"La frugalità elegante"

Il 28 settembre il grande architetto, scrittore, scultore, urbanista e artista italiano Paolo Soleri ha tenuto a battesimo all’Auditorium Parco della Musica di Roma la prima edizione della Festa dell’Architettura, che partirà in primavera, con una lectio magistralis dal titolo “La frugalità elegante”. Il maestro italiano, trasferitosi nel 1956 in Arizona, dove fonda prima la Cosanti Foundation e nel 1970 Arcosanti, un prototipo di città per 5.000 persone, basata sui concetti dell’Arcologia (Architettura e Ecologia), trae la forza del suo pensiero proprio dalla frugalità, applicata alle risorse e all’energia per vivere sfruttando il meno possibile l’ambiente. Una scelta programmatica: Soleri steso vive ad Arcosanti, la sua città mito-comunità-laboratorio ecolocico. Ecco le sue parole:

“Il Golia del materialismo non può essere affrontato con successo con timidezza e semplici riforme. Deve essere denunciato con forza, e la propria alternativa non può essere una mera riforma dell’esistente ma una riformulazione delle motivazioni alla base della vita”.

“L’alternativa che vorrei offrire è la ‘Lean alternative’, l’alternativa della frugalità elegante… Non si tratta di operare riforme, ma di riformulare le nostre fedi, le nostre priorità e il nostro approccio all’ambiente naturale. Il riformismo, lo insegna lo storia, è una impossibilità mascherata”.

“Noi occidentali siamo rimasti intrappolati nella gabbia del materialismo, una nostra invenzione. L’impero tecnocratico avrà vita breve perché al suo miope ed immenso potere fa eco la sua impronta teocratica”. Di qui l’invito alla riscoperta della frugalità per sconfiggere “l’opportunismo dell’homo faber” e a riformulare le motivazioni alla base della vita, ora che non è più “ostaggio della legge della sopravvivenza del più forte”.

(Fonte: il Velino.it)

Sopra: la costellazione di Orione vista da Arcosanti

La priorità della moderna architettura è quindi quella di coniugare la qualità del vivere con i materiali e la tecnologia della nostra era, tentando di raggiungere quella sostenibilità assoluta che non è altro che la chimerica “emissione zero”. A differenza di altri, Soleri trova l’antitodo in un connubio tra “frugalità elegante” e “saggezza”. Un ingegnamento apparentemente eversivo e atemporale, che dovrebbe far riflettere i fantomatici profeti dell’architettura sostenibile concepita solamente e unicamente come un’intrusione sempre più eccessiva della tecnica e dell’industria.

31/10/09 ~ Video killed the radio star

~ 31 Ocotber 2009 ~

Also ich mache Jon Bon Jovi und die Würste dafür verantwortlich, dass ich zur Zeit ein bisschen unter Heimweh leide.

Angefangen hat das nämlich vor etwa zwei Wochen, als ich im Supermarkt war. Das Hackfleisch war ausverkauft, eine Großpackung Rind oder Lamm konnte und wollte ich mir nicht leisten und auf einmal hatte ich einen Heißhunger auf Würstchen. Seitenwürstchen, Wiener, Frankfurter, Thüringer Bratwürste – jegliche Art von Wurst.

Also kaufte ich eine Zehnerpackung Würstchen, die ich einfror, und freute mich, dass ich nun immer, wenn ich Lust darauf hatte, eine Wurst würde essen können.

Die Tatsache, dass auf der Packung “Geschmacksrichtung Rind” steht, hätte mir eine Warnung sein müssen. Wenn man es nicht gerade auf einen Milchshake bezieht, muss dasWort “Geschmacksrichtung” in der Regel eigentlich immer eine Alarmglocke erschrillen lassen. “Ein Milkshake mit Geschmacksrichtung Banane.” Das klingt gut. Normal. Aber “Würstchen Geschmacksrichtung Rind” – das klingt als würde man sagen “Toilettenreiniger mit Zitronenduft”. Künstlich.

Das Problem war also: da hatte ich nun meine Würstchen mit Geschmacksrichtung Rind und war einigermaßen happy – nur dann wollte ich auf einmal ganz ganz dringend nur noch DEUTSCHE Würstchen. Noch während dem Abendessen konnte ich an nichts anderes mehr denken als an Saitenwürstchen und Nürnberger. Sie setzten sich in meinem Hinterkopf fest und blieben dort. Der Gedanke an deutsche Würste verfolgte mich auf Schritt und Tritt.

Aber ich fand mich damit ab. So ist das nun mal. Man kann nicht alles haben. Ich ignorierte die innere Stimme, die mir zuflüsterte: “Du könntest dich jetzt einfach auf deine Vespa schwingen, zur Metzgerei Jäger fahren und Wurst kaufen, wenn du daheim wärst. Aber stattdessen bist du hier, ohne Vespa und ohne Würste. Aber du hast es ja selber so gewollt!” und fast wäre alles gut gelaufen – wenn dann nicht der Dienstagabend vor zwei Wochen gekommen wäre. An diesem Dienstagabend vergaß mein lieber Bruder nämlich, dass er mit mir hatte über Skype telefonieren wollen.

Da meldete sich die innere Stimme natürlich wieder: “Wenn du in Lauffen wärst, könntest du einfach in seine Küche stürmen und ihn dafür zur Schnecke machen!”

Und dann – als ob das nicht alles schon genug wäre – bekam ich noch einen Bon Jovi Newsletter und machte alles noch schlimmer.

Lasst mich das erklären. Die letzten paar Male, wenn Bon Jovi eine CD herausgebracht hatten, war das irgendwie immer im Sommer oder Herbst geschehen und die darauffolgende Tour hatte im Januar in Australien und Neuseeland begonnen und die Gruppe war dann im Juni oder Juli nach Deutschland gekommen.

Vor kurzem war also bekannt geworden, dass das neue Album Anfang November herauskommt, demnach dachte ich, ich hätte einmal Glück und Bon Jovi würden Neuseeland touren, während ich noch hier bin (die letzten beiden Male hatte ich sie ja schon knapp verpasst). Dann wäre ich im Juni oder so eh wieder in Deutschland und würde sie dort auch sehen können. Perfekt.

Bis dieser wunderschöne Newsletter kam. Darin stand nämlich, dass Bon Jovi ihre Tour in Amerika beginnen. Und im nächsten Newsletter stand, dass sie ein Konzert in Deutschland am 9. November anlässlich des Mauerfalls geben. Und, dass sie einen “geheimen” Auftritt in London planen.

Die Welttour fängt demnach erst viel später an, aber das macht nichts, denn in Europa gibt es ja schon die beiden Konzerte vorher – und als ob das nicht reicht, haben sie jetzt beschlossen, das Ganze auszudehnen und noch mehr Konzerte in London zu geben. Toll. Ach ja, und die CD kommt bei euch schon heute raus, ich muss hier noch zwei Tage warten (und selbst dann kann ich mir nicht sicher sein, ob die Läden sie dann auch wirklich haben und verkaufen). Und ich sitze hier und schneide Speck (oder vielmehr Würste mit Geschmacksrichtung Rind) und wer mich lieb hat holt mich weg.

Und sobald ich online gehe, wird es mir noch von sämtlichen sozialen Media-Netzwerken wie ein Spiegel vorgehalten: Newsletter im Email-Postfach, Twitter-Meldungen, Facebook- und Myspace-Notizen und demnächst reiben sie es mir bestimmt im Google-Reader oder so auch noch unter die Nase.

Aus diesem Grund mache ich also Bon Jovi und die Würste für mein Heimweh verantwortlich: alles, was ich gern hätte, kann ich nicht haben, weil es irgendwie in Deutschland ist.

Ich habe auch schon versucht, das Heimweh ein bisschen zu kurieren. Letztes Wochenende war ich auf dem Markt und habe dem Stand mit “True Bavarian Sausages”, echten bayrischen Würsten, einen Besuch abgestattet. Ich hätte angenommen, dass es da Weißwürste gibt, denn das sind die einzigen Würste, die mir zum Thema Bayern einfallen, aber stattdessen gab es Frankfurter und Wiener. Sie hätten wohl eher “Würste mit Geschmacksrichtung Bayern” auf ihr Schild schreiben sollen, denn:

a) soweit ich weiß, liegen weder Frankfurt noch Wien in Bayern

b) die Frankfurter, die ich bestellte, war bestenfalls einem Saitenwürstchen nahe, aber definitv keine Frankfurter.

c) vielmehr war die “Frankfurter” ziemlich sicher von NewWorld oder Pak’n'Save und hatte ursprünglich bestimmt auch einen “Geschmacksrichtung…”-Aufkleber gehabt.

Aber – es hat zumindest FAST wie ein Saitenwürstchen geschmeckt, von daher war ich glücklich und zufrieden.

Und froh, nicht aus Bayern zu sein, denn als der Verkäufer herausgefunden hatte, dass ich aus Deutschland bin, hat er sich darüber ausgelassen, wie arrogant und ignorant Bayern doch seien und dass sie sich für besser als die restlichen Deutschen halten usw. usf. Das war äußerst amüsant und ich hab mich gut mit dem Mensch unterhalten.

SIGN: Whitireia Welly Campus (pic: own)

Am Montag dann haben wir in der Schule mit “Video Reporting” angefangen. Radio ist vorbei, jetzt kommt Video dran. Video killed the radio star. Ein Kameramann vom Fernsehen hat uns in die Geheimnisse des Filmens eingeweiht. Jetzt haben wir noch eine Woche Zeit, ein vier-minütiges Nachrichten-Video für NewsWire zu drehen. Das ist ziemlich spannend, aber die Technik kann einem ganz schön einen Strich durch die Rechnung machen. Wir hatten unser Interview komplett gedreht, alles super – doch dann, als wir im Schneideraum waren, erlebten wir eine böse Überraschung. Wir hatten den Testlauf (in dem ich mich über negativen Aspekte von Tokio Hotel auslasse) und wir hatten den Part, als sich unser Interviewpartner die Haare frisiert und Tory, die interviewte, das Mikro zurechtrückt. Und wir hatten den Part, als die beiden sich verabschieden und der Typ seine Mütze wieder aufsetzt. Der ganze Mittelteil -sprich: das Interview, also das einzige, was wir wirklich hatten aufnehmen wollen- fehlte. Ironie des Schicksals, schätze ich.

Übermorgen habe ich übrigens Jahrestag. Vor einem Jahr bin ich zu spät (dank dem Zug) und unwissend in die Redaktion von NewsWire gestolpert. Mein Wortschatz war zu dem Zeitpunkt so beschränkt, dass ich nicht realisierte, dass “Polytechnic” Fachhochschule bedeutet, und als meine Gastmama Jim mit John ansprach, widersprach ich nicht, weil ich es selber auch nicht besser wusste.

Mittlerweile muss ich mich nicht mehr konzentrieren und angestrengt zuhören, um John -äh, ich meine Jim- zu verstehen, weiß, was “Polytech” bedeutet und kann mich selbst sehr viel besser ausdrücken. Ich weiß, worauf es bei einem Nachrichten-Artikel ankommt, und dass man im Café zahlte BEVOR man sich hinsetzt.

