From Jenna Orkin:
Terror/Intelligence
Armed man shot at Muhammad cartoonist's home
Danish cartoonist home attacker had "terror links"
Al-Qaida links of cartoonist's assassin
Obama Says U.S. at War With `Network of Violence, Hatred,' Pledges Defense
"Axis of evil" was snappier.
MI5 knew of bomber’s UK extremist links
‘India ready for war with China, Pakistan’ (from Rice Farmer)
Airport pat-downs often ineffective
Here comes naked screening. That'll put a damper on air-travel.
Air passengers face two body searches
See above.
Are planned airport scanners just a scam?
Somali pirates seize British super-freighter
David Randall: 'Asian Glory' was the fourth vessel hijacked last week as EU-led armada fails to keep the brigands at bay.
We Don't Need No Warrant
20,000 Snooper Army (UK)
Telecom Firms' Fury at "Stasi" Checks (UK)
Woman Gets Anthrax from Drum Circle
European Parliament to Investigate WHO and “Pandemic” Scandal (from Rice Farmer)
Suicide attack inflicts worst death toll on CIA in 25 years
Seven agents killed in base bombing while roadside blast kills Canadians.
CIA suicide bomber was invited on base, report claims
CIA Attacker Driven In From Pakistan
Former CIA Agent: Taliban poses no threat to the U.S.
Ray McGovern
Chicago cop allegedly tasered unconscious man 11 times
Feds Threaten Blogger Who Posted TSA Screening Directive
Coinciding with the underwear bomber to give their point heft.
Crippled by conspiracy theories
Five dead in Finnish mall shooting
Economy
Will next decade be another bubble-popper?
Concern as China clamps down on rare earth exports
Precious metals that could save the planet
German Economy on Brink of Radical Restructuring
Merkel Warns Germans of Tough Times in 2010
Newsweek: Dangers of economic pessimism
Pessimists do better on reality testing.
Hundreds of thousands leave teaching profession (UK)
Experts fail to make sense
Goldman Sachs Makes `Call of Decade' by Promoting BRICs: Chart of the Day
Colorado's PERA "2/2/2" Funding Plan Hopelessly Unsound
Vermont State Employees Union Votes For 3% Pay Cut
Evanston Illinois' Social Experiment To Solve Budget Deficit
Environment
Frauds hit carbon trading
The big freeze: Warnings of a Siberian snap
Britain facing one of the coldest winters in 100 years, experts predict
Britain 'must produce more food'
Three toddlers die in 'meningitis' outbreak
Ask Lucy: Keeping urban chickens
Oathall Community College Farm: from little things, big things grow
Vietnam Halts Gold Trading; Global Imbalances Mount
Russia doubles vodka prices
Happy New Year Mike & Jenna!
ReplyDeleteVenezuela begins 2010 with electricity rationing
Officials: U.S., Yemen reviewing targets for possible strike
Ex-Homeland Security chief head said to abuse public trust by touting body scanners
GrTz,
V
In the "good news" department, this from the NYTimes (people are 'doing more' instead of 'buying more'--you can actually have fun!!):
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/business/economy/03experience.html?hp
Happy New Year everybody!
ReplyDeleteA lot of people on this blog are, in all fairness, concerned primarily with issues ranging from how to grow “green” tomatoes in what kind of soil in Oregon, to presenting highflown “religious” concepts couched in equally exotic and treacly language that trying to decipher it is like a fly floundering in sugar syrup. And as relevant, I may say. I have seen people express their concern here as to what the priorities should be as the world situation comes to the boil. “Specialist approaches” are something we least need. At least as far as speciaslising in frivolities is concerned. One needs to be as down to earth and serious as one can in the coming times of collapse. That isn’t to say that growing tomatoes and new, relevant religious outlooks won’t count...of course they will, but each in its proper perspective! And let no one think that their part of the world is so insular that the events from elsewhere won’t come to bear on it.
