The John James Newsletter 144
29 October 2016
Trump is so repulsive not because he offends our civilisation’s most basic values, but because he embodies them
George Monbiot
“Come to the edge,” he said. They said, “We are afraid.” “Come to the edge,” he said. They came. He pushed them…and they flew
Guillaume Apollinaire
If we’d been born where they were born and taught what they were taught, we would believe what they believe
In a church in Northern Ireland
HOW CLOSE IS WAR? More on escalating and deliberate provocation by the US
Why US Rulers Don’t Fear Nuclear WWIII With Russia
In the new world order Europe shall remain under the economic and political hegemony of the US, and Russia shall be a part of Europe. And since the Russian leaders today are not cooperating with this “Global Realignment” military force is called for; hence the warmongering.
http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/25/why-u-s-rulers-dont-fear-nuclear-wwiii-with-russia/
A Russian warning
If war were to break out between the US and Russia, the US would be obliterated. At a minimum, there would no longer be an electric grid, no Internet, no oil and gas pipelines, no interstate highway system, no air transport or GPS-based navigation. Financial centres would lie in ruins. Government at every level would cease to function. US armed forces, stationed all around the globe, would no longer be supplied. At a maximum, the entire landmass of the US would be covered by a layer of radioactive ash. If attacked, Russia will not back down; she will retaliate, and she could utterly annihilate the US.
http://thesaker.is/a-russian-warning/
Is Washington “False Flagging” The Russia-Iran-Syria-China “Axis of Evil” Into Nuclear War?
The penultimate goal is total militarization of the western world, to prevent and suppress protests and revolts if and when the population eventually wakes up to the flagrant lies that it has been force-fed by the presstitute media for years on end. And that in itself is a crucial step towards the ultimate goal of Full Spectrum Dominance of the world, or world hegemony, by a small corporate and financial elite.
Syrian army says it will ‘bring down’ any Turkish war planes in its air space
Turkey supports rebels opposed to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and is also trying to push IS away from Syria’s Turkish border. At the same time, the US has backed Kurdish-led forces in their own fight against IS, infuriating Ankara, which sees the YPG as an extension of Kurdish PKK militants who have waged a three-decade insurgency in southeastern Turkey.
Russia Calls the War Party’s Bluff
A US intel source: “The US has lost the arms race, indulging in trillions of dollars of worthless and endless wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and now is no longer a global power as it cannot defend itself with its obsolete missiles, THAAD, Patriot and Aegis Land Based Ballistic Defense System, against Russian ICBMs, even as the Russians have sealed their airspace. The Russians may be as much as four generations ahead of the US.”
https://sputniknews.com/columnists/201610251046715738-us-russia-military-analysis/
Think Tanks Beg: Give Us War
Despite experts’ insistence that Russia would either roll over and let the US do its work—or, worse, could be taken out by US forces in a few days—there’s still the issue that a no-fly zone would “require us to go to war against Syria and Russia.” Russian officials appear to agree. “Any missile or air strikes on the territory controlled by the Syrian government will create a clear threat to Russian servicemen. Policymakers should engage in a thorough calculation of the possible consequences of such plans.”
http://lobelog.com/think-tanks-beg-give-us-war/#more-36409
The Russians are Coming: War Propaganda Goes into High Gear. Renewed NATO Military Deployments on Russia’s Doorstep…
NATO’s “show of force” is largely in response to Moscow’s decision to dispatch warships to Russia’s Tartus naval base on Syria’s Eastern Mediterranean coastline, which was itself motivated by Washington’s intent to establish a “No Fly Zone” over Syria, which could lead to direct military confrontation between US and Russia.
Military Escalation in the Wake of the Presidential Elections? Stopping Hillary’s Coming War on Syria
With Hillary Clinton’s victory in the bag, there’s a growing fear that her presidency will begin with regime change in Syria. Clinton has said as much. Last year Reuters reported that “removing President Assad” would be Clinton’s “top priority.”
AND OTHER NEWS …….
World’s largest marine park created in Ross Sea in Antarctica in landmark deal
EU and 24 countries sign long-awaited agreement to protect 1.1m sq km of water in Southern Ocean, ensuring that fewer younger fish will be caught.
The Great CETA Swindle
Behind the PR attempts by the Canadian Government and the European Commission to sell CETA as a progressive agreement, it remains what it always has been: another attack on democracy, workers, and the environment.
Hazards of Imported Seafood, Demonstrates Risks from the TPP
The trade deal will undermine food safety. 94% of American seafood is imported, and only 2% are examined by inspectors. The TPP is expected to increase imports from nations that routinely use antibiotics and chemicals in fish farming that are illegal in the US. “Last year nearly 5.4 million tons of uninspected seafood entered the US.”