Naja. Meistens, weiß ich das. Neulich hatte ich mal nen “deutschen Moment”, wo ich es vergessen habe, aber normalerweise denk ich dran.

Und wieder einmal sind wir an dem Punkt angekommen, wo ich sagen kann: in fünf Monaten ist meine Zeit in Neuseeland schon wieder vorbei. Haha. Ja klar. Das hab ich letztes Jahr auch gesagt und wir wissen ja alle, wie das ausgegangen ist…

Und obwohl ich jetzt gerade ein bisschen Heimweh habe, ist mir klar, dass ich mich trotzdem richtig entschieden habe, wieder hierher zu kommen.

~ ~ ~

So I blame Jon Bon Jovi and the sausages for the homesickness I suffer from these days.

It started like two weeks ago when I went down to the supermaket. They run out of mince and I wasn’t able (and didn’t want to be able) to afford a family package of beef or lamb and all of a sudden I had an urgent craving for sausages. Scalded sausages, Wiener, Frankfurter, Thuringian bratwurste – any kind of sausage.

So I bought a packet of ten sausages, put them in the freezer and was happy that every time I’d feel like sausages, I would be able to eat some. The fact that the package was labelled “beef flavoured” should have been a warning to me. Unless relating to a milkshake, the term “flavoured” should always ring a bell. “A banana-flavoured milkshake”. That sounds good. Normal. But “sausages, beef-flavoured” – that sounds as if you wanted to say “toilet detergent lemon flavoured”. Artificial.

The problem was: there I was happy about having beef-flavoured sausages – but then all of a sudden all I wanted was GERMAN sausages. While still having my dinner, all I could think of were scalded sausages and Nuremburger. The thought of them got stuck in the back of my mind and stayed there. The thought of them shadowed me on every step I took.

But I became reconciled with it. That’s just the way it is. One cannot have everything. I ignored my inner voice when it whispered: “You could just leap onto your Vespa, drive down to the butchery ‘Jäger’ and buy sausages, if you were at home. But instead, you’re here, without the Vespa and without sausages. But you asked for it!” and it almost went well – if Tuesday night two weeks ago had not come. That Tuesday night was the night my dear brother forgot that he wanted to telephone me via Skype.

And the inner voice gave me a shout again: If you were in Lauffen, you could simply storm into his kitchen and give him a real bawling-out!”

And then – as if this wasn’t bad enough already – I got a Bon Jovi Newsletter that made everything worse.

Let me explain. The last few times when Bon Jovi released a CD, this had always happened in summer or autumn and the following tour started in Australia and New Zealand next January and they susequently arrived in Germany in June or July.

A little while ago, the new album has been announced to come out in early November and thus I would be lucky and Bon Jovi would tour New Zealand while I am still here (the last two times before I always missed them just). Then I’d be back in Germany and would be able to see them there in June. Perfect.

Perfect until that wonderful newsletter arrived. Because that told me that the Bon Jovi tour starts in America. And the next newsletter told me that there will be a concert on November 9, 2009, in Germany in celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall. And that they are planning a “secret gig” in London.

According to that, the world tour would start much later, but that does not matter, because Europe already gets a few concerts in advance – and as if that’s not enough, they have now decided to extend the whole thing and add some more concerts in London to their to-do-list. Great. Oh, and by the way, the CD will be in your stores TODAY, while I still have to wait a couple of days longer (and even then can’t be sure if the stores actually have it and want to sell it). “Ich sitze hier und schneide Speck und wer mich lieb hat, holt mich weg” [German rhyme from a game, translated: "I am sitting here, cutting bacon, until the one who loves me comes and gets me!"]

And as soon as I go online, all the social media networks hold a mirror up to me: newsletter in my email-inbox, twitter-messages, facebook- and myspace-notification andnext to rub it in will probably be the Google reader or something.

This is the reason why I blame Bon Jovi and sausages for my homesickness: everything I would like to have I cannot, because it happens to be in Germany.

I also tried to cure the homesickness a little bit. Last weekend I went to the farmers market and paid a visit to the stall with “True Bavarian Sausages”. I expected them to sell “Weißwürste”, Bavarian veal sausages, becasue those are the only sausages I would actually relate to Bavaria, but instead, they sold Frankfurter and Wiener hotdogs. They should have written on their sign: “sausages, bavarian-flavoured”, I reckon, because:

a) as far as I am concerned, neither Frankfurt nor Vienna lies in Bavaria

b) the Frankfurter I ordered turned out to be close to a scalded sausage, but for sure it was not a Frankfurter

c) in fact, the “Frankfurter” may as well have been from NewWorld or Pak’n'Save and I bet it used to be labelled “… flavoured” originally.

But – at least it ALMOST tasted like a scalded sausage and I was happy and satisfied.

And glad not to be from Bavaria, because when the vendor found out I came from Germany, he started holding forth about arrogant and ignorant Bavarians and how they think they were superior to other Germans and stuff. That was amusing indeed and I had a really nice conversation with that person.

On Monday, we started with “video reporting” at school. Radio is over, now we do video. Video killed the radio star. A TV-cameraman let us in the secrets of filming. Now we have one more week to shoot a four-minute news-story for NewsWire. That’s all pretty exciting, but the technical aspect can sometimes really drive you nuts. We had our interview all done, completely shot, everything super – but then, in the cutting room, we experienced a rude surprise. We had the test run (in which I bitch about Tokio Hotel) and we had the part when our interviewee fixed his hair and tory, our reporter, adjusted the mic. And we had the part when the two of them say good-bye and the guy puts his cap back on. The whole middle part – aka: the interview itself, the only part we really wanted to record – was missing. Irony of fate, I guess.

The day after tomorrow will be my anniversary, by the way. Exactly a year ago was the day I came to late (thanks to the train) and clueless stumbling into the NewsWire newsroom. Back then, my vocabulary was so limited that I didn’t even realise that a “polytechnic” is another form of tertiary education, and when my host mum called Jim John, I did not contradict, because I have not known better either.

Meantime, I no longer need to listen carefully and with 100% concentration to what John – ahh… Jim, I mean- is saying because I understand him anyway, I know what “polytechnic” means and know that when buying a coffee, you pay first BEFORE you sit down.

Ah well. Most of the time. The other day I had one of my famous “German moments” and forgot to pay, but usually I remember.

And once more we reached the point where I say: in five months, my time in New Zealand will be over. Haha. Sure. That’s what I said last time as well and we all know how that turned out…

And even though I feel a little bit homesick these days, I am sure that it was the right decision to come back here.

Ares 1-X has lift off..shuttles are now history

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/10/20091028154829411769.html

A rocket developed by the US space agency Nasa to eventually replace the space shuttle has completed a test flight after a series of delays to its launch.

The Ares 1-X, which at 100 metres in height is the world’s tallest rocket, took off at 11.30 (15:30GMT) from Cape Canveral in Florida.

“That was just unbelieveable, that was fantastic, I’ve just got tears in my eyes,” Bob Cabanam, the director of the Kennedy Space Centre, told the launch team.

Over the course of two minutes, the rocket flew to an altitude of 45km and reached a speed nearly five times the speed of sound, before its parachutes deployed and it drifted into the Atlantic Ocean.

The launch of Ares I-X had originally been scheduled for Tuesday, but take-off was repeatedly delayed due to bad weather and minor communication system problems.

The test spacecraft was unmanned, but was fitted with more than 700 sensors to monitor pressures, vibrations, temperatures and speeds.

The rocket is a key part of Nasa’s planned next generation of manned vehicles – dubbed Constellation – which the agency hopes will replace the ageing space shuttle fleet due to be retired next year.

It hopes to use an Ares rocket to launch the first astronauts into orbit in 2015, beginning a new chapter of manned space flight that it says will take humans back to the Moon and onwards to a landing on Mars.

A much larger rocket, the Ares V, would be used to blast the necessary hardware into space which would then rendezvous with the manned capsule before the assembled spacecraft begins its mission.

But an independent panel of experts last week threw cold water on Nasa’s ambitions, warning that the agency needs $3bn a year in extra funding to meet its goals.

***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.greek-islands.us/greek-gods/ares/

In Greek mythology, Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. Though often referred to as the Olympian god of war, he is more accurately the god of savage war, or bloodlust, or slaughter personified. Among the Greeks Ares was always distrusted and although Ares’ half-sister Athena was also considered to be a war deity, Athena’s stance was that of strategic warfare while Ares’ tended to be the unpredictable violence of war. His birthplace and true home was placed far off, among the barbarous and warlike Thracians, to whom he withdrew after he was discovered on a couch with Aphrodite.

———-

interesting name for the rocket isnt it?

if you were a company suppying shuttles with goods you maybe in some trouble now..shuttles are finished

401

Mariana Musings (10-29-09)

Some whiny ass Christian recently got fired from Home Depot for wearing a pin with the phrase “One nation under God, indivisible” written on it. Since he’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer he thinks he’s being attacked for his religion and his patriotism and he’s just ever so confused.

Newsflash buddy; you don’t get to play martyr until someone tries to feed you to a lion. Or sponsors a campaign to add a constitutional amendment banning Christian marriage. You broke the dresscode, and when your employers politely and patiently tried to compromise with you (they offered him the chance to wear a “United We Stand” pin), you threw it in their faces and refused. Then they justly canned your ass.

Not coercive or theocratic in the slightest.

You see, Home Depot is a business. They want to make money. When you abuse your status as an employee to advertise your political and religious beliefs you inevitably alienate vast swaths of their potential customer base. This is bad for business. You weren’t just being obnoxious, you were being a bad employee.

And quit pretending to “love [your] country.” You were showing utter contempt for the United States with that pin. You cannot love the United States and brandy about the pledge of allegiance at the same time; the values of these entities are polar opposites. Observe:

Pledge: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America…One nation under God”
USA: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”

There is no reconciliation between using the government to promote theistic religion and the idea that peoples’ free exercise is not being prohibited. You can’t love America and love the Pledge.

Annoyed by Failure

     It’s not even lunch time and I’m already annoyed. Now I see why we’re asked not to discuss politics in the work place. Everyone that knows me knows I’m one of the biggest President Obama supporters; and I have been since the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Many of you also know that I’m a die-hard Oprah supporter as well. The fact that a person can come from nothing into what she has, without losing their sense of self or their integrity is amazing! Anyhoo …So one of my co-workers made a comment about how she’s sometimes “annoyed that Oprah tries to be an expert on every subject…” Before she could even explain or finish her statements another one of my co workers chimes in and starts talking about how she was “Annoyed” when Oprah backed then Senator Obama’s presidential campaign. She went on to say something about how she’s probably the reason he won, or something along those lines. It’s not a matter of what she said; it was how she said it. By the tone in her voice you could just tell she was one of those people who didn’t “Vote for Change”.  I know that not everyone in America voted for Mr. Obama. I also know that there are still some that want to see him fail even if that means America fails…you’ve had almost a year to get adjusted to the news that Mr. Barack Obama would be YOUR President; as he stated during his acceptance speech whether you voted for him or not he’s “Your president too.” Just as now former President Bush was MY president. No, I didn’t vote for him. No, I wasn’t a “supporter”, but our country was in his hands. He was who the people of America elected (The 2nd time, I’m still not to sure about that first election), and when he failed, America failed. Not just the Republican Party or the people who voted for him, but AMERICA as whole. So as much as I didn’t agree with some of his decisions and actions as president, I respected his position as President of the United States.

