07/14/11
Obama's Multiplying Middle East Failures Martin Peretz *|FACEBOOK:LIKE: http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/magazine/91898/obama-middle-east-israel-egypt|*
One cannot deny that, generally, Muslims who hate Israel also hate America, Europe, and other Western societies. Multiculturalism has been a failure in Europe, while, here in the States, Obama has managed a dishonest public discourse with Muslims as if everything were hunky-dory, fabricating knowledge he did not have and which was false in the first place (like his Cairo narrative of the Barbary wars and the ensuing diplomacy), inventing wrongs against them to stir up progressive outrage (was the IRS really blocking contributions to legitimate Muslim charities?), taking sides in intra-civilizational disputes that put him on the side of religious orthodoxy and the narrow-souled of Islam. For a long time it was said that “homegrown” Islamic terrorism can’t happen here. But it has happened here, again and again. Are no conclusions to be drawn from this? Is alarm really just another form of Islamophobia?
An imperative that emerges from this reality is another one that the administration has ignored. That is immigration policy. Unless we formulate both a vision and a strategy for admitting people aspiring to be Americans that takes into account the country’s economic circumstances—i.e., its work-profile needs—and the dangers to our safety and security, we shall find in the end that we will flail around and simply discriminate against Muslims. This would be the worst consequence of sloughing off the matter. We cannot ignore that all the military conflicts in which our soldiers are engaged are struggles against Muslim regimes, Muslim movements, Muslim fanatics, and Muslim mythomaniacs. Still, there are millions of American citizens who are Muslims, loyal American citizens. And they, too, are endangered by the president’s pretense that tout va bien.
Continue reading "Obama's Multiplying Middle East Failures"
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L'annuncio è stato riportato su Twitter dall'agenzia di stampa Reuters ed è stato fatto dal primo ministro libico al Mahmoudi durante una conferenza stampa. Il premier ha detto che la Libia sta ora trattando con imprese russe, cinesi e statunitensi
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
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July 14, 2011
In-Depth Issues:
Poll: 81 Percent of U.S. Jews Object to Forced Return to 1967 Lines - Shlomo Cesana (Israel Hayom)
81% of American Jews are opposed to any peace agreement requiring Israel to return to the 1967 lines, a new survey conducted by Democrat Pat Caddell and Republican John McLaughlin has revealed.
88% agree with the Israeli demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
The survey found that American Jews hold the issue of Israel very close to their hearts. 93% expressed concern about a potential attack on Israel, particularly from countries such as Iran.
In addition, 81% oppose a unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood at the UN.
U.S. Army Using Israeli Surveillance Technology - Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)
The U.S. Army began using Israeli reconnaissance equipment in Afghanistan this week with the delivery of three tactical aerostat systems - large hot-air balloons - that will be used to protect American soldiers.
The Skystar-180 carries an advanced electro-optical sensor comprised of a daytime camera and a nighttime sensor with a target detection range of 4 km.
The balloon can be assembled and launched within 15 minutes.
Skystar systems are in use by the IDF, Canadian Forces in Afghanistan, the Israeli police, and other militaries for border protection, intelligence operations and homeland security.
In addition, in 2010, five NATO members in Afghanistan were operating UAVs produced in Israel, including Germany, Australia, Spain, France and Canada.
Hizbullah Facing Financial Problems - Erich Follath (Der Spiegel-Germany)
In recent months, Hizbullah has become involved in disastrous investments, losing almost $1.4 billion.
The Iranians, who are now feeling the brunt of UN sanctions, have made it clear that they cannot provide Hizbullah with additional funding at this time.
This is embarrassing for Hizbullah, whose image in Lebanon depends in large part on its generous social services.
It is now falling behind in the rebuilding of homes it had promised to Hizbullah's Shiite followers after the destructive 2006 Lebanon war.
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Official: Necessary to Annihilate Israel (Fars-Iran)
A senior member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, former spokesman Kamal al-Halbawi, told Iran's Fars news agency, "The Egyptian nation supports and welcomes Iran's anti-Zionist stance."
"Both nations underline the necessity for Muslim nations to maintain solidarity and unity to annihilate this cancerous tumor (Israel)."
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- Arab League Attacks U.S. for Withdrawing Support for Syria's Assad - Richard Spencer
President Barack Obama has been attacked by Arab countries for his withdrawal of support for Syria's Assad regime. The head of the Arab League, Nabeel Al-Arabi, denounced "foreign intervention" in Syria after Obama said President Assad was "losing legitimacy" in the eyes of his people. Al-Arabi by contrast insisted that he "supported" Syria's reform process. His words put the Arab League at odds not only with America but also Europe.
