UN Millennium Goals Update 5-30-07: In the Struggle to Empower Women & Children -- Very Good News, Very Bad News, & A Dose of Reality

Image: UN Millennium Goals

"None of the Millennium Development Goals will be achieved without gender equality. We cannot let another minute go by without acting decisively and urgently. Unless we do, we will be condemning millions of girls to a life of poverty and hardship." Graça Machel

UN Millennium Goals Update 5-30-07: In the Struggle to Empower Women & Children -- Very Good News, Very Bad News, & A Dose of Reality

By Richard Power

In 2000, the planet was in a very different mood, and very different people were at the heads of some of the great nations. At that time, the global community articulated the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and vowed to achieve them by 2015.

Now, almost at the half-way point, there is still hope of fulfilling the promise, but it fades each day we allow small-mindedness, short-sightedness and seeming self-interest to rule our lives.

Several of the MDG focus on directly improving the lives of women and children.

Because I am a Girl: The State of the World's Girls, a report recently issued by Plan UK provides some global statistics:

* Girls aged 15-19 account for 50% of victims of sexual assault worldwide
* Birth complications and unsafe abortions are the leading cause of death for young women aged 15-19
* Seventy per cent of the 1.5billion people living on less than a dollar a day are female
* Stunted growth in estimated 450million women as a result of childhood malnutrition
* Approximately 7.3million young women are living with HIV/AIDS, in comparison to 4.3million men
* Two thirds of 15-19-year-olds newly infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are female
* Sixty two million girls are out of primary school (Plan UK, 5-16-07)

Published two months ahead of the UN's mid review of the millennium development goals, Because I am a Girl warns that six of the eight targets agreed, are currently failing girls living in poverty and the goals will be missed altogether unless world leaders adopt a tougher stance on the enforcement of international laws set up to protect girl's rights.

Plan UK has launched an eight-year drive to tackle discrimination against girls, which will include following the lives of 125 baby girls living in nine developing countries. (To download the Because I Am A Girl report, click here.)

Meanwhile, there was good news and bad news that impacts the push to achieve the UN Millennium Goals, whether the connection is acknowledged or not.

From Brazil, there is good news:

Just weeks after Pope Benedict XVI denounced government-backed contraception in a visit to Brazil, the president unveiled a program Monday to provide cheap birth control pills at 10,000 drug stores across the country.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the plan will give poor Brazilians "the same right that the wealthy have to plan the number of children they want."
Brazil already hands out free condoms and birth control pills at government-run pharmacies. But many poor people in Latin America's largest country don't go to those pharmacies, so Silva's administration decided to offer the pills at drastically reduced prices at private drug stores, said Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao.
The price for a year's supply of birth control pills under the new program would be $2.40, and anyone — rich or poor — can buy the pills by simply showing a government-issued identification card that almost all Brazilians carry. (Associated Press, 5-28-07)

But from Dafur and Iraq, there is very bad news.

In these forsaken lands, the government policies of the USA and China are actually driving women and girls away from the promise of health and human rights and into hell-realms of violence and abuse.

The seven women pooled money to rent a donkey and cart, then ventured out of the refugee camp to gather firewood, hoping to sell it for cash to feed their families. Instead, they say, in a wooded area just a few hours walk away, they were gangraped, beaten and robbed.
Naked and devastated, they fled back to Kalma. "All the time it lasted, I kept thinking: They're killing my baby, they're killing my baby," wailed Aisha, who was seven months pregnant at the time.
The women have no doubt who attacked them. They say the men's camels and their uniforms marked them as janjaweed -- the Arab militiamen accused of terrorising the black African villagers of Sudan's Darfur region.
Their story provides a glimpse into the hell that Darfur has become.
Some aid workers believe the janjaweed use rape to intimidate the rebels, and their supporters and families. "It's a strategy of war," UN coordinator Maha Muna said. (Raw Story, 5-29-07)

With no jobs and no money, many female Iraqi refugees in Syria have turned to prostitution to survive, reports the New York Times.
"Many of these women and girls, including some barely in their teens, are recent refugees," writes Katherine Zoepf. "Some are tricked or forced into prostitution, but most say they have no other means of supporting their families."
Excerpts from the article follow:
According to the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, about 1.2 million Iraqi refugees now live in Syria; the Syrian government puts the figure even higher.
Given the deteriorating economic situation of those refugees, a United Nations report found last year, many girls and women in “severe need” turn to prostitution, in secret or even with the knowledge or involvement of family members. In many cases, the report added, “the head of the family brings clients to the house.”
(RAW STORY, 5-28-07)

Recent UN MDG Related Posts

UN Millennium Goals Update 5-7-07: The Number of Sands in the Hourglass is Finite.

Hard Rain Journal 4-19-07: Sustainability Update -- Simple Truths

Hard Rain Journal 3-22-07: Sustainability Update -- World Water Day -- What Would You Do With Your Last Seven Drops of Water?

Hard Rain Journal 2-17-07: UN Millennium Goals and Human Rights Update -- Healing Balm for the World? Feed Children, Empower Women

Human Rights and UN Millennium Goals Update -- The Real Poverty is on Easy Street

Hard Rain Journal 1-13-07: UN Millennium Goals and Sustainability Update -- Does Burkina-Faso Offer a Glimpse into Our Urban Future

Hard Rain Journal 1-8-07: Human Rights and Environmental Security Update from Burma, Cambodia and Mekong River

Hard Rain Journal 12-12-06: UN Millennium Goals Update -- Nobel Prize Winner Yunus Urges World to Fight Poverty to Win Security and Peace

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and http://www.wordsofpower.net. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

UN, Brazil, Iraq, Darfur, UN Millennium Development Goals, China, Population Control, Human Rights, Education,Sexual Exploitation, Poverty, Plan UK, Graça Machel

Hard Rain Late Night: Angelique Kidjo -- Agolo (1994)

Hard Rain Late Night: Angelique Kidjo -- Agolo (1994)

"It's a song I play all the time, it's a song I love. I wrote it when I was pregnant, and I started thinking about all the garbage we consume... and I realised the way we consume affects this planet. I wrote the song Agolo which means "please". The song is about the need to give more love to the mother earth in order for her to carry us a long way, us and the next generations. Please let us be careful." (Kidjo Interviewed on BBC, 3-7-02)

Agolo" in Fon language means "move out, make room" and announces the coming of a voodoo spirit. Agolo, the song, is a celebration of Mother Earth. It is a song of hope, a call to the good powers of nature and more particularly to Aidohouédo, the great rainbow snake, the messenger of love and tenderness who coils around the four cardinal points. (Prixars, 1995)



Angelique Kidjo, Agolo, You Tube, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 5-29-07: Cindy Sheehan Says "Goodbye, America ..." Consider Why She was Shunned & Marginalized

Image: Cindy Sheehan, 12/06, Indy Media

The most devastating conclusion that I reached this morning, however, was that Casey did indeed die for nothing. His precious lifeblood drained out in a country far away from his family who loves him, killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think. I have tried every since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful. Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives. Cindy Sheehan. 5-28-07

Hard Rain Journal 5-29-07: Cindy Sheehan says "Goodbye, America ..." Consider Why She was Shunned & Marginalized

By Richard Power

Remember Cindy Sheehan? Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton are still in the news. People are searching heavily on their Technorati tags. But on this Memorial Day Weekend, there was almost no coverage of what Cindy Sheehan was up to, and she was making real news.

It was the image of Cindy Sheehan, camped out in the murderous heat outside of Bush's faux ranch in Crawford, Texas that captured the public imagination and led to Bush's slide in the opinion polls. A year later, Hurricane Katrina sent him plummeting, but it was Sheehan that got the downward momentum going. She did it with her openness, her genuineness, her authenticity, her humanness. But, of course, these same qualities made her vulnerable.

Cindy Sheehan was promoted as long as she held the mirror to George W. Bush, but when she turned it on the leadership of the Democratic Party, and on the whole of Beltwayistan, she was crossed off the list.

Cindy Sheehan was shunned by those who should have stood beside her, and marginalized by the whole insulated system of privilege that her candidness and spontaneity threatened. Cindy Sheehan was shunned and marginalized because she was unpredictable and nonnegotiable. Cindy Sheehan was shunned and marginalized because she was the bearer of ill tidings.

Oh, of course, she was accepted when she first bore ill-tidings about the Bush-Cheney regime. It made many people feel like they were somehow better than Bush or Cheney or their minions. But when she challenged the complicity and cravenness of those who would continue to do business as usual as war crimes were committed in our names, she became unwelcome.

Cindy Sheehan was willing to try to walk in the shoes of Caesar Chavez, Aung San Suu Kyi and others. But the US Senate members who Cindy lobbied weren't so willing to jeopardize their position. Those who underwrite their life-styles and subsidize their perennial campaigns would not have tolerated such "radicalism."

What has happened to Cindy Sheehan is more than just a sad footnote in a grim and despairing chapter of US history; it is a warning, and an ominous sign.

Ask yourselves, "What happens to a country that refuses to change its course after its self-destructive, self-defeating, self-abasing behavior is revealed?"

Here are some excerpts from Cindy Sheehan's goodbye note, with a link to the full text:

I have come to some heartbreaking conclusions this Memorial Day Morning. These are not spur of the moment reflections, but things I have been meditating on for about a year now. The conclusions that I have slowly and very reluctantly come to are very heartbreaking to me.
The first conclusion is that I was the darling of the so-called left as long as I limited my protests to George Bush and the Republican Party. Of course, I was slandered and libeled by the right as a "tool" of the Democratic Party. This label was to marginalize me and my message. How could a woman have an original thought, or be working outside of our "two-party" system?
However, when I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the "left" started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used. I guess no one paid attention to me when I said that the issue of peace and people dying for no reason is not a matter of "right or left", but "right and wrong." ...
I have invested everything I have into trying to bring peace with justice to a country that wants neither. If an individual wants both, then normally he/she is not willing to do more than walk in a protest march or sit behind his/her computer criticizing others. I have spent every available cent I got from the money a "grateful" country gave me when they killed my son and every penny that I have received in speaking or book fees since then. I have sacrificed a 29 year marriage and have traveled for extended periods of time away from Casey’s brother and sisters and my health has suffered and my hospital bills from last summer (when I almost died) are in collection because I have used all my energy trying to stop this country from slaughtering innocent human beings. I have been called every despicable name that small minds can think of and have had my life threatened many times.
The most devastating conclusion that I reached this morning, however, was that Casey did indeed die for nothing. His precious lifeblood drained out in a country far away from his family who loves him, killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think. I have tried every since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful. Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives. ...
I have also tried to work within a peace movement that often puts personal egos above peace and human life. This group won’t work with that group; he won’t attend an event if she is going to be there; and why does Cindy Sheehan get all the attention anyway? It is hard to work for peace when the very movement that is named after it has so many divisions. Our brave young men and women in Iraq have been abandoned there indefinitely by their cowardly leaders who move them around like pawns on a chessboard of destruction and the people of Iraq have been doomed to death and fates worse than death by people worried more about elections than people. ...
George Bush will never be impeached because if the Democrats dig too deeply, they may unearth a few skeletons in their own graves and the system will perpetuate itself in perpetuity. ...Camp Casey has served its purpose. It’s for sale. Anyone want to buy five beautiful acres in Crawford, Texas? I will consider any reasonable offer. I hear George Bush will be moving out soon, too...which makes the property even more valuable. This is my resignation letter as the "face" of the American anti-war movement. ... Good-bye America ... you are not the country that I love and I finally realized no matter how much I sacrifice, I can’t make you be that country unless you want it. It’s up to you now.
Cindy Sheehan, Daily Kos, 5-28-07

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

Cindy Sheehan, Iraq, Bush, Memorial Day, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Cheney, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 5-28-07: Memorial Day Weekend -- Cheney Dishonors the US Military at West Point, But the Nation as a Whole has Failed Them

Image: US Marines raise the flag at Iwo Jima, where my father fought.


Hard Rain Journal 5-28-07: Memorial Day Weekend -- Cheney Dishonors the US Military at West Point, But the Nation as a Whole has Failed Them

By Richard Power

Over 3400 men and women of the US military have died in Iraq, as of this date. (Iraq Coalitions Casuality Count) Furthermore, the rate at which they are dying is increasing. Almost one thousand have died since last Memorial Day, more than the year before. Over 100 died last month. Probably over one hundred more will die by the end of this month. Tens of thousands have been injured, many for life; tens of thousands more have been emotionally scarred, all of them for life. (Associated Press, 5-27-09) It is indeed a Mega-Mogadishu, and each day we slide closer to our own Dien Bein Phu.

Over six hundred thousand Iraqis have died. (BBC, 10-11-06)

Four million Iraqis have been displaced (approximately 15% of the population). (Relief Web, 5-14-07) As a global humanitarian crisis, it is second only to Darfur.

The real enemy, i.e., the one that attacked the USA on 9/11 is waxing, not waning: both Al Qaeda and the Taliban are resurgent, Bin Laden and Zawahiri remain alive and at large. The removal of Saddam Hussein has pulled the plug on their mayhem in the region. Our occupying military force has both provided a big, juicy target and a powerful catalyst for recruitment.

Meanwhile, in a Memorial Day weekend commencement address at the US Military Academy (West Point), VICE _resident Dick Cheney, a Vietnam era chickenhawk -- who should perhaps be fighting for his own freedom in both US and international courts for much of what has transpired over the last seven years -- spoke contemptuously and misleadingly about the Geneva Accords. (Raw Story, 5-26-07)

And all for what? Oil? Yes. Short-term political gain in 2002 and 2004? Yes. The neo-con wet dream of a Three Stooges Reich? Yes.

But there is something more. What is terribly wrong is not only wrong in the US mainstream news media and the political establishment of Beltwayistan -- it is wrong in our places of higher learning, our board rooms and our houses of worship.

It is not just that there is no draft to motivate the young and their parents to protest, although that is a contributing factor, it is not just that the economic conditions are so intimidating that much of the populace expends most of its energy just to keep treading water, although that too is a contributing factor.

No, it is worse -- it is a collective moral, psychological and spiritual break with reality that we are suffering in the USA.

Perhaps by next Memorial Day, this madness will have ended, or the people of the USA will find themselves we they already need to be -- in the streets, exercising their democratic right of dissent in honor of the US military and the Constitution that the men and women of the US military have sworn to serve and defend -- against all enemies foreign and domestic.

To show your support, I urge you to go to VoteVotes.org and contribute to the struggle.

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

Geneva Accords, Iraq, Bush, Memorial Day, Cheney, Richard Power, Words of Power


Hard Rain Late Night -- Jefferson Airplane -- Volunteers (1970)

Hard Rain Late Night: Jefferson Airplane -- Volunteers (1970)



Jefferson Airplane, You Tube, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 5-25-07: Martial Law, Monica Goodling & the Funding of the Bush-Cheney Slaughterhouse -- Yes, It's Going to Be a Long, Hot Summer

Image: Monica Gooding Under Seal of US House of Representatives, Brad Blog


Hard Rain Journal 5-25-07: Martial Law, Monica Goodling & the Funding of the Bush-Cheney Slaughterhouse -- Yes, It's Going to Be a Long, Hot Summer

By Richard Power

The situation is worse than most people are capable of acknowledging -- both militarily in Iraq, and politically in the USA. People do not realize how far off the road and into the bushes we have already been dragged.

Four months ago, in Hard Rain Journal 2-2-07: Forget about 2008, the Fate of the Republic could be Decided in the Next Six Months, I wrote that indulging in speculation about the presidential campaign was a luxury we simply could not afford -- because the future would depend on whether or not this Congress confronted the Bush-Cheney regime. Everything that has happened in recent weeks -- e.g., the bloody futility of the escalation in Iraq, the manuevering over a military strike against Iran, and the shocking revelations that have flowed from congressional investigation of the US DoJ scandal -- confirms this conviction.

Last week, in Hard Rain Journal 5-18-07: Is This The Week The USA Got Its Mojo Back?, I wrote that recent events indicated that the forces of reason and conscience were on the ascent and on the advance. Nothing that has occured in the past several days, as grim, disturbing and discouraging as the news has been, changes that assessment.

This rescue of the Republic is one of the great sagas of human history; and like all great sagas, the course of the narrative includes trials and tribulations as well as triumphs, it includes tactical retreats as well as bold advances.

Consider some recent developments within this context.

Never turn your back on the Bush-Cheney regime, it is the Hannibal Lecter of US politics. If you do, it can and will escape to kill again.

President Bush has signed a directive granting extraordinary powers to the office of the president in the event of a declared national emergency, apparently without congressional approval or oversight. The "National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive" was signed May 9 ... It was issued with the dual designation of NSPD-51, as a National Security Presidential Directive, and HSPD-20, as a Homeland Security Presidential Directive. ... "Catastrophic emergency" is loosely defined as "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions." Corsi says the president can assume the power to direct any and all government and business activities until the emergency is declared over. Bush grants presidency extraordinary powers, Directive for emergencies apparently gives authority without congressional oversight, World Net Daily, 5-23-07

This story surfaced on World Net Daily, a reich-wing propaganda organ. In other words, they want this story out there. It is an attempt to intimidate, but, of course, it is also what it is appears to be on face value, i.e., preparation for possible martial law.

This week's House Judiciary Committee testimony of Monica Goodling also offers some eerie insights.

Remember the prophetic warning of Sinclair Lewis in It Can't Happen Here: "When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."

Take a look at some of the video clips of Goodling's testimony. That's the one of the faces of the great deception -- a pretty, young, seemingly niave woman.

She only wanted "to serve this President," not the people, not the US Constitution, but "this President."

"I crossed the line, but I didn't mean to."

Remember, this woman was hired as a senior DoJ official with the power to ruin careers or disrupt criminal investigation after graduating from Pat Robertson's poorly ranked law school and doing a six-month stint conducting "opposition research" for the Republican National Committee.

