If Global warming is the issue, why take so long to approve new windfarms?

612-Year Waiting List for New Wind Projects?

The Midwest Independent Transmission System (MISO), the organization in charge of the power lines, has to approve every new project that will connect to existing power lines. And MISO is only used to dealing with coal-plant-sized projects. Thus, the current regulations say that they must dedicate 2 years of their time to every project that will connect to the grid.

Not only that, but they're only allowed to process one application at a time.

People filing an application with MISO to build a medium- to large-scale wind project (of which there are currently over three hundred) have a heck of a wait in front of them.

one application at a time & 2 yrs dedicated to every project, x more then 300 projects = over 600yrs.

I am left wondering, if this is the work of the oil lobby? The moratorium on solar and the snails' pace on wind power, certainly helps to keep big oil and the nuclear industry happy.

If Global warming is a problem why a moratorium on a potential solution?

Citing Need for Assessments, U.S. Freezes Solar Energy Projects.

That's right a two year moratorium on solar power plants!

Faced with the burgeoning demand sunny land in the southwest United States, the Bureau of Land Management (the US agency that controls government-owned lands that aren't forests) has decided to put a two-year moratorium new solar power plants. During this period, they're going to be doing studies on the impact that solar power plants have on desert habitat and wildlife.

But solar power projects have significantly less environmental impact than, say, oil and gas exploration or cattle grazing.

Aldo Moro & the Red Scare : Terrorism

Wow, the timing is incredible on this news piece! Serendipity.

Aldo Moro and the ‘Commie scare’

I wrote the other day about Operation Gladio, the left behind armies and US & British involvement in this horrid chapter in Italys' history. The reverberations of these manipulations ripple through Italian society today. I wrote briefly on Aldo Moro and why foreign intelligence was behind his murder, not the Red Brigades.

Of course, for reasons of brevity, though now I wish I would of, I did not make mention of the involvement of the infamous Henry Kissinger, whom apparently made a threat to Aldo Moro that he would suffer very dire consequences should he continue on with his aim of bringing the communist party into the fold, through a coalition government.

Henry Kissinger in his last days as US Secretary of State, with only one other person in the room, a bilingual diplomat interpreting for Moro ,who spoke no english, said words to the effect 'we will fix you' if he pursued a pact with the Communists. At the same time a US diplomat called Moro a 'schmuck' at a public dinner.

The absolute disdain demonstrated by the American government for a democratically elected leader of another country is nothing new. When the puppet will no longer dance on its' strings, the puppetmaster must cuts those strings!

If you wonder, why Italy? Take a look at a map, as they say in real estate it is location, location location. Italy is strategically located, if your interests lie in the middle east/south asian region.

Interesting to note: During this episode in history, the hand of Prime Minister Berlusconi is present, but so too is Romano Prodi, who apparently passed on a tip to where a Red Brigades safe house and Aldo Moro might be found. Prodi claimed, I'll bet at a later date, he had been given the tip by the founders of the Christian Democrats, from beyond the grave in a seance and a Ouija board.

Leave one wondering if Mr Prodi, was playing his role in this scenario: derailing the investigation!

Amazing how the same people keep popping up?

Dubais' Rotating Tower and the Twin Towers

click on the image to enlarge

The construction of the Rotating Tower has got me thinking about the Twin Towers in New York, you know the ones that collapsed at nearly free fall speed , due to pancaking floors, and the alleged "hollow" construction of the twin towers.

Anyone recall the spin that after 9/11, the construction industry was going to have to rethink how these tall buildings were built, or even if they would be built.

"If the skyscraper era is not over, it's at least on hold," Stevan Sandberg, president of Staubach Advisory Services , said of the fallout from Sept. 11's terrorist attacks.

Yeah, I don't think so.

In fact, numerous skyscrapers have been and are now being built since 9/11, including the worlds' tallest Taipei 101 which was completed in 2004.


What I find really interesting is that a rotating building is possibly being considered for New York City. Ground Zero!

"Fisher said that plans to build a second rotating skyscraper in Moscow were at an advanced stage and that the group intended to build a third tower in New York. He said developers and public officials in Canada, Europe and South Korea had also expressed interest in the project."

Some interesting parallels between the twin towers and the Rotating Tower

I'll quote from the New York based architect David Fisher's Dynamic Group, when the plans were unveiled for the Rotating 80 story skyscraper:

" will also be the first skyscraper constructed from prefabricated units"

"Each floor will be prefabricated in a factory in Italy, shipped to the site and then attached to the core."

This is most certainly not the first skyscraper built with prefabricated units, in fact, the Twin Trade towers were built with pre-fabricated components

• The use of prefabricated multiple column and spandrel wall panels.


• The use of large, prefabricated floor panels, complete with steel deck and in-floor electrification.

All those prefabricated components not only attached to a massive core, but also attached to massive spandrels, that solidified the building on it's exterior. There are no massive spandrels included in the construction of the 80 story rotating tower, and how could there be? If there was, the building would be unable to rotate.

So my questions now follow:

If after the trade tower collapsed, the building of skyscrapers was to be seriously reconsidered, why do they continue to be built?
Particularily in light of the Global War on Terror or GWT? (Not to be confused with GWB, though it easily could be!)

If the construction techniques utilised in the twin towers were alleged to be slipshod, why is the same type of core construction (with floors attached) continuing to be used?

There is only one answer, the construction techniques used in the buildings of the twin towers, were not slipshod, they were in fact well built, and the same construction methods are employed to this day.
I believe that, indeed, to be the case.

Sadly, for the free fall collapse scenario to be made believable, the Twin towers building construction had to be repeatedly and falsely claimed as lacking.

Spying on you, so your snuggly and loved

One more cause I thought this was cute, in an Orwellian sort of way

The Spies who Love You

The economy is the issue. war on terror, terrorism and other assorted distractions

Have you missed the latest news on the stock market?

U.S. Stocks Slump, Pushing Dow Average to Brink of Bear Market


I recall sometime ago writing elsewhere, before I started this blog to fulfill my ranting needs, that the economy was the biggest problem we were facing globally.

While, too many people continue to focus on the bogus distraction of the "war on terror". (Say that in a really big radio announcer voice, when you read it. Ok, do it in your head, or aloud, I don't care.) Or maybe the latest trumped up terrorist arrest. Some celebrity news'?

Pick your distraction?

Whatever you do , don't pay attention to the economic news, cause it's bad.
While your busily distracted, don't do anything important, or to your benefit, like save some money, pay your bills off, buy some food or start a garden, Don't take actions that could help you get through what looks to be a very ugly coming economic period.

Do be afraid, there is a terrorist in every bush, (oh that was unintended, yet, funny I gotta repeat it) A terrorist in every bush!
Do continue to pay attention to Britney Spears or the other dumb blonde. Ya know the one that found Jesus after her day in prison, what the hell is her name?
Do give money to false prophets, Billy Graham, Pat Robertson and that ilk. They really do have god's ear and will ensure that you are saved, so long as you give enough money.

SPP- Will Canada Last ?

Well , myself, thinking on this...... I am not so sure.

For anyone who couldn't possibly know what SPP stands for it is Security and Prosperity Partnership. If you don't know where the hell have you been and are you literate?

SPP or as I like to call it, the pre-nuptial agreement. Your scratching your head, what?
Think about it? A prenuptial agreement is a agreement made before a UNION, usually of two parties, concerning things like rights , responsibilities property & money.

That is the SPP, a prenuptial agreement before the UNION. What union you may ask?
Can you say NORTH AMERICAN UNION ? Come on boys and girls , say it again NORTH AMERICAN UNION.

That is the Union I am talking about. The Union, in which Canada exists in name only.

What did Canadians think Bill-C51 was really about?

It was harmonization. So we can have one big happy family of harmonized legislation, making it easier to unionize Canada with the US and to a lesser extent Mexico.

