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Click on anything below and be INSTANTLY SMARTER! MORE DOG DAYS of CLIMATE CHANGE A few weeks ago we talked about AFRICOM. Nick Turse explains more in Obama’s Scramble for Africa: Secret Wars, Secret Bases, and the Pentagon’s “New Spice Route” in Africa a long read at TomDispatch. Here's a taste....... To support these mushrooming missions, near-constant training operations, and alliance-building joint exercises, outposts of all sorts are sprouting continent-wide, connected by a sprawling shadow logistics network. Most American bases in Africa are still small and austere, but growing ever larger and more permanent in appearance. .... The U.S. is now involved, directly and by proxy, in military and surveillance operations against an expanding list of regional enemies. They include al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in North Africa; the Islamist movement Boko Haram in Nigeria; possible al-Qaeda-linked militants in post-Qaddafi Libya; Joseph Kony’s murderous Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the Central African Republic, Congo, and South Sudan; Mali’s Islamist Rebels of the Ansar Dine, al-Shabaab in Somalia; and guerrillas from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula across the Gulf of Aden in Yemen.
A recent investigation by the Washington Post revealed that contractor-operated surveillance aircraft based out of Entebbe, Uganda, are scouring the territory used by Kony’s LRA at the Pentagon’s behest, and that 100 to 200 U.S. commandos share a base with the Kenyan military at Manda Bay. Additionally, U.S. drones are being flown out of Arba Minch airport in Ethiopia and from the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean, while drones and F-15 fighter-bombers have been operating out of Camp Lemonnier as part of the shadow wars being waged by the U.S. military and the CIA in Yemen and Somalia. Surveillance planes used for spy missions over Mali, Mauritania, and the Sahara desert are also flying missions from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, and plans are reportedly in the works for a similar base in the newborn nation of South Sudan.
U.S. special operations forces are stationed at a string of even more shadowy forward operating posts on the continent, including one in Djema in the Central Africa Republic and others in Nzara in South Sudan and Dungu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The U.S. also has had troops deployed in Mali, despite having officially suspended military relations with that country following a coup.
According to research by TomDispatch, the U.S. Navy also has a forward operating location, manned mostly by Seabees, Civil Affairs personnel, and force-protection troops, known as Camp Gilbert in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. U.S. military documents indicate that there may be other even lower-profile U.S. facilities in the country. In addition to Camp Lemonnier, the U.S. military also maintains another hole-and-corner outpost in Djibouti -- a Navy port facility that lacks even a name. AFRICOM did not respond to requests for further information on these posts before this article went to press.
Additionally, U.S. Special Operations Forces are engaged in missions against the Lord’s Resistance Army from a rugged camp in Obo in the Central African Republic, but little is said about that base either. “U.S. military personnel working with regional militaries in the hunt for Joseph Kony are guests of the African security forces comprising the regional counter-LRA effort,” Barnes told me. “Specifically in Obo, the troops live in a small camp and work with partner nation troops at a Ugandan facility that operates at the invitation of the government of the Central African Republic.” And that’s still just part of the story. ...... In addition, diplomatic clearances and airfield restrictions on U.S. military aircraft cost the Pentagon time and money, while often raising local suspicion and ire. In a recent article in the military trade publication Army Sustainment, Air Force Major Joseph Gaddis touts an emerging solution: outsourcing. The concept was tested last year, during another AFRICOM training operation, Atlas Drop 2011.
“Instead of using military airlift to move equipment to and from the exercise, planners used commercial freight vendors,” writes Gadddis. “This provided exercise participants with door-to-door delivery service and eliminated the need for extra personnel to channel the equipment through freight and customs areas.” Using mercenary cargo carriers to skirt diplomatic clearance issues and move cargo to airports that can’t support U.S. C-130s is, however, just one avenue the Pentagon is pursuing to support its expanding operations in Africa. ..... Read all of this! Then as a follow-up Tom posted Tomgram: U.S. Africa Command Debates TomDispatch .... As last week ended, TomDispatch received a “letter to the editor” from Colonel Tom Davis, director of the U.S. Africa Command Office of Public Affairs, disputing in some detail a number of Turse’s points. ....we’re posting Colonel Davis’s full letter, and a response from Turse. .... Two things remain to be said: first, beneath the detailed critique and response that follows lies an obvious difference of opinion that seems worth highlighting. Like a number of other TomDispatch writers, I believe that the U.S. military should not be responsible for Planet Earth; that it is not in our interest for the Pentagon to be dividing the globe, like a giant pie, into six “slices” covering almost every inch of the planet: U.S. European Command, or EUCOM (for Europe and Russia), the U.S. Pacific Command, or PACOM (Asia), CENTCOM (the Greater Middle East and a touch of North Africa), NORTHCOM (North America), SOUTHCOM (South America and most of the Caribbean), and AFRICOM (almost all of Africa). Nor should the U.S. military be garrisoning the planet in the historically unprecedented way it does. This imperial role of ours has little or nothing to do with “defense” and creates many possibilities for future blowback. Instead, it seems far more sensible to begin to shut down or cut back radically on our vast array of global bases and outposts (rather than, as in Africa, expanding them), and downsize our global mission in a major way. AFRICOM would obviously disagree, as would the Pentagon and the Obama administration, and the results of that basic disagreement about the role of the U.S. military in the world can be seen in what follows. Now comes Jayati Ghosh writing at the Guardian UK's "Poverty Matters" blog Hillary Clinton's morally superior speech in Africa was deluded Reports on Hillary Clinton's trip to Africa describe her as warning African leaders about co-operation with countries that want to exploit the continent's resources. In the pious and slightly smug tone that people in Africa – and, indeed, the rest of the developing world – are only too used to hearing from North Atlantic leaders, Clinton apparently went on to saythe US would stand up for democracy and universal human rights "even when it might be easier or more profitable to look the other way, to keep the resources flowing … Not every partner makes that choice, but we do and we will."
The subtext was all too clear, and the Chinese government was predictably swift to react. China's official news agency, Xinhua, said the statements were part of a hidden agenda "aimed at least partly at discrediting China's engagement with the continent and curbing China's influence there".
Even non-official, non-Chinese observers can be forgiven more than a twinge of scepticism. Leaving aside for a moment the morally superior tenor of the US secretary of state's speech, how true are her statements, especially coming from the representative of a country that has systematically exploited global resources for the better part of the past century, and supported dictatorships in that enterprise?
The list of authoritarian dictators supported by US governments is a global roll of dishonour: from Augusto Pinochet in Chile and Raul Videla in Argentina, to General Suharto in Indonesia, Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Idi Amin in Uganda. And these are just a few. Even Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Muammar Gaddafi in Libya basked for a time in western approval, as long as they made their oil resources available and opened up investment opportunities for western powers.
Even if we forget about past histories of neocolonialism many would argue are no longer relevant, how accurately does Clinton's sanctimonious assertion reflect the nature of current US (and European) involvement in economic relations with most developing countries?
