Justifying torture

How do ordinary people come to justify torture? It is impressive to read something written in 2000 that so accurately predicts events in 2009. It would be a fair guess that these 'predictions' also describe many other countries besides Great Britain in 1971...i.e. the Bush Thugs in 2009. I have edited the article to emphasize the principal thrusts of justification for torture. Read the entire article here.

Unspeakable Acts: Ordinary People

by John Conroy
University of California Press, 2000, paper
Source
... It takes no genius to see a pattern ... and that pattern is repeated throughout the world: torturers are rarely punished, and when they are, the punishment rarely corresponds to the severity of the crime.

When a dictatorship is overthrown by a democratic regime, torture squads typically elude punishment because the new government is not entirely secure.

Furthermore, it is often difficult to mount an effective prosecution. Torture usually occurs in a closed room without independent witnesses. Sometimes the victims have been blindfolded or they are dead..

A prosecutor's task is made more difficult by the fact that torturers are often decorated soldiers or policemen who have served their country in time of need, men who often represent popular belief: they were tough on crime, or they were saving the country from subversion or immorality....

Consider, for example, the British reaction to the revelations that they were torturing the Northern Irish in 197I.

The first stage of response was absolute and complete denial, accompanied by attacks on those who exposed the treatment. Northern Irish Prime Minister Brian Faulkner announced that there had been "no brutality of any kind."

The London Sunday Times was denounced for printing "the fantasies of terrorists."

The second stage was to minimize the abuse....

A third stage is to disparage the victims. Lord Carrington judged them to be "thugs and murderers," while Reginald Maulding proclaimed, "It was necessary to take measures to fight terrorists, the murderous enemy....
A fourth stage is to justify the treatment on the grounds that it was effective or appropriate under the circumstances. Lord Balniel, junior minister of defense, said that there was no evidence of torture, ill-treatment, or brainwashing, and that the methods employed had produced "invaluable" information about a brutal, callous, and barbaric enemy.

A fifth component of a torturing society's defense is to charge that those who take up the cause of those tortured are aiding the enemies of the state....

A sixth defense is that the torture is no longer occurring, and anyone who raises the issue is therefore "raking up the past."...

A seventh component of a torturing bureaucracy is to put the blame on a few bad apples....

A final rationalization of a torturing nation is that the victims will get over it.
It is perhaps understandable that public officials accused of a crime as heinous as torture would react defensively and follow a predictable route of denial. What is perhaps more difficult to understand is the rampant indifference that grips most societies in the face of revelations of torture.

Does this sound uncomfortably current?

Shooting dogs and tasering grandmas

US cops are out of control. And apparently it's all within 'department policy' according to the police investigations.

Video after video shows the merciless application of lethal brutality for 'not responding' quick enough, disagreeing with an officer or just getting mouthy. All these are termed 'resisting arrest' and can result in lethat application of force - it's all in the manual folks.

Now please enjoy officers shooting dachshunds and chihuahuas because they were 'threatening'.

I am not going to bother to comment on these stories: I assume the reader has sense enough to draw conclusions without stating the obvious.

Family outraged after police shoot pet dog on their front porch

Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Source

Two grown men that can't gather up a five-pound dog – and they're trained police officers – sounds ridiculous to me.

-Scott Bullock

A family is outraged after returning home to find police had Tasered and shot dead their pet Chihuahua.

Scott and Sharon Bullock returned to their home in Blue Ash, Cincinnati after a family member's funeral to find blood and three bullets on their front porch - along with a note telling them to call police about their dog.

Police said the dog - a Chihuahua mix named 'Jack' - had escaped from the back yard and two officers had tried to catch him, eventually chasing Jack back to the Bullocks' home.

"He was cornered on the porch and scared," Sharon Bullock told WCPO.com.

"The officer bent down bare-handed to pick up Jack, and Jack bit him."

Blue Ash police said one officer was bitten 17 times on one hand and nine times on the other before he eventually attempted to Taser the dog.

When that didn't work the two officers shot at Jack three times, killing him with the third shot. [You think the officer might have been pissed off?]

The Bullocks say they've told their five-year-old and three-year-old sons that Jack ran away.

"My five-year-old cried himself to sleep the night before last, wanting his dog," said Sharon Bullock.

"He 'barks' for him," Scott Bullock added.

"He'd 'bark' and Jack would always come to him, so he's outside going 'Bark bark bark,' hoping he's gonna come back. It's heartbreaking."

The family says, while they were at fault for leaving the dog outside, they don't understand why the police didn't call an animal control unit like the SPCA to handle Jack, who had never attacked anyone before.

"They didn't make that phone call other than to come scoop the dog off the porch after they shot him," said Scott Bullock.

"Two grown men that can't gather up a five-pound dog – and they're trained police officers – sounds ridiculous to me."

Blue Ash police said the officers had acted according to department policy.

“The officers, as badly as the officer was getting bitten, he had to do something to protect himself,” Lieutenant Paul Hartinger told WCPO.com

“They first chose physical means, then a taser and when those two didn't work, he had no option but to shoot the dog."

Killer, who died Monday night after being shot once, was described as “just a little house dog.“

June 11, 2009
Source
DANVILLE -- Danville's police chief says one of his officers acted properly by shooting and killing an 11-year-old miniature dachshund that ran at him while growling.

