Truth of Government

Who Owns the U.S. Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court ruled on Monday that corporations have "religious rights" and thus cannot be required to provide contraception coverage for their employees.

In a separate case, the court ruled that non-traditional public sector employees cannot be compelled to pay fees to the union even though they benefit from collective bargaining contracts.

The Supreme Court's decisions are not surprising considering they've ruled in favor of corporations 9 out of 10 times since 2011.

Turning a Blind Eye

WARNING: Semi Offensive Brutal Honesty to Follow:

For quite awhile I've been thinking about managers I work with/for and I have noticed a most disturbing tendency......

Although these people Have ALL the Power to end the insanity, petty tyranny, retaliation, & general harassment where I work... These people choose not to. In fact for the past three (3) years have chosen not to. and have purposely ignored all the reports (written & verbal) and documentation of harassment and instead willingly sacrificed us to the Demon-Monster-Troll.

I really didn't understand this until I figured out that at least one these people suffer from a major victimization syndrome... That they live in so much fear that the retaliation & harassment

might be turned upon them, that they willingly allow the rest of us to suffer instead.

This is one of the main reasons I'm leaving..... I have gone to these people asking for help verbally & in writing and ONLY Once have these people taken right & just action in the workplace..... They have allowed the harassment of the staff & me to continue......

 

These people are like the Jewish Judas Goats that led other Jews to slaughter in the concentration camps.... the ones who collaborated with the Nazi's for fear that they themselves might fall prey and be sacrificed to the Nazi regime.....

Well, no more will I allow myself to suffer...... Nope so not gonna happen. I have 32 100% paid sick days coming..... Use them or lose them... I'll be using them.....

All these (34) years, they wonder why I have Ab-so-lute-ly No Respect for Management? Well, here's a truth for you.....  Now that I am out of the mix; Demon-Monster-Troll will need a new target and she will turn on those who have protected her.......

So Sad: Too Bad!

Tell FDA: NO ANGENT ORANGE

 

Friends of the Earth U.S.

 

Tell the EPA to not approve Dow Chemical’s 2,4-D-resistant GMO corn and soy. 2,4-D, a pesticide found in the Agent Orange compound, has been linked to cancer, Parkinson’s disease, endocrine disruption and reproductive problems. 

Take action here: http://bit.ly/UFExOT

Tell the EPA to REJECT DOW's Poisoned Proposal

Tell EPA: Keep Dow's 2,4-D crops off the market

http://action.panna.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=15703&utm_source=alert&utm_medium=action&utm_content=corp&utm_campaign=GE-pipeline 

Right now, EPA is reviewing Dow's "new use" application for 2,4-D to be used with the corporation's genetically engineered (GE) corn and soybeans. Before the public comment period closes on June 30, will you speak up to protect farmers and healthy communities? 

The stakes are staggering. Scientists estimate that widespread planting of Dow’s 2,4-D corn could trigger a 25-fold increase in the pesticide's use, from an estimated 4.2 million lbs at present to over 100 million lbs by 2019.

USDA has signaled it will likely approve the seeds, but without EPA greenlighting the "new use" of 2,4-D to accompany these crops, they'll never go to market.
Sign on below to tell EPA 2,4-D crops are a bad idea! Then please pass this action along to friends and family — we need to raise the volume on this issue before the comment period ends.

Gina McCarthy, Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20460

RE: Docket # EPA-HQ-OPP-2014-0195

Dear Administrator McCarthy,

We are writing to urge your agency to reject Dow's application for the "new use" of 2,4-D with its Enlist line of genetically engineered seeds. This antiquated, dangerous herbicide is prone to drift off target, damaging neighboring crops and threatening the health of nearby communities.

As you know, 2,4-D is a reproductive toxicant, suspected endocrine disruptor and possible carcinogen. Children are particularly susceptible to its effects. If EPA approves Dow’s new 2,4-D formula, use — and therefore exposures — will go up. Agricultural scientists warn that widespread planting of Enlist corn could trigger as much as a 25-fold increase in use of 2,4-D on corn, from an estimated 4.2 million lbs. at present to over 100 million lbs. by 2019.

Recognizing a potential public health disaster looming on the horizon, 70 physicians, nurses and other health professionals have already urged EPA to reject Dow’s application for new uses of 2,4-D on genetically engineered corn.

American farmers, too, are deeply concerned that Dow’s Enlist corn system will threaten their crops and therefore their livelihoods. Drift from 2,4-D is already responsible for more episodes of crop injury than any other herbicide, and its vastly increased use promises still more damage to crops like non-GE soybeans and cotton, vegetables and fruit.

While Dow says it has developed a new formulation less prone to drifting for miles, the older highly volatile formula is still widely available and its lower cost creates a powerful market incentive to continue its use. And we know from experience that regardless of best practices put forth, pesticide drift is difficult to contain.

Verizon: Customer Service

WARNING: Names are Not changed to protect anyone 

 I Really, Really, Really Dislike Verizon......

Not only is their website User UNFRIENDLY, but their "Live Chat staff": What a bunch of morons!


