Thursday, April 16, 2009
NOT 'Somali Pirates'... It's The "Somali Coast Guard" And They're 'Taking Out' The 'Trash' (along with Illegal Offshore Nuclear Waste Dumpers)
"Piracy", as applied to Somali fishermen put out of work by foreign flagged factory-ship ocean rape and the pollution caused by the dumping of toxic waste (up to and including low-level nuclear waste washing ashore in barrels from Mafia controlled waste management companies in Europe) is a misnomer, and undoubtedly an intentional one on the part of the major shipper of the world and their cronies on the international committees that oversee maritime law.
But in essence these so-called "pirates" ARE the Somali Coast Guard.
Addenda...
Razer just wants to point out that he's blogged information about the OTHER players in this nation-breaking equation... A writeup on the eerie mayhem-induced quiet that's settled over the capital Mogadishu, and a family photo the CIA's Somali warlord mercenary army leadership with a link to information about their "extraction" by US SEALS on a US Navy submarine the first time they were run out of the country. That posting is HERE
African Nuclear Destruction Update: Saturday August 22 2009...
The rationalization and implicit denial, Malawi Edition, from Inter Press Service:
KAYELEKERA, Malawi, Aug 22 (IPS) - "We are serious about the integrity of the environment," says Neville Huxham, the country director for Paladin Energy Africa.
"We're taking the uranium out of the ground, we're exporting it to be used for productive purposes, so we should be getting a medal for cleaning up the environment." [In Full]
Now, to the issue at hand... and my sentiment as seen in the topquote has been validated by the #3 most under-reported news story in this year's Project Censored Top Censored Stories of 2009/2010 linked below, and more from other sources and viewpoints farther down this post
...and you MIGHT want to perus the #4 under-reported (putting it kindly) news story too... It's in YOUR back yard:
See all 25 of the Top Censored Stories here4. Nuclear Waste Pools in North Carolina
...The threat exists, however, without the speculation of terrorist attack. Should the cooling system malfunction, the resulting fire would be virtually unquenchable and could trigger a nuclear meltdown, putting more than two hundred million residents of this rapidly growing section of North Carolina in extreme peril. A recent study by Brookhaven Labs estimates that a pool fire could cause 140,000 cancers, contaminate thousands of square miles of land, and cause over $500 billion in off-site property damage.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has estimated that there is a 1:100 chance of pool fire happening under the best of scenarios.
Did you know the high seas off Somalia's coast are being used as a TOXIC WASTE & NUCLEAR MATERIALS DUMPING GROUND?
No?
(See: 'Somalia & the Mafia the nuclear waste dump zone' at Seeker401.com)
Also see this research report for more internationally sourced linkage on the Mafia and nuclear dumping at this DailyKos Post: "Pirates of Somalia: Curse of the Mafia Nuclear Waste Dumps and Thanks for All the Fish"
As if THAT'S not enough to say "Tsk Tsk! ...and a pox on your industrialized nations"
Excerpted from We're Being Lied to About Pirates
By Johann Hari, Independent UK (via Alternet)
Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, tells me: "Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury – you name it." Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to "dispose" of cheaply. When I asked Mr Ould-Abdallah what European governments were doing about it, he said with a sigh: "Nothing. There has been no clean-up, no compensation, and no prevention."
At the same time, other European ships have been looting Somalia's seas of their greatest resource: seafood. We have destroyed our own fish stocks by overexploitation – and now we have moved on to theirs. More than $300m-worth of tuna, shrimp, and lobster are being stolen every year by illegal trawlers. The local fishermen are now starving. Mohammed Hussein, a fisherman in the town of Marka 100km south of Mogadishu, told Reuters: "If nothing is done, there soon won't be much fish left in our coastal waters."
This is the context in which the "pirates" have emerged. Somalian fishermen took speedboats to try to dissuade the dumpers and trawlers, or at least levy a "tax" on them. They call themselves the Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia – and ordinary Somalis agree. The independent Somalian news site WardheerNews found 70 per cent "strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence".
No, this doesn't make hostage-taking justifiable, and yes, some are clearly just gangsters – especially those who have held up World Food Programme supplies. But in a telephone interview, one of the pirate leaders, Sugule Ali: "We don't consider ourselves sea bandits. We consider sea bandits [to be] those who illegally fish and dump in our seas." William Scott would understand.
Did we expect starving Somalians to stand passively on their beaches, paddling in our toxic waste, and watch us snatch their fish to eat in restaurants in London and Paris and Rome? We won't act on those crimes – the only sane solution to this problem – but when some of the fishermen responded by disrupting the transit-corridor for 20 per cent of the world's oil supply, we swiftly send in the gunboats.
