Rio Tinto - Environmental Disaster - Tonto National Forest - Oak Flat, Arizona

Rio Tinto - Environmental Disaster Tonto National Forest - Oak Flat, Arizona Environmental Disaster Tonto National Forest Oak Flat, Arizona & Rio Tinto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh0b8EkaO5A ---------------------- ----------------------

Syria - Robbed by Israel & US-Anglo Imperialists

Syria - Robbed by Israel & US-Anglo Imperialists SUMMARY SOURCE http://russia-insider.com/en/business/cheney-rothschild-and-fox-news-murdoch-drill-oil-syria-violating-international-law/ri12508?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter Cheney, Rothschild, and Fox News’ Murdoch to Drill for Oil in Syria, Violating International Law Genie Energy is planning to drill in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights - legally part of Syria - potentially endangering precious water supplies -- Syria ripped apart by: warring of U.S. imperialists and Islamic fundamentalists -- US imperialist & Islamic fundamentalists leave children to die of starvation -- Israel to take advantage of chaos, stealing resources of Syria's southern region -- theft to be carried out by "notorious pushers of military hegemony" -- theft violates international law & the thieves don't care AMERICAN-BASED - GENIE ENERGY -- Genie Energy is an American-based oil and gas company -- investors & advisers of Genie Energy are who's who of war profiteers: Dick Cheney (USA VP under Bush; served under 4 US Republican US presidents, spent 6 terms in White House) Rupert Murdoch (media) Lord Jacob Rothschild (British investment banking) James Woolsey (USA, Democratic Party, security, energy, former CIA head) ISRAELI MILITARY COMMANDER PRESIDENT - GENIE ENERGY -- Genie Energy president: Efraim “Effi” Eitam, an Israeli military commander -- Efraim Eitam called for expulsion of 'cancer' of Arabs form Israel VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW -- intend drilling vast oil & gas reserves in occupied Syrian Golan Heights -- Golan Heights occupied by Israel since 1967 -- drilling in violation of international law - Annex to Fourth Geneva Convention -- https://www.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/WebART/195-200065 -- Israel granted Genie's Afek Oil & Gas exclusive petroleum exploration rights -- area: 153 square miles of occupied Golan Heights -- 2015 surface geophysical tests discovered substantial oil & natural gas reserves -- Afek Oil & Gas subsidiary of Genie Energy has drilled - x3 exploratory wells -- illegal occupation of Syria's Golan Heights exploited by Israel for decades -- one-third of entire Israel water supply is from occupied Golan Heights -- sold as tourist & skiing destination Mount Hermon Ski Resort) -- Israeli occupation of Syrian Golan Heights continues despite US & international pressure RUPERT MURDOCH & FOX 'NEWS' -- Rupert Murdoch sung the praises of Genie Energy -- however, prosperity & security not for targets of Western imperialists -- the war-stricken, the starving & the desperate of Syria -- Murdoch's Fox channel instrumental in pushing war in Middle East -- Murdoch's Fox channel instrumental in obscuring / concealing     role of USA in inciting war in Syria -- Murdoch & his cronies to reap profits -- Genie Energy, meanwhile, engages in publicity stunts to pre-empt criticism ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN -- reserves in occupied Golan Heights are locked up as shale oil -- hydraulic fracturing (fracking) likely method of extraction of fossil fuels -- shale oil in close proximity to LARGE AQUIFER    (underground water reserve) supplying DRINKING WATER to region -- fracking chemicals & polluted water that spill onto ground    could CONTAMINATE water supply LEGAL -- Israel High Court 2014 - issued temporary restraining order (see Haaretz) -- monied interests won: restraining order lifted -- Israeli occupied Syrian Golan Heights illegal oil drilling -- aided by assumption that Syrian Golan Heights is already part of Israel -- Genie Energy subsidiary refers to occupied Golan Heights field    as being in 'northern Israel' -- Naftali Bennet, Israeli politician    called for recognition of Golan Heights as Israeli territory 2015    called for expansion of Jewish settlers in region Article concludes: -- Dick Cheney, Rupert Murdoch, Jacob Rothschild & their henchmen -- have long promoted war & exploited oil resources in Middle East http://russia-insider.com/en/business/cheney-rothschild-and-fox-news-murdoch-drill-oil-syria-violating-international-law/ri12508?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter ---------------------- ---------------------- COMMENT Loads of information in this article. Interesting article.