Notice, I didn't say so we could be one big happy family of people?
Why would I have?
People, common ordinary folk, don't factor into this agreement, except as workers, and workers only. No one is asking you if you want this, you ain't voting on it and you are not privy to the negotiations. If you choose to protest this most undemocratic action, being undertaken by the elitist segment of society, you get to stand back, way back from the action, where your protests will go largely unnoticed and unheard.

Except for by the media, of course.

But will the media cover the protests in a fair and even handed manner? Of course not!
Why? Well the media, not the reporters who just do what their told, but their owners are most smitten by the concept of SPP and wouldn't dare do anything to rain on that parade.
So the coverage of the protests, will only be the most negative coverage possible, focusing on any bad behaviour that may occur, no matter how small, relative to the size of the protest.

Will Canada Last?

Not if Canadians don't get off their lazy asses, shut their boob tubes off, and turn their brains on.



Sadly, some 'Canadians' (pseudos') like this idea, this rant is not for them.
Please continue to watch television while you yearn for access to more American cable stations. Salute the war machine to the south, and all the alleged greatness it stands for? Whatever?
And, demonstrate no desire to have your nation remain sovereign and independant.

Operation Gladio, Left Behind Armies, Strategy of Tension and 9/11

While I am on the subject of Italy. Its' fascist past, is not limited to Mussolini.
If it was only that simple, but then it never is.

If one has never heard of the Left Behind armies ,Operation Gladio in Italy or the Strategy of Tension, one is missing out on , what I think , may be the best possible way to understand the long time manipulation of power in Italy and the extreme politics, that contribute to the continual instability of the country.

Once one starts reading on the subject it is impossible to not see the unmistakeable connection to 9/11, as an inside job. Undertaken by and through the state, with various intelligence agencies in tow. Necessary, to get the populace to react in a manner that suits the desires or agenda, of the state, or powers that be, if one so chooses.

The "left behind armies" were backed largely by the US intelligence services and Britians' MI6 to a lesser degree. These covert armies operated in many European countries, France, Spain , Greece, Portugal, Belgium ,the Netherlands to name just a few.

Though the country that suffered the most at the hands of these covert armies appears to have been Italy. Where brutal acts of terror were perpetuated against civilians, in hopes of swaying the population of Italy to act in the' correct' way, and vote the 'correct' way. Of course the powers that be, had their own ideas of what the correct vote was. As was so often the case in Italy after WW2, the vote of the population was defintely to the left, this was unacceptable.
How to get the people to turn sharply to the right?
Engage in terrorism, and blame it on leftist terror groups, yes, that would do the trick!.

There were numerous bombings, including the Bologna railway station, a bank in Milan, a train in Florence , and more. Included in this was the kidnapping and subsequent murder of the Prime Minister Aldo Moro. He was killed, in a nutshell, because he wanted to bring the communist party into a power sharing arrangement with his party. This would have been such a coup to the left in Italy, therefore, why would a leftist terrorist group kill him? He was not killed by the Red Brigades, a leftist terrorist group , with ties to communists. He was killed by an infiltrated 'Red Brigades' with ties to US intelligence services, fascist groups, corrupt public officials and persons who were members of certain exclusive societies, including the P2 lodge. A member of P2 who is today the Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi.



Bologna massacre


The Italian senate said at the conclusion of it's investigation in the year 2000:

"Those massacres, those bombs, those military actions had been organized or promoted or supported by men inside Italian state institutions and, as has been discovered more recently, by men linked to the structures of United States intelligence."

Reading up on this nightmare of rampant terrorism, bombings & murder, one can grasp how easily 9/11 could have been perpetuated, and the truth could remain hidden , as these Left Behind armies crimes remain largely hidden to this day.

When one thinks of 9/11 and the agenda of Middle East hegemony, that serves more then one power. One can see 9/11 as the terrorist attack that would garner the desired reaction.
The attacks of 9/11 gave them the pretext and justification to begin the wars they had wanted all along. From 9/11 comes the never ending "war on terrorism'

There are two very good books on this subject. The first book is -Puppetmasters: The Political use of Terrorism in Italy, written by Phillip Willan.

The second book is NATO's Secret Armies :Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe, written by Daniele Ganser.


a brief article is available here and here

when in Rome? Do as the Romans?

I have never thought of Italy as the kind of country that would get all weird about breasts, since they seem to appear in their media rather often. Is this not the country that had or has had more then one porn star in government? So imagine my surprise to read this one?

Because, apparently people get uptight about a mother feeding her child???

Italian mothers bare breasts in protest

A group of Italian mothers bared their bosoms
and breastfed their babies in a public square Wednesday as part of
their "I'll Suckle Where I Want" campaign.

More than 100 of the lactating ladies gathered in Rome's EUR district
for the protest, aimed at eliminating laws prohibiting public
breastfeeding they say are hypocritical in an era when bare breasts
are readily available on Italy's prime time television programming,
the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

"People still give a start when they see a woman breastfeeding, but
they have to learn that a breast is not just a sexy object," Grazia
Passeri, president of the Salvamamme breastfeeding group said. "It's
ridiculous that showgirls can show theirs but mothers can't."

Isn't the world a crazy, mixed up place?

re: oil, US, Israel and more

In the comment section of yesterdays posts, I had two great comments, re: the oil in Iraq.
I noted that the US has an agreement with Israel to supply, the country with oil, no matter what.
Signed in 1979, you can read about it here.

some excerpts from this paper:

These arrangements further fulfill a promise that I made last year in connection with Israel's withdrawal from the Gulf of Suez oil fields and its conclusion of the treaty of peace with Egypt. In making peace, Israel committed itself to dependence solely on imported oil—a very bold and courageous and generous decision in this troubled time. At the time of Israel's withdrawal in 1975 from a portion of the Egyptian Sinai, the United States gave assurance that Israel would count on our help and could depend on us if it could not attain oil during its own efforts.

We renewed and extended this duration of the assurance in June of 1979, so that the establishment of peace with Egypt would not lessen Israel's long-range energy security. Now we have spelled out the emergency conditions under which the 1979 oil supply agreement may be activated. This contingency plan is a carefully defined understanding between friends, designed to ensure that all relevant concerns are taken into account. Both our nations hope this agreement will never have to be activated, but if it should become necessary, the United States will be a steadfast and dependable friend of Israel.

We anticipate that Israel will continue to receive their oil from present sources, but if those supplies should be interrupted or if exorbitant prices should be imposed upon Israel, above and beyond normal marketing prices as described in this detailed document, then the United States will meet this obligation to our friend, the Government of Israel.

one can also read here

So it is about oil, ( but not entirely) and Israel is most definitely of a major concern.

In fact the pipeline that runs through Georgia (former soviet) supplies Israel with oil.

wrt: the paper mentioned by nobody: Oded Yinon and his Strategy For Israel

a brief description of it here: A frightening "Strategy for Israel"

I agree with the balkanization angle of the ME wars also, to weaken the Arab countries makes them ripe for take over, in a colonialist fashion, for the greatest power in the ME, which is Israel.

But, I sometimes think that even in the US their is division amongst the elites, with regards benefiting Israel, to the detriment of the US itself.

I could be wrong, though, who knows?

What the hell is going on in Italy?????

Berlusconi got his new "iron fist" laws approved! How the heck did this happen?

People of Italy, have you forgotten Mussolini? These laws he got passed, my god, can we say police state fascism? Can we say tyranny, can we say Berlusconi benefits from these??
Oh yes we can!

Some highlights: he can use soldiers, in the city , against the people!

First destination, Naples, where Berlusconi faces opposition over the mess over garbage pick-up!
This issue with the garbage has been going on since Jan/08.

Then he is going to round up "illegals", and jail them for up to 4 years, while those who claim to have family in Italy will be given DNA tests. Landlords who rent homes to illegal immigrants will have their properties seized

Then the icing on the cake for Berlusconi, he froze 'minor' court cases, to free up court time.
Biggest beneficiary ? Berlusconi!

