rder Out of Chaos: CIA, Blackwater Responsible for Bombings, Assassinations in Pakistan
Posted By admin On November 15, 2009 @ 1:12 pm In Featured Stories | 91 Comments
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars
November 15, 2009
Newspapers in Pakistan have accused the United States of using Blackwater and other agencies to conduct bombings and targeted assassinations in the country, according to MEMRI translations. MEMRI is a neocon propaganda outfit with connections to Israeli intelligence.
“Evidence of the private U.S. security firm Blackwater’s involvement in the targeted killings of high-ranking Pakistani military officials has been found,” reports Haftroza Al-Qalam, a Pakistan weekly published in Urdu, one of the two official languages of Pakistan. “According to a report in the Urdu-language magazine Haftroza Al-Qalam, the recent killings of Pakistani military officials represent an old method used by Blackwater in Iraq and South American countries.”
Journalist Jeremy Scahill reported on the CIA-Blackwater assassination program in August, 2009. See the second part of the report.
Pakistan media and other sources have reported on a Blackwater presence in Pakistan since 2008. “The notorious US security firm Blackwater has reportedly established a presence in the restive tribal belt on the Afghan borders to help the FBI and CIA track down Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants allegedly hiding there and protect USAID projects,” Aamir Latif reported for IslamOnline.
USAID is a a documented CIA front. The fact USAID is essentially a CIA dummy corporation was largely confirmed when the CIA released its ‘Family Jewels’ documents in 2007.
On Saturday, The Daily News in Pakistan reported that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (described as the main Taliban militant umbrella group in Pakistan) blamed recent bombings in the country on the ISI (Pakistan’s intelligence agency), the Awami National Party, the Pakistan People’s Party and Blackwater. “All these killings by the infamous Blackwater are aimed at maligning the Taliban,” TTP spokesman Azam Tariq told the Daily Times. “The TTP does not believe in killing of innocent citizens, and we will hold those who are doing this accountable.”
In August of this year, The New York Times reported on a Blackwater assassination program. “The Central Intelligence Agency in 2004 hired outside contractors from the private security contractor Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate top operatives of Al Qaeda, according to current and former government officials,” Mark Mazzetti reported.
* A d v e r t i s e m e n t
*
The CIA’s highly compartmentalized covert program was not reported to Congress. “According to current and former government officials, former Vice President Dick Cheney told C.I.A. officers in 2002 that the spy agency did not need to inform Congress because the agency already had legal authority to kill Qaeda leaders.”
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein said the CIA broke the law by failing to notify Congress about the secret assassination program. Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair, however, said the CIA did not violate the law when it failed to inform lawmakers about the program.
Beginning in 2002, the CIA conducted numerous strikes against al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan using unmanned aerial vehicles like the MQ-1 Predator and the larger MQ-9 Reaper. The Obama administration not only continued the strikes but dramatically increased the pace.
Journalist and author Douglas Valentine says the CIA program in Iraq constituted a “new Phoenix Program.” The original Phoenix program was used in Vietnam to assassinate communist leaders and terrorize the population into submission. In Iraq, according to Valentine (who references journalist Seymour Hersh), the CIA’s assassination program was used “not just Ba’ath Party members, but anyone who gets their name on the CIA’s blacklist of political and ideological enemies.”
“The recent bomb explosions in Pakistan are of the same nature previously conducted by Blackwater in Iraq,” Haftroza Al-Qalam reports. “The same people are involved in all the terror attacks, including the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the explosions in Peshawar.”
Cheney had former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto killed because she decided to back out of a deal not to return to the country after nine years in exile.
Pakistan’s former chief of army staff, General Mirza Aslam Beg, told the Tehran Times in September that he believes Blackwater was directly involved in the assassinations of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto and former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Beg said former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf had given Blackwater the green light to carry out terrorist operations in the cities of Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, and Quetta.
“Beg stated that the former Pakistani prime minister was killed in an international conspiracy because she had decided to back out of the deal through which she had returned to the country after nine years in exile,” the Times reported.
Self-made billionaire and business tycoon Hariri was assassinated on February 14, 2005, when his motorcade was bombed in Beirut. Seymour Hersh has accused Cheney of being involved in the Hariri assassination. After the assassination of Hariri, the U.S. accused Syria, although conclusive evidence has never been presented proving Syrian involvement in the murder.
During the election, Obama declared his intention of striking Pakistan if elected. “If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will,” Obama said. He said he would be willing to attack inside Pakistan with or without approval from the Pakistani government.
Obama’s Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, indicated during her Senate confirmation hearing that the new administration would “not relent in holding Pakistan to account for any shortfalls in the continuing battle against extremists,” The Washington Post reported in January.
The “extremists” in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan, the Taliban and al-Qaeda, were created by the CIA and the ISI.
“Obama has made it clear that his administration’s response to the growth of insurgent Afghan forces and the worsening security situation facing the US and its puppet regime in Afghanistan, as well as the growing strength of anti-US and anti-government insurgents in Pakistan, is an expansion of American military violence both in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The White House and the military are treating both countries as part of a single military theater,” Barry Grey noted in February.
Obama has escalated the “protracted political chaos” in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Chaos is designed to create a political vacuum and allow the U.S. to dominate the region.
Rockefeller minion Zbigniew Brzezinski admitted as much in his book, The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and its Geostrategic Imperatives. “To put it in a terminology that harkens back to the more brutal age of ancient empires, the three grand imperatives of imperial geostrategy are to prevent collusion and maintain security dependence among the vassals, to keep tributaries pliant and protected, and to keep the barbarians from coming together,” Brzezinski wrote.
CIA bombing campaigns and assassinations, conducted by the mercenary group Blackwater (Now Xe Services), are part of an effort to keep the “barbarians from coming together” and create a situation requiring a continuation and expansion of the contrived global war on terrorism.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Tucson Region
Star investigation
US border-security cash leaves towns on the hook
Taxpayers foot bills for mileage, bigger retirement paychecks for officers
By Brady McCombs and Stephen Ceasar
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.16.2009
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Federal grant money from Operation Stonegarden may seem like a windfall for the cities and counties that have eagerly accepted it.
But the funds have not been totally free — and in some communities taxpayers will be obligated for decades.
City and county governments had to foot the bill for mileage and maintenance — and employee-related expenses in some cases — during the first two-year grant cycle. Officials at the 10 state agencies included in the Arizona Daily Star's investigation couldn't provide actual costs and declined to estimate, but it likely cost an estimated $910,000 statewide, according to calculations done by the Star.
The money paid out in overtime — more than $7 million so far, with $12.5 million more expected in the next two years — won't be one-time payments, either.
The extra money will bump up taxpayer-paid retirement checks for hundreds of officers whose state retirement is based on their best three consecutive years of total compensation.
In the case of two Bisbee police officers who surpassed their base pay in Stonegarden overtime in 2007, their retirement will go up by half, resulting in a combined total increase to taxpayers of nearly $725,000 if each lives off his retirement for 20 years.
Cops can retire with full pensions after 20 years on the job regardless of age.
Fuel costs added up
When officers go on Operation Stonegarden shifts, they're in their regular uniforms and use their agency's patrol vehicles.
During the first two-year grant cycle — when gasoline prices hovered between $3 and $4 a gallon — the federal government didn't provide any reimbursement for mileage and maintenance.
Agencies acknowledge it was a burden to pick up the tab — and their suggestions prompted the grant to begin covering these costs in the following grant cycle. But city and county officials do not know how much it cost.
The Star estimated the costs by calculating 12 percent of each agency's total overtime allocation during the first cycle, which is how the grant now reimburses for mileage and maintenance.
Using that calculation, it cost the 28 participating Arizona cities and counties nearly $500,000 to pay for mileage and maintenance during that first cycle, which ran from November 2006 to October 2008. This does not include the $410,000 it cost to cover employee-related expenses.
"It hurt," said Maj. Leon Wilmot of the Yuma County Sheriff's Office. "The fuel cost was a significant impact to us. It was almost to the point that we could not do that with our budget."
The Sheriff's Office was prepared to drop out of the program if the grant didn't start paying mileage, Wilmot said.
But it didn't have to quit because starting in the 2008 grant cycle — which began on Nov. 1, 2008, and runs through April 2010 — the grant provides reimbursement up to 12 percent of the total overtime allocation to pay for mileage and maintenance.
Even with the reimbursement, the wear and tear is noticeable, said Nogales, Ariz., Police Chief William Ybarra. "It takes its toll on our cars, getting them out there in certain areas that are nonpaved," Ybarra said.
Stonegarden does allow for the purchase of four-wheel-drive vehicles or all-terrain vehicles to patrol rugged areas, and five of the 10 agencies included in the Arizona Daily Star investigation have bought these types of vehicles with the funds.
To some, using city vehicles to work border security shifts is an unwise use of taxpayer money.
"This city has no money to spare," said Angelika Johnson, a Bisbee businesswoman and resident. But city and county officials say they view the money as an investment toward their community's safety.
"The concept and the mission of Stonegarden, the way it's working for us, I think it's a perfect marriage," said Capt. George Rodriguez of the Tucson Police Department.
Employee-related expenses
About four months after then-Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the launch of the first official grant cycle of Operation Stonegarden in December 2006, Arizona agencies began working overtime shifts.
The subsequent reimbursement process was littered with confusion and inconsistencies. In one example, not all agencies were paid for employee-related expenses, such as Medicare, Social Security and retirement, that employers are required to pay on any hours worked. These expenses can account for 20 percent to 43 percent of an officer's pay. Three of the 10 agencies included in the Star's analysis were not reimbursed: Tucson, Bisbee and Santa Cruz County. A fourth agency, San Luis, was partly reimbursed.
Finance directors at these agencies could not provide an exact total of how much it cost to cover expenses, but they did provide the employee-related-expense percentages during the time of the first grant cycle. Based on those, the Star estimates:
• It cost Bisbee $263,000 on the $627,000 it was reimbursed for overtime, more than any other Arizona agency in that cycle.
• It cost Tucson an estimated $66,000 on the $266,000 it was reimbursed.
• It cost Santa Cruz County an estimated $47,000 on $188,000 in overtime reimbursement.
• And it cost San Luis an estimated $34,000to pay for public-safety retirement on the $384,000 it was reimbursed for overtime.
The total of the costs accrued to these four agencies adds up to nearly $410,000. It doesn't include unreimbursed costs to any of the other 18 Arizona law enforcement agencies that received money during the grant cycle. The Arizona Department of Homeland Security does not know which agencies were reimbursed, and the Star investigation covered only 10 agencies due to the bulk of documents needed to be examined and delay in public-records requests.
Employee-related expenses were an allowable reimbursement during the first grant cycle, said Amy Bolton, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Homeland Security. But the grant guidance didn't provide instructions about them — for instance, that cities and counties needed to apply for them in their grant application as well as request them in reimbursement packets, Bolton said.
She could not explain why there was not more clear guidance about the expenses. The Arizona Department of Homeland Security declined to provide interviews with the director of the agency or the person most familiar with Stonegarden.
In the subsequent grant cycles, all agencies are being reimbursed for employee-related expenses, and Bolton's agency has representatives available during the grant process to explain such procedures, she said.
There has been confusion regarding equipment purchases, too. In 2008, the Tucson Police Department paid $3,500 for three people to get training on how to run a $22,000 telecommunications intelligence and analysis software system. Police did not know that training was not covered by the grant and were frustrated by the confusion, e-mails show.
"I'm not comfortable working this via e-mail approvals without a valid contract (copy or original) explaining exactly what expenditures are approved for us under Stone Garden," wrote Rick Prater, management coordinator of the grants administration section for the Tucson police, in a Feb. 4, 2008, e-mail to Michael Tucker of the Border Patrol and other Tucson Police officials. "Mike — can you give us a breakout of exactly what's covered under our allocation of this grant — overtime, training, equipment?"
At the time of the e-mail, the first grant cycle had been going for a year and a half.
In June 2008, the Nogales Police Department bought a Ford Expedition for $27,000 but was then told by Tucker of the Border Patrol in an e-mail that it would have to cancel the purchase. Two weeks later, an e-mail from the Arizona Department of Homeland Security approved the purchase.
In May 2008, San Luis police spent $60,000 on tactical equipment that included helmets, lights and weapons gear. The Arizona Department of Homeland Security denied reimbursement of $16,705 of the total because it was weapons-based gear not allowed under the grant.
Some departments have knowingly absorbed costs.
In February 2008, the Yuma County Sheriff's Department passed on $2,700 in costs for a radio system to the city of Yuma because it went over the grant allocation. In an e-mail explaining how that happened, Yuma sheriff's account clerk Michele C. Valdez wrote to Arizona Homeland Security: "Sorry for the mess, but I'm doing the best I can with what I'm given."
In 2008, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office covered nearly $9,000 over its $20,000 equipment allotment to buy 15 push-to-talk phone accessories, 15 hand-held GPS devices and 15 sets of night-vision goggles.
When asked if Operation Stonegarden was ready to be launched, Bolton said it depends on your perspective.
"Would you not roll it out until it was absolutely perfect? But then you might never roll it out," Bolton said. "Would you roll it out and then have some experience and revamp the program and revise the program? It's like a business question. I don't think anything is going to be absolutely perfect, because the conditions on the border change."
Contact reporter Brady McCombs at 573-4213 or bmccombs@azstarnet.com. Contact reporter Stephen Ceasar at 573-4124 or sceasar@azstarnet.com.