Video - State Repression | Political Policing | Undercover Tactics | Surveillance | Mark Kennedy, Police & Private Spy

State Repression | Political Policing  Undercover Tactics - #surveillance  Resisting Surveillance: it's is not just about the metadata [cccamp15] "Infiltrators have been uncovered within political mobilisations in the UK, Germany, the USA, New Zealand, Spain etc., showing us that understanding offline security is just as vital as making our hardware and software secure. No matter how many layers of encryption we use, if our closest companions are infiltrators, sharing our homes, our lives, and our computers, there is nowhere to hide." SOURCE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eOmj-EUXfU&feature=youtu.be ---------------------- ꕤ ----------------------   Notes More intense version of state surveillance of the metadata kind is: Targeted Undercover Policing entering most intimate sphere of life Undercover Policing = not a new phenomenon Victor Serge What everyone should know about repression (1926) https://www.marxists.org/archive/serge/1926/repression/ Undercover policing tactics go back  at least to the 1890s Book (above) is re Czarist Russia / efforts to neutralise threats to power / Czarist tactics are same as tactics we see today, eg going into a social movement dividing & conquering spreading lies causing diversion to neutralise threats to power Use of undercover police is POLITICAL & PROJECT POLICING Outing of British Undercover Cop:  Mark Kennedy - 2011 see  book: Undercover: The True Story of Britain's Secret Police Paperback (2013) http://www.amazon.com/Undercover-Story-Britains-Secret-Police/dp/0571302173 Film 'Spied Upon' in the making | financing leads appreciated Link | here Various relevant books worth reading mentioned in video FBI Undercover Op THERMCON | here selling LSD to gain trust sex with activists EMETIC protester group chair lift damage + two other attacks against targets causing ecological damage 1987 to 1989 Undercover FBI Michael Fain {undercover name, Mike Tait} recruitment Ron Fraizer {friend of those to be arrested} as informant Result:  multiple arrests Other purpose:  discrediting associated group Entrapment FOI files documented: 1996 - FBI agents provocateurs associated with THERMCON spent 2 years winning trust of Prescott group actively encouraging them to sabotage powerlines attempting - unsuccessfully - to convince group to use (& even offering to buy) explosives FBI agents also selected the site, purchased & transported cutting equipment prior to  power line sabotage attempt on 1989 USA - FBI  efforts range from 1960s to present day efforts to smash/silence radical environmental movements Germany see Book:  Spitzel   |  here Germany Private cops unregulated Believe the video also refers to 'Verfassungsschutz' Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV) English: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Rather a misleading name, given this is Germany's domestic 'security agency': "tasked with intelligence-gathering on threats concerning the democratic order, the existence and security"  and, by the sound of it, is in fact a state police tasked with the maintaining the power of the corporate-controlled state, one would think. Source | here Social Network Infiltration Map social network Target 'top influencer' see Stratfor (Occupy Oakland) - thanks, Jeremy Hammond Placement on Watch Lists (along with those known to person) US:  File for a Lawyer Obtain FOI docs FBI - B6 & B7C exclusions [result:  targets do not know FBI talking to associates] Associates = under severe pressure from secret police (FBI) UK  Harassment of Teachers / School Friends harassed at travel points / questioned Snitch-jacketing (paranoia, calling people police & destabilising / attacking own movement; thus doing the work of the police) Placement on Terrorist Lists Problems at border crossings National Security Exemption results from seeking remedy re placement on Lists / state of exception / application of law is completely arbitrary / anyone can be called 'terrorist' at any time UK National security exemptions used to legitimise undercover political policing & information refusal Targets want RIPA & IPT gone / smash them whenever you get the chance Pervasive Surveillance = results in targeted surveillance Myth Myth that back-doors might be needed by police the point of mass surveillance is targeted surveillance / targets people who are activists / targeted analysis can target anyone at any time Resist / must be 100% against what results in targeted surveillance  & undercover police, as this prevents protesting for change  {laws difficult to change once in place} Germany Address / apply pressure at: EU  Parliament help get rid of Germany's political police Detection If you think someone is an undercover operative, do not whisper about it:  find out.   Check background Usually, not the weirdo in the group that makes you feel uncomfortable.  These are 'close friends' (from target's experience) Recommended BOOK War at Home: Covert action against U.S. activists and what we can do about it (South End Press Pamphlet Series) | here UK Police Having sex with activists is seen a 'perk of the job' Decades of undercover police in political movement in UK Long-term relationships used as part of cover story by undercover cops *only happened to women Undercover actions considered: embedded in institutionalised sexism British legal system & other Effects of Surveillance  / creates a culture of fear and paranoia / large-scale social suicide / damaging to entire society / creation of police state is responsible for this damage ꕤ

'Is Obama the Worst President Ever?'