    

To be quite honest, I’m offended when I hear people say they want our president to fail. You see, my dad, who has always supported me, couldn’t be at my high school graduation because he was fighting in a pointless war because Mr. Obama’s predecessor FAILED. There are a number of people homeless, jobless, starving and sick because of Americas past failures. So we have seen what a failed presidency can cause. Yet people have the audacity to say they’re “annoyed” because someone who has some influence of people of all races actually stood up and supported CHANGE. You can’t be serious. Oprah didn’t speak out against Senator McCain; she spoke up in support of President Obama. She wouldn’t even allow Mr. Obama on her show to promote his campaign. She showed her support “off the clock.” Her show still went on like normal. She still had the normal caliber of guest that she would have had. She didn’t even mention a word about the campaign until after election night. Don’t quote me on this, but I don’t even think she gave subliminal messages of support. I would have snuck in a button or something :) Can you imagine having a voice and a platform as powerful as that of Ms. Winfrey and not using it to shout your support for who you feel is the right candidate to world? I can almost assure you, had someone else in her shoes, been a McCain supporter they would have had whole shows dedicated to the candidate they supported. So before you get all “Annoyed” by Oprah’s support of YOUR now President, think about the extent that she could have taken it. Now imagine your favorite celebrity….if they had as big a following as Oprah, what would they have done? Are you still “Annoyed”?PS- 4 Years later my dad made it to my college graduation!

#11: February 19, 1942 -- "The President Hath Power"

The President has NO LEGAL power to enter into devious and secret agreements with foreign powers.  He has no legal power to cook up policies with the late Johnnie Buchan and sign the nation’s name on the document.

United States Treaties are valid when ratified by the Senate and not before.  The President has no legal power to enter into condominiums with foreign governments, for the misconduct of scandalous islands off the China coast or in proximity to distant oriental, or any other damn harbors.

The President has no more legal right to do these infamies than you have to sign my name on a cheque, or I yours.

There is no darkness save ignorance.

The labile, that is to say slidy and weak memory of past events is no asset to a nation or statesman.  Looking back to an unsavory part of our American past we find it more savory than the present.  Whether Roosevelt has mental stamina enough left to learn anything from his nasty forerunner and foreslider, Woodrow the codface: I know not.  But men of mental capacity above that of a wart hog ought to be able to look back as far as 1914 and 1919.  Woodrow resisted clamor to get us into that war.  When he came in, he was in accord with the will of the people, a will which he had not faked or concocted.  The Allies won that war, and then cheated Italy.  It was an error.  The cheating of Italy was an error, and Lloyd George ought to know it by now.  The cheating of Italy was an error.

When Wilson further signed or tried to sign the United States name to a rascally agreement, he was NOT expressing the will of the nation.  He had already wormed and wriggled out of the proper functions of his office.  He had already wormed and wriggled, KNOWING that he opposed the will of the people.

There is a limit or orbit to power.  There is a limit or orbit to the practical effects of illegality.  The error of old codface, sorefoot, was his own.  But he was abetted.  In fact he was buttered, caressed, inoculated, and led down the garden path, by his accomplices.  They were warned and even had they not been warned it was their duty to ascertain what Woodrow’s real powers were.  The position of the Warburgs and Lloyd George at Versailles was that of crooks who accept a forged cheque in the hope of passing it on to some one else.

The dirt and grease of the Versailles scoundrels, Jews, sub-Jews and Gentiles alike, was that having concocted Wilson, having passed him off on their brutalized and stupefied peoples as the United States of America, they proceeded to offer his forged cheque to their people.

The League stank from the beginning.  It stank of the Bank of Basel, the Warburgs, the Regents of the Banque de France and the ulcer of England.  Not all Roosevelt’s actions are infamous.  As there is no criticism of music till you can judge the relative merits of different works by the same com poser, so there is no political or ethical criticism till you can measure and judge the different political acts of the same political criminal, gangster, or statesman.

When the President acts within his powers, he has NO NEED to do violence to the laws.  His powers are executive, that is, he is legally there to PUT INTO effect the will of the nation and the laws made by the representatives of the People.  When he violates and passes beyond his legal powers, he acts TOWARD the destruction of ALL legal government of the United States of America, all government by law and by the laws.

I mean by ANY law, he moves toward a total illegality.  This is evil, this is extremely dangerous in the long run, it is myopic, it is short-sighted.  In fact, the man is an ass.  No good American objects to the U.S.A. assuring the tranquility of the Caribbean.

There is no need to violate the mandate of the people in making QUITE sure that there be no submarine bases, poison factories, etc. immediately off the coast of Florida or in easy reach of Georgia, Alabama, and the mouth of the Mississippi.  There are even ways [for] America [to] occupy foreign territory after at least attempting to do it legally.

One can offer to buy, even if one thinks one will have to take over, and make reparations later.  I do not think Congress would have objected to the taking over of ALL Guiana, not merely the gotterdamn Dutch part.  When a politician’s WHOLE policy has been indirect, when his whole political strategy has consisted in indirectness, in the carom shot (not the straight shot), it is unwise to accept any act of his at its face value.

If Roosevelt’s aim had been Dutch Guiana, he would probably have turned public attention elsewhere.  It is reasonable to assume, on the basis of Roosevelt’s public career since the end of his second year in the White House, that his aim in this case was NOT Dutch Guiana.

It is legitimate at least to suspect that his MAIN purpose was to grab yet more ILLEGAL power, to put a hot one over such fools as Senator Pepper and the other fools in the Senate and Congress.  Like balloon-faced bumbustuous Churchill, Roosevelt follows every error by a demand for more personal power.

We should be very careful in arriving at [a] judgment of his Caribbean policy.  It may be another mere grab.  His interest in international politics is considerable.  His hate and loathing of legitimate action, of reasoned action, is extreme.  His intolerance of all real collaboration either is, or ought to be known to men who share the responsibility for the governing of the United States of America.  I should desire an open mind in considering the Caribbean policy, which is O.K. insofar as it aims at peace and security.  The question of how far Brazil should agree [with] our IDEAS of peace and security is a hemisphere question.  All this is a matter of the American hemisphere.  And as I said in opening, we will have no criticism of our own politics, no criticism of it worth the name, till we can judge between one act of our blowy rhinoceros and another.  The policy for the western hemisphere is one thing, Asian affairs are another.

England’s conduct in China has been for the most part an infamy.  Let some bloody-minded betrayer of the British people get up in their grimy assembly and tell the world of their kind acts in the Orient.  From the sacking of the Imperial Palace in Peking to the Jewsoons’, Sassoons’ century of infamy and of opium with Robert Cecil their advocate.  That is their dirt, why make it ours ?  In any case secret agreements between an usurious nature faker whether in or out of the White House are ILLEGAL.  And a foreign government which presents these secret pledges to ITS people as acts of the United States of America participates (and naturally HAS participated) in the swindle.  We should leave this trash to its own people, human— —. If this people hasn’t the manhood and sense to spew out their Churchills, Baidwins, Buchans, and lesser vermin, that is their own affair, and they will presumably pay the penalty for their own flaccidity and mistaken toler ance.  They will slang us for THEIR errors all right.  But that any sub-Jew in the White House should send American lads to die for their Jewsoons and Sassoons and the private interest of the skum of the English earth, and the still lower dregs of the Parsee and Levantine importations is an outrage: and that ends it.  To send boys from Omaha to Singapore to die for British monopoly and brutality is not the act of an American patriot.

keynote talk by Meena Nagarajan

Introduction by John some interesting papers on “social data onweb” worksop. Discussion panel to suggest new topics for social data.http://tinyurl.com/sdow2009

Meena’s KN talk on “user generate content on social media challenges and opporunities ” talked about making up contextual data whene there is less metadata from various existing data such as social spatial and temporal dimensions, sense identification of cultural NER and the needs to move from closed world assumption from open world assumption to reduce the entity extraction complexities.

user intention mapping by means of three elements,information seeking,information sharing and

 

Bob Griese calls Latin NASCAR Star a 'Taco Eater' on ESPN...

Idiot ESPN college football on-air analyst Bob Griese called NASCAR star driver Juan Pablo Montoya what equated to a ‘Taco Eater’ during ESPN’s telecast of Ohio State and Minnesota Saturday.

The reports of the on-air incident as reported by the AP is this…

As the network, ESPN, promoted the broadcast of today’s Martinsville race on ABC, the top five in the points were highlighted. Montoya fell to sixth after last weekend’s race, and one of the announcers asked: “Where’s Juan Pablo Montoya?”

Griese, laughing, and without any hesitation blurted out: “He’s out having a taco.”

At the end of the broadcast, Griese said: “Juan Pablo Montoya, he’s one of the best drivers in NASCAR. Just want to apologize for the comment I made earlier in the ballgame.”"Earlier today on our game I made an offensive comment regarding Juan Pablo Montoya as part of a NASCAR promo,” he said by phone.

“It was regrettable and I should not have said it. I really enjoy NASCAR and I follow it closely and would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Juan, NASCAR and everyone else who heard my comment,”

Griese isn’t the only analyst to talk himself into trouble during a Big Ten broadcast. Three years ago, ESPN relieved Brian Kinchen of his duties after referring to a comment he had previously made about a receiver’s “soft hands” as “kind of gay.”

In a statement released later, ESPN called the remark “inappropriate” and said Griese plans to apologize again Saturday night during the network’s college football coverage.

“ESPN has spoken to Bob and he understands that his comment was uncalled for,” the statement said.

What Bob Griese is really sorry for , is that he has suddenly exposed himself as someone who may harbor bigoted and racist feelings about Latin sports stars, and Latin people in general.

You can not unring the bell, or turn back time. I am watching CNN’s ”Latino in America’’series” this week, and they say that there are 51  million Latinos here in America, and counting, which is a good thing for America.Lations are a strong, and proud race of people and do not deserve this type of disrespect from a respected public figure, like Bob Griese once was.

I trust that ESPN, the company that pioneered broadcasting by launching ESPN Desportes will bow to the will of the people, and eliminate any possibility of their network airing or participating in, in any way, hatred for Latinos, either consciously, or subconsciously if it is on purpose, or not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESPN_Deportes

The offense is unforgivable, and I am sure ESPN will do what they have done in the past, and resolve this sad, sad, situation, or we should all just tune them out.

To read more about Bob Griese, click on the link below…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Griese

 For more info. on Juan Pablo Montoya, click on the link below…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Pablo_Montoya

The Commerce Clause part 3 of 4

by Dahni

© Copyright 10/24/09

all rights reserved

Previously WE looked at an introductory list of how WE the People could regain control of Our right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”Last time in course, WE began looking into Why challenging ‘The Commerce Clause’ won’t work. Here is the list:

The List (simplified)

1.   Overthrow the government by a military coup or para-military militias?

2.   The 9/12 Project?

3.   Challenge ‘The Commerce Clause’?

4.   Convening a Constitutional Congress?

5.   Hope that the present circumstances will change and the will of WEthe People will be implemented?

6.   Hope that the other party will get its act together and produce the necessary changes for WE the People in future elections?