I have been having problems w/ connection, so "Live Chat" convinced me to upgrade.... I did, for two months the connection speed is just as slow if not worse......

Last night (I should have figured this out sooner) I decided to reboot the modem...... Ah ha ha ha ha ha, well there's the problem. For over 3 minutes it refused to connect to the DSL lines, and when it did, it would still not connect to the internet......

It took me more than 4 re-boots and 10 minutes to connect to the internet....

So, today I get on "Live Chat" w/ Verizon and I spoke w/ Valle; Valle completely ignored the information I provided and kept trying to get me to upgrade to a higher speed.... Even after I explained Twice that I was having modem problems and I needed a new modem.....

After explaining a Third time in ALL CAPS..... Valle disappeared and the next thing I know I was talking to Tech Support....

Tech Support was Pooja..... HOW WONDERFUL! As soon as I explained the problem, Pooja "got-it" and is sending me a New (up-to-date) modem at no charge......

So then I wanted to speak to Customer Service about the poor & Excellent Customer Service I received...... And you know what? You Can Not Contact Anyone.......

Their e-mail (if you can find it, because it is very cleverly hidden) only allows you to talk about your services..... and although they have a "Live Chat" it closes early.........

So.... I used their "Feedback" option, which allows you no response.... ad gives you a Dead-End Customer Service link.

VERIZON: You SUCK Eggs!

FUKUSHIMA: RADIATION HELL

Jess Keenan‎Radiation Remedy

The raw truth about Fukushima - A MUST watch for everyone. 



I invite you to join my group, Radiation Remedy, where I share information about why Dr. Michael Nobel (from the Peace Prize family) endorsed the only product he has ever endorsed, ProPectin, the reason being it is the most powerful radiation treatment in the world. 

A study from the Belrad Institute of Radiation Safety showed that children taking ProPectin reduced their Cesium-137 (Cs-137) levels by 62.6%.

This is available to everyone, and I would love the opportunity to show you how you can share this product with anyone who has been affected by radiation areas across Japan or Russia/Europe. Not only for the people of today, but for the generations of children to come.
This is significant in the health of thousands of people who not only have come into contact with the radiation, but also for people who have received cancer treatment, who have kidney problems or heavy metal poisoning. Anyone who needs an intense detoxification of harmful elements or contaminants from their body. 

Please feel free to send me a friend request, and come along to my group to check this out further. You can genuinely make a difference here x

Government FORCED DNA Samples

Federal Contractors Set Up Roadblocks in 30 U.S. Cities to Harvest DNA Samples

Home, News, world truth November 25, 2013  

Federal contractors have been setting up roadblocks in cities across the country with the purpose of collecting DNA samples from passing motorists.  The multi-million dollar federal program has been disturbing drivers and alarming civil libertarians.

The checkpoints consist of uniformed agents blocking a public road and flagging drivers into a testing area or a parking lot.   There, the drivers are requested to submit a saliva or blood sample to the federal government.

The roadblocks were part of a study orchestrated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).  The agency contracted the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, based in Calverton, MD, to perform the roadblocks.  The program costs taxpayers $7.9 million over 3 years, according to NBC News Dallas-Fort Worth.

The agency confirmed that the operation is currently being launched in 30 different U.S. cities.

Video Link:  http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=862_1385297162

Drivers are offered cash for surrendering DNA samples.  The going rate is $10 for a cheek-swab and $50 for blood drawn from the vein.  The goal, according to the NHTSA, is to decrease impaired-driving accidents by analyzing raw bodily fluids fresh off the street.

“They want to find out of all the people surveyed, how many people were driving with alcohol in their system, or prescription drugs, things like that,” said Lt. Freddie Turrentine of the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, in Pell City, Alabama.

Voluntary or not?

The NHTSA says that the samples are “voluntary,” but drivers have had varying experiences.

Kim Cope, of North Fort Worth, Texas, said that the checkpoint she experienced was not voluntary at all.  She was forced off the road into a parking lot on November 15th and pressured into submitting to a breathalyzer.  Cope was on her lunch break when she was forced into the checkpoint.  ”I gestured to the guy in front that I just wanted to go straight, but he wouldn’t let me and forced me into a parking spot,” she said to NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.

“They were asking for cheek swabs. They would give $10 for that. Also, if you let them take your blood, they would pay you $50 for that.” But Cope was not interested in getting paid. “I finally did the Breathalyzer test just because I thought that would be the easiest way to leave.”

“How voluntary is it when you have a police officer in uniform flagging you down?” asked Susan Watson, executive director of the Alabama chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. “Are you going to stop? Yes, you’re going to stop.”

“Although this was voluntary it was not voluntary that you stop and hear the DNA for CASH pitch,” said Alabama resident ‘J. Bosey‘ after experiencing a checkpoint in June.

Carl Olund, another driver was subjected to a roadblock in Fort Worth, told NBCDFW.com that he was pressured into provide samples of his breath and saliva to the federal agents there.  Not knowing the stop was “voluntary,” he said his rationale for cooperating was that he felt if he left the roadblock without cooperating he might have had “4 or 5 cops chasing [him].”

