all three of the false religions ("straw men") that have been set-up to mislead the world into submission before the god of war. The genius of darkness on this scale can be seen in its ability to "masquerade as light." And we know today that many of the leading voices screaming for Muslim blood and total world war are respected religious leaders. Our greatest national leaders pretend to honor God and country by their outrageous plans for death and outright genocide, even though the apparent outcome of the neocon war will be the end of America as we know it. But that is the goal of the Armegeddon-loving preachers of the Christian-Zionist movement. We see potential future presidents like John McCain embrace pastor imposters like John Hagee and Rod Parsley, who both teach ideas that should be reprehensible to sane Christians. "the United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West... a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming of Christ." - Hagee http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/48397 "I do not believe our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand our historical conflict with Islam. I know that this statement sounds extreme, but I do not shrink from its implications. The fact is that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed." - Parsley http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/03/john-mccain-rod- parsley-spiritual-guide.html In the egomania that passes for religious doctrine that is spewed by Hagee to his faithful sheep, he apparently even renounces Jesus as the "Messiah," in order to accommodate Jewish perceptions which deny the nature of Christ: http://youtube.com/watch?v=m8khCJTDD44 Imposter-preachers like these, and the endless line of charlatans that has preceded them, calling themselves "Christian-Zionists," are the foot soldiers, marching in step with the "Israel Lobby," leading the world into the hoped-for battle of Armegeddon. It is an extremely sad commentary on the intelligence levels of the ordinary, trusting folks who call themselves the "religious right," that so many of them would follow national suicide cults, masquerading as patriotic organizations. If their eyes could be opened to the truth, on any level, they might be persuaded that the campaign of organized brutality and murder, known as Zionism, was not the hand of God, but the handiwork of the most evil of men. If Zionist Israel was "God's will," then the "Diaspora" would be returned to the Holy Land and the Zionist experiment would not be threatened by exposure in the media. As it is, its most radical adherents understand that there must be no national debate or discussion of either Israeli actions in Palestine, or American support for these actions. To do so would lead to national exposure of the many war crimes that are being committed there in our name, with our weapons and financial backing. This is Zionism's "Achilles heel," the reason so many of us are focusing the debate about the war squarely upon Israel. "There is now a guerrilla war against Zionism in the U.S. that will one day soon, mark my words, break into the mainstream media." Mondoweiss The key to fighting Zionism is simply to acknowledge its nature. The founders and leaders of the political movement have always been realists, meaning that they have openly acknowledged the reality that Palestinians would never willingly surrender their land for Zionist colonization, without the liberal application of enough deadly force to break their will to resist. In the Zionist ideology, negotiations to end, or to reduce the use of force (before the Palestinians are pounded into complete submission) undermine military efforts, which are the only certain strategy to clear and capture the land. The "peace process" was the Zionist solution, satisfying Israel's left-wing with sham negotiations that the right-wing was prepared to sabotage by unleashing ever-expanding cycles of violence. The peace process has always been a sham theatrical production, meant to buy time for the colonization of the land and accumulate payoffs (in the form of weaponry) to persuade Israel to not carry-out a "final solution" to its "Palestinian problem." Israel's manufactured "war on terrorism" has been a necessary compliment to its idea of a "peace process," serving as a tool for prying more and more weaponry from America. When new weapons systems become available the cycle of terrorism is ramped-up by brutal Israeli collective punishment on the captive population, until the US reacts, forcing restraining negotiations upon them all. This long-standing Israeli ploy has been used to milk billions of dollars and all the necessary war machinery necessary for its expansionist plans for "Greater Israel." The overriding strategy has been to convince the Americans and their allies that Israel feels threatened and is on the verge of unleashing all of its military might against the threat, unless others alleviate the threat for them, either by fighting Israel's enemies for them, or lessening the fear by increasing Israel's arms advantage over its neighbors even further. Historically, Israel has used the claim of "existential threats" to its survival to fuel these propaganda ploys. Behind closed doors, Israeli leaders have freely confessed that this strategic deception has been used to justify launching wars in the past, http://www.arabmediawatch.com/amw/CountryBackgrounds/Palestine/ MediaMyths/TheArabsStartedthe1967War/tabid/248/Default.aspx# and are being used to justify forcing an American attack upon Iran today. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/916758.html The US has adapted Israel's "Iron Wall" doctrine to its "war on terror," using fear and the perception of threat to manipulate the American people into submission to its demands. The "wall" of fear is supposed to intimidate us into giving-up our freedoms and our rights to the national security state, in order to escape a perceived worse fate. The hyped fear of an imaginary "holy war" between Islam and the world has so far successfully driven the terrorized American herd inexorably towards the precipice, seducing us into surrendering our democracy to escape our pending extinction. We are supposed to forget that we have the freedom and the power to change our direction. The plan is that we remain as sleeping sheeple, while our trusted leaders slam down the gates around us, until we have no rights left, only the "freedom" to remain alive, if we are willing to remain silent. The war on terrorism is a carefully crafted war on us and upon all life. The answer to a religion of world-haters is a religion of life. To those who worship death, whether they be apostates of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, the only truth that can win-out is the truth that all life is sacred, every person a part of the same God. Men of God have to reach out to those who see God from a different angle. The false religions have to be renounced by the true believers. "Islamophobia," or hatred of Muslims, is the false religion that the American and Israeli secret services have created as the center of the war on terrorism. It is a disgrace to the Jews and Christians alike, who allow this blasphemy into their holy places. If Islamic leaders can denounce the basic principles that are associated with "Islamofascism," in an attempt to bridge the perceived gulf between religions, then true messengers of the "Prince of Peace" should be man enough to gladly support them. DAKAR (Reuters) - World Muslim leaders on Friday condemned extremism and terrorism as incompatible with Islam and proposed a high-level international meeting to promote a "dialogue of civilizations" with the Christian world. Leaders of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which represents 1.5 billion Muslims from across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, made the "Dakar Declaration" after a two-day summit in Senegal's capital. "We continue to strongly condemn all forms of extremism and dogmatism which are incompatible with Islam, a religion of moderation and peaceful coexistence," the declaration said. "We believe that it is important to plan along such lines a preparatory phase by organizing a major international gathering on Islamic-Christian dialogue that involves governments among other players," http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1488367320080314? feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=69&sp=true If Christian and Jewish leaders would follow this example, renouncing extremism and dogmatism, and embracing peaceful coexistence, we would see the formation of life-saving bulwarks begin to take shape. The fight against the worshippers of death is much more than a political fight, or a stand against the immorality of war, it is a stand for the sanctity of all life. The antiwar movement must get over itself and see the greater struggle as a fight for all life, the first step to saving the planet. If the antiwar movement becomes a pro-life force then we can help create renewed hope in a vision of the future similar to this inspirational last revelation of President Eisenhower: "We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love." http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html Copyright - Peter Chamberlin - 2008 ======================================================================== ================================== Note: This timeline below is greatly helpful for reaching clarity about chemtrails. -- kl, pp From: Stephen Leiper Date: March 19, 2008 6:12:56 PM EST To: prez@usa-exile.org Subject: william thomas chemtrails timeline - 3 parts http://www.willthomasonline.net/willthomasonline/ Chemtrails_Timeline_1.html http://www.willthomasonline.net/willthomasonline/ Chemtrails_Timeline_2.html http://www.willthomasonline.net/willthomasonline/ Chemtrails_Timeline_3.html ======================================================================== ================================================================= Arctic Losing Long-Term Ice Cover By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News website [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type image/gif which had a name of 999999.gif] The Arctic is losing its old, thick ice faster than in previous years, according to satellite data. The loss has continued since the end of the Arctic summer, despite cold weather across the northern hemisphere. The warm 2007 summer saw the smallest area of ice ever