Five former Soviet states sign energy deal to bypass Russia

Vilnius - Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine - all once under Soviet control - signed a deal Wednesday an alternative route for energy supplies to Europe. They signed the agreement in Vilnius to construct the Odessa- Brody-Plock-Gdansk pipeline, connecting countries of the Black Sea with the Baltic Sea region.

Hailing it as "an historic event," Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus told journalists the agreement showed the unity of the entire region and paved way to self-determination and sovereignty.

The agreement creates a new consortium - known as Sarmatia - which will be responsible for the pipeline construction.

Sarmatia is an unofficial name of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, popularised in the 17th century.

Poland and Lithuania spearheaded the effort to sign the deal. The extended pipeline will offer Eastern European countries an alternative energy partner, said Polish President Lech Kaczynski.

Kaczynski said he expected the pipeline to open in 2011. Read on >>

Good advice for spinmeisters

From a post titled 'Damage Control That Causes More Damage' in the Neurosciencemarketing blog:

 

1. "efforts to negate incorrect statements can actually cause people to believe that the false statement is true" so a recommendation is made to "avoid repeating false facts whenever possible, because doing so - even in the context of correcting them" because that "may actually cause people to believe them".

 

Right. Therefore,

 

2. "the brain-oriented approach is to avoid describe false allegations whenever possible, and repeat your own message as often as you can".

 

Now if they can only teach George to pronounce the words correctly when delivering the message...

 

 

Washington irritated by French arms sale to Pakistan

The news last month that Pakistan is likely to get French air-to-air missiles (AAMs) and radar for its JF-17 fighter aircraft has raised some eyebrows in the US.

The reason is that MICA AAMs produced by MBDA and RC-400 multimission radar built by Thales may enrich China's rapidly growing military capabilities if sold to Pakistan, since Islamabad is developing its fighter plane jointly with Beijing. The JF-17 is a lightweight multi-role fighter co-developed by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation under a joint venture of China and Pakistan.

Thus, some observers say, the widely debated European Union arm systems ban against China may finally be circumvented, in such a way that it could damage US efforts to keep Beijing's air power at disadvantage vis-a-vis Taiwan. As some Indian and Pakistani sources have pointed out, French-built Mirage fighters owned by Taiwan are actually equipped with such missiles and radar. Read on >> 

Uncertainty blues for State Dept whistleblowers

"...But beyond illuminating Blackwater's conduct in Iraq, Waxman's investigation also raises questions about the rights of federal whistleblowers and about Congress' ability to protect them.

Most of the work Blackwater does in Iraq is contracted by the State Department, and typically, any inquiry into these events would fall to the department's inspector general, Howard Krongard.

But Waxman's committee has been investigating that very office, as well. Recently, seven people working for Krongard alleged that Krongard himself had, in Waxman's words, "interfered with ongoing investigations to protect the State Department and the White House from political embarrassment." Two of those whistleblowers—former Assistant Inspector General for Investigations John DeDona and his erstwhile deputy Ralph McNamara—resigned specifically because of Krongard's meddling.

How did Krongard respond? Allegedly by threatening to terminate anybody else who dared speak with congressional investigators. Two of his employees—special agents Ron Militana and Brian Rubendall—have agreed to speak out anyway.

According to Militana, Krongard's congressional liaison informed the duo that "the majority [Democrats] are not friends. The minority staff has been helpful...You have no protection against reprisal. You have no whistleblower protections. Howard could retaliate and you would have no recourse.

"Howard can fire you. It would affect your ability to get another job," the congressional liaison allegedly threatened.

Waxman, of course, was outraged by the threats and, in a September 28 letter to Krongard, he issued a warning of his own.

"I am appalled by these reports," Waxman wrote. "As an Inspector General, you hold a position of special trust within the federal government. Your office is supposed to be an example of how to protect whistleblowers, not an example of how to persecute them...You should be aware—and you should advise your staff—that Congress has passed civil and criminal prohibitions against threatening and tampering with witnesses, retaliating against whistleblowers, and providing false information to Congress."

But there's a catch. The prohibitions Waxman cites are enshrined in the so-called Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2007—a comprehensive bill prohibiting retaliation against government whistleblowers that he sponsored, and which the House has indeed passed. But thanks to Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) it is currently on hold in the Senate, in a form that President Bush has threatened to veto anyhow..."

