Passionate Pinter's devastating assault on US foreign policy Shades of Beckett as ailing playwright delivers powerful Nobel lecture
Michael BillingtonThursday December 8, 2005







The Guardian

Harold Pinter delivering his Nobel lecture via video to the Swedish Academy in Stockholm. Photo: Janerik Henriksson/EPA

There was something oddly Beckettian about Harold Pinter's Nobel lecture, which was broadcast yesterday by More4, and which even now is blazing its way across the world's media. It was Beckettian in that Pinter sat in a wheelchair, with a rug over his knees and framed by an image of his younger self, delivering his sombre message: memories of Hamm in Beckett's Endgame came to mind. But if Pinter's frailty was occasionally visible, there was nothing ailing about his passionate and astonishing speech, which mixed moral vigour with forensic detail.


In fact, the speech was all the more powerful because it was delivered in a husky, throaty rasp. The facts are that Pinter, having recovered from cancer of the oesophagus, was earlier this year stricken by a condition in the mouth which affected his vocal chords. Then 10 days ago he was re-admitted to hospital with severe leg pains. But he briefly emerged on Sunday to record his Nobel speech, and the good news is that he should be back home early next week.

Although the speech obviously was a physical strain to deliver, it was impressively structured. It began with Pinter talking about his art - something he rarely does in public. In particular, he drew a clear distinction between the necessary ambivalence of art and the duty of the citizen to ask: "What is true? What is false?" Pinter even gave fascinating examples of the way in which his plays start with a line, a word or an image and then proceed on their journey into the unknown.

Warming to his theme, Pinter argued that while language is, for the dramatist, an ambiguous transaction, it is something that politicians distort for the sake of power. And, in making his point, Pinter deployed a variety of tactics: the charged pause, the tug at the glasses, the unremitting stare at the camera. I am told by Michael Kustow, who co-produced the lecture, that after a time he stopped giving Pinter any instructions. He simply allowed him to rely on his actor's instinct for knowing how to reinforce a line or heighten suspense.

Although the content of the speech was highly political, especially in its clinical dissection of post-war US foreign policy, it relied on Pinter's theatrical sense, in particular his ability to use irony, rhetoric and humour, to make its point. This was the speech of a man who knows what he wants to say but who also realises that the message is more effective if rabbinical fervour is combined with oratorical panache.

At one point, for instance, Pinter argued that "the United States supported and in many cases engendered every rightwing military dictatorship in the world after the end of the second world war". He then proceeded to reel off examples. But the clincher came when Pinter, with deadpan irony, said: "It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening, it wasn't happening. It didn't matter. It was of no interest." In a few sharp sentences, Pinter pinned down the willed indifference of the media to publicly recorded events. He also showed how language is devalued by the constant appeal of US presidents to "the American people". This was argument by devastating example. As Pinter repeated the lulling mantra, he proved his point that "The words "the American people" provide a truly voluptuous cushion of reassurance." Thus Pinter brilliantly used a rhetorical device to demolish political rhetoric.

But it was the black humour of the speech I liked best. At one point, Pinter offered himself as a speechwriter to President Bush - an offer unlikely, on this basis of this speech, to be quickly accepted. And Pinter proceeded to give us a parody of the Bush antithetical technique in which the good guys and the bad guys are thrown into stark contrast: "My God is good. Bin Laden's God is bad. His is a bad God. Saddam's God was bad except he didn't have one. He was a barbarian. We are not barbarians." Pinter's poker face as he delivered this only reinforced its satirical power.

One columnist predicted, before the event, that we were due for a Pinter rant. But this was not a rant in the sense of a bombastic declaration. This was a man delivering an attack on American foreign policy, and Britain's subscription to it, with a controlled anger and a deadly irony. And, paradoxically, it reminded us why Pinter is such a formidable dramatist. He used every weapon in his theatrical technique to reinforce his message. And, by the end, it was as if Pinter himself had been physically recharged by the moral duty to express his innermost feelings.
· Michael Billington is the Guardian's theatre critic08.12.2005:

Full text: Harold Pinter's Nobel lecture
Related articles16.10.2005:
Robert McCrum pays tribute to Harold Pinter14.10.2005:
Harold Pinter's surprise 75th birthday present14.10.2005:
Pinter on winning the Nobel prize14.10.2005:
David Hare: They got it right14.10.2005:
Michael Billington: Harold Pinter14.10.2005:
Leader: In praise of... Harold Pinter13.10.2005:
Nobel prize goes to Pinter13.10.2005:
What the Academy said of Pinter13.10.2005:
Previous Nobel literature prize winners01.03.2005:
Pinter bows out as playwright05.02.2005:
What it's like to work with Harold Pinter16.04.2003:
Pinter's The Dwarfs holds the key to his later plays04.10.2002:
Michael Billington on Pinter's contribution to cinema26.08.2002:
Pinter tells of illness and its aftermath02.02.2002:
Pinter back on stage despite cancer diagnosis30.06.2001:
Interview: Harold PinterGuardian Unlimited Books14.03.2002:
Harold Pinter's poem: Cancer Cells

Useful links
Haroldpinter.org
Wikipedia: Harold Pinter

It's not like this is going to be on the "liberal" news or anything. Here you go.

http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1661516,00.html

The storm that keeps killing

In post-Katrina New Orleans, despair is the enemy
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Chris Rose
She had a nice house in Old Metairie, a nice car, a great job, a good man who loved her and a wedding date in October. A good life.
He was from Atlanta and had moved here to be with her because she is a New Orleans girl and New Orleans girls never live anywhere else and even if they do, they always come back. That's just the way it is.
For the hurricane, they fled to Atlanta. His city. His people.
Meantime, her house was destroyed, her car was destroyed and within days, she was laid off from her job. And, of course, the wedding here in New Orleans was canceled. When all settled down, he wanted to stay in Atlanta. But she is a New Orleans girl and you know the rest. Equanimity courses through our blood as much as platelets and nitrogen -- it is part of our DNA -- so she was determined to return, rebuild, recover.
So they moved back here. A few weeks ago, they moved into my neighborhood. She arrived first. That afternoon, she came over and joined the group that sits on my stoop every night solving the world's problems. I introduced her around to the local gang and welcomed her back to the neighborhood; she had been a neighbor many years ago.
Like many Post-Katrina First Timers, she was a wreck on that first night. Didn't say much. Just sat there. Not the girl I used to know. But then, who is?
To add to her troubles that first night, her fiance, who was following her to New Orleans that morning in a rented truck, had gotten a flat tire outside of Mobile and was stranded on the side of the road.
She drove on because she had the pets in her car.
He called the rental company for help; it wasn't the kind of vehicle with a tire that just any John Doe can change. He called the trucking company all day. They kept telling him that they would be there within an hour and that's what he told her so she waited. We all waited.
By 8 p.m., he got fed up with the trucking company and called them and told them he had started the engine and was going to drive to New Orleans on the exposed tire rim.
And that's what he did, calling the trucking company every few minutes to give a new location. When she related this news to us, we all knew right then that we would like this guy.
Naturally, the trucking company showed up within minutes and changed the tire. He arrived late that night.
He met all the neighbors and they all knew the story of him driving on the rim and they all thought that was hilarious. And so their new life began on my block. They were one of us now, the survivors, the determined, the hopeful, the building blocks of the New City. Members of the tribe.
They settled in. I used to see them walking in the park and reading the paper on their front porch and occasionally they sat on my stoop, and life went on.
But I guess things were not going so well.
She was always pretty grim -- not the girl I used to know -- but he seemed jolly enough and we would talk in the 'Hey, how ya doin'?' kind of way. Turns out, he couldn't stand it here. And, truthfully, if you weren't from here, didn't have a history here, didn't have roux in your blood and a stake in it all: Would you want to be here? I wouldn't. But she is a New Orleans girl.
To hell with no house, no car, no job, no prospects. This is where she belonged. And her mama lives here. End of discussion.
He moved back to Atlanta. She stayed. He came back. Try again. Work it out. Whatever it takes. A few nights ago, they drank wine and in some sort of stupid Romeo and Juliet moment, decided that they would kill themselves because all hope was lost and living here amongst the garbage and the rot and the politics and the profound sense of failure was sucking the marrow out of their bones.
Not even love could overcome.
Here, in the smoking ruins of Pompeii, sometimes it's hard to see the light. She told friends later that she didn't really think they would do it. Said they got caught in the moment and let the bad stuff crawl all over their minds. The darkness can be so damn dark and they weren't thinking straight. But she didn't think they were really going to do it.
But he did. Right then, right there. So he's dead, and a family in Atlanta has lost a son, a brother, a friend. Another notch in Katrina's belt.
My stoop is empty these nights. None of us really knows what to say anymore. This is the next cycle. Suicide.
All the doctors, psychologists and mental health experts tell us the same thing: This is what happens next in a phenomenon like this. But has there ever been a phenomenon like this? Where are we now in our descent through Dante's nine circles of hell?
God help us.
The most open, joyous, free-wheeling, celebratory city in the country is broken, hurting, down on its knees. Failing. Begging for help.
Somebody turn this movie off; I don't want to watch it anymore.
I want a slow news day. I want a no news day.
A friend of mine who used to live here said on the phone from Philadelphia the other day: "I don't know how you guys can even get out of bed in the morning." Well, obviously, some of us don't. But we have to try. We have to fight this thing until there is no fight left. This cannot be the way we go out, by our own hands.
My neighbor is in a hospital in another part of the state now, learning how to deal. She talked to friends over the weekend and said she is not going to run away from this.
She is a New Orleans girl and this is where she is going to stay and try again. And again. And again.
She told her friends this weekend that she still has hope. I don't know what flavor of hope that she's got, or how she got it, but if she's got a taste of it in her mouth, then the rest of us can take a little spoonful and try to make it through another day, another week, another lifetime. It's the least we can do. . . . . . . .
Columnist Chris Rose can be reached at chris.rose@timespicayune.com,
or (504) 826-3309, or (504) 352-2535.
http://www.nola.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/living-5/1133851880209270.xml