In separate comments the French foreign minister, Gerard Longuet, said it was "indecent" that China and Russia continued to block a Security Council resolution condemning the Assad regime's crackdown. (Telegraph-UK) - U.S.: UN Security Council Split Likely on Syria Atomic Issue - Megan Davies
Divisions in the Security Council are likely to prevent any immediate concrete outcome when the body discusses Syria's covert atomic work on Thursday, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said. The International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors voted in June to report Syria to the Security Council for stonewalling an agency probe into the Dair Alzour complex bombed by Israel in 2007. Russia and China - both permanent council members - were among those opposing the referral. "Some veto-wielding members, who did not support the referral...are unlikely to be prepared to support a council product at this time," she said. (Reuters) - On Arab Visits, State Dept. Envoy on Anti-Semitism Facing Resistance on Arab Textbooks - Ron Kampeas
Hannah Rosenthal, the State Department's envoy for combating anti-Semitism, visited Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia last month on a mission to persuade officials to remove from their textbooks intolerance aimed at non-Muslims and to introduce positive references to Judaism. The most common response, she said, was avoidance. "As soon as a conversation about religious tolerance becomes tense, they shut it down or they go to Israel-Palestine," she said. (JTA)
- Former Lebanon PM: Hizbullah Weapons Are Root of Country's Problem
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Tuesday that Hizbullah's possession of arms was at the root of conflict in Lebanon. Hizbullah, with its allies, toppled his government in January. Hariri said indictments issued by the UN-backed tribunal seeking the killers of his father accused four members of Hizbullah. "If [Hizbullah leader Hassan] Nasrallah comes out in 300 press conferences, [he] will not change the content of the indictments," he said. "There are people accused [in the killings] and they must be put on trial." (Reuters-AP-Ha'aretz) - Rethinking Gas from Egypt - Editorial
On February 5, April 27, July 4 and July 12, the pipeline that supplies natural gas from Egypt to Israel was blown up. Cairo's post-Mubarak rulers are unable to control Sinai lawlessness, meaning that this sabotage can no longer be downplayed as the odd exception to the rule. The interruptions have thus far added NIS 630 million to the Israel Electric Corporation's fuel expenditures. (Jerusalem Post)
- The Rise and Fall of Iran's Ahmadinejad - Karim Sadjadpour
Given the youthful Iranian public's desire for change, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, seemed to have lost the war of ideas within the country by the early 2000s. Yet his saving grace was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose pious populism resonated among Iran's working classes, and his revolutionary zeal and willingness to attack Khamenei's adversaries endeared him to the supreme leader, whose backing of Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential election proved decisive.
What Khamenei failed to realize was that Ahmadinejad and his cohorts had greater ambitions. In "private" meetings - which were bugged by intelligence forces loyal to Khamenei - Ahmadinejad's closest adviser, Rahim Mashaei, spoke openly of designs to supplant the clergy. Then Ahmadinejad tried to take over the Ministry of Intelligence, whose vast files on the financial and moral corruption of Iran's political elite are powerful tools of political persuasion and blackmail.
The supreme leader was publicly nonchalant about Ahmadinejad's insubordination; privately, however, he unleashed the jackals. The Revolutionary Guards - who helped engineer Ahmadinejad's contested 2009 reelection - swiftly declared their devotion to Khamenei, and several of the president's advisers were arrested.
By accentuating the country's internal rifts and breaking previously sacred taboos - such as challenging the supreme leader - Ahmadinejad has become an unlikely, unwitting ally of Iran's democracy movement. He is likely to be remembered by historians as the man who hastened the Islamic Republic's decay. The writer is an associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. (Washington Post) - The Syrian Regime's Slow-Motion Suicide
Desperate to survive at all costs, Syria's regime appears to be digging its grave. Protesters have gained ground but have yet to cross the crucial threshold that requires enlisting the capital, Damascus. The crisis of confidence with much of the population and loss of legitimacy is almost surely too deep to be overcome. Economic conditions are worsening; should they reach breaking point - a not unimaginable scenario - the regime could well collapse.
Predominantly Alawite security forces are overworked, underpaid and increasingly worried. Should they conclude that they ought to protect what still can be salvaged - their own villages - rather than try to defend what increasingly looks doomed - the existing power structure - their defection would precipitate the end of the regime. (International Crisis Group) - Hizb ut-Tahrir: Islam Has Replaced Communism as Top U.S. Enemy - Steven Emerson
Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT), a radical Islamist group which claims a presence in nearly 50 countries, is so confident it can help establish a global Muslim government - or caliphate - that it distributed a draft constitution during a recent conference outside of Chicago that drew more than 300 people on June 26. It calls for the death penalty for apostates, and for creating a government department dedicated to jihad.
HT preaches a virulent brand of hatred for the U.S., and for Western democracy in general. Its alumni include such violent Islamists as Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and the late Iraqi jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. (Algemeiner)
See also The Hizb ut-Tahrir Threat - Muhammad Amir Rana
HT claims to be a non-violent movement, but has been linked to a number of terrorist plots in Pakistan, including an attempt to assassinate former president Gen. Pervez Musharraf. HT does not discount the possibility of resort to violence via the military, in order to achieve the ultimate goal of establishing the state; it rather obliges it. Naveed Butt, HT spokesman in Pakistan, states that after the establishment of the state, part of the second phase will be to widen the borders of the state through offensive jihad or aggressive warfare. (Dawn-Pakistan)
- The unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, and its international recognition, would be a huge mistake. A peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians is essential, but can be achieved only through honest negotiations - not by one party imposing a unilateral decision.