Neighbors said Killer, who died Monday night after being shot once, was a sweet, mild-mannered dog.

"He just kind of walked up and down the neighborhood and didn't bother anybody," said Jenine Edmunds, who lives on the same cul-de-sac as Killer's owners, Tawaiin Harper and his family. "He was just a little house dog."

Police Chief Philip Broadfoot declined to name the officer who shot and killed the dog while serving two outstanding warrants to a neighbor.

As the officer returned to his car, "he was surprised by a growling dog running through the yard directly at him from the rear, leaving him with just seconds to consider his options," according to the a release from Broadfoot.

The options, according to the chief: running to the squad car, distracting the dog or using pepper spray, a baton or firearm.

Broadfoot said the dog lunged at the officer and attacked him.

"Shooting a dog which is actively presenting a threat to an officer is within the department's policy," according to the release.

Harper said he drove home from work to try to comfort his wife and two children after they called to say Killer had been shot to death by the officer.

The officer's supervisor, a lieutenant, "was very, very remorseful," Harper said. "He kept apologizing. And he said, 'I know apologizing can't bring the dog back, but I just don't know what to say.' "

Harper said friends and neighbors have asked if the family will get another dog.

"You can't replace Killer. He's one of a kind. I'm still trying to soak it in because the dog had been with us so long. He was a family member. They took a family member away."

-- Media General News Service

Ambulance driver brutalized by police: cops did it right!

Charges won't be filed in trooper scuffle case

Last Update: 6/05 5:01 pm
Source

Charges won't be filed against troopers or a paramedic, involved in a scuffle near Paden. That's in Okfuskee County.

The paramedic's attorney, Richard O'Carroll, says, "We are disappointed the district attorney did not file charges against the trooper. While we understand his position politically, we believe it would have gone a long way in resolving the matter."

Video surfaced of the scuffle last month, and shows the men came to blows while a patient waited to be taken to the hospital.

The patient's son recorded the clash on his cell phone.

He says the argument started after the ambulance failed to yield to troopers en route to a call.

But the man says the ambulance driver was busy trying to avoid a car that slowed down, and wasn't aware that troopers were nearby until it was too late.

Grandma tasered update - Police: we did it right!

Tasing of 72-year-old woman was appropriate,

Woman posed a danger during traffic stop on Texas 71,
official says.

By Isadora Vail , Patrick George
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Source
Travis County law enforcement officials are standing behind the actions of a constable who used a Taser on a 72-year-old woman during a May traffic stop, saying the officer acted properly in a dangerous situation.

Deputy Constable Christopher Beize used a Taser on Kathryn Winkfein after she resisted arrest when he pulled her over for speeding, according to an incident report.

Winkfein was driving west on Texas 71 in western Travis County on May 11 when Beize pulled her over, the report says.

Beize wrote a citation for Winkfein for going 60 mph in a 45 mph construction zone, but the 4-foot-11-inch woman refused to sign it and told Beize that he was "going to have to take her to jail," the document says. Beize told her she was going to be arrested for refusing to promise to appear by signing the top of the citation, the report says.

At that point, Winkfein got out of the truck and began to yell profanities at Beize, an arrest affidavit says.

She yelled at Beize to give her the citation and said she would sign it but was not following commands, the report says. Beize said Winkfein tried to take his ticket book away, telling Beize to Tase her or take her to jail, according to the affidavit. As Beize was trying to arrest her, she tried to get back in her truck, the affidavit says.

Sgt. Maj. Gary Griffin of the constable's office said Winkfein was belligerent, pushed Beize into oncoming traffic and nearly stepped into it herself. "She was using language I wouldn't expect any woman to use, let alone a 72-year-old woman," Griffin said.

She continued to not listen to Beize's demands and was Tased, the incident report says. She was Tased again after not staying on the ground, as commanded, according to the report.

An ambulance was called to evaluate Winkfein, and she was not found to have any irregularities, according to court documents. She was taken to jail and charged with a Class A misdemeanor of resisting arrest and detention, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000.

Taser International recommends not using the weapon on people who are physically infirm or elderly. It was not known late Tuesday what the Taser policy is for constable deputies.

Winkfein could not be reached for comment.

Griffin said Beize did the right thing in dealing with a subject who refused to be arrested and put them both in harm's way.

Beize has been a peace officer since 1994 and is a Taser instructor, Griffin said.

Winfein's "actions were inappropriate," Griffin said.



Please enjoy the rationale behind this thinking.

Grandma tasered - Unedited video from dash cam

Tasering folks must be the new public relations campaign for American police officers. And apparently has been going on for several years coming to light in the Rodney King video.

If this 72 yr old woman had a pace maker or a heart attack, might she be dead for not signing a traffic ticket? Refusing to sign a ticket means nothing as it can be mailed to you (think speed cams here folks).



Here is a slightly different view of the action with additional audio "Give it to me, I'll sign it. Think this is an isolated incident? Here is a video from 2004, Taser Torture of an Unarmed 78 yo Man in LAX

Age is no barrier though. Thug Cop Assaulting a Teen

And here is another tasering for going 5 miles over the speed limit.



Cop tasers his wife during quarrel. It's becoming clearer.



And now the interviews with cop and grandma.

