APPEAL PLANNED IN OREGON SEXUAL HARASSMENT CASE RULING AGAINST From The Wilderness

FORMER OREGON ASSISTANT DA OFFERS PRO BONO HELP

by

Michael C. Ruppert

-- “I've skimmed through the BOLI decision but I have not begun any additional research yet. The Final Order reeks of bias against you, and I am completely stunned by the amount of the emotional damages award, particularly given the "facts" of the case and the short amount of time (the complainant) worked for you. The Order's "findings" regarding the credibility of witnesses is one of the most cherry-picked interpretations of testimony that I've ever seen. It reads like the "facts" in the Order were "found" (or rather, chosen) to provide the rationale for a pre-determined decision against you.” – Wesley Miller, Oregon Attorney; former Assistant District Attorney, Coos County Oregon.

Sept. 30, 2009 – Now that State Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian has admitted to personally issuing a grossly misleading and biased press release regarding the sexual harassment case in Medford, Oregon, the momentum is starting to shift. This, even as Oregon’s State Labor Commissioner is personally still releasing inaccurate, biased and malicious information about me. It is my personal opinion (and fairly obvious I think) that all of these actions by Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) are intended to hurt and weaken public response to – and interest in – the critically acclaimed documentary by Bluemark Films, “Collapse”. CoLLapse has just received widespread and overwhelming critical praise after screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival from media such as Variety and Entertainment Weekly.

A distribution deal for the film has not yet been announced by the film’s director Chris Smith. Any and all questions regarding the film’s status should be directed to Bluemark. I’m biting my nails over that like everyone else is.

My attorney in the case, Lee Werdell of Medford, is currently in Europe on vacation and incommunicado. He will not return until Oct 12th, just 4 days before the clock to file an appeal runs out. We don’t know if that will be enough time for him to prepare.

Oregon attorney Wesley Miller, a former Assistant D.A. in Coos County has offered his services pro bono to meet the appeals deadline until Werdell returns and can evaluate recent developments. Of course this will take money that I don’t have and the first task will likely be to obtain a transcript of the actual hearing which will give the lie to Mr. Avakian’s highly prejudicial, improper and continuing admittedly inaccurate and personal public pronouncements. And since when does a state’s top labor official take such a personal interest in one case?

This is going to cost money. I estimate a minimum of $4,000 will be needed to secure the transcripts and file with the Oregon State Court of Appeals before anything else can happen. The key issue right now is to meet the 30-day appeal window - which we will do - immediately followed by the ordering of the transcript - for which we are in need of help.

As all of you know, I’m personally on the edge financially because I have spent the last eight months fighting this case and doing my share for the film. I have been receiving some incredible aid from some of you who have been supporters of me and the work of all the great people at FTW for years. So, I think what is needed now is the establishment of a legal defense fund.

What is happening in Oregon is a horrible miscarriage of justice and the Oregon ruling is a house of cards that can and will be easily pulled down and exposed for the political persecution it is if we can fund it. I will repeat that this is not about me. It is about the message of Peak Oil and sustainability contained in the film “CoLLapse”. The reviews show that this film reaches people like we have never been able to reach people before. This is the Peak Oil/Sustainability movement’s last shot at breaking through into public consciousness and our movement taking its rightful and well-earned seat at the table of public opinion.

I would like to add that now is the time for Peak Oil/Sustainability groups to step up publicly and back both me and the message of CoLLapse. I have taken public lumps for the movement for years and have – thanks to Chris Smith’s skills – delivered a message that cannot be ignored. You have read the reviews and if you haven’t you need to. I tell you again that I did nothing wrong in Oregon, and – even if I had – listen to the advice of the film critic who said (paraphrasing) that it’s not important to debate the man. It is life-and-death important for all of us to hear and debate the message he so eloquently delivered in the film.

If you care about our movement, and grasp the urgency, then it’s time to step up and say so. Because there is no doubt that it is our ability to make people want to see the film that is on trial here and that means that our message is on trial. The deterioration of the economic situation and the reality of Peak Oil make it clear that we may never have another chance.

For the time being any donations for the legal defense fund can be mailed to:

Mike Ruppert
c/o Rubiconworks
10736 Jefferson Blvd., PMB 618
Culver City, CA 90230

Make checks payable to me because we haven’t set up a fund yet and need to be able to cash them right away.

I can’t say thank you enough times or with enough feeling to get across how I feel about those of you who have rallied one more time to my (our) defense in support of the lives we hope to save.

If there are any lawyers or accountants out there with experience in legal defense funds, I need help. I don't know the first thing about this. I don't know if it needs to be set up in California, Oregon or what? I don't know what legal paperwork is required or how long it takes to set up accounts and get checks. If anyone with experience wants to get help out please email Jenna at jennakilt@aol.com and be sure to include your contact information.


MCR

OREGON LABOR COMMISSIONER PERSONALLY APOLOGIZES FOR MISLEADING PRESS RELEASE

Sept. 29, 2009 --

At around 11:30 AM today I received the following email from reporter Sanne Specht at the Medford Oregon, Mail-Tribune:

"Hi Mike,

The BOLI Commissioner just this morning returned my call(s). You were right. The judgement is against your (defunct?) biz. They cannot collect from you - unless you return to Oregon and start another biz etc. "

Avakian apologized for the misleading press release and for not being clearer in his comments regarding your specific case."