7.   Remain divided and work for self, other causes, parties and candidates?

8.   Establish a new Restoration Service?

Each one of these will be further worked in future posts.

Today – ‘The Commerce Clause’ – part 3 of 4

Last time WE looked at some of the background to this case which challenged the Commerce Clause and what was going on in the country and the world when it was decided. Many strict constitutionalists believe the Supreme Court decisions in ‘Wickard VS. Filburn’ wereunconstitutional. What was more than a mere interpretation of the meaning of the word ‘commerce’ begs the question:

How did the federal government not just have the power to ‘regulate commerce,’ but command jurisdiction over the states?

Unfortunately, by 1942 when his case found its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, all but one justice had been appointed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Justice Owen Josephus Roberts, a Republican, had been appointed by Herbert Hoover. The Court was clearly in Roosevelt’s corner philosophically. The court’s unanimous decision in this case reflected New Deal logic.

I have now invoked the precious name or the precarious name (depending on your position) of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, or FDR. What did he have to do with the Commerce Clause, other than that he was president when case of ‘Wickard VS. Filburn’ was decided in 1942?

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in his acceptance speech, declared: “Throughout the nation men and women, forgotten in the political philosophy of the Government, look to us here for guidance and for more equitable opportunity to share in the distribution of national wealth… I pledge you, I pledge myself to a new deal for the American people… This is more than a political campaign. It is a call to arms.”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States. He was a central figure of the 20th century during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war. Elected to four terms in office, he served from 1933 to 1945 and is the only U.S. president to have served more than two terms.

The election campaign was conducted under the shadow of the Great Depression in the United States, and the new alliances which it created. Roosevelt and the Democratic Party mobilized the expanded ranks of the poor as well as organized labor, ethnic minorities, urbanites, and Southern whites, crafting the New Deal coalition. During the campaign, Roosevelt said: “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people”, coining a slogan that was later adopted for his legislative program as well as his new coalition.

His inauguration on March 4, 1933 occurred in the middle of a bank panic, when all or almost all of the banking capital in the country was wiped out.  To this was the backdrop for his famous words: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), a United States government owned corporation was created by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. In 1934, the Securities and Exchange Commission was created to regulate Wall Street. Presidential, Executive Order 6102 made all privately held gold of American citizens property of the US Treasury. This gold confiscation by executive order was argued to be unconstitutional, but Roosevelt’s executive order asserts authority to do so was based on the War Time Powers Act of 1917. Gold bullion remained illegal for Americans to own until President Ford rescinded the order in 1974.

The Social Security Act, established Social Security and promised economic security for the elderly, the poor and the sick. While Roosevelt balanced the “regular” budget, the emergency budget was funded by debt, which increased to 40.9% in 1936, and then remained level until World War II, at which time it escalated rapidly.

Withholding Taxes were introduced in1943.

Second term, 1937–1941

FDR may be the father of ‘taking it to the people’ when support in congress and/or the courts seem unavailable. This he did when introducing his family-like atmospheres and comfort setting radio broadcasts, called ‘fireside chats.’

Fireside Chat on Reorganization of the Judiciary, March 9, 1937

“That is not only my accusation. It is the accusation of most distinguished justices of the present Supreme Court. I have not the time to quote to you all the language used by dissenting justices in many of these cases. But in the case holding the Railroad Retirement Act unconstitutional, for instance, Chief Justice Hughes said in a dissenting opinion that the majority opinion was “a departure from sound principles,” and placed “an unwarranted limitation upon the commerce clause.”

What is my proposal? It is simply this: whenever a judge or justice of any federal court has reached the age of seventy and does not avail himself of the opportunity to retire on a pension, a new member shall be appointed by the president then in office, with the approval, as required by the Constitution, of the Senate of the United States.

That plan has two chief purposes. By bringing into the judicial system a steady and continuing stream of new and younger blood, I hope, first, to make the administration of all federal justice, from the bottom to the top, speedier and, therefore, less costly; secondly, to bring to the decision of social and economic problems younger men who have had personal experience and contact with modern facts and circumstances under which average men have to live and work. This plan will save our national Constitution from hardening of the judicial arteries.

The number of judges to be appointed would depend wholly on the decision of present judges now over seventy, or those who would subsequently reach the age of seventy.

If, for instance, any one of the six justices of the Supreme Court now over the age of seventy should retire as provided under the plan, no additional place would be created. Consequently, although there never can be more than fifteen, there may be only fourteen, or thirteen, or twelve. And there may be only nine.”

http://www.hpol.org/fdr/chat/

The Supreme Court was the main obstacle to Roosevelt’s programs during his second term, overturning many of his programs. In particular in 1935 the Court unanimously ruled that the National Recovery Act(NRA) was an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power to the president. Roosevelt stunned Congress in early 1937 by proposing a law allowing him to appoint five new justices, a “persistent infusion of new blood.” – FDR

This “court packing” plan ran into intense political opposition from his own party, led by Vice President Garner, since it seemed to upset theseparation of powers and give the President control over the Court.

Third term, 1941–1945

The military buildup spurred economic growth. By 1941, unemployment had fallen to under 1 million. On December 6, 1941, President Roosevelt read an intercepted Japanese message and told his assistant Harry Hopkins, “This means war.” He never warned Admiral Husband Kimmel or Lt. Gen. Walter Short after reception of the message before the Pearl Harbor attack.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, destroying or damaging 16 warships, including most of the fleet’s battleships, and killing more than 2,400 American military personnel and civilians.

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”

FDR

No attack by Japan on the U.S. was a guarantee the U.S. would declare war on Germany. In such a case, American public anger would be directed at Japan, not Germany, just as it happened. The Tripartite Pact (Germany, Italy, Japan) called for each to aid another in case of attack; Japan could not reasonably claim America had attacked Japan if it attacked first. For instance, Germany had been at war with the UK since 1939, and with the U.S.S.R. since June 1941 without Japanese assistance. There was a serious, if low-level, naval war going on in the Atlantic between Germany and the U.S. Navy in the summer of 1941, in any case. Nevertheless, it was only Hitler’s declaration of war, unforced by the Axis treaty, several days after the Pearl Harbor attack that brought the U.S. into the European war.

The U.S. government has had ten official inquiries into the attack – the inquiry by Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox (1941), the Roberts Commission (1941–42), the Hart Inquiry (1944), the Army Pearl Harbor Board (1944), the Naval Court of Inquiry (1944), the Hewitt investigation, the Clarke investigation, the Congressional Inquiry (1945–46) and the top-secret inquiry by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, authorized by Congress and carried out by Henry Clausen (the Clausen Inquiry) (1946). The tenth inquiry, the Thurmond-Spence Hearing, took place in April 1995. The Dorn Report resulted from this tenth hearing.[1]10 Commissions investigating the attack on Pearl Hrbor including many conspiracy theories. Having read it it in its entirety, I am satisfied with the Roberts Commission. January 23. 1942, being most likely the most reliable as it was the first conducted so close to the event and the freshness in the mind of the witnesses. The first Roberts Commission was a presidentially-appointed commission formed in December 1941, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941, to investigate and report the facts relating to the attack. The commission was headed by US Supreme Court Associate Justice Owen Josephus Roberts, and for this reason it was known as the Roberts Commission. The commission found the commanders of Pearl Harbor, Adm. Husband Kimmel and Gen. Walter Short, guilty of ‘dereliction of duty’. The Commission presented their findings to Congress January 28, 1942

http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/pha/roberts/roberts.html

July 26, 1941 – Roosevelt freezes Japanese assets in United States and suspends relations.

Dec 7, 1941 - Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor; Hitler issues the Night and Fog decree.

Dec 8, 1941 - United States and Britain declare war on Japan.

Dec 11, 1941 - Germany declares war on the United States.

Jan 1, 1942 – Declaration of the United Nations signed by 26 Allied nations.

Jan 13, 1942 – Germans begin a U-boat offensive along east coast of USA.

Jan 20, 1942 - SS Leader Heydrich holds the Wannsee Conference to coordinate the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question.”

Jan 26, 1942 – First American forces arrive in Great Britain.

February 19, 1942 - Executive Order 9066, signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, allowed authorized military commanders to designate “military areas” at their discretion, “from which any or all persons may be excluded.” These “exclusion zones”, unlike the “alien enemy” roundups, were applicable to anyone that an authorized military commander might choose, whether citizen or non-citizen. Eventually such zones would include parts of both the East and West Coasts, totaling about 1/3 of the country by area. Unlike the subsequent detainment and internment programs that would come to be applied to large numbers of Japanese Americans, detentions and restrictions directly under this Individual Exclusion Program were placed primarily on individuals of German or Italian ancestry, including American citizens

In June – Mass murder of Jews by gassing begins at Auschwitz.

June, 4-7, 1942 - Battle of Midway

June 25, 1942 – Eisenhower arrives in London.

July 9, 1942 – Germans begin a drive toward Stalingrad in the USSR.

July 22, 1942 – First deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto to concentration camps; Treblinka extermination camp opened.

Aug 7, 1942 – British General Bernard Montgomery takes command of Eighth Army in North Africa.

Aug 12, 1942 – Stalin and Churchill meet in Moscow.

Aug 17, 1942 – First all-American air attack in Europe.

Aug 23, 1942 – Massive German air raid on Stalingrad.

Sept 2, 1942 – Rommel driven back by Montgomery in the Battle of Alam Halfa.

Sept 13, 1942 – Battle of Stalingrad begins.

Oct 5, 1942 - A German eyewitness observes SS mass murder.

Oct 18, 1942 – Hitler orders the execution of all captured British commandos.

Nov 1, 1942 - Operation Supercharge (Allies break Axis lines at El Alamein).

Nov 8, 1942 - Operation Torch begins (U.S. invasion of North Africa).

Novemeber 9, 1942 – Monday - the case which challenged the Commerce Clause Petitioner: Wickard VS. Respondent: Filburn was decided in favor of the government. Right spack-dab in the middle of all these events which led up to this date and that which was to follow, this little heeded and still virtually unknown decision, set the stage for more government jurisdiction over state rights and individual rights. WE the people and the people of the world were otherwise occupied, with WW II; not the courts.

Nov 11, 1942 – Germans and Italians invade unoccupied Vichy France.

Nov 19, 1942 – Soviet counter-offensive at Stalingrad begins.

Dec 2, 1942 – Professor Enrico Fermi sets up an atomic reactor in Chicago.

Dec 16, 1942 – Soviets defeat Italian troops on the River Don in the USSR.

Dec 17, 1942 – British Foreign Secretary Eden tells the British House of Commons of mass executions of Jews by Nazis; U.S. declares those crimes will be avenged.

Dec 31, 1942 – Battle of the Barents Sea between German and British ships.

Manhattan Engineer District (MED),

MED refers specifically to the period of the project from 1942–1946 under the control of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, under the administration of General Leslie R. Groves. The scientific research was directed by American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer.[1] Secret installations sprung up all over the country to test and to produce the atomic bomb which was dropped on Japan at the order of President Truman, the next president after FDR.