“It just doesn’t seem right that you can be forced off the road when you’re not doing anything wrong,” said Cope, discovering the tyranny of police checkpoints.  “None of it felt voluntary.”

And as a Fort Worth attorney discovered in the fine print, some searches are blatantly performed without consent.  Attorney Frank Colosi pointed out that the fine print on a form given to drivers informs them their breath was tested by “passive alcohol sensor readings before the consent process has been completed.”

One such search can be performed with a breath sensor disguised as a flashlight.  When a police officer sticks his flashlight in a driver’s face, its not just for intimidation and humiliation.  It may also be to perform a warrantless search of their breath.

“They’re essentially lying to you when they say it’s completely voluntary, because they’re testing you at that moment,” Colosi said.

Problems:

The aura of authority.  While insisting the program is “voluntary,” the NHTSA is going to the trouble of setting up roadblocks and hiring uniformed local cops to staff them.  While they are technically “off-duty” with their local departments — and receiving paychecks directly from the federal government — they are still utilizing their official police uniforms, official police vehicles, and official police equipment to make drivers comply with the roadblocks.   To reinforce the claim that the checkpoints are voluntary, the survey takers should be dressed in plain clothes, not presenting themselves as police officers giving orders

Ineffective.  Common sense tells us that if the tests are voluntary, and the goal is to find people who are breaking the law, then the data is going to be useless.  The people who are actually impaired on the road are going to make every effort to avoid being caught.  The resultant test group will be comprised mostly of people who are not impaired and just want to collect some free Federal giveaway money.

Expensive.  For a country that runs trillion dollar deficits annually, the federal government certainly finds some bizarre things to spend money on.  Spending nearly $8 million on an ineffective and invasive survey seems like an easy place to start cutting.

Searches without consent.  Kim Cope’s account draws into question whether the roadblocks are being presented as voluntary at all.  And as pointed out above, the “passive alcohol sensor readings” are performed on people without their consent.

Federal overreach.  The roadblocks are, at least in some cases, being set up by the federal government without the local government’s knowledge or approval.  In Alabama, Gov. Robert Bentley received complaints about the NHTSA checkpoints and admitted he had not been notified of their presence.

More dubiously, the program has the passive effect of conditioning the public to accept government agents setting up roadblocks in their communities for any reason imaginable.   If Americans wish to live in a society that does not accept police checkpoints as a routine part of their daily lives, it is important to push back against these programs at every opportunity.

Source:

www.policestateusa.com

NEW: Chembombs not Chemtrails

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMSRPem4n7s#t=14

From Chemtrails to Chembombs, Aerial Aerosol Explosions are the New Dispersion Method Worldwide.mp4

Published on Sep 8, 2012

 

Chemtrails are now old school. Chembombs are the latest evolution of geoengineering. These are Aerial Aerosol Explosions shot into the stratosphere from ships and from land creating massive artificial chem clouds. This video shows the evidence from infrared satellite images and Google Earth of chem bombs aerosol explosions worldwide. People are seeing fewer chemtrail lines in the sky, but more chem clouds. This is the reason why.

....Chembomb explosions are done away from population centers and then drift over cities. They are not as obvious as traditional chemtrails, but are easily detected on infrared satellite images and even on Google Earth's weather layer. The nano size particles of aluminum, barium and strontium in the geoengineering aerosols are highly reflective and therefore dominate the infrared satellite images.

....This video also teaches you how to do your own research. Go to: http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west
then choose your region and select the funktop flash loop. (You need to have Adobe Flash, free) This shows a real time, color enhanced infrared loop of the selected region over the past 6-8 hours. The chem bombs are bright red. As they disburse, they change to blue then yellow the bright white. In the sky these artificial chem clouds look like stringy, gooey, cotton candy like un-natural clouds high up in the stratosphere, above the normal cloud layers. These artificial stratospheric clouds follow jet stream flows and usually move in a different direction then the lower natural tropospheric clouds.

...You can also view chem clouds on Google Earth. Just download Google Earth (free) and click the weather layer box on the left. You will see a real time infrared satellite images overlaid on Google Earth. Again the highly reflective metals in these man-made aerosol clouds dominate the image and show as bright white. The natural clouds are not reflective and show as light gray. Notice the round explosions of bright white clouds mostly over the ocean. These are the chem bombs creating massive worldwide chem clouds.

....The video ends with good news. On Maui there is a proposed law called the Maui Clean Sky Ordinance that regulates geoengineering activity that affect Maui County. It requires an Environmental Impact Statement and the Informed Consent of the Maui County Council before any aerial spraying around Maui may occur. For more info go to: http://www.MauiSkyWatch.org

....This video is of a presentation by Maui resident Bruce Douglas at the 2012 Consciousness Beyond Chemtrails Conference in Los Angeles on August 17-19, 2012. Over 20 presenters share their information about chemtrails, geoengineering and related subjects. Buy the DVD of the entire event. Go to: http://www.ConsciousnessBeyondChemtra... for details.