SOURCE http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/09/03/is-obama-the-worst-president-ever/ September 3, 2015 Is Obama the Worst President Ever? by Dave Lindorff Obama is on track to go down in history as one of the, or perhaps as the worst and most criminal presidents in US history. He started out, campaigning in 2008, as someone would would restore the rule of law in US international affairs and here at home after eight years of criminality during the Bush and Cheney administration, as saying he would end America’s wars and bring back an era of international cooperation and negotiation, and as saying that he would confront the dire threat of global climate change. On the basis of that promise, he won a dramatic election victory, raising hopes across the country and across many voting blocks. On that basis, he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize — the first time the award was given before anything had been done by the laureate being honored. And on the basis of that promise, people expected action on climate change. Instead, the president began backpedaling almost instantly. Instead of restoring the rule of law, he almost immediately announced that he would not permit his Justice Department to engage in any prosecutions of CIA, FBI, military of Bush/Cheney administration personnel for violations of international law or of US law. He introduced new secrecy rules, launched a record number of prosecutions of government whistleblowers, including an international manhunt to arrest or kill NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden which included the forcing down of a presidential aircraft carrying the president of Bolivia, wrongly suspected of flying Snowden from Russia to that Latin American country, and a secret espionage indictment against Wikileaks founder Julien Assange, who has thus been trapped for years in the little UK embassy of Ecuador which has granted him asylum. And most egregiously, Barack Obama, sabotaged the first international meeting on climate change held in Denmark, and has ducked every opportunity to have the US lead on reaching an international agreement to seriously reduce global carbon emissions. During the three Congressional electoral cycles and his re-election campaign in 2012, Obama studiously avoided pressing on any of these key issues, and especially on climate change. His position: “all of the above”, for energy development, has seen the US move, not towards carbon emission reductions, but towards expanded production of gas, oil and even coal extraction, making the US the largest oil producer in the world, and a major provider of dirty coal to both US electric companies and large coal using countries abroad, including China. Now we have this flimflam artist up in Alaska, talking about the crisis he has helped worsen, calling it an existential issue. And yet even as he speaks, the Shell Oil Company is towing a giant oil drilling rig up to the Arctic Ocean, thanks to an Obama administration permit, to begin drilling for oil in the shallow waters north of Alaska — drilling for yet more oil, that is, even as the world is facing a glut of the stuff, in a delicate region that would be devastated by a well blow-out, because ice would make containment an impossibility. Future generations of Americans will surely look back at President Obama as not just a con-man, but as someone who blew several trillion dollars on continued wars around the globe, as someone who terminally destroyed the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, instead of rescuing these documents as promised, and as the president who, when given the last real opportunity to reverse climate change, ducked the challenge and pandered to the corporations that selfishly wanted short-term gain over long-term survival for humanity and the biosphere. There are plenty of other criminal acts by this president to consider. On his watch, this first African-American president allowed an increased national police to become a fully-armed occupying army across the country. No American today is safe from abusive police who make up crimes and ignore the law at will, but paying a uniquely terrible price are African-Americans and other people of color, who once gave this president 90% of their votes or more, but who now are being gunned down with a grim regularity by mostly white cops who fire at the slightest provocation, even at unarmed kids. On his watch too, young children, fleeing US-caused gang violence in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and elsewhere in Latin America, have been sent back to their home countries illegally, or held in prisons in this country in violation of direct court orders. He also ordered his Justice Department not to prosecute the criminal bankers who willfully destroyed the US and the global economy to profit themselves and their institutions. This president, let’s be clear, has not just been incompetent and gutless. He has been a slick political fraud and both a common and a Constitutional criminal. In a just nation of engaged citizens, Obama would already have been impeached for any number of serious crimes, beginning with the failure to prosecute known war criminals of the Bush/Cheney administration, including the president and vice-president themselves. That’s not going to happen, because this is not a just nation of engaged citizens. But there will be a reckoning. History will judge this president harshly, as it has judged criminal leaders of the past, from Rome’s Nero to Italy’s Mussolini or Uganda’s Idi Amin. It may strike some as hyperbole to put President Obama in league with such universally acknowledged monsters as these, but when human beings begin dying by the millions because of climate-change caused famines, floods, droughts and international armed conflicts we will surely look back at the actions and inactions of this particular president, who had the opportunity to make a huge difference and chose not just to do nothing, but to make things worse, and will say his crimes perhaps exceeded theirs. Dave Lindorff is a founding member of ThisCantBeHappening!, an online newspaper collective, and is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion (AK Press). SOURCE http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/09/03/is-obama-the-worst-president-ever/ ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- What stood out for me: USA refuses to prosecute CIA, FBI, military [or] Bush/Cheney administration personnel for violating US or international law. Obama admin: = violated & continues to violate the Bill of Rights and the Constitution Obama admin: allowed militarised police to become a fully-armed occupying army across USA "No American today is safe from abusive police who make up crimes and ignore the law at will" Obama admin: introduced new secrecy rules Obama admin: launched a record number of prosecutions of whistleblowers Obama admin: engaged in international manhunt for whistleblower Edward Snowden Obama admin: forced down of a presidential aircraft carrying the president of Bolivia (wrongly suspected of flying Snowden from Russia to Bolivia} Obama admin: initiated a secret espionage indictment against WikiLeaks founder, journalist-publisher, Julian Assange (trapped for 5 years in the confines of UK embassy of Ecuador, which has granted him political asylum) Obama admin: =  ordered his Justice Department not to prosecute criminal bankers who destroyed the US & global economy for own profits Obama admin: = blew several trillion dollars on continued wars around the globe Obama admin: = pandered to corporations out for short-term gain over long-term effects on environment Obama admin: = expanded production of gas, oil and even coal extraction making the US the world's largest oil producer Thanks to Obama admin: USA = a major provider of dirty coal to both US electric companies + large coal using countries abroad, incl. China. Thanks to Obama admin: Shell Oil Company = towing a giant oil drilling rig up to the Arctic Ocean (Obama administration permit, to begin drilling for oil in the shallow waters north of Alaska) ꕤ ꕤ