recorded in the region, and scientists say 2008 could follow a similar pattern. Older floes are thicker and less saline than newly-formed ice, meaning they can survive warm spells better. Ice more than two years old now makes up about 30% of all the ice in the Arctic, down from 60% two decades ago. The shrinking of Arctic ice has global implications, as its white surface reflects solar energy back into space whereas the open ocean absorbs it. Long March March is the month when the Arctic ice usually reaches its largest extent, as the dark winter nears its end. Nasa's data shows the area covered by ice is roughly the same as it was last year; but this masks a significant change. "Although this March the area is slightly larger than last March, the area of [thick] perennial ice has reached an all time low," said Seelye Martin, manager of the Cryospheric Sciences Program at Nasa headquarters in Washington DC. "So the volume of Arctic ice continues to decrease." [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type image/gif which had a name of _44501559_ice_graph416.gif] The proportion of old ice covering the Arctic has fallen markedly The loss of old, thick ice has continued through the winter months, despite the unusually cold weather deriving from La Nina conditions (the other extreme of the El Nino Southern Oscillation) in the Pacific. The winter ice loss is thought to be driven mainly by the transport of old floes from Arctic waters out into the Atlantic Ocean. The currents driving this are stronger than usual as a consequence of another natural cycle, the Arctic Oscillation. The net result is that most of the cover consists of ice that has formed since last summer. The scientists behind these findings believe this year's cooling should not obscure the long term warming trend, with temperatures across the Arctic rising about twice as fast as the global average. "Weather comes and goes, and it's the long term average that really matters," observed Josefino Comiso from Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center. Dr Comiso said he believed that the change of albedo - the change from a white, reflective surface of ice to a dark, absorbing surface of sea - was already happening. Summer sailing With the ice pack containing such a high proportion of thin, salty ice, the scientists believe another major melt is likely in the summer. "It's becoming thinner and thinner and much more susceptible to melting during the summer - much more likely to melt away," commented Walt Meier from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder. "It may look OK on the surface, but it's like looking at a Hollywood movie set - you see the facade of a building and it looks OK, but if you look behind it, there's no building there." Last summer, the sharp melt meant that the Northwest Passage, the fabled navigation route linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across the top of North America, was easily navigable. The disappeance of ice cover has countries around the Arctic eagerly eyeing the mineral reserves that may become accessible. Most projections of climate change in the Arctic suggest the ocean may become ice-free by the middle of the century, but one forecast released late last year said it could happen by 2013. Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk ======================================================================== ================================================================= Preparing for Permaculture By Kelpie Wilson t r u t h o u t | Environmental Editor Monday 02 July An interview with permaculture expert Robyn Francis in New South Wales, Australia. [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of 3.070207K_sm.jpg] While in Australia for the International Agrichar Initiative conference in April, I got a chance to visit Djanbung Gardens, a farm and learning center founded by permaculture expert Robyn Francis in the alternative community of Nimbin, New South Wales. After a wonderful hour touring the garden with students from Canada, South Africa and France, I sat down with Robyn for a chat about permaculture and the future of Australia's and the world's agricultural systems. KW: Robyn, please tell me - what got you interested in permaculture? RF: In the early 1970s, I was part of the whole counterculture movement and not very happy with the way society was going. I traveled overseas for five years and saw a lot of things good and a lot of things wrong, and one of the things I found that really fascinated me in my travels was the sustainable traditional systems of farming and village culture. Then I lived in Europe, in southern Germany, in a small farming hamlet, for three and a half years, just out of Munich, where I got to see the traditional European farming systems. There were still old farmers who were doing their crop rotations, and the only input to the farm was diesel fuel to put into the tractor and the Mercedes Benz. It was all mixed cropping, and they had their cows and their pigs, and they would use the manures and compost them and put them out in the fields. These types of farms would have a little forest that was managed over 200-year rotations, from generation to generation, and it was just such a stark