The common discourse in the northern media – and increasingly evident in the public statements of leaders such as Clinton – is of how China (and to a lesser extent, India) is intent on gobbling up the natural resources of other developing countries, and of how it is willing to go to any lengths (including friendship with distasteful regimes) to do so. So concerned are these leaders about protecting resources they themselves have spent more than two centuries plundering that they are warning African leaders about their newfound friends.
Certainly, there is more than an element of truth in such warnings. Yet US and European companies continue to try to exploit these countries' resources as much, if not more, not least through land and other resource grabs (pdf). If anything, their concern now is that competition from Chinese and Indian (and even Brazilian and Malaysian) firms is forcing them to offer better terms for their resource extraction. As some Africans put it, it is better to have competing imperialists in action, to allow the objects of interest to play them off against one another. For northern capital used to treating so much of the less developed world as its happy hunting ground, this comes as a nasty shock.
In any case, official western aid to these countries has been stingy at best. In Africa, for example, much-vaunted debt relief that has been celebrated at G8 meetings amounts to a tiny fraction of the aid that now arrives annually from China. New northern aid comes with so many strings attached that it is typically worse than useless, because it imposes unwanted economic policies on these countries.
Other strategies underline the self-serving nature of western involvement. The US government – driven by pharmaceutical lobbies – has been pushing for more restrictive patent laws in several countries such as Kenya (pdf), which would restrict access to cheap drugs for its poor population. In "free trade agreements" signed with developing country partners, the US and the EU regularly demand the opening up of markets, as well as extensive intellectual property rights and investment protection that favour the interests of their own large companies over poor citizens of those countries. Most "technical assistance" aid really funds the northern consultants of the global development industry rather than contributing to economic diversification and knowledge expansion in the south.
So, please, let's get real about western "help" to Africa and other poor countries. Most of the developing world has already seen through it, so perhaps it's time for people in the north to stop deluding themselves?
Note that the "Poverty Matters" blog is "supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation" given that the Gates Foundation is explicitly spearheading a “new Green Revolution for Africa” as part of The West's further exploitation of Sub Saharan Africa promoting monocrop farming and use of Monsanto GMO corn seed we would not be surprised if this editorial gets scrubbed soon.
Speaking of drone warfare in Africa and the Middle East activist and author Medea Benjamin pens for AntiWar.com
At Drone Convention, Zero Tolerance for Peace When are we, as a nation, going to have a frank discussion about drones and remote-controlled killing? One might think that such a dialogue could take place when thousands of people come together, once a year, at the gathering of the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). But AUVSI, the lobby group for the drone industry, brooked no dissent at its August 6-9 Las Vegas Convention. When I, as author of a new book Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, tried to rent a room at the Convention Center to give a presentation on my book, AUVSI vetoed my request. When I tried to register as a journalist, I was told that I did not meet their criteria, but they refused to say what that criteria was. And after registering online as a normal participant and paying the $200 fee, when I appeared to get my badge I was yanked off the line, surrounded by police, and told I would be arrested if I set foot in the Convention Center during the duration of the gathering. The same thing happened to Father Louie Vitale, an 80-year-old Franciscan priest who had registered and pre-paid for the conference. ..... CODEPINK supporter and writer Tighe Barry flew all the way from Washington DC to attend the conference. Pre-registration confirmation in hand, he was given his badge, only to find it snatched away from him 20 minutes later. .... A few peace activists did not get immediately stopped by AUVSI’s thuggish security, but two of them were banned when they dared to simply ask a few probing questions to the exhibitors at the booth of General Atomics, the company making the lethal Predator and Reaper drones. .... CODEPINK cofounder Jodie Evans, who managed to get in for a few hours, had the same alien feeling — especially from a women’s perspective. "There were so few women it was spooky," said Evans. "I would say the ratio of men to women was about 500 to one — and some of the women were girlfriends of the guys. Let’s just say the Ladies Room was empty." .... Mary Lou Anderson, Council Member of Nevada Desert Experience, who was also ejected from the trade show floor, noted that there was a huge discrepancy between the keynote addresses that focused on the potential civilian uses and benefits of drones versus the overwhelming presence of the military in the exhibit hall. "I would say over 85% of the vendor and manufacturer exhibitors were either entirely military based, or partnered with the military and police."
The Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps had their exhibits. So did weapons manufacturers such as General Atomics (maker of the Reaper and Predator drones), Northrop Grumman (maker of the Gray Eagle, known for its "lethal persistence") and Boeing (maker of the Phantom Eye). Other exhibitors were military bases like Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona and Edward Air Force Base in California that are trying to rent space out to private companies to test and develop drones, and universities like the University of North Dakota touting their training programs for drone operators. .... "Some of us are worried about the unregulated proliferation of drones, and the innocent people who are being killed in our remote-controlled wars" said Jim Haber, who lives in Las Vegas and often vigils outside the nearby Creech Air Force Base where drones killing people in Afghanistan are being piloted. "But AUVSI is worried about peace — and people who profess pro-peace views. I suppose they see us as bad for business." Indeed, some of the sessions addressed the dronemakers’ concern about finding new markets with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan winding down. Outside the Convention Center, protesters staged a die-in to commemorate the innocent people killed by lethal drones. And the next morning at 6 am, a handful of peace activists headed out to Creech Air Force Base 40 miles away to greet military personnel driving into the base, some of whom are drone operators. … … … If you want to get involved visit the No Drones Network: Grassroots "No Drones" campaigns are happening across the country, and soon there will be one in every state. Get active with the people working to stop drone killings and drone surveillance in your area today! Good item!
JPMORGAN UPDATE fromSilverVigilante.com “Catch Me If You Can” JPMorgue Has 11+ State, Fed & Int’l Enforcement Bodies After It JPMorgan Chase & Co. is being investigated by at least 11 state, federal and international enforcement bodies. Officials in Singapore, Germany and Japan are among a list of agencies probing the largest U.S. bank and its trading errors, according to JP Morgan in a filing Thursday. The U.S. Justice Department, Congress, Securities and Exchange Commission and U.K. Financial Services Authority are all examining the bank, which could still lose $1.7 billion more on its credit derivatives portfolio, the company said.
“The firm expects heightened scrutiny by its regulators of its compliance with new and existing regulations,” the company said. Regulators will begin to bring “formal enforcement actions for violations of law rather than resolving those violations through informal supervisory processes.”
The Morgue might have escaped the breaking down of their silver manipulation scheme by the CFTC, but that hasn’t kept other U.S. regulators from keeping the pressure on as the bank has been forced to shave 50 basis points off its reported capital levels after having sustained four weeks of trading losses in the second quarter, this on the heels of their “London Whale” loss reported by the bank earlier in the year. The Morgue said Thursday in a regulatory filing that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Office of the Comptroller “determined” on Wednesday that the bank should amend its reported regulatory capital ratios. ..... The bank has received many requests for documents related to the trading loss from US politicians and regulators like the OCC, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Justice and the UK’s Financial Services Authority. Jamie Dimon might have long celebrated The Morgue’s “fortress balance sheet” and its excellent risk management, especially as the bank maneuvered the 2007-2009 financial crisis after which many major financials have not even realized half of their pre-crisis market value, but those days are over, and Dimon has been revealed as the Lord Blankfein character he always has been.