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Under construction

More, obviously to follow!

Hi David,

Well it looks like I owe you an apology.

I went to your website and read some of the articles there,

and realized that you actually hold a number of similar views that I hold,

(concerning the U.S. government's lack of integrity),

the only difference being that I go much farther than you,

in that I fully believe that the government was a party to 911.

I will put out a disclaimer/retraction of my comments

concerning my earlier perception of the

Al Jazerra article, "American Hiroshima, the next 911?",

(where I posted them).

My apologies.

David's Dionsi's homepage is: http://www.americanhiroshima.info/

Check out his book "American Hiroshima" and

you'll see that he is

genuinely concened

for America's well being.

Steve

David,
I withhold apologies for the time being becuz I need you to understand that posted in my blog is quite a snippet about my own precarious political situation. I have good reason to feel afraid and "paranoid". I would have no way of knowing your sincerity and much reason to feel - ah - suspicious.

Steve Calkins has retracted his remarks about you. Can you see though why I might get paranoid about you just descending on my blog outta nowhere?

I try to keep no objectivity. As a "espiritual journalista", that's not my "baliwhack"!

The thing was -- all this came to light as the government is admittting messing with the Middle Eastern press.

All comments implicating the US in 9/11 are welcome! I've done more than my share of work on the topic, I think.

I worked in the on of the buildings at WTC, nights and weekends, for five years in the NY Attorney General's office as a "temp". I did a big NY vs. NJ pollution case ad naseum. You could feel the building sway and it whistled eerily as I worked mostly alone in a very vast office. I always wondered: When are these things going to come down? How? The answer was always: It's inevitable. Wait and see.

When the 'hit' came everyone was up in arms becuz I refused to get excited. Inscrutably, I would say "It is written." Became a CNN junkie to see the discrepancies.

Now, I get lots of mail regarding 9/11, terrorism on a regular basis. I think a big turning point for me was hearing that Mosad had received early warning and that people were phoned and told to stay at home! Lots of other weird information has come at me ... including from flight attendents from Canada who were in the air and saw the flight control panel's radar during the attack. I was told two planes just 'vanished' into thin air ...

If you are sincere, and I hope you are, I offer my hand to you, to end all this corruption, misinformation, lies, killing and suffering. All of it makes me miss sleeping soundly, as I am truly sensitive. It was the same during the Vietnam war era. The major difference being that then I was surrounded by others of like mind. Now, living in Canada, the culture to support my thinking isn't here. I rely on cyberpals to keep me fueled and writing.

Take the time to look at my blog and you shall see what happened to me. I opened my big mouth about Leonard Pelletier to the Head of the Senate Native Affairs committee. A year later, my husband was deported and I was run out of the country. The INS had a quota, there was nothing that could have stopped what happened. Things have been nightmarish pretty much all of the time ever since, despite my spiritual accumen.

I don't have big connections of any kind. But I will do anything to promote your book or website that you think will do any good. I could do a book review ...

Some days I wonder why nuclear confligration hasn't already happened, having been through the Cuban missile crisis in eighth grade. With the whackos now in power it's beyond miraculous that Cheney and Rove haven't come up with a plan that sets off a chain reaction. We lived with that fright during Vietnam, too. The fear they would use the Bomb (remember Goldwater, not a nice man) -- and then China would stomp the US.

All the necessary politics these days, throwing off millions of years of sludge, means you make mistakes all the time. I've been extremely stoopid this week. I'd rather be writing a nice little book about Sacred Geometry and Deep Ecology for 15-year old grrrlz. But it appears the Creator has different plans.

Just to get it over with -- where DID you go to school? Were you prepared for the life we are all now leading being busy with trying to persuade people in trance to WAKE UP! ??? It's so very sad ... and I purposely ignore all polls, except Al Jazeera's. LOL

Well, back to my email correspondence. It just changes all the time. My friends and I sort of destroyed the Fed Reserve over the weekend with research. Wonder what this week will bring.

Your admirer, (hate to admit it, but I am in awe you got this thing done)
Virginia
aka Lady Broadoak

postscript

Found the educational background.

Love the references to Helen Caldicott.

Forgot to tell you -- during the 8:11 portal, when I tuned into the Global mass meditation -- something weird occurred.

I made my commitment to help other human beings heal from the psychological damage all this violence, cognitive dissonance, PTSD and other extreme forms of stress to heal.

Then my "soul" told me it was my job to help dissemble, piece by piece, the nuclear silos and energy plants. They must be taken down the same way they went up. It is my feeling they may have to be taken down with real LOVE by some very committed people for them to never "grow" again in these spots. These horrors are reallly the acne of fear on the planet.