In Hard Rain Journal 3-25-07: DoJ Purge Update: Four Blockbusters that Have Not Hit -- YET, I wrote about several asepcts of this scandal that had yet to become common knowledge, one of them was that Alberto Gonzalez couldn't resign (he's still there), and another was that this investigation will inexorable lead to revelations concerning the theft of elections, in particular 2004.

Consider this latest post from Greg Palast.

This Monica revealed something hotter - much hotter - than a stained blue dress. In her opening testimony yesterday before the House Judiciary Committee, Monica Goodling, the blonde-ling underling to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Department of Justice Liaison to the White House, dropped The Big One.... And the Committee members didn't even know it.
Goodling testified that Gonzales' Chief of Staff, Kyle Sampson, perjured himself, lying to the committee in earlier testimony. The lie: Sampson denied Monica had told him about Tim Griffin's "involvement in 'caging' voters" in 2004.
Huh?? Tim Griffin? "Caging"???
The perplexed committee members hadn't a clue - and asked no substantive questions about it thereafter. Karl Rove is still smiling. If the members had gotten the clue, and asked the right questions, they would have found "the keys to the kingdom," they thought they were looking for. They dangled right in front of their perplexed faces.
The keys: the missing emails - and missing link - that could send Griffin and his boss, Rove, to the slammer for a long, long time.
Kingdom enough for ya? ...
Why weren't these African-American voters home when the Republican letters arrived? The homeless men were on park benches, the students were on vacation - and the soldiers were overseas. Go to Baghdad, lose your vote. Mission Accomplished.
How do I know? I have the caging lists...
Greg Palast, Brad Blog, 5-24-07

The third turn down a dark corner in this last week concerns the Democratic Party leadership in the US Congress. There is a stench in the air. The leadership must move swiftly to dispel it. It is difficult not to assume that these people are going to capitulate and continue on in complicity. Those of us who remember the faux opposition to the bankruptcy bill, the refusal to filibuster Alito or Roberts nominations, the original vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq, and so many other acts of cravenness and cowardice, can only assume the worse -- particularly since as they were "negotiating" a "compromise" with the Bush-Cheney regime on Iraq, they were also selling out labor and the environment in a "Secret Trade Deal" with the Bush-Cheney regime.

Did they bow on Iraq? Did they blink? Is their opposition to this occupation disingenuous?

Remember that the K Street virus that devoured the Republican Party has half-devoured the Democratic Party. It is not altogether lost but it is in trouble.

These passionate and eloquent dissents from Keith Olberman and Buzzflash frame the issue magnificently:

Few men or women elected in our history—whether executive or legislative, state or national—have been sent into office with a mandate more obvious, nor instructions more clear:
Get us out of Iraq.
Yet after six months of preparation and execution—half a year gathering the strands of public support; translating into action, the collective will of the nearly 70 percent of Americans who reject this War of Lies, the Democrats have managed only this:
The Democratic leadership has surrendered to a president—if not the worst president, then easily the most selfish, in our history—who happily blackmails his own people, and uses his own military personnel as hostages to his asinine demand, that the Democrats “give the troops their money”;
The Democratic leadership has agreed to finance the deaths of Americans in a war that has only reduced the security of Americans;
The Democratic leadership has given Mr. Bush all that he wanted, with the only caveat being, not merely meaningless symbolism about benchmarks for the Iraqi government, but optional meaningless symbolism about benchmarks for the Iraqi government.
The Democratic leadership has, in sum, claimed a compromise with the Administration, in which the only things truly compromised, are the trust of the voters, the ethics of the Democrats, and the lives of our brave, and doomed, friends, and family, in Iraq.
You, the men and women elected with the simplest of directions—Stop The War—have traded your strength, your bargaining position, and the uniform support of those who elected you… for a handful of magic beans. Keith Olberman, Special Comment, MSNBC Countdown, 5-23-07

There is no question that the GOP is the party of surrender. Terrorists don’t need a timeline to know that Bush and Cheney began putting America in a position of weakness and vulnerability – both militarily and economically – when the mad king and his Rasputin – along with Svengali Rove -- ginned up a propaganda campaign to scare Congress into permitting them to make the strategically devastating error of invading Iraq.
But the Democratic leadership on the Hill reacts by doing the opposite of Teddy Roosevelt’s dictum: "Speak softly and carry a big stick." Since the 2006 elections, the Dem honchos have been speaking loudly and carrying a little stick.Capitulating to the Party of Surrender: The Dems Help Bush Pull Domestic Political Victory From the Jaws of Defeat, A Buzzflash Editorial, 5-24-07

I have been waiting to hear what Rep. Jack Murtha (D-PA) would say. When he speaks about Iraq, there are tears in his voice.

I stand with Olberman and Buzzflash, but I will also stand by Murtha.

To win a political struggle you must understand the difference between hypocrisy and a paradoxical truth.

This foolish military adventure must end -- one way or another; and those responsible must be hounded to the Hague. This is not finished, unfortunately it has just begun. Do not allow yourselves to succumb to bitterness at this moment.

Remember that Presidentual Directive. Remember the example of Monica Goodling. The situation is much worse than most people are capable of acknowledging -- both militarily in Iraq, and politically in the USA.

Here is Murtha's statement:

Today, I voted for both the $22 billion supplemental funding for domestic programs and the $98 billion supplemental funding for our troops in Iraq.
The Democrats in Congress have already sent a supplemental to the president that would have set benchmarks and timelines for the responsible redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq.
Instead of demonstrating to the American people and the Iraqi Government that our commitment is not open-ended, the president vetoed our bill and refuses to recognize that this war cannot be won militarily.
Some have suggested that since the president refuses to compromise, Democrats should refuse to send him anything. I disagree. There is a point when the money for our troops in Iraq will run out, and when it does, our men and women serving courageously in Iraq will be the ones who will suffer, not this president.
Patience has run out and I feel a change in direction happening within the chambers of Congress. While we don't have the votes right now to change the president's policy, I believe that come September we will have the votes from both Democrats and Republicans to change policy and direction. In September, General Petraeus will report back on the progress of the surge, and Congress will take up both the $460 billion base defense appropriations bill and the $141 billion Iraq supplemental. The surge is not producing the results that were promised. And, based on my discussions with Iraqi Government officials, I don't believe they have the motivation to bring about the political and economic benchmarks agreed to. This is why September will be key.
We have lost 418 of our fellow Americans since the president announced his surge, and come September, with your help, we can convince my colleagues from across the aisle that enough is enough. For almost two years, I have tried diligently to redeploy our forces from Iraq, and I will not stop now. Rep. Jack Murtha, Huffington Post, 5-25-07

It is already painfully clear that this is going to be a long, hot summer, and we have not even made it to the Summer Solstice yet. I hope enough of us, in both the US Congress and on the streets of this troubled country, have the stomach for it.

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

Rep. Jack Murtha,Keith Olberman, Buzzflash, Monica Goodling, Iraq, Bush,Greg Palast, Cheney, Richard Power, Words of Power


Hard Rain Late Night: Alanis Morissette -- You Learn (Live Brazil 2002)

Hard Rain Late Night: Alanis Morissette -- You Learn (Live Brazil 2002)



Alanis Morissette, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Climate Crisis Update 5-22-07: Look to the Cities for Leadership Now, or Catastrophe Later

Image: Earth at Night, NASA



Climate Crisis Update 5-21-07: Look to the Cities for Leadership Now, or Catastrophe Later -- News Worsens, Focus on Greening Cities Intensifies; Meanwhile, Bush-Cheney Denial Impacts Everything from G-8 to Smithsonian

By Richard Power

The news worsens --

The earth's ability to soak up the gases causing global warming is beginning to fail because of rising temperatures, in a long-feared sign of "positive feedback," new research reveals today. Independent UK, 5-18-07

A team of NASA and university scientists has found clear evidence that extensive areas of snow melted in west Antarctica in January 2005 in response to warm temperatures. This was the first widespread Antarctic melting ever detected with NASA`s QuikScat satellite and the most significant melt observed using satellites during the past three decades. Combined, the affected regions encompassed an area as big as California. Mercosur Press, 5-16-07

World leaders have just five years to save the planet from a climate change disaster - but it can be done, according to a new report.
The document, Climate Solutions: WWF`s Vision For 2050, shows that the world can produce more than enough sustainable energy to curb climate change, but only if key decisions are made by 2012. Mercosur Press, 5-15-07

Those with understanding are working to capture the attention of the world --

Noah's Ark, built to save humanity and the animal kingdom in the face of a great flood, is being reconstructed in model form on Mount Ararat as a warning to mankind to act now to prevent global warming. ... "This is directed mainly at the politicians of this earth, to world leaders who are primarily responsible for the climate catastrophe which is taking place and for the solution," said Wolfgang Sadik, campaign leader for Greenpeace, which is behind the project. Reuters, 5-23-07

Meanwhile, those entrenched in denial seek to drag the rest of humanity down with them --

Last year, the “Smithsonian Institution toned down an exhibit on climate change in the Arctic for fear of angering Congress and the Bush administration, says a former administrator at the museum.” Think Progress, 5-21-07

In the wake of reports stating that the U.S. is trying to weaken the language of a G8 climate change declaration to be released at next month’s G8 summit, 15 House chairmen issued a letter today to President Bush urging him not to weaken the declaration. Think Progess, 5-18-07

Despite the iron girders, concrete blocks and thick plates of glass, cities are fragile and their inhabitants vulnerable.

Cities are really intricate webs of promises and assumptions. You are promised there will be electricity, water, sanitation, food supplies, safety in your homes, and you assume those promises will be kept.

You rarely question those promises, you rarely challenge the assumptions you base on them. But it wouldn't take very much for this intricate web to be shredded in New York or Los Angeles. It wouldn't be too long before the flow of city life dissolved into chaos and anarchy.

When we think of climate change, we think of the melting of the polar ice caps, the shrinking of the lakes, the shriveling of the rivers and the bleaching of the coral reefs; but, if global warming is left to run its course unchecked, it is in the cities that its most devastating impact will be felt.

When we think of contributing factors, we see the exhaust pipes of automobiles in our minds, we see our own hands on the gas pump, but it is city life itself which is the greatest single contributing factors.

The great cities of the world are on the frontlines of the global struggle to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Look to the cities for leadership now, or catastrophe later --

A leading United Nations climate adviser said ... the world's largest cities should get independent scientific guidance about every two years to help them fight global warming. ... large cities are emerging as a force in sharing ideas on cutting heat-trapping gases and may need more frequent scientific assessments to gauge how well their actions are working, Cynthia Rosenzweig, head of climate impacts at New York's NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in a interview. Reuters, 5-16-07

Fifteen cities around the world will begin cutting carbon emissions by renovating city-owned buildings with green technology under a program spearheaded by former President Clinton's foundation. ... Major global banking institutions have committed $1 billion to finance the upgrades of municipal buildings in participating cities, which include New York, Chicago, Houston, Toronto, Mexico City, London, Berlin and Tokyo. 



 Associated Press, 5-17-07

While it is hard not to dwell on the toll inflicted by the very rare F5 tornado, thoughts immediately turn to rebuilding. While no one questions whether Greensburg should be rebuilt, everyone should take a moment to question how. ... What would we do if we had the opportunity to do it all over? This is the question Greensburg can answer. What will the Greensburg of tomorrow look like? What could rural America look like? The Governor's instincts are right on. She wants to make Greensburg the most sustainable, efficient, well-designed town in the whole country. Laurie David, Putting the Green in Greensburg, 5-20-07

Here are excerpts from some of the news and analysis cited, with links to the full texts:

The earth's ability to soak up the gases causing global warming is beginning to fail because of rising temperatures, in a long-feared sign of "positive feedback," new research reveals today.
Climate change itself is weakening one of the principal "sinks" absorbing carbon dioxide - the Southern Ocean around Antarctica - a new study has found.
As a result, atmospheric CO2 levels may rise faster and bring about rising temperatures more quickly than previously anticipated. Stabilising the CO2 level, which must be done to bring the warming under control, is likely to become much more difficult, even if the world community agrees to do it.
The news may give added urgency to the meeting in three weeks' time between the G8 group of rich nations and the leading developing countries led by China, at Heiligendamm in Germany, when an attempt will be made to put together the framework of a new world climate treaty to succeed the current Kyoto protocol. Michael McCarthy, Earth's Natural Defenses Against Climate Change "Beginning to Fail," Independent UK, 5-18-07

A team of NASA and university scientists has found clear evidence that extensive areas of snow melted in west Antarctica in January 2005 in response to warm temperatures.
This was the first widespread Antarctic melting ever detected with NASA`s QuikScat satellite and the most significant melt observed using satellites during the past three decades. Combined, the affected regions encompassed an area as big as California. …
The observed melting occurred in multiple distinct regions, including far inland, at high latitudes and at high elevations, where melt had been considered unlikely. Evidence of melting was found up to 900 kilometres inland from the open ocean, farther than 85 degrees south (about 500 kilometres from the South Pole) and higher than 2,000 meters above sea level. Extensive snow areas of west Antarctica suffered melting, Mercosur Press, 5-16-07

World leaders have just five years to save the planet from a climate change disaster - but it can be done, according to a new report.
The document, Climate Solutions: WWF`s Vision For 2050, shows that the world can produce more than enough sustainable energy to curb climate change, but only if key decisions are made by 2012.
The report goes beyond the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change`s recent conclusions that the world could successfully use new technologies to limit carbon emissions enough to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, and shows how this can be done using only sustainable, environmentally friendly energy sources.
"Climate Solutions" also shows that the necessary cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions can be achieved without resorting to the nuclear option. Five years to save planet from climate change disaster, Mercosur Press, 5-15-07

A leading United Nations climate adviser said on Wednesday the world's largest cities should get independent scientific guidance about every two years to help them fight global warming.
The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change produces a series of reports every five or six years. Drawn on the work of 2,500 scientists, they assess the causes of climate change, describe its impacts and ways to fight it.
But large cities are emerging as a force in sharing ideas on cutting heat-trapping gases and may need more frequent scientific assessments to gauge how well their actions are working, Cynthia Rosenzweig, head of climate impacts at New York's NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in a interview.
"Cities are efficient, they take things on more quickly," she said.
Urban areas consume 75 percent of the world's energy and produce 80 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions. …
Rosenzweig said cities are well placed to cut greenhouse gases in ways that also help people adapt to the expected rise in heat waves, flooding and droughts that could be brought about by heat-trapping gases already emitted.
Roofs covered with vegetation instead of steel or blacktop that are popular in Chicago, Berlin and Portland, Oregon, are an example of something that can both cut emissions and help people cope with climate change, she said.
Widespread so-called green roofs could help combat the urban heat island effect that makes cities several degrees warmer in summer and would also cut emissions by reducing the need for air conditioning.
Cities in developed countries could also learn from ones in developing countries, she said. Cities in Bangladesh, which are at greater risk of flooding from climate change, have already taken more action than coastal cities like New York, she said.Timothy Gardner, UN climate adviser seeks fast guidance for cities, Reuters, 5-16-07

Fifteen cities around the world will begin cutting carbon emissions by renovating city-owned buildings with green technology under a program spearheaded by former President Clinton's foundation. … Major global banking institutions have committed $1 billion to finance the upgrades of municipal buildings in participating cities, which include New York, Chicago, Houston, Toronto, Mexico City, London, Berlin and Tokyo. 

The makeovers will include replacing heating, cooling and lighting systems with energy-efficient networks; making roofs white or reflective to deflect more of the sun's heat; sealing windows and installing new models that let more light in; and installing sensors to control more efficient use of lights and air conditioning. 

Clinton's foundation said the planned changes have the potential to reduce energy use by 20 percent to 50 percent in those buildings. The reduction could mean a significant decrease in heat-trapping carbon emissions, as well as cost savings on utility bills. 

Buildings often represent a city's worst culprits in contributing to emissions. In New York, for example, the consumption of electricity, natural gas, fuel oil and steam needed to operate buildings generates 79 percent of the city's total carbon count. 

Ira Magaziner, chairman of the Clinton Climate Initiative, said cities and private building owners would like to build and renovate with more energy efficiency, but often cannot afford initial costs. 

The partnership with Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co., UBS AG, and ABN Amro will make that possible and benefits everyone involved, he said. SARA KUGLER, 15 city skylines to get green makeover to cut carbon emissions, Associated Press, 5-17-07

As severe weather events become more and more frequent, we are constantly reminded of what we can lose in the blink of an eye. Last week, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius shared with me her eerie feelings upon seeing the footprint of an entire town erased in a matter of moments, and also the heartbreaking stories of the Greensburg residents who lost everything.
While it is hard not to dwell on the toll inflicted by the very rare F5 tornado, thoughts immediately turn to rebuilding. While no one questions whether Greensburg should be rebuilt, everyone should take a moment to question how.
I mean, think about it. If we could start over, what would we do differently? Would we take into consideration the cost of global warming in the shape of more and more extreme weather events? Would we make our cities and towns more sustainable? Would we make our homes and businesses more energy efficient so that every homeowner pays less on their bills every month? Would we make commutes as short as possible so that people can walk or bike if they choose? What would we do if we had the opportunity to do it all over?
This is the question Greensburg can answer. What will the Greensburg of tomorrow look like? What could rural America look like? The Governor's instincts are right on. She wants to make Greensburg the most sustainable, efficient, well-designed town in the whole country. And Greensburg is the perfect place to set the example. The town has only around 1,500 residents, roughly 1,000 homes, 50 commercial businesses, 3 churches, 2 schools, and 1 hospital. It is in the heartland of the United States. And the town already has the perfect name -- it's GREENsburg, for goodness sake! Laurie David, Putting the Green in Greensburg, 5-20-07

Want to wake people up to the US mainstream news media's complicity in misinforming the public on global warming and climate change? Click here for Media Matters' compilation of "Myths and Falsehoods about Global Warming".

Want to participate in the effort to mitigate the impact of global warming? Download "Ten Things You Can Do"

There is a powerful magic in personal commitment.

