@alexno (#1):
Apart from systematically encircling Iran, keeping stocks and profits for the defense industry monumentally high, and providing a ready-made distraction from any other domestic or geopolitical issue, I have no idea.

Posted by: Monolycus | Jan 12 2011 0:49 utc | 3

@ alexno, Monolycus and Maxcrat
I suggested another possibility on the Senator Graham Confirms Taliban Propaganda
thread.

Afghanistan’s resources could make it the richest mining region on earth:
…“$1 trillion of untapped minerals” ( that’s £’s not $’s)
…“copper, gold, iron and cobalt as well as vast amounts of lithium”
…“£1 trn figure underestimates what the true potential might be,”

For further elaboration on the same thread see post no. 11.

Posted by: juannie | Jan 12 2011 2:40 utc | 5

The following was taken from Jamie Kelso of Irish Radio, Whitenewsnow.com.
“This is an amazing story. We now learn that Jared Lee Loughner’s mother Amy Loughner is a member of the SAME Reform synagogue as Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords! That means that Amy’s son, who lives with his Jewish parents, Amy and Randy Loughner, is ALSO a member of the same synagogue as his shooting victim, Rep. Giffords.
Why didn’t we hear about this from our super-sleuth national media?
Instead we hear that a White man is the shooter. We hear that anti-Semitism is his motive.
But now…now…some FACTS are leaking out!
His best friend, Bryce Tierney, who got a “farewell” voice message the night before the shootings tells us that his friend is Jewish. He tells us that Jared Loughner put Mein Kampf down as “favorite reading” to irritate his Jewish mother, Amy.
The story and the coverup of the story gets wilder. The Loughners and the Giffords were members of the same Congregation Chaverim. On the Congregation Chaverim website we learn that this Reform synagogue that was founded in 1973 has 140 families. That’s a very small group. The Rabbi, Stephanie Aaron surely knows every single family member of her congregation on a first name basis! That includes 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner.
So, it is IMPOSSIBLE that Rabbi Stephanie Aaron did not KNOW instantly upon learning that a Jared Lee Loughner had shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords that BOTH people were members of her small congregation!
But does Rabbi Aaron make ANY effort to inform the media, as she takes hundreds and hundreds of media calls from the mass media, of this fact?

Posted by: hans | Jan 12 2011 12:01 utc | 7

Diverting to another topic but wanted to alert readers to a possible crisis in Lebanon: Hizbullah ministers reportedly set to quit the cabinet, causing the unity government to fall – Al-Jazeera
Something to watch as it develops.

Posted by: Bea | Jan 12 2011 14:21 utc | 9

Lebanese Government Collapses – Al-Jazeera

Posted by: Bea | Jan 12 2011 17:29 utc | 11

Sarah Palin makes it loud and clear that she is a Christian Zionist who is more loyal to Israel than the US. So I’m not sure why American-Jewish organizations, from J Street to AIPAC, want an apology from her for using the term “blood libel” as a metaphor to describe the Left’s persecution of her. Apparently they don’t understand that if it weren’t for pro-Zionists like Sarah Palin, the Israelis wouldn’t be receiving billions of dollars in aid from the US every year, nor would they be getting away with committing apartheid against the people of Palestine. They should know better than to bite the hand that feeds them!
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/01/12/palin-blood-libel/

Posted by: Cynthia | Jan 12 2011 22:22 utc | 13

Treasury Urged To Take Action Against WikiLeaks

House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y., Wednesday urged Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to place the whistleblower website WikiLeaks and its founder on a U.S. government list that would ban people and companies in the United States from conducting business with both.
WikiLeaks has come under fire by lawmakers and some Obama administration officials for releasing classified and other sensitive U.S. government documents, including most recently thousands of State Department diplomatic cables.
In a letter, King called on Geithner to place WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange on Treasury’s Specially Designated National and Blocked Persons List, which is maintained by the department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control. The list includes such groups and invidusals as terrorists and narcotics traffickers, according to the State Department .
“The U.S. government simply cannot continue its ineffective piecemeal approach of responding in the aftermath of WikiLeaks’ damage,” King wrote. “The administration must act to disrupt the WikiLeaks enterprise. The U.S. government should be making every effort to strangle the viability of Assange’s organization.”

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jan 13 2011 5:59 utc | 15

peter king is supposedly a catholic.
so, another thing you got to wonder about is why king thought invading iraq was such a good deal, when the pope was against the invasion… “Pope John Paul II calls War a Defeat for Humanity”
then, as the pope was objecting to the impending invasion of iraq, you got to wonder what king thought of the timing of the main media’s preoccupation with the priestly sex scandals.
then there’s king’s support of torture… we all know by now that torture, when it comes to gathering intelligence, is counter-productive; the main function of torture is to intimidate people who might find enough courage to go against the grain, and the threat of torture is enough to silence them.