Gee, what was it Mark Twain said, "A lie is halfway around the world before the truth even gets its shoes on." Or... as Neil Young said, "Oh, oh the damage done." All I can say is if Avakian blew that part -- at a time when Bluemark was trying to sell CoLLapse to dsitributors -- what else did he get wrong? And to what purpose? I kind of agree with Chris Smith that there's no reason to think Avakian's foot-in-mouth, personally-delivered, widely distributed press release impacted CoLLapse's future -- too much. -- And when is anyone going to get that FTW is not an ongoing business under any name or function???? -- I am a singer/songwriter now. If you want to attack me now, attack my music, which I hope to have you all hearing soon.

While the original press release was blasted all over and hyped by the Oregon State Labor Cimmissioner personally, the "correction" will only be buried someplace in the back pages and the wires won't see it. The hateful bloggers won't admit it. But I think the Medford Mail Tribune will be publishing a follow-up soon; maybe tomorrow. Let's see if it gets the same placement or travels the internet as fast as the first one did. It doesn't matter.

It's about the message of sustainability and it never was about me.

MCR

Trade of the Decade: Body Parts

From Jenna Orkin:

Economy/Collapse
Crunch victims sell their kidneys to pay debts
FT’s Martin Wolf: We could be headed for a “worldwide inflation”
Is Pent-Up Inflation From Fed Printing Waiting On Deck?
Daniel Amerman vs. Mish: Reflections on the Great Inflation/Deflation Debate
Iran dumps US dollar for euro (from Rice Farmer)
Dollar slips broadly after G20 draft statement
Spain tips into depression
Bank of England Calls Crisis Meeting
Barack Obama rebuffs Gordon Brown as 'special relationship' sinks to new low
English asked to show passports in Scotland
Web Bot Project Predicts 2012 Apocalypse
Gulf Single Currency Should Be Phased
Exhaustion of Unemployment Benefits Hits New Record
A $4 Billion Bailout for the Post Office?
Refusal to Take Swine Flu Vaccine Reason To Be Detained in Hospital
Credit Card Defaults Set a New Record
Water main break floods Baltimore suburb (from Rice Farmer)
Two more L.A. water mains burst overnight, bringing more questions (from Rice Farmer)
"The blowouts underscore the fact that the city's aging water system, which has 7,200 miles of pipe and moves 600 million gallons of water a day, needs an upgrade, officials said."
Storm Sewer Dwellers of Las Vegas
Rare earths are vital, and China owns them all (from Rice Farmer)
The rise and rise of Brazil: Faster, stronger, higher

Terrorism/War/Energy
Norway to Seek Drilling at "Gates of Hell"
North Sea 'could store 100 years worth of CO2'
Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil (Book review)
FBI induces bombing suspect to plan and execute job (from Rice Farmer)
Complaint Documents Against Suspect Intending to Blow Up Trade Center, Federal Building in Texas
Turkmenistan to open China, Iran gas pipelines (from Rice Farmer)
Turkmenistan announces regular call up for military service (from Rice Farmer)
Crushed Prawn Shells on the Battlefield

Environment
Climate change 'accelerating'
Glaciers disappearing faster than ever
Wind farms cause decline in bird population
Autumn comes early and drought is to blame
Dust storms spread deadly diseases

UN
Gaddafi at the UN
He tore up a copy of the UN charter in front of startled delegates, accused the security council of being an al-Qaida like terrorist body, called for George Bush and Tony Blair to be put on trial for the Iraq war, demanded $7.7tn in compensation for the ravages of colonialism on Africa, and wondered whether swine flu was a biological weapon created in a military laboratory. At one point, he even demanded to know who was behind the killing of JFK. All in all, a pretty ordinary 100 minutes in the life of the colonel.
The UN loves Barack Obama because he is weak

From Mike

I am totally happy with the the film CoLLapse and how it turned out. The reviews were beyond my wildest hopes. Expect an announcement shortly as to when you'll be able to see it but don't get your hopes up too high as far as how soon or how easily. It is not firm yet but I expect that CoLLapse will be available to be seen in late November. As to how far and wide we'll know within a few days.

In the meantime I cannot pay the rent due on Oct. 1 and don't expect to see any money until maybe December or January from either film or book. I am evaluating options now and will send a more complete post soon. Thanks to all of you who have kept me going. I put everything into the film and the book and I have to say that I couldn't be happier with my work, or more grateful for the talent and vision of Chris Smith. I'm in good health, helping to write and sing some original songs which you may be able to hear after a professional mastering. They might even turn up on iTunes with some respected musicians, engineers, singers and composers in the mix.

I'm just kind of worn out right now, but nonetheless I am very peaceful. I'll never be able to say it better or more completely than I did in "A Presidential Energy Policy" and CoLLapse. I hope you all get to see the film soon.