"non-serious'' trials, including those for fraud, manslaughter, theft and kidnapping, will shut down for a year to give the courts a chance to catch up on their backlog.Controversially, this measure could potentially also apply to a case involving Mr Berlusoni himself. The billionaire is charged with corruption, having allegedly made a payment of £350,000 (€443,000) to David Mills.

How nice for Berlusconi, that his iron-fisted laws benefit him so nicely!

The obsession with immigrants is frightening, the use of them as scapegoats, to blame for the countries ills is quite obvious. This is sinister, indeed.

You want some poop with that tomato?

I liked this article, it's an interesting take on the meat producers practices, though written from a vegetarians perspective, it offers some "food for thought"( pun intended) on how cow shit effects us all.

Contaminated Veggies Are the Meat Industry’s Fault

summer time pleasures

It's a great time of year.
The weather is fabulous.
not to hot, not to cold

spending lots of time outside
working in the garden,
oh yes, I hoe!

and, indeed the plants have grown.

I planted some flowers,
hoping they take!
Since the squirrels persist
in digging them up,
to plant there little treasures.

My other joy, bike riding.
I have already racked up many miles
or kilometers, whichever way you may go.

I came across a deer, last week, the first I had seen in a while
It was indeed a fleeting encounter, but, I was so close
I heard the deer inhale, before it fled.

Then there are always birds, and rabbits and groundhogs.
Even when I ride alone.
I never am.

I love these videos!!

This is the first time I have stumbled across this guys vids and they are great, who is he???
James Pence video

Warning!

If I Were A Terrorist

It's all about the oil, no shit sherlock!

Eric Margolis: good opinion, but, who didn't know this??

These wars are about oil, not democracy

PARIS -- "The ugly truth behind the Iraq and Afghanistan wars finally has emerged."

No, it has not finally emerged, anyone with half a brain and a knowledge of any history, and strategic interests of the US and Britian, could have easily figured this one out, long before the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq.
Some of us actually did! (patting myself on the back here)

"Four major western oil companies, Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP and Total are about to sign U.S.-brokered no-bid contracts to begin exploiting Iraq's oil fields. Saddam Hussein had kicked these firms out three decades ago when he nationalized Iraq's oil industry. The U.S.-installed Baghdad regime is welcoming them back. Iraq is getting back the same oil companies that used to exploit it when it was a British colony.

As former fed chairman Alan Greenspan recently admitted, the Iraq war was all about oil. The invasion was about SUV's, not democracy. Afghanistan just signed a major deal to launch a long-planned, 1,680-km pipeline project expected to cost $8 billion. If completed, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline (TAPI) will export gas and later oil from the Caspian basin to Pakistan's coast where tankers will transport it to the West.

The Caspian basin located under the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakkstan, holds an estimated 300 trillion cubic feet of gas and 100-200 billion barrels of oil. Securing the world's last remaining known energy El Dorado is a strategic priority for the western powers."

another taser linked death in canada

Tasered man dies in custody in Simcoe

George Carlin has died

I am pretty sure most have already heard, but, he was quite the funny guy!

I liked his take on the elite class of powerbrokers , war mongers, and general misery creators, lol, or shoud I say democracy bringers?

George Carlin

operation enduring pipeline, yah, I like that name!

Operation Enduring Pipeline

what has improved in Afghanistan? For the people , the women, the journalists?
pretty much , nothing!

unless you are a pipeline and it's beneficiary:

Freedom is in big trouble in Afghanistan, but let's think positive,
prospects for a natural gas pipeline might be better.

Turkmenistan is just north of Afghanistan. Daniel Sershen reported a
year ago from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan for the Christian Science
Monitor: "Blanketed by vast deserts, Turkmenistan sits atop some of
the world's largest natural-gas reserves. As Russia and the West look
to secure new gas and oil supplies in a tightening race for energy
security, this Central Asian country has landed squarely in their
sights. Last weekend, Russia secured a deal for a new pipeline to take
Turkmenistan's gas north, delivering a serious setback to US and
European hopes for one that would siphon the gas to the West –
bypassing Russia's increasingly powerful grip on energy resources and
routes."

Setback to the West? Not so fast. In response, last November
Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, the four partners of a
proposed $3.3 bn pipeline, vowed to accelerate work on the four-nation
project to bring natural gas from Turkmenistan to India. The
declaration was adopted in New Delhi at a two-day regional economic
cooperation forum on Afghanistan, which was attended by Afghan
President Hamid Karzai. The proposed gas pipeline project (TAPI) will
initially provide 30 million cubic meters of gas to Pakistan and India
each and 5 million cubic meters to Afghanistan on a daily basis, which
can be later increased up to 90 million cubic meters in aggregate.
TAPI will run from the Dovetabat gas deposit in Turkmenistan to the
Indian town of Fazilka, near the border between Pakistan and India.
Six compressor stations are to be constructed along the pipeline. TAPI
certainly would help the consumer countries, Pakistan and India, while
Turkmenistan could make billions of dollars from gas exports. But
arguably it would benefit US-client Afghanistan most by providing
steady transit fees to fill depleted state coffers in Kabul.

The American company Unocal has a ten-year history of interest in the
Turkmenistan gas field and a pipeline through Afghanistan. The Taliban
wasn't interested, but the Hamid Karzai government is more amenable.
On April 28 Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Turkmen President
Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov met in Kabul, where they signed an
agreement on extension of a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to
Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

A key political objective of the TAPI pipeline, one that changed it
from TAP to TAPI, was to involve India and keep it away from a
proposed Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline. This would receive a
boost from a civil nuclear energy pact with the United States.

Hurricane Andrew- media lies uncovered

TY to nobody:
this is a good read for sure:

It seems Katrina was not an anomoly;

FEMA gives away supplies for Katrina victims

FEMA gave away about $85 million in household goods meant for Hurricane Katrina victims, a CNN investigation has found.

The material, from basic kitchen goods to sleeping necessities, sat in warehouses for two years before the Federal Emergency Management Agency's giveaway to federal and state agencies this year.

James McIntyre, FEMA's acting press secretary, said that FEMA was spending more than $1 million a year to store the material and that another agency wanted the warehouses torn down, so "we needed to vacate them."

"Upon review of our assets and our need to continue to store them, we determined that they were excess to FEMA's needs; therefore, they are being excessed from FEMA's inventory," McIntyre wrote in an e-mail.

He declined a request for an on-camera interview, telling CNN the giveaway was "not news."

and yet:

Martha Kegel, the head of a New Orleans nonprofit agency that helps find homes for those still displaced by the storm, said she was shocked to learn about the existence of the goods and the government giveaway.

"These are exactly the items that we are desperately seeking donations of right now: basic kitchen household supplies," said Kegel, executive director of Unity of Greater New Orleans. "These are the very things that we are seeking right now. FEMA, in fact, refers homeless clients to us to house them. How can we house them if we don't have basic supplies?"

does anyone but me wonder, if the entire 'mishandling' of the Katrina disaster, was because the victims were largely black and impoverished??

Israel "practices" Iran attack ???

'IAF apparently held Iran strike drill'

Israel carried out a major military drill during the first week of June that US sources say was apparently a rehearsal for a potential attack on Iran's nuclear sites, the News York Times reported Friday.

Several US officials were quoted by the newspaper as saying that it seemed the drill was an effort to develop Israel's capacity to carry out long-range strikes and to show the gravity with which Israel views the Iranian nuclear issue.

Israel Rehearsing Attack against Iran - Report

US officials say a major military exercise carried out by Israel earlier this month seemed to be a practice for a potential strike against Iran.

More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighter jets took part in manoeuvres over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece in the beginning of June to gear the military for long-range strikes supposed to aim at Iran's nuclear facilities, the News York Times reported.

Bill C-51 and direct to consumer advertising

I had speculated in two previous posts, on the reason why the media appeared reluctant to take a good hard look at the short comings of Bill C-51.

In the two posts made on May 26th/08, the first entitled: the medias' disinterest in taking a good look at bill C-51. , the second post : bill c-51 media reluctance, revenue gain? , I wondered if the medias' virtual silence stemmed from the possibility of substantial financial gain, from Direct to Consumer advertising.

