Lessons from Panic

OPTIONS - Pathways to Well-Being

In finance, an option is a contract, or a provision of a contract, that gives one party (the option holder) the right, but not the obligation, to perform a specified transaction with another party (the option issuer or option writer) according to specified terms.

In human terms, options imply contracts you make with yourself. They aren't obligatory, but they will help you TRANSACT with yourself!!

I did a little checking and discovered that the term OPTIONS often surfaces when working with the most vulnerable populations, who often do not feel like they have options, like impoverished youth, youth facing mandatory military service, those with illiteracy problems and so on. In the middle of a Panic Attack we do not FEEL as though we have options, we feel like it's fight or die ... or we run away. We are vulnerable.

OR options are associated with the PRIVILEGED, those who have money as a tool and can "buy" something or use their power over others. The use of options is something we can do get our power back, an empowering set of possibilities.

And the possibilities for healthy living are literally endless. Below is an exercise to help you tap all those inner potentials.

In a PANIC attack, or in an intense anxiety situation, the idea we have options appears pretty limited, maybe even non-existent. Am I ringing any bells yet? A good preplan for panic attacks is giving ourselves a way to feel empowered. So being able to recall the exercise below was part of what became for me, a big tool in my recovery tool kit. It's these little time savers that make a difference over the long haul. Using these tools can turn our lives around.

We find out when we list out a few options that we have more time, can use our energy wisely, live with a passion (instead of internal constriction), wish to LIVE in reality and can go from an emotional/mental prison to freedom very quickly.

Options exercise:

Take a DEEP breath -- relaxing right into it -- and then:

1. Take a piece of paper and number from 1 to 10

2. Write down each and every option that comes to mind, including those really dire ones.

I mean take a pen or pencil and list out the ghastly options we don't like anyone to know are there, burying themselves in our mind, such as: eating an entire chocolate cake, calling up an old toxic friend (or two or three), taking a trip down to the local bar where we got plastered last panic attack and so on. In a panic, our minds are likely to throw up the MOST despicable options at a "time like this". So we want to take a good look at those, later.

On the other hand, our Survivor inside also remembers some pretty good options, and is really excited to let them have some fresh air, so write down options like praying, meditating (not always easy in a panic attack, but the rest of the exercise should clarify that), take a walk, listen to some LOUD and WILD rock and roll, visit a friend, drink a glass of water or brew some tea ..

Hey, this is up to YOU! This is YOUR list! This is YOU figuring it all out in a framework you can understand.

You will find the limitless possibilities; a good list of 10 will help us reconnect with our intuition.

Write down ONLY ten, no more. We are not aiming for overwhelm. Concentrating on verbs helps us see the possibilities for action and find solutions, if you have a mind to do that.

3. Decide which you are willing to do. Circle those which seem appealing.

Take a look. What ten things were SCREAMING at you ..? The reason we do ten, is that it forces the mind to list more than one, thus we see how our having options is the greatest resource bank to draw on.

If you are like most of us, you will quickly and noticeably just leave the old, stale, self-harm non-options where they belong -- on the piece of paper. By now, your inner balance should have reached a point of equilibrium.

By now, those dire option will seem like what they are, dire and undesirable - these will hurt those we love and who love us. They surely will not lead to growing a healthy self of SELF esteem. They don't lead to growth and change, and perhaps we notice that they were robbing us of our human birthright which is, after all, creativity.

By looking at the list when we are feeling a bit less desperate we find that we can find at least one, or two or maybe more events or activities that we CAN do -- right now.

4. DO one of the circled OPTIONS!

This taking back our right to make decisions is very empowering.

Maybe things are so bad, we have to call a crisis hot line. This is actually an act of self empowerment, strange as that notion may sound. Our hands and mouth connect so that our brain can tune into in some new information by simply dialing a phone number and becoming ready to listen. Our mouths get used in a productive way as we speak our truth. For resources, here is a list of great numbers to call. It really is a great DO option.

You'll find it really doesn't take much to find that you have lots of power, right under your nose.

That's one thing about meeting our needs, they usually -- if not always -- can be fixed by something just as close as our nose, our fingers, our eyes, our ears, or our tongues. Use of the five senses rapidly changes our emotional landscape and our minds begin to clear.

5. Celebrate your success!

This can be so important as it reinforces that we can find our way back from any and all crises. It's a healthy form of self parenting and an amazing stress reducer.

The importance of a long term recovery PLAN

Meditation is a powerful tool for many. But if our mind/body/spiritual connection isn't authentic, meditation can stop us from experiencing emotions that need to be dealt with. It is a great and powerful recovery tool, but I have doubts about its use when having a panic attack. To be useful, some form of meditation must be used every day, even if it's just a few minutes of sitting quietly. I personally call this psi time; you can call it what you like.

I've met meditation addicts. This is a controversial area and not everyone will agree with me. Most people use meditation for the intended purpose - to help relieve a sense of inner peace and to help the subconscious mind unlock inner truths. According to Dr Thynn Thynn, meditation can be as addictive as your

morning cup of coffee or tea. You can become addicted to meditation also. Although this is definitely not a bad conditioning per se, there are many subtleties that one must be aware of in meditation. The mind is very tricky, and one must always be aware of how the mind can be trapped.

If you are using meditation to help your subconscious find new options to deal with your panic then that is a healthy use for meditation. But, if you are using meditation as a way to escape from having to deal with your underlying issues, or to repress anything outside your "comfort" zone, then you will stay stuck in old unhelpful patterns. I have hung out with people who suppress their problems and end up reverting back to the same old, same old answers that never worked. As Ernie Larson has pointed out, insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result. You can only resolve these issues and thought patterns by digging deep into the mind/body connection.

And ditto for the affirmations "racket". What I mean by this is that in a crisis, it's hard to trust WORDS. It's great to SAY, right aloud, with each syllable ringing above the din, "I CAN COPE!" But what I am saying is that writing down "I am a beautiful and loving person" 100 times is like scratching on a blackboard with chalk after being found guilty at school. AWK!

Try everyday to take time out for both these things. Make friends with your mirror and say the afirmations right aloud to yourself and get totally comfortable with saying them. But don't expect them to be cure alls during a panic attack.

Ever hear this joke ...? The good news is you are in recovery. The bad news is there are no days off.

When we start making a plan for recovery, the tools we select should accomplish job. No need to use a sledge hammer when a gentle pat will do the job. Prayer, meditation and affirmations are part of Daily Plan - they are not rescue workers.

What looking at active options accomplishes

During a panic attack, what I need is more room for growth. And I need it NOW. My bet is so do you when out feeling overwhelmed.

I know that if I start writing other types of activities down I get the relief I need. Usually it is my Inner Child who just wants to have some FUN. I find instead of engaging in "word work" that I want to reach UP! and OUT, flinging away all the webs and creepy crawlies that are lodged in my inner garden.

I am a walking meditator. I CAN sit for hours, I've had years of practice. And I can go "way out there" with mediation, too, in terms of hitting "other worldly" states of consciousness.

But I find that when my body is full engaged in the walking meditation activity, those inner promptings have a way of coming right to life inside this old noggin of mine. My best ideas have a way to flow. The possibilities enlarge while I am out there among other living beings. Nearly every really good thought I have had has come on "walks". When I lived in the UK, going to Stonehenge and sitting waiting for "answers" didn't do much for me. I went to the awesome Avebury, took a walk all the way round those inimitable stones (where did they come from?), crossed the old riverbed and climbed to the top of the hill. I felt AWESOME! That is when I realized, "Virginia, you are a walking meditator." All of me became open to CHANGE. Even the air I was breathing up on that tor seemed charged with possibility.

The two tools of sitting mediation and affirmations "work" and are most wisely used in a disciplined manner, setting aside prescribed times, rather than being used as a "fix". They deserve proper respect, not to be utilized to "cover up" and distract us from truly dealing with our problems. Most "word answers" have layers upon denial that might mask the real problem, still waiting to be addressed.

Instead, this list making frees up our right brain, coming up with just the right answer!! I love seeing that all I want to do is dance, dance, dance the night away and shake my sillies out. Indulging this craving allows me to get my "stuff" in a proper perspective, which only time can provide.

I am truly amazed how checking in with this "assignment" has accomplished for me over the years. I have a profound sense of what I am really excited about doing, what makes me doze, what has been imprinted on me as being "acceptable". After all, emotional well being is, at least in part, socially determined. Nobody wants to live in shame spirals by straying too far from what their social connections tell them are acceptable.

This options list making is easy, simple and HONEST. The ability to help me in moments of panic increased the longer I employed it. And that has made me into a better, kinder person. I take out my contract, no obligation but to myself to be just as I really AM; happy, joyous and free. What a freeing option. The lists become a way to take an inner breath, a process not an event.

Care to try it ...?

This is the fourth in a series of Lessons from Panic

Related Stories:
Lesson 1: Inside panic and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Lesson 2: Learning to set reasonable goals and deal with PTSD
Lesson 3: Cut to the Chase - write about it!

WND Exclusive Commentary

N. American integration to 'disappear' Canada?

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56326
Posted: June 23, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

Don't miss Jerome Corsi's brand new book exposing plans for a North American Union, "The Late Great USA: The Coming Merger with Mexico and Canada."


The conservative minority government of Canada's Stephen Harper, under the banner of "deep integration" with the United States, is pushing the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, or SPP, agenda by advancing a new law directed at Canada's provinces.

Titled "The Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement," or TILMA, the new law would make it possible for a Canadian company to challenge Canadian laws in the provinces that block the company's NAFTA aspirations.

Murray Dobbin, a Vancouver author and journalist critical of SPP, voiced his objections to TILMA in an article entitled, "The Plan to Disappear Canada – 'Deep Integration' comes out of the shadows."

Dobbin argued that the secretive trilateral bureaucratic working groups organized under the auspices of SPP are "harmonizing" virtually every important area of public policy with the United States, including "defense, foreign policy, energy (they get security, we get greenhouse gases), culture, social policy, tax policy, drug testing and safety and much more."

The problem, as Dobbin sees it, is that "to 'harmonize' Canadian public policy with the U.S. requires massive deregulation across the country." But since much of the regulation in question is provincial or municipal in Canada, the federal government in Ottawa has no control.

"That's where TILMA comes in," Dobbin writes. "I have to admit it's clever, if they ultimately get away with it. Prepare the country for assimilation into the U.S. by promoting an agreement that claims to be about domestic, inter-provincial trade."

TILMA allows companies who feel that provincial laws and regulations harm their NAFTA rights to demand up to $5 million in compensatory damages for each violation.

When fully implemented, Dobbin argues, "TILMA would allow challenges to the location and size of commercial signs, environmental set-backs for developers, zoning, building height restrictions, pesticide bans and green space requirements in urban areas. It also would allow challenges to restrictions on private health clinics, halt stricter rules for nursing homes and almost certainly overturn the current ban on junk food in British Columbia schools."

The controversy over SPP broke into the mainstream in Canada last month when Tory Member of Parliament Leon Benoit walked out of a House of Commons International Trade Committee hearing in protest of a leftist professor who wanted to air his objections to "deep integration" with the United States.

The professor, Gordon Laxer, a political economy prof at the University of Alberta and the director and co-founder of the Parkland Institute, was about to explain to the committee his theory that SPP involves a U.S. grab of Canada's energy resources, when Benoit adjourned the meeting and bolted out of the room, preventing the Canadian mainstream press from hearing and reporting the professor's arguments.

Not to be subdued, Laxer published his suppressed testimony in the Globe and Mail, a newspaper that bills itself as "Canada's national newspaper."

Laxer began his article by claiming he had spent several days preparing his testimony and two more days traveling to Ottawa for the hearing. He charged Benoit's behavior was "prompted by a secret guidebook for Conservative chairmen, designed to interrupt witnesses challenging government positions."

Many Eastern Canadians could end up freezing in the dark, Laxar was prepared to tell Canada's Parliament, by complying with "harmonized" energy regulations dictated by the SPP working groups.

"Many Eastern Canadians heat their homes with oil," Laxar argued. "Western Canada cannot supply all of Eastern Canadian needs, because NAFTA reserves Canadian oil for Americans' security of supply. Canada now exports 63 percent of the oil it produces and 56 percent of its natural gas."

In a speech posted on YouTube.com, Laxar links SPP "deep integration" to an argument that Canada's multi-national corporations are pushing the Canadian government to support the U.S. war in Iraq, a war Laxar sees motivated by a U.S. desire to grab Iraqi oil.

"The U.S. military runs on oil and gets much of it from Alberta," Laxar told his audience.

Arguing Canada under SPP is becoming a "resource colony of the United States," Laxar asserted, "NAFTA gives the U.S. unlimited access to Canadian energy. Canada must export the same proportion of energy, two-thirds of our oil and almost 60 percent of our natural gas, even if Canadians are running short during an Arctic cold front."

The point of NAFTA and SPP, according to Laxar, is to allow the U.S. to grab Canada's oil on the cheap.

Charging the government of Alberta receives revenue as little as 25 cents a barrel for oil from Canada's tar sands, Laxar encouraged shouts from the audience to "Abrogate NAFTA!"

In a 2005 speech to an International Forum on Globalization symposium at the Fifth World Social Order Forum in Brazil, Laxar claimed, "Corporate elites in Canada, many of whom work for foreign-owned transnationals, no longer want Canada to be a separate country in North America. They continually pressure Canada to support U.S. aggression abroad, so they can maintain access to the U.S. market."

Laxar says "integration and harmonizing" proceeding under SPP are threats to Canadian sovereignty.

"Corporate elites and their political allies pressure Canada to adopt U.S.-style, private-for-profit health care, U.S. immigration and refugee policies, and guarantee exports of Canadian energy resources to the U.S., even when Canadians face shortage," he told the IFG forum.

Laxar has also objected to the closed-door meeting roundtables of Canadian business and corporate elite being held in Calgary by the Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, as part of their "North American Future 2025 Project."

The real goal of the project, Laxar claims, is "more about integrating Canada and Mexico into the American way of doing things. It's also about getting our energy and water, and Canadian participation in U.S.-led, pre-emptive wars."

WND has previously reported two activist groups, the Council of Canadians and the Coalition for Water Aid, are protesting the CSIS research project, titled "The North American Future 2025 Project," saying it will involve a massive grab by the U.S. of Canadian fresh water, estimated to be one-fifth of the world's supply.

WND has also reported that the CSIS, chaired by former Sen. Sam Nunn and guided by trustees including Richard Armitage, Zbigniew Brezezinski, Harold Brown, William Cohen and Henry Kissinger, is planning to present its "North American Future 2025" final report to the governments of Mexico, Canada and the U.S. by Sept. 30. The report is expected to recommend the benefits of integrating the U.S., Mexico and Canada into one political economic and security bloc.

As WND reported, Canadian activists are preparing to protest the third summit meting of the SPP. The summit is scheduled for Aug. 20 and 21 in Montebello, Quebec, at the Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello resort.

Get Corsi's latest book, autographed: "The Late Great USA: The Coming Merger with Mexico and Canada"

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56326

---

---

PREMEDITATED MERGER
The North American Union agenda exposed
Get Jerome Corsi's brand new blockbuster – 'The Late Great USA'

---

Posted: June 18, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

What's really behind the Washington elite's unpopular promotion of amnesty for millions of illegal aliens?

What is the bigger agenda that propels politicians from both parties to defy the will of the American people and ignore the laws of the land?

Is it possible it's really just part of a plot to erase the borders of North America and move Mexico, the U.S. and Canada toward a European Union-style superstate?

WND columnist Jerome Corsi exposes the whole globalist agenda in "The Late Great USA: The Coming Merger with Mexico and Canada," his latest book that, for the first time, puts together all the pieces of the puzzle.

(Story continues below)While the book will not be officially released to bookstores until the week of July 4, WND has in stock advance copies of the first edition and is offering them for a limited time at a bargain sale price personally autographed by Corsi, the best-selling author of "Unfit for Command" and many other books.

Using dozens of documents secured through the Freedom of Information Act and his trademark style of investigative reporting, Corsi sets out a chilling view of America's possible "harmonized" future – one being created covertly, without voter input, congressional oversight or even a national debate.

It's the latest release from WND Books, founded with the same mission as WND – to provide cutting-edge investigative reporting into government waste, fraud, abuse and corruption,

"Titles like 'The Late Great USA' are what we had in mind when we founded WND Books," explains Joseph Farah, founder of both the publishing company and the leading independent Internet news source.

Corsi, Farah and the WND editorial staff have led the way in breaking news about the North American Union agenda over the past two years. But "The Late Great USA" goes beyond what can be told or comprehended in dozens of news stories spread out over time.

"This book will be a news breaker," says Farah. "I believe the North American Union agenda will finally be the talk of the nation this summer as a result of the focus on the immigration debate. Everyone is wondering why President Bush and others are so adamant about ramming amnesty down our throats. This book has the answers. And it is bound to shock all Americans."

Manufacturer's Resource Wars: Agriculture

This CounterCurrent reprint of an article from the Independent is chockful of statistics about what is happening NOW around the globe as Agflation takes over. Who will suffer as the US/EU embark on an ethanol campaign that is going to starve millions.



read more | digg story

The secret government of Dick Chency ..

Dick Cheney, US Vice President, claims to be outside the law.  Claiming both executive and legislative privilege he has declared that he does not have to turn documents over to Congress or to the National Archives and Records Administration.. Here is some background on ALL the players including Waxman and Addington ...



Again, how is this relevant?  For answers to this and MORE, read Armed Madhouse by Greg Palast.  Don't get confused by all the players in on the Iraqi war conflict any more.





Technorati Tags: Richard Cheney, National Archives, Congressional oversight, Addington, Fourth branch of government

About bloody time, but don't fall for the PR

Soldiers completely demolished after service stints finally shame the Defense Department into taking action on PTSD and addictions issue. But there is still plenty to be done.



read more | digg story

King Hemp

The sordid tale of hemp prohibition in America is a superlative example of power working against the population, of corporate profits trumping We The People ...

In actual fact, the lack of hemp oil production is causing many of Mother Earth's problems. Rand Clifford is tackling some important background here. But this is not *just* an American problem. The production of plastics with chemicals is causing this planet to lose it's food chain. This article may be a good start to turning that around. Think Dupont, think lobbying of CONgress and we might see why this torturous prohibition continues. We need biodegradables, not more war machines ...

About bloody time ... PTSD and the DOD

I have been on at least a dozen sites posting long and hard about this.  I don't know where the psychiatric profession has been on this; they weren't on summer vacation the WHOLE time.



Anyone who knows about, works with or is in a relationship with a PTSD could tell you .. nearly a half of PTSD sufferers who do not get help are going to really make bonafide suicide attempts.  It is a condition that is too bloody much.  In these times of mass genocide, I cannot even begin to imagine what blows through the soul of today's veteran.



If you have read some the 1000+ posts on this blog, you would know that I suffer from PTSD.  It is no picnic.  I have gradually gotten better, but losing my home and all my belongings last year set it off again - this time with agoraphobia complexing the already compounded PTSD.  This is similar to a vet who is suffering the disorder and then finds himself homeless in the US after a nice, loooooooooong stint at war.   A war that isn't at home!  A war that is illegal!  A war that shouldn't have started in the first place!   