To a safe and BETTER future,
Virginia

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/051128_mystery_monday.html


Saturn Surprise: One Ring is Actually a Spiral By Robert Roy BrittSenior Science Writerposted: 28 November 20057:00 am ET
Ever since Voyager 1 returned detailed images of Saturn's F ring back in 1980, astronomers have struggled to understand its bizarre features.
The F ring, an outer thin wisp of icy material orbiting the giant planet, was discovered in 1979. It's been described as having clumps, strands and braids by various research groups.
An animation released in December showed the features, described as kinks, moving through time.
Turns out none of these descriptions was right, according to a new study using data and images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft and led by Sebastien Charnoz at the University of Paris.
"These strands, initially interpreted as concentric ring segments, are in fact connected and form a single one-arm trailing spiral winding at least three times around Saturn," Charnoz and colleagues write in the Nov. 25 issue of the journal Science.
The concept is best explained in an artist's conception.
Charnoz team made computer simulations to explore the spiral's origin. The new explanation raises more questions than it answers.
"The newly reported spiral is in a class by itself," says Mark Showalter, a SETI Institute researcher who wrote an analysis of the discovery for Science.
And it is changing rapidly. The spiral wound itself tighter between November 2004 and May 2005, the Cassini observations show. It will continue to tighten until the strands blend into a more uniform feature, Showalter said.
Prometheus and Pandora, near the F ring, have long been seen as playing a shepherding role, keeping ring particles together and tugging out the curious features. But their role is likely more disruptive than shepherding, Showalter now says.
Charnoz and colleagues say a recently discovered small moon catalogued as S/2004 S6 is involved. This moonlet -- or it may be just a tight clump of material -- can intersect the F ring at high speeds.
But none of these objects fully explains the F ring.
Showalter speculates that some other unknown large object may have collided with the F ring. The moonlet S/2004 S6 may be a leftover of that collision, he figures.
Saturn's rings were originally spotted by Galileo shortly after the invention of the telescope. The astronomer Domenico Cassini discovered the Cassini division in Saturn's rings in the 17th Century.
The ring system begins from the inside out in this order: D, C, B, A, F, G, E.
This article is part of SPACE.com's weekly Mystery Monday series.
Saturn's Rings Mystify
Scrutinizing Saturn: Astronomers Get Best Views Ever
Spirals in Nature: The Magical Number Behind Hurricanes and Galaxies
New Ring and Possible Moons Found at Saturn
Cassini Finds Mud in Saturn's Rings

http://www.slate.com/id/2131378/?nav=tap3

Zombies Attack George Bush
Joe Dante's brilliant anti-war horror show.
By Grady Hendrix
Posted Friday, Dec. 2, 2005, at 4:05 PM ET
Just when things looked like they couldn't get any worse for President Bush, here come the zombies to vote him out of office. They arrive courtesy of Joe Dante's Homecoming, a one-hour movie made for Showtime's "Masters of Horror" series that airs tonight and tomorrow and will be rebroadcast throughout December. One part satire of soulless Beltway insiders, one part gut-crunching horror flick, Homecoming kicks off when the flag-draped coffins of soldiers killed in Iraq burst open and the reanimated corpses of dead veterans hit the streets, searching for polling places where they can pull the lever for "anyone who will end this evil war."
For more, follow the link.

The 'wheels are coming off'

Read the whole article ..
Email this page Print this page
Posted: December 01, 2005
by: Editors Report / Indian Country Today

Incompetence and scandal shock the country

''Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.''

~Lord Acton (1834 - 1902), historian

When there is no balance, the people suffer. Such is it today that the five-year, one-party dominance of the United States has made the Republican hegemony nearly complete. But just when it seemed that such hegemony would necessarily translate into a policy lock-up by far-right fundamentalists, scandal, mendacity and corruption saturate the news.

The neo-conservative movement's recent achievement - gaining complete command of a super-powerful and largely united Republican Party - increasingly seems more a national problem which has begun to irritate American sensibilities.

Arrogance has been exposed in the sudden rise of oil prices that followed hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf Coast. *snip*

While its ultimate outcome remains to be seen, Americans are increasingly beginning to see Bush in an entirely new light: as incompetent, uncurious and, most damagingly, as dishonest. This is particularly stunning given the establishment of a domestic partisan propagandistic media and well-documented instances of media manipulation by the Bush administration. It is a world where even the acerbic populist radio talk show host Don Imus recently commented in his morning program: ''It feels like the wheels are coming off the car.'' *snip*

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All I want for Christmas

Who wouldn't?
Stonehenge Watch

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A classic timekeeping gadgetStonehenge is certainly surrounded by mystery concerning why it was built and by whom. Druids, aliens, Merlin, the devil - heck, we don't know - probably built by some ancient ancestors of modern geeks. You can now harness the power of the sun and the stones by using the Stonehenge Watch. Just position the watch using the accompanying high viscosity compass to tell local apparent time just as the builders of Stonehenge did thousands of years ago. Prove the accuracy of both The Stonehenge Watch and your mastery of its power by confirming your calculation of the time by reference to the analog watch that is set into the reverse side of the watchcase. The Stonehenge Watch allows you to predict the exact moment of the winter and summer solstices.
Pocket watch with chain
Scale replica of the major components of the 5,000 year-old megalithic monument
Analog watch on the reverse side of the watchcase
Includes: watch, chain, shadow casting gnomon, working compass and instructions

From "The Things Ya Gotta Love" Department

(no refunds, no cash back,

no saying, "No, it ain't true!")

Humor
Latest Linux security threat: Alien hackers
Saturday December 03, 2005 (05:51 AM GMT)
By: Robin 'Roblimo' Miller
We didn't hear about this danger from flying saucer nutcases but from the ultra-respectable British publication The Guardian, which says, "According to a scientific report, planet Earth's computers are wide open to a virus attack from Little Green Men." So far, there is no evidence whatsoever that Linux is immune to alien computer viruses. Could this threat bring the spread of Linux to a halt?

Can your network defenses stop a sophisticated attacker?
www.perimeterusa.com
We know Windows is unlikely to fall prey to alien computer intruders because a Forrester study showed that "Microsoft was the only vendor to have corrected 100% of the publicly known flaws during the study's time period" and "Windows has the fewest vulnerabilities and the fewest 'high severity' vulnerabilities of any platform measured."We know this information is reliable because it didn't come from some bunch of flaky Linux zealots but from Microsoft's own "Get the FUD" site.
What's more, an equally reliable source tells us that, over a year after the above report was released, Windows users have found "a 100 percent improvement in Microsoft's security in the past 12 months.
"Obviously, all those Windows vulnerabilities you read about are nothing but the ravings of demented free software communists. Or are they? Could this all be a disinformation campaign by aliens who plan to invade us?
We know that not everyone believes aliens are harmful; the folks at The Lightside certainly seem to think they're a force for good. But can The Lightside be trusted?
We did a "What's that site running?" query at Netcraft, and got an OS unknown response. This immediately makes us suspect that this site uses an alien OS and is part of an alien disinformation campaign. Or could it -- even more insidiously -- be part of a dis-disinformation campaign?
How advanced intelligences have corrupted Linux Obviously, beings that travel interstellar distances are way beyond us technologically. It is no great stretch to realize that they helped spawn the free software movement, which accepts code contributions from all life forms. It is also no great stretch to realize that these beings are so far ahead of us that their code contains hidden instructions that will shut down all our defenses when their invasion force is ready to strike.
Yes, I know: Linus Torvalds and the Apache inner circle and other heads of big-time free software projects check all code before it is accepted. You're forgetting that we are talking about incredibly advanced aliens whose mental powers dwarf those of even genius-level earthlings like Linus.
What looks to him like an innocuous device driver may in reality contain a code snippet which, when run in conjunction with another hidden code snippet in OpenOffice.org and one in XMMS, then activated by a coded message on an Apache-based Web site, may infiltrate the Pentagon's most secure computer networks and fire our entire nuclear arsenal at bogus targets.
Why proprietary software keeps you safe
Have you ever thought about submitting a great bit of code to Microsoft so they can include it in the next version of Windows? I haven't either, and even if I could program beyond the moron level I wouldn't. Windows and other Microsoft programs -- and virtually all propriety software -- is written by staff employees and a carefully-selected group of subcontractors, not by random strangers who toss stuff into online submissions bins.
Imagine a drooling alien covered with slimy green scales showing up at the personnel office in Redmond. That creature would be out the door (and in the hands of exobiologists) before you could say "Developers! Developers! Developers!"
If that same alien escaped from the scientists and returned home, you'd better believe that in his anger he'd load some sort of horrible computer virus onto his race's interplanetary radio communications so that the SETI Institute would pick it up and infect our world's computers.
As mentioned above, Windows is far too secure to be compromised by an alien. Not only that -- and this is the important part -- there is no way for that alien to hide code within Windows itself, while it could easily become a Linux kernel contributor and slip its nefarious Easter eggs into Linux.
Can you say with certainty that every contributor to every free or open source software project is an Earth human?
I don't think so!
Until you can, the surest way to defend your computer against alien invaders is -- obviously -- to stick with good old-fashioned proprietary software, which is what I will do as soon as I get smart enough to run Windows instead of simple, reliable Linux.

