Tag Archives: tea party

International, U.S.

World War 3: South America’s ALBA issue declaration against United Kingdom, in support of Julian Assange

IX Declaration of the ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America) Political Council

1. We reject intimidation threats uttered by government spokesmen in the U.K. of Great Britain for violating the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, and the principles of international law.

2. Categorically reaffirm our support for the sovereign right of the Government of Ecuador to grant diplomatic asylum to citizen Julian Assange.

3. We express our opposition to the U.K.’s position of trying to resolve in a manner contrary to international law, disputes with the nations of the world, particularly Latin America and the Caribbean.

4. We support the request for the invitation of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) to discuss the hostile position of the Government of the United Kingdom against the Government of the Republic of Ecuador, and set a clear position of support for Ecuador.

5. We believe in promoting relevant United Nations a broad debate about the inviolability of diplomatic premises and full respect by all States of the principles of international law.

6. We warn the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain about the serious consequences that would be triggered worldwide, in case of a direct attack on the territorial integrity of the Republic of Ecuador in London.

7. We call on all governments in the world, Social Movements, the intelligentsia, to oppose this new claim of the British Government to impose by force its will on sovereign nations of the World.

8. We promise to do our best to give the widest publicity with this declaration.

Members of ALBA: Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador, Dominica, Saint Vincent & Grenadines, Antigua & Barbuda.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

LIBOR: Japan orders investigation

17 August 2012, the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) ordered an investigation into TIBOR, or Tokyo Inter-Bank Offered Rate.

It’s a system similar to Britain’s LIBOR, and tries to regulate interest and currency rates.

18 financial institutions in Japan have been ordered to reveal their TIBOR operations. Specifically the FSA is looking for evidence that bank employees unfairly manipulated rates.  FSA is concerned about the credibility of the TIBOR system.

The Japanese Bankers Association gave an immediate response to the order, saying their were no TIBOR irregularities, despite the European and U.S. investigations into TIBOR.

U.S.

West Nile update, 17 August 2012: 80% of those infected don’t know they have it! Bees dying by the thousands! Union Pacific worker gets nearly $1 million! Drought to blame

“The higher the heat and the higher the humidity then the longer this will go.”-Phil Smith, Bucks County

More cases of West Nile virus being reported in the United States.

17 August, Bucks County, Pennsylvania reports first case for 2012.

17 August, New Haven, Connecticut reports first case for 2012.

17 August, Alabama officials reveal that at least six people have West Nile.

More mosquitoes were found infected with West Nile in Massachusetts.  Spraying to kill the blood suckers will begin in North Leominster on 20 August.

Health officials in Virginia are warning that as many as 80% of those infected don’t know it, and that: “20% have West Nile fever. About 10% of that 20% will have West Nile virus encephalitis and this can be very very life threatening.”-Jorge Arias, Fairfax County Health Department

In Texas, a Union Pacific (UP) railway employee was awarded $980,000 USD, for getting infected with West Nile virus while on the job.  The jury decided UP was 80% responsible because they made employees work in a swampy area with no insect repellant.

Bee keepers in Texas are reporting that spraying to kill mosquitoes is killing thousands of honey bees: “They will share their food and within 24 or 48 hours, 80% of those bees have shared that and they will be gone like the ones that we have witnessed.”-Susan Pollard, The Texas Honeybee Guild

The Texas cities of Grapevine, Colleyville and Southlake all reported human cases of West Nile virus.  The city of Southlake is providing free larvicide on a first come first served basis.

Horses are also becoming infected: “The horse will become unsteady on his feet, maybe stumbling, acting weak on the feet, laying down and not able to get up, sometimes depressed at first, and not interested in their food.”-Will Hadden, Gresham Veterinary Hospital

Dogs can get infected as well, but there is no vaccine for dogs.

In Arkansas, officials expect West Nile cases to grow.  They have a new theory as to why, the country wide drought: “One possible explanation could be with water sources drying up, the sources that are where not only mosquitoes are concentrated but also birds are concentrated. It puts the vectors in closer contact with one another.”-Susan Weinstein, state public health veterinarian

Oregon health officials reporting that mosquitoes in Jackson and Malheur counties tested positive for West Nile.

The Minnesota Department of Health reports 18 human cases so far.