- Serious Palestinians know very well that they do not meet the requirements to become a viable state, much less a new UN member. The unilateral declaration is in reality simply another tactic in a broader strategy of embarrassing and then delegitimizing the State of Israel.
- This is not the time for destructive gestures: it is time to encourage everyone to sit down and negotiate face to face, with no preconditions other than mutual and unequivocal recognition.
- There cannot be two states living in peace side by side unless Palestinians accept that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people and the Israelis accept that the Palestinian state will be the state of the Palestinian people.
- The
undersigned all have a sincere desire to see a Palestinian state
alongside Israel, living in a lasting and stable peace. We urge the
Palestinians to see that the only way they can have their own state is
through an agreement with the Israelis. Only sincere dialogue and the
unconditional recognition of each side by the other can set the
foundations of a viable Palestinian state.
This piece was co-written by members of the Friends of Israel Initiative: Jose Maria Aznar, David Trimble, Alejandro Toledo, George Weidenfeld, Marcello Pera, Andrew Roberts, Fiamma Nirenstein, George Weigel, Robert Agostinelli, Carlos Bustelo and William Shawcross.
News stories
| July 14, 2011 |
|
VERANSTALTUNGEN AUSSTELLUNG LUCAS - BOSCH - GELATIN Die große Sommerausstellung schließt Weltinterpretationen von Hieronymus Bosch und seinen Zeitgenossen mit Gegenwartskünstler/innen wie Sarah Lucas und Gelatin kurz. Krems, Kunsthalle, von Samstag 16. Juli bis Sonntag 6. November 2011. Informationen auch im Ö1 Kalender: http://oe1.orf.at/kalender/110326 AUSSTELLUNG PETER SANDBICHLER Unter dem Titel "Wahrheit ist die Erfindung eines Lügners" involviert der österreichische Bildhauer Peter Sandbichler den Betrachter in einen Diskurs rund um den Begriff Wahrheit. Innsbruck, Galerie im Taxispalais, von Samstag 16. Juli bis Sonntag 4. September 2011. Informationen auch im Ö1 Kalender: http://oe1.orf.at/kalender/110564 MUSIK RSO-ZYKLUS Sechs Konzerte von Mussorgskis "Bildern einer Ausstellung" in der Bearbeitung von Ravel über Charles Chaplins "City Lights" bis hin zu neuesten Werken von Thomas Ades und Thomas Larcher. Wiener Konzerthaus, von Donnerstag 20. Oktober 2011 bis Freitag 27. April 2012. Informationen auch im Ö1 Kalender: http://oe1.orf.at/kalender/110649 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HÖHEPUNKTE DER PROGRAMMWOCHE MUSIK CARINTHISCHER SOMMER 2011 Beethoven, Berg, Schostakowitsch, Brahms. Mit Sabine Meyer, Klarinette; Mischa Meyer, Violoncello; Martin Helmchen, Klavier. Carinthischer Sommer 2011, Freitag 15. Juli 2011, 19:30 Uhr. Lesen Sie mehr: http://oe1.orf.at/programm/279306 WISSEN IDEEN FÜR DIE WELT VON MORGEN Die Ö1 Sommerserie über ausgewählte Projekte von Jugendlichen und über Projekte, die für den Prix Ars Electronica eingereicht wurden. Create Your World, ab Montag 18. Juli 2001, 16:55 Uhr. Lesen Sie mehr: http://oe1.orf.at/programm/279524 KULTUR INVASIONEN DES PRIVATEN Die Autorin Anna Kim mit einer peniblen Recherche aus Grönland. Mit Sprache unterwegs, Dienstag 19. Juli 2011, 21:00 Uhr. Lesen Sie mehr: http://oe1.orf.at/programm/279598 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CD / JAZZ PLAYGROUNDS: TRAVELING Die neue CD des Jazz-Quartetts, das Michael Lagger gemeinsam mit der slowenischen Sängerin Tjasa Fabjancic leitet. Im Rahmen der Ö1 Talentebörse. http://oe1.orf.at/shop/4555 Mitglieder des Ö1 Clubs erhalten zehn Prozent Rabatt. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ö1 DER FESTSPIELSENDER ATTERGAUER KULTURSOMMER Eröffnungskonzert: Gustav Mahler, Symphonie Nr. 3 in D-Moll. St. Georgen i. A., Attergauhalle, Sonntag, 17. Juli 2011, 20:00 Uhr. Informationen auch im Ö1 Kalender: http://oe1.orf.at/kalender/110541
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July 14, 2011
Tomgram: Bill McKibben, The Great American Carbon Bomb
These days, even ostriches suffer from heat waves. More than 1,000 of them
reportedly died
from overheating on South African farms during a 2010 drought. As for
American ostriches, the human variety anyway, at the moment it should be
increasingly hard for them to avoid extreme-weather news. After all,
whether you’re in
sweltering heat, staggering
drought, a record
fire season, or a massive
flood zone,
most of us are living through weird weather this year. And if you’re
one of the lucky few not in an extreme-weather district of the USA, you
still won’t have a problem running across hair-raising weather stories,
ranging from the
possible loss of one out of every ten species on this planet by century’s end to the