RECENT GLOBAL WARMING POSTS:

Climate Crisis Update 5-16-07: Business & Government Must Be Compelled to Accept Responsibility, But So Must Each Individual

Climate Crisis Update 5-9-07 - Desmond Tutu and Sheryl Crow Challenge Denial, Environmental Groups Warn Against Reliance on Biofuels

Climate Crisis Update 5-4-07: Is Glenn Beck Going John-Hickley-Jr.? 7 Stories CNN Could Have Aired Instead of Beck's Eco-Nazi Conspiracy Theory

Hard Rain Journal 4-30-07: Climate Crisis Update -- Media Matters in the Struggle Against Global Warming

Hard Rain Journal 4-22-07: Climate Crisis -- Sheryl Crow Confronts Karl Rove, Mother Nature Confronts John Howard; This Earth Day is The Turning Point

Hard Rain Journal 4-15-07 -- Climate Crisis Update: Eleven Retired Admirals and Generals Concur -- Global Warming IS A National Security Issue

Hard Rain Journal 4-10-07: Climate Crisis Update -- April could be the Turning Point for the USA -- Step It Up to Save the Planet

Hard Rain Journal 4-4-07: The Twisted Link Between Peak Oil and Global Warming

Hard Rain Journal 4-1-07: Hartmann & Gelbspan Debunk the Swindle that is "The Great Global Warming Swindle"

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

Global Warming, Energy Security, Environmental Security, Alternate Energy, Sustainability, Green Power, Renewable Resources, Climate Change, Weather, Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, UN, Stop Global Warming!, IPCC, Laurie David,Greenburg, Kansas, Greenpeace, NASA, Kathleen Sebelius, Bill Clinton,Clinton Climate Initiative, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Antartica, G-8,Smithsonian, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 5-22-07: Economic Security -- Get Busy Living, or Get Busy Dying

The Homestead Strike was a labor lockout and strike which began on June 30, 1892, with a battle between the strikers and private security agents erupting on July 6, 1892. It is one of the most serious labor disputes in U.S. history.

Hard Rain Journal 5-22-07: Economic Security -- Get Busy Living, or Get Busy Dying

David Sirota is one of the most important voices in US politics today.

Here are some excerpt from his powerful speech at the Montana AFL-CIO Convention in Butte, Montana (5-18-07), with a link to the full text:

We are, right now, in the middle of a class war--one that threatens to destroy the social contract that has made this country what it is today. The statistics are grim. Today, American workers' take-home pay represents a smaller share of the nation's total income than at any time in the last forty years. At the same time, corporate profits as a share of national income are at an all-time high. In all, the top 1 percent of Americans--those who make on average $1 million a year or more--owns a larger percentage of the nation's wealth than at any time since the Great Depression.

None of this, of course, happened by itself. These trends occurred at precisely the same time our government threw its lot in almost exclusively with those at the top. Consumer protection and environmental laws have been decimated, as corporate lobbying has become a multibillion-dollar industry. At a time of war and deficit, we have upcoming federal tax cuts that will hand roughly a half-trillion dollars to the wealthiest 1 percent--tax cuts for millionaires are larger than the annual income of the average American household.

And labor laws have been weakened, creating in many cases the modern-day version of the turn of the twentieth century, where employers openly busted unions with brutal tactics. Whereas we once experienced the brutal tactics of mine company owners at Cripple Creek, Colorado, we now experience the brutal tactics of Wal-Mart thugs at Loveland, Colorado, where they recently broke the back of a fledgling organizing campaign. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration--the government agency that enforces workplace safety laws--has seen its budget slashed to the point where it would take the agency 108 years to inspect every work site under its jurisdiction. That has meant real consequences in this region. ...

For this movement to ultimately be successful not only on trade but on all the other economic challenges we face both at the federal level and here at home, we will be required to make a choice: Will we get busy living, or get busy dying? ...

But make no mistake about it, the decision about whether to get busy living or get busy dying is one fraught with peril. Even a cursory look at our country's history shows that you can't make real change without making real enemies--whether they are lobbyists, executives, legislators, congressmen or senators. But we also know that the path of least resistance that may be lined with happy smiles and big campaign contributions and pats on the back by those in power is the way to get busy dying--the way to perpetuate what has become an intolerable status quo for millions of Americans.

I've struggled with the question of whether to get busy living or get busy dying in my own career, and in taking the path I have taken, I've certainly made some enemies, and have been far from perfect. But as I get older, I constantly catch myself thinking about what I will regret and not regret at the end of my life--and it haunts me to think I may regret not pursuing the cause of economic justice because I was too afraid to make enemies.

Such thoughts may be morbid, but they are necessary. And so I conclude by asking again: Will we get busy living, or get busy dying?

The full Transcript of David Sirota's "Get Busy Living, or Get Busy Dying" is available at The Nation

For more on the "Secret Trade Deal," click here for Bill Moyers Journal.

Free Trade, Fair Trade, AFL-CIO, David Sirota, Labor,Unions, OSHA,, Cripple Creek, Walmart, NAFTA, GATT, Bill Moyers, Richard Power, Words of Power


Hard Rain Late Night: Aretha Franklin -- Rock Steady

Hard Rain Late Night: Aretha Franklin -- Rock Steady (Soul Train, 1972)



Aretha Franklin, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 5-21-07: Campaign '08 Update -- Questions for Clinton & Obama; Why Edwards Has Solid Lead in Iowa & Richardson Surges

Hard Rain Journal 5-21-07: Campaign '08 Update -- Questions for Clinton & Obama; Why Edwards Has Solid Lead in Iowa & Richardson Surges

By Richard Power


NOTE: Words of Power will not endorse any presidential candidate for some time to come (unless, of course, Speaker Pelosi becomes President or Al Gore decides to enter the race), but because the next election is so important, we do have a short list of candidates we are interested in, and we will deliver updates on the campaign, as deemed necessary.

The Words of Power short list for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 consists of five names, three announced candidates, John Edwards (D-NC), Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM) and Rep. Dennish Kucinich (D-OH), along with two potential, former Vice President Al Gore (the man elected President in 2000) and former Supreme Allied Commander, Gen. Wesley Clark (US Army retired).

What about Sens. Clinton (D-NY) and Obama (D-IL), the two candidates christened "front-runners" by US mainstream news media and the political establishment?

If I had the opportunity to ask Sens. Clinton and Obama just one question each, here's what I would ask them:

Sen. Clinton, concerning the debacle in Iraq, when you have said if you knew then, what you didn't know now, you would not have voted to authorize the use of force -- to what knowledge are you referring? The doubts of UN weapons inspectors about the existence of any WMD were available in open source. The warnings of US intelligence analysts and military leaders about the danger of a quagmire and the potential for regional chaos were available in open source. I knew that it was a) highly unlikely that there were WMD in Iraq, and b) it was highly likely that a US occupation would lead to both a quagmire for the US military and regional instability. Sens. Wellstone (D-MN), Graham (D-FL), Feingold (D-WI) and twenty or so others knew this. How could you not know this?

Sen. Obama, you have made much of your opposition to the Bush-Cheney regime's foolish military adventure in Iraq, and yet you went to Conneticutt and campaigned enthusiastically for Sen. Joe Lieberman, an outspoken proponent of that slaughterhouse, and against Ned Lamont, a genuine progressive alternative. How can you justify this contradiction? In the narrowly divided US Senate, every vote is vital, and Lieberman is voting, at every opportunity, to prolong the senseless agony for US military families? Will you even now distance yourself from Sen. Lieberman, not only on Iraq, but for his refusal to initiate serious congressional investigation into the Bush-Cheney regime's failure to come to the aid of New Orleans before, during or after Hurricane Katrina? And if not, could you state unequivocally that Lieberman would not be appointed to your cabinet if you were elected President?

I do not have ill-will toward Sens. Clinton or Obama. I know they are good people.

But Clinton's vote to authorize military force against Iraq was the most important one in her Senate career, and she was wrong. She made a self-serving political calculation, and it backfired. She has compounded the error by refusing to come clean and compensate for it, as Edwards has.

And as for Obama, he must define himself with more than feel-good rhetoric about unity; distancing himself from his mentor Lieberman, on a range of issues, and in a sharp-edged way, would be an excellent start.

The underlying problem, of course, for both Clinton and Obama is the same -- they are running as if the last seven years hadn't happened; they are running as if the triangulation that worked for Clinton-Gore in the 1990s will work today, but it won't. Oh, it will raise the money. It will please the DLC. It will give them the airtime on the US mainstream news media. But it will not get them elected, and I doubt it will even get them the nomination. The center is lost, at least for awhile. It is a time for bold leaders with open eyes, who speak candidly and directly.

Edwards is the only so-called "top tier candidate" (another instant cliché, like "flip-flop") whose rhetoric, campaign style and positions on the issues reflect the fact that we are living in a state of national emergency, i.e., that our very way of life, our environment, our economy, our national strength, and our sense of humanity itself, is under assault. Richardson is the candidate most qualified, and best prepared to be President. It is not surprising that according to the latest poll from Iowa, Edwards has a solid lead and Richardson is surging.

Those who frontloaded the primary schedule in the hope of aiding the big money candidates may live to regret it.

And Al Gore? If the race evolves into Edwards versus Richardson, no one would be happier than Al Gore -- because they both see the way out of this mess. But if it looks as if the campaign is bogging down, and no real frontrunner is emerging, he will take a look at getting in. The stakes are too high to let this next election slip away. The country cannot afford another John Kerry, i.e., a candidate that does not fight before the election (e.g., his refusal to answer the Swift Boat attack ads) or after it is stolen (e..g., his concession and denial and lack of concern about what happened to the people of Ohio who waited in the cold rain to vote for him).

As for Wesley Clark, I feel that like Al Gore, he has found something more important and arguably more effective than electoral politics in its present debased form -- i.e., Gen. Clark is working tirelessly, and inspiringly to rescue the US military from the Mega-Mogadishu of Iraq, and thwart the Bush-Cheney regime's plans for attacking Iran. I urge you to go to VoteVets.org and/or StopIranWar.org and help him.

The Nation's John Nichols has more on Iowa --

Hillary Clinton's campaign is running into trouble -- potentially very serious trouble -- in Iowa.
The latest and best poll of likely Democratic caucus goers in the first state that will weigh in on the 2008 nomination race has Clinton falling to third place. And that's not the worst of it. As Clinton stumbles, a new contender with potential to eat into her base it rising rapidly.
The Des Moines Register survey has former North Carolina Senator John Edwards solidly in first. Edwards, who ran second in the 2004 Iowa caucuses and has worked hard to maintain his organization in the state, is at 29 percent. That's about where he has been for some time in Iowa, where caucus goers will do much to define the direction of the 2008 race as it hits full speed next January.
In second place is Illinois Senator Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) with 23 percent.
Clinton musters a mere 21 percent -- down significantly from her position in several previous polls -- to secure the No. 3 position.
But Clinton, the presumed frontrunner nationally, does not just have to worry about who is ahead of her in the first-caucus state. She's also got to watch who is coming from behind.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, the former congressman, cabinet secretary and UN ambassador who only formally announced last week, is gaining 10 percent support among likely caucus goers. As in New Hampshire, where a new poll has Richardson breaking from a pack of weaker contenders to enter the second tier in the crowded 2008 contest, the governor is moving up rapidly in Iowa.
The next strongest candidate, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, was at 3 percent.
Richardson, who is campaigning in Iowa small towns this weekend, was making the most of his improving position.
"We have a lot of good candidates running for president," he told friendly crowds. "A lot of them could be in the White House - as my vice president."
John Nichols, The Nation, 5-20-07

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Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

John Edwards, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Sen. Hillary Clinton,, Sen. Barack Obama, Gov. Bill Richardson, Bush, Cheney, Al Gore, Wesley Clark, 2008 Presidential Campaign, Iowa, Richard Power, Words of Power


Hard Rain Journal 5-20-07: A Note on Wolfowitz, the Secret Trade Deal and How to Use the Blogosphere

Image: Yves Tanguy, The Dark Garden, Le Jardin sombre. 1928.

Hard Rain Journal 5-20-07: A Note on Wolfowitz, the Secret Trade Deal and How to Use the Blogosphere

By Richard Power

Citizen journalism and the alternative news media is by definition decentralized. No one can cover everything, no one should cover everything. Decentralization also brings the resiliency and redunancy needed for survival.

If you want to meaningful perspectives on what is happening in the the Middle East in general and Iraq in particular, you turn to Juan Cole (Informed Comment). If you want to breaking news and in-depth analysis on the election theft story in all of its many aspects, you turn to Brad Freidman (Bradblog) and Mark Crispin Miller (Notes from the Underground). If you want sophisticated analysis on foreign affairs and geopolitics, you turn to Steve Clemons (Washington Note). If you want to understand what progressive populism means, and how to deliver on the promise of it, you turn to David Sirota (Sirotablog).

Think Progress shapes the narrative and maintains the timeline. Talking Points Memo delivers cogent analysis in real-time. Media Matters deconstructs the disinformation and exposes its purveyors. Buzzflash monitors the flow of headlines and manages the real-world news cycle. Crooks and Liars cues up the video to underscore the point that the medium is the message. Truthout, Huffington Post, Common Dreams and Raw Story provide richness and texture.

For my part, Words of Power is focused on issues related to the interdependence of security, sustainability and spirit in the 21st Century, and to the political and geopolitical forces which impact those issues.

Two very important stories have been unfolding recently, the Wolfowitz scandal and the "Secret Trade Deal." Wolfowitz's fall from his plum job at the World Bank is another finger pried away in the effort to free international affairs from the Bush-Cheney regime's suffocating grip. The secret trade deal is a painful reminder of how debilitating the influence of big money has been on the People's House, and also of the profound challenges that must be overcome to perserve he unity of the progressive movement. Words of Power has not touched either of the issues -- yet. But I have been following them closely via the relentless and insightful coverage of Steve Clemmons and David Sirota respectively. I encourage you to do the same.

(Indeed, if you had to staff a White House in 2008, and wanted to optimize its potential to gear up and come to grips with the 21st Century, appointing Clemons your foreign affair advisor and Sirota your domestic affairs advisor would be a damn good start.)

Here are the latest updates from Sirota on the dastardly trade seal and Clemons on the loathesome Wolfowitz:

On the same day PBS aired Bill Moyers hard-hitting piece on the secret free trade deal, the network also aired an interview with a frustrated Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY), who lashed out at the growing opposition to the deal from rank-and-file Democratic lawmakers and millions of workers, farmers and small businesses. Meanwhile, an industry newsletter breaks the news that at least one senior Democrat involved in the secret deal admits that Democrats have delegated responsibility for drafting the final legislative language of the deal entirely to the Bush White House. ... John MacArthur, author of The Selling of Free Trade, told Moyers in an interview that the motivation for the handful of Democratic leaders who cut the deal with the White House was cash. "This is like the NAFTA campaign of the '90s," MacArthur said. "[It is] an attempt by the Democratic leadership - in those days it was the Clintons - to raise money from Wall Street." ... Addressing the Democratic congressional critics of the deal, the majority of Americans polls show are opposed to lobbyist-written trade pacts, and labor, environmental, health, human rights, religious, consumer protection and agricultural groups rising questions about the deal, Rangel said the only thing he would do differently would be to "ignore a lot of people that really were just wasting my time." ... Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI) "said that little additional information could be provided until the exact legal language of the deal has been worked out" and that the Bush White House "is now drafting that legal language." In other words, Democrats in on the deal delegated the responsibility of drafting the final language to the Bush White House all while rank-and-file Democrats have not been given any potential drafts of the legislative language to review. Sirotablog, 5-19-07

Paul Wolfowitz has all but conceded that he is leaving his perch as CEO of the World Bank. The only question that remains is what gets scribbled in the last paragraph of the story on whether the "blame" for his departure is shared -- and whether he resigned under his own steam or was actually, formally fired.
What is odd about this entire encounter is that "Wolfowitz the strategist" seems to be missing -- and that may have been the problem all along.
Many officials in the Bank did not like Wolfowitz because of his central role in designing, planning and launching the Iraq War. But had the former Deputy Secretary of Defense come into the Bank with a compelling plan for global economic development that built on the strengths and addressed some of the weaknesses of the Bank's relative skill sets, a relationship of mutual trust and respect, even if grudging, would have taken root.
Even one of Wolfowitz's closest friends and the not-often discussed third political appointee (the other two were the more controversial Kevin Kellems and Robin Cleveland) brought in by Wolfowitz, Karl Jackson, has reportedly told numerous World Bank and diplomatic pals of his that "Paul has no plan. Everything is ad hoc, reactive -- first we go this way, then we go that." If his friends are saying that, imagine what Wolfowitz's enemies think.
And in this sad public battle over whether Wolfowitz acted appropriately or not regarding the employment options, compensation, and performance evaluations of his girlfriend, Wolfowitz also seemed to operate in exactly the mode Jackson describes -- without a plan, reactive, ad hoc, first this way and then that. ...
Whichever way the Bank's board goes today in either allowing him honor as he exits, or just leaving things messy and not nicely packaged, Wolfowitz is done. Washington Note, 5-17-07

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

Free Trade,
Fair Trade, Paul Wolfowitz, David Sirota, World Bank,Steve Clemons, Richard Power, Words of Power


Hard Rain Late Night: Aretha Franklin -- I Say A Little Prayer For You (1970)

Hard Rain Late Night: Aretha Franklin -- I Say A Little Prayer For You (Cliff Richards Show, 1970)



Aretha Franklin, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 5-18-07: Is This The Week The USA Got Its Mojo Back?

Image: Gen. George Washington in Battle During the Revolutionary War


Hard Rain Journal 5-18-07: Is This The Week The USA Got Its Mojo Back?

By Richard Power

It is, as I have said before, going to be a long, hot summer in Beltwayistan.