contrast to the mono-thinking, monoculture, broad-acre agriculture that I grew up with here in Australia. KW: How did we end up abandoning those kinds of systems? RF: Post WWII; that's when society went on the most incredibly manic fossil-fuel binge. From the end of the Second World War you can track this corporatization of Western culture and commoditization of land. And all the chemical weapons that they created for war, well, those chemicals then went into chemical-based agriculture, so they could continue manufacturing and have a new market. We really see those major changes in agricultural systems occurring then. KW: It hasn't been that long, really, has it? RF: It hasn't, and I think places that didn't have really strong traditions, like Australia and the US, were just the perfect breeding ground for this kind of phenomenon to take off, whereas in Europe, people were a lot more grounded in their long-term traditions. There have been big changes since I lived there. I felt particularly blessed to be living there at the tail end of that old generation. I went back ten years later, and the landscape had changed. The sons who had gone to agricultural college and had done their agribiz science had come back, and all these patchwork rotational fields were turned into monocultures for feedlot cattle. So, yeah, it's amazing how things can change in a generation, and what we need is a very big generational change right now. Basically going back, with more intelligence, into the future. KW: Well, isn't that what you're doing with the students you have here? I just asked them when we were walking around, "Do you think more people are going to be farmers in the future?" They looked at me and simply said, "Yes." RF: You have to look at the phenomenon of Cuba. What an amazing example that is of a country that just suddenly had its fossil fuels, its fertilizers - all of those taps - turned off, including its market for its exports, when the USSR collapsed. I don't know if you've seen the video "Power of Community." It shows how now the farmers are the most revered and respected people in the community. They are the ones who have the most money. KW: Does that amaze you? RF: It is how it should be, because it is a struggle in every society. I've worked a lot in the Third World too, where this global cutthroat market is pitting country against country to get stuff cheap. And the people who are missing out are the farmers. They're getting screwed with their prices right across the board; farmers just can't make ends meet operating a farm, be it Third World or First World. The First-World farmers have got to compete with Third-World farmers in terms of wages and try to deliver a crop at similar cost, so farming's not worth anything, anywhere. In the Third World, you don't see young people working on the farms. It's the old people out in the fields, and they're dying off. None of them are encouraging their kids to become farmers, because it doesn't pay. You can't survive as a farmer because prices are so suppressed. David Suzuki, for years, has been saying that we're only paying 20 percent of the true cost of our food. There are all these hidden subsidies. KW: Remember, it used to be that, in the US anyway, people expected to spend about 25 percent of their income on food, and 25 percent on housing, and 50 percent for everything else, and now it's more like about 50 percent for housing and maybe 10 percent on food. RF: You know, oil has now hit peak. This is not going to last. We've been talking about global warming since the early '80s and sustainability for longer than that. And we haven't just been talking about it. That's what I like about permaculture - permaculture has actually been doing it, and it has grown rapidly, and mainly through training, empowering people through education. That has been at the heart of permaculture's success, training people to be trainers. I don't know how many hundreds of thousands of trained permaculturists there are around the planet. It's being practiced in 80, maybe, even over 100 different countries around the world. KW: Could you just give me a quick definition of permaculture? RF: Well, the word itself means permanent culture, and it's really a holistic or interdisciplinary or metadisciplinary approach to how we sustain our environment. It looks at how human beings can provide their needs while treading lightly on the earth, how we can do it by still respecting the life around us and the life-supporting systems on this planet, and, as such, it's got to embrace all aspects of our society and how we meet our needs. Food, of course, is a primary need. You don't live long without food, and then when we look at the history of food production, we find that traditionally, agriculture has been one of the most destructive enterprises. It has desertified [and] salinated more land, destroyed more forests, and polluted more landscapes than any other human enterprise. There are estimates that 70 percent of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere are actually caused through food production, because it's not just the farmer growing the food, it's all the inputs into that. It's all those big corporations. It's all the energy used for making these soluble