Here's yer Clinton 1998 Welfare Reform Act via Politifact Mitt Romney says Barack Obama’s plan for welfare reform: "They just send you your check."
Forget, for a moment, tax cuts and the fiscal cliff. Mitt Romney wants to talk about welfare. .... We decided to look further. .... In a memo released along with the ad, the Romney campaign says the change "undermines the very premise of welfare reform. It is an insult to Americans on welfare who are looking for an opportunity to build better lives for themselves. And it is a kick in the gut to the millions of hard-working middle-class taxpayers struggling in today’s economy, working more for less but always preferring self-sufficiency to a government handout." Obama, it says, "hopes states will consider approaches that remove work participation rate requirements all together." The HHS letter contains no such language. In several places, it says only proposals from states that "improve employment outcomes" will be considered. It’s important to note, however, that the waivers would not just be a change on paper. Schott said it’s possible that waivers will allow states to get credit under the work requirement for things that don’t count currently. That possibility has critics of the proposal up in arms. Robert Rector, a welfare expert with the conservative Heritage Foundation, said it could ultimately allow "state bureaucrats" to count activities that aren't really work. We should point out that those concerns are at odds with the policy's stated goal of encouraging employment. ..... Our ruling: Romney’s ad says, "Under Obama’s plan (for welfare), you wouldn’t have to work and wouldn’t have to train for a job. They just send you your welfare check." That's a drastic distortion of the planned changes to Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. By granting waivers to states, the Obama administration is seeking to make welfare-to-work efforts more successful, not end them. What’s more, the waivers would apply to individually evaluated pilot programs -- HHS is not proposing a blanket, national change to welfare law. The ad tries to connect the dots to reach this zinger: "They just send you your welfare check." The HHS memo in no way advocates that practice. In fact, it says the new policy is "designed to improve employment outcomes for needy families." The ad’s claim is not accurate, and it inflames old resentments about able-bodied adults sitting around collecting public assistance. Pants on Fire! And don't think for a minute these distortions will stop now that Willard tabbed Paul "I hate Social Security" Ryan as his veep pick. In fact we'll wager the distortions magnify and lots of voters will buy the lies hook line and sinker.
Tuesday's NYT Editorial explains Prayer in Missouri Voters in Missouri on Tuesday will get to decide on an amendment to the State Constitution, which is supposedly intended to clarify the status of religion in Missouri’s public places. According to the amendment’s sponsor, Representative Mike McGhee, a Republican in the State House, the measure is needed to make clear that prayer is a right. But the amendment is unnecessary because the state and federal constitutions and court rulings already guarantee these rights. It would, instead, create confusion and wreak havoc in classrooms by giving students the right to refuse to read anything or do any assignments that they claim offends their religious views. The ballot summary about the amendment says it would ensure right of citizens to express their religious beliefs without infringement and students the right to pray in schools. The actual words the State Legislature approved in the amendment, however, would do more. They would allow students who believe in creationism, for example, to opt out of assignments on evolution: “no student shall be compelled to perform or participate in academic assignments or educational presentations that violate his or her religious beliefs.” This language would almost certainly lead to litigation about who controls the curriculum in public schools. Another change could lead to litigation about where nonsectarian, constitutional invocations cross the line into sectarian, unconstitutional prayers; instead of seeking the Almighty’s blessing, for example, officials at public events could ask for Jesus’s blessing. The wording would further encourage “the General Assembly and the governing bodies of political subdivisions” to invite ministers and others “to offer invocations or other prayers” at public sessions. Amendment 2 springs from the view that religious freedom is vulnerable unless the Missouri Constitution is revised. But the Missouri Supreme Court has already said that the protection of religious freedom by the State Constitution is more “explicit” than what the First Amendment provides and its protection against government establishment of religion more “restrictive.” If Missourians amend their Constitution, they will erode rather than enhance their religious freedom. Well guess what? The USA Today headline from Wednesday read Missouri prayer amendment passes and Tara Culp-Ressler writes at ThinkProgress Justice blog Missouri ‘Right To Pray’ Amendment Will Allow Creationists To Refuse To Study Evolution and as expected the first of many court challenges has ensued Missouri's 'Right to Pray' amendment is challenged by ACLU writes Jason Hancock of The Kansas City Star (via Miami Herald) The ACLU of Eastern Missouri filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday challenging an amendment to the state's constitution it contends violates the religious rights of prison inmates. On Tuesday, Missourians overwhelmingly approved the so-called "right to pray" amendment. The measure says the state can't infringe upon public expressions of religious beliefs, that students have the right to voluntarily pray in schools and that all public schools must display a copy of the Bill of Rights. Not included in the summary that appeared on the ballot, however, was a provision stating the amendment "shall not be construed to expand the rights of prisoners in state or local custody beyond those afforded by the laws of the United States." Beginning with its first Constitution in 1820, Missouri has provided additional protections for religious liberty beyond federal law, the lawsuit contends. Over the years state courts have agreed. The amendment approved by voters takes away an existing right from only one group — prisoners— "without a legitimate reason," the lawsuit says. That constitutes a violation of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause and the First Amendment's protection of religious freedom. Missouri prisoners will be "chilled in their religious expression if deprived of the broader protection of religious liberty afforded by the Missouri Constitution because, without the further layer of security for religious liberty, they fear lesser protection of their rights," the lawsuit says. .... The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two inmates against the director Missouri's Department of Corrections, George Lombardi. A spokesman for the department declined to comment on pending litigation. Critics of the amendment, including the ACLU, warned that it would lead to a flood of lawsuits, particularly a section that said no student "shall be compelled to perform or participate in academic assignments or educational presentations that violate his or her religious beliefs." That provision was also left out of the ballot summary.
In other Buy-Bull-Belt news American Family Association's Bryan Fischer endorses kidnapping by Scott Wooledge for Milk Men And Women at DailyKOS Fischer the head of the ironically named "American Family Association" took to Twitter to endorse kidnapping the children of same-sex couples:
- Why we need an Underground Railroad to deliver innocent children from same-sex households: thepublicdiscourse.com/2012/08/6065 — Bryan Fischer (@BryanJFischer) August 8, 2012
- 14 Wacky "Facts" Kids Will Learn in Louisiana's Voucher Schools “Thanks to a new law privatizing public education in Louisiana, Bible-based curriculum can now indoctrinate young, pliant minds with the good news of the Lord—all on the state taxpayers' dime. Under Gov. Bobby Jindal's voucher program, considered the most sweeping in the country, Louisiana is poised to spend tens of millions of dollars to help poor and middle-class students from the state's notoriously terrible public schools receive a private education. While the governor's plan sounds great in the glittery parlance of the state's PR machine, the program is rife with accountability problems that actually haven't been solved by the new standards the Louisiana Department of Education adopted two weeks ago. ..... Many of these schools, Kopplin notes, rely on Pensacola-based A Beka Book curriculum or Bob Jones University Press textbooks to teach their pupils Bible-based "facts," such as the existence of Nessie the Loch Ness Monster and all sorts of pseudoscience that researcher Rachel Tabachnick and writer Thomas Vinciguerra have thankfully pored over so the rest of world doesn't have to. Here are some of my favorite lessons: [...1-14...]