Merry Christmas from your friends in Canada ...

Trashy truth belies clean image
Dec. 5, 2005. 01:00 AM
CAROL GOAR
If we're lucky, none of the 10,000 delegates who are in Montreal for the United Nations Climate Change Conference will notice our dirty little habit.
If Paul Martin is lucky, no one will point out that there is a slight problem with his characterization of Canada as the "conscience of the world" on environmental issues.
If Trade Minister Jim Peterson is lucky, no one will make political hay out of his threat to launch a trade challenge if the United States closes its border to Toronto's garbage.
But sooner or later — probably sooner — our hypocrisy is going to catch up with us. Canada can't claim to be an environmental leader when its largest city dumps 3.5 million tonnes of trash in Michigan every year.
Ottawa can't flaunt its green credentials when it uses the letter of the law to force an unwilling neighbour to accept Toronto's garbage.
Last week, Peterson made it known that he has formally notified U.S. Trade Representative Robert Portman that Canada will take legal action if the American Congress approves legislation allowing Michigan to ban foreign trash.
This was not a surprise. The federal trade minister had already told both Toronto Mayor David Miller and Ontario Trucking Association president David Bradley that he would do whatever was necessary to hold the U.S. to the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Agreement. (Both pacts prohibit discrimination against clients or suppliers from other member states.)
But what was expected is now official. Ottawa is backing Toronto in its fight to keep the U.S. border open to its unwanted export.
No doubt this is a relief for Miller and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. The city and the province would be left scrambling if Michigan won the right to turn back truckloads of garbage.
Some Toronto residents are probably thankful, too. Dumping the city's trash in a neighbour's backyard — unsavoury as it may be — solves a messy problem.
But when a nation uses trade law to trump legitimate environmental concerns, it raises serious questions about its principles and priorities.
If we were on the receiving end of tonnes of American garbage, we would want our government to put the health and safety of Canadians ahead of commercial interests.
If the U.S. tried to use the North American Free Trade Agreement to defend its right to pollute our landscape, we would object bitterly.
By taking Toronto's side in this grubby dispute, Peterson is signalling that Canada's environmental ideals are dispensable, if they prove inconvenient.
This case is reminiscent of another NAFTA showdown — except that the roles are reversed.
In 1997, the Canadian government enacted a law banning the fuel additive MMT (methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl) on health grounds. Its American manufacturer, Ethyl Corp., challenged the legislation, claiming that Ottawa was violating NAFTA by expropriating its assets in this country.
Recognizing that the law was on the company's side, the government revoked the ban and paid $13 million in damages.
At the time, it seemed preposterous that trade rules could be used to force Canadians to use gasoline laced with an octane booster that posed a potential health risk.
Now the shoe is on the other foot.
Our government is proposing to use NAFTA to force Michigan residents to accept garbage shipments they do not want and their legislators regard as an environmental and health threat. We're the bad guys.
One could argue that Peterson is really not to blame. It is Toronto City Council that has failed to come up with a local solution to the garbage mess. It is the Ontario government that has shirked its responsibility to manage municipal waste.
All that is true. But Ottawa is enabling — even condoning — their pusillanimity by standing up for Canada's right to use Michigan as a dumping ground.
One could also argue that Toronto's trash exports are inconsequential compared to the greenhouse gases being discussed in Montreal this week. The planet's atmosphere isn't going to be materially harmed by 125 garbage trucks rumbling down Highway 401 every day.
That is true, too. But if Canada aspires to be a model of sustainable development, it can't afford to send mixed messages.
Peterson, or whoever succeeds him, has a reasonable chance of winning a NAFTA challenge against the frustrated citizens of Michigan.
But many Canadians would regard such a victory with shame.
Carol Goar's column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Poorer nations seek cash credits for saving trees
Dec. 5, 2005. 01:00 AM
PETER GORRIE
STAFF REPORTER
MONTREAL—In a move that signals a major shift in their thinking, developing countries at the conference on climate change are pushing a plan that would earn them credits for stopping deforestation — a source of nearly one-quarter of all man-made greenhouse gases.

The proposal is supported by Canada and most of the other 188 countries at the conference and is expected to be adopted this week, unless the United States objects.

The United Nations conference likely will agree only to begin talks about such a plan to curb widespread destruction of the tropical rainforests viewed by scientists as the Earth's lungs. Observers say even that would be a crucial step.

The forests are disappearing at a rate of nearly 14 million hectares a year.

"Tropical deforestation is ... one of the most critical environmental problems facing the world today, with serious long-term economic and social consequences," the Canadian International Development Agency says.

Often, trees are chopped down to open land for farming — frequently to graze cattle that produce meat for developed countries. But thin soils quickly become infertile once the tree cover is removed, so farmers must continually destroy more forest.

In poor countries, large numbers of trees are cut for fuel, and the market for wood products is expanding rapidly.

Plant life needs carbon dioxide to survive so the forests store vast amounts of the gas, preventing it from contributing to climate change. When they're cut and burned — the usual practice — not only is the carbon dioxide released, but also the trees aren't available to store more.

As well, deforestation is blamed for deadly flooding in Asia and Central America, and erosion. It also eliminates a potential source of medicines to treat human diseases.

Under the plan, introduced by Papua New Guinea and Costa Rica, countries would measure their forest and set a goal for how much would be retained. If they kept more, they would get credits that could be sold on the international emissions trading market being created through the Kyoto Protocol.

Credits could be worth hundreds of millions, or even billions of dollars, depending on how high the price of a tonne of carbon rises in the market, officials say.

"There is more pressure to cut forests in developing countries," said Paulo Manso, a Costa Rican delegate to the conference. The plan would at least start discussions on how they can address the problem, he said.

Developing countries have for years been pushing for credits for what is known as "avoided deforestation." These previous attempts foundered on the problem that, while one piece of forest might be saved, another might be cut down nearby.

The new plan would solve that issue by covering entire countries. Developing countries had resisted national schemes — fearing they would impose mandatory targets, which they insist only industrialized nations should face. The new plan would be purely voluntary.

Credits would have to raise enough money to make it financially worthwhile to preserve forests.
That's not likely to be a problem where they are being razed for farm crops or fuel, said a Canadian official, who cannot be named under restrictions imposed by the Elections Act. In East Africa, for example, peasants would be better off if they received only 2 cents a year for each tree they do not cut. Also, managed forest plots could be grown to provide fuel.

The United States — as with most issues at the conference — has indicated it might block the plan by restricting any future talks to narrow technical issues.

But a broad discussion can go ahead as long as the Americans don't say no, the Canadian official said. "Silence is consent."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/03/politics/03propaganda.html?th&emc=th
Picture below from the UK's Millenial collection of art and is of a forest fire.
To symbolize a media madness that's gone INSANE globallly.