Posted by: flickervertigo | Jan 13 2011 8:12 utc | 17

“Says his mother was a painter but she painted what she saw, so naturally she wasn’t allowed to exhibit or buy materials. Because anything we see is a State secret. Also if it’s an illusion it’s a State secret. Even if it doesn’t work and never will, it’s a State secret. And if it’s a lie from top to bottom, then it’s the hottest State secret of the lot.
Says his father did twelve years in the camps and died of a surfeit of intellectual ability. Says the problem with his father was, he was a martyr.
Victims are bad enough, saints are worse, he says, but martyrs are the living end. Do I agree?’ I agree
the russia house john le carre

Posted by: flickervertigo | Jan 13 2011 9:05 utc | 19

Wikileaks: Bank Of America Documents Coming Soon, Watch The Short Film And Share It With The World
I HIGHLY recommend watching and sharing the cartoon.
It is a high-quality, entertaining production and should go viral. This is what I call patriotic in a very deep and concrete sense. Having seen many rather long and fact-filled videos on this subject, I think this version will be easy to watch and digest for many more people.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jan 13 2011 10:45 utc | 21

Secrecy News Blog: JASONs Ponder Military Role in Gene Research

The technology for sequencing human DNA is advancing so rapidly and the cost is dropping so quickly that the number of individuals whose DNA has been mapped is expected to grow “from hundreds of people (current) to millions of people (probably within three years),” according to a new report to the Pentagon (pdf) from the JASON defense science advisory panel. The Defense Department should begin to take advantage of the advances in “personal genomics technology” by collecting genetic information on all military personnel, the panel advised.
The cost of sequencing complete human genomes has been falling by about a factor of 30 per year over the last six years, the JASONs said. As a result, “it is now possible to order your personal genome sequenced today for a retail cost of under ~$20,000″ compared to around $300 million a decade ago. “This cost will likely fall to less than $1,000 by 2012, and to $100 by 2013.”
“At costs below $1,000 per genome, a number of intriguing applications of DNA sequencing become cost effective. For example, researchers will have access to thousands or even millions of human genomes to seek correlations between genotypes [i.e. the genetic makeup of individuals] and phenotypes [i.e, the expression of genetic information in observable traits].”
Currently, the understanding of “the linkages between the genotypes of individuals and their phenotypes is limited.” But “the explosion of available human genome sequence data will provide researchers from academia and industry with the genetic information necessary to conduct large-scale efforts to link genetic markers with human traits.”
For military purposes, it will be up to the Department of Defense “to determine which phenotypes… have special relevance to military performance and medical cost containment” and then presumably to select for those. “These phenotypes might pertain to short- and long-term medical readiness, physical and medical performance, and response to drugs, vaccines, and various environmental exposures…. More specifically, one might wish to know about phenotypic responses to battlefield stress, including post-traumatic stress disorder, the ability to tolerate conditions of sleep deprivation, dehydration, or prolonged exposure to heat, cold, or high altitude, or the susceptibility to traumatic bone fracture, prolonged bleeding, or slow wound healing.”
“Both offensive and defensive military operations may be impacted by the applications of personal genomics technologies through enhancement of the health, readiness, and performance of military personnel. It may be beneficial to know the genetic identities of an adversary and, conversely, to prevent an adversary from accessing the genetic identities of U.S. military personnel.”
…
..the JASONs advised the Pentagon, “The DoD should establish policies that result in the collection of genotype and phenotype data…. The complete diploid genome sequence for all military personnel should be collected” along with other related information.

Image Archive on the American Eugenics Movement

The philosopher George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This adage is appropriate to our current rush into the “gene age,” which has striking parallels to the eugenics movement of the early decades of the 20th century.
…
We now invite you to experience the unfiltered story of American eugenics – primarily through materials from the Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring Harbor, which was the center of American eugenics research from 1910-1940. In the Archive you will see numerous reports, articles, charts, and pedigrees that were considered scientific “facts” in their day. It is important to remind yourself that the vast majority of eugenics work has been completely discredited. In the final analysis, the eugenic description of human life reflected political and social prejudices, rather than scientific facts.