In a letter to the governor, C. Welton Gaddy, a Baptist minister and President of the Interfaith Alliance, accused Jindal of initiating a program that “is bad for religious freedom and bad for public education as well as a blatant attack on the religious freedom clauses in the United States Constitution.”
Gaddy says Louisiana's sweeping new voucher system, ushered in by Jindal, is problematic because it uses state taxpayer dollars to offer vouchers to more than half of Louisiana’s public school students. These students can then use these vouchers to attend a number of religious learning institutions, some of which have been shown to teach extreme anti-science and anti-history curriculums. “Let me be clear: I am not appalled that a Christian school is teaching its students that God created the Earth ... Children in my church learn that every Sunday," Gaddy said. “I am appalled that these schools are teaching theology as science, and they’re doing so with government money, my tax dollars." .... Read on! You can find Gaddy's letter in the WaPo here Jindal’s voucher program called ‘bad for religious freedom’ by Interfaith Alliance
But across the pond saner heads are prevailing! Writes Breda Heffernan and Colm Kelpie at the Belfast Telegraph Republic of Ireland abandoning religion faster than almost every other country The Republic of Ireland is abandoning religion faster than almost every other country worldwide, a massive global survey on faith reveals. Only Vietnam has seen a bigger drop in people declaring themselves to be religious over the past seven years, a period when the Catholic Church in Ireland has been rocked by sex-abuse scandals and a crisis of leadership. .... An overwhelming 69% of Irish people declared themselves to be "a religious person" in the last survey conducted in 2005, but this has now plummeted to 47%. .... But according to the latest research, the Republic is now in the top 10 for the number of people declaring themselves to be "a convinced atheist". Although this is still a minority group at 10%, it puts the country high in the global league table, and is a stark rise from 3% seven years ago. .... A survey in February by market research group Amarach found the public at odds with the church hierarchy on a range of issues, including women clergy and married priests. That survey, which questioned more than 1,000 Irish Catholics, found that 77% believed women should be ordained. Nine out of 10 said priests should be able to marry. It also revealed just 35% went to church on a weekly basis.
Last week we mentioned oil giant Chevron and guess what? Reporting for Reuters Braden Reddall and Erwin Seba tell us Chevron's California refinery fire contained, not out yet A massive fire struck at the core of Chevron Corp's large Richmond, California, refinery on Monday, spewing flames and a column of smoke into the air, threatening a prolonged outage that may increase prices of the costliest U.S. gasoline. The fire was contained, but not extinguished, according to the company. The fire has blazed for hours after it erupted at the refinery in a densely populated industrial suburb of San Francisco. Smoke could be seen billowing over the Bay Area and four train stations were shut. Nearby residents were ordered indoors after the fire hit the sole crude unit at the 245,000 barrel per day (bpd) plant, which accounts for one-eighth of California state's refining capacity. About 200 people have sought medical help, complaining of respiratory problems, the San Pablo, California-based Doctors Medical Center said in a statement. The fire had started in the No. 4 crude unit, the only one at the plant, at 6:15 p.m. shortly after a leak was discovered, Chevron said. As the leak grew, workers were evacuated, plant manager Nigel Hearn told journalists at the site. He said some units were still operating, but gave no details. ..... Then Jason Dearen finds for HuffPoAOL Chevron Fire: Richmond Refinery Under Investigation Amid Criticism (PHOTOS, VIDEO) A massive Chevron oil refinery fire that sent hundreds of people rushing to hospitals and is pushing West Coast gas prices higher was just the latest pollution incident at the facility that records show has increasingly violated air quality rules over the past five years. The refinery is one of three such facilities near San Francisco that rank among the state's top 10 emitters of toxic chemicals, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory. Chevron's Richmond refinery – the scene of Monday's fire that shrouded the area in black smoke – has been cited by San Francisco Bay area regulators for violating air regulations 93 times in the past five years. The number has increased from 15 violations in 2007 to 23 in both 2010 and 2011. The refinery is also the state's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, according to state regulators. .... "Events like this most recent fire are a trigger for a longstanding mistrust of Chevron," said Jason Corburn, a University of California, Berkeley public health and urban planning professor. "People feel these spikes in air pollutants, and feel these dangerous events in the context of the daily (air quality issues) that don't show up on county air monitors." The Richmond facility is not the biggest violator of air quality laws among the region's five oil refineries, but it has been cited for violating air regulations numerous times. Some of the violations remain under investigation for determination of penalties. .... Chevron paid $170,000 to the air district for all of its violations between 2005 and 2009 after reaching a settlement. The total amount of fines for more recent violations has not been determined. The federal Clean Air Act sets limits on pollutants that refineries and other emitters can release and imposes penalties for violations. Local air districts enforce the law. While some of the region's 27 air monitoring station's detected an uptick in pollution during Monday's fire, further laboratory testing confirmed that the levels did not pose a significant health concern, the air district said. Fires and accidents over the years have inspired community protests and litigation. A court recently blocked Chevron's plans to expand the facility, after a lawsuit from community groups alleged Chevron had not properly determined the potential health impacts. "The fact that we've had two major fires in the last five years is unacceptable and symptomatic of Chevron's tenuous relationship with the community," said Roger Kim, executive director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network. See an interview with Richmand's Green Party mayor Gayle McLaughlin at DN! below.