Well, I am feeling vindicated at this time!

Though, it wasn't too difficult to figure out. Once one realizes the FACT that the media is NOT here to inform us the media concerns itself with profitability, first and foremost!!!

An MP from Victora BC, has made the connection between Bill C-51 and the Direct To Consumer advertising connection quite clear.

MP standing up for natural health products


In this article the MP Denise Savoie says

" It will also further open the door to American-style pharmaceutical advertising rather than ensure Canadians have an independent source of information about the pharmaceutical products they take."

There is some info in my previous posts, on just how profitable this advertising will be for Canadian media outlets. Hence the silence, and derision of questioners of Bill C-51.

The media wouldn't dare bite the hand that could feed it so well.

Carlyle Group shopping spree: cash and a private army

Some interesting purchases made by the ex-presidents club
First the worlds largest banknote printing company!

De La Rue to sell Cash Systems, Carlyle to buy
"The world's largest banknote printing company, De La Rue plc, has agreed to sell its Cash Systems business to Carlyle Group for £360 million in cash.

The private equity firm is expected to focus heavily on emerging markets to grow the cash-handling business it has acquired from De La Rue.

DC's Carlyle Group buying Cash Systems for $701.9M

Cash Systems installed the world's first ATM machine in 1967 and 10 percent of ATMs today have a Cash Systems part, the company says.

"Cash remains the preferred global payment method with 50 percent of all payments made with notes and coins," said Andrew Burgess, Carlyle managing director.

And then a private military:
Booz Allen Hamilton

Spies for Hire: Carlyle Group to Become Owner of “One of America’s Largest Private Intelligence Armies”

The secretive investment fund the Carlyle Group is in the process of buying part of Booz Allen Hamiliton, the major military and intelligence contractor. We speak with investigative journalist Tim Shorrock, author of the new book Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing.

helpful for the drugtrade no?

mkultra type experiments in Alberta ,Canada :RCAF Lincoln Park

A really interesting interview on Meria Hellers' Show:

Meria With David Barclay - What happened at Lincoln Park?"

The Lincoln Park, being discussed is the Calgary RCAF base.

"An ugly affair at Lincoln Park, Canada 50 yrs ago; 42 dead, burned and starved in medical experiments by ex nazi war criminal for Military R& D in Canada. Less than 1 out of 20 survive past the age of 9; the Lincoln Park Massacre; butchering 13 children in one hour; the lone survivor “Sara” and her story"

This man has a blog :

Lincoln Park:
The secret history of Lincoln Park must be exposed to the light of day to ensure such horrific crimes against humanity are never again repeated.

very interesting interview, and blog.

there were some comparisons to what was done to the native children in Canada also.

The Transparent Cabal: The Neoconservative Agenda, War in the Middle East, and the National Interest of Israel

sounds good, and just added to my wish list!!!!



Description:

Although it is generally understood that American neoconservatives pushed hard for the war in Iraq, this book forcefully argues that the neocons' goal was not the spread of democracy, but the protection of Israel's interests in the Middle East. Showing that the neocon movement has always identified closely with the interests of Israel's Likudnik right wing, the discussion contends that neocon advice on Iraq was the exact opposite of conventional United States foreign policy, which has always sought to maintain stability in the region to promote the flow of oil. Various players in the rush to war are assessed according to their motives, including President Bush, Ariel Sharon, members of the foreign-policy establishment, and the American people, who are seen not as having been dragged into war against their will, but as ready after 9/11 for retaliation.

Reviews:

"This is a riveting book." —Paul Craig Roberts, PhD, syndicated columnist; former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury; and former associate editor, Wall Street Journal

"The time is right for an unvarnished examination of the origins, history, and agenda of the neoconservative policy bloc in Washington and in Tel Aviv. The Transparent Cabal helps to provide one." —Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, USAF (ret.), PhD

"The timing of Dr. Sniegoski's book could not be better. The only aspect of U.S. Middle East policy not in controversy is that no one knows what to do; Sniegoski's book may help the debate break through this barrier." —Joseph Douglass Jr., PhD, author, America the Vulnerable: The Threat of Chemical/Biological Warfare and Red Cocaine: The Drugging of America

"I have known Dr. Sniegoski for many years. He is a thorough researcher with a capacity for independent thought and the courage to advance and defend his analyses." —Wayne S. Cole, PhD, professor emeritus, University of Maryland

Ethanol: creator of the commodities bubble and the door opener for the acceptance of nuclear power?

I am putting that thought out there, and I will explain what I mean by it.

In my opinion , corn ethanol as an alternative fuel source is doomed to failure.

Too expensive to produce, consumes more energy to produce then it actually produces itself, and it is very polluting in it's production, emitting lots of sulphur.
Heavily subsidized by taxpayers, which to be quite honest, the benefactors of this subsidy, large corporations, don't care.
Nor do the governments that divert taxpayers dollars in the form of corporate welfare to their cronies.
I have seen some complaints about it from the oil companies, something about the processing of it?

Sadly, food for fuel has been linked to an increase in global starvation, which is already causing many to rethink the practice.

Then there are the ultra-high commodities prices!!

These commodities prices or commodities bubble, based on speculation, seems to mirror the, recently burst, housing bubble. Cause your house was always going to increase in value? Right? Wrong.

This in my opionion is a manipulated situation, and as the sub-prime mortgage was a catalyst for the housing bubble, corn for ethanol may have also have been a catalyst for the commodities bubble.
(Not the only one, but definitely a contributor, in a big way.)

There is an interesting article here that I came across , while working on this post.
In the comments section, was someone who was expressing similiar thoughts to my own

"As a land acquisition manager for a major homebuilder, this market reeks of the same kind of bs that Wall St pulled with the real estate market."

Yes it does!

So the ethanol scenario has served the Wall Street class well, lining their pockets with subsidies, and creating a new investment vehicle, to replace the sub-prime housing market.

Dam the public, if they suffer that's their fault!

But, what if ethanol ,doomed to fail, served another purpose?

What if from its' failure another "green" ( non Co2 emitting) alternative energy source must arise to save us all? And, waiting in the wings will be nuclear power.

Nuclear power, lots of reactors, will be needed to solve the energy crunch and so it goes........................

Now most people do not like nuclear power, I do not like nuclear power, there is such a HUGE problem with all that radioactive waste. Then there is the memory of 3 Mile Island and Chernobyl. (Chernobyl scared the shit out of me, at the time that it happened)

It is costly, but, what with our really high energy prices, it is now becoming more 'justifiable and profitable' to the energy producers. ( even if highly subsidised by taxpayers)

No one will starve.

What was once maligned will become "accepted".

Ex-Bear Stearns hedge fund managers MAY face charges

looks like we have ourselves a couple fall guys!!!!

Ex-Bear Stearns execs may face fraud charges
Report: Federal prosecutors set file indictments tied to credit crisis

"Former bond portfolio managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin could be charged with securities fraud within the next week, according to one of the people familiar with the matter.

U.S. prosecutors are preparing to file criminal charges against managers of two Bear Stearns whose collapse helped kick off the credit crisis last year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn, New York will conclude interviews this week and has indicated to lawyers that indictments may follow, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the case"

what about Alan Greenspan or President Bush?

Through their policies they really helped kick off the credit crisis!!!!

President Bush needed that housing bubble created, so he could pretend all was swell on the domestic front and Greenspan happily obliged.
When the Bush/Greenspan created bubble burst, voila, the credit crisis.!!!

But look, we have scapegoats!!!

Brzezinski : Russia after the Georgian Pipeline:

I previously wrote here, on the Georgian/Russian conflict. At that time I questioned an article written by Douglas Bandow, that was posted at Anti-war.com. In the article, Mr. Bandow seemed to express the sentiment that Georgia was a useless country to US interests.

"Georgia is irrelevant to allied security and brings no military assets to the table."

"In short, nothing going on in Georgia is worth a confrontation with Moscow. Certainly nothing concerning Abkhazia and South Ossetia."

