Is Creaking America on the Road to Ruin?
More mainstream recognition of what FTW has been asserting for years.
"According to a report by Ernst & Young, the consultancy group, published in June, the US has a funding shortfall for infrastructure of $1.6 trillion (£785 billion), a sum needed merely to repair and bring the existing infrastructure back up to scratch."
Central Banks Take Emergency Credit Crunch Action
This looks like the work of an international arm of the Plunge Protection Team.
International Forum on Globalization
Food that Travels Well
In case we forgot that the devil is in the details, the article claims "...that lamb raised on New Zealand’s clover-choked pastures and shipped 11,000 miles by boat to Britain produced 1,520 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per ton while British lamb produced 6,280 pounds of carbon dioxide per ton, in part because poorer British pastures force farmers to use feed. In other words, it is four times more energy-efficient for Londoners to buy lamb imported from the other side of the world than to buy it from a producer in their backyard. Similar figures were found for dairy products and fruit."
Tillman Memo Contradicted Citation
CIA Report on 9/11 Due Labor Day


From Anne Scott

I am about to tell you the story of my morning. This does not end tragically, nor is it of global importance. It is a small, local happening. But the much broader significance will be frighteningly, gut quiveringly, evident.

For background: I've not had a dog for more than twenty years. Much travel with work and frequent moves made it impossible to happily raise a dog. Imagine my joy, after buying the farm, to find a lovely young pup at our local shelter. Never was a dog born who so richly deserved a farm. Nor has a better farm dog walked this earth.

This morning she walked up to the glass door and waited for me to see her. In horror I saw she had a face filled with porcupine quills! I grabbed a heavy shirt, gloves, pliers, and raced out to help her. I was only able to remove one quill before realizing she would not allow me to proceed. Even with two of us to hold her, it was not going to happen. She weighs eighty pounds, and though sweet tempered, even during this ordeal, I feared hurting her even more.

I called her vet at six a.m. No one there, and no one on call. I called another and within half an hour, she arrived and immediately sedated Sakai. Within an hour, the Dr. returned with more help and transported her to the clinic. By the time I arrived, moments later, they had already removed all the quills, given antibiotics and she was groggily returning to the world. I could not stop crying or saying thank you, thank you.

The bigger meaning of all this came crashing down on me as I waited for help to arrive. Peak oil, mega disasters, war, martial law, name your poison. I am more prepared and self-sufficient than ninety eight percent of the population, yet I was helpless in a fairly routine situation. I now will become more prepared. A stretcher to move someone, sedatives to give if needed, and what ever else occurs to me when my mind is operating at normal again. Because it is one thing to intellectualize about "help not arriving" and another thing entirely to feel the result of what could have been, and most probably, will be. The future is about no help being able to arrive.

I shall never forget the look in Sakai's eyes this morning. She did not whimper, or cry. Just looked at me.....help me mommy.....

I am crying as I write, can't seem to stop. She is sleeping peacefully and has just enough energy to wag her tail when I walk up.

So, now! I shall make more preparations. I'll miss something, no doubt. But I'll learn every lesson the Universe is sending. And say Thank You...Thank You.

Her name, Sakai, was given to her by the woman who rescued her and brought her to the shelter. It is from a Native American language and means "Brave little one".


Anne

White House OKs Tillman Case Interviews
Russians Plant Flag on the Arctic Seabed Is the Arctic seabed American, Canadian or Russian? I guess Russia just settled that issue.
Washington Post on Tillman: "'The system failed' is the ultimate cover-up...
The way the system works, of course, is to ensure that government officials -- particularly high-level government officials -- are always insulated from incriminating evidence. Lower-level flunkies know what to tell their bosses and how to use the chain of command to insulate themselves from higher-up decisions. If each person at each level behaves as mandated, decisions can be made without any real responsibility and accountability."
Richard Myers at Tillman Trial Myers was less successful than Rumsfeld at dodging questions.
China Climate Change Storms Affect 200 Million
Bearish on Bees The New Yorker's in-depth study of Colony Collapse Disorder ending on an upbeat note, whether justifiably or not.
Gangs In the Military
Zimbabwe's Chaos One of three articles on Zimbabwe in the New York Times in the last two days. The first, a page one in-depth study of the collapse of the country, mentioned oil in passing but placed the full weight of the blame on Mugabe.
Why Mugabe Cannot Retire
Pacifica's Kellia Ramares' Own Sicko Videos
McKinney Libel Suit Against Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Rumsfeld Appears Before Tillman Hearing

Cheney on Larry King Live Tuesday 9 E.T.
Send Questions to Larry King
Send Video Questions