I'm not trying to raise money for an appeal now. I just want to pay the rent. For those who would like to help me -- and I have no shame in asking -- please send your donations to:

Mike Ruppert
c/o Rubiconworks
10736 Jefferson Blvd. #618
Culver City, CA 90230

MCR

AS COLLAPSE GENERATES BUZZ THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF MICHAEL C. RUPPERT ON THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT RULING IN OREGON

I personally have no doubt that the timing of this release from the state of Oregon is intended to influence what kind of distribution deal the movie "CoLLapse" gets. I have sent the affidavits mentioned below to a reporter at the Medford Mail Tribune. Let's see where this goes next. Does anyone remember what happend to Scott Ritter?

STATEMENT OF MICHAEL C. RUPPERT REGARDING THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT DECISION RENDERED BY THE OREGON STATE BUREAU OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIES (BOLI)

September 24, 2009

The decision rendered by BOLI in this case is only against an administratively dissolved corporation and not against me personally. The sexual harassment case is based on a deliberate attempt to entrap and discredit my journalism and that of my former newsletter “From The Wilderness” (FTW).

BOLI’s ruling in the sexual harassment case bears no resemblance to the hearing I attended over three days in June of 2009. I have always maintained my complete innocence in this matter and still do. The record shows that the sexual harassment charges are directly connected to a burglary and smashing of FTW’s computers in June 2006; to a grossly flawed and biased police report prepared by the Ashland Police Department regarding that crime by an officer who was later discharged; and the admittedly improper leaking of that same report to The Ashland Daily Tidings which was engaged in an open vendetta against me before these events took place.

Stories from the Tidings were admitted as evidence in the harassment case. The then editor of the Daily Tidings, Scot Bolsinger, is now in prison for unlawful sex with a minor and other charges related to an ongoing investigation of racketeering and defrauding several local businesses out of what has been reported as hundreds of thousands of dollars. His paper had unfairly attacked me and been forced to print my editorial reply on unrelated issues before any of these other events took place in order to avoid litigation.

When these events occurred, stories appeared in several places (including the Tidings) alleging or implying that I had smashed my own computers. The smashing of the computers directly pertains to the sexual harassment case in that the computers contained (among other things) electronic communications, records and chats between the complainant in the harassment case and other individuals who have sought to protect their reputations. I have affidavits from an attorney and a colleague who were present with me in the Ashland Police offices on two separate occasions in 2007 and 2008 when Detective Randy Snow and later Deputy Chief Rick Walsh stated without equivocation that I was not a suspect, I had been cleared, and that there was no evidence of any misconduct on my part. The Ashland police were abject and unequivocal in their apologies for these "mistakes".

Over the course of three years I have spent an estimated $45,000 proving my innocence in all of the events which took place in Ashland. However, by the time the harassment case went to hearing I was out of money and compelled to represent myself without counsel even though it had been clearly established that personally I was at no risk of losing a penny. During that hearing the complainant's testimony and story were impeached several times. I produced two material witnesses. She had none. I produced other physical evidence which severely damaged her credibility, as did testimony from her own mother. All of that was ignored or mischaracterized in the current ruling. In spite of that, elements of these other allegations were introduced in the harassment case and I was prevented from fully addressing them.

What happened in Ashland goes much deeper than this one case. There is a record spanning decades of unfounded attempts to discredit me personally when there was no other way to discredit my investigations and reporting.

BOLI engaged in a documented and malicious political prosecution against me and, in my opinion, found itself in a position where it had to support the actionable conduct of its case presenter in this case. Had the ALJ's ruling reflected the facts as presented in the hearing then BOLI itself, would have been exposed to possible legal action. The Administrative Law Judge is himself a BOLI employee. No discussion of the harassment case will be complete unless it goes into the burglary, the smashing of my computers and the documented misconduct of the Ashland Police Department and the Ashland Daily Tidings. I am in possession of two affidavits regarding the burglary which clearly support my position and which I will gladly make available (along with affiants themselves) to legitimate news entities

It is my intention to appeal this ruling to a higher court. However, at present I am totally without the estimated $25,000 necessary to pursue such an appeal. I will always maintain my complete innocence in this matter. Due to the possibility of an appeal I cannot discuss the merits of the case but rather encourage anyone interested to obtain a transcript of the hearing itself.

Michael C. Ruppert

Immortality Only Twenty Years Away

From Jenna Orkin:

Who Said This Blog Was a Downer?
Immortality Only Twenty Years Away

Back to the Present
California's Unemployment and Underemployment at Depression Levels
The only salvation from the inevitable is the inevitable: California must go bankrupt (from Rice Farmer)
Battle Looms Over the Patriot Act
44% Plunge Predicted for Crude
Big players face output struggle' (from Rice Farmer)
China to Develop Petroleum Reserves to Meet Any Emergency (from Rice Farmer)
Leading Senator Pushes New Plan to Oversee Banks
Plugged-In Age Feeds a Hunger for Electricity
Jevons' Paradox in action: The more cheap and efficient devices become, the more we buy.
Can Economies Function without Growth?
Economists Search for New Definition of Well-Being
Fed Remains Intertwined with Market
Now Even Millionaires Can See the Benefits of Budgeting
From Bear to Bull
The vagaries of this recession may be more complex than we think.
'The Obama Administration Has Completely Failed'
Cash for Clunkers is Another Government Failure
Enron play is gripping allegory for our times

Europe
Groin Armor Would Help British Troops to Survive
Half of Germany's Top Managers Given the Boot
German Cabinet Approves Massive Expansion of Offshore Wind Farms
Yushchenko Is Unrepentant as Ukrainians Turn Sour on His Orange Revolution
Retail Sales in August Decline Record 9.8%
Will the Electric Car Ever Make It to the Mass Market?