Against The Grain: The Perils of “Genohype”

Do genes determine race? Are some races innately more intelligent than others? And what about Charles Darwin — is his name safe from those who would push a racist or misogynist agenda? Jonathan Marks points out political leanings and racial ideas still at play in some scientific disciplines, including genetics.
Download program audio (mp3, 48.75 Mbytes)

Posted by: b real | Jan 13 2011 15:45 utc | 23

things are really heating up in zambia’s western province, where i have family & friends, and part of that story is one that’s becoming all too-painfully familiar…
months before northern rhodesia was granted independence in 1964 an agreement was reached w/ the kingdom of barotseland to become part of the new country named zambia under certain stipulations that provided for barotseland’s autonomy. barotseland covers a large area along the zambezi and its floodplains, rich w/ alluvial soils, fish, grains and cattle. the other regions in zambia pale by comparison.
though this barotseland agreement was essentially revoked by the zambian govt shortly thereafter, it was still respected in the sense that the zambian govt basically left the western province alone and limited its interference in governance there. remaining ignored and underdeveloped — which, afaik, is the majority preference of the peoples there whom have long resisted outside interests (merchants, business & politics) — the lozi kingdom has continued to see itself as a uniquely separate entity. even during colonial rule in the rest of nothern rhodesia, barotseland was unique in securing a protectorship from the british empire, allowing it to carry on uninterrupted (w/ the exception of proselytizing missionaries). post-1964, there has persisted an undercurrent of secessionist impulse and reasoning. that sentiment is being stirred again.
the barotseland agreement of 1964 acknowledged the king and his council’s powers over land matters and that “Barotse native courts shall have jurisdiction .. in respect of matters concerning rights over or interest in land in Barotseland.”
last year a new zambian constitution was drafted, and which went into effect this month, that raised huge concerns in barotseland, outlined in an article in the zambian post last august, Absence of Barotse agreement in draft constitution angers BRE. BRE is the barotse royal establishment. i’ll highlight one area of concern in particular

According to article 293(1), all rights of ownership, in searching for, mining and disposing of, minerals and petroleum, wheresoever located in Zambia, are hereby vested in the President in trust for, and on behalf of, the people of Zambia.

in october the zambian govt announced that it would be issuing licenses for oil and gas exploration. as you may have already guessed, some of those are in western province.
here’s a story in today’s lusaka times: Barotse Petroleum awarded exploration licence

GOVERNMENT has awarded the first petroleum exploration licence to a Zambian company, Barotse Petroleum Company, to explore oil and gas in Western Province.
And two other Zambian companies have successfully gone through to the second bidding round for petroleum exploration. The two are Majeetu, which bid for block 15 in North-Western Province, and Metprosol, block 34 in the Kafue Basin in Southern Province.
Barotse Petroleum Company is among the three Zambian companies which successfully bid for the petroleum blocks.
…
Mr Mwale said he is confident that other successful bidders will follow suit to obtain their licences.
…
He said bidders in Western Province should not be distracted by the current confusion in the province because Government will institute measures to protect their interests.

“confusion” is not what has been going on in western province. the other day the govt sent armed police (and perhaps military?) to a meeting re the barotseland agreement in the provincial capital of mongu which resulted in them firing live rounds on unarmed civilians and, according to my own well-placed sources there, killed six.
the zambian media – mostly based out of lusaka, far away, is only reporting two killed at the meeting, but talking w/ relatives there this morning, locals are reporting that there are at least 27 bodies accounted for in the ensuing crackdown as people reacted to the govt sending armed forces to what should have been a peaceful meeting. and now more forces have arrived from around the country, having set up roadblocks around mongu and the surrounding communities and also conducting house to house sweeps to detain males. i am getting this info from family members in mongu. they say that they’re hearing of people shot in their houses.
here’s an article in the zambian post today, Cops shoot dead Mongu youth, which i looked up b/c my brother-in-law says he sold them a picture of a body shot in one of the compounds near his place. they have a bureau in mongu, but otherwise there is no media operation (outside of radio) in the area. i don’t think this is his photo though or else they botched the credit, but the article gives an idea of some of what is going on.
limulunga is where the king’s palace is located, not far from mongu, and there was to have been a meeting there today, which relatives were attending, but i hear from others that it was never able to start.
there are many issues at play here – control of the land being foremost. also the issue of secession, which hightens even more w/ events in southern sudan this week, as well as long-standing tribal animosities. a quick review of the media in lusaka, and the generated comments, indicate that the rest of country is getting filtered information.
i hope to be able to get more info to pass on, but the phone connections were really poor today and my relatives do not have internet access.

Posted by: b real | Jan 15 2011 20:28 utc | 25

Sometimes, you just have to escape the relentless madness…
Marisa Monte – Bem Que Se Quis

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jan 18 2011 0:42 utc | 27