Friday, November 02, 2007
Excerpt from the intro to Naomi Wolf's 'The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot'
"...A breather is unearned; we can't simply relax now. The laws that drive these pressures are still on the books. The people who have a vested interest in a less open society may be in a moment of formal political regrouping; but their funds are just as massive as before, their strategic thinking unchanged, and their strategy now is to regroup so that next time their majority will be permanent.
All of us -- Republicans, Democrats, Independents, American citizens -- have little time to repeal the laws and roll back the forces that can bring about the end of the American system we have inherited from the Founders -- a system that has protected our freedom for over 200 years.
I have written this warning because our country -- the democracy our young patriots expect to inherit -- is in the process of being altered forever. History has a great deal to teach us about what is happening right now -- what has happened since 2001 and what could well unfold after the 2008 election. But fewer and fewer of us have read much about the history of the mid-twentieth century -- or about the ways the Founders set up our freedoms to save us from the kinds of tyranny they knew could emerge in the future. High school students, college students, recent graduates, activists from all walks of life, have a sense that something overwhelming has been going on. But they have lacked a primer to brief them on these themes and put the pieces together, so it is hard for them to know how urgent the situation is, let alone what they need to do.
Americans expect to have freedom around us just as we expect to have air to breathe, so we have only limited understanding of the furnaces of repression that the Founders knew intimately. Few of us spend much time thinking about how "the system" they put in place protects our liberties. We spend even less time, considering how dictators in the past have broken down democracies or quelled pro-democracy uprisings. We take our American liberty for granted the way we take our natural resources for granted, seeing both, rather casually, as being magically self-replenishing. We have not noticed how vulnerable either resource is until very late in the game, when systems start to falter. We have been slow to learn that liberty, like nature, demands a relationship with us in order for it to continue to sustain us..."
~ Link ~
airbase being prepped for Iran attack
"...The US is secretly upgrading special stealth bomber hangars on the British island protectorate of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, according to military sources.
The improvement of the B1 Spirit jet infrastructure coincides with an "urgent operational need" request for £44m to fit racks to the long-range aircraft.
That would allow them to carry experimental 15-ton Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bombs designed to smash underground bunkers buried as much as 200ft beneath the surface through reinforced concrete.
One MOP - known as Big Blu - has already been tested successfully at the US Air Force proving ground at White Sands in New Mexico. Tenders have now gone out for a production model to be ready for use in the next nine months..." ~ continue reading ~
Ancient sea travellers had heads in the clouds
told through folklore - that their ancestors were among the most
skilled navigators in history.
Archaeologists and historians have likened their ability to find new
islands in the vastness of the Pacific as akin to sending a rocket
into space and hoping it will hit a planet.
Dr Marshall Weisler, of the University of Queensland, said the journey
between Hawaii and Tahiti "now stands as the longest uninterrupted
maritime voyage in human prehistory".
He said it was "mind-boggling" how Polynesian settlers found their way
from one speck of land to another and back again, colonising the last
uninhabited parts of the planet.
They are believed to have used signs such as tides, the presence of
driftwood and the flight of seabirds, which return to roost on land at
night.
They also closely observed the underside of clouds, which reflect
whatever lies beneath them - a darker tinge indicates the presence of
land..."
of witches and broomsticks
" ... Without a doubt, it’s due to its high toxicity that Datura estramonium is generally ingested by people through their skin and through their mucous membranes. In some cases, the plant’s raw sap is used; in others, ointments are elaborated with this and other plants. It was this second system application which generated the old image of the witch flying on a broomstick: effectively the European women rubbed the stramonium-based potions that they brewed into their vaginal mucous membranes, using a stick for intravaginal application. Since the intoxication appears within a few moments, the women felt the sensation that they were flying while riding the stick.
On the other hand, the visions induced by the consumption of stramonium are more related to experiences of flying than other psychotropic substances. It produces an intense sensation that the intoxicated individual is flying in other dimensions of reality where he or she encounters new people and situations, but one especially gets the feeling of being able to know what is happening in faraway worlds. That’s why the Inquisition Tribunal often accused European witches of knowing of events that had happened far away from them, and that this could only be done with the help of the Devil—which was a good reason to burn them alive. Meanwhile, the witches claimed to have this knowledge thanks to the secrets of the potions that they used. ... "
~ Link ~
General Assembly urges observance of 'Olympic Truce' during Beijing Games
31 October 2007 – The United Nations General Assembly today urged all countries to observe the Olympic Truce during the 2008 Beijing Games – a move backed by its president, who advocated greater use of sport to promote peace and development.In a resolution adopted unanimously and sponsored by the vast majority of UN Member States, the Assembly also welcomed the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to galvanize actions to promote a culture of peace and harmony based on the spirit of the Olympic Truce, a revived ancient Greek tradition known as ekecheiria.
It called on all Member States to cooperate with the IOC in its efforts to use sport as an instrument to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation in areas of conflict during and beyond the Olympic Games period...
~ continue reading ~
"They handle viruses that could kill tens of millions of people"
UW-Madison's $12.5 million Institute for Influenza Viral Research, nearing completion at University Research Park, will have a collection of safety and security features the university hasn't seen before.Many people will be watching the work of the institute, to be directed by virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka.
The observers include health officials, who want a better understanding of the bird flu virus that is threatening a global flu epidemic. They include scientists, who are competing with Kawaoka to make discoveries about bird flu and other flu viruses.They also include critics, who have charged Kawaoka with circumventing safety rules.
Critics objected three years ago to Kawaoka's research at UW-Madison involving the deadly 1918 flu virus, saying his safety measures were not strict enough.This September, they revealed that the university halted his work on components of the Ebola virus last year after the National Institutes of Health said the studies must be done in a lab more secure than any on campus.
Without proper precautions, the critics say, such viruses can escape...
GM Freeze Welcomes Suspension of GM Crops in France
Sarkozy, that the commercial planting of GM crops in France has been
suspended.
The announcement was made at a national conference on the environment held
this week [1].
Previous refusals by French governments to approve commercial licenses for GM
herbicide tolerant oilseed rape allowed time for new evidence to emerge about
the long term harm the crop would cause to farmland wildlife [2].
Yesterday, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas announced his intention
to ban two GM maize varieties resistant to insect pest (Syngenta Bt11 maize
and Pioneers 1507 maize) because of concerns about the Bt toxins they produce
harming the non target species such as butterflies [3].
Commenting Pete Riley of GM Freeze said
"The French Government has clearly listened to concerns about the uncertainty
surrounding the health and environmental safety of GM crops and we warmly
welcome this announcement. It is another clear message to the biotech industry
that Europe will not accept poorly tested GMOs. The Sarkozy announcement
should kick start a debate on whether the GM intensive farming model is the
right way forward for agriculture in Europe and the rest of the world. Many
people now recognize that the long term care of the land, biodiversity and
natural resources and the production of high quality food is the way forward.
Let's hope Number 10 and Defra are also listening."
Notes
1. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7062577.stm
2. In 1997 the French Government refused to sign commercial marketing
consents for two GM oilseed rape varieties produced by Plant Genetics Systems
(since taken over and now part of Bayer CropScience) after a qualified vote in
favour in December 1996. The Farm Scale Evaluations in the UK (1999-2003)
found that GM herbicide tolerant spring and winter oilseed rape both
significantly reduced the amounts of weeds and weed seeds in arable fields
this reducing the supply of food for farmland birds and other species.
3. See http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRU00606620071025
