Mon, 12 May 2008 02:13:40 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/ PostNuke Powered Site en-us http://www.saltspringnews.com/images/banner.gif http://www.saltspringnews.com/ webmaster@SaltSpringNews.com http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17612 'Navywxman' Broken Liberty USA May 11, 2008 ~ In 1933 corporate America attempted to implement a coup against the US Government with plans to install a right-wing fascist dictatorship. One of the players in this treason was Prescott Bush, Georgie's grandaddy among other so called captains of industry, whom I refer to as traitors. This coup was thwarted due to the efforts of General Smedley Butler whom corporate america tried to draw into their conspiracy. Unlike the business sector of America, General Butler believed in democracy, he believed in the principles that America was founded upon and it is thanks to him that this coup didn't take place in 1933. From my observations however of how America has changed since the first attempted coup I have posed for several years that this didn't end the corporate attempt to take over America, that it merely forced them to go underground and use more deceptive, furtive techniques over time to steal the nation from the people and complete for the most part what they tried in 1933. Through funding right-wing politicians, right-wing think tanks, consolidating media into fewer corporate hands, constantly moving political dialogue as far to the right as possible, dominating the economic system, they have basically succeeded in their coup. Now the country is completely corporate ruled, both political parties completely dominated by the wealthy few, wealth goes upward to the wealthiest, information is dominated by a few media conglomerates, right-wing war mongering dominates what we hear and see on TV, and they have even demonized the word "liberal" as liberalism has always been an enemy of fascism, they have instituted corporate theft rights like NAFTA and GATT, they prevent the nation from adopting a sane national health care system because a few want to milk us for every cent they can while millions suffer, they have exported our manufacturing base overseas to exploit impoverished people with zero loyalty to our country, they keep much of our wealth they have stolen in offshore accounts to avoid taxes while we pay our share and theirs, they manufacture wars through their media, think tanks, and phoney experts that serve a corporate agenda, they get you to sacrifice yourselves and your kids in their manufactured wars where the agenda isn't to serve the country but loot other countries and our treasury, they are putting us into massive debt that our grandchildren will be paying for while they receive no-bid contracts and make record profits, they have privatized everything in Iraq and wrote their constitution for them opening the country completely to foreign ownership and are planning the same with other nations especially in the middle east and using us to do it. Meanwhile they have been gradually been doing the same here. They have created a revolving door between them and government and deliberately undermine elements of our government such as social programs so they can claim they don't work so that money will go to private hands instead and they have and will again make attemprts to steal the social security fund. That is just a small sample of what corporate power, the owners of the US, thanks to this coup against our nation are up to. I could go on but that would be a book! The business sectored failed in the 1930's but they succeeded in their coup overall through deception, gradual domination, and attrition of the systems that had protected the American people. Now we are used, lied to, manipulated, conned into relinquishing OUR constitutional rights and over 200 years of accomplishments, they have bred you to hate some 'other' while they exploit that division, use it to make wealth, keep people divided, make war, steal from you, and hide the reality of the true evil and threat to democracy which is our evil corporate masters who some time ago stole our country. ... Listen to the story at the links below and learn what should be taught in every elementary school to instill the importance of protecting what was and should be our democracy. You will know why it is not taught in school, why it is barely known. As the saying goes, it is the winners who write history and the American business sector, our home grown fascists defeated us and stole our nation from us. ... Mon, 12 May 2008 02:13:40 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17611 Karen Friedmann karenfreidmann.com USA May 11, 2008 This an exerpt from my 800 page unpublished novel, "Diary of a Desperate Housewife," which begs the question of how one's seemingly nice Jewish neighbors could support Israel even during the Jenin Massacre. Our antagonistic protagonist, Fatima Shaykh, is a New Jersey Muslim version of Judy Blume's "Wifey." This unsent letter, written to Fatima's teenage neighbor, represents Fatima's attempt to understand Jews; a quest which becomes a Faustian nightmare. ************************************************************ When you tied those blue and white ribbons around your tree, I never understood what would have caused you to stoop so low as to cheer on the genocide of the Palestinian people. You have a large house on the prestigious North Side of town. What makes you so comfortable with the destruction of the homes of others? You have a father, who adores you and works hard to support you and your mother. He gives you anything you want and need. What makes you so gleeful and self-complacent when other children's fathers are dragged out of their homes to be arrested without charge, imprisoned indefinitely and tortured? Since you are clearly willing to accept the murder of Palestinian families for the sake of confiscating their property for the arrogant indulgence of 'the Jewish people,' how can any of your American neighbors feel safe from you? How dare you insult my family with your ribbons of Jewish supremacism? Who do you think you are? Perhaps the real question is: who do you wish you were? ... Mon, 12 May 2008 01:47:43 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17610 Lee Rogers Intel Strike/Infowars.com USA May 9, 2008 The Internet is now becoming a new front in the phony terror war. Legislation like the "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007" that is in the forms of HR 1955 and S 1959 which seek to give the government powers to define thoughts and belief systems as homegrown terrorism, is on the brink of being pushed down our throats. HR 1955 was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 404-6 and now it appears as if the U.S. Senate is attempting to justify its future passage. ... The newly coined concept of homegrown terrorism is meant to target political dissidents and other individuals who do not like what the government is doing. It is specifically meant to target American citizens. There is no question that the alternative media which has flourished on the Internet is doing a great deal of damage to their psychological warfare operations. Through S 1959, the establishment wants to give the government a blank check to define homegrown terrorism as anything they want so they can eventually arrest people for having particular belief systems. This legislation actually makes it legal for the government to arrest and prosecute people for thought crimes. This would be a very handy tool for the government to use in cracking down on the alternative media which is increasingly speaking out against globalization. ... Sun, 11 May 2008 05:20:53 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17609 Capt. Michael P. McNellis (described in the past as a 'moral compass' for his aviators) has been relieved as commander of Carrier Air Wing 5. Is the final purge of military officers determinably opposed to attacking Iran underway? Or perhaps, Capt. McNellis: a) got power-mad, and pissed off all his aviators; b) slacked off, and failed an operational readiness inspection; c) was porking someone on the ship. An air wing commander is usually being groomed for higher rank, and for someone to make it that far only to be removed for 'loss of confidence in their ability to lead'—well it begs speculation. Given today's climate, we believe McNellis' possession of a 'strong moral compass' is the most likely reason. USS Kitty Hawk air wing commander removed for ‘loss of confidence’ Teri Weaver Stars and Stripes USA May 11, 2008 TOKYO — The U.S. Navy air wing commander for the USS Kitty Hawk’s strike group was relieved of duty Friday after an admiral said he lost confidence in the commander’s ability, according to a Navy spokeswoman. Capt. Michael P. McNellis was relieved as commander of Carrier Air Wing 5 by Rear Adm. Richard B. Wren, commander of Commander Task Force 70, the Navy said in a news release. The admiral’s mast, a nonjudicial punishment proceeding below the level of court-martial, was held Friday at sea aboard the Kitty Hawk, according to Cmdr. Jensin W. Sommer, CTF-70 strike group spokeswoman. ... Capt. Michael S. White, the former air wing deputy commander, assumed command, Sommer said. McNellis took command of Carrier Air Wing 5 in September 2006 from Capt. Garry Mace, who commended McNellis at the time for his experience. “Since I started working with [McNellis], he’s always been a moral compass for me, keeping me pointed in the right direction,” Mace said in 2006. “I’m sure as a leader, he’ll do great things for this air wing.” ... Sun, 11 May 2008 05:09:49 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17608 New tactics in Taliban killing season Nick Meo Glasgow Herald Scotland May 11, 2008 Haji Mohammed Karim, a towering Pashtun in a black turban who carried his crippled son in his arms, had come in search of a magical cure to the graveside of Kandahar's al-Qaeda martyrs. The Arab cemetery where 70 jihadis and their families were buried after they were killed in an air strike in 2001 has become a shrine for desperate Afghans. The graveside was crowded with childless women seeking sons and the fathers of mentally disabled boys. "They were foreigners but they left their homes and families to fight for Islam," said Karim. "They are an example for us like our Taliban fighters today." The Arab cemetery, full of the green flags of martyrdom, is in the heart of Loya Wyala, a north Kandahar slum and Taliban stronghold. Its jumble of mud-brick homes is notorious for its thieves, gunmen for hire, and the longing of its jobless young men to fight foreign soldiers. advertisement In recent weeks Nato troops have swept through looking for crude bomb factories and arms caches prepared for the annual spring fighting season, which started last month as the snows melted in Afghanistan's mountain passes. For two summers now, Taliban fighters have been slaughtered in unequal battles against heavily armed Nato forces in the pomegranate orchards and opium poppy fields of southern Afghanistan. But this year they seem to have learned from their mistakes, and instead of fighting a tribal war of ambush and attack they are looking to their old al-Qaeda allies for inspiration. Zabiullah Mujahid, a commander close to Taliban leader Mullah Omar, promised new tactics in this spring's Hibrat ("teaching a lesson") offensive. He said: "We are making attacks against Nato forces by IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and the results are very good. The enemy are suffering. There will be suicide bombs as well." ... Nato insists it is winning the slow battle against the insurgents, killing numerous mid-level enemy commanders over the winter. But there is no shortage of new recruits. Kandahar's slums are full of bored young men drawn to the glamour of jihad, while disgruntled tribes, poppy farmers whose crops have been eradicated and villagers who have lost relatives to Nato bombs all provide a pool of manpower. The Taliban say there is a one-year waiting list to become a suicide bomber. There are also fears that a more ruthless generation of Afghans from the religious schools across the Pakistan border is filling leadership gaps as the Taliban old guard is killed off. In 2006 suicide bombing was so new and controversial some Taliban traditionalists took out newspaper adverts distancing themselves from it and blaming foreign jihadis. Now there is little debate. ... Related: Taliban IED Makers - Afghanistan Video Liveleak.com USA 2006 Taliban making an IED and the effects of that IED on the ANA. Canadians escape suicide blast Canadian Press/Liveleak.com USA April 2, 2007 With a muffled thump and the flash of a "second sun," Canadian soldiers faced another brush with death Wednesday as a suicide bomber hit their convoy. There were no Canadian casualties but one Afghan civilian was hurt. Such attacks have happened so frequently in Kandahar that local firefighters drove past the blast's aftermath on their way to collect a modest gift of rudimentary firefighting gear at a Canadian camp. The spade shovels and tin buckets were neatly stacked earlier in the day for the hearts-and-minds gift presentation at Camp Nathan Smith, home of the Canadian provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar. The familiar thud of the bomb's detonation sent a plume of black smoke high into the blue sky just a kilometre away. "In a split second there was a combination of a quiet thud, the pressure of the explosion and what seemed