Canada - CSIS Illegal Spying on Enrironmental Activists - Lawsuit | Bill C-51 Gives CSIS Power to Break Law & Violate Constitution

CSIS spy exposé triggers federal hearings By Linda Solomon Wood & Jenny Uechi in News | August 12th 2015 A Vancouver Observer investigation has prompted hearings about whether the RCMP and CSIS broke the law by spying on environmental groups. The Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) began hearing arguments today in Vancouver by the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) regarding the Harper government's extensive spying on groups critical of the tar sands. The spying was revealed in documents obtained by National Observer's sister publication, Vancouver Observer, in 2013. "We wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for the Vancouver Observer," said BCCLA executive director Josh Paterson. The Observer investigation showed the National Energy Board (NEB) coordinating with RCMP and CSIS to monitor groups opposing the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline: The federal government has been vigorously spying on anti-oil sands activists and organizations in BC and across Canada since last December, documents obtained under the Access to Information Act show. Not only is the federal government subsidizing the energy industry in underwriting their costs, but deploying public-safety resources as a de facto "insurance policy" to ensure that federal strategies on proposed pipeline projects are achieved, these documents indicate. The federal government spying and monitoring of pipeline critics was illegal and had a "chilling" effect on Canadians' freedom of expression and freedom of association, BCCLA will argue, Paterson said. The hearings opened in a cloak of secrecy. The government barred reporters from photographing people going in or out of the court to prevent them from capturing the image of a secret agent. No media were allowed to observe or report on the hearings and the public is not allowed to attend. But Paterson spoke this morning about what he expected to happen behind closed doors. "Clearly, if there were issues of national security at stake — if there were information that would compromise the safety of agents in the field — you could see why a hearing might take place in secret," he said. "What we know from government documents makes clear that there was no threat to national security, that these groups were operating peacefully. So we don’t understand why at the very least CSIS can’t make more documents public about its activities," he added. "We’re arguing that CSIS broke the law by gathering intelligence about the democratic activities of Canadians in relation to the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline. We'll see through these hearings that spies and police though surveillance intimidate people until they feel like they don’t want to participate in the democratic process." CSIS spying exposed through FOIs In November 2013, Matt Millar, then a reporter for Vancouver Observer, obtained Freedom of Information (FOI) documents that showed the NEB coordinating with RCMP and CSIS to monitor several groups, including Idle No More, ForestEthics, Sierra Club, Leadnow, Dogwood Initiative and the Council of Canadians. The FOI material revealed that the NEB was arranging police protection for Enbridge and TransCanada staff, while keeping a close eye on their critics. Vancouver Observer subsequently reported that Canada's chief spy watchdog, Chuck Strahl, then head of SIRC, had registered as a lobbyist for Enbridge. Further investigations revealed that Strahl, a former Conservative cabinet minister, had been contracted by Enbridge since 2011. The stories prompted the BCCLA to file a complaint against RCMP and CSIS for 'illegal' monitoring of peaceful activists, Paterson said. They also led to Strahl's resignation due to perceived conflict of interest. "This stems from documents that were released to the Vancouver Observer that suggested that the RCMP and CSIS had gathered intelligence and shared intelligence on citizens group," said Paterson. "These were groups that were either assisting people to participate in the process, or organizing people to protest against the proposed pipeline. That is part of the life of a democracy and that should be welcomed." "Instead, we see that the government spied on these people and shared information about the activities of environmental groups with petroleum companies. This is highly problematic, and potentially a violation of people’s