Next Manny Fernandez writes for the NYT
Drilling for Gas Under Cemeteries Raises Concerns Thousands of feet beneath the cemetery, a company has been drilling for natural gas using the controversial technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. “I would imagine that drilling and fracking and all that vibration is bound to cause some damage,” Mr. Young’s son, Don, said of the 134-year-old Handley Cemetery. “But who’s going to dig up their dead relatives to see if there’s a crack in the casket? What’s being done to Fort Worth in general, whether it’s to the living or the dead, it’s immoral.” Mr. Young, 60, has been a longtime critic of fracking, which has proliferated in the Barnett shale formation that runs underneath the Fort Worth area. He also is the founder of a group called Fort Worth Citizens Against Neighborhood Drilling Operations. ..... His concern is shared by others in both rural and urban parts of Texas, Pennsylvania and Ohio, where drilling for natural gas beneath homes, parks, churches, schools and even cemeteries has become commonplace. ..... Chesapeake Energy, the second-largest natural gas producer in the country, has worked with more than a dozen cemeteries in the Fort Worth region and has drilled directly beneath many of them at depths of more than a mile and a half, company executives said. ..... But antifracking activists, lawyers and environmental scientists said that while there might be nothing legally wrong with fracking underneath cemeteries, they were uncomfortable with the practice, arguing that it raised spiritual and moral questions and illustrated a callousness in the desire to drill for natural gas anywhere at any time. In 2010, Pittsburgh became the first city in Pennsylvania to ban natural gas drilling, in part after an outcry over a decision by the Catholic Cemeteries Association of the Diocese of Pittsburgh to lease mineral rights under nearly a dozen of its cemeteries, including one where three former Pittsburgh mayors are buried. “I could see how people could be deeply offended by this, even if it didn’t cause any problems,” said Robert B. Jackson, an environmental sciences professor at Duke University, who is a fracking expert and the director of the university’s Center on Global Change. “If something goes wrong in a farmer’s field in Pennsylvania, that’s one thing. But what if something goes wrong in a cemetery? It seems like at some point you have to draw a line. I can see the signs now: ‘Rest in peace means no lease.’ ” In a related matter
Chesapeake Energy in U.S. antitrust investigation reports Brian Grow for Reuters Chesapeake Energy said it is the subject of a U.S. government investigation over possible criminal antitrust violations related to the purchase and lease of oil and gas properties in Michigan. Chesapeake has received a subpoena from the antitrust division of the Justice Department, requiring the company to produce documents before a grand jury in the Western District of Michigan, according to a filing with U.S. regulators on Thursday. In June, Reuters reported that Chesapeake plotted with its top competitor, Canada's Encana Corp, to suppress land prices in the Collingwood shale in Northern Michigan. Emails between Chesapeake and Encana showed the two companies repeatedly discussed how to avoid bidding against each other in a public land auction in Michigan two years ago and in at least nine prospective deals with private land owners. The Justice Department is "moving criminally," said Darren Bush, a former antitrust attorney for the Department of Justice and a professor of antitrust law at the University of Houston. "They are working their way through the grand jury process to potentially serve up indictments." ...... The Reuters report showed Chesapeake and Encana executives, including Chesapeake Chief Executive Aubrey McClendon, exchanged emails about dividing up the nine Michigan counties and landowners in an effort to prevent "acreage prices from continuing to push up," and establishing "bidding responsibilities" ahead of an October 2010 Michigan state land auction. A spokesman for Encana was not immediately available to comment. A spokesman for Chesapeake declined comment, but the filing said the company is cooperating with the investigations. Chesapeake also said its board of directors is conducting an internal review of the matter. Price-fixing, bid-rigging and market allocations by competitors are illegal in the United States under the Sherman Antitrust Act, and companies can be fined up to $100 million for each offense. ....
Joanna M. Foster reports What Cornfields Show, Data Now Confirm: July Set Mark as U.S.’s Hottest Month It may come as little surprise to the nation’s corn farmers or resort operators, but the official statistics are in: July was the hottest month in the lower 48 states since the government began keeping temperature records in 1895. The average temperature last month was 77.6 degrees — 3.3 degrees above the average 20th-century temperature, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported on Wednesday. July thereby dethroned July 1936, which had set the record at 77.4 degrees, the agency said. .... A hot July also contributed to the warmest 12-month period ever recorded in the United States, the statistics showed. Climatologists at the agency noted that by the end of the month, about 63 percent of the nation was experiencing drought conditions, which contributed to the high temperatures. ..... But the new records are certain to contribute to the debate over whether some of the recent weather extremes in the United States and elsewhere, from tropical storms to droughts, can be directly attributed to human-induced global warming. ..... A prominent NASA scientist, James E. Hansen, reported in a journal article published on Monday that recent extremes of hot weather have been so pronounced that scientists can say with near-certainty that events like the Russian heat wave of 2010 or the Texas heat wave of 2011 would not have happened unless global warming was under way. While some scientists praised his results, others argued that the evidence was still insufficient for attributing a specific heat wave or storm to climate change. A vast majority of scientists agree that such events will become ever more common as the planet warms, however. .... For our LAST WORD Praire2News explains why The odds are not in our favor According to the rocket scientists at NASA (and I mean that in the good way) we are at a point in climate change due to global warming that they were predicting in the 80s we wouldn't reach until the end of the 21st century. Not only that, but a phenomena has developed that they didn't foresee. Unusual weather events like extreme drought (think Dust Bowl in the 30s, 500 year floods) things that used to be rare, events only occurring 1 in a 1000 times, these extreme weather events are now happening 1 out of 10 times. The odds are that as more heat becomes available to drive these weather patterns this will only get worse. ..... Hey some good news, we now have the most job openings in the private sector since before the Bush banking crash in 2008. Small problem, it's all over the corporate news that businesses are holding back or even cutting back because of the "uncertainty" of politics, worries about Congress, the deficits, the economy, etc, quack, quack, quack. These are the same corporations that continue to show record profits and hold $5 trillion in cash. The odds are that they are deliberately holding off on hiring to affect the election. A new Romney ad presents a stirring narrative on how the Salt Lake City Olympics found itself mired in scandal and red ink so they called on Mitt. He turned a $400m deficit to a $100m surplus. What are the odds that they will ever mention this was done by getting a $1.2 billion grant from Congress for the "private sector" Olympics. Sounds like what he really did was fool away an extra $700 million of taxpayer money more than he needed to cover the deficit. That actually makes him worse than the guy he replaced. On a happy note, the odds of Mitt Romney ever being President are becoming increasingly small. Now if we could just do something about the weather.... what are the odds? Well expect more quackery on the Sunday Beltway Bubala shows because it's all about Romney Intros 'Next President of the U.S., Paul Ryan'! Haha! Good catch Brad! Thanks! Enjoy your Sunday!
BRICK TEEVEE ALERTS!©
Monday, August 6, 2012
- Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shooting Coverage @ Democracy NOW! including interviews with Gurcharan Grewal, President of the Sikh Religious Society of Wisconsin; John Nichols, political writer based in Wisconsin for the Nation; Jaisal Noor, correspondent for Democracy Now! and for Free Speech Radio News; Colin Goddard, survivor of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.
- Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center & Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Don Walker @ Democracy NOW! Neo-Nazi Rampage: Army Psy-Ops Vet, White Power Musician ID’d As Gunman in Sikh Temple Shooting
- Simran Jeet Singh & Don Walker @ Democracy NOW! Sikh Community Activist Simran Jeet Singh: After Wisconsin Attack, I Refuse to Live In Fear
- Lee Kovarsky & Richard Dieter @ Democracy NOW! Ignoring Supreme Court Ruling, Texas Prepares to Execute Mentally Retarded Prisoner
- Marco Saavedra & Tom Shea @ Democracy NOW! DREAM Activist: I Infiltrated Florida Facility to Expose How U.S. Still Detaining Youth Immigrants
- Gayle McLaughlin, mayor of Richmond, California and Andres Soto, Richmond organizer for Communities for a Better Environment @ Democracy NOW! Chevron Oil Refinery Fire in Richmond, California Forces Over 900 Residents to Hospitals
- Renee Feltz, Democracy Now! producer @ Democracy NOW! Texas Executes Man With IQ of 61; State Cites Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” To Justify Killing
- Author Pete Simi @ Democracy NOW! Academic Who Knew Sikh Shooter Wade Michael Page Says Neo-Nazi Soldiers, Musicians Shaped His Hatred
- Author Matt Kennard @ Democracy NOW! Author: Sikh Temple Massacre is the Outgrowth of Pervasive White Supremacism in U.S. Military Ranks
- Daryl Johnson @ Democracy NOW! Former DHS Analyst Daryl Johnson on How He Was Silenced for Warning of Far-Right Militants in U.S.