The DoJ purge scandal is not going to go away. The betrayal of Valeria Plame's identity as a US secret agent is not going to go away. The Bush-Cheney national insecurity team's pre-9/11 failure to heed numerous intelligence community warnings of an imminent attack by Al Qaeda is not going to go away. The Bush-Cheney's regime's violations of the Geneva Accords, including its authorization and institutionalization of torture is not going to go away. The Bush-Cheney's regime utter contempt for the Bill of Rights, including the suspension of habeas corpus, is not going to go away. The Bush-Cheney national insecurity team's wanton "sexing" up of intelligence in the lead up to the invasion and occupation of Iraq is not going to go away. None of it is going away.

There will be accountability. There will be hell to pay for MC Rove's soft white-boy gangsta prance at the annual Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner, and for VICE _resident Cheney's saber rattling on the deck of an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf.

And perhaps more importantly at this point, the failure of the Cult-formerly-known-as-the-Republican-Party to exercise its constitutional responsibility of oversight, while it controlled Congress, is not going to go away; nor is the failure of the US mainstream news media to exercise its constitutional responsibility as the Fourth estate going to go away. (Yes, the news media has a constitutional responsibility. Remember, freedom of the press received its own amendment to emphasize its importance and underscore its burden)

There will be accountability.

Several news stories this last week indicate that the USA may be getting its Mojo back.

Al Gore's brilliant and powerful Assault on Reason: How the Politics of Fear, Secrecy, and Blind Faith Subvert Wise Decision-Making, Degrade Our Democracy, and Put Our Country and Our World in Peril has arrived. (Please buy it from Buzzflash and acknowledge the Internet-based information rebellion that is so vital in our struggle to save the country and the planet.)

In Assault on Reason, Gore has articulated, with gravitas, what we have been howling about for seven years plus, "It's the Media, Stupid!"

The potential for manipulating mass opinions and feelings initially discovered by commercial advertisers is now being even more aggressively exploited by a new generation of media Machiavellis. The combination of ever more sophisticated public opinion sampling techniques and the increasing use of powerful computers to parse and subdivide the American people according to "psychographic" categories that identify their susceptibility to individually tailored appeals has further magnified the power of propagandistic electronic messaging that has created a harsh new reality for the functioning of our democracy. Al Gore, Assault on Reason, Truthout

Michael Moore's SICKO debuts in Cannes tomorrow night. First, Moore and SICKO are going to electrify Cannes, and then on 6/29/07, it will be released across the USA. In the coming battle between the healthcare industry (15% of the US GDP) and Michael Moore, my money is on Moore.

VoteVets.org followed up its first "Generals' Ad Blitz" TV spots featuring Major General John Batiste (US Army retired), which was rolled out last week, with two more -- one featuring Major General Paul Eaton, another commander on the ground in Iraq that George W. Bush refused to listen to, and the other featuring Gen. Wesley Clark (US Army retired), former Supreme Allied Commander, and VoteVets member, Mike Breen, talking about what is not getting done in Afghanistan. I urge you to donate to VoteVets so that they can continue to air these ads in the home states of those Republican members of Congress who are still enabling the Bush-Cheney regime's obsession with the Mega-Mogadishu in Iraq.

Former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) continues to up the anty in his remarkable campaign for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination. In his latest act of "transformational politics," Edwards is calling for this Memorial Day weekend (5/25-5/28) to be one of national protest to demand that US military be extricated from the quicksand of the Bush-Cheney debacle in Iraq. I urge you to go to http://www.supportthetroopsendthewar.com/ to support this effort. (Edwards' transformational politics certainly had a positive effect on Sens. Clinton, Obama and Biden. They all voted for Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) bill proposing a date certain for withdrawal from Iraq. A forthright stand they would not have taken if not for Edwards' momentum in the tall grass.)

But the most encouraging actions of conscience and courage that surfaced this week came from a newswire report that US Navy Admiral Thomas Fallon, CENTCOM commander, personally thwarted the Bush-Cheney national insecurity team's plans to launch an attack on Iran (“There are several of us trying to put the crazies back in the box.”); the Senate testimony of former Deputy Attorney General James Comey ("an account of Bush administration lawlessness so shocking it would have been unbelievable coming from a less reputable source"); and a op-ed piece rebuking of Romney, Giuliani and Tancredo and other Republican presidential candidates who embraced torture during this week's televised debate, written by Charles C. Krulak (commandant of the Marine Corps from 1995 to 1999) and Joseph P. Hoar (commander in chief of U.S. Central Command from 1991 to 1994).

Fallon, Comey, Krulak and Hoar are not partisan or ideological. They are highly regarded professionals. Falon, Krulak and Hoar, like Batiste, Eaton and Clark, have extensive careers of service in the US military. Comey has an extensive career in law enforcement.

Yes, I feel the Mojo rising.

Here brief excerpts from these three stories with links to the full texts:

Admiral William Fallon, then President George W. Bush’s nominee to head the Central Command (CENTCOM), expressed strong opposition in February to an administration plan to increase the number of carrier strike groups in the Persian Gulf from two to three and vowed privately there would be no war against Iran as long as he was chief of CENTCOM, according to sources with access to his thinking. ...
At a mid-February meeting of top civilian officials over which Secretary of Defence Gates presided, there was an extensive discussion of a strategy of intimidating Tehran’s leaders, according to an account by a Pentagon official who attended the meeting given to a source outside the Pentagon. The plan involved a series of steps that would appear to Tehran to be preparations for war, in a manner similar to the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
But Fallon, who was scheduled to become the CENTCOM chief Mar. 16, responded to the proposed plan by sending a strongly-worded message to the Defence Department in mid-February opposing any further U.S. naval buildup in the Persian Gulf as unwarranted. ...
Fallon’s refusal to support a further naval buildup in the Gulf reflected his firm opposition to an attack on Iran and an apparent readiness to put his career on the line to prevent it. A source who met privately with Fallon around the time of his confirmation hearing and who insists on anonymity quoted Fallon as saying that an attack on Iran “will not happen on my watch”.
Asked how he could be sure, the source says, Fallon replied, “You know what choices I have. I’m a professional.” Fallon said that he was not alone, according to the source, adding, “There are several of us trying to put the crazies back in the box.”Gareth Porter, CENTCOM Commander’s Veto Sank Bush’s Threatening Gulf Buildup, Inter Press Service, 5-15-07

JAMES B. COMEY, the straight-as-an-arrow former No. 2 official at the Justice Department, yesterday offered the Senate Judiciary Committee an account of Bush administration lawlessness so shocking it would have been unbelievable coming from a less reputable source. The episode involved a 2004 nighttime visit to the hospital room of then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft by Alberto Gonzales, then the White House counsel, and Andrew H. Card Jr., then the White House chief of staff. ...
Mr. Comey's vivid depiction, worthy of a Hollywood script, showed the lengths to which the administration and the man who is now attorney general were willing to go to pursue the surveillance program. First, they tried to coerce a man in intensive care -- a man so sick he had transferred the reins of power to Mr. Comey -- to grant them legal approval. Having failed, they were willing to defy the conclusions of the nation's chief law enforcement officer and pursue the surveillance without Justice's authorization. Only in the face of the prospect of mass resignations -- Mr. Comey, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and most likely Mr. Ashcroft himself -- did the president back down. Washington Post Editorial, 5-16-07

We have served in combat; we understand the reality of fear and the havoc it can wreak if left unchecked or fostered. Fear breeds panic, and it can lead people and nations to act in ways inconsistent with their character.
The American people are understandably fearful about another attack like the one we sustained on Sept. 11, 2001. But it is the duty of the commander in chief to lead the country away from the grip of fear, not into its grasp. Regrettably, at Tuesday night's presidential debate in South Carolina, several Republican candidates revealed a stunning failure to understand this most basic obligation. Indeed, among the candidates, only John McCain demonstrated that he understands the close connection between our security and our values as a nation. ...
As has happened with every other nation that has tried to engage in a little bit of torture - only for the toughest cases, only when nothing else works - the abuse spread like wildfire, and every captured prisoner became the key to defusing a potential ticking time bomb. Our soldiers in Iraq confront real "ticking time bomb" situations every day, in the form of improvised explosive devices, and any degree of "flexibility" about torture at the top drops down the chain of command like a stone - the rare exception fast becoming the rule.
To understand the impact this has had on the ground, look at the military's mental health assessment report released earlier this month. The study shows a disturbing level of tolerance for abuse of prisoners in some situations. This underscores what we know as military professionals: Complex situational ethics cannot be applied during the stress of combat. The rules must be firm and absolute; if torture is broached as a possibility, it will become a reality. ...
It is time for us to remember who we are and approach this enemy with energy, judgment and confidence that we will prevail. That is the path to security, and back to ourselves. Charles C. Krulak and Joseph P. Hoar, It's Our Cage, Too: Torture Betrays Us and Breeds New Enemies, Washington Post, 5-17-07

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

VoteVets.org,John Edwards, Paul Eaton, Iraq, Bush,Wesley Clark, Cheney, Karl Rove, Michael Moore, James Comey, Joseph Hoar, SICKO, Al Gore,Thomas Fallon, Richard Power, Words of Power


Jefferson Airplane, White Rabbit (Woodstock 1969)

Jefferson Airplane, White Rabbit (Woodstock 1969)



Grace Slick,Jefferson Airplane, White Rabbit, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 5-17-07: Rev. Falwell vs. Sister Stang, Spiritual Challenges of the 21st Century

Image: Dorothy "Dot" Stang, Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, Humanitarian & Martyr

Hard Rain Journal 5-17-07: Rev. Falwell vs. Sister Stang, Spiritual Challenges of the 21st Century

By Richard Power

On Tuesday, 5-15-07, two seemingly unrelated events occurred, a death and murder conviction, one in the Northern Hemisphere, the other in the Southern Hemisphere.

But for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, there is a connection between the two.

In February 2005, Sister Dorothy Stang, a 73-year-old nun from the USA, was shot six times in the back, on a path in the rainforest. Stang had become a Brazlian citizen. She was fighting to protect both the environment and the poor people of the region.

On Tuesday, 5-15-07, the Brazilian landowner who masterminded her death was given the maximum sentenced of thirty years in prison.

In September 2001, while the stench of burning flesh still filled the nostrils of emergency workers who would have to fly to Cuba for medical care six years later, Rev. Jerry Falwell was blaming "the Pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America" for the slaughter of the innocents on 9/11.

On Tuesday, 5-15-07, Falwell dropped dead in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Contrast the altruism and personal sacrifice of Sister Stang with Jerry Falwell's air-conditioned, plushly carpeted life as a reich-wing kulchur warrior; and then ask yourself some questions:

Where would the USA be if the Stang's life of courage and conscience had been considered as "newsworthy" as that of Falwell's ministry of fear and shame -- even if just on Tuesday, 5-15-07, if not for the last several decades of decline into christo-facism and crony capitalism?

What would the USA be like today if the Christianity of Rev. Martin Luther King, President Jimmy Carter, Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Sister Dorothy Stang and others had been extolled in the US mainstream news media, instead of, or even in parity with the twisted creed of Falwell, Robertson, Dobson and the others?

How does the reality-based, earth-embracing progressive movement reclaim the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth from this death and denial cult? Or perhaps more accurately, how does the reality-based, earth-embracing progressive movement compel the US mainstream news media to tell the stories of those who have actually followed in Jesus' footsteps and literally died on his path?

This is one of the great spiritual challenges of the 21st Century.

Here is a brief excerpt of the Stang story with a link to the full text:

Wealthy landowner Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura was given the stiffest possible sentence, 30 years, on Tuesday for being one of the masterminds behind the February 2005 murder of the 73-year-old defender of the Amazon rainforest and landless people.
The verdict "is very important, first of all because it was the maximum sentence and secondly because he is actually in prison," unlike what occurred in three similar cases in the region, [French priest and lawyer Henri Burin des] Roziers, who like Stang before her murder is on a death list in Pará, told IPS. ... "But for this to be meaningful, a greater number of masterminds will have to be sentenced. If in five years, for example, between 80 and 90 percent of intellectual authors were convicted, we would begin to see practical repercussions" -- a scenario that is overly optimistic for Brazil in the short- to medium-term, however, said the attorney.
Fabiana Frayssinet, BRAZIL: Dorothy Stang Sentence - More Than Symbolic?, Inter Press Service, 5-16-07

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

Amazon, Brazil, Jimmy Carter, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Environmental Security, Human Rights, Dorothy Stang, Jesus Christ, Jerry Falwell

Climate Crisis Update 5-16-07: Business & Government Must Be Compelled to Accept Responsibility, But So Must Each Individual

Image: An Inconvenient Truth

Climate Crisis Update 5-16-07: Business & Government Must Be Compelled to Accept Responsibility, But So Must Each Individual

By Richard Power

Lake Chad and Lake Victoria are drying up.

The Himalayan glaciers, India's number one source of fresh water, are melting.

The climate of the USA will not be spared: "Future eastern United States summers look much hotter than originally predicted with daily highs about 10 degrees warmer than in recent years by the mid-2080s."

Bangkok has become the second of the world's great cities to turn off its lights in an awareness raising act. Which US city will be the first to do the same?

Business and government must be compelled to accept responsibility for coping with this planetary crisis, but so must each individual and each family.

Personal choices about lifestyle make a difference: "An average U.S. citizen requires 10 hectares of the planet to support his or her lifestyle, while an average European needs over five hectares. An average person in Africa, by contrast, draws on about one hectare of the earth's resources to live."

Here are some brief excerpts of relevant news stories, with links to the full texts:

Rising temperatures in Africa are blamed for droughts, floods and storms while the continent's fabled wildlife is struggling to adapt to shifting ecosystems that could lead to mass extinctions.
Scientists say Africa -- the world's poorest continent -- is already paying a high price for global climate change and must now figure out what it can do itself to slow the transformation.
"There has been an observable upward trend in temperatures in parts of Africa, for example in parts of eastern and central Africa and the (southern African) Cape area, as well as emergent water shortages in western Chad and Darfur regions," said Professor Bob Scholes of South Africa's Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research.
"Apart from these factors we have also witnessed an upward spread in bird and fish species, such as the savannah birds, which have migrated due to warmer temperatures."
Experts say global warming may be to blame for the gradual melting of snow atop Tanzania's famed Mt. Kilimanjaro, while Babagana Ahmadu, the African Union's director of rural economy and agriculture, says there is evidence that Lake Victoria, Lake Chad and parts of the Nile River are all gradually drying up due to warmer temperatures. Reuters, 9-15-07

The glaciers of the Himalayas store more ice than anywhere on Earth except for the polar regions and Alaska, and the steady flow of water from their melting icepacks fills seven of the mightiest rivers of Asia.Now, due to global warming and related changes in the monsoons and trade winds, the glaciers are retreating at a startling rate, and scientists say the ancient icepacks could nearly disappear within one or two generations.
Curiously, there’s little sense of crisis in some of the mountainous areas. Indeed, global warming is making the lives of some high-altitude dwellers a little less severe. ... But for people living in the watershed of the Himalayas and other nearby mountain ranges along the Tibetan Plateau, glacial melt could have catastrophic consequences.
Himalayan glaciers release water steadily throughout the year, most critically during the hot, dry, sunny periods when water is most needed. Once they vanish, major lifeline rivers such as the Ganges and Indus could become more seasonal, and large tributaries may dry up completely during non-monsoon periods. Tim Johnson, McClatchy, 5-12-07

Future eastern United States summers look much hotter than originally predicted with daily highs about 10 degrees warmer than in recent years by the mid-2080s, a new NASA study says.
Previous and widely used global warming computer estimates predict too many rainy days, the study says. Because drier weather is hotter, they underestimate how warm it will be east of the Mississippi River, said atmospheric scientists Barry Lynn and Leonard Druyan of Columbia University and NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
"Unless we take some strong action to curtail carbon dioxide emissions, it's going to get a lot hotter," said Lynn, now a scientist at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "It's going to be a lot more dangerous for people who are not in the best of health." Associated Press, 5-11-07

Thailand's capital turned the lights out Wednesday in an effort to raise awareness of global warming, with six Bangkok neighbourhoods plunged into partial darkness for 15 minutes.

 Officials urged two million of the city's residents to join businesses and government offices in switching off non-essential lights at 7:00 pm (1200 GMT) to alert Thais to the ill-effects of climate change.

At downtown shopping mall Central World Plaza, Thais put away their credit cards for a moment to ponder their energy consumption, as neon billboards and garishly-lit shop windows were dimmed.
 ... Bangkok's lights-out campaign included a public screening in a downtown shopping district of the Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" by former US vice president Al Gore.

Australian city Sydney held a similar exercise in April, with a one-hour blackout observed by 65,000 homes and 2,000 businesses, which organisers estimated cut normal energy use by 10 percent. Agence France Press, 5-9-07

An eleventh hour intervention by the Indian delegation at a major U.N. climate change conference ... pushed to centre stage the need for a dramatic shift in lifestyles rather than dependence on green-friendly technology for solutions to global warming. … "Changes in lifestyles and consumption patterns that emphasise resource conservation can contribute to developing a low-carbon economy that is both equitable and sustainable," stated the summary of the report for policy makers that was approved by the ninth session of the IPCC Working Group III.
"Changes in occupant behaviour, cultural patterns and consumer choice and use of technologies can result in considerable reduction in carbon dioxide emissions related to energy use in buildings," it added. ... According to the World Wildlife Fund, an average U.S. citizen requires 10 hectares of the planet to support his or her lifestyle, while an average European needs over five hectares. An average person in Africa, by contrast, draws on about one hectare of the earth's resources to live. Inter Press Service, 5-4-07


Want to wake people up to the US mainstream news media's complicity in misinforming the public on global warming and climate change? Click here for Media Matters' compilation of "Myths and Falsehoods about Global Warming".

Want to participate in the effort to mitigate the impact of global warming? Download "Ten Things You Can Do"

There is a powerful magic in personal commitment.