In full @ Alternet
Also See: Putting Today's 'Pirate' Attack in Context
A US ship, owned by a Pentagon contractor with "Top Security" clearance, was seized off the Somali coast. Reports say the US crew has retaken the ship. But the question remains: Why are the pirates attacking?
By Jeremy Scahill
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.
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The Somali pirates who took control of the 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama's cargo-ship in the early hours of Wednesday morning probably were unaware that the ship they were boarding belonged to a US Department of Defense contractor with "top security" clearance, which does a half-billion dollars in annual business with the Pentagon, primarily the Navy.
The ship was being operated by an "all-American crew", there were 20 US nationals onboard. "Every indication is that this is the first time a U.S.-flagged ship has been successfully seized by pirates, said Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesperson for for the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet. The last documented pirate attack of a US vessel by African pirates was reported in 1804, off Libya, according to The Los Angeles Times.
The company, A.P. Moller-Maersk, is a Denmark-based company with a large US subsidiary, Maersk Line, Ltd, that serves US government agencies and contractors. The company, which is based in Norfolk, Virginia, runs the world's largest fleet of US-flag vessels. The Alabama was about 300 miles off the coast of the Puntland region of northern Somalia when it was taken. The US military says the Alabama was not operating on a DoD contract at the time and was said to be delivering food aid.
In Full @ rebelreports.com
Tags:
Economics,
Environment,
Europe,
Globalization,
Mafia,
Maritime Law,
Nuclear Waste,
Pentagon,
Piracy,
Pirates,
Somalia,
Toxic Waste
Monday, April 6, 2009
Neoliberalism is alive and kicking -- kicking the asses of American workers... Read the kick-me sign
Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers, said there were smarter things to do than demonstrating against layoffs -- for instance, pushing Congress and the states to make sure the stimulus plan creates the maximum number of jobs in the United States."I actually believe that Americans believe in their political system more than workers do in other parts of the world," Mr. Gerard said. He said large labor demonstrations are often warranted in Canada and European countries to pressure parliamentary leaders. Demonstrations are less needed in the United States, he said, because often all that is needed is some expert lobbying in Washington to line up the support of a half-dozen senators.(Steven Greenhouse, "In America, Labor Has an Unusually Long Fuse," New York Times, 5 April 2009)
.
.
.
Tags:
Despotism,
Labor,
Labor Union,
Lobbying,
Lobbyist,
Neoliberal,
Sheeple,
Unions,
United Steel Workers,
US Labor
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Lied To Again - Iranian Uranium Edition
Liberally excerpted from Juan Cole's Informed Comment: IAEA Inspectors: Iran not Producing Weapons-grade Uranium and a follow up comment at another posting.(For a complete trip down the "Orwellian memory hole", watch Norman Solomon's War Made Easy: How Presidents and pundits keep spinning us to death. Narrated by Sean Penn.
Torrents are probably available [Here]).
Also see: How To Sell a War, A writeup on the Rendon Group, the folks who brought you the Firdoz Square, Iraq "Saddam Statue 'Teardown'", for more on how the media has a hold on your 'Believe Button', versus what is real and truthful.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
IAEA Inspectors: Iran not Producing Weapons-grade Uranium
As I mentioned yesterday, Iran is not producing weapon-grade uranium, and could not easily do so without detection. The Hindu, which despite its name is left of center (and which is one of India's finest newspapers) writes:' Iran has not converted the low-grade uranium that it has produced into weapon-grade uranium, inspectors belonging to the International Atomic Energy Agency have said.
The Austrian Press Agency quoted an IAEA expert as saying that the uranium substances that Iran has produced at its Natanz enrichment facility have been carefully recorded and remote cameras have been installed to supervise part of the stockpile.
“If the Iranians intend to transport these uranium substances to a secret location for further processing, agency’s inspectors will find out,” he said.
The expert added that “so far, Iran has carried out good cooperation with us in relevant verifications”.
IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei has said that Iran has slowed down its uranium enrichment programme.'
US newspapers are complaining that they are losing money and may not survive. After they put all sorts of falsehoods about Iraq on their front pages, it may be that they fatally wounded their credibility with the US public. In any case, the above report does not show up anywhere on the web or in Lexis that I can find, except here in The Hindu, which tells me that someone is not doing their job.
(See also Dr. Jeffrey Lewis).
So... HOW IS the Western media 'reporting' on this?
(and I AM using the term 'reporting' rather loosely here...)
Anonymous said...