Also see Ambulance driver brutalized by police

A search on You Tube for taser deaths may really shock the reader.
Amnesty: 334 Taser Deaths Since 2001 Video.

Other related stories.

Black Pa. Man Killed in Police Tasering

In Pennsylvania, the FBI’s civil rights office has opened an investigation into the death of an African American man tasered by police in town of Swissvale. Police say thirty-seven-year-old Andre Thomas was arrested after he was found disturbing a residential block. But witnesses dispute the police account and say they saw police taser Thomas before brutally kicking him in the head as he lay on the ground.

La. Officer Indicted in Tasing Death

And in Louisiana, a white police officer has been indicted for the tasing death of a young African American man in the town of Winnfield. Baron Pikes died on January 17 from electrocution after the police officer, Scott Nugent, shot him nine times with a taser. Pikes was already in handcuffs at the time. Last month, his death was ruled a homicide. Pikes was the first cousin of Mychal Bell, the lead defendant in the Jena Six case. Nugent could face up to forty-five years in prison.

Study: Police in Houston Use Tasers Mostly on Blacks

A new study has revealed that police in Houston, Texas have used Taser stun guns far more on African Americans than any other group. Between December 2004 and June 2007, the police used tasers 1,400 times. Nearly 67 percent were used on blacks, even though only about 25 percent of Houston’s population is black.

Mentally Handicapped Man Falls to Death After Police Tasering

And here in New York, police are admitting at least partial fault in the death of a mentally handicapped man who fell from a building after he was tasered. Thirty-five-year-old Inman Morales was standing naked on a ledge when police confronted him to try to bring him down. Police say they had called for an inflatable bag to break Morales’s fall. But it had not arrived before an officer struck him with the taser weapon, sending him plunging to his death. Police say the incident violated some departmental guidelines but are not disciplining the officers.


Officer Who Ordered Fatal Tasering Takes Own Life

Here in New York, an officer involved in the tasering that sent a mentally handicapped man plunging to his death has committed suicide. Lieutenant Michael Pigott had been stripped of his badge and gun for ordering an officer to taser Inman Morales as he stood on a second-story building ledge. Morales fell headfirst to the ground below, dying instantly. Police say they had called for an inflatable bag to break Morales’s fall. But it had not arrived before the officer fired the taser.


Tasers: Unnecessary and Deadly Force

Another unarmed teen has died after being Tased by police.

Brett Elder, 15, from Bay City, Michigan died after police used Tasers to break up a fight between him and another teenager.

Disturbingly, Brett is already the second teenager to die after being Tased this year. In January, an unarmed 17-year-old boy in Virginia died after police responding to a minor street incident shocked him in his apartment. As of today, the total number of deaths after the use of Taser guns in the U.S. has surpassed 334 since June 2001 and it keeps rising. Perhaps what’s most unsettling is that in over 90% of those cases, the person shocked didn’t even have a weapon.

The news of these teen deaths comes soon after the unveiling of a new Taser weapon, the Taser Shockwave, capable of shocking entire crowds at once. Clearly, this money could have been better spent conducting rigorous safety testing and research into why so many have died after being shocked with a Taser. Amnesty International has called on U.S. law enforcement departments to cease using the weapons, pending further safety studies, or to strictly limit their use to a weapon of last resort.

Peruvians battle oil companies to protect Amazon

Update 19-6-09 Peru’s Natives Hail Decision to Overturn Logging Rules

Update 19-6-09 Massacre in the Amazon: The U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement Sparks a Battle Over Land and Resources

Peru: Massive protests against García government
over Amazon massacre

A wave of mass demonstrations and marches swept across the whole of Peru Thursday in popular repudiation of the government’s massacre of Amazon Indians last week.
Read more.

Below is an update on my blog "Happy the nation whose people has not forgotten how to rebel". These are natives fighting for their land and resources that are being taken in breach of international treaties. Mmmmm...if only I was so brave.

Eugenics comes to the USA

Yet another article confirming eugenics data being legally required of all babies born in the USA. I have blogged on this before: Baby's DNA now stored in National Database - It's the law.

Now I do not have a particular position on eugenics: I do, however, wonder why so many Americans do not know about the recently passed federal laws which mandate that all newborns will have their DNA stored in a national database. Once they find out, they can figure out what, if anything they want to do about it. At least we know Minnesota doesn't like it.

DNA databases prelude to return of eugenics?

Warning issued over 'full genomic scans' on babies

by Bob Unruh
Global Research, June 8, 2009
World Net Daily - 2009-05-02
Source
An organization that has been battling Minnesota state procedures in which DNA from every newborn is collected and warehoused says virtually all states do the same thing, and the alarming trend eventually could lead the United States back into eugenics.

The report from Twila Brase, president of the Citizens' Council on Health Care, says, "Throughout history, proponents of eugenics have focused on the reproduction of children, either through encouraging the 'healthy' to reproduce or discouraging the 'unhealthy' from procreation. This focus has been evidenced in history by 29 state sterilization laws … and the horrific Nazi campaign aimed at ridding Germany of the 'unfit' – the Jews, the physically deformed, the mentally retarded, the 'feebleminded,' the inferior, the epileptic, the deaf, the blind, 'those suffering from hereditary conditions,' the deviant 'asocial' and the politically dissident."