fertilizers that are killing the soil microflora and breaking down the structure of carbon in the soil. Allan Yeomans's book, "Priority One," says that if we increased the organic matter in soil by 1.6 percent in all our cropping lands, we would sequester all the excess CO2 in the atmosphere. KW: We've been hearing a lot about global warming, the drying of Australia and losing the irrigation water from the major river system in the country - the Murray-Darling. Who's going to feed Australia in the future? How will you put bread on the table? RF: In most bioregions, it actually takes very little land to produce grain to feed people. Probably 90 percent of the grain that's grown in Australia is for international trade. And it's only a small amount that we actually need locally, so if those precious resources are put into providing our need - if we focus on import replacement instead of international marketing - you know, exporting rice to Thailand and importing rice back ... KW: Economic theory calls that comparative advantage. It's actually kind of nuts isn't it? RF: Yes it is. Trucking coals to Newcastle and back again, just to generate a profit. We have to stop and look at self-reliance on the national as well as the local level. It's got to work all the way through, and there's just got to be a huge contraction. There's got to be very large areas that are allowed to go back to some kind of very, very hardy vegetation, and some of these areas that have been growing annual grains will be much better off going into, say, bush-food production. Acacia tree, what we call wattle, produces high yields of a good quality grain that can be used for bread. It can be roasted as a coffee substitute. It is things like this that can cope with that low rainfall. We also won't need all that fossil fuel for plowing, and harvesters and so on. We've just got to design different types of harvesting systems to harvest the seeds of things like this. KW: Are those ideas coming up, bubbling up to the top of government at this time? RF: Not yet. But I think things like this are going to trigger that shift to where we start to look at native crops and things that can cope with no irrigation and look very carefully at what irrigation we do use and how we use the resources that we do have. There's going to be a shift on all levels of society. KW: There just is. There's no way around it. RF: Yes. Exactly. KW: I want to ask you one more question, but I think ... (A man walks up to us here) Man: We've got a calf in the garden. Anyway, answer the question, and then.... RF: In the garden? In the actual vegetable garden? Man: No. RF: Oh, okay. KW: Do you need to go? RF: That's alright. KW: The neighbor's cow ... RF: He probably came through from the eco-village land. There's a gate that's on the corner down there. One of these guys should know where it is. Anyway, it'll still be there in five minutes. Last question. KW: The perils of being on a farm - calves on the loose! Well, I wanted to ask you about biochar, the Amazonian black earth, and what kind of potential you think that has. Do you think it has a great potential here in this part of the country for revitalizing soils? You were talking earlier about getting carbon back into soils, and I see a lot of interest in this idea. RF: I think it's a multi-pronged approach that we need to take, and no one system is going to be the ultimate solution, because every system we use will have a cost in terms of where we're getting resources. So, I think it's a matter of looking strategically at the individual soil types and production systems. What is actually wrong with the soil? What does it need? For some soils and some situations, things like black soil ... charcoal ... may be the answer. For other situations, it may be a matter of just getting the beneficial organisms back with the right kind of bacteria-based or fungal-based compost teas. In other situations, biodynamic preparations may be the best tool. In many ways, I really like these, sort of, homeopathic approaches, because they don't require huge resources to revitalize the land. KW: So, you like the compost teas and things like that? RF: Yes, and the results are pretty amazing. KW: So when you bring the health back to the soil, does that automatically start the process of incorporating carbon into it then? RF: Yes. Once you've got the soil biota working, you are healing the land and the organic matter in the soil can hold together and not break apart. And, of course, that needs to be combined with cover crops and returning crop residues and so on back to the soil and building up the organic matter. You don't just put compost tea on and ... KW: Walk away ... RF: Right. It's got to be a fully strategic approach. Every farm needs a redesign, because you have to integrate the tree crops in with it, and the wildlife areas need to be restored. You have the windbreaks and the hedgerows and so on that need to be restored. There are the water-management systems like swales and ponds that need to be put in. It's got to be a multi-pronged approach. It's not just some new additive you put into the soil and business as usual. What I think is important is that, when these things are done, that they are done very carefully, in