December 3, 2005
Military Admits Planting News in Iraq
By ERIC SCHMITT
WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 - The military acknowledged Friday in a briefing for a ranking Senate Republican that news articles written by American troops had been placed as paid advertisements in the Iraqi news media and not always properly identified.
Senator John W. Warner of Virginia, who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters after receiving a 25-minute briefing from officials at the Pentagon that senior commanders in Iraq were trying to get to the bottom of a program that apparently also paid monthly stipends to friendly Iraqi journalists.
Mr. Warner said there had been no indications yet that the paid propaganda had been false. But he said that disclosures that an American company, under contract to the Pentagon, was making secret payments to plant articles with positive messages about the United States military mission could undermine the Bush administration's goals in Iraq and jeopardize Iraq's developing democratic institutions. "I remain gravely concerned about the situation," he said.
He said he had been told that the articles or advertisements were intended to counter disinformation in the Iraqi news media that was hurting the American military's efforts to stabilize the country.
Under the program, the Lincoln Group, a Washington-based public relations firm working in Iraq, was hired to translate articles written by American troops into Arabic and then, in many cases, give them to advertising agencies for placement in the Iraqi news media.
For more, click on the link above ... [and meanwhile perhaps we should google the Lincoln Group.]
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

1,000 Points of Fright

And the winner of the great "who will be the 1,000th US prisoner executed since the death penalty was re-legalized in 1977?" is...

A convicted murderer in North Carolina has been put to death, making him the 1,000th person executed in the US since 1977.

The Department of Corrections in North Carolina said 57-year-old Kenneth Lee Boyd died Friday at 2:15 a.m. from lethal injection.

A judge sentenced Boyd to death for killing his estranged wife and father-in-law in 1988.
Something about death row makes inmates into unintentional comics. When faced with his numerical honor, Boyd said "hate to be remembered" as a number--better that he be remembered as a scumbag double-murderer!

More here.

Quick aside before a more-serious point: Was Gary Gilmore the first guy to be executed in the modern period? And all you Norman Mailer fans out there, answer me this: Why did it take him like 1,000 pages to explore Gilmore's psyche while The Adverts were able to do the definitive evocation of the guy in their 3-minute masterpiece, "Gary Gilmore's Eyes"?

I'm against the death penalty. I have no sympathy for murderers like Boyd, or born-again pickaxe queen Karla Faye Tucker. At the same time, I don't think there's any question that innocent people are on death row (or, more accurately, people have been given death sentences for crimes they didn't commit), that the penalty is meted out unevenly, and more.

But the reason I'm against the death penalty is because I think the proper police function of government is to protect citizens from harm, in the least violent way possible. That can and should be done through life imprisonment, not state-sanctioned killing.

Way back in the late '90s--when I was doing time in the Death Penalty capitol of the U.S., Huntsville, Texas--I did a bit about the death penalty for NPR. Audio is online here.

Posted by Nick Gillespie at 11:54 AM Comments (138)

Images Showing an Opening at the North Pole
( Click on images for full view )

On this page are three images that were sent to the "Hollow Earth Mailing List" that is organized by Jan Lamprecht of South Africa.

These images show a picture of the planet Earth with a circular opening at the North Pole. The first two images show a picture of the globe. Note the circular opening at the top. The third image is a closeup of this opening.

At the end of this page, I have included portions of various e-mail sent to the mailing list to offer some clarifications about where these images came from. It appears they may have been taken by Apollo 16. In any case, they are quite clear and you must decide as to their authenticity.
Illinois

From: "Jan Lamprecht" {pbs@iafrica.com}
To: List@pipex.co.za
Date: Sat, 6 Jul 1996 02:48:57 +0200
Subject: Apollo 16 COLOUR photo of the Hollow Earth....
Reply-to: pbs@iafrica.com

Billy,
Firstly, a thousand apologies!!! I missed this e-mail last week!!! ... I've been sitting here with an AWESOME photo - thanks to Billy and Alexander.
(To the members of the Hollow Earth mailing list) .............

This is the moment you've been waiting for. It's incredible. I've put it on my ftp site as: EARTHB16.JPG

I don't have a good JPG viewer on there for you people. I used an old DOS one I have and the picture is AWESOME. See it for yourself.

I don't know how the hell Billy found it - but there it is, our first on-line colour picture of the Earth. Billy says it comes from Apollo 16.

{snip} ....

From: "Jan Lamprecht" {pbs@iafrica.com}
To: List@pipex.co.za
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 1996 00:57:17 +0200
Subject: Apollo 16 COLOUR photo & notes to all....
Reply-to: pbs@iafrica.com
hi Billy,
With reference to your question - you later sent me an e-mail saying you'd put it on my FTP site. I was NEVER able to get a photo from you successfully via e-mail. What I did get was the photo directly on FTP and it was great. I'll convert it to GIF format for the GIF viewer I handed out (if anyone's using it). I don't know how you guys managed to get it on my FTP site or what you did. Whatever you did buddy - DO IT AGAIN!!!! That photo has floored me.

Re: Disappearing Images.....

Billy, you're the Napoleon of the World Wide Web buddy - you (xxxing) got those photos directly from the Web!!!! Yeehaaaaa. But the fact that those Web sites shut down and the photos disappeared!!! Wow! Yes, Billy, I don't find your story unbelievable at all. The fact that one minute you're seeing photos and when you come back to download them they're GONE! Unbelievable - but those buggers are moving fast. Yet, I am still amazed that you managed to pull those photos directly off the net - that has floored me - totally. Absolute genius.
{snip} ....

We must SHARE everything we have as soon as humanly possible. Get it out on to the WWW, on to every Web site that wants those photos. We must also see what we can do with maps, data, etc. I feel that by SHARING, by spreading the stuff around - between people, across borders, etc that we can make their task literally impossible. At least then we've preserved the photos, etc. That way we can avert a "1984" scenario of "re-writing" the past.....
If we get past that obstacle, then the next one I see is one of discrediting our evidence/us/etc.
{snip} ....

Joshua,
Hi, great to hear from you! Oh YES!!! Most certainly take ANYTHING you want from my FTP site which you would like to use on your Web page. Any/all photos which you like or want to make use of - just take them - you've done so much for me already. This will help both of us. I want those photos on as many Web sites as we can manage.

I've seen some rather nasty Web pages saying nasty things about Hollow Earth theory - well, this ought to give them something to think about.

I would appreciate it if people could actually download copies of the photos from your WWW site - that way we can spread even more copies of the photos around. (If a person has Netscape, and you wish to make a copy of these images ... just click your right mouse button over the picture and when the menu pops up, select "Save Image").

From: "Jan Lamprecht" {pbs@iafrica.com}
To: List@pipex.co.za,
CIS.List@pipex.co.za,
List@pipex.co.za
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 1996 18:27:26 +0200
Subject: Billy's photos: Updates!
Reply-to: "pbs@iafrica.com" {UFO-1@pipex.co.za}
Hi Billy,
Just a quick note. I received your first aurora photo plus your scanned image of your postcard image. UNBELIEVABLE!!! The QUALITY of your images is excellent. I can't believe you managed to get that from a POST CARD!! Wow! I'm stunned.