The report then continued, "That the focus on reproduction still exists today is more than troubling.

"The authors of a 2001 study 'were struck' by the large number of state government officials who agreed with a specific statement regarding assessment of ua child's suitability for future reproduction," the report said. "Nineteen (54 percent) of 35 … respondents who routinely provide counseling – mostly newborn genetic screening follow-up staff at state health departments across the country – thought it important when giving advice to parents to 'identify children who might be, for genetic reasons, unsuitable choices for future reproduction,'" the report said.

The concept of "identifying" those who would be "unsuitable" for reproduction is enough reason for parents to be alarmed, and people should start demanding fully informed consent requirements, Brase said.

"To protect every American's right to self-determination, genetic privacy, and DNA property rights, it is time to require informed written parent consent for all facets of the newborn genetic screening program, including storage and use of genetic test results and newborn DNA," Brase said.

She said most states do not require parental consent for newborn genetic testing now or for the government to keep the genetic results. Most states now keep DNA results for a period of time – some extending indefinitely.

"Most parents have no idea that government is doing the testing or retaining the data and DNA," the report said.

"It is important for policymakers to look beyond the current newborn screening programs which test infants for only 21 to 60-some rare genetic conditions. Supporters of newborn screening appear to be planning for full genomic scans on every baby at birth," warned Brase.

The organization's website posted a report from a new grandmother who documented the medical industry's insistence on taking that information, with or without permission.

In Minnesota, the CCHC has been battling the state Department of Health, which has been taking the DNA samples and warehousing but apparently not following "written consent requirements."

The anonymous new grandmother there wrote:

"My daughter signed a paper stating she did not want the PKU test done because of the DNA stealing (I was there when she did that). The nurse huffed out of the room saying that stuff doesn't happen. After my grandchild was born, a different nurse took the baby. My daughter her my granddaughter start crying. She found out her heel was getting pricked. My daughter became furious stating that she signed off on not getting the test. The nurse said there was nothing in her chart saying that. My daughter demanded the blood sample back. The nurse said they'd destroy it, but my daughter demanded it back and got it."

Brase's report warns the collection and assembly of DNA on an entire generation of citizens largely is unnoticed, but such newborn screening "represents the largest single application of genetic testing in medicine."

"Suppose … expanded screening of an infant reveals not a fatal and incurable disease but instead a host of genetic variants, each of which merely confers elevated risk for some condition or other," the report said. "Who is to say at what point an uncovered defect becomes serious enough to warrant preventing the birth of other children who might carry it? At what point have we crossed the line from legitimate family planning to capricious and morally dubious eugenics?"

The report said the concept that a population of people can be "improved" by eliminating those with any "defects" is relatively ignored these days. But, it said, "proponents are newborn genetic screening are moving toward eugenics – not away from it."

In the United States, it was in 1927 when the U.S. Supreme Court opined, from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.'s pen, "It is better for all he world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind. The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the Fallopian tubes."

Even now, similar beliefs exist, the report said.

"Is it thus noteworthy that the government-funded Sickle Cell Trust in Jamaica is now providing fifth and sixth grade students with the results of their sickle cell tests on a laminated card with the hope that they will 'select partners with normal genes and avoid having a child with sickle-cell disease,'" the report said.

"Twenty states store newborn blood samples from one to 23 years," the report said. " With four million babies born each year and at least 10 states retaining newborn blood indefinitely, the repository of infant DNA is large and growing. The baby's DNA is considered state government property."

That's even though surveys show one quarter of parents are unwilling to allow the government to use infant DNA information for research even with parental permission, and more than 70 percent oppose it when parents did not give permission.

Within the last month, lawsuits have been filed in both Minnesota and Texas by parents objecting to government collection and use of infant DNA.

If such information was limited to the parents, and eventually the individual person, there probably would be few complications. But the report raises the concern that's not what would happen.

"Even the baby's potential for behavioral problems and political proclivities could become a part of the government's sequenced – and recorded – findings," it said.

"It is not hard to imagine the day when any discovered but non-symptomatic condition could become a 'pre-existing condition' for which private insurers would not pay. The eugenic implications are obvious. Thus, the growing collection of genetic test results and newborn DNA could easily enable a eugenics agenda on the part of government agencies and private industry," it said.

In an interview at the time the dispute over newborns' DNA in Minnesota was heating up, Brase said it's no longer just about diabetes, asthmas and cancer.

"It's also about behavioral issues," she said.

"In England they decided they should have doctors looking for problem children, and have those children reported, and their DNA taken in case they would become criminals," she said.

In fact, published reports in the U.K. note that senior police forensics experts believe genetic samples should be studied, because it may be possible to identify potential criminals as young as age 5.

"If we have a primary means of identifying people before they offend, then in the long-term the benefits of targeting younger people are extremely large," Gary Pugh, director of forensics at Scotland Yard, was quoted saying. "You could argue the younger the better. Criminologists say some people will grow out of crime; others won't. We have to find who are possibly going to be the biggest threat to society."

The U.K. database already has 4.5 million genetic samples and reportedly is the largest in Europe, but activists want to expand it. Pugh said that it is not possible right now to demand everyone provide a DNA sample but only because of the costs and logistics.