Tasmanian devils developing immune response to contagious face cancer
It’s a major breakthrough in global efforts to preserve the carrion-eating marsupials and the first indication the deadly facial tumour disease, which kills infected devils within 12 months and has wiped out 90% of the wild devil population since its discovery in 1996, is survivable.
Breaching environmental boundaries
In 1970 the Club of Rome prepared the original ‘Limits to Growth’. At that time a population of 3.7b used 22b tons of primary materials per year. Forty years later with a population of 6.7b, humans used 70b tons. Now, in 2016, we require about 86b tons and by 2050 we will require some 180b tons of raw materials. Fossil fuel consumption has grown annually by 2.9%, metal ores by 3.5%, and non-metalic minerals by 5.3%. Even as economic growth and population growth slowed, material demand accelerated. Today, the average citizen in Africa consumes about three tonnes of material resources each year. In Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, the average citizen consumes 8-10 tonnes. In Europe and North America, they consume about 20-30 tonnes. The US, with less than 5% of world population, consumes about 30% of global materials.
Brazil Students Occupy Over 1,000 Schools to Protest Neoliberalism
Michel Temer, who led the parliamentary coup against President Dilma Rousseff, has introduced a series of sweeping privatization proposals and cuts in education health and other social programs, since he was sworn in last August.
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Brazil-Students-Occupy-Over-1000-Schools–20161027-0006.html
West Africa Is Being Swallowed by the Sea
Encroaching waters off the coast of Togo, Ghana, Mauritania, and others are destroying homes, schools, fish, and a way of life. Twenty years ago, Fuvemeh was a thriving community of 2,500 people, supported by fishing and coconut plantations that are now completely underwater. But in the past two decades, climate change has accelerated coastal erosion here. Gradually but inexorably, the ocean has swallowed up hundreds of feet of coastline, drowning the coconut plantations and sweeping away houses.
The 5 Most Repressive Voter Laws in the United States
The US has been exporting “democracy” worldwide, touting itself as a beacon of liberty and freedom. But as the 2016 presidential election looms near, voter suppression laws in nearly every state are curtailing voting access to large segments of the population. “This is unprecedented,”
ALL THE EVIDENCE I READ TELLS ME THAT THE FOLLOWING IS HIGHLY PROBABLE
Global Biosphere Collapse, the End of Being
Prepare to see the vegetation, what remains, wither and die. Get used to there being no water in the tap much less locally available. Be ready for major energy shocks where your car sits lifeless in the driveway, a chunk of immobile metal, as your house remains unheated and uncooled. Consider what food can be raised locally, and at what price, as that is all that will be available. Expect bands of marauders to pillage your belongings and have their way with your wives and daughters. The re-emergence of slavery and warring autocratic city-states is a virtual certainty as centuries of social progress are jettisoned. Entire bioregions are going to be laid to waste and have to be evacuated as they become uninhabitable. Mass migration at unprecedented scales is imminent.
http://ecointernet.org/2016/10/23/global-biosphere-collapse-the-end-of-being/
Adapting for a radically changing planet
We came to terms with the sobering realisation that the focus has moved well and truly off emissions reduction. We’re looking at a radically changing planet, in our lifetimes, and all we can do, at local, national and international levels, is move to Plan B—get off the back foot and try to adapt.
http://jennifersevern.com.au/on-to-plan-b-adapting-for-a-radically-changing-planet/
2016 locked into being hottest year on record
September’s high temperatures compared with the long-term average means that 11 of the last 12 consecutive months, back to October 2015, have set new records.
Australia is no longer the home of the ‘fair go’
The national incarceration rate increased by 6% to 196 people for every 100,000 in 2015, higher than any country in western Europe. In the Northern Territory imprisonment rates are four times the national average, at 885 for every 100,000, and higher than the rate of imprisonment in the US.