I know alot about PTSD, in fact, I write a blog piece about it every week, so it is always fresh mind.  I am an "expert" patient, so to speak. I've read all the literature my hands would allow me to read; sometimes they get so overwhelming I cannot handle reading them at all.



The entire children of alcoholics grew out of the Veteran Administration's inability to cope with the constant need of Vietnam vets.  Thus, group therapy began to be studied and shown to be actually MORE effective.  However, the groups need to be monitored.  The suicide threats need to be taken seriously.  Perhaps this is another reason the VA chose to reject help seekers. It simply does not want to hear the damage that is being done.



The gross neglect and incompetance that has been shown when processing claims is a topic for a whole other blog item. For shame!  For shame!



These men and women, although probably sadly mislead when recruited, should not have to suffer endlessly due to "congressional oversight".  Or because the past Secretary of Defense was too busy playing with war toys.  As for BUSH, the commander in chief, who is so busy PLAYING Commander in Chief, this mistreatment of "his" troops is paralyzingly appaling and insensitive.



The article below mentions many many side topics -- including the questionable and baffling response of commanders to the mental (and emotional) problems of these troops - both before and after service.   On the websites I have insisted that more literature concerning PTSD be made available to EVERYONE.



The poor publicity that the VA has had as a result of the Jeans Cruz case, has certainly started "motivating" some action.  He had given up his appeals case.  And with good reaon: he was feel more hopeless and helpless than ever.  These two "feelings" are exactly what sets PTSD apart from other "mental" "illnesses".  It is a wonder Jeans Cruz was still alive.  They are bloody lucky they've seen fit to keep him alive.



New intiatives go into effect on August 1, requiring those who ask for mental health or substance abuse care to be evaluated within 24 hours.  Hell, if a person needs detox they need it when it is evident.  I suggested a 24/7 hotline in all my postings about the internet.  It is the LEAST they could do.  The addictions really kick in when you are not getting help.  Self medication is a very dangerous business.



At this juncture, ONLY 200 psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers have been added to America's effort to help shell shocked, war wearied, messed up ex-soldiers.  It ain't enough and it ain't bloody enough.



We won't stop screaming about this until there is enough in place.



This affects/afflicts my family, too.  My son was on mainstream media begging them to help the veterans with PTSD and addictions.  I am SO proud.   I just wish our whole family could finally rest assured that there will be enough care to get us all through the terrible mess ...



I read also about the two new Defense Department centers to be set up to study mental health.  My God!   Don't they read!  It was so predictable it is frightening to think that they are that bloody thick.  Their own PR department must be having a very bad day as this all looks horrible on them.



One last cranky observation - the only DRUG that Big Pharma has on offer besides their ineffective and overprescription of atypical antipsychotics is beta blockers.  Yes, beta blockers.  The ones that are on time release are best, but they are expensive if living on a veteran's pension.  The only known "cure" for this all too human soul affliction is LOVE.  Yup, you read that right.  LOVE.  Time that the DOD morphed into something it really does not intend to be - concerned and caring about the future of America's next LEADERS.







Military Psychiatric-Care Overhaul

Urged

By Ann Scott Tyson and Christopher Lee

Washington Post Staff Writers

Tuesday, June 19, 2007; Page A07

Top officials in the Bush administration and on Capitol Hill said yesterday that the federal government must move quickly to revamp the nation's system for identifying and caring for military personnel with the invisible wounds of mental illness.

Acting Army Secretary Pete Geren visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center yesterday and discussed mental-health issues, including treatment for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on Ward 53, according to an Army spokesman.

been going about fixing it," said Col. Dan Baggio, noting that the Army has conducted four mental-health surveys of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

More ...

Technorati Tags: US policy, PTSD, soldiers, Walter Reed, Afghanistan, Iraq, perpetual wa, atypical antipsychotics, beta blockers, LOVE, suld affiction

http://americancontractorsiniraq.blogspot.com/



American Contractors in Iraq's "SHADOW ARMY'.

and more!!



And I thought that US troops are taken OFF the web now.



Not so those employed by military CONTRACTORS.



I am not being facetious today.



I truly feel badly for these people.



They are so seriously mislead and



waking up would be so very hard to do.



They do suffer the same PTSD,



The same horrible injuries and so on.



They are motivated to help themselves



And their families.



But this will never ever



Give them the peace that they are looking for.

<<:>> <<:>> <<:>>

Must be seen to be believed.

Greystone Ltd

See how cool the recruitment site REALLY is.&nbsp; What is interesting is that under employment opportunities, no jobs are listed!&nbsp; You just send in the latest video of you kicking your dog, or beating your wife - while remaining a completely dedicated, enraptured attitude towards security and "solving" the world's problems.&nbsp; Humanitarian Aid/Peacekeeping.&nbsp; INDEED!!



And don't miss THIS ....



Question of the Day:&nbsp;



How many little robotic spys did I put on my computer going to this site and the others today ..?



And now a self description from Blackwater, I mean Greystone.&nbsp; It IS Blackwater.&nbsp; Cool.&nbsp; Huh?



Greystone is an international security services company

that offers your country or organization a complete

solution to your most pressing security needs.



We have the personnel, logistical support, equipment,

and expertise to solve your most critical security

problems.

It is more difficult than ever for an organization

to successfully protect its interest against diverse

and complicated threats in today’s grey world

where the solutions to your security concerns are no

longer black and white.

Greystone is dedicated to providing the best physical

security assets from around the world in support of

stability and peace. Our international focus

enables us to develop unique and creative solutions

to match each client’s individual needs.&nbsp; Customer

satisfaction is our primary focus, and we deliver superior

services with professionalism and flexibility.

Contact information:&nbsp; info@greystone-ltd.com

<<:>> <<:> <<:>>

Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

Part II - Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

Mercenaries on the streets of New Orleans

A mercenary army

Bush's Shadow Army



Just for starters; You can also read about lawsuit that was brought by the
families of four Blackwater employees killed in Fallujah. as well
as articles about attempts by local activists to block Blackwater
building training facilities in their communities.

If you are unlucky, you may get recruitment ads sent to you, like I have. They just love them Canucks in on the action in Iraq ...

I keep saying it, someday, these end runs around immunity from the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) are going to be exposed. Estimates are that as many as 150,000 "mercenaries" are in Iraq, as I type this. The all seem to be thugs ...

<<:>> <<:>> <<:>>

Mercenaries in the news

I just love them "code words" like outsourcing and the way what you really want to know is not told to you .. it's all so very patriotic.&nbsp; These guys are making HUGE bucks, while US troops are being decimated financially and going homeless and without medical treatment at the come home.

V

Iraq Contractors Face Growing Parallel War



As Security Work Increases, so DO Casualties

By Steve Fainaru

Washington Post Foreign Service


Saturday, June 16, 2007; Page A01

BAGHDAD -- Private security companies, funded by billions of dollars in U.S. military and State Department contracts, are fighting insurgents on a widening scale in Iraq,
enduring daily attacks, returning fire and taking hundreds of
casualties that have been underreported and sometimes concealed,
according to U.S. and Iraqi officials and company representatives.

While the military has built up troops in an ongoing campaign to secure Baghdad,
the security companies, out of public view, have been engaged in a
parallel surge, boosting manpower, adding expensive armor and stepping
up evasive action as attacks increase, the officials and company
representatives said. One in seven supply convoys protected by private
forces has come under attack this year, according to previously
unreleased statistics; one security company reported nearly 300
"hostile actions" in the first four months.

*snip*

The military plans to outsource at least $1.5 billion in security
operations this year, including the three largest security contracts in
Iraq: a "theaterwide" contract to protect U.S. bases that is worth up
to $480 million, according to Scott; a contract for up to $475 million
to provide intelligence for the Army and personal security for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers;
and a contract for up to $450 million to protect reconstruction
convoys. The Army has also tested a plan to use private security on
military convoys for the first time, a shift that would significantly
increase the presence of armed contractors on Iraq's dangerous roads.



Read more, with links provided ...





Technorati Tags: Mercenaries, perpetual war

Sicko IS a must see film - Mike Adams' review

http://www.newstarget.com/021906.html

I have been waiting to read Mike Adams' review of Sicko ever since I first heard the documentary was coming out. Mike Adams and I see most health topics "in the same light". Big difference though: he is still living in the US and is in good health. I live in Canada, on disablity, and I do not enjoy "good" health: I simply cannot afford it. But we do have the national health care model people are so het up about. What would he SAY ...? He knows the drill. Here is his review. Mine will follow after I have seen it.
From Newstarget

America's disastrous health care system is heaving the country head-first into near-certain economic collapse. Just about everybody's either financially strained or going broke due to spiraling health care costs: the people, the employers, state governments and even the federal government. Multinational corporations are fleeing the United States due to health care costs, taking jobs and economic productivity with them. Meanwhile, 50 percent of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. are due to medical expenses.

But not everybody's doing badly. The drug companies, surgeons, medical specialists, health insurance companies and private hospitals are making out like bandits, raking in multi-million dollar CEO salaries and -- I'm not making this up -- greater than 500,000% markups on prescription drugs. And while the American people get sicker, the drug companies, insurance companies and many health "care" providers (it's really more like "sick care providers") are rolling in cash. Drug companies are now among the richest corporations in the world, and they got there by inventing fictitious diseases, then selling drugs to people who mostly don't need them. See my CounterThink cartoon, Disease Mongers, Inc. to learn more about this topic.

Meanwhile, the American people are the most diseased people in the world among advanced nations. We spend more on health care than anyone, we pay the highest prices for medications, and we're constantly told that we have the best medical technology in the world. But if our health care system is really so good, why do 50 million Americans have no health insurance? Why are hospitals literally dumping uninsured patients on the street, abandoning the sick to protect profits while our politicians actually negotiate on behalf of Big Pharma to make sure Americans keep paying the highest prices in the world for medications? (Click here to see our CounterThink cartoon on President Bush's price negotiations with drug companies.)

What's wrong with America's health care system?

SiCKO is a must-see documentary

SiCKO creator Michael Moore answers that all-important question in his best documentary yet. Forget whatever criticism you may have heard about SiCKO -- this is a Michael Moore masterpiece: A courageous, impactful and outrageous documentary that exposes the arrogance of modern medicine and the utter failure of America's corporate-controlled sick care system to provide decent health care to the people. Watching this movie will leave you either steaming mad or shedding tears (or both). It reveals the deep-rooted corruption in America's health care system and explains why the whole system was actually designed to deny health care to the American people.

I've been ranting about America's health care failures for years, and as I've consistently stated to the amazement of some, the health care corporations actually have a plan to keep people sick. There's no money in preventing disease, especially in the cancer industry. Click here to read my recent report on the American Cancer Society's refusal to help prevent 77% of all cancers using affordable, scientifically-proven vitamin D supplements.

In SiCKO, what Moore does very effectively is tells this story to a mass audience, weaving together the emotionally-charged stories of American citizens who lost husbands, daughters and other family members to preventable disease, all thanks to intentional, well-planned payment denials by health insurance companies. In one segment in the film, he features archival footage of former President Nixon, who strongly approves of a new 1970's health care concept called the "HMO" where the more patients are denied health care services, the more money the hospitals and health insurance companies rake in!

In contrast to all this, Moore shows us the universal health care systems in countries like Canada, the UK, France and even Cuba... all countries where health care is free to everyone. It's called universal health care (or "socialized medicine"), and it's a system followed by nearly every modern nation in the world... and even some not-so-modern nations. Only America practices medicine in the Dark Ages, tied to a hopelessly corrupt system of financial exploitation and monopoly price controls, where Big Pharma gets richer, the FDA gets more powerful, and the American people get the shaft.

See my CounterThink cartoon, The Disease Economy, for a visual representation of this mess we're in, or read my book Natural Health Solutions and the Conspiracy to Keep You From Knowing About Them to see just how evil and corrupt our modern health care system really is.

Why Moore is being so vicious attacked

Moore, as usual, is being targeted by all sorts of critics who would like nothing better than to see this guy disappear and stop rocking the Good 'ol Boys boat that seems to be floating just fine in America (as long as you're part of the wealthy elite, anyway). For starters, U.S. government officials are investigating Moore for violating travel restrictions to Cuba. And why? Because Moore gathered a dozen Americans who were denied health care in the U.S. and brought them to Cuba where they received free, quality health care in a modern Cuban hospital.

The message is hard to miss: Cuba takes better care of its citizens than America does. In fact, Cuba is willing to take care of a few American citizens that America abandoned! That kind of "in-yo-face" embarrassment to U.S. officials isn't appreciated much in police-state America these days, where practically anyone who dares question the wisdom of the government is branded a terrorist. Moore is clearly being targeted not merely because he took some 9/11 heroes to Cuba and got them health care, but because he dared to make it all public. Humiliating the King is a quick way to find your head on a chopping block. Just ask all the scientists who publicly disagree with the Bush Administration's hopelessly politicized view on climate change...

Other critics of Moore are either the greedy, corrupt corporations impacted by his film (drug companies, health insurance providers, hospitals and so on) or juvenile stay-at-home back-seat Internet critics who don't like Moore for the simple fact that he dares to stand up and say "The Emperor Has No Clothes!" Nearly all the criticism leveled against Moore is without substance. People attack Moore personally, but they won't dare debate what he's presenting in the movie. Why? Because Michael Moore is right. America's health care system is an embarrassment to the nation, and to the world. It's so bad that most informed world citizens wouldn't be caught dead in this country, unless of course they actually visit America and have an accident that lands them in the U.S. health care system.

Personally, I opted out of the American health care system long ago. I'm a holistic nutritionist, and I exercise, eat right, get lots of sunshine and gorge on superfoods and raw berries. I have no need for a doctor, or a pharmaceutical, or a health insurance policy. I don't get annual physical exams, and I have zero risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes or other common health conditions. (I posted my health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org if you want to see my blood workup.)

At the same time, I realize that not everybody is in such a fortunate health position. Most people simply don't take care of their own health, and while I could argue for days about the need for more patient responsibility alongside corporate responsibility, the fact is that relentless advertising from drug companies and food manufacturers has bred a mindset of disease, junk food consumption, pharmaceutical dependence and patient victimization. We have a health crisis in this country, and it's going to take genuinely radical reforms to turn this around and save America from a financial wipeout exacerbated by runaway health care spending.

What's missing from SiCKO

The material that's in SiCKO is hard-hitting, and it accomplishes what it sets out to do. But there's something missing from the film: A serious discussion about how a nation can prevent disease using nutrition, medicinal herbs, sunshine, clean water, avoidance of toxic chemicals, smart dietary choices, banning the advertising of junk foods and pharmaceuticals, and so on. Of course, that's not really what SiCKO set out to do, and this topic would require another film all by itself, but personally I wouldn't have minded a stronger nod towards solving our nation's health care problems through genuine prevention (rather than the current policy which is basically centered around waiting for everybody to get sick and then treating their symptoms while ignoring the true causes of their disease).

Of course, it might be tricky for Moore to argue for disease prevention given that he is obviously not the poster boy for ideal physical health. But he never claims to be. So the critics who attack Moore's own personal health are missing the whole point of the film. Moore is simply pointing out what's wrong with America's health care system, and he does so brilliantly and convincingly, regardless of his own personal health status. And besides, if you want to argue about the health of "experts," just walk into any hospital and take a look at the health of all the people who work there. Many aren't any healthier than Moore, and they work in the industry! The average lifespan of a U.S. doctor is less than a Cuban peasant. That's not a joke.

Regardless of Moore's present physical fitness challenges, he's obviously operating with a great degree of healthy skepticism about the way the U.S. operates today. Moore is an independent thinker who simply refuses to follow the crowd, and with this film, he's doing the job that the American people should have been doing all along -- questioning the sanity of our health care system. But sadly, the truth is that most Americans are sheeple who just follow the herd and do what they're told. A recent poll revealed that nearly 45% of Americans still trust the FDA! That's astounding, given that I've solidly established the Food and Drug Administration is far more dangerous to the health and safety of the American people than all the terrorists in the world. To learn more, read my article The lawlessness of the FDA, Big Pharma immunity, and crimes against humanity.

How will SiCKO play?

I think SiCKO's timing is perfect, and I think the movie will be a significant factor in the upcoming 2008 elections. Those politicians who run on a platform of radical health care reforms are likely to pick up a lot more support than those unwise enough to try to defend the current system.

This is a tough call for Republicans, since most Republicans support Big Pharma and the corporate control of modern medicine, usually at the expense of the people. Democrats, though, are also on Big Pharma's payroll, as was obvious with the recent voting record on the FDA Revitilization Act co-sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy. The truth is, Big Pharma owns virtually all the politicians in Washington (except Rep. Ron Paul, of course).

The movie will definitely get America talking about serious health care reforms. But as I've pointed out in a previous article, Where's the Health In Health Care Reform?, almost nobody is considering proposals that would genuinely solve the health care problem in America today. You can't "treat" your way out of a nation that has become so over-drugged, over-fed and over-diseased that even the little children are now being put on speed (also called "Ritalin"). Nearly 50 percent of American adults are now taking pharmaceuticals, most of which are utterly unnecessary from a medical point of view. Drug advertising has taken over the media, the FDA has suppressed natural alternatives, and the American Medical Association continues to peddle such health nonsense that it's amazing the AMA hasn't yet been invited to join the Smithsonian's Museum of Outdated American History.

The American Cancer Society, in my opinion, is a supremely corrupt, big-business front group that actually takes steps to ensure more cases of future cancer by "preventing prevention," the American Diabetes Association takes money from candy and soda manufacturers, and the American Psychiatric Association is so steeped in Big Pharma money that they've practically become inseparable. (Click here to see my CounterThink cartoon on this topic.)

The future of America looks dim

Clearly, something has to change in this country if we're going to survive as a nation. Under the current system of massive debt spending, widespread political corruption, war mongering and health care failures, the United States of America will simply not survive another generation. No nation that abandons the health of its people can expect to have a future. As Moore points out, however, there is a chance to save America, but only if we make significant changes starting now.

Truly radical changes must be put into place. I've offered many suggestions in a popular article, The health care reform legislation that Congress should pass, but won't. Lawmakers, you see, have no interest in actually saving America from financial demise. They're only concerned about the next election, and raising campaign reelection funds means kow-towing to the interests of the powerful corporations that really run Washington.

Personally, I don't see that meaningful reform is possible under the current system of politics in America. The Big Business sick care industry has a stranglehold on the American political system, and the whole ugly thing will mostly likely have to collapse and be rebooted before we'll see significant change.

And make no mistake: that's what's coming. I predict America will not survive its health care crisis. It won't be the first empire to crumble from arrogance and corruption. In fact, it will join a long (and growing) list of civilizations that have risen and fallen, securing its place in the pages of history as yet another imperialist nation that thought it could rule the world while abandoning the needs of its own people.

The bottom line on SiCKO

It's a must-see documentary. It's surprisingly even-handed and well grounded, never resorting to unsubstantiated claims merely to shock the audience. In fact, as a person who has been writing about America's health care problems for four years, I didn't detect a single false statement in the film. It's all true, and it's pretty damn scary. Go see it. It opens on June 29th.