One published report cited the Institute for Public Policy Research, which is suggesting children from 5-12 in the U.K. be targeted with cognitive behavioral therapy, and Pugh has suggested adding the children in primary schools to the database, even if they have not offended.

"Not all research is great," Brase said. "There is research that is highly objectionable into the genetic propensities of an individual. Not all research should be hailed as wonderful initiatives."

The Heartland Regional Genetics and Newborn Screening is one of the organizations that advocates more screening and research.

It proclaims in its vision statement a desire to see newborns screened for 200 conditions. It also forecasts "every student … with an individual program for education based on confidential interpretation of their family medical history, their brain imaging, their genetic predictors of best learning methods…"

Further, every individual should share information about "personal and family health histories" as well as "gene tests for recessive conditions and drug metabolism" with the "other parent of their future children."

Still further, it seeks "ecogenetic research that could improve health, lessen disability, and lower costs for sickness."

"They want to test every child for 200 conditions, take the child's history and a brain image, and genetics, and come up with a plan for that child," Brase said. "They want to learn their weaknesses and defects.

"Nobody including and especially the government should be allowed to create such extensive profiles," she said.

The next step is obvious: The government, with information about potential health weaknesses, could say to couples, "We don't want your expensive children," Brase said.
Global Research Articles by Bob Unruh

Related:

The Rabbit Hole Doesn't End Here

When China awakes, it will shake the world. - Napoleon Bonaparte

Update 19-6-09 China’s Got a New Currency…
and It Sure AIN’T the Dollar
Update on SCO and BRIC 17-6-09 De-Dollarization: Dismantling America’s Financial-Military Empire The Yekaterinburg Turning Point

This is a well written explanation of the beginning of the end for the dollar and why it is occurring. It may take a few years, but there is no doubting the lucidity here. Long but exceptional article.

Update on BRIC 12-6-09 Emerging BRIC powers and the new world order

China's ascendency bodes dark days
for the American economy.

There are actually quite a few Americans and Others who still think that US economic hegemony will save the world from collapse. And we will live happily ever after. They are still thinking this is a downturn in the business cycle and that the stock market rally proves things will go back to 'normal' in a year or two.

It seems like a psychotic break with reality when one reads the progress China is making with harmonious oil and gas contracts globally - and China isn't using bombs to seal the deal either. The alliance of the BRIC countries has surpassed the power of the US now, with all its military prowess.

Anyone who does not see the fall of the dollar coming must seriously be still reading the business cycle fairytale told by American media. Below are just a few of the current articles which are not presented as important in Western news - but which I suspect determine the future of international relations.

Iran Signs Major Gas Deal With China;
Is Europe Next?

By Bruce Pannier, RFE/RL
June 6, 2009
Source Iran has found its long-sought-after partner to help develop part of the world's largest natural-gas field, even as the possibility of linking it to a future pipeline to Europe seemed to rise.


China came out the big winner on June 3 when representatives from the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) met in the Chinese capital and signed a $4.7 billion contract for developing Phase 11 of the South Pars gas field. South Pars, shared between Iran and Qatar, has estimated gas reserves of some 14 trillion cubic meters, enough to supply Europe's gas needs for about a quarter of a century.

The CNPC's gain is the French energy company Total's loss. In 2004, Total signed a memorandum of understanding with NIOC to develop Phase 11, one of 24 sections that make up the Iranian part of South Pars, and among those with the highest potential.

However, according to Iranian officials, the French company delayed signing the final agreements for too long, despite warnings from Tehran that time was running out. Total said just a few months ago it would not be ready to sign such a contract for some time yet. Total, in an official statement released on June 3, said it still wants to be part of the deal, but that does not appear to be an option.

However, the Iranian government is offering the French company an opportunity to participate in the development of other sections of South Pars and in the production of liquefied natural gas. NIOC managing director Seifollah Jashnsaz, who was in Beijing for the signing, told reporters he hoped daily production at the site would reach some 50 million cubic meters (some 18 billion cubic meters annually).

The deal is a boon for China because the country's continued economic growth hinges on access to energy resources. Iran profits not only from the Chinese investment but also from a high-profile agreement that demonstrates Tehran can attract partners to major projects, despite international sanctions. Read entire article

South Pars Gas Field

South Pars Gas field is the biggest independent gas reserve in the world which is shared by Iran ‎and Qatar

Geithner Goes Begging In China;
What It Means To You …

Money and Markets
June 05, 2009
text
So this is what it’s come to: Our Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, has to jet off to Beijing to beg for mercy from our biggest global creditor. He has to sit by and be lectured in the ways of finance by Chinese officials. He has to endure the laughter of Chinese students at Peking University, who openly scoffed at his reassurances that “Chinese financial assets are very safe.”

And he has to abandon plans to pressure China on its currency.

The Obama administration had previously been arguing that the yuan was undervalued, artificially subsidizing Chinese manufacturers at the expense of U.S.-based firms. The bottom line? The balance of world financial power is shifting and not in a good way for America.

Worse, I see no evidence that we’re doing anything about it! Instead, we get a bunch of happy talk and spin, with little or no action.