Secondly: Other well intentioned but seemingly simple souls have been trying to reason with me, telling me how most ordinary Americans detest their imperialist elites and rulers. I wish that the world was as simplistic as their naivete, but hate to dash it with cold water by telling them that in the eyes of the outsider, ordinary American citizens are held with equal culpability as their criminal governments, because they are inextricably part of the system, and inevitably benefit from its riches, and that any opposition they may have for their leaders’ criminal global policies amounts practically to just lipservice – or the “modern” kind of protest demonstrations we see nowadays, where people with gaudily painted faces clutch stuffed toys, wear “peace medals”, jump around dance and sing to rap music and wave flags and placards half-seriously, as though they were at some sort of “gig” (that isn’t to say that some of these weren’t nasty, particularly like the anti-G8 demos in Seattle and elsewhere).... But these are not impressive in the least, to people like me or to most “outsiders”. The US rulers must also laugh themselves silly at all that trash prancing around. Armed anti-state insurrection against wrong foreign policies might cut some ice with skeptical observers, but then that would be tantamount to treason which is normally out of the question...who would be prepared commit that against their own country for the sake of foreign problems, for goodness’ sake? So such simplistic assurances that the US people disapprove of their government – amount to nothing practically. What is more, all US citzens “exercise” their “franchise” at all levels. Period.
This above “intro” was to set the record straight and was primarily intended to preface the Pakistani situation headlines below. Now some may question the relevance Pakistan has for US tomato growers, or dedicated followers of Jesus – but the fact is that it is a KEY COG IN THE ANGLO-US GLOBAL IMPERIALIST MACHINE and it is very soon poised for an unimaginable crisis of implosion – not only politically, but infrastructurally. No clever “think tank” was able to avert this headache, caused by sheer corruption – of Biblical proportions. It looks like the predicament too, will also be Biblical, for ALL concerned:
STUPENDOUS ENERGY CRISIS MAY CRIPPLE PAKISTAN BY 15 JANUARY
http://www.thenews.com.pk/print3.asp?id=26410
POWER, GAS PRICE HIKE MAY LEAD TO MASS AGITATION IN PAKISTAN
http://www.thenews.com.pk/print3.asp?id=26387
Yemen has also erupted suddenly - Gordon Brown in his latest pronouncement says that the Al-Qaeda fighters are now "leaving Afghanistan and Pakistan and making a beeline for Yemen"!
ReplyDeleteLoved the video on keeping urban chickens. I live in a small town and keep 6 laying hens and one rooster in my fenced backyard. The rooster has been trained to not crow when he's outside the coop, so collectively my little chicken flock makes about as much noise and mess as a couple of small dogs. They eat lots of weeds and bugs, provide abundant free fertilizer, and best of all, MY pets make me breakfast! Haven't yet trained them to walk on a leash, though... :)
ReplyDeleteThis article frightens the hell out of me.
ReplyDeleteIt discusses how we could be just months away from severe food shortages here in the USA, and it cites a ton of publicly-available agricultural data and information in making its case.
The 2010 Food Crisis Means Financial Armageddon
'Orchard of fighters' grows out of poverty and mistrust in Yemen
ReplyDelete"A new and more extreme generation of al-Qaeda has arisen in Yemen in the past three years"
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6974719.ece
More extreme than what?
Anybody got any thoughts about this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.eutimes.net/2010/01/obama-orders-us-government-to-begin-preparing-for-biological-attack/
Anybody got any thoughts about this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.eutimes.net/2010/01/obama-orders-us-government-to-begin-preparing-for-biological-attack/
Anybody got any thoughts about this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.eutimes.net/2010/01/obama-orders-us-government-to-begin-preparing-for-biological-attack/
Ah, Kamilov, you are so right, and so wrong. Yes, Americans have collective complicity in the crimes of Empire. So do Russians.
ReplyDeleteBut you underestimate the American people.