To All;
I'm very impressed (and no one's harder to please than me!!) - I was looking at both Billy's colour photos and now I see answers to some questions. The blackness was merely an effect. The inside of the hole seems white. More important is this: BOTH photos show the ICE CAP clearly. The ICE CAP can been seen to be SMOOTH & SOLID. In EACH CASE, the hole lies on the EDGE of the ICE CAP. To me that already strongly hints at NORTH MAGNETIC POLE!!!
From: "Jan Lamprecht" {pbs@iafrica.com}
To: List@pipex.co.za
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 1996 23:35:06 +0200
Subject: Hollow Earth: Shape of the Northern entrance....
Reply-to: pbs@iafrica.com
Hi Billy,
I've quickly printed out your photos on a B&W printer. At some point I'd like to ask you for some nice copies from your wonderful printer - which I can then photocopy and send to George & a few others.... please. But first, let's look through all your images before we decide.
I've had an initial look, comparing the hole in your two photos. In spite of the totally different angles, each image seems to contain EXACTLY the same features inside the polar entrance. That's fascinating for me. I'd sort of expected the hole to be round - but it seems to deviate a little from that - not that I see it as a problem. I'm just curious as to WHY. The first thing is the "V" shape on the northern edge of the hole, where it meets with the Arctic ice pack. It's as if there's a huge accumulation of ice covering the northern rim and jutting inwards into it wouldn't you say?
The next thing is the somewhat irregular shape on the "eastern side" of the rim. The South and Western edges seem PERFECTLY CIRCULAR. Then there's the issue of the strange "whiteness" lying on the inside in the South-Western corner. Is it cloud? This whiteness, seems to be the only thing that varies between the two pictures - again, seeming to suggest cloud.
Looking at these pictures it seems as if the centre of the hole actually contains atmosphere? Or are we seeing light reflecting off of clouds inside the hole/tunnel? - perhaps that's more of a possibility.
It seems as though the hole is pretty well hidden by way of this whiteness inside it.
I've been thinking of having the segments of the actual polar entrance in both pictures actually blown up so that one can study it more closely.
I note that the USA is much much clearer in your colour photo. Finding reference points now is no issue. I think I even see Florida.
Greenland on the other one also stands out nicely.
If the Greenland photo is Apollo 16 - then which Apollo mission does your one come from? Apollo 8? 1967? I was under the impression that yours and mine come from the same mission perhaps?
I've printed out both photos - it's not so clear, but I'll get some tracing paper and trace out the outlines and sit down and make some Lamprechtian, rudimentary attempts at simple analysis to see if I could possibly determine, by measurement alone, the longditude & latitude. I expect some large errors, but it's better than nothing - until someone else makes a better attempt (nudge nudge, hint hint)....
to whomever can bring their skills to bear on this....
I'm also curious to see how the two conform/differ by such measurements alone...

Honestly.
Ahh nold, has had how many heart surgeries? Is "ruling" really THAT important to him? His office is closed some days due to massive mail-in and computer malfunctions from people begging for clemency.
The risk of inner city rioting is how high following the execution?
Another death sentence was handed out this week .. to accomplish, what?
When does a medievel practice become ... just that?
Isn't it time for some real "leadership" to turn America around?
Just what does the current electoral "process" promote?
I think any issue that ignites this many rhetorical questions, is probably
laden with intrinisic wrong ..
Virginia


Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2005 08:38:15 -0800 (PST)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051204/pl_nm/crime_execution_tookie_dc

Schwarzenegger clemency review has political risks
By Adam Tanner
= Sunday, December 4, 2005

San Francisco (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's
clemency review this week to determine whether to execute Crips gang
co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams could influence the governor's ability to
rebound from political setbacks.

Convicted of four brutal killings a quarter century ago, Williams has
generated a big public campaign calling for clemency because of his
anti-gang books aimed at inner-city youth.

The Republican governor will hear from prosecutors and defense
attorneys at the clemency hearing behind closed doors on Thursday. He will
only have a few days if he wants to halt the December 13 execution by
lethal injection at San Quentin prison north of San Francisco.

Some analysts say the former Hollywood action star risks further
alienating his party base if he grants clemency.

"There are already a number of people that have already said that
they are not going to vote for him, work for him," said Mike Spence,
president of the California Republican Assembly. "If he granted clemency,
based on the evidence that has been presented, it would be a disaster."

Weakened by a stinging loss on all his initiatives in a special
election he called last month, Schwarzenegger angered some in his party this
week by appointing an openly gay, longtime Democrat as his chief of
staff.

Republican fiscal conservatives have also expressed concern about his
interest in billions of dollars of new infrastructure bonds. Some
analysts say such concerns could prompt another Republican, such as state
Sen. Tom McClintock, to challenge Schwarzenegger in the June
gubernatorial primary.

McClintock told Reuters he does not intend to run and said politics
should not be considered in clemency reviews.

"Political issues should have no place in this discussion," he said.
"It's totally irrelevant."

APPEALING TO THE INNER CITY

Williams' supporters -- such as Barbara Becnel, who edited his
anti-gang books -- say Schwarzenegger could win over new voters by sparing
the inmate's life.

"I think the political results will be positive because he,
Schwarzenegger, will be seen as a hero in urban communities throughout the state
of California and throughout the nation for helping the leaders of
those communities to succeed ultimately with reducing youth gang violence,"
she said.

Williams' case is one of several that have drawn attention to U.S.
use of the death penalty, as the execution toll passed a milestone on
Friday of 1,000 since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstituted capital
punishment in 1976.

Schwarzenegger has seen his poll numbers fall sharply over the past
year and is running for reelection in November 2006 in a state where
Democrats are the largest party.

He has denied clemency to two death row inmates since coming to
office in 2003; one man was later spared by a court ruling.
In a rare twist, the former Mr. Olympia apparently met Williams --
when both men were avid bodybuilders in the Los Angeles area in the
1970s. During a recent interview, Williams smiled as he recounted how he
impressed Schwarzenegger when they met at Venice's Muscle Beach.

"I met Arnold in the gym on the boardwalk," he said. "He told some
woman 'Those aren't arms, they are thighs."'

The governor says he approaches each death row case with an open
mind, but he appeared to express sympathy when a radio host complained
Williams was still involved with prison gangs.

"First of all, I totally agree with you," Schwarzenegger told KOGO
radio on Thursday. "I have looked through the files and pages for hours,
and I have looked at his record in prison."

But "I want to have the open mind, sit down and then I make my
decision."

Schwarzenegger takes pride in unconventional decisions and even
supporters say that they are not sure what he will do.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051204/pl_nm/crime_execution_tookie_dc

(AP) A big tree still lies on St. Claude Avenue in the Ninth Ward neighborhood in New Orleans, Saturday,...Full Image

Documents Show Katrina's Political Storm
Dec 3, 7:48 PM (ET)
By CONNIE MABIN

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - As Hurricane Katrina roared ashore and began its assault on homes and lives across Louisiana, a political storm was brewing in the Louisiana governor's office and the White House, newly released documents show.
Memos, handwritten notes, e-mails and phone logs turned over late Friday to congressional committees investigating failures in the government's disaster response shed more light on what happened behind the scenes in the frantic days surrounding the Aug. 29 storm.
Katrina stranded thousands of people in homes, on rooftops and in the Superdome for days, flooded neighborhoods and killed over 1,000 people in Louisiana alone.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco and others blamed the federal government for a slow response. The White House said that the governor was slow to ask for troops and that state and local officials were unorganized and indecisive.
The 100,000 pages of documents that Blanco sent to Congress on Friday include a series of letters starting with one Blanco sent President Bush a day before the hurricane hit.
"I have determined that this incident will be of such severity and magnitude that effective response will be beyond the capabilities of the state and the affected local governments and that supplementary federal assistance will be necessary," Blanco wrote.
Three days after the storm, Blanco wrote Bush asking that the 256th Louisiana National Guard Brigade be sent home from Iraq to help. The governor also asked for more generators, medicine, health care workers and mortuaries.
Five days later, Bush assistant Maggie Grant e-mailed Blanco aide Paine Gowen to say that the White House did not receive the letter.
"We found it on the governor's Web site but we need 'an original,' for our staff secretary to formally process the requests she is making," Grant wrote. "We are on the job but appreciate your help with a technical request. Tnx!"
The stack of documents also includes a timeline put together by Blanco's staff detailing the state response; notes expressing frustration about missing items such as a communications center for police and rescuers promised by the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and e-mails working out logistics for New Orleans visits from Bush and cabinet members.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Saturday that she hadn't seen the documents.
"There are many reviews underway to look back and review how the events unfolded during that week and all levels of government have to take stock of what happened, act on that and make sure that it doesn't happen again," Perino said.
Other exchanges between the governor's staff and the White House show public relations was a priority for both administrations.
Grant, Bush's aide, e-mailed Gowen Sep. 13 asking if Blanco would be attending a Washington, D.C., service marking the president's "National Day of Prayer." If she didn't, Grant wrote, "We'd love to have someone like (Homeland Security) Secretary (Michael) Chertoff attend a service with her."
For the state's part, Blanco's chief of staff Andy Kopplin e-mailed employees Sept. 4 saying they needed to get national supporters to say "that the federal response was anemic" and asked them to point out budget cuts to levee programs.
While Blanco's office wanted to blame the federal government, the documents show that her staff didn't want it to appear as if the federal government was seizing state power.
When Bush visited New Orleans on Sept. 5 Blanco was initially supposed to visit evacuees in Houston, but Blanco spokeswoman Denise Bottcher didn't like the idea of Bush being in the state when the governor wasn't. "Reinforces the notion that she's not in charge and LA needs to be federalized," she e-mailed Kopplin.
Blanco's communication's director Bob Mann agreed, the documents show, and Blanco stayed to meet Bush.
The Democratic governor's staff also griped that Republicans were attacking Blanco.
"Rove is on the prowl," says one unexplained Sept. 3 message from Kopplin to Mann, a reference to Bush adviser Karl Rove. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20051204/D8E93PQ80.html