like a second sun," said Capt. Adam West, one of four soldiers riding in the Nyala armoured truck. "I can't tell you which I saw or heard or felt first." Since the spring, suicide and roadside bomb attacks have been almost weekly occurrences for Canadian soldiers who sometimes escape with little or no injury. But at least 16 of the 37 Canadian deaths in Afghanistan since 2002 were from bombs, including four who died while on foot patrol earlier this month. This time the suicide bomber drove from an adjacent lane into the side of the Nyala RG-31, which was part of a convoy returning from a supply mission west of Kandahar. Soldiers described the moment when they realized the attack was imminent. Their bodies seemed to prepare for the shock independent of their minds, they said. Their muscles tensed for the jolt. Their ears somehow fended off the noise from the blast. "Your body is ready before you are," said Staff Sgt. Chris Murdy, who has twice been hit in bombings. "It's just 'holy crap, something just blew up!' Afterward, you just get angry." ... Sun, 11 May 2008 03:52:32 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17607 Charley Reese King Features/Antiwar.com USA May 10, 2008 All Sen. McCain is promising is more of the same, which is precisely what the American people don't need. Hollywood heroes have scriptwriters to make sure the bad guys miss. American presidents and the American people don't. Sen. John McCain has said he will be Hamas' worst nightmare. It's a juvenile thing to say. The line sounded more convincing when Sly Stallone said it in one of his Rambo movies. What does the senator propose to do to Hamas? Refuse to recognize the Hamas members who are the legitimately elected representatives of the Palestinians? It's already been done. Assassinate Hamas' leadership? The Israelis do that every chance they get. Put Hamas' elected officeholders in prison? Done that. Seal off the Gaza Strip and impose collective punishment on a million innocent people? The Israelis have done that. Set up roadblocks? Done. Periodically attack the Palestinians with advanced weapons? Done. What Sen. McCain is much more likely to do as president is become America's worst nightmare by continuing the failed policies of the Bush administration. Here is a man who has publicly admitted that he knows nothing about economics and who confuses Sunnis and Shi'ites. What are the two major problems facing America? Economic troubles and a war in the Middle East involving Shi'ites and Sunnis. Sen. McCain finished near the bottom of his class at Annapolis and launched his political career by dumping the wife who stood by him during his imprisonment and marrying big money. Excuse me if I'm not overwhelmed with his resume. ... There are a billion Muslims in the world. There are a billion Chinese and a billion people in India. There are two nuclear powers we should be concerned about – Russia and China. Instead, you hear our politicians make threats against Iran, which is a non-nuclear power and not much of power at that. If you think there is something in the water in Washington that makes people lose their marbles, it's understandable. However, the source of all the so-called anxiety about Iran is Israel and its lobby. There is a simple solution. That is to tell the Israelis that if they are afraid of Iran, they are free to go to war with Iran. Israel already has nuclear weapons. We should tell the Israelis that we won't help them, but we won't hinder them, either. After all, Israel is a sovereign nation and can do what it pleases. In the meantime, we have other fish to fry. ... Sun, 11 May 2008 03:34:09 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17606 Photo: Robert Nozick, November 18, 1938 - January 20, 2002 Robert Nozick and the coast of Utopia David Lewis Schaefer The Sun New York, New York, USA April 30, 2008 In 1971, a previously obscure Harvard philosophy professor, John Rawls, published a book that ultimately brought him acclaim as “America’s greatest political philosopher.” In the book, A Theory of Justice, Rawls set forth an account of justice in the form of two principles, ordaining respectively that people’s “equal basic liberties” — such rights as freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the right to vote — should be maximized, and that inequalities in social and economic goods other than liberty are acceptable only if they promote the welfare of the “least advantaged” members of society. (He termed the latter the “difference principle.”) Three years after the appearance of Theory, a departmental colleague of Rawls, Robert Nozick, published a libertarian response, Anarchy, State, and Utopia, which argued that nothing more than a “minimal state” devoted to protecting people against crimes like assault, robbery, and fraud could be morally justified. Nozick’s book was far more concise than Rawls’s Theory, and Anarchy, State, and Utopia did not go unnoticed: It won the 1975 National Book Award and was later listed by the Times Literary Supplement as one of the 100 most influential books of the 20th century. Anarchy remains a staple of the syllabus in courses on political theory, where it is usually juxtaposed with selections from Rawls to suggest that Rawls’s welfare-state liberalism and Nozick’s libertarianism represent the full spectrum of possibilities for contemporary liberal democracies. Nonetheless, Nozick’s reputation and influence in the academy — to say nothing of his name recognition in the broader world of law and politics — have never rivaled those of his colleague. (Though 15 years younger than Rawls, Nozick died in the same year, 2002, after a long struggle with cancer.) Doubtless, part of the explanation is that Rawls’s “left-liberalism” (as he later described his position) harmonizes far better with the typical orientation of the contemporary professoriat. In addition, unlike Rawls, Nozick never made the advancement of a particular political doctrine the unifying concern of his academic career. Rather, his wide-ranging intellect led him to follow Anarchy (his first book) with other works addressing a considerable variety of philosophical topics, ranging from free will to decision theory to (in his 1989 book The Examined Life) love, death, faith, and the meaning of life. More important, however, Anarchy never constituted a true alternative to Rawls’s doctrine, since, on every substantive issue except the legitimacy of governmental redistribution of wealth, Nozick and Rawls agreed. (And even on that issue, in a passage typically ignored by his admirers, Nozick himself hedged.) ... Sun, 11 May 2008 02:59:16 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17605 Margarette Driscoll Suday Times UK May 4, 2008 Photo of Alice Walker, Mel Levanthal, and Rebecca Walker courtesy of Rebecca Walker. Rebecca Walker was born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1969. She is the daughter of Mel Leventhal and Alice Walker. Her father is white and Jewish and a lawyer who was active in the Civil Rights movement in Mississippi. Her mother is the well-known African American writer of The Color Purple and many other books. Leventhal and Alice Walker got married during the Civil Rights movement and Rebecca was born shortly thereafter. In the mid-1980s, The New York Times ran a profile of the American writer and activist Alice Walker. Her novel, The Color Purple, had won the Pulitzer prize and was being turned into a film by Steven Spielberg. The article was illustrated by a photograph of Walker sitting on her teenaged daughter’s knee. It was meant to be a “fun” picture; but, in retrospect, according to Rebecca Walker, the photographer unwittingly portrayed the true nature of her relationship with her mother. Alice Walker was, and remains, an icon of the American civil rights movement. “People adore her. I can’t tell you how many people have said to me, ‘Your mother saved my life’ and ‘I have an altar to your mother in my bedroom’. They feel a connection to her and revere her greatly,” says Rebecca. Walker’s success as a campaigner was to her detriment as a mother. Like Dickens’s Mrs Jellyby, who neglects her home and her children as she directs her energy towards the poor of Africa, so America’s icon often went to feminist meetings and rallies and left Rebecca to fend for herself. Her daughter experimented with drugs and became pregnant at 14. “My mother\did a lot of leaving to go to her writing retreat, which was over 100 miles away — so she’d go there and leave me a little bit of money, leave me in the care of a neighbour,” recalls Rebecca, now 38. “When I was pregnant at 14, I think it was because I was so lonely that I was reaching out through my sexuality. My mother’s a crusader for daughters around the world, but couldn’t see that her own daughter was having a difficult time. It was me having to psycho-emotionally tiptoe around her, rather than her taking care of me.” Walker is furious with Rebecca for making such sentiments public, and mother and daughter are estranged with little hope of reconciliation. ... Sun, 11 May 2008 02:24:14 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17604 John Wayne in the 1953 film Hondo. The “Duke” and Democracy: On John Wayne Charles Taylor Dissent Magazine USA Winter 2008 One of the great joys of the movies is their ability to convince us that we know the people on screen. Even the varied performances of the most versatile stars are often not strong enough to prevail against the overarching image we’ve formed of them. When Joan Didion met John Wayne on the set of the 1965 The Sons of Katie Elder, she wrote of having the sense that his face was more familiar to her than her husband’s. And yet Wayne, whose centenary occurred this past spring, remains in some ways the most undefined of iconic movie stars. When we say we “know” Humphrey Bogart or Greta Garbo, or George Clooney or Julia Roberts, we’re talking about the intimacy we feel from having watched them at work. But much of what’s “known” of John Wayne depends on ignoring what’s on screen. To the left, Wayne has always been close to a comic-book version of American power in all its swaggering crudeness. That his screen persona was neither swaggering nor crude hardly mattered. It was easier to think of Wayne as something like the vigilante of the plains—macho, indomitable, always in the right, ordering women and Indians around because that’s the way God planned it. It’s inevitable that with nearly two hundred pictures to his credit (Wayne’s 1939 breakthrough, John Ford’s Stagecoach was his eightieth movie), some of Wayne’s roles do fit the traditional macho hero mold. But the image that persists of him seems more reinforced by things like his public support of conservative causes, as well as by his directing and starring in the pro-Vietnam War picture The Green Berets. And it’s been reinforced by the fact that Wayne worked primarily in Westerns, the most frequently, and often baselessly, stereotyped of movie genres. ”John Wayne represents more force, more power than anyone else on the screen,” his frequent director Howard Hawks once said. A performer who wields that kind of force, and has a physical presence to match, does not provide nuanced pleasure. But only the crudest reading would reduce the overwhelming force of Wayne’s persona to gung-ho cheerleading for American right and American might. To be true to the contradictions and moral ambiguities of Wayne’s best performances—Stagecoach, Red River, The Searchers, True Grit, El Dorado—you’d have to say he stands not so much for American power as for the American experiment—and thus for the possibility that it could all go wrong. ... The dramatic weight in Rio Bravo is reserved for the moments when the characters’ faith in each other, or in themselves, is tested. ... Chance is the heroic figure whose self-sufficiency inspires the others to rise above their shortcomings. But because this is a celebration of democracy, the result isn’t a race of isolated heroes but a community in which the strength of each individual buoys up everyone else. Even Chance, the strongest person in the movie, can’t do without those people. ,,, Sun, 11 May 2008 02:05:34 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17603 Click on a headline below to go to that news item Friday, May 9,2008 Commentary Angus Reid Poll shows respect for journalists continues to fall Commentary Tase me, bro: What I learned while trying to get tasered by the RCMP New World Order U.S. court ruling on Tasers worries Canadian doctors World News War on Iran—provocatons: Lebanon closer to civil war than at any time since 1990 World News Why should the birth of Israel be celebrated, deplored and debated, 60 years on, so intensely as it is? Thursday, May 8,2008 Commentary Das Crapital: A spectre is haunting the suburbs of North America . . . National News Scenes from the tar wars: Mysterious diseases, poisoned rivers, and shattered lives Social Ideas Hop on the Rainbow Caravan: An international wandering troop reaches Brazil, showing people colors, hope and options World News Food crisis: New programs to strengten Tanzanian farmers & Asian states feel rice pinch World News Poland facing war crime in Afghanistan: A NATO massacre untold—puzzled American Army major says killing of civilians is "something unfortunate, but not of great significance" Wednesday, May 7,2008 Science & Technology Debate on climate change far from over: Is the globe cooling on global warming? Or is it not? World News Will that 'green' guy, British Columbia premier Gorden Campbell, take note? New Zealand government buys back national rail, ferry system for US$519 million Science & Technology Air pollution impedes bees' ability to find flowers New World Order Globalization, eh? Well how do you define it? U.S. refineries ship diesel to Mexico as U.S. truckers suffer & How to address the food crisis: Overhaul of agriculture systems needed, says new report World News Conspiracists allege U.S. seizing vast South American reservoir Commentary James Woolsey: The Islamist Shia, the ruling circles, the ruling Clerics, the Mullahs of Iran have been at war with USA since 1979. John Bolton: US should bomb Iranian camps World News U.S. slams Russia over rising tensions with Georgia; Georgia says "very close" to war with Russia World News Springtime in Somalia: Indiscriminate killings by American forces, gross atrocities by Ethiopian surrogates; in the midst of it all, violent riots over food prices Tuesday, May 6,2008 World News Ballot Boxes Burma New World Order Principles of the Imperial New World Order Commentary Planning the war on Iran: The "war on terrorism" now consists of a worldwide campaign to fund the "good" terrorist groups Monday, May 5,2008 New World Order Canadian schools sent skeptical climate change brochures, DVDs by American think tank & Canadian Medical Association Journal suggests public health, not health of the American manufacturer, should be the prime Tazer issue New World Order Global food crisis: Corporate profits and propaganda New World Order Monsanto’s harvest of fear Sunday, May 4,2008 World News Iran moving into the big league Commentary Andrew Cockburn declares secret Bush "finding" widens war on Iran World News NATO vs. Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization: A war Canada should not want to be involved in Sat, 10 May 2008 04:02:14 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17602 Dave Patterson Letters from Green Island Prince Edward Island Canada May 5, 2008 ... I write in reference to the survey concerning the respect Canadians have for different professions just released, and its indication that journalists aren't doing so well (interestingly enough not apparently covered by any major Cdn media, nothing I could find in the National Post, Suns or CBC, and only a short mention in passing in a Star editorial): Angus Reid Poll: Politicians Garner the Lowest Level of Respect Among Canadians Priests and journalists see significant drop in level of respect since 1994; doctors only group to see an increase. As you will see, if you look, journalists have fallen considerably in respect the last few years, with only politicians and lawyers rating lower in major professions. However, I write not to gloat, but because I have written you all recently, and been met with either silence in most cases or protest in the one or two who have responded - perhaps this survey will give you some pause to reconsider what I have to say. And perhaps not, of course. I write now, and earlier, because I care about the media a great deal - you/they are a central part of a functioning democracy, and when the media stops doing their job properly, we are all in trouble. I am a concerned and engaged citizen, and rely on the media for information - and it is very distressing to realise that I cannot trust the media in the way I should be able to - and not only personally distressing, but a serious indicator that we are in some danger as a society, as many have noted the crucial connection between a viable democracy and a free and **responsible** media. I am also old enough to remember when the media was much more respected in our country, and with reason, as they were doing a much better job - they were working for 'we the people' back then, whereas now you really seem to be working for 'they the corporation' first, and 'we the people' only through the corporate filter - oh, I know you pretend to be working for we the people, and regularly feel a need to tell us all how lucky we are to be 'served' by the great Canadian media, but that's the kind of dissembling that is causing your reputation to suffer so, when people who are paying attention understand that you are saying one thing whilst doing another. ... [VANCOUVER May 1, 2008] Canadians give top marks to doctors, teachers and police officers, a new Angus Reid Strategies poll has found, while politicians garner the least amount of respect. In the online survey of a representative national sample, a large majority of Canadians say they have a great deal or a fair amount of respect for doctors (94%), police officers (83%) and teachers (83%). At the bottom end are politicians (25%), lawyers (44%) and journalists (49%). The results of the current survey are especially noteworthy when compared to those of an identical poll carried out by the Angus Reid Group in 1994. Interestingly, over the past 14 years, respect for every single profession with the exception of doctors has diminished across the country. The professionals who endured the most noticeable slump are journalists. In 2008, less than half of all respondents say they have a great deal or a fair amount of respect for journalists (49%), compared to 73 per cent in 1994. ... Ancient words for modern times: "I love treason but hate a traitor." Julius Caesar said that. Surely at least some of the bright young things graduating these days from the corporate-sponsored schools of journalism must understand that. Perhaps, we hope, even a few might act upon that insight. Fri, 09 May 2008 20:04:47 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17601 Danielle Egan TheTyee.ca British Columbia Canada May 8, 2008 Taser trainers open up. The shooting was premeditated. Cpl. Gregg Gillis plotted it out a month in advance. Two weeks later, he nailed down the date and location: the RCMP Richmond detachment. My first thought upon waking that morning: What to wear to my own zapping? ... Gillis collects the dummy Tasers and starts replacing them with live cartridges. Am I about to get zapped? "Unfortunately, the people at the Department of Justice have a bigger circle of influence than I do," says Gillis and provides a skiing analogy for their refusal to allow my tasing. "You accept the risk of falling and breaking a leg, but [the company operating the ski hill] can't sign off on the status of the chairlift because the assumption is that it is safe. Can you really sign off your rights on something like the Taser when we really don't fully understand and know the risks?" Trouble is, nobody fully knows the risks, and until we do, the controversies surrounding this weapon are bound to continue. Fri, 09 May 2008 20:03:46 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17599 CBC News Canada May 7, 2008 A court ruling in the United States about Tasers is causing concern in Canada's medical community. The U.S.-based manufacturer of the controversial stun guns, Taser International, has won a court order in Ohio that forces a medical examiner to change autopsy reports. ... Doctors and medical examiners in the United States have also expressed unease over the Ohio court decision. Dr. Jeff Jentzen of the National Association of Medical Examiners said the case could affect other autopsy results. "The physician shouldn't be threatened by individual companies attempting to preserve the reputation of their project," Jentzen said. Fri, 09 May 2008 14:16:45 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17598 Update, Saturday: Crisis eases in Lebanon Mark MacKinnon Globe and Mail Canada May 10, 2008 Lebanon's violent political crisis appeared to ease Saturday after the country's army stepped in to freeze a pair of controversial government decrees that had set off four days of deadly clashes. The militant Hezbollah group responded by saying it would pull its fighters off the streets, a day after seizing control of half the Lebanese capital. The army's intervention appeared to confirm complete victory for Hezbollah, which stunned observers by routing pro-government forces and taking control of West Beirut on Friday. The attack came hours after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah accused the government of “declaring war” on his movement through the two cabinet decrees that have now been overturned. In a statement, the army said that a government decision to crack down on a separate communications grid maintained by the militant Hezbollah movement should be put on hold pending an investigation. Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran and Syria, says the network is a crucial part of its arsenal for confronting Israel – with which it fought a 34-day war in 2006 – and said the government's move to shut it was serving Israeli and American interests. The army also said that a Hezbollah-allied brigadier-general, who had been fired by the government for allegedly spying on airport traffic for the Shia militant group, would return to his post as head of airport security. Though the army's intervention represented a further humiliation for Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's Western-backed government, his allies appeared to quickly embrace the opportunity to end a losing fight against the militarily superior Hezbollah. ... Reuters reports today (Saturday May 10, 2008): "The Lebanese opposition will end all armed presence in Beirut so that the capital will be in the hands of the army," the statement said. The statement, however, said the opposition would maintain a "civil disobedience" campaign until its political demands were met. Sunday: Lebanese declaration threatens civil war Hugh Macleod The Observer UK May 11, 2008 Lebanon's crisis deepened yesterday as the Western-backed government, facing collapse after Shia opposition fighters loyal to the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hizbollah routed their Sunni counterparts and laid siege to Muslim areas of Beirut, vowed to confront the militant group over its arms. 'Hizbollah today has a problem with all of Lebanon, not just the government,' said Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. 'We never suspected Hizbollah was capable of occupying Beirut militarily... Hizbollah must realise the force of arms cannot intimidate us.' ... The US and Israel have warned that the Hizbollah take-over of Beirut could trigger regional conflict, while Britain, Italy and France have readied evacuation plans for their nationals. Turkey and Kuwait have already begun evacuating their citizens through Lebanon's northern border with Syria, the only open route out of the country. The road to Lebanon's airport has been blocked since Wednesday by Hizbollah supporters. Other land routes are cut off, and the Beirut port is also shut. As offices in west Beirut, the heart of Sunni power in Lebanon, belonging to parliamentary leader Saad Hariri lay torched and bullet riddled, Hizbollah fighters encircled the government building and Hariri's residence, demanding the prime minister's resignation. 'This is an Iranian takeover of an Arab capital,' said a senior source inside Hariri's Qoreitem residence. 'Any Beirut government now knows that it lives under the barrel of the gun if it takes a decision against Iran.' ... 'Before the July war, Hizbollah had called for a national unity government,' said Amal Saad Ghorayeb, a Hizbollah expert. 'But after the war, they became much more vocal and hard-line because they saw that there was a clear US policy to use the government coalition to disarm Hizbollah and weaken Iran and Syria in the process.' The government's decision to tackle Hizbollah's infrastructure head on shocked diplomats and analysts in Beirut. 'Tackling the airport and telephone system was the first time since the Syrian withdrawal that the government has taken practical measures to deal with the resistance,' said Patrick Haenni , Beirut-based analyst for the International Crisis Group. 'This was a paradigm shift by the government and it was met by a paradigm shift by Hizbollah, who said they would never turn their weapons in.' ... ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ It appears in order to calm the atmosphere in Lebanon right now and remove the berms of July 2006 rubble blocking the airport road as well as the evacuation of fighters from West Beirut and the Mountains, the Bush administration must order the reversal of Monday's Lebanese Cabinet decisions. It is widely believed that they ordered them and are responsible to reverse them and to accept a dialogue with the Opposition. - Franklin Lamb, reporting today (Friday, May 9) from Beirut At least 10 die in Beirut clashes Al Bawaba Jordan May 9, 2008 ... Governing coalition leader Saad al-Hariri proposed a deal to end the crisis under which the government decisions that infuriated the Shiite movement would be considered a "misunderstanding". The decisions would then be referred to the Lebanese army, which has been neutral in the confrontations, giving army commander General Michel Suleiman the option to suspend their implementation. But Hizbullah's al-Manar TV later quoted an opposition source as rejecting any ideas for ending the conflict other than those proposed by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah earlier on Thursday. Nasrallah had demanded measures taken by the government this week be rescinded. Druze leader Walid Jumblat declared support for the Hariri initiative and proposed a concept of "coexistence with the resistance if the present balance of powers does not permit absorbing it in the army." Hariri's offer included reopening of roads, withdrawing gunmen from the streets, the immediate election of army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman president and shifting to national dialogue under Suleiman's auspices. Hariri said if Nasrallah accepted his offer it would mean that he has chosen the path of supporting the concept of a state, otherwise he would be seeking to replace the state. Jumblat also said If Nasrallah rejected the Hariri offer, it means that he is trying to replace the state. Commenting on Nasrallah's press conference, Hariri said the Hizbullah leader declared "I am the state." Hariri pledged that "Beirut would not bow." ... Fighters from the Shi'ite movements Hizbullah and Amal exchanged assault rifle fire and rocket-propelled grenades with pro-government gunmen, including fighters loyal to the Sunni Future movement, in several areas of the capital. Security sources said Hizbullah gunmen overran at least five offices of Hariri's Future group and police-guarded houses of pro-government officials. Confrontation in Lebanon appears to escalate Nada Bakri and Graham Bowley New York Times USA May 8, 2008 Tires burned to block the highway linking Beirut with the coastal village of Jiyeh, Lebanon, on Thursday. Photo: Mohammed Zaatari/Associated Press BEIRUT, Lebanon — The decision by the Lebanese government to shut down a private telephone network operated by the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah was an act of war and Hezbollah would defend itself, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, said on Thursday. The comments were among Mr. Nasrallah’s strongest since the beginning of Lebanon’s months-long political crisis and may signal a new level of confrontation between Hezbollah and its supporters and the Western-backed government. Tensions have escalated in recent days, and clashes and gunfire continued on the streets of Beirut on Thursday as Hezbollah tried to enforce a general strike called by labor unions. ... On Tuesday, the government said that it would send troops to shut down a telephone network operated by Hezbollah in south Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut. “This decision was a declaration of war and the start of war on the resistance and its weapons,” Mr. Nasrallah said, speaking via satellite at a news conference convened by Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut. “Our response to this decision is that whoever declares or starts a war, be it a brother or a father, then it is our right to defend ourselves and our existence,” he said. However, Mr. Nasrallah left open the door for some negotiations by saying that it would stop the strike if the government’s forces left the streets of Beirut and the government reversed its decision on the telephone network. The government has said it would prosecute those responsible for operating the network, which was mainly used for communication between Hezbollah members during the war with Israel in 2006. [Emphasis added.] It also accused the militant group of placing several spy cameras on a road outside the Beirut airport to monitor pro-government officials. The cabinet dismissed the airport’s director of security, a figure close to Hezbollah. As the country remained mired in its worst political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war, tension has worsened in recent days. ... For 17 months, Lebanon has struggled through a political standoff between the Hezbollah-led opposition which is supported by Iran and Syria and the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who is backed by the West and Saudi Arabia. The impasse has left the country without a president since November. ... Armed civilians were visible on some streets. ... “This is the first day of the civil war,” said a government supporter who gave his name as Omar, in a Sunni neighborhood. “They are the aggressors, and they will be buried here.” A few miles away, supporters of Hezbollah vowed to continue the protest until Mr. Siniora’s government fell. “We are staying here,” said a protester who gave his name as Abu Rish. “We have money and support from Iran and Syria and we can go on like this for another 50 years.” Photo left: Scenes reminiscent of civil war as fighters roam streets of Lebanese capital. Gunmen from Hezbollah and Amal take positions during clashes in the Mazra'a area of west Beirut on Friday. Around Beirut, Lebanese troops in armored personnel carriers are racing among neighborhoods trying to contain the fighting. Hezbullah gunmen seized nearly all of the Lebanese capital's Muslim part from Sunni foes loyal to the government on Friday. Sectarian street clashes in Beirut boil up into gunbattles Zeina KaramAP/Wiredispatch.com USA May 8, 2008 Running gunbattles raged in parts of Beirut on Thursday after the leader of Hezbollah accused Lebanon's Western-backed government of declaring war on his Shiite militant group. At least four people were killed and eight wounded in the capital. [The death toll is mounting. Reuters and Al Bawaba report that overnight Thursday and Friday: "... the fighting killed at least 10 people and wounded 20."] In a grim reminder of Lebanon's devastating 1975-90 civil war, factions threw up roadblocks and checkpoints dividing Beirut into sectarian enclaves on the second day of clashes between Sunni Muslims loyal to the government and Shiite supporters of Hezbollah. ... The chattering of automatic weapons and thumps of exploding rocket-propelled grenades echoed across Beirut into the night. People huddled in hallways and stairwells as gunmen rushed from one street corner to the next firing at their foes. Some families fled to neighborhoods that remained quiet. ... Hezbollah gunmen seize large areas of Beirut MSNBC News Services USA May 9, 2008 BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah took control of large areas of Beirut on Friday, tightening its grip on the city in a major blow to the U.S.-backed government after three days of intense fighting. Security sources said at least 11 people had been killed and 30 wounded in three days of battles between pro-government gunmen and fighters loyal to Hezbollah, a Shiite political movement with a powerful guerrilla army. The fighting, the worst internal strife since the 1975-90 civil war, was triggered this week after the government took decisions targeting Hezbollah’s military communications network. The group said the government had declared war. The fighting could have implications for the entire Middle East at a time when Sunni-Shiite tensions are high. The tensions are fueled in part by the rivalry between predominantly Shiite Iran, which sponsors Hezbollah, and Sunni Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt. In scenes reminiscent of the darkest days of the civil war, young men armed with assault rifles roamed the streets amid smashed cars and smoldering buildings. The sound of exploding grenades and automatic gunfire echoed across a city still rebuilding from the 1975-90 conflict. The dead included a woman and her 30-year-old son, who were killed when trying to flee Ras al-Nabae — a mixed Sunni-Shiite Beirut district and scene of some of the heaviest clashes. “They were trying to flee to the mountains. Instead ... they reached the hospital, dead,” said a relative of the victims, who declined to give her name because of security fears. “It was terrifying during the night. We couldn’t even move about in the house,” said another woman — a resident of Ras al-Nabae who had fled the area at first light with her children. “We spent the night in the corridor.” Saudi Arabia, a strong backer of the governing coalition, called for an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers over the crisis, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported. ... Street notes from the Hamra District Franklin Lamb CounterPunch USA May 9, 2008 ... Just like in 1982 during the siege of Beirut the only journalists I encounter actually on the streets when things are 'hot' are French reporters from Agence France Press with crash helmets and flak jackets. "Just watch out for snipers", they advised, "Geagea's men killed a woman and her son last night." How they knew is was Geagea's men in the dark, I don't know. The AFP fellows also reported that Hariri's Al-Mustaqbal newspaper and his radio station Al Sharq were closed by Hezbollah fighters. The situation as of 1 p.m. May 9: 1. Hezbollah and their Amal allies control the geography from the airport up to Hamra and around the Corniche sea road at far as the Beirut Port near Phalange HQ in East Beirut. It appears secured including Verdun, Karolol Druze (Bristol Hotel area), Zaendaniyeh, Ras-al-Nabaa, Basta, and Neweiri. They do not appear to be meeting much opposition although some arms are fired periodically. Hezbollah appears in complete control of West Beirut. 1. According to the guys manning the Berms on airport road the airport will stayed closed until the 'three conditions' are met i.e the pro-US government pledges to keep its hands off the optic fiber telecommunication network of the Resistance, the Government reinstates head of Airport Security Wafiq Shouqair, and agrees to a dialogue. Until that happens, West Beirut and the Airport will stay closed. 2. This observer was amazed to see and learn that Hezbollah/Amal also are deployed all over Mt. Lebanon. Approaching a Druze area, near the Kamal Jumblatt Hospital in Choufeit close to 1 p.m. today I turned down a side road to make a telephone call at one of the phone shops. I was shocked to see approximately 80 heavily armed fighters. "Oh”, I thought to myself, “finally I see Jumblatt's militia." As I pulled up to the phone store several fighters approached my motorcycle—which is well known in Dahiyeh. "Habibee!", one young man called as he put his free arm around me. Turns out he is a neighbor of mine from Harek Hreik. "What are you doing here with PSP (Druze militia?)", I lamely ask. "No, no, we are all Hezbollah and Amal here! How is that possible in Jumblatt territory? "Khalas, there is no Jumblatt territory! We and our friends are all throughout the mountains. We are ready to fight both the Zionists and anyone else who wants to fight us. But we are told that in four or five days there may be a solution without violence." ... The four or five day estimation of stalemate and status quo I was to hear several times today from various Hezbollah and Amal military leaders. ... Little sign of the Lebanese army except by Lina's Restaurant near Bliss St. in front of AUB and below AUB. Others are laying low under awnings of some Hamra shops. I am told they are near the port and staying out of deep Hamra. Virtually all shops in Hamra are shuttered After a while, one is able to distinguish in Hamra the difference between Amal and Hezbollah fighters from a block away. The former tend to be smaller, more thin, randomly dressed and sometimes hooded, a bit unkempt, fun-loving and happy to pose for photos and joke. Hezbollah by contrast are polite but all business with an obvious command structure and a tested professionalism. Several this morning look surprised at seeing someone riding around the area and advised: "Please go to your home. We don't know what will happen". As in the July 2006 war, one gets the impression that Hezbollah fighters prefer to depend on each other and fight in small groups and not hang around with Palestinians, Marxists etc. or even Amal fighters in close proximity. (There are no Palestinians to my knowledge involved in the current 'situation'). Around 10:30 am I came upon some fighters who said they were from the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. (Frankly I had not realized they were still around). They appeared to keep to themselves. Hezbollah guys' attitude is sort of: "Excuse us but could you take up positions a little distance from us, maybe down over there somewhere?" The message is clear: "Look, we know what we are dong and we are not sure that you do. You can endanger us by hanging around us. We would be grateful if you would do your thing somewhere removed from our location!" Jumblatt has not just been humiliated in the mountains but also in his Beirut residence at Clemenceau near AUB. When I drove by en route to Hamra Street I saw about 75 fighters outside his home. I was surprised to learn they were not Jumblatt's protectors but once more Hezbollah/Amal. "Maybe he will invite us to lunch. We have orders not to harm him." I was later to learn that the Army rescued Jumblatt around 11:30 am, and he is said to be rethinking his options. Hassan Nasrallah was tough on Jumblatt at his news conference yesterday and predicted that Jumblatt would switch sides yet again if Hezbollah would pay the price. The young men showed me some of the weapons they collected from what was said to be surrendering or fleeing Hariri mercenaries. It is difficult to avoid the tentative conclusion as of the moment that Hezbollah owns Lebanon and will not be dislodged by force. Again they insist that all they want is a fair share of the government and have no interest in "owning" Lebanon. They just are not willing to accept interference with their resistance activities against Israel. ... Photo right: Shiite gunmen pause in the streets of Beirut on Friday. Photo: Ramzi Haidar / AFP - Getty Images CHRONOLOGY-Events in Lebanon since Hariri's killing David Cutler Reuters UK May 8, 2008 Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah has led a political [emphasis added} campaign for almost 18 months against Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's anti-Syrian cabinet. Here is a chronology of the campaign: ... Update: Opposition gunmen seize control of Hariri's media empire Agence France Presse/Daily Star France/Lebanon Dateline May 10, 2008 BEIRUT: Militants allied with the opposition on Friday forced the shutdown of all media operations belonging to the family of majority leader and billionaire tycoon Saad Hariri. The closure - which came as opposition fighters routed Sunni loyalists of the government - concerned one satellite news channel, two regular television stations, a newspaper and a radio station. ... Fri, 09 May 2008 14:15:43 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17595 Image: EuroNews TV. While Israelis kicked off the 60th anniversary of their independence Thursday, in celebrations that are expected to continue in the coming weeks, Palestinians are beginning to mark the same series of events as the nakba, or catastrophe. Tight security as Israel celebrates 60 years EuroNews TV France May 8, 2008 In an atmosphere of national pride, Israel is celebrating 60 years of statehood. The coast of Tel Aviv was the setting for a maritime display, one of countless events across the country to mark the day it was born. Back in May 1948, Israel was designed as a Jewish homeland, and a haven for survivors of the Nazi Holocaust. The young people celebrating today have a very different life experience, although they have grown up in a nation which has never known peace. Independence Day festivities go hand in hand with current tensions with the Palestinians and security surrounding celebrations has been tight. ... Israel's Original Sin Jeet Heer National Post Canada May 7, 2008 Sixty years ago, a 12-year-old boy witnessed the slaughter of his family. His name was Fahim Zaydan, and he lived in the Arab village of Deir Yassin in Mandate Palestine, which was attacked on April 9, 1948, by Irgun and Stern Gang troops, paramilitary forces allied with the right-wing of the Zionist movement. These troops swooped into the village and started machine gunning civilians. Those that survived this initial attack were then forced by the troops to gather outside. "They took us out one after the other," Zaydan recalled. "Shot an old man and when one of his daughters cried, she was shot too. Then they called my brother Muhammad, and shot him in front of us, and when my mother yelled, bending over him -- carrying my little sister Hudra in her hands, still breastfeeding her -- they shot her too." Irgun commander Ben Zion-Cohen offered a more succinct account of what happened: "We eliminated every Arab that came our way." This statement glosses over the fact that some of the Arab women were raped by Irgun and Stern Gang troops before they were killed. At least 93 civilians in the village were murdered that day, not just women and children but also babies. The massacre at Deir Yassin is one of the most famous atrocities of 1948, but it was not the only one nor the largest. In fact, if one were cynical one could argue that Deir Yassin gets publicized only because its perpetrators were Irgun and Stern Gang troops, easy scapegoats who can be blamed for the violence in order to make the mainstream Labor Zionism of David Ben-Gurion look more respectable. Deir Yassin was in fact a microcosm of what happened in Palestine as a whole in 1948: Zionist troops, including those under Ben-Gurion's command, used terror tactics to force the indigenous population to flee. Israel was founded through an act of ethnic cleansing, of a type all too familiar in recent history. The creation of the State of Israel was both a triumph and a tragedy. The triumph is well known: how the fledgling and precarious Zionist movement, still recovering from the horrors of the Holocaust, waged a war of national liberation in Palestine, creating a new Jewish state while fending off hostile Arab armies. It's an inspiring story of a scrappy underdog who wins against the odds. This triumph is often celebrated in religious and mythical terms (think of the title of Leon Uris's hugely popular novel Exodus, evocative of Moses). But there was a tragic side to Israel's founding. The ethnic cleansing that allowed Israel to emerge was a terrible trauma for the Arab victims, and it continues to haunt the Jewish state to this day. The external war against Arab armies was mirrored by an internal war against Arabs living inside Palestine. Because of this tragic legacy, uncritically celebrating 1948 does a disservice to Jews and Arabs alike. ... If you look at Zionism from a Western perspective, its logic is clear and compelling. Anti-Semitism has deep roots in European history and the Holocaust demonstrated what happens to Jews when they don't have the protective shield of their own state. And the guilt for the Holocaust belongs not just to the Germans, who were the primary perpetrators, but also their many collaborators in Poland, Ukraine, France and elsewhere. Nor were the English-speaking peoples innocent: England, Canada, the United States and the other members of the anglosphere made extraordinary efforts to keep out Jewish refugees. Western civilization committed terrible crimes in the 1930s and 1940s, and the West owes the Jews a state. But if you look at Zionism from a global perspective, one that acknowledges that Arabs are human beings, then the morality becomes much murkier. Unlike the peoples of Europe, the Palestinians weren't direct participants in the Holocaust. Why should Palestinians lose their land because of crimes committed by Germans, Poles, Ukrainians and other Europeans? It's difficult to look at the founding of Israel, the displacement of the indigenous population and the ongoing occupation, and not conclude that the Palestinians are paying a huge price for other people's sins. ... An Arab veteran of 1948 recalls Palestinian 'catastrophe' Ilene R. Prusher Christian Science Monitor USA May 9, 2008 Palestinians: Mahmoud Jadallah stands near a bunker outside Jerusalem where he fought in the 1948 war. Photo: Debbie Hill/Special to The Christian Science Monitor Jerusalem - Mahmoud Jadallah recalls the 1948 Arab-Israeli war as if it were yesterday. As he guides a visitor through the village he once defended against Israeli forces, the names of outposts and passwords his Arab fighters used trip off his tongue. But the day that the Jordanians told them to stop fighting is clearest. The war was over – for the moment, at least – and an armistice had been reached between Israel and Jordan. "The Jordanians came along with us and said, 'OK, we don't need you anymore. You can go home. We're in charge now. They're a state, and we're a state.' "One of our soldiers couldn't believe what had happened. In front of everyone, he put his rifle under his feet and broke it, destroyed it. He said, 'Losing the soil of this land, which is mixed with our blood, this is something I cannot take,' " Mr. Jadallah recalls. A Jordanian officer chastised the soldier. "This weapon you broke, you should have sold it to buy food for your family." After that, says Jadallah, no one said a word, and the only sounds were of people crying. While Israelis kicked off the 60th anniversary of their independence Thursday, in celebrations that are expected to continue in the coming weeks, Palestinians are beginning to mark the same series of events as the nakba, or catastrophe. ... "We were shocked to see that the British withdrawal did not equal our ascendancy. They gave all of their sites and locations and equipment to the Jews," Jadallah says. "Our capacity was very weak. We didn't have the same weaponry they did. We only had some simple rifles and ammunition. " ... In retrospect, he says he regrets that the Partition Plan for Palestine, passed by the fledgling United Nations on Nov. 29, 1947, was a failure. Palestinian Arabs felt they had no choice to but to fight it, he says, because they didn't feel the division of land was fair. Israel agreed to the partition plan and Arab states rejected it, which led to the outbreak of the war and Israel's declaration of statehood less than six months later. "We liked the concept of partition, but we felt it was not done correctly," Jadallah sighs. "We reached a moment where partition was an opportunity, and we missed it. Our only option was to protect the land on which we were living, because we saw that the Jews were taking much more than the partition called for." Israel's portion of the land in the partition plan was indeed designated to be smaller than what it became by mid-1948; Zionist leaders believed the partition's narrow borders to be indefensible. ... 1948: the first Arab-Israeli war, by Benny Morris; A History of Modern Israel, by Colin Shindler Reviewed by Stephen Howe The Independent UK May 9, 2008 During just two decades after the Second World War, dozens of new states were created. Most were products of colonial rule – in their majority, British rule – and its end. Many of their foundations involved violence, some (most obviously India and Pakistan) vicious massacre and ethnic cleansing. One of those postcolonial creations, though, remains unendingly contentious on a scale to which no other comes close. Why should the birth of Israel be celebrated, deplored and debated, 60 years on, so intensely as it is? Everyone knows, or thinks they know, some answers to that question. But which answers are emphasised says a lot about the commentator's biases. At the extremes, they range from wild claims about an all-powerful "Israel lobby" controlling great-power policies, to equally excessive assertions about rampant anti-Semitism among Israel's critics. More sensible responses centre on two things that didn't happen 60 years ago: a lasting peace in the Middle East, and the creation of a Palestinian state, or any political arrangement acceptable to most Palestinians. As a result, some would say, the 1948 war which gave birth to Israel has never really ended. ... Fri, 09 May 2008 04:36:46 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17594 Don Sawyer Briarpatch Magazine Saskatchewan Canada May 2008 issue In fighting plans for a mammoth big box store that would devour the small city I call home, I have made a startling discovery: a dangerous cult has spread from the heart of darkest Arkansas, jumped the border and brainwashed millions of innocent Canadians into its doctrine of diabolical materialism. The cult I speak of is called Wal-Marxism, and it is so pervasive and insidious that it is quickly supplanting all other contemporary belief systems. Wal-Marxism can be summed up in a single statement promulgated by leading Wal-Marxist theorists: “From each according to his/her ability to mortgage, borrow, leverage and squander, to each according to his/her constantly expanding, insatiable, advertising-fuelled need for stuff.” Wal-Marxism is a quasi-religion whose adherents (Wal-Marxists) believe they can consume their way to bliss through sacramental purchases of tawdry goods. Wal-Marxist cathedrals dot North America, and while astonishingly uniform and unaesthetic, these titanic tabernacles attract millions of adherents each day — including Sunday. ... While Wal-Marxism has no single holy scripture, the Wal-Marxist canon of beliefs is incorporated into virtually all media. ... As bizarre and unsustainable as this sect’s creed may appear to non-believers, cult members are not limited to the ignorant and gullible. Instead, they are found among all sectors of society. While their infiltration of less savoury trades such as economics and law is to be expected, even usually thoughtful people like plumbers and service sector workers have fallen prey to the hedonistic allure and simplistic answers to difficult questions that Wal-Marxism provides. This is truly a national crisis. ... Don Sawyer is an educator, writer and community activist living in Salmon Arm, B.C. Thu, 08 May 2008 11:48:16 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17593 Josh Harkinson Mother Jones USA May/June 2008 Issue As Canada scrambles to dig up some of the world's dirtiest oil, a bush doctor tracks mysterious diseases, poisoned rivers, and shattered lives. At a small airport in the northern Alberta town of Fort McMurray, a rickety, single-engine Cessna hurtles off the ground with a roar. Dr. John O'Connor ignores the shuddering fuselage, the tail wiggle, the steep climb above the spruce trees at the end of the runway. For O'Connor, a bush doctor who has tended to some of Canada's most remote Native American communities for more than a decade, this October morning is the start of a routine commute. In his fleece vest and green fedora, the small, middle-aged Irishman looks simultaneously rugged and elfin. A plastic tray of fruit salad vibrates beneath his seat, a gift for locals who are used to subsisting on moose, pickerel, and muskrat. Outside, a carpet of boreal forest unfurls at the southern edge of town. Our plane flies past suburban subdivisions, freshly paved culs-de-sac, and what O'Connor says is the largest trailer park in North America. As we head north, tracking the steep banks of the Athabasca River, the forest returns. And then the trees quickly vanish, along with everything else, into miles and miles of rolling hills of sand. "The sand blows around like you wouldn't believe," O'Connor shouts over the propeller buzz. "Drive from Fort McMurray, and you will encounter what looks like a sandstorm." Below, some 2 billion tons of soil and rock—"overburden," as the oil industry politely calls it—have been stripped