I noted in Mr Bandows' article there was no mention of a number of previous US "interventions" in Georgia.

Or why the US was so strongly pursuing Georgias' joining of NATO?

All this for a country of no great concern to the US?

It hardly makes sense.

I pointed out in that post the importance of a pipeline that runs through Georgia, to be specific the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. Which was not mentioned at all in the article by Douglas Bandow.

The importance of the pipeline is clearly on someone's mind......

Brzezinski: Russia after BTC pipeline

WASHINGTON, June 13 (UPI) -- Russia's clash with the former Soviet republic of Georgia is a move to control the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, Zbigniew Brzezinski told the U.S. Senate.

Brzezinski testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting on Central Asian and European energy issues. The hearing, "Oil, Oligarchs and Opportunity: Energy from Central Asia to Europe," looked into Russian control over oil and gas reserves and pipelines in the region.

Brzezinski, the national security adviser to former President Jimmy Carter, told Senate leaders the Russian incursion into Georgia was not over territorial disputes but an attempt to take over the BTC pipeline linking Caspian Sea resource assets to the Mediterranean Sea through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, the Azeri news agency Today said.

I am not advocating for warfare, but, to misrepresent or underplay, the true nature of US interests in Georgia, is to cause people NOT to understand what is going on in the area.

How convenient it is though, if there is an intervention in the shape of a war, it can be sold as humanitarian, "gotta save Georgia from big bad Russia" as opposed to pipelines and control of resources.

Legal drugs kill at a rate of 3 times illegals

In case you missed it!

Legal Drugs Kill Far More Than Illegal

An analysis of autopsies in 2007 released this week by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission found that the rate of deaths caused by prescription drugs was three times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined.

The Florida report analyzed 168,900 deaths statewide. Cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines caused 989 deaths, it found, while legal opioids — strong painkillers in brand-name drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin — caused 2,328.

I wonder what the rate is when one considers the deaths from all prescription drugs vs illicits?

Bill C-51, bill C-517 and mercury labelling

While the government proposed through Bill C-51, to 'save' Canadians from vitamins and minerals, because apparently the Canadian people needed to be 'protected' from the essentials for health and nutrition. Well actually, that was all for big pharma, but I digress......

They were, on the other hand, busy limiting the information Canadians have access to, information that enables Canadians to make informed & healthy food choices for themselves, in the same way C-51 was restrictive of choice, these decisions are also!

First to the GM foods, then to the mercury in the food, neither of these were deemed worthy of labelling!

Private members bill: Bill C-517:

This is one bill all those opposed to C-51, and others, could have got behind!

Canadian GMO Labelling Bill Will Not Move Forward
Sought to amend the Food and Drug Act by adding a narrow definition of the term 'genetically modified' (GM), and adding to the duties of the Minister of Health. The additional duties would involve being responsible for establishing which foods contain genetically modified components, and then publishing this information on a publicly available website.

The bill also would have required a label be affixed to the product stating "This product or one or more of its components has been genetically modified" and a sign be posted near the GM-containing foods that states "genetically modified."

The motion was defeated 156 to 101. As was reflected during the hours of debate prior to the vote, almost all Conservative party members voted against the motion while most Bloc and NDP members voted in favor. The Liberal vote was split; 30 percent of the votes in favor of the motion were cast by Liberal MPs

Keep that in mind at election time!

Then there is MERCURY in the food, and labelling Canadians actually want??
It isn't happening!


No plans for mandatory mercury labels on fish: Health Canada

Even though Canadians want it, Health Canada has no plans to bring in mandatory labelling of mercury in fish, saying it would be "complicated" and difficult to enforce.

A majority of respondents to a recently released department survey said the best way of doing so would be to package labels that identify how much mercury is in the fish they buy at supermarkets and fishmongers - not surprising, in an era of growing concern with food content.

But Health Canada spokesman Paul Duchesne said the department doesn't think mandatory mercury labelling for individual packages of fish is warranted.

Isn't that just incredible and maddening? Canadians want the labelling to identify the amount of mercury in food, and it would be great, wouldn't it? Allowing people to make more informed decisions regarding what they ingest?

But Health Canada says it is to "complicated and difficult", and "not necessary".

Looking out for your best interests?

What amazes me? How is it possible that organics foods are required to meet certain standards and be labelled, as they should be! But, it is not to complicated or difficult for that to be required? But mercury and gmo's to difficult? Complicated? Not necessary?

Bill C-51, a victory and thanks! But we will still have to stand on guard

Yeah, to everyone who wrote, signed petitions, and got out and talked up a storm on this latest control fiasco!

About-face on natural health products

Health Minister won't lump in natural medicines with pharmaceutical drugs

I high five you all!

Ya know, I made the comment to someone in conversation, how it is so interesting that we can ingest all the artificial sweetners and fake food colourings in a multitude of foods, but we can't chose to take our own vitamins?
It makes one think the government had a preference for a pharmaceutically medicated populace, rather then a healthy pro-active one.

man-made global warming and it's questionable solutions Pt.1

Still thinking on my latest conundrum, man-made global warming as an excuse or justification to force upon the population any number of unsavoury "salvations"

Well as suspected, I have come across articles touting the inevitability of a number of these, in my opinion unpalatable concepts, as now being acceptable, due to man made global warming.

Read one here, entitled: Inconvenient Truths: Get Ready to Rethink What It Means to Be Green

I love the language in this one "Just one problem. Winning the war on global warming requires slaughtering some of environmentalism's sacred cows."

Slaughtering some of environmentalisms sacred cows?? Does that even make sense?

So, in order to deal with global warming, we have to worsen other aspects of the environment?

Well we have already had a sneak peek of that, with the ethanol fiasco.

In the interview I posted previously, this subject was touched on, albeit very briefly.

Food for fuel, a concept by the way, I never supported and I don't think anyone with any real concern for the environment could have supported.
Why?
You can't take food out of the mouths of people for fuel, it's weird to think of, but humanity is part of the global environment. From that point of view does it makes sense to starve human kind to put fuel in our cars? Wouldn't sustainable environmentalism, actually sustain all of humanity?

Ethanol requires too much energy to produce it. To say nothing of the pesticide useage required to produce a crop for energy. Ethanol, it is widely claimed, is supported by environmentalists, but really a neo-conservative evangelical President and the ethanol lobby as environmentalists? On what planet?
One of the biggest beneficiaries of ethanol mania is Archer Daniels Midland . Surprised? You shouldn't be. You should be disgusted. No, it wasn't the environment and it wasn't farmers, it was a huge corporation! But, ADM is not alone. I'll leave that digging to you, though.

My point in all this is? Ethanol as fuel while very profitable for some, costs taxpayers an absolute fortune in subsidies and is linked to food shortages world-wide, all in the name of "man-made global warming". How could ethanol, be presented as an environmentally sustainable solution when it creates a host of problems itself. Like starvation in impoverished nations.

Perhaps when all the people who can't afford food, just die off, then maybe, ethanol could be environmentally sustainable?? Maybe, the destitute, are but one of the "sacred cows" that would have to be slaughtered in the name of global warming?

shocking! stockwell day blocks release of Taser report.

This has got me furious, just furious, obviously based on what is being reported the Taser report was not going to be flattering to law enforcement.

Why? Cause it looks like the abusive use of Tasers has been widespread amongst law enforcement.

RCMP fire Tasers multiple times despite health hazards: probe

RCMP officers are "likely to fire their electronic stun guns multiple times during an altercation, despite a policy that warns it may pose health risks", according to a joint investigation by CBC News/Radio Canada and the Canadian Press.

The media outlets, which analyzed the Taser-use forms RCMP officers are required to fill out if they draw a stun gun, also found multiple use of Tasers is increasing.

So these guys have been using the guns to abuse people rather then subdue!

Then go further:

The data from 2002 to 2007 is heavily censored, but reveals that Mounties used their Tasers more than 3,000 times nationwide during the period. In more than 1,300 of those cases, officers fired their stun guns more than once.