And if, like one person featured in the film, I ever have to choose between reconnective surgery for my middle finger at $60,000 vs. my ring finger at $12,000, I'll choose to have my middle finger sewn on first just so I can visually demonstrate to U.S. Senators precisely how I feel about America's health care system today.

###

About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and technology pioneer with a passion for teaching people how to improve their health He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, reaching millions of readers with information that is saving lives and improving personal health around the world. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a manufacturer of mercury-free, energy-efficient LED lighting products that save electricity and help prevent global warming. He also launched an online retailer of environmentally-friendly products (BetterLifeGoods.com) and uses a portion of its profits to help fund non-profit endeavors. He's also the CEO of a highly successful email newsletter software company that develops software used to send permission email campaigns to subscribers. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and enjoys outdoor activities, nature photography, Pilates and adult gymnastics. Known by his callsign, the 'Health Ranger,' Adams posts his missions statements, health statistics and health photos at www.HealthRanger.org

Eagle teaches the people

Posted by Bear Warrior

Many winters ago a clan went fishing. They were a hungry people and needed to catch much fish to survive. All day long they caught nothing. They didn't even get a single bite.
All day long Eagle would easily catch a fish and take it to their nest to feed their young. They would then go back and catch more fish. The people watched eagle do this all day and they asked eagle how they were able to catch fish all day and with their long nets the people couldn't even catch one single fish.
The eagle said you are a nation who asks Creator for provision and you forget to thank Creator for providing. We are a nation who never asks Creator for our needs. Creator knows what we need and we always thank Creator when he provides. We do not ask and expect. We receive and are thankful. You are a nation who asks and expects and when you receive you forget to thank Creator. From that day on the people began thanking Creator for their provisions and never went hungry again.

Written by Bear Warrior

If you have a chance to make life better for others and fail to do so,
you are wasting your time on Earth. No matter what our station in life,
we are here to serve, even if that sometimes means making the greatest
sacrifice of all.
www.theupcn. com

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Garda, Stephan Cretier, Canada's Blackwater

One way to get around complying with international accords, an increasingly employed (disturbing) practice, is to find psychopathic people who will just go in and DO THE JOB.



For pay.&nbsp; For the RIGHT pay.

Why sign up for the military when you can

make 4X the money in the "private sector"



Here is the latest profile of a man whose firm stands rake in

&nbsp;$1.4 bn

next year alone --

from the increased militarization of the world.



Fighting for the liberty to make profits the "old fashioned"

gunboat diplomacy way.



What a high price we all pay.



Stéphan Crétier, once a guard at The Bay,



now heads one the world's largest security firms

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/226457



This story ran under the Headline

Securing a niche among Quebec's business elite

Jun 18, 2007 04:30 AM

Sean Gordon








Quebec Bureau Chief

MONTREAL–It's
the fantasy of every workaday stiff and wage slave: get rich enough to
buy the company and take over the boss's chair.

And last year, Montreal businessman Stéphan Crétier lived it.

When
the senior moneymen at Garda World Security Corp. picked through
Crétier's request to acquire Sec-Pro, a Quebec security outfit where
Crétier got his start, they didn't immediately like what they saw in
the balance sheet.

"I told them, `Boys, you don't get it. This
one isn't about the money,'" Crétier said last week at Garda's annual
general meeting.

The hard-driving Crétier, who is CEO and
chairman of Garda, is a man in a hurry. And at 43, he sits atop one of
the country's fastest-growing companies, and is carving his place in
Quebec's business elite.

The company he presides over, which
expects to rake in $1.4 billion in revenues next year, started with
four employees and a cramped, ramshackle office in 1996.

But for
all his rapidly mounting wealth and eye-popping financial performance,
there is also a whiff of controversy surrounding Crétier and the
business he built from the ground up.

Last month, four
British-based Garda employees were abducted in Baghdad. As one of the
few Canadian companies active in Iraq, Garda finds itself lumped in
with private security contractors whose role in the invasion and
repelling the insurgency has been criticized by human rights groups.
These contractors aren't forced to play by the same rules as uniformed
military, and they have a propensity to hire mercenary soldiers.

Though Crétier said the kidnappings have been trying for the company, he is unapologetic about Garda's role in the country.

"Much
has been made about the private security companies working in that
environment, but less talked about are the humanitarian and aid
organizations, who form the bulk of our clientele. I think we have a
very important role to play," he said. "I sleep very well at night."

Meeting
with reporters after Garda's annual meeting, Crétier was also quick to
differentiate his company's operations in Iraq from those of highly
controversial operations like Blackwater USA, a "professional military"
firm with close ties to the White House.

"We're nothing like
Blackwater. They are completely different ... they are clearly
identified as a para-military organization, which is not the case with
us," said Crétier, whose company has 1,500 people working in Iraq.&nbsp; (and what, pray tell is the difference ... standing guard for colonialists is NOT mercenary work ..?

Most
are in the autonomous Kurdish region in the country's north, but there
are also 300 employees whose main job is to guard the British embassy
in Baghdad – workers inherited when Garda acquired a London-based
security company two years ago.

Crétier travelled to Iraq
recently to survey his company's operations – "you can fly there
commercially; did you know that?" he joked with reporters – and came
away with the impression that vast areas of the country are quite
stable.

Asked if the abductions would change his mind about
staying in the country, Crétier was categorical. "Absolutely not.
Unfortunately, this is part of our mandate, those are the risks
associated with being active in these regions. I have more employees
who have been shot in North America than anywhere else in the world,"
he said, adding that the company plans to expand its operations in
war-torn regions like Darfur.

Currently, only about 10 per cent
of Garda's business – roughly $150 million – comes from "high-risk"
environments, although Crétier freely acknowledges the work is highly
profitable.

Crétier grew up in Montreal, working briefly as a security guard at The Bay to pay his way through school.

He
moved to Florida after university with designs on studying for an MBA
and becoming a professional baseball umpire. When his umpiring career
didn't pan out, Crétier moved back to Canada and went into management
at Sec-Pro.

He left in the mid-1990s, taking out a $20,000 second
mortgage on his house to found Trans-Quebec Security, which by 2000 had
morphed into Garda. Since then, Crétier's prodigious energies – he is a
fighting-trim workout fanatic – have mostly been turned to making Garda
into a global player.

And Crétier, an unabashed free-marketer who
sits on the board of the right-leaning Montreal Economic Institute, has
used his shrewd business acumen and deal-making abilities to rapidly
acquire 11 companies – making Garda the second-largest armoured car
company in North America, and one of the five largest security
companies in the world.

Technorati Tags: mercenaries, Garda World Security, Stephan Cretier, Iraq

Lessons from PANIC ..

Part III

This article could go by loads of names. You could call it my thang about counter-intuitive therapy, you could call it what finally worked for me.

It could also be called "cutting to the chase".

It could be called when I finally learned to quit running and get on with my ACCEPTANCE of anxiety. This item has gone through MANY changes in recent days.

http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/images/PlatoCave.jpg

HOW I VIEW PANIC

Panic to me is an inner call to WAKE UP and smell the coffee, so to speak. It is my body's way of telling me that it's time to shake out my sillies and take a good, hard look at why I am DISTRESSED. In another, future article I am going to post all the notes from the psychiatric community as to what EXACTLY they label as anxiety disorder(s), panic disorder(s) and such. But I thought I should really touch base with you all as to what I think it is. I believe as I do because PANIC, anxiety and fear is nothing new to the human race. People used to have it but they didn't have labels or drugs to use. And they wrote long and hard about it, too, trying always to come up with solutions to it. Plato, for one. And it is very prevalent in the Eastern mystical traditions to deal with it, too. It interests me that currently most of the suggested therapy is coming from Eastern traditions. Recently, in North America, going to native shaman has become the "in" thing; maybe because it works.

Having been a sufferer of EXTREME panicky states, I realize now that all the writing I have done about it has been my best therapy. And there are good reasons for this.

Have been sitting in the cave, resisting these states, I got nowhere. I felt like a "victim" of Catch-22, as in the novel by Joseph Heller. The more anxiety I "produced", the more anxious I became. The more my anxiety alienated others, the more anxious I became.

They say "confession is good for the soul", but I found that even well intentioned therapy didn't help all that much at the time. In all honesty, I doubt if I could have continued the way I was without REAL therapeutic help. I had repressed, suppressed and denied too many things. Plus the well-educated therapeutic community was "hip" to some things about my existence that I had NO IDEA might be causing me to be so .. so ... anxious. Being a motherless daughter was one of those things I really couldn't have figured out on my own. Dealing with the rejection of my body, was another. I gave up my Theatre Arts major at University because I could not STAND being viewed on stage. I was unable to handle people watching me!! I ended up in radio. Therapy did help me through that transition. I was able to finish school, get a job and become self supporting.

The upshot of my experience is that I have learned to WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING THAT MAKES ME ANXIOUS. By "objectively" telling myself what is causing me so much anxiety, I can start to deal with it. It may take me quite a while to get it all down. I found that writing with a pencil is best - it flows along nicely that way. The feelings begin to surface. Writing on a computer is TOO LINEAR, it is designed for narration only. A pencil is the BEST tool for me.

And that leads to the second step (see the picture above ... Ascent to Sunlight!). I just do the hard part which is get to grips with the FEELINGS. I write them down and look at them. My feelings, or as some like to call them, emotional tones, are what keep me "in the loop". I used to joke .. "but I don't DO feelings". I would rather do 3,000 word essays about feelings than to have them. But when I take a good "look" at them, when those feelings come into focus, I can DO something about them.

They just don't see so damned important in the light of day on a page. They seem pretty NORMAL, really. I am just struggling, like everyone else, to cope with life, death, the instability of the world ever changing and me sitting around being STATIC. My writing always, always changes this. Studies have shown that writing about anxiety (or journaling) is probably the most effective way to deal with panic and anxiety that has ever been proposed! No wonder workbooks on anxiety, fear and panic are such BEST sellers! It's obvious .. ya gotta write it down.

My original self-inflicted "therapy", taught to me in a workshop -- two decades ago -- was to simply take responsibility for any and all problems that cropped up in my life. This would reduce any urge I had to get into blame, finger pointing, resentment, guilt, arrogance and/or manipulation I was pulling to create "situations".

The exercise goes like this: On a piece of paper I would write down my "problem". I mean really DEFINE it, in terms I understood. Didn't matter how much blaming of others I was doing or "reasons" that I "would" have certain problems, I took the responsibility on as "my" problem.

Then, I would write the following: The reason behind me, Virginia, having the problem whereby ______________ and here I would fill in the blank with what was causing me anxiety or emotional PAIN.

Then I would write, in Capital Letters IS ...

I would then write every single idea that came into my head about WHY I had created this problem. After each "reason", I would write IS again and put down the next thing about the problem that popped into my head. And that would get followed by the "IS" and so on.

Okay. It is a real sad thing to say, but I could come up with at least 20 reasons I had created the problem! Sometimes 50! But the heart of the matter would always emerge .. or the multiple "reasons" would emerge -- some old, stale way of thinking that was keeping me STUCK. One idea that might be "the one" would be that there was simply the "old" belief that it wasn't okay to feel bad. The STUCK would have made me panic, but not when actually examined. One reason would somehow just "feel" like the right one, though. Do you know what years of doing this accomplished? I've always finished the exercise realizing that I was "okay". That what I felt was perfectly within human reality and not so unique and unrealistic at all. I would always find out that I am a member of the human race and still lovable. Wow! I usually finished the exercise by doing my favorite of all affirmations, "I am enough, I have enough, I do enough" And I would take as big a dose of that affirmation as the situation required.

One could say that this exercise was my little dialogue with a God of my understanding -- the page was my confessor, so to speak and the exercise sure took me into the light each time I did it. It returned me to sanity. I have made lists over the years answering the same three questions on paper, over and over ... Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going ...? Amazing to go back and look at the answers and realize how much I have grown and find the seeds of self knowledge that came later. I do left handed portraits of myself every six months, but that is a tale for another time.

I did have one other "trick" and still do. I simply make a cup of herbal tea. It makes me see that taking everything a step at a time will make the horrible moment pass. But during a panic attack, making a cup of tea can be quite an undertaking. I do it anyway. and I BREATHE.

I took a look at a pile of books that have come out about anxiety, phobia, panic .. I think this one is pretty good Panic Attacks Workbook: A Guided Program for Beating the Panic Trick. It's a workbook. I am not so sure that all the attention it gives to making sure you have a "label" is necessary. Having a "label" is not necessarily going to reassure a person predisposed to intense anxiety. Still, the author does make four extremely good points right at the beginning of the book. The quiz that defines your exact label might actually reduce your anxiety level!! Right on the Amazon site, you can read the four things he asks you to do before you buy or read or work the workbook.

I love the fact he tells you to "get a buddy" as No. 4. It reassures me that he really gets it. A problem shared is a problem halved, at the very least. I used to take my written exercises into the therapist to discuss them; that served as my buddy. Dr. Carbonell is helping you establish that you are part of a community before you even begin. I have had Panic Disorder with agoraphobia. It happened when my landlord threw away all that I owned. I simply could not trust anything would be there when I came back if I went out anywhere during the next three months so I didn't want to leave my home. This workbook could have been a big help to me. This workbook will be a godsend to anyone newly "diagnosed".

I have had amazing results from James Pennebaker's books. If you're experiencing anxiety, panic or other emotional problems these books could TRANSFORM you entire life.

In the time since I read the first one, Opening Up: The Healing Power of Expressing Emotions, which convinced me my writing it all out was the thing to do, Pennebaker has produced a workbook, Writing to Heal: A Guided Journal for Recovering from Trauma & Emotional Upheaval. I have met people who were helped by him, especially as it relates to panic and anxiety. They all go on to do amazingly well and that to me is an important criteria. He hands them the tools and they are motivated to use them! Other books on therapeutic journaling often get critisized for being somewhat "cultish" and not showing examples of what did NOT work. The "cool" thing about these techniques is that they put a "therapist" at your fingertips, even when you feel no one is listening. I once had a conversation with Julia Cameron about The Artist's Way (which I'll write ALL about another time) and she said that using daily pages was a way to get out all the griping and whinging so on so one could get back to doing what humans are here to do .. CREATE! Time has shown that her techniques produce powerful results. If you are looking to find something you can do that isn't as structured as Daily Pages and find you resist them, then Pennebaker is your man.

Pennebaker has helped I would guess millions free up their inner selves to the light of day as he was taken "seriously". His book is accessible to layman and makes deep therapy much richer and useful. He's "done his homework" by having done convincing research that shows that writing reduces all the physical symptoms associated with PANIC, anxiety and all those other greedy little emotions that plague us. He has had a lot of influence on many therapists; many have never heard of him but employ his "techniques". He was one of the very first to understand the mind/body connection in therapy and then went on to come up with practical ways for people to use this knowledge.

I have come to the conclusion that much of the scientific literature on how to work through panic is pure hogwash, because the writers have no personal experience of panic. It just doesn't fit what REALLY happens to us, nor does it suggest how we can get to be at peace with ourselves because we all have such individual experience to work through. Dispelling the myths surrounding how we act and feel will go a long way towards getting public understanding of what is a debilitating condition UNTIL WE DEAL WITH IT. But the first step is always acceptance of our own experience. Since, as Cervantes said "the pen is the tongue of the mind", I think writing it all down as a step to acceptance will be around for a looooooong time.

I am curious as to what has been the most helpful to anyone that reads this.

What has YOUR experience been? What suggestion have you taken up that really makes a difference? For me, besides learning how to BREATHE, writing has been the focal point of my recovery.

I have been in situations where the daily stress and uncertainty was so bad that I took meds. I lived for eight continuous years in what is known as a "psychiatric void" - a place where I had no control over my future and thus could not plan what I wanted or needed to do. I needed medication, I went to a real professional that I trusted had my best interests at heart when the medication was prescribed.

But keeping my head and heart and hands working together as allies is the REAL work. I found I could just keep writing about it.

What has been effective for you?

If you had the chance to help someone literally suffering from panic attacks, what advice would you give them ..?

This is the third in a series of Lessons from Panic

Related Stories:
Lesson 1: Inside panic and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Lesson 2: Learning to set reasonable goals and deal with PTSD
Codependency – When Caring Becomes Self-Destructive
Do you worry too much? Check whether you are at risk of Generalised Anxiety Disorder

F.D.A.
Tracked Tainted Drugs, but Trail Went Cold in China


By WALT BOGDANICH

Two poisoning cases 10 years
apart illustrate what happens when nations fail to police the global pipeline of
drug ingredients.

Technorati Tags: FDA, tainted drugs, China

Prince Badhar secretly paid $1 bn by Britsh Arms company

With full knowledge of the Ministry of Defense, Prince Badhar bin Sultan $1 bn over a ten year period. The secret payments by BAE -- the arms manufacturer -- to the Prince was revealed on the TV investigation show Panorama. BAE maintains the payments were perfectly legal. BAE billed $47 bn for building military aircraft for Saudi Arabia.



read more | digg story

Dudley George slaying . an overview of the issues

I encountered the George family only months after coming to Ontario.

I signed their petition calling for a public enquiry and suggested to them that it takes about a DECADE before any real enquiry could happen as FIREARMS were used. Sad to say, but I was correct.



The legacy of the Harris government lies like a cold hard sweat on the body of Ontario.&nbsp; Welfare/disabilty rates lie still WELL below the poverty level and continue to SINK.&nbsp; We had welfare/disability rates slashed by 20% and only seen a 3% rise in benefits.&nbsp;&nbsp; It is ASSUMED that people recieving benefits won't have enough to eat, and that includes those disabled who cannot cook.&nbsp; Another 3% increase is due in November, but the cost of food has skyrocketed in the meantime and more increases at the grocery store are expected. The food banks supply a person with about four days worth of food a month.



The Liberal Party appears to have learned NOTHING from Oka or from the Ipperwash killing.&nbsp; Only following Mohawk Nation News will put a person in the loop of knowing what EXACTLY is going on.&nbsp; Not one major news source lets you know the real news coming from Indian Country; it is a very one sided affair.



This article refers to the coming summer actions to be taken by First Nations peoples. This actions get kicked off next week end, when friends and neighbors come together for small local powwows. They are celebrating LIFE, their art and enjoyment of the summer (Strawberry moon).&nbsp; There, they will discuss what is NEXT.&nbsp; The George family will be at one, I am sure, and I hope this year things will not seem so bleak for them.&nbsp; I am sorry that Dudley will not attending, and that is a feeling shared by many of us.



I have scattered comments below in red to clarify what I think needs to be extended and highlighted certain important statements in blue.

Virginia

World Socialist Web Site www.wsws.org

---

WSWS : News & Analysis : North America : Canada

Canada: Report on police killing at Ipperwash

masks state crimes

By Lee Parsons

16 June 2007

Almost
twelve years after a police sniper killed Dudley George—an unarmed
aboriginal protester who was part of a group peacefully occupying
Ipperwash Provincial Park—a public inquiry has issued a report that
makes some pointed criticisms of the federal and Ontario governments
and of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

However,
in the final analysis, Justice Sidney Linden’s report and the entire
public inquiry exercise constitute a whitewash of Canadian capitalism’s
brutal treatment of the native peoples and of the role that the Ontario
Conservative government played in George’s killing.