- Ryan Grim, Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief for the Huffington Post @ Democracy NOW! Romney’s Death Squad Ties: Bain Launched With Millions From Oligarchs Behind Salvadoran Atrocities
- Reese Erlich @ Democracy NOW! Report From Turkey-Syria Border: Syrian Refugees Claim "Horrific Carnage" in Besieged Aleppo
- Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch & author Helen Jefferson Lensky @ Democracy NOW! From Saudis to Soccer, Women Make Strides at Summer Olympics, But Are They Pawns of Backward IOC?
»»» GRITtv @ www.grittv.org with Laura Flanders »»» FEATURED SHOW Racial Profiling on Trial in Arizona (Video) Arizona's Sheriff Joe Arpaio is facing a class action suit that accuses him of racism in law enforcement. Omar Jadwat is a Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project, one of the groups representing the plaintiffs. Jadwat tells Laura Flanders what's at stake and what difference the Arizona suit might make. But is the Maricopa County sheriff the only problem where discrimination by law enforcement is concerned? Far from it. Another nasty piece of the immigration picture is the federal law that permits officers like Arpaio's to serve as immigration agents in the first place. Unfortunately, as Jadwat tells Flanders, "The federal government is not going to sue itself." Indeed. Watch here. The transcript of our entire conversation can be found at theNation.com. BRICK TEEVEE SPORT!© »»» NASCAR on ESPN It's the Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen! Coverage from Watkins Glen International begins at NOON et! »»» MLB Sunday TBS A's @ White Sox 2 pm et »»» MLB Sunday Night ESPN Braves @ Mets 8 pm et »»» MLB Monday Night ESPN Rangers @ Yankees 7 pm et »»» MLB Wednesday Night ESPN Rangers @ Yankees 7 pm et BRICK TEEVEE ACTION!© The 1st Amendment is Our Permit Our permit to occupy is The First Amendment. Quickly sign the following statement which will be delivered to mayors, police chiefs and major media across the country: - Our permit to occupy public squares and parks is in The First Amendment, which affirms "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." When people across the Middle East occupied public squares, leaders in Washington mostly cheered those protesters and warned Middle Eastern governments not to use force to clear them. Those other societies don’t have a First Amendment. Yet Washington affirmed the universal right to assembly and protest. We do have a First Amendment. The force being used to clear nonviolent protesters from public squares in our country is unacceptable. It must stop.
- Lawmakers concerned about the health effects on humans from mountaintop removal coal mining set forth legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives today. Representatives Dennis Kucinich (OH), Louise Slaughter (NY), Maurice Hinchey (NY), Earl Blumenauer (OR), Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA), John Yarmuth (KY), Lynn Woolsey (CA), Judy Chu (CA), Raúl Grijalva (AZ), James Moran (VA), Michael Honda (CA), John Conyers (MI), and Keith Ellison (MN) introduced the Appalachian Communities Health Emergency (ACHE) Act [H.R. 5959] which would place a moratorium on permitting for mountaintop removal coal mining until health studies are conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services. The ACHE coalition presently consists of participants from Coal River Mountain Watch, Mountain Health and Heritage Association, and Christians for the Mountains. “We encourage you, if you’re concerned about mountaintop removal’s effect on your community’s health, to join us in making your voice heard,” said Allen Johnson, executive director of Christians for the Mountains. “Please contact us, learn about the issue, and take action to protect your community.”
image ©2006 arkysue THEY report. YOU throw bricks. © Get your Foam Bricks at ThrowThings.com HERE! The essential guide for watching government propaganda IRAQ: 4,486 US Military Dead as of April 21, 2012 AFGHANISTAN: 2,073 US Military Dead as of Aug 4, 2012 The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises Considering Democracy: 8 Things to ask your Representative - This Week (ABC) hosted by George Stephanopoulos
• Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod
• former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty
• ROUNDTABLE: ABC News' Cokie Roberts, former Vermont Governor and founder of Democracy for America Howard Dean, Wall Street Journal Editorial Page Editor Paul Gigot, California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, host of Current TV's "The Gavin Newsom Show," and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan.
- Face The Nation (CBS) Host Bob Schiefer
• Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter
• Romney senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom
• Newt Gingrich
• ROUNDTABLE: The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus, Newsweek's David Frum, The Washington Post's Michael Gerson, POLITICO's Roger Simon and The Week's Bob Shrum.
- 60 Minutes (CBS) Summer reruns....
• Trapped in Unemployment - As the number of Americans without work for a year or two rises into the millions, Scott Pelley reports on a program designed to help the long-term unemployed back into the workplace. Henry Schuster and Rachael Kun are the producers.
• The Flavorists - Meet the scientists behind the real and artificial flavors that make foods and beverages so tasty. Morley Safer reports on this fascinating industry that food manufacturers' depend on, but which critics say make some people dependent on less-than-healthy food choices. Ruth Streeter is the producer.
- Meet the Press (NBC) Host David Gregory
• Microsoft, NBC News Dissolve MSNBC.com Joint Venture NBC is buying Microsoft's 50 percent interest in the MSNBC website for an undisclosed amount. MSNBC.com will be rebranded as NBCNews.com, and readers who logged into MSNBC.com late Sunday were automatically redirected to NBCNews.com. Microsoft is preparing to launch its own news service this fall. Although he declined to provide many details about the operation general manager of MSN.com Bob Visse said the news staff will be about the same size as the roughly 100 people who created original content for the MSNBC.com. "There is no question that we are going to have more flexibility to make our own decisions," said Vivian Schiller, NBC News' chief digital officer. "This is really an amicable breakup. We think competition will make us better." Okay then.
• RNC Chairman and fellow Wisconsinite Reince Priebus
• Governor of Ryan's home state of Wisconsin, Scott Walker
• Senior Obama re-election adviser David Axelrod
• ROUNDTABLE: MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow; NBC’s Chief White House Correspondent and Political Director Chuck Todd; Editor of the National Review, Rich Lowry; the Washington Post’s Dan Balz, and author and radio talk show host Bill Bennett
- State of the Union With Candy Crowley (CNN) At 9 AM ET, Candy talks to the power players: politicians, business leaders and international newsmakers who will make Monday morning's headlines. At NOON ET, Candy wraps it all up with fresh interviews and the best of the earlier hours.
• Senator John Thune (R-SD)
• Senior Advisers to Obama campaign David Axelrod
• Senior Advisers to Romey campaign Ed Gillespie
- HEAD ON RADIO with Bob Kincaid
Headon Radio with Bob Kincaid 6 PM Eastern, 3 PM Pacific, 2300 GMT. Duration: 3 hrs. To be part of Conversation Radio on Head-on Radio, call toll-free (877) 443-2366, or use our Liberal community line at 304-658-3333. Email bob [at] headonradio [dot] com during the show!