terms of where is the charcoal going to come from, because there is a great potential to be very irresponsible about getting the sources of timber to turn into charcoal. KW: Well, in a lot of cases, they're using ag-waste, like rice hulls and things like that. It's not all timber. RF: Yeah, but, even looking at the ag-wastes, on every resource we've got to look at what is the best way to use this, and how can we maximize everything that we get out of each resource along the process. So, in the process of actually turning a crop residue or something or other into charcoal, is there some other product that we can harness from this, or is there a byproduct that can become an input for something else, and we've got to get away from these linear systems. KW: Right. RF: Because that's when we screw up, every time. It's when we only think in linear systems and we miss all of the opportunities along the way. See, when we maximize every resource, we look at every byproduct, every waste is a new resource for something else, so that everything is recycled within the system. It is only through a very radical slowdown of entropy that we can design systems that are going to be sustainable. KW: It seems like exciting work. Don't you feel now is the time where you're finally being called upon to share all this wonderful knowledge and experience you've been accumulating? RF: Yes. KW: Well, congratulations for all you've done, and for seeing the fruits of your work. RF: Yep, and more to come. Kelpie Wilson is Truthout's environment editor. Trained as a mechanical engineer, she embarked on a career as a forest protection activist, then returned to engineering as a technical writer for the solar power industry. She is the author of "Primal Tears,", an eco-thriller about a hybrid human-bonobo girl. Greg Bear, author of "Darwin's Radio," says: "'Primal Tears' is primal storytelling, thoughtful and passionate. Kelpie Wilson wonderfully expands our definitions of human and family." ) : t r u t h o u t 2008 ======================================================================== ================================================================ NOTE: Great good news! -- kl, pp http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news? pid=20601087&sid=a0wzK3PNIFZ4&refer=home Monsanto Co., the world's biggest seed producer, fell the most in five years, losing $13.21, or 12 percent, to $98.87. Wheat, corn and soybeans dropped by the maximum permitted by the Chicago Board of Trade as rain improved crop prospects in Australia and farmers worldwide prepared to sow more grain to take advantage of last month's record prices. Monsanto also lost a bid to have France's highest court overturn a ban on genetically modified corn. ======================================================================== ======================== Why the Bush Administration "Watergated" Eliot Spitzer by F. William Engdahl Global Research, March 18, 2008 The spectacular and highly bizarre release of secret FBI wiretap data to the New York Times exposing the tryst of New York state Governor, Eliot Spitzer, the now-infamous "No.9," with a luxury call-girl, had less to do with the Bush Administrations pursuit of high moral standards for public servants. Spitzer was likely the target of a White House and Wall Street dirty tricks operation to silence one of its most dangerous and vocal critics of their handling the current financial market crisis. A useful rule of thumb in evaluating spectacular scandals around prominent public figures is to ask what and who might want to eliminate that person. In the case of Governor Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, it is clear that the spectacular "leak" of government FBI wiretap records showing that Spitzer paid a high-cost prostitute $4,300 for what amounted to about an hours personal entertainment, was politically motivated. The press has almost solely focused on the salacious aspects of the affair, not least the hefty fee Spitzer apparently paid. Why the scandal breaks now is the more interesting question. Spitzer became Governor of New York following a high-profile record as a relentless State Attorney General going after financial crimes such as the Enron fraud and corruption by Wall Street investment banks during the 2002 dot.com bubble era. The powerful former head of the large AIG insurance group, Hank Greenburg was among his detractors. He made powerful enemies by all accounts. He was bitterly hated on Wall Street. He had made his political career on being ruthless against financial corruption. Most recently, from his position as Governor of the nations second largest state, and home to its financial industry, Spitzer had begun making high profile attacks on the complicity of the Bush Administration in covertly arranging bailout if its Wall Street financial friends at the expense of ordinary homeowners and citizens, paid all with taxpayer funds. Curiously, Spitzer, who had been elected governor in 2006 defeating a Republican by winning nearly 70 percent of the vote, has been not charged in any crime. However, the day the scandal broke New York Assembly Republicans immediately announced plans to impeach Spitzer or put him on public trial were he to refuse resignation. Spitzer