Science
Swine Flu Could Kill Millions
Vaccine could be 'more dangerous than swine flu' (from Rice Farmer)
World's Dementia to Double Every Twenty Years
That's better than the alternative envisioned by this website.

The latest research - contained in the World Alzheimer's Report 2009 - is published by Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI). It said that, over the next 20 years, the number of people with dementia is expected to increase by 40 per cent in Europe (44 per cent in Western Europe), 63 per cent in North America, 77 per cent in southern Latin American and 89 per cent in developed Asia Pacific countries. But the increase will be much sharper in other countries, including 117 per cent in East Asia, 107 per cent in South Asia, 134 to 146 per cent in the rest of Latin America, and 125 per cent in North Africa and the Middle East.

Engineered Foods Allowed on the Market

Intelligence
CIA: We were only following orders (from Rice Farmer)

Gold
It's not gonna fly
Hong Kong is pulling all its physical gold holdings from depositories in London and transferring them to a high-security facility newly built at Hong Kong airport. Why the airport, of all places? Why not out in the middle of nowhere so you can see the enemy coming?

In CoLLapse Times, Life and Art Fuse

From Jenna Orkin:

CoLLapse (Movie) Reviews
Landmark Review of CoLLapse Out of Canada
Variety Review of Collapse

CoLLapse (Reality) Previews
Europe Overtakes North America As Richest Region In the World
Gordon Brown Urges EU to Back New Economic Order
Warning: Deflationary Collapse Dead Ahead
Pension Plan Shocker Dead Ahead (from Rice Farmer)
China’s coming magnificent bubble
Bank of America's Harris Says Job Market Remains in `Severe Bleeding Mode'
We are near failure in Afghanistan
US abandons missile shield to Russia's delight
Venezuela Is Accelerating Dollar Sales, Chavez Says (from Rice Farmer)
Rift at Fed
Dairy Farmers Want Industry Probe
HealthyStuff.org
Info on toxicity of commonly used items.
Know Your Farmer; Know Your Food Initiative
Body bags disrupt Canada's flu-readiness message (from Rice Farmer)

Europe
Far left party wins German votes
In Norway, the Left Can 'Bribe' Voters with Oil Money
Funeral Industry Sees Profits Fall 35% (Russia)
Does this mean people aren't dying as often as they used to?

Asia
Pig-Farmer Investors in China Stockpile 50,000 Tons of Copper, Sucden Says
Saudi Arabia's `Never Go Bust' Families Mean an End to Easy Credit in Gulf
Temasek (Singapore) Profit Falls Record 66% as Bank Values Drop (from Rice Farmer)
Cancer villages in the wake of China's boom
Rumor: China May Ban Gold, Silver Exports

You Can Run But You Can't Hide

Jenna Orkin

I know Mike and his message as thoroughly as the next guy but the reviews of CoLLapse have got me aching to see this movie. You can get disaster-fatigue in this business of chronicling mayhem but it's never possible to turn your back on reality. On the contrary, there's a mesmerizing quality to it. It's the monster we always knew was in the closet and now that it's coming out, we'd better make friends with it. No, not in the closet - in us.

Most of the reviewers seem to agree, however reluctantly. Much as they'd like to write Mike off as a crackpot, it's hard to ignore a guy whom the movie shows to have been disconcertingly correct about some important global events - events that supposedly took everyone else by surprise.

CoLLapse Movie
The Buzz Film CoLLapse, Showcases a Gripping Pundit of Economic Doom
Chris Smith's CoLLapse

Civil Liberties
Patriot Act Provisions Extended
The camel has now made himself at home in the tent. So inured are we to his presence that this nonchalant extension of key provisions of the Patriot Act, by the candidate who supposedly offered Change, didn't even merit a full article. According to one of said extended provisions, you don't have to be affiliated with Al Qaeda or any terrorist organization to have your constitutional rights waived; you can be a "lone wolf" (like a "lone gunman") and still be up for grabs. - JO (aka Lone Wolf.)
1.2 Billion Population of India to Get Biometric ID Cards