The
shooting at Ipperwash, which lies on the shores of Lake Huron, took
place in September 1995. Just weeks before, the now reviled Tory
government of Mike Harris had come to power in Ontario, with the
backing of Bay Street and other powerful sections of the ruling class,
pledged to implement a program of tax and public spending cuts, changes
to welfare, and anti-union measures modeled after the US Republicans’
“Contract with America.” (I've already mentioned the "welfare"/ disabilities malignant cutbacks above.&nbsp; Whatever they have "saved" in money terms has more than been eaten up in rising healthcare costs.&nbsp; As far as getting people off benefit, that's ridiculous.&nbsp; It didn't work.&nbsp; V)

The police assault on a small band
of unarmed natives in a deserted park (see below) following the Labor Day weekend
came to symbolize the Harris government’s brutal methods.

Evidence
presented to the inquiry demonstrated that Harris, his aides, and other
Tory ministers pressed for the OPP to put a quick end to the occupation
at Ipperwash, no doubt with the intention of demonstrating that the new
government would take a hard line against the mass opposition its
right-wing program would inevitably provoke.&nbsp; (This partially explains why the Harris government had so little problem with the 1/4 million people who came out against his regime during the Days of Rage. The other explanation is that NO reliable mass paper to get news was ever put together. The labor unions (Buzz Hargrove and others) who could have easily started a paper in opposition to the&nbsp; mainstream press, did not do so.&nbsp; Ghandi always said - the first thing you do is start a paper .. V.)

In his
four-volume report, Justice Linden was compelled to accept much of this
evidence and, in so doing, he implicitly charges Harris with having
lied under oath before the inquiry so as to downplay his role in
precipitating the unprovoked violent police action at Ipperwash. Yet
Linden explicitly exonerates Harris and other top officials of his
government on the key charge that they improperly influenced or
directed the police to carry out the fatal assault at Ipperwash.

A
central fact accepted by the commission, and about which Harris was
found to be lying, was that as the premier of Ontario he shouted at a
meeting that included OPP officials, “I want the fucking Indians out of
the park!” In other meetings and encounters with top police
officials—as the report details—the government gave emphatic
instructions to the police to deal with the occupation decisively,
precipitously, and without regard to the legitimacy of aboriginal
rights. (It isn't just a matter of rights.&nbsp; It is a matter of sovereignty, as recent events are revealing more and more to the general public.) Linden further found that Harris and others in his
administration demonstrated bigoted and openly racist views and that
such attitudes werealso common among the police who dealt with the occupation.&nbsp; (This park, in fact, was usurped by the government from the indigenous peoples during WWII and never given back!)

Nonetheless,
the report states baldly, “The evidence does not support the claim that
he (Harris) interfered with the OPP’s operation.”

Harris,
who stepped down as premier in 2001 in the wake of the public health
disaster his budget cuts produced in the town of Walkerton, replied
cynically and with venom to the release of the report. “I hope,”
declared Harris, “that Justice Linden’s findings completely absolving
me and my government of these malicious and petty political allegations
will allow the George family to move on.” His lawyer has made it known
that Harris has no intention of apologizing to the Georges or anyone
else.&nbsp; (Walkerton.&nbsp; This town got an e coli outbreak due to no real oversight.&nbsp; The water simply was not being monitored at all. People died, officials took no responsibility AND other towns were found to have e coli as well. Since then we have had whole communities evacuted due to dirty water, as in James Bay. There is nowhere to house victims of tained water in Ontario ..)

The
George family was more conciliatory in its response. Dudley’s brother,
Sam, called the report a “big step forward.... It is very clear from
the report that the police made many mistakes and it’s also clear
they’re working to go correct them. We hope that continues.”



Six
Nations Chief David General was more cautious, saying, “We’ve got to
put action to the words.”

Official obfuscation

Under
its terms of reference, one of the inquiry’s principal aims was to
determine what, if any, direct influence the government of the day had
on police management of the Ipperwash occupation. The inquiry report
acknowledges repeatedly that the actions of the government over several
days sent the wrong message and that they “created the risk of placing
political pressure on the police.” A litany of other criticisms of the
behavior of top officials consumes dozens of pages of the report.

In
its totality the report conveys a picture of government incompetence,
indifference and disdain towards Canada’s aboriginal peoples compounded
by a culture of political thuggery within the Ontario Conservative
government itself.

And yet the conclusions and recommendations of the commission amount to a convoluted cover-up.

Responsibility
for the situation that led to the killing of Dudley George is dispersed
widely, liberally and over a long period of time in a way that absolves
any single individual or institution of major fault. Miscommunication,
lack of proper training, insufficient coordination of policy, cultural
misunderstanding, poor intelligence— among others—are named as factors
that contributed to George’s death.

The
report does point to decades of stalling by the federal government over
what is now generally acknowledged to be the legitimate claims of the
natives of Ipperwash to lands that were expropriated from them for
military purposes during World War Two.

Acting OPP Sergeant
Kenneth Deane was found guilty of criminal negligence causing death,
but the report states that Deane should never have been put in the
position where he could have shot Dudley George and the responsibility
for that circumstance rests with federal government stalling and
indifference.

Painting victims as villains

Despite
the decidedly delicate handling of Harris and his government by Justice
Linden, the right-wing press unleashed a torrent of indignation upon
the release of his report.

Leading the way was a comment by Andrew Coyne in the National Post
in which he attacks the report because it “effectively legitimizes
illegal protests.” Coyne was incensed that the inquiry did not hold the
native protesters to blame for the police killing of George: “What we
have here is nothing less than the normalization of lawlessness, the
legitimization of violence as a means of political protest.”

The
charge of native “violence” is an authoritarian slur. At Ipperwash a
handful of unarmed Indians “occupied” a vacant provincial park that is
situated on traditional native land. Even if one accepts the most
restrictive legal definitions, a compelling case can be made that the
protesters were acting lawfully. Moreover, quite aside from the assault
that resulted in the death of Dudley George, virtually all threats and
acts of violence during the Ipperwash occupation were in fact
perpetrated by the police.

The Globe and Mail
welcomed
Linden’s finding that Harris did not unduly interfere with the police
operation at Ipperwash. It declared somewhat defensively that,
“Ipperwash is not about one redneck premier,” as an OPP office had
characterized Harris during the occupation, and took great satisfaction
in stressing, as Linden had, the tragedy’s reputed myriad causes.

But the Globe clearly
was troubled that the report could cause state authorities to temporize
with future protests. The chief aim of its editorial was to strengthen
the resolve of governments and the police to stand firm in the face of,
and be ready to repress, opposition from below. “Ipperwash,” said the Globe,
“does not mean that all expressions of grievance are justified, or that
police and government should look the other way during illegal
occupations by aboriginal people.”

It is far from
surprising that much of the corporate media remain stalwart defenders
of Harris. His “Common Sense Revolution” resulted in a massive transfer
of wealth from the working class and poor to big business and the
wealthiest section of society. While the Ontario Tories went down to
ignominious electoral defeat four years ago, several of the leading
figures in the Harris government are now key figures in the federal
Conservative government of Stephen Harper.

But the Post’s and Globe’s
rantings, 12 years after the event, about the violence and illegality
of the Ipperwash occupation reveal a growing nervousness in the elite
over any opposition to the agenda of big business.&nbsp; (The burning of cars on RR beds has cost Big Business in Canada a huge sum of money.&nbsp;&nbsp; These RRs cross indigenous lands and they are NERVOUS ..)

With
growing hostility to government policies on critical issues such as its
military buildup and the war in Afghanistan and with indications that
native protests will escalate in the coming weeks (these start on 29 June), figures such as
Coyne speak for a ruling elite that is moving toward criminalizing all
forms of political dissent.

Then and now

Coming
a mere 10 weeks after the Harris Tories came to power, the police
action at Ipperwash and the resulting death of Dudley George was used
by the new government to send a signal that it meant business and would
deal harshly with popular opposition.

Despite the
conviction of a police officer in George’s death, the clear evidence
government officials had pressured the police to quickly end the
protest, and mounting public pressure, Harris consistently opposed a
public inquiry into the police action at Ipperwash.

It was
not until the Liberals came to power in 2003 that a public inquiry was
finally called, and even then its purpose was more to advance the
political fortunes of the Ontario Liberal Party than out of any genuine
concern for the public good, let alone for the benefit of native
peoples. By fulfilling a campaign pledge to hold an inquiry, the
Liberals sought to capitalize on widespread hatred of the outgoing
Conservative government and to contrast themselves as a more caring and
sensitive administration.

The
Liberals continue to cynically use this issue for political advantage.
Ontario Liberal Premier Donald McGuinty lost no time following the
report’s release to denounce the Harris government and offer his
personal apology to the family of the slain man. He later mused that it
may even be time for the government to actually do something about the
decades-old claims of the natives at Ipperwash.

The fact
that this inquiry has taken 12 years to reach its conclusion is itself
an appalling injustice which must be added to the decades of
indifference and contempt that the natives of Ipperwash, like Canada’s
aboriginal peoples in general, have suffered from generations of
federal and provincial governments—Liberal, Conservative and NDP.

The
cancellation of $5 billion earmarked for native and Inuit communities
in the Kelowna Accord by the federal Tories last year has meant
deepening conditions of poverty and squalor for the majority of the
aboriginal population. And while the Harper government recently
promised to introduce a new procedure for dealing with native land
claims, that maneuver is clearly aimed at forestalling the national day
of aboriginal protest planned for June 29.&nbsp; (There was an $8 billion dollar federal budget SURPLUS!!&nbsp; The costs, long term, in not addressing health and economic concerns of the poor and working poor will end up costing FAR more.&nbsp; The new "task" force - read paper pushing - was given $250 Million.&nbsp; The Siux nations community was offered $125 to settle outstanding land claims, abouat $34 an acre. The white developers, I think, got $165 an acre!!&nbsp; It is to laugh.&nbsp; Nothing is going to forestall June 29th - they are thinking generations ahead.)

The
suggestion that the tragedy at Ipperwash resulted from the
peculiarities of Harris and his cohorts along with a few bad apples in
the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) must be flatly rejected. Widespread
racism and bigotry, which the Ipperwash inquiry has shown to be widely
accepted if not cultivated in official circles, is consistent with the
long history of the oppression of Canada’s aboriginal peoples.

Moreover, as the ruling class reaction to the inquiry
into George’s murder has underlined, there is a growing incompatibility
between the maintenance of basic democratic rights, including the
rights of Canada’s indigenous peoples, and the needs of an increasingly
brutal social order.



To continue to set up divide and conquer tactics against all of Canada's people is not a good omen for the future.&nbsp;&nbsp; There can be from for no racism, sexism, greedism or any other thing that lacks vision.

Technorati Tags: Dudley George, Ipperwash, Ontario government, Justice Sidney Linden, Mike Harris

Summer tour with Don Alejandro!

Re: Clarification of Mayan Calendars




http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/DiosasAnci anos2012

here are two links to the group that is sponsoring


the North American tour of Rosa Maria Cabrera, Elizabeth


Araujo and Don Alejandro Oxlaj ...





beginning in Goddess Moon California, end of June,


then moving to Santa Barbara ...





http://www.shifting ages.com/ links.html





http://www.lescarne y.com/guatamala. htm





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





Mayan GrandMother Kiara Windrider has discussed the limitations of


the etheric dikshas, cosmic spirit guides, as applied to most of us


living today. Love brings up anything unlike itself, and so many that


have received dikshas come to experience backlashes where the initial


state of bliss, sometimes mimicking an experience of enlightenment,


may turn into disappointment as the initial experience wears off.





http://www.deekshaf ire.com/? Deeksha





These phenomena become more easily understandable from the overall


perspective of the Mayan calendar, and we should be aware that the


shift from the polarity of the Planetary Underworld to the Universal


for most of us will require exposure to many transfers of light as


well as the necessary ensuing integration processes. Collectively


speaking in the overall Divine Plan the shift from one polarity of


consciousness to another proceeds in steps, which are propelled by


distinct pulses of energy emanating from the Mo Lam, the Cosmic World


Tree, at the current time especially as part of the Galactic


Underworld. This pulsewise emanation of light creates a wave movement


that we are all part of, and which invariably includes troughs meant


for integration. As the divine process of creation according to the


Mayan calendar is a wave movement the same will be true for our


individual processes. Thus, there is no path along which we can


gradually and linearly become enlightened. It seems more realistic to


expect our enlightenment processes to proceed like wave movements


where different dark corners of our consciousness are lit up by


dikshas. Kiaras advice to just expect us to go through such an up and


down process and accept it seems wise and highlights the necessity to


process aspects of ourselves that are not translucent. How much of


such processing that is necessary will depend on where we started and


our willingness to honestly see ourselves.





http://www.deekshaf ire.com/? About_the_ book





At the Star Knowledge Gathering in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Quiche


Mayan Elder, Grandmother Windrider, talked of her visions and her


challenging personal path. When she spoke, a hush fell over the room,


and the air was filled with a stillness and electricity like the calm


before a storm. Her words were carefully chosen, flying straight to


the heart like the arrows of a brave warrior. She challenged women to


step into their power and help men to balance and heal the planet.


From GrandMother WindRider:





"The Age of Truth has already begun. Coinciding with the ending of


the Egyptian calendar, 9-11 represented the ending of an age


dominated by heedless materialism and reckless greed. Long cycles of


collective human karma are being played out and completed now as we


approach the end of the current World Age. The old order is dying,


lashing out in the chaos and confusion of its collapse, and a New


World Age based on peace, justice, harmony, and respect for the


Earth, is rising from the ashes."





"The world is changing. In the seeming darkness that followed the


events of 9-11, a great light has begun to shine forth, gently and


gradually at first, slowly gathering momentum. In a torrent of


unanswered questions and disturbing revelations, the light of truth


is beginning to dawn. People are starting to ask difficult questions,


questions that address the sleeping shadows both within us and around


us, questions we are asking ourselves, our communities, our


governments, our corporations, our world. How we answer these


questions reflects how we choose to move forward. Will we move


forward on a spiral of despair and death? Or in hope and


resurrection?





"Previous to this time, she was not allowed to speak to white persons


of the Mayan tradition kept by the women. Extreme changes are taking


place. Karma Cleaning is over. Things are speeding up. Do not hold


onto old victim attachments. The Mayans, Toltecs and Olmecs all have


traditions of listening to the cosmic harmonies. The Gateways are


starting to get into position to allow the celestial avatars in. Your


bodies are going through a good mutation to prepare you for the


Millennium. In these Earth Changes, some who are not ready to make


the transition to the 5th World will reincarnate elsewhere, at a more


primitive evolutionary stage. Some will reincarnate to clean up the


debris here, and make the transition to the higher-consciousnes s


World-Society into which Earth is transitioning. Some will be taken


off by the Star Nations to voluntarily live with them. Changes are


coming, with with all the heavens reaching out to us. Raise your


consciousness to miss the waves, as they are coming through faster


and faster now. Get to now the land and water and forests, the world


of nature. This society is completely sick; it is time for the women


to gather together and heal each other, then they will go to heal the


men."





"Give voice to your own commitment to the truth of your deepest Self,


and the expression of that truth in the world."





"Take time to share with your family, friends, and loved ones what


has most heart and meaning for you. What are you afraid of? What are


your dreams and hopes? What do you need to say that hasn’t been


spoken? How can we bring more love into each other’s lives? Can we


offer healing and forgiveness for all that is dark? Can we offer


support and recognition for all that is light? An Age of Truth can


only begin as we first light the candle of truth within."





"Begin to ask ourselves some difficult questions about the state of


our planet. If we are to overcome long years of human greed, conflict


and separation, we need to examine the roots of our collective


insanity. I believe that most people in the world want peace, most


people want equality and justice for all, most people want to live in


harmony with our natural environment, most people want to live lives


where our highest human potential can be freed and honored. What


holds us back? When governments, institutions or corporations have


become greedy and corrupt, are we willing to hold them accountable?


Can we speak up for those who don’t have a voice, those who have


suffered, those who are less fortunate than ourselves? Can we see


ourselves as planetary citizens? Can we see ourselves as one with the


life of the Earth? Can we go beyond defensiveness and blame to


examine our own part in collective karmic cycles?"





"Once we have identified some of the issues most directly relevant to


our own communities and nations, initiate positive changes. Marianne


Williamson invites us to \"think locally and act globally\". Disclose


the truth no matter how inconvenient, frightening, or uncomfortable.


Use the media. Create rallies and musical celebrations, bringing


together voices that are willing to compassionately hold a new vision


of justice and peace, a new paradigm for human possibilities. Dream


your highest visions, and share them through music, art, poetry,


writings, and speech. Invite the young people to speak, for the new


world belongs to them. Invite the elders into these gatherings, the


wise ones who see beyond the appearances, and who have positive


visions to share. Invite the divinity within our own deepest selves."





"Having acknowledged our own shadows, let us extend the hand of


amnesty and forgiveness to each other, to ourselves, to our leaders,


and to that which is of the old paradigm soon to fall away. Invite


governments and institutions to do the same, absolving blame and debt


throughout the world. What if all international conflicts were ended,


political prisoners were released, and the third world debt was


completely abolished? What if our taxes went towards creating peace


rather than war? Send out the call for a planetary initiation of


truth, for the dissolving of long cycles of collective human karma in


the light of grace, and for a planetary quickening into the Age of


Truth."





"We are the doorway into the New Earth. May we walk in truth, beauty,


and freedom! "

Technorati Tags: Mayan elder message, Don Alejandro, Grandmother Windrider

Six Nations and NY: who owes whom?

Six Nations and the Empire State: Who owes whom?

Posted: June 14, 2007

by: Editors Report / Indian Country Today

It's ''day two'' in New York state. That is, last year's campaign rhetoric by now-Gov. Eliot Spitzer promising change beginning on ''day one'' has come and gone. He is now learning why his predecessors have never been successful at enforcing commerce laws, specifically the collection of gasoline and cigarette taxes, on Indian reservations. Stubborn will, inherent in Six Nations Iroquois people, has been the strongest weapon in support of tribal sovereignty. It is unlikely that Spitzer, a former hard-line state attorney general, will find the political success he seeks in his dealings with New York tribes, especially if the end-goal continues to be tax collection from Haudenosaunee people. The key to tribal economic survival is sovereignty and the inherent ability to regulate commerce, so it follows that taxation is not a matter of simple economics as legislators and activists for ''equality'' would have us believe. New York state's blood thirst for tax revenue from Indian gas and cigarette sales is famously unfulfilled. The money has become the elusive brass ring for politicians who insist that Indians pay their ''fair share'' of taxes, theoretically leveling the economic playing field. The hole in this argument is that the field has been systematically graded in the state's favor for generations through both crude and sophisticated methods of dispossession. It is only common sense that tribes fight to protect a basic element of sovereignty: the power to tax, which, understood by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall nearly 200 years ago, ''involves the power to destroy.'' Destruction of Indian cultural and economic resources is at the heart of the classic New York tax fight. The state barely acknowledges historical damages done to the Haudenosaunee people and lands as a result of political betrayal between sovereigns and land swindles instigated by both officials and civilians. A comprehensive examination of Indian lands illegally ceded or taken by eminent domain by the Empire State is due, perhaps as a strategic effort to persuade non-Indian supporters (read voters) to take up the anti-tax cause. Here is brief tour, summarizing each nation's ''contribution' ' to the enrichment of New York state. More ...