Mary Tillman Speaks Out

100$ Oil Price May Be Months Away: CIBC, Goldman
Producers' Own [Oil] Consumption Rises; Exports About to Plummet
The first in a four-part series by Jeffrey Brown
Mexico, Venezuela Oil Slumps Could Hit U.S. Supply
Conoco Phillips and Tyson Collaborate on Renewable Fuel from Animal Fat
See Mike's article on soylent and thermal depolymerization. If they can do it to animals, they can do it to people, should that ever become necessary.
New Details on Tillman's Death
General Faces Demotion in Tillman Case
CIA Dissenters Aided Prisons Report
Filipino Gets Six Year Sentence in Cheney Spy Case
Venezuela Seizes Over 28 Tons of Drugs
Wall St. Starts to Lean Democratic
Must be that they've seen the light, eh? So Move-On would have us believe.
************************************************************************************
Letter to the Editor of the New York Times

July 17, 2007


The article on the world's energy challenge, (Big Rise Seen in Demand for Energy) mischaracterizes what Peak Oil advocates believe. We do not suggest that the world is running out of oil. Peak Oil means that production, particularly of 'easy oil' which is cheaper to obtain, reaches a peak after which it declines, becoming harder and more expensive to get. In a time of rising demand such as the article describes, the growing discrepancy can have devastating economic and social consequences. In fact, the IEA report corroborates what Peak Oilists have been warning for a long time.


Jenna Orkin
Chairperson of the first NYC Peak Oil Conference, 2005

NYC Screening Sunday, July 29, of What A Way To Go: Life At The End Of Empire followed by discussion with filmmakers Sally Erickson and Tim Bennett.

Plame Case Against Cheney, Rove, Libby Dismissed for Lack of Jurisdiction
Global Oil Agency Warns of Supply Squeeze
Big Rise Seen in Demand for Energy
The news here is that the New York Times has been forced to acknowledge that rise although they make sure to misdefine and mischaracterize Peak Oil: "[the report] dismisses predictions from so-called peak oil theorists that the world’s oil deposits are on the decline; quite the contrary, the industry’s view is that the world’s resources remain abundant.
'Fortunately, the world is not running out of energy resources,' the report says in a 40-page summary. 'Coal, oil and natural gas will remain indispensable to meeting total projected energy demand growth.'" J.O.
Worst Case Scenario by Ran Prieur
As Dollar Crumples, Tourists Overseas Reel
Senate Panel Questions Payments for Energy Deals Off West Africa
World Bank Panel Probing West Africa Gas Pipeline
From the "Unintended Consequences of Climate Change" Department
Venezuela May Shoot Down Unidentified Aircraft, Universal Says
Iran to Maximize Oil Income in Non-U.S. Currency
Oversight Committee Calls Up Rumsfeld for Hearing on Tillman Death
Bush Claims Executive Privilege on Tillman
Generals Called to Testify in Tillman Case
Cheney's Office Implies It Has Executive Privilege Of Its Own
In Intelligence World, a Mute Watchdog

NYC: 1. Subway Service Reduced 2. Explosion
These two events a day apart raise questions about the reliability of the city's decaying infrastructure. You won't be surprised to hear, by the way, that the assurances regarding asbestos following yesterday's explosion exactly mirror those following 9/11: "Not as bad as we feared;" "No asbestos in the air." As they did after 9/11, the authorities are relying on air rather than dust tests (which have indeed been found to contain asbestos) because the results are more in their favor. The quality of the equipment they're using should also be examined. After 9/11 EPA used equipment that was 20 years out of date. For every fiber of asbestos they found, independent contractors found nine. The risk of cancer from the asbestos alone could be one person in ten. J.O.

Russian Energy Pipeline Giants to Form Corporate Armies
Putin Announces Plan to Take North Pole
Dubai Eyes Mideast Carbon Trading Market
Iran Won't Allow Extra Gasoline Buying
US Sending New Aircraft Carrier to Mideast
Fed Says Sleight of Hand Works As Long As Everyone Continues Wishing Real Hard (though not in so many words)
Spain Offers Bonus for Babies
The policy of countries such as Russia, Poland and England of rewarding population growth epitomize the tension between the interests of parts versus the whole. J.O.

Files on Illegal Spying Show CIA Skeletons from Cold War
Cindy Sheehan May Run for Nancy Pelosi's Seat
Politics Scuttled US Anti-Al Qaeda Raid
Venezuela Likely to Nationalize Gas Industry This Year
How Roman Farmers Left Their Mark on Nature
Small House Society

Vivoleum Hoax
JFK Turns to CIA to Plug a Leak
Gulf Arabs Less Sure of Dollar Peg
UAE to Divert 50% of Oil Meant for Gas to Power
Hormuz Oil Bypass: Six Firms in "Pipeline"
Iran's Gas Rationing Sets Off Violence
Iran Launches Answer to CNN and BBC World
Iran Rejects Oliver Stone Film Request
West Africa Drug Haven for Latin American Smugglers
China to Search for Oil in the Sudan
Ben Stein Sounding Humbler These Days