US/Economy
'It Is Dangerous to Think the Financial Crisis Is Already Behind Us'
Interview with IMF Head Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Bank of America, Citigroup, Credit Card Defaults Soar To New Highs
Stiglitz Says Banking Problems Are Now Bigger Than Pre-Lehman (from Rice Farmer)
Chrysler Executives Say U.S. Industry Sales Plunging After `Clunkers' Ends
Boeing, Airline Industry Face Huge Problems
Japan to the U.S.: 'We Don't Want to Exclude You, But...'
1100 Jobs Axed as Defense Giant Quits Site
Obama's Financial Reform - A Distraction from the Real Issues
Financial Reform: Keep Dreaming
Lehman collapse: Gulf gives glimpse of a new world order
This new world order is hardly the threatening bogeyman we've been led to believe; it is the wizard behind the curtain exposed as a vulnerable wretch, full of sound and fury, signifying a cry of "Help!" - JO
Surprise winner of Obama stimulus spending: gun industry (from Rice Farmer)
Peak Oil is not a theory; Peak Oil is the reality of past and future oil production
(The rebuttal that the NYT declined to publish) from Rice Farmer

From Secrecy News:
"Secretive spending on U.S. intelligence disclosed"

"This old distinction between military and non-military intelligence is no longer relevant," DNI Blair said yesterday. "The problems that we face in the world have strong military, diplomatic, economic and other aspects that all work together and need to be supported by an interlocked and interweaving set of intelligence activities."

However, the distinction between military and non-military intelligence remains significant in policy and budgetary terms, because while the DNI leads the National Intelligence Program, the Military Intelligence Program is directed by the Secretary of Defense.Among other things, the new budget disclosure reveals that military intelligence spending has kept pace with the dramatic increase in national intelligence spending since 9/11.

When the budget for tactical military intelligence was inadvertently disclosed in a congressional document in 1994, it was $10.4 billion, at a time when the national intelligence budget was $16.3 billion ("Congress Mistakenly Publishes Intelligence Budget," Secrecy & Government Bulletin, number 41, November 1994). Since that time, spending in both categories has remained roughly proportional, as both have nearly tripled in size.

Europe
Are Britain's Scrooges Slowing Recovery?
Do like the Americans and spend; it's your moral duty.
UK 'lurching back to the 1970s'
Treasury documents show major deterioration in nation's public finances, warns thinktank
One in five young people is out of work
UK Crisis in Farming
German workers 'trigger' earthquake
Geothermal setback
Moscow Real Estate Draws Chinese Interest

Environment
The Fallacy of Climate Activism
Obama Follows Bush on Salmon Policy
Sea Levels Rose Two Feet This Summer in U.S. East (from Rice Farmer)

Metals
Is platinum the new gold?
Rare Coins: Family Treasure or Ill-Gotten Goods?
Note that currency crimes are policed by the Secret Service.

The CoLLapse Movie Website Goes Live!

As of September 14th the web site for CoLLapse has gone live. http://www.collapsemovie.com/ Please spread the word. We've had four out of four great reviews and one review gave us the only A. Jenna's going to be be posting these for us. Another reviewer said it was the best film of the festival. I'd try to describe the emotional roller coaster I'm on but you'd need a barf bag.

And everyone please note who got a link in the links section. No one I know deserves that more. I am proud to be in your company in public, Rice Farmer.

Did someone just blow boots and saddles?

MCR
***************************************************************************
From Jenna Orkin:

CoLLapse Movie
Row Three: Review for CoLLapse
Toronto Film Festival '09: Day 4
Reuters Review

Collapse Reality
Insiders Dump
US Poverty Surges
U.S. poverty rate hits 11-year high as recession bites
Queen of Coupons Feeds Family for $10 a Week;
Americans Lacking Health Insurance Rise to 46.3 Million, Census Data Show
[T]he number forced to work part- time because they cannot find full-time work has risen more than 50 per cent in the past year to a record 8.8m.
New Record Deficit
Consumers Slash Borrowing by Record Amount
Consumer Credit Contracts Record $21.6 Billion
Dress Rehearsal for Debt Peonage (from Rice Farmer)
Foreclosure Filings Top 300,000 for Sixth Straight Month
Sovereign Wealth Gone Haywire
Recovery for U.S. Slowest Since World War II
Trade Deficit in U.S. Widens Most Since 1999 as Imports Post Record Surge
Junk Bond Defaults Worst Since Great Depression. So Why Is The Market Rallying?
But lest you think the worst is over... Greenspan: "Market Crisis Will Happen Again"
Obama Risks Global Trade War With Misguided Tariffs
US Fires Opening Salvo In Trade Wars With China
Survey Shows Huge Leap in European Support for US Foreign Policy
"Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 2001-2008," September 4, 2009 (first reported by the New York Times on September 7).
Natural Gas Spiked 60% Since Labor Day
Miller Puts Oil at $100 in ’10
Martial Law Alert Over Swine Flu (from Rice Farmer)
Obama's banking overhaul
President to call for sweeping rule changes to prevent 'another Lehman'
How the Federal Reserve Bought the Economics Profession (Huffington Post)
Utah's Record Bond Sale Is Set to Push State's Debt Above National Average
New York Faces Dramatic Consequences of Crisis
'Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman'
The life of Pat Tillman: his N.F.L. career, his military service and the Army’s false story about his death
FBI Informant Says Agents Missed Chance to Stop 9/11 Ringleader (from Rice Farmer)
9/11 Education to be Introduced in Schools (from Rice Farmer)
JO comment: Anthony Gardner, whose brother died at the WTC, is the spokesperson for the victims families who are involved in this project with Rudy Giuliani. In 2004, Gardner and I (acting as spokesperson for the World Trade Center Environmental Organization) organized a demonstration at the groundbreaking ceremony at Ground Zero which Governor Pataki was trumpeting as a triumph.