Many will be caught sleeping, yes, and there will be much pain. Yes, the karmic debt will come due. However, you have no idea how creative and spontaneous Americans can be, and the spirit of cooperation is not dead, in spite of deliberate individualization in the consumer society.
You will perhaps be amazed at the intelligent adaptations Americans make to our tragedy. (Remember, it is your tragedy, too. And you, too are culpable, unless you have spent your Life holding back the grinding wheel of doom.) It's easy to blame The Great Satan and throw all Americans in one box. But the truth is that many of us are unboxed and ready for action.
CJ -- Yeah. You read a good map.
ReplyDeleteKamilov, regarding this, " how most ordinary Americans detest their imperialist elites and rulers ", I for one don't think that. Regarding what the US leaders do geo-politically, I think that really its a small minority here who are truly adverse to the way the US pushes its weight around the world. Most are more than happy to see the American Way of life preserved by what ever means the leaders deem necesary.
ReplyDeleteAfganistan, a country you are specifically concerned with ( for good reason ) is showing many signs that it appears headed for a meltdown, as you cite. You realistically arn't able to stop that reality, anymore than the minority of americans who detest what our government is doing here can stop what they ( the US PTB ) intend on doing in the larger world. There are just too many people here who are more than willing to wave the flag wildly and say all that this country does is good, and everyone against us is bad.
I'm sure there's plenty of good well meaning people in Afganistan, still, they can't control the multitude of cascading negative relalites that are bringing their country to its dire state. The US is headed for big trouble of its own ( the monsterous bully it has been )and really huge problems are on-going all over the world.
The US is clearly the biggest offender when it comes to ill deeds perpetrated around the globe, because of its immense size, power, military and such, but corruption is an inevitable part of the human condition, and exist in all cultures so as the US sees its ongoing demise humanities many ways of causing troubles for itself and its propensity to produce a wide variety of ill deeds won't be going away.
You know the story of all the converging catstropes of this time we are in, and the harder things get, the more we will see the kinds of detestable corruption and the brutallity of the powerful upon the weak that is part of what you speak of in the thoughts of your last post.
I think as the difficulties increase, the worse your going to see the majority of americans react when it comes to really caring what their leaders do to maintain the " non-negotiable american way of life ". Most will be behind them even more IMHO.
Its ugly, wrong, horrible, but the truth is if you were here in this country, caring as you say you do, willing to do what ever you might, you couldn't stop this maddness the US brings upon the world either. You ( and anyone else who tried ) would be nuetralized, one way or another by the people and entities who hold the real power here. Will there come a time when this reality changes and there is a majority here that think as you do who could attempt real change? I don't see anything like that for the foreseable future.
With that said Kamilov, I do respect your thoughts and your honesty.
F.Kamilov, not many, if any, on this blog cant stop the collapse of Pakistan, Yemen or the UK.
ReplyDeleteBut we can grow tomatoes, plant seeds, reclaim soil, make friends, reduce debt, sing songs, play music, and whatever else we choose to do in the face of insurmountable chaos.
You can choose in what priority you order the above, or dont.
I'm taking a leaf out of the Cuban book, and following their lead in dealing with this crisis.
Certainly beats cheering on the collapse of western civilisation.
Billions in Recent Yememi Investments and The Underwear Bomber’s Daddy. It’s a Small World Ain’t It?
ReplyDeleteVenezuela bracing for US act of 'aggression'
Venezuela says US violating its airspace from Dutch islands of Curacao, Aruba
Obama Ordered U.S. Military Strike on Yemen Terrorists
Cruise Missiles Launched Thursday Hit Two Suspected al Qaeda Sites; Major Escalation of US Efforts Against Terrorists
GrTz,
V
I am in almost total agreement with F.Kamilov (how much is "total")!
ReplyDeleteIt's late but I must get this off.