increasing inability of the oceans to soak up more atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Then, of course, there are those other headlines. Here's a typical one: “ As Water Rises, Florida Officials Sit on Their Hands” (a former member of the just abolished Florida Energy and Climate Commission points out that, thanks to Republican governor Rick Scott and the legislature in the part of the country most vulnerable to rising sea levels, “there is no state entity addressing climate change and its impact”). And here's another: “ Economy Keeps Global Warming on the Back Burner for 2012” (American climate-change “skeptics” are celebrating because “the tide of the debate -- at least politically -- has turned in their favor” and “political experts say that… concerns over global warming won't carry much weight in the 2012 election”). And then there are the polls indicating Americans are confused about the unanimity of the scientific consensus on climate change, surprisingly dismissive of global-warming dangers, worry less about it than they did a decade ago, and of major environmental issues, worry least about it.
It’s true, of course, that no weird-weather incident you experience can definitively be tied to climate change and other factors are involved. Still, are we a nation of overheating ostriches? It’s a reasonable enough conclusion, and in a sense, not so surprising. After all, how does anyone react upon discovering that his or her way of life is the crucial problem, that fossil fuels, which keep our civilization powered up and to which our existence is tethered, are playing havoc with the planet?
TomDispatch regular Bill McKibben, author most recently of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, is a man deeply committed to transforming us from climate-change ostriches to climate-change eagles. Perhaps it’s time, he suggests, for the environmental movement to get one heck of a lot blunter. Tom
Then, of course, there are those other headlines. Here's a typical one: “ As Water Rises, Florida Officials Sit on Their Hands” (a former member of the just abolished Florida Energy and Climate Commission points out that, thanks to Republican governor Rick Scott and the legislature in the part of the country most vulnerable to rising sea levels, “there is no state entity addressing climate change and its impact”). And here's another: “ Economy Keeps Global Warming on the Back Burner for 2012” (American climate-change “skeptics” are celebrating because “the tide of the debate -- at least politically -- has turned in their favor” and “political experts say that… concerns over global warming won't carry much weight in the 2012 election”). And then there are the polls indicating Americans are confused about the unanimity of the scientific consensus on climate change, surprisingly dismissive of global-warming dangers, worry less about it than they did a decade ago, and of major environmental issues, worry least about it.
It’s true, of course, that no weird-weather incident you experience can definitively be tied to climate change and other factors are involved. Still, are we a nation of overheating ostriches? It’s a reasonable enough conclusion, and in a sense, not so surprising. After all, how does anyone react upon discovering that his or her way of life is the crucial problem, that fossil fuels, which keep our civilization powered up and to which our existence is tethered, are playing havoc with the planet?
TomDispatch regular Bill McKibben, author most recently of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, is a man deeply committed to transforming us from climate-change ostriches to climate-change eagles. Perhaps it’s time, he suggests, for the environmental movement to get one heck of a lot blunter. Tom
Will North America Be the New Middle East?
It’s Yes or No For a Climate-Killing Oil Pipeline -- and Obama Gets to Make the Call
By Bill McKibben
The climate problem has moved from the abstract to the very real in the last 18 months. Instead of charts and graphs about what will happen someday, we’ve got real-time video: first Russia burning, then Texas and Arizona on fire. First Pakistan suffered a deluge, then Queensland, Australia, went underwater, and this spring and summer, it’s the Midwest that’s flooding at historic levels.
The year 2010 saw the lowest volume of Arctic ice since scientists started to measure, more rainfall on land than any year in recorded history, and the lowest barometric pressure ever registered in the continental United States. Measured on a planetary scale, 2010 tied 2005 as the warmest year in history. Jeff Masters, probably the world’s most widely read meteorologist, calculated that the year featured the most extreme weather since at least 1816, when a giant volcano blew its top.
Since we’re the volcano now, and likely to keep blowing, here’s his prognosis: “The ever-increasing amounts of heat-trapping gases humans are emitting into the air put tremendous pressure on the climate system to shift to a new, radically different, warmer state, and the extreme weather of 2010-2011 suggests that the transition is already well underway.”