Star investigation
US border-security cash leaves towns on the hook
Taxpayers foot bills for mileage, bigger retirement paychecks for officers
By Brady McCombs and Stephen Ceasar
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.16.2009
advertisement
Please Install Flash Player
Quantcast
Federal grant money from Operation Stonegarden may seem like a windfall for the cities and counties that have eagerly accepted it.
But the funds have not been totally free — and in some communities taxpayers will be obligated for decades.
City and county governments had to foot the bill for mileage and maintenance — and employee-related expenses in some cases — during the first two-year grant cycle. Officials at the 10 state agencies included in the Arizona Daily Star's investigation couldn't provide actual costs and declined to estimate, but it likely cost an estimated $910,000 statewide, according to calculations done by the Star.
The money paid out in overtime — more than $7 million so far, with $12.5 million more expected in the next two years — won't be one-time payments, either.
The extra money will bump up taxpayer-paid retirement checks for hundreds of officers whose state retirement is based on their best three consecutive years of total compensation.
In the case of two Bisbee police officers who surpassed their base pay in Stonegarden overtime in 2007, their retirement will go up by half, resulting in a combined total increase to taxpayers of nearly $725,000 if each lives off his retirement for 20 years.
Cops can retire with full pensions after 20 years on the job regardless of age.
Fuel costs added up
When officers go on Operation Stonegarden shifts, they're in their regular uniforms and use their agency's patrol vehicles.
During the first two-year grant cycle — when gasoline prices hovered between $3 and $4 a gallon — the federal government didn't provide any reimbursement for mileage and maintenance.
Agencies acknowledge it was a burden to pick up the tab — and their suggestions prompted the grant to begin covering these costs in the following grant cycle. But city and county officials do not know how much it cost.
The Star estimated the costs by calculating 12 percent of each agency's total overtime allocation during the first cycle, which is how the grant now reimburses for mileage and maintenance.
Using that calculation, it cost the 28 participating Arizona cities and counties nearly $500,000 to pay for mileage and maintenance during that first cycle, which ran from November 2006 to October 2008. This does not include the $410,000 it cost to cover employee-related expenses.
"It hurt," said Maj. Leon Wilmot of the Yuma County Sheriff's Office. "The fuel cost was a significant impact to us. It was almost to the point that we could not do that with our budget."
The Sheriff's Office was prepared to drop out of the program if the grant didn't start paying mileage, Wilmot said.
But it didn't have to quit because starting in the 2008 grant cycle — which began on Nov. 1, 2008, and runs through April 2010 — the grant provides reimbursement up to 12 percent of the total overtime allocation to pay for mileage and maintenance.
Even with the reimbursement, the wear and tear is noticeable, said Nogales, Ariz., Police Chief William Ybarra. "It takes its toll on our cars, getting them out there in certain areas that are nonpaved," Ybarra said.
Stonegarden does allow for the purchase of four-wheel-drive vehicles or all-terrain vehicles to patrol rugged areas, and five of the 10 agencies included in the Arizona Daily Star investigation have bought these types of vehicles with the funds.
To some, using city vehicles to work border security shifts is an unwise use of taxpayer money.
"This city has no money to spare," said Angelika Johnson, a Bisbee businesswoman and resident. But city and county officials say they view the money as an investment toward their community's safety.
"The concept and the mission of Stonegarden, the way it's working for us, I think it's a perfect marriage," said Capt. George Rodriguez of the Tucson Police Department.
Employee-related expenses
About four months after then-Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the launch of the first official grant cycle of Operation Stonegarden in December 2006, Arizona agencies began working overtime shifts.
The subsequent reimbursement process was littered with confusion and inconsistencies. In one example, not all agencies were paid for employee-related expenses, such as Medicare, Social Security and retirement, that employers are required to pay on any hours worked. These expenses can account for 20 percent to 43 percent of an officer's pay. Three of the 10 agencies included in the Star's analysis were not reimbursed: Tucson, Bisbee and Santa Cruz County. A fourth agency, San Luis, was partly reimbursed.
Finance directors at these agencies could not provide an exact total of how much it cost to cover expenses, but they did provide the employee-related-expense percentages during the time of the first grant cycle. Based on those, the Star estimates:
• It cost Bisbee $263,000 on the $627,000 it was reimbursed for overtime, more than any other Arizona agency in that cycle.
• It cost Tucson an estimated $66,000 on the $266,000 it was reimbursed.
• It cost Santa Cruz County an estimated $47,000 on $188,000 in overtime reimbursement.
• And it cost San Luis an estimated $34,000to pay for public-safety retirement on the $384,000 it was reimbursed for overtime.
The total of the costs accrued to these four agencies adds up to nearly $410,000. It doesn't include unreimbursed costs to any of the other 18 Arizona law enforcement agencies that received money during the grant cycle. The Arizona Department of Homeland Security does not know which agencies were reimbursed, and the Star investigation covered only 10 agencies due to the bulk of documents needed to be examined and delay in public-records requests.
Employee-related expenses were an allowable reimbursement during the first grant cycle, said Amy Bolton, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Homeland Security. But the grant guidance didn't provide instructions about them — for instance, that cities and counties needed to apply for them in their grant application as well as request them in reimbursement packets, Bolton said.
She could not explain why there was not more clear guidance about the expenses. The Arizona Department of Homeland Security declined to provide interviews with the director of the agency or the person most familiar with Stonegarden.
In the subsequent grant cycles, all agencies are being reimbursed for employee-related expenses, and Bolton's agency has representatives available during the grant process to explain such procedures, she said.
There has been confusion regarding equipment purchases, too. In 2008, the Tucson Police Department paid $3,500 for three people to get training on how to run a $22,000 telecommunications intelligence and analysis software system. Police did not know that training was not covered by the grant and were frustrated by the confusion, e-mails show.
"I'm not comfortable working this via e-mail approvals without a valid contract (copy or original) explaining exactly what expenditures are approved for us under Stone Garden," wrote Rick Prater, management coordinator of the grants administration section for the Tucson police, in a Feb. 4, 2008, e-mail to Michael Tucker of the Border Patrol and other Tucson Police officials. "Mike — can you give us a breakout of exactly what's covered under our allocation of this grant — overtime, training, equipment?"
At the time of the e-mail, the first grant cycle had been going for a year and a half.
In June 2008, the Nogales Police Department bought a Ford Expedition for $27,000 but was then told by Tucker of the Border Patrol in an e-mail that it would have to cancel the purchase. Two weeks later, an e-mail from the Arizona Department of Homeland Security approved the purchase.
In May 2008, San Luis police spent $60,000 on tactical equipment that included helmets, lights and weapons gear. The Arizona Department of Homeland Security denied reimbursement of $16,705 of the total because it was weapons-based gear not allowed under the grant.
Some departments have knowingly absorbed costs.
In February 2008, the Yuma County Sheriff's Department passed on $2,700 in costs for a radio system to the city of Yuma because it went over the grant allocation. In an e-mail explaining how that happened, Yuma sheriff's account clerk Michele C. Valdez wrote to Arizona Homeland Security: "Sorry for the mess, but I'm doing the best I can with what I'm given."
In 2008, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office covered nearly $9,000 over its $20,000 equipment allotment to buy 15 push-to-talk phone accessories, 15 hand-held GPS devices and 15 sets of night-vision goggles.
When asked if Operation Stonegarden was ready to be launched, Bolton said it depends on your perspective.
"Would you not roll it out until it was absolutely perfect? But then you might never roll it out," Bolton said. "Would you roll it out and then have some experience and revamp the program and revise the program? It's like a business question. I don't think anything is going to be absolutely perfect, because the conditions on the border change."
Contact reporter Brady McCombs at 573-4213 or bmccombs@azstarnet.com. Contact reporter Stephen Ceasar at 573-4124 or sceasar@azstarnet.com.
More than half the population does not believe climate change has been caused by humans.
In a poll published just weeks before the global climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, it has been revealed only 41% of British people accept as a scientific fact that the situation is largely man-made.
The Populus research shows while 28% believed climate change was "far and away" the most serious problem facing Britain and another 51% agreed it was a serious concern, many remained unconvinced of the role humans played.
Pollution
Only 41% of Britons surveyed accept climate change is largely man-made
The findings threaten to undermine Gordon Brown's position in Copenhagen, where he will push for international agreement to cut carbon emissions.
Mr Brown's hand in negotiations will be weakened if other countries think that he does not enjoy solid public support at home for his stance on global warming.
Around a third of those polled (32%) agreed global warming was happening but said it had not yet been proven to be man-made.
However climate change denial theories were also shown little support with just 8% describing the view that global warming is man-made as environmentalist propaganda and 15% saying that it was not happening at all.
Ed Miliband
Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband wants to convince 'deniers'
Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband has responded by saying efforts were being made to convince people.
He said: 'The overwhelming body of scientific information is stacked up against the deniers and shows us that climate change is man-made and is happening now.
'We know that we still have a way to go in informing people about climate change and that is why we make no apologies about pushing forward with our new Act on CO2 campaign.
'But it's not just the deniers we need to tackle, the defeatists must also be challenged.
'The truth is that cutting our emissions and shifting to a low carbon economy will bring benefits to Britain by increasing our energy security and opening the door to new green jobs and business opportunities as well as a cleaner and greener environment.'
The poll showed Tory voters were more likely to doubt whether man was responsible for climate change, with only 38% accepting the link.
It was accepted by 45% of Labour supporters and 47% of Liberal Democrat voters.
More...
* Worst storm of the year batters Britain... with 80mph gales, torrential rain and 35 flood warnings
* Earth is still absorbing CO2, claims climate change study
Populus said there was increased support for new air travel taxes to cut carbon emissions, with 57% in favour and 40% against, compared to a 50%-46% split in a similar poll in 2006.
There was opposition to increases in the overall cost of motoring on environmental grounds, by a margin of 53% to 44%. But a large majority - 68% against 29% - said that much higher taxes should be imposed on gas-guzzling vehicles.
A very large majority - 87% to 11% - supported new building regulations to require high standards of insulation and use of renewable energy, even if it increases the cost of homes.
Populus interviewed 1,504 adults by telephone between November 6 and 8, for The Times newspaper.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1227745/Most-Britons-dont-believe-climate-change-man-made.html#ixzz0X3yEDvMJ
In a poll published just weeks before the global climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, it has been revealed only 41% of British people accept as a scientific fact that the situation is largely man-made.
The Populus research shows while 28% believed climate change was "far and away" the most serious problem facing Britain and another 51% agreed it was a serious concern, many remained unconvinced of the role humans played.
Pollution
Only 41% of Britons surveyed accept climate change is largely man-made
The findings threaten to undermine Gordon Brown's position in Copenhagen, where he will push for international agreement to cut carbon emissions.
Mr Brown's hand in negotiations will be weakened if other countries think that he does not enjoy solid public support at home for his stance on global warming.
Around a third of those polled (32%) agreed global warming was happening but said it had not yet been proven to be man-made.
However climate change denial theories were also shown little support with just 8% describing the view that global warming is man-made as environmentalist propaganda and 15% saying that it was not happening at all.
Ed Miliband
Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband wants to convince 'deniers'
Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband has responded by saying efforts were being made to convince people.
He said: 'The overwhelming body of scientific information is stacked up against the deniers and shows us that climate change is man-made and is happening now.
'We know that we still have a way to go in informing people about climate change and that is why we make no apologies about pushing forward with our new Act on CO2 campaign.
'But it's not just the deniers we need to tackle, the defeatists must also be challenged.
'The truth is that cutting our emissions and shifting to a low carbon economy will bring benefits to Britain by increasing our energy security and opening the door to new green jobs and business opportunities as well as a cleaner and greener environment.'
The poll showed Tory voters were more likely to doubt whether man was responsible for climate change, with only 38% accepting the link.
It was accepted by 45% of Labour supporters and 47% of Liberal Democrat voters.
More...
* Worst storm of the year batters Britain... with 80mph gales, torrential rain and 35 flood warnings
* Earth is still absorbing CO2, claims climate change study
Populus said there was increased support for new air travel taxes to cut carbon emissions, with 57% in favour and 40% against, compared to a 50%-46% split in a similar poll in 2006.
There was opposition to increases in the overall cost of motoring on environmental grounds, by a margin of 53% to 44%. But a large majority - 68% against 29% - said that much higher taxes should be imposed on gas-guzzling vehicles.
A very large majority - 87% to 11% - supported new building regulations to require high standards of insulation and use of renewable energy, even if it increases the cost of homes.
Populus interviewed 1,504 adults by telephone between November 6 and 8, for The Times newspaper.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1227745/Most-Britons-dont-believe-climate-change-man-made.html#ixzz0X3yEDvMJ
Ex-soldier faces jail for handing in gun
Saturday, November 14, 2009, 12:15
A former soldier who handed a discarded shotgun in to police faces at least five years imprisonment for "doing his duty".
Paul Clarke, 27, was found guilty of possessing a firearm at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday – after finding the gun and handing it personally to police officers on March 20 this year.
The jury took 20 minutes to make its conviction, and Mr Clarke now faces a minimum of five year's imprisonment for handing in the weapon.
In a statement read out in court, Mr Clarke said: "I didn't think for one moment I would be arrested.
"I thought it was my duty to hand it in and get it off the streets."
The court heard how Mr Clarke was on the balcony of his home in Nailsworth Crescent, Merstham, when he spotted a black bin liner at the bottom of his garden.
In his statement, he said: "I took it indoors and inside found a shorn-off shotgun and two cartridges.
"I didn't know what to do, so the next morning I rang the Chief Superintendent, Adrian Harper, and asked if I could pop in and see him.