Why WAS Heffelfinger fired in Minnesota ...

http://www.indianco untry.com/ content.cfm? id=1096415227

Fired U.S. attorneys: Justice 'declined' under

Gonzales

Posted: June 15, 2007

by: Kara Briggs / Today correspondent

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Three former U.S. Attorneys fired by the U.S. Justice Department last December told tribal leaders attending the National Congress of American Indians convention that the potential for justice in Indian country had declined under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. ''Alberto Gonzales doesn't know anything about crime in Indian country,'' Paul Charlton, the former U.S. Attorney from Arizona, told leaders. ''And the Justice Department doesn't care.'' Speaking on the same day in which Gonzales survived a no confidence vote in the U.S. Senate, Charlton, former U.S. Attorney from the Western District of Michigan Margaret Chiara and former U.S. Attorney for Nevada Dan Bogden stopped short of saying that they were fired because of their attention to crime on reservation land. Yet five of the eight fired attorneys, including Charlton, Chiara and Bogden, were appointed by President Bush to the U.S. Attorneys' Subcommittee on Native American Issues in 2001. Another attorney, Tom Heffelfinger, former U.S. Attorney from Minnesota, was chairman of the subcommittee for five years until he quit last year. Only later did he learn that he was on the list slated for firing. Heffelfinger learned more about his firing in late May when Monica M. Goodling, the department's former liaison to the White House, told the House Judiciary Committee that Heffelfinger had been criticized for ''spending an excessive amount of time'' on Native issues.  (Yes, and he realized that th voter rolls were being tampered! V) Officially, the firings were over performance problems, an assertion that has been largely discredited in media reports and in Congress. Still, Chiara said, in her first public appearance since she was forced from office, ''It has been a time of public humiliation and negative notoriety. We really want you to understand, it's Indian country that brought us back into the public forum.'' The attorneys urged tribal leaders to take concerns about lack of funding to support law enforcement, prosecution and crime prevention in Indian country, without which, the attorneys said, even the best efforts were set up to fail. NCAI leaders were drafting an emergency resolution June 12 to raise the issues of funding and of federal inattention to Indian country under Gonzales, said John Dossett, NCAI general counsel. The resolution was expected to go to delegates for a vote June 13. The attorneys said they've watched a decline in commitment to prosecutions in Indian country since Gonzales was appointed in 2005. The decline was startling after the support his predecessors gave Indian issues. Under Attorney General John Ashcroft, Native issues were a priority, Bogden said. In Janet Reno's tenure, the chairman of the subcommittee had open-door access to Reno, Paul Charlton said. Yet under Gonzales, the Native American subcommittee lost its seat in the monthly meeting of other subcommittee leaders with the attorney general. ''Even though we asked, we were not included,'' said Chiara, who was chairman of the subcommittee when she left office. ''Almost all other subcommittees had access. It would appear that Native American issues were not viewed as a priority for the leadership.' ' The subcommittee worked with tribes and victim advocates on addressing issues such as violence against women, homeland security and gangs on Indian lands. In 2003, the subcommittee released its plan to fight sexual violence on reservations, which identified many of the same objectives set forth in Amnesty International' s 2007 report ''Maze of Injustice: The Failure to Protect Indigenous Women from Sexual Violence in the USA.'' But the Department of Justice shelved the recommendations, the attorneys said. Yet working in her own district, Chiara put in place measures, including dedicating two full-time staff members that would increase prosecutions from the 11 reservations in western Michigan by 85 percent in two years. Bogden, who had worked 11 years as an assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting many crimes on Indian land before becoming U.S. Attorney, increased prosecutions from Nevada reservation crimes by 50 percent, even as budget cuts eroded his office. Neither Chiara nor Bogden was told a reason for their firing. But Charlton was told in his December phone call from the Justice Department that he was being forced to resign because of a stand he had taken on behalf of tribes in his district. One involved the law enforcement practice of taping confessions, a practice which the FBI discourages. Charlton said the FBI's stand hindered prosecution of violent crimes on reservation. Charlton also had taken a stand against the death penalty, saying that he wouldn't seek it in cases involving some of the 20 out of 21 tribes in Arizona that oppose it. He said this stand was mentioned to him as one of the reasons for his dismissal. Since the firings, some of the districts have experienced a shift in staffing and resources away from justice in Indian country, the attorneys said. But Chiara said neither the Department of Justice nor U.S. Attorneys' offices have any excuses for backtracking on justice on tribal lands. ''The Department of Justice has a legal and ethical obligation to prosecute crime in Indian country,'' Chiara said. ''U.S. Attorneys have a legal and moral obligation as the chief law enforcement officers in their regions to prosecute crimes in Indian country.''

Technorati Tags: reservation crime, US Fed , Ntaive Aermican Issues, Attorneys,

NYT comment of the day

Dah.

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

"For most consumers, the fact that there is no connection between quality and cost is one of the dirty secrets of medicine." PETER LEE, the president of a California health insurance consortium.

Must read background on Putin and Russia ..

This thing is LONG. This piece is WELL worth the reading. I have toiled for months on this blog to present the SAME information to the regular visitor.



From Information Clearinghouse, this article includes a link to the FULL, unadultered, uncensored Putin interview which I read.&nbsp; In fact, I read it obsessively, three times.&nbsp; Once as if it were a fictional story to see where the plot led me.&nbsp; Two, to analyze Putin, and the man that he IS.&nbsp; And the third time to try to remember all the details he has given us.



I have clipped and snipped, hoping you will read the entire article yourself and left in what I consider MASTER LINKS to understanding the current nature of resource wars (Russia is hugely, if not entirely, dependent on OIL for prosperity).&nbsp; But there is more here, too ... how do you ensure democracy in THESE times, that it is hard to really write about.&nbsp; Putin has some vigorous clues in his words.&nbsp; OH, well, I just re-read it.&nbsp; I left everything in!&nbsp; This is IMPORTANT STUFF.

Putin's Censored Press
Conference:

The transcript you weren't supposed to
see



By Mike Whitney



06/10/07 "ICH"
--- - On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an hour
and a half-long press conference which was attended by many members
of the world media. The contents of that meeting---in which Putin
answered all questions concerning nuclear proliferation, human
rights, Kosovo, democracy and the present confrontation with the
United States over missile defense in Europe---have been completely
censored by the press. Apart from one brief excerpt which appeared
in a Washington Post editorial, (and which was used to criticize
Putin) the press conference has been scrubbed from the public
record. It never happened. (Read the entire press conference
archived here
)



Putin's performance was a tour de force. He
fielded all of the questions however misleading or insulting. He was
candid and statesmanlike and demonstrated a good understanding of
all the main issues.



The meeting gave Putin a chance to give
his side of the story in the growing debate over missile defense in
Eastern Europe.

*snip*

The Bush administration' s belligerent foreign policy has
backed the Kremlin into a corner and forced Putin to take
retaliatory measures. He has no other choice



If we want to
understand why relations between Russia are quickly reaching the
boiling-point; we only need to review the main developments since
the end of the Cold War. Political analyst Pat Buchanan gives a good
rundown of these in his article "Doesn't Putin Have a Point?"




Buchanan says:



"Though the Red Army had picked up
and gone home from Eastern Europe voluntarily, and Moscow felt it
had an understanding we would not move NATO eastward, we exploited
our moment. Not only did we bring Poland into NATO, we brought in
Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, and virtually the whole Warsaw Pact,
planting NATO right on Mother Russia's front porch. Now, there is a
scheme afoot to bring in Ukraine and Georgia in the Caucasus, the
birthplace of Stalin.



Second, America backed a pipeline to
deliver Caspian Sea oil from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Turkey,
to bypass Russia.



Third, though Putin gave us a green light
to use bases in the old Soviet republics for the liberation of
Afghanistan, we now seem hell-bent on making those bases in Central
Asia permanent.



Fourth, though Bush sold missile defense as
directed at rogue states like North Korea, we now learn we are going
to put anti-missile systems into Eastern Europe. And against whom
are they directed?



Fifth, through the National Endowment for
Democracy, its GOP and Democratic auxiliaries, and tax-exempt think
tanks, foundations, and "human rights" institutes such as Freedom
House, headed by ex-CIA director James Woolsey, we have been
fomenting regime change in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet
republics, and Russia herself.



US.-backed revolutions have
succeeded in Serbia, Ukraine, and Georgia, but failed in Belarus.
Moscow has now legislated restrictions on the foreign agencies that
it sees, not without justification, as subversive of pro-Moscow
regimes.



Sixth, America conducted 78 days of bombing of
Serbia for the crime of fighting to hold on to her rebellious
province, Kosovo, and for refusing to grant NATO marching rights
through her territory to take over that province. Mother Russia has
always had a maternal interest in the Orthodox states of the
Balkans.



These are Putin's grievances. Does he not have a
small point?"



Yes--as Buchanan opines---Putin does have a
point, which is why his press conference was suppressed. The media
would rather demonize Putin, than allow him to make his case to the
public. (The same is true of other world leaders who choose to use
their vast resources to improve the lives of their own citizens
rather that hand them over to the transnational oil giants; such as,
Mahmud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez) Even so, NATO has not yet
endorsed the neocon missile defense plan and, according to recent
surveys, public opinion in Poland and the Czech Republic is
overwhelmingly against it.



Unsurprisingly, the Bush
administration is going ahead regardless of the controversy




Putin cannot allow the United States to deploy its missile
defense system to Eastern Europe. The system poses a direct threat
to Russia's national security. If Putin planned to deploy a similar
system in Cuba or Mexico, the Bush administration would immediately
invoke the Monroe Doctrine and threaten to remove it by force. No
one doubts this. And no one should doubt that Putin is equally
determined to protect his own country's interests in the same way.
We can expect that Russia will now aim its missiles at European
targets and rework its foreign policy in a way that compels the US
to abandon its current plans.



The media has tried to
minimize the dangers of the proposed system. The Washington Post
even characterized it as "a small missile defense system" which has
set off "waves of paranoia about domestic and foreign opponents".




Nonsense. Nothing could be further from the truth.




As Putin said at the press conference, "Once the missile
defense system is put in place IT WILL WORK AUTOMATICALLY WITH THE
ENTIRE NUCLEAR CAPABILITY OF THE UNITED STATES. It will be an
integral part of the US nuclear capability.



"For the first
time in history---and I want to emphasize this---there are elements
of the US nuclear capability on the European continent. It simply
changes the whole configuration of international security..Of
course, we have to respond to that."



Putin is right. The
"so-called" defense system is actually an expansion (and
integration) of America's existing nuclear weapons system which will
now function as one unit. The dangers of this should be obvious.




The Bush administration is maneuvering in a way that will
allow it to achieve what Nuclear weapons specialist, Francis A.
Boyle, calls the "longstanding US policy of nuclear first-strike
against Russia".



In Boyle's article "US Missiles in Europe:
Beyond Deterrence to First Strike Threat" he states:



"By
means of a US first strike about 99%+ of Russian nuclear forces
would be taken out. Namely, the United States Government believes
that with the deployment of a facially successful first strike
capability, they can move beyond deterrence and into "compellence. ".
This has been analyzed ad nauseam in the professional literature.
But especially by one of Harvard's premier warmongers in chief,
Thomas Schelling --winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics granted by
the Bank of Sweden-- who developed the term "compellence" and
distinguished it from "deterrence. " .The USG is breaking out of a
"deterrence" posture and moving into a "compellence" posture.
(Global Research 6-6-07)



That's right. The real goal is to
force Moscow to conform to Washington's "diktats" or face the
prospect of "first-strike" annihilation. That's why Putin has
expressed growing concern over the administration' s dropping out of
the ABM Treaty and the development of a new regime of low yield,
bunker-busting nuclear weapons. The "hawks" who surround Bush have
abandoned the "deterrence" policy of the past, and now believe that
a nuclear war can be "won" by the United States. This is madness and
it needs to be taken seriously.



The Bush administration sees
itself as a main player in Central Asia and the Middle
East---controlling vital resources and pipeline corridors throughout
the region. That means Russia's influence will have to be
diminished. Boris Yeltsin was the perfect leader for the
neoconservative master-plan (which is why the right-wingers Praised
him when he died) Russia disintegrated under Yeltsin. He oversaw the
dismantling of the state, the plundering of its resources and
state-owned assets, and the restructuring of its economy according
to the tenets of neoliberalism.



No wonder the neocons loved
him.



Under Putin, Russia has regained its economic footing,
its regional influence and its international prestige. The economy
is booming, the ruble has stabilized, the standard of living has
risen, and Moscow has strengthened alliances with its neighbors.
This new-found Russian prosperity poses a real challenge to Bush's
plans.



Two actions in particular have changed the Russian-US
relationship from tepid to openly hostile. The first was when Putin
announced that Russia's four largest oil fields would not be open to
foreign development. (Russia has been consolidating its oil wealth
under state-run Gazprom) And, second, when the Russian Treasury
began to convert Russia's dollar reserves into gold and rubles. Both
of these are regarded as high-crimes by US corporate chieftains and
western elites. Their response was swift.



John Edwards and
Jack Kemp were appointed to lead a Council on Foreign Relations
(CFR) task force which concocted the basic pretext for an all-out
assault on the Putin. This is where the idea that Putin is "rolling
back democracy" began; it's a feeble excuse for political
antagonism. In their article "Russia's Wrong Direction", Edwards and
Kemp state that a "strategic partnership" with Russia is no longer
possible. They note that the government has become increasingly
"authoritarian" and that the society is growing less "open and
pluralistic" . Blah, blah, blah. No one in the Washington really
cares about democracy. (Just look at our "good friends" in Saudi
Arabia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan) What they're afraid
of is Putin ditching the dollar and controlling his own oil. That's
what counts. Bush also wants Putin to support sanctions against Iran
and rubber stamp a Security Council resolution to separate Kosovo
form Serbia (Since when does the UN have the right to redraw
national borders? Was the creation of Israel such a stunning success
that the Security Council wants to try its luck again?)




Putin does not accept the "unipolar" world model. As he said
in Munich, the unipolar world refers to "a world in which there is
one master, one sovereign--- - one centre of authority, one centre of
force, one centre of decision-making. At the end of the day this is
pernicious not only for all those within this system, but also for
the sovereign itself because it destroys itself from within.. What
is even more important is that the model itself is flawed because at
its basis there is and can be no moral foundations for modern
civilization. "



He added:



"Unilateral and frequently
illegitimate actions have not resolved any problems. Moreover, they
have caused new human tragedies and created new centers of tension.
Judge for yourselves-- -wars as well as local and regional conflicts
have not diminished. More are dying than before. Significantly more,
significantly more!



Today we are witnessing an almost
uncontained hyper use of force - military force - in international
relations, force that is plunging the world into an abyss of
permanent conflicts.



We are seeing a greater and greater
disdain for the basic principles of international law. And
independent legal norms are, as a matter of fact, coming
increasingly closer to one state's legal system. One state and, of
course, first and foremost the United States, has overstepped its
national borders in every way. This is visible in the economic,
political, cultural and educational policies it imposes on other
nations. Well, who likes this? Who is happy about this?



In
international relations we increasingly see the desire to resolve a
given question according to so-called issues of political
expediency, based on the current political climate. And of course
this is extremely dangerous. It results in the fact that no one
feels safe. I want to emphasise this - no one feels safe! Because no
one can feel that international law is like a stone wall that will
protect them. Of course such a policy stimulates an arms race.




I am convinced that we have reached that decisive moment
when we must seriously think about the architecture of global
security."



How can anyone dispute Putin's analysis?




"Unilateral and illegitimate military actions", the
"uncontained hyper-use of force", the "disdain for the basic
principles of international law", and most importantly; "No one
feels safe!"



These are the irrefutable facts. Putin has
simply summarized the Bush Doctrine better than anyone else.




The Bush administration has increased its frontline American
bases to five thousand men on Russia's perimeter. Is this conduct of
a "trustworthy ally"?



Also, NATO has deployed forces on
Russia's borders even while Putin has continued to fulfill his
treaty obligations and move troops and military equipment hundreds
of miles away.



As Putin said on Tuesday: "We have removed
all of our heavy weapons from the European part of Russia and put
them behind the Urals" and "reduced our Armed Forces by 300,000. We
have taken several other steps required by the Adapted Conventional
Armed Forces Treaty in Europe (ACAF) But what have we seen in
response? Eastern Europe is receiving new weapons, two new military
bases are being set up in Romania and in Bulgaria, and there are two
new missile launch areas -- a radar in Czech republic and missile
systems in Poland. And we are asking ourselves the question: what is
going on? Russia is disarming unilaterally. But if we disarm
unilaterally then we would like to see our partners be willing to do
the same thing in Europe. On the contrary, Europe is being pumped
full of new weapons systems. And of course we cannot help but be
concerned."



(This is why Putin's comments did not appear in
the western media! They would have been too damaging to the Bush
administration and their expansionist plans)



Who Destroyed
the ABM?



Putin said:



"We did not initiate the
withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. But what response
did we give when we discussed this issue with our American partners?
We said that we do not have the resources and desire to establish
such a system. But as professionals we both understand that a
missile defense system for one side and no such a system for the
other creates an illusion of security and increases the possibility
of a nuclear conflict. The defense system WILL DESTROY THE STRATEGIC
EQUILIBRIUM IN THE WORLD. In order to restore that balance without
setting up a missile defense system we will have to create a system
to overcome missile defense, which is what we are doing now."




Putin: "AN ARMS RACE IS UNFOLDING. Was it we who withdrew
from the ABM Treaty? We must react to what our partners do. We
already told them two years ago, "don't do this, you don't need to
do this. What are you doing? YOU ARE DESTROYING THE SYSTEM OF
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY. You must understand that you are forcing us
to take retaliatory steps." .we warned them. No, they did not listen
to us. Then we heard about them developing low-yield nuclear weapons
and they are continuing to develop these weapons." We told them that
"it would be better to look for other ways to fight terrorism than
create low-yield nuclear weapons and lower the threshold for using
nuclear weapons, and thereby put humankind on the brink of nuclear
catastrophe. But they don't listen to us. They are not looking for
compromise. Their entire point of view can be summed-up in one
sentence: 'Whoever is not with us is against us.'"



Putin
asks, "So what should we do?" The present predicament has brought us
"the brink of disaster".



Putin: "Some people have the
illusion that you can do everything just as you want, regardless of
the interests of other people. Of course it is for precisely this
reason that the international situation gets worse and eventually
results in an arms race as you pointed out. But we are not the
instigators. We do not want it. Why would we want to divert
resources to this? And we are not jeopardizing our relations with
anyone. But we must respond.



Name even one step that we have
taken or one action of ours designed to worsen the situation. There
are none. We are not interested in that. We are interested in having
a good atmosphere, environment and energy dialogue around Russia".