RECENT GLOBAL WARMING POSTS:

Climate Crisis Update 5-9-07 - Desmond Tutu and Sheryl Crow Challenge Denial, Environmental Groups Warn Against Reliance on Biofuels

Climate Crisis Update 5-4-07: Is Glenn Beck Going John-Hickley-Jr.? 7 Stories CNN Could Have Aired Instead of Beck's Eco-Nazi Conspiracy Theory

Hard Rain Journal 4-30-07: Climate Crisis Update -- Media Matters in the Struggle Against Global Warming

Hard Rain Journal 4-22-07: Climate Crisis -- Sheryl Crow Confronts Karl Rove, Mother Nature Confronts John Howard; This Earth Day is The Turning Point

Hard Rain Journal 4-15-07 -- Climate Crisis Update: Eleven Retired Admirals and Generals Concur -- Global Warming IS A National Security Issue

Hard Rain Journal 4-10-07: Climate Crisis Update -- April could be the Turning Point for the USA -- Step It Up to Save the Planet

Hard Rain Journal 4-4-07: The Twisted Link Between Peak Oil and Global Warming

Hard Rain Journal 4-1-07: Hartmann & Gelbspan Debunk the Swindle that is "The Great Global Warming Swindle"

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

Global Warming, Energy Security, Environmental Security, Alternate Energy, Sustainability, Green Power, Renewable Resources, Climate Change, Weather, Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, UN, Stop Global Warming!, IPCC, Africa,Himalayas, Bangkok, NASA, Richard Power, Words of Power

Human Rights Update 5-14-07: If The Indigenous Peoples Perish, The Earth's Soul Will Crack; Humanity Must Choose A Better Way

Photo: ALEJANDRO BALAGUER , UNICEF

Human Rights Update 5-14-07: If The Indigenous Peoples Perish, The Earth's Soul Will Crack; Humanity Must Choose A Better Way

By Richard Power

If you saw a group of men being sawed in half, one after another, and then stacked on a pallet, what would you feel?

If you saw children drinking from the hose of tanker truck full of toxic waste, what would you do?

If your car ran out of gas and the emergency road crew dragged a woman from the side of the road, forced her to the ground, crushing the small seashells, bird feathers and twigs she carried in her hands, and then opened a vein and ran a tube from her into your gas tank, would you get back in your car and turn the ignition?

You would not tolerate such cruelty, would you?

And yet, this is what is happening in the great forests and sacred mountains.

As the news stories included below illustrate -- for the planet's indigenous peoples, these are not metaphors, these are everyday realities.

Scanning the business section of the newspaper for investments and opportunities, you read about "timber," "copper," "silver," "gold," "platinum," "diamonds," "oil, "natural gas," etc. But what you think of as exploitable resources, indigenous peoples in the remote regions of the world experience as integral parts of themselves, just as surely as their own flesh, blood, bones, and vital organs.

When the environment of an indigenous people is raped, that people is raped. When the forests are hewn, they are hewn. When the rivers are poisoned, they are poisoned. When the mountains are gutted, they are gutted.

History has already refuted Karl Marx, and it is in the process of refuting Ayn Rand. Objectivism and laissez-faire capitalism are just as impractical and inhuman as Marxism and the totalitarian abberation it birthed.

The human race has to go a third way: i.e., toward sustainable, open societies, organized on democratic principles, grounded in human rights, and run on green power and fair markets. But to change course, humanity must first acknowledge and embrace the interconnectedness and interdependence of all life.

Here are some recent stories from Peru, Guyana, the Congo, Taiwan and elsewhere, which highlight the plight of indigenous peoples as well as urgent efforts to defend their rights:

Members of the indigenous Achuar communities in the Amazon basin in the Peru-Ecuador border region have notified US Oil Company Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) that they will bring a lawsuit against the company in the US if it will not clean up toxic waste from drilling.
Achuar children in the area are suffering from high blood levels of cadmium and lead, both of which are thought to create grave developmental problems. Recent environmental reports by EarthRights International (ERI), Amazon Watch, and Peruvian legal non-profit Racimos de Ungurahui support previous conclusions reached by the Peruvian government in linking Oxy to the toxins. The report is “based on information gathered by a team of experts in May 2006 – including a doctor, nurse, lawyers, soil scientist, agronomist, environmental engineer, and chemist.” About 8,600 people in five separate communities are blaming Oxy for high blood toxin levels.
The report says that Oxy used cost-cutting, out of date practices to boost profits. These included the use of “earthen pits to store drilling fluids, crude oil and crude byproducts.” The report says that the toxic chemicals overflowed and leached through their soil containers and into the surrounding ground and water.
The company is also accused of dumping a daily average of 850,000 barrels of toxic oil byproducts into rivers and streams on Achuar land, causing repeated oil spills and dumping a total of 9 billion barrels of untreated toxic and carcinogenic processing water into rainforest land.
April Howard, Peru: Amazon Communities Warn Oxy Over Toxins, 5-9-07

Groups representing indigenous peoples in Guyana, along with Cambodia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, on Thursday urged the Swiss bank Credit Suisse to pay them 10 million dollars in compensation because of its links with a Malaysian timber company.
The company, Samling, retained Credit Suisse as an adviser during its stock market flotation in February, along with HSBC and Australian bank Macquarie.
The indigenous peoples claim that Samling's operations have damaged their communities by cutting down forests and in some cases, polluting sources of drinking water.
"We're slowly dying," a representative of the Penan people from Malaysia told journalists at a press conference here.
"We are asking that Credit Suisse give back the profits generated by the stock exchange debut, 10 million dollars, to the indigenous peoples harmed by Samling," said Lukas Straumann of the Swiss environmental group, the Bruno Manser Fund.
Samling operates in 15,054 square miles of forest in Guyana and across Malaysia's Sarawak peninsula alone. Agence France Press, 5-4-07

The first clue to the location of the conference was the chanting which drifted out of the rainforest. ...
I had arrived at the first international forum for indigenous peoples in the Congo basin. The delegates were from settlements of ancient forest peoples - many commonly called pygmies.
Some indigenous rainforest communities dislike the word pygmy, others maintain they are proud of it. ...
These are the forests where outsiders came in waves for rubber, ivory, palm oil and timber.
They may have thought this was a land untouched by human habitation, but it was in fact already home to thousands of pygmies. ...
As a delegate from Cameroon puts it, indigenous people from the forests of central Africa are the third world of the third world. Their way of life - hunting in the forest and moving from one spot to another - makes it tricky for them to take advantage of education and health services. ...
So, for the pygmies, there are problems getting birth certificates, attending school, taking part in elections and playing an active role in the wider society.
There is also the problem of exclusion from the forests, because of logging companies.
And it is not uncommon to hear about others kept in slave-like employment, by neighbouring farmers who regard them as sub-human.
So they have come to Impfondo on the Oubangui river to meet similar forest people from across central Africa to talk and to work out how to end discrimination.
There is a willingness to modernise: in some areas they have even started using the latest global positioning satellite technology to map out their hunting grounds and sacred sites.
There is also a strong appreciation of the role education can play in helping the communities fight for their rights in the outside world.
"Of course we can take on new things that are good for us", says Stephane. "But our values are also good for the 21st Century", he says.
"We are a peaceful, egalitarian people who share and live at peace with others. These are values we ask others to copy."John James, BBC, 5-12-07

The [Taiwanese] government is planning to launch a six-year "indigenous language revitalization plan" aimed at conserving and revitalizing Aboriginal tongues, the Council of Indigenous Peoples said yesterday. ...
Only by transforming the languages into written texts and digital archives can the languages be preserved for generations to come, he said.
Taiwan has the largest number of languages associated with the Austronesian-language group, which underwent the widest physical dispersion of any language family prior to European colonial expansion to the Americas, Wang said.
Austronesian languages are spoken from the island of Madagascar off the east coast of Africa, all the way to isolated Easter Island (Rapa Nui) and extending to Taiwan, Vietnam, Northern Australia, New Zealand and most of the Melanesian and Polynesian islands.
The existence of more than 20 different Austronesian languages on a single island -- Taiwan -- is a rarity in history and philology, he added.
It is hoped that after the six-year language revitalization plan is carried out, Taiwan will turn out to be a stronghold of Austronesian language research and development and a paradigm of native language development, Wang said. ... Taipei Times/CAN, 5-12-07

The intersection of ethnic and gender identities means that indigenous women often face multiple discrimination. Frequently excluded from decision-making at all levels, indigenous women number among the world’s most disadvantaged people. Even in those indigenous societies where women were historically empowered, drastic changes in economic and political structures in recent decades have eroded women’s traditional opportunities for financial independence. The hardship caused by the destruction of traditional industries has often fallen unduly on women, robbing them of social safety nets and opportunities for employment. Indigenous women often face disproportionately high mortality rates, low literacy rates and high levels of poverty.
Indigenous women overcome multiple obstacles, International Labor Organization

To follow this vital issue more closely, and to learn what you can do, visit --

Tebtebba

International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs

Dialogue Between Nations

UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII)

Cultural Survival

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Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

ILO, Samling, Achuar, Indigenous People, Oxy, Guyana, Credit Suisse, Amazon, Peru, Taiwan, Congo, Human Rights, Austronesian, Pygmies,

Hard Rain Late Night: Sinead O'Connor - Marcus Garvey (2005)

Sinead O'Connor - Marcus Garvey (2005)




Sinead O'Connor,Marcus Garvey, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 5-11-07: CBS Fires Batiste for Doing What Edward R. Murrow Would Have Done -- Speaking Truth and Confronting Lies and Hypocrisy

Image: Edward R. Murrow


Hard Rain Journal 5-11-07: CBS Fires Batiste for Doing What Edward R. Murrow would have Done -- Speaking Truth and Confronting Lies and Hypocrisy

By Richard Power

George W. Bush says he listens to his commanders. But he doesn't.

Now we know CBS doesn't listen to them either. They have fired Major General John Batiste (US Army retired). For what? For speaking the truth and confronting hypocrisy in high places.

Of course, that's what the news media is supposed to do.

Will Bob Schieffer resign in protest? Will Katie Couric resign in protest?

Of course not.

They will tell themselves that Batiste, a life-long Republican, was engaging in partisan politics for the Democrats, i.e., they will lie to themselves, just as they facilitate those who lie to the populace.

(Update: Think Progress reports that CBS has compounded their wrong by replacing him with "a former White House communications director to engage in the Bush administration’s advocacy on air.")

Meanwhile, the US military bleeds in the desert.

But Major General Batiste is not alone.

Major General Paul Eaton (US Army retired), who like Batiste served in Iraq, and General Wesley Clark (US Army retired), the former Supreme Allied Commander, have also recorded ads for VoteVets.org. These ads will directly target those Republicans who are still enabling the Bush-Cheney regime's debacle in Iraq.

[NOTE: Click here to read Major General Eaton's letter to Bush after his veto. Click here to watch Gen. Clark challenge the demagoguery of Bill O'Reilly re: Batiste and George Soros.]

I urge you to contribute to VoteVets.org and help them in this vital struggle.

We are all being called to confront tyranny and war crimes perpetrated in our name.

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (US Army retired), former Chief of Staff at the State Department from 2002 to 2005 under then Secretary of State Colin Powell, understands:

On Thursday, May 10, 2007, Lawrence Wilkerson, speaking on National Public Radio [in rseponse to a caller who raised the issue], proposed impeaching President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Here's the audio
“... I really do think that our founding fathers, Hamilton, Washington, Monroe, Madison, would all be astounded that over the course of our short history as a country, 200 plus years, we haven't used that little two to three lines in Article II of the Constitution more frequently, the impeachment clause. I do believe that they would have thought had they been asked by you or whomever at the time of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia 'Do you think this will be exercised?' they would have said 'Of course it will, every generation they'll have to throw some bastard out'. That's a form of accountability too. It's ultimate accountability."
After an interruption, Wilkerson continued: "The language in that article, the language in those two or three lines about impeachment is nice and precise – it's high crimes and misdemeanors. You compare Bill Clinton's peccadilloes for which he was impeached to George Bush's high crimes and misdemeanors or Dick Cheney's high crimes and misdemeanors, and I think they pale in significance." ...
"I think that the caller was right. I think we went into this war for specious reasons. I think we went into this war not too much unlike the way we went into the Spanish American War with the Hearst press essentially goading the American people and the leadership into war. That was a different time in a different culture, in a different America. We're in a very different place today and I think we essentially got goaded into the war through some of the same means." After Downing Street, 5-10-07

Here is the transcript of Keith Olberman's interview with Major General Batiste:

OLBERMANN: General Batiste says he resigned because he couldn‘t stand what former secretary of defense Rumsfeld was doing to the military, and he is still paying the price. The general, who describes himself as a diehard Republican, has been asked to leave his position as a consultant to CBS News because of that ad.
That means he is free to join us tonight for an exclusive interview.
And we‘re honored to have you with us, General. Thank you for your time.

BATISTE: Thanks, Keith. Good to be with you.

OLBERMANN: From Eric Shinseki, the four-star general who was criticized by, of all people, Paul Wolfowitz when he said at the start that the war would require several hundred thousand troops, do these ads that you and General Eaton and General Clark have done for VoteVets.org, there seemingly has never been this much public friction between the military and the civilian leaders. What moved you to make these ads and moved you to make them now?

BATISTE: Keith, it really is quite extraordinary. I was moved to make this ad working with VoteVets because I care about our country, and I care about our soldiers and Marines and their families.
I‘m a patriot, as are the rest of us in VoteVets. VoteVets is not an antiwar organization. We‘re focused on what‘s best for this country. We‘re focused on being successful and winning the effort against global terrorism. And we‘re damn sure focused on doing what‘s right for our great military, which, by the way, is doing incredible work in Iraq and Afghanistan. God bless them all.

OLBERMANN: In a piece for MSNBC.com called “America‘s Angriest General,” Mike Hirsch from “Newsweek” says that you wish more generals would speak out. But last year you had said at the end of the day, you either salute and execute, or you make a decision to retire or resign, that‘s the way it is. Is this what you‘re trying to change? What are you hearing from the colleagues of yours who are still in uniform?

BATISTE: Keith, I‘m in a very unique position. I have a platform upon which I can speak. I‘m no longer wearing the uniform of our country. I have no ties to the defense industry. I can speak honestly. I have a duty to do so.
And I know there‘s other generals, both active duty and retired, that are doing all they can within their means. In my case, I‘ll continue to speak out.

OLBERMANN: You have said that it could take eight to 10 months to withdraw from Iraq in an orderly way once the president even agrees to that. This evening, the House rejected the plan to withdraw beginning in nine months. The military under such great stress. Is there a point at which any deadline, any time structure for this will be too late?

BATISTE: Keith, this is less about deadlines and timelines than it is about coming to grips with the fact that we went to war with a fatally flawed strategy, flawed then in March of 2003, flawed today over four years later. This is all about a president who‘s relying almost solely on the military component of strategy to accomplish the mission in Iraq.
Sadly, we‘re missing the diplomatic, the political, and the economic components that are fundamental and required to be successful. We have an interagency process that has been dysfunctional during this administration. There‘s no unity of effort between the agencies.
It—the bottom line is, we have a failed strategy now, and our president has not mobilized this great nation to accomplish the critical work to defeat global terrorism. And until we get these two things right, we‘re wasting our time.

OLBERMANN: General, are you encouraged, are you disinterested in, are you interested in what happened Tuesday at the White House between these 11 moderate Republicans and the president, and this discussion of the political implications of this? Do you see this as some sort of watershed moment?

BATISTE: Keith, I think so. Four of the 11 congressman were members that the VoteVet ad is targeting. I think that speaks volumes.

OLBERMANN: And lastly, sir, the benchmarks, the references continually made by those who went into the White House, that the words about this war have to now come from General Petraeus, that he is the one with the credibility, and the president is not the one with that, give us an honest assessment of his ability to give us an honest assessment of progress there.

BATISTE: General David Petraeus is the best we‘ve got. If anybody can pull this off militarily, he can. We have the best military this nation has ever fielded. But the president‘s strategy relies almost wholly on the military, and ignores the important components of diplomatic, political, and economic hard work.
If we don‘t get this right, we‘re going to break our Army and Marine Corps. And at this point in our history, that‘s the last thing we can do.

OLBERMANN: Well said, sir. General John Batiste. Great thanks for your time tonight, and, of course, great thanks for your service.

MSNBC Countdown, 5-10-07

Former Major General John Batiste (VoteVets.org) Confronts George W. Bush:



Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

VoteVets.org,Lawrence Wilkerson, Edward R. Murrow, Iraq, Bush,Wesley Clark, Cheney, Bill O'Reilly, CBS, Paul Eaton, Richard Power, Words of Power


Hard Rain Late Night: Miles Davis et John Coltrane - So What (1958)

Miles Davis et John Coltrane - So What (1958)



Miles Davis,John Coltrane, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 5-10-07: Planetary Public Opinion Urges Stronger UN, Empowered to Take On Human Rights, Genocide, Arms Trade & Nuclear Proliferation

The Japanese Peace Bell [at United Nations Headquarters, New York City] was presented to the United Nations in June 1954 by the United Nations Association of Japan. It was cast from coins collected by people from 60 different countries including children, and housed in a typically Japanese structure, ressembling a Shinto shrine, made of cypress wood. It has become a tradition to ring the bell twice a year: on the first day of Spring, at the Vernal Equinox, and on 21 September to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly.



Hard Rain Journal 5-10-07: Planetary Public Opinion Urges Stronger UN, Empowered to Take On Human Rights, Genocide, Arms Trade & Nuclear Proliferation

By Richard Power

Mithre J. Sandrasagra of Inter Press Service (IPS) reports on a survey conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in collaboration WorldPublicOpinion.org (WPO) and involving polling organisations from around the world.

The survey's findings encouraging, particularly after the damage inflicted on the collective psyche since 2000.

The results reflect the innate common sense and conscience of the human race, and indicate that there is a vast resource from which to draw the spiritual vision, broad consensus and political will needed to deal with our global security and sustainability crisis.

Only the leadership is lacking.