"At the police station, I took the gun out of the bag and placed it on the table so it was pointing towards the wall."
Mr Clarke was then arrested immediately for possession of a firearm at Reigate police station, and taken to the cells.
Defending, Lionel Blackman told the jury Mr Clarke's garden backs onto a public green field, and his garden wall is significantly lower than his neighbours.
He also showed jurors a leaflet printed by Surrey Police explaining to citizens what they can do at a police station, which included "reporting found firearms".
Quizzing officer Garnett, who arrested Mr Clarke, he asked: "Are you aware of any notice issued by Surrey Police, or any publicity given to, telling citizens that if they find a firearm the only thing they should do is not touch it, report it by telephone, and not take it into a police station?"
To which, Mr Garnett replied: "No, I don't believe so."
Prosecuting, Brian Stalk, explained to the jury that possession of a firearm was a "strict liability" charge – therefore Mr Clarke's allegedly honest intent was irrelevant.
Just by having the gun in his possession he was guilty of the charge, and has no defence in law against it, he added.
But despite this, Mr Blackman urged members of the jury to consider how they would respond if they found a gun.
He said: "This is a very small case with a very big principle.
"You could be walking to a railway station on the way to work and find a firearm in a bin in the park.
"Is it unreasonable to take it to the police station?"
Paul Clarke will be sentenced on December 11.
Judge Christopher Critchlow said: "This is an unusual case, but in law there is no dispute that Mr Clarke has no defence to this charge.
"The intention of anybody possessing a firearm is irrelevant."
- Comments on this story have been disabled for legal reasons
Saturday, November 14, 2009, 12:15
A former soldier who handed a discarded shotgun in to police faces at least five years imprisonment for "doing his duty".
Paul Clarke, 27, was found guilty of possessing a firearm at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday – after finding the gun and handing it personally to police officers on March 20 this year.
The jury took 20 minutes to make its conviction, and Mr Clarke now faces a minimum of five year's imprisonment for handing in the weapon.
In a statement read out in court, Mr Clarke said: "I didn't think for one moment I would be arrested.
"I thought it was my duty to hand it in and get it off the streets."
The court heard how Mr Clarke was on the balcony of his home in Nailsworth Crescent, Merstham, when he spotted a black bin liner at the bottom of his garden.
In his statement, he said: "I took it indoors and inside found a shorn-off shotgun and two cartridges.
"I didn't know what to do, so the next morning I rang the Chief Superintendent, Adrian Harper, and asked if I could pop in and see him.
"At the police station, I took the gun out of the bag and placed it on the table so it was pointing towards the wall."
Mr Clarke was then arrested immediately for possession of a firearm at Reigate police station, and taken to the cells.
Defending, Lionel Blackman told the jury Mr Clarke's garden backs onto a public green field, and his garden wall is significantly lower than his neighbours.
He also showed jurors a leaflet printed by Surrey Police explaining to citizens what they can do at a police station, which included "reporting found firearms".
Quizzing officer Garnett, who arrested Mr Clarke, he asked: "Are you aware of any notice issued by Surrey Police, or any publicity given to, telling citizens that if they find a firearm the only thing they should do is not touch it, report it by telephone, and not take it into a police station?"
To which, Mr Garnett replied: "No, I don't believe so."
Prosecuting, Brian Stalk, explained to the jury that possession of a firearm was a "strict liability" charge – therefore Mr Clarke's allegedly honest intent was irrelevant.
Just by having the gun in his possession he was guilty of the charge, and has no defence in law against it, he added.
But despite this, Mr Blackman urged members of the jury to consider how they would respond if they found a gun.
He said: "This is a very small case with a very big principle.
"You could be walking to a railway station on the way to work and find a firearm in a bin in the park.
"Is it unreasonable to take it to the police station?"
Paul Clarke will be sentenced on December 11.
Judge Christopher Critchlow said: "This is an unusual case, but in law there is no dispute that Mr Clarke has no defence to this charge.
"The intention of anybody possessing a firearm is irrelevant."
- Comments on this story have been disabled for legal reasons
Article
Low Vitamin D Levels Linked To Proliferation of H1N1
Posted By admin On November 16, 2009 @ 1:19 pm In Science & Technology | 11 Comments
Prevent Disease
November 16, 2009
According to a recent study, as many as 77 percent of all Americans may be deficient in the vitamin essential for bone health and which may prevent H1N1 (Swine Flu) and seasonal flu, wheezing, winter-related eczema, upper respiratory infections and may help prevent cancer, autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes, certain infectious diseases, myocardial infarctions – heart attacks – and many other serious diseases.
When subgroups of the population are considered, depending on which of the many reasonable definitions of deficiency are accepted, the picture is even more ominous. For example, an important new study from Children’s Hospital in Boston found that as many as 80 percent of Hispanic children and 92 percent of black children, what the study calls non-Hispanic black children, may also be deficient in this vitamin.
We’re talking about vitamin D, also called the sunshine vitamin and often considered the nutrient of the year, if not the decade. Its power as a determinant of human health can be captured by what happens when someone is D deficient. They are at risk for what is called rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults.
In its most extreme form, the bones soften and almost melt, making them so fragile that the simple act of walking up steps may cause bones to fracture and slight movement may cause excruciating pain. In its most severe form, a blood test for vitamin D may show zero. Dr. Fred Kaplan, an eminent orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, whose patient had zero D, said this is rare even in Third World countries.
Why, in the land of plenty and, now, also in the land of over-consumption, overweight and obesity, can there be an epidemic of a vitamin D deficiency or any other nutrient? The reasons may not be fully understood, but the picture is still clear: Over time, we have obtained most of our vitamin D from the sun. When ultraviolet B rays hit the skin they cause the formation of vitamin D. But, in an age of sunscreens and well-placed fear of skin cancer, we tend to either stay out of the sun or use a sunscreen to shield us from its rays, including the ultraviolet B ray.
Even if you stayed in the sun all day in some locations, you would not get enough vitamin D. For example, north of Philadelphia, between November and March, the suns rays are not strong enough to precipitate the formation of vitamin D. And, during early morning and late afternoon, the sun’s rays are not strong enough to generate vitamin D. That’s a big part of the picture, as authorities find that exposure to the sun is the main determinant of vitamin D in humans. This leads us to the next source of vitamin D — our food. Some dairy products, such as milk, are fortified with vitamin D, but we tend to avoid dairy products due to their cholesterol and saturated fat content. Other sources are fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, and herring. Still other sources are fortified cereal and other foods such as orange juice, now, often fortified both with vitamin D and calcium. But, most people don’t eat enough of these foods to get enough vitamin D. So, that leaves supplementation with multi-vitamins that include D, combination calcium and vitamin D pills, or vitamin D stand-alones.
There may be another reason for the epidemic – the epidemic of the overweight and obese, who cannot process vitamin D efficiently and are, consequently, more likely to be vitamin D deficient. One final reason for identifying the epidemic is better testing methods for vitamin D. There is a simple blood test now used to determine vitamin D status.
Still another reason for the D epidemic is the aging of the population, as older people — even the middle-aged — are more likely to have D deficiency.
There are other risk factors for a D deficiency, but they probably don’t play a big role in the growing number of people with that deficiency. Consumer Reports catalogued the following risk factors: “Being dark-skinned, middle-aged, or overweight; having a history of gastric-bypass surgery or a condition that interferes with the ability to absorb nutrients from food, such as celiac disease; having a history of kidney or liver disease, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, or thyroid problems; taking medications that reduce blood levels of vitamin D, such as cholestyralmine (Questran and generic), colestripel (Colestid and generic), certain anticonvulsants; or orlistat (Alli, Xenical)” (Consumer Reports on Health, Nov. 2009).
This epidemic of vitamin D deficiency recently came into focus with the publication of an important study led by Dr. Jonathan Mansbach at Children’s Hospital In Boston. The study appears in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics. The study looked at vitamin D levels of 5,000 children and, extrapolating to the entire U.S. population of children, found that millions were receiving what the study called suboptimal levels of D. As noted above, depending on the definition of deficiency or suboptimal levels, the study found 80 percent of Hispanics and 92 percent of black children were at the suboptimal levels. Others have previously documented widespread vitamin D deficiency in children. For example, Dr. Babette Zemel, a vitamin D expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), who is Director of the Nutrition and Growth Laboratory of that hospital and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Penn’s medical school, found that 55 percent of children she studied were vitamin D deficient, in a study published in 2007.
The Mansbach study notes that we’re far from knowing everything we should about how to bring children and adults up to optimal levels, how to avoid any long-run adverse consequences and exactly what level of vitamin D is optimal.
* A d v e r t i s e m e n t
*
It does recommend, in view of its findings, that children take vitamin D supplements because of the clear health benefits from doing so. The study doesn’t make specific recommendations, but the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children with inadequate sun exposure get a daily intake of at least 400 International Units of vitamin D — vitamin D3 is now recommended as it is better absorbed than D2. The adult recommendations, according to a report in The American Family Physician, as cataloged by www.medscape.com, are as follows:
• In older adults, vitamin D supplementation of 700 to 800 IU per day is associated with a lower risk for falls … and fractures.
• To prevent vitamin D deficiency, adults with inadequate sun exposure should have a vitamin D intake of 400 to 600 IU per day.
• Adults with vitamin D deficiency, except for those with malabsorption syndromes, should receive maintenance dosages of 800 to 1,000 IU of vitamin D per day.
Dr. Zemel recommends that most adults take vitamin D supplementation of between 1,000 and 2,000 IU of vitamin D, which seems to make the most sense in view of the evidence that I’ve reviewed. Of course, you may want to run this issue past your doctor at your next visit. She said there is some variability in the response to vitamin D so, some may reach optimal levels with 1,000 IU, while others may require more. In severe deficiency cases, more aggressive supplementation may be called for, such as 500,000 IU by injection.
The Medscape report also notes that excessive amounts of vitamin D can be toxic. It states, “Because vitamin D is fat soluble and can be stored in fat, there are concerns regarding toxicity from excessive supplementation. Signs and symptoms of vitamin D toxicity may include headache, metallic taste, nephrocalcinosis or vascular calcinosis, pancreatitis, nausea, and vomiting.” There is a study indicating toxicity is reached at 10,000 I.U. daily. Dr. Zemel told me vitamin D toxicity is extraordinarily rare.
You can be sure there will be continuing and extensive studies of vitamin D to answer many questions. Dr. Mansbach says, “We need to perform randomized controlled trials to understand if vitamin D actually improves these wide-ranging health outcomes. At present, however, there are a lot of studies demonstrating associations between low levels of vitamin D and poor health. Therefore, we believe many U.S. children would likely benefit from more vitamin D.”
Although evidence is not clear on how to prevent H1N1 flu, the suggestions for prevention include taking vitamin D supplements, especially in the winter. In a report in the Examiner.com, five simple steps are recommended to prevent H1N1:
• Get enough vitamin D.
• Use proper hygiene — for example, frequent hand washing, cough into your elbow instead of your hands and avoid contact with public surfaces with your hands whenever possible.
• Adequately rinse the nose and throat.
• Get enough sleep.
• Consume plenty of garlic and other antiviral herbs.
Dr. Zemel believes it is too early to make hard and fast conclusions on the vitamin D/H1N1 connection. Dr. Charlene Compher, an expert on diet and health at Penn, agrees it is too early to draw conclusions on H1N1. But, Dr. Zemel and others note that vitamin D does strengthen the immune response and, therefore, may be useful in preventing H1N1.
Dr. James E. Dowd, a professor of medicine at Michigan State University and Diane Stafford stated, in their book The Vitamin D Cure, about the flu/vitamin D connection, “More respiratory infections during the winter are probably directly related to lower vitamin D production.” They note several factors contribute to the winter infection scenario. In the winter, there aren’t as much ultraviolet B rays, which inactivate many viruses. With less ultraviolet B getting through, humans produce less vitamin D of their own. Finally, vitamin D is important to mobilize the immune system response to infections. As a result of all this, respiratory infections start to rise in late September and peak in February. So, Dr. Dowd’s final advice is to forget the chicken soup with too many noodles, too much salt, and too little chicken and take vitamin D instead. My final advice is to get chicken soup that doesn’t have too much salt, too many noodles, and too little chicken and get someone who can make unsalted chicken soup, with the noodles and chicken you want and, then, take your vitamin D.
Dr. Bruce Kinosian, a geriatrician at Penn and an expert on diet and health, did sound a cautionary note, that vitamins thought to be a magical cure-all often turn out to have quite the opposite effect. He cites a long list of such vitamins of the year, which later fizzled. The most prominent case involved vitamin E, which, in excessive doses, was found to cause lung cancer in a segment of the population.
Perhaps the most fundamental preventive approach was recently recommended by Dr. Sidney Wolfe of the Health Research Group. He said take the most powerful and effective drug — a healthy lifestyle. This is the same prescription written over 800 years ago by the eminent Jewish physician and philosopher Maimonides, who said most of us die as a result of our lifestyle. Sometimes ancient wisdom is more powerful than modern technology.
I can’t resist one more observation on Maimonides. He was born In Cordoba, Spain in 1135. But Cordoba was soon taken over by a Muslim sect that demanded all infidels convert to Islam. So the family had to emigrate. He ended up in Cairo, where he practiced medicine. Of course, I doubt, if he were alive today, even the greatest physician of his time would not be allowed to practice medicine there. Does this piece of history suggest, the more things change, the more they stay the same, and does it also after a sad commentary on the state of human progress?