If memory serves, Gardner and other family members were concerned about preserving the footprints of the towers as well as other issues related to memorializing the dead. WTCEO was interested in highlighting the populations that were being overlooked in the celebratory "moving forward," particularly those who were sick or dying as a result of the EPA's lies.

It was a classic politics-makes-strange-bedfellows collaboration, born of the classic cause: a common enemy.

Europe
Chance of a Negative Interest Rate (UK)
SFO looks at Iceland banks
Team to 'get to the bottom' of whether there were criminal intentions.
GDP Fell 10.9% in 2nd Quarter (Russia)
"Right Wing Extremism Took Over My Life"
20 percent of the students at the vocational schools you studied in the eastern German state of Saxony espoused extreme right-wing views.

Science/Environment
Pesticides killing bees
Book Review - 'Green Metropolis - Why Living Smaller, Living ...
This book argues that city dwellers are ahead of the green curve.
Human colony on Mars 'will make the world a better place'
Learning from Fish Could Prevent Crowd Panic

CoLLapse WORLD PREMIERE AT TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL, Sept. 12, 2009

Michael C. Ruppert

Sept. 11, 2009; 12 Noon, PDT – In about 24 hours the feature documentary which we all have been waiting on for so long will screen in Toronto.

CoLLapse is a film about me, my life, and the message I have come to deliver after more than thirty years on a very long path. Many of you who will read this have walked some distance with me and with each other along that path. I do not have to remind you that at this moment in human history, this film may be the last, best shot our movement has to break through into the mainstream. This Fall and Winter look to be very trying times for our species. I am advised that the CoLLapsemovie website will go live within a week so keep checking there for more information on the film and when and where you'll be able to see it.

How do I feel? Well, I’m rolling coins to eat now. I’m behind on a credit-card payment. But I am happier and more at peace than I have been in ages. My work is done… at least this part of my work. I will never be able to offer any better advice than what I wrote into “A Presidential Energy Policy” and have given in this film. Now I can hopefully focus on bringing love and music into a world that desperately needs it. I know I do.

Otherwise, we are all at the brink of an uncertain, but certainly very exciting, immediate future. On the TIFF web site I have been paid the most wonderful compliment I have ever received. I have been called a “radical thinker”. Now it’s official.

Yes, I know what the date is today. What a long, strange trip it’s been. And I don’t have words to tell you all how much you have meant to me for all these years.

Rags the dog sends his love.

MCR
*******************************************************************************
SEPTEMBER 11


Jenna Orkin


Just as every day is your child's birthday for he's always somewhere in your thoughts, for some of us here at mikeruppert.blogspot.com, every day is September 11. Yet the enormity of the memory is especially acute on this wet, gloomy anniversary.

The mainstream media do a deft job of ensuring that. While paying pious lip service to the dead and their survivors, they twist the knife in the wound left that day by prominently presenting Charlie Sheen: Bush ordered 9/11. We admire Sheen's courage and intentions but the road to Hell is paved with you-know-what. His allegations are of the all too familiar amateurish sort, mixing justifiable questions with misleading, unprovable or downright silly speculation.

At the same time, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act remains in limbo, enthusiastically supported only by the local contingent even as dying Ground Zero workers soldier on protesting.

Same old, same old, in other words. But instead of outrage, we succumb to the inevitable, at least for now. The frog is being boiled slowly. It might seem odd that he doesn't jump out for in fact, he does understand what's happening. He stays anyway because Hell is where your friends are and where, for the time being, they are determined to remain.

But don't be fooled. His strength does not ebb. It merely waits.

And The Winner of This Week's Economic Superpower Award is.... Switzerland

From Jenna Orkin:

Swiss topple U.S. as most competitive economy: WEF
China is now a net SELLER of U.S. Treasury notes and bonds! (from Rice Farmer)
China Confirms Diversifying into Gold China Expands Foreign Investment
Job Creation Down 35%, Consumer Spending Down 33% From Year Ago
Wall Street Securitizing Life Insurance Policies. Seriously
UN currency plan is late
Did Lehman Brothers Fall or Was it Pushed?
Dick Fuld: the first interview since Lehman's collapse
Disgraced banker tells Reuters his mother still loves him.
The bomb plot to kill 10,000
Hacking for Dummies
Higher Interest Rates: Not a Question of 'If' but 'When'
Public Support of Unions Collapsing
Published on Labor Day.
Critically Underfunded Unemployment Insurance Plans
Pension liabilities of failed companies soar (UK)
Britain Heading Back to Dark Ages (from Rice Farmer)
Ruble Set to Weaken 10% by March on Russia's Budget Deficit, Shearing Says
Oliver Stone movie about Chavez
Arctic Sea Ghost Ship Carrying Weapons to Iran
Pirates of the Baltic.
Interview with Marshall Auerbach
"Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan Discusses Nuclear Program in TV Talk Show,"
Low-Power Radio’s Voice Rises
Determined Father Pursues 9/11 Lawsuit
Madoff Scam Reached Family of SEC Official Who Got Tip
Gold breaks $1,000 level
Precious metal is boosted by a weaker dollar.