The analysis also revealed that in nearly 18 per cent of the incidents, officers had fired three or more times.

Though their own policy states:

The RCMP policy, in place since 2005, states that “multiple deployment or continuous cycling of the CEW [conducted energy weapon] may be hazardous to a subject. Unless situational factors dictate otherwise, do not cycle the CEW repeatedly, for more than 15-20 seconds at a time against a subject.”

The Global Warming interview and paper that sparked it all

For anyone who may be interested, in what has caused me to question the global warming scenario: man-made vs natural and the proposed solutions, it was this interview
Click on Hour 2.

"Andrew G. Marshall contributed to breaking the Climate Change consensus in a celebrated 2006 article entitled Global Warming A Convenient Lie, in which he challenged the findings underlying Al Gore's documentary. According to Marshall, 'as soon as people start to state that “the debate is over”, beware, because the fundamental basis of all sciences is that debate is never over'. Andrew Marshall has also written on the militarization of Central Africa, national security issues and the process of integration of North America. He is also a contributor to GeopoliticalMonitor.com. He is currently a researcher at the Centre for Research on Globalization in Montreal and is studying political science and history at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia."

and article: Global Warming: A Convenient Lie

I am looking for comments on the info presented??

Carbon Cards, control mechanisms for the masses?

In my previous post I wondered aloud, about the reasoning for the insistence on a theory of man-made global warming as opposed to the possibility of a natural occuring phenomena. If it was not really environmental concern, but something else. Let's look at two of the questions I posed yesterday in more detail. Let's use the example of the proposed carbon card in examining these questions.

What is a carbon card?

In a nutshell, a carbon card is like a bank or credit card, it will be "loaded" with a personal allowance of carbon credits, everytime you use carbon you will have to swipe your card. The use of carbon is tied to just about everything, filling your car, heating and lighting your home, buying groceries etc.,

Then there is a second part to this scheme. If you go over your allowance, you will have to purchase additional credits on the open market.

Let's look at the first part of the carbon card scheme, as it applies to my first question posed yesterday.

To refresh the first question was; What if the excuse of human activity contributing to global warming, was being used as a means to force lower living standards and life style expectations in the first world nations?

How can the carbon card accomplish this?

Every time you put gas in your car, you will have to swipe your card and your carbon credits will be reduced. Sounds good right? I mean you shouldn't drive your car in a wasteful manner and I agree. If the corner store is a two minute walk, really, what are you doing driving there?

Let's look at a different scenario shall we?

You travel long distances to work, your not alone, many people do. Therefore by doing nothing more then going to work, you will swipe your card more often and be penalized for travelling to earn a living. How about , heaven forbid, the travelling salesman? Will he/she also be penalized for working at a job, that includes lots of driving for a living? How realistic is it to think everyone is going to or can even possibly work close to home?

What if you must travel for medical treatment? You will have your carbon credits reduced every time you do so, as if it is not bad enough to travel for your care you will also be charged carbon credits for getting what could possibly be life saving treatments.

What about people who live in a rural area, who are more reliant on their cars for necessary transport?

How about this scenario?

Let's say, every year the government decides to reduce your carbon allowance, forcing you to be ever more austere. Can you do it? How can you do it? I mean in all honesty, there is only so much reducing one can do before one is either freezing in their home in colder climates, or dying from excessive heat in warmer climates. It is possible with the carbon card, the government can control and reduce your lifestyle, your ability to travel, and employ yourself, by limiting your carbon credits??

The second question from the previous post;

Is this man-made global warming ideology the justification for an alternative economic activity?

Again using the carbon card as our basis for examination. As stated at the beginning of this post, if one goes over their carbon card limit, one can purchase additional carbon credits on the "open market". What is the open market? How will this work? Would you as a carbon credit purchaser, just be able to find someone and negotiate a deal and have their credits transferred to yourself ? I don't think so??
Let's use this scheme as an example. If we go here, to Carbon Card (registered trademark), we can read that this is run by two founders, both in the management of financial services industry for many years. Ah , so their is money to be made here!
So will fees' be involved? Like banking fees'? That always increase. Will there be interest charges? On unpaid carbon credit balances?

Hmmm, so this carbon trading is starting to indeed look like a money making venture, and alternative economy(trade and commerce) While also limiting your lifestyle, unless you can afford to pay and pay.

Man made global warming will be an effective austerity measure indeed.



I haven't even got into how these types of schemes will fall more harshly on the poor then the rich, or how the carbon card can infringe on your privacy....But, I will, I will.

Oh and have I mentioned the total infringement on your privacy?

Man-Made Global Warming- austerity measures disguised as concern

This question is one that has been on my mind for sometime now.

Let me start out by making it clear, I am all for the environment, and why shouldn't I or anyone be pro-environment? We rely on the environment to sustain our very lives. So it is in all of our interests to be good stewards of our environment.

But, this latest global warming cause has gotten me thinking? What if global warming isn't influenced by mankind? What if global warming is just a natural occurring phenomena?

If we know that the earth's environment is always in flux, since it has changed previously, why would we expect that it wouldn't change presently?
Seems kind of silly doesn't it?

What if the scenario of Global Warming, as commonly presented as something that falls within our control, was nothing but a ruse? A ploy?

What if global warming, was being used as a tool of equalization, or a means of imposing austerity, particularly on western nations?

What if the excuse of human activity contributing to global warming, was being used as a means to force lower living standards and life style expectations in the first world nations?

What if the much touted carbon tax was but one means of attaining this goal?

What the "carbon-tax" really boils down to is increased taxation, disguised as an earth saving, pollution reducing, necessity.

If that is the case, the so called "carbon-tax" which is really a consumption tax ,will hit the working class the hardest.

Why?

Because the working classes, lower and middle, invariably spend a greater percentage of their income on goods and services (consumables).
Simplistic example:
If your income is $50,000 dollars and your carbon taxes cost you an extra $2000, that works out to an increase in taxes of .04% of income.
If your income is $500,000 dollars and your carbon taxes cost you and additional $2000, that is an increase in tax dollars of .004% of income. In fact the higher income earners additional carbon taxes would have to increase to $20,000 dollars before they would equal the income percentage taxed of a mid-income earner.


From this example we see that lower to middle income earners will pay a bigger proportion of "carbon taxes" based on income, then a high income earner. In other words, the vast majority of people, the working classes, will be further impoverished by the carbon/consumption tax.

What also makes the concept of the carbon tax that much more interesting ?

It is touted as "revenue neutral". This means it will not increase the amount of tax money taken in by the government. Would this really be the case?

Usually a personal income tax reduction is promised along with the addition of the carbon tax. Again a personal income tax reduction would benefit a high income earner, far more then a middle to low income earner, based on percentage of income.

So will the carbon/consumption tax be revenue neutral? Or will it in fact be a tax shift from the monied classes onto the backs of the working class.?

Oh and I have more questions.

Is this obsession with man-made global warming being used as a distraction from other environmental issues that are well within our control and, we pay no attention to?

Is this man-made global warming ideology the justification for the increased usage of gm foods?
An alternative economic activity?

A distraction from the mess of globalisation?

Fanatacism, America & the Religious right.

OK, am I on a roll today! It may have to do with the fact, I am a bit crabby, because I am in pain.
So I am taking it out on my keyboard.

We are all constantly reminded of the fanatics in Islam, and the fundamentalism of Islam, and the intolerance of Islam. Time and time and time again.

But, since I am a big believer in this philsophical ditty : "The unexamined life is not worth living." -Socrates.

I say it's time to look at the fanaticism of the christian, the fundamentalism of Christianity and the absolute intolerance of Christianity.

Please don't bore me with, "oh but their not hijacking planes and flying them into buildings"

I have heard it all before, duly noted and to it I say, take a good look at yourself.