Egypt: What Is Done in the Name of Stability
In 2015 alone, over 3,000 civilians faced military trials, 137 died in detention facilities, and 640 were tortured by the police. There have been over 200 cases of enforced disappearances. The government has been shutting down NGOs that help rehabilitate victims of torture, street children charities, and women’s rights. Prominent human rights lawyers have been put on trial, banned from traveling, and had their assets seized. Judges have been removed from office, the media has been gagged, and the police have full immunity.
http://lobelog.com/egypt-what-is-done-in-the-name-of-stability/
Erdogan Purge Against Gulenists Could Prove Lucrative
Although the western media to date has been focused on the human-rights, political, and security implications of the purge, relatively little attention has been paid to the financial repercussions, notably the huge windfalls the state and AKP-associated companies stand to gain from the carving up of alleged Gulenist-linked enterprises.
http://lobelog.com/erdogan-purge-against-gulenists-could-prove-lucrative/
Growing food with seawater and solar power
In a desert region of southern Australia is a farm that grows and supplies 15% of the country’s tomatoes without using soil, fresh water or fossil fuels. Tomatoes are grown hydroponically in coconut coir, not soil. “Our concentrated solar tower produces both heat and electricity to maintain the perfect conditions inside the greenhouses. This heat is also used to de-salinate one million litres of seawater a day to water the plants and cool the greenhouses.
How the Syrian Conflict Could Turn Into a ‘Hopeless War of Extermination’
Russia and the US differ in their vision of the Syrian future: while Moscow insists that President Assad should stay as the only legitimate leader, the US reiterates that he “must go.” Russian media explain why the US stance is self-deceptive and why the conflict will turn into a “hopeless war of extermination’ without Assad in power.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201610251046702885-syria-war-assad-opposition/
Washington’s ‘Pivot to Asia’: A Debacle Unfolding
The “pivot to Asia” meant that the US was extending its regional military alliances to confront and encircle Russia and China. The goal would be to cripple their economies and foster social unrest leading to political instability and regime change using economic trading pacts and various military treaties. Every decision made by the US has only one purpose – to weaken China’s defense capabilities, undermine its economy and force Beijing to submit to Washington’s domination.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article45736.htm
The Doctrine of Armed Exceptionalism
The US is ever more deeply involved in significant conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Libya, and Yemen; the Taliban is gaining ground nationwide with never a peep on the 15-year-old war in any of the “debates.”; the expanding but under-the-radar American war in Somalia; and in Libya the US drones, jets, and helicopters has doubled its air strikes against ISIS militants in the last month. Little of this with the slightest notice to Congress or the American people.
Australia’s new carbon bomb: uncounted coal seam gas emissions
Australia underestimating its annual greenhouse emissions by equivalent to the entire transport sector – an oversight that could see Australia sail past its Paris climate target by double the amount it has committed to. Coal-seam gas leakages and fugitive emissions released during the ‘production’ phase are preset at only 0.1%. Actual measurements at US fields show leakage rates up to 17%, or 170 times the Australian assumption.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/australias-new-carbon-bomb-uncounted-coal-seam-gas-emissions-14457/
World on track to lose two-thirds of wild animals by 2020
Living Planet Index shows vertebrate populations are set to decline by 67% on 1970 levels unless urgent action is taken to reduce humanity’s impact.
Court rules future climate projections can be used to protect species now
A federal US court found that animals can be listed as endangered on climate projections, not only on current reality.
https://thinkprogress.org/bearded-seal-endangered-species-court-decision-995f7213fca5#.25j5lwkw5
Victoria turns the tide on value of rooftop solar and feed-in tariffs
Looking to reward rooftop solar owners for the environmental and network benefits of their systems, solar households in Victoria will be the first in Australia to receive a feed-in tariff that directly reflects an environmental value.
The Perpetual Killing Field
The world is awash in killing fields, sites of slaughter where armed men have laid waste to the innocent, the defenseless, the unlucky; locales where women and children, old and young men have been suffocated, had their skulls shattered, been left gut-shot and gasping. Or sometimes they’re just the unhallowed grounds where the battered and broken bodies of such unfortunates are dumped without ceremony or prayer or even a moment of solemn reflection. Over the last century, these blood-soaked sites have sprouted across the globe: Cambodia, the Philippines, the Koreas, South Africa, Mexico, Lebanon, Rwanda, Bosnia, Guatemala, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria — on and on, year after year, country after country.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176200/
The Path to Total Dictatorship: America’s Shadow Government and Its Silent Coup
The Deep State is the militarized police, which have joined forces with state and federal law enforcement agencies to establish themselves as a standing army. It’s the fusion centers and spy agencies that have created a surveillance state and turned all of us into suspects. It’s the courthouses and prisons that have allowed corporate profits to take precedence over due process and justice. It’s the military empire with its private contractors and defense industry that is bankrupting the nation.
Inside the Invisible Government: War, Propaganda, Clinton and Trump
Propaganda is most effective when our consent is engineered by those with a fine education – Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Columbia — and with careers on the BBC, the Guardian, the New York Times, the Washington Post. These organisations are known as the liberal media. They present themselves as enlightened, progressive tribunes of the moral zeitgeist. They are anti-racist, pro-feminist and they love war.