Posted By admin On November 16, 2009 @ 1:19 pm In Science & Technology | 11 Comments
Prevent Disease
November 16, 2009
According to a recent study, as many as 77 percent of all Americans may be deficient in the vitamin essential for bone health and which may prevent H1N1 (Swine Flu) and seasonal flu, wheezing, winter-related eczema, upper respiratory infections and may help prevent cancer, autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes, certain infectious diseases, myocardial infarctions – heart attacks – and many other serious diseases.
When subgroups of the population are considered, depending on which of the many reasonable definitions of deficiency are accepted, the picture is even more ominous. For example, an important new study from Children’s Hospital in Boston found that as many as 80 percent of Hispanic children and 92 percent of black children, what the study calls non-Hispanic black children, may also be deficient in this vitamin.
We’re talking about vitamin D, also called the sunshine vitamin and often considered the nutrient of the year, if not the decade. Its power as a determinant of human health can be captured by what happens when someone is D deficient. They are at risk for what is called rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults.
In its most extreme form, the bones soften and almost melt, making them so fragile that the simple act of walking up steps may cause bones to fracture and slight movement may cause excruciating pain. In its most severe form, a blood test for vitamin D may show zero. Dr. Fred Kaplan, an eminent orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, whose patient had zero D, said this is rare even in Third World countries.
Why, in the land of plenty and, now, also in the land of over-consumption, overweight and obesity, can there be an epidemic of a vitamin D deficiency or any other nutrient? The reasons may not be fully understood, but the picture is still clear: Over time, we have obtained most of our vitamin D from the sun. When ultraviolet B rays hit the skin they cause the formation of vitamin D. But, in an age of sunscreens and well-placed fear of skin cancer, we tend to either stay out of the sun or use a sunscreen to shield us from its rays, including the ultraviolet B ray.
Even if you stayed in the sun all day in some locations, you would not get enough vitamin D. For example, north of Philadelphia, between November and March, the suns rays are not strong enough to precipitate the formation of vitamin D. And, during early morning and late afternoon, the sun’s rays are not strong enough to generate vitamin D. That’s a big part of the picture, as authorities find that exposure to the sun is the main determinant of vitamin D in humans. This leads us to the next source of vitamin D — our food. Some dairy products, such as milk, are fortified with vitamin D, but we tend to avoid dairy products due to their cholesterol and saturated fat content. Other sources are fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, and herring. Still other sources are fortified cereal and other foods such as orange juice, now, often fortified both with vitamin D and calcium. But, most people don’t eat enough of these foods to get enough vitamin D. So, that leaves supplementation with multi-vitamins that include D, combination calcium and vitamin D pills, or vitamin D stand-alones.
There may be another reason for the epidemic – the epidemic of the overweight and obese, who cannot process vitamin D efficiently and are, consequently, more likely to be vitamin D deficient. One final reason for identifying the epidemic is better testing methods for vitamin D. There is a simple blood test now used to determine vitamin D status.
Still another reason for the D epidemic is the aging of the population, as older people — even the middle-aged — are more likely to have D deficiency.
There are other risk factors for a D deficiency, but they probably don’t play a big role in the growing number of people with that deficiency. Consumer Reports catalogued the following risk factors: “Being dark-skinned, middle-aged, or overweight; having a history of gastric-bypass surgery or a condition that interferes with the ability to absorb nutrients from food, such as celiac disease; having a history of kidney or liver disease, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, or thyroid problems; taking medications that reduce blood levels of vitamin D, such as cholestyralmine (Questran and generic), colestripel (Colestid and generic), certain anticonvulsants; or orlistat (Alli, Xenical)” (Consumer Reports on Health, Nov. 2009).
This epidemic of vitamin D deficiency recently came into focus with the publication of an important study led by Dr. Jonathan Mansbach at Children’s Hospital In Boston. The study appears in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics. The study looked at vitamin D levels of 5,000 children and, extrapolating to the entire U.S. population of children, found that millions were receiving what the study called suboptimal levels of D. As noted above, depending on the definition of deficiency or suboptimal levels, the study found 80 percent of Hispanics and 92 percent of black children were at the suboptimal levels. Others have previously documented widespread vitamin D deficiency in children. For example, Dr. Babette Zemel, a vitamin D expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), who is Director of the Nutrition and Growth Laboratory of that hospital and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Penn’s medical school, found that 55 percent of children she studied were vitamin D deficient, in a study published in 2007.
The Mansbach study notes that we’re far from knowing everything we should about how to bring children and adults up to optimal levels, how to avoid any long-run adverse consequences and exactly what level of vitamin D is optimal.
* A d v e r t i s e m e n t
*
It does recommend, in view of its findings, that children take vitamin D supplements because of the clear health benefits from doing so. The study doesn’t make specific recommendations, but the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children with inadequate sun exposure get a daily intake of at least 400 International Units of vitamin D — vitamin D3 is now recommended as it is better absorbed than D2. The adult recommendations, according to a report in The American Family Physician, as cataloged by www.medscape.com, are as follows:
• In older adults, vitamin D supplementation of 700 to 800 IU per day is associated with a lower risk for falls … and fractures.
• To prevent vitamin D deficiency, adults with inadequate sun exposure should have a vitamin D intake of 400 to 600 IU per day.
• Adults with vitamin D deficiency, except for those with malabsorption syndromes, should receive maintenance dosages of 800 to 1,000 IU of vitamin D per day.
Dr. Zemel recommends that most adults take vitamin D supplementation of between 1,000 and 2,000 IU of vitamin D, which seems to make the most sense in view of the evidence that I’ve reviewed. Of course, you may want to run this issue past your doctor at your next visit. She said there is some variability in the response to vitamin D so, some may reach optimal levels with 1,000 IU, while others may require more. In severe deficiency cases, more aggressive supplementation may be called for, such as 500,000 IU by injection.
The Medscape report also notes that excessive amounts of vitamin D can be toxic. It states, “Because vitamin D is fat soluble and can be stored in fat, there are concerns regarding toxicity from excessive supplementation. Signs and symptoms of vitamin D toxicity may include headache, metallic taste, nephrocalcinosis or vascular calcinosis, pancreatitis, nausea, and vomiting.” There is a study indicating toxicity is reached at 10,000 I.U. daily. Dr. Zemel told me vitamin D toxicity is extraordinarily rare.
You can be sure there will be continuing and extensive studies of vitamin D to answer many questions. Dr. Mansbach says, “We need to perform randomized controlled trials to understand if vitamin D actually improves these wide-ranging health outcomes. At present, however, there are a lot of studies demonstrating associations between low levels of vitamin D and poor health. Therefore, we believe many U.S. children would likely benefit from more vitamin D.”
Although evidence is not clear on how to prevent H1N1 flu, the suggestions for prevention include taking vitamin D supplements, especially in the winter. In a report in the Examiner.com, five simple steps are recommended to prevent H1N1:
• Get enough vitamin D.
• Use proper hygiene — for example, frequent hand washing, cough into your elbow instead of your hands and avoid contact with public surfaces with your hands whenever possible.
• Adequately rinse the nose and throat.
• Get enough sleep.
• Consume plenty of garlic and other antiviral herbs.
Dr. Zemel believes it is too early to make hard and fast conclusions on the vitamin D/H1N1 connection. Dr. Charlene Compher, an expert on diet and health at Penn, agrees it is too early to draw conclusions on H1N1. But, Dr. Zemel and others note that vitamin D does strengthen the immune response and, therefore, may be useful in preventing H1N1.
Dr. James E. Dowd, a professor of medicine at Michigan State University and Diane Stafford stated, in their book The Vitamin D Cure, about the flu/vitamin D connection, “More respiratory infections during the winter are probably directly related to lower vitamin D production.” They note several factors contribute to the winter infection scenario. In the winter, there aren’t as much ultraviolet B rays, which inactivate many viruses. With less ultraviolet B getting through, humans produce less vitamin D of their own. Finally, vitamin D is important to mobilize the immune system response to infections. As a result of all this, respiratory infections start to rise in late September and peak in February. So, Dr. Dowd’s final advice is to forget the chicken soup with too many noodles, too much salt, and too little chicken and take vitamin D instead. My final advice is to get chicken soup that doesn’t have too much salt, too many noodles, and too little chicken and get someone who can make unsalted chicken soup, with the noodles and chicken you want and, then, take your vitamin D.
Dr. Bruce Kinosian, a geriatrician at Penn and an expert on diet and health, did sound a cautionary note, that vitamins thought to be a magical cure-all often turn out to have quite the opposite effect. He cites a long list of such vitamins of the year, which later fizzled. The most prominent case involved vitamin E, which, in excessive doses, was found to cause lung cancer in a segment of the population.
Perhaps the most fundamental preventive approach was recently recommended by Dr. Sidney Wolfe of the Health Research Group. He said take the most powerful and effective drug — a healthy lifestyle. This is the same prescription written over 800 years ago by the eminent Jewish physician and philosopher Maimonides, who said most of us die as a result of our lifestyle. Sometimes ancient wisdom is more powerful than modern technology.
I can’t resist one more observation on Maimonides. He was born In Cordoba, Spain in 1135. But Cordoba was soon taken over by a Muslim sect that demanded all infidels convert to Islam. So the family had to emigrate. He ended up in Cairo, where he practiced medicine. Of course, I doubt, if he were alive today, even the greatest physician of his time would not be allowed to practice medicine there. Does this piece of history suggest, the more things change, the more they stay the same, and does it also after a sad commentary on the state of human progress?
Article
CDC volunteer arrested at Albuquerque airport
Transportation Security Administration
Updates
Mon, Nov 16, 2009, 11:20PST -- The lawyer we got hold of didn't get to his arraignment in time. It appears Phil was arraigned and put back in the Metropolitan Detention Center, with no modifications to his bond. We've contacted a bonding company and are working to get them 10% bond payment information and license copies via frustrating fax technology. The bond will cost $275, and of that, $228 is non-refundable.
We've continued talking with a few civil rights attorneys in Albuquerque, in hopes of finding someone willing to 1) deal with the litany of criminal charges they threw at Phil for his amateur photography, and 2) seek redress after that. Currently, Phil is still incarcerated.
Mon, Nov 16, 2009, 8:30PST -- Phil is charged with four counts -- disorderly conduct, concealing his identity, refusing to obey an officer, and criminal trespass. He is being arraigned this morning.
It is unclear whether police were called because of Phil's refusal to show ID to TSA, or because Phil took photos at the TSA checkpoint. It appears to be the latter -- the photo taking. Interestingly, Phil contacted the Albuquerque airport (scroll down a bit and look for the pmocek posts) many months ago about this very same issue, and was told by airport officials that it is legal to take photographs at the TSA checkpoint.
After much scrambling, we found an attorney who (hopefully) is representing Phil at his arraignment. His bond was initially set at $2,275. The bonding window doesn't take phone payments, so we need someone local to bail him out (either the lawyer, or a bail bondsman). We've set up a paypal account for Phil's Legal Defense Fund.
Activist arrested at Albuquerque airport
Sun, Nov 15, 2009 -- A Washington State medical marijuana activist was arrested at the Albuquerque airport today after refusing to show ID to TSA screeners. Activist Phil Mocek is one of many Americans who believe Americans have a right to travel freely between the states without showing their papers to the federal government.
Mocek was tabling at the 2009 International Drug Policy Reform Conference for a Seattle-based activist group called the Cannabis Defense Coalition. The event was attended by over one thousand people, including New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, and former Governor Gary Johnson.
At the Albuquerque airport for his flight back to Seattle, Mocek politely refused to show his ID to a TSA screener, who called in a supervisor. Mocek started recording with his digital camera, which caused the TSA supervisor to become extremely agitated. The police were called in, with six officers arriving on the scene. Mocek was immediately arrested. Another Seattle activist, Jesse Gallagos, was traveling with Mocek, and was driven in a police cruiser to the edge of the Albuquerque airport, dropped off, and told he was banned from flying for 24 hours.
Like many Americans, Mocek has flown for years without showing ID to federal officials. He made headlines last year for questioning security measures at Kansas City Airport in regards to their ID requirements.
At this point, it remains unclear what Mocek was arrested for. Unofficial police statements say is being booked for "disturbing the peace" by taking photographs at a TSA checkpoint. As of 5 p.m. Sunday, Mocek has been in police custody for four hours, and is still being "processed" by airport police.
The Cannabis Defense Coalition is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group focused on medical marijuana activism in Washington State. If you know anyone local to Albuquerque that can help, please contact Ben Livingston at 206-335-9214
* Press release
* Flyer Arrested in NM After Declining to Show ID - Philosecurity - November 15, 2009
Phil's Defense Fund
We've set up a Paypal account to raise funds to get Phil out of jail, and help defend him against these charges. Please consider contributing to Phil's legal defense.
Transportation Security Administration
Updates
Mon, Nov 16, 2009, 11:20PST -- The lawyer we got hold of didn't get to his arraignment in time. It appears Phil was arraigned and put back in the Metropolitan Detention Center, with no modifications to his bond. We've contacted a bonding company and are working to get them 10% bond payment information and license copies via frustrating fax technology. The bond will cost $275, and of that, $228 is non-refundable.
We've continued talking with a few civil rights attorneys in Albuquerque, in hopes of finding someone willing to 1) deal with the litany of criminal charges they threw at Phil for his amateur photography, and 2) seek redress after that. Currently, Phil is still incarcerated.
Mon, Nov 16, 2009, 8:30PST -- Phil is charged with four counts -- disorderly conduct, concealing his identity, refusing to obey an officer, and criminal trespass. He is being arraigned this morning.