Caddo Parish, in Louisiana, reporting second highest number of West Nile cases in the state. Human infections in Louisiana now at 92.

North Dakota reports 14 human cases, five people hospitalized.  Horses and birds also infected (birds are actually the source for West Nile virus).  Officials are puzzled because the state is in a drought: “Normally, you would think in years when it’s wetter, like last year with all the flooding there would be more West Nile cases, because mosquitoes require water to breed.”-Alicia Lepp, North Dakota Department of Health

Michigan has reported their first death from the virus, they blame the drought: “The unusually hot and dry summer has favored the mosquitoes that transmit WNV. These same conditions have led to a reduction in the number of nuisance mosquitoes which are more abundant during wet summers, giving citizens a false sense of security.”-Corinne Miller, Michigan Department of Community Health

Indiana reported its first death due to the virus. A survivor describes what the symptoms are like: “It feels like somebody has lodged an axe in my brain. Just about the time I think I’m out of the woods, then something else comes along, and we have to fight that, too.”-Katharyn DeVille

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Ecuador to pursue legal action against Britain, over Julian Assange asylum

17 August 2012, Ecuadorian presidential staff adviser, Alexis Mera, announced: “We are open to discuss with Britain the solution to this problem, and if there is no diplomatic solution, we may resort to the International Court of Justice.”

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patino, also said that the Swedish sex crimes trial is just a ruse, that Assange would be handed over to the United States as soon as he arrived in Sweden. This qualifies Assange for protection under the “fair trial” clause of the internationally accepted (excepted for the United Kingdom) asylum rules.

“They have to comply with diplomatic and legal obligations under the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and respect the sovereignty of a country that has granted asylum.”-Baltasar Garzon, Assange legal team

Fukushima

One Year Later: Japan to create Temp Towns to house victims of Fukushima Daiichi

17 August 2012, people forced to flee their homes, because of the General Electric designed nuclear disaster reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, have been living in temporary prefab homes.  Now the Japanese government wants to know if they will accept living in ‘temporary’ towns as well.

A year ago the ignorant Japanese government told nuclear evacuees that they’d be returning home in a few weeks or months.  It’s finally become clear to the exalted leaders that radiation contamination could last years. Some areas will exceed 20 millisieverts per year for at least a decade!

The Japanese government admits they are now considering the wishes of the evacuees for the first time!  At least 15,000 people can never go back to their homes, and the government says it is willing to build new villages for the victims.

 

Idaho, Opinion, U.S.

Government Incompetence: U.S. Army suicide rate doubles in July! Suicide now kills more troops than combat!!!

16 August 2012, the United States Army says the suicide rate for active duty, reserve and National Guard troops has now surpassed the 2011 high. July 2012 suffered 38 suicides, double from the month of June 2012!  That’s more than one soldier per day!!!

The monthly average is now at 29 suicides.  2011 ended with an average of 23 suicides per month.

The majority of suicides are those troops with combat experience. July was also a record high for active duty troop suicides.

In June dumb ass Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said: “That is an epidemic, something’s wrong.”

No shit Sherlock!  It’s called unjustified War on Terror, police stateism, economy down the toilet!

Things are so bad that earlier in the year the Idaho National Guard demanded that the state re-open a closed suicide hot line (the patriotic Republican state leaders closed it down claiming a lack of funding)!

General Lloyd J. Austin III gave the same bull shit comment I’ve always heard about preventing suicide: “To combat it effectively will require sophisticated solutions aimed at helping individuals to build resiliency and strengthen their life coping skills.”

I’ve heard that rhetoric since the 1980s!  What they really want are troops that are like the compliant monkeys of Japan: Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.

But the more our leaders (Republicans, Democrats, religious & unAmerican Corporate America) betray our Constitution, screw over the families of troops by destroying the economy, ship jobs overseas, use prison labor instead of law abiding workers, religious hypocrisy, etc, the more those who join the military to supposedly fight for the American Dream are going to become disillusioned and turn to suicide, or something else (remember Bronze Star awardee Timothy McVeigh?)!

Business/Economics, International, Technology

Nuclear Disaster Reactors: Damage to Belgian reactor impossible to repair?

16 August 2012, after an emergency meeting was held, officials decided it was likely that the Doel nuclear plant in Belgium will be shut down permanently.

But this means dozens of other nuclear reactors throughout western Europe could be shut down as well.  The whole thing started in 2004 when France inspected two reactors and found perpendicular micro-cracks in the containment vessels.

The perpendicular cracks were not from age, but had been there from day one. It was a design flaw!

Belgium decided to check their reactors, since they were the same design, and found even more micro-cracks. The boss of Belgium’s Federal Agency of Nuclear Control told the emergency meeting that they found “something else”; thousands of parallel cracks as well as the perpendicular cracks.

The defects are so numerous that Belgium officials say it is unlikely they can be repaired.  Belgium will shut down two reactors, and continue investigations. A final report will be presented in October.

Idaho, Technology

Idaho Wildfires 16 August 2012: MAFFS C-130s return to Pocatello airport, Idaho National Guard joins battle! Amazed residents just now noticing the smoke! Idaho & California have the most fires!

Image

“We’re ready to go. We’ve gotten the clearance from the governor. We’ve got the state disaster emergency declaration done. Now, it’s just a matter of getting a mission assignment from the Bureau of Homeland Security.”-Colonel Tim Marsano, Idaho National Guard

Can you believe that? Even Homeland Security is calling the shots for firefighters!

16 August 2012, in eastern Idaho the new human caused Fox Hill Fire, close to Wyoming, has burned at least 250 acres (101 hectares).  Fire officials say buildings are threatened, but they don’t expect to have any containment until 18:00 hours on 17 August.

Click pics (by AAron B. Hutchins) to make bigger:

Click here to see pics of the last time MAFFS C-130s were at the Pocatello Airport.

On 15 August, the human caused Gun Range Fire, near Idaho Falls, burned about 588 acres (237.9 hectares) before being contained.

Fires are so numerous in Idaho that the Idaho National Guard is being called into battle. According to the Boise based National Interagency Fire Center, there are at least 12 fires in Idaho (NBC news says 9, but they’re wrong), and only one is contained (yesterday’s Gun Range Fire)!

The only other state with as many wildfires is California. Altogether, at least 60 wildfires are currently burning in the United States.

It looks like this year will beat last year’s number of wildfires, already the acreage burned this year is 1.5 million more than last year (currently 6.3 million acres or 2 million hectares have burned)!

I have been amazed by the number of people here in southeastern Idaho, who are just now noticing the smoke.  Some don’t notice it until I point it out to them, like “Hey, didn’t you notice you can’t see the mountains anymore?”.  The response was “Well now that you mention it…”

While coming out of the Fred Meyer yesterday I overheard two people commenting about how smokey the sky was.  Hello! It’s been that way for more than a week now!  Oh well, just reminded me of the days when I lived in southern California and was amazed how many people there couldn’t seem to tell the difference between a smoggy day and a clear day!

Besides Idaho and California, the other states dealing with wildfires are:  Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

TWO NEW WILDFIRES IN EASTERN IDAHO

International, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. occupation of Afghanistan; 15 Aug – 16 Aug. Black Hawk down, 11 dead! First Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of attcking them, now they blame Iran! NATO says most military contractors are corrupt!

16 August 2012

ISAF said: “An ISAF helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan today. The crash resulted in the deaths of four International Security Assistance Force service members, three United States Forces-Afghanistan service members, three members of the Afghan National Security Forces, and one Afghan civilian interpreter.”

Mujahideen stated: “Our Mujahideen shot down an ISAF helicopter in Chenarto area of Shah Wali Kot district in Kandahar province at around 11:00 am (0630 GMT).”

In Faryab Province, a firefight broke out between villagers and local police.  Two of the villagers are accused of raping an eight year old girl. The police were trying to arrest them. The villagers are also begging the Mujahideen not to execute the two men accused of rape.

In Maidan Wardak Province, a senior security official was killed while trying to defuse a bomb.

In Baghlan Province, seven Afghan government soldiers were killed, two wounded, when they drove over a mine.

The Afghan parliament is now blaming Iran for coordinated suicide attacks in Nimroz Province.

15 August 2012

ISAF stated: “A U.S. Forces-Afghanistan service member died following an improvised explosive device attack in eastern Afghanistan today.”

ISAF also stated: “An International Security Assistance Force service member died following an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan.“

In Herat Province, a bicycle bomb exploded, wounding at least 20 people.

A report by U.S. led NATO says most military contractors are corrupt. General Ricky Waddell revealed that dozens of contractors are under investigation, and some are already facing prosecution.  The cases involve both Afghan contractors, and contractors from other countries.

The presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan stated they will work with each other to find out who is responsible for ongoing artillery attacks, being launched from Pakistan into Afghanistan.

In Kunduz Province, an alleged suicide bomber was killed by U.S. troops.  Local government officials claim the suicide bomber was targeting a bus full of cops.

In Badakhshan Province, Mujahideen ambushed an Afghan government border patrol.  Two top border patrol commanders were killed, along with two other border patrol troops. Three border patrol troops were wounded.

In Kabul Province, a fire destroyed a warehouse with $2 million USD worth of electrical equipment.  Local government officials say the fire was caused by a wildfire.

In Khost Province, Mujahideen claim they attacked a U.S. base. ISAF has not confirmed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

International, Opinion, U.S.

World War 3: Assange granted asylum in Ecuadorian embassy, Britain virtually declares war! Removes diplomatic status of embassy, bully bobbies preparing to storm embassy!

“We will not allow Mr Assange safe passage out of the United Kingdom, nor is there any legal basis for us to do so. The United Kingdom does not recognize the principle of diplomatic asylum.”-William Hague, United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary

“We can’t allow spokespeople from the U.K. to gleefully say they have been honest when they have threatened us in such a way!”-Ricardo Patino, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister

“It was not Britain or my home country, Australia, that stood up to protect me from persecution, but a courageous, independent Latin American nation. While today is a historic victory, our struggles have just begun. The unprecedented U.S. investigation against Wikileaks must be stopped. While today much of the focus will be on the decision of the Ecuadorean government, it is just as important that we remember Bradley Manning has been detained without trial for over 800 days!”-Julian Assange, statement made from Ecuadorian embassy in London

16 August 2012, after days of rumors that Ecuador was prepared to grant Julian Assange asylum, it’s now official.  But the United Kingdom won’t have any of it!

“…the British ought to just back off, and the U.S. ought to just back off! He has a legal right to asylum under the refugee convention. Under the UN declarations, there cannot be any adverse consequences for countries granting asylum. It’s considered a humanitarian act. And for the British to say that they’re going to go into the embassy and get out someone who’s been granted asylum would turn the refugee convention and asylum completely on its head. It’s unheard of. As far as I know, it’s never been done before that you’ve gone into an embassy to pull out someone granted asylum. The British are only doing this as bullies, bullies most likely for the United States!”-Michael Ratner, attorney

After Ecuador confirmed they were granting Assange asylum the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office sent a note to their embassy in London, saying Britain will invoke their Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987, removing diplomatic status for the Ecuadorian embassy.  Politically, that could be seen as an act of war.

“Julian Assange has been under such incredible pressure, with the threats to go in and get him, with prosecutions by the U.S., etc., that this is an incredibly courageous move by Ecuador. I mean, you have to think about it. Julian Assange, in doing what he and WikiLeaks did, stood up to the great powers of the world. And now you see Ecuador, again, standing up to the great powers.”-Michael Ratner, attorney

There are reports that people are gathering outside the Ecuadorian embassy, to interfere with any attempt by British police to storm the embassy.

Sweden has summoned the Ecuadorian ambassador to explain why they want to stop Assange from being extradited for alleged sex crimes in the Scandinavian country. The real question is why is Sweden, United Kingdom and United States so adamant about having someone prosecuted for alleged sex crimes?  I mean, Britain is willing to basically declare war on Ecuador!  This is proof that the information Wikileaks has on the British and U.S. governments is factual, and damaging, and people should be paying attention to it!

A friend of Assange pointed out that Ecuador offered to let Swedish investigators question Assange in the embassy, but Sweden refused.  Yet, Sweden was willing to question alleged murderers in other countries embassies: “They have interviewed an alleged murderer in Serbia but they choose not to come to London to interview Julian Assange. I think that’s very disappointing.”-Vaughan Smith

Occupy Wall Streeters are reportedly going to protest outside the British consulate in New York city.