Full article >> 

MungBeing

From Wikipedia article on MungBeing:

 

MungBeing is an online, bimonthly magazine containing artwork, short stories, interviews, articles, essays, music, recipes, poetry, comics, and interactive features. The subject matter leans heavily towards art and art criticism, with each issue featuring several galleries of visual artworks contributed by painters, illustrators and comic artists. The writers explore offbeat ideas and philosophies, and the magazine contains several first-person works of creative non-fiction or gonzo journalism.

 

The first issue was released on 4 April 2005. The magazine is a collaboration between musician/writer/artist Mark Givens (a member of the seminal lo-fi underground music group Wckr Spgt and the publisher/editor of the Salmon Bosch zine) and jody franklin, a multidisciplinary artist/writer and an award-winning filmmaker, member of Vancouver's July Fourth Toilet experimental music/performance troupe and co-publisher of The Misfit Library literary journal.

Upon release of the first issue, the publishers described MungBeing thusly:

"MungBeing aims to be a narrower, more focused Outsider Salon, a Low Art New Yorker (A Lorker), Juxtapoz's bookish third cousin, the sly Cubists to Pop Surrealism's witty Futurists, a poor substitute for sleep, the natural progression/extension of Salmon Bosch into the digital domain, and an outlet for some restless ideas. It exists to entertain, amuse, provoke, and evoke; it is meant to be contemplated, absorbed, savored and enjoyed. It is the cantaloupe pie of cyberzines, magalogs and webrags. Your friends will want a slice of the pie, too, so share it because there's enough to go around."

 

 

Neoconism

Definition by Ligali:

"Term used to define the extreme politically and economically actions of western European countries to maintain global control of resources under the guise of globalization, capitalism and the ‘free market’. Similar to nazism, neoconism uses the direct rule of privately run national corporations to maintain and enforce nationalistic socialism globally. Neoconism abuses and ruthlessly exploits historical advantages gained by the maintenance of vast economic inequality. Neocon’s rely on a disproportionate balance of economic, nuclear and military power to enforce their agenda. One successful strategy used to neutralise and pacify perceived and potential opponents is the use of overt and covert propaganda propagating the ideals of capitalism and democracy through social, cultural and political representatives. Comparing the German Nazi (National Socialist) programme points of 1920 with that of the 21st Century NeoCons, it is possible to see how Neocon's through the 2001- 2004 G W Bush Presidency used the US government and administration to work predominantly in the interests of big business."

 

Link

The truly alive and the plague-ridden

"...Those who are truly alive are kindly and unsuspecting in their human relationships and consequently endangered under present conditions. They assume that others think and act generously, kindly, and helpfully, in accordance with the laws of life. This natural attitude, fundamental to healthy children as well as to primitive man, inevitably represents a great danger in the struggle for a rational way of life as long as the emotional plague subsists, because the plague-ridden impute their own manner of thinking and acting to their fellow men. A kindly man believes that all men are kindly, while one infected with the plague believes that all men lie and cheat and are hungry for power. In such a situation the living are at an obvious disadvantage. When they give to the plague-ridden, they are sucked dry, then ridiculed or betrayed..."

 

- Wilhelm Reich in 'Listen, Little Man!'

Pravda: How bravely cowards wage war

From Part 1:

A popular movie catchphrase from the Blaxploitation era of the 1970s proclaimed: “The Mob wanted Harlem. They got SHAFT. ”

In today’s America there is a similar catchphrase: “The people voted for change in the last election. They got the SHAFT.”

This reality lends credence to the late Che Guevara’s theory that democracy is simply an illusion designed to quash the impetus for meaningful social change. As long as the masses are duped into believing that the electoral process is capable of replacing an unjust government with a just one, they will forever be oblivious to the fact that usually they are simply substituting one evil for another.

Unfortunately even the electoral frauds of 2000 and 2004, which cogently demonstrated how easily the “democratic” system could (and can) be corrupted by the rich and powerful, did not arouse enough Americans from their slumber. The result has been almost seven years of ineptness, mendacity, criminality and militarism orchestrated and endorsed by incompetents, hypocrites, cowards and liars, many of whom refused, and still refuse, to risk their lives in the wars they’ve instigated and supported..."

From Part 2:

"...Yet, while liars frequently thrive and proliferate in American society, those who speak the truth are often pilloried, and in some cases forced to apologize for their honesty. Thus the lies find the sunlight, while the truth remains mired in darkness.

This is why it was refreshing to discover that MoveOn.org chose to stand by its Petraeus ad. And who knows? Perhaps a few years down the road the myopic hypocrites in Congress, who can assess nothing except in terms of political gain, may be the ones condemned for failing to see the truth..."