I read F.K's posts, & his Site thoroughly; there has not been anything added since 11,10,09, but I check every couple days.
http://social-order-front.blogspot.com/
You/He is better educated, & expresses himself better than I do, or something is lost in Translation, as in the following Blog, translated by Google,
interesting to see how other minds work.
http://yiedyie.blogspot.com/2009/12/blog-post.html
F.K. uses the term "Outsider" which I think is outdated; It should be "Other"! What You say about "ordinary American Citizens" is more than true- BUT the same applies to most "Citizens" anywhere, And The ordinary American
reflects on the "Other" in the same way.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/dec/06/the-other-ryszard-kapuscinski
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-other-by-ryszard-kapuscinski-trans-antonia-lloydjones-1366308.html
In the end we, each of us is the "Other", Please do not take me lightly, as I do not take You or what You write lightly.
In fact I think You see MY "Other" vary clearly; I, although handicapped by my "Western Brain" am working toward Understanding.
The book is a quick 92 page read, how nicely this all fits together
I will be Quoting from "The Other", here is a bit from p 38;
"The philosophy of Le'vinas, which focused our attention on the Other as an individual, a personality (anthropology by contrast
researched and described communities), as a unique person whom we should not just notice but also include in our experience
and for whom we should take responsibility." Sounds a lot like Amae, this from a "Polshi" (his expression, p 56.)!
And then from p. 57.
"My other is a vary emotional person. That is why the world he lives in is a powder keg rolling dangerously towards the fire.
My Other is a non-white person. How many of them are there? Today, 80 per cent of the world is non-white."
WE have been/are rolling that keg.
I'll post my reflections on the Other.
A handshake, not a Fist.
F.Kamilov just what would you have ordinary westerners do?
ReplyDeleteAnd where & how do you live that enables you to adopt the moral high-ground and avoid contributing to any "franchise"? I am genuinely interested.
For my part, self sufficiency & a sustainable lifestyle is key. I only take enough wage to keep under the tax threshold, which goes some way to avoid paying into the machine.
=========================
CJ google anthrax in the news and you'll see contaminated heroin knocking about, could be something to do with that, or it could be a similar, as yet unknown, reason why policy led to this...
Israel to issue gas masks to population
http://www.bioprepwatch.com/news/211421-israel-to-issue-gas-masks-to-population
F.Kamilov, It is good to see you return to us, with your recent illness having not diminished your intellectual vigor and taste for jousting, not even a tittle! And! Thankyou for providing Ruthie & me with an opportunity to better elaborate our perspective!
ReplyDelete*****
You seem to be receiving our recent posts as if they were logic-spilling arrows... as if archaic obsidian missiles in the form of "highflown 'religious' concepts couched in equally exotic and treacly language", tipped with poisonous compounds that have left you confused "like a fly floundering in sugar syrup". Truth is, if your mind were developed to more carefully read, properly assimilate, justly weigh, and thereby clearly understand what RanD says, you would find that all of us are on exactly the same page, many of us facing in exactly the same direction.
*****
The only cause of critical human differences in perspectives regarding the actualities of existence come from the fact that the vast majority of the Earth's human kind are but a few or more sentences into reading the page on which we find ourselves; whereas a relatively miniscule number of us have read and lived and learned (some of us even several times over) what literally must be known from this page before moving on, and now are testing and watching to see what happens, no longer sensing any desire to lament, disparage, fear or alter that of which we are no longer ignorant.
So yes, it is true, such as the above can be difficult to understand for those who've yet to experience that which they must.
Hotspringswizard and Agape wins, It is a pleasure reading your words; seeing that we are not alone, sharing our perspectives, even a common vision. We judge this to be good, no matter how different we must surely be from one another in other, interesting & fascinating, ever non-dangerous ways.
ReplyDeleteAmae, namaste, peace, ciao; patience. Love....
I have got a spate of replies. Good. Let me try and do justice to you all!
ReplyDeleteI am breaking this post into two parts, as it would otherwise be too lengthy as one.