There’s another shift, too, and that’s in the response from climate-change activists. For the first two decades of the global-warming era, the suggested solutions to the problem had been as abstract as the science that went with it: complicated schemes like the Kyoto Protocol, or the cap-and-trade agreement that died in Congress in 2010. These were attempts to solve the problem of climate change via complicated backstage maneuvers and manipulations of prices or regulations. They failed in large part because the fossil-fuel industry managed, at every turn, to dilute or defang them.
Click here to read more of this dispatch.
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- 1.
- Libyan Prosecutor: NATO Air Strikes Have Killed 1,100, Wounded 4,500 From: Rick Rozoff
- 2.
- U.S., NATO Triple Size Of Afghan Air Base Near Iranian Border From: Rick Rozoff
- 3.
- Afghanistan: Dozens Of Western Troops Injured By Huge Blast From: Rick Rozoff
- 4.
- U.S. Building New Detention Centers Across Afghanistan From: Rick Rozoff
- 5.
- Moldovan Defense Minister To Visit NATO Headquarters From: Rick Rozoff
- 6.
- Kosovo: NATO's 12-Year-Old Archetypal "Success Case" From: Rick Rozoff
- 7.
- U.S. Marines Train Honduran Counterparts From: Rick Rozoff
- 8.
- Afghanistan: Six NATO Soldiers Killed, French Death Toll At 69 From: Rick Rozoff
- 9.
- NATO-Russia Council: In The Depths Of Uncertainty From: Rick Rozoff
- 10.
- NATO Air Strikes: Afghan Civilian Deaths Up 15 Percent From: Rick Rozoff
- 11.
- NATO And Libya From: Rick Rozoff
- 12.
- Pirates Of The Black Sea: 20 Years Of NATO-Ukraine Partnership From: Rick Rozoff
- 13.
- Canada Plans New Military Bases In The Arctic From: Rick Rozoff
- 14.
- Libyan War: NATO Air Missions Exceed 15,000, Combat Flights Near 6,0 From: Rick Rozoff
- 15.
- Defense Secretary Panetta Says What Obama Thinks From: Rick Rozoff
- EURUSD moves down on a less accomodative Bernanke
- Bernanke says not prepared at this point to take action on the economy
- Bernanke says Fed Policy is highly accomodative
- Charting the Majors with James Chen – Webinar Rebroadcast
- IMF tells G-20 that risks of not resolving Greece Debt crisis are severe
- GBPUSD keeps bullish bias but momentum fades a touch
- Fitch downgrade Greek banks on Sovereign downgrade
- IMF and ECB’s Szekely, Masuch & Chopra on the Wires
- IMF Chopra says rating agencies may be overstating the risks in crisis
- Italy’s Senate Approves Austerity Measures in Confidence Vote
- Italy senate approve budget austerity package vote of confidence.
- EURUSD moves back into channel in early NY trade
- Selective 5 year bond yields for EU countries
- Germany’s Merkel: Greek deal is a precondition to a summit
- Better data, eases some pressure but focus on Washington
Tomgram: Bill McKibben, The Great American Carbon Bomb
Note: Our previous e-mail contained an erroneous link. We've corrected it below. We apologize for the mistake.
These days, even ostriches suffer from heat waves. More than 1,000 of them reportedly died from overheating on South African farms during a 2010 drought. As for American ostriches, the human variety anyway, at the moment it should be increasingly hard for them to avoid extreme-weather news. After all, whether you’re in sweltering heat, staggering drought, a record fire season, or a massive flood zone, most of us are living through weird weather this year. And if you’re one of the lucky few not in an extreme-weather district of the USA, you still won’t have a problem running across hair-raising weather stories, ranging from the possible loss of one out of every ten species on this planet by century’s end to the increasing inability of the oceans to soak up more atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Then, of course, there are those other headlines. Here's a typical one: “ As Water Rises, Florida Officials Sit on Their Hands” (a former member of the just abolished Florida Energy and Climate Commission points out that, thanks to Republican governor Rick Scott and the legislature in the part of the country most vulnerable to rising sea levels, “there is no state entity addressing climate change and its impact”). And here's another: “ Economy Keeps Global Warming on the Back Burner for 2012” (American climate-change “skeptics” are celebrating because “the tide of the debate -- at least politically -- has turned in their favor” and “political experts say that… concerns over global warming won't carry much weight in the 2012 election”). And then there are the polls indicating Americans are confused about the unanimity of the scientific consensus on climate change, surprisingly dismissive of global-warming dangers, worry less about it than they did a decade ago, and of major environmental issues, worry least about it.
It’s true, of course, that no weird-weather incident you experience can definitively be tied to climate change and other factors are involved. Still, are we a nation of overheating ostriches? It’s a reasonable enough conclusion, and in a sense, not so surprising. After all, how does anyone react upon discovering that his or her way of life is the crucial problem, that fossil fuels, which keep our civilization powered up and to which our existence is tethered, are playing havoc with the planet?