It is unclear whether police were called because of Phil's refusal to show ID to TSA, or because Phil took photos at the TSA checkpoint. It appears to be the latter -- the photo taking. Interestingly, Phil contacted the Albuquerque airport (scroll down a bit and look for the pmocek posts) many months ago about this very same issue, and was told by airport officials that it is legal to take photographs at the TSA checkpoint.
After much scrambling, we found an attorney who (hopefully) is representing Phil at his arraignment. His bond was initially set at $2,275. The bonding window doesn't take phone payments, so we need someone local to bail him out (either the lawyer, or a bail bondsman). We've set up a paypal account for Phil's Legal Defense Fund.
Activist arrested at Albuquerque airport
Sun, Nov 15, 2009 -- A Washington State medical marijuana activist was arrested at the Albuquerque airport today after refusing to show ID to TSA screeners. Activist Phil Mocek is one of many Americans who believe Americans have a right to travel freely between the states without showing their papers to the federal government.
Mocek was tabling at the 2009 International Drug Policy Reform Conference for a Seattle-based activist group called the Cannabis Defense Coalition. The event was attended by over one thousand people, including New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, and former Governor Gary Johnson.
At the Albuquerque airport for his flight back to Seattle, Mocek politely refused to show his ID to a TSA screener, who called in a supervisor. Mocek started recording with his digital camera, which caused the TSA supervisor to become extremely agitated. The police were called in, with six officers arriving on the scene. Mocek was immediately arrested. Another Seattle activist, Jesse Gallagos, was traveling with Mocek, and was driven in a police cruiser to the edge of the Albuquerque airport, dropped off, and told he was banned from flying for 24 hours.
Like many Americans, Mocek has flown for years without showing ID to federal officials. He made headlines last year for questioning security measures at Kansas City Airport in regards to their ID requirements.
At this point, it remains unclear what Mocek was arrested for. Unofficial police statements say is being booked for "disturbing the peace" by taking photographs at a TSA checkpoint. As of 5 p.m. Sunday, Mocek has been in police custody for four hours, and is still being "processed" by airport police.
The Cannabis Defense Coalition is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group focused on medical marijuana activism in Washington State. If you know anyone local to Albuquerque that can help, please contact Ben Livingston at 206-335-9214
* Press release
* Flyer Arrested in NM After Declining to Show ID - Philosecurity - November 15, 2009
Phil's Defense Fund
We've set up a Paypal account to raise funds to get Phil out of jail, and help defend him against these charges. Please consider contributing to Phil's legal defense.
Article
A Tale of Two Stories: The European BioWar outbreak and the censoring of it by the mainstream news media
Posted By admin On November 16, 2009 @ 1:05 pm In Flu Pandemic | 23 Comments
Dr. Rebecca Carley
Infowars
November 16, 2009
The biggest story on the Planet today is the outbreak of a very serious Advanced Biological War virus in Europe. The second biggest story on the Planet is the suppression of this story for almost two weeks by the corporate owned mainstream news media.
There is a lot we know and a lot that we can only speculate on about what is unfolding in Central Europe. We know that in mid-October, less than a month ago, there was a growing number of cases of what many thought was Swine Flu (A/H1N1) in the western part of the Ukraine. We know that many hundreds if not thousands of people in western Ukraine witnessed low flying light airplanes aerosol spraying something over Ukrainian cities during the days of October 29, 2009 and October 31, 2009. We know that beginning the night of October 29th, massive numbers of people begin to get very sick. We know that the Ukraine government issued a statement denying that it was doing any aerial spraying to combat the growing disease or authorizing any spraying over Ukrainian cities. We know that by October 30th, the Ukrainian authorities closed all schools for three weeks and banded public gatherings.
We do NOT know what disease the people were/are coming down with. We do know that doctors are describing the disease as Pneumonic Plague, or as some type of hemorrhagic fever, or as hemorrhagic influenza, or as hemorrhagic pneumonia. We know that the illness, whatever it is, does not appear to be A/H1N1. We do not know if the disease is a recombination of A/H1N1 with other viruses or some totally different virus or if it is in fact a virus. We know that the World Health Organization (WHO) has had several days to sequence the genes of the disease but has failed to release this data.
We know that WHO has NOT called for the quarantining of the Ukraine or the shutdown of all global travel to/from the area of infection and that this is the same thing that they did when Mexican Swine Flu (A/H1N1) first broke out and that the failure to contain that virus early on ensured its spread throughout the world.
We know that the internal temperature of the lungs of those with a terminal case of what many are calling ‘Ukrainian Plague’ is often from 130F to 135F. We do know that autopsies show that the lungs are filled with blood, and are black in color, and that the lung tissue has turned to mush. We know that patients who first show any signs of illness usually crash in less than 48 hours, sometimes the same day.
We know that the disease was spreading by about 200,000 per day but that this has slowed to about 100,000 day now, in the Ukraine, as people take extraordinary steps to contain the spread of the disease. We know that well over one and a third million people in the Ukraine are very ill with the disease (according to published official sources) and that over 60,000 are hospitalized in serious to critical condition. We know that the disease has a very high transmission rate with a likely low amount of viral (if it is in fact a virus) material needed to cause an infection. We know that the official reports of deaths are under 300 in the Ukraine. We also know that it is normal for hospital admissions of people with ARI (acute respiratory infection) to have a fatality rate of from 5% to 10%. We know that non-official sources were reporting over 3,000 deaths several days ago and that this number is more in tune with the 5-10% fatality rate than the official figures.
We do not know what effective treatments are for this illness. We do know that young adults seem to be more in danger of this illness. We suspect that ‘cytokine storming’ similar to that in the 1918 Spanish Flu, that killed approximately 50 million people, is taking place.
We know from official Ukrainian Health Ministry reports that the illness does not test out as Mexican Swine Flu (A/H1N1). We do not know if the existing Swine Flu vaccine has any effect, but based on the non-positive response to Swine Flu in testing, we suspect that the vaccine is ineffective as the viral protean shell is different than A/H1N1 (if in fact it is a virus that causes the illness).
We know that the illness has spread to Poland, where over one quarter of a million people are now very ill. We know that it has spread to Belarus and to Hungary and elsewhere in central Europe. We know that 900,000 people are said to have Swine Flu in Norway but we do not know if this is related to Ukraine Plague in any way.
We know that on November 8th a South African site (fto.co.za) carried the following:
“Suspicious aircraft were forced to land. A US operated (Russian-made long-range heavy transport) AN-124 changed its call sign from civilian to military which then triggered a response from the IAF (Indian Air Force) upon entering Pakistani air space (forcing) the plane to land in Mumbai while (a) second one was forced down by Nigerian fighter jets that also arrested the crew.”
“According to reports, China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force contacted the Indian and Nigerian intelligence officials about the presence of these US operated Ukrainian aircraft amidst growing concern that the United States was spreading ‘biological agents’ in the Earth’s atmosphere, which some Chinese officials believed to be an attempt to (commit) mass genocide via the spread of H1N1 swine flu.”
These aircraft “were carrying ‘waste disposal’ systems that could spray up to 45,000kg (nearly 100,000 pounds) of aerial type mist from sophisticated….nano pipes” in the planes’ wings – called chemtrails.
We know that Baxter International Pharmaceuticals sent 72 kilos of human influenza H3N2 vaccine materials to 16 labs in European nations which contained live H5N1 Bird Flu viruses. We know that this was only discovered when a Czech lab tested the material on several ferrets (ferrets have a similar respiratory system to humans) and all of the ferrets died in short order. We know that Baxter claimed that this was human error. We also know that such a ‘human error’ is basically impossible with the containment protocols in place at Baxter and any other modern biolabs using Biosafety Level 3 (BLS-3) lab technology.
We know that in mid-August a Joseph Moshe, who is a Mossad biological warfare expert, called in to Dr. A. True Ott’s national radio talk show and reported that Baxter was getting ready to release a deadly plague from its Ukrainian lab and that he was shortly meeting with US Attorneys in Los Angles to give evidence about this. We know that shortly thereafter Moshe was apprehended by Federal agents and LA police and taken to the Israeli Consulate. We know that he was quickly flown to Israel and that no further word has come from him.
We know that over the last three or so years a large number of biological experts, from a number of places all over the world, have died strange deaths and that this has been commented on by various publications in the past.
* A d v e r t i s e m e n t
*
We know that the sudden appearance of Mexican Swine Flu (A/H1N1) virtually had to have been a release from a biological warfare lab. We know that A/H1N1 has gene sequences from three different types (American, Asian, and African) of Swine Flu, of Bird Flu, of two different types of human seasonal flu, and of Spanish Flu and that such a recombination is so unlikely in nature as to be virtually impossible. We know that the WHO policies of not requiring a major quarantine of Mexico ensured that A/H1N1 would spread throughout the world.
We know that the current Swine Flu “Vaccine” is almost totally untested, and that the manufactures are protected from lawsuits for even deliberate acts that result in deaths and that nations acquiring the vaccines are required to sign contracts agreeing not to release negative information on the “vaccine” to the public. We know that published additives to the “vaccine” include highly dangerous-to-human-health substances.
We know that the corporate owned mainstream news media (with strong links to global banking families) have censored this story in a way that has never happen before. We know that the outbreak of a unknown but deadly and very rapidly spreading disease in Europe is the largest story on Earth but that it is NOT being reported on.
http://europebusines.blogspot.com/
Also found at http://mignews.com.ua/en/articles/378759.html is the following:
// 13.11.2009 // 14:24 //
Doctors learned why Ukrainians dying! (updated at 06:25 pm)
MIGnews.com.ua
All victims of the virus in Bukovyna (22 people at the age of 20-40) died not from bilateral pneumonia, as was previously thought, but as a result of viral distress syndrome, i.e the total destruction of the lungs.
At first the cardio-pulmonary insufficiency comes, and consequently cardiogenic shock is developed, which causes cardiac standstill and death, told the chief of bureau of the Chernivtsi regional forensic examination, doctor of science, Professor Viktor Bachynsky, UNIAN reports.
“During a bilateral pneumonia some morphological picture is observed. As of data of deaths, there is no such morphological picture. The virus, which causes death, is very aggressive, it does not strike the trachea, but immediately gets into the lungs and causes heavy swelling and solid hemorrhage. Mixed types of parainfluenza and influenza A/N1N1 lead to this state. This is a very toxic strain, which has not yet an
Posted By admin On November 16, 2009 @ 1:05 pm In Flu Pandemic | 23 Comments
Dr. Rebecca Carley
Infowars
November 16, 2009
The biggest story on the Planet today is the outbreak of a very serious Advanced Biological War virus in Europe. The second biggest story on the Planet is the suppression of this story for almost two weeks by the corporate owned mainstream news media.
There is a lot we know and a lot that we can only speculate on about what is unfolding in Central Europe. We know that in mid-October, less than a month ago, there was a growing number of cases of what many thought was Swine Flu (A/H1N1) in the western part of the Ukraine. We know that many hundreds if not thousands of people in western Ukraine witnessed low flying light airplanes aerosol spraying something over Ukrainian cities during the days of October 29, 2009 and October 31, 2009. We know that beginning the night of October 29th, massive numbers of people begin to get very sick. We know that the Ukraine government issued a statement denying that it was doing any aerial spraying to combat the growing disease or authorizing any spraying over Ukrainian cities. We know that by October 30th, the Ukrainian authorities closed all schools for three weeks and banded public gatherings.
We do NOT know what disease the people were/are coming down with. We do know that doctors are describing the disease as Pneumonic Plague, or as some type of hemorrhagic fever, or as hemorrhagic influenza, or as hemorrhagic pneumonia. We know that the illness, whatever it is, does not appear to be A/H1N1. We do not know if the disease is a recombination of A/H1N1 with other viruses or some totally different virus or if it is in fact a virus. We know that the World Health Organization (WHO) has had several days to sequence the genes of the disease but has failed to release this data.
We know that WHO has NOT called for the quarantining of the Ukraine or the shutdown of all global travel to/from the area of infection and that this is the same thing that they did when Mexican Swine Flu (A/H1N1) first broke out and that the failure to contain that virus early on ensured its spread throughout the world.
We know that the internal temperature of the lungs of those with a terminal case of what many are calling ‘Ukrainian Plague’ is often from 130F to 135F. We do know that autopsies show that the lungs are filled with blood, and are black in color, and that the lung tissue has turned to mush. We know that patients who first show any signs of illness usually crash in less than 48 hours, sometimes the same day.
We know that the disease was spreading by about 200,000 per day but that this has slowed to about 100,000 day now, in the Ukraine, as people take extraordinary steps to contain the spread of the disease. We know that well over one and a third million people in the Ukraine are very ill with the disease (according to published official sources) and that over 60,000 are hospitalized in serious to critical condition. We know that the disease has a very high transmission rate with a likely low amount of viral (if it is in fact a virus) material needed to cause an infection. We know that the official reports of deaths are under 300 in the Ukraine. We also know that it is normal for hospital admissions of people with ARI (acute respiratory infection) to have a fatality rate of from 5% to 10%. We know that non-official sources were reporting over 3,000 deaths several days ago and that this number is more in tune with the 5-10% fatality rate than the official figures.
We do not know what effective treatments are for this illness. We do know that young adults seem to be more in danger of this illness. We suspect that ‘cytokine storming’ similar to that in the 1918 Spanish Flu, that killed approximately 50 million people, is taking place.
We know from official Ukrainian Health Ministry reports that the illness does not test out as Mexican Swine Flu (A/H1N1). We do not know if the existing Swine Flu vaccine has any effect, but based on the non-positive response to Swine Flu in testing, we suspect that the vaccine is ineffective as the viral protean shell is different than A/H1N1 (if in fact it is a virus that causes the illness).