away to reveal deposits of hydrocarbon-laced sandstone known as tar sands. ... Eventually, people in high places started paying attention to O'Connor, but not in the way he'd hoped. Last January, Canada's national health agency accused him of professional misconduct, claiming he had raised "undue alarm" about environmental health threats and "engendered a sense of mistrust" in government authorities. ... Fort Chipewyan's uncertain future weighs heavily on O'Connor. He's grown tired of the grit of Fort McMurray, the long hours on call, and the burden of accusation. "It's constant; it's consuming," he explains. "I can't remember the last time I had a good night's sleep." Last fall, he quit his job and said goodbye to Alberta (although he still makes frequent visits). He has been replaced by a new doctor who has kept a much lower profile. "I'm not a whistleblower," O'Connor says. "I'm just asking questions as a simple, humble family physician." He now lives across the continent, in Nova Scotia, in a house overlooking blue rollers and a beach of pure, white sand. Thu, 08 May 2008 11:46:55 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17592 Lina Morais OhmyNews South Korea May 8, 2008 The arrival of the Caravan in the city of Recife, Brazil. Photo: ©2008 Lina Morais I was really eager to meet them, imagining how they would arrive, how colorful they would be. Lia, a journalism student who does volunteer work at the community library in Coque (one of the biggest slums in the city of Recife -- the capital of Pernambuco, a northeastern state of Brazil), said they should be arriving any time, for it was almost 4 p.m. Nobody at Coque (which is mostly known by the rest of the population as the core of violence and drug smuggling in the town) seemed to know about the arrival of the Rainbow Caravan. And, if people did know, they didn't seem to care about it; everything seemed pretty normal on the streets, I didn't hear anybody talking about the arrival or asking any questions. ... didn't know much about it; a friend had filled me in slightly, telling me that it was created in Mexico by a man named Alberto Ruz in 1996, and that it had traveled through a lot of South American countries, bringing to poor communities some notions of eco-villages, recycling, art and, most of all, peace. How did they get to that poor ghetto lost in the middle of Recife? In 2005, the Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, was at an international event in Goias (a state in the middle of Brazil) when he discovered the existence of the caravan's work, which also happened to be attending the event. Afterwards, he invited them to be part of the Cultura Viva (Live Culture) Project, in which about 400 communities of the country had been chosen as "cultural spots" that would receive cultural activities sponsored by the government -- the Coque district was one of them. So, since 2005, the Caravan has been in Brazil and they had already traveled all over the country before finally getting to Recife. And that was all I knew Finally, there they were. First, came a small van (painted and decorated, as if it were an ambulant piece of art) and, right after, a bus that had the same features of the van. There were about 10 of them and they wore colorful outfits, costumes and some had their faces painted with very bright images and lines. Most of the people spoke Spanish, but we discovered that there were two Brazilians amongst the group that had just arrived. One was Luciano and the other... well, the other called himself "Ninguem"(Nobody). ... "Ninguem" being interviwed by Lia. Photo: ©2008 Lina Morais [Ninguem] said the caravan had already been to 17 countries in Latin America and that they worked especially with children and teenagers during their visits to the communities. Their work was connected to circus, theater and dance performances, besides their strong connection to the earth and spirituality. They were now a group of 21 people (16 adults, two teens and three children) from all over the world, such as Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, France, the US, Italy. ... "We don't believe in a class revolution; we believe in the revolution of paradigms, of spiritual elevation. It's pointless to want a better world if we don't start putting this desire into practice by starting with our own lives. Above all, we celebrate the peace culture. Yes, we make 'peace guerillas,' leaving seeds in the places we pass through." ... Workshop with children. Photo: ©2008 Lina Morais "They taught the kids how to recycle plastic bottles and turn them into musical instruments such as drums and rattles. Furthermore, they performed amazing juggling and dance presentations that really amazed everybody around them. And they also painted the front of our library, which looks so beautiful now," she says. About seeds the Rainbow Caravan left for growth, Betania [who lives in Coque and participated actively in the Caravan's work there] says that, because it was widely used for activities by the caravan, more kids know about the existence of the library now and also seem to come around more often. "The children felt more important, because they were taking part in something while the artists were here. Now, a lesson I believe they left us is that we should promote more cultural activities in our community; we have proof that actions like these are really good and they attract everybody's attention, bring people together." ... It's been nearly a month and a half since the members of the caravan left Coque, but they're still in Recife, working with other communities, and they will leave our city in June. The impression they took from Coque? Veronica Sacta says: "They tell us that it is a very violent area, but we met a lot of people who had open hearts, with very good feelings. There was no violence around us and everything was harmonious and organized." Obviously, she didn't mean to set aside the negative characteristics of this poor ghetto, but I'm sure that what she meant was that the existence of these people goes beyond their stigma of misery and violence that is usually exclusively depicted by the local media. ... Thu, 08 May 2008 11:45:25 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17591 Can Tanzania reap bumper harvests? Madeleine Morris BBC UK May 8, 2008 To the untrained eye, the never-ending green of the maize, rice and sugar cane fields of northern Tanzania look lush and bountiful. ... Mr Chacha's problems are typical not just of small-scale farmers in Tanzania, but all over Africa. Generally, traders come directly to farmers to offer a price. Farmers are forced to accept either because lack of good roads and affordable transportation means they can only sell locally, or they do not know what the market rate is. Many sell at a low price simply because, like Mr Chacha, they need money immediately. It creates a vicious circle where farmers are unable to improve their crop yield by buying better seeds and fertiliser because they are getting such little money for their produce. This keeps the farmer in poverty - and means local consumers either rely on increasingly expensive food imports, or simply go hungry. And with the cost of food rising rapidly all over the world, solutions are urgently needed to not only feed people in the short term, but provide more in the long term. On average, small-holding farmers in Africa get only a third of the yield per hectare of farmers in other parts of the world. Photo right: People carrying rice in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro. A project designed to help small-scale farmers in Tanzania is an example of the basic interventions that could help bring about a "green revolution". "We are helping farmers so much," says Joshua Mwankunda, acting programme co-ordinator for the Agricultural Marketing Systems Development Programme (AMSDP). "There has been a tremendous increase in yield since we started working in 2002." The project helps farmers by facilitating small loans to allow the purchase of high-yield seeds, machinery and fertiliser, and crucially has improved participating farmers' access to markets. So far AMSDP has guaranteed loans of $100,000 (£50,000) to small holders. Mr Chacha is hoping to benefit from the small loans facility next season. "I want to buy high-yield seeds," he says. "Since AMSDP built the canal next to the paddies I know farmers who get 50 bags per acre from that high-yield rice instead of my 25. That would help me and my family very much." Another important addition has been the role of "market spies" - mkulima shu shu shu in Swahili. "I go to the villages trying to find the prices of rice or other crops and I put it on the board so that the farmers can know the price it's being sold at," says Stanley Mchome, the mkulima shu shu shu for Magugu village. "We sometimes go to Arusha or Dar es Salaam to search for prices too." Mr Mchome sends text messages detailing the prices via his mobile phone to other farmers in the region. This gives them more power to demand fair prices from the traders. ... Related: Asian states feel rice pinch BBC UK April 11, 2008 Asian countries have been struggling to cope as the cost of rice has reached record levels. ... The spike is also part of a general surge in food costs worldwide, so the option of switching to cheaper foods is often not available. ... This article briefly examines steps being taken India, Bangladesh, Pilippines, Thailand, China and Japan to deal with high prices and shortages. Thu, 08 May 2008 11:42:00 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17590 I don't understand why an unimportant incident has gained such great significance in your country. Why so much attention? Civilian deaths occur every week, because Afghanistan is no Sunday school. - US Army officer addressing Polish military prosecutors Photo taken in May 2007 in Warsaw at the farewell ceremonies of the Polish troops going to Afghanistan. Poland: Facing war crimes in Afghanistan Zoltán Dujisin Inter Press Service International December 27, 2007 Poland has woken up to the possibility that its troops in Afghanistan were involved in a war crime against defenceless civilians. The reported events have shocked a public which remains sensitive to the performance of its country's military missions abroad. But Polish authorities have kept the flow of information under control, leaving the media the task of digging out the truth. ... The wives of two of the soldiers accused of war crimes have said the "suggestion" to open fire came from a U.S. command. According to the Dec. 3 edition of Rzeczpospolita, the Polish soldiers were told by the base "the village needs to be f***** up," but claim they were still aiming at the nearby hills where they supposed the Taliban members were hiding. It is believed that Taliban members often come down from the hills and hide among the civilian population in villages, especially at night. The prosecution says there is no proof indicating U.S. responsibility, but in Poland disillusionment with the U.S. is on the rise. Roman Kuzniar, head of the strategic studies department at Warsaw University, says that while the Polish contingent in Afghanistan is part of NATO's peacekeeping mission, Polish troops have been made subordinate to U.S. troops, impairing the quality of the Polish mission. "It was certain that our soldiers would soon adopt the methods of combat of their American superiors and colleagues. These methods involve ignoring completely all rights and limitations under international humanitarian law," Kuzniar wrote in the Nov. 21 edition of Warsaw Dziennik. Recent statements by U.S. President George Bush have done little to improve Washington's image in Poland. "Bush recently forgot to mention Polish troops when mentioning U.S. allies in Afghanistan," Przybylski told IPS. "For Poles it is especially important to be recognised as allies of the U.S." Both the Iraqi and the Afghani missions are unpopular among Poles. The withdrawal from Iraq has been scheduled for 2008, but there are still no plans to reduce the 1,200-strong contingent in Afghanistan. But it could, however, be changed into one of a more civilian nature. A poll conducted shortly after the prosecution announced its findings shows that the Afghani mission has almost equalled the Iraqi mission in unpopularity, with 85 percent of Poles opposing both missions. Poles also overwhelmingly support an official apology to the Afghanistan government. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has made that conditional on the investigation's conclusions. ... Nangar Khel: Chronicle of a NATO massacre untold Dave Markland rabble.ca Canada May 5, 2008 On the afternoon of August 16, 2007 a unit of Polish soldiers operating under NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Paktika Province approached a small Afghan village. Known as Delta platoon, the patrol had come to the village, called Nangar Khel, in reponse to a Taliban IED attack on American forces early that morning in the same area. What happened next is still not clear and awaits an upcoming trial, but in preliminary hearings officials have acknowledged that these Polish NATO troops killed six civilians and seriously wounded three more in mortar and machine gun fire. The victims, who were reportedly taking part in a wedding celebration, included several women and children. Soon after the incident, ISAF's public relations department announced that several civilians had been killed in a skirmish between NATO forces and Taliban insurgents. As is normal for NATO press releases, the notice did not name the nationality of the foreign troops involved. Less commonly, however, ISAF did not state whether it was NATO or Taliban forces who had killed the civilians. While several news agencies carried brief reports relaying the facts, these were not picked up and the incident was basically ignored by the major English language media. ... Back in Poland, government officials announced that an investigation had begun into the nature of the incident, which was still largely a mystery to most Poles. But the investigation did not appear to bear fruit until after national elections which saw the incumbents ousted, including Defense Minister Szczyglo. On November 13, as Poland's newly elected government was entering office, seven soldiers were arrested. The suspects are named as: Capt. Olgierd C., Second Lt. Łukasz B., Ensign Andrzej O., Platoon Sgt. Tomasz B. and privates first class Damian L., Robert B. and Jacek J. Polish law forbids publishing the suspects' full names. News photographers captured images of masked teams of SWAT-style military police hauling away hooded and handcuffed suspects. The following day, military prosecutors announced criminal charges for some members of Delta platoon. Two privates, a sergeant, a warrant officer, a lieutenant and a captain were charged with murder of civilians under circumstances of war or occupation, while one private was charged with attacking civilian objects. The prosecutor stated that the crimes for which they are charged constitute violations of the Hague Conventions of 1907 and the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and carry jail sentences of 12 years to life for the murder charges and five to 25 years for the lesser charge. ... Chronicle of a NATO massacre untold: Part II Dave Markland rabble.ca Canada May 7, 2008 ... While the arrests of the accused soldiers sparked a media frenzy in Poland, the issue has been almost completely ignored outside the country. This omission is especially glaring in the case of the American media, as it is the U.S. that is in nominal command of NATO forces in Paktika. And, indeed, the relationship between the Polish and American forces goes deeper than that. Stanislaw Koziej, a retired Major-General in the Polish army and former deputy minister of defense, writes that Polish troops in Afghanistan are more closely placed under American command than they are in Iraq. "The incorporation of the small combat sub-units into the American structures was not advantageous." The reason for this, he continues, is that "integration with the lowest ranks of the U.S. structures naturally forces our soldiers to use the American tactical doctrine," which he says contrasts with the situation in Iraq, where some 1200 Polish soldiers operate with more independence. With this structure of command as background, the lack of attention from the U.S. press is telling. Apart from very brief notices in three American papers (New York Times, LA Times, New York Newsday) taken from a November 15 Associated Press dispatch, American press coverage has amounted to one article in the New York Times on November 29. The article, by Berlin bureau chief Nicholas Kulish, generally promotes the view that the Polish soldiers attacked the civilians by accident. This despite the fact that Poland's leading daily newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza, had already revealed testimony from colleagues of the arrested soldiers who saw several of the accused deliberately firing on civilian targets. Kulish's 900-word article, reprinted in the International Herald Tribune, represents the only English language coverage I could find apart from mention of the case in a December 7 Financial Times opinion piece authored by an American defense analyst. Canadian print media coverage has been precisely zero. ... The Polish military prosecutors held preliminary hearings on the case, bringing in various military and government officials including at least one American army major who sought to calm Polish nerves. The killing of numerous civilians at Nangar Khel, he said, is "something unfortunate, but not of great significance". He stressed the triviality of the event, saying, "I don't understand why an unimportant incident has gained such great significance in your country. Why so much attention? Civilian deaths occur every week, because Afghanistan is no Sunday school." A Polish Special Forces officer also told the hearings that the killings were a non-event: "Harming a civilian is something that could happen to any soldier." He added, "The Americans experience similar incidents even once a week. [However] a substantial majority of such cases result from poor air reconnaissance." ... Thu, 08 May 2008 00:59:19 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17589 In the scientific community, we have Thesis and Antithesis, but we don't yet have Synthesis. We're going to go back and reread Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. In the meantime, a brief window on the dialectic. On the one hand: Globe may be cooling on global warming Deroy Murdock Scripps Howard News Service USA May 1, 2008 Australia, the land where sinks drain the other way, has alerted Americans that we see Earth's climate upside down: We're not warming. We're cooling. "Disconcerting as it may be to true believers in global warming, the average temperature on Earth has remained steady or slowly declined during the past decade, despite the continued increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, and now the global temperature is falling precipitously." Dr. Phil Chapman wrote in The Australian on April 23 [Sorry to ruin the fun, but an ice age cometh]. "All those urging action to curb global warming need to take off the blinkers and give some thought to what we should do if we are facing global cooling instead." Chapman neither can be caricatured as a greedy oil-company lobbyist nor dismissed as a flat-Earther. He was a Massachusetts Institute of Technology staff physicist, NASA's first Australian-born astronaut, and Apollo 14's Mission Scientist. Chapman believes reduced sunspot activity is curbing temperatures. As he elaborates, "there is a close correlation between variations on the sunspot cycle and Earth's climate." ... While neither anecdotes nor one year's statistics confirm global cooling, a decade of data contradicts the "melting planet" rhetoric that heats Capitol Hill and America's newsrooms. "The University of Alabama-Huntsville's analysis of data from satellites launched in 1979 showed a warming trend of 0.14 degrees Centigrade (0.25 Fahrenheit) per decade," Joseph D'Aleo, the Weather Channel's first Director of Meteorology, told me. "This warmth peaked in 1998, and the temperature trend the last decade has been flat, even as CO2 has increased 5.5 percent. Cooling began in 2002. Over the last six years, global temperatures from satellite and land-temperature gauges have cooled (-0.14 F and -0.22 F, respectively). Ocean buoys have echoed that slight cooling since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration deployed them in 2003." These researchers are not alone. They are among a rising tide of scientists who question the so-called "global warming" theory. Some further argue that global cooling merits urgent concern. "In stark contrast to the often repeated assertion that the science of climate change is 'settled,' significant new peer-reviewed research has cast even more doubt on the hypothesis of dangerous human-caused global warming," 100 prestigious geologists, physicists, meteorologists, and other scientists wrote United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon last December. They also noted "today's computer models cannot predict climate. Consistent with this, and despite computer projections of temperature rises, there has been no net global warming since 1998." In a December 2007 Senate Environment and Public Works Committee minority-staff report, some 400 scientists -- from such respected institutions as Princeton, the National Academy of Sciences, the University of London, and Paris' Pasteur Institute -- declared their independence from the pro-warming 'conventional wisdom.' "Not CO2, but water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas," asserted climatologist Luc Debontridder of Belgium's Royal Meteorological Institute. "It is responsible for at least 75 percent of the greenhouse effect. This is a simple scientific fact, but Al Gore's movie has hyped CO2 so much that nobody seems to take note of it." ... Phil Chapman is a geophysicist and astronautical engineer who lives in San Francisco. He was the first Australian to become a NASA astronaut. Deroy Murdock is a columnist with Scripps Howard News Service and a media fellow with the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University. On the other hand: Warming trend has not been reversed David Karoly The Australian Australia April 29, 2009 The opinion piece by Phil Chapman ("Sorry to ruin the fun, but an ice age cometh", Opinion, April 22) warns of an approaching ice age but contains a number of factual errors, misleading statements and incorrect conclusions. Chapman reports global average temperature cooled by 0.7C in 2007 and says: "If the temperature does not soon recover, we will have to conclude that global warming is over." It is true that global data sets show a pronounced cooling from January2007 to January 2008 of slightly less than 0.7C. It is an error to state, as Chapman does, that this is unprecedented, as similar dramatic falls occurred from 1998 to 1999, and from 1973 to 1974. It should also be noted that the global average temperature has warmed substantially, by about 0.3C from January 2008 to March 2008. In addition, the annual average temperature for 2007 was within 0.1C of the average temperature in 2006 and 2005; no dramatic cooling there. So what caused this rapid cooling during 2007, and also from 1998 to 1999, and from 1973 to 1974? What was common to all those periods? In each case, the common factor was a rapid change from El Nino to La Nina conditions, from warm temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean to cold temperatures in the same region, which has a significant effect on global climate patterns and global average temperature. La Nina is associated with below-normal global average temperature, and because of its influence, 2008 is likely to be about 0.3C cooler than the average of the previous few years. Chapman did not consider La Nina as a cause of the cooling in 2007 and instead linked it to the minimum in the 11-year cycle in sunspot numbers: "The first sunspot appeared in January this year and lasted only two days. A tiny spot appeared last Monday but vanished within 24 hours. Another little spot appeared this Monday." I don't know where these sunspot numbers came from but they are in error. ... Most of the increase in global average temperature over the past 50 years is due to the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This long-term increase in global average temperature will continue throughout the 21st century because of further increases in greenhouse gases. Yes, there will be year-to-year natural climate variations, with some colder years, but the long-term warming trend will continue. An ice age is definitely not going to occur in the 21st century. Instead, we will all need to make very large reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases if we are to minimise dangerous anthropogenic climate change. David Karoly is a professor in the University of Melbourne's school of earth sciences and a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists. Related: The "Manhattan Declaration on Climate Change" was agreed on March 4, 2008. Hundreds sign climate realist declaration - 'global warming' is not a global crisis International Climate Science Coalition/PR Newswire/groups.google.com Canada April 22, 2008 OTTAWA, Canada - The International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC) today released the names of over 500 endorsers of the Manhattan Declaration on Climate Change that calls on world leaders to "reject the views expressed by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as well as popular, but misguided works such as An Inconvenient Truth." All taxes, regulations, and other interventions intended to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) should "be abandoned forthwith", declaration signatories conclude. Included in the endorser lists are world leading climate scientists, economists, policymakers, engineers, business leaders, medical doctors, as well as other professionals and concerned citizens from two dozen countries. The complete declaration text, endorser lists and international media contacts for expert commentary, may be viewed at http://www.climatescienceinternational.org/media1.php. Perhaps most significant among the declaration's assertions: - "there is no convincing evidence that CO2 emissions from modern industrial activity have in the past, are now, or will in the future cause catastrophic climate change." - "attempts by governments to legislate costly regulations on industry and individual citizens to encourage CO2 reduction will slow development while having no appreciable impact on the future trajectory of global climate change. Such policies will markedly diminish future prosperity and so reduce the ability of societies to adapt to inevitable climate change, thereby increasing, not