TomDispatch regular Bill McKibben, author most recently of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, is a man deeply committed to transforming us from climate-change ostriches to climate-change eagles. Perhaps it’s time, he suggests, for the environmental movement to get one heck of a lot blunter. Tom
These days, even ostriches suffer from heat waves. More than 1,000 of them reportedly died from overheating on South African farms during a 2010 drought. As for American ostriches, the human variety anyway, at the moment it should be increasingly hard for them to avoid extreme-weather news. After all, whether you’re in sweltering heat, staggering drought, a record fire season, or a massive flood zone, most of us are living through weird weather this year. And if you’re one of the lucky few not in an extreme-weather district of the USA, you still won’t have a problem running across hair-raising weather stories, ranging from the possible loss of one out of every ten species on this planet by century’s end to the increasing inability of the oceans to soak up more atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Then, of course, there are those other headlines. Here's a typical one: “ As Water Rises, Florida Officials Sit on Their Hands” (a former member of the just abolished Florida Energy and Climate Commission points out that, thanks to Republican governor Rick Scott and the legislature in the part of the country most vulnerable to rising sea levels, “there is no state entity addressing climate change and its impact”). And here's another: “ Economy Keeps Global Warming on the Back Burner for 2012” (American climate-change “skeptics” are celebrating because “the tide of the debate -- at least politically -- has turned in their favor” and “political experts say that… concerns over global warming won't carry much weight in the 2012 election”). And then there are the polls indicating Americans are confused about the unanimity of the scientific consensus on climate change, surprisingly dismissive of global-warming dangers, worry less about it than they did a decade ago, and of major environmental issues, worry least about it.
It’s true, of course, that no weird-weather incident you experience can definitively be tied to climate change and other factors are involved. Still, are we a nation of overheating ostriches? It’s a reasonable enough conclusion, and in a sense, not so surprising. After all, how does anyone react upon discovering that his or her way of life is the crucial problem, that fossil fuels, which keep our civilization powered up and to which our existence is tethered, are playing havoc with the planet?
TomDispatch regular Bill McKibben, author most recently of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, is a man deeply committed to transforming us from climate-change ostriches to climate-change eagles. Perhaps it’s time, he suggests, for the environmental movement to get one heck of a lot blunter. Tom
Will North America Be the New Middle East?
It’s Yes or No For a Climate-Killing Oil Pipeline -- and Obama Gets to Make the Call
By Bill McKibben
The climate problem has moved from the abstract to the very real in the last 18 months. Instead of charts and graphs about what will happen someday, we’ve got real-time video: first Russia burning, then Texas and Arizona on fire. First Pakistan suffered a deluge, then Queensland, Australia, went underwater, and this spring and summer, it’s the Midwest that’s flooding at historic levels.
The year 2010 saw the lowest volume of Arctic ice since scientists started to measure, more rainfall on land than any year in recorded history, and the lowest barometric pressure ever registered in the continental United States. Measured on a planetary scale, 2010 tied 2005 as the warmest year in history. Jeff Masters, probably the world’s most widely read meteorologist, calculated that the year featured the most extreme weather since at least 1816, when a giant volcano blew its top.
Since we’re the volcano now, and likely to keep blowing, here’s his prognosis: “The ever-increasing amounts of heat-trapping gases humans are emitting into the air put tremendous pressure on the climate system to shift to a new, radically different, warmer state, and the extreme weather of 2010-2011 suggests that the transition is already well underway.”
There’s another shift, too, and that’s in the response from climate-change activists. For the first two decades of the global-warming era, the suggested solutions to the problem had been as abstract as the science that went with it: complicated schemes like the Kyoto Protocol, or the cap-and-trade agreement that died in Congress in 2010. These were attempts to solve the problem of climate change via complicated backstage maneuvers and manipulations of prices or regulations. They failed in large part because the fossil-fuel industry managed, at every turn, to dilute or defang them.
Click here to read more of this dispatch.
Per ottenere i
fondi europei, è necessaria la valutazione di impatto ambientale entro
il 31 luglio, ma la commissione che dovrebbe esprimersi è scaduta
L'AD di Enel
continua a invocare il nucleare in luogo delle "costose" fonti
rinnovabili. Intanto il governo fa votare una manovra senza tagli al
settore green energy
Legambiente ha
pubblicato la classifica annuale "Comuni Ricicloni", da cui emerge un
quadro positivo per alcuni centri di piccola e media grandezza, mentre
appaiono in risalto le grandi città
Dura accusa da
parte di Greenpeace: l'industria tessile cinese, con la quale fanno
affari i più grandi brand occidentali, sarebbe responsabile di un forte
inquinamento fluviale
Uno degli
emendamenti alla manovra finanziaria conterrebbe il taglio di tutte le
agevolazioni fiscali, incluse quelle per le ristrutturazioni energetiche
degli edifici
La Commissione
Europea ha messo a punto un piano di riforma della pesca che, se verrà
approvato, apporterà notevoli miglioramenti per un mercato ittico
ecosostenibile
Legambiente e
Protezione Civile lanciano l'allarme incendi con un ciclo di iniziative
in 5 diverse regioni d'Italia a partire da domani. Diversi gli eventi in
programma.