Here is an excerpt from the IPS story:

According to the results of a groundbreaking 18-nation poll released Wednesday, people around the world favour dramatic steps to strengthen the United Nations, including giving it the power to have its own standing peacekeeping force, to regulate the international arms trade and to investigate human rights abuses. ...
The survey found that 12 of 14 populations polled believe there should be a standing peacekeeping force "selected, trained and commanded" by the U.N. ...
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs conducted the poll with WorldPublicOpinion.org (WPO), in cooperation with polling organisations around the world. ...
"While leaders of nation states may be wary of giving the U.N. more power it is clear that publics around the world are comfortable with the idea of a stronger U.N.," said Steven Kull, editor of WPO. ...
The new study is based on interviews carried out in countries that represent 56 percent of the world's population: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, China, France, India, Iran, Israel plus the Palestinian territories, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United States.
Some of the highest support for a standing U.N. peacekeeping force was found in Peru (77 percent), France (74 percent), and the U.S. (72 percent).
Support for "giving the U.N. the power to regulate the international arms trade" is nearly as robust (55 percent on average).
Majorities or pluralities in 12 countries support this idea, especially France (77 percent), South Korea (75 percent), Israel (60 percent) and the U.S. (60 percent). ...
Giving the U.N. authority "to investigate violations of human rights" received very high levels of support in France (92 percent), the U.S. (75 percent), Peru (75 percent), and South Korea (74 percent).
This idea is favoured by majorities or pluralities in the 13 of the 14 countries surveyed for an average of 64 percent overall.
The idea of giving the U.N. authority to fund its activities through a tax on the international sale of arms or oil is supported by nine out of 14 countries polled (on average 46 percent support this, while 37 percent oppose). ...
Very large majorities also agree that the Security Council has the right to use force to stop genocide.
Majorities or pluralities in all 12 countries polled on this issue go further and say the U.N. has the responsibility to use force to stop massive human rights abuses.
Mithre J. Sandrasagra, Global Public Favours Stronger U.N., Inter Press Service, 5-9-07

I have no doubt that if they had polled on whether or not the UN should have the power to limit greehouse gas emissions on a planetary scale the same level of awareness and unity would have shown in the responses.

To download the full report, "World Public Favors New Powers for the UN," click here.

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net


Geopolitics, World Public Opinion, Arms Trade, Genocide, Nuclear Proliferation, Human Rights,WPO, UN, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Late Night: Sheryl Crow -- Soak Up the Sun

Sheryl Crow -- Soak Up the Sun (2002)



Sheryl Crow, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Climate Crisis Update 5-9-07 - Desmond Tutu and Sheryl Crow Challenge Denial, Environmental Groups Warn Against Reliance on Biofuels

Image: An Inconvenient Truth

Climate Crisis Update 5-9-07 - Desmond Tutu and Sheryl Crow Challenge Denial, Environmental Groups Warn Against Reliance on Biofuels

By Richard Power

Here are three important statements on the climate crisis.

The first two concern the spiritual challenges of coming to grips with this reality.

The third highlights a serious point of contention among those who understand what is happening.

Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Archbishop of Capetown, writes of the developed world's complacency:

What if dealing with climate change meant more than a flick of a switch? Would our friends in the industrialised world think differently if the effects of climate change were worse than extended summer months and the arrival of exotic species? Cushioned and cosseted, they have had the luxury of closing their minds to the real impact of what is happening in the fragile and precious atmosphere that surrounds the planet we live on. ...
In the past 10 years, 2.6 billion people have suffered from natural disasters. That is more than a third of the global population - most of them in the developing world. The human impact is obvious, but what is not so apparent is the extent to which climatic events can undo the developmental gains put in place over decades. Droughts and floods destroy lives, but they also destroy schools, economies and opportunity.
Every child will remember the story of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf. In the world we live in, the bad wolf of climate change has already ransacked the straw house and the house made of sticks, and the inhabitants of both are knocking on the door of the brick house where the people of the developed world live. Our friends there should think about this the next time they reach for the thermostat switch. They should realize that while the problems of the Mozambican farmer might seem far away, it may not be long before their troubles wash up on their shores.
Desmond Tutu, This Fatal Complacency, Guardian, 5-5-07

Sheryl Crow, who recently barnstormed university campuses throughout the southeastern USA with fellow gobal warming activist Laurie David, writes about inner divinity and transformative power of compassion:

I suppose after my encounter with Rove, I got a little taste of what it feels like to have dipped my thumb into the political pie for a brief moment, over what I failed to realize was still a political topic, or at least an insulting topic. I got my hand slapped, as if to say, "don't mess with the big boys, even on topics as humanitarian as global warming." ... What terrifies me the most is that we not only accept this of our journalists today but we are oblivious to it, and thus, oblivious to the damage it causes. When "news stories" are broken, do we not expect a certain amount of fact-checking or source-checking? One has to ask if this falls under the guise of sloppy reporting or deception as a source of spin. We seem to accept a certain amount of deception and we seem to be helpless to doing anything about it, as illustrated so clearly by where we are right now in this moment in history. ...
It is my truest fear that we are losing our way. Every night on the stop global warming college tour, Laurie and I would tell these great young people that they have the power to do anything they want. That we all have the power to create a movement for change. That the best part of ourselves is the part that rises up instinctively from compassion. I believe this to be true. I believe that divinity exists in all of us and that if we eliminate some of the chatter in our lives, the voice of compassion will have a chance to be heard. And, if we were to act from a place of compassion in every act of our lives, would we be arguing about whether global warming exists? Or would we simply be living our lives peacefully knowing that how we live will affect the planet we leave for our children and for their children. If compassion was the motivating factor behind all of our decisions, would our world not be a completely different place?
Sheryl Crow, On Deception, Spin and Losing Our Way, Huffington Post, 5-4-07

And in a sobering reminder that denial, complaceny and spiritual confusion are not the only obstacles to overcome, Biofuels Watch warns against relying on "large- scale expansion of biofuels from monoculture" in the struggle to mitigate and adapt to the impact of climate change:

Environmental groups are ... deeply concerned that the IPCC's Summary for Policy Makers on climate mitigation ... includes a recommendation for large-scale expansion of biofuels from monocultures, including from GM crops, even though monoculture expansion is a driving force behind the destruction of rainforests and other carbon sinks and reservoirs, thus accelerating climate change. The IPCC also recommend the expansion of large-scale agroforestry monoculture plantations. These plantations, which will include GM trees, are similarly linked to ecosystem destruction. Monoculture expansion is a major threat to the livelihoods and food sovereignty of communities many of which are already bearing the brunt of climate change disasters caused largely by the fossil fuel emissions of industrialised countries.
Almuth Ernsting of Biofuelwatch stated: "It is already clear that the burgeoning demand for biofuels that has been created to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is actually increasing them by deforestation in the tropics and accelerating climate change. So far, only 1% of global transport fuel comes from biofuels, yet already biofuels cause steep rises in grain and vegetable oil prices, threatening the food security of poor people and spurring agricultural expansion into forests and grasslands, on which we depend for a stable climate". ...
The IPCC report would appear to suggest that the climate can be stabilised at a safe level without reducing growth. The signatories to the press release believe that only large-scale reductions in energy use in the industrial nations, together with investment in sustainable forms of renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, can avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
For details of the signatory organisations see:
Global Forest Coalition: www.wrm.org.uy/gfc;
Biofuelwatch: www.biofuelwatch.org.uk;
Global Justice Ecology Project: www.globaljusticeecology.org ;
Grupo de Reflexion Rural: www.grr.org.ar ;
Rettet den Regenwald e.V.: www.regenwald.org ;
Econexus: www.econexus.info;
Munlochy Vigil: www.munlochygmvigil.org.uk ;
Noah: www.noah.dk/english.html ;
Corporate Europe Observatory: www.noah.dk/english.html;
Gaia Foundation: http://www.gaiafoundation.org/
Biofuels Watch, 5-4-07

Want to wake people up to the US mainstream news media's complicity in misinforming the public on global warming and climate change? Click here for Media Matters' compilation of "Myths and Falsehoods about Global Warming".

Want to participate in the effort to mitigate the impact of global warming? Download "Ten Things You Can Do"

There is a powerful magic in personal commitment.

RECENT GLOBAL WARMING POSTS:

Climate Crisis Update 5-4-07: Is Glenn Beck Going John-Hickley-Jr.? 7 Stories CNN Could Have Aired Instead of Beck's Eco-Nazi Conspiracy Theory

Hard Rain Journal 4-30-07: Climate Crisis Update -- Media Matters in the Struggle Against Global Warming

Hard Rain Journal 4-22-07: Climate Crisis -- Sheryl Crow Confronts Karl Rove, Mother Nature Confronts John Howard; This Earth Day is The Turning Point

Hard Rain Journal 4-15-07 -- Climate Crisis Update: Eleven Retired Admirals and Generals Concur -- Global Warming IS A National Security Issue

Hard Rain Journal 4-10-07: Climate Crisis Update -- April could be the Turning Point for the USA -- Step It Up to Save the Planet

Hard Rain Journal 4-4-07: The Twisted Link Between Peak Oil and Global Warming

Hard Rain Journal 4-1-07: Hartmann & Gelbspan Debunk the Swindle that is "The Great Global Warming Swindle"

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

Global Warming, Energy Security, Environmental Security, Alternate Energy, Sustainability, Green Power, Renewable Resources, Climate Change, Weather, Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, UN, Stop Global Warming!, IPCC, Sheryl Crow,Biofuels Watch, Desmond Tutu, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Late Night: Nina Simone -- Ain't Got No ... I Got Life (Harlem, 1969)

Nina Simone -- Ain't Got No ... I Got Life (Harlem, 1969)



Nina Simone, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 5-8-07: In Russia, China and the USA -- Permutations of Orwell's Nightmare Vision

Image: George Orwell



Hard Rain Journal 5-8-07: In Russia, China and the USA -- Permutations of Orwell's Nightmare Vision

By Richard Power

NOTE: This post is a follow-up to World Press Freedom Day 5-3-07: In Russia and Philippines, Journalists Risk Their Lives; In USA, They Won't Even Risk Their Jobs

The truth will set you free.

In the USA, it can certainly free you of your paycheck.

In China or Russia, it could free you of your life or your liberty.

How far behind China and Russia is the USA?

Not far.

How long will it be until press freedom in the USA is wholly compromised?

Unless the trend is reversed, not long.

As I rattle off the burgeoning litany of Bush-Cheney outrages, my friends and colleagues throughout the world shake their heads in disbelief: the theft of Florida in the 2000 election, the cover-up of pre-9/11 indifference to dire warnings of imminent attack, the foolish military adventure in Iraq, the contempt for the Geneva Accords, the corporatist disinformation campaign on global warming, the theft of Ohio in the 2004 election, and the willful neglect of the people of New Orleans before, during and after Hurricane Katrina.

How could it happen in the USA?

Why aren’t angry mobs milling around the White House and the Republican National Committee?

How can these people, as discredited and unpopular as they are, continue to avoid accountability and hold on to power?

The answer is agonizingly simple.

The US mainstream news media is owned by men (yes, men) who are wholly complicit and wholly invested in the corporatist agenda.

For proof, look here (Buying the War, Moyers documentary exposes media culpability in Iraq War, FAIR, 4-27-07), here (Global Warming: Misinformation Action Center, Media Matters), and here (When The Levees Broke, Spike Lee, HBO), and that’s just a sampling.

If you live in the USA, if you believe in the Bill of Rights, you should learn as much as you can about what is happening in China and Russia -- because even though the lullaby you sing to yourself is that these two totalitarian states are becoming more like us, the truth is we are becoming more like them.

Last week, in observance of the UN’s World Press Freedom Day, Open Democracy blogger Maryam Omidi attended an informal lunch with two prominent Russian activists, Oleg Panfilov of the Centre for Journalists in Extreme Situations and Tatiana Lokshina of the DEMOS Centre for Information and Russian journalism.

Her oD Today post on the events highlights what's going on in Russia:

All five national television channels are state-controlled and independent newspapers are fast disappearing into the hands of either the government or conglomerates with strong ties to the state. Independent businesses and political parties are, says Ms Lokshina, non-existent.
Last year, Mr Panfilov's organisation carried out extensive research to ascertain the levels of propaganda on television; a medium chosen because it is free of charge and as such the primary source of information for 97% of the population. Prime time news was monitored and the results revealed that 93% of all information covered Putin, his party and the government at large. This investigation was also carried out a year in advance of the elections in order to expose the impossibility of holding free and fair elections in an environment saturated in propaganda.

To read the rest of this important report, click here.

In China, too, brave individuals struggle to expand press freedom:

Zeng Jinyan is the online progeny of Wang Wei Lin, the protester who blocked a column of advancing tanks during the Tiananmen Uprising in 1989. When Zeng's husband, AIDS and environmental activist Hu Jia, was taken into custody and detained by the Chinese government without any legal proceedings last year, Zeng, who is now 22, started a blog detailing her experiences and the oppressive activities of the country's secret police. Since then, her blog has been blocked in China, and she and her husband have been harassed, intimidated, and subjected to round-the-clock surveillance. But she has steadfastly continued to blog, attracting an international audience with her sardonic style -- and especially her courage ("These people are like flies after a piece of meat," she wrote of the "goons" who are constantly watching her.)
She is Tiananmen 2.0. Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post, 5-6-07

In Russia and China, the issue is government control of the news media; in the USA, the issue is Corporatist control of both government and news media -- either way it is Orwell's nightmare vision come true.

The truth will set you free.

Yes, it comes at a price.

Recent Related Posts

World Press Freedom Day 5-3-07: In Russia and Philippines, Journalists Risk Their Lives; In USA, They Won't Even Risk Their Jobs

Hard Rain Journal 1-5-07: Global Free Press Update -- “2006 was the worst year on record — a year of targeting, brutality, continued impunity..."

Hard Rain Journal 10-10-06: Global Free Press Update -- Tales of Violence, Intimidation & Censorship Perpetrated By Both Governments & Corporations

Hard Rain Journal 8-12-06: News Media Control on the Poorest Continent & in the Richest Nation

Hard Rain Journal 7-13-06: Dan Rather Not -- Will Former CBS Anchor Join Moyers & Cronkite in Wilderness, & Speak Truth to Abuse of Media Power?

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Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and http://www.wordsofpower.net. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

News Media, Media Reform, Media Matters, FAIR, Bill Moyers, Russia, Zeng Jinya, China, Anna Politkovskaya, George Orwell, UNESCO, World Press Freedom Day, Oleg Panfilov, Tatiana Lokshina, Maryam Omidi, Richard Power, Words of Power

UN Millennium Goals Update 5-7-07: The Number of Sands in the Hourglass is Finite.

Image: UN Millennium Goals

UN Millennium Goals Update 5-7-07: The Number of Sands in the Hourglass is Finite.

By Richard Power

Life is a oneness.

All living beings are interconnected and interdependent.

Exploring mysteries of how this is so is what makes the human journey worth taking.

But we have forgotten these simple truths, and nature is sick of us (literally).

We have ten years, at the outside, to turn it around.

Ten years. That's how much time we have, according to scientific consensus, in which to make a positive impact in our efforts to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis.

Another vital deadline comes due within that same span of years.

In 2000, 191 nations agreed to the UN Millennium Goals by 2015.

We only have eight years to go in our efforts to achieve that noble intention.

US leadership is essential to both struggles.

Tragically, US leadership has been worse than indifferent or ineffectual since 2000, it has been openly hostle on global warming and deceiving and disingenuous concerning the UN Millennium Goals.

Meanwhile, across the planet those with eyes to see and ears to hear toil for the salvation of the human race -- not through religion or political ideology, but through conscience and common sense.

The number of sands in the hourglass is finite.

Life will go on, at least for awhile, if the human race misses these two deadlines. But it will be so much less than it could be or should be. Whole species will perish, whole eco-systems will vanish.

Many millions of humans will suffer and die. And some of those that do will be among those who, at this moment, think that the worst of oppression, extreme poverty and ecological collapse will not touch their own lives directly.

Here are four news stories that highlight the planetary pursuit of the UN Millennum Goals.

They include studies from Australia and Tanzania, showing how little has been done to raise awareness and engage the populaces of nations on both sides of the development divide.