• Category

  Nonprofits & Activism

• License

  Standard YouTube License

When Your Water Catches Fire

‘Conclusive Link’ Between Fracking, Aquifer Contamination Found In Texas

Posted 1 day ago by Satyapriya

Articles

Environmental

Fracking Texas

0

Source: www.commondreams.org | Original Post Date: June 6, 2014 -

Parker County homeowner Steve Lipsky demonstrated for local TV news outlet WFAA how water coming from his underground well can be ignited.

Scientists say water samples from Texas man’s well show identical chemical signatures from nearby gas drilling operations.

Independent scientists who have reviewed a water analysis conducted by state authorities of a Texas resident’s drinking well say the chemical signatures found in the water may provide “the nation’s first conclusive link” between fracking operations and aquifer contamination.

Though a state investigation—conducted by the Texas Railroad Commission in response to an official complaint filed by landowner and Parker County resident Steve Lipsky—said it found the chemical analysis of the water inconclusive, experts shown the results say the commission was simply wrong. “And not just by a little,” reports local ABC-affiliate WFAA News who shared the results with several scientists, “but by a lot.”

Lipsky said he has long believed that nearby hydraulic fracturing by the Range Resources company was to blame for the increasing amounts of methane and other chemicals in his drinking water. Since 2010, he says, growing amounts of methane have been seeping into the groundwater beneath his land – enough of it so that he can literally light the water coming out of his well on fire.

Range Resources says there is no connection between the methane in Lipsky’s well and their drilling, but scientists shown the results from the water analysis—specifically one called an isotopic analysis—say the chemical composition shows they are an exact match to the gas being fracked at two nearby drilling sites—called Butler and the Teal—within the Barnett Shale deposit.

“The methane and ethane numbers from the Butler and Teal production are essentially exactly the same as from Lipsky’s water well,” said earth scientist Geoffrey Thyne of Wyoming, who reviewed the data for WFAA. “It tells me that the gas is the same, and that the gas in Lipsky’s water well was derived from the Barnett formation.”

And soil scientist Bryce Payne of Pennsylvania—who himself conducted testing Lipsky’s water in 2013—agreed with that assessment and told WFAA the gas in Lipsky’s water (referred to in the state’s report as “well number 8″) is clearly the result of fracking operations.

“The gas from well number 8 is coming from the Barnett and it’s coming nearly straight from the Barnett,” Payne said.

Thyne and Payne separately told WFAA that they believe the test results could represent the nation’s first conclusive link between fracking and aquifer contamination, even if the state commission has so far refused to acknowledge the weight of the evidence.

“What we seem to have here is the first good example that that, in fact, is happening,” said Thyne.

 

Watch the entire WFAA report as it aired for local Texas residents on Thursday night:

Written by Jon Queally of www.commondreams.org

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

26 (Twenty-Six) MILLION LBS of Toxins in Our Waterways

Report Exposes Companies That Dumped 206 Million Pounds of Toxic Chemicals Into U.S. Waterways

http://ecowatch.com/2014/06/23/toxic-chemicals-waterways/ 

Brandon Baker | June 23, 2014 9:31 am | Comments

Research from Environment America shows that 2012 was a bigger year for toxic chemical dumping than most of us could have imagined.

Industrial facilities across the U.S. dumped more than 206 million pounds of toxic chemicals into waterways in 2012, according to the “Wasting Our Waterways” report. The figures about the nation, as a whole, are stark, as are figures about individual regions and companies. For instance, Tyson Foods Inc. alone dumped more than 18.5 million pounds—about 9 percent of the nationwide total.

“America’s waterways should be clean—for swimming, drinking and supporting wildlife,” said Ally Fields, clean water advocate for Environment America’s Research and Policy Center. “But too often, our waters have become a dumping ground for polluters. The first step to curb this tide of toxic pollution is to restore Clean Water Act protections to all our waterways.”

Hope for such a legislative restoration explains the report’s timing. It arrives as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers restoring protections to about 2 million miles of waterways. The public comment period for the proposal ends in October.
“Looking at the data from our report [last week], you can see why polluters might oppose any efforts to better protect our waters,” Fields said. “That’s why we are working with farmers, small businesses and hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans to make sure our voices for clean water are heard in Washington D.C.

“The future of the waterways we love—from the Chesapeake Bay to the Colorado River—hangs in the balance.”

 Here are some other findings:

• Watersheds receiving the highest volumes of toxic pollution were the Lower Ohio River-Little Pigeon River (Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky), the Upper New River (Virginia) and the Middle Savannah River (Georgia and South Carolina).

• Of the top 10 parent-companies releasing the largest amount of toxins, four are corporate agribusiness companies: Tyson, Cargill Inc., Perdue Farms Inc. and Pilgrims Pride Corp.
• Industrial facilities released more than 1.4 million pounds of chemicals linked to cancer into 688 local watersheds during 2012, including arsenic, benzene and chromium. The North Fork Humboldt River watershed in Nevada received the largest release of carcinogens among local watersheds, followed by the Lake Maurepas watershed in Louisiana.
  