Fourth term and death, 1945

The rapid expansion of government programs that occurred during Roosevelt’s term redefined the role of the government in the United States, and Roosevelt’s advocacy of government social programs was instrumental in redefining liberalism for coming generations.

This is not an exposé or a scathing attack on Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The truth is, I and most likely no one knows what was or was not in his heart. When people are in pain enough, they want and need comfort and will often accept it from anyplace, from anything and from anyone they can get it for them. FDR did not design the Great Depression and as current events repeat, he “inherited it,” and as current administration words are used today, FDR had to try and “mop up.”

Whenever a crisis is real or designed the public at large become concerned at least and at worst, worried and afraid. Fear is a powerful enemy and a tool which can be used to make rapid and radical changes. FDR knew this when he said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. But many were and many are today, afraid. Good intentioned or not, there is a great tendency to blame others – to criticize, condemn and complain. During a crisis, first, you challenge the thinking as being ‘wrong thinking.’ Next you associate that ‘wrong thinking’ with ‘danger’ and finally you endeavor to show the cause of both the ‘wrong thinking’ and the ‘danger’ stemming from the motivation to profit or for profit. If successful, this method has and can move policy forward. Again, I am not questioning FDR’s motivation or that of any president past, future or present, but with the same methods that have been used in the past and are being used in the present, I question and boldly question, the thinking, the danger and motivations of the those which stand to gain the most in profits.

Every dictator, tyrant, leader, lawyer and politician knows clearly that the pot they hold or have any measure of control over is limited. WE the people have either contributed to that pot or what WE have has been taken from us. Redistribution of wealth is nothing more than giving to those that have not contributed or contributed enough. It is to take that which is given and given to those that have not. It lays in the hands of those which control the pot to decide who gets what.

No matter how long; how often and for what we cry – help me, fix me, cover me, protect me, heal me, empower me or ‘success me,’ there is only so much in the pot. There is only so much to go around. Somebody is ‘gonna’ get something at the expense or the exclusion of someone else. No matter what WE are promised, someone(s) going to be missed or left out. So at the heart of this issue; at the heart of the Commerce Clause is control. Our founding fathers understanding this, set into our constitution, ‘The Balance of Powers.’ Since that time it has been a matter of control. How does one go about controlling all three branches of government? If the Democratic Party was in control of the Congress during FDR’s presidency (and they were), and the excutive branch was under control of FDR (and he was), and for the most part, the Supreme Court and the Judiciary Branch was under the control of both the white house and the congress (and it was), this jurisdiction or control started along time before.

To conclude this lengthy but important series, we must go back into the past, all the way back to the year of 1861.

This is a tawdry tale of usurpation, jurisdiction and control. It is hidden like the Matrix or like Alice’s tales in Wonderland. The most astonishing thing of all is that it is all legal (fiction), and out in the open for anyone to see.

What may seem as insurmountable odds in regaining control of our liberties may appear hopeless, but there is an answer! Stay tuned here as we continue.

Next Time –  ‘The Commerce Clause’ – part 4 of 4

Check out the other blogs listed to the right. Come often. Bring others. Get involved. Do something. Even if it is just leaving a comment, that’s doing something. But don’t bother in telling me how stupid I am, this won’t work or that you hate my guts and things like that. Been there, done that and heard that all before and then some. Be original. Be different.

Ask not what your country can do for you

or what you can do for your country,

but what can WE do for each other!”

1 of WE,

Dahni

An Amer-I-Can eagle

US involved in espionage near the Kahuta nuclear site

The News International

By Ansar Abbasi & Shakeel Anjum
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities suspect that Americans involved in training of the Punjab Police at the Sihala Police College may have been involved in espionage near the Kahuta nuclear site located close by. However, US diplomats strongly deny this.

A credible government source said at least one Pakistani security agency has clearly indicated in its report submitted to the government that the Americans might have installed radiation detection devices at their Anti-Terrorism Assistance Programme (ATAP) camp situated in the college to monitor activities in the Kahuta nuclear site.

“Concerned authorities may be asked for a joint survey of the ATAP Camp by incorporating technical experts to assess if any interception equipment to detect radioactive rays has been installed or not,” the report said.

The report also revealed that following US pressure, the Ministry of Interior vide its letter number 1/41/2003-Police dated June 29 also granted a no objection certificate (NoC) for import of explosive material by the office of the ATAP.

Like the case of Inter-Risk, now banned, the Interior Ministry issued the NoC for the import of explosives without getting any security clearance from the intelligence agencies.

Interestingly, initially the Interior Ministry decided to issue the NoC but it was subject to clearance by two intelligence agencies — the ISI and the IB — which sought clarification about the quantity and type of explosive and detail of courses.

Consequently, the Sihala College administration was approached, which sought details from the ATAP camp. But instead of providing the details, Robert A Clark and Bob of the ATAP Camp contacted the US embassy, which used its influence and managed to get the NoC bypassing the rules.

The ATAP base camp is located just nine kilometres away from the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) and housed within the premises of the Sihala college but even the commandant of the college is not allowed to go there. Of late, the US embassy wanted additional space apparently for training purposes but the Punjab government refused to oblige the Americans.

Top authorities in the Punjab government also confirmed to The News that US Ambassador Anne Patterson not only personally met Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif but also wrote to him requesting for additional space at the Sihala college.

They offered additional training to the Punjab Police in the field of firearms and raids. “But we politely refused to offer any additional space,” the source confided to The News, admitting that serious questions are being raised about the presence and conduct of US trainers already present at the Sihala college. A senior spokesman for the Punjab, when approached, confirmed this.

Interestingly, in the last several months no training course for the police officials has been conducted by the ATAP at the college, but American’s presence is well pronounced. Commander of the police academy Nasir Khan Durrani also formally wrote to the top authorities in the Punjab to express his concerns over the activities of the ATAP officials.

Sources also said that US embassy officials were also found visiting the camp quite regularly. They revealed that two Americans working at the Sihala ATAP Camp along with four other Americans of the US embassy were intercepted near Kahuta in July 2009 by security officials of the KRL.

They were detained for 2-3 hours as they could not satisfy the KRL security personnel regarding their visit to the sensitive region.

However, a retired assistant director of the FIA, working with Americans at the ATAP Camp, was sent to take them back who, introducing himself as an FIA officer, freed the Americans and took them back to the camp. The sources disclosed that those Americans along with Pakistani staff riding on 4×4 vehicle, tried to trespass into the restricted area of Kahuta.

The Interior Ministry spokesman was not available to offer any comment on suspected spying of the country’s nuclear programme by Americans or to explain why the Interior Ministry issued an NoC to the Americans for the import of explosive material without getting clearance from security agencies.

The Interior Ministry spokesman, Rashid Mazari, never returns any call from The News. He was contacted by different staffers of The News Investigative Wing during recent weeks but he never responded.

The US embassy spokesman, however, when contacted denied that the US personnel involved in the police training activities at the Sihala Police College were involved in spying of the Khan Research Laboratories. He also denied the installation of monitoring and bugging devices there and explained that the ATAP officials were imparting training to the Pakistan police with the permission of the Government of Pakistan. When further probed, he said, “I don’t know where your story is going.” He added, “The key point that I emphasize here is that all things are being done with the (permission of) Government of Pakistan”.

When asked about the suspected installation of radiation detection devices there, he said, “I am not aware of any radiation detection devices there. There must be some bomb detection equipment for the Pakistani police.”

At one point, he asked The News correspondent, “Do you seriously think that the Government of Pakistan is going to allow us to install radiation detection devices there? Of course not, so I hope that I am not going to read tomorrow that you are going to write.”

He added that the Government of Pakistan was intimately involved and suggested The News to speak to the official spokesman of the Interior Ministry.

When asked about the reported trespassing of American officials and diplomats, he said he was neither aware of it nor had heard anything about it. He explained that the Pakistani diplomats in the US could travel anywhere without any restriction. On the contrary, the United States diplomats have to inform the Government of Pakistan when they desire to travel outstation. “Your diplomats don’t have to do this.”

Meanwhile, the US embassy while responding to a report on Tuesday expressed disappointment at media reports claiming that the Sihala law-enforcement training facility was being used to train foreigners on Pakistani soil.

“The report was factually incorrect and mischievous. The 512 Pakistani police officials who have trained at Sihala could easily set the record straight,” the embassy clarified in a statement published in the newspapers on Wednesday.

It said the US, since 2003, had helped train federal and provincial police officials in a variety of counter-terrorism measures at Sihala. The embassy stated the Pakistan government had proposed using the Sihala training facility, adding there was no “monitoring” equipment located at the facility.

It said that the administration of the Punjab Police College has repeatedly visited the facility, and added that the current commandant has complete, unrestricted access to the facility and all the personnel trained at the facility are Pakistani law enforcement personnel and no foreigners are trained there.

Source: US embassy rejects misuse of Sihala college facility
If only fraction of what is mentioned in the above report is correct, this is a wakeup call for the GoP and the GHQ.

Time Warner Customer? Your Cable Modem Might Put You At Risk

A guy out in California, Dave Chen, was helping a friend with his wi-fi network.  During the process, he uncovered a security hole in cable modems provided by Time Warner.  What did he decide to do?  Blog it, of course.

SMC8014 Series Cable Modem/Wi-fi Router Combo

The above titled router lies at the center of the security gap.  The default encryption available on the router is WEP.  This encryption method has been fairly easy to break since 2001 (it was THE standard at one point).  WEP was at the epicenter of the TJX data breach that resulted in the loss of 45 million credit card numbers.

WEP was not only the default–the modem was crippled so that it was the only available encryption method.  The reason why this is so serious?  As of 2009, WEP encryption can be cracked in minutes.

Admin Password In Plaintext

So, the guy pokes around a bit, and finds that if javascripting is turned off, the crippling effects are cancelled.  He goes on to make the changes, and finds that the administrative password and login name are in plaintext.

What all this means is that a hacker could have easily eavesdropped on users of that particular modem.  Helloooooo, data breach.

Chen called up Time Warner:

Of course I got in touch with Time Warner’s security department and warned them about the security issue but their response was simply “we are aware of it but we cannot do anything about it”.

But, it looks like the episode hasn’t gone unnoticed by Time Warner.  According to this site, TW is waiting for a fix to be released from SMC, the modem’s manufacturer.  That’s the power of blogging for ya.

Treaty aims to speed up extradition process

The EU and the US will next week (28 October) sign a treaty intended to simplify and accelerate the extradition of those suspected of serious crimes.

Human-rights defenders have expressed concerns, though, that clauses in the treaty could allow the US to execute extraditees and continue the practice of extraordinary rendition, the transfer of suspected terrorists without the usual legal formalities.

The treaty, which will come into force next year, broadens the definition of serious crime to overcome problems with old bilateral treaties, which, for example, listed rape as an extraditable crime only if it involved a man and a woman.

It also grants greater access to information in investigations of serious crime, including access to bank accounts.