So, what should Putin do? And how else can he meet his
responsibilities to the Russian people without taking defensive
"retaliatory" action to Bush's act of war. By expanding its nuclear
capability to Europe, all of Russia is in imminent danger, and so,
Putin must decide "precisely which means will be used to destroy the
installations that our experts believe represent a potential threat
for the Russian Federation". (Note that Putin NEVER THREATENS TO AIM
HIS MISSILES AT EUROPEAN CITIES AS WAS REPORTED IN THE WESTERN
MEDIA)



Putin has made great strides in improving life for
the Russian people. That is why his public approval rating is
soaring at 75%. The Russian economy has been growing by 7% a year.
He's lowered the number of people living beneath the poverty-line by
more than half and will bring it down to European levels by 2010.
Real incomes are growing by an astonishing 12% per year. As Putin
says, "Combating poverty is one of our top priorities and we still
have to do a lot to improve our pension system too because the
correlation between pensions and the average wage is still lower
here than in Europe."



If only that was true in America!




Russia now has the ninth largest economy in the world and
has amassed enormous gold and currency reserves--the third largest
in the world. It is also one of the leading players in international
energy policy with a daily-oil output which now exceeds Saudi
Arabia. It is also the largest producer of natural gas in the world.
Russia will only get stronger as we get deeper into the century and
energy resources become scarcer.



Putin strongly objects to
the idea that he is not committed to human rights or is "rolling
back democracy". He points out how truncheon-wielding police in
Europe routinely use tear gas, electric-shock devices and water
cannons to disperse demonstrators. Is that how the West honors human
rights and civil liberties?



As for the Bush
administration- --Putin produced a copy of Amnesty International' s
yearly report condemning the United States conduct in the war on
terror. "I have a copy of Amnesty International' s report here, which
includes a section on the United States," he said. "The organization
has concluded that the United States IS NOW THE PRINCIPLE VIOLATOR
OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS WORLDWIDE."



He added, "We have
a proverb in Russian, 'Don't blame the mirror if your face is
crooked.'"



Putin is fiercely nationalistic. He has helped to
restore Russia's self-confidence and rebuild the economy. He's
demonstrated a willingness to compromise with the Bush
administration on every substantive issue, but he has been
repeatedly rebuffed. The last thing he wants is a nuclear standoff
with the United States. But he will do what he must to defend his
people from the threat of foreign attack. The deployment of the
missile defense system will require that Russia develop its own new
weapons systems and change its thinking about trusting the United
States. Friendship is not possible in the present climate.




As for "democracy"; Putin said it best himself:



"Am
I a 'pure democrat'? (laughs) Of course I am, absolutely. The
problem is that I'm all alone---the only one of my kind in the whole
wide world. Just look at what's happening in North America, it's
simply awful---torture, homeless people, Guantanamo, people detained
without trial and investigation. Just look at what's happening in
Europe---harsh treatment of demonstrators, rubber bullets and tear
gas used first in one capital then in another, demonstrators killed
on the streets... I have no one to talk to since Mahatma Gandhi
died."



Well said, Vladimir.



&nbsp;

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Technorati Tags: Putin, Russia, current events, G8

Sacred Lifewalk 2007

A journey of a thousand miles

MOTHER EARTH IS CRYING

On the 07/07/07, Yungarri Knuppanunka Aunty Sue Charles Rankin,

Aboriginal Mother and Grandmother from the Kulin Nation,

(Melbourne, Australia)

in her fiftieth year

will set off from Kaurna Country (Adelaide, South Australia), to

walk a journey of 1,500 kilometers to Uluru

in Australia’s Northern Territory

to bring world-wide focus on

Mother Earth changes

and the continued deplorable treatment

and living conditions of

Aboriginal Peoples

in the homelands of her Ancestors.

<<:>> <<:>> <<:>>

Our people say if country is sick, people are sick. We have forgotten

that we are all connected,we no longer listen to our Mother Earth and

each other in a healthy manner.


In setting out upon this peaceful journey, my intention is to promote

awareness of and better our relationship with our Mother Earth and each

other. We, each of us, cannot continue on the course we are currently

on and just hope everything will be ok. My people have sought always to

maintain balance and its restoration through reciprocal relationships

with all things. This is expressed through our shared values, beliefs

and practices.



There must be a shift in attitude. We must become conscious of our

relationship with each other and our Mother Earth. We are all

connected.


Each of us is responsible. We cannot continue to close off our ears and

eyes to the continuing plight of my People and our Mother Earth. This

time of ignorance, greed and complacency must end.



I look forward to sitting down with people in communities along the

way,

to share our stories and to see how we can all work together to bring

about peaceful change for the betterment of all people and all life.

All life is sacred. I am walking this ancient earth as my Ancestors have

done from time immemorial. I walk it for all those who have brought us here

and for all those still to come.

ALL WELCOME

People who can make it to Adelaide are encouraged to come down to see

the walkers off and share a farewell BBQ Breakfast


DATE: Saturday the 07/07/07.

TIME: 6am Depart by 7am


WHERE: Tauondi Aboriginal Community College

11 Lipson Street Port

Adelaide South Australia



Alternatively, people can share art, music or words of support online

at:

www.peacepilgrimage.net/sacredlife or www.myspace.com/peacepilgrimage


<<:>> <<:>> <<:>>

It is of humble heart and spirit that I seek your elders consent to

pass through your homelands on our journey to Uluru. We hope to with your

consent to sit with the elders and community members in exchange of

sharing in our future visions together by running work shops as we go

through each community. We will send a copy of the media release as

well as sending a runner or PR person into each community ahead of us to

establish connection with the local elders and community members.

We will be needing the elders and communities assistance in where will

be the most appropriate camping place to stay while we establish

connection with your communities and to enable us to run the Work shops. It is

with much respect and appreciation for your support that I ask for your

guidance and consent to work and share in our visions,to which I

believe that we have a common thread and that is the sacredness of life itself

and the preservation of mother earth for our future generations to come. In

much repect and appreciation,



/Susan Charles Rankin

susanrankin7@bigpond.com

<<:>> <<:>> <<:>>

Why do I publish what APPEARS to be hard news ...?

I publish HARD NEWS because it is part of being able to stay healthy to recognize when something is NOT healthy.

These articles are NOT to kick sand in people's eyes, nor make them cry. Nor to build my reputation as a news breaker - although I DID publish one of the Scottish pictures to show, that yes, indeed, these flights exist. That was part of a proper "diagnosis" - part of the evidence. Would you go to a doctor who LIED to you about what you actually had ..? Well, we have governments who would rather mislead us then to own up to their part in installing FEAR and TERROR into people's hearts and minds.

I am not of the school where by all the ills can be "prayed away". I think prayer is one of humanity's most powerful tools, but to sit by and pray when you could actually rescue someone right in your vacinity, then you are complicit in the act of abuse. Do we need to write to CONgress people with all our complaints, or sit with placards day after day ..? Maybe. Maybe that's what it WILL take. I remember spending five years of life working to get a general strike against the US for its activities in Vietnam (said activities including the use of Agent Orange). Maybe our work back then did not good: I don't believe that for one minute myself. I think anyone out working to end any sort of abuse -- breaking the silence - is as HEALER.

No one has to choose to be a healer, and I am not going to condemn anyone who doesn't want to be one. It's a bit more treacherous to be one these days than it used to be! Certainly they keep better track of us AND they want to take away all the planetary healers' tools .. the internet, including internet radio, various vitamins and herbs and other healing "technologies" (will they ban yoga next?), privacy between healer and patient (surveillance, wiretaps, internet snooping) - the ways to stop free interchange of energy being employed is dazzlingly broad.

But freedom comes from within. It ain't something handed out with your birth certificate or your immigation landed papers. No paper can enshrine your rights to be a fully dimensional human being yet!

I find Canada's complicity in using depleted uraniuim and their willingness to go along with rendition flights APPALLLING. So I am going to post about it, post about it, post about it. This is my little way of resisting DISEASE and empire-building sickness.

No, I don't expect that others will do the same but those old words keep ringing in my ears .. First they came for the jews and I did nothing .. by the time they got to me it was TOO LATE. In my North American case, it's First Nations people who got it FIRST. Of late, it's the arabs who do not comply with putting OPEC first and supporting high oil prices who are getting the torture rooms. Putting empire soldiers in harm's way by making them accomplices is just pure evil in and of tiself.

But it can be any one and anything that stands in the way of completing plans for a planetary redistribution of resources who will be next in line for "serious repercussions". They don't agree amongst themselves as to HOW to accomplish this themselves -- hence they meet up as the Bilderbergers, or as the Council on Foreign Relations or as the Trilateral Commission or the G-8, or whatever. But they aren't meeting to discuss how to handle the planetary crisis or how to save lives or enhance the quality of life for john and jane public, that is for SURE. They don't agree - why would WE?

The amount of torture, terror and trouble on this planet is enough. It's more than enough. And outsourcing terror to make an end run against INTERNATIONAL authority is a nonstarter. Time to keep the information IN FULL SIGHT.

Blackwater-backed Torture Flights Caught in the UK

The most secret and powerful mercenary firm in America has
been bankrolling planes to fly terrorism suspects to secret prisons.

Blackwater USA, the nefarious sounding and behaving contracting company, whose reputation for treachery rivals Halburton's, has been linked to a plane being used to shuttle "terror suspects" to secret prisons in Poland and Romania. These "torture flights" have been roundly condemned by human rights groups.

The Blackwater connection has come to light because of a plane spotted
landing in the UK this past weekend. Inside the supposedly civilian plane were
four armed US security policemen.

The Daily Mail reports:

[This] disclosure follows damning findings by the Council of
Europe human rights organization, which accused Tony Blair on Friday of
colluding in a CIA operation to run secret prisons in Poland and Romania by
allowing the agency to use UK airport

The study was contradicted on the same day by a report from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), which concluded that there was no evidence to support the claims.

But the director of the human rights group Liberty revealed that
ACPO had admitted it restricted its inquiry to a review of media reports on
the issue.

She accused them of rushing out their 'cursory' findings as part
of a politically- motivated 'spin' operation.The US plane's arrival was also logged by Touchdown News, a group of enthusiasts who record the movements of military aircraft at RAF Mildenhall
and RAF Lakenheath.

The group said the plane used its civilian call sign when talking

to air traffic control and took off again early on the morning of Sunday June
3, flying east.

The Daily Mail also includes this graphic of the "ghost flight's" flight

path...

The plane was linked to Blackwater because of its registration number, which
had been placed on a list of flights to monitored by the European Parliament
committee. The plane is officially registered to two Blackwater subsidiaries.
Tracking technology has found that at least twice in the last year this
particular plane flew to Camp Peary, the U.S. naval reservation in Virginia
known as "The Farm". The Farm is believed to be a CIA training facility.

The Daily Mail reports further on Blackwater's reputation:

A recent book on Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill, an American author,
described the company as the world's "most secretive and powerful mercenary
firm", carrying out quasi-military operations on behalf of the U.S. government
in Iraq, Afghanistan and within the U.S.

It was founded in 1997 by Erik Prince, a former elite Navy Seal
and fundamentalist Christian millionaire who bankrolls far-Right
causes.

This newspaper first cast doubt on the Government's claim to have
no knowledge of the CIA's activities 18 months ago when we published pictures
of three planes at Scottish airports which had been linked by human rights
activists to rendition

Flight records showed the planes had been given landing rights by
the MoD, despite there being no record of passenger lists or details of the
purpose of the flights.

The Council of Europe dossier, compiled by Swiss senator Dick Marty, said the U.S. had used Britain's help to establish a "global spider's web" of jails and airports to pursue a war on terror without rules. It claimed the secret centres had been set up so it could use interrogation techniques amounting to torture which are illegal in theUS.

These include "waterboarding" - the dunking of blindfolded
suspects so they believe they are drowning - solitary confinement, shackling
in confined cells and exposure of naked captives to extremes of heat, cold and
noise. (not to mention the use of dogs - and many arabs believe dogs to be sick and don't want to be around them. Not to mention sexual abuse against teenagers, and we have evidence of this. Nor does this list the use of electrical probes ... Indefinitive sentencing and lack of filed charges are also TORTURE. Veege)

Stories such as these are a chilling reminder of one of the worst legacies of this war--the embrace of torture as a means to illicit intelligence. The Democratic Congress must be urged to investigate this matter as intensely as the British are and Erik Prince ought to hauled out in public to be made responsible for his involvement in torture.

In my opinion, the total acceptance of torture (there is no "embracing" it), has nothing to do wtih illliciting intelligence. The military community has LONG known, this is unreliable intelligence. They just work to keep the psychopaths in their employ happy, imho. Sad, but true. These are not just normal folks following orders, these are very very sick mercanies who become so as their psyches are sick .. sick as HELL.

Technorati Tags: Blackwater, rendtion flights, U.K., Canada

SEACOLOGY'S TOP 10 TIPS TO SAVE THE WORLD'S ISLANDS

BERKELEY, CA, June 12, 2007 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- With vacation time rapidly approaching, many people's thoughts turn to islands. Seacology, the world's premier non-profit organization with the sole purpose of preserving island environments and cultures, is pleased to provide our top 10 tips to enable travelers to enjoy islands while helping to preserve them.



Although islands conjure up images of pristine tropical paradises, they are actually among the world's most threatened ecosystems. In the last 400 years, over 50 per cent of all plant and animal species extinctions including an astonishing 90 per cent of all bird species extinctions have occurred on islands.



Seventy- two percent of all the plant and animal extinctions ever recorded in the U.S. have occurred in Hawaii, a state that makes up less than two-tenths of one per cent of the nation's land area.



In the last 400 years Lord Howe Island, a small island located in the Coral Sea between Australia and New Zealand, has had more bird species and subspecies extinctions than Africa, Asia and Europe combined.



Much has been written about global warming and climate change. Nowhere in the world will its consequences be felt more strongly than on islands, some of which will cease to exist if the seas continue to rise due to melting polar ice caps. The very isolation that until relatively recently protected island environments from encroachment now makes their ecosystems extremely vulnerable to damage from such outside threats as introduced species. The coral reefs and mangrove forests that surround most tropical islands are rapidly disappearing due to human interventions such as cyanide and dynamite fishing, sewage discharge, pesticide runoff, and dumping of waste from ocean liners.



Since 1999, Seacology has launched over 130 island-based projects, saving 1,741,062 acres of marine ecosystems and 98,507 acres of precious terrestrial habitat. Seacology projects provide a tangible benefit, such as an elementary school or a fresh water delivery system for island villagers, in exchange for the establishment of a marine or forest reserve.



You too can help save the world's islands! Seacology has compiled a list of the top 10 things you can do to protect islands and enjoy your island experience.



1. Spend your vacation at a true eco-resort. Many establishments claim to be environmentally friendly, yet confine their efforts to encouraging you to re-use your towel. If a resort is calling itself eco-friendly, ask why before making a reservation. Resorts such as the Jean Michel Cousteau Fiji Island Resort (www.fijiresort.com) and the accommodations at the Chumbe Island Coral Park (www.chumbeisland.com) provide a true, one-of-a-kind ecologically responsible vacation experience.



2. Take nothing but pictures. Do not collect shells or other wildlife as souvenirs of your trip. That shell you want to take might be the future home of a hermit crab.



3. Offset your carbon. Flying to an island releases large amounts of CO2 into the air. Compensate for the negative environmental impacts of your travel by contributing to Seacology's Carbon Neutral Fund (LINK HERE). Your dollars will assist Seacology's efforts to support tree planting and clean energy projects on islands throughout the world.



4. Cool off responsibly. Many tropical islands are cooled by trade winds. Shutting off the air conditioning will not only save energy, it will also allow you to hear the breeze passing through the palm trees and the chirping of the birds. If conditions are sweltering and you must use the air conditioning, turn it off when you leave your room!



5. Respect and appreciate the diversity of island cultures and languages. The devastation of island cultures is happening at an alarming rate. One island alone – Papua New Guinea – is home to over 800 languages, many of which are spoken by only a small number of tribal elders. Before you go, learn a little about the culture and language of the island you plan to visit. The smiles that greet you when you use the local language will be a nice added bonus.



6. Don't destroy underwater life. When scuba diving or snorkeling, do not touch anything. Coral reefs are very fragile and take a long time to grow. You will also save yourself from nasty stings and bites by adopting a no-touch policy.



7. Avoid disposable products. Waste disposal is a critical problem on many of the world's islands. Do not bring disposable products on your vacation.



8. See an island's hidden treasures and get closer to nature. Reduce your impact on an island's environment and atmosphere by engaging in eco-friendly activities instead of motorized ones such as jeep or helicopter tours. Kayaking, biking, hiking and sailing are great ways to see the beauty of island ecosystems. You will also meet a lot more people when you are out of your car.



9. Support local economies, save fossil fuel and discover new flavors by eating locally caught and produced foods. Not only that, but the local coconut dessert is a lot fresher than the packaged cupcake made months ago in a country thousands of miles away.



10. Help launch new projects to protect island environments and cultures by supporting Seacology. Seacology works directly with island villagers to create initiatives that both protect precious habitats, and improve quality of life. In the words of Dr. John McCosker of the California Academy of Sciences, "Dollar for dollar, pound for pound, Seacology gets more output than any conservation group that I've seen."



Learn more about Seacology by visiting our website www.seacology.org.



CONTACT:

Duane Silverstein

Executive Director

Tel: 510-559-3505

Email: duane@seacology.org

http://www.world-wire.com/news/0706120002.html



Technorati Tags: Seacology.com, island experience, fragile ecosystems

From Hiroshima to Iraq

61 years of uranium wars

http://www.globalr
esearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5949

This major paper by world renowned geoscientist Leuren Moret, based on the premise that uranium, such as depleted uranium weaponry, is used today for the purpose of depopulation, was published in parts in the printed Bay View from Dec. 27, 2006, through Feb. 14, 2007, and in full here at www.sfbayview.com. Once again, Moret has graciously allowed Bay View readers to be among the first to read her groundbreaking work. She can be reached at leurenmoret@yahoo.com
.

Technorati Tags: Depleted uranium, nuclear power, depopulation techniques, radiation, genocide

This is an "oldie but goodie" post about zyprexa; Must reading if you see Big Pharma as on of the side effects of empire building . Be sure to read the whole article by pushing the link. Simply horrifying.

One more time, fascism is the blending of government and Big Business, as defined by Mussolini himself ...

Eli Lilly, Zyprexa & the Bush family
The diseasing of our malaise



http://zmagsite.zmag.org/May2004/levine0504.html

More
than one journalist has uncovered corrupt connections
between the Bush Family, psychiatry, and Eli Lilly &
Company, the giant pharmaceutical corporation. While
previous Lillygates have been more colorful, Lilly’s
soaking state Medicaid programs with Zyprexa—its
blockbuster, antipsychotic drug—may pack the greatest
financial wallop. Worldwide in 2003, Zyprexa grossed
$4.28 billion, accounting for slightly more than one-third
of Lilly’s total sales. In the United States in
2003, Zyprexa grossed $2.63 billion, 70 percent of that
attributable to government agencies, mostly Medicaid.