The report also provides a state-by-state breakdown of the toxic dumping, along with a ranking of dumping companies around the country.

“It’s high time that we restore protections for the drinking water for 1 in 3 Americans,” said Fields. “That’s why [we released] this report and running an ad in Politico as part of a broad effort to educate the public and engage elected officials to weigh in with the Obama administration in support of its Clean Water Act rulemaking.”

HAARP: Not the Musical Instrument

US Military H.A.A.R.P facility in Exmouth,Western Australia that is even more advanced than the one in Alaska responsible for the spiral hologram over Norway that was blatant Project Bluebeam 'testing'...   

http://www.disclose.tv/forum/norway-spiral-project-blue-beam-t15765.html

Retirement Reason......

Once upon a time, I mistakenly believed that if you excelled at your job/career, were of service to your community, provided excel customer service and played nice w/ others that you'd have a have a long, happy, & prosperous work environment.....

Well, in the past three years I have learned that to not be the truth......

When there is one of highly questionable sanity, who fits most all diagnosis in the DSM V, and they are allowed to run amok....  well then your work environment turns into HELL.

So taking the above meme to heart I say: Adios y queda al infierno en donde nacio. (Goodby, and stay in the HELL from which you were born).

I'm not going to continue to be the best I can be or give my all to a job where b oth supervisors and  management ignore the bullied, and enable the insane because they fear a lawsuit.

True Terrorism

 

The true terrorists of our world do not meet at the docks at midnight, or scream "Allahu Akbar" before some violent action. The true terrorists of our world wear 5000 dollar suits and work in the highest positions of finance, government and business. -Peter Joseph, The Zeitgeist Movement

The Mind Unleashed
www.themindunleashed.org

When You're Insane......

Allegiance to Good

OIL SPILL: COLORADO

Crude oil spills into Poudre near Windsor

Ryan Maye Handy, The Coloradoan 5:41 p.m. MDT June 20, 2014

 

(Photo: Chancey Bush/The Coloradoan )

712 CONNECTTWEETLINKEDIN 4 COMMENTEMAILMORE

A storage tank damaged by recent flooding has dumped 7,500 gallons of crude oil into the Poudre River near Windsor, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission reported late Friday afternoon.

There appears to be no drinking water affected by the spill, although the oil has stained vegetation as far as a quarter of a mile away from the damaged tank, COGCC spokesman Todd Hartman said.
The spill is east of Weld County Road 23, just north of the Poudre River near the Poudre River Trail.
The tank’s operator, Noble Energy, discovered the spill Tuesday afternoon and later reported it to the COGCC, the state’s regulatory agency for the oil and gas industry. Recent high river flows undercut the bank where the storage tank was sitting, causing the tank to drop and breaking a valve. About 178 barrels of oil dumped into the river.

The well near the tank has been shut in, and a second tank in the area appears to be unaffected, Hartman said in a news release.

COGCC and water quality experts from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment were at the scene of the tank spill, where clean-up efforts were underway Friday. Clean-up crews are working to absorb the spilled oil and a vac-truck is removing oil-filled standing water from a low-lying area around the tank.

More Stories

• 

  
  
• 
  
  June 20, 2014, 10:05 p.m.

PROBLEMS?

The High Cost of Iraq

A tale of two policies: US in Iraq and South Sudan

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/06/us-foreign-policy-iraq-south-sud-20146186645789446.html

The US is becoming very skilled on conjuring up failed states, and helping them fail even more. Last updated: 18 Jun 2014 10:38

Abdelwahab El-Affendi Dr Abdelwahab El-Affendi is Reader in Politics and the Centre for the Study, University of Westminster and Co-ordinator of the Centre's Democracy and Islam Programme since 1998. RSS

Regional actors have played a significant role in South Sudan peace negotiations [AFP/Getty Images]