Or to quote someone else "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone"

U.S. Military’s Middle East Crusade for Christ

Last August the watchdog group, Military Religious Freedom Foundation, foiled a Pentagon plan that would have allowed the shipment of “freedom packages” to soldiers and Marines in Iraq. The parcels were put together by the fundamentalist Christian ministry, Straight Up, and contained Bibles, proselytizing tracts in English and Arabic, and the apocalyptic “Left Behind” computer game, in which Christian Tribulation forces convert or kill infidels—nonbelievers, Muslims and Jews.

the U.S. sniper who was recently caught using the Quran for target practice in the Baghdad neighborhood of Radhwaniya

that an enlisted Marine was passing out Christian “witnessing coins” inscribed in Arabic at a checkpoint in Fallujah? One side of the coin asked, “Where will you spend eternity?” An evangelical favorite, John 3:16, was on the flip side.



This is the same military including private contractors, that has tortured, raped, murdered, bombed, incinerated, countless innocent civilians, in the name of some warped idea of righteousness, religion and "democracy".




"Then I ran across a monster who was sleeping
By a tree.
And I looked and frowned and the monster was me "

David Bowie: Width of a Circle

GM Foods the reality, no warm and fuzzy advertising included.

Ok, this is something that just po's me on a regular basis. There are actually people out there, in lala land, that think GM foods are okeydokey? By lala land I mean, a land full of the ignorant and oblivious.

To you people I say, have you just fallin' off the turnip truck?

GM food will not save the world, it will not feed the people, it will not save us from global warming, it won't make our teeth whiter, nor will it reduce wrinkles!!!

In a nutshell , for the oblivious, the entire goal of "creating" new foods, is to put a patent on it and make lots and lots of money from it.

Think of the patents on prescription medications, to help you get an idea of just how profitable this really is.

There you go, that is all it's about, real simple, isn't it?

Get the industry propaganda out of your head. Oh, it all sounds nice, as if these huge companies such as Monsanto really care (I am all teary eyed) For a better world? To feed the starving?

NO, only to make money!

Do you think Monsanto is going to just come out and tell you that in their ads.

Could you imagine an ad that went like this ,

"Here at Monsanto, we want to patent as much plant and animal life forms as possible so we can make it our own, and charge you exorbitantly, for the privilege of ingesting our monstrous creations. Truth be told (and that ain't happening), we really don't know if our mutations , sorry our food, is safe, because we aren't required to do so"

Now that would be truth in advertising!!!

Instead we get the touchy feely stuff, that people for some unknown reason fall for.

Here is some recent claptrap from the lips of Monsanto "Monsanto – announced a "commitment" to increase food production, partly by developing crops that need less water."

A commitment, well isn't that downright loyal, you can look to Monsanto to stand by you, in sickness and in health, in starvation, oh no, wait a minute, if you can't pay, you can starve, there is no commitment without payment , my friends.

"Together we must meet the needs for increased food, fibre and energy, while preserving the environment,"

Bullshit!

Thankfully there is a group in Canada, that has the rose coloured glasses off, and is pointing out the obvious. Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (ETC Group)

The ETC Group calls this "an opportunistic public relations strategy", adding: "Monsanto's business is selling patented seeds for industrial agriculture – not addressing a humanitarian food crisis."

I like it, call it what it is.

So please people get the idea out of your head that GM foods and their manipulators are going to save the world from starvation, they aren't , cause if you can't pay, you aren't going to eat!!!!

must read here

middle east conflict -not here

Ok, admittedly I am a big fan of Global Research, look it is in my faves!
I am also loving their news hour on RBN.

This week I listened to Steve Lendman interview Ramzy Baroud.
THE GLOBAL RESEARCH NEWS HOUR

Ramzy Baroud is a veteran Palestinian-American journalist and former Al-Jazeera producer. He also taught Mass Communication at Australia's Curtin University of Technology, and is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Palestine Chronicle, a vital resource for information on Israel/Palestine and much more. Baroud published his first book of Arabic poetry at age 18 and has since written two others - "Searching Jenin: Eyewitness Accounts of the Israeli Invasion" and "The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of A People's Struggle." Baroud is an international media veteran, publishes many articles, commentaries and short stories, is a frequent radio and television guest, and has been a guest speaker at top universities around the country and abroad. Discussion with him will focus on conditions on the ground in Occupied Palestine.

Surprise, surprise! Steve Lendman is a American Jew and Ramzy Baroud is a Palestinian American. Despite what is always presented in the corporate media, constant conflict between the two groups, this was a great interview. I enjoyed it so thoroughly I will listen again.

American Beef and South Korean protests

What is going on in South Korea, is a perfect example of an alleged , and I mean alleged democratic government going against the wishes of it's people.

In a nutshell, the people of South Korea do not want american beef. But, there is a "free trade agreement" at stake here, and access to the beef market of South Korea ,for American producers, the third largest market in the world was the concession that had to be made.

Protesters claim Lee was too quick to concede to U.S. demands for access to South Korea's beef market to win favor with Washington and garner support in Congress for ratification of a separate free trade agreement.

Let's refresh shall we:

*South Korea suspended US beef imports after the first American case of mad cow disease appeared in December 2003 .

*After protracted negotiations, restricted imports of US beef reached South Korean supermarkets last year, but further shipments were canceled in October after banned parts, such as bones, were found.

Under the 'new and improved' agreement nearly all the quarantine restrictions imposed by the previous government to guard against mad cow disease are scrapped!

A beneficial move to the beef consumers of South Korea, not!

Protestors come out en masse 65,ooo according to estimates, in fact protestors have been hitting the streets for weeks now. The governments response? Send in the cops! What?

In other words you can't choose what you want to eat, you eat what the government forces upon you, despite the protests, despite the concerns, despite all quarantine restrictions being scrapped, South Koreans may have no choice.

Bilderberger announces their own meeting?

That's a change now isn't it?
I do wonder what brought that on?
But, there it is, Press Release : Bilderberg Announces 2008 Conference
Released by American Friends of Bilderberg.
From super secretive, to a press release announcing the fact the meeting is taking place, but not much else. Is the press present? Likely. Will they report on it? Unlikely.

from the press release:

The Conference will deal mainly with a nuclear free world, cyber terrorism, Africa, Russia, finance, protectionism, US-EU relations, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Islam and Iran. Approximately 140 participants will attend, of whom about two-thirds come from Europe and the balance from North America. About one-third is from government and politics, and two-thirds are from finance, industry, labor, education and communications. The meeting is private in order to encourage frank and open discussion.

A nuclear free world, now that is hilarious, someone has got to have the big guns, so that ain't happening.

Cyber terrorism ??? hmmm, is that double speak for restricting or limiting the internet, as a means to restrict the free flow of information and control the medium. Especially since the Internet has become quite the tool for grass roots activists, around the globe.

Africa: more exploitation of the population? conquer and divide so big corporations can run off with the wealth.

Russia: how to overthrow the government? foment terrorism to balkanize the country?

Protectionism: Citizens world-wide would like to see more protectionism, in other words, they would like their environment, jobs, health and education protected so the people actually benefit. That is not likely what the Bilderberg group have in mind.
For them, it is no protectionism, except for them of course! They are protected from actually competing, they continue to be on the taxpayer dole, and the actual taxpayer, can go without.

I could go on, but, I am certain that Bilderbergs goals are diametrically opposed to a democratic citizenry's goals.

Citizens tend to want things that are of benefit to their family, health, community etc. Those benefits would only cost the multinationals, ultra rich corporatists in profits, and it is profits above all else.

Police thwart MS-13 murder plot

One of the world's largest criminal gangs tried to establish itself in Toronto 'and they failed,' Chief Blair says

Members of the notoriously violent MS-13 street gang were plotting to murder a member of the judicial system when they were arrested on Wednesday, Toronto Police Chief William Blair said yesterday.

Chief Blair would not give details of the murder conspiracy charges laid against four of the 17 men picked up in early-morning raids across the Toronto area, but noted the gang's "propensity to use violence, particularly against participants of the criminal justice system. ... It's an attempt to shield themselves from prosecution."