Historically, the exposure of any single Lilly machination—though

sometimes disrupting it—has not weakened the Bush-psychiatry-Lilly
relationship. In the last decade, some of the more widely
reported Eli Lilly intrigues include:

• 
  Influencing the Homeland Security Act
  to protect itself from lawsuits
• 
  Accessing confidential patient records for a Prozac
  sample mailing
• 
  Rigging the Wesbecker Prozac-violence trial
  

A sample of those who have been on the Eli Lilly payroll includes

• 
  Former President George Herbert Walker Bush (one-time
  member of the Eli Lilly board of directors)
  
• 
  Former CEO of Enron, Ken Lay (one-time member of the
  Eli Lilly board of directors)
• 
  George W. Bush’s former director of Management
  and Budget, Mitch Daniels (a former Eli Lilly vice
  president)
• 
  George W. Bush’s Homeland Security Advisory Council
  member, Sidney Taurel (current CEO of Eli Lilly)
  
• 
  The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (a recipient
  of Eli Lilly funding)
  

In 2002, British and Japanese regulatory agencies warned
that Zyprexa may be linked to diabetes, but even after
the FDA issued a similar warning in 2003, Lilly’s
Zyprexa train was not derailed, as Zyprexa posted a
16 percent gain over 2002. The growth of Zyprexa has
become especially vital to Lilly because Prozac—Lilly’s
best-known product, which once annually grossed over
$2 billion—having lost its patent protection, continues
its rapid decline, down to $645.1 million in 2003.

Bruce
E. Levine, PhD, is a psychologist and author of Commonsense
Rebellion: Taking Back Your Life from Drugs,
Shrinks, Corporations and a World Gone Crazy
(New York-London: Continuum, 2003).

Captain Plastic on the Trail of Trash

The Satya Interview with Charles Moore

Ten years ago, after participating in a sailing competition, Captain Charles Moore took a shortcut through the Pacific Ocean on his way home from Australia and found himself sailing through a giant gyre full of plastic debris. Dubbed the “eastern garbage patch,” it is a swath of ocean where currents draw debris from around the world into a giant swirl of trash.

To raise awareness about the pollution of our oceans, Captain Charles Moore founded the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Long Beach, California. One of their primary projects is to create a baseline of data on the plastic content in the ocean to document the rate of change. Moore makes regular research trips through the North Pacific gyre and in 2002 was startled to discover a six-to-one plastic to plankton ratio in the eastern garbage patch: six pieces of plastic to every piece of zooplankton. This past November he was alarmed even more, finding that 600 miles outside the center of the garbage patch, ocean water samples contained a three-to-one plastic to plankton ratio.

It is hard to understand what the full effect the plasticization of the ocean has on marine life. Sea birds often mistake floating pieces of plastic for fish or eggs, and regurgitate this to their offspring as food. Baby Laysan albatross of Midway Atoll are literally starving to death. Their carcasses litter the beaches, stomachs bursting with plastic bottle caps, cigarette lighters and other recognizable plastic debris. Jellyfish, which thrive on plankton, ingest tiny bits of plastic along with their food.

Catherine Clyne caught up with Captain Charles Moore to learn about the plasticization of the oceans.

You’re noted for discovering what is known as the eastern garbage patch in the North Pacific gyre. What is the gyre and how does the trash get there?
[The gyre is] actually the largest surface feature on the planet, over millions of square miles—a continent the size of Africa would fit easily in that area. High pressure created by the warm atmosphere at the equator creates this huge mountain of air over the North Pacific Ocean. This mountain of air circulates, sort of brushing against the Asian and occidental coasts of the Pacific rim and creates a kind of toilet bowl effect, where garbage gradually circulates into the center. Since plastic is bioinert, it does not biodegrade. It lasts forever, breaking into smaller and smaller particles and gathers in the center of this gyre.

Obviously at some point, stuff migrating from the edge to the center [has been] just about everywhere in the whole [ocean]. We haven’t yet had a plastic-free sample from anywhere in the Pacific Ocean.

Anywhere in the Pacific, not including the garbage patch?
Yeah. As far away from the garbage patch as you can get, there is still plastic in the ocean. The plastic to plankton ratio is skyrocketing. I had the shock of my life this past November when I sailed 600 miles away from the center of the garbage patch and found levels as high as I’d encountered [in the garbage patch] six years before. There were floating toothbrushes, hardhats, toolboxes, big stuff we didn’t see outside the garbage patch before. Pollution is such that it goes up by a factor of ten every two or three years. At this rate we’re seeing the fouling of the ocean happening at an absolutely alarming rate—much faster than global warming—and the garbage patch is increasing in size.

Wow. How large is the garbage patch? I’ve heard people say it’s about twice the size of Texas. Is that accurate?
It’s expanding so quickly, the exact dimensions are totally unknown. To say how big it is—it’s already gotten bigger.

It’s also considered the largest garbage dump in the world. I’ve tried looking around online, can you see the garbage patch from satellite images?
No. See, most of this garbage is salt-shaker stuff, the breakdown of plastic products. When we trawl a net, we get a kaleidoscope of different colored little plastic particles, mostly whites and blues. We think the reds are taken by birds and fish because they look like shrimp. And inside the garbage patch we’ve found over six times as much plastic as plankton. While outside it’s over three times as much plastic as plankton. So if you’re a fish trying to choose whether something is food or not, you can easily be confused. Gelatinous plankton feeders are heavily impacted by this. Then they’re eaten by fish, birds and turtles and so it accumulates up the food chain. And [the plastic particles are not] just indigestible, they are also a sponge for toxics, so it’s like poison pills being ingested.

Animals ranging from jellyfish to humpback whales are eating this plastic plankton, right?
Yeah. Our research keeps looking smaller and smaller. It’s hard for us to analyze things we can’t see, but we know there are microscopic molecules of plastic that may be entering the food web and that’s quite alarming. Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer [founder of Beachcombers Alert] has proposed the thesis that all the food in the ocean contains plastic. That’s the alarming possibility.

Is there any research on how the plastic content in different creatures is affecting their longevity and reproduction?
Certainly we know a lot about the Laysan albatross on [Midway Atoll]. When you’ve got 200,000 chicks dying every year with stomachs full of plastic, we know that reproductive efficiency is going down.

How did sailing through the garbage patch the first time change your life?
I’ve always been a water person. I sort of call myself a marine mammal. I grew up swimming, diving, surfing, sailing, living across the street from the bay. I swam across the bay all the time. Then we started having beach closures and people hesitated going in the water. I stopped swimming in front of my own house. This bothered me, that my environment was deteriorating to the point where I couldn’t use it. It was like my birthright being taken away from me.

Also, my family was always interested in refuse. My dad used to row around the bay every day and made a proposal to the city to let him have the job retrieving debris. And when we’d go on vacations, we’d visit the dump and look at things people were throwing away. When I started seeing all this refuse in the ocean, it bothered me.

Before I even went through the garbage patch, I came up with the concept that trash has become the most common surface feature on the ocean. Going whale watching, you may see whales but you’re almost guaranteed to see trash.

Let’s talk a little about where all this plastic is coming from.
Well, we have a pretty good handle on where it’s coming from. We got a half a million dollar grant from the state of California to find out. We strung nets across the LA and San Gabriel rivers and collected the debris coming down and then codified them. Over the three days we sampled, we found 2.3 billion pieces of plastic. Of that, two billion pieces were less than five millimeters in diameter.

On the West Coast we have what’s called a “total maximum daily load” for trash in a couple of our rivers. The water board regulates trash and is requiring cities and municipalities to reduce trash 10 percent for 10 years and get down to zero. But only stuff caught by a five-millimeter screen is defined as trash and what’s able to pass through is not. We found that 87 percent of what’s going down the river and into the ocean is less than five millimeters in diameter. We are concerned that the stuff harming the food web is not even being regulated as trash.

Who is responsible for all this plastic?
While there’s a lot of fishing boats losing nets—ghost nets—and dumping from ships, that’s only about 20 percent of the problem. Humans on land are 80 percent of the problem.

How much of that 80 percent is industry and how much of that is, as your river study indicates, rained out municipal waste?
Ten percent is industry—236 million of those two billion particles were preproduction plastic pellets from the plastic industry, called “nurdles.” That’s reflective of what we see worldwide. A study of the remote beaches on the Hawaiian islands, where there’s no plastic processing going on and no raw material, found 10 percent of all of the fragments picked up by weight were plastic pellets.

So you’re saying of the 80 percent of plastic waste in the oceans that is coming from land, only 10 percent of that is industry and the rest is just household or municipal waste?
Yeah.

Wow… So, what can people do to change things?
A lot of things need to happen. Cars need to have disposal units in them because people dump all their fast food trash out the widow. People are living and consuming in their cars, and there’s no infrastructure to deal with it. This is reflected throughout society: we have no plan, there’s no end game for plastic trash. There’s no take-back infrastructure. Recycling is less than five percent. Ironically, we’ve created a throw away society and we’ve created a product that doesn’t break down to go along with it. Look at bottle caps: they are polypropylene, which we don’t recycle. That’s why so many birds are eating bottle caps, they really need to be attached to the bottle like the pop top had to be on aluminum cans.

You’ve said in interviews that you believe the way to create effective change is to stop plastics at their source, rather than after-the-fact beach cleanups. What sort of progress has been made at the source?
What really needs to be done is to kick-start a bottle bill for everything. Everything needs to have a value. If these recyclables we’re putting in our recycling bin are truly recyclable, they should have a value that translates back to the person giving that material to the recycling infrastructure.

Everyone realizes we’re near the end of the age of extraction. You know, the idea that we’re going to go to Mars and the moon to get our raw materials is crazy. So when we run out on Earth, we’re going to just plain run out. And if it’s all in a landfill, we’re going to start mining our landfills. In fact, being as stupid as we are as humans, we’re probably going to end up mining landfills rather than create a recycling infrastructure.

It seems most people become outraged by large oil spills, why aren’t they more aware of the larger plastic and trash problem?
The thing about an oil spill is it will biodegrade after a certain amount of time. It is made from plant material and it will turn back into plant material. Dr. Ebbesmeyer says, on a scale from one to ten, an oil spill is a two and a spill of plastic debris is a nine. So the danger is really reversed. But our species is programmed for immediate threats. We want to see what the saber-toothed tiger is doing lurking around the corner, we don’t want to know what a plastic bottle is doing 500 years from now.

To learn more about Captain Moore’s work and the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, visit www.algalita.org. For more on what you can do about the plastic problem, see www.plasticsareforever.org.

Greenpeace | Pacific trash vortex showing drift of ocean pollution.

scary animation showing just how so much plastic waste ends up in the middle of the pacific ocean, in a floating mass the size of texas.



read more | digg story

Our oceans are turning into plastic...are we?

A vast swath of the Pacific, twice the size of Texas, is full of a plastic stew that is entering the food chain. Scientists say these toxins are causing obesity, infertility...and worse.



read more | digg story

Hope is the doorway to belief, belief is the doorway to knowing, knowing is the doorway to creation, and creation is the doorway to experience.

Experience is the doorway to expression, expression is the doorway to becoming, becoming is the activity of all Life and the only function of God.

What you hope, you will eventually believe, what you believe, you will eventually know, what you know, you will eventually create, what you create, you will eventually experience, what you experience, you will eventually express, what you express, you will eventually become. This is the formula for all of life.

Home With God

Neale Donald Walsch

<<:>> <<:>> <<:>>

Below is an EXCELLENT example of EXCELLENT media criticism .. if only the writers were ALL this good, perhaps the planet COULD healer rather faster.

It's taken from Media Scout a "morning briefing of what's leading, what's buried and waht's falling between the cracks of Canada's top media www.maissonneuve.org/media scout.

Far too often the when investigating "controversial" topics -- such as teenage violence, which needs to be examined deeply and as a wound with a grief process attached for victims, families and the community -- reporters rush in with sociological analysis. Daniel Casey has a truly excellent focus on what's wrong with the media's rush to judgment.

A BLURRY PICTURE OF GUN VIOLENCE

by Daniel Casey

June 11, 2007Toronto seems to lose too many of its young men to gun violence,

but the reality of their lives and deaths is too often obscured by
incoherent reporting on these tragic episodes and their aftermath. The Star and CBC
Sunday Night lead while CTV News goes inside with the latest such sad event, this time in the
Rexdale section of northwestern Toronto where four men were shot on
Saturday afternoon. CTV News reports that among the few details released
by Toronto police yesterday were the names of the victims. While Jose
Hierro-Saez was killed, Paddy McFrinn, Moustaffa Omar and Matthew Dale
survived the sudden fusillade that came without warning from a silver
Mercedes SUV. Yet the media abhor an information vacuum, and the Star
seems determined to fill it with suspicion and surmise. After making the
rounds of the victims' houses and hospital rooms and failing to elicit
useful quotes from their shocked relatives and friends, the Star
determines that “the code of silence quickly fell about the
violence.” In the absence of any evidence that the shooting was
gang-related, the Star's Rosie DiManno decides to go after gangs anyway.
DiManno looks around Rexdale and unsurprisingly fails to find an obvious
explanation for the violence from what she can see: physical objects that
don't normally open fire on people, such as “schools, strip malls,
[a] community centre, and a clot of public housing.” She takes time,
however, to take swipes at the "clot" and its residents, handing out disses
to the neighbourhood itself (“mind-numbingly suburban”) and the
oft-cited "some parents" who must have “tragically failed to instil
proper values in their kids.”

As the Post notes, surveys show increasing public confidence in the police and justice
systems, and a decreasing (but still high) proportion of the population
that incorrectly believes that crime is on the rise. Yet as earlier deaths
come into perspective, new victims come into view. The news cycle
imperfectly matches the cycle of violence that it reports, and the result
is a fuzzy media picture of the causes and effects of gun violence, making
it all the more difficult to determine just what exactly is happening and
how to prevent it. In one example of this, CBC Sunday Night runs a single
story on its broadcast that is split into three separate items online. The
main event of the broadcast story was Sunday's antiviolence demonstration
through the rough north-end neighbourhood around Jane and Finch, with CBC
Sunday Night juxtaposing previous pro-gun comments from federal Public
Security minister Stockwell Day with images of mourning mothers on the
march. Downtown, the province announced an extra $5 million to police an upscale entertainment district, even as Toronto police chief Bill Blair cited a 40 percent decrease in the number of gun incidents in the city since 2005. Back at the city's northern
fringe, police identified the four young victims—the oldest merely 20 years old—of
Saturday's daylight shooting. Three separate events in three different
neighbourhoods, jostling for space within the same broadcast segment,
start blurring into one another. The victims would be better served by an
examination of their stories outside of the vague cloud of sadness and
confusion that surrounds these events; we can't even begin to think about
gun policy and gang violence unless the surrounding issues and media
responses come into better focus as well.

Technorati Tags: teenage violence, maissonneuve.org, mediascout, Toronto

The United States pays more than $90 billion annually for
hunger-related charities, illness, psychosocial dysfunction and lower
productivity.

On average, each person residing in the United States pays $300
annually to combat hunger -- on a household basis, it means that the
annual cost is closer to $800 each year, according to the study by
Sodexho Foundation and researchers affiliated with Harvard University
School of Public Health, Brandeis University and Loyola University.

The researchers also calculated that on a lifetime basis, each individual's bill for hunger in the nation is nearly $22,000.

The study found that the lion's share of the overall cost, $66.8
billion, resulted from illness associated with hunger, said Brandeis
health economist Donald Shepard, who led the economic analysis. These
illnesses included: iron deficiency, colds, depression and other causes.

"What was unusual about hunger was the wide range of problems
associated with it, which included not only the illness burden, but
also expenses on food pantries and other charities to mitigate the
problem, and lost productivity due to hunger's adverse impact on
learning," Shepard said in a statement.

PROFILE: Hubble telescope beloved by astronomers

Washington
- The Hubble space telescope, which has glimpsed billions of years back
in time to the early days of galaxies, got a new lease on life last
October when NASA decided to include a service mission in its hectic
schedule. NASA officials confirmed Friday the mission date would be
September 11, 2008.

The decision took 18 months and extensive study of safety issues, NASA
director Michael Griffin said at the time. His announcement triggered a
half a minute of applause from workers at the Godddard Space Centre in
Maryland that operates Hubble.

Without servicing, Hubble could lose its ability to take pictures of
galaxy formations and boiling star nebulae by next year, scientists
said. A repair mission slated for 2004 was cancelled under pressure for
the aging shuttles to return to flight and finish construction on the
International Space Station before the heavy- lifting aircraft are
retired in 2010.

The 2003 Columbia shuttle disaster made planning for a repair mission
even more difficult, as NASA has spent the past two years launching
test flights in its cautious return to space. The success of the test
flights confinced Griffin and NASA to add a Hubble repair flight to the
schedule.

The prospect that Hubble would die in space alarmed international
scientists and worried school teachers who use internet photographs
from outer space - quasars and black holes and galaxy formations - to
inspire their students. NASA investigated, then dropped, the idea of
sending a robot to do the repairs.

The Hubble mission will have to carry out at least four or five space
walks to service the telescope, and be prepared to make extra walks to
repair any damages to the shuttle that occurs on takeoff.

Missions to the space station are easier because ISS crew is on hand to
help inspect the shuttle. The ISS also offers up to three months refuge
for visiting crew in case of an emergency.

The Hubble, which orbits 580 kilometres above Earth, offers neither.
That means the shuttle would have to survive on its own for up to 25
days, with the second shuttle on stand-by at a separate launch pad for
a rescue mission.

After years in planning, the 1.55-billion-dollar space telescope was
released from a shuttle in 1990, only to find its vision blurred by
small error one-fiftieth of the width of a human hair in its lens. It
produced blurry images barely better than those seen through Earth's
cloudy atmosphere.

"Word came back that Hubble couldn't see and it needed the most
expensive contact lens in world history," recalled Senator Barbara
Mikulski, a powerful Democrat and one of NASA's biggest boosters.

After the repair, Hubble became one of the most scientifically
productive spacecraft ever launched, peering 2.2 billion light years
away into the Abell 1689 galaxy, recording the minus-270-degree-
celsius-background glow from the Big Bang and producing jaw-dropping
images of swirling clouds of space matter in oranges, greens, yellows,
reds - the Crab Nebula, the starburst Galaxy Messier 82.

NASA's decision to scrap the Hubble provoked protests in the scientific
community, especially after US President George W Bush decided to
divert NASA money into a 12-billion-dollar new moon programme over five
years.

The space community took little consolation that Hubble's replacement,
the James Webb Space Telescope, is slated for launch in 2013. That
would still have left them with a three or four year gap with no window
on the universe.

With the new mission, Hubble can last at least until 2013.


Technorati Tags: space, technology, Hubble telescope

Iraqis to U.S. Congress: Back off oil law

WASHINGTON, June 8 Iraqi union leaders met with a U.S. congressman they say is their biggest friend in Washington, urging a united front against Iraq's draft oil law.

Faleh Abood Umara, general secretary of the Iraq Federation of Oil Unions, and Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, president of the Electrical Utility Workers Union, called the proposed law a theft of Iraq's oil.