During the past couple of years, an almost identical scenario unfolded in two recently "liberated" countries whose regimes are proud US creations. In both cases, the leader, who also happens to be the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, accused the vice-president of treason and crimes against the state and ordered his arrest. As the accused were forced to flee, the country descended into chaos and civil war. The United States moved swiftly to tackle the crisis and safeguard its investment. But the policies it adopted in each country were diametrically opposed. In the first instance, it hastened to enhance peace-keeping operations and put pressure on both sides into reaching a ceasefire and urged peace negotiations. The overall emphasis was on reconciliation and the reconstruction of the political space on a more equitable basis. In the second, the US quickly voiced support for the leader, and even offered military assistance to crush the dissent. No offers of peace negotiations or ceasefire were made, and the leader was not advised to practice democratic virtues. In both countries, the situation continues to deteriorate. Ironically, the tyrant the US promised to help militarily is faring much worse than the one being supported politically. The first country is South Sudan, and the second Iraq. Both were pet projects of US politicians and policy-makers, not to mention powerful lobbies. Both were initially trumpeted as glorious "missions accomplished". A 'pre-failed' state In the case of South Sudan, the investment included decades of support for the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), and the constituency involved was much broader. Iraq was a more recent - and much more controversial - venture. But the investment was direct and massive: thousands of lives sacrificed and tens of billions of dollars squandered, not to mention reputations and careers staked. In both cases, the warning signs were clear from the beginning, but few wanted to take heed. Inside Story - Is Maliki behind Iraq's sectarian divide? For decades, successive US administrations offered enthusiastic support for the South Sudan rebels, often in defiance of Cold War logic (SPLA rebels were supported by pro-Moscow Ethiopia and Cuba, while Sudan was a US ally when the rebellion broke out in 1983). In 1985, a "Sudanese Spring" that was uniquely ahead of its time ushered in a democratic (and pro-Western) government.  Yet Washington support, even for peace, was conspicuous by its absence. By the end of its shaky tenure in 1989, the only democratic country in the region was paying the US more in debt service dues than it was receiving in "aid".  Ironically, the US moved to encourage peace negotiations when a military regime came to power in 1989, indicating that the habit of trusting of military dictators to break.  The Clinton administration presided over its own mini-Cold War in the region, only to reverse its "regime-change" policy in 2000 and initiate intelligence cooperation with Khartoum. The Bush administration did more of the same, and also pursued aggressive peace-making policies, culmination in the signing of Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of January 2005, which offered the South the option of secession. Maintaining a united Sudan was the preferred US option, but the Darfur crisis intervened, making it difficult to provide the necessary support for the CPA. The US and its allies consequently presided over a shambolic process that ended in a chaotic separation, bringing into existence what many dubbed in advance a "pre-failed state".  Yet for the true believers, the warning signs (including serial atrocities by SPLA factions, a flawed 2010 elections, endemic corruption and gross human rights violations) were repeatedly brushed away. But as Mahmood Mamdani would later say about Darfur, this was seen as a "moral crusade" where politics was not allowed to intervene. However, only the gullible and true believers would have been surprised when President Salva Kiir began sacking his generals en masse in early 2013, having earlier precipitated a senseless war with Khartoum. By mid-2013, he sacked his entire cabinet and practically dissolved the party hierarchy. In December 2013, a botched attempt to selectively disarm non-Dinka soldiers in the Presidential Guard led to a mutiny that was then dubbed a failed coup. Mass arrests of dissidents followed, sparking a civil war that is still raging. 'A suicide pact' In Iraq, the warning signs were even clearer, as the much trumpeted re-invention of a democratic Iraq turned into a debacle. US troops responded to the failure of the invasion to receive the universal welcome anticipated with tactics reminiscent of Saddam Hussein's brutal ways. Eventually, as the US gave up and decided to cut and run, the wily prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, saw an opportunity to carve a new his own power monopoly. He took full control of the army and security sector, and began to extend his dominance over the judiciary.  Profile: Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)     The parliament was paralysed by factionalism, and the presidency's limited influence was compromised by President Jalal Talabani's ill health. But Maliki still tried to neutralise the presidency by charging Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi, the most senior Sunni politician in the administration, with terrorism offenses in December 2011.  Al-Hashimi was forced to flee the country, but interestingly no effort was made to appoint an acting president or a new vice-president, which clearly meant that the objective was to paralyse the presidency, above all else. Even before last week's calamity and the total collapse of the Iraqi army, it was clear to all rational observers that Maliki's power grab was going to send Iraq into a tail spin. But the US did nothing to restrain its ally, who chose the day after the completion of US troops to pull out to indict the vice-president.  He was warmly welcomed in the White House, and military support kept pouring in. Maliki, it is to be recalled, has been installed in 2006 with full CIA support in a naive attempt to "curtail Iranian influence". Keeping him sweet, the delusion still persists, will prevent him from falling into the arms of the Ayatollahs. This borders on the farcical, since the man is a true believer as far as Tehran was concerned, while Washington is for him merely an ally of convenience.  It is clear that while the US has adopted the correct policy in South Sudan, albeit after trying everything else, its embrace of Maliki looks like a suicide pact. In both cases, the US has moved too late and done too little. In South Sudan, the credit goes to local regional actors (the African Union - AU), and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development - IGAD), who took lead in responding quickly and constructively to the situation.  IGAD provided mediation and sent monitors to police the ceasefire, while the AU set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate claims of war crimes. The US had only to follow their lead. No such credible and competent actors existed in Iraq's vicinity. In both cases, the problem was not adopting a "tough love" policy towards its spoilt proteges, who were indulged too much for their own good. The divergence in policies also reflects two sides of an "Orientalist" paradigm of condescension and demonisation that continues to inform US foreign policy towards the region. In South Sudan, "Africans" were treated as children who are not responsible for their actions. So perpetrators of vile atrocities were not condemned and ostracised, but merely admonished to be "good boys".  In Iraq, people with genuine grievances were treated as "terrorists" who can only be annihilated, not as human beings who could be bargained with. In both cases, it was an attitude demeaning of those involved, and a policy that leads nowhere. Abelwahab El-Affendi is Coordinator, Democracy and Islam Programme, Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster. His new book Genocidal Nightmares: Narratives of Insecurity and the Logic of Mass Atrocities will be published by Bloomsbury later this year. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

Exploding Oil Trains: New Threat or Paving the Way for Pipelines?