PART 1:
@ RanD: I don’t for one moment contest what you say, or its veracity, my dear David and Ruthie. Its is just – and I’m sure MCR will second me – that the “nitty-gritty” of the collapse situation would even require philosophical giants such as Pythagoras and Plato (were they now “incarnate” and around) to deal with simple commonsense measures, some of which they would be rquired to undertake even if they didn’t quite like the taste of them. And those wouldn’t be quite to the preference of their normal highflown occupations, but I’m sure they would be “philosophical” enough to acknowledge the need to drop the intricate stuff for a while and do the needful! I say this because in an earlier post addressed to Agape, you had said to the effect that “...some people (i.e me) are concerned with Pakistan, etc., etc., but this is also a gigantic trasnsformational opportunity for mankind...” Let me assure you indeed it is, and that is what the collapse in the end amounts to; and this spiritual rebirth will takeplace regardless of your midwifery...but where such midwifery is PRESENTLY needed however is in the practical details – and that is where knowledge of subjects such as Pakistan comes in first. This country, its culture and geopolitical importance are the key to a lot of perplexing enigmas in the present situation for which it would make a good case study – and also in the poetic, Biblical sense too, as I have seen no paralells to it other than in Sodom and Gomorrah. But for me to stress or suggest that to some here might be a needless waste of breath, effort and time. I just happen to know more than many about AfPak. No boasts intended, and no offence meant to you! Even my favourite Manly Hall would have been confounded had he been required to tackle this collapse practically. What you talk of is not difficult for me to understand; pray do not misjudge my metaphysical development of which you know not! But I prefer – like M.P. Hall has advised all students, disciples, masters and initiates on the path – not to mix the profane with the sacred; to me that comes naturally. The sacred belongs in one’s Inner Sanctum.
@gamedog: You mistake me. I am stating a fact, not taking any moral high ground, nor asking anyone to do anything. But franchise ultimately carries with it responsibility, does it not? It isn’t just popping a piece of paper into a tin box and then grinning like the Cheshire Cat, or Little Jack Horner patting himself on the back for being a good boy.
[Continued below in PART 2]
PART 2:
ReplyDelete[Continued from PART 1 above]
@Agape: Your extrapolations on the subject of the “Other” are very enlightening! Perhaps I used “Outsider” because my English is of the “archaic”, mid-20th Century British variety. It is still very valid in most of their former colonies.
@Raymond: I am not calling for proposals to stop any collapse! I just report and elaborate facts, and ask the reader to observe and comprehend. Bitter or sweet. As for the Cubans, you have much to learn from them comrade, not only in growing tomatoes... and as to the rest of what you said: cheers and enjoy! Crisis and stability come and go always, and are just another duality/polarity out of the innumerable others that constitute the universe.
@Hotspringwizard: You are correct. We cannot stem the forces of history – or the consequences of what has been done. Again, I am not asking anyone to do anything: all I am asking them to do is to observe, assimilate and understand the realities and their dynamics! Then at least they will know the whys and wherefores of it all.
@Eyeballs: Ah, Eyeballs, it was you who provoked my clarification in the first place, when you stressed earlier that the US people are different from their rulers. (And as I told RanD earlier, I fully believe in the spiritual and “karmic” dimensions of all this. They underlie EVERYTHING). I am not blaming your common people; all I implied was, in a nutshell, that a strategist prosecuting a war on the US will not buy any stuff that tells him that the people don’t approve of what their government does. That doesn’t matter to him, even if the people are angels. He will go for the government, as that is what lies at the pinnacle of society. And the whole society will suffer monobloc, without any absolution. So it is in all wars. Unless “the people of the city rise up and throw the gates open”. But I don’t see that happening in your case.
F.Kamilov: "But franchise ultimately carries with it responsibility, does it not?"
ReplyDeletelike everyone thinking they were voting for something different than Bush, trying to "change" things you mean? Do those people really carry responsibility? I think not.
Gamedog:
ReplyDeleteExactly. Then what is all the ado about? A useless, feel-good illusion? If that is so, then it confirms my point!