In all, Toronto and Halton police laid 63 criminal charges, chiefly involving weapons offences and drug trafficking. Along with guns and more than six kilos of high-grade cocaine, $40,000 in cash was also seized, police said.

Police were unusually reticent about the murder conspiracy charges.

Question, why weren't they charged under terrorism laws???

I would think that targetting members of the judicial system in order to avoid punishment could be seen as terrorism???

"propensity to use violence, particularly against participants of the criminal justice system. ... It's an attempt to shield themselves from prosecution."

Are terrorism laws just for Muslims?

Vancouver Sun headline screams "Every single Jew is your enemy"

'Every single Jew is your enemy'

Well at least that was their headline for the Thursday news story, but by Friday, virtually the same news story, had a different title "Court hears accused terrorists' ideology"

here are the missing paragraphs

The two stories are identical except for these paragraphs from the first story:

Police captured their March 3, 2006 conversation using Mubin Shaikh, a police informant. After Talib explained the mechanics of his scam, the alleged leader prefaced his diatribe with: "As far as jihad goes, what's your opinion?"

Talib listened to Shaikh and the two accused talk about Osama bin Laden's legacy and allegations of rape by foreign soldiers in the Middle East.

In a later wiretap, one of the suspects, a mild-mannered young man who is often heard asking questions about Islam, told the alleged leader that discussing religion and killing people might turn off the scam artist.

"Not everyone's gonna be a jihadee," he said.

The following day, when the alleged leader explained that the group must not "hold back" in a fight against the Canadian army - adding "I know you might not be too down with beheadings but it's terror, it strikes in their hearts," - his inquisitive co-accused wondered if it hurt.

"What does that poor person feel like when they lose their head?"

"It's quicker than shooting him," the accused leader replied.

I realize the Sun may have dropped the part for space consideration, but, was there any reason it was the part above and not some other paragraphs.

Why did the Vancouver Sun drop this specific part???
Was it because it was possible the conversation was being led by the police informant?
Was it because an alleged terrorist, was concerned about how a "poor person feels when they lose their head"
Expressing empathy is a decidedly unterrorist emotion?
Was that section, not in keeping with the usual slant or bias of the newspaper itself?

Just wondering?

Bus tours of foreclosed homes

Isn't this amazing, not in wow I am awestruck sort of way, but in a wow, I am dumbstruck sort of way!

There are so many homes in foreclosure in parts of the US, that bus tours are actually being taken, by potential purchasers, to look at the homes.

'Foreclosure bus' rolls into area

These bus tours are becoming commonplace nationwide as the housing crisis has deepened and more foreclosed homes are hitting the market. Real-estate professionals who sponsor the tours are touting the possibility of finding great bargains, as banks and mortgage lenders want to sell foreclosed properties as quickly as possible.

They also are promoting the convenience of hopping on a shuttle bus and leaving the driving to someone else.

Northeast Ohio has been one of the hardest-hit areas in the nation for foreclosures.

Bus tours have also been organized in places such as Stockton, Calif., Atlanta and Orlando.

More foreclosure bus excursions are planned for June 21, July 12 and July 23. For details, call 877-287-3575 or go to http://www.clevelandeastsidebustour.com/.

the Toronto terror trial continues........

Another day, at the trial, and more tapes to listen to.

First a revelation of tension between suspects:

Tensions between two top terrorism suspects were revealed yesterday as wiretap evidence played in a Brampton court suggested the No. 1 suspect was a big talker with little expertise to contribute to the alleged plot, and his No. 2 was a quiet doer, who set about building detonators in his spare time.

Then: all talk, no action laments

The other person replied that he was tired of his friend failing to come through on never-ending promises to acquire money and handguns: "It's depressing me now because all you got is a pistol."

These taped conversations largely took place in a vehicle driven by Mubin Shaik

Many of the intercepted conversations heard in court yesterday occurred in a bugged van travelling to and from Northern Ontario and driven by police informant Mubin Shaikh.

Interesting, disturbing and odd:

Yesterday, Mr. Justice John Sproat of Ontario Superior Court released a decision to admit hearsay evidence.

Though Mr Justice did note that:

The ruling noted that Mr. Shaikh didn't find the talkative ringleader suspects schemes very credible.
Mr. Shaikh admitted that the alleged ringleader made "exaggerated or false" claims, "was a lot of talk" and "talked about storming Parliament and taking hostages despite lacking weapons that would give any realistic prospect of this".

As for the beheading of the Prime Minister: After the arrests, much publicity surrounded a claim that the accused wanted to behead Canada's prime minister. But an intercepted conversation aired in court suggests the discussion occurred amid laughter.

In other words, more exaggeration and bravado.

Because, as the facts show, no property was bought, no tunnels were dug, no AK's were confiscated, nothing.

c-51 and c-52 updates!!!!

Vitamin consumers in the US and Canada can breathe a bit easier today, but we cannot ease up!

Our pressure is working! C-51 is not on the Order Paper for the coming week, (the last week before Parliament goes out for the summer, they'll be back in October.) In all likelihood, the Canadian government's strategy re C-51 will be to let it die with this Parliament, then attempt to bring it back under a different bill after the election, which will most likely be in October. (With all this heat over C-51 the Conservatives are very unlikely to call an election before then.)

Last Wednesday night on CTV News an announcement was made that Prime Minister Harper will be announcing a "wide ranging Cabinet Shuffle to occurr in early June or July." http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080527/cabinet_shuffle_080527/20080527/ CTV speculates that current Health Minister Tony Clement could be tapped as the new Minister of Trade.

and to the americans:
If you are American, I need your help to get Congressional oversight on FDA's Trilateral Cooperation Charter with Canada and Mexico. http://www.nocodexgenocide.com/page/page/3113337.htm

read "A Bitter Pill For Big Pharma"

"chicks" and "wives" as code words?

For the first time, the courtroom heard the voices of the accused, speaking in code, as is alleged by the prosecution.

The prosecution played a series of telephone intercepts and car probes featuring some of the group's key figures discussing "chicks," "pure girls" and "wives."

One man suggests they could build underground tunnels, through which they could move their equipment and supplies in and out of the home

.

Is this the tunneling in the Canadian Shield that would have been required?

Training around Opasatika in the winter, says one, would require snowmobiles, to which the alleged ringleader responds, "four brothers, two snowmobiles, one guy drives, one guy rides with AK."

No snowmobiles were confiscated,only crazy carpets. No weapons, other then 1 9mm gun, were confiscated.

the trial resumes today.

oh and one more thing:

Terror trial begins with notes of divine comedy

The papers have been filled with tittering stories about the clown princes of Canadian terrorism, the suggestion overt or sly but always there that surely no one could possibly pronounce this lot a real threat to national security. Why, goes the popular refrain, this hapless lot couldn't organize a one-car funeral, let alone anything more sinister.

Revel in their various nicknames for one another, boast constantly and engage in chat of such breathtaking inanity that it took a wise old police officer to remind me that compared to typical conversations in drug-conspiracy cases, where the stoned silences can last upward of 10 minutes, these exchanges are positively sparkling.
Ice Cap?" says an unconcerned voice from the back seat. "You got the Ice Cap?"

"Which one is the hot chocolate?" asks a third man.

"Don't be eating the doughnuts and crap," snaps the alleged ringleader.

"I wouldn't mind having a Timbit," says the other man, unrebuked.

"Let's go to Harvey's!" cries another voice.

In that perhaps six-hour trip, four of the alleged conspirators ate constantly, moving seamlessly from doughnuts and coffee to rice to bagels, and stopped short, just barely, of actually whingeing, "Are we there yet?"

When the alleged conspirators braved the elements (it was -2C, according to one) and dared leave their van, they immediately complained about freezing and frostbite, and returned from their brief foray demanding water with a desperation at least as great as a fellow lost in the desert for a week. At one point, it appeared one guy locked himself in the vehicle; at another, they fretted over a light on the dash; someone turned on the OnStar system by mistake.

Perhaps, they thought they could make it as a comedy troupe?