charter rights," Paterson said. national energy board, CSIS, spying on environmentalists, government spying, RCMP Screenshot of email in which Rick Garber, NEB's "Group Leader of Security," discussing monitoring of First Nations pipeline critics in Prince Rupert. Hearings taking place in atmosphere of secrecy CSIS has disclosed very little information heading into the three-day hearings, BCCLA lawyer Paul Champ told the Canadian Press. Paterson said he hopes for a fair ruling by SIRC, but is disturbed by aspects of secrecy that might thwart a just process. "There’s a whole extra-secret part of the hearings that we’re not allowed to attend. Just CSIS and their lawyers will be there, and they’ll make their case in secret. They won’t even tell us when it’s going to happen. We’ll receive a redacted transcript." Yves Fortier, a member of the Security Intelligence Review Committee who was revealed to be a former TransCanada board member who still held shares in the company, will be part of the committee reviewing this case, he said. "[Fortier] himself is by all accounts an upstanding individual of impeccable reputation," Paterson said. "However, he did used to be on a board of a pipeline company whose name is mentioned in these documents. We had asked for him to step aside based on the appearance of bias." In November of 2013, Vancouver Observer broke the news that Harper government officials and spies met with industry officials in Ottawa. In the shadow of Bill C-51 In February 2014 the BCCLA filed a complaint with the review committee after media reports suggested that CSIS and other government agencies considered opposition to the petroleum industry a threat to national security. The complaint cited reports the spy service had shared information with the National Energy Board about "radicalized environmentalist" groups seeking to participate in the board’s hearings on Enbridge’s Northern Gateway project, which would see Alberta crude flow westward to the B.C. coast. The passage of government security legislation that gives CSIS new powers to disrupt extremist activity has only heightened concerns about government monitoring of environmental and aboriginal protesters who oppose oil pipelines. Paterson is adamant that Bill C-51 has given CSIS far greater powers to break the law and even to violate the constitution. "They have to get a warrant from a judge but that gives us no comfort at all. It’s not the job of judges to break the law but to protect the constitution," he said. "This motivates CSIS to go to judges and say, 'Here’s what we’re planning,' but CSIS has a long history of breaching its duty of candor." "The only thing they’re not allowed to do is violate someone’s sexual integrity, to kill someone or to subvert justice," Paterson adderd. "Short of that, they’re being given the power to break the law and violate the constitution." CSIS did not immediately respond to questions about the process. SIRC has been reached for comment, but did not respond before publication time. — with files from the Canadian Press http://www.nationalobserver.com/2015/08/12/news/csis-spy-expos%C3%A9-triggers-federal-hearings CSIS = Canadian Security Intelligence Service Main national security agency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Security_Intelligence_Service SIRC = Security Intelligence Review Committee supposedly independent agency to oversee CSIS inefficient https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Intelligence_Review_Committee MORE ELSEWHERE There's a Secret Hearing Into Allegations Canada Illegally Spied on Environmental Activists ACTIVIST'S PERSPECTIVE Hey CSIS. If you're listening, we're going to hold your spying to account. By Kai Nagata     August 13, 2015 http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/dogwood-initiative/2015/08/hey-csis-if-youre-listening-were-going-to-hold-your-spying ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- --------------------- COMMENT Wealth of reasons not to give intelligence agencies greater powers. Canada's is shocking & the 'watchdog' (from other articles I've read), is completely toothless. More spying on those engaged in democratic activities  - ie those protesting environmental issues, in this case. Tons of information here.  And what applies in Canada, applies elsewhere.  As in, this is what happens when you give intelligence agencies unchecked power.  It's not used for the benefit of the community; it's used against the community, to further corporate interests (by look of this). Canada sounds bent. ꕤ