We know that the illness has spread to Poland, where over one quarter of a million people are now very ill. We know that it has spread to Belarus and to Hungary and elsewhere in central Europe. We know that 900,000 people are said to have Swine Flu in Norway but we do not know if this is related to Ukraine Plague in any way.
We know that on November 8th a South African site (fto.co.za) carried the following:
“Suspicious aircraft were forced to land. A US operated (Russian-made long-range heavy transport) AN-124 changed its call sign from civilian to military which then triggered a response from the IAF (Indian Air Force) upon entering Pakistani air space (forcing) the plane to land in Mumbai while (a) second one was forced down by Nigerian fighter jets that also arrested the crew.”
“According to reports, China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force contacted the Indian and Nigerian intelligence officials about the presence of these US operated Ukrainian aircraft amidst growing concern that the United States was spreading ‘biological agents’ in the Earth’s atmosphere, which some Chinese officials believed to be an attempt to (commit) mass genocide via the spread of H1N1 swine flu.”
These aircraft “were carrying ‘waste disposal’ systems that could spray up to 45,000kg (nearly 100,000 pounds) of aerial type mist from sophisticated….nano pipes” in the planes’ wings – called chemtrails.
We know that Baxter International Pharmaceuticals sent 72 kilos of human influenza H3N2 vaccine materials to 16 labs in European nations which contained live H5N1 Bird Flu viruses. We know that this was only discovered when a Czech lab tested the material on several ferrets (ferrets have a similar respiratory system to humans) and all of the ferrets died in short order. We know that Baxter claimed that this was human error. We also know that such a ‘human error’ is basically impossible with the containment protocols in place at Baxter and any other modern biolabs using Biosafety Level 3 (BLS-3) lab technology.
We know that in mid-August a Joseph Moshe, who is a Mossad biological warfare expert, called in to Dr. A. True Ott’s national radio talk show and reported that Baxter was getting ready to release a deadly plague from its Ukrainian lab and that he was shortly meeting with US Attorneys in Los Angles to give evidence about this. We know that shortly thereafter Moshe was apprehended by Federal agents and LA police and taken to the Israeli Consulate. We know that he was quickly flown to Israel and that no further word has come from him.
We know that over the last three or so years a large number of biological experts, from a number of places all over the world, have died strange deaths and that this has been commented on by various publications in the past.
* A d v e r t i s e m e n t
*
We know that the sudden appearance of Mexican Swine Flu (A/H1N1) virtually had to have been a release from a biological warfare lab. We know that A/H1N1 has gene sequences from three different types (American, Asian, and African) of Swine Flu, of Bird Flu, of two different types of human seasonal flu, and of Spanish Flu and that such a recombination is so unlikely in nature as to be virtually impossible. We know that the WHO policies of not requiring a major quarantine of Mexico ensured that A/H1N1 would spread throughout the world.
We know that the current Swine Flu “Vaccine” is almost totally untested, and that the manufactures are protected from lawsuits for even deliberate acts that result in deaths and that nations acquiring the vaccines are required to sign contracts agreeing not to release negative information on the “vaccine” to the public. We know that published additives to the “vaccine” include highly dangerous-to-human-health substances.
We know that the corporate owned mainstream news media (with strong links to global banking families) have censored this story in a way that has never happen before. We know that the outbreak of a unknown but deadly and very rapidly spreading disease in Europe is the largest story on Earth but that it is NOT being reported on.
http://europebusines.blogspot.com/
Also found at http://mignews.com.ua/en/articles/378759.html is the following:
// 13.11.2009 // 14:24 //
Doctors learned why Ukrainians dying! (updated at 06:25 pm)
MIGnews.com.ua
All victims of the virus in Bukovyna (22 people at the age of 20-40) died not from bilateral pneumonia, as was previously thought, but as a result of viral distress syndrome, i.e the total destruction of the lungs.
At first the cardio-pulmonary insufficiency comes, and consequently cardiogenic shock is developed, which causes cardiac standstill and death, told the chief of bureau of the Chernivtsi regional forensic examination, doctor of science, Professor Viktor Bachynsky, UNIAN reports.
“During a bilateral pneumonia some morphological picture is observed. As of data of deaths, there is no such morphological picture. The virus, which causes death, is very aggressive, it does not strike the trachea, but immediately gets into the lungs and causes heavy swelling and solid hemorrhage. Mixed types of parainfluenza and influenza A/N1N1 lead to this state. This is a very toxic strain, which has not yet an
Articles
New Derivatives Legislation “Was Probably Written by JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs”
Posted By admin On November 16, 2009 @ 1:42 pm In Economic Crisis | 10 Comments
Washington’s Blog
November 16, 2009
* A d v e r t i s e m e n t
*
As I have repeatedly written (see this and this), the new derivatives legislation is so bad that it probably increases – rather than decreases – the risk to the financial system.
William Greider has a great piece in The Nation pointing out:
Who drafted this dubious piece of legislation? Bankers (or their lawyers) did. The leading sellers of derivatives are an exclusive club of five very large financial institutions–Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs–that hold 95 percent of the derivatives exposure among the largest banks (the total contract value exceeds $290 trillion). These are the same folks who toppled the global economy and compelled government to intervene with gigantic bailouts.
Michael Greenberger, a University of Maryland law professor and veteran federal regulator, studied the House committee’s 187-page bill and detected the fine needlework of Wall Street lawyers. “It had to be written by someone inside the banks,” Greenberger said, “because buried every few pages is a tricky and devilish ‘exception.’ It would greatly surprise me if these poison pills originated from anyone on Capitol Hill or the Treasury.”
A well-informed Congressional source confirmed that the original language in the draft legislation was written by financial-industry experts. It “was probably written by JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs,” he told me, “and possibly the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.” The Chicago exchange trades commodity futures–hog bellies, beef, grains–and more exotic derivatives. It is a rival to Wall Street but very close to agribusiness interests like Cargill, the giant grain trader, that make heavy use of derivatives.
Washington insiders may not be shocked to learn that private-interest groups provided the draft bill. This is what lobbyists often do for the legislative process, especially on complex subjects like taxation and regulatory law. But the legislation was delivered to the House Financial Services Committee by Blue Dog Democrats, not lobbyists. There are fifteen Blue Dogs and like-minded members on the committee. Together they make up more than one-third of the committee’s Democratic majority (forty-two Democrats, twenty-nine Republicans).
“The conduit for the draft text was Blue Dogs and conservative Democrats,” my source explained…
The Blue Dogs claimed they were speaking for business, not bankers, but this too involved a little sleight of hand by industry lobbyists. Last summer, an official of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association told colleagues at a private industry meeting that since the bankers have damaged credibility in Washington, they should send their customers to push the bankers’ position on Capitol Hill. Sure enough, representatives from various industrial and agricultural sectors showed up to testify as expert witnesses and demand exemption from regulation as the “end users” of derivatives. Bankers told their clients that regulation would raise their costs. Never mind the costs to the country if derivatives blow up again…
The House Financial Services Committee is a prized assignment and known informally among members as a “money committee,” not because it deals with money issues but because its members have an easier time raising campaign funds from the banks and financial firms under their jurisdiction…
Money also explains why the committee is top-heavy with Blue Dogs. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi put them there, along with other freshmen and sophomores, knowing it can help them win re-election. She was encouraged by Representative Rahm Emanuel…
As recent election returns suggest, if the president continues to soft-sell reform, he is at risk of being identified with the old order in Wall Street. The longer Congress tries to placate the bankers with meek reforms, the sooner Democrats will discover this is really dumb politics.
For background, see this and this.
Posted By admin On November 16, 2009 @ 1:42 pm In Economic Crisis | 10 Comments
Washington’s Blog
November 16, 2009
* A d v e r t i s e m e n t
*
As I have repeatedly written (see this and this), the new derivatives legislation is so bad that it probably increases – rather than decreases – the risk to the financial system.
William Greider has a great piece in The Nation pointing out:
Who drafted this dubious piece of legislation? Bankers (or their lawyers) did. The leading sellers of derivatives are an exclusive club of five very large financial institutions–Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs–that hold 95 percent of the derivatives exposure among the largest banks (the total contract value exceeds $290 trillion). These are the same folks who toppled the global economy and compelled government to intervene with gigantic bailouts.
Michael Greenberger, a University of Maryland law professor and veteran federal regulator, studied the House committee’s 187-page bill and detected the fine needlework of Wall Street lawyers. “It had to be written by someone inside the banks,” Greenberger said, “because buried every few pages is a tricky and devilish ‘exception.’ It would greatly surprise me if these poison pills originated from anyone on Capitol Hill or the Treasury.”
A well-informed Congressional source confirmed that the original language in the draft legislation was written by financial-industry experts. It “was probably written by JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs,” he told me, “and possibly the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.” The Chicago exchange trades commodity futures–hog bellies, beef, grains–and more exotic derivatives. It is a rival to Wall Street but very close to agribusiness interests like Cargill, the giant grain trader, that make heavy use of derivatives.
Washington insiders may not be shocked to learn that private-interest groups provided the draft bill. This is what lobbyists often do for the legislative process, especially on complex subjects like taxation and regulatory law. But the legislation was delivered to the House Financial Services Committee by Blue Dog Democrats, not lobbyists. There are fifteen Blue Dogs and like-minded members on the committee. Together they make up more than one-third of the committee’s Democratic majority (forty-two Democrats, twenty-nine Republicans).
“The conduit for the draft text was Blue Dogs and conservative Democrats,” my source explained…
The Blue Dogs claimed they were speaking for business, not bankers, but this too involved a little sleight of hand by industry lobbyists. Last summer, an official of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association told colleagues at a private industry meeting that since the bankers have damaged credibility in Washington, they should send their customers to push the bankers’ position on Capitol Hill. Sure enough, representatives from various industrial and agricultural sectors showed up to testify as expert witnesses and demand exemption from regulation as the “end users” of derivatives. Bankers told their clients that regulation would raise their costs. Never mind the costs to the country if derivatives blow up again…
The House Financial Services Committee is a prized assignment and known informally among members as a “money committee,” not because it deals with money issues but because its members have an easier time raising campaign funds from the banks and financial firms under their jurisdiction…
Money also explains why the committee is top-heavy with Blue Dogs. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi put them there, along with other freshmen and sophomores, knowing it can help them win re-election. She was encouraged by Representative Rahm Emanuel…
As recent election returns suggest, if the president continues to soft-sell reform, he is at risk of being identified with the old order in Wall Street. The longer Congress tries to placate the bankers with meek reforms, the sooner Democrats will discover this is really dumb politics.
For background, see this and this.
Article
The Significance Of The Bow: Obama Is A House Servant For The Global Elite
* Text size
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Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Monday, November 16, 2009
The Significance Of The Bow: Obama Is A House Servant For The Global Elite 161109top
The predictable response to criticism surrounding Obama’s botched bow to Emperor Akihito this weekend has been to claim that the outrage is a contrived creation of the political right-wing. However, the Japanese themselves are obviously just as embarrassed about the whole spectacle.
Despite the fact that Obama was widely criticized for bowing to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, an incident the White House ludicrously tried to deny even though it was plain as day on video, he again prostrated himself before royalty by awkwardly lurching forward at a near 90 degree angle to show his fealty to the Japanese Emperor and his wife at the Imperial Palace on Saturday.
Top Japanese newspapers like Kyodo have refused to print the image out of embarrassment. Video footage of the entire exchange shows Obama profusely bowing like a house servant no less than seven times in the space of under 30 seconds.
“Kyodo News is running his appropriate and reciprocated nod and shake with the Empress, certainly to show the president as dignified, and not in the form of a first year English teacher trying to impress with Karate Kid-level knowledge of Japanese customs,” writes a source quoted by ABC News’ Jake Tapper.
“Obama’s handshake/forward lurch was so jarring and inappropriate it recalls Bush’s back-rub of Merkel,” he adds.
* A d v e r t i s e m e n t
* featured stories The Significance Of The Bow: Obama Is A House Servant For The Global Elite
Tapper’s source highlights the fact that it’s not just right-wingers in America who are unhappy about Obama’s body language.
“The bow as he performed did not just display weakness in Red State terms, but evoked weakness in Japanese terms….The last thing the Japanese want or need is a weak looking American president and, again, in all ways, he unintentionally played that part.”
Why is this important? On every single occasion, Obama has gone out of his way to display inferiority and fealty to foreign royalty. Not only is this considered a violation of state department protocol, which decrees that presidents bow to no one, it also goes against the grain of historical American opposition to Kings and Emperors.
Obama is communicating a strong message when he engages in this type of behavior. He is essentially re-affirming the fact that he does not serve the American people, and is displaying his loyal obedience to the global elite. For America’s first black president to present himself as a lowly house servant would when he meets foreign dignitaries is also a damning indictment of what he truly represents – not an icon of the final confirmation of black people throwing off the chains of slavery, but merely a front man put in place to pacify the masses while all along firmly taking his orders from the generationally inbred and virulently racist global elite.
No finer example was there of this than when Obama and his wife met the Queen and her notoriously racist husband, Prince Philip, earlier this year. Obama was seen groveling and hastily following barked out orders from Philip, the same man who trained in the Hitler Youth, attended funerals with top Nazis, and sympathized with Hitler’s attitudes towards Jews in the 1930’s.
Philip also helped start the World Wildlife Fund with former Nazi SS Officer Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, who is closely affiliated with the founders of the Bilderberg international power group.