Consigli utili
per come ridurre la bolletta con la tariffa bioraria. In fondo, basta
solo un po' di buon senso "ecologico" ed un po' di efficienza energetica
Absurdities and Atrocities:
The Threat of World War III
Look inside the NEW E-Book
from Global Research
By Prof Michel Chossudovsky
URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25540
Global Research, July 16, 2011
Look inside "Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War", the NEW E-Book by Michel Chossudovsky:Throughout the history of mankind there have been murderers and tyrants; and while it may seem momentarily that they have the upper hand, they have always fallen. (Mahatma Gandhi)
The United States has discarded pretensions to international legality and decency, and embarked on a course of raw imperialism run amok. (William Rockler, Nuremberg Tribunal prosecutor)
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. (François-Marie Arouet – Voltaire, 1694-1778)
The
US and its NATO allies are preparing to launch a nuclear war directed
against both Iran and North Korea with devastating consequences. This
military adventure in the real sense of the word threatens the future of
humanity. While one can conceptualize the loss of life and destruction
resulting from present-day wars including Iraq and Afghanistan, it is
impossible to fully comprehend the devastation which might result from a
Third World War, using “new technologies” and advanced weapons, until
it occurs and becomes a reality. The international community has
endorsed nuclear war in the name of world peace. “Making the world
safer” is the justification for launching a military operation which
could potentially result in a nuclear holocaust.
But nuclear holocausts are not front page news! In the words of Mordechai Vanunu:
"The Israeli government is preparing to use nuclear weapons in its next war with the Islamic world. Here where I live, people often talk of the Holocaust. But each and every nuclear bomb is a Holocaust in itself. It can kill, devastate cities, destroy entire peoples."[1]
Realities are turned upside
down. In a twisted logic, a “humanitarian war” using tactical nuclear
weapons, which according to “expert scientific opinion” are “harmless to
the surrounding civilian population” is upheld as a means to protecting
the Western world from a nuclear attack.
The Cult of Killing and Destruction
The Cult of Killing and Destruction
The global killing machine is
also sustained by an imbedded cult of killing and destruction which
pervades Hollywood movies, not to mention the primetime war and crime TV
series on network television. This cult of killing is endorsed by the
CIA and the Pentagon which also support (finance) Hollywood productions
as an instrument of war propaganda:
"Ex-CIA agent Bob Baer told us, “There’s a symbiosis between the CIA and Hollywood” and revealed that former CIA director George Tenet is currently, “out in Hollywood, talking to studios.”"[2]
The killing machine is deployed
at a global level, within the framework of the unified combat command
structure. It is routinely upheld by the institutions of government, the
corporate media, the mandarins and intellectuals of the New World Order
in Washington’s think tanks and strategic studies research institutes,
as an unquestioned instrument of peace and global prosperity.
A culture of killing and
violence has become imbedded in human consciousness. War is broadly
accepted as part of a societal process: the Homeland needs to be
“defended” and protected. “Legitimized violence” and extrajudicial
killings directed against “terrorists” are upheld in western
democracies, as necessary instruments of national security. A “huma -
nitarian war” is upheld by the so-called international community. It is
not condemned as a criminal act. Its main architects are rewarded for
their contributions to world peace.
America’s Mini-nukes
With regard to Iran, what is
unfolding is the outright legitimization of war in the name of an
illusive notion of global security. America’s mininukes, with an
explosive capacity of up to six times a Hiroshima bomb, are upheld as a
humanitarian bomb, whereas Iran’s nonexistent nuclear weapons are
branded as an indisputable threat to global security.
When a US-sponsored nuclear war
becomes an “instrument of peace”, condoned and accepted by the world’s
institutions and the highest authority, including the United Nations,
there is no turning back: human society has indelibly been precipitated
headlong onto the path of self-destruction.
We are at a dangerous
crossroads: the rules and guidelines governing the use of nuclear
weapons have been “liberalized” (i.e. “deregulated” in relation to those
prevailing during the Cold War era). The new doctrine states that
Command, Control and Coordination (CCC) regarding the use of nuclear
weapons should be “flexible”, allowing geographic combat commanders to
decide if and when to use nuclear weapons:
"Geographic combat commanders would be in charge of Theater Nuclear Operations (TNO), with a mandate not only to implement but also to formulate command decisions pertaining to nuclear weapons."[3]
We have reached a critical
turning point in our history. It is absolutely essential that people
across the land, nationally and internationally, understand the gravity
of the present situation and act forcefully against their governments to
reverse the tide of war.
The details of ongoing war
preparations in relation to Iran and North Korea have been withheld from
the public eye and the media is involved in acts of camouflage. The
devastating impacts of a nuclear war are either trivialized or not
mentioned. Instead, fake “crises” – e.g. a worldwide flu pandemic, a
“false flag” nuclear attack by “Islamic terro rists” – are fabricated by
the media, the governments, the intelligence apparatus and the
Washington think tanks. While the real danger of nuclear war is barely
acknowledged, these fake crises are invariably front page news.