VIDEO - Merchants of Doubt - Naomi Oreskes - Climate Change

Merchants of Doubt Naomi Oreskes Source Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w-Nw8PCZuc&feature=youtu.be&t=2m39s LOOSE SUMMARY/TRANSCRIPTION Naomi Oreskes is a historian of science, an analyst of climate change literature, a mining geologist (who worked for four years in South Australia), she has a PhD from Stanford University, is professor of history science at University of San Diego, and has written a number of books, including:  'Merchants of Doubt'. 2005 Gov California Arnold Schwarzenegger announces intention to commit State of California to Kyoto level emissions controls of greenhouse gases: "I say the debate is over.  We know the science.  We see the threat, and we know the time for action is now." Mid 2000s, it seemed the American people had finally got the scientific message that global warming real and under-way. Yale Project on Climate Change - working with Gallup Poll Org - in 2007 showed 72% of Americans were completely or mostly convinced that global warming was happening.  Sixty-two percent believed life on Earth would continue undisrupted only if society takes immediate & drastic action to reduce global warming. Mid-2000s many former contrarians & skeptics had come around, incl. Republican strategist, Frank Luntz: " ... there is global warming taking place ... behavior of humans ... [is] affecting the climate." Public accepted climate change as a problem and wanted the government to take action, but Republicans were perceived as weaker on that issue than Democrats.  Luntz gave advice on how to address this Republican weakness: Use the phrase 'climate change' rather than 'global warming', as 'climate change' is a lot less frightening than 'global warming'.  Emphasise scientific uncertainty. Insist that there is no consensus. ie make 'lack' of scientific certainty a primary issue of the debate. NOTE:  use 'lack' of scientific certainty as a political strategy. Luntz's position about the scientific consensus was not factually correct.  The scientific debate was *not* still open. Two years before Luntz's memo/advice: Third Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2001)("IPCC") - climate scientists had concluded: "human activities ... are modifying the concentration of atmospheric constituents ... that absorb or scatter radiant energy" and had put 50 years of observed global warming down to:  "the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations". However, scientific evidence had coalesced even earlier than 2001.  In the Second Assessment Report of the IPCC (1995), scientists concluded: "The balance of evidence suggests a discernible human impact on global climate." Oreskes' own study of history of climate science (where she analysed public literature related to anthropogenic global change (ie change in environment as result of human activity), showed that scientists had a consensus on the human cause of climate change by the early 1990s.  Scientific consensus which was already in place by 1992-1993 was reflected in the IPCC Second Assessment Report (1995). The 1995 IPCC report was reflecting a scientific consensus that was part of the reason why world leaders had gathered in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 to sign the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). USA is a signatory to the UNFCCC, which pledges to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference in the climate system.  Signed by US President HW Bush 1992.  Bush called on world leaders to translate the written document into "concrete action to protect the planet." Gus Speth, who served on the Council on Environmental Quality in the Carter White House, was asked what happened 2007.  Response was he thought they were on track to make real changes. So what happened to the scientific consensus that emerged in the 1990s & what happened to the political response to that science that was encapsulated in the Framework Convention on Climate Change? Emergence of a political challenge to that science.  A story of selling uncertainty.  Using uncertainty as a political tool in order to stave off government action on climate change & to protect the free market (as some people understood it). History of Climate Began with John Tyndall (1820-1893) - established concept of 'greenhouse gas' in 1850s Established greenhouse properties of carbon dioxide (CO2) Tyndall showed that CO2 + water vapour have a distinctive and important property: * highly transparent to visible light. * opaque to infrared light. So light from the Sun comes into the atmosphere but tends to be trapped by the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere - that's the natural greenhouse effect - and Tyndall understood this to be an important fact about the planet, because without greenhouse gases the Earth would be as cold as the Moon or Mars and inhospitable for life. 1900s - Svante Arrhenius (Swedish) Realised that when you burn fossil fuels you release CO2 into the atmosphere & that if you increase the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere then you may expect the climate to warm up.  Arrhenius did the calculations on warming the Earth, which he thought positive (as he was from cold climate). First person to suggest global warming may be a bad thing & that it might also be under way is Guy Stewart Callendar, an English steam engineer and inventor. Callendar argued in the 1930s that available data indicated CO2 levels were already increasing and that temperature may be increasing as well. 1938 article in Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, Callendar suggested that these effects were perhaps already beginning and that scientists should study this in further detail. The following year war broke out in Europe and scientists became diverted by other issues. 1950s scientists returned to the subject of global warming, incl. Roger Revelle and Hans Seuss, professors University of California. Tellus Oceanography Journal (1957), Revelle & Seuss publish article in which they argue that mankind was performing a 'great geophysical experiment' by burning carbon (fossil fuels) stored in rocks for 100s of millions of years of geological time, rapidly returning an enormous amount of CO2 to the atmosphere, and that this could be expected to have an impact on the atmosphere and that scientists should begin to monitor the potential effect. -- Revelle obtained funding for systemic measurement of CO2 in Earth's atmosphere. Measurements undertaken by CLARLES DAVID KEELING (professor at University of California)  - see KEELING CURVE - commencing 2958, as part of  International Geophysical Year (IGY).  Keeling was later awarded National Medal of Science by GW Bush. Seasonal variation of CO2 associated with photo synthesis in northern hemisphere where most of the world's land masses are. By 1965 concluded that there is detectable, slow but sure, increase in CO2. 1965 - President's Science Advisory Committee Board on Environmental Pollution led by Revelle & Keeling. Reported:  by 2000 there will be 25% more CO2 in atmosphere, modifying the balance of the atmosphere to such an extent that marked changes in climate could occur. 1965 - Lyndon B Johnson declared: This generation has altered the composition of atmosphere on a global scale through steady increase in CO2 from burning fossil fuels. Computer Modelling With the rise of computer modelling arose consensus between scientific experts that:  given the rise of CO2 that Keeling had demonstrated, sooner or latter, global warming would occur. Conclusion drawn from basics of physics and chemistry of general circulation of atmosphere. 1979 - US National Academy of Science Plethora of studies indicates consensus that climate change will result from: 1) Man's combustion of fossil fuels. 2) Changes in land use. [ SUMMARY IN PROGRESS  ....   Watch the Video ... lol] ...................................................................... United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)  International environmental treaty  only international climate policy venue with broad legitimacy almost universal membership