"We believe this is a new invasion of our economy and especially to take over our oil fields," Umara told Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, in a private meeting Thursday in the congressman ' s inner office, which UPI was allowed to attend. Kucinich is a presidential candidate and Congress ' most vocal war opponent. The law, which is stuck in negotiations, is feared by the unions as giving foreign oil companies too much access to Iraq's oil.

Umara was one of 10 union leaders for whom arrest warrants were issued earlier this week as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki responded to a strike of oil workers, who are demanding improved working conditions and a seat at the oil law negotiating table.

The unions began a strike Monday over the law, as well as working conditions, but the work stoppage has been temporarily halted as negotiations continue in Basra.



"Therefore we believe this is a very aggressive act to take over our resources," Umara said. "The oil law, in its current status, does not serve the Iraqi people." Umara said foreign companies were welcome to Iraq's oil sector, but warned it should be limited.

The unionists urged the United States, via Kucinich, to oppose the law. President Bush and the Democratic-led Congress have called on the Iraq parliament to pass the law soon, both in official speeches and as part of legislation funding the war through September.

"Mr. Kucinich, we see you as a friend of the Iraqi people and that is the general belief over there," Umara said. "We would hope that your government could put pressure on our government to not pass the oil law." Kucinich replied, "Unfortunately our government is putting pressure on your government to pass it." Ben Lando, UPI Energy Correspondent


Copyright 2007 by UPI

Technorati Tags: energy, environment, oil, Iraqi war, Kucinich

Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA):

Laying Foundation for North American Union

(reminder: The North American Union is a CORPORATION

Google it, see for yourself)

Global Research, June 9, 2007

The StarPhoenix - 2007-06-07



Most folks by now have heard about TILMA -- the corporate-friendly Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement between Alberta and British Columbia that came into effect this April Fool's Day.

Its mandate is to "harmonize" regulations and standards between the two provinces, removing so-called barriers to economic development. The Opposition currently is pressuring the Saskatchewan government to sign on, too.

Meanwhile, Agrivision's plans continue for a Smart Inland Port in Saskatchewan, where trucks and containers will be dispatched, loaded with our raw materials via Vancouver or Prince Rupert to factories in Asia that has plentiful and cheap labour.

They will also move on the NAFTA corridor that connects non-unionized ports in Mexico, through another inland port at Kansas City, to Winnipeg and other crossings, to deliver to Canadian stores finished goods from China and India. A similar scheme, ATLANTICA, is in progress, using ports at Montreal and Halifax.

The next step in the underground process of Canada's "deep integration" with the United States is another closed-door meeting of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), this time in August near Montreal.

Driven by the North American Competitiveness Council, an unelected group of CEOs from Wal-Mart, Lockheed Martin, Manulife Financial, Chevron and Suncor Energy to name just a few, SPP's job is to decide the future of Canada and to draft government policy towards the final step in NAFTA -- the North American Union. (Check out the superprofits being made by these corporate guys!!)

That's the ultimate goal for a seamless, borderless free-trade entity that joins Canada, Mexico and the U.S. in a common economic body, so that the aforementioned "stakeholders" continue to accumulate wealth. By using TILMA, they hope to "harmonize" provincial regulations and soften up Canadians before this final move.

Want to save Canada? Tell Premier Calvert to reject TILMA. (Also write your local press ...)


Elaine Hughes

Archerwill

---------------------------------

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Technorati Tags: NAU, TILMA, Secuirty Prosperity Agreement, union busting, globalization

Time to rethink the 2008 election

Programmed to elect the presidential candidate the average Murkan thinks is like THEM, this video will reveal why we must rethink this election. Let's get with it and this video makes a compelling case to not fall for the shenanigans.



read more | digg story

Time to rethink the 2008 election

Programmed to elect the presidential candidate the average Murkan thinks is like THEM, this video will reveal why we must rethink this election. Let's get with it and this video makes a compelling case to not fall for the shenanigans.



read more | digg story

If you think Bush is evil NOW ..

At last, a fairly sane view of the Bush Administration's plans to launch a nuclear attack on Iran in light of recent events. The finger is pointed squarely at Dick Cheney and the consequences for American esteem around the globe discussed by Paul Craig Roberts.



read more | digg story

This comes from www.paperjade.com

1000 cranes.jpg (JPEG Image, 1752x88 pixels) - Scaled (56%)

I am thinking about an idea .. this is very very powerful.

IT staff snoop on confidential user e-mails, study shows

Gary McKinnon, dubbed "the most profligate military hacker of all time" said: "The easiest way to infiltrate a company's network is to look for administrative passwords which are left blank, still have the manufacturer's default password or still have the manufacturer's default password or just use obvious names. And more ...



read more | digg story

Time capsule: What will be discussed at Bilderberg 2007?

Was in OpEd News ...

Left off this list is the nagging question of Canada,
which was also part of The Agenda.
Of that I am certain.
The coming war in Kurdistan begins to make
sense within the scenario envisaged here.
You decide if all us "conspiracy theorists" are totally WRONG.

Aside from the Iraq quagmire, energy problems continue to dominate Bilderberger discussions. Oil and natural gas are finite, non-renewable resources. That's because once used up it cannot be replenished. As the world turns, and as oil and natural gas supplies dwindle while demand soars dramatically, especially with Indian and Chinese booming economies who want all the trinkets and privileges of an American way of life, we, as the Planet, have crossed the midpoint of oil production and discovery. From now on, the only sure thing is that supply will continue to diminish and prices will continue to increase. In these conditions world conflict is a physical certainty. End of oil means end of world's financial system, something which has already been acknowledged by Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, two full time members of the Bilderberger inner circle. Goldman Sachs oil report, [another full time member of the Bilderberger elite] published on March 30, 2005 increased the oil price range for the year 2005-6 from $55-$80 per barrel to $55-$105. -- It' s reached $76 as of 17 July, due to hidden taxes to keep the war going! and OPEC on top. Unfortunately, the Russians love this price, too, so the planet is on a spiral to HELL It's now hit &90 here in October.)

During 2006 meeting, Bilderbergers have confirmed that their short range price estimate for oil for the 2007-08 continues to hover around US$105-150/barrel. No wonder Jose Barroso, President of the European Commission, announced several months ago during the unveiling of the new European energy policy that the time has come for a "post-industrial age." To bring the world into the post industrial age, you first need to destroy the world´s economic base and create another Great Depression. When people are poor, they don´t spend money, they don´t travel, and they don´t consume.

As the economic impact sinks in, and as the after effects of Peak Oil become evident in the face of breakdown of civilization, the United States will be forced to challenge Europe, Russia and China for the hegemony of control and the ever depleting hydrocarbon, non-renewable reserves most of which are contained in the Middle East. That will be point number two on the Bilderberg 2007 agenda.

Third item on the agenda is European relations with Russia not only in Europe but also in Central Asia. With Moscow making a deal with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan over the transport of gas to Europe, the US geo-strategic goal of driving a wedge between the Central Asian countries and Russia lies in shambles. While the US says this is "not good for Europe", the Europeans are divided. Iran, overnight has become America's last hope in the energy war. [Iffen it weren't for the Israelis, a strategic alliance between "the West" and Iran would have taken place. Makes much more "sense" for "them" ... V]

Iran war, after two years of huffing and puffing by the Bush government is definitely off the table. Furthermore, with France, Russia, Japan and China investing heavily in Iran, the world has drawn a line in the sand and the U.S. will be told at the conference not to cross it. There is blood in the water, and blood in the water usually leads to a good fight.

That notwithstanding, the United States needs to control the region, not only for its oil reserves but, most importantly to help it sustain world economic hegemony. Under this strategic design, regional states will be turned to weak domains of sectarian sheikhs with little or no sovereignty and, by implications, a pathetic agenda of their economic development. Regional chaos favours the spread of Islamic fundamentalism, which in turn reinforces the process of political and social disintegration supported by the Bilderbergers.

With Blair leaving, the UK will be told yet again, that they must, at all cost, do what is necessary to integrate the country into the European Community.

Finally, with Wolfowitz resigning from the World Bank, Bilderberg luminaries will try to come to a consensus on how best to overhaul not only the bank but its sister organization, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by a Spaniard, Rodrigo Rato. Wolfowitz became entangled in controversy seven weeks ago after World Bank whistleblowers leaked to the Washington-based non-governmental organization Government Accountability Project (GAP) documents that showed Wolfowitz pushing a high pay raise in a secondment deal to the US State Department for his girlfriend.

We, as a society, are at a crossroads. In almost every corner of the planet, stress points are beginning to fracture. The roads we take from here will determine the very future of humanity. It was former British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, who stated that "the world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes."

It is not up to God to bring us back from the "New Dark Age" planned for us. IT IS UP TO US. Whether we go into the next century as an electronic global police state or as free human beings depends on the action we take now. Forewarned is forearmed. We will never find the right answers if we don't ask the proper questions.

Kent Welton,

OligarchyUSA.com


TheCenterForBalance.org


From by Kent Welton
http://www.opednews.com

Author, Exec. Dir. The Center For Balance. Websites: PanditPress.com, OligarchyUSA.com, PublicCentralBank.com, EditorFreedom.com, FascismUSA.COM & more

Dennis Kucinich - misunderstood visionary ..?

I read the comments that follow the type of posts listed below and CRINGE.



The electorate in America has bought into the whole game, which is what the ruling elite wanted.&nbsp; Programmed votes they don't have to worry about.



Consider this link: from hotair.com.



then read the comments and then watch on DIGG who all the Ron Paul people constantly spam and create NON news items to get you to read the propoganda.



Too much is at stake these days.&nbsp; We need to keep re_MINDING ourselves not to turn into brain mush at this conjecture ... it's only going to get WORSE.

THE TIPPING POINT IS NOW

The NAU is about cheap labor and cheap resources to keep the oil cartel
going as LONG AS possible, and put into place what is now referred to
as StraussISM. The NeoCON label is a misnomer - it's all about the
Bushista StraussISM cronies. You know, the ones who have brought you war 24/7 since 9/11 2002.



See http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55830









IT's about continuing abuse AND keeping America empire building ad
infinitum. Those who champion it will be LONG gone before its devasting
effects are fully experienced.





Read Armed Madhouse by Greg Palast; it's not treason to do so - it was a NYT
bestseller and you won't look "foolish" reading it. Instead, in a
humorous (??!!) and delightfully frank way, Greg Palast will give you a
FRAMEWORK to base your observations.





Most of the comments I have read here, are Murkan. Where are the
Canadians ..? We could lead these people away from the abyss, that PAUL
MARTIN inked while in office. HE signed it and then ran for Prime
Minister in a big bait and switch .. saying America was a danger to
Canada, to stop the Calgary upstarts. But now the Straussites from the
West are well entrenched.





This is NOT an official body folks, the NAU is a corporation. Like what
corporations have already done to YOUR environment? The damage they
will do is exponential when the NAU takes affect. (Interesting side
note, ONY Indiana has filed suit against the highway fearing the
environmental damage it will do.)





I posted long and hard about the leak of CSIS documents about the
selling off of Canadian water rights and found very little uptake. This
is BIG NEWS. HUGE, in fact.



Reported on DIGG by me and also at
www.Canadians.org, www.eausecours.org.. Other news at
www.truthout.org/docrs_2006/042607G.shtml and
http//www.canadians.org/water/issues/policy/exports.html.





All this was followed up at http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=bd9c0d47-7d68-4965-bd3a-4530cd4fc6f6.





If the links don't work, don't blame me.





Date for the Ottawa Citizen Article is Friday, May 11, 2007, as on THAT
day, for the very first time in Canadian Parliamentary history, a
commitee head ended a parliamentary hearingf DESPITE the vote of its
members. Give a google on Leon Benoit, Tory MP and see what YOU get.





Who do you think should set a country's policy .. the voters or a
corporation. That's the bottom line. And are you gonna put up with a
government that tries to silence debate on these topics ..?





Why is Center for Strategic Studies writing our future .. NOT to be
confused with Canadian Security and Intelligence Services (also bearing
the CSIS acronym) and doing its damned best to win the turf wars with
the RCMP's intelligence unit. They are actively recruiting .. and
atempting to influence policy without being elected.





This follow up was to point up how "convenient" it is that Canada has
NO, and I mean NO, policy to deal with future exports, and has no
intention of getting one.





The world is at a TIPPING POINT .. (think Paris 1919)



The US is actively provoking in the
Gulf and the Straits of Homuz.&nbsp; This&nbsp; huge pile up (and Canada is there, too) and the constant roar of jets, is to ensure the world it knows that the US is a HUGE, unchallengable NAVAL power.&nbsp; Yup, we KNOW.&nbsp; We wonder if it is worth a nuclear holocaust to make that point, however.&nbsp; In this area, watch the RUSSKIS rush around trying to make alliances.&nbsp; They do not want their arses blown up into smithereens - or the economic dependence on OIL threatened.&nbsp; Putin must be very very busy these days figuring out .. WHAT TO DO ...?



The near and middle east news sources
are NOT available on line, so it is hard to gauge just what the
reaction there is. (Try to find the Kaabul Times, folks - even Wiki has
that wrong).



Canada goes to the G-8 with Prme Minister Harper on
tenderhooks. Why ..? he cannot RIG elections as does Jeb Bush can and
Harper will lose his western power base if the facts become known. He
must get trade concessions to take back to his power base in the West
of Canada. Eventually, the complete fabrication of extracting oil from
the oil sands -- and the inevitable social rot-- will expose itself.
Naomi Klein is "on" this, but I don't have the url handy. I have written
my comments about the inevitable collapse of western Canada on here already.



WATCH carefully, the Canadians wil be using a crowbar at the G8 .. the Conservatives (who nobody really trust) do NOT want to hand back Ottawa and need some breathing space to keep their western base.





And to close, Europe is pouring NEW GOLD into its reserves as a hedge against global economic collapse.&nbsp; If you are an individual investor this is GOOD.&nbsp; If you are dependent on the world to maintain your life style, this is BAD.&nbsp; Time to start honing your skills at doing without ...



And lastly, the US has a choke hold on the world and its various "faces" in other nations. The TURKS have about had it, which is WHY the Bilderbergs met there to discuss the invasion of Turkish airspace and how it makes the Turkish government "look bad" and they have a loss of "face".

The lack

of

diplomatic "initatives"



on the part of the US in the Middle and Near East

causes



a profound problem.&nbsp;

No way to show your electorate progress is being made in these "troublesome", problematic nations , at least for the crook$ and liar$.&nbsp; There are no smoke and mirrors to hide behind as things stand.





TIPPING POINT



No wonder the race is on by Henry K & associates .. They had better do something NOW, even if the populace is still too stoned, too lazy, too materialistic or must go to work to support a family -- or just plain doesn't speak English ... to keep on top of everything.



The NAU is NOT an extension of NAFTA, it is a global economic "weapon"
planned by the ELITE (which just met in Istanbul) planned for DECADES.







Technorati Tags: NAU, TIPPING POINT, G8, Henry Kissinger, Bilderbergs, Canada, Turkey, Greg Palast

North American union plan headed to Congress in fall

May 24, 2007 (excerpt)

WASHINGTON A powerful think tank chaired by former Sen. Sam Nunn and guided by trustee including Richard Armitage, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Harold Brown, William Cohen and Henry Kissinger, is in the final stages of preparing a report to the White House and U.S. Congress on the benefits of integrating the U.S., Mexico and Canada into one political, economic and security bloc.

The final report, published in English, Spanish and French, is scheduled for submission to all three governments by Sept. 30, according to the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

( http://www.csis. org/ )


Please read the article!

Then go to this website and see what is at stake.or check out www.KickThemAllOut.com

The above linked article has many links you need to read.


Technorati Tags: NAU, CSIS report, corporatization, US CONgess

Things any sane human wish to have ..

A grrrrrrrl can dream can't she ...

First of all, some introduction is necessary. In the time before Windows, all computers had a normal-sized reset button because, back then, computers required frequent resetting. And it was normal and nothing happened and it all worked well. You could even reset them with the famous “Ctrl+Alt+Del” key combo. Then came the Windows…and the rest is history. Excellent as Windows are (you do sense the irony in this, don’t you?), it is not a good practice to manually reset your computer “due to possible data loss“. I think that mainly because of that, you now get reset buttons sized as the ones on the PocketPC, that you have to push with a toothpick to activate. Both phoenixx and I used up all our toothpicks and realized that it was time for drastic measures! It looks like the more you spend on a computer case, the smaller the reset button is. See here:

The first reset button actually requires a toothpick, while the second one is nicely blended with the case so that you miss it with greater probability. Fortunately, Maddy McBlast has provided a solution for us:

Yes, it looks like a giant mushroom, but it’s not. We already tried eating it, so we know. It’s a button that is used in industry for stopping various machines and most important thing about it is that it can be activated in any direction. All you have to do is to hit it with something (like, a fist). Here’s another photo of it:

Connection is simple, and only two wires are necessary. Simply replace the original reset button on the case. We used three wires just because we could! No, seriously, the third wire is for future improvements (maybe for a LED?):

Looking at the pictures so far, you could have thought that we are just messing with you and that this button is even smaller than those pesky little reset buttons. So, just for you, we took a photo just for you…just for you…and you. What was I talking about? Oh yes, we took a photo just for you to see how it compares against other things:

So there you have it. No more will you need a toothpick or a pencil to reset your PC. No more will you be forced to use the Task Manager or the Start button to reset your PC. And you know what? Windows will even work better knowing that you have a huge reset button and that you could end their miserable virtual life in a second!

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1. I know it’s stating the obvious, but this would not be necessary with a Mac.



2. arcom Says:
   June 2nd, 2007 at 6:10 pm

   It’s called an “Emergency Stop Button” so try doing a search on that term. I’ve found a site that might be helpful: http://www.klockner.co.uk/emergency_stop.htm



3. arcom Says:
   June 2nd, 2007 at 6:34 pm

   You can think of what should we do with the third wire, lol

4. Just Asking Says:
   June 2nd, 2007 at 6:43 pm

   So it looks like http://www.moellerusa.net/ sells them. Look at their catalog, the button is Article # 229747. The price? $130…
   However, if you search for “emergency stop” on eBay there are dozens of similar buttons for considerably less.
   I don’t want to attach one on my computer, I’ll be too tempted to press it.
   Thanks for finding out what it’s purpose was and for that first website.



5. June 2nd, 2007 at 6:45 pm

   No problem! Glad to help
   

6. June 3rd, 2007 at 6:57 amLOVE IT! I’ve destroyed the nerves in three fingers since first “hitting” a computer in 1967. Most of the damage was done with the control, alt, delete madness, which seems to me designed to slow you down, just as the qwerty keyboard was meant to do. The design is totally ergonomically sound for those of us who want to feel our connection with frustration. It’s designed to LAST, just like that arcade that never goes away. You know the one; the heads pop up out of a frame and you bash them with a sledge hammer and another one or two pop up. Only this “gadget” is is actually MORE FUNctional.

It’s danceable, I can hum the tune, the hook remains in the mind, so I give it a 97. I deducted 3 points as you have to spend money on it even if you buy the parts on ebaby. Virginia