Washington Happy Talk vs. Reality on the Ground in China

Before, during, and after Geithner’s China trip, the Washington spin machine was shifting into overdrive. I’ve already seen a few reports calling Geithner’s trip a success. Geithner himself has been making statements like the following: “I’ve actually found a lot of confidence here in China, justifiable confidence, in the strength and resilience and dynamism of the American economy and I think a very sophisticated understanding … of the steps we’re taking and why they’re so important not just to the United States but to China and the rest of the world.”

Excuse me, but does anyone believe that for a second? I sure as heck don’t. And neither do the Chinese. The reality on the ground in China is much more skeptical and severe. For example, Bloomberg recounted a conversation in which Geithner was lectured about U.S. profligacy: Yu Yongding, a former central bank adviser who acted as the interviewer for The China Daily newspaper, told Geithner: “I worry about details. We will be watching you very carefully.” Read entire article

China influence to grow faster
than most expect: Soros

Sun Jun 7, 2009
By Edmund Klamann
Source
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Financier George Soros said on Sunday that China's global influence is set to grow faster than most people expect, with its isolation from the global financial system and a heavy state role in banking aiding a relatively swift economic recovery.

He reiterated his cautious views regarding the surge in global stock markets, although he said it may have further to go given liquidity in the markets and that many investors are still sitting on the sidelines. "In many ways, Chinese banking has benefited from being isolated from the rest of the world and is in better shape than the international banking system," he told an audience at Shanghai's Fudan University.

China's extensive capital controls have helped to shield its financial institutions from the worst of the global financial crisis. "The influence of the state is also greater. So when the government says 'lend', banks lend," Soros added. "This puts China in a better position to recover from the recession and that is in fact what has happened."

New loans by Chinese banks surged to record levels in the first quarter, spurring optimism over recovery prospects for the world's third-largest economy. POSITIVE FORCE "China is going to be a positive force in the world and the market, and as a consequence, its power and influence are likely to grow. Personally, I believe it's going to grow faster than most people currently expect," Soros said. Read entire article

Russia, China should dump dollar in trade
- Medvedev

Fri Jun 5, 2009
Source
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and China should consider switching to domestic currencies in bilateral trade without going to the dollar, Russia's president Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with Kommersant daily published on Friday. China has already entered similar agreements with Brazil and Belarus.

The deal involves a currency swap agreement between the two countries. Trade turnover between Russia and China reached about $50 billion in 2008 and is set to increase. "I think that we can think about such positions, for example the rouble against yuan," Medvedev was quoted by Kommersant as saying. Russia's own attempt to switch to the rouble in bilateral trade with Belarus has so far not been successful.

Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China, known by their BRIC acronym, are meeting in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on June 16 to discuss the role of the dollar in the global financial system among other issues.

Medvedev said bilateral currency deals between trade partners ease impact of the economic crisis in an environment when many countries have difficulties tapping international capital markets.

Russia to build large-scale gas pipelines to China

(AFP/Xinhua)

2006-03-21
Source
Russia will build two large-scale gas pipelines to China within five years, the head of Russian gas giant Gazprom said here Tuesday after signing a deal with China's biggest energy firm. Read entire article

The cautious seldom err. -Confucius

"Happy the nation whose people has not forgotten how to rebel" - R.H. Tawney

Well, perhaps not happy - but the people are not zombified either. Rebellion against indecent government begins at the local level, yet these events are exactly the ones likely to be omitted from our nightly news round ups, intently focusing us on half truths about global crisis which we can do little to change from our local communities.

Sometimes, it is necessary to look in the underbrush of current events to find the truth of the past and the seedlings of the future. The big stories have so much spin and razzle dazzle for the audience - like a 17 ring circus: I can never get to the details of each ring if I am to glimpse all of them. So when I find a story like the one below, linking many different themes (and is an almost invisible sideact that few are watching), I become absorbed in connecting the other dots it helps me to see.

The headline that caught my eye was At least 30 reported killed as Indians protest oil and gas exploration in Peru.

Indians protesting oil and gas exploration on their lands battled police in Peru’s remote Amazon yesterday, with authorities and Indian leaders reporting at least 30 deaths.

The violence broke out before dawn as officers tried to end a road blockade by some 5,000 Indians in an area called Curva del Diablo - or “Devil’s Curve” - in the northern province of Utcubamba.

Protest leaders said police opened fire from helicopters with bullets and tear gas, while national police director Jose Sanchez Farfan said Indians attacked officers with firearms. He said they also set fire to government buildings....

Indian leader Alberto Pizango said 22 Indians were killed in the clash and he accused the government of “genocide” in attacking what he called a peaceful protest. Another 50 Indians were injured, 14 of them seriously, said Servando Puerta, president of a second indigenous umbrella group for the region.

Indians have been blocking roads, waterways, and a state oil pipeline intermittently since April, demanding Peru’s government repeal laws they say make it easier for foreign companies to exploit their lands.

This all happened in the PROVINCIA DE UTCUBAMBA

Related
Peruvian police fire on unarmed indigenous tribes' oil and gas protest

Or if you prefer the oil company's response: Oil Company Says Protests Causing Fuel Shortages in Peru


There is a similar issue here in Ireland concerning the Corrib Shell Pipeline in the West and people are still resisting and protesting this firehouse sale of Irish natural resources to a multinational corporation. Native and indigenous people fighting the big oil companies, who have managed to create unholy alliances with corrupt governments which sacrifice the well being of their citizens for GDP growth and to curry favours from imperialists goverments.