THE 2010 BUCKMINSTER FULLER CHALLENGE CALL FOR ENTRIES ANNOUNCED TO ENTER visit: http://challenge.bfi.org/

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: OCTOBER 30, 2009 September 8, 2009,

NEW YORK CITY-The Buckminster Fuller Institute announces the call for entries to the 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge, an annual $100,000 prize program to support the development and implementation of a solution that has significant potential to solve humanity's most pressing problems.

We all understand in part or whole the magnitude of the complex challenges facing humanity today; from climate change, energy and resource management, to keeping the ever-increasing human population fed for generations to come. Challenges of this magnitude require bold, visionary strategies; they require what Buckminster Fuller called "a design revolution". Pieces of the complex puzzle to create an enduringly sustainable future for all are out there, but it will take more than an innovative gadget, isolated technological breakthrough, policy or process development to tackle the problems of our complex and interconnected world.

"We're looking for comprehensive anticipatory design solutions that address multiple problems without creating new ones down the road - integrated strategies dealing with key social, economic, environmental, policy and cultural issues. Our entry criteria is deeply inspired by what Fuller termed comprehensive anticipatory design science - a methodological approach to solving complex problems that we feel holds an important key to how innovators need to be thinking about the design of strategies if they are to have a transformative effect on the system as a whole." explains Elizabeth Thompson, Executive Director of the Buckminster Fuller Institute. After decades of tracking world resources, innovations in science and technology, and human needs, Fuller asserted that options exist to successfully surmount the crises of unprecedented scope and complexity facing all humanity - he issued an urgent call for a design science revolution to make the world work for all.

Pipe Dreams Fix Global Warming

From Jenna Orkin:

Collapse
Sweet Dreams Are Made of Geoengineering
Main article in the Telegraph: "These are not silver bullet solutions, but things that might take the edge off," he told Reuters. "What is the risk of doing nothing? We think it's so extraordinary it's apocalyptic...
Jobs Contract 20th Straight Month; Unemployment Rate Hits 9.7%
U.S. Increases Its Share of Worldwide Arms Market
States Shut Down to Save Cash (from Rice Farmer)
Double-dip recession risk on the rise
Of course, "dip" still sounds like a euphemism for Purgatory. It also implies there's a return to 'the norm' afterwards. - JO
Blog: Some good news and bad news
Blog: The weight of unemployment
China to Buy Up to $50 Billion in IMF SDRs
Prescott: Cutting Emissions by 80% Will Not Be Enough
Patients 'sentenced to death' on the NHS
British financial sector hit by 9m complaints
Previously secret data reveals that complaints about banks reached the equivalent of 8,000 a day
Gordon Brown Suffers Shock Gvt Resignation Over Afghanistan
Series of Errors Allowed Madoff to Keep Trading
CIA in human experimentation row
Watchdog says US interrogation doctors may have committed unlawful experimentation.
Pfizer Whistle-Blower Wins
Stimulus Funds Go to Company Under Cloud
The company, Bovis Lend Lease LMB, avoided manslaughter charges late last year in the deaths of two firefighters at the former Deutsche Bank building in 2007, admitting failures and agreeing to safety reforms in an agreement with prosecutors.
Florida Exodus
Eliot Spitzer to Teach at City College

The US service sector contracted for the 11th month in a row, the ISM said today. After Monday's ISM manufacturing gauge, which showed surprise growth, traders had their fingers crossed for a score above 50 in today's ISM service sector reader.
Not so, said the group. Their index stood at 48. In other words, 70% of our economy was still shrinking in August. Retail sales fell 2.9% in August, the 12th straight month of decline. Despite of the "back to school" rush, only low cost brands showed signs of life last month... Costco, BJ's, Gap, Aeropostale, Target and TJ Max all outperformed.
Jobless claims from last week came in at 570,000, worse than the Street expected. Coupled with yesterday's worse-than-expected ADP jobs report, the outlook is none too rosy for tomorrow's government employment data. Personal bankruptcies shot up 24% in August, year over year, putting the US on track for over 1.4 million filings this year."
And here's the one statistic that troubled us the most this morning: Student debt grew 25% in the 2008-2009 school year, says the latest from the Department of Education.
So much for 'the great deleveraging.'"Total student loans outstanding exceeded $75 billion during the period, up from roughly $60 billion the year before. An estimated 66% of US college students borrow money for school, with the average individual debt load of $23,186 by graduation."
So let's get this straight...the next generation is borrowing more than ever, at a faster rate then ever, during extremely worrisome credit conditions, heading into the worst employment environment in recent history, while on the verge of inheriting the biggest federal debt burden the world has ever known?" http://www.dailyreckoning.com/

Russia/Eastern Europe
Security Services Step Up Snooping
Moldova’s President Abruptly Announces His Resignation

Environment
Mobile phone towers a threat to honey bees (from Rice Farmer)
Fall Colors Fade in West as Aspen Trees Die

And...
Alberto Gonzales Cantata

Coming Blackouts in Britain

From Jenna Orkin:

Collapse: China/West
Britain Facing Blackouts for First Time Since 1970s
Any nostalgia or sense of same old, same old is misplaced. Blackouts are spreading as predicted, harbingers of worse to come.