Philip has repeatedly expressed his desire to return to earth as a deadly virus in order to wipe out 80% of the population, the majority of whom would most likely be the numerous races of people he has consistently offended with racist jokes over the decades.
Obama also famously performed another bizarre bow in front of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Photographs and video clearly show the President stooping to a near 90 degree angle to express his fealty to the 84-year-old monarch, an action “befitting a king’s subjects, not his peer,” according to the Washington Times. Subsequent denials by the White House only heightened the controversy.
As we have painstakingly documented in both The Obama Deception and Fall Of The Republic, Obama, billed as the people’s President, is in fact the ultimate puppet of the global elite. He is the black face of the new world order – carefully groomed and installed as president to neutralize the left-wing activists and provide justification to demonize conservative opposition to his policies as racism. Obama’s behavior in front of foreign royalty only confirms what we already knew – that he too is a subject of the real power structure that controls the world, and he is at their service to carry the ball for their agenda until such a time when his usefulness has been outlived.
* Text size
* Larger
* Smaller
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Monday, November 16, 2009
The Significance Of The Bow: Obama Is A House Servant For The Global Elite 161109top
The predictable response to criticism surrounding Obama’s botched bow to Emperor Akihito this weekend has been to claim that the outrage is a contrived creation of the political right-wing. However, the Japanese themselves are obviously just as embarrassed about the whole spectacle.
Despite the fact that Obama was widely criticized for bowing to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, an incident the White House ludicrously tried to deny even though it was plain as day on video, he again prostrated himself before royalty by awkwardly lurching forward at a near 90 degree angle to show his fealty to the Japanese Emperor and his wife at the Imperial Palace on Saturday.
Top Japanese newspapers like Kyodo have refused to print the image out of embarrassment. Video footage of the entire exchange shows Obama profusely bowing like a house servant no less than seven times in the space of under 30 seconds.
“Kyodo News is running his appropriate and reciprocated nod and shake with the Empress, certainly to show the president as dignified, and not in the form of a first year English teacher trying to impress with Karate Kid-level knowledge of Japanese customs,” writes a source quoted by ABC News’ Jake Tapper.
“Obama’s handshake/forward lurch was so jarring and inappropriate it recalls Bush’s back-rub of Merkel,” he adds.
* A d v e r t i s e m e n t
* featured stories The Significance Of The Bow: Obama Is A House Servant For The Global Elite
Tapper’s source highlights the fact that it’s not just right-wingers in America who are unhappy about Obama’s body language.
“The bow as he performed did not just display weakness in Red State terms, but evoked weakness in Japanese terms….The last thing the Japanese want or need is a weak looking American president and, again, in all ways, he unintentionally played that part.”
Why is this important? On every single occasion, Obama has gone out of his way to display inferiority and fealty to foreign royalty. Not only is this considered a violation of state department protocol, which decrees that presidents bow to no one, it also goes against the grain of historical American opposition to Kings and Emperors.
Obama is communicating a strong message when he engages in this type of behavior. He is essentially re-affirming the fact that he does not serve the American people, and is displaying his loyal obedience to the global elite. For America’s first black president to present himself as a lowly house servant would when he meets foreign dignitaries is also a damning indictment of what he truly represents – not an icon of the final confirmation of black people throwing off the chains of slavery, but merely a front man put in place to pacify the masses while all along firmly taking his orders from the generationally inbred and virulently racist global elite.
No finer example was there of this than when Obama and his wife met the Queen and her notoriously racist husband, Prince Philip, earlier this year. Obama was seen groveling and hastily following barked out orders from Philip, the same man who trained in the Hitler Youth, attended funerals with top Nazis, and sympathized with Hitler’s attitudes towards Jews in the 1930’s.
Philip also helped start the World Wildlife Fund with former Nazi SS Officer Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, who is closely affiliated with the founders of the Bilderberg international power group.
Philip has repeatedly expressed his desire to return to earth as a deadly virus in order to wipe out 80% of the population, the majority of whom would most likely be the numerous races of people he has consistently offended with racist jokes over the decades.
Obama also famously performed another bizarre bow in front of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Photographs and video clearly show the President stooping to a near 90 degree angle to express his fealty to the 84-year-old monarch, an action “befitting a king’s subjects, not his peer,” according to the Washington Times. Subsequent denials by the White House only heightened the controversy.
As we have painstakingly documented in both The Obama Deception and Fall Of The Republic, Obama, billed as the people’s President, is in fact the ultimate puppet of the global elite. He is the black face of the new world order – carefully groomed and installed as president to neutralize the left-wing activists and provide justification to demonize conservative opposition to his policies as racism. Obama’s behavior in front of foreign royalty only confirms what we already knew – that he too is a subject of the real power structure that controls the world, and he is at their service to carry the ball for their agenda until such a time when his usefulness has been outlived.
Gold News
GOLD NEWS
IGNOMINIOUS END TO GLORY DAYS
South African gold on final deathwatch as top grade scientist finds residual gold is more than 90% less than claimed
Research shows that production rates should fall permanently below 100 tonnes a year within the coming decade
Author: Barry Sergeant
Posted: Monday , 16 Nov 2009
JOHANNESBURG -
The apparent bottom line in a paper published in the South African Journal of Science is that South Africa's gold industry is on final deathwatch, despite claims of massive existing below-ground reserves. Chris Hartnady, research and technical director of Cape Town earth sciences consultancy Umvoto Africa, has found that South Africa's Witwatersrand goldfields are around 95% exhausted, and anticipates that production rates should fall permanently below 100 tonnes a year within the coming decade.
Gold production from the Witwatersrand, the biggest known gold field in the world, peaked at around 1,000 tonnes in 1970 and has declined ever since. Hartnady says that while initially (1970-1975) the decline was "quite precipitous", it has been interrupted by only short periods of slight trend reversal (1982-1984 and 1992-1993).
Leon Esterhuizen, a London-based specialist analyst at RBC Capital Markets, has reacted to the research by saying that "South African gold is dying -- this is not new news", but adds "that it may be dying faster than we currently believe is novel". On the levels of reserves, Hartnady finds that the South African "residual gold reserve" after production through 2007 is only 2 948 tonnes, a little less than three times the 1970 production figure, and much less than 10% of the officially cited reserve.
The country's gold reserves are less than half of the current United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimate of 6 000 tonnes, and the country is not first, but fourth in world rankings, after Australia (5,000 tonnes), Peru (3,500 tonnes) and Russia (3,000 tonnes), Hartnady's research shows. The USGS currently cites South Africa's gold reserves at around 6,000 tonnes, while SA claims a 36,000 tonnes reserve base figure (or about 40% of the global total). Hartnady's findings are based on Chamber of Mines figures and mathematical modeling pioneered by the distinguished American geologist M. King Hubbert.
Esterhuizen comments that "most recent indications from Harmony (even with gold bullion at new dollar records over USD 1,100/oz) is that its old shafts - effectively the Free State gold field - are dying. DRDGold has got Blyvooruitzicht on life support and is trying to get permission to keep the plug in for a little bit longer (with everything around Blyvooruitzicht now having been shut down), while Pamodzi Gold's demise and Simmer & Jack's failure at Buffelsfontein just proves the point -- all of this, at record gold prices in rand terms".
Analysts have also expressed surprise, if not amazement, about recent comments from AngloGold Ashanti CEO Mark Cutifani to the effect that its South African operations will be restructured. How is it, analysts ask, that "the highest margin operating gold assets in South Africa are . . . being re-structured ?"
A growing number of skeptics are also asking whether Gold Fields's developing South Deep operation - which it bought in 2007 for USD 3bn - will truly ever be able to make money. It is already evident that it will probably never deliver a real return on the capital that it took to bring it to life, says Esterhuizen. He also notes particular current promises by both Gold Fields and Harmony of growth from the South African base over the next three years.
Hartnady's prognosis is pretty grim: "Given the energy and environmental problems associated with ongoing groundwater control, water-resource contamination by acid mine drainage, and the possibility of widespread mercury and other factors of pollution caused by illicit underground ore-processing by the zama-zamas (illegal miners), the glory days of South African gold mining appear to have arrived finally at an ignominious end.
"There can be no further illusions, maintained by unrealistic expectation of a future fortune, about the seriousness of the present situation. In their various possible forms, the slow-onset disasters of environmental degradation associated with the death-throes of a formerly illustrious industry now pose a serious threat, and may ultimately cost far more than the net present value of some 3,000 tonnes of gold".
Esterhuizen mentions a number of other challenges faced by South African gold diggers: royalties (a new thing), zooming electricity charges, BEE (black economic empowerment) burdens, safety shutdowns, "massive security costs", and ever-present currency exchange control. In these areas, Esterhuizen argues that "government may achieve a ‘small' miracle or, more likely, simply hasten the end".
Esterhuizen says that "a small opportunity may be the possible stronger future uranium market -- effectively reducing gold costs by obtaining revenue from by-products". This is already happening at a number of gold mines where uranium is also produced. Certain closed shafts known to hold good quantities of uranium are also being investigated for possible recommissioning.
Selected gold stocks active in Africa
Stock
From
From
Value
price
high*
low*
USD bn
South Africa & beyond
AngloGold Ashanti
USD 44.70
-4.0%
234.3%
16.185
Gold Fields
ZAR 108.67
-13.1%
90.6%
11.037
Harmony
ZAR 79.24
-40.4%
27.8%
4.560
South Africa focus
Simmer & Jack
ZAR 2.02
-43.4%
30.3%
0.333
First Uranium
CAD 2.35
-70.6%
83.6%
0.374
DRDGold
ZAR 3.54
-62.9%
23.8%
0.182
Wits Gold
ZAR 91.00
-7.1%
226.8%
0.343
Gold One
AUD 0.35
-64.3%
250.0%
0.263
Central Rand
ZAR 2.00
-75.0%
5.3%
0.067
Pan African
GBP 0.08
-10.1%
313.3%
0.182
Pamodzi Gold
Suspended
Mintails
AUD 0.05
-47.8%
123.8%
0.042
West Wits Mining
AUD 0.13
-13.8%
290.6%
0.014
Global & Africa
Barrick
USD 42.89
-2.6%
114.0%
42.159
Newmont
USD 50.99
-1.9%
140.9%
24.496
Iamgold
USD 18.42
-1.8%
584.8%
6.779
West Africa
Goldstone Resources
GBP 0.02
-49.2%
350.0%
0.003
Avnel Gold
CAD 0.15
-48.3%
650.0%
0.012
Medoro Resources
CAD 0.58
-38.3%
1833.3%
0.107
African Aura
CAD 1.14
-18.6%
1325.0%
0.058
Randgold Resources
USD 80.88
-0.9%
210.1%
7.244
Red Back
CAD 15.14
-5.8%
330.1%
3.334
Moydow Mines
CAD 0.79
-10.2%
1480.0%
0.046
African Gold Group
CAD 0.65
-4.4%
2066.7%
0.040
Semafo
CAD 4.15
-0.7%
388.2%
0.993
Golden Star
USD 3.45
-11.8%
762.5%
0.779
Resolute Mining
AUD 1.06
0.0%
190.4%
0.378
Nevsun Resources
CAD 3.20
-10.9%
661.9%
0.427
Perseus Mining
AUD 1.85
0.0%
829.6%
0.550
Etruscan Resources
CAD 0.48
-29.1%
171.4%
0.072
Cluff Gold
GBP 0.69
-14.6%
219.8%
0.135
Mineral Deposits
AUD 1.05
-2.3%
275.0%
0.556
Keegan Resources
USD 5.93
-14.4%
1436.3%
0.169
Searchgold Resources
CAD 0.04
-20.0%
300.0%
0.006
Gryphon Minerals
AUD 0.56
-5.9%
840.7%
0.091
Shield Mining
AUD 0.15
-21.1%
733.3%
0.010
Adamus Resources
AUD 0.48
-9.4%
380.0%
0.128
Orezone
CAD 0.63
-16.0%
142.3%
0.032
Axmin
CAD 0.13
-28.6%
316.7%
0.036
PMI Gold
CAD 0.12
-23.3%
1050.0%
0.013
Azumah Resources
AUD 0.28
-11.3%
587.5%
0.040
Pelangio
CAD 0.62
-4.6%
2380.0%
0.064
Ampella Mining
AUD 0.63
-8.1%
1353.5%
0.075
Castle Minerals
AUD 0.27
-1.9%
194.4%
0.016
Volta Resources
CAD 0.38
-20.0%
660.0%
0.019
North Atlantic Resources
CAD 0.06
-62.5%
200.0%
0.002
Avion Resources
CAD 0.46
-5.2%
1037.5%
0.096
Signature Metals
AUD 0.04
-29.1%
875.0%
0.028
Channel Resources
CAD 0.08
-46.4%
650.0%
0.004
Riverstone Resources
CAD 0.21
-48.1%
272.7%
0.010
Pan African
Africa West
CAD 0.05
-44.4%
100.0%
0.002
Pan African
GBP 0.08
-10.1%
313.3%
0.182
Goldplat
GBP 0.13
-5.6%
52.2%
0.024
African Queen
CAD 0.70
-5.4%
775.0%
0.026
Central African
Suspended
Caledonia
CAD 0.07
-50.0%
160.0%
0.031
Mwana Africa
GBP 0.15
-15.9%
480.0%
0.096
Midlands Minerals
CAD 0.25
-10.7%
233.3%
0.013
Africa, other
Shanta Gold
GBP 0.07
-21.9%
470.0%
0.012
Banro
CAD 2.41
-28.5%
173.9%
0.244
Kilo Goldmines
CAD 0.48
-17.2%
140.0%
0.029
Loncor Resources
CAD 1.55
0.0%
933.3%
0.045
Moto Goldmines
Just taken over
Sunridge Gold
CAD 0.66
-22.4%
1000.0%
0.039
Luiri Gold
CAD 0.25
-3.8%
900.0%
0.015
Helio Resource
CAD 0.65
-28.6%
333.3%
0.041
Tanzanian Royalty
CAD 3.63
-44.2%
27.4%
0.312
Centamin Egypt
CAD 2.34
-11.0%
387.5%
2.276
Obtala
GBP 0.20
-33.9%
77.3%
0.063
GMA Resources
GBP 0.04
-36.7%
210.0%
0.028
New Dawn
CAD 1.36
-26.5%
2620.0%
0.038
Kasbah Resources
AUD 0.06
-22.5%
120.0%
0.009
African Consolidated
GBP 0.14
-19.7%
216.7%
0.067
KIG Mining
EUR 0.20
-80.7%
1461.5%
0.015
Lake Victoria Mining
USD 0.84
-43.6%
147.1%
0.024
Red Rock
GBP 0.02
-35.4%
313.3%
0.012
Also in Africa
MDN
CAD 0.58
-31.8%
38.1%
0.052
Douglas Lake
USD 0.30
-56.5%
150.0%
0.022
Great Basin
CAD 1.62
-31.9%
70.5%
0.516
Gold Wheaton
CAD 0.31
-7.6%
90.6%
0.411
High River
CAD 0.43
-10.4%
681.8%
0.266
Crew Gold
CAD 0.20
-87.2%
14.7%
0.020
Oromin
CAD 0.87
-39.2%
126.0%
0.079
Vatukoula Gold
GBP 0.01
-16.3%
181.4%
0.087
La Mancha Resources
CAD 1.82
-10.8%
3209.1%
0.247
Avocet Mining
GBP 0.99
-3.0%
105.2%
0.319
CGA Mining
AUD 1.77
-17.7%
86.3%
0.469
Chalice Gold
AUD 0.55
0.0%
685.7%
0.071
NGEx Resources
CAD 0.75
-8.5%
341.2%
0.096
Mainly copper
First Quantum
CAD 71.93
-9.4%
464.2%
5.388
African Eagle
GBP 0.05
-63.0%
311.1%
0.023
* 12 month
Source: market & company data, compiled by Barry Sergeant
IGNOMINIOUS END TO GLORY DAYS
South African gold on final deathwatch as top grade scientist finds residual gold is more than 90% less than claimed
Research shows that production rates should fall permanently below 100 tonnes a year within the coming decade
Author: Barry Sergeant
Posted: Monday , 16 Nov 2009
JOHANNESBURG -
The apparent bottom line in a paper published in the South African Journal of Science is that South Africa's gold industry is on final deathwatch, despite claims of massive existing below-ground reserves. Chris Hartnady, research and technical director of Cape Town earth sciences consultancy Umvoto Africa, has found that South Africa's Witwatersrand goldfields are around 95% exhausted, and anticipates that production rates should fall permanently below 100 tonnes a year within the coming decade.