(If there are any doubts about whether these sorts of deals happen, a look at John Perkins
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man will be enlightening.)


Corrib pipeline protest leads to eight arrests

PROTESTERS OPPOSED to Shell EP Ireland’s controversial Corrib gas pipeline in Co Mayo have been involved in fresh clashes with gardaí leading to the arrest of eight people.

Gardaí said up to 120 protesters gathered over the weekend at a “peace camp” beside Glengad beach, close to Belmullet. Around half of the group approached Shell’s fenced off construction site on the beach just before 5pm yesterday and tried to gain access to the site....

A statement from those at the camp said five people had been arrested after they gained access to Shell’s compound. It said a sixth person was arrested later when “Gardaí targeted a prominent campaigner and forcibly detained him for speaking out against the actions of the Gardaí”....

Meanwhile, a report by the human rights organisation Afri has said spending cutbacks and extra levies on the taxpayer could be alleviated if the State took a greater stake in offshore oil and gas resources.

Under current licensing deals, companies are liable for 25 per cent tax on profits. “However, there are considerable write-offs on exploration and development costs which means such tax paid is minimal,” joint-author Andy Storey explained.

“We believe that projects such as Corrib should be environmentally safe, that the human rights of residents should be protected and that the State should get a fairer share of proceeds.”

The Afri report, The Great Gas Giveaway; How The Elites Have Gambled Our Health And Wealth , says it is “not too late” for Ireland to renegotiate Corrib.


Related HIGHWAY TO sHELL
Protest at site of Corrib gas terminal
Royal Dutch Shell Group Updates

“War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is.
Revolution is when you decide that for yourself.”

This is why GM went bust

Update June 14, 2009
Have You Driven a Han Lately?

Here is a re-post of a March blog: the cars available in Europe this summer. GM should have been making these cars since the 1980's instead of gas guzzling, status appealling SUVs. GM deserved to go bankrupt and the US has truly lost its edge in manufacturing autos now.

Innovative cars - from Germany and India

US carmakers deserve to fold having lost the plot decades ago. The Big 3, Chrysler, GM and Ford could have produced these cars and be on top - if they didn't have their collective heads up their corporate arses. And they have the cheek to ask for bailout money. Guess it's another case of American know-how - yep - know-how to bankrupt the US economy. Good work lads.

VW - 2 passenger car - 258 mpg

Source
This is not a toy, not a concept car. It is a newly developed 2-seater car in highly aerodynamic tear-shape road-proven real car. It is ready to be launched as a single-seater for sale in Shanghai in 2010 for a mere RMB 4,000 = US $600 .00 ! Interested? Wait till you learn that it will cruise at 100-120 Km/Hr with an unbelievable 0.99litre/100Km =(258 miles/gallon) !! Impressed? Totally, after you have read all the details below about the hi-tech and space-age material input into this care !!! Truly the most Economic Car in the world . Must see and read to the end and please comment !!!! The Most Economic Car in the World will be on sale next year....

Tata Nano from India

Source
The Tata Nano is a rear-engined, four-passenger city car built by Tata Motors, aimed primarily at the Indian market. It was first presented at the 9th annual Auto Expo on 10 January 2008, at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, India.

Tata Motors commercially launched Nano on March 23, 2009, with bookings from April 9 to April 25.The sales of the car will begin in July 2009, with a starting price of Rs 1,15,000 Rupees, cheaper than the Maruti 800, its main competitor and next cheapest Indian car priced at 1,84,641 Rupees. It also has an 8 percent smaller exterior size and a 23 percent larger interior space compared to Maruti 800. Tata had sought to produce the least expensive production car in the world — aiming for a starting price of Rs.1,00,000 (approximately US$2,000 in March 2009).

In early 2008 the news magazine Newsweek identified the Nano as a part of a "new breed of 21st-century cars" that embody "a contrarian philosophy of smaller, lighter, cheaper" and portend a new era in inexpensive personal transportation — and potentially, "global gridlock" The Wall Street Journal confirmed a global trend toward small cars, which includes the Nano.

"Nano" means "small" in Gujarati, the language of the founders of the Tata Group. In English, the prefix "nano-" is often used to mean small. This derives from the Greek root 'nanos', meaning dwarf.

SWAT bust down wrong door

This is a must see video. Laugh or you will cry.



Here is another bit of black humour. Men take heed of this man's foolishness.

Man begs doctors to undo penis enlargement surgery

Enoughism - Or how Less is More

Ever wonder why when you have enough money, you don't have enough time to enjoy it? We seem to have the money to buy books on how to appreciate the 'now' and become happier - but not the time to actually read them and experience their promised contentment and pleasure. Time is the one essence of life which is truly limited.

There are only 24 hours to a day and there are only so many days to our lives. How many hours in the day do modern people spend to make money to buy things? And are these things they buy really necessary at all?

I recall a lecture in International Trade, where the instructor compared the GDP of the USA to the GDP of the Eurozone. (This was a few years ago.) Her conclusion seemed to be that more GDP is better. But after looking into the figures, I discovered that not only is the GDP of Europeans less than US GDP, but their work week was also significantly shorter. Most Europeans enjoy from 7 to 10 weeks of paid holidays from work. Yes, Europeans spend more time on leisure activities and more time with their loved ones. From my perspective, this is a healthier lifestyle: GDP does not a happy heart make.