Published on Friday, December 2, 2005 by the Detroit Free Press
Cities Voice Opposition to War in IraqResolutions
part of trend, experts say
by John Yaukey

WASHINGTON -- Cities don't make foreign policy.
There's a lot of nervousness in those congressional hills.
Tom Andrews, national director of Win Without War and a former congressmanBut that hasn't stopped dozens of towns from Berkeley, Calif., to Chicago to Cambridge, Mass., from passing resolutions calling for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
The resolutions typically note the growing U.S. military death toll, now more than 2,100, as well as the financial burden, approaching a quarter-trillion dollars. The Chicago City Council calculated it could pay more than 31,000 teachers for a year with its annual share of the war cost.
It's part of what polls indicate and social observers say is a growing antiwar sentiment among Americans now exhausted from the war, if not philosophically against it.
"I follow the news, and it's painful," said Michigan resident Deborah Regal, a member of the antiwar group Military Families Speak Out and the mother of a Marine in Iraq. "It just grinds you down to the point where you're very conscious of every day that passes because you know what the troops are going through."
Keenly aware of this, President George W. Bush sought to shore up support for the war Wednesday by outlining a 35-page plan for stabilizing Iraq and eventually withdrawing U.S. troops.
"This will take time and patience," he said.
But the war is straining the endurance of even stalwart supporters of the invasion nearly three years ago. The antiwar movement got a major boost two weeks ago when Rep. John Murtha, a hawkish Democrat from Pennsylvania and a former Marine, called for a rapid U.S. troop pullout, claiming Iraq cannot be won militarily.
Former Marine Ken Rogers considers himself a patriot, and his views on the war now align with Murtha's.
"Our guys are going over there and getting their butts shot off, for what?" the 40-year-old Tennessean said. "We have overstayed our welcome in Iraq."
Iraq is approaching critically important Dec. 15 parliamentary elections. If the elections fail to unite Iraqis and the country appears to be slipping into civil war, the call for a withdrawal could further intensify.
Movement, message
It's difficult to know how large the antiwar movement is because much of it is only loosely connected through umbrella organizations. One of them, United for Justice with Peace, lists hundreds of affiliate groups on its Web site, www.justicewithpeace.org.
The American Friends Service Committee, which is affiliated with the Quaker Church, has organized people in 611 communities across the country as part of its "Not one more death. Not one more dollar" campaign.
This fall, the antiwar groups MoveOn.org and True Majority helped organize more than 1,300 antiwar vigils in all 50 states.
The peace movement is also active in Iraq, as evidenced by the recent capture of four Western activists, including an American.
Tom Andrews, national director of Win Without War and a former congressman, said with congressional elections looming next year, the resonance of the antiwar message is more important than the size of the movement.
"There's a lot of nervousness in those congressional hills," Andrews said. "So what matters for us now is what the American public thinks and what the people" on Capitol Hill think.
Sensing growing unrest over the war, more than 70 House members have formed an Out of Iraq caucus calling for troop withdrawals but establishing no timeline. Senators overwhelmingly passed a resolution recently calling for 2006 to be a year of "significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty."
Polls show lawmakers have plenty to be concerned about. More than half of respondents in a recent USA TODAY-CNN-Gallup Poll want U.S. troops out of Iraq in the next 12 months.
In 1970, roughly half of those surveyed wanted to withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam within 12 months.
Copyright © 2005 Detroit Free Press Inc.

The New Moon in the outgoing fire sign of Sagittarius is like an arrow shot into the future. But a hard square from erratic Uranus to the New Moon this month makes this an especially explosive event ... It's an excellent time to burn off karma and let go of old habits.

How do you "burn off" karma? The process begins with understanding and wisdom.

As it is the New Moon tomorrow, does anyone have any ritual ideas?
There are lots of rituals - the best being the one you make up yourself. An example, I write my intentions for the year on a piece of paper at new years- then around midnight or maybe a bit before.. I can go outside and said hello to the moon and the stars and light my list and watch it burn - sending it out into the ether and the Universe. Anything you can do outside, if you sit somewhere quiet or special to you.. and maybe lite a candle.. I usually lite a candle before bedtime and ask my angels and guides of light to come and be with me.. There's a couple of ideas there. Some people use Doreen Virtue's Goddess Cards and like them.
I like doing a special I Ching casting.

I am wondering, what do others do?

EECHING AT NO MOON

eeching2004@yahoo.com

Siyo!

LOOKING FOR CHANGES
I saw a cat with a machine in his brain
The man who fed him said he didn't feel any pain
I'd like to see that man take out the machine
And stick it in his own brain
Do you know what I mean?

I saw a rabbit with its eyes full of tears
Well after all they have been doing it for years
Why don't we make them pay for every last eye
That couldn't cry its own tears
Do you know what I mean?

When I tell you that we'll all be looking for changes
Changes in the way we treat our fellow creatures
And we will learn how to grow
Learn how to grow!

When I tell you that we'll all be looking for changes
Changes in the way we treat our fellow creatures
And we will learn how to grow, yeah
When we're looking for changes

I saw a monkey that was learning to choke
A guy beside him gave him cigarettes to smoke
And every time that monkey started to cough
The bastard laughed his head off!
Do you know what I mean?

When I tell you that we'll all be looking for changes
Changes in the way we treat our fellow creatures
And we will learn how to grow
When we're looking for changes
We're looking for changes
We're looking for changes
We're looking for changes in the way we are.
~ The Beatles

A Message from my “sponsor”

lots of it is just words words words…people behind the words is what it should be about. But the net can do that to people…they get so dang prolific with their beliefs…and connect on a few sentences…)whateva…) and then when someone has a differing stance—or even god forbid a strong voice that is doing something…yikes. Right?

I don’t know why women would want to read fiction over truth…maybe they are only seventeen or something….eh?

It is the new moon…after all. Just show who you are…that is all I can say. People will be people where ever you go. If they are not in a group somewhere…they are at the local coffee shop…or the water cooler…talking about the same dang thing. And you said yourself…you hang with a different crowd…right?

To look at it as a weeding out vs. a judgment thing…like the stones that are in your circle…medicine stones that have been placed…that is who you are. There is no going back. Too bad so sad they don’t get it…maybe they will next time around…or they will hear something again in a different way and they will think…oh yea…V. said that…Other part is…Cassie sue…(lol…and then some)…words that come from one like you are strong…really strong. Incite people…lightening…remember? Lightening doesn’t stop to smell the roses all the time…not saying you don’t belong in one place for long…just that you are here to speak. And you are. And part of the ramification (price …) to pay…) is what happens.
love you too…you are just up against a lot of hogwash. Lol…k?


LET IT BE
When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
YeahThere will be an answer, let it be.