decreasing human suffering." ... Friends of Science website The Friends of Science Society is based in Calgary, Alberta. Our Goal: To encourage and assist the Canadian Federal Government to re-evaluate the Kyoto Protocol by engaging in a national public debate on the scientific merit of Kyoto and the Global Warming issue, and to educate the public through dissemination of relevant, balanced and objective technical information on this subject. Our Opinion: It is our opinion that the Sun is the main direct and indirect driver of climate change. Our Position: While FOS does not do any original scientific research, it draws on the worldwide body of work by scientists in all fields relating to global climate change. To read our Position Statement, click here. See our comprehensive essay on climate change science, click here. ... Wed, 07 May 2008 13:15:28 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17588 The underreported, underexamined sins of the Campbell coalition are too numerous to count. Negative changes to labor standards, the gutting of apprenticeship programs, disrespect for the Agricultural Land Reserve, the selloff of public timberlands, the willfull denial of the rights of individual farmers and the concomitant jeopardization of food security, the barring of all but the rich from higher education, the deep compromise of our ability to provide health care, the denial of women's programs, denial of welfare to the needy—the list just goes on and on. If not yet the complete destruction of our heritage built over the last three generations, surely its enfeeblement. The sellout of BC Medicare and BC Hydro to offshore corporate interests adds to our burden and threatens our safety as free citizens. The giveaway of BC Rail and the de facto privatization of BC Ferries undermine the way of life of rural citizens and forbid our economic progress as a combined rural and urban polity. Others have succumbed to the overpowering strength of the neofascist corporatist ideology but, tho' having been brought down, have not been brought to an end. Some nations are starting to fight back in an attempt to reclaim what is rightfully the property of their citizens—public enterprises that are the means to build richer, more just, more sustainable societies. When will British Columbians awake and begin to claw back their heritage? Do we have to wait another generation before common sense and decency return to our province? New Zealand government buys back national rail, ferry system for US$519 million Associated Press/International Herald Tribune USA/France May 5, 2008 WELLINGTON, New Zealand: The New Zealand government will pay NZ$665 million (US$519 million; €336 million) to Australia's Toll Holdings Ltd. to buy back rail and sea ferry operations that were privatized in the 1990s, the finance minister said Monday. The government decided that buying the rail and sea operations from Toll Australia's subsidiary, Toll New Zealand, was the best way to increase investment in the industry, Michael Cullen said. "The selling of our public rail system in the early 1990s and the running down of the asset afterward has been a painful lesson for New Zealand," he said in a statement. ... Prime Minister Helen Clark said the Labor-led government's plan to modernize the national rail system was a step toward building a sustainable transport network. "With rising fuel prices and growing awareness about the challenge of global climate change, many nations are looking to rail as a central part of 21st century economic infrastructure," Clark said. A modern rail system could reduce the emissions of the overall transport network, take pressure off roads, and allow trucking and shipping to operate more efficiently, she added. Settlement of the purchase is expected on June 30. ... Wed, 07 May 2008 08:02:36 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17586 Juliet Eilperin Washington Post USA May 5, 2008 Air pollution interferes with the ability of bees and other insects to follow the scent of flowers to their source, undermining the essential process of pollination, a study by three University of Virginia researchers suggests. Their findings may help unlock part of the mystery surrounding the current pollination crisis that is affecting a wide variety of crops. Scientists are seeking to determine why honeybees and bumblebees are dying off in the United States and in other countries, and the new study indicates that emissions from power plants and automobiles may play a part in the insects' demise. Scientists already knew that scent-bearing hydrocarbon molecules released by flowers can be destroyed when they come into contact with ozone and other pollutants. Environmental sciences professor Jose D. Fuentes at the University of Virginia -- working with graduate students Quinn S. McFrederick and James C. Kathilankal -- used a mathematical model to determine how flowers' scents travel with the wind and how quickly they come into contact with pollutants that can destroy them. They described their results in the March issue of the journal Atmospheric Environment. In the prevailing conditions before the 1800s, the researchers calculated that a flower's scent could travel between 3,280 feet and 4,000 feet, Fuentes said in an interview, but today, that scent might travel 650 feet to 1,000 feet in highly polluted areas such as the District of Columbia, Los Angeles or Houston. "That's where we basically have all the problems," Fuentes said, adding that ozone levels are particularly high during summer. "The impacts of pollution on pollinator activity are pronounced during the summer months." ... Wed, 07 May 2008 06:55:29 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17585 Fighting $4-a-gallon diesel "simpson' Oilwatchdog.com USA April 23, 2008 An Apache Junction, Arizona, trucking firm is fighting to stay in business in the face of $4-a-gallon diesel by driving across the border to Mexico to buy fuel where it sells for $2 a gallon. CNN tells the story of how Romano and Son built a 500-gallon tank to haul diesel fuel back from south of the border. They made one successful trip, but were told on their second try by border officials that they can only bring 119 gallons across at a time. Ironically, notes Insider, much of the diesel exported from the western United States goes to Mexico. ... As diesel was threatening to break through the $4 level in January -- the most recent month for which data is available -- U.S. refineries shipped 982,000 barrels or 41.2 million gallons of diesel to Mexico. The 2008 shipments far exceed January shipments in any other year except 2000 and 2001. ... We'd say 'go figure', except, of course, there is no free trade, no free market, no level playing field. It is all manipulation. And we and you are not benefiting. Related: If you want to know how the world works, this is the place to start. I cannot think of a more necessary set of facts than these. Lobbywatch.org permits us to peer into the crucible of politics, to see how public perceptions and government policies are smelted and forged by corporations and their front organisations. - George Monbiot How to address the food crisis LobbyWatch.org UK April 18, 2008 ... Kuala Lumpur, 15 Apr (Lim Li Ching) -- An independent and multi-stakeholder international assessment of agriculture has concluded that a radical change is needed in agriculture policy and practice, in order to address hunger and poverty, social inequities and environmental sustainability questions. The final report of the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology (IAASTD) was launched simultaneously on 15 April 2008 in Washington, London, Nairobi, Delhi, Paris and a number of other cities worldwide. The report (the product of work of over 400 authors) was finalised at a meeting of over 50 governments held in Johannesburg last week. 'Business as usual is not an option', said Professor Robert Watson, Director of the IAASTD and chief scientist of the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Watson was formerly the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The methodology of the IAASTD’s work and process is similar to that of the IPCC. The report's message is that the business-as-usual scenario of industrial farming, input and energy intensiveness, and marginalization of small-scale farmers, is no longer tenable. While past emphasis on production and yields had brought some benefits, this was at the expense of the environment and social equity. Moreover, there is a recognition that excessive and rapid trade liberalization can have negative consequences for food security, poverty alleviation and the environment. The IAASTD report calls for a systematic redirection of investment, funding, research and policy focus towards the needs of small-farmers. This involves creating space for diverse voices and perspectives, particularly those who have been marginalized in the past, including poor farmers and women. ... Another part of this movement is growing networks of small-scale farmers selling their wares locally. 'Small, diverse farms can feed the local population,' says Heather Pritchard of Farm Folk/City Folk, a nonprofit concerned with agricultural issues that encourages consumers, restaurants, and grocery stores to buy food locally at farmers markets or directly from local producers. Pritchard lives most of the week at the Glorious Organics Cooperative in the Fraser Valley, where she grows herbs and flowers and balances the books. Her group’s idea has caught on big-time, with demand so great that suppliers are struggling to keep up. 'We don’t have enough supply. We’ve done our job too well,' she says, laughing. Other activists are working to create seed banks to save locally grown crop varieties from extinction. One example is the Salt Spring Island–based Seed and Plant Sanctuary for Canada. It hopes to collect, study, and preserve the seed of every edible, medicinal, and other potentially useful plant in Canada before it’s too late and they’re gone. Apart from its own seed bank of more than 600 varieties of herbs, grains, peppers, tomatoes, and garlic, the sanctuary also coordinates a network of small-scale farmers who preserve 'heirloom' seeds—endangered traditional varieties grown for centuries until they were crowded out by monocultures. 'It’s kind of a living gene bank spread through the country,' says the sanctuary’s Dan Jason in a phone interview. The goal of all this is to resupply farmers struck by crop failure, natural disaster, or genetic contamination. 'Monocultures have little in-built adaptability, especially with climate change,' Jason says. 'We’re narrowing the gene pool to just a few varieties, and they’re pretty shitty varieties. They’re designed not for nutrition but yield.' One of Jason’s dreams is for every city, town, and country village to have its own seed bank to store locally grown seeds and collect records on them. Another idea he has helped promote is Seedy Saturdays and Sundays—monthly organic- seed fairs for local farmers and small seed vendors. Over 50 Seedy Saturdays are now being held regularly held in places like Salt Spring Island, Kelowna, Halifax, even Toronto. 'The only way we’re going to have good food is [by] taking it into our own hands,' Jason says. ... Wed, 07 May 2008 06:53:34 -0400 http://www.saltspringnews.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17584 Kelly Hearn National Geographic/rumormillnews.com USA August 28, 2006 ... Stretching beneath parts of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, the Guaraní Aquifer is an underground system of water-bearing rock layers covering 460,000 square miles (1.2 million square kilometers)—an area larger than Texas and California combined (map of South America). The International Atomic Energy Agency says the Guaraní may be big enough to supply drinking water to 360 million people on a sustainable basis. Already, some 500 cities and towns across Brazil tap the aquifer for drinking water. Officials worry that overuse and expanding agricultural activities are threatening the reservoir's future health. Currently experts are studying the sandstone aquifer's structure and devising ways to sustainably develop and manage the cross-border resource for farming, drinking supplies, and geothermal energy. The Global Environment Facility, a U.S.-based funding consortium managed by the United Nations and the World Bank, has put the equivalent of 13.5 million U.S. dollars into the project. That funding plus contributions from national governments adds up to a total of 27 million dollars for the first phase of the Guaraní project, which began in 2003 and ends in 2009. But local distrust of U.S.-backed lending institutions—along with the presence of U.S. troops in Paraguay—has spawned suspicions that Washington is exerting slow control over the aquifer as insurance against water shortages in the U.S. "The United States already has water problems in its southern states," said Adolfo Esquivel, an Argentine activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. "And it is clear that humans can live without oil, gold, and diamonds but not water. The real wars will be over water, not oil." Esquivel points to a recent military deal, under which U.S. Special Forces will train with Paraguayan soldiers. He says this is evidence of Washington's creeping control—a claim that's been further popularized by an Argentine documentary, Sed, Invasión Gota a Gota ("Thirst: Invasion Drop by Drop"). Wed, 07 May 2008 06:50:19 -0400