could be asked to testify in any trial involving the Emperors Club prostitution ring. But so far he hasnt been charged with a crime. Prostitution is illegal in most US states, but clients of prostitutes are almost never charged, nor are their names usually leaked in a case in process. The Spitzer case is in the hands of Washington and not state authorities, underscoring the clear political nature of the Spitzer "Watergate." The New York Times said Spitzer was an individual identified as Client 9 in court papers filed last week. Client 9 arranged to meet with "Kristen," a prostitute who officially charged $1,000 an hour, on February 13 in a Washington hotel. Whatever transpired, Spitzer paid her $4,300, according to the official documents. The case is clearly political when compared with more egregious recent cases involving Republicans. Republican Mark Foley was exposed propositioning male interns in Congress and Rudolph Giuliani was discovered cheating on his wife, but no or few Republican calls for resignations were heard. Why the attack now? Spitzer had become increasingly public in his blaming the Bush Administration for the nations current financial and economic disaster. He testified in Washington in mid-February before the US House of Representatives Financial Services subcommittee on the problems in New York-based specialized insurance companies, known as "monoline" insurers. In a national CNBC TV interview the same day, he laid blame for the crisis and its broader economic fallout on the Bush Administration. Spitzer recalled that several years ago the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency went to court and blocked New York State efforts to investigate the mortgage activities of national banks. Spitzer argued the OCC did not put a stop to questionable loan marketing practices or uphold higher underwriting standards. "This could have been avoided if the OCC had done its job," Spitzer said in the interview. "The OCC did nothing. The Bush Administration let the housing bubble inflate and now that it's deflating we're dealing with the consequences. The real failure, the genesis, the germ that has spread was the subprime scandal," Spitzer said. Fraudulent marketing and very low "teaser" mortgage rates that later ballooned higher, were practices that should have been stopped, he argued. "When mortgages are being marketed, there is a marketplace obligation to ensure the borrower can afford to pay back the debt," he said. That TV interview was only one instance of Spitzer laying blame on the Bush Republicans. On February 14, Spitzer published a signed article in the influential Washington Post titled, "Predatory Lenders' Partner in Crime: How the Bush Administration Stopped the States From Stepping In to Help Consumers." That article, laying clear blame on the Administration for the development of the sub-prime crisis, appeared the day after his ill-fated tryst with the prostitute at the Mayflower Hotel. Just a coincidence? Spitzer wrote, ""In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis, the OCC invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act pre-empting all state predatory lending laws, thereby rendering them inoperative. The OCC also promulgated new rules that prevented states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks." In his article Spitzer charged, "Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which he federal government was turning a blind eye." Bush, said Spitzer right in the headline, was the "Predator Lenders' Partner in Crime." The President, said Spitzer, was a fugitive from justice. And Spitzer was in Washington to launch a campaign to take on the Bush regime and the biggest financial powers on the planet. Spitzer wrote, "When history tells the story of the sub-prime lending crisis and recounts its devastating effects on the lives of so many innocent homeowners the Bush administration will not be judged favourably." With that article, some Washington insiders believe, Spitzer signed his own political death warrant. F. William Engdahl is the author of Seeds of Destruction, the Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation recently released by Global Research. He also the author of A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order, Pluto Press Ltd.. To contact by e-mail: info@engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net. ======================================================================== ================================================================= From: Rick Davis Date: March 20, 2008 6:02:15 PM EST To: rdavis@yin.or.jp Subject: News items, March 21, 2008 25 environmental threats of the future http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13505-named-25-environmental- threats-of-the-future.html Nanomaterials, manmade viruses, biomimetic robots... =============== As Interest Rates Decline, Bernanke's Stock Goes Up http://www.cnbc.com/id/23707730 =============== The Peak Oil Crisis: Stirrings in Ottawa http://www.fcnp.com/national_commentary/ the_peak_oil_crisis_stirrings_in_ottawa_20080319.html =============== Hillary's Ties to Religious Fundamentalists http://www.alternet.org/election08/80248/ =============== Airlines blast plan to fingerprint foreign