They also include evidence of the ways in which at least two nations, both with vivid memories and direct experience of oppression, extreme poverty and ecological collapse, Ireland and Bolivia, are rising to meet the challenge:

A World Vision study, supported by an Australian business alliance including the ANZ Bank and Visy Industries, warns poverty in neighbouring countries will make some businesses less viable.
It says while companies were generally supportive of social investment, few were combating poverty in their closest export markets.
It also found that big businesses were ignorant of the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals that aim to halve world poverty by 2015. Australian Broadcasting Company, 4-30-07

While the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a ‘‘bright idea'', the ‘‘hidden agenda'' of western countries makes it impossible for African states like Tanzania to achieve the goals, expounds actor Rashid Mkwinda.
He is one of the people whose thoughts IPS canvassed in the streets of Dar es Salaam in a series of random interviews about the MDGs. For him, Southern Africa's ability to achieve the MDGs is firmly connected to the superpowers' international policy approach to developing states. ... Apart from Mkwinda, most of the people IPS interviewed know little about the eight MDGs which range from halving poverty (by 2015) to addressing unequal global relations.
Street vendor John Kasumuni denies that Tanzanians do not follow what is happening globally but admits that ‘‘most of us know very little'' about the MDGs. ... A cursory glance at the MDGs confirms that Tanzania will have difficulty achieving them. Goal six on halting and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS and malaria is far off for Tanzania. Inter Press Service, 4-23-07

[Irish] Minister of State, Conor Lenihan ... announced funding of €26 million to support efforts for all children to have access to primary education by 2015 – the target date set under the UN's Millennium Development Goals. Increased financing is urgently required to ensure that the 77 million children currently out of school- including 44 million girls – complete their primary education by 2015. Announcing the commitment, Minister Lenihan said:
"We know from our own experience the importance of sustained investment in education and how it translates into long-term economic and social progress.
Education is a core priority for Irish Aid. In 2006, we spent over €50 million on education. This increased financing is a further indication of our commitment to education and keeping our promises under the Millennium Development Goals to educate all the world's children by 2015." Relief Web, 5-2-07

Special UN rapporteur on the Right to Food Jean Ziegler stated on Friday that Bolivia is an example of country where social transformations favors equally everyone.
After almost a week in La Paz to analyze advances in this aspect, the expert told Prensa Latina that health and education programs, supported by Cuba, are an example of the change President Evo Morales leads.
Free medical services, a Zero Malnutrition program and the national campaign to teach 1.2 million people to read and write work toward the UN Millennium Goals, from which other governments are still far away, said the rapporteur.
According to the official, the international community must learn from democracy in Bolivia, including the nationalization of hydrocarbons, "an exemplary decision." Prensa Latina, 5-4-07

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Human Rights and UN Millennium Goals Update -- The Real Poverty is on Easy Street

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Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and http://www.wordsofpower.net. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

UN, Tanzania, Ireland, Australia, UN Millennium Development Goals, Bolivia, Sustainability, Environmental Security, Education,Disease, Poverty, World Vision, Evo Morales

Hard Rain Late Night: Bob Dylan, Rolling Thunder Revue -- Idiot Wind (1976)

Bob Dylan & The Rolling Thunder Review, Idiot Wind, 1976

I ran into the fortune-teller, who said beware of lightning that might strike
I haven't known peace and quiet for so long I can't remember what it's like.
There's a lone soldier on the cross, smoke pourin' out of a boxcar door,
You didn't know it, you didn't think it could be done, in the final end he won the war
After losin' every battle. Bob Dylan, Idiot Wind



Bob Dylan, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 5-5-07: Vive Segolene! France is at a Crossroads, if Sarkozy Wins the World will Slide even Closer to the Abyss

Image: Segolene Royal


Hard Rain Journal 5-5-07: Vive Segolene! France is at a Crossroads, if Sarkozy Wins the World will Slide even Closer to the Abyss

By Richard Power

The USA has forgotten itself. It wears a flag lapel pin and thumps a Bible, but it has misplaced the Constitution and turned away from the Goddess in the harbor of New York.

It was the French who gave us the Goddess of Liberty who carries the torch. It was the French who helped us in our fight against the British king (whose distant, demented kin now plots and schemes in the Oval Office).

And it was the French who did what those who love you do when you are destroying yourself, it confronted the USA and refused to participate in the Bush-Cheney regime's immoral and suicidal military adventure in Iraq.

The USA has forgotten the lessons of Vietnam. But France has not (yet) forgotten the lessons of Vietnam or Alegeria.

Segolene Royal's opponent, Sarkozy, is bad news.

He is a Rudy Giuliani. He is a Benjamin Netanyahu.

He is trouble -- for France, for Europe, and therefore, for the world.

"Conventional wisdom" says Sarkozy will win this election. I pray it is as wrong.

Jacques Chirac did not want Sarkozy. He knew.

And François Bayrou has said he will not vote for him. He knows.

The fascist Le Pen has told his people to stay home. But not for the reason that Chirac was against Sarkozy, nor for the reason that Bayrou will not vote for him. Le Pen has uglier reasons. One is that Sarkozy will steal his hateful thunder.

Words of Power will not endorse any candidate in the US 2008 presidential race for quite some time yet, but it does enthusiastically and hopefully endorse Segolene Royal in election going on today and tomorrow in France.

I know Europe well, I have traveled and worked there extensively. I have many colleagues in the European capitals. It will be a sad day for Europe if Sarkozy wins.

There is tension and danger right now. His victory will heighten the tension and the danger, while only aggravating the underlying causes.

The French have escaped the tragedies visited upon the Spaniards, the Italians and the British, whose leaders (Blair, Aznar and Berlusconi at the time) were in league with the Bush-Cheney cabal on Iraq. If Sarkozy wins, I fear the French too will suffer from the illness of both the terrorists and its own leader.

Vive Sengolene! Vive la France!

Here are some cogent news and analysis on the French race from the Guardian, the Nation and the Boston Globe:

On the last day of official campaigning, opinion polls indicated that Sarkozy was enjoying a commanding lead over Royal, who accused the former interior minister of lying and polarizing France.
"Choosing Nicolas Sarkozy would be a dangerous choice," Royal told RTL radio.
"It is my responsibility today to alert people to the risk of [his] candidature with regards to the violence and brutality that would be unleashed in the country," she said.
Pressed on whether there would actually be violence, Royal said: "I think so. I think so." She said Sarkozy's social policies as interior minister had increased tensions in the country, referring specifically to France's volatile suburbs hit by widespread rioting in 2005. ... Royal refused to give up, saying polls could not be trusted.
"I want to tell voters to come and vote in great numbers and to not let themselves be manipulated by these opinion polls," she told France 3 television during a last-minute campaign whirl through the northwestern region of Brittany. Boston Globe, 5-5-07

While still refusing to formally take sides in the French presidential election run-off, François Bayrou today announced that he would not be voting for rightwing challenger Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday.
The centrist candidate, who finished third in the first round of the election on April 22 with 18.6% of the vote, told Le Monde today that following last night's debate between Mr Sarkozy and Socialist challenger Ségolène Royal he "will not vote" for Mr Sarkozy. Guardian, 5-3-07

The issue is not anti-Americanism versus pro-Americanism, as the sillier U.S. commentators might suggest. ... the issue is whether France should maintain an explicit policy of setting her own agenda when it comes to international affairs or follow the lead of Tony Blair's Britain and establish a policy of generally deferring to Washington -- even when the leaders there may be less than competent. Far from being offended by foreign leaders who seek to keep their distance from the U.S. and its presidents, Americans should recognize the value of having international allies who are willing to speak bluntly about what they think to be mistaken policies of a U.S, president.
The Socialist Party candidate, Segolene Royal, has made French independence in international affairs an central focus of her campaign. At a rally in Toulouse, before 17,OOO cheering supporters, she declared, "We will not genuflect before George W. Bush. In Europe, we will defend the emergence of a multi-polar world, safe from the imperial temptations of another age." ... Referring to a trip to Washington on which Sarkozy met with Bush and requested that they be photographed together, she says, "I shall not be the one to shake George Bush's hand like nothing happened [in the sometimes bitter pre-war debate over Iraq], without a word on our tactical and strategic disagreements in fighting religious extremism and terrorism.
Specifically, Royal says, "I am not for a Europe that allies with the U.S. I have never been, and will never. apologize to President Bush for the position of France on the issue of refusing to send troops to Iraq." John Nichols, The Nation, 5-4-07

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

Jacques Chirac, Iraq, Le Pen, Terrorism, Giuliani, Netanyahu, Bush, France,Sarkozy, Segolene Royal, Richard Power, Words of Power

Climate Crisis Update 5-4-07: Is Glenn Beck Going John-Hickley-Jr.? 7 Stories CNN Could Have Aired Instead of Beck's Eco-Nazi Conspiracy Theory

Image: Variations of the Earth's surface temperature: year 1000 to year 2100, IPCC



Climate Crisis Update 5-4-07: Is Glenn Beck Going John-Hickley-Jr.? 7 Vital Stories CNN Could Have Aired Instead of Indulging Beck's Eco-Nazi Conspiracy Theory

By Richard Power

By the end of 2007, Al Gore will have won both an Oscar (already on the mantle) and the Nobel Peace Prize (decision due in mid-October). And, hopefully, by then, Glenn Beck will no longer have his own show on CNN Headlines or appear regularly on ABC’s Good Morning America.

Of course, the odds on Al Gore winning this year’s Peace Prize are much better than the odds of Beck getting Imused. The Nobel Committee is reality-based, the US mainstream news media is not.

Beck is beginning to take on the look of a stalker or a lone gunman.

He is obsessed with Al Gore.

Beck mentioned Al Gore 32 times in on his piece entitled “Expose: Climate of Fear,” which aired on CNN without rebuttal or disclaimer.

On a recent radio broadcast, Beck equated Al Gore and his awareness campaign on global warming with the Nazis and their use of eugenics as a rationale for genocide against the Jews of Europe.

According to Beck, Al Gore’s hidden agenda is globalization and one world government. No, I am not exaggerating Beck’s comments, or taking them out of context. Think Progress, 5-4-05

Is Glenn Beck going John Hinckley, Jr. on us?

Perhaps it is safer that he vents his illness on the public’s airwaves than allows them to fester in the isolation of his troubled mind. He is starting to sound like Marc David Chapman.

In one way, it is absurd to dwell on Beck.

It feels as if I am engaged in a dialogue with an escaped mental patient who wants to argue that air is not air or that blue is really red, while looking over his shoulder I can see women and children pleading for rescue from the windows of a burning building.

But Beck really is dangerous. More accurately, the world-view and mind-set he engenders and personifies is really dangerous.

And his access to the public’s airwaves raises a much larger question than that of his mental and emotional fitness, i.e., why do CNN and ABC give him that access?

Here are seven news stories highlighting important issues related to climate change. They all appeared in the same news cycle as Beck’s diatribe about what he sees as Al Gore’s Eco-Nazi plot to control the world. Any one of these stories would have been worthy of debate and could have better filled the airtime given to Beck’s delusional, life-negating denial.

1. Credible numbers on the economic costs of coming to grips with global warming:

IPCC reports that “costs of cutting greenhouse gases range between less than 3 percent of world gross domestic product in 2030, with the stiffest curbs, to a small 0.2 percent boost to growth with an easier goal.
The economic impact is spread over many years. The strictest goal, limiting concentrations of greenhouse gases to 445 parts per million of the atmosphere, would brake annual GDP growth rates by less than 0.12 percent a year. Reuters, 5-4-07

2. Health-related side-benefits of coming to grips with greenhouse gas emissions:

Burning cleaner fuels can yield immediate health benefits that save lives and money, world health experts say.

… governments should consider how much they will save in medical costs by adopting policies that minimize heat waves, disease and water scarcity resulting from rising temperatures, the scientists said.

Big developing countries like China and India can play a huge role in improving health by expanding their use of cleaner energy sources, said Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, an expert on global environmental change and health at the World Health Organization.

"The policy options that you choose to try to cut (carbon dioxide) emissions also have very important health effects," he said from the agency's headquarters in Geneva. "If you choose the right ones, then you can certainly have a win-win at cutting CO2 emissions and directly benefiting health."

 Associated Press, 5-3-07

3. The potential role of nuclear power for good and ill:

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) meeting in Bangkok said tackling global warming was both technologically and financially feasible as long as action was taken promptly, and that nuclear power could be in the arsenal.
"It is common sense. What else is there for most of electricity generation that is carbon free," Ian Hore-Lacy of the World Nuclear Association said.
"If you have a major technology that is capable of being deployed on a larger scale than now that emits no carbon, you don't need a Phd (doctorate) to work out that it has got an awful lot of potential," he told Reuters in London.
The civil nuclear industry, which saw its future evaporating after the reactor explosion at Chernobyl in 1986 sent a pall of radioactive dust across Europe, has seen its prospects improve dramatically in the hunt for a solution to global warming. Reuters, 5-4-07

4. What world agency should oversee planetary response to climate change:

A diplomatic tussle over which world agency should tackle global warming sees France demanding a new U.N. agency with broad powers, while others say time is short and existing U.N. bodies must rise to the challenge.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon wants to reform the array of U.N. bodies affected by climate change, whose impact will be felt across the board, leading to upheavals in the security, social, environmental, health and education sectors.
France and others argue no existing body is really equipped to tackle the crisis and a new one should be created.
"We have no problem with a new agency that can speak at cabinet level and has the power to knock a few heads together," said Gordon Shepherd, policy head at WWF International. "But it must not be used as an excuse for governments to do nothing in the meantime." Reuters, 5-4-07

5. Whether the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is effective or deceptive:

CDM and two other emissions trading schemes created by the Kyoto Protocol, the Joint Implementation and Emissions Trading, have helped to develop a worldwide carbon market with emissions rights. In 2006 this market accounted for transactions worth 30 billion dollars, according to figures released by the World Bank this week in Cologne.
Such development has led international environmental policy advisors and financial and corporate analysts alike to call the market with carbon emissions rights a big success. ...
But others believe that the carbon trading scheme has become a goldmine for private corporations without really helping reduce greenhouse gases emissions.
They say the carbon market has developed into just another financial market, in which a virtual commodity is dealt with, apparently disconnected from the real world. Inter Press Service, 5-4-07

6. The impact of rising sea levels on life in Thailand and Bangladesh:

The sound of waves from the nearby sea is no comfort for the chief abbot of the Buddhist temple in this fishing village in the Gulf of Thailand. …
Visible from the entrance of the decaying temple is a stark image that affirms his fears are not out of place. Rows of telephone and electricity poles stick out of the waters and disappear into the distance along the coast as testimony to there having once been a road that ran through this village. The sea began to swallow it more than two decades ago. …
Thailand's 2,666 km-long coastline on the Gulf of Thailand in the east and along the Andaman Sea on the west has 30 such environmental ‘'hot spots,'' says Thanawat Jarupongsakul, an associate professor in the department of geology at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. ‘'Of these there are 22 in the Gulf of Thailand, and the Khun Samutchine area is the worst-hit.'' Inter Press Service, 5-3-07

Bangladesh is among the most densely populated countries in the world, where more than 140 million people live in a space less than half the size of Germany. The majority of the country is made up of the massive estuary delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers. Any rise in ocean levels represents a grave danger to the country.
Many parts of Bangladesh are acutely threatened by flooding. More than 10 million people are estimated to live in regions that lie less than one meter above sea level. According to findings by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Bangladesh will lose more than one-fifth of its area if sea levels rise by just one meter. The IPCC predicts that sea levels will rise between 18 and 59 centimeters before 2100 -- and this without including Greenland's melting continental ice in the prognosis.
With a sea level increase of just 40 centimeters, the number of people effected by floods each year will rise from 13 to 94 million, according to Uno. Additionally, a London study indicates that one-third of the world's cities lie directly in areas endangered by climate change.
According to climate prognoses, average rainfall in Bangladesh will change drastically. The IPCC predicts that by 2050, rice production will decrease by 10 percent, and wheat production by one-third -- which means increased risk of famine. Der Spiegal, 5-2-07

7. The inefficacy of the G-8 over the last seven years, the vital nature of the G-8's role, and how different it would have been if Gore had been sworn into the office he was elected to in 2000:

The eight most industrialised countries and the five big developing ones must "send a clear signal" this year that they want agreement on a new international framework for tackling global warming, the world's leading policy advisor on climate change said here Wednesday.
The industrialised G8 countries (the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia) and the five strongest developing countries (China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico) together account for more than 80 percent of all human-made greenhouse gas emissions. …
Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nations United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), says that this year represents a "make or break" situation for designing a worldwide binding policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 2013, after the end of the Kyoto Protocol's validity in 2012.
"We need a strong international framework to be in place by 2010 to ensure that there is no gap between the end of the first commitment period in 2012 and the entry into force of a future regime," De Boer said at a press conference. Inter Press Service, 5-2-07

Want to wake people up to the US mainstream news media's complicity in misinforming the public on global warming and climate change? Click here for Media Matters' compilation of "Myths and Falsehoods about Global Warming".

Want to participate in the effort to mitigate the impact of global warming? Download "Ten Things You Can Do"

There is a powerful magic in personal commitment.

RECENT GLOBAL WARMING POSTS:

Hard Rain Journal 4-30-07: Climate Crisis Update -- Media Matters in the Struggle Against Global Warming

Hard Rain Journal 4-22-07: Climate Crisis -- Sheryl Crow Confronts Karl Rove, Mother Nature Confronts John Howard; This Earth Day is The Turning Point

Hard Rain Journal 4-15-07 -- Climate Crisis Update: Eleven Retired Admirals and Generals Concur -- Global Warming IS A National Security Issue

Hard Rain Journal 4-10-07: Climate Crisis Update -- April could be the Turning Point for the USA -- Step It Up to Save the Planet

Hard Rain Journal 4-4-07: The Twisted Link Between Peak Oil and Global Warming

Hard Rain Journal 4-1-07: Hartmann & Gelbspan Debunk the Swindle that is "The Great Global Warming Swindle"

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

Global Warming, Energy Security, Environmental Security, Alternate Energy, Sustainability, Green Power, Renewable Resources, Climate Change, Weather, Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, UN, G-8, Stop Global Warming!, Bangladesh, Thailand, WHO, IPCC, Glenn Beck,ABC, CNN, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Late Night: Melissa Etheridge -- I Need to Wake-Up

Hard Rain Late Night: Melissa Etheridge, I Need to Wake-Up



Melissa Etheridge, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

World Press Freedom Day 5-3-07: In Russia and Philippines, Journalists Risk Their Lives; In USA, They Won't Even Risk Their Jobs

Image: Anna Politkovskaya



World Press Freedom Day 5-3-07: In Russia and Philippines, Journalists Risk Their Lives; In USA, They Won't Even Risk Their Jobs

By Richard Power

Today is World Press Freedom Day.

This issue of Words of Power features the posthumous presentation of a UNESCO award to Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya (her killers have yet to be identified) and a statement from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

The murder of Politkovskaya is reported to be the thirteenth “contract-style” hit in Russia since 2000.

The Philippines is ranked as one of the most dangerous place in the world for journalists, second only to Iraq.

Unless there is a relentlessly aggressive, fiercely independent news media to expose official corruption, the influence of organized crime and other poisonous elements, a country's democratic institutions are easily subverted.

In some countries, like Russia and the Philippines, journalists risk their lives to tell the truth. In the USA, journalists won’t even risk their status or financial security to tell the truth. It is an appalling contrast.

I write about the failures and weaknesses of the US mainstream news media (MSM) on an ongoing basis, but I won't disrespect the blood of fallen journalists in Moscow and Manila, by enumerating the US MSM's weaknesses and failures in this post.