Gold production from the Witwatersrand, the biggest known gold field in the world, peaked at around 1,000 tonnes in 1970 and has declined ever since. Hartnady says that while initially (1970-1975) the decline was "quite precipitous", it has been interrupted by only short periods of slight trend reversal (1982-1984 and 1992-1993).
Leon Esterhuizen, a London-based specialist analyst at RBC Capital Markets, has reacted to the research by saying that "South African gold is dying -- this is not new news", but adds "that it may be dying faster than we currently believe is novel". On the levels of reserves, Hartnady finds that the South African "residual gold reserve" after production through 2007 is only 2 948 tonnes, a little less than three times the 1970 production figure, and much less than 10% of the officially cited reserve.
The country's gold reserves are less than half of the current United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimate of 6 000 tonnes, and the country is not first, but fourth in world rankings, after Australia (5,000 tonnes), Peru (3,500 tonnes) and Russia (3,000 tonnes), Hartnady's research shows. The USGS currently cites South Africa's gold reserves at around 6,000 tonnes, while SA claims a 36,000 tonnes reserve base figure (or about 40% of the global total). Hartnady's findings are based on Chamber of Mines figures and mathematical modeling pioneered by the distinguished American geologist M. King Hubbert.
Esterhuizen comments that "most recent indications from Harmony (even with gold bullion at new dollar records over USD 1,100/oz) is that its old shafts - effectively the Free State gold field - are dying. DRDGold has got Blyvooruitzicht on life support and is trying to get permission to keep the plug in for a little bit longer (with everything around Blyvooruitzicht now having been shut down), while Pamodzi Gold's demise and Simmer & Jack's failure at Buffelsfontein just proves the point -- all of this, at record gold prices in rand terms".
Analysts have also expressed surprise, if not amazement, about recent comments from AngloGold Ashanti CEO Mark Cutifani to the effect that its South African operations will be restructured. How is it, analysts ask, that "the highest margin operating gold assets in South Africa are . . . being re-structured ?"
A growing number of skeptics are also asking whether Gold Fields's developing South Deep operation - which it bought in 2007 for USD 3bn - will truly ever be able to make money. It is already evident that it will probably never deliver a real return on the capital that it took to bring it to life, says Esterhuizen. He also notes particular current promises by both Gold Fields and Harmony of growth from the South African base over the next three years.
Hartnady's prognosis is pretty grim: "Given the energy and environmental problems associated with ongoing groundwater control, water-resource contamination by acid mine drainage, and the possibility of widespread mercury and other factors of pollution caused by illicit underground ore-processing by the zama-zamas (illegal miners), the glory days of South African gold mining appear to have arrived finally at an ignominious end.
"There can be no further illusions, maintained by unrealistic expectation of a future fortune, about the seriousness of the present situation. In their various possible forms, the slow-onset disasters of environmental degradation associated with the death-throes of a formerly illustrious industry now pose a serious threat, and may ultimately cost far more than the net present value of some 3,000 tonnes of gold".
Esterhuizen mentions a number of other challenges faced by South African gold diggers: royalties (a new thing), zooming electricity charges, BEE (black economic empowerment) burdens, safety shutdowns, "massive security costs", and ever-present currency exchange control. In these areas, Esterhuizen argues that "government may achieve a ‘small' miracle or, more likely, simply hasten the end".
Esterhuizen says that "a small opportunity may be the possible stronger future uranium market -- effectively reducing gold costs by obtaining revenue from by-products". This is already happening at a number of gold mines where uranium is also produced. Certain closed shafts known to hold good quantities of uranium are also being investigated for possible recommissioning.
Selected gold stocks active in Africa
Stock
From
From
Value
price
high*
low*
USD bn
South Africa & beyond
AngloGold Ashanti
USD 44.70
-4.0%
234.3%
16.185
Gold Fields
ZAR 108.67
-13.1%
90.6%
11.037
Harmony
ZAR 79.24
-40.4%
27.8%
4.560
South Africa focus
Simmer & Jack
ZAR 2.02
-43.4%
30.3%
0.333
First Uranium
CAD 2.35
-70.6%
83.6%
0.374
DRDGold
ZAR 3.54
-62.9%
23.8%
0.182
Wits Gold
ZAR 91.00
-7.1%
226.8%
0.343
Gold One
AUD 0.35
-64.3%
250.0%
0.263
Central Rand
ZAR 2.00
-75.0%
5.3%
0.067
Pan African
GBP 0.08
-10.1%
313.3%
0.182
Pamodzi Gold
Suspended
Mintails
AUD 0.05
-47.8%
123.8%
0.042
West Wits Mining
AUD 0.13
-13.8%
290.6%
0.014
Global & Africa
Barrick
USD 42.89
-2.6%
114.0%
42.159
Newmont
USD 50.99
-1.9%
140.9%
24.496
Iamgold
USD 18.42
-1.8%
584.8%
6.779
West Africa
Goldstone Resources
GBP 0.02
-49.2%
350.0%
0.003
Avnel Gold
CAD 0.15
-48.3%
650.0%
0.012
Medoro Resources
CAD 0.58
-38.3%
1833.3%
0.107
African Aura
CAD 1.14
-18.6%
1325.0%
0.058
Randgold Resources
USD 80.88
-0.9%
210.1%
7.244
Red Back
CAD 15.14
-5.8%
330.1%
3.334
Moydow Mines
CAD 0.79
-10.2%
1480.0%
0.046
African Gold Group
CAD 0.65
-4.4%
2066.7%
0.040
Semafo
CAD 4.15
-0.7%
388.2%
0.993
Golden Star
USD 3.45
-11.8%
762.5%
0.779
Resolute Mining
AUD 1.06
0.0%
190.4%
0.378
Nevsun Resources
CAD 3.20
-10.9%
661.9%
0.427
Perseus Mining
AUD 1.85
0.0%
829.6%
0.550
Etruscan Resources
CAD 0.48
-29.1%
171.4%
0.072
Cluff Gold
GBP 0.69
-14.6%
219.8%
0.135
Mineral Deposits
AUD 1.05
-2.3%
275.0%
0.556
Keegan Resources
USD 5.93
-14.4%
1436.3%
0.169
Searchgold Resources
CAD 0.04
-20.0%
300.0%
0.006
Gryphon Minerals
AUD 0.56
-5.9%
840.7%
0.091
Shield Mining
AUD 0.15
-21.1%
733.3%
0.010
Adamus Resources
AUD 0.48
-9.4%
380.0%
0.128
Orezone
CAD 0.63
-16.0%
142.3%
0.032
Axmin
CAD 0.13
-28.6%
316.7%
0.036
PMI Gold
CAD 0.12
-23.3%
1050.0%
0.013
Azumah Resources
AUD 0.28
-11.3%
587.5%
0.040
Pelangio
CAD 0.62
-4.6%
2380.0%
0.064
Ampella Mining
AUD 0.63
-8.1%
1353.5%
0.075
Castle Minerals
AUD 0.27
-1.9%
194.4%
0.016
Volta Resources
CAD 0.38
-20.0%
660.0%
0.019
North Atlantic Resources
CAD 0.06
-62.5%
200.0%
0.002
Avion Resources
CAD 0.46
-5.2%
1037.5%
0.096
Signature Metals
AUD 0.04
-29.1%
875.0%
0.028
Channel Resources
CAD 0.08
-46.4%
650.0%
0.004
Riverstone Resources
CAD 0.21
-48.1%
272.7%
0.010
Pan African
Africa West
CAD 0.05
-44.4%
100.0%
0.002
Pan African
GBP 0.08
-10.1%
313.3%
0.182
Goldplat
GBP 0.13
-5.6%
52.2%
0.024
African Queen
CAD 0.70
-5.4%
775.0%
0.026
Central African
Suspended
Caledonia
CAD 0.07
-50.0%
160.0%
0.031
Mwana Africa
GBP 0.15
-15.9%
480.0%
0.096
Midlands Minerals
CAD 0.25
-10.7%
233.3%
0.013
Africa, other
Shanta Gold
GBP 0.07
-21.9%
470.0%
0.012
Banro
CAD 2.41
-28.5%
173.9%
0.244
Kilo Goldmines
CAD 0.48
-17.2%
140.0%
0.029
Loncor Resources
CAD 1.55
0.0%
933.3%
0.045
Moto Goldmines
Just taken over
Sunridge Gold
CAD 0.66
-22.4%
1000.0%
0.039
Luiri Gold
CAD 0.25
-3.8%
900.0%
0.015
Helio Resource
CAD 0.65
-28.6%
333.3%
0.041
Tanzanian Royalty
CAD 3.63
-44.2%
27.4%
0.312
Centamin Egypt
CAD 2.34
-11.0%
387.5%
2.276
Obtala
GBP 0.20
-33.9%
77.3%
0.063
GMA Resources
GBP 0.04
-36.7%
210.0%
0.028
New Dawn
CAD 1.36
-26.5%
2620.0%
0.038
Kasbah Resources
AUD 0.06
-22.5%
120.0%
0.009
African Consolidated
GBP 0.14
-19.7%
216.7%
0.067
KIG Mining
EUR 0.20
-80.7%
1461.5%
0.015
Lake Victoria Mining
USD 0.84
-43.6%
147.1%
0.024
Red Rock
GBP 0.02
-35.4%
313.3%
0.012
Also in Africa
MDN
CAD 0.58
-31.8%
38.1%
0.052
Douglas Lake
USD 0.30
-56.5%
150.0%
0.022
Great Basin
CAD 1.62
-31.9%
70.5%
0.516
Gold Wheaton
CAD 0.31
-7.6%
90.6%
0.411
High River
CAD 0.43
-10.4%
681.8%
0.266
Crew Gold
CAD 0.20
-87.2%
14.7%
0.020
Oromin
CAD 0.87
-39.2%
126.0%
0.079
Vatukoula Gold
GBP 0.01
-16.3%
181.4%
0.087
La Mancha Resources
CAD 1.82
-10.8%
3209.1%
0.247
Avocet Mining
GBP 0.99
-3.0%
105.2%
0.319
CGA Mining
AUD 1.77
-17.7%
86.3%
0.469
Chalice Gold
AUD 0.55
0.0%
685.7%
0.071
NGEx Resources
CAD 0.75
-8.5%
341.2%
0.096
Mainly copper
First Quantum
CAD 71.93
-9.4%
464.2%
5.388
African Eagle
GBP 0.05
-63.0%
311.1%
0.023
* 12 month
Source: market & company data, compiled by Barry Sergeant
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