Americans are the best 'consumers' in the world. Looking at the definition of consumerism: Consumerism is the equation of personal happiness with consumption and the purchase of material possessions. Now John Naish has brought us its antithesis, Enoughism.

Enoughism is the theory that there is a point where consumers possess everything they need, and by buying more it actually makes their life worse off. Enoughism emphasizes less spending and more restraint in buying behaviour of consumers. Unlike Consumerism which Mirriam-Webster defines as "the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable", Enoughism is an antonym to consumerism.

It is true that if people enjoy what they have (when their necessities are provided for), that corporations will be very unhappy indeed - because their profits will shrink. The ultra rich will have to be satisfied with only 150 pairs of shoes, only 2 townhouses, only 2 Rolls Royce etc. I don't just don't give a flying fart...let them adjust. That's what we all must do if we are to create a sustainable lifestyle on earth for the future. I am not an economic commodity for the use of the elite capitalists: economies exist for the well being of people primarily, all people not just a few.

I have blogged on this issue twice recently:
To consume: the definition
Lessons from Scarcity

One thing is for sure: either we will collectively say 'enough is enough' voluntarily NOW; or future generations will be forced to exist on what is 'not enough'. I hope the conclusion we come to is that More is LESS - less happiness, less loving, and less quality living and less time for the people we love.



Related reading

The New Anti-Consumerism

Conspicuous consumption

The Century of the Self (Video)

"We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of." - Edward Bernays

To many in both politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?

Ambulance driver brutalized by police

In case you have noticed yet, the Cops in the US are becoming like the Gestapo and no one is safe from their inflated sense of power and entitlement to do anything they please. I have blogged on this before, Then they came for me....and there was noone..., and now present another case. No one is safe from police brutality in the US now, not even ambulance drivers and the lives of those they are transporting to the hospital.

Please take note and read the writing on the wall. The next victim may be you or someone you love. Protest before its too late. If you are not aware of the fact that Americans have no civil rights left, the time to learn about it is NOW! If you do not care, you do not deserve civil rights.

Dust-up between trooper, paramedics investigated

By MANNY GAMALLO World Staff Writer
5/28/2009
Source
PADEN — The investigation of a weekend scuffle between state troopers and paramedics who were taking a woman to the hospital has been turned over to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol's Internal Affairs Unit and a county prosecutor.

No troopers have been suspended or put on paid leave, OHP Capt. Chris West said.



West would provide no other details of the Sunday incident, nor would he release the troopers' names or their reports, citing the administrative investigation.

The case is being investigated by an Okfuskee County prosecutor in Okemah, West said.

Assistant District Attorney Maxey Reilly said she just received the report Tuesday and hasn't had time to determine what charges, if any, should be filed. She said she hopes to do so by next week.

The Creek Nation, which operates the ambulance service involved, released detailed reports filed by the two paramedics.

The incident occurred in Paden as the Creek Nation ambulance, which did not have its emergency lights or siren on, was taking a sick woman from Boley to the hospital in nearby Prague.

According to a report by paramedic Maurice White Jr., the ambulance, driven by Paul Franks, was nearing Paden when White saw a trooper's car approaching fast behind them.

White said the patrol car had its emergency lights on but that he couldn't hear a siren.

When he next noticed the patrol car, it was about three feet behind the ambulance's bumper, he said.

At that point, White told Franks to pull over to let the patrol car pass.

As the trooper passed, the ambulance received a radio transmission from the trooper, whom White quoted as telling them, "You should consider checking your rear-view mirrors."

A few blocks into Paden, White saw a trooper's car, with its lights and siren on, pull out of a side street and again race up to the ambulance, he said.

Franks pulled over, and he and White got out of the ambulance, White said.

White said the trooper had a woman in the car, so he thought at first that she was sick and that the trooper wanted them to look at her.

However, "the officer got out of his vehicle in a state of rage," White's report states.

The trooper, identified in the Creek Nation reports only as Trooper Martin, reportedly told Franks that he was going to be ticketed for failure to yield, adding, "What do you mean flipping me off?" White's report states.

White noted that when the trooper earlier advised them over the radio to check their mirrors, Franks held up his hands in surprise and that the trooper might have mistaken that for an indecent gesture.

White said he interceded, telling the trooper that they had a patient in the ambulance and were going to the hospital.

He said the trooper demanded that Franks get in the patrol car for a citation.

Again, White wrote, he told the trooper that they had a patient and that "we could continue this at the hospital."

"At this point," White continued, "I told my partner to listen to me and that we did not have time for this now."

White said the trooper then shouted at him that he was under arrest for obstructing an officer and then tried to handcuff him, resulting in a struggle.

White said he returned to the ambulance to check on the patient when another trooper, identified in White's report only as "badge 606," appeared and tried to arrest him.

The troopers finally let the ambulance go to the hospital, the report says.

Other troopers were at the hospital and told the medics they would not be arrested but that the incident would be forwarded to the district attorney for possible charges.

The Creek Nation's report noted that the patient's family was following them and that one relative had a camera and filmed the confrontation.