And when the night is cloudy,
There is still a light that shines on me,
Shine on until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be,
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. :::>><<:::>><<:::>><<:::>><<:::>><<:::>><<:::>><<:::::::::
THE HEART OF THE MATTER
:::>><<:::>><<:::>><<:::>><<:::>><<:::>><<:::>><<:::::::::
I have such a stake in how this cyber circle comes to gather.
The stones are placed in such a way that there can be no
Another let down.
No “Yet another betrayal.”
Why do I react so personally? Because it is personal.
If you work this hard at being understood,
especially when You are a Cassandra it is no easy task.
You are both participant and “facilitator” wearing two hatz.
The crowns of Queen Bitch and Princess Boohoo
Set down forever by the fireside to melt.
What you don’t want is to be “mother”,
even though it is Inevitable. Mother Earth is to do this.
A motherless daughter, now matter how well trained,
No matter how Self Under-standing IS
Always
All Wayz
Walking the gauntlet,
and gauntlets weren’t the
Specialty of the House
you grew up!
in.
No Woman has yet improved on the junction
Love thy Neighbor as Thy Self.
Simply put: I am Another Yourself
Mitayaki Oyasin.
When you call me softly with Siyo!
I always come.
Call me Mother, Sister, Daughter, Loved One,
But don’t call me “Lady”.
An outdated tag from another life.
A life of patriarchy and repression.
And don’t call me Late for Dinner, either
.:::>><<:::>><<:::>><<:::>><<:::>><<:::>><<:::>><<:::>><<:::>>

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When anyone, anywhere reaches out for help, I want the hand of Earthlings Anonymous to always be there. And for that, I AM Responsible. I AM your humble servant. You are part of the ONE. As I love the ONE I love you.

Think virtue. Teach virtue. Live virtue.

Lightheartedness Assertiveness Faithfulness Kindness Respect Caring Flexibility LOVE Responsibility Cleanliness Forgiveness Reverence Compassion Friendliness Awake!ening Mercy Self-discipline Confidence Generosity Moderation Service Consideration Gentleness Modesty Steadfastness Courage Helpfulness Obedience Tact Courtesy Honesty Orderliness Thankfulness Creativity Honor Patience Tolerance Detachment Humility PEACEfulness Trust EnLIGHTenment Determination Idealism Prayerfulness Attentiveness Trustworthiness Enthusiasm Joyfulness Purposefulness Truthfulness Excellence Justice Reliability Unity StewardshipThe Killing Must Stop Save our Mother Earth Consume less and share more Take some time for an earth walk today

New sloganz: Surf's UP! Ride the waves! Live a myth or make a myth. Coincidence ... or SYNCHRONICITY??!! Can you hear the BUZZ?
________________________________________
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
Visit the home page of www.group.yahoo.com/group/earthlings_anonymous on the web.
For membership information please contact ladybroadoak@gmail.com
Should you wish to join, you must provide us with an email from your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
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Hi, I watched this last night. Even ate popcorn for the 45 minutes. I'll spoil it by telling you The Ending. A former CIA operative, a woman, says: "It's not even good for our country ... It certainly is not good for the world."

I was married to a CIA operative when he was 'recruited' in 1985. They were interested in me as well. Although I wasn't "secretary" in Washington material, they were interested in me thinking up things they could put on jets homeward bound after dropping off gunz in South America. You know, make a bit of money on the side and give them cover. Nice vacations, good clothes, a flush bank account, a cozy life for my newborn son. But I didn't like these guys. They think they are philosopher/poet/statesmen, above everyone else. The women I especially didn't "like". They were mostly former stewardesses, marrying their status Gods. Girls from oil families. What was I, a commie and former LSDer, going to talk to these ladies ABOUT? I knew what they REALLY did and had a conscience.

On the movie you find out what happened to these four people before, during and after coming out. I got divorced, black listed from working for five years. I now live in exile in Canada. One agent in the movies goes through a list of all the countries he was deported from after he left. In my case, Interpol has me made out to be a very big drug dealer.

I think this movie does a great job. But a few more minutes to describe other types of individuals recruited and other types of OPs would have been nice. They work, obviously, as journalists. They are also charities executives, managers of international Planned Parenthood organizations, Art history profs who are very white, very elitist and can go from one country to another with impunity.

This movie is SO timely. It seems Bush and the CIA have been at odds for a long time. They even wrote him a letter, signing all their names!, chastising him for allowing Valerie Plame to be outed and not taking the initiative to find our ALL parties involved himself, rather than to leave it to Patrick Fitzgerald. The CIA -- unlike the poor, the veterans, the disabled, the elderly, the homeless who just got screwed by Congress -- still has vast resources at its command. They run companies, loaded with the secret information the American taxpayer has paid for.

I think this movie is Civics 101, only. It may enlighten some for the first time. But there are still more revelations to be made. Still more of the dysfunctional mentality that allows it and the School for the Americas to exist. More of the connections to other organizations such as the Tavistock Clinic and the Red Cross to be made apparent. More on the deep dark methods of controlling foreign populations let out to the light. The payola, blackmail/bribery/ co-optation is only hinted at. But this is a start. You are watching The Mutant Patriachy's last gasping breaths.

I think the time has come to watch this and then pass it on. Really worth forty minutes of your time.
Virginia
www.ladybroadoak.blogspot.com
We are all ONE. As I love the ONE I love you.

As I always say, The KILLING Must Stop! The torture must stop!

Former CIA Agents Reveal Secrets of CIA in Free Google Documentary
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 4:48 AM
Subject: Former CIA Agents Reveal Secrets of CIA in Free Google Documentary

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This message is available on the Internet at http://www.WantToKnow.info/051130ciasecrets
"The CIA is a state-sponsored terrorists association. You don't look at people as human beings. They are nothing but pieces on the chessboard." -- Verne Lyon, former CIA agent in documentary "Secrets of the CIA"

Dear friends,

"Secrets of the CIA" is a fascinating 45-minute Turner Home Entertainment documentary made available for free viewing by Google at the link below. Five former CIA agents describe how their initial pride and enthusiasm at serving their nation turned to anguish and remorse, as they realized that they were actually subverting democracy and killing innocent civilians all in the name "national security" and promoting foreign policy agendas.

A Notre Dame football star, an aerospace engineering senior at Iowa State, a pretty high school graduate, an Olympic shooting champion, and a young patriot all were recruited by the CIA at a young age. These five brave individuals risk retaliation in revealing the story of their gradual disillusionment and finally defection from the CIA, as they eventually became convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were serving neither democracy, nor the people of their country.
The shooting champion describes being put in charge of overthrowing the democratically elected government of Guatemala. The patriot relates his deep remorse for his direct responsibility in the deaths of numerous innocent people for which he can never make amends. The pretty high school graduate describes how her initial addiction to power and intrigue turned to disgust and horror. This powerful documentary is a rare and remarkable look at the results of unbridled secrecy and the lengths to which government will go to achieve questionable foreign policy goals.
With best wishes,Fred Burks for the WantToKnow.info TeamFormer language interpreter for Presidents Bush and Clinton
P.S. You can also order this documentary at amazon.com.
Secrets of the CIA is available for free viewing at:http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8085945499556832271&q=cia
Note: For some deeply inspiring stories to provide balance this disturbing information:http://www.WantToKnow.info/coverupnews#inspiration
See our archive of cover-up news articles at http://www.WantToKnow.info/coverupnews
Your donations, however large or small, help greatly to support this important work. To make a secure donation: http://order.kagi.com/cgi-bin/store.cgi?storeID=6CYJA
Explore these empowering websites coordinated by website founder Fred Burks:http://www.momentoflove.org - Every person in the world has a hearthttp://www.WantToKnow.info - Reliable, verifiable information on major cover-ups http://www.gcforall.org - Building a Global Community for Allhttp://www.weboflove.org - Strengthening the Web of Love that interconnects us allTogether, we are building a better world based on love and cooperation

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