The new oil crisis: Exploding trains

 

By KATHRYN A. WOLFE and BOB KING | 6/18/14 5:01 AM EDT Updated: 6/18/14 4:33 PM EDT

 

Communities throughout the U.S. and Canada are waking up to the dark side of North America’s energy boom: Trains hauling crude oil are crashing, exploding and spilling in record numbers as a fast-growing industry outpaces the federal government’s oversight. 

In the 11 months since a runaway oil train derailed in the middle of a small town in Quebec, incinerating 47 people, the rolling virtual pipelines have unleashed crude oil into an Alabama swamp, forced more than 1,000 North Dakota residents to evacuate, dangled from a bridge in Philadelphia and smashed into an industrial building near Pittsburgh. The latest serious accident was April’s fiery crash in Lynchburg, Virginia, where even the mayor had been unaware oil was rolling through his city.

Latest on POLITICO

These dangerous moments on the rails raise questions about the safety of transporting increasing amounts of oil in mile-long chains of tank cars, some of them decades old. Community leaders and activists from Oregon to Alabama to Albany call the trains a disaster waiting to happen — despite the Department of Transportation’s efforts to play catchup through a series of emergency orders, agreements with industry and proposed regulations being reviewed by the White House.

(WATCH: News coverage of recent oil train spills)

A POLITICO analysis of federal data from more than 400 oil-train incidents since 1971 shows that a once-uncommon threat has escalated dramatically in the past five years:

• This year has already shattered the record for property damage from U.S. oil-train accidents, with a toll exceeding $10 million through mid-May — nearly triple the damage for all of 2013. The number of incidents so far this year — 70 — is also on pace to set a record.
• Almost every region of the U.S. has been touched by an oil-train incident. These episodes are spreading as more refineries take crude from production hot spots like North Dakota’s Bakken region and western Canada, while companies from California and Washington state to Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida build or expand terminals for moving oil from trains to barges, trucks or pipelines.
• The voluntary reforms that DOT and industry have enacted so far might not have prevented the worst accidents. For example, the department announced a voluntary 40 mph speed limit this year for oil trains traveling through densely populated areas, but DOT’s hazardous-incident database shows only one accident in the past five years involving speeds exceeding that threshold. And unlike Canada’s transportation ministry, DOT has not yet set a mandatory deadline for companies to replace or upgrade their tank cars.

Starting this month, DOT is requiring railroads to share more timely information with state emergency managers about the trains’ cargoes and routes. But some railroads are demanding that states sign confidentiality agreements, citing security risks.

(Earlier on POLITICO: Gas prices to climb amid Iraq chaos)

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says each step is a move in the right direction.
“There’s been such exponential growth in the excavation of this crude oil that it’s basically outrun our normal systems,” Foxx said in an interview. But Foxx, who became secretary four days before the Quebec disaster, added: “We’ve been focused on this since I came in. … We’re going to get this right.”
Defending the voluntary speed limits, Foxx said: “You have to understand that all these pieces fit together. So a stronger tank car with lower speeds is safer than a less strong tank car at higher speeds.”

(Also on POLITICO: Full energy and environment policy coverage)

Members of Congress are joining the call for more action.

“The boom in domestic oil production has turned many railways and small communities across our country into de facto oil pipelines, and the gold-rush-type phenomenon has unfortunately put our regulators behind the eight ball,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has been pushing for stricter safety and disclosure rules. “It has become abundantly clear that there are a whole slew of freight rail safety measures that, while for many years have been moving through the gears of bureaucracy, must now be approved and implemented in haste.”

Sierra Club staff attorney Devorah Ancel said the rising damage toll should “ring alarm bells in the minds of our decision-makers, from cities all the way up to Congress and the president.”

(Sign up for POLITICO’s Morning Transportation tip sheet)

“Our fear is that the regulators are being pushed over by the industry,” she said.

Like the oil boom itself, the surge in oil-train traffic has come much faster than anyone expected. Meanwhile, the trains face less onerous regulations than other ways of moving oil, including pipelines like TransCanada’s Keystone XL project.
Keystone, which would carry oil from Alberta to the Gulf Coast, has waited more than five years for a permit from the Obama administration while provoking a national debate about climate change. But no White House approval was needed for all the trains carrying Canadian oil into the United States. In fact, freight railroads in the U.S. are considered “common carriers” for hazardous materials, meaning they can’t refuse to ship it as long as it meets federal guidelines.

(Also on POLITICO: Clinton keeps coy on Keystone)

The oil-trains issue is bringing a flurry of foot traffic to the White House Office of Management and Budget these days as railroad and oil industry representatives press their case on what any new regulations should look like. Representatives of the country’s leading hauler of Bakken crude, Warren Buffett’s BNSF Railway, met with OMB regulatory chief Howard Shelanski on June 3 and June 6, and joined people from railroads including CSX, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern in another meeting June 10.