However, human-rights groups fear a murder suspect extradited to the US could face the death penalty since the treaty simply states that member states “may” seek assurances that the suspect would not be executed if found guilty.

www.europeanvoice.com

AZIONE NOTTURNA CONTRO LA MISSIONE ITALIANA IN AFGHANISTAN, “MAI PIU’ UNA GOCCIA DI SANGUE ITALIANO A DISSETARE LA VOSTRA $ETE DI POTERE”

Stanotte abbiamo voluto esprimere la nostra posizione sulle missioni militari alle quali ha partecipato l’Italia negli ultimi anni: “mai più una goccia di sangue Italiano a dissetare la vostra $ete di potere”.  Queste le nostre parole, espresse da uno striscione posto in piazza dei martiri 1943-1945, per dire basta al coinvolgimento del nostro Paese in operazioni che non ci riguardano, e allo stesso tempo per abbracciare nel ricordo i Caduti Italiani, rappresentati simbolicamente da sessantadue bottiglie piene di liquido rosso.

Non crediamo alla favola della democrazia esportata (sublime linguaggio mercantile adattato alla politica estera…) con le armi ed i morti. Tantomeno se, come l’Iraq e l’Afghanistan, i Paesi da “redimere” sono strategici per l’approvvigionamento energetico e le risorse minerarie. I nemici di oggi (Saddam Hussein prima, i Talebani poi ), inoltre, sono gli amici di ieri della Potenza a stelle e strisce; il che peraltro non ci stupisce, data l’ormai decennale abitudine americana di far cadere e sostituire governi sovrani non allineati. L’Italia, tuttavia, non può continuare a rinunciare alla propria sovranità in virtù di patti vetusti o per partecipare ai “tavoli” internazionali; soprattutto se poi lo si fa da camerieri. Ciò non vale qualche chilo di carne umana cotta al sole dell’Afghanistan.

Pertanto sessantadue bottiglie, a simboleggiare altrettante PERSONE. Bottiglie di sangue versato e di nomi incisi nel Tricolore, illuminate dalla sacra luce dei ceri. Se per alcuni questo è il prezzo da pagare per “contare”, noi contiamo solo vite e famiglie distrutte. Soldati, spesso proletari, morti per la loro Terra e per dare alla propria famiglia un futuro un po’ più roseo. Eroi. La scelta di piazza dei martiri 1943-1945, inoltre,  rappresenta una risposta nazionale ad una città che troppo spesso fa della Memoria un esercizio partigiano e fazioso.

In questo contesto vedere insignito del premio Nobel per la pace il sommo rappresentante di governi guerrafondai risulta quanto mai stridente, seppure speriamo anche noi che Obama determini una svolta.

In definitiva, con l’azione di questa notte, vogliamo far sentire la nostra voce chiara e netta sulle cosiddette missioni di pace. Una posizione diversa rispetto a quella pavida di un PD inerme ed alle isterie antinazionali di una sinistra radicale apatride. Se soglie di sbarramento inique ed antidemocratiche ci impediscono di esprimere nelle Istituzioni le nostre idee, noi cerchiamo un contatto diretto con il Popolo, facendo di Bologna una vera e propria polis.

Bologna, 20 ottobre 2009

Antonio Del Prete

Segretario regionale Gioventù Italiana

p.s.: teniamo a sottolineare che  a differenza dei teppisti rossi, nelle nostre azioni non arrechiamo alcun danno alla città, che riteniamo un patrimonio intoccabile.

UN RINGRAZIAMENTO PARTICOLARE A VALERIO (FOTOGRAFO UFFICIALE) E BRUNO: I LORO CONTRIBUTI SONO STATI FONDAMENTALI PER LA RIUSCITA DELL’AZIONE.

DI SEGUITO ALTRE FOTO

Giulio, Alessandro, Eugenio, Antonio, Jader

A GLAD opõe-se à eliminação do consentimento escrito para o teste de VIH no Massachusetts

A Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) declarou a sua oposição ao decreto-lei do Senado Estatal que irá acabar com a obrigatoriedade do pessoal médico obter dos doentes um consentimento informado escrito antes de aplicar um teste de VIH. Em testemunho a 6 de Outubro, antes do Comité Conjunto sobre Saúde Pública, Bennett Klein, director de leis do projecto SIDA da GLAD, reconheceu os resultados negativos que advêm de os indivíduos com VIH efectuarem os testes tardiamente e iniciarem o tratamento em estados avançados da infecção. No entanto, sobre o movimento para acabar com o requerimento dos consentimentos ele afirmou que, “não só esta medida não irá resolver qualquer problema, como irá levar a consequências significativas não desejadas. O consentimento informado escrito é a forma mais forte e clara de assegurar que os testes se mantém realmente voluntários e de as pessoas saberem que estão a ser testadas para o VIH. Se esta lei é aprovada, as pessoas começarão a ser testadas para o VIH sem saberem. O consentimento informado escrito tem sido um muro protector para todas as pessoas em risco de contraírem o VIH.”

Hannah Clay Wareham/Bay Windows (Boston) – 07.10.2009

'Why do people hate you?' question stuns Obama.

New Orleans (Louisiana), Oct. 16: US President Barack Obama got a blunt question from an unexpected quarter on Thursday — a daring nine-year-old boy who asked “why do people hate you?”

Terry Soctt a 4 th grade, 10 year old, stunned Obama, with a Question. A childs mind so observing and blant.

Mr Obama, caught up in a divisive political row over his plans for healthcare reform, called on the boy, Tyren Scott, in a public meeting during his first visit to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans as President. “I have to say, why do people hate you? They supposed to love you. God is love,” Tyren, from Paulina, Louisiana asked.

Mr Obama, appeared tickled by the question, saying “hey, that’s what I’m talking about,” adding “I did get elected President, so not everybody hates me now… I got a whole lot of votes.”

“If you were watching TV lately, it seems like everybody’s just getting mad all the time. And you know, I think that you’ve got to take it with a grain of salt. Some of it is just what’s called politics.

”Are words coming faster than actions”  ? For Obama.

 

Mr Obama also promised that he would not forget the lingering misery of hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. Facing claims his stay of less than four hours gave short shrift to pledges to New Orleans he made as a candidate, Mr Obama vowed not to repeat the “failure of government” seen after Hurricane Katrina lashed the city in 2005. “The government was not adequately prepared, and did not adequately respond,” Mr Obama said, just over four years after the Katrina’s storm.

US People growing warth  on various fronts.  Obama to act fast to do the damage control of  his image ?

However, in recent times Barack Obama has been facing the wrath of the US people for various reasons including the gay laws to the troops in Afghanistan which increased further after he was declared the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. And handling of the Middle East, and Israeli. The stretching of Isreal and its voilations  and disrespect to the religious sites by Isreali Police is seen   disrespect to the authority of US and the President of America.

An Unconference First

For the next two days I will be attending Public Media Camp. PublicMediaCamp (PubCamp) is an initiative to strengthen the relationship that public broadcasters have with their communities through the creation of collaborative projects. Beginning with the national kickoff event in Washington, DC scheduled for October 17th-18th, 2009, PubCamp will be followed by local events hosted by participating stations. NPR, PBS, and American University Center for Social Media will host the launch event in conjunction with iStrategyLabs.

PublicMediaCamp is going to be organized as an unconference – a term I had not been familiar with previously. I quickly learned that an unconference is an event without a rigid, top-down programmatic structure, with the sessions organized by the participants themselves. We’re modeling it on other unconferences like Barcamp and Podcamp, which have successfully spawned similar volunteer-driven events around the world, as well as public media unconferences that have been hosted by Minnesota Public Radio and KUSP in Santa Cruz, CA.

I am excited to meet interesting people and learn about new ways public media can actively engage publics. The official Twitter hashtag for the event is #pubcamp. So log on and get a real time impression of what is going on at PubCamp.

Obama to Sign Away Our Freedom in Copenhagen for UN Climate Change Treaty?!?!

That’s right!  Obama IS going to sign this stupid “Climate Change” treaty the UN is pushing and that will kill what Americans have know as freedom.  Watch this video and see from yourself from Lord Christopher Monckton:

Backup: http://video.godlikeproductions.com/video/Obama_Poised_to_Cede_US_Sovereignty?id=e29bf2a537cfa420e8f

“On October 14, Lord Christopher Monckton, a noted climate change expert, gave a presentation at Bethel College in St. Paul, MN in which he issued a dire warning regarding the United Nations Climate Change Treaty which is scheduled to be signed in Copenhagen in December 2009.”

Here is an article going a bit more into what Lord Christopher Monckton is talking about:
- http://www.infowars.com/obama-poised-to-cede-us-sovereignty-claims-british-lord/

Call your congress people now!!

CALL TO ACTION!!

This has GOT TO STOP!

Spencer: Obama rådgivare älskar Sharia

Robert Spencer förklarar lite om Sharia gör oss uppmärksamma på att Dalia Mogahed, Barack Obamas rådgivare om “Muslim affairs” tycker att Sharia handlar om “rättvisa mellan könen”.

 Obama Adviser Loves Sharia

Dalia Mogahed, Barack Obama’s adviser on Muslim affairs, appeared on British television last week, where she said: “Sharia is not well understood and Islam as a faith is not well understood.” How have we misunderstood Islamic law? We have associated it with “maximum criminal punishments” and “laws that… to many people seem unequal to women.” The Western view of Sharia was “oversimplified,” said Barack Obama’s adviser on Muslim affairs; most Muslim women worldwide, she said, associate it with “gender justice.”

España acogerá prisioneros de Guantánamo

El presidente del Gobierno español, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, anunció el martes en Washington que se comprometió con la meta del presidente estadounidense, Barack Obama, de cerrar la prisión militar de Estados Unidos en la Bahía de Guantánamo.

El mandatario español aún no especificó qué reos se irían a España.

Zapatero no señaló cuántos presos podría aceptar su país desde la cárcel militar estadounidense establecida en Cuba. Algunos nuevos reportes señalaban que España no tomaría más de tres internos.

Anteriormente, el Gobierno de Obama pidió a Madrid que aceptara cuatro prisioneros de Guantánamo, donde Estados Unidos retiene a los sospechosos de ser combatientes rivales en su lucha contra Al Qaeda.

Después de entrar en funciones en enero, Obama prometió cerrar la prisión dentro de un año, aunque las dificultades legales involucradas en decidir qué hacer con los prisioneros pueden hacer que sea difícil cumplir con la fecha límite.

“El presidente Obama me ha agradecido la posición de España en torno a coger presos de Guantánamo”, dijo Zapatero a la prensa después de reunirse con Obama.

“Estamos concretando las personas que vamos a coger. Nuestro compromiso es firme en este sentido: queremos respaldar el objetivo y el compromiso de presidente Obama de que se cierre Guantánamo”, agregó.

España ha presionado por mejores relaciones con Estados Unidos a cambio de considerar aceptar prisioneros de Guantánamo.

Las relaciones entre Estados Unidos y España se enfriaron en el 2004, luego que Zapatero retirara las tropas españolas de Irak para cumplir una promesa de campaña.

El ex presidente estadounidense George W. Bush evitó a Zapatero después de la decisión. La visita de Zapatero a la oficina oval después de un almuerzo con Obama en la Casa Blanca fue la primera desde el 2004.