I don’t think it is entirely correct to say that there has been no press response to the IAEC report. Consider the following headlines:
“Iran holds enough uranium for bomb”Financial Times 19 Feb 09
“Iran has enriched enough uranium to make bomb, IAEA says”
Guardian 19 Feb 09
“Iran Has More Enriched Uranium Than Thought”
NYT 19 Feb 09
(A Buffalo favorite... RFE/RL makes it sound like a 'sport')
"New IAEA Report Shows Iran Nearing Nuclear Breakout Capability”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 20 Feb 09
Clearly there is a difference in slant between the Hindu article and those listed above.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
What do you call three crony DOJ lawyers at the bottom end of a taunt rope?
by Michael Isikoff
(Newsweek)
An internal Justice Department report on the conduct of senior lawyers who approved waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics is causing anxiety among former Bush administration officials.
H. Marshall Jarrett, chief of the department's ethics watchdog unit, the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), confirmed last year he was investigating whether the legal advice in crucial interrogation memos "was consistent with the professional standards that apply to Department of Justice attorneys."
According to two knowledgeable sources who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters, a draft of the report was submitted in the final weeks of the Bush administration. It sharply criticized the legal work of two former top officials—Jay Bybee and John Yoo—as well as that of Steven Bradbury, who was chief of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) at the time the report was submitted, the sources said. (Bybee, Yoo and Bradbury did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)
In Full @ Newsweek
Thursday, February 12, 2009
"It's Like Deja Vu All Over Again" (AKA "Is Viktor Bout Out Of Jail?") - 1/4 Million Weapons Unaccounted For In Afghanistan
BBCNews: US 'lost track of Afghan weapons'
[Afghan soldiers with US-issue automatic rifles]
The US military has failed to keep track of thousands of weapons shipped to Afghanistan, leaving them vulnerable to being lost or stolen, a report says.
The report has been compiled by congressional auditors, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).
It found that, in the four years up to June 2008, the US military failed to keep complete records on some 222,000 weapons entering the country. [In Full]
Maybe it's the 'Bookkeeping' again... as General David Petraeus claimed when the same thing happened in Iraq...
Bookkeeping problems are to blame for the inability to account for nearly 200,000 weapons issued to Iraqi security forces, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said late Tuesday.
In an interview on Fox News Radio, Gen. David H. Petraeus said he believes the weapons did reach the security forces, but that paperwork deficiencies don’t show their status.
“We believe those weapons all certainly were given to Iraqi units,” Petraeus said, according to a podcast recording on “The Alan Colmes Show.”
Meanwhile, 125,000 sets of body armor and 115,000 helmets intended for Iraqi forces could not be accounted for either, according to a Government Accountability Office report issued July 31.
The report faulted the Pentagon and the U.S. military command in Iraq for not applying the same standards in tracking supplies and weapons that it does elsewhere. The system has since been improved, the report found.
...or could it be.... Blackwater?
A former Blackwater employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the investigation includes a look at whether Blackwater shipped weapons from its Moyock headquarters to Iraq hidden in pallets wrapped tightly in shrink wrap..
.
“In December, the prosecutors obtained guilty pleas from two former Blackwater employees, Kenneth Wayne Cashwell of Virginia Beach, Va., and William Ellsworth “Max” Grumiaux of Clemmons, N.C."
"The court files are stingy on details of the crimes…”
“…the federal (Nb. criminal) investigation of Blackwater is proceeding behind closed doors,”
A buffalo's take on the 'whos', 'whats', and, maybe most inportantly, 'whys' here
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Is THAT All? Man gets 10 days in jail for bison killing
I'll tell ya what buddy bwoy (AKA 'punk little F*** Face'!)
Leave the gun @ home BIG MAN, and meet me in the arena... No waiting for 'High Noon'. NOW! We've got a score to settle.
DENVER, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- A 45-year-old Texas man will spend 10 days in jail in Park County, Colo., for masterminding the killing of 32 bison last year, a judge says.
Park County District Judge Stephen Groome ruled this week Texas businessman Jeffrey Hawn earned a reduced sentence on a cruelty to animals charge due to a deal with the district attorney's office, The Denver Post said Thursday.
Hawn had been accused of organizing the shooting deaths of the bison last February and March.
The bison had been owned by rancher Monte Downare of Colorado's South Park region, but had apparently wandered onto Hawn's property.
Groome said while handing down his sentence Wednesday he was disturbed by the fact that some of the animals were killed by up to eight bullets.
"What I find really disturbing is that these animals definitely suffered," the judge said.
The Post said Hawn offered an apology in court prior to being sentenced.
"With the benefit of hindsight, I made a lot of mistakes," he told the court.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
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