DOT says it has been working to address the problem since as far back as September 2012, and that efforts accelerated after Foxx took over in July. His chief of staff, Sarah Feinberg, holds a meeting each morning on the issue, and she and Foxx meet regularly with top leadership at the two key DOT agencies that oversee railroads and the transport of hazardous materials.

The voluntary agreements that Foxx’s department has worked out with the freight rail industry and shippers address issues like track inspections, speed limits, brakes and additional signaling equipment. Those are all “relevant when dealing with reducing risk” from oil train traffic, the freight rail industry’s main trade group said in a statement.

(Sign up for POLITICO’s Morning Energy tip sheet)

“The number one and two causes of all main track accidents are track or equipment related,” the Association of American Railroads said. The statement added, “That is how the industry came up with the steps in the voluntary agreement in February aimed at reducing risks of these kinds of accidents when moving crude oil by rail.”

Meanwhile, the oil train business is primed to get bigger. Even TransCanada might start using rail to ship oil to the U.S. while waiting for Keystone to get the green light, CEO Russ Girling said in an interview in May — despite agreeing that trains are a costlier and potentially more dangerous option.

“If anybody thinks that is a better idea, that’s delusional,” Girling said.

In fact, the State Department estimated this month that because of the risks of rail compared with pipelines, an additional 189 injuries and 28 deaths would occur every year if trains end up carrying the oil intended for Keystone.

But environmentalists who warn about the dangers of crude-by-rail say it would be wrong to turn the issue into an excuse to approve Keystone. For one thing, the Texas-bound pipeline would replace only part of the train traffic, which has spread its tendrils all across the U.S. “There are no pipelines that run from North Dakota to the West Coast,” the Sierra Club’s Ancel said.

Authors:

• Kathryn A. Wolfe (kwolfe@politico.com | @kathrynwolfe)
,
• Bob King (bking@politico.com | @BKingDC)

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/exploding-oil-trains-energy-environment-107966.html#ixzz352C0DAn7

Monsanto: Now Visiting In Your Child's School

Wednesday, June 18, 2014 / PROGRESSIVE JOURNALISM FOR POSITIVE ACTION

s | Log In | Register |

  CONNECT

Monsanto Visits Local School for 47 Minute Propaganda Presentation

Christina Sarich

Natural Society / News Report

Published: Sunday 15 June 2014 

 

As if the mis-education of our youth wasn’t already a huge issue, guess what your tax dollars are now paying for? Monsanto is visiting local schools to tell twelve year olds all about the ‘good’ they are doing in the world as an ‘agricultural leader.’

As if the mis-education of our youth wasn’t already a huge issue, guess what your tax dollars are now paying for? Monsanto is visiting local schools to tell twelve year olds all about the ‘good’ they are doing in the world as an ‘agricultural leader.’ As NaturalBlaze puts it, we’re not mentioning this to ‘attack’ schools for allowing Monsanto to ‘infiltrate’, but rather to let you know that Monsanto could very well be coming to a school near you.

 

One parent filmed his son when he returned from school recently to report that Monsanto had taken over his gym class, showed a power point presentation and passed out a deck of playing cards to students with the Monsanto logo emblazoned on it. Each card had a contrived fact on it, one stated, “the US produces 30% of the world’s soybeans.” Obviously there were no cards that told the truth about what Monsanto does – namely illegally profiting by taking over seed production all over the world and sewing genetically altered crops that require ever-increasing amounts of cancer-causing glyphosate to grow.

 

The father asked his son if the Monsanto representative had said anything about the chemicals that they were spraying on our food. The son said, “nope.” The father then asked if the representative told them about how Monsanto does business throughout the world. Again the child responded with, “nope.” Monsanto told children at his school that they created jobs for people and that they helped to feed the world.

 

NationofChange fights back with one simple but powerful weapon: the truth. Can you donate $5 to help us?

Monsanto also told a fable to children about how one farmer tried to get rid of Monsanto seed and the stuff they spray on their crops and that it caused him great trouble. Additionally, the company warned against saving heirloom, organic seed, though this particular term wasn’t used. When this child’s parent tried to contact the school about the uncanny way in which the Monsanto Corporation was trying to brainwash his child, he was referred to his child’s handbook. It turns out that the school’s principal was actually the one who set up permission for Monsanto to speak to the children:

 “The intro to my seventh grade school handbook/homework planner alerted us expressly that we were Human Resources for that state and that during school hours we belonged to the state and school.”

 

While the principal was apologetic about allowing Monsanto to speak to the children since the company is a ‘vilified entity’ he could not assure the parent that more propagandizing would not continue.

 

Similarly, the Council for Biotechnology Information (CBI)  has launched the “Biotechnology Basics Activity Book” for kids. With the intent to be used by ‘agriculture and science teachers’, the activity book spreads absurd lies about GMO crops — even going as far as to say that they ‘improve our health’ and ‘help the environment’.