• FRONT PORCH FRIDAY!!!!! Pull up a chair and grab a cold one! Listen HERE (mp3) NOW! Amen to the White Rose Society! Donate to Head On HERE! And join Coal River Mountain Watch at www.crmw.net!
- YOUR GREEN NEWS REPORT
The Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen: 6 minutes of green news, politics, analysis & snarky comment! BOOKMARK greennews.bradblog.com NOW!
• 'Green News Report' - August 9, 2012 IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: It's official: July 2012 hottest month ever recorded in the US; Romney running against the wind (energy industry); Deadly monsoons in Asia; Major plastics spill in Hong Kong; PLUS: Bill Clinton offers good news on the path to clean energy at the National Clean Energy Summit ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!
• IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see link): NRC freezes nuke licensing decisions over waste storage problems; World's groundwater supplies over-exploited; Geothermal energy industry stalls in CA; Dr. Michael Mann debunks Richard Muller (again!); Chevron refinery damage may take months to repair; OR teens take global warming to OR Supreme Court; Forest Service changes policy on wildfires; Arctic sea ice impacting Shell's drilling plans ... PLUS: Cold War post-nuke apocalypse?: The 1980s-era Soviet plan to wage germ warfare on the US ... and much, MUCH more!
• BRADBLOG UPDATE: GOP Voter Suppression Updates: OH, MI, IA Sec's of State Create New Obstacles For Voters The stories are coming in faster and furiouser as we get closer to the November Presidential Election, and as Republican Secretaries of State around the country scramble to exercise and/or abuse their power to game the system in favor of their party any way they legally-ish can do so.
• BRADBLOG UPDATE: Republican U.S. House Staffers Indicted for Felony Election Fraud as GOP Fraud Epidemic Continues .... So really, should we be surprised to learn that four aides to former long-shot GOP Presidential candidate and U.S. House Rep. Thaddeus McCotter --- Representative of the state's 11th and one of its most Republican districts --- were indicted yesterday on dozens of criminal felony and misdemeanor election fraud charges for having turned in over 1,500 forged and falsified signatures in a "blatant" and "disgraceful" attempt, as the state's Republican AG described it, to qualify the Congressman for this year's ballot?... The charges were filed yesterday by MI Attorney General Bill Schuette against McCotter staffers Don Yowchuang, Paul Seewald, Mary Melissa Turnbull and Lorianne O'Brady. According to the Detroit Free Press, "Most of the charges were filed against McCotter's Deputy District Director Don Yowchuang and District Director Paul Seewald. Yowchuang faces 17 charges — 11 felonies and six misdemeanors — and Seewald 10 — one felony and nine misdemeanors." In all, the four were indicted on 12 felony and 21 misdemeanor election fraud-related charges.
• BRADCAST UPDATE! My 'Casual Tuesdays' Appearance on Russian TV It was a warm day in L.A. yesterday, and I was running behind for my last minute appearance on RT America (Russia's English-language cable/satellite news channel here in the US). The topic was Congressional dysfunction which, as you might have guessed, I am against. First, watch the appearance...
• Visit BradBlog.com to see who counts yer votes! Now up to 9,200+ Election Protection posts! Find out who's counting your votes and how at ElectionIntegrity.org too.
- The Peter B. Collins Show PODCAST!
Listen at PeterBCollins.com!
The Peter B. Collins Show covers American news and politics from the Left Coast. Veteran talk radio personality Peter B. Collins, based in San Francisco, delivers fresh interviews, commentary and analysis on a range of important topics, with views and voices you don’t often find in the corporate media.
• Holiday Break and Website Changes
- To my valued listeners: We are making some changes to the website and our terms, effective in January. We will continue to offer free podcasts–my new daily news and commentary. Our in-depth interviews will be available for $1 per episode, or to subscribers who pay $5 per month or more. Loyal listeners who simply can’t afford it should send an email to peter@peterbcollins.com, as we will be offering a limited number of scholarships to our friends who are hurting during these tough times. More information will be posted as we complete the revisions. I’m grateful to each of you for listening and supporting this work, and hope that the new model will enable us to keep it going well into the future. All the best, -pbc
• PBC Standard Podcast August 7, 2012 Diane Roark, Former House Intelligence Staffer Who Opposed the Illegal Domestic Wiretap Scheme
• PBC Standard Podcast August 9, 2012 Appeals Court Deals Major Setback in Wiretap Case–Details from Attorney Jon Eisenberg; Bill of Rights Defense Committee’s Shahid Buttar on Wiretaps, Stop’n'Frisk, and More
- Ring of Fire Radio
Find us at http://ringoffireradio.com and http://goleft.tv/ hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder
Ring of Fire Radio - GoLeft TV - Robert F. Kennedy, Mike Papantonio, Sam Seder - Politics, Commentary, and News.
This week on Ring of Fire August 10, 2012
• Truthout investigative journalist Danny Weil will join us to talk about the Texas GOP’s war on reason.
• Author Elizabeth Cline will tell us about the high ethical price of cheap fashion.
• Attorney James Kauffman will talk to us about how whistleblowers help keep corporate America honest.
• And Gaius Publius from AmericaBlog will join us for a discussion on how the oil industry is burning down the planet.
• VIDEO! THE HISTORY OF CORPORATE CORRUPTION & FRAUD with Robert Kennedy Jr & Mike Papantonio “Call us if you have a personal story about Fraud on Taxpayers or False Claims for Payment made by Corportations at 1-866-389-FIRE (3473)or contact us by email at info@ringoffireradio.com if you have evidence of fraud that robbed taxpayer dollars. If our government is paying too much due to fraud by a corporation, Ring of Fire wants to do a story on it.”
• VIDEO! Papantonio: Pennsylvania’s Effort To Block The Vote Recently, a Pennsylvania court heard a challenge to the state’s restrictive voter ID law – a law that if left in place, could easily prevent tens of thousands of LEGAL voters from ever making it to the polls. And this isn’t happening by coincidence. Pennsylvania is a very important swing state that Mitt Romney needs in order to win the presidency this year. Mike Papantonio talks about Pennsylvania’s efforts to keep voters away from the polls with author and Nation contributing writer Ari Berman.
• Support Those Who Support Progressive Media! 2011 has certainly been a great year for Ring of Fire, and we’ve had some great sponsors that have helped support the show throughout the year. We wanted to take the time to personally thank each and every one of them, and we encourage all of our listeners to take the time to support those who have support us.
• Join our blog at www.ringoffireradio.com. You can now SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST by clicking on the "Podcast" tab at the top of the Ring of Fire blog. Please help support progressive radio by signing up!
Ring of Fire Radio Ring of Fire, hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder: Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts 8-11 et Sunday evenings on Chicago's Progressive Talk WCPT AM & FM and 4 pm et on Sirius/XM 167 featuring The PAP Attack! "We’ll bring you the stories that the mainstream media didn’t feel like reporting this week."