Obama dijo que los dos líderes discutieron una amplia gama de temas, incluyendo el conflicto en Afganistán y los intentos por revivir el proceso de paz en Oriente Medio. Zapatero viajará a Oriente Medio después de dejar Washington.

“Ambos acordamos que es el momento correcto para una reanudación de las negociaciones entre los palestinos y los israelíes a fin de crear (…) dos estados que viven lado a lado en paz y seguridad”, declaró Obama.

Zapatero reafirmó el compromiso de España con el esfuerzo de la OTAN en Afganistán.

“Garantizar la estabilidad, la seguridad y reducir el movimiento radical y a los talibanes es fundamental para el futuro de este pueblo y para dar lucha contra el terrorismo”, señaló.

Obama agradeció a Zapatero por el rol que juegan las tropas españolas en proveer seguridad en Afganistán, y en ayudar a entrenar tropas afganas.

“España y Estados Unidos están trabajando juntos en algunos de los más difíciles temas de seguridad que enfrentamos en el mundo”, concluyó.

David Alexander

Extraído de Reuters América Latina.

landmann usa 28305 northwoods outdoor fireplace

 

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 "Cheesy" 2009-07-30
By G.H. (Howard, OH)
Base is very thin gauge sheet metal. Cover is skewed and does not fit base properly.

 

 "firepit" 2009-04-30
By J. Quan
very good for the price, with tlc it should last awhile. the angular/flat design makes it very easy to repair when necessary. i like the large capacity, you won’t have to keep putting wood in.

 

 "Flimzy top" 2009-04-01
By A.G. (New Jersey)
Construction of bottom part good, but top section is flimzy and just doesn’t fit well. Overall good, but just a bit overpriced for overall construction.

 

 "Functional, Great Looking, Fantastic Price" 2008-11-19
By Jeanne C. Cashman (St. Louis, MO)
Got this for my husband after his old one kicked the bucket. It’s sturdy, sleek, and multi-functional. Only trouble is that I’m getting a bit weary sitting outside in the cold so he can have a fire in it all the time. Great price!

 

 "Great Outdoor Fireplace" 2006-07-07
By PJ Rogers (Rotterdam, NY)
We bought this fireplace and we LOVE it! Big enough to have a crowd of 10 or more people in lawn chairs sitting around and enjoying it (we had a family picnic and everyone commented on how nice it was). Small enough for storage in our small shed for the winter. Directions on putting it together were a bit confusing (per my husband). Ours also came with an additional piece to allow for outdoor cooking in the fireplace (we haven’t used it yet). Ours also came with a cover to put over it when not in use which is perfect for keeping water out of it. Great buy!! We use it frequently! HIGHLY recommend it.

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On the Sabbath day, God said, let thy be beach bums!

Day of rest? Nonsense. Ain’t no rest for the wicked! And by no rest, I literally mean, no rest. Home at midnight from Cirque, in bed by 12:30am… next thing I know, the cell phone alarm is going off right on 5am. Rise and shine! Oyyy, can you say ‘sleep deprivation?’ Eye lids so heavy. Must keep eyes opened. Must not fall asleep in shower… zZzZzZz!

Sunday was the day we made the two hour road trip out to Melbourne, Florida to visit Sebastian Inlet State Park.

Sebastian Inlet State Park - Melbourne, Florida

Melbourne. So familiar yet worlds apart. Nothing like the Melbourne I call home. In case you are having trouble catching on, yes, there is a Melbourne in Florida. Yes, it is amazingly beautiful, but nothing will ever be as beautiful as my Melbourne. Yes, I may be slightly bias, but still, nothing compares!

The pier at Sebastian Inlet Beach

Sebastian Inlet was so gorgeous and quite picturesque; the sand was white, the ocean, turquoise blue in colour, and the sun, a sizzling 95 degrees of awesomeness. Our surroundings were something you see right off a postcard. I was rather pleased with how many of my photographs turned out. I especially enjoy the one to the left. We headed out to the main strip of beach to sink our feet into the sand, frolic in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean and take in the morning rays of sun. The early morning ocean air was crisp and refreshing.

We headed over to a more enclosed area to do some fishing off the rocks. It was only early but the sun was already beaming down on my sun-neglected body. I’d been out and about in the sun over the last few weeks, however I hadn’t been exposed to a full day of sizzling sun in quite a while. I could already feel the heat of the sun sinking into my skin. Call me crazy, but I love that warm feeling. It’s just so relaxing. There isn’t a thing I love more than a boiling hot day!

Our first round of fishing was unsuccessful. Well, in a way, it was successful for me because I learned how to thread the bait onto my fishing hook and how to correctly cast my rod out. Now, I’m not tooting my own horn, but apparently I’m a fast learner… I caught on after being shown only once. Yeah, that’s how I roll… You better believe it!

We headed back to our lunch area and we were greeted with BBQ chicken legs, shrimp skewers, fresh BBQ corn cobs, hot dogs, potato crisps and fruit salad all eagerly waiting to enter our bellies.  OK, so maybe it wasn’t so much eager to enter my belly, but I really left it with no choice. Om nom nom nom. Delicious.

My amazing thong tan lines!

As the hours ticked away, I marveled at how much my thong tan lines had darkened. So much prettier than that pasty white colour I was when I left Australia back in June! I’ve forgotten what cold weather feels like and I am perfectly OK with this. Notice I am sitting in the shade for my tan lines photo… shade, be off with you! Back to find a spot on the rocks to fish from.

This one little bugger of a fish kept stealing the bait right off my rod without getting hooked.  UGHHH! I felt my IQ drop ten points everytime this fish, maybe the size of my hand, could outsmart me and take the bait right from my hook without me feeling the slightest tug on my rod! Shifty fish, eh? I guess you want to play the hard way. It’s OK… I have plenty of bait and all the time in the world. It’s on, mate! I waited patiently. Nothing. Gathered my line and cast it back out again. Once… twice… three times…and then…

TUG, TUG, TUG! EEEEEE! You little ripper…

My first ever catch at Sebastian Inlet, Melbourne, Florida.

I was one happy camper!

♥

Åtte år siden innvasjonen av Afghanistan

Denne uka er det åtte år siden den NATO-støttede invasjonen av Afghanistan. USA og Nato kjemper fortsatt en svært tøff kamp mot lørvete og primitive geriljakrigere fra Taliban.

Den 07. Oktober 2001 innledet NATO operasjon ”Enduring Freedom” for å velte Taliban-regimet i Afghanistan. Angrepet var som kjent en respons til terrorangrepene I New York og Washington den 11. September samme år.  Dette var første gang i historien Nato-alliansen tok i bruk artikkel 5 –  at et angrep mot en av partene skulle oppfattes som et angrep på alle.

Det tok ikke mange dager før Taliban var spredd for alle kanter – og internasjonal presse kunne trykke bilder av lykkelig afghanere som hadde vunnet friheten tilbake. Menn fikk endelig lov å klippe bort det lovpålagte skjegget, og kvinner kunne la ta av burkaen, og vise ansiktet sitt.

Erkjente valgfusk
Nå, åtte år senere, kjemper fortsatt USA og Nato i en politisk og militær hengemyr. Støtten fra afghanerne til soldatenes nærvær er fallende – vel så fallende som blant borgere i vestlige land som har styrker i det sentralasiatiske landet.  Ledere av Nato-land vegrer seg for å sende soldater inn i Taliban-kontrollerte områder, i frykt for at de skal komme hjem i kiste. Bistandsmidler kanaliseres ikke dit de skal, og landets president Hamid Karzai er sterkt kritisert for sin jobb.

I dag erkjente FNs spesialutsending til Afghanistan, Kai Eide, at det har vært omfattende valgfusk i Karzais favør under valget i august. At det har vært vært valgfusk i landet er noe svært få i det hele tatt har vært i tvil om. Men Eide har holdt sterkt tilbake i høst med å kritisere Karzai – noe som har resultert i en åpen, og tidels personlig, splid mellom han og nestkommanderende Peter Galbright. Valgfusket i Afghanistan vil trolig sette Karzais forhold til vesten på kjølepunktet.

Mulig opptrapping
Leder for de internasjonale styrkene i Afghanistan, den amerikanske generalen Stanley McChrystal, har nå sagt at han er forberedt på den dagen han skal fortelle president Barack Obama at krigen ikke kan vinnes. Han har også anmodet å få sendt så mange som 40 000 nye soldater til Afghanistan under argumentasjon at ”krig kan ikke vinnes med bare ressurser, men uten ressurser vil vi tape”.

USA har allerede doblet antall soldater i Afghanistan i 2009. Om den ferske fredsprisvinneren Barack Obama vil være lydhør for sin general vil vise seg i løpet av tiden som kommer. Det er uansett ingen tvil om at McChrystal har rett når han sier at opptrapping ikke vil vinne krigen alene.  Men hvordan kan egentlig krigen vinnes?

Vanskelig med dialog
Dialog med Taliban har med årene blitt et mer og mer diskutert som et tiltak å gripe fatt i. Men kan man dialog med lørvete banditter, med et religiøst syn fullstendig på tvers av vårt eget, føre frem? Samtaler vil trolig ikke føre til annet enn en enorm kulturkollisjon. Talibans ledere og soldater er villig til å dø for sin religion og sin gud. Skal Taliban overvinnes må Natos splittelse opphøre – og det raskt. Det vestlige nærværet i Afghanistan blir stadig mer upopulært – og Talibans oppslutting i store deler av landet øker for hver dag.

Men vestlige statsledere, redde for å miste velgere som konsekvens av den upopulære krigen, vil trolig fortsatt nøle med tiltak som kan bidra til å kue det svært primitive men ekstremt velorganiserte og heroiske Taliban. Sjansen for at general Stanley McChrystal må fortelle sin president at slaget er tapt i løpet av de nærmeste årene, er derfor svært stor.