A Third World War is no longer a
hypothetical scenario. Already in 2007, President Bush hinted in no
uncertain terms that if Iran did not comply with US demands, the US-NATO
military might “reluctantly” be forced into in a World War III
situation:
"We got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel. So I’ve told people that if you’re interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon. I take the threat of Iran with a nuclear weapon very seriously..." (George W. Bush, 17 October 2007)
Notes
1. See interview with Mordechai Vanunu, Glob al Research, December 2005, http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20060102&articleId=1703.
2. Matthew Alford and
Robbie Graham, “Lights, Camera, Covert Action: The Deep Politics of
Hollywood”, Global Research, January 31, 2009, http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11921.
3. Joint Chiefs of Staff, “Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations”, Joint Publication 3-12, Washington DC, March 2005, http://zfacts.com/metaPage/lib/zFacts_2005_03_15_Joint_Nuclear_Operations.pdf.
RFE/RL Balkan Report
7/14/2011 5:03:52 PM
A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about the countries of the western Balkans.
For more stories on the Balkans, please visit and bookmark our Balkans page . |
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Serbia Is Not Amused
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Pilgrims Flock To Medjugorje For Anniversary
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'Alexander' Rises In Macedonian Capital
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------------------------------------------------------------------------ DEBT QUICKSAND ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Europe Fights the Growing Currency Crisis For a while, Europe's common currency crisis seemed to be cooling down. But this week Italy joined other debt-ridden euro-zone countries in the crosshairs of the financial markets. Europe's indebted nations are fighting to get their houses in order -- with some success. http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,774483,00.html#ref=nlint ------------------------------------------------------------------------ GERMAN ABOUT-FACE? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Berlin Retreats on Private Involvement in Greece Bailout German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has for months been insisting that any new aid package for debt-stricken Greece must involve private investors. Amid strong resistance, particularly from rating agencies, Berlin may now be backing down. http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,774407,00.html#ref=nlint ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE WESTERN CULTURE OF WASTE ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We Should Be Outraged! At Ourselves Germans want to end nuclear power and turn to renewable energy, but they keep buying SUVs. Global carbon emissions and oil consumption have risen sharply over the last two environmentally conscious decades -- and the trends will continue, as long as Westerners keep discovering new "needs." http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,773992,00.html#ref=nlint ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PRESS FREEDOM IN HUNGARY ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Prime Minister Launches New Offensive against Journalists Just days after Hungary handed off the EU's rotating president to Poland, Prime Minister Orban has hastened his radical transformation of the country's media landscape. Supporters claim a massive wave of layoffs is necessary restructuring. But critics fear that not toeing the line of the ruling party can result in a pink slip. http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,774480,00.html#ref=nlint -------------------- Photo Gallery: Protesting Hungary's Media Reform http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-70445.html#ref=nlint ------------------------------------------------------------------------ UPRISING IN BELARUS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Internet Generation Takes on Europe's Last Dictator The end of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko's era appears to be approaching, as thousands take to the streets in Minsk to protest against the country's economic crisis. The Internet-savvy demonstrators are finding ever-more-creative ways to voice dissent, but Lukashenko is responding with violence. http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,774256,00.html#ref=nlint -------------------- Photo Gallery: Crackdown in Minsk http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-70396.html#ref=nlint ------------------------------------------------------------------------ GERMAN POLICE WORKING FOR EADS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Berlin Opposition Livid about Saudi Border Deal The opposition in Berlin was already outraged about a plan to sell 200 tanks to Saudi Arabia. Now, however, a new deal involving the training of Saudi border patrol officers is raising additional questions. And some say the German constitution may have been violated. http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,774424,00.html#ref=nlint ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RIGHT-WING POPULISTS ON THE RISE ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Austria's Freedom Party Goes from Strength to Strength Under its leader Heinz-Christian Strache, the right-wing populist Freedom Party has become a force to be reckoned with in Austrian politics. It is currently neck and neck with the country's two largest mainstream parties in the polls. Meanwhile the governing Social Democrats are struggling to reconnect with ordinary voters. http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,774255,00.html#ref=nlint ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE WORLD FROM BERLIN ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 'British Democracy Is a Farce' As the News of the World phone hacking scandal continues to unfold, there are indications that it extends beyond the press to the police and even the government. German papers on Thursday write that the situation reveals grave problems within Britain's democratic system. http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,774448,00.html#ref=nlint ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PICTURE THIS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Parisian Planes http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,774517,00.html#ref=nlint
Caught in the Web
We’re just now getting a glimpse into how corrupt Rupert Murdoch’s operations were, says Eric Alterman.More: Think Again: The Murdoch Empire's Heart of Darkness
From the Cartoonist Group.