- Majority Report with Sam Seder Streaming LIVE weekdays 11:30 am et @ Majority.fm!
• August 6, 2012 Gore Vidal From the Archives
• August 7, 2012 Elizabeth Cline, Rosie Gray, David Graeber and the Cowboy Junkies VACATION DAY! NO LIVE SHOW! Happy Tuesday everyone!
• August 8, 2012 From the Archives, Fran Lebowitz and Ricky Gervais
• Aug 9, 2012 Susan Jacoby and Chris Hayes Hope everyone is having an excellent week! Today for Members Only, an interview from the Air America days with Susan Jacoby and an interview with Mr. Chris Hayes
• Aug 10, 2012 Gore Vidal, Kevin Baker and They Might Be Giants
• MORE Podcast Interviews at Majority.fm!
- On the Edge with Max Keiser Podcasts and more @ MaxKeiser.com!
"HI Y'ALL! Tell the people! Tell the people!"
WHO IS MAX KEISER? Max Keiser is a financial expert, Prediction Markets analyst, inventor and filmmaker. He is the creator of the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX) the first Prediction Market. Max Keiser co-hosts "The Truth About Markets" on ResonanceFM 104.4 in London. He also produces and presents documentary films covering markets and finance for Al Jazeera’s "People & Power" series. Max Keiser started his career on Wall Street in 1983. He is the creator of KarmaBanque a site that enables activists to challenge corporate power.
• VISIT PirateMyFilm.com!!! Crowd Funding for Pirates!
• NEW! MaxKeiserTV on YouTube! MaxKeiserTV PLUS here is Max Keiser’s official Facebook page And here is the official Keiser Report page
• The official Facebook pages for Max Keiser & Keiser Report STACY SUMMARY: For once and for all, here are our real Facebook pages, the other ones are fake. But if you feel like chatting to the fake ones, by all means, go ahead. Max Keiser & Keiser Report PLUS Stacey Herbert
• The “Keiser Report” has been begging europe to do this for years by maxkeiser READ European Banks Preparing To Boycott Big Three Rating Agencies (zerohedge.com)
• CNBC’s Admission, yes: Silver market is manipulated (skip to 9:30) by maxkeiser READ CNBC Host States Silver Manipulation is a Fact, NOT a Conspiracy! sliverdoctors.com with VIDEO! Once Barclays pointed the finger at BoE as colluding on Libor manipulation (instead of denying it), the roof got ripped off decades of blatant manipulation in these markets. The dollar and U.S. bonds have been protected with Fed interference and outright manipulation; same thing in the UK. And to bolster the price for sovereign bonds, the price of Gold and Silver has been manipulated down alongside the upside price movements of worthless paper. Ratings at CNBC have been plummeting this year – as the audience is way ahead of their talking heads on these points. When CNBC admits that markets, especially silver, are rigged, the few remaining viewers they have collectively sigh; ‘I heard that on Keiser Report three years ago.’ READ CNBC: Silver and Financial Markets Are Manipulated, But So What? Jesse's Crossroads Cafe
• KEISER REPORT [KR320] Keiser Report: Hang ‘Em High! Here are photos from the ‘horror hospital’ with ‘Auschwitz like conditions’ in Afghanistan.
• KEISER REPORT [KR321] Keiser Report: Virtual Virtual Economy We discuss the virtual virtual economy getting hit by a dustbowl and there are no gully washers or toad stranglers on the horizon to bring relief; meanwhile out in the virtual real economy it’s all the bath-salts and beer you can drink and scalps for sale in California as eminent domain falls into the hands of private bankers. In the second half, Max interviews Teri Buhl about the possibility of San Bernardino county using eminent domain to seize mortgages from one set of rich private investors to give them to another set of rich private investors.
• KEISER REPORT [KR324] Keiser Report: Crime, Crooks, Chaos We discuss jihadi bots gone wild while the President of the United States was pumping and dumping Facebook stock. Max and Stacy also discuss what the first ever Predator droned American may mean to Goldman Sachs’ bottom line as the banks begins collateralizing crime and recidivism. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews burning banks artist Alex Schaefer about his recent arrest for chalking the words, ‘crooks,’ ‘crime’ and ‘chaos’ in front of a Chase Bank in Downtown Los Angeles. The eight hours in jail means that the artist Alex Schaefer has done more time than any bankster since the financial crisis began.
• KEISER REPORT [KR325] Keiser Report: Semaphore of Fraud, Financial Holocaust & Silver Manipulation We discuss a financial journalist so dangerous the frontpage of the Financial Times dare not speak his name and the semaphore of fraud and fraud flows that is high frequency trading and silver manipulation. They also talk about blonde bimbo regulators and the self-police force that never finds any evidence crimes they themselves have committed. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to whistleblower Paul Moore, a former Head of Risk at HBOS, about financial holocaust and the City of London’s role in enabling banking fraud.
• KEISER REPORT [KR326] Keiser Report: Wall Street vs City of London We discuss the US empire stumbling into the City of London with a trickle down shakedown, after the British poodle bites the hand that feeds it. They also ask the Obama administration to either arrest the bankster for their crimes or to stop fining them as it only leads to a bigger crime wave to pay for the fines. And notice that a good way to censor the financial news is for banking fraudsters to lace their incriminating emails with expletives. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser talks to Karl Denninger of the Market-Ticker.org about high frequency trading and how to stop its use for front-running and fraud.
• ON THE EDGE On the Edge with Mish Shedlock
• THE TRUTH ABOUT MARKETS [TaM1246] Max Keiser Radio – The Truth About Avoiding the Olympics Download show HERE (mp3)
• Donate to ResonanceFM here!
- ANTIWAR RADIO with Scott Horton
LIVE (9-11am Pacific, 12pm - 2pm Eastern) Plenty of archives too!
Listen at antiwar.com/radio
• Pepe Escobar June 30, 2012: Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses his article “Syria and Turkey’s Phantom War;” Turkey’s violation of Syrian airspace in a purposeful, measured provocation and test of Syria’s defenses; the near-invocation of NATO Article 5 and a wider war (an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all); looking for ways to bypass the UN on Syria, since China and Russia won’t let an interventionist resolution pass the Security Council; grand plans for NATO expansion in the official “Assured Security, Dynamic Engagement” plan; counterrevolutions in the Middle East and South America, as the US looks to rebuild its portfolio of client states; and how Qatar has become the new superpower in the Middle East, surpassing even Saudi Arabia.
• SCOTT HORTON July 5, 2012: Scott says goodbye to Antiwar.com. Scott Horton is the former host of Antiwar Radio. Visit his blog Stress. Due to budget cuts Scott lost his gig at AntiWarRadio.com! Whoa! See ScottHortonShow.com for archives! Send emails to Scott at scotthorton.org to help Scott keep his podcast going!
• Many more interviews at Antiwar Radio!
- fauxnews
• Senator John McCain (R-AZ).
• DNC Chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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We're here because you're there. ©
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