fliers http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-03-16-fingerprints_N.htm? csp=34 =============== How the blurring of the seasons is a harbinger of climate calamity http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/how-the- blurring-of-the-seasons-is-a-harbinger-of-climate-calamity-798379.html =============== NI First For Giant Tidal Energy Turbine http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91221-1309091,00.html =============== Hansen (et al) must read: Get back to 350 ppm or risk an ice-free planet http://climateprogress.org/2008/03/17/hansen-et-al-must-read-back-to -350-ppm-or-risk-an-ice-free-planet/ =============== French state body upholds decision on GM crop ban http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL1992582220080319? sp=true =============== US: States Data Obscure How Few Finish High School http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/education/20graduation.html? ei=5065&en=59d68494c9665a24&ex=1206676800&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print Comment: Most children left behind! =============== War in Heaven The Arms Race in Outer Space http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8390 =============== Blackwater Seeps Into the Campaign http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080331/scahill =============== Obama race speech analysis http://www.blackcommentator.com/269/ 269_cover_obama_race_speech_analysis_ed_bd.html Obama's Multiracial Coalition and the Politics of Racial Reconciliation http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=562&Itemid=1 =============== Video: American Troops Going Insane http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq5_vG3cYGM =============== Tiny buckyballs squeeze hydrogen like giant Jupiter http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/33264 Comment: However, the article starts off by repeating the common erroneous belief that hydrogen is an "energy source." It is no such thing. =============== Reserves don't matter as much as the cost of getting the oil out the ground http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080320.IBEUROPE20/ TPStory/Business =============== It's a Welfare State - If You're Rich http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/13540 =============== Coal Can't Fill World's Burning Appetite http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/19/ AR2008031903859.html =============== More than 100 arrested in San Francisco anti-war actions http://ww4report.com/node/5283 =============== Why carbon capture is an illusion http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/ RTGAM.20080318.wcomment0319/BNStory/Front/home =============== UGANDA: "Survival of the fittest" as food crisis bites Karamoja region http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=77378 =============== Germany's Top Court Curtails Disputed Data Storage Law http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0%2C2144%2C3203058%2C00.html =============== Venezuela Suspends Oil Shipments to Chalmette Refinery in U.S. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news? pid=20601072&sid=aXPVIAFMScCA&refer=energy =============== How to Become a Concentration Camp Guard Without Even Trying http://www.alternet.org/asoldierspeaks/79980/ =============== The Great Unwind has begun, Citigroup warns: Avoid leveraged companies, countries and consumers, bank's strategists say http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx? guid=%7B1DC25DFD%2D3543%2D4CF4%2DBE26%2D74EA4B9C9330%7D&siteid=rss =============== 3 investment banks tap new Fed loans http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.lend20mar20,0,1419917.story ======================================================================== =============== From: Rick Davis Date: March 20, 2008 9:02:57 PM EST Subject: A few more items for March 21, 2008 Dear readers, Here are a few more items. I will not be doing the list for a while, except perhaps on rainy days, because the growing season is nigh. The garden and rice paddies call. ------------------------------------------------- What is the real death toll in Iraq? http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/19/iraq France to renegotiate all military accords with Africa: Sarkozy http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hBK1x-L57I3C-43U4yywelzvTaTw The Daylight Robbery of Borrowers: The Triple Failing of the Big Private Banks http://www.counterpunch.org/toussaint03202008.html The true cost of war http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/28/iraq.afghanistan There are Many Doubters and Non-Believers but the Energy Bull Continues to March Up http://www.321energy.com/editorials/sztaba/sztaba031908.html U.S. Health Care Gets Boost From Charity http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/28/60minutes/main3889496.shtml Philip Agee and the CIA: A Man Who Told the Truth http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031208S.shtml Bush erroneously says Iran announced desire for nuclear weapons http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/31114.html ======================================================================== ================================================================