USA, Micro-informatique, Mac, Embellie

USA, Micro-informatique, Mac, Embellie – Les Mac gagnent du terrain – Maxisciences – États-Unis – Une récente étude montre que les foyers américains sont de plus en plus nombreux à être équipés d’un Mac. La marque est cependant toujours utilisée par les familles les plus aisées. Aujourd’hui, 12% des foyers américains possèdent un Mac, soit 3 points de plus que l’année dernière. La réputation du Mac se confirme. Parmi les familles en possédant un, 85% ont également un ordinateur sous Windows et 66% possèdent une troisième machine. Par ailleurs, plusieurs familles sont fidèles à Apple. 63% des foyers équipés d’un Mac ont fait l’acquisition d’un iPod. Enfin, 36% des familles détenant un Mac affichent un revenu annuel supérieur à 100 000 dollars. USA, Micro-computer, Mac, Embellished – Macs are gaining ground – Maxisciences – United States – A recent study shows that American households are more likely to be equipped with a Mac. The mark is however still used by the wealthiest families. Today, 12% of American households own a Mac, or 3 points higher than last year. The reputation of the Mac is confirmed. Among families with one, 85% also have a Windows computer and 66% have a third machine. Moreover, many families are loyal to Apple. 63% of households with a Mac have purchased an iPod. Finally, 36% of families owning a Mac show an annual income exceeding $ 100 000. USA, Micro-Computer, Mac, verschönert – Macs sind auf dem Vormarsch – Maxisciences – Vereinigte Staaten – Eine aktuelle Studie zeigt, dass die amerikanischen Haushalte mit größerer Wahrscheinlichkeit mit einem Mac ausgestattet werden. Die Marke ist jedoch noch immer von den reichsten Familien verwendet. Heute, 12% der amerikanischen Haushalte besitzen einen Mac oder 3 Punkte höher als im Vorjahr. Der Ruf der Mac bestätigt. Unter den Familien mit einem, 85% verfügen zusätzlich über einen Windows-Computer und 66% haben eine dritte Maschine. Darüber hinaus sind viele Familien treu zu Apple. 63% der Haushalte mit einem Mac über einen iPod gekauft. Schließlich, 36% der Familien besitzen einen Mac zeigen ein Jahreseinkommen von über $ 100 000 Euro. EE.UU., micro-ordenador, Mac, embellecido – Mac están ganando terreno – Maxisciences – Estados Unidos – Un estudio reciente muestra que las familias estadounidenses tienen más probabilidades de estar equipado con un Mac. La marca es sin embargo todavía es utilizado por las familias más ricas. Hoy en día, el 12% de los hogares estadounidenses tienen una Mac, o 3 puntos más que el año pasado. La reputación de la Mac está confirmado. Entre las familias con uno, el 85% también tienen un ordenador con Windows y el 66% tienen una tercera máquina. Por otra parte, muchas familias son leales a Apple. Un 63% de los hogares con un Mac han comprado un iPod. Por último, el 36% de las familias que poseen un Mac muestran un ingreso anual superior a $ 100 000.

Obama to Nobel Prize Committee: "Really guys? You Sure About This?"

Somewhere in Medellín, Juanes is crying. President Barack Obama woke up this morning to the news that he has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

Obama, according to the Norwegian organization that presented him with the award, Obama was a shoo-in because of his belief that nuclear weapons were bad and his ability to unite people with the promise of peace- his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”. This award, which is basically a celebration of someone who is not George W. Bush being president, comes as Obama’s presidency is sinking deeper and deeper into trouble on nearly every issue the president campaigned on- from the war in Afghanistan to universal health care to green jobs. The American right, which has gained unprecedented momentum since dumping Sarah Palin for hip-hop superstar Michael Steele, is experiencing a renaissance fed by emphasizing the culture of personality around Obama. The left is furious at how Obama is letting a Democratic supermajority slip out of his hands, with even Saturday Night Live mocking the president for having done “absolutely nothing” in his tenure so far. And after months of MSNBC’s tingling feelings up their legs and children’s songs praising the leader in public schools, the last thing the Obama administration needs is a completely unwarranted Nobel Peace Prize.

Obama, fretting nervously and obviously panicked by the prospect of what Fox News was going to do to him when they found out, told the media in a press conference that he did not deserve the award and was completely taken by surprise. He did his best to acknowledge the award while subtly agreeing with all of America in that he had done absolutely nothing. The right didn’t let him live it down, calling it everything from a “travesty” to a “farce” to Dick Morris calling the entire thing an attempt by Europe to “recolonize America“. FNC shouting head Glenn Beck responded with a fake thank-you speech: “Wow. Humbled. I just won Oscar for Best Picture on a movie I ‘hope to make.’ Let it be a call to action for all those who want me to make movies.” The Drudge Report simply ran an Obama file photo with the headline “FOR WHAT?”.

Someone call a babalao (is Michelle’s mom available?), because no one needs a despojo more in this country than Obama, the first man to have his political career significantly hurt by winning a Nobel Peace Prize. Obama’s ability to turn a Nobel Peace Prize a political liability is an exclamation point on his current losing streak with America.

"Her parents said at their trials that they believed healing came from God, and that they never expected Kara to die."

Kara Neumann, 11, died in March 2008 surrounded by a prayer group at her family’s home in rural Weston in central Wisconsin. It was later determined she had an undiagnosed, but treatable, form of diabetes. Her parents said at their trials that they believed healing came from God, and that they never expected Kara to die.

But prosecutors countered that the Neumanns recklessly killed their youngest of four children by ignoring obvious symptoms of severe illness as she became too weak to speak, eat, drink or walk. They said the couple had a legal duty to take their daughter to a doctor but relied totally on prayer for healing.

In handing down the sentence, Marathon county circuit court Judge Vincent Howard told the Neumanns they were “very good people, raising their family, who made a bad decision, a reckless decision. God probably works through other people,” he told the parents, “some of them doctors.”

Read the full article here.

Previously: Wis. jury: Father guilty in prayer death case (August 1, 2009)

The Israel Lobby. Portrait of a Great Taboo

For many years now the American foreign policy has been characterized by the strong tie between the United States and Israel. Does the United States in fact keep Israel on its feet? And how long will it continue to do so? In March 2006 the American political scientists John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago) and Steve Walt (Harvard) published the controversial article ‘The Israel Lobby and US foreign policy’. In it they state that it is not, or no longer, expedient for the US to support and protect present-day Israel. The documentary sheds light on both parties involved in the discussion: those who wish to maintain the strong tie between the US and Israel, and those who were critical of it and not infrequently became ‘victims’ of the lobby. The question arises to what extend the pro-Israel lobby ultimately determines the military and political importance of Israel itself. Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (Colin Powell’s former chief-of-staff) explains how the lobby’s influence affects the decision-making structure in the White House.
With political scientist John Mearsheimer, neocon Richard Perle, lobby organization AIPAC, televangelist John Hagee, historian Tony Judt, Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth, colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, Democrat Earl Hilliard, Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy and investigative journalist Michael Massing.

Research: William de Bruijn
Director: Marije Meerman

For more information visit http://www.vpro.nl/programma/tegenlic…

The Great Poisoning of America Begins, October 2009

The Great Poisoning of America Begins, October 2009

From Ken Adachi, Editor

The Great Poisoning of America Begins, October 2009 (Oct. 5, 2009)

Yesterday, while working outside, I had my small portable radio tuned to ABC, 790 AM. I heard Tim Conway, Junior, son of comedian Tim Conway, blather on endlessly about how dangerous and deadly the Swine Flu “outbreak” was and how very IMPORTANT it was to “protect” yourself and your family from being stricken dead by this killer flu and to get your Swine flu shot as soon as possible. While it was “necessary” to vaccinate health care workers, pregnant women, and school children FIRST, “there should be enough” vaccine available to cover everybody, so “just be patient” if you can’t get your vaccination right away. “I care most about my family”, he said, and “want them” vaccinated first, but ‘I care about you too, the listener, and want you around as well”.

So, do as Tim Conway Jr does and get yourself inoculated with a lethal cocktail of toxins and patented bio-weaponized germs with immune system-crippling adjuvant, so you can “protect” yourself.

Thank you Tim Conway, Jr., you lying, brain-washed, worthless son-of -a -bitch.

Earlier in the day, I also heard the greatest outlet of Tavistock propaganda on radio, NPR (National Public Radio), tell me that the first million (or two million or four million?) doses of Swine Flu vaccine have “just” arrived in Los Angeles in the “nick” of time for the beginning of the school year, so there will be adequate Swine flu vaccine available “for all of Los Angeles’ school children.”

Isn’t that wonderful? Good News always seem to come in bucket loads on Sundays for some reason!

Are media whores, propagandizing on behalf of pharmaceutical companies and their whores in government, any less guilty of crippling and killing innocent people than the vaccine manufacturers themselves? Are they any less guilty than the Fort Detrick research team under Dr Jeffrey Taubenberger who went up to Alaska to retrieve DNA samples in 1997 in order to use it to map and REPLICATE the 1918 Spanish Flu virus, and THEN develop it into an even DEADLIER strain that eventually becomes part of the Swine flu vaccine cocktail?

I don’t think so.

Every player and every cog in the Swine Flu Hysteria Propaganda Machine, are as guilty as the Illuminated Club of Rome planners who were behind this covert population reduction agenda. Having failed, apparently, to poison us sufficiently with chemtrails for the past 11 years, they now turn to direct poisoning via inoculations. The Satanic underpinning of this Death ritual is clear when you recognize that they FIRST want to poison those human groups most responsible for carrying on and continuing life itself: pregnant women, little children, and healthcare workers!

Former Marine Drew Malone Raines, great grandnephew of Major General Smedley Butler, discovered in July of this year that a Navy ship headed out of San Diego in late April of 2009 for Phukette, Thailand, had an emergency crisis at sea and had to return to port. All 347 members of the ship’s crew were inoculated with the Swine flu vaccine three days before departing on April 21, 2009. By May 1, 2009 (about two weeks), 341 crew members came down with flu symptoms and approximately 260 of them had what was described as “very serious” flu symptoms. Two people died. About 50 medical personnel from another Navy ship, were brought on board to attend to the medical emergency and the ship was returned to port where it was quarantined. The wife of one of those seamen who had gotten very ill and nearly died, had reported the story to a group of Navy wives who were regular listeners to Drew Raines, A Marine’s Disquisition, internet radio show, and they, in turn, reported the story to Drew Raines. Subsequently, the wives of every seaman on that ship were visited by Navy Intelligence and other Navy brass and told to keep their mouths shut and say nothing of the episode to anyone as the incident was now classified and subject to “national security” classification.

After broadcasting a radio show on September 26, 2009 discussing the April-May events aboard that ship, Drew Raines and guest Bob Chapman discovered that an internet disinformation campaign was launched to label the entire story of the ship’s crew coming down with Swine Flu as a “hoax.” Naturally, this infuriated Drew, as he was given in depth details of what had transpired on the ship by the wives of some of the men involved and who had nearly died due to the Swine Flu vaccination. In more than one instance, seamen were placed in ice baths or placed inside the ship’s walk-in freezer in order to bring down fevers which were running as high as 106 degrees.

I read a very capable article by Jim Kirwan a few days ago addressing this latest “hoax” disinformation effort, and how it paralleled so closely with the disinformation effort in the wake of the 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Cole, branding the entire account ~ a “hoax.” Who else but the military could be behind these disinformation campaigns?

I can only HOPE that enough parents are aware of the tremendous dangers which the BIO-ENGINEERED Swine flu vaccine presents to the health and longevity of their children, that they either obtain vaccination exemptions (available in every state) or pull their kids out of public school altogether and home school them. .

I can only HOPE that “health care workers” care more about the sanctity of their blood (and of their lives) than to sacrifice both in the interest of collecting a paycheck.

I can only HOPE that there are enough people in this country who still have a brain in their head and will GET INVOLVED in protesting and CONDEMING those who are promoting the Swine Flu hoax and worst of all, urging people to take the Swine flu vaccine.

The Great Poisoning of America has begun. It will probably continue through November and maybe into December. MILLIONS of people will suffer IRREVERSIBLE damage as a result of being vaccinated with the Swine Flu vaccine and MANY THOUSANDS WILL DIE, some immediately, and some more slowly.

How bad it will get depends entirely on how many people take the deadly vaccine. I can only HOPE enough people will wake up in time.

Ken Adachi

http://educate-yourself.org/cn/poisoningamerica05oct09.shtml