Demand for power from homes and businesses will exceed supply from the national grid within eight years, according to official figures...

The gap between Britain’s energy needs and demand throws fresh doubt on the Government’s assertion that renewable energy can make up for dwindling nuclear and coal capabilities.
Fuel duty increase
Defence industry warning UK told to step up defence spending or risk becoming a global nonentity
Geo-Engineering Should Be Developed as Insurance Against Climate Change
Climate changing technologies - such as man-made volcanoes and mirrors in space - should be investigated as an “insurance policy” against catastrophic global warming, claims a leading science body.

Comment: Perhaps it's just as well Peak Oil will make most such efforts impossible as these techno-fixes carry untold side effects.
The Case Against a Super-Regulator
Once again, TPTB respond to a catastrophe with a reshuffling of the bureaucracy and the proposal of yet another regulatory czar. In this Op-Ed, the Republican Chairwoman of the FDIC Chairman argues for spreading the responsibility as well as for more localized supervision of state banks.
The Systemic Threat Posed by Megabanks
Countdown To Dollar Implosion Madness
Households Start to Rival the Chinese in Treasury Market
Global Stocks Fall as China Tumbles
Shanghai Index May Drop 25% on Economy, Xie Says (from Rice Farmer)
The USG doesn’t need foreigners to finance the US Fiscal Deficit? Who Knew?
Shipping Rates Seen Falling 50% as China Cuts Imports Amid Vessel Overrun
Preview from Europe: Stocks Get the China Syndrome
As hybrid cars gobble rare metals, shortage looms
China Tightening Control of Rare Earth Minerals
Will Boeing move to Beijing? (from Rice Farmer)
Ralph Lauren to Open Up to 15 China Stores Yearly as U.S. Sales `Flatten'
What Barney Frank Really Said About Ron Paul's HR1207
Mish Videos - On the Edge with Max Keiser
Naomi Campbell attacks companies for 'dropping' black models in recession

Afghanistan
DEFENSE CONTRACTING IN AFGHANISTAN AT RECORD HIGH

There are more Department of Defense contractors in Afghanistan today than there are uniformed U.S. military personnel, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service. Not only that, the ratio of contractors to troops in Afghanistan is higher than in any prior military engagement in U.S. history." As of March 2009, there were 68,197 DOD contractors in Afghanistan, compared to 52,300 uniformed personnel. Contractors made up 57% of DOD’s workforce in Afghanistan. This apparently represented the highest recorded percentage of contractors used by DOD in any conflict in the history of the United States," the CRS report (pdf) said.
U.S. arms dealer pleads guilty in Afghan weapons case

Japan
Japanese government routed in election
Democratic Party humiliates Liberal Democrats, who had dominated since 1955...

Japanese Media
(from Secrecy News:

AN OPEN SOURCE CENTER SURVEY OF JAPANESE MEDIA

"Japan is a media-saturated nation where the level of consumption of both newspapers and television is extremely high by global standards," according to a new assessment from the DNI Open Source Center (OSC). "Furthermore, the news media have the deep trust of the people.... More Japanese adults trust journalism than trust any other institution [including] schools, the police, or religious institutions." The 67-page OSC report (pdf) describes the peculiar Japanese media landscape, with profiles of major media categories as well as individual news organizations. It also presents numerous curious observations regarding Japanese production and consumption of news and information.

For example: "Surveys report that over half of adults in Japan read news content on their cell phones." Many posters on online Japanese bulletin boards "use nonstandard Japanese, making their comments difficult to read for the uninitiated. For example, Chinese characters are often intentionally misused, and keyboard symbols and other special characters are put together to form nonstandard 'compounds' that make sense only to insiders."

"A stable group of prominent bloggers who consistently help shape mainstream dialogue on key issues of policy has yet to emerge in Japan."

In 2007, however, Japanese was the world's top blogging language, accounting for 37% of all blog entries posted on the Internet.

"Weekly magazines are notorious in Japan for their loose editorial standards, airing rumor, half-truths, and outright falsehoods with little vetting of the information."

"Compared to three decades ago, there are many more opinion magazines that express right-wing views about history and security.... This fact tends to amplify right-wing voices beyond their actual influence and crowd out countervailing opinions from the political center and left." The OSC report on Japanese media has not been approved for public release, but a copy was obtained by Secrecy News. See "Japan -- Media Environment Open; State Looms Large," Open Source Center, August 18, 2009.

Intelligence
Lockerbee Bomber to Reveal Identity of "True Bomber"
Son of Ex-CIA Spy Admits To Taking Russian Money

Swine Flu
Flu Shot or Get Fired
Pregnant women shun flu vaccine

Science/Gold
Gold Nanotech Breath Test May Show Lung Cancer Early
Interview with Bill Murphy of the Gold Anti-Trust Association
Mormons Become Victims in $50 Million Gold Bullion Scam