For more on the complicity, cravenness and cowardice, go to the following sites:

Media Matters

FAIR

Bill Moyers Journal: Buying the War

Here are excerpts from an IPS story on the posthumous UNESCO award for Anna Politkovskaya and the NUJP's statement on World Press Freedom Day:

A posthumous award will be presented on Press Freedom Day … in honour of Anna Politkovskaya, the investigative reporter who exposed human rights abuses including rape, abductions and killings in the breakaway republic Chechnya. This will be the first time that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) prize is awarded posthumously. The prize, to be presented in Colombia, honours a person or organisation who have made a notable contribution to the defence of press freedom. The award has been instituted in memory of Colombian journalist Guillermo Cano who was killed in 1986 for exposing the country's drug lords. … The award this year marks a worrying collapse of press freedom in Russia. … The New York based Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) told IPS in an emailed comment that Russian authorities should pay homage to Politkovskaya by bringing her killers to justice.
"No one deserves this prize more than our colleague Anna Politkovskaya, who gave her life for the pursuit of truth and the story of the forgotten war in Chechnya," the committee's executive director Joel Simon told IPS.
"Her death is a great loss to journalism. This award highlights the terrible price Russian journalists pay for exposing corruption, organised crime, human rights violations, and abuse of power."
Politkovskaya, special correspondent for Novaya Gazeta, was well known for her investigative reports on human rights abuses by the Russian military in Chechnya. In seven years of covering the second Chechen war, her reporting repeatedly drew the wrath of Russian authorities.
Her murder in October 2006 was the 13th contract-style killing of a journalist in Russia since 2000, according to CPJ research. None of the perpetrators has been convicted.
The media watchdog members who visited Moscow earlier this year were told that Russia's prosecutor general has opened a criminal investigation into several police officials in Chechnya in this case.
The committee found that Russian police and prosecutors have routinely failed to investigate the murders of journalists thoroughly. Kester Kenn Klomegah, PRESS FREEDOM DAY-RUSSIA: Posthumous Honour Points to Muzzled Media, Inter Press Service, 5-2-07

Today is World Press Freedom Day. Today, we in the Philippine media again mark this day in commemoration and mourning of what we should be celebrating, press freedom.
Yes, our government has never tired of boasting that we are the freest, most vibrant press in Asia. Vibrant we will not dispute. For Philippine journalism has continued to remain vibrant, indeed continues to flourish, despite persistent attempts to stifle press freedom. The numbers speak for themselves. Less than two weeks ago, Carmelo Palacios of government-run Radyo ng Bayan was founded brutally murdered in Nueva Ecija, the 51st journalist slain under this administration and the 88th since 1986. A day after, the tally would have risen by another life had not the assailants botched their ambush of Inquirer correspondent Delfin Mallari Jr. and dzMM's Johnny Glorioso, both founding members of the NUJP in Quezon province. We again emphasize that this is the highest toll under any administration, far surpassing that of the 14-year Marcos dictatorship, or the combined death toll of the three preceding administrations combined, making the Philippines the second most dangerous place for journalists after war-torn Iraq. Countless other journalists continue to labor daily with threats to either their lives or freedoms hovering over their heads. …
But while the situation is bleak, Filipino journalists have by and large refused to be cowed and continue struggling to push back the walls closing in around them. Which is as it should be. For the democratic space we have won back after long struggle is too precious to surrender. We cannot allow, through submission or default, ourselves, our people and nation, to be plunged back into the darkness of official tyranny. We therefore call on our colleagues, on other media organizations, and the people we serve, to stand together once again to meet the mounting threats head-on and resolve to drive them back once and for all. Today is World Press Freedom Day. Yes, we will commemorate this day by remembering those who have perished in its defense and mourning its absence. But let us not stop there. Let us, too, commemorate this day by making a vow that we will persevere until we can truly mark this day by celebrating the full blooming of press freedom in our land. Statement of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, World Press Freedom Day, 5-3-07

Five Related Posts

Hard Rain Journal 1-5-07: Global Free Press Update -- “2006 was the worst year on record — a year of targeting, brutality, continued impunity..."

Hard Rain Journal 10-10-06: Global Free Press Update -- Tales of Violence, Intimidation & Censorship Perpetrated By Both Governments & Corporations

Hard Rain Journal 8-12-06: News Media Control on the Poorest Continent & in the Richest Nation

Hard Rain Journal 7-13-06: Dan Rather Not -- Will Former CBS Anchor Join Moyers & Cronkite in Wilderness, & Speak Truth to Abuse of Media Power?

Hard Rain Journal 6-19-06: Coulter, Beck and The Death of The News

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and http://www.wordsofpower.net. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

News Media, Media Reform, Media Matters, FAIR, Bill Moyers, Russia, Philippines, Iraq, Anna Politkovskaya, NUJP, UNESCO, World Press Freedom Day, Carmelo Palacios

Hard Rain Late Night: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy, Impressions

Hard Rain Late Night: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy, Impressions

That's what music is to me -- it's just another way of saying this is a big, beautiful universe we live, that's been given to us, and here's an example of just how magnificent and encompassing it is. That is what I would like to do. I think that is one of the greatest things you can do in life, and we all try to do it in some way. John Coltrane (Eric Nisenson, Ascenion: John Coltrane and His Quest, De Capo Press, 1995)



John Coltrane,
Eric Dolphy, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Hard Rain Journal 5-1-07: “Just Another Brick in the Wall …” -- Thom Hartmann Interviews Larry Johnson, All You Need to Know About George Tenet

Image: Picasso, Guernica



Thom Hartmann: How do you think this is all going to play out?
Larry Johnson: Well, this is, you know, like Pink Floyd, “just another brick in the wall.” What George Tenet does is corroborate what Richard Clarke said, i.e., that very early on the administration was obsessed with going after Saddam, and had no intention of taking out Al Qaeda. They were obsessed with Saddam.
Thom Hartmann: Is this PNAC? Is this oil? Is this political capital? Or is it all of the above?
Larry Johnson: All of the above.
Thom Hartmann: Yes. That’s my sense of it as well. My sense of it is that George Bush wanted to do it for political capital, Cheney wanted to do it for his oil buddies, and the ideologues in the administration wanted to do it for the PNAC purposes, i.e., “Let’s create empire.” And it was the perfect storm. The right people got together at the right time in the right place …
Larry Johnson: And the American people are paying a terrible price today.
Thom Hartmann Show, Air America Radio, 4-30-07

Hard Rain Journal 5-1-07: “Just Another Brick in the Wall …” -- Thom Hartmann Interviews Larry Johnson, All You Need to Know About George Tenet

By Richard Power

Former CIA and State Department intelligence professional Larry Johnson has been performing an invaluable service over the last several years, by delivering real-time, in-depth analysis of the Bush-Cheney regime's national security debacles.

Air America Radio’s Thom Hartmann also performs an invaluable service, by providing historical, psychological and spiritual context on a broad spectrum of important political issues.

Here is an insightful dialogue between Hartmann and Johnson, concerning George Tenet’s book, At the Eye of the Storm, and some of the remarks that Tenet has made in his effort to promote it.

Thom Hartmann: As I was watching [the Sixty Minutes interview with George Tenet], and afterwards, my wife Louise and I had a long discussion, speculating about why now, why not then, is Tenet a suck up, kick down kind of guy who just got caught up in the whole thing? Or do you think – because even now he will not condemn George W. Bush – that he is afraid of the Bush dynasty?

Larry Johnson: I think he is terrified of the Bush dynasty. As we were soliciting other intelligence officers to sign, I got a letter from a buddy of mine who declined to sign, but let me quote from his letter – “I will tell you one thing, though, if your agenda is to have any impact on Tenet personally, I am sorry to say he is beyond that type of appeal. George is a political animal, and his recent comments are merely to sell his book and position himself for the future in his home political party, whatever that may be. Honor and conscience do not even enter into this equation.” Now this is an officer who had personal dealings with Tenet. … Tenet will criticize Cheney, he will criticize Rice, because they will not be important players in the future; but he does not want to get on the wrong side of the Bush family. But he treats George Bush as the equivalent of a bobble-headed doll, an accessory on the desk, that wasn’t a decision-maker, or played any role in what was going on.

Thom Hartmann: Or as an emperor of whom no ill shall be spoken. The Bush dynasty has been around a long, long time – going back to Prescott – and has an enormous concentration of power and wealth in this country. And frankly, I think they have absorbed a bit of the Clinton … Bill’s association with Bush, Sr. is like “Hey, let’s become part of the dynasty.” And Jeb is the next one in line. I am fully expecting – four or eight years down the line – to see Jeb running for President. This is a dynasty that is not going to go away, and that has its tentacles all over the place, a multi-billion dollar, arguably a trillion dollar enterprise from Carlyle Group on down, and you go up against the people and you are dead. You could be literally physically dead, you certainly will be politically dead.

Larry Johnson: He didn’t want to take the political and economic risk with them -- that is quite clear. And yet, I think it is reprehensible of him to come out and say these things now, when he knew them then. But he lied last night [on Sixty Minutes]. “Lie” is a pretty strong word, but let me give you one example: [on Sixty Minutes] he said correctly that there was never any evidence of relations between Bin Laden and Saddam. And he knew that very clearly in the Fall of 2002, when the National Intelligence Estimate was completed, yet he turned around and went to Congress in February of 2003 and testified about these various associations, and clearly left the implication that there was a relationship. So he was trying to have it both ways. That is so intellectually dishonest. Also, if you watched the Sixty Minutes piece, you saw how he tried to bully Scott Pelley when Pelley was asking him about the definition of torture and water-boarding, and Tenet kept saying it wasn’t torture, and kept running away from the question, but Tenet then turned and become quite angry and stern with Pelley. Well, that was the George Tenet that was bullying analysts who came to him and said, “Curveball is a bad source.” But he didn’t want to hear that. And when it came to the things he didn’t want to hear, he became the bully inside. And I know that from officers who told him in 2002 as well that they had a reliable source that there was no WMD in Iraq, and Tenet ignored it. … The facts are -- and I wrote this for a paper that I gave to J. Paul Bremer back in January 2003 – that Iraq had never been involved in any mass causality terrorist attacks against the United States. The last known association with a terrorist attack against US interests was the failed attempt in 1993 to kill George [H.W.] Bush. Most of the terrorism that Iraq was engaged in was directed at Israel, and Iran, and then some of the UN officials who were inside Iraq. That said, they were very strict about not cooperating with Islamic extremists. Saddam was not an Islamic extremist; even though toward the end of the regime, he sort of found religion and wanted to try to use ties with those folks to shore himself up. But he still did not lend operational support. And they used the stuff about Zarqawi who was up in a corner of Iraq that Saddam didn’t effectively control.

Thom Hartmann: That was under our protection actually, it was the no-fly zone.

Larry Johnson: Yeah. So you have all these things that can sort of have a factual truth to them, but when you really understand what is being said, it is just misleading.

Thom Hartmann: How do you think this is all going to play out?

Larry Johnson: Well, this is, you know, like Pink Floyd, “just another brick in the wall.” What George Tenet does is corroborate what Richard Clarke said, i.e., that very early on the administration was obsessed with going after Saddam, and had no intention of taking out Al Qaeda. They were obsessed with Saddam.

Thom Hartmann: Is this PNAC? Is this oil? Is this political capital? Or is it all of the above?

Larry Johnson: All of the above.

Thom Hartmann: Yes. That’s my sense of it as well. My sense of it is that George Bush wanted to do it for political capital, Cheney wanted to do it for his oil buddies, and the ideologues in the administration wanted to do it for the PNAC purposes, i.e., “Let’s create empire.” And it was the perfect storm. The right people got together at the right time in the right place …

Larry Johnson: And the American people are paying a terrible price today.

Thom Hartmann: And people in the Middle East, and all over the planet.

You can download podcasts of the Thom Hartmann Show for free at Thom’s site, http://www.thomhartmann.com.

Related Post

Hard Rain Journal 5-1-07: “I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine …” –George Tenet, Hillary Clinton and the Truth

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

Iraq,Saddam Hussein, Ray McGovern, Larry Johnson, George Tenet, Condoleeza Rice,Bush, Air America Radio, Thom Hartmann, Cheney, Richard Power, Words of Power


Hard Rain Journal 5-1-07: “I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine …” –- George Tenet, Hillary Clinton and the Truth

Image: Picasso, Guernica



I dreamed I saw St. Augustine,
Alive as you or me,
Tearing through these quarters
In the utmost misery,
With a blanket underneath his arm
And a coat of solid gold,
Searching for the very souls
Whom already have been sold.
Bob Dylan, I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine

Hard Rain Journal 5-1-07: “I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine …” –George Tenet, Hillary Clinton and the Truth

By Richard Power:

George Tenet is no St. Augustine.

He is not trying to save his soul; he is trying to salvage his career.

Arianna Huffington explains:

Tenet seems to believe there's a major distinction between lying and standing by silently while others lie, and then proudly receiving a Medal of Freedom from the liars.
He could have simply resigned and freed himself to "tell the truth." Tenet acts as if resignation were not an option. But it was. And the passion and anger he displays now in the service of book sales could have been used then in the service of his country. Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post, 4-30-07

Likewise, when Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) says, “If I knew then, what I know now …”, she is also being self-serving.

I knew there was insufficient evidence to launch war on Iraq, and I declared it publicly. I also knew there was a high probability that no weapons of mass destruction would be found in Iraq, and I declared that publicly as well.

She certainly had access to better intelligence than I did.

Half the Democratic caucus had the common sense and moral courage to vote against that authorization.

Why didn’t she?

When Sen. Clinton says, “If I knew then, what I know now …”, what is she really saying? What didn’t she know then?

How badly the Bush-Cheney regime would mismanage the occupation? How unsuccessful and unpopular the war would become? How much of a political liability her vote to authorize force would become?

It is difficult not to conclude that her decision to give Bush and Cheney the authorization to go to war against Iraq was a political one. It is difficult to believe that her decision was based on morality or national security strategy, such concerns would have compelled her to vote against the use of force in that instance.

Tenet, Clinton, and others, were not protecting the US Constitution, or the people of the USA when they sided with the Bush-Cheney regime in the ramp up to the invasion of Iraq, they were protecting their own socio-economic status and financial security.

Otherwise, Tenet would have resigned much earlier, and spoken out publicly, and Sen. Clinton would have voted against authorizing Bush and Cheney’s foolish military adventure.

But there is more to the fall of George Tenet than his complicity in ginning up the rationale for war in Iraq.

As Ray McGovern explains, there is the issue of complicity in the use of torture and other violations of the Geneva Accords.

Hewing to the George W. Bush dictum of "catapulting the propaganda" by endlessly repeating the same claim (the formula used so successfully by Joseph Goebbels), Tenet manages to tell "60 Minutes" five times in five consecutive sentences: "We don't torture people." Like President Bush, however, he then goes on to show why it has been absolutely necessary to torture people. What do they take us for, fools? And Tenet's claims of success in extracting information via torture are no more worthy of credulity than the rest of what he says. … Ray McGovern, Truthout, 4-29-07

And, of course, there is also the issue of the Bush-Cheney national insecurity team’s pre-9/11 failures.

But that is a different subject. I have written extensively on it, and no doubt I will have cause to again sooner than later.

The focus now has to be kept on Iraq, i.e., how to get us out, and how to hold those responsible accountable for the destruction and dishonor they have brought on this country.

In an Open Letter to George Tenet, McGovern, Johnson, Vince Cannistraro, and other intelligence professionals challenge Tenet to do something meaningful:

By your silence you helped build the case for war. You betrayed the CIA officers who collected the intelligence that made it clear that Saddam did not pose an imminent threat. You betrayed the analysts who tried to withstand the pressure applied by Cheney and Rumsfeld. …
If you are committed to correcting the record about your past failings then you should start by returning the Medal of Freedom you willingly received from President Bush in December 2004. You claim it was given only because of the war on terror, but you were standing next to General Tommy Franks and L. Paul Bremer, who also contributed to the disaster in Iraq. …
The reality of Iraq, however, has not made our nation more secure nor has the cause of human liberty been advanced. In fact, your tenure as head of the CIA has helped create a world that is more dangerous. The damage to the credibility of the CIA is serious but can eventually be repaired. Many of the U.S. soldiers maimed in the streets of Fallujah and Baghdad cannot be fixed. Many will live the rest of their lives missing limbs, blinded, mentally disabled, or physically disfigured. And the dead have passed into history.
Mr. Tenet, you cannot undo what has been done. It is doubly sad that you seem still to lack an adequate appreciation of the enormous amount of death and carnage you have facilitated. If reflection on these matters serves to prick your conscience we encourage you to donate at least half of the royalties from your book sales to the veterans and their families, who have paid and are paying the price for your failure to speak up when you could have made a difference. That would be the decent and honorable thing to do.
For the full text, go to Larry Johnson’s blog, No Quarter.

Lessons learned?

McGovern articulates perhaps the most vital one for intelligence professionals:

If any good can come out of the intelligence/policy debacle regarding Iraq, it would be the clear lesson that intelligence crafted to dovetail with the predilections of policymakers can bring disaster. … As we had learned early in our careers, if you consistently tell it like it is, you are certain to make enemies. Those enjoying universal popularity are ipso facto suspect of perfecting the political art of compromise - shading this and shaving that. However useful this may be on the Hill, it sounds the death knell for intelligence analysis. Ray McGovern, Truthout, 4-29-07

And as for Sen. Clinton's prospects in the 2008 presidential campaign?

Former Sen. John Edwards has unequivocally atoned for his vote to authorize the war, and now exhorts the US Congress to tie any further funding to the phased withdrawal of the US military.

It is unfortunate that Sen. Clinton does not seem to capable of doing so.

Related Post:

Hard Rain Journal 5-1-07: “Just Another Brick in the Wall …” -- Thom Hartmann Interviews Larry Johnson, All You Need to Know George Tenet

Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and Words of Power. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net

Iraq,Geneva Accords, Ray McGovern, Hillary Clinton, George Tenet, Bush,Arianna Huffington, Cheney, Richard Power, Words of Power