AUSTRALIA - Great Barrier Reef - UN Reclassification Dodge & Civil Liberties (Anti-Terror Laws)

AUSTRALIA Environment #Auspol >>To pre-empt UN from reclassifying GBR as “in danger”, Australia announced a 35-year plan 2 manage Great Barrier Reef >>Economist Civil Liberties #auspol >> there go civil liberties >> RT " #Australia to tighten anti-terror laws http://shar.es/1aswLs  " [Press TV News] Wednesday:  proposed legislation to go before Parliament. -----------------------------------------------------  COMMENT The Great Barrier Reef move is a sneaky move (is this the Slippery Government?). Appears the government may be aiming to serve the needs of corporations instead of protection of the environment. Anti-terror legislation interests me in terms of the threat to overall civil liberties.  Not big on any legislation that widens the powers of government or government agencies.

BLAVATNIK'S WALL STREET HISTORY - SHALE REVOLUTION - UKRAINE, RUSSIA & US GRAB FOR SUPPLY OF EUROPE'S ENERGY NEEDS

Forbes

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7/30/2014 @ 6:00AM |672 views

How One Billionaire's Bet On LyondellBasell Turned Into The Greatest Deal In Wall St. History
This story appears in the August 18, 2014 issue of Forbes.

Billionaire financier Len Blavatnik’s bet on LyondellBasell has netted him a personal profit of nearly $8 billion. He says there’s more to come.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2014/07/30/the-greatest-deal-of-all-time/?utm_campaign=forbestwittersf&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

Confused Len Blavatnik (Warner Music guy) for the Black Wednesday guy that 'Broke the Bank of England' (George Soros) and I thought, no way, how could he have done it again.

If I've got this straight, some guys were selling stock in LyondellBasell; Blavatnik bought stock in LyondellBasell when everyone thought he shouldn't have and shares rose by over 50% since his last batch bought.

Since its bankruptcy - 4 years ago - shares in LyondellBasell have risen to return 500%.

Forbes says Blavatnik's investment ... of $10 billion [SORRY, I'M NOT GOOD AT FINANCIALS ... READ ARTICLE ... LOL] ... generated $8 billion in "mostly unrealized personal profits".

By 'mostly unrealised', I'm guessing they mean he hasn't cashed up what's due to him.

The transaction's described as 'historic'.

Here's some info about Blavatnik from Forbes:

A Ukrainian-born American citizen who grew up in Russia and immigrated to the U.S. in 1978 at the age of 21, he later got his M.B.A. at Harvard.

Blavatnik made his first fortune with a former classmate in Russia, Viktor Vekselberg, in oil and aluminum deals during the anything-goes post-Soviet days. 

Blavatnik’s biggest scores in Russia were oil company TNK-BP, a joint venture with British Petroleum that was eventually bought by Rosneft for $55 billion, and Sual, an aluminum producer that merged with the larger Rusal.

Chemical companies that had nothing to do with Russia would be his next big thing. He paid full price, putting down $1.1 billion to purchase Basell in a $5 billion leveraged buyout in 2005. Then he tried, and failed, to buy other chemical companies, including Huntsman International.

Just as my brain was about to go into snooze mode, I spotted this:

The revolution that changed everything for Blavatnik ... and LyondellBasell originated in the thin fissures of shale rock filled with oil and natural gas reserves throughout the United States. Throughout the last decade drillers pioneered new techniques of exploiting rock formations with hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling to draw out the petrochemicals trapped within. As a result, the U.S. became one of the world’s largest sources of cheap natural gas almost overnight, with prices falling from highs of $13 per million British thermal units to a $3 to $4 range today. This dramatic drop in prices proved a huge boon to dozens of industries, none more so than the chemical business–and few more than LyondellBasell.

LyondellBasell is a top producer of ethylene, which it upgrades into the plastic known as polyethylene, used in everything from food packaging to trash bags and hard hats. The company operates six facilities (known as “crackers”) to produce ethylene in the U.S. and four in Europe. Profits from ethylene and its derivative chemicals and coproducts are the core of LyondellBasell’s earnings.

Ethane, refined from natural gas, and naphtha, a crude oil derivative, are the prime raw materials used to produce ethylene. Starting in 2007, U.S. drillers were finding natural gas everywhere. By 2012 the price of ethane had fallen from 90 cents per gallon to 30 cents, giving U.S. chemical producers a huge advantage over foreign competitors in Europe and Asia that are dependent on pricey oil-based naphtha as a feedstock. The gap between the two supercharged LyondellBasell’s profitability.

LyondellBasell’s decades-old crackers in Clinton, Iowa and Morris, Ill., for example, are the only ones in the Midwest–and are situated near natural gas liquid pipelines and a hub in Kansas, home of some of the cheapest ethane in America. Almost overnight they were transformed, churning out profit margins of 32 cents per pound compared to European naphtha-based ethylene, which is barely even profitable. “It’s improbable that anyone could have foreseen the full impact of the shale revolution,” says Blavatnik. “But Jim had some experience and insight through his work at ConocoPhillips that I think helped.”

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So the US presence in Ukraine isn't just about Ukraine.  It's about supplying Europe with gas.

Although this was said in this or that blog or whatever I'd come across, it hadn't really sunk in properly.

Reading this, I got a really sick feeling in my stomach because the US need for a market is tangible -- it's not just someone speculating about US motives.  It's real.

OMG!  I feel like I've just discovered another planet!

UK - Shale Gas - Fracking Rape - Licence Bidding for Half of UK to Begin

BBC Article  Source - BBC 28 July 2014 Last updated at 01:43 Fracking licences to be granted by government The bidding process for licences to extract shale gas - using the controversial process fracking - begins later, the government has announced. About half the UK is open to exploration, but tightened rules cover areas of outstanding beauty. Companies granted a licence to begin test drilling will also need planning permission and environmental permits. The coalition sees shale gas as a major potential energy source. Critics of fracking warn of environmental dangers. ... About half the UK is open for licensing, including parts of National Parks. But applications there will only be accepted in "exceptional circumstances and in the public interest", said the government. The same rules apply for the Broads, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and World Heritage Sites. ... Critics of fracking argue that it can lead to earth tremors, water contamination and disruption to rural communities. There are also concerns about methane leakage and diverting resources away from renewable energy. ... The government is keen to promote fracking in the UK, and has already announced a number of incentives to help kick-start the industry, including tax breaks, payments of £100,000 per site plus a 1% share of revenue to local communities. It has also proposed new rules regarding rights to access land to speed up drilling. ... In the US, shale gas has seen energy costs tumble, but questions remain about whether the American shale revolution can be replicated in the UK and elsewhere. ...Extracts only ... full @... Source - BBC - here.

HALF of UK?